Compare and Contrast the Ways in Which Two Poets Create Sympathy for Their Characters †‘on a Portrait of a Deaf Man’ and ‘the River God’. Essay

The poems ‘On a Portrait of a Deaf Man’, written by John Betjeman and ‘The River God’, written by Stevie Smith appear as two very different poems; one in monologue form and the other in a regular form; but they are in fact two very similar poems. ‘On a Portrait of a Deaf Man’ presents a character mourning the death of a deaf man who was very close to him/her, and ‘The River God’ presents a lonely God who is abused by people and resorts to murdering women to keep himself company. Both characters are lonely and the portrayal of this loneliness causes you – the reader – to feel sympathetic towards them. The ‘River God’ is lonely because he is only used by others, no one stays to be with him, they leave – ‘and I like the people who bathe in me . . . or will she go away?’ suggesting that he enjoys their company but doesn’t want them to go as he get’s lonely. In ‘On a Portrait of a Deaf Man’ the mourner feels lonely because he/she has lost someone very close to them – ‘the kind old face . . . he took me on long silent walks . . . when young’ implying they were close as they have known each other since a young age. Both blame others for the situations that they have found themselves in. The ‘River God’ blames the women who ‘bathe in [him]’ for his loneliness, meaning that out of desperation he tries to keep the women with him but by doing so ends up killing them ‘she lies in my beautiful deep river bed with many a weed’. I believe he understands though that he has killed them and that is why he keeps them in the ‘beautiful deep river bed’; this causes you to feel some sympathy for him as he accidentally kills them but then out of love keeps them in his ‘beautiful deep river bed’. The mourner blames God for the death of the ‘deaf man’: ‘You, God, who treat him thus and thus, /Say ‘Save his soul and pray.’/You ask me to believe You and / I only see decay’ describing how God should be, but then the reality of asking God for things which aren’t achieved. This causes you to feel sympathetic because you see someone who asked God to save him yet he still died – ‘see decay’. The poems both begin with descriptions of characters. ‘The River God’ begins ‘the kind old face, the egg-shaped head’ and ‘On a Portrait of a Deaf Man’ begins ‘I may be smelly and I may be old’; the first description makes you feel sad that someone kind and good has died and the second makes you feel pitiful for the river, it’s not the river’s fault that it’s that way as it’s reflective of old age and the abuse it has had by mankind, all of which you would be distraught if you found yourself in so you can feel sympathetic towards them. The poets use the death of a person to draw sympathy from you. In ‘The River God’ a woman dies, one that he was fond of and he was against her dying; in ‘On a Portrait of a Deaf Man’ a friendly deaf man dies, presumably suddenly; these draw your sympathy because it suggests that they are lonely, in a state of mourning and vulnerable – all of which are states in which you would not want to find yourself and when you see someone else in such a state, you will feel sympathetic and be able to relate to the emotions they are feeling. The poets use the deaths of characters in their poems to create side-personas for the characters through the persona of the main-speaking character. ‘The River God’ uses the dead woman to give another perspective of what’s going on, ‘This beautiful lady, or will she go away?’ shows this perfectly. The questioning gives her perspective that she wants to leave but she is being held, leading you to feel sympathetic for her as this large ‘River’ is holding her captive and she cannot leave. However, it shows the misunderstanding of the ‘River God’ as she is drowned, ‘Oh who would guess what a beautiful white face lies there’, ‘white face’ implying she is dead, leading you to feel sympathetic again towards him as he is totally ignorant of everything going on around him. ‘On a Portrait of a Deaf Man’, the writer uses the deaf man to display what exactly he/she has lost through his death, Ã¢â‚¬Ë œHe knew the names of ev’ry bird’. This shows how caring he was and this would presumably translate to how he acts to people – kind and caring – and lead to sympathy as you would never want to lose a person so good to die. The poem also describes what further potential to do good he had if he knew what was coming, ‘He would have liked to say good-bye/Shake hands with many friends.’ This causes a sympathetic response from the reader because again even though he was dying he would have wanted to show respect to his friends rather than just leaving. It also creates sympathy because the person who has lost this ‘kind’ man would be very upset about his/her death. We see this when he/she blames God for his death as he didn’t save him/her, ‘’Save his soul and pray.’/ You ask me to believe You and/ I only see decay.’ – this shows a stage of mourning in which you blame others for the death you have experienced. In conclusion, the poets create sympathy for their characters very effectively through: descriptions, meanings and powers out of the characters control; all of which attract the reader to feel some understanding, pity or empathy towards them. The poets both use the deaths of characters to contrast the feeling of the characters and the feelings of the dead to create sympathy.

Global and International Business Contexts Essay

Introduction This report has been written by the Boston Consulting Group and uses Porter’s national diamond analysis model to evaluate the attractiveness of investment opportunities in the Tunisian wine industry. Also discussed are two key management issues that need to be taken into account before developing operations in Tunisia followed by recommendations on two strategies for entry into the Tunisian wine industry market. In terms of background to this report, it should be noted that the global market for wine industry is changing significantly with substantial differences in the structure of the wine industry around the world. For instance, there are 232,900 wine producers in France but the top 10 brands control only 4% of the market. In contrast, four firms control over 75% of the Australian wine market. Hence there is a marked difference in industry structure when comparing the â€Å"New World† producers (e.g. Australia, Chile, United States) to the â€Å"Old World† fir ms. These structural differences are driven by institutional diversity and contrasting patterns of historical development in countries. However, they are also driven by the competitive strategies employed by particular firms which are determining factors discussed in Porter’s Diamond model. Porter’s diamond model allows an analysis of why some industries within nations are more competitive than others and takes into account the home base of a business (Tunisia) as one element that plays an important part in  successfully achieving competitive advantage in the global market. (See insert 1.1) Part 1: Porter’s National Diamond Analysis Porter’s national diamond analysis model has four main determinants, which are factor conditions, related and supporting industries, demand conditions as well as strategy, structure and rivalry. Factor Conditions Factor conditions are those factors that can be utilised by companies inherently found within a nation which might provide competitive advantage such as human resources, material resources, knowledge resources, capital resources and infrastructure. These factor conditions can be built upon by companies to improve their competitiveness. Factor conditions could be divided into two resources as home grown resources and highly specialised resources. As Michael Porter described, the home grown resources are important and in the case of Tunisia includes the natural resource of a climate well suited to wine growing, plenty of sunshine, fertile soil as well as limited pollution which all aid the industry of grape planting. Political and historical factors through Tunisia’s history such as the romans, French occupation which resulted in over 600 caves being created for wine aging and a recent flourish in the Tunisian wine industry after the 1980’s has left Tunisia with a number of cooperatives and engineers all with specialist skills in wine production where modern techniques are being used creating innovation, technical progress and competitive advantage. The relative low cost of employment and salary levels in Tunisia compared to European countries brings with it a further home grown Tunisian competitive advantage together with an increasingly skilled base of employees who have worked in the wine industry. (http://www.tunisieindustrie.nat) Salary Per hour rate In Tunisia: 48-hour workweek: 1.538 DT per hr – Equates to 53p (in British pounds) per hour 40-hour workweek: 1.584 DT (http://www.tunisieindustrie.nat) Demand Conditions This is the demand for products in the home market which can be influenced by three factors; the mix of customer’s needs, the scope of domestic demand and growth and how the needs of domestic market translate into the global market. Whilst the annual domestic wine consumption per person in Tunisia is only 8/9 litres compared to an average of 60 litres a year in France, a domestic wine industry is likely to encourage greater levels of demand at  home from loyal customers to increasing levels of tourists (Ariaoui, 2007). Also consumer attitudes and behaviour play a role in domestic wine consumption because wine plays a very different role in European culture as compared to American, Australian culture or even Tunisian culture. In Europe wine remains part of everyday life and consumers often drink it along with the daily meal. Financial incentives offered by the Tunisian authorities have further helped to support the domestic wine industry making it more attractive to foreign i nvestors. As in new world producers, these investments in the Tunisian wine industry have helped encourage innovation enabling Tunisian wine growers to enhance the consistency and the quality of their wines by reducing operating costs through the increasing use of machinery to harvest the grapes crops. Tunisia can also learn from the New World which has more extensive and well-developed markets for its grapes, making it easier for wineries to find multiple avenues for sourcing production. Related and Supporting Industries At present, Tunisia make wines ranging from average to high levels of quality and they export their products to the whole world including famous brand names such as Carignan, Mourvà ¨dre and Muscat of Alexandria. The Tunisia government has supported their domestic wine industry through the construction of railways and roads (national infrastructure) to enhance the innovation and technological development in wine making which in turn is benefiting other related and supporting industries such as transport, holiday and leisure industry, technology and machinery. Taxes at 18% on wine consumption in Tunisia also provide an important income for the Tunisian treasury and so restrictions are unlikely in the future as in such nations as the US, Chile, and South Africa and should ensure continued support from the Tunisian government. Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry The structure and management systems of firms in different countries can potentially affe ct competitiveness and how well a company is able to use its existing organisational structure whether it is hierarchal or flat, against current and potential competitive companies. It is very important that the Tunisian wine industry pays close attention to its industry and company structures and strategies to ensure it is suitable for expansion into the global market. Porter argues that domestic rivalry which involves company structures and the need to pursue competitive within a country like Tunisia  could help provide the wine industry with a basis for achieving global leadership. Structural differences including institutional differences in wine production countries vary considerably and are often influenced by regulatory agencies such as in France, for instance which employs very strict regulations that constrain production so that producers can only designate sparkling wine as â€Å"Champagne† if they produce it using three grape varieties grown in the region with the same name unlike Australia which has a very loose regulatory structure allowing winemakers to source grapes from diverse geographic regions within the country. Different levels of subsidies have led to structural differences globally in wine making such as European governments who often subsidise their small farmers who grow grapes whereas subsidies tend to be lower or nonexistent in most New World nations. In addition, capital markets and corporate ownership patterns differ between geographic regions where typically Europe tends to have many more privately held firms in contrast to most of the largest winemakers in the United States and Australia who have become publicly traded corporations. Land ownership and historical patterns of development represent another major factor explaining the structural differences between global wine production areas. For example in the Old World, winemaking has been organised around family farms for centuries. and the land has remained in family ownership for generations. However currently, Tunisian landowners appear to be able to exert power in particular locations where high-quality land is scarce. This appears to be a problem where most producers are small, and good new acreage in Tunisia is extremely scarce but it is worth noting that grapes now cover more than 10,000 hectares of land in Tunisia compared to around 100 hectares in 1889 and wine production ranks third in Tunisian agriculture just behind olive oil and wheat production (Ariaoui, 2007). Finally, the competitive strategies of firms can affect industry structure such as the United States and Australia where publicly traded firms are much more prevalent. These firms have altered the industry structure and competitive landscape through their acquisition strategies, consumer branding and advertising strategies, capital investment plans, and technology initiatives. Consolidation of the wine Industry began to increase over the past decade, particularly among the New World producers with the consolidation of some premium wineries merging with direct rivals such as Rosemount creating some major global producers.  In terms of industrial structure, Tunisia, as yet is a small but relatively high cost producer of wine in comparison but now successfully exports millions of litres of wine annually to Europe, Russia and the US with two thirds of its wine production being controlled by the UCCCV (Union Centrale des Coopà ©ratives Viticoles) and is looking for global partners to exploit and develop Tunisian wine production opportunities. Part 2: Contemporary Management issues Leadership Style It is undisputable that many of the global wine producing companies who used to dominate the market are now experiencing a decline in market share. There are several reasons that can be used to explain such a decline including leadership style. The appropriate leadership styles are those that can enable the manager to interact closely both with the employees and the customers and as a facilitator whose major role is to bring together and create an organisational culture that is streamlined a geared towards meeting the goals and mission of the organisation. If the Tunisian Wine Industry is keen to expand, its management team should know that leading others is not a simple task. As a people manager, a leader has to treat everyone as equal regardless of their title or position and maintain a pleasant demeanor (Ljungholm, 2014). It is about focusing on gaining trust and commitment rather than enforcing fear and compliance. To be able to lead well, leaders need to be guided by appropriate leadership theories. Some of the theories proposed include supportive leadership model and transformative leadership model. These models should enable the Tunisian wine industry to adapt new environment easily and are described below. Supportive leadership model Supportive leadership model, is where the manager supports every stakeholder emotionally and professionally in an attempt to ensure that he or she performs optimally. It also focuses in forging and creating collaborating and binding relationships among employees (Mahalinga Shiva, & Suar, 2012). The workplace is often made up of people from diverse backgrounds, with varying needs and wants and it calls for patience, understanding and proper leadership skills. The supportive model believes that influencing people to do something is more productive and sustainable than barking orders and instructions to people (Hutchinson &  Jackson, 2013). A leader should always keep in mind that as a manager, he or she has to â€Å"Treat everyone as equal regardless of their title or position and remember to smile a lot and always maintain a pleasant demeanor.â €  The leader should focus on gaining trust and commitment rather than fear and compliance (Hutchinson & Jackson, 2013). This cannot be achieved without deliberately motivating the people to become better. Motivating them requires that you first understand their training and development needs. The leader should learn to foster warm relationships amongst the Tunisian employees to understand them and identify ways in which interpersonal relationships can be improved for a more fulfilling work experience. Transformative leadership model The second most important model is transformational leadership theory or model. This is a new model that was formed in around 1970s following the realisation that there was need of greater flexibility in employment. The current employment conditions have changed significantly and this model is particularly relevant to the Tunisian wine industry which is relatively new as an industry (1980’s onwards) and because most of the Tunisians of employable age are from the millennial generation. One thing to note about this new generation is that it is educated and culturally more mixed than any generation before them. In the US this typically means they are job-hoppers who hate officialdom and mistrust traditional hierarchies (Goudreau, 2013). This group of employees, according to Forbes, is willing to sacrifice pay for increased vacation time and the ability to work outside the office. According to the study conducted by Forbes, one of the ways of motivating this generation is that they want employers who offer flexibility or rather alternative work arrangement. The transformational leadership is characterised by a lot of motivation as under this leadership model, the leader is expected to provide constructive feedback, encourage employees to exert effort and to think creatively about complex problems (Xueli, Lin & Mian, 2014). Transformational leadership is based on what is called lead, learn and grow model.. A leader can implement transformational leadership by keeping track of the impact of his action, engaging in formal evaluation at the right time (Abbasi, & Zamani-Miandashti, 2013). A leader must also be willing and able to learn on an ongoing basis and should realise that learning is never complete. That is why under transformational leadership, no one is an expert (Watts, &  Corrie, 2013). Unlike in most European wine producing areas the problem with most leaders there, is that they tend to believe that they are qualified or that they are expert, whereas in Tunisia producers are looking for expertise outside of the country and seem willing to learn. Tunisia wine production has an opportunity to analyse and create and take into account the appropriate leadership style for the wine industry and country that will be maximise competitive advantage before wine production operations can be developed in the country. Part 2: Continued Contemporary Management issues Knowledge and Change Management Rapid changes in business and technology and increasing competitions means organisations have to adapt the best training and education to enable them continue to stay on top of their games. The complexity, relative newness and competitiveness of the Tunisian wine industry environment requires that Tunisian companies will have to continuously raise the bar on their effectiveness to compete globally. Top performance increasingly demands excellence in all areas, including leadership, strategy, productivity, and adaptation to change, process improvement, and capability enhancement on knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies, trust and motivation. An organisation in the wine industry should ensure that all levels of employees are given the opportunity to continue to improve by acquiring new skills through training. Much of the improvements needed in business to meet the demands of changing markets and economic conditions can only result from well-implemented organisational change measured against increased technological excellence and operational efficiency as well as productivity. Kotter (2011) defines change management as the utilisation of basic structures and tools to control any organizational change effort. Change management’s goal is to minimise the distractions and impacts of the change. Organisational change is incredibly complex and one of the key skills for managers is to understand the nature of change and to prepare themselves to lead and manage change in their unique organisational contexts. Where there is a lack of knowledge in the Tunisian wine business in terms of management strategies to deal with changing markets and economic conditions, Tunisia will need to look at their alliance business partners and those business  sectors in Tunisia that are successful in order to transfer and recruit the necessary management skills to succeed. Part 3: Market entry strategy – Strategy No 1 Formulating a mode of entry is very important factor that a company or industry intending to expand into a new market should bear in mind and predicts whether the company will turn out to be successful or not. The entry mode, according to International Business Publications (2009), is important in protecting the company from facing challenges such as legal, registration and even cultural challenges. In selecting the entry mode, the company should put into consideration the cost of doing business in destination country, and determine which entry mode will help in cutting down those costs and at the same time will ensure that the Tunisian wine industry gets maximum profits and also the largest market share in the target nation. In terms of advantages and based on the market situation, this paper proposes that the Tunisian Wine Industry should adopt cross-border strategic alliances to take advantage of a number of benefits compared with the export strategies. For example it creates different synergies in the domestic and foreign markets. In addition, it promotes production alliances, which help each of the allied firms to reduce production costs both in their domestic plants as well as their foreign plants. As far as distribution costs is concerned, the cross-border marketing, which is a product of cross-border strategic alliance, reduces the allied firms’ distribution costs in their foreign market (Qiu, 2006). Compared to other entry mode methods, cross-border strategic alliances create different synergies in the domestic and foreign markets (Qiu, 2006). Some of the synergies include production cost synergies and distribution costs synergies. These synergies will help the Tunisian wine industry to reduce the production and distribution costs and hence increase profits. In terms of disadvantages, cross-border strategic alliances can sometimes lead to a loss of control of individual wine production and their related services. Members of Tunisian wine production may well find that they can become restricted and unable to take decisions by themselves without first referring to the alliance partners. In addition, the complexity of making business alliances work is high and could further complicate business  structures, exacerbate cultural differences and have detrimental effects on intercompany working relationships. Part 3: Market entry strategy – Strategy No 2 Alternatively, the Tunisian Wine Industry may enter into new market through what is called licensing. Licensing mode of market entry allows foreign firms, either exclusively or non-exclusively to manufacture a licensed product in a certain market under specific condition and for this reason is particularly relevant to the situation faced by the Tunisian wine industry. A licensor in the home country makes limited rights or resources available to the licensee in the foreign country in which he or she is to do the business. This includes any resources may like patents, technology trademarks, managerial skills that can make it possible for the licensee to manufacture and sell in the foreign country a similar product to the one the licensor has already been producing and supplying in his home country. This enables the licensor to have several shares in similar companies without necessarily having to open a new branch in other countries. The licensor is usually paid on basis of one time payments, mechanical fees and royalty payments usually calculated as a percentage of sales resultant thereafter. The decision of making an international license agreement depend on the respect that foreign government show for intellectual property. The licensee should be able to cooperate with the licensor to avoid unhealthy completion in the market. In terms of advantages, licensing is a flexible agreement and can be adjusted any time to suit the conveniences of the both parties. However, this mode of entry can be disadvantageous to the licensee, as parts of the profits have to be shared to the licensor on these terms. Recovering the initial profit and getting reasonable profits can take a relatively longer period of time. Again it can also result in the loss of control over manufacturing and marketing of goods and export to other countries. A further risk to the Tunisian wine industry to take into account when considering this strat egy is that the foreign licensee may sell similar competitive wine products after the licensing agreement has expired. Recommendations To Board of Directors To conclude, when entering into a new market, there are many existing factors  to keep in mind. Porter’s national diamond model can help potential investors by allowing them to understand the macro environment in the Tunisian wine industry. Generally speaking, factor condition, demand condition, related and supporting industries and rivalry could encourage the entering activities. It is worth noting that the past high cost performance of Tunisian wine could also become a strong competitive advantage by restricting new entrants into the Tunisian wine producing market. As for recommendations, Tunisia offers the advantages of a natural wine producing climate and fertile soils, a relatively low cost of employment, significant financial incentives and investment in the countries’ infrastructure by the Tunisian government and unrestricted company structures and land ownership. The limitations of Tunisian wine industry relate to the relatively higher costs of wine production in Tunisia, increase in licensing opportunities across the wine industry and cross border alliances which can complicate international working relationships and introduce some uncertainty in the future as licensees from other countries continue to exploit Tunisian wine production opportunities resulting in possible delays in the release of profits available to international investing businesses. Appendices: Appendix 1 Insert 1.1 – Porters National Diamond Analysis Model References: Ariaoui Jamal, (Web) A Guided Tour of Tunisia’s Wine road, Magharebia, 2007 Rugman, A. & Collinson, S. (2012). International Business. (6th ed.), Pearson: Prentice Hall Dicken, P. (2011). Global Shift. 6th ed. Sage Hill, C. (2009) International Business, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill Peng, M. & Meyer, K. (2009) International Business, Cengage Learning Porter, M. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78-93. Porter, M. (1990). The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Harvard Business Review, March-April. Peng, M. (2014) Global Business, 3rd International Edition, South-Western Cengage Learning Xueli, W., Lin, M., & Mian, Z. (2014). Transformational Leadership and Agency Workers’ Organizational Commitment: The Mediating Effect of Organizational Justice and Job Characteristics. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 42(1), 25-36. Goudreau, J., 2013, 7 Surprising Ways to Motivate Millennial Workers. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/03/07/7-surprising-ways-to-motivate-millennial-workers/ Ingrid B. (2006). Facilitating to Lead. Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0-7879-7731-4 Watts, M, & Corrie, S 2013, ‘Growing the ‘I’ and the ‘We’ in Transformational Leadership: The LEAD, LEARN & GROW Model’, Coaching Psychologist, 9, 2, pp. 86-99, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. LJUNGHOLM, D 2014, ‘The Performance Effects of Transformational Leadership In Public Administration’, Contemporary Readings In Law & Social Justice, 6, 1, pp. 110-115, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. SHENG-MIN, L, & JIAN-QIAO, L 2013, ‘Transformational Leadership and Speaking Up: Power Distance And Structural Distance As Moderators’, Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journa l, 41, 10, pp. 1747-1756, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Abbasi, E, & Zamani-Miandashti, N 2013, ‘The role of transformational leadership, organizational culture and organizational learning in improving the performance of Iranian agricultural faculties’, Higher Education, 66, 4, pp. 505-519, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Mahalinga Shiva, M, & Suar, D 2012, ‘Transformational Leadership, Organizational Culture, Organizational Effectiveness, and Programme Outcomes in Non-Governmental Organizations’, Voluntas: International Journal Of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations, 23, 3, pp. 684-710, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Hutchinson, M, & Jackson, D 2013, ‘Transformational leadership in nursing: towards a more critical interpretation’, Nursing Inquiry, 20, 1, pp. 11-22, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Qiu, L. D. (2006). Cross-Borde r Strategic Alliances and Foreign Market Entry. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Retrieved from: http://www.etsg.org/ETSG2006/papers/Qiu.pdf

Death Penalty for Rapists

Even Death penalty for Rape is not good enough! Social issues by Editor ‘Rape’ the word itself sends across chills down the spine! Only a woman who has undergone such brutality understands the pain, dismay and disgrace that it beholds. Rape or forcible sexual contact is indeed the most shameful facet of humanity. It causes ultimate social and psychological dissuasion of a woman. Indian society still lacks the compassion and humanity to treat raped women with grace and sympathy.Even though women are no way guilty for the sexual offense they have gone through, neighbors, relatives and friends blame her for her circumstances. It makes their life even more unbearable. Understanding the disgraceful after-effects of an incident like ‘Rape’, women are often afraid to seek legal assistance on this matter. Instead they keep such matters under secrecy which often instigate the offenders to commit the same crime over and over again. Currently the legal punishment alloc ated to rapists is 7 years’ jail sentence.Apart from cases featuring exceptional brutality, often rapists do not face death penalty sentences. Now the death penalty debate is one of the most controversial matters being churned in India . Personally I feel rape death penalty should be implemented with strictest possible terms of logic and common sense. Following are the reasons why there should be death penalty for rape: Indeed rape is one of the most heinous crimes out there but it has become a common practice in Indian society.Nowadays, you would find at least one (sometimes more than one) crime news covering ‘rape’ every day on Television or Newspapers and crimes against women are increasing. It implies that the 7 years’ imprisonment penalty assigned for rape is not good enough to put a stop on this brutality. Generally death penalty is exercised for rarest cases in India. Rape death penalty, if implemented will ensure that people would think twice befor e committing this crime which will in turn reduce the statistics significantly.This will bring down the crime ratio and sexual harassment against women, people would certainly not take the chance. Till date death sentence is considered the most critical punishment possible. And when a woman is raped, it turns out to be social death for her. Hence the offender, who causes such destitution to the victim, should also suffer the same consequence. If death is allocated as rape penalty, it will instill the fear in people, often in rural parts of India; people use rape as a common method to settle personal scores.If they know that raping a woman might take its toll of their own lives, they might refrain themselves from committing rape. A healthy legal system should strive to provide justice to the victims of crimes. The motto of Indian constitution is to help the nation with proper verdict that will improve their condition by ending the misery. Death sentence is generally given to criminal s who have gone far away from being reformed and RAPE is one crime which implies that the convicted has lost his humanitarian qualities and turned into a brute.Hence they should be punished to death for their misdeed. DEATH SENTENCE is the strictest of all punishments given to offenders. If death penalty is assigned to rapists, it will set example for those who commit such a crime. Moreover, if a person is set free after 7 years’ confinement, he will certainly feel even more confident to commit the same crime over and over again which can cause severe threat to the entire legal system of the country.Death penalty sentences cost a lot of turmoil, questioning and solid proofs. If the country and its legal system are serious about putting an end to a raped woman’s suffering for good, it should consider assigning death penalty for rapists. Not only it will provide proper judgment for the worst and brutal crime but also it will cause significant drop in rape statistics and crimes against women in India. If you have better solutions than this then do share†¦.

A BUSINESS PLAN FOR ROXE APPAREL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A BUSINESS PLAN FOR ROXE APPAREL - Essay Example These initial costs will be used for rent, recruitment, salaries and start-up expenditures. While serving the whole family, Roxe Apparel will focus more on the younger people aged between 16 and 35, because they are the cream of the clothing market. Introduction The apparel industry in the UK is a very lucrative one. However, it also has many barriers to entry. Nevertheless, there are many opportunities due to a number of possibilities that the fashion subsectror in the industry offers. Starting a business in the industry can be challenging but also highly rewarding. In this regard, it is prudent and worthy to start a clothing company in UK. The following is a business plan for starting a clothing company in the UK. The company will be called Roxe Apparel and will seek to serve the UK market as a medium class apparel company. The market for middle class clothing is very big in the UK, and it will be easier for such a new firm to commence its operations. The firm will concentrate on t he younger generations as the main market niche, but will also serve the whole family. Competitor Analysis The environment The clothing industry is a very competitive industry due to the fact that it is affected by some special factors which do not impact other industries (Gwilt and Rissanen, 2011). Popularity is a very important issue in the clothing industry since customers always buy from the clothing companies they are already used to. Unlike other basics needs, clothes are some of the few basic products which people choose carefully where they buy because that also matters. In other words, an individual may choose to buy from a more expensive store if the store is popular, and not to buy the exact same product from a cheaper one if the store is regarded lowly (Shishoo, 2012). This is especially so in the UK clothing market where competition is so tough and there are so many already established clothing firms. At the same time, most UK people are loyal customers, who choose to f ollow one brand and not to try many different ones. Creating the balance between branding the company as a popular one and giving the customer the best price is always a challenge in the clothing industry, and this is going to be a bigger concern for Roxe because it is a new firm. No clothing firm wants to be regarded as cheap, but at the same time, it is necessary to give the customers the best price. This makes already established firms more popular and entry into the industry very difficult. The main competitors that Roxe Apparel will face include established firms. These businesses already stand firmly on the ground and have a well established rapport with the customers in terms of knowing what the customer wants and expects. They have also been able to relate well with suppliers, which is a very important thing with regard to the fact that it determines how successful a business is going to be in the market. Economies of scale The other competitors are well established and have achieved higher economies of scale, which Roxe Apparel will not be able to reach in its initial months. This will mean that they will be able to compete more strongly in the market. As Briscoe (1971) argues, economies of scale are important for any business in the clothing industry because this is the only way to beat the market challenges. Customer service Most of the competitors rate very lowly in this respect and cannot make their customers happy. This is because most of them are large firms and therefore find it harder to create useful customer service. Large firms are also quite old, which increases the risk that they have not evolved enough to apply the concepts appropriate to the modern business environment (Kotter, 1998).

The Pluses and Minuses of Online Shopping Essay

The Pluses and Minuses of Online Shopping - Essay Example (Kenney, M. & Curry, J., 1999) But although this newfangled idea has gone this far, research on the subject of e-commerce and Internet marketing remains largely confined to the difficulties encountered by companies going online, including its advantages and disadvantages to them. An important aspect of the phenomenon yet to be fully explored is the sentiment and attitude of consumers toward online shopping. As attempts get underway to create the ultimate e-mall, the question may be asked: Are the consumers willing and ready to accept and patronize such a store in place of the shopping mall This research project will thus give a fresh look at Internet marketing from the perspectives of the consumers. It will seek to identify the advantages and disadvantages the consumers derive from online shopping, with the end in view of determining whether the marketing process helps promote consumer welfare and interests at all, the way the traditional stores do so. 9) In going to the regular stores, one has to contend with the traffic and pollution, spend for the thrift and search for a parking space that is often not there. Do these count as arguments for buying online instead Corporations, both established and new, are turning to the Internet to create new markets and reorganize existing markets. It began in 1990 when the US National Science Foundation approved the use of the Internet for non-academic uses. From only 5 million users in 1993, the figure jumped to 62 million in 1997 and 100 million in 1998. According to Internet provider Uumet Technologies, Internet traffic continues to double every 100 days that this has become "one of the fastest adoption rates any technology has ever experienced." (Yang, S., 2001) Worldwide, there could be 550 million users and a far greater number of .com sites. The latter websites are made up of companies engaged in online retail of all sorts of products and services. E-commerce is transforming the traditional retail industry. For this business sector, e-commerce is eliminating the costs of retail branches, thus lowering the initial entry costs and the fixed costs associated with retail stores. (Kenny, M. &

Persuasive memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Persuasive memo - Essay Example As our primary respondents in research based consulting, the program will be beneficial to the company since the respondents will base their responses on experience from the program’s assistance in relation to the progress of their group’s investments.It will be a low cost venture worth $12000 per annum for products and solutions and $8000 per annum for awards program, totaling to $20000 per annum. This will be in line with the company’s mission of providing its clients and the society with quality information and financial management insight to enable smarter decisions. The company offers products and solutions where it concentrates with opportunity analysis by monitoring the purchasing power of institutions and individuals, analysis of key trends due to change of business environments, predictive modeling where they incorporate insightful research before the customers depart and analysis of the market segments through evaluation of the â€Å"wallet size† to ascertain individual’s purchasing power and what drives their decision making. The company is also involved in awards programs to reward the best performing business entities through the â€Å"Greenwich Share and Quality Leaders† and† Greenwich Excellence Awards†. This will ensure proper benchmarks are followed in awarding the best performing entities or individuals. The company was established in 1972 by Charley Ellis with initial offering in personal trust services, large corporate pensions and large corporate banking; privately owned with 125 employees and a net turnover of $35 million by 2010. Our research based consulting strategies have become increasingly dependent upon Connecticut youths and as our primary respondents, who majority are in startups privately or in groups, giving the entrepreneurial assistance will gear their investment plans and company’s outreach (C.I.M.A,2011).The program is intended to

Writing Deficiencies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Writing Deficiencies - Essay Example The intangible results due to deficient writing skills include the image degradation for both the employers and employees and the reduced productivity because employees must reread many times poorly written materials so as to get the intended meaning. Another result is the detrimental outcomes when incorrect decisions are made due poorly and ineffectively written materials (Quible & Griffin 2007). Many are the times when educators have debated how grammar should best be taught. Regardless of whether teaching grammar has benefits, no impact or harmful effects on students’ writing skills has been a topic that has drawn many controversies for at least five decades. For many years, teachers have taught grammar to students using a rule-based approach. The methods feature two characteristics that are sentence diagramming and parts of speech. Over time, the rules-based approach became disregarded in favor the context-based approach that was advocated by Weaver. The context-based approach then became the most preferred method of teaching punctuation and grammar. The context-based approach puts emphasis on what students are writing and reading (Quible & Griffin 2007). Instructors who guide students through writing programs are under a challenge to develop new approaches that will help students in remediating their sentence construction errors. The writing programs are most likely the last writing courses that the students get before they are awarded their respective undergraduate degrees. Because of the disparity between the undergraduates entering the workforce and their writing skills, teachers and instructors educating future employees should not ignore this fact. Researchers have come up with various alternatives to the rules-based design.  

Analytic source review and evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analytic source review and evaluation - Essay Example The methodical studies conducted over the last decades regarding the addiction of drugs among the young people, revealed that after a certain period an individual cannot afford the price and gradually gets involved in criminal activities to increase their affordability. In majority instances, such consequences were found to be led by the negligence of parents, guardians or the other members of the society towards the young people. These activities not only hinder the healthy growth of the society, but also restrict social progress in terms of economic divergences, education prospects and governance systems. The objective of the paper will thereby be focused on analysing and evaluating the criminal activities associated with illegal drugs as well as sexual assaults in the modern day context. Discussion Illicit Drugs Illicit drugs habit is often regarded as the major cause of interpersonal violence as well as public health challenges in the modern society. With this concern, the Nation al Drug Intelligence Centre (NDIC) along with many other non-profit organizations have taken initiative and organized a yearly National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) that tends to assess the impact of threats related to illicit drug related crimes on the society as well as on the nation at large. Recent reports in this regard revealed that the total cost incurred in relation to illicit drug use was approximated in excess of $193 billion in the year 2007. The cost was estimated focusing on three major principal areas i.e. crime, health and aggregate productivity of the state or region. The component of crime cost is fundamentally based on three major factors that include criminal justice system costs, crime victim costs as well as other crime costs. In addition, health related issues and costs include four major components i.e. emergency departmental costs in the hospitals for homicide and non-homicide cases, speciality treatment and medicine costs, insurance administration costs and other health related costs. Nonetheless, the productivity costs and issues are also associated with some direct and indirect components such as labour participation costs, pre-mature mortality costs and the costs incurred due to harm of education as well as lack of societal growth (U.S. Department of Justice, 2011). When considering the global trend, people addicted by illegal drugs and related crimes in England and Wales were reported to constitute around three million adults in the year 2011-2012. This proportionate was further affirmed to account for around 8.9% of the total population in England. Another significant attribute of the trend exhibited that in majority cases, the offenders were young where minors aged 16 years to old aged people of 59 years were also identified involved in such crimes (The Independent, 2012). According to the research study of Payne-James & et. al. (2005), it was found that the drug addiction is especially notices among the unemployed persons. Cons equentially, 80% drug habituates have been reported to be spending their life suffering from several mental as well as physical health issues. At the onset, mental and financial problems can be identified as the main causes of such offences which might be caused due to social complexities or monetary troubles often faced by young generation people (Payne-James & et. al., 2005). Besides, as exhibited by Payne-James & et.

Interview on play development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interview on play development - Essay Example I also did not go to school, but at age 5 and 6 I played many games, such as the Hunter (similar to hide and seek), Carrom (similar to snooker), marbles, and hopscotch. Because I did not go to school, I could only play games with the neighborhood kids. At home my sisters and my cousins all liked to play the Hunter game. But in the neighborhood, most kids either played marbles or hopscotch. I mostly liked playing with marbles. Also, the Carrom game was fun to play with the board. During my free time I would just help out around my home with any chores that needed doing. At home I would play with my sisters and cousins, but outside I would just play with the neighborhood kids. I was able to develop strong relationships with my relatives and also neighborhood kids because of playing these games with them. I think that the fun that I had contributed to the good relationships I had with many kids. Adults had no say in what we played because mostly the kids just came up with new ideas abou t what games to play. When I got married and moved to Egypt at the age of 14, I did not play as much as I used to when I was a child. Simple activities such as washing clothes and sweeping the house became normal to me. I think that children play much differently today than when I was a child. Now there is more technology so kids don’t have to think too much about what games they can play. One bad thing about this is that it can cause tension among kids, which reduces friendships. Kids these days don’t talk as much when they play because they are always looking at a screen. When I was young, talking and telling stories was an important part of play. I wish that children these days would be required to use their brains more when it comes to play. Too many people have tried to make things easier for kids by not making them think first. I am proud of the games that I

Contemporary Future Trends Executive Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contemporary Future Trends Executive Memo - Essay Example A common tendency however is to think that current crime trends and violence in prisons and such issues are contemporary because of some social criteria that causes these problems. Security over the years has evolved to a commercial business. Most people have realized the need for commercial security. (Bayley and Shearing, 2001), illustrated on their report that majority of investors who invested in the security industry have got their investment in double. It is important to note that the knowledge, regulation and the impact private security has over the community is evolving daily. While some people have shown interest in the current and future industry trends, the majorities are still fond and prefer the traditional blue-colored police force services (Manning, 2005). The privatization of the security industry is a very delicate matter and if not handled wisely could lead to polarization of security agencies, segregation of some communities especially the marginalized groups. In order to stay informed on the recent developments and trends, it is important to observe its effects on the contemporary world. In keeping up with the current trends, law enforcement agencies and courts have as well been highly influenced to shape up according to the contemporary social expectations. Much influence has been from Hollywood films and television shows. Television shows such as Boston Legal, Law & Order and the like are a major influence on the emerging trends in the courts and Law enforcement. Countries like Russia have eventually adopted the jury system and a lot of credit goes to the television films on the importance of the jury system. It is important for policymakers to decide on the best and most effective way to implement laws and policies and ensure that the social trends expected by the society. There also should be an evaluation of the best approach to take so that a community

The Simmons Hall Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Simmons Hall - Case Study Example The building stands 10 stories or 100 feet high, 385 feet long, and 53 feet deep. The building is wrapped almost entirely in a matrix of 2-foot-square windows, 5,538 of them to be exact (Ryan 2004). Huge gaps that double as terraces separate Simmons Hall's three aluminum towers. Volcano-shaped lounges push through the floors (Nasr 2007). The exoskeleton of the building is formed by a gridded shell, composed of precast concrete wall panels, called Perfcon ("Projects" 2003).The facades appear as flush blades of aluminium eaten into by several large cuts. In silhouette, it interacts with the sky behind. At a radically different scale, it is punctured by small, square and deep apertures that illuminate the interior without revealing each room's exact position or size. Where gable portions are eroded, upper sections of the building project forward dramatically (Ryan 2004). Internally, the building is as complex as its exterior. Wide corridors connect the dorm rooms and the building's amenities: dining, fitness center and a theater, among other facilities. Eight atria connect the floors vertically in a manner more flowing than rigid, contrasting the regimented exterior ("A Weekly Dose," Archidose.org 2007). The Simmons' Hall building uses a visual effect to look bigger t

Religious and Ethnic Groups Essay Example for Free

Religious and Ethnic Groups Essay The religious group is chose was Jehovah’s Witnesses. I did some online research and also asked my children’s Foster Mother, Regina Metzger the questions. I wanted to see what the differences of what I found online and what she said the beliefs were. So this is a mixture of what I got from my online sources and what she said. Jehovah’s Witnesses differ from other religious groups because they believe that their entire bible is the inspired word of god, and instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold to their bible as the standard for all their beliefs. Based on their bible, they believe that Jesus Christ is son of god, the first of god’s creations, that he had a pre-human existence and that his life was transformed from heaven to the womb of a virgin. They believe that god’s kingdom is the only hope for mankind. They are many different nationalities. They have no prejudices against any race or color. Their worship is through prayer, meetings and telling others about their bible. They believe that their bible is the inspired word of God, and instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold their bible as the standard. The experience of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that other religious groups do not share is that they are viewed with moral standards that coincide with their bible. They are law abiding citizens that respect authority. They show, what they believe is, genuine Christian love to their neighbors. For example, let’s say there are two girls. One of which is a Jehovah Witness and one that is not. They both were asked to spit on the American Flag. In this situation, the Jehovah’s Witness won’t and the other would. One might ask â€Å"Why don’t you spit on the flag even though you don’t solute it? The answer from the Johana’s Witness would be simply, â€Å"I don’t pledge my allegiance to the flag, but I wouldn’t disrespect it either. † They are neutral. Jehovah’s Witnesses contribute to the American Culture because they feel they are the advocates of their God’s kingdom. They are not of the political, economic, or social system of any nation of the old world. They did have their modern day start in the United States. They do pay taxes, which means they work regular jobs just like any other person. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not interfere with what others do about sharing in patriotic ceremonies. Like, sharing in the armed forces and joining a political party or even voting. They worship their god only. They believe that if Christians under one nation go to war against another nation they would be fighting against fellow believers. They believe that fighting against the same people who prayed for help to the same god is wrong. That is why they won’t go to war and will serve time in jail or prison to avoid killing their Christian brothers and sisters. However they are not afraid to die for their faith. If they are threatened with death or to renounce their faith, they will die for what they believe in. I know that before my children went into foster care I had limited information on what Jehovah’s Witnesses were all about. I was under the impression that they only went house to house on Saturdays knocking on doors. I thought they were annoying. Feeling like everywhere I went I was approached by one saying that they are the only true word of God, when I thought my god was. I learned quickly that everyone has a different idea of what their God was. Jehovah’s witnesses have been known to not celebrate holidays like birthdays, Christmas, or thanksgiving. I would use their religion as a type of threat toward my children saying â€Å"If you don’t knock it off we will become Jehovah’s Witness and then you won’t get presents during birthdays or holidays. † Since, my children are in a home with this as the main religion and belief system, I feel like I should apologize to them because I must have sounded like a bigot. I think that the discrimination and stereotyping that Jehovah’s Witnesses experience comes from a lack of understanding by anyone of a different belief. I think that what I have learned about this religious group did help me nderstand it. It helped me to realize that Jehovah’s Witnesses, like any other religion, just want to show everyone that what they believe is not bad. They want to show what their religion means. They want the same as others do, the belief that you can be saved by a god. The racial/ethnic group that I chose is the Pacific Islanders. I chose this group because I don’t know nothing about it. I think getting information on this group will be extremely interesting. Pacific Islanders are from many different places. American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Mariana Islands, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and the Independent State of Western Samoa. (http://www. pica-org. org/websurf/websurf. html). In 2011 there were approximately 1,371,564 Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders who live within the United States. They significantly reside in California, Washington, Utah, Texas, New York, Texas, and Florida. They make up about . % of the U. S. Population (http://minorityhealth. hhs. gov/templates/browse. aspx? lvl=2lvlID=71) On May 29, 2013 President Obama spoke about AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month. (http://www. whitehouse. gov/administration/eop/aapi/blog) I thought that was very interesting. He talked about his Pacific Islander ethnic background. He said: â€Å"We value these voices because from the very beginning, ours has been a nation of immigrants; a nation challenged and shaped and push ever forward by diverse perspectives and fresh thinking. And in order to keep our edge and stay ahead in the global race, we need to figure out a way to fix our broken immigration system-to welcome that infusion of newness, while still maintaining the enduring strength of our laws. And the service and the leadership of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have proved that point in time and again. † Listening to him give a speech about the greatness of Pacific Islanders made me appreciate that ethnic group even more. Pacific Islanders speak over 100 different languages and come from more than 56 ethnic groups. (http://www. cdc. ov/features/aapiheritagemonth/). They are parts of many different religions. Like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Growing up in my church there were many Pacific Islanders members of our church. I can remember many of them having big families with many children. The Pacific Islanders do many things to contribute to American Culture. They contribute by working jobs. 7. 4 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are employed in the United States. They make up 5. 3% of the total workforce in the United States. About 300,000 workers are Pacific Islanders. (http://www. cepr. net/index. hp/publications/reports/diversity-and-change July 2011, Hye Jin Rho, John Schmitt, Nicole Woo, Lucia Lin and Kent Wong) Like many other cultures, they bring their delicious foods. They have a multitude of food from different countries. They bring that all to the table here in the United States. Although some of them have changed their diets to a more of an American way of eating, some still eat the foods of their lands. Throughout history, there has been many instances of racism and sexism toward Pacific Islanders in the United States Pacific Islanders continue to face oppression, racism, and discrimination in the United States. Since Pacific Islanders have a higher rate of diabetes they were charged higher rates for health insurance. The Affordable Care Act Will be a very good change for Pacific Islanders. They are known to suffer from higher rates of all types of circular diseases like, stroke, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. They also have the highest rates of obesity. The Affordable Care Act will change it so that it will be easier to get health care for them. Some states have had an English-only type of initiative. They seem to be for people who only speak English. I had no idea they were even allowed by law. It seems as though that people find ways to discriminate even with the laws that have been put in place. Just because some people cannot speak any other language, besides English. For them everything needs to be in English and no other language. About a century before, European-Americans did not allow people who didn’t speak English to learn English because they were afraid that they would become a minority. They were afraid of being â€Å"out-smarted† by others. They didn’t want to have to compete for fear of losing. I don’t believe this is fair. That is why I am glad there are some many laws coming into effect as well as more to come to make this country an even better place. (http://aspe. hhs. gov/health/reports/2012/ACAAsianAmericansPacificIslanders/rb. shtml) Most European Americans have discriminated against Pacific Islanders because they didn’t know English. The European Americans were afraid that if the Pacific Islanders learned English they would exceed them in many ways. They would become the minority. Many of the European Americans were believed to be threatened by this. I think I now have a better understanding of what it is like to be a Pacific Islander. The discrimination they have faced has seemed to make them a stronger people. I am happy to have them as part of my country. In conclusion, both Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Pacific Islander, people have experienced a discrimination that seems to have happened because of people who do not understand what they go through daily. They both seem to succeed in their lives because of the discrimination they have experienced. The Jehovah’s Witnesses hold up to their beliefs like the Pacific Islanders stand strong with their ethnic background. They are different because one is a religion and one is an ethnic group. An ethnic group is a group of people who have the same customs or origin. A religion is a belief in a god or a group of gods. I think that both the Pacific Islanders and the Jehovah’s Witnesses get discriminated against because of a lack of understanding.

Role Of Data Structures In Programming Languages

Role Of Data Structures In Programming Languages In computer science, a data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently. It is also known as the logical or mathematical model of a particular organization of data. Data structures are generally based on the ability of a computer to fetch and store data at any place in its memory, specified by an address a bit string that can be itself stored in memory and manipulated by the program. Thus the record and array data structures are based on computing the addresses of data items with arithmetic operations; while the linked data structures are based on storing addresses of data items within the structure itself. Many data structures use both principles, sometimes combined in non-trivial ways Choice of particular data model depends on 2 considerations:- It must be rich enough in structure to mirror the actual relationships of the data in real world. Structure should be simple enough that one can effectively process the data when necessary. Classification of data structure Primitive and Non-primitive : primitive data structures are basic data structure and are directly operated upon machine instructions.Example Integer,character. Non-primitive data structures are derived data structure from the primitive data structures.Example Structure,union,array. Homogeneous and heterogeneous : In homogeneous data structures all the elements will be of same type.Example array. In heterogeneous data structure the elements are of different types.Example structure. Static and Dynamic data structures :In some data structures memory is allocated at the time of compilation such data structures are known as static data structures . If the allocation of memory is at run-time then such data structures are known as Dynamic data structures.Functions such as malloc, calloc,etc.. are used for run-time memory allocation. Linear and Non-linear data structures : Linear data structure maintain a linear relationship between its elements and whose elements form a sequence and every element in structure has unique predecessor and successor. Example array. Non-linear data structures does not maintain hierarichal relationship between the elements. Example tree Some Data Structures And Their role in Programming Languages Stack In computer science, a stack is a last in, first out (LIFO) data structure. History The stack was first proposed in 1955, and then patented in 1957, by the German Friedrich L. Bauer. The same concept was developed independently, at around the same time, by the Australian Charles Leonard Hamblin.. Operations on stacks A stack can have any abstract data type as an element, but is characterized by only two fundamental operations: push and pop. The push operation adds to the top of the list, hiding any items already on the stack, or initializing the stack if it is empty. The pop operation removes an item from the top of the list, and returns this value to the caller. A pop either reveals previously concealed items, or results in an empty list. Simple representation of a stack A stack is a restricted data structure, because only a small number of operations are performed on it. The nature of the pop and push operations also means that stack elements have a natural order. Elements are removed from the stack in the reverse order to the order of their addition: therefore, the lower elements are typically those that have been in the list the longest. In modern computer languages, the stack is usually implemented with more operations than just push and pop. Some implementations have a function which returns the current length of the stack. Another typical helper operation top (also known as peek) can return the current top element of the stack without removing it. Basic architecture of a stack Role of stacks in programming languages Languages such as Adobe PostScript are also designed around language-defined stacks that are directly visible to and manipulated by the programmer. C++s Standard Template Library provides a stack templated class which is restricted to only push/pop operations. Javas library contains a stack class that is a specialization of vectorthis could be considered a design flaw, since the inherited get() method from vector ignores the LIFO constraint of the stack. The simple model provided in a stack-oriented programming language allows expressions and programs to be interpreted simply and theoretically evaluated much more quickly, since no syntax analysis needs to be done, only lexical analysis. The way programs are written lends itself well to being interpreted by machines, which is why PostScript suits printers well for its use. However, the slightly artificial way of writing PostScript programs can result in an initial barrier to understanding the PostScript language and other stack-oriented programming languages. Whilst the capability of shadowing by overriding inbuilt and other definitions can make things difficult to debug and irresponsible usage of this feature can result in unpredictable behaviour it can make certain functionality much simpler. For example, in PostScript usage, the showpage operator can be overridden with a custom one that applies a certain style to the page, instead of having to define a custom operator or to repeat code to generate the style. Implementation In most high level languages, a stack can be easily implemented through an array. What identifies the data structure as a stack in either case is not the implementation but the interface: the user is only allowed to pop or push items onto the array or linked list, with few other helper operations. The following will demonstrate both implementations, using C. Array The array implementation aims to create an array where the first element (usually at the zero-offset) is the bottom. That is, array[0] is the first element pushed onto the stack and the last element popped off. The program must keep track of the size, or the length of the stack. The stack itself can therefore be effectively implemented as a two-element structure in C: typedef struct { int size; int items[STACKSIZE]; } STACK; The push() operation is used both to initialize the stack, and to store values to it. It is responsible for inserting (copying) the value into the ps->items[] array and for incrementing the element counter (ps->size). In a responsible C implementation, it is also necessary to check whether the array is already full to prevent an overrun. void push(STACK *ps, int x) { if (ps->size == STACKSIZE) { fputs(Error: stack overflown, stderr); abort(); } else ps->items[ps->size++] = x; } The pop() operation is responsible for removing a value from the stack, and decrementing the value of ps->size. A responsible C implementation will also need to check that the array is not already empty. int pop(STACK *ps) { if (ps->size == 0){ fputs(Error: stack underflown, stderr); abort(); } else return ps->items[ps->size]; } Procedures A procedure in a stack-based programming language is treated as a data object in its own right. In PostScript, procedures are denoted between { and }. For example, in PostScript syntax, { dup mul } represents an anonymous procedure to duplicate what is on the top of the stack and then multiply the result a squaring procedure. Since procedures are treated as simple data objects, we can define names with procedures, and when they are retrieved, they are executed directly. Dictionaries provide a means of controlling scoping, as well as storing of definitions. Since data objects are stored in the top-most dictionary, an unexpected capability arises quite naturally: when looking up a definition from a dictionary, the topmost dictionary is checked, then the next, and so on. If we define a procedure that has the same name as another already defined in a different dictionary, the local one will be called. Anatomy of some typical procedures Procedures often take arguments. They are handled by the procedure in a very specific way, different from that of other programming languages. Let us examine a Fibonacci number program in PostScript: /fib { dup dup 1 eq exch 0 eq or not { dup 1 sub fib exch 2 sub fib add } if } def We use a recursive definition, and do so on the stack. The Fibonacci number function takes one argument. We first test whether it is 1 or 0. Let us decompose each of the programs key steps, reflecting the stack. Assume we calculate F(4). stack: 4 dup stack: 4 4 dup stack: 4 4 4 1 eq stack: false 4 4 exch stack: 4 false 4 0 eq stack: false false 4 or stack: false 4 not stack: true 4 Since the expression evaluates to true, the inner procedure is evaluated. stack: 4 dup stack: 4 4 1 sub stack: 3 4 fib (we recurse here) stack: F(3) 4 exch stack: 4 F(3) 2 sub stack: 2 F(3) fib (we recurse here) stack: F(2) F(3) add stack: F(2)+F(3) which is the result we wanted. This procedure does not use named variables, purely the stack. We can create named variables by using the /a exch def construct. For example, {/n exch def n n mul} is a square procedure with a named variable n. Assume that /sq {/n exch def n n mul} def and 3 sq is called. Let us analyse this procedure. stack: 3 /n exch stack: /n 3 def stack: empty (it has been defined) n stack: 3 n stack: 3 3 mul stack: 9 which is the result we wanted. Expression evaluation and syntax parsing Calculators employing reverse Polish notation use a stack structure to hold values. Expressions can be represented in prefix, postfix or infix notations. Conversion from one form of the expression to another form may be accomplished using a stack. Many compilers use a stack for parsing the syntax of expressions, program blocks etc. before translating into low level code. Most of the programming languages are context free languages allowing them to be parsed with stack based machines. Example in C #include int main() { int a[100], i; printf(To pop enter -1n); for(i = 0;;) { printf(Push ); scanf(%d, a[i]); if(a[i] == -1) { if(i == 0) { printf(Underflown); } else { printf(pop = %dn, a[i]); } } else { i++; } } } Runtime memory management A number of programming languages are stack oriented, meaning they define most basic operations (adding two numbers, printing a character) as taking their arguments from the stack, and placing any return values back on the stack. For example, Postscript has a return stack and an operand stack, and also has a graphics state stack and a dictionary stack. Forth uses two stacks, one for argument passing and one for subroutine return addresses. The use of a return stack is extremely commonplace, but the somewhat unusual use of an argument stack for a human-readable programming language is the reason Forth is referred to as a stack based language. Almost all computer runtime memory environments use a special stack (the call stack) to hold information about procedure/function calling and nesting in order to switch to the context of the called function and restore to the caller function when the calling finishes. They follow a runtime protocol between caller and callee to save arguments and return value on the stack. Stacks are an important way of supporting nested or recursive function calls. This type of stack is used implicitly by the compiler to support CALL and RETURN statements (or their equivalents) and is not manipulated directly by the programmer. Some programming languages use the stack to store data that is local to a procedure. Space for local data items is allocated from the stack when the procedure is entered, and is deallocated when the procedure exits. The C programming language is typically implemented in this way. Using the same stack for both data and procedure calls has important security implications (see below) of which a programmer must be aware in order to avoid introducing serious security bugs into a program. Linked Lists In computer science, a linked list is a data structure that consists of a sequence of data records such that in each record there is a field that contains a reference(i.e., a link) to the next record in the sequence. A linked list whose nodes contain two fields: an integer value and a link to the next node Linked lists can be implemented in most languages. Languages such as Lisp and Scheme have the data structure built in, along with operations to access the linked list. Procedural languages, such as C, or object-oriented languages, such as C++ and JAVA, typically rely on mutable references to create linked lists. History Linked lists were developed in 1955-56 by Allen Newell, Cliff Shaw and Herbert Simon at RAND Corporation as the primary data structure for their Information Processing Language. Role of linked lists in programming languages Many programming languages such as Lisp and Scheme have singly linked lists built in. In many functional languages. In languages that support Abstract Data types or templates, linked list ADTs or templates are available for building linked lists. In other languages, linked lists are typically built using references together with records. Here is a complete example in C: #include /* for printf */ #include /* for malloc */ typedef struct node { int data; struct node *next; /* pointer to next element in list */ } LLIST; LLIST *list_add(LLIST **p, int i); void list_remove(LLIST **p); LLIST **list_search(LLIST **n, int i); void list_print(LLIST *n); LLIST *list_add(LLIST **p, int i) { if (p == NULL) return NULL; LLIST *n = malloc(sizeof(LLIST)); if (n == NULL) return NULL; n->next = *p; /* the previous element (*p) now becomes the next element */ *p = n; /* add new empty element to the front (head) of the list */ n->data = i; return *p; } void list_remove(LLIST **p) /* remove head */ { if (p != NULL *p != NULL) { LLIST *n = *p; *p = (*p)->next; free(n); } } LLIST **list_search(LLIST **n, int i) { if (n == NULL) return NULL; while (*n != NULL) { if ((*n)->data == i) { return n; } n = (*n)->next; } return NULL; } void list_print(LLIST *n) { if (n == NULL) { printf(list is emptyn); } while (n != NULL) { printf(print %p %p %dn, n, n->next, n->data); n = n->next; } } int main(void) { LLIST *n = NULL; list_add(n, 0); /* list: 0 */ list_add(n, 1); /* list: 1 0 */ list_add(n, 2); /* list: 2 1 0 */ list_add(n, 3); /* list: 3 2 1 0 */ list_add(n, 4); /* list: 4 3 2 1 0 */ list_print(n); list_remove(n); /* remove first (4) */ list_remove(n->next); /* remove new second (2) */ list_remove(list_search(n, 1)); /* remove cell containing 1 (first) */ list_remove(n->next); /* remove second to last node (0) */ list_remove(n); /* remove last (3) */ list_print(n); return 0; Queue A queue is a particular kind of collection in which the entities in the collection are kept in order and the principal (or only) operations on the collection are the addition of entities to the rear terminal position and removal of entities from the front terminal position. This makes the queue a First In First Out. In a FIFO data structure, the first element added to the queue will be the first one to be removed. This is equivalent to the requirement that whenever an element is added, all elements that were added before have to be removed before the new element can be invoked. A queue is an example of a linear data structure. Representation of a Queue Example C Program #include int main(){ int a[100],i,j; printf(To DQueue Enter -1n); for(i=0;;){ printf(NQueue ); scanf(%d,a[i]); if(a[i]==0) break; if(a[i]==-1){ a[i]=0; if(i==0){ printf(Wrongn); continue; } printf(DQueue = %dn,a[0]); for(j=0;j a[j]=a[j+1]; i; } else i++; } for(j=0;j printf(%d ,a[j]); return 0; }

Homelessness And The Policy Responses

Homelessness And The Policy Responses In this essay, the social problems I have chosen to write about is Homelessness. I will also be exploring different perspective of Homelessness and the policy responses and the impact it have on the society. The groups I will focus my discussion on are young people and rough sleepers as the evidence indicates that young homeless people experience rough sleeping before securing temporary accommodation. There are wide ranges of definition Homelessness and it varies from country to country or among different institutions in the same country. According to |Liddiard, M (2001:119) the immediate sense of the term as regularly employed by the mass media and politicians, simplistically equates homelessness with rooflessness or literally sleeping rough on the street. This is can be a straightforward and easy to understand definition but this does not reflect the true scope of the problem so a broader definition of homeless peoples include those lacking permanent residence and living in a range of unsatisfactory housing conditions. They can include those living in temporary hostels, bed and breakfast, night shelters and squatters. However, the legal definition of someone homeless is if they do not have a legal right to occupy accommodation or if their accommodation is unsuitable to live in. They also include families and peoples who do not sleep rough and some are accommodated by friends and family on temporary basis. So from the above definition the social construction of homelessness are not the small amounts of individual that sleep on the street, looking dirty and smells of alcohol and drugs but comprises of all individual who do not have a permanent decent place of accommodation or without a regular dwelling and are on a waiting list or takes housing benefit and in temporary accommodations. (Giddens 2007) The cause of homelessness varies as many are of the view that homelessness is a result of personal failings and consider if the economy is going on well, there is no excuse to be homeless. Shelter (2007) is of the view that homelessness is cause by a complex interplay between a personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s individual circumstances and adverse structural factors outside their direct control. Among the individual factors include social exclusion, thus when a person lack of qualification because they did not have access to good education and decent job. Ones misuse of drugs and alcohol which result in lack of personal control, lack of social support and debts especially mortgage or rent arrears. Having mental health problems and getting involved in crime at an early age also contribute to homelessness. Family breakdown and unresolved disputes are a major factor of homelessness as a result of divorce and separation and a greater number of men and women are affected. People from institutiona l background like having been in care, the armed forces are likely to be affected. Ex-offenders who come out of prison and lose their friend and families can become homeless and the majority from ethnic minority or ex-asylum seekers who have the right to stay but have no accommodation. Structural causes of homelessness are mostly social and economical in nature often outside the control of individual or family concerned. These may include poverty, lack of affordable housing, unemployment and the structure and administration of housing benefit. According to the shelter (2007) the number of households found to be homeless by local authorities increased 31percent between 1997/98 and 2003/2004. Historically, homelessness had low publicity until the 1966 when the BBC screened Ken Loachà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s film about homelessness Cathy Come Home. This was watch by 12million people and the film alerted the public, the media and the government to the scale of the housing crises and then Shelter was formed. Another policy response was the 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Acts was the first measure to place responsibilities on local authorities to rehouse homeless families and individuals permanently. (Liddiard, M .2001) The 1977 legislation had Priority Need which included women with children or pregnant, vulnerable due to age, mental illness, disability, and loss of home by natural disasters. This did not cater for everyone who was homeless and the criteria by which local authorities accepted someone as homeless was complex and rest ricted. Hence the 1996 section 177 amended to include domestic violence as a priority need but strict eligibility remains (Hill, M: 2000). Young people were not covered under the existing legislation and the number of young homeless increased. Existing data on youth homelessness has significant limitation; in particular it is only possible to count young people who are in contact with services. According to ONS (2007) it can be estimated that at least 75,000 young people experienced homelessness in the UK in 2006-07. This included 43,075 aged 16-24 of which 8,337 were 16 -17 year old who were accepted as statutorily homeless in the UK and at least 31,000 non-statutorily homeless young people using supporting people services during 2006-2007. The Homelessness Act (2002) changes significantly the way in which homeless in England and Wales is tackled. The priority need categories was extended to includes 16/17 years rather those who social services are responsible for accommodating, care- leavers under the age of 21 who were looked after by social services when they were 16/17 and ex- prisoners, former soldiers and young p eople leaving care. This act also introduces greater flexibility with regards to social housing allocation giving more people the right to be considered for a council or housing home. The local authorities had a statutory duty to care for all the homeless people but no extra resources were added. This had a great impact on the number of homeless people who were able to relocate permanently at a given time and especially those under priority need. Young people experiencing disruption or trauma during childhood who may be from socio-economic background are at increased risk of homelessness. The main trigger for youth homelessness is relationship breakdown usually parents or step-parent. Among the impact of homeless on young people is poor health as they cannot take care of their health being. They lack basic food and shelter to help them grow to become healthy adults and they may suffer from depression. Homelessness can lead to increased levels of non- participation in formal education, training or employment. At times leaving school early without a qualification and a decent job may lead some young people into the misuse of drugs and some have mental health problems. Another homeless group of concern is the rough sleepers who were in temporary accommodation but some choose to roam the streets, sleeping rough free from the constraints of property and possessions. But a large majority has no such wish at all but they have been pushed over the edge into homelessness by factors beyond their control. Once they find themselves without a permanent dwelling, their lives sometimes deteriorate into a spiral of hardship and deprivation. ( Giddens 2009:503) The Homelessness Act 2002 extended the definition of the priority need to include new groups of vulnerable people, and requirement that all homeless people receive advice and assistance. In addition, Local Authorities are requires to periodically develop homeless strategies, including an assessment of levels of homelessness and conduct an audit of those sleeping rough. In 1998 there were around 1,850 people sleeping rough on the street of England on any one night. This follows on from the government drive to reduce rough sleeping by two-thirds in 2002. The Rough Sleeper Unit was set up in April 1999 to take the lead on delivering this challenging new target and help thousands of people to escape fro good from the humiliation and misery of life under a blanket in a shop doorway. One of the key principal of the strategy was to understand the cause of rough sleeping, why people end up on the street and what could be done to stop this from happing in the future. The strategy also place t he emphasis on encouraging rough sleepers to become active members of the community, to build self esteem and bring on talent as well as helping the individual to become prepared for the life away from the street. Positive result soon follows as reductions in rough sleeping were achieves around the country in December 2001 the target set by the government was met ahead of time. The target was met amid the controversy about how rough sleepers were counted and concern about the emphasis on street homelessness, which campaigners claimed was only tip of the homelessness iceberg. According to BBC New Magazine, housing minister Grant Shapps believes that the government figures on the count of rough sleeper is low and the system of counting is flawed. He argues that, under previous governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s system, councils with fewer than 10 rough sleepers were not obliged to count them, and that vagrants sitting up in sleeping bags were not counted as homeless. After Mr. Shapps insisted that councils provide estimates, the England wide figure rose to 1,247, this comprised 440 from 70 authorities that count and 807 from 256 authorities that provided estimates. Despite government investment in hostels to accommodate rough sleepers many are on waiting list as resources and financing is limited. Overcrowding, lack of bed space and sharing rooms or limited facili ties with others are also identified as a problem especially if you have a partner or a dog, your choices narrow considerably. Although the quality of hostels has improved considerably, hostels are often considered unsafe. Over 57 percent of those who stayed in hostels mentioned problems with other residents, including drug and alcohol use, violence, theft, bulling, noise and arguments. And some are of the view that it is not a place to go if you want to stay clean of drugs. People are under the same legislation and the local authorities are unable to permanently house all in priority need. In addition to the above, there are certain groups who are excluded from hostels, such as people from the EU and asylum seekers from non-EU countries who are homeless and destitute in the street of the UK. Their entitlement to benefits is restricted until they have lived and worked and paid into the UK system through national Insurance and tax for one year continuously. Such laws bring about social exclusion as street homeless people have reduced access to health care and dental services. They face discrimination and general rejection from other people and may have increased risk to suffering from violence and abuse. The impact of rough sleeping is limited access to education, not being seen as suitable for employment and loss of usual relationship with the mainstream. Most of all, living on the streets is dangerous as rough sleepers die young with the average life expectancy at 42. Inequalities among the population still remain one factor of homelessness. Privatisation and residualisation of the council housing meant that fewer houses are available for council tenant. This imposes greater long term risks on the former council tenants while also generating considerable costs for the taxpayer. The process also excludes the many tenants who either reject transfer or are not given the choice and therefore exacerbates inequalities. There are 1.4 million unfit home in England as the majority of homeowners are in the private sector. The increase of housing association rents and increases in house prices means most people cannot afford a decent accommodation. Low income families are the most affected as 4 million people receiving housing benefit. ( Quilgars D. et al 2008) In conclusion, the problem of homelessness has been tackled by the governments over the years through policies and legislation. However, the problem require long term policy solutions such as changes in the benefit system, the building of more affordable homes and ensuring that a wider cross- section of society benefits from the fruits of economic growth. For many people, there is no single event that results in sudden homelessness; instead homelessness is due to a number of unresolved problems outlined above building up over time. The achievement of one government policy on rough sleepers indicates much could be done to reduce the impact of homelessness as the number still rises. Ministers are now focusing on the prevention of rough sleeper and youth homelessness through a new government homelessness strategy.

Legalization of Marijuana :: legalized marijuana

Legalization of Marijuana Marijuana is the cause of much commotion and debating, as the question of legalization becomes more of an issue. Drugs are a major influential force in countries all over the world today. Legalization is an option that has not had a chance, but really should be given one. Although many people feel that legalizing marijuana would increase the amount of drug use, marijuana should be legalized because it will reduce the great amount of money spent on enforcement, and will therefore increase our countries revenue and lessen crime, and will also be useful in treating certain medical conditions. Marijuana, also known as pot, weed, bud, herb, ghanja, grass, wacky tabacci, funky bhudda, green, indo, mary jane, hemp, kif, bones, funny stuff, etc. is a substance obtained from the dried leaves and flowering tops of the pistillate hemp plant. It is technically known as cannabis sativa and is a tall, widely cultivated Asian herb of the mulberry family. There are many di fferent ways of getting this drug into one's system. The most common method consists of rolling the finely chopped substance in thin papers to make marijuana cigarettes or joints. It is also smoked through a pipe or through a water filtration system known as a bong. Legalization is considered unnecessary by many people. They feel that it will increase the amount of drug use throughout the world. They state that in many cases, drug users who have quit, quit because of trouble with the law. Legalization would eliminate the legal forces that discourage the users from using or selling drugs. They also say that by making drugs legal, the people who have never tried drugs for fear of getting caught by the law, will have no reason to be afraid anymore and will become users (Snyder, 1988). Legalization will be profitable to global economies in two ways. It will allow for money spent on drug law enforcement to be spent more wisely and it will increase revenue. There have been escalating cost s spent on the war against drugs and countless dollars spent on rehabilitation. Every year in the United States, ten billion dollars are spent on enforcing drug laws alone. Drug violators accounted for about forty percent of all criminals in federal prisons (Marijuana retains.., 1990, p.A-6). In 1989, a Republican county executive of Mercer County, N.J., estimated that it would costs approximately one billion dollars to build the jail space required to house all the drug users in Trenton alone(Talah, 1993, p.

Things They Carried Essay: Rebirth of a Spirit :: Things They Carried Essays

Rebirth of a Spirit in The Things They Carried Speaking of courage is a story found in Tim O ' Brien's The Things They Carried about a solider named Norman Bowker who has returned home from the Vietnam War. As Bowker circles the town's "source of pride" he comes to realize that the town that he left so many years ago will never be the same. While his life was paused by the war, theirs weren't. He also comes to understand that while the people he once knew have changed that he has also changed. He has been consumed by a war and it will forever alter his being. When Norman Bowker returns to his hometown after the war things seem to have moved on without him. It seems that while his life was put on pause, his friends and family had moved on to their lives. His simple wish is for the past to be the present once again. He speaks of his friends Max Arnold and Sally Kramer. Now, Max was dead and Bowker refers to him as an idea. He talks of how things would be different if Max was around to listen to all his stories and how Max would have enjoyed them. The irony is that Max is gone. At one time Bowker had carried a picture of Sally in his wallet. He talked of how he would stop and talk to her when he saw her while driving. He decided that he might impress her with his knowledge that he had acquired during the war such as his ability to predict the time at any point during the day within 10 minutes. He repeatedly said "if she was to listen". Just like the others she did not want to think about the war, it was in the past. Page 143 makes a clear po int that "The town could not talk, and would not listen.. It (the town) did not know shit about shit, and did not care to know". As Bowker continues what seems to be a trip back to what is reality he circles the town lake nearly 13 times. This lake is the life of the town and is very symbolic in itself. On one side of the lake the houses are "modern, with big porches and picture windows facing the water" on the opposite side the houses were described as "handsome, though less expensive and on a smaller scale".

Winnie’s Dramatic Story in “Happy Days” by Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett’s play, â€Å"Happy Days,† portrays a woman, Winnie, buried in the ground, first up to her waist, then up to her neck, determined to live out her meaningful life. Although her situation is hopeless because she has no idea how she got there, Winnie trusts that her life is meaningful and truly believes that there is nothing she can do to change it. Consequently, Winnie focuses on trivial details to pass each day. Beckett definitely succeeds in making this character’s life dramatic by consuming her life with habits and rituals. Winnie’s life is focused around certain details that help her cope with her anxiety of existence. Beckett shows that internally Winnie is afraid of what cannot be predicted or controlled and therefore has her resort to trifles. Winnie’s dramatic story is centered on a famous quote from Beckett’s first published play, â€Å"Waiting for Godot,† in â€Å"Habit is the great deadener. † Although this play is a comedy, there is a deeper side of the characters as well. It is funny in the aspect that both Winnie and Willie live in some strange universe unfamiliar to the readers and that they lead essentially meaningless lives, somehow surviving the passage of time, lack of connection with each other, and purposeless existence. As the play goes on, however, the reader starts to sense that Winnie has a fear deep inside of her about what is to come. She even starts mumbling a half forgotten prayer at the beginning of Act One where the reader only picks up, â€Å"World without end Amen† (752). Winnie blatantly prays for a world that has infinite life so she will not have to see the face of death. As the play develops, it is revealed that Winnie tries to avoid confronting the reality of her situation, Willie’s ignorance towards her, and the inevitability of death. It is almost as if Winnie is in denial about her life but does not yet recognize it. She, however, repeats, â€Å"†¦can’t complain – no no – musn’t complain much to be thankful for† (753) and â€Å"No better, no worse, no change, no pain† (753) as if she really is in pain and absolutely refuses to believe it because she merely trusts that she leads a meaningful life. Perhaps an evident way Beckett portrays Winnie’s dramatic story is through the variation of the phrase â€Å"this will have been a happy day† that she repeats throughout the play. Winnie proclaims this only after Willie cknowledges her existence. Each time Willie ignores her, Winnie’s conversation becomes futile and she starts to get the feeling that her hopes are false because she spends the majority of her day telling stories and yearning for her husband’s response. Her â€Å"happy days† seem to be when she experiences human interaction. Winnie understands that she talks a lot but she simply talks in hopes to generate some sort of human response. Winnie is overdramatic when Willie even utters a tiny word and proclaims that it is truly a happy day for her, once again renewing her hopes of a happy life. She seems to be a typical dramatic romantic woman who is desperate to keep her relationship with her husband alive. Winnie even admits, â€Å"I am not merely talking to myself, that is in the wilderness, a thing I could never bear to do – for any life of time† (756). She understands that speaking aloud to no audience is simply just internal thought and is fearful for that day when she will have nobody to talk to. Winnie repeats â€Å"simply gaze before me with compressed lips† (756) throughout the play portraying her fear that one day she will have to resort to staring into space in internal thought only. Optimistic Winnie, however, assures herself that she will always have her black bag to resort to when words fail. Seeking to fill the hours of the day, Winnie chooses to reminisce about the past, speak in â€Å"old style† language, and carry out various rituals. Her black bag is the source of her rituals and it seems to be all that she really has, considering Willie hardly ever acknowledges her. Winnie starts and ends her day by the sound of a bell, quickly moving to the minute details like brushing her teeth, combing her hair, polishing her glasses, and putting on lipstick. Habit is Winnie’s sole consolation in her thought of a threatening universe winding down and eventually burning out. She insists on constructing activities to pass the time and to provide a sustaining illusion of meaning. Every action taken is in hopes to diminish her loneliness. Her rituals, repetitive in nature, erase Winnie’s distinction between past, present, and future. It is almost as if she has no free will and her habits consume her entire life on an almost superstitious level. Winnie must complete every ritual each day in order to feel whole. In the beginning of the play, the reader picks up on Winnie’s compulsiveness when she dramatically proclaims, â€Å"My hair! Did I brush and comb my hair† (756)? It seems as if superstition creeps in and Winnie cannot continue her day if she does not fully complete her rituals. Winnie bases her future on her next ritual. All of her available sources for optimism, however, are being used up in her black bag so she must work harder and harder to stay positive. Winnie lives in a static world believing that such an existence with no change will fend off death. Beckett’s quote, â€Å"Habit is the great deadener,† suggests otherwise, contradicting Winnie’s only beliefs. Winnie focuses so much on the miniscule details and following a routine that the objects start to control her, causing her to lose self control and actually driving her closer to death with such static routines. The ritual Winnie looks most forward to is singing her song at the end of the day. It excites her to sing it but she quickly becomes saddened at the end, once again exemplifying her dramatic story. The song perhaps gives her a sense of hope for life in the beginning, but Winnie realizes that it is not true in her own relationship, quickly becomes distraught, and must accept the fact that life will return to normal with her habits and rituals the next day. By the end of the play, Winnie is buried up to her neck in the ground but still refuses to admit the absurdity of her situation, constantly assuring herself that each day is a happy day, even if she is on the verge of tears. Winnie relies solely on habits and rituals to protect herself from what she cannot predict. She does not realize, however, that consuming her life with these rituals is actually bringing her closer to death. Beckett even symbolizes this through the fact that Winnie is buried up to her neck by the end of the play, taking away her ability to complete all of her rituals, and making the statement clear that death is near. Beckett succeeds in making Winnie’s story dramatic through her specific rituals and exemplifying his idea that, â€Å"Habit is the great deadener. †