Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Financial statement analysis Essay

Financial statement analysis is a process which examines past and current financial data for the purpose of evaluating performance and projecting future risks and potential of a company. Financial statement analysis is used by various people and companies for different reasons, e.g. investors, creditors, lending officers, managers, employees and many other parties who rely on financial data for making economic decisions about a company. The objective of this David Jones financial statement analysis is to identify the company’s performance issues, to provide suggestions and recommendations by employing the Ratio Analysis method and analysing Profitability, Efficiency, Short and Long term Solvency, and by using Market Based Ratios. The following report outlines the financial performance of David Jones Limited based on the FY2011 & FY2012 Annual Reports. The key measures used to assess company performance are Profitability, Efficiency, Short & Long-term Solvency and Market-Based Ratios. David Jones has performed well in a few areas which include having solid cash flows, low debt, a strong balance sheet and assets in prime locations; however there is definite room for improvement with regards to sales performance, and it needs to address the high cost of sales and sluggish inventory in order to turn around company profitability and performance. We have studied your 2011 and 2012 financial reports and statements and can see that your company’s sales performance has been declining year on year. Sales revenue for FY2012 was down -4.8% when compared to FY2011, and FY2011 sales were down -4.45% vs. FY2010. Your chairman and management have blamed this on the depressed consumer sentiment and increased global competition as a result of the strong Australian currency. â€Å"The uncertainty of Europe and USA and volatility in global equity market have contributed to a general feeling of uncertainty, the strong Australian dollar also contributed to price deflation and encouraged spending offshore.† (page 2, Annual Report) Profitability In FY2012, all measures of profitability were considerably down on last year. Gross Profit was down from $767m to $670m, and the Gross Profit margin (GP %) was down 160bp to 37.5% (-4.2% on FY2011: 39.1%). The poor GP % has been the result of discounting in a competitive environment and dealing with excess inventory on hand at the commencement of FY2012 (page 5, Annual Report). When compared to your main competitor Myer (Market Capitalization 1.59b1 Vs. DJS 1.477b2), there is a large variance between the Gross Profit Margins of the two companies (Myer GP % FY2012: 49.3%3, +160bp from previous year, DJs-FY2012: 37.47% -160bp). This can be attributed to Myer’s much lower Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) (Myer 56% Vs. DJs 62.5% in FY2012). Myer has a competitive advantage in the marketplace with a larger network of stores and greater buying power. Their larger volume of purchases may mean they are able to obtain lower cost prices with suppliers. However, there are a few key areas you have identified in your Future Strategic Direction plan which we feel will assist in lowering your COGS and result in a better GP % rate. Firstly, signing exclusive brands to your portfolio will ensure product differentiation to customers and better control over supplier trading terms and prices. Secondly, the Cost Price Harmonisation that you are engaging in with suppliers (page 3, Annual Report) is key to maintaining your GP % and ensuring that your COGS do not rise and prices do not become uncompetitive with international retailers. Thirdly, discontinuing lower margin categories and moving towards a greater product mix of higher margin categories (page 4, Annual Report) will increase your GP % in the long run and ensure you maximize the profit outcome from the inventory you carry. For example, introducing more private label house brands could be one strategy in which to increase the proportion of higher margin products in your portfolio. The Net Profit Margin in FY2012 dropped drastically compared to FY2011 (-36.9%, $101 vs. $168 million), with sales revenue dropping -4.8% ($1.867b vs. $1.962b). It was however, on par with Myer at 5.4%. The main factor contributing to the big fall in net profit were the high operating expenses over FY2012. Depreciation expenses were up by +13.23%, leasing expenses were up by +6.1%, advertising and marketing had gone up +19%, administration expenses were up by +29.4%, and finance costs were up +40%. Excess inventory during the clearance period also resulted in heavier discounting and contributed to the fall in net profit. Whilst your company has noted Cost of Doing Business (CODB) Reductions as one of the points in your Future Strategic Direction Plan, there are many other areas that can be addressed to ease operating costs. For example, a reduction in the size of all or some of your retail stores will result in savings in store costs such as leasing, staff, utilities, and so on. This could be implemented in conjunction with the Omni Channel Retailing strategy as highlighted as the first point in your Future Strategic Direction Plan (page 3, Annual Report), as customers move away from traditional bricks and mortar shops and increasingly to online shopping destinations. The excellent growth rate in HY2013 of your online store4 highlights the opportunities in the online channel and the change in customer shopping behaviour. With regards to the Asset Turnover ratio, your company performed slightly better than Myer Holdings in FY2012 (1.5 Vs 1.34, Refer to Appendix B). Internally, there was an 8% drop that was due to sluggish sales performance (1.5 Vs. 1.63, Refer to Appendix A). Since your Net Profit Margin dropped dramatically in FY2012, the Return on Assets (ROA) followed suit and decreased by -41% (from 13.96 to 8.23, refer to Appendix A); not a good result in asset management performance. Your company’s property portfolio consists of 4 buildings valued at $612 million (page 5, Annual Report). All of these buildings are in the prime locations, with two in the Sydney CBD and two in the Melbourne CBD. The rental income is assumed to be in the vicinity of $39 million per annum (page 5, Annual Report). If a reduced size store was considered, a potential income of $10-15 million could be generated per annum, increasing the net profit percentage by 9-14% (Net Profit FY2012 – $101,103,000). Your company’s re-development consideration is a long-term process and we believe it will be successful in generating positive ROA with the appropriate planning. Improving the Gross Profit margin while maintaining current overheads will result in a positive increase in the Net Profit margin position and enhance the overall performance of the company. Efficiency Efficiency is more meaningful when compared to peers in the same industry and can assist in identifying businesses that are better managed relative to others. By comparing your figures with Myer, your company performed better in Inventory Turnover (89 days vs 96 days, Appendix A & Appendix B), which means you have a better stockturn and are generating revenue from your inventory in a shorter period of time. However, 89 days is still a fairly high measure as it means you are sitting on stock for an average of 3 months before it is sold through. To improve your inventory turnover, you could consider dropping your bestselling items more frequently to stores, but with smaller quantities each time. This will ensure that the stores which are selling through the stock quickest remain in stock at all times, without a large amount of unsold stock building up in the slower performing stores and affecting your inventory turnover. It also means you will be generating sales and cash more quickly from your stock investment. Myer performed slightly better on â€Å"Average Days Sales Uncollected† (DJS: 3.5 days vs. Myer: 2.5 days, Appendix A & B). To improve this measure for example, you could encourage more online sales to generate faster turnover into cash than store card sales which are monthly billings. Internally, FY2012 performed slightly better than FY2011 in Average Days Sales Uncollected (FY2012: 3.5 vs. FY2011: 4 days) but worse in Inventory Turnover (FY2012: 89 vs. FY2011: 87 days). The differences were negligible. Short-Term Solvency David Jones has a good ability to meet its short-term financial obligations, with a Current Ratio of 1.05 in FY2012 (Appendix A) outperforming Myer at 0.88 (Appendix B). However, since the Quick Ratio is not high at 14.4% (Appendix A), short-term liquidity could be an issue. When compared with Myer at 11% (Appendix B), David Jones has performed better. The Current Ratio performed better in FY2011 than FY2012 by 14.6% (Appendix A). The main reason for this is the 15.1% increase in Current Liability ($306 million Vs. $266 million), with the $40 million difference due to an increase in Account Payables. There is no change in the Quick Ratio from FY2011 to FY2012 (14.4%), i.e. on the low side and short-term liquidity can be an issue, should not allow it to be deteriorate. The â€Å"Cash & Cash Equivalents† and â€Å"Receivables† figures totaled $36.935 million which represented around 14% of â€Å"Payables† in the 2012 Annual Report. In order to achieve a better short-term liquidity position, a more efficient ordering & inventory control system should be implemented. Less inventory on hand equates to more cash and liquidity. Excess inventory can jeopardize a company’s liquidity, in addition to causing stock problems and markdowns at the end of a season as was evidenced in FY2012. Long-Term Solvency You company performed much better than Myer Holdings in the area of Long-Term Solvency. Your company has demonstrated consistency in this area and long-term solvency should not be an immediate issue with your organization. The Debt to Equity ratio showed that there was an increase of 11% in FY2012 compared with FY2011 (Refer to Appendix A), i.e. the liability has gone up relative to shareholders’ equity. The main contribution to the increase is due to the +22.3% ($265m Vs. $216m) increase in the Payables account. It is important to ensure that this trend does not continue and that debt does not continue to rise when compared to equity levels. With strong non-current assets of $917 million & total assets in excess of $1.24 billion, the Debt to Total Assets ratio is healthy, with FY2011 at 35% and FY2012 at 37% (Refer to Appendix A) respectively. The extra 2% was due to the liability increase and it was the fallout of excess inventory as discussed in the short-term solvency section. Market-based Ratios To calculate the Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio, we used the share price on 16/5/2013 ($2.80). This equates to a PE ratio of 14.43, with the Earnings yield ratio at 6.93% and the Dividend yield ratio at 6.25% (dividend was 17.5c). Myer Holdings’ dividend yield was around 7% (dividend of 19c with share price at $2.70). The market-based ratio is higher than your main competitor (Myer PE ratio is 11.8)5. However the Price/Earnings ratio indicates that today’s share price of the company is on the low side as it is below 15. The majority of analysts believe that the company is performing below par and do not recommend buying or holding David Jones shares at the moment. Eva Brocklehurst of FNArean.com is quoted as saying in March 2013, † David Jones (DJS) is transforming. For brokers it’s not a moment too soon, as department stores have been plagued by a soft consumer environment and a need to respond to new trends in shopping. In its first half results the company has flagged progress with its strategic plan, reducing costs and expanding margins. Earnings were ahead of expectations for the half but sales growth was not. What pleased was the increased margin. What concerns brokers? Most importantly, a lack of sales momentum. There’s no Buy rating on the FNArena database. Two brokers have downgraded ratings to Sell in the wake of the results. There are five Sell ratings. There was one upgrade to Hold, and there are three Hold ratings. The consensus target price is $2.73, suggesting 11.5% downside to the last traded share price. A dividend yield of 5.5% is reflected in consensus earnings forecasts for FY13.†6 Performance Issues As highlighted above, your declining sales performance is the biggest concern for shareholders and needs to be addressed immediately. Whilst earnings were ahead of expectations, this was managed by cost reductions and a move towards increased margins. An improvement in sales in conjunction with the efforts you’re undertaking to reduce expenses and the cost of doing business will result in an improvement in the bottom line and signal confidence in the company and a turnaround for investors. David Jones has been labelled as an up-market department store. Australia’s $12 billion fashion retail industry is forecast to grow by only 0.5% in FY2012 with only an average 1.2% annualised growth expected for the next 5 years, according to analysis group IBISWorld. Furthermore, IBISWorld says shoppers are now more likely to buy low to mid-range priced clothing which has contributed to the declining value of retail sales. In general, the outlook is not too positive for the industry.7 Greater differentiation is required between David Jones and Myer in order to attract and retain customers. Mark Ritson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Melbourne Business School commented, â€Å"David Jones and Myer are just two sides of same boring coin.† He says, â€Å"I still believe to this day that most people coming out of either David Jones or Myer on Bourke Street don’t know which one they just come out of.†7 Some of the issues have been addressed by your company’s Future Strategic Direction Plan, for example, a move towards Omni Channel Retailing, building a â€Å"Home of Brands† strategy which differentiates David Jones from Myer, and cost improvements including GP margin improvements, CODB reductions and Cost Price Harmonisation with suppliers (pages 3-6, Annual Report). Conclusion A thorough review of your company’s FY2011 and FY2012 Financial Report & Statements has indicated that David Jones has a strong balance sheet, solid cash flows, low debt, and assets in prime locations. David Jones has performed on par, or better than Myer in the areas of Net Profit Margin, Asset Turnover, Inventory Turnover, and Short & Long-term Solvency. However, the company’s declining sales performance is the biggest area of concern. Almost all measures of profitability were worse than Myer and have been falling when compared to David Jones’ own performance in prior years. We believe that further differentiation from Myer, cost reductions & margin improvements, harmonization of prices to become more competitive with international competitors, better inventory management & a reduction in excessive stock, reduced retail floor space, and the move towards Omni-Channel Retailing will enhance the value of your company and result in better performance for all stakeholders. We hope this report has provided insightful recommendations into improving the performance of your company. This report has been generated for your company’s own reference and not for any other purposes. Other companies or individuals should not use or rely on any material contained within this report without the consent of our office.

Improved and reliable car technology Essay

This means it is much more appealing to travel, maybe to further places on the motorway network as it is so easy. This has an impact on travel and tourism as more people are willing to travel. Air Travel.   Dr. Hans von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle are both recognized as being the co-inventors of the jet engine. Each worked separately and knew nothing of the other’s work. Hans von Ohain is considered the designer of the first operational turbojet engine. Frank Whittle was the first to register a patent for the turbojet engine in 1930. Hans von Ohain was granted a patent for his turbojet engine in 1936. However, Hans von Ohain’s jet was the first to fly in 1939. Frank Whittle’s jet first flew in 1941.   The development of pressurised cabins meant that there was a supply of air which then they could fly higher and get out of the troposphere where all the weather conditions affected the flight. As without the pressurised cabin, flights couldn’t go above in to the stratosphere, into the thin air as there would be no air supply. This meant flights are more enjoyable and quicker, therefore more appealing to the public. Aircrafts can now reach heights of 30,000- 40,000 ft, whereas they could only reach heights of 15,000 ft. The Boeing 747, also popularly known as the jumbo jet, is the second largest passenger airliner after Airbus A380, but it remains the largest aircraft in commercial service. The 747 was born out of the explosion of the popularity of air travel in the 1960s. The enormous popularity of the Boeing 707 had revolutionised long distance travel in the world, and had began the concept of the global travel made possible by the jet revolution. The original design was a full length double decker. However, following issues with proposed evacuation routes, this idea was scrapped in favour of a wide-body design. Concorde 001 took off for the first test flight from Toulouse on March 2nd 1969 and the first supersonic flight followed on October 1st. As the flight program of the first development aircraft progressed as planned, 001 started off on a sales and demonstration tour beginning on September 4th 1971. Not until June 2nd 1972 did Concorde 002 follow suit with a sales tour of the Middle and Far East. Concorde 002 made the first visit to the United States in 1973, landing at the new Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to commemorate its opening. Technological features. Many technological features common in the early 21st century airliners were first used in Concorde For speed optimization, Concorde featured:   Double-delta shaped wings   Thrust-by-wire engines, ancestor of today’s FADEC controlled engines.   Droop nose section for good landing visibility For weight-saving and enhanced performance, Concorde featured:   Fully electrically controlled analogue fly-by-wire flight controls systems. I got this picture from: http://www. nationmaster. com/encyclopedia/Concorde * Computerised checking-in and baggage handling also makes going on holiday so much easier and more appealing for people to go on holiday. This therefore has an impact on travel and tourism as people are more willing and confident to go on holiday as everything is so much quicker and easier.   Sophisticated air traffic control makes going on a plane even safer as technological developments have vastly improved. This therefore gives people more confidence in flying and therefore more people do. I got this table from: http://www. air-quality-management. co. uk   This table shows how the quantity of people using air travel has increased since 1970. It has predicted the amount of passengers from 2010 to 2030. It also shows an increase. This is because it is becoming more popular to fly and as it is more comfortable, entertainment on the flight and it’s much quicker which makes it so much more appealing to fly. * The growth of regional airports has also increased due to the amount of people wanting to travel abroad. Airports have many facilities which make it easier for the public. There are monorails and coaches to the airport from the car parks that make it so much more accessible to get the airport. This is why the travel and tourism industry is increasing as everything including the facilities and ability to travel is much more efficient and easier. Conclusion. The impact air travel has had on the travel and tourism industry is significant. This is because since the 2nd world war planes have become bigger as so they can hold more people making flights cheaper. This means more people can afford to go on holiday to far destinations and also have the better quality journey. Therefore air travel has affected travel and tourism greatly. Sea Travel. * Sea travel has changed since the 2nd world war from the main form of global passenger transport to shorter-journey car ferries and cruises. This is because people use to go on a ferry to America because flying was very uncomfortable as technology was only developing. But when the jet engine and pressurised cabin were developed the need to go on the ferry was decreased as people could fly over instead, taking less time. This meant the ferry was not needed and so it became a cruise instead of like a `bus service`. * Ferries have become more popular due to the capacity of people they can get on them. This means that prices are reduced so it is more affordable for more people. Also as car ownership has increased the need for ferries which can hold cars is more important. The ferries such as the sea France Rodin and the Brittany ferries are good examples in which can take vehicles and loads to destinations. Each route has been specifically designed to save drivers large amounts of time and mileage, making us the logical choice of the professional. I got this picture and map from: http://www. brittanyferriesfreight. co. uk/ These are the offers Brittany Ferries include: Direct and cost-effective routes   More mileage-saving departure ports and destinations   A personal service offering individually tailored solutions. From abnormal loads to small vans Top quality food and on-board facilities This map shows where the ferry travels to. The wide choice of sailings enables people to choose the port most convenient for them, keeping driving to a minimum. The arrival ports also offer easy access to the major road networks in France and Spain, making driving on the continent easier. Ro-Ro ferries are the idea in which you take your vehicle onto the ferry and then when you get to the destination you can just `roll off`. This made it much easier and convenient as it’s a simple concept to use. Sir Christopher Cockerell was the inventor of the hovercraft in 1956. The hovercraft could carry twice as many passengers and vehicles, but this meant it was slower. The hover craft was replaced by the invention of the sea-cats. The sea cat would as it gets faster lift making the journey quicker. Compared to conventional ferries, the sea cat fleet of smaller, faster vessels results in fast loading and unloading – coupled with the fact that all of the cross-Channel services are run from dedicated ports, makes travelling on the sea cat fast and hassle free experience. I got this picture from Google search on images under `sea cats`.   An issue which meant Health and Safety issues were considered was the landmark disaster of the Herald of free Enterprise. It capsized in the approaches to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge en route to Dover in England at 7. 05pm local time on March 6, 1987. At least 150 passengers and 38 members of the crew lost their lives, most inside the ship, from hypothermia, in the frigid water. The bow doors had been left open after departure and water flooded the car decks. The tragedy led to new safety regulations in the British ferry Industry. Conclusion. Sea travel has dramatically improved over the years since the 2nd world war where both the journey and safety wasn’t good enough. Now ferries are very much more appealing to the public and offer a wide range of services. This means the public can Computerised Booking Systems. Before there was a computerised booking system, travel agents used to work with wall charts. On these charts they had lists of available different resorts and airlines. People had to write out tickets which weren’t very efficient. Today travel agents have a 1/4 of a million pounds worth of computer systems which they can use the website to gather useful information, quickly and efficiently. The technology also means travel agents such as Sunvil can make databases of their customer’s history in holidays. Another recent technology that has helped to increase the efficiency of booking a holiday is a global distribution system. This consists of a speedy dedicated-line access, a huge database of details including accommodation, travel, hotels and car hire. It is also global. This means the sales process is easier and more efficient. Global distribution Systems include: Worldspan. Worldspan provides worldwide electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and e-commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers, and corporations.   Worldspan system provides approximately 16,000 travel agencies with travel data and booking capabilities for hundreds of the world’s leading travel service suppliers. Worldspan employ 2,500 people which show that the market is massive. It proves how big travel and tourism has become and how it is increasing. Amadeus. Amadeus offers a service in which the public can suit their holidays to themselves. This means information comes from all over the world to give the costumers the best chance of getting the holiday they want. The electronic information on Amadeus contains flight details, accommodation and dates in which are available. There are many online travel agents, these include: Expedia. Expedia is a virtual online travel agent which means you can book everything from you flight to hotel. Their aim is to replace high street travel agents.   Expedia also works with a GDS to get the results they want for their costumers. This has a booming impact on travel and tourism as it is so much easier to book a holiday as everything can be catered for, for your own personal needs. Sunvil Holidays.   Sunvil online offers a different service to Expedia as you can’t book online whereas they offer a variety of holidays around the world. You can either book by phone or request to order a brochure. Sunvil have been operating holidays since 1970. They also offer unique tailor made travel options. This is what makes it ideal and appealing to potential costumers. Another technological development is e-ticketing. Here is the booth in which you enter your details into when you come to the airport. This means you don’t need a paper ticket which gives you less things to worry about and loose. Once you have booked with the airline, you can check yourself in. this saves on time and is much more efficient. This relates to the ever growing industry of travel and tourism as everything is becoming easier and quicker to do. Making going away much more appealing to the public. (I got this picture form Google search on images. ) Conclusion. Computerised booking systems make it much easier for tourists going on holiday as it creates less hassle. This makes it much more engaging for the public. The technological development therefore relates to the increase of travel and tourism as going on holiday is so much more efficient to the technology. 3. Product Development and Innovation. Holiday camps. In the 1950`s Butlins was very popular and was the main idea for a family holiday. I got this leaflet from:http://www. butlinsmemories. com/6/id77. htm This is the leaflet from the 1950`s which states that this was the `real ` holiday that everyone wanted. This was the case then, when the concept of holidays was restricted to only the UK. Nine UK camps were built. They can be divided into three distinct eras: The pre-war camps of Skegness (1936) & Clacton (1938), the wartime camps of Filey, Pwllheli and Ayr and the post-war camps of Mosney (1948), Bognor (1960), Minehead (1962) and Barry (1966). There were already quite a few holiday camps in existence but Billy Butiln took the concept to a whole new level by making them far bigger and by offering a previously unheard of range of entertainment and activities. The Butlin camps were really in a league of their own and were far larger than anything seen before or since. In the drab post-war years of mainland Britain the camps promised and delivered a world far removed from anything most people had experienced before. The brightly coloured buildings with exotic names, the seemingly endless list of entertainment and activities, the wonderful flower gardens, and all available for the equivalent of a weeks pay. Now Butlins has now become less popular as more people want to go abroad on long haul holidays as flights and accommodation is so cheap. Although, Butlins is trying to re-launch itself. It offers a range of cheap holiday with savings that will hopefully bring people back to enjoy the Butlin experience. As you can see from the screen print, the prices are low and are appealing to families to single adults looking for a good night entertainment also. I got this screen picture from: http://www. butlinsonline. co. uk/   Whereas Butlins was aimed at the working class, the new genre of holiday camps are aimed at the middle class. These camps include Centre Parcs and Oasis.   These camps offers accommodation suitable to the size of your family. The chalets are set into woodland making it very private. The main centre building offers everything from restaurants and bars to swimming pools all under one roof. Everything is very much more sophisticated than Butlins and is suited to families rather than single people. The family is a main target for travel and tourism and so centre parcs is making the most of the money that families have by accommodating for them. I got this screen print from: http://www. centerparcs. co. uk/   This screen print gives information on the resort and sells their concept well. Package holidays. * Package holidays developed in the 1960`s when jet travel was in force and people had more holiday time due to the holiday pay act by the government.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Entertainment V. Addiction Essay

There is a definitive and quite distinct difference between wholesome, quality entertainment and addiction. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury very clearly states the variation among the two. Through his examples and characters in his story about a very realistic society, he expresses his opinions and almost foresees something quite relevant to society today. However, there will always be those select few who will recognize the worthlessness of mindless propaganda that seems to infect the minds of humankind. Television takes a prominent role in the script of everyday life. Additionally, it takes an even larger role in the lives of the citizens of Bradbury’s metropolis. Actually, it is more of a brain cell cemetery. For example, Mildred, the main character’s (Montag’s) wife, is constantly bombarded with television and radio programs. In fact, three walls in the parlor of the couple’s home have been converted into giant television screens! For Mildred, however, this is not good enough. She whines that having a fourth wall installed would make her happy, and that she couldn’t possibly be happy without it. Her argument is that the installation would only be $2,000 and that in order to earn this money they could just â€Å"do without a few things†. This could be considered addictive, taking into account that she is willing to give up part of the way that she lives in order to further intoxicate her mind and make her even number to the world around her . And as a result of this constant flow of trivial nonsense into her system, she is made to feel as though she is thinking for herself, acting for herself, and having a wonderful time. During the time that Ray Bradbury had written this book, television was a brand new invention. It was not too terribly popular yet, but he thought that it posed a problem. In Ray’s mind, people would be consumed by irrelevant and insignificant programs, which may become habit-forming as time progressed. He wrote of enormous televisions, which we can relate to modern-day flat screens. Bradbury foretold of people becoming reliant on technology, and not being able to ponder life and all of its questions†¦ to just stop and smell the roses! This is all very relatable to modern society,  and it is easy to see where it fits into everyday life. Clarisse, a seventeen year old girl in Fahrenheit 451, is able to show Montag that life does not have to be lived in such a way as to think that being unaware of the world is a good thing. She is able to show him that there are ways to enjoy one’s self without needing anything but an open mind. Clarisse is one of those genuine people who are able to think for themselves, who asks the â€Å"why† instead of the â€Å"how† of things. Furthermore, the intellectuals that Montag meets also have that same zest for life. They are able to understand the importance and necessity of the thoughts of others in the past. These intellectuals realize that a better understanding and perception of life can come from theminds of others. Faber, an exceptionally odd character, is also one of those remarkable people. He is able to realize that true entertainment comes from enjoying life and exploring its mysteries. He is able to find joy in free-thinking and learning in a way that is completely separate from the superficial way of his society. Montag also slowly comes to this great discovery throughout the book. It starts with him just being curious. But isn’t that all it takes to do something great, a spark of curiosity? In conclusion, Mr. Bradbury’s position is clear as crystal in his novel Fahrenheit 451. Entertainment consists of inspiring and enlightening ideas and activities, while addiction can come easily and swiftly from those things that will deaden the mind and will bring nothing of value into the thoughts of mankind. And even though they can be rare, those who are able to look past those things and find the worthwhile substance in life will gain more out of life by being able to look at the world in new ways.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Network Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Network Security - Essay Example But with this ease of information access comes the issue of security. With the increase of information flow, there has been an increase in the number of attacks on information by hackers. Attacks such as Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks, Spoofs, Sniffing, etc. have increased with the increase in the availability of hacking tools which are free of cost. Valuable information is lost in the process. For example, if a customer buys a product of a particular organization through their web-site and a hacker presents himself as the organization and receives the money from the customer, valuable information such as the ID of the customer, his credit card numbers, his passwords are all stolen by the hacker. Therefore such information has to be transferred securely over the Internet. Encryption is the most common way of securing valuable information while transmitting over the Internet (Rahman, 2003). Networks are secured in a different manner. They are secured using tools called "Firewalls". W henever transactions or information between a customer and an organization are being carried out, a particular pattern is followed. Firewalls recognize and allow only these transactions or processes to be carried out and block out all the unrecognized patterns. By implementing Firewalls, most of the attacks from the hackers can be kept out. Securing a network just does not happen. There are many issues to be considered when making policies for network security. The three main issues back in the earlier days were Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. Due to the advances in the technologies, these issues have been mostly resolved. But in the present day Networks, other issues have appeared. These issues will eventually result in the breaching of confidentiality, integrity and availability thereby defeating the cause of coming up with Network Security policies. We can ask the following questions to resolve the recent issues related to Network Security: Should Identity Manager be put back to the User Identity Control from the top down approach has traditionally been imposed by all Enterprises and Governments. But this has resulted in resilience from the users. Users have always found it difficult to cope up with the time constraints resulting from the above mentioned approach. This approach looks increasingly antiquated for the present day user needs. Microsoft's Kim Cameron once noted that: "A system that does not put users in control will - immediately or over time - be rejected" (Dean, 2006). This is true because users expect real fast response and do not like to waste their time in waiting for a response from the requested network or system. Identity Control being at the Server side is the key to ensuring trusted relationship for billions of business transactions all over the world. Identity Control being at the server side makes it possible for the replying Network to ensure that the keys constructed are secure. Since the control will be present with the server, no user will have chance of even attempting to break the key and steal the information being transferred. At the macro level, the advantages that accrue in the form of innumerable applications and services,

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Accessibility or Accountability Annotated Bibliography

Accessibility or Accountability - Annotated Bibliography Example The author of the article discusses the controversies between the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. He addresses the problems that take roots in the melding of NCBH and the IDEA. In the course of the analysis, the author defines that the IDEA appears to be suitable and acceptable for the individuals with disabilities than NCLB and invites the U. S. Department of Education to stop the tension between the two acts. The article is important for the understanding of the issue of the collision between the acts and shows the point of view of the counterparty which is opposite to that one discussed in Kaufman and Blewett's article. Â  The article under consideration presents the results of the research on the effectiveness of the No Child Left Behind Act in increasing student achievement rates. In accordance with the authors of the research, despite the negative predictions, the NCLB Act has a positive influence on the rates of student achievement. The article shows that there are significant improvements not only among students with average achievements but among those ones from low-achieving groups. The article can be used in the research while discussing the positive outcomes of the introduction of the Act to the system of education. Â  In the article, Research Professor of Sociology at John Hopkins University Joyce L. Epstein discusses 1118 section of the No Child Left Behind Act that touches upon parental involvement. More specifically, the author of the article presents her own views on the requirements to parental involvement considered in the NCLB Act, gives a range of example from practice.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

COMM GROUP ASSIGNEMTN Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

COMM GROUP ASSIGNEMTN - Assignment Example It would inquire respondent student’s personal backgrounds. Possible answers to the question would provide the respondent’s name, origin (such as Hispanic) and marital status. The second question would inquire the respondent student’s place of residence. The third question would investigate the interesting cultural facts in the respondent student’s personal history. Answers to the question would involve the respondent student’s mentioning of any interesting idea. The fourth question inquires the experiences that respondent student have had adapting to new cultures. Due to Modernization and globalization, the world society appreciates shared cultures. The students are likely to share such cultures as website communication through social media, westernized dressing style, food choices and the love for games. They all have a sense of collective professional career pursuit. Despite the pressure of globalization and modernization, the student would still experience some cultural difference between them. For example, students would have such cultural differences as religious beliefs, food choices, peer interaction, racial segregation, ethnicity and social interactions (Timmerman, 2007). Firstly, they must psychologically be prepared to handle one another from a diverse perspective owing to their cultural diversity. They should develop a formidable conflict resolution mechanism among themselves. Moreover, the ought to primarily view themselves as brothers irrespective of their regional, racial or ethnic

Friday, July 26, 2019

The MYKI electronic ticketing system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The MYKI electronic ticketing system - Essay Example The MYKI Electronic Ticketing System Although the MYKI electronic ticketing system has been praised a number of times, it has also received a considerable amount of criticisms. These have been generated by the range of failures and loopholes experienced during the project. This project replaced the Metcard ticketing system that was used in Metropolitan Melbourne among other ticketing systems used in busies within the same region. It is the most recent contactless ticketing system that makes use of a smartcard and which is used on public transport. This system started on the 29th of February 2009 and was valid for train service transport of the Metropolitan system (Mitchelle, 2009). From the project management viewpoint, some of the things that have been discovered to have gone wrong include the lack of ability by Lynne Kosky, who was the public transport manager to remember the number that was to be used by passengers to buy a ticket. As a result of this, a computer error occur and r esulted in over 1,600 people receiving new Myki cards onto which their names were printed wrongly or indicated as anonymous. With its production alongside other similar Metcard services, the government continued to make payment in order to ensure that commuters had sufficient opportunity to switch to the Myki electronic ticketing system. Most of the News agents also refused to sell the Myki cards since they earned far less commission from the government than that generated from the other Metcards.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

School Law and Public Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

School Law and Public Policy - Essay Example The aim of this research paper is to clearly assess the manner in which the policymakers can take the voices of educators under consideration. It is for this purpose that a case has been selected for evaluation. In specific, the paper will present a comparison and contrast of the options including strike by the educators or political action course to get representation in the process of policymaking. In order to backup the comparison, references will be taken from legal clauses, past literature, The purpose of this section of the paper includes a number of past cases where educators have either used the method of strike or political action course to make sure that their representation is taken under consideration. Herein, it should be marked that among the major educational changes that have occurred in different societies of the world, Peru holds a revolutionary approach towards in educational reform as its history. The approach that was undertaken by educational policymakers of Peru was political action course. Following the Education Reform Commission, the military forces applied Universal Diversified Secondary Schooling (ESEPs). The fact remains that the educational policymaking undertook the opinions of the educators under consideration for which a proper assessment method was implied. As a contradiction, the reform could not bring necessary changes and ultimately turned out to be a complete failure (Haddad & Demsky, 2010). Another case that can evaluate in this context is from Jordan where educational policymakers brought change as a result of declining economy. With the help of UNESCO, several educational plans were administered in Jordan. The fact remains that these policymaking processes could not take the role of educators into consideration for which the change was not being assessed as expected. It is

SMAILL GROUP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

SMAILL GROUP - Essay Example I knew all of the male group colleagues from prior interaction, and they were all capable of getting work done under some close supervision. The first person, from interaction in and out of class, I presumed him to be organized, hardworking, and brilliant could perform quality work. The second male colleague made the impression of someone who moves with the crowd, in that I knew if I could get the cooperation of the other members, he would also be inclined to contribute. While, among the female colleagues, two of them were already my friends and seeing them on my group was a relief. From our interaction, the level of commitment they each put in their personal work and class work assured me of support in any task we were to be assigned. However, the third female colleague, I had never interacted with, but from observing her and the way she handled herself, made me think she would pose a challenge in submitting any task assigned her to research. Group assignments meant that we were to have meetings for discussions, individual research on topics, compilation by members, revisions and presentations for the class on the findings. This implies that we had to spend quality time in the library doing research and discussing. In the course of our study, our group became among the highly rated in the class in performing and coordination tasks. This was because there was cohesion and mutual understanding of the group objectives among members in doing group tasks, thus, we were able to achieve high marks due to the quality of the work we presented in class, and majority of our lecturers acknowledged the quality of work we completed. Socially, we created a bond that I never thought we could achieve when the group was first created, this level of interaction made our group to be respected and relied on by our classmates on tasks. Over the course of the academic year,

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Foundation Property Writing Task Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foundation Property Writing Task - Essay Example As a particular constructive trust would relate only to the specific property, the legal professionals also call it as a â€Å"proprietary† remedial method of solving the particular disputes†¦.(Duhaime , 2009) Trusts are frequently established in a will, which could be called as a trust instrument, where the settlor is referred to as a testator. Hence an express trust implies that the settler has expressed a wish to establish the will. However, there is no explicit intention on the part of the settlor to establish a constructive trust. The establishment of such trusts is the consequences of legal responses to the events that might have been encountered during any property transactions. Accordingly, the purpose of constructive trusts should revolve about its binding effect on the issues of law in developing the major issues like honoring commitments, disgorging gains and repairing losses. Hence, the rationale behind the constructive trusts should consider these three main themes, while discussing the obligations and rights under the property law. As no firm and agreed list of rules is available under the English law, which could govern the constructive trusts, their rationale and guidance comes from various court cases, where the concerned judges have suggested rules for the constructive trust, pertaining to specific case. Accordingly, five rules on constructive trusts are briefly summarized below: However, these and other rules that bind the foundation of constructive trusts being heterogeneous in nature, there have been a fair amount of confusion about the concepts of such trusts and the liabilities involved in referring to the same. Accordingly, the above rules remain debatable, when judged under different circumstances. For example, it may be a mild punishment for an honest trustee to surrender his term, after he has renewed the

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Information Security Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Information Security Proposal - Essay Example This includes the recovery from network downtime. It also includes the plans and security in place for the A paradigm can have various meanings. It refers to â€Å"your basic beliefs† and your approach to the world which affects the way you define your research and how you collect and analyse data (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p. 47). The research approaches used in the study comprises a mixture of both the â€Å"phenomenological paradigm† which is also referred to as a â€Å"qualitative† approach, and the â€Å"positivistic paradigm† also known as the â€Å"quantitative† approach (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p. 47). As the research will utilize interviews to collect data, it would be advantageous to use both the qualitative and quantitative approaches. This will be useful when conducting interviews, as the phenomenological paradigm helps the researcher to â€Å"get a feel for the key issues† and provides â€Å"confidence† in the accuracy and depth of the data collected as the main issues have been covered (Saunders & Lewis & Thornhill, 2000, p. 98). Furthermore, working within the positivistic paradigm will assist in measuring the data and the correlation between the variables, and the quantitative research outcome could be measured against existing theory. Using a mixture of approaches and techniques has advantages, as all methods have pros and cons. This means using a triangulation approach, which as Denzin & Lincoln (2000) explain â€Å"has been generally considered a process of using multiple perceptions to clarify meaning, verifying the repeatability of an observation or interpretation† (p. 443). Using both methods will help ensure that the research outcome is accurate and this â€Å"will lead to greater confidence being placed in your conclusions† (Saunders & Lewis & Thornhill, 2000, p. 99). It also reduces the â€Å"possibility of getting the answer wrong† (Saunders & Lewis & Thornhill, 2000, p. 100). For the research, data will be collected from two types of sources,

Monday, July 22, 2019

Gaggaet Essay Example for Free

Gaggaet Essay Kuma Maka Msenge wewe Unafirwa wewe Kuma wewe Your mum’s pussy Your gay Sexual intercourse of gay Your pussy What kinds of swear words do you use in your own language? Korean English Sexual intercourse Reproductive Organs Idiotic Animalize Malay Babi Pig One of the rudest word in Malaysia Malaysia is a Muslim country and Islam is restricted to pork. The religion has food restrictions according to their own dietary laws, which is â€Å"Halaal† Swahili Msenge Wewe Gay One of the rudest word in Tanzania Homosexuality is not forgived in Tanzania. It’s new to their culture. It is also defined as man is using you. Have you ever spotted some differences between the swear language women and men use? Men tend to use the rudest one. Men use swear words more than women do. -? To establish a masculine identity or to express group solidarity. Men tend to use more swear words related to sexual intercourse and reproductive organs than women do. Men (1) You’re a pussy, dick, jerk, cunt (2) What/Why/How/When the fuck Women (1) You’re a bitch, ass, shit (2) What/Why/How/When the hell Men (1) Unafirwa (2) Pumbaru (silly) Women (1) Malaya wewe (your bitch) (2) Mshenzi (nasty attitude and behavior) Men often use swear words to show or express friendliness ; Women don’t. Hey what the fuck?! How the fuck did you get here? Come and have a bite you dickhead. Why do language learners often find it easy to remember swear words in English? The brain treats swear words differently than other words. From a scientific research, swearing is a motor activity with a strong emotional content. This is one reason that most people remember swear words four times better than they do other words. Swear words trigger emotion. Effects from Mass media Books Society Trend Slang Thank You

Sunday, July 21, 2019

How to Become a Successful Political Leader

How to Become a Successful Political Leader What is the strategy for becoming a successful political leader? Heba Ziad Before becoming a political leader, ask yourself why do you want to be a politician, set your goals and projects, and study the aspects of yours energy to achieve these goals and projects. A politician’s duties outweigh the rights as a citizen, so have your thought about your duties? A politician is responsible for their party, homeland and themself, responsible to raise the level of  their county and to address its issues. Responsible for the selection of parliamentary assemblies and to exercise their natural rights in their way. Political actions are a subject to man to exercise it. So did you study your facilities to ensure your success? It’s not enough for people to consider you a politician, you have to ensure your answer to people that wonder; what concerns you as a politician? What are your hopes? Where are your efforts? Where is your opinion and your voice? Where is your approach to serve your country and your nation? What is your curriculum? If you wish to be a successful politician, there is no success without ambitions. Aspiration not selfishness, to preach for motivation, adopt a vast of hopes and look into the future with determination, confidence and reassurance is not enough to spend your life as a member of a party or a minister, why don’t you become the party leader or the head of the ministry? A successful politician should not be tempted or condoles the situation your country is at, you must have the ambition to work on expanding the fellowship of your country, to increase its resources, upgrade it, and accept the ultimate position between countries in the world. Ambition is the key factor in the life of every successful politician, self ambitious, general ambition for the good of the country, the good of the world and the good of humanity. The life of politics is all about sacrifices, and a successful politician is satisfied with sacrificing everything for the sake of a principle, a party or a home. The life of politics and governance deprive politicians from corporate memberships, free businesses from the fields of the economy, from life comfort, convenience and peace of mind. Deprived of security, tranquility and safety, from taking care of their wife, children and siblings, from practicing their right to take care of their health and temper, from feeding their spirit with streams of science and literature. A successful politician is willing to sacrifies all these luxuries for the sake of their success as a respectable politician. The notion that politics is all about lying, flattery and hypocrisy is a weak sentiment, not one of the characteristics of a successful politician. Politics is frankness and sincerity, and not vice versa. A successful politician is an honest politician who can speak boldly of their opinion even if it cost him carrying the colors of harm, injustice and suffering. Political positivity is successful positivity. A politician by the name â€Å"Nuri Said† says: â€Å"Political negativity is easy, it is in the capacity of every man to practice, however, political positivity is the touchstone of every successful politician† It’s not enough to say no. A successful politician ought to say after what they want. It’s not enough to carry the pick of demolition, they should work on the building and construction, it is not enough to repeal, oppose and criticize, but they should take the initiative to lay the foundations to build something else in exchange. There is no place in the ship of successful policy for what we can call ship mice; if it sinks, they flee. A successful captain is one who is responsible for the ship and delivers it to safety, overcoming what intercepted it from waves, winds and hurricanes. They ensure the safety of the passengers, steers the ship towards safety and does everything they can in order to ensure its path with all their voltage, experience and intelligence. Therefore, if the ship sinks, they are the last one to leave it, and they might drown with it. The sense of responsibility and bearing it is necessary and a great thin in the life of both the ship, and the nations and empires, hence in order to succeed you must learn to carry responsibility. If a politician has espoused a principle, they ought to speak boldly of it,  are  they an oppositionist or a supporter? Which parties do they oppose and which do they support? They should not favor where there is struggle, nor deceive where there is combat, they should not evade or run away, nor bury their head in the sand. Ergo, a successful politician is a brave politician. A politician must read a lot. They should be enlightened in everything in literature, theirtory, philosophy, nature, poetry, the biographies of the great and the theirtory of art and music. Culture is like vitamins for the politician, it is their spine; it is a qualification in their conversations and speeches, and a reference in their researches. An ignorant politician, no matter how smart, brilliant, popular or patriotic they are, are not up to success as long as their sleeve is lacking the main element of success, that is culture. Do you want to be a successful political leader? Here’s what you have to do: Have a positive mindset, and direct yourself to solutions, actions and people; enthusiasm brings success. Embrace change; it is impossible for change not to occur. Followers tend to resist change, a successful leader must embrace change and seize the opportunity offered by it. Courage; â€Å"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions† Douglas MacArthur â€Å"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer† George S. Patton Take risks; the greatest venture is to never take risks. Successful leaders resolve to win or try again. Listening; successful leaders listen and learn. Your potential followers know what they, so just listen to them. Communicate; successful leaders lean towards open communications, they use their minds, say what they feel and speak from the heart. Delegation and empowerment; leaders involve other people with their responsibility. They do not tell people what to do, but set and example for others to follow them. A successful leader encourages other people to develop, challenges them to take over new responsibilities, encourages them to succeed and supports them if they fail. A good leader understands that mistakes are only lessons on the path towards success that is beneficial. Understand others, yourself and your situation. Good leaders understand the importance of an open-loving mind for knowledge; the permanent pursuit of knowledge brings more understanding. Commitment; commitment is the catalyst that makes qualities of a good leadership a reality. To rededicate yourself to commit every day to commit is the foundation of becoming a successful leader. Start small, and then lead a group or a committee. Do everything necessary for the success of ttheir group or committee. Repeat such acts again until they become normal. Respect the attributes of leadership and the influence of those who wish to reach leadership.

Consumer Behaviour in Organic Food

Consumer Behaviour in Organic Food A RESEARCH STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR WITH REGARD TO ORGANIC FOOD IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND INDIA Executive Summary Consumer Behaviour is an aspect that is being very vital in the globe of marketing. Food is a basic requirement for all the livelihoods and consumers require maximum satisfaction on the products they choose. Now consumers are more conscious about their health and choose nutritious food though they are expensive. Todays consumers are increasingly displeased with GM (Genetically Modified) and conventional food and are therefore stirring up to organic food. Many consumers are going organic not only towards food even towards clothing, beauty products, skin care and also paper. Organic food is not only healthier due to its ethical ways of production which do not use man-made chemicals and redundant preservatives as opposed to conventional food. It is also eco-friendly due to environment cognizant methods which are used for the production of organic food. The benefits of organic food are more whereas the disadvantages (such as price premium) are negligible when compared to its betterment. Regular buyers of organic food are willing to overlook this minor disadvantage when compared to its other disadvantages which affect their health. In spite of the debates, consumers prefer organic food to conventional food because it removes the question of eating food that is unnatural or food that is not eco-friendly. In this research work the consumer behaviour towards organic food in United Kingdom is studied and compared with that in India. The factors (such as consumer expectations, beliefs, criteria, concerns, quality, awareness etc) that affect marketing of organic food in UK and India are also studied with relevance to consumer behaviour. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT To successfully complete this dissertation was the most significant challenges I ever had. I would like to thank God and my parents who believed in me gave me full encouragement and support. Simon Speller, my supervisor who was very kind enough to help me out despite his academic and other commitments. I wish to express my warm and sincere thanks to him who encouraged me and guided me throughout my research study. His wisdom, immense knowledge and commitment to the high standard motivated and inspired me. He was always accessible and enthusiastic to help his students. Without his patience and directions I would have found it hard to complete my dissertation. I would like to thank specially my Module leader Yi Zhu, who encouraged me and never hesitated to help me out during my study. I immensely thank my friends and employees of the stores who were always there to lend me their hand. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background This research work revolves around the consumer behaviour and attitude towards organic food in United Kingdom and in India. A concise introduction will be given on consumer behaviour and how vital it is in the field of marketing. Secondly, an intense understanding of the term organic will be known. Many theories and phases associated with organic food will be emphasized and assessed in this dissertation. A various number of consumers of organic and conventional food are approached and consulted to get their views and estimation towards organic food. Not all the consumers approach towards organic food seems to be alike; consequently the application of certain statistical method helps us in further understanding the relation and the patterns in the consumer behaviour styles and trends in organic food in the two countries. This also helps us to identify how the consumers in UK and in India differ from each other and also we could recognize the ways they are similar in. On the whole, the similarities and differences between the consumers of organic food in UK and in India are deliberated. To obtain this information many respondents were requested to answer questionnaire concerning this topic and later on these answers were analysed using statistics. In the end these are discussed and limitations and conclusions are given and suggested. 1.2 Introduction to organic food Organic food is grown and produced using some production standards. The conventional pesticides, chemicals, fertilizers used for the production of conventional food are not used for organic farming. The organic farms are also free from human and industrial wastes. No artificial food additives and ionization process is used. Previously, organic food were grown only in private gardens and small farms thus making it only available in farmer markets or family run small stores. Nowadays, organic food is widely available. But there are a lot of standard and certifications that the sellers should possess to market the fruit and vegetables. There are heavy regulations in the organic fruit and vegetable industry. The organic food sales are expected to grow by a large percentage in the near future. 1.3 General Aim The aim of the study is to find out the consumer behaviour and approach towards the consumption of organic food in UK and in India. The elements and factors (health factors, eco-friendliness, production methods, ethics, taste, quality, safety standards etc) influencing the consumers decision making are also studied. 1.4 Research Questions How does the consumer behaviour towards organic food vary between India and UK? In what ways do consumers in the two countries expect the food to be different from convenience foods? What are the popular beliefs among consumers about organic food? When will India accept organic food widely, the way UK has? What makes organic food to be preferred more than convenience food? Why is there a variance between the preference rate and sales of organic food in both India and UK? What are the factors owing to this? How do the attitudes of Indian consumers differ from that of the British with respect to organic food? The above given question is the main aim and the biggest question for this study and research work. There are of course many sub questions as well which will also be researched in the course of this study. The question speaks about finding out the attitude differences in both the countrys consumer behaviour but the study might also prove the similarities in both the countrys consumer behaviour patterns towards organic food. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction In the literature review, the studies of previous research work by other researchers are conducted. This helps us to recognize what other research works have arrived at with relevance to consumer behaviour and organic food. It is of big help because it has allowed the perception of consumer behaviour in regard with organic food especially in the United Kingdom and India because research work is proposed to be more specific rather than being more generalized. Theories and patterns are analyzed from previous research work which helps us to comprehend the topic better. Its a framework which basically positions down the strategy for the research work. The concepts, theories, cases, models etc used for the presentation of the research are basically elucidated for understanding the study being carried out. In this dissertation, a few theories and models will be analyzed and discussed. 2.2 The effect of organic food on the environment The production of organic food is not harmful to the soil, water, air or even the flora and fauna in the sense that they do not release any toxins or harmful substances into the environment or the ecology as a whole. The energy consumed for organic farming is much lesser than the level of energy needed for conventional farming methods thereby helping energy conservation process. The usage of pesticides for farming of conventional food contains a great percentage of harmful toxic chemicals which have a negative impact on the health of the farmers, those living in the locality of the farms and the people who consume them. The aquatic animals in the water bodies near the farms and the birds which feed on the produce of these farms suffer various genetic problems and disorders which are mostly fatal. 2.3 Level of nutrients The content of nutrients in organic food are around 40% to 60% greater than that of the contents in conventional food. The level of antioxidants in organic food is up to 40% greater than in conventional food. These anti-oxidants are necessary for the normal well being of a person and helps in reducing the risks of various diseases and disorders. A large number of organic food consumers say it is much sweeter, tastier, better textures and firm than conventional food. 2.4 Cost: Organic food are anywhere between 5% and 40% more expensive than conventional food. This is due to the use of the standards and processes applied for its farming. It is more labour intensive because it is more difficult to farm organic food because they are prone to getting rotten easily if the standards and physical conditions are not met with. It uses more natural farming methods and is more often produced on a small scale level. Most countries import organic food and therefore it is more expensive than similar fruits which are produced conventionally. 2.5 Organic certificate: Most consumers of organic food think it is healthier for them. But to be sure what is being consumed is organic; one has to look for the certificate of organic food. To be certified as organic, a minimum of 95% of it must be organic. The rest 5% has stringent rules and standards. Synthetic chemicals or other processing standards are not acceptable. The food from a particular farm can be certified organic only if the farmer of that particular farm has been producing organic food for a minimum of 3 years. 2.6 Pleasure of going organic: Whether it is a psychological factor or not, it is not clear yet, but majority of organic food consumers on the whole feel it is tastier than conventional food. They also have the content feeling because they feel they are doing the environment better by opting to go organic. In todays mechanical times, most people are busy and hardly have time to prepare a proper meal with all the ‘good, healthy contents that are necessary for a healthy, balanced diet thereby opting for food that is convenient to get and make in most ways. Many old timers find the taste of food constantly decreasing. For instance, watermelons used to taste as sweet as sugar in India about 30 years ago, but now sugar needs to be added to make it sweet enough to drink its juice or make a fruit salad out of it. A survey conducted by the Soil Association in 2005 included a representative sample of 1000 people who were questioned about what they considered important while buying organic food. 95% said it was the ta ste and quality that mattered, 57% said price was considered while making a purchase. (Simon Wright, 2008) 2.7 Ethical factors and responsibility affecting choice: An average shopper for food in the supermarket is faced with so many dilemmas and attractive offers and discounts such as super savers etc. Many shoppers also succumb to these attractive offers on convenience food, but there are also a considerable percentage of shoppers who overcome these dilemmas and go in for organic food. Some of the shoppers are so loyal and inclined towards organic food that the thought of buying convenience foods never even crosses their minds. Most of them are considered about whether the farmers are given fair treatment and paid what they deserve (fair trade) and also concerned about the ecological friendly measures taken up while farming of these food which are better for the environment as well. Most of the non shoppers of organic food who prefer the convenience farmed foods do so mainly because of the price factor; some of the shoppers of organic food too think so. More shoppers prefer buying their organic food from the local farmer markets and small time local suppliers rather than the super markets because they feel the ‘stuff there is fresher and also the farmers will be getting a better deal off it. Those who prefer buying it from the supermarkets do so mainly because of accessibility constraints. 2.8 History of organic food in India: The concept of organic food is not new to India. At the beginning of the 19th century, Sir Albert Howard, one of the most important pioneers of organic farming, worked in India for many years studying soil plant interactions and developing composting methods. In doing so he capitalized on Indias highly sophisticated traditional agricultural systems which had long applied many of the principles of organic farming (for instance mixed cropping, crop rotation with legumes and botanical pesticides and so on) Through the introduction of the Green revolution, agricultural technology in the 1960s reached the main production areas of the country, there were still certain areas (especially the mountainous regions), and communities( especially certain tribes) that did not adopt the use of agro chemicals. Therefore, some areas can be classified as organic by default, though their significance and extent has been over emphasized in recent statements made by the government officials and NGO representatives. However, an increasing number of farmers have started consciously abandoning the use of agro chemicals and now produce organically. In the olden times in India, organic food farming was the main source of income for most of the people inhabiting the rural areas of India and it was also the major exporter to the world. In the 1960s, due to famines, droughts and extreme food shortage, the Indian Government started the idea of Green Revolution which made the farmers switch over to harsh chemicals for fertilizers, pesticides etc to multiply and increase the food production by a great level. This led to the sidelining of the usual organic farming methods of using natural fertilizers and pesticides which was obtained from plants and animals. Slowly in course of time, the Green revolution started decreasing the soil fertility, and the crops started getting immune to the harsh chemical fertilizers and this also started affecting nature as a whole and the environment as such. Therefore, a large number of farmers are moving back to the organic ways of farming and thus helping the surroundings as well apart from the consume rs. Genetically modified foods which were acceptable during the Green revolution period are now totally detested by most people and has a lot of negative aspects. Most of the big supermarkets in India have a separate section allotted for organic foods which are gaining a lot of demand and attention by the domestic market. (http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/organic-farming/15397-organic-farming-exports-food-consumption-india.html) According to a small recent survey taken in Mumbai, India, awareness about the presence of organic food is quite low. 25% of the respondents were aware of the availability of organic food and 36% out of them actually used them. The main reason for the use of organic food attributed towards the benefits it had on the consumers health. When compared to consumers of organic food in the United Kingdom, the Indian consumers did not mention the benefits it had regarding the environmental factors. It generally had a minor relevance to the Indian consumers of organic food. Most of the organic consumers had a purchase frequency of buying the food on an average of once a month. The purchase rate of organic food to conventional food was a ratio of 1:10 respectively. Most people in India do not consume organic food and organic food in general due to the fact that they are not aware that such a thing exists at all. When posed with the question if they would buy organic food because it was healthi er for them, all the non consumers and non buyers of organic food answered they would buy it solely because of the reason that it was better for their health. The domestic market for organic food is nowhere near as great as the export market for it. Indian domestic consumption of organic food is only a meager 7.5% of the entire organic fruit and vegetable production, the rest of which is directed towards the export market which is very great as Indian organic farming techniques are one among the best in the world and the resources are natural and pure in India. Most of the domestic consumption of organic food in India is seen in the big urban cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkota, Delhi, Hyderabad to name a few. These cities are noted to be inhabited by the upper income groups of the country, thereby showing that the upper income groups are obviously the predominant consumers of organic food in India. 2.9 Growth in the domestic market in India for organic food: There has been a considerable increase in the growth of demand and consumption of organic food in India. Many NGOs are aiding and assisting farmers to do better in their area of organic fruit and vegetable faming. Increase in demand by the local market in India for organic food are mainly because of health conscious factors, being aware about the product and its benefits, appealing marketing strategies and the ease of availability. These are the main factors considered according to some NGOs in India. It is a myth that most of the organic produce is exported to foreign countries. Today market for organic food in India is on the rise. More than 50% of the produce is consumed by the domestic market. The rest is aimed for the export market. Most of the domestic market consumers in India prefer organic food especially in families with growing children due to the beneficial factors in them. 06-07-2008 S.Annadana Senior Member Business Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Organic Agri Business Organic farming, exports Food Consumption in India (http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/organic-farming/15397-organic-farming-exports-food-consumption-india.html) 2.10 Committed Organic Consumers HDRA participating members completed a questionnaire on background information about the participant and their household. They answered precise questions about their behaviour as organic consumers focusing on organic vegetables. Questions included weekly spend on vegetables, percentage of organic vegetables bought, factors to encourage purchasing and where and how regularly they bought organic vegetables. This information was analysed and combined with a brief literature review of research into committed organic consumers in the wider UK population. Committed buyers tended to be older and more affluent than the UK population average, over two thirds were in social classes A, B or C1, compared to fewer than 50 per cent in the population at large and most lived in London and the South East (TNS, 2003; Padel and Foster, 2005). The majority of committed organic consumers spend was from the two groups of empty nesters whose children have left home and families with children under 5 years (TNS, 2003). TNS (2003) found fruit and vegetables were the main entry point to organic purchasing as 55 per cent tried them before any other category. Padel and Foster, (2005) identified that committed organic consumers took on a greater number of issues and motives, which varied depending on the product category. The two most important motivations were taste and health. TNS (2003) reported there was a â€Å"direct correlation between the extent to which consumers believe in the health and taste benefits of organic food and the number of categories they buy into†. Padel and Foster (2005) found personal health was a particularly strong driver among UK consumers and related it to an absence of residues and food safety although Zanoli (2004) identifies that across Europe health seemed to be the central motive for buying organic produce. Environment and animal welfare were growing in importance as drivers (Padel and Foster, 2005). Food origin was particularly important as 60 per cent of organic consumers were more likely to buy organic food if it originated from the UK compared to 38 per cent for whom it didnt really matter (TNS, 2003). Price was often found as a barrier to purchasing although committed buyers had a higher willingness to pay (TNS, 2003). This is common across Europe (Zanoli, 2004). Organic consumers bought organic food an average of 12.8 times a year and average spend per shopping trip was  £2.53 (TNS, 2003). Committed buyers spend more on average and buy more frequently than less committed buyers. The ma jority bought organic produce in Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose. It is usually seen that most people who are regular buyers of organic food are either families with young children or old people. This in a way shows that organic food are preferred by those who want to maintain their health and stay fit. As for the more affluent people being regular buyers of organic food, the price premium for it justifies this behaviour. 2.11 Consumer Behaviour: Consumer Behaviour is extensively studied in the field of marketing. Without consumers it is rigid for any sort of trade to run efficiently. Consumers are the raison-d-etre for a business mere existence. A business maybe a profit organization or even a non-profit organization. â€Å"The field of consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use and dispose of products, services, experiences or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society†( Belch and Belch, 2007)). From the marketing point of view, it is a significant factor to understand the consumer skillfully and to aid to their needs, wants and demands to be successful. A consumer is the centre of attention in case of most marketing techniques; after all, it is the consumers a business needs to move forward. In the case of organic food, a consumer might decide to buy it for its benefits on health or the environment or maybe because of the advertising for it is attractive. There are diverse factors that affect the consumer decision making process which is also discussed further. 2.12 Models of Consumer Choice: 2.12.1 The Cognitive Model: Initially when consumers make a significant purchase, they may reflect on substitutes and discuss pros and cons with others with an intention of securing benefits and avoiding costs. This model is sometimes called the extended-problem solving model. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008). 2.12.2 The Reinforcement Model: Choice is controlled by the factors in the environment that reward and aid some alternatives more than others. Managerial control is attained by altering the consumers circumstances. Nevertheless what is pleasing to one person may not seem so to others and this limits persuasion. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008). 2.12.3 The Habit Model: The choice of consumers towards the product is sometimes controlled by managing stimuli (brand name, logo, pack features, colour attraction, etc) that have become allied with a product as a result of past purchases. Sometimes this is called stimulus control. (East, Wright and Vanhuele , 2008). 2.12.4 Consumer Behaviour Models: The objective of consumer behaviour models is to provide description, explanation and prediction of purchase behaviour. On the identical side the models provide a conceptual framework and so help researchers to locate and to examine new ideas so as to enhance better enlightenment and predictions of behaviour. On the constructive side these models aid to organize research results and to demonstrate the density of decision processes involved in even a simple purchase, such as a can of soup in the local supermarket. On the unconstructive side most of the models can be criticized as providing no more than a description of a range of influencing variables. There are four main clusters of factors that have an outcome on purchase behaviour. They are political, economic and technical; cultural and social; psychological; and marketing influences. (Bareham, 1995) Theories make it smoother to comprehend a concept as they sketch the causes and effects that are possible and what to anticipate provided the input (the happening circumstance) is given. In most circumstances, it is easy to analyze whether practical situations are normal and satisfactory with the help of proven time tested theories. 2.13. Marketing Segmentation: The market is divided into diverse segments based on their needs, tastes, income, and a lot of other criteria. Marketing segmentation is based on a lot of research and important factors to suit the requirements and purposes. Some of the marketing segmentation is as follows: 2.13.1. Geographic Segmentation: This involves segmenting the market by location on the assumption that people living in one location will have similar needs, wants and preferences and these will differ significantly from people living in other locations. There are some obvious limits to this assumption. People all over the world drink Coca-cola and buy Japanese electronic goods for instance. When you think about it from the viewpoint of the consumer, most buying behaviour is actually local. Localized consumer behaviour is often expressed through the presence of a significantly large cultural or sub cultural group that is different from the main stream. There are also geographically based differences between consumers for reasons that are more complex or obscure. It is not immediately obvious why some sections of consumers have different behaviour than the other sections. But knowing that, they will do it can be important to the marketing strategy. 2.13.2. Demographic segmentation: Demographic segmentation deals with the many ways if statistically categorizing all the people in a national population. For example, a national population can be divided into subgroups based on age, sex, income, education, occupation, social class, family size, race and religion. In a sense, there are also different ways of looking at the same individual consumer, because of course we belong to each of these groups. Different aspects of our identity will be relevant to different products at different times. Baby foods can only be marketed to parents of young children, for example and a middle-class, middle aged, middle income, middle manager is more likely to be in the market for an exercise bike than a motor bike. Some of the important specifics of demographic segmentation are Age: Age is perhaps the most frequently used demographic variable in marketing segmentation. One reason for this is that the lifecycle has been divided up by society into what seem to be easily recognizable groups that are clearly differentiated from one another- infants, children, teenagers, young adults food. Sex: Dividing the market into male and female segments is another frequently used strategy. But even here, the old marketing certainties are breaking down. It used to be a safe bet for marketers to target do-it-yourself products exclusively at men and supermarket shopping at women. But with the larger increase in single occupant hose-holds and one parent families (most of them female), many more women are buying things that men would do if they were in a family. In addition, more women than men buy for other consumers. Socio-economic status: A persons socio economic status is determined by education, income and occupation. Though there are many exceptions of course, these are three factors often in alignment. More highly educated people tend to do managerial and professional jobs that bring a relatively high income, and vice-versa. For obvious reasons most marketers are more interested in people with high socio economic status rather than low. Income is often considered the most important variable in this case because it is so easy to quantify and because it dictates entry to certain markets. But income by itself can be very misleading. Psychological segmentation: The attempt to come up with a practical form of consumer profile has concentrated on three areas of behaviour: activities, interests, and opinions. Segmentation by usage: This form of segmentation is based on information about volume and frequency of purchase for a given product. It is a popular way of segmentation of markets because there is a lot of readily available information about patterns of usage for most goods and services. In fact, with so many transactions now electronically recorded, a great deal more of data is available than is actually used. Perhaps the most familiar usage data is provided by the electronic point of sale (EPOS) used by supermarket checkouts. Not only are all the purchased items listed, together with their prices, but so is the date and exact time of purchase and the method of payment used. Segmentation by benefit: This form of market segmentation is based on knowledge of the benefits that consumers seek from that particular product. The task of the marketer is to include the appropriate characteristics- or the impression of them in the design of particular goods or services. In a sense this kind of segmentation is at the entire marketing concept find out what people want and provide it for them. (David a Statt) Segmentation is very important for a firm or an industry to market its products strategically and for it to be a success. In the case of organic food, it comes under the category of food which is a basic necessity and therefore would appeal to and include a lot many segments in the markets. In this research study we are considering only the United Kingdom and India. So geographically these two countries are covered. Demographically the middle aged and the older people will be targeted age wise, both sexes, and the middle class and upper class levels will be targeted according to the socio economic status segmentation. Since the middle aged and older people usually are the ones who go shopping for food, they are targeted age wise, both men and women shop for it, and when it comes to socio economic status, the middle and the upper income groups are targeted as organic food are more expensive than conventional food. Many shoppers especially in India will give up the idea of buying food when it comes to the price factor that is not acceptable for them. That is the reason why the middle and upper income groups are aimed at here. Most people both in India and United Kingdom consume food every day. In India, no meal is complete without fruits or vegetables and in the United Kingdom, people are encouraged to consume food everyday with the healthy 5 a day concept though it is already a staple portion of a healthy meal. These segments are most suitable for being aimed at for marketing of organic food and therefore they are the target segments. 2.14. Decision making process Decision makingcan be regarded as an outcome of mental processes leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a finalchoice.The output can be an action or an opinion of choice. There are many factors which are discussed below: 2.14.1 Communication Situation The situation in which the consumer receives information about a product or service influences the buying decision of the consumer. For example, in the case of organic food, an advertisement speaking about the bad impacts of the chemicals used in conventional foods right when the buyer is suffering from food poisoning might influence the consumer to buy food that is healthier and does not involve the usage of chemicals responsible for food poisoning and therefore influence the consumer to go in for purchase of organic food in future. 2.14.2. Purchase Situation: The sit

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Eulogy for Friend :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for Friend My name is Deborah, and I’m one of Ron’s many friends. Karen asked me to share about Ron from a biker’s point of view. At many memorial services, eulogies are sort of like fish stories. Mean people are suddenly remembered as good-natured, self-centered people as generous, sinners as saints. Positive traits are exaggerated, negative ones swept under the rug. But today, it’s not necessary to stretch the truth. With Ron, what you saw was what you got. He refused to play games with people, and he was adamant that he â€Å"didn’t have time for nonsense† like politics and petty disputes. What he DID have time for was people. He was amazingly attuned to other people’s feelings. In my case, Ron would always notice if I started getting tired and quiet while we were riding. He noticed before my husband of 30 years did—before I did myself!—and would invariably stroll over with a handful of Tootsie Roll Pops and pink bubble gum to give me a sugar shot. Once he discovered that I shared his enthusiasm over Tootsie Roll Pops, he always made sure to keep a big enough stash to â€Å"cover† me on trips. He was attuned in other ways as well. On group rides, I usually take the tailgunner position at the end of the pack, which means that I sometimes have to babysit unskilled riders who constantly speed up and slow down, or who fall back so far that the rest of the group vanishes from sight. I usually don’t mind, but now and then when somebody who should know better rides like that, it drives me crazy. Ron would always sense when I was getting frustrated, and at the next stop he’d say, â€Å"Why don’t I ride at the back for a while and give you a break?† He didn’t make a big deal out of it, but he helped keep rides fun for many of us. Ron was master of a thousand small kindnesses. He also took setbacks in stride, small and large ones alike. One time we were heading south toward Austin, and Ron and Karen were riding in front of me. Suddenly there was a small and colorful explosion on the road behind their bike. I looked down and saw pills--lots of little pills!--bouncing in every direction. Then two more explosions occurred, and this time I saw that the bottles were coming from their T-bag. Eulogy for Friend :: Eulogies Eulogy Eulogy for Friend My name is Deborah, and I’m one of Ron’s many friends. Karen asked me to share about Ron from a biker’s point of view. At many memorial services, eulogies are sort of like fish stories. Mean people are suddenly remembered as good-natured, self-centered people as generous, sinners as saints. Positive traits are exaggerated, negative ones swept under the rug. But today, it’s not necessary to stretch the truth. With Ron, what you saw was what you got. He refused to play games with people, and he was adamant that he â€Å"didn’t have time for nonsense† like politics and petty disputes. What he DID have time for was people. He was amazingly attuned to other people’s feelings. In my case, Ron would always notice if I started getting tired and quiet while we were riding. He noticed before my husband of 30 years did—before I did myself!—and would invariably stroll over with a handful of Tootsie Roll Pops and pink bubble gum to give me a sugar shot. Once he discovered that I shared his enthusiasm over Tootsie Roll Pops, he always made sure to keep a big enough stash to â€Å"cover† me on trips. He was attuned in other ways as well. On group rides, I usually take the tailgunner position at the end of the pack, which means that I sometimes have to babysit unskilled riders who constantly speed up and slow down, or who fall back so far that the rest of the group vanishes from sight. I usually don’t mind, but now and then when somebody who should know better rides like that, it drives me crazy. Ron would always sense when I was getting frustrated, and at the next stop he’d say, â€Å"Why don’t I ride at the back for a while and give you a break?† He didn’t make a big deal out of it, but he helped keep rides fun for many of us. Ron was master of a thousand small kindnesses. He also took setbacks in stride, small and large ones alike. One time we were heading south toward Austin, and Ron and Karen were riding in front of me. Suddenly there was a small and colorful explosion on the road behind their bike. I looked down and saw pills--lots of little pills!--bouncing in every direction. Then two more explosions occurred, and this time I saw that the bottles were coming from their T-bag.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Views on Colonialism in Donnes Elegy XIX and Wroths Sonnet 22 Essay

Views on Colonialism in Donne's Elegy XIX and Wroth's Sonnet 22 Introduction In the midst of Lady Mary Wroth's sonnet cycle, a sudden reference to the colonialist discoveries of dark skinned natives appears. Bringing to mind her participation in Jonson's "Masque of Blackness," she depicts dark-skinned Indians worshipping the sun as their god. In the midst of her ruminations on love and her preoccupations with her unfaithful lover, Amphilanthus, this sonnet touches on issues close to her personal life as well as some of the preoccupations of her era on the nature of colonialism. In particular the role of religion in England's colonialist efforts was of prime importance. An examination of John Donne's Elegy XIX, "To His Mistris Going to Bed" may give some insight into how Wroth's Sonnet 22, "Like to the Indians Scorched with the Sun" deals with the controversies surrounding imperialism. Historical Concerns Both authors had close personal ties to England's colonialist efforts in the New World. Lady Mary Wroth's uncle, Sir Philip Sydney, was an investor in Raleigh's attempted colony at Roanoke. This venture ultimately failed, however, and would later be followed under King James with the Virginia Company. John Donne was closely tied with the efforts following Raleigh's failed attempt. In 1608, after two failed attempts at securing a secretarial post, first in London and then in Ireland, "the report circulated that he sought to be made secretary of the colony, a position given instead to his friend William Strachey" (Johnson 127). If he had been awarded the position, he would have sailed with the new governor, Sir Thomas Gates. This was the ship that was shipwrecked in Bermuda and that winter the Jamestown colon... ...onne, John. "A Sermon vpon the VIII. Verse of the I. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles" Greene, Thomas M. "The Poetics of Discovery: A Reading of Donne's Elegy 19." Yale Journal of Criticism. 2 (2) (1989): 129-143. Hester, M. Thomas. "Donne's (Re)Annunciation of the Virgin(ia Colony) in Elegy XIX." South Central Review: 49-63. Johnson, Stanley. "John Donne and the Virginia Company." ELH. 14 (2) (1947): 127-138. Raman, Shankar. "Can't Buy Me Love: Money Gender, and Colonialism in Donne's Erotic Verse." Criticism. 43 (2) (2001): 135-168. Roberts, Jospephine A. The Poems of Mary Wroth. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1983. Young, R. V. "'O my America, my new-found-land': Pornography and Imperial Politics in Donne's Elegies." Souch Central Review: 35-48. Warnke, Frank J. John Donne Poetry and Prose. New York: Random House, 1967.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Impact of Race in Othello Essay -- GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Othello

Impact of Race in Othello One of the major issues in Shakespeare's Othello is the impact of the race of the main character, Othello. His skin color is non-white, usually portrayed as African although some productions portray him as an Arabian. Othello is referred to by his name only seventeen times in the play. He is referred to as "The Moor" fifty-eight times. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) states that a Moor is "Any individual of the swarthy races of Africa or Asia which have adopted the Mohammedan religion. In Spanish history the terms Moo, Saracens, and Arabs are synonymous." This indicates that Othello is constantly being degraded and set up as an evil person throughout the play. What this really means is that Othello is being judged by his skin color rather than the person under the skin. The view that whites and non-whites are equal is a relatively new concept in our society. In institutionalized racism, such as American slavery, those of a different color were often viewed as inferior. As Shakespeare wrote Othello, this idea was becoming quite prominent as England entered the African slave trade. One can look at the racial issues from the perspective of color, slavery, and society. There are many references in the play to indicate that Othello was dark colored. The first image we, as a reader, are given of Othello is that of a black ram having sexual relations with Desdemona (1.1.89-90). Later on in the play, there are many other references to Othello's color and race. Desdemona's father, Brabantio, is appalled to learn that his daughter is having a relationship with a "sooty bosom" (2.3.27). Emilia refers to Othello as a black devil (5.2.132). Othello even calls himself black (3.3.265). Iago also... ...hello is driven mad by the force of Iago's suggestions, indicating that he is merely a victim of another man's jealousy. Works Cited 1 Norman Sanders, ed. Othello. Cambridge: New York, 1995: 12. 2 C. W. Slights. "Slaves and Subjects in Othello," Shakespeare Quarterly v48 Winter 1997: 382. 3 C. W. Slights. 380. 4 Norman Sanders, ed. 10. 5 J. Adelman. "Iago's Alter Ego: Race as Projection in Othello," Shakespeare Quarterly v48 Summer 1997: 130. 6 C. W. Slights. 388. Works Consulted Bradley, A. C.. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Penguin, 1991. Di Yanni, Robert. â€Å"Character Revealed Through Dialogue.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Literature. N. p.: Random House, 1986. Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968. Â