Which Is the Most Successful Fashion Company in the Department

â€Å"WHICH IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FASHION COMPANY IN THE DEPARTMENT AND GENERAL STORE SECTOR OF THE UK FASHION INDUSTRY FOR MEN AGED 25-34† CONTENTS 0. DEFINING SUCCESS pg 3 1. 1 Market Research Pg 3 2. 0 Secondary Research Findings Pg 5 2. 1 Horizontal Analysis Pg 5 2. 1. 1 Turnover Pg 5 2. 1. 2 Gross Profit   Pg 7 2. 1. 3 Operating Profit Pg 9 2. Vertical Analysis Pg 10 2. 2. 1 House of Fraser Pg 10 2. 2. 2 M&S and Debenhams Pg 11 3. 0 Primary Research Data. Pg 12 3. 1 Aim Pg 12 3. 2 Objectives Pg 12 3. 3 Methodology Pg 12 3. 4 Method Pg 15 3. 5 Results Pg 16 3. 6 Ethical ConsiderationsPg 16 3. 7 Potential Limitations Pg 17 Bibliography Appendix â€Å"WHICH IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FASHION COMPANY IN THE DEPARTMENT AND GENERAL STORE SECTOR OF THE UK FASHION INDUSTRY FOR MEN AGED 25-34† 1. 1 Defining Success Success can be measures in many different ways, through monetary value and finances, memorable advertising and marketing, but to many, success is a personal opini on. In terms of fashion it could be based upon the consumers like for the brands product, or an advertising campaign that made a positive impression on them.Many brands today are sporting a CSR approach and are trying to give back to the environment or community. This factor to some is something that will place many brands higher above others in personal preference. To define success, more than one factor must be analysed. Both a quantitative and qualitative approach must be used. This report will look at both approaches looking at current secondary data of each chosen company drawing conclusions of success from there as well as planning means of carrying out lucrative primary data allowing a qualitative approach to the findings. 1. 2 Market ResearchFrom the Fashion Trak frameworks of industry leaders, the chosen category for this report is Department & General Stores and within that looking at Men aged 25-34. Within the fashion industry there isn’t normally much of a focus o n Men’s shopping habits. A greater understanding will be gained from looking into this sector. Men are notorious for being unenthusiastic shoppers, often choosing stores where they can satisfy other interests (Mintel) The TGI lifestyle groups look at the different life stages and show an insight into where they spend their money and what on. Men aged 25-34 fall predominantly into: – Fledglings – Flown the nest Nest Builders | |% | |All |56. 7 | |Fledglings |67. 3 | |Nest Builders |66. 7 | |Flown the Nest |65. 8 | |Unconstrained Couples |58. 6 | |Senior Sole Decision Makers |58. 3 | |Playschool Parents |55. | |Secondary School Parents |54. 2 | |Empty Nesters |52. 4 | |Mid-life Independents |50. 7 | Fig. 1 Mintel – Men’s Fashion Lifestyles 2009 It is apparent that the men in the first of these groups have the highest interest in their appearance and that as their priorities change there is a decrease (Fig. 1). This discovery lead to the initial inter est of looking at the types of retailer’s men in these ages shopped predominantly in.Fashion Trak shows that for men of this age, Department and General Stores featured highly among the clothing multiples and discount stores. (See Appendix 1) 2. 0 Secondary Research Findings. The use of the October 2010 Fashion Trak report showed that there where four Genera & Department stores in the top 20 retailers for this age group. These results are done on Expenditure % and although they offer an initial visual to the most successful it is important to look at the other methods of success previously mentioned to gain a fuller knowledge.Marks and Spencer’s, Debenhams and House of Fraser are clear runners on the UK high street. FAME can be used to take a look at the financial data of each company, looking at Turnover, Profit and other factors. This provides a numerical value of success between the three of them. The results of which are shown bellow. When looking at the financial data of a company it is important to note that it may not be accurate. Figures may be out of date, estimates or not take inflation into account. Because of this, the data below must be treated as a representation and not necessarily the correct numbers. . 1 Horizontal Analysis. 2. 1. 1 Turnover The bellow graphs (Fig 2 & 3) show a clear visual of all three company’s Turnover and % change for the past three years. It is important to note the difference in scale across these graphs. Turnover is the money generated through business activity, be it selling of products or services. It shows how much money has been produced in a given space of time Fig 2 – Debenhams Turnover: Source FAME Fig 3 – M&S Turnover: Source FAME You can see that both M&S and Debenhams have seen an overall increase in Turnover over the past three years.The line showing the % Change for both of these company’s reiterates the growth patterns for both. Whilst Debenhams has seen a steady co ntinuous increase M&S saw a relatively stable growth grow rapidly from 2009 to 2010. This growth could be due to the 49% increase in only sales through M&S Direct. (Thomas, R. 2010) As well as what M&S Group Finance and Operations Director, Ian Dyson, puts down to â€Å"improved market conditions. † (M&S Online) Although at a lower scale, Debenhams has increased continuously at a fixed rate. Fig 4 – House of Fraser Turnover – Source FAMEWhilst M&S and Debenhams have seen increases in turnover, House of Fraser has not (Fig 4. ) For the past five years (See Appendix 3 for full finances 2005-2010) House of Fraser, has seen a continuous decrease in its Turnover. Much of this will be due to the UK Recession. 2. 1. 2 Gross Profit A 2009 Drapers Online report discusses the increase in sales of 4. 5% over the 2008 Christmas period, a long with increase in Gross Profit for House of Fraser, stating that â€Å"The performance appears to be ahead of rival department store Debenhams† (Brown, J. 009) At this point it is important to notify that the FAME report for House of Fraser does not seem accurate as with both Gross Profit and other figures, House of Fraser does not hold a lead over Debenhams. Their online financials do not go past 2008 and so in this case it is hard to measure the financial performance against that of M&S and Debenhams in a fair way. Gross profit enables us to look at the profit a company makes once it has taken away the cost of sales. Fig 5. Debenhams Gross Profit – Source FAME From Fig 5 and looking at the FAME figures, it seems that Debenhams does incur high cost of sales.Although the graph seems to show a huge increase between 2009/2010, these costs have neither increased nor decreased dramatically over the past three years, as the difference has remained relatively stable. Where Turnover has increased so have the figures for Gross Profit, The difference between the two has remained similar with gross profit incr easing on average by 5. 23% a year. Fig 6. M&S Gross Profit – Source FAME Fig 6 shows that in 2009 there is what looks like high costs of sales resulting in a much lower Gross Profit. 010 saw a greater increase in turnover than previous years, which when placed next to 2010’s gross profit shows a near consistent expenditure for cost of sales. Although high, there have been no radical increases in it. 2. 1. 3 Operating Profit Although Turnover is an important measure of a company’s success, Operating Profit provides a better grasp of how much money the company has made, as it is the figures from after the deduction of the costs of production or in the case of Debenhams, expenditure on purchases. Fig 7. Operating Profit – Source FAMEMarks and Spencers are still a clear leader inturns of overall operating profit. However the figures and graph show that is suffered a significant decrease in 2008/9. Both Debenhams and House of Fraser seem not to have suffered at this time. This decrease will be due to a knock on effect from the decrease in turnover which effected gross profit as well. 2. 2 Vertical Analysis The margin ratios give a good incite into the overall management efficiency. It is important to look at them as a whole not individually. 2. 2. 1 House of Fraser |2010 | |2009 | |2008 | | |Gross Margin |60. 42 |2% |58. 99 |3% |57. 27 |28% | |Net Margin | 2. 87 |12% | 3. 25 |50% | 2. 16 |112% | Fig 8. Gross and Net Margin for House of Fraser. Source FAME This table shows the Gross and Profit Margins of House of Fraser over the past three years.House of Fraser show a good Gross margin, and one that has steadily increased over the past three years. In 2010 for every ? 1 of turnover 60. 42p was left after cost of sales, showing that they have low costs of sales. The Net Margin on the other hand is a lot lower that the Gross Margin. From the Profit and Loss account you can see that this is due to their Admin Expenses being high. ROCE shows (Fig 9) the percentage return on the capital invested in a business. This figure can be used to by potential investors as well as within the company in order to make cost efficient decision. |2010 | |2009 | |2008 | | |ROCE |9. 58 |6% |10. 23 |27% |8. 07 |109% | Fig 9. ROCE for House of Fraser. Source FAME In terms of potential investment, the figures for House of Fraser are relatively low, although they are not in negative numbers, it can be seen that for every ? 1 invested into the company only 9. 6 p will be generated in turnover. 2. 2. 2 M&S and DebenhamsUnlike House of Fraser both Debenhams and M&S have much lower figures for their Gross Margins,(Fig10) showing they’re cost of sales is greater than that of House of Fraser | | | | | | | | |2010 | | | | | | | |2009 | | | | | | | |2008 | | | | | | | | | | | |M&S | | | |37. 94 | | | |2% | | | |37. 21 | | | |4% | | | |38. 5 | | | |1% | | | | | | | |Debenhams | | | |15. 43 | | | |8% | | | |14. 32 | | | |3% | | | |14. 6 | | | | 13% | | | | | | | |Fig 10. Gross Margins for Debenhams and M&S. Source FAME | | | | | | | | | | | However when compared next to their Net margin as well, the difference is noticeably small that House of Fraser’s. | |2010 | |2009 | |2008 | | |Gross Margin M&S |37. 4 |2% |37. 21 |4% |38. 65 |1% | |Net Margin M&S |7. 37 |5% |7. 79 |38% |12. 51 |15% | Fig 11. Gross and Net Margin for M&S. Source FAME Both the Gross margin and the Net margin for M&S are low (Fig 11). In order to improve their Net Margin, the expenses must be looked at and a reduction of the proportion of expenses paid out of every ? 1 must be reduced. The Gross margin for Debenhams is also low (Fig 12) , showing again as well as with both House of Fraser and M&S that there is high expenditure.The margin between Gross and Net compared to the other two companies is narrow, this shows that in terms of other costs before taxation and interest they are low. | |2010 | |2009 | |2008 | | |Gross Margin D |15. 43 |8% |14. 3 2 |3% |14. 76 |13% | |Net Margin D |11. 74 |4% |11. 33 |12% |12. 85 |7% | Fig 12. Gross and Net Margin for Debenhams. Source FAME Although as stated their expenses are low, the Gross margin shows that cost of sales are very high, some thing that is arguably too high for a company that does not produce clothes but buys them in.This could also be attributed to the fact that as a brand they have a lot of markdowns (Blue X Sales), which put pressure on their margins. As with House of Fraser ROCE allows us to see if the company would be deemed a good one to invest in as well as other factors. | |2010 | |2009 | |2008 | | |ROCE M&S |8. 9 |4% |9. 31 |36% |14. 44 |10% | |ROCE Debenhams |29. 43 |9% |26. 88 |9% |29. 66 |12% | Fig 13. ROCE for M&S and Debenhams. Source FAMEIt is clear that between the three company’s Debenhams has the highest ROCE. (Fig. 13) 3. 0 Primary Data Research 3. 1 Aim: The aim of this secondary research is to determin the most successful fashion company in Gener al & Department stores for Men ages 25-34 in the uk fashion industry 3. 2 Objectives: 1. To determin a qualitative definition of success. 2. Decide upon a relevant research method to use to undertake an academic and successful way of research. 3. To find a suitable method to use in conjunction with the already analysed secondary research. 3. 3 Methodology: In order to ensure the questionnaire is carried out in an accurate and appropriate way a carefully designed plan of action must be made.The best results are when the questionnaire can grasp a good collection of resualts from a random field. The sample is an important factor, deciding upon who to ask must be taken into consideration. There are various methods of doing this that include. Quota sampling is a method where by the interviewee chooses people inevitably at random but which all show signs of differences based on the chosen interest. (Arsham, H) Stratified sampling is a method of random selection with in a sub group Cluster sampling where an intire department is used. (Easterby-Smith et al. , 2002: 136) It is important here to focus on the target group at question; Men aged 25-34.Any of the three methods chosen above would be relevant. However in this istance a Quota Sampling method will be used. This allows for the questions to be targetted at males only. Cluster sampling would not have allowed for this as a in order to find a male only/dominated unit would be near impossible without added prejudices. It is also imperative to decide upon the size of a sample. In order to gain an appropriate and relevant understand the size must be one that will provide enough answers to analyse. When conducting this questionnaire an initial numnber of 150 people will be approached. A questionnaire can either be done face to face or not.When conducting a non face to face questionnaire, it would be difficult to control the span of people it would reach. Online programs such as Survey Monkey are one way of spreading a s urvey, however in many cases this wouldn’t result in random selection of applicants as it is most likey to be sent on to friends and family. For this survey the starting point for gathering answers will be done on a face to face basis. When designing a questionnaire for face to face gathereing. There are areas to consider which may in turn casue limitations. Many people will not have time to answer a long questionanire and so short, snappy easy to answer questions are imperative.As well as this keeping the overall length of the questionnaire short. In order to maximise time, make placing the most important questions towards the first half will allow for error if time runs out. The question types must be kept in mind for the planing and creating, looking at both the phrasing of the question as well as choosing the method best suited for the answer. In this instance this questionnaire will firstly need to obtain Nominal and Interval data. In order to seek to answer the Aim only men must be asked, and although not always appropriate in this case it is imporatnt to ask about age. Some people will not be willing to give their xact age and so in this case it will be just asked if they fall into the 24-35 age bracket. Once this has been found the basis of the rest of the questionnaire will use the Likert Scale. A scale that measures the stregth of agreement towards a certain statement or subject. An example of a Likert Scale can be seen in Appendix 2. This method can be used to also look at frequency, importance, likelihood and quality of product or serivice. When using the Likert Scale to look at frequency, agreement is not nessecerily the best method of gaining a quick answer, it is important to not that the perosn being asked the questions may not remember how often they for instance shop at Debenhams.In this case an other box where they or you can add an extra note or different answer is usefull. As well as this there are many other ways to form questions, – a comment box where there is no help/hint to gain and answer and the oppinons of the intervewee can be voiced. – a ranking or scale method can be used, where level of importance is ranked say 1-5, 5 being most important, 1 being least. Situations like this must be considered to allow for the questionnaire to run smoothly and to make sure the best results are achieved. It is best to try out these various methods within a prototype to see which ones will work best in certain circumstances. Bell, 2005:138) When conducting the design of a questionnaire a prototype or pilot version which can be tested on a friend or two is a good way of seeing if there is continuity and that is is quick and easy to fill out. An example of a prototype for this research this can be found in Appendix 4. The use of this prototype can also be used to asses the wording. Bell looks at the different means of commonly used â€Å"survey words† Stating it is important to know how one word to one person could potentially mean something very different to another. As well as meaning, careful selection must be made to assure statements are not made that could be deamed offensive.This questionnaire seeks a positivist approach to the research proposal where by the observer remains autonomous of the subjects being observed, where by the data can provide ideas to be assumed it will seek to find out the personal opinions of the consumers of the UK high street, this approach will use a qualititative form of questionnaire. It will seek to obstract oppinions rather than fact. The findings from this questionnaire will seek to provide a theory of which to base the conclusion of this research. It is there for and dedutive approach. (Bryman and Bell, 2007) Method: In this occasion the questionnaire is being designed to gather customer information and perception of Debenhams, M&S and House of Fraser. In order to get information for all three, the locations picked will have to be ones w here all three of these retailers are present. This will of course not always be the case, and so larger cities across the UK would have to be chosen.London’s Oxford Street houses all three, however it is an extrodinerily busy place and so completion would prove difficult. Smaller secondary cities and area’s around the capital would be more beneficial. The placement of the questionnaire would need to be around the loaction of each store. Equal ammount of time would need to be spent at each location with approximate equall surveys filled as well. A mutual area in the main shopping area would also provide a good location. In order to ask as many shoppers as possible as well as gather a greater variety, a weekend day would be used. However to gain a great depth a week day should also be considered as well.Results: Once a representative sample of surveys have been completed, the results will be gathered in and then an indepth analysis will take place. As the survey will ha ve been altered and throughrally designed, the answers to all questions should provide helpful contributions to its chosen field of research. Correlations between the quanitative secondary research and the qualitative primary research will be looked at at this stage and from then on it can be seen wherther or not there are any trends between them. The results of this stage will then begin to form the basis and main argument in drawing a conclusion to the Aim. Ethical Consideration:Due to the ethnographic nature of this research, one must take into carefull consideration the code of conduct for the establishment underwhich he/she is working. The University of the Arts, Code of Ethics requires that all research be carried out in a responsible way that complys with the code. Helth and saftey must take prominent position and in many cases a risk assesment must be carried out before starting research. This factor is important when undertaking a survey on location as said area must be dea med a safe working environment. When approaching an intervewee it is important that they are clear of who the questionnaire is for and what it is going to be used for. It is essential to gain their consent before the survey is taken any further. Bell 2005:45) All participents of the research should understand that they are gauranteed a right to privacy as well as having both theyre physical and psychological independence respected. Potential Limitations: When conducting a questionnaire there are a various number of limitations that must be carefully looked at. For starters the location and distribution. Although it is easy to say when and where it will be carried out, consumer shopper habits change daily and may be affected by external factors such as the weather, something that could alter the gatheriing accuracy of the data. A questionnaire is a timing consuming method of collecting data. Many people will not want to be stoppped in the street whilst with their family of friends, a nd if a survey is sent on via email they are not neccessirily going to read it.With the collection of a face to face survey, some people may feel uneasy viocing their feelings in front of someone they do not know. A questionnaire provides an easy and simply way of obtaining market information first hand from the consumer. However in some situations it may not nesseccerily be the best form of obtaining data. The use of a focus group or smaller more personal interviews could be used in conjunction to this in order to provide a wider knowledge on consumers thoughts as suggested by Webb et al (1966. ) in his Trianulation Model. (Bryman and Bel, 2007:413) Word Count: 3229 Bibliography Arsham, H. (1994) ‘Questionnaire Design and Survey Sampling’ [Online] Available at: http://home. ubalt. edu/ntsbarsh/stat-data/surveys. htm#rssm (Accessed: 19th March 2011)Bel, J. (2005) Doing your research project: a guide for first time researchers in education, health and social science. 4th ed. Maidenhead : Open University Press Brown, J. (2009) ‘House of Fraser reports solid xmas’ [Online] Available at: http://www. drapersonline. com/news/house-of-fraser-reports-solid-xmas/1960772. article (Accessed: 23rd March) Bryman & Bel, (2007) Business Research Methods. 2nd ed. Oxford: OUP Oxford Easterby –Smith et al. (2002) Management Research. 3rd ed. London: Sage Fashion Trak (2010) Kantar published October 2010 Harrison, I. (2009) A-Z Handbook: Accounting. 3rd ed. Oxfordshire: Philip Allan Hunt, N & Tyrrell, S. 2004) ‘ Cluster Sampling’ [Online] Available at: http://www. coventry. ac. uk/ec/~nhunt/meths/cluster. html (Accessed : 19th March) ‘Mens Fashion Lifestyles’ (2009) Mintel Published April 2010 Thomas, R. (2010) ‘Marks & Spencer online sales grow 49%’ [Online] Available at: http://www. computerweekly. com/Articles/2010/07/07/241882/Marks-amp-Spencer-online-sales-grow-49. htm (Accessed: 22nd March) Wood, Z. (2 007) ‘ House of Fraser’s Debts Halve’. [Online] Available at: http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2007/jul/22/retail. theobserver1 (Accessed: 23rd March 2011) http://www. marksandspencer. com/ (2011) Accessed: 19th March 2011 Appendix Appendix 1 – Fashion Trak Menswear aged 24-35 |12 m/e Oct 2010 Share | |Next/Dir |9. 6 | |Marks and Spencer |7. 1 | |Debenhams |5. 8 | |Burtons |3. 8 | |Sports Direct |3. 5 | |Primark |3. 4 | |House of Fraser |3. | |Total Asda |2. 9 | |River Island |2. 9 | |Matalan |2. 8 | |TK Maxx |2. 8 | |Tesco |2. 8 | |Topshop/Man |2. 4 | |Sports Direct Group |1. 9 | |JJB Sport |1. | |Total Moss Bros |1. 4 | |Ebay. com |1. 3 | |John Lewis |1. 2 | |H&M |1. 2 | |The Gap |1. 2 | Appendix 2 – Likert Scale Example I find the clothing in M&S suitable for my age range: a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Undecided d) Disagree e) Strongly disagree Appendix 4 – Questionnaire PrototypeA Survey to gather information on the opinions of Males ages 24-35 about Department and General Stores especially House of Fraser, M&S and Debenhams 1. Do you fall with in the age bracket 24-35 ? 2. How often do you visit your local high street? – Once a month – Occasionally on the weekend – Every weekend – More than once a week 3. Is this usually for shopping purposes? Yes No 4. Using the scale 1-5, 1 being most popular 5 being least, rank these stores in preference for apparel shopping. House of Fraser John Lewis Marks and Spencer’s Debenhams Next 5. For your chosen top retailer from Q4. Why have you chosen this one? 6. Discounting Debenhams and John Lewis, what are your perceptions of the remaining stores? House of Fraser – Debenhams – Marks and Spencer’s – 7.For what product would you go to each store to buy? | |Casual Day Wear |Work Wear I,e Suits |Home wear and lifestyle |Formal Wear |Underwear | |M&S | | | | | | |DEBENHAMS | | | | | | |HOUSE OF FRASER | | | | | |

Elementary school Essay

1. 1 Age 1. 2 Gender 1. 3 Family income 2. What are the effects computer online games on the study habits of selected grade VI pupils at San Gabriel Elementary School? 3. Is there any significant difference on the effects of computer online games to the respondents’’ study habits in terms of their profile? HYPOTHESIS This study tested the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference on the perception of the respondent between the effects of computer online games and the study habit of grade VI pupils of San Gabriel Elementary school. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. This research is important to the Parents of the youth. For them to know what are thing that influence using online games. Also to prevent the bad influence of online games to their children, for parents to be able to protect their children from influence of online games. To the youth, they should know the effects of online games to their study habit. Children should know the limitation of using online games and set their priorities. To the teacher, the second parents of the youth. This research is important to guide them to handle this kind of situation and to know how to assess their pupils. Future researchers can make use the results of this study as a basis for them to conduct similar studies of the effect of the computer online games on the study habits. SCOPE AND DELIMINATION OF THE STUDY This study was conducted at San Gabriel Elementary school to find out the effects of the study habits games on academic performance at selected grade VI pupils for the second semester year 2013-2014. The study made use of descriptive correlation method utilizing the questionnaire checklist to gathered data on the respondents. The respondent of this study were (100) selected grade VI pupils of San Gabriel Elementary school. This study focused only on the perceptions of the respondent who were being engaged in computer online games. DEFINITION OF TERMS Age is the length of time during which a being or thing has existed; length of life or existence to the time spoken of or referred to: Computer an electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations. Effects a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause: Elementary Education is used for schools where children from the age of about five receive primary education in some countries. Euphoric characterized by or feeling intense excitement and happiness Games this is the way of entertaining oneself; Internet is an electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world. Pupils a student in school Questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case. Selected carefully choose as being the best or most suitable Study habits are defined as the regular tendencies and practices that one depicts during the process of gaining information through learning. Your study habits play a big role in determining your success in the learning process. Survey a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population. COLLEGE OF ST. CATHERINE QUEZON CITY 362 Quirino Highway, Sangandaan Quezon, City 1116* Tel. No: 330-4883/330-3620 CHAPTER 2q REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter presents review of related literature and studies that were utilized to strengthen the conceptual background of the study including those conducted in the Philippines and abroad. QUESTIONNAIRE DIRECTION: Please fill in the needed information below. Check the ( ) the corresponds to year answer. Name: ________________________________________ Age : ________ sex: ( ) male ( ) female 1. How much your penetration (â€Å"baon†) 10-25 Pesos ( )30-40 Pesos ( )50-100 Pesos ( ) 2. How much your budget to play online games. 10-25 Pesos ( )30-40 Pesos ( )50-100 Pesos ( ) 3. how much you spend time using online games. 1-2 hrs ( )2-3 hrs ( )4-5 ( ) 4. What type of games you like to play the most? ( ) action game ( ) adventure game ( ) racing game ( ) counter strike ( ) DOTA ( ) puzzle and soduko QUESTIONS YES NO 1. Do you love playing computer games? 2. Do you think playing computer games is easily addicted? 3. Do you think addicted to computer games will change your personality? 4. Do you think addicted to computer games brings negative impacts to our daily life? 5. Do you think obsessed on playing computer games will affect your academic results? 6. Do you think we can achieve a balance between playing computer games and studying? 7. Do you think addicted to computer games will affect the relationship with your family members? 8. Do you think discussing computer games always be the topic between you and your friend? 9. Do you think discussing computer games will enhance the relationship between you and your friends? 10. Do you think computer games addiction is a serious problem?

Kahlil Gibran Essay

But Gibran was primarily a poet and a mystic in whom thought, as in every good poet and good mystic, is a state of being rather than a state of mind. A student of Gibran’s philosophy, therefore, finds himself more concerned not with his ideas but with his disposition; not with his theory of love but with Gibran the lover. That Gibran had started his literary career as a Lebanese emigrant in America, passionately yearning for his homeland, twentieth-century and intellectual may, perhaps give a basic clue to his disposition framework. To be an emigrant is to be an alien. But to be an emigrant mystical alienation is added poet is to be thrice alienated. To geographical from both conventional human society at large, and estrangement also the whole world of spatio-temporal existence. Therefore such a poet is gripped by a triple longing: a longing for the country of his birth, for a utopian human society of the imagination in which he can feel at home, and for a higher world of metaphysical truth. This Gibran with the basis for his artistic creatitriple longing provided vity. Its development from one stage of his work to another is only a variation in emphasis and not in kind; three strings of his harp re always to be detected and towards the end of his life they achieve * Al-Majm? ‘ah al K? milahli Mu’allaf? t Gibr? nKhal? lGibr? n,Beirut 1949-50 Sand and Foam, New York 1926 ThePropbet, New York 1923 The Forerunner,New York 1920 Jesus the Sonof Man, New York 1928 The Earth Gods,New York 1931 1 TheProphet, 33. p. 56 almost perfect harmony in his master-piece, The Prophet, where the home country of the prophet Almustafa, the utopian state of human existence and the metaphysical world of higher truth become one and the same. To The Prophet as well as to the rest of Gibran’s works, Music can be considered as a prelude. Published eleven years after Gibran’s emigration to Boston as a youth of eleven, this essay of about thirteen pages marks the author’s debut into the world of letters. Though entitled Music, this booklet is more of a schoolboy’s prosaic ode to on it. As such, it tells us more music than an objective dissertation about Gibran, the emotional boy, than about his subject. The Gibran it reveals is a flowery sentimentalist who, saturated with a vague sees in music a floating sister-spirit, an ethereal nostalgic sadness, of all that a nostalgic heart is not and yet yearns to be. embodiment of the whole essay, both in style and in spirit, is the Representative following quotation, in which he addresses music: â€Å"Oh you, wine of the heart that uplifts its drinker to the heights of the world of imagination;-you ethereal waves bearing the soul’s phantoms; you sea of sensibility and tenderness; to your waves we lend our soul, and to your uttermost depths we trust our hearts. Carry those hearts away beyond the world of matter and show us what is hidden deep in the world of the unknown. â€Å"‘ Between Mztsic of 1905 and The Prophet of 1923, Gibran’s writings as well as his thought seem to have passed through two stages: the youthful period of his early Arabic works, Nymphs of the Wally, Spirits Rebellious, Broken Wings and A Tear and a Smile, published between 1907 and 1914, and the relatively more mature stage of Processions, The Tempests, The Madman, his first work in English, and The Forerunner, his second, all leading up to The Prophet. It is only natural that in his youthful stage Gibran’s longing in Chinatown, Boston, where he first settled, for Lebanon, the country of the first impressionable years of his life, should dominate the two other strings in his harp. Nymphs of the Vallg is a collection of three short stories; Spirits Rebellious consists of another four, while Broken names and Wings can easily pass for a long short story. Overlooking dates, the three books can safely be considered as one volume of eight collected short stories that are similar in both style and conception, even to the point of redundancy; in all of them Lebanon, as the unique 1 See â€Å"al M? ? qa† al-Majm? ‘ah in al-K? milah (The Complete Works), vol. I, p. 57. 57 of mystic natural beauty, provides the setting. The different heroes, though their names and situations vary from story to story, are Khalil Gibran in essence one and the same. They are unmistakably the youth himself, who at times does not even bother to conceal his identity, speaking in the first person singular in Broken Wings and as Khalil in â€Å"Khalil the Heretic† of Spirits Rebellious. This first-person hero is typically to be found challenging pretenders to the possession of the body and soul of his beloved Lebanon. These pretenders in the nineteenth and early twentieth century are, in Gibran’s reckoning, the feudal lords of Lebanese aristocracy and the church order. The stories are therefore almost invariably woven in such a way as to bring Gibran the hero, or a Gibran-modelled hero, into direct conflict with of one or another of those groups. representatives In Broken Wings, Gibran the youth and Salma Karameh fall in love. But the local archbishop frustrates their love by forcibly marrying Salma to his nephew. Thus Gibran finds the opportunity, whilst his love of the virgin beauty of Lebanon, to pour out his singing anger on the church and its hierarchy. In Spirits Rebellious, Iihalil the heretic is expelled from a monastery in Mount Lebanon into a raging winter blizzard, because he was too Christian to be tolerated by the abbot and his fellow monks. Rescued at the last moment by a widow and her beautiful daughter in a Lebanese hamlet and secretly given refuge in their cottage, he soon makes the mother an admirer of his ideals of a primitive anticlerical Christianity and the daughter a disciple and a devoted lover. When he is discovered and captured by the local feudal lord and brought to trial before him as a heretic and an outlaw, he stands among the multitudes of humble Lebanese villagers and tenants and speaks like a Christ at his second coming. Won over by his defence, which he turns into an offensive against the allied despotism of the church and the feudal system, the simple and poverty-stricken villagers rally round him. As a consequence the local lord commits suicide, the priest takes to flight, Khalil marries the daughter of his rescuer, and the whole village lives ever afterwards in a blissful state of natural piety, amity and justice. John the Madman† in Nymphs of the Valley is almost a duplicate of Khalil the heretic. Detained with his calves by the abbot and monks of a monastery simply because the calves have intruded on its property, John, the poor calf-keeper, accuses his persecutors and all other men of the church of being the enemies of Christ, the modern pharisees land 58 on the poverty, misery and goodness of the very people prospering like himself in whom Christ abides. â€Å"Come forth again, o living out of your Christ,† he calls, â€Å"and chase these religion-merchants For they have turned those temples into dungeons where the temples. nakes of their cunning and villainy lie coiled. † 1 Because he was social order uniinspired with sincere truth under a domineering to sincerity and truth, John was dismissed as a formly antagonistic madman. It is easy to label Gibran in this early stage of his career as a social reformer and a rebel, as he was indeed labelled by many students of his works in the Arab world. His heroes, whose main weapons are their eloquent tongues, are always engaged in struggles that are of a social nature. There are almost invariably three factors here: innocent romantic love, frustrated by a society that subjugates love to worldly selfish interests, a church order that claims wealth, power and absolute authority in the name of Christ but is in fact utterly antichrist, and a ruthlessly inhuman feudal system. However, in spite of the apparent climate of social revolt in his stories Gibran remains far from deserving the title of social reformer. To be a reformer in revolt against something is to be in possession of a positive alternative. But nowhere do Gibran’s heroes strike us as having any real alternative. The alternatives, if any, are nothing but the negation of what the heroes revolt against. Thus their alternative for a corrupt love is no corrupt love, the sort of utopian love that we are made to see in Broken Lf/ings; the alternative for a feudal system is no feudal system, or the kind of systemless society we end up with in Spirits Rebellious; and the alternative for a Christless church is a Christ without any kind of church, madman in the kind of role in which John has found himself. Not being in possession of an alternative, a social reformer in revolt is instantly transformed from a hero into a social misfit. Thus Gibran’s heroes have invariably been heretics, madmen, wanderers, and even prophets and Gods. As such they all Boston, drawn represent Gibran the emigrant misfit in Chinatown, in his imagination and longing to Lebanon, his childhood’s fairyland, who is not so much concerned w ith the ills that corrupt its society as with the corrupt society that defiles its beauty. What kind of Lebanon Gibran has in mind becomes clearer in a relatively late essay in Arabic, in which his ideal of Lebanon and that of the antagonists whom he portrays in his stories are set against one another. vol. 1 Al-Majm? ‘ahal-K? mila, I, p. 101. 59 The best that Gibran the rebel could tell those corrupters of Lebanese society in this essay entitled â€Å"You Have Your Lebanon and I have Mine† is not how to make Lebanon a better society, but how beautiful is Lebanon without any society at all. He writes: â€Å"You have your Lebanon and its problems, and I have my Lebanon and its beauty. You have your Lebanon with all that it has of various interests and concerns, while I have my Lebanon with all that it has of aspirations and dreams †¦ Your Lebanon is a political riddle that time to resolve, while my Lebanon is hills rising in awe and attempts Your Lebanon is ports, industry majesty towards the blue sky †¦ and commerce, while my Lebanon is a far removed idea, a burning emotion, and an ethereal word whispered by earth into the ear of heaven †¦ Your Lebanon is religious sects and parties, while my Lebanon is youngsters climbing rocks, running with rivulets and ball in open squares. Your Lebanon is speeches, lectures and playing while my Lebanon is songs of nightingales, discussions, swaying branches of oak and poplar, and echoes of shepherd flutes reverber1 ating in caves and grottoes. † It is no wonder that this kind of rebel should wind up his so-called social revolt at this stage of his career with the publication of a book of collected prose poems entitled A Tear and a Smile. The tears, which are much more abundant here than the smiles, are those of Gibran the misfit rather than of the rebel in Boston, singing in an exceedingly touching way of his frustrated love and estrangement, his loneliness, homesickness and melancholy. The smiles, on the other hand, are the expression of those hitherto intermittent but now more numerous moments in the life of Gibran the emigrant when the land of mystic beauty, ceases to be a geographical Lebanon, in his imagination into expression, and is gradually metamorphosed a metaphysical After such rudimentary as his homeland. ttempts short story â€Å"The Ash of Generations and the Eternal Fire† in Nymphs Gibran has of the Valley, expressive of his belief in reincarnation, managed in his prose poems of A Tear and a Smile to give his homesickness a clear platonic twist. His alienation has become that of the human soul entrapped in the foreign world of physical existence, and his homesickness has become the yearning of t he soul so estranged for rehabilitation in the higher world of metaphysical truth whence it has originally descended. It is for this reason that human life is 1 Ibid. , vol. III, pp. 202-203. 60 expressed by a tear and a smile: a tear for the departure and alienation The historic analogy and a smile for the prospect of a home-coming. of the sea in this respect becomes common from now on in Gibran’s writings: rain is the weeping of water that falls over hills and dales from the mother sea, while running brooks sound the estranged â€Å"Such is the soul†, says Gibran in one of happy song of home-coming. rom the universal soul it takes its his prose poems. â€Å"Separated course in the world of matter passing like a cloud over the mountains of sorrow and the plains of happiness until it is met by the breezes of death, whereby it is brought back to where it originally belongs, to the sea of love and beauty, to god. † 1 When Gibran’s homeland, the object of his longing, was Lebanon, his anger was directed against those who in his view had defiled its beauty. But now that his homeland had gradually assumed a metaphysical Platonic meaning, his attack was no longer centred on local influences clergy, church dogma, feudalism and the other corrupting in Lebanon, but rather on the shamefully defiled image that man, the emigrant in the world of physical existence, has made of the world of God, his original homeland. Not only Lebanese society, but rather human society at large has become the main target of Gibran’s the second stage of his career. isgust and bitterness throughout This kind of disgust constitutes the central theme in Gibran’s long Arabic poem Processions of 1919 and his book of collected Arabic essays The Tempests of 1920, his last work in Arabic, as well as in his first two works in English, The Madman of 1918, and The Forerunner of 1920, both of which are collected parables and prose poems. The hero in Gibran’s poetico-fictional title-piece in The Tempests, Youssof al-Fakhry in his cottage among the forbiddi ng mountains, becomes a mystery to the awe-stricken Only to neighbourhood. Gibran the narrator, seeking refuge in the cottage one stormy evening, does he reveal the secret of his heroic silence and seclusion. â€Å"It is a certain awakening in the uttermost depth of the soul,† he says, â€Å"a certain idea which takes a man’s conscience by surprise at a moment and opens his vision whereby he sees life †¦ projecof forgetfulness, ted like a tower of light between earth and infinity. † 2 Looking at the rest of men from the tower of life, from his giant God-self which he has so recognized at a rare moment of awakening, Youssof al-Fakhry sees them in their forgetful day-to-day earthly 1 Ibid. vol. II, p. 95. 2 Ibid. , vol. III, p. 111. 61 to existence, at the bottom of the tower. In their placid unwillingness lift their eyes to what is divine in their natures, they appear to him as disgusting pigmies, hypocrites and cowards. â€Å"I have deserted people†, he explains to his guest, â€Å"because I have found myself a wheel turnin g he right among wheels invariably turning left. † â€Å"No, my brother,† adds, â€Å"I have not sought seclusion for prayer or hermitic practices. Rather have I sought it in escape from people and their laws, teachings and customs, from their ideas, noises and wailings. I have sought seclusion so as not to see the faces of men selling their souls to buy with the price thereof what is below their souls in value and honour In â€Å"The Grave-Digger†, another poetico-fictional piece in The these men who have sold their souls, and who constitute in Tempests, Gibran’s reckoning the rest of human society, are dismissed as dead, though in the words of the hero, modelled in the lines of Youssof alFakhry, â€Å"finding none to bury them, they remain on the face of the 2 earth in stinking disintegration†. The hero’s advice to Gibran the narrator is that for a man who has awakened to his giant God-self the best service he can render society is digging graves. â€Å"From that hour up to the present†, Gibran concludes, â€Å"I have been digging graves and burying the dead, but the dead are many and I am alone with nobody to help me. † 3 To be the only sane man among fools is to appear as the only fool among sane men. If life, as Youssof al-Fakhry says, is a tower whose bottom is the earth and whose top is the world of the infinite, then to clamour for the infinite in one’s life is to be considered an outcast and a fool by the rest of men clinging to the bottom of the tower. This is first English work, The precisely how the Madman in Gibran’s his title. His masks stolen, he was walking naked, as Madman, gained every traveller from the physical to the metaphysical is bound to be. Seeing his nakedness, someone on a house-top cried: â€Å"He is a madman. Looking up, the sun, his higher self, kissed his naked face for the first time. He fell in love with the sun and wanted his masks, his no longer. Thereafter he was always physical and social attachments, known as the Madman, and as a madman he was at war against human society. Processions, Gibran’s long poem in Arabic, is a dialogue between two voices. Upon close analysis, the two voices seem to belong to one and 1 Ibid. , vol. III, 106. p. 2 Ibid. , vol. III, p. 11. 3 Ibid. , vol. III, 15. p. 62 the same man: another of those Gibranian madmen, or men who have become Gods unto themselves. This man would at one time cast his at people living at the bottom of the tower, and eyes downwards raise his voice in derision and sarcasm, poking fun at consequently their unreality, satirizing their Gods, creeds and practices, and ridiculing their values, ever doomed, blind as they are, to be at loggerheads. At another instant he would turn his eyes to his own sublime world beyond good and evil, where dualities interpenetrate giving way to unity, and then he would raise his voice in praise of life absolute and universal. is to achieve serenity and peace. That To achieve self-fulfilment Gibran and his heroes are still mad Gods, grave-diggers and enemies of mankind, filled with bitterness despite their claim of having arrived at the summit of life’s tower, reveals that Gibran’s self-fulfilment this second stage of his work is still a matter of wishful throughout rather than an accomplished fact. Too thinking and make-believe with his own painful loneliness in his transcendental preoccupied quest, Gibran the madman or superman, it seems, has failed hitherto at the summit, but also to not only to feel the joy of self-realization recognize the ragedy of his fellow-men supposedly lost in the mire instead of love and compassion, down below. Consequently people could only inspire in him bitterness and disgust. The stage of anger and disgust was succeeded in Gibran’s development by a third stage, that of The Prophet, his chef d’? tlvre, Jesus the Son of Man and The Earth Gods. The link is to be found in The Forerun ner of 1920, his book of collected poems and parables. To believe, as Gibran did, that life is a tower whose base is earth and whose summit is the infinite is also to believe that life is one and indivisible. For the man on top of life’s tower to reject those who are beneath, as Gibran had been doing up to this point, is to undermine his own height and become lower than the lowest he rejects. Thus one of Gibran’s poems in The Forerunner says, as though in atonement for all his Nietzschean revolt: â€Å"Too young am I and too outraged to be my freer self. â€Å"And how shall I become my freer self unless I slay my burdened selves, or unless all men become free? † †¦ How shall the eagle in me soar against the sun until my fledglings leave the nest which I with my own beak have built for them. 1 1 TheForerunner,p. 7. 63 Gibran’s belief in the unity of life, which has hitherto made only and at times confused appearances in his writings, has intermittent now become, with all its implications with regard to human life and conduct, the prevailing theme of the rest of his works. If life is one and infinite, then man is the infinite in embryo, just as a seed is in itself the whole tree in embryo. â€Å"Every seed†, says Gibran in one of his later works, â€Å"is a longing. 1 This longing is presumably the longing of the tree in the seed for in the actual tree that it had previously been. Every self-fulfilment seed therefore bears within itself the longing, the self-fulfilment and the means by which this can be achieved. To transfer the analogy to man is to say that every man as a conscious being is a divine seed; is life absolute and infinite in embryo. Every man, therefore, according to Gibran, is a longing : the longing of the divine in man for man the divine whom he had previously been. But, to quote Gibran again, â€Å"No longing remains unfulfilled. † 2 Like the seed, he Therefore every man is destined for Godhood. bears within him the longing, the fulfilment which is God, and the road leading to this fulfilment. It is in this context that Gibran declares in The Forerurcner, â€Å"You are your own forerunner, and the tower have built are but the foundations of your giant self. † 3 you Seeing man in this light, Gibran can no longer afford to be a gravedigger. A new stage has opened in his career. Men are divine and, therefore, deathless. If they remain in the mire of their earthly existence, it is not because they are mean and disgusting, but because the divine in them, like the fire in a piece of wood, is dormant though it needs only a slight spark to be released into a blaze of light. it is not a grave-digger that men need, but an Consequently, a Socratic mid-wife, who would help man release the God in igniter; himself into the self that is one with God. Therefore in this new stage Gibran the grave-digger and the madman gives way to Gibran the and the igniter. rophet In The Prophet of 1923, Almustafa â€Å"who was a dawn unto his own day† sees his ship, for which he had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese, returning to â€Å"bear him back to the isle of his birth†. The people of Orphalese leave their daily work and crowd around him in the city square to bid him farewell and beg for something of his 1 Sandand Foam, p. 16. 1 Ibid. , p. 25. 1 TheForerunner,p. 7. 64 he answers their various befor e he leaves, whereupon knowledge on subjects of their own choosing. uestions It is not hard to see that Almustafa the Prophet is Gibran himself, who in 1923 had already spent almost twelve years in New York city, the city of Orphalese, having moved there from Boston in 1912, and that the isle of his birth is Lebanon to which he had longed to return. But looking deeper still Almustafa can further symbolize the man who, in Gibran’s reckoning, has become his freer self; who has realized the passage in himself from the human to the divine, and is therefore ripe for emancipation and reunion with life absolute. His ship is death that has come to bear him to the isle of his birth, the Platonic world of metaphysical reality. As to the people of Orphalese, they stand for human society at large in which men, exiled in their spatio-temporal existence from their true selves, that is, from God, are in need in their God-ward journey of the guiding prophetic hand that would lead them from what is human in them to the divine. Having made that journey himself, Almustafa presents himself in his sermons the book as that guide. throughout Stripped of its poetical trappings, Gibran’s teaching in The Prophet is found to rest on the single idea that life is one and infinite. As a living being, man in his temporal existence is only a shadow of his real self. To be one’s real self is to be one with the infinite to which man is related. Self-realization, therefore, lies in going out of inseparably one’s spatio-temporal dimensions, so that the self is broadened to the man’s only extent of including everyone and all things. Consequently in self-realization, to his greater self, lies in love. Hence love is the path theme of the opening sermon of Almustafa to the people of Orphalese. No man can say â€Å"I† truly without meaning the totality of things apart from which he cannot be or be conceived. Still less can one love oneself truly without loving everyone and all things. So love is at once an emancipation and a crucifixion: an emancipation because it releases man from his narrow confinement and brings him to that whereby he feels one with the stage of broader self-consciousness with God; a crucifixion because to grow into the broader self infinite, is to shatter the smaller self which was the seed and confinement. For even as Thus true self-assertion is bound to be a self-negation. love crowns you†, says Almustafa to his hearers, â€Å"so shall he crucify 1 you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. † 1 TheProphet, p. 15. 65 love, which is our guide to our larger self, is insepConsequently arable from pain. â€Å"Your pain†, says Almustafa, â€Å"is the breaking of Even as the stone of the the shell that encloses your understanding. fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know 1 pain. † Thus conceived, pain becomes at once a kind of joy. It is the joy of the seed dying as a tree in embryo in a process of becoming a tree in full. and unheeded which is really painful. It is only pain misunderstood self is God, then anything that gives us pain is a witness If our larger that our self is not yet broad enough to contain it. For to contain all is is thus an to be in love and at peace with all. Pain truly understood to growth and therefore to joy. â€Å"Your joy†, says Almustafa, impetus â€Å"is your sorrow unmasked. The deeper that sorrow carves into your 2 being, the more joy you can contain. † If pain and joy are inseparable, so are life and death. In a universe that is infinite nothing can die except the finite, and nothing finite can be other than the infinite in disguise. Death understood is the pouring of the finite into the infinite, the passage of the God in man into the man in God. â€Å"Life and death are one†, says Almustafa, â€Å"even as the And what is to cease breathing, but to river and the sea are one †¦ free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and 3 seek God unencumbered. † If life and death are one even as joy and pain, it must follow that life is not the opposite of death nor death the opposite of life. For to live is to grow and to grow is to exist in a continuous process of dying. Therefore every death is a rebirth into a higher state of being, in the sense of â€Å"the child is father to the man†. Thus in a Wordsworthian chain of birth and rebirth man persists in his God-ward continuous of himself until ascent, gaining at each step a broader consciousness he finally ends at the absolute. â€Å"It is a flame spirit in you†, says Almustafa, â€Å"ever gathering more of itself. † 4 Similarly, nothing can happen to us which is not in fact self-invited, If God is our greater self, then nothing can and self-entertained. efall us from without. Says Almustafa: 1 Ibid. , p. 60. 2 Ibid. , p. 35. 3 Ibid. , pp. 90-91. 4 Ibid. , p. 97. 66 â€Å"The And And And murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder, the robbed is not blameless in being robbed. the righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked, the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon. â⠂¬Å"1 If God is our greater self then there can be no good in the infinite universe which is not the good of every man, nor can there be any â€Å"Like a procession†, evil for which anyone can abjure responsibility. Almustafa, â€Å"you walk together towards your God self. † says â€Å"†¦ even as the holy and righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, so the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also. And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all. â€Å"22 It would follow that the spiritual elevation of a Christ is part and parcel of the material villainy of a Judas Iscariot. For in God Christ and Judas are one and inseparable. No man, therefore, no matter how elevated, can be emancipated into his larger self alone. An eagle, however high it can soar, is always bound to come down again to its fledgelings in the nest and is until they too become strong of wing, doomed to remain earthbound and the same is true of an elevated human soul or a prophet. So long as there remains even one speck of bestiality in any man no other human soul, no matter how near to God it may be, can be finally Like the released emancipated and escape the wheel of reincarnation. n Plato’s allegory, he will again return to the philosopher-prisoner cave, so long as his fellows are still there in darkness and in chains. Gibran’s Prophet, as he prepares to board his ship, says: â€Å"Should my voice fade in your ears, and my love vanish in your memory, then I will come again. A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body. A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bea r me. â€Å"3 In literary terms, this moment of rest upon the wind for Almustafa was brief indeed. Only five years elapsed on his departure from 1 Ibid. , p. 47. 2 Ibid. , pp. 46-47. 3 Ibid. , 105. p. 67 Orphalese before he was given birth again; not by another woman, as he had foretold, but by Gibran himself. His name this time was not Almustafa but Jesus. Jesus the Son of Man, Gibran’s second book after The Prophet, appeared in 1928, the first being only a short collection of aphorisms under the title of Sand and Foam. To the student of Gibran’s literary art, Jesus the Son of Man may offer some novelty, but not so to the student of his thought. Gibran in this book tries to portray Christ as he understands him by inviting to speak of him each from his a number of Christ’s contemporaries own point of view. Their views combined in the mind of the reader are intended to bring out the desired portrait. But names, places and situations apart, the Jesus so portrayed in the the book is not so much of the Biblical Christ, as he is the old Biblical a new development Gibranian Almustafa. transformed into another Like Nazarene who Almustafa he is described as â€Å"The chosen and the beloved†, after several previous rebirths is come and will come again to help lead men to their larger selves. He is not a God who has taken human form, but an ordinary man of ordinary birth who has been able through spiritual sublimation to elevate himself from the human to the divine. His several returns to earth are the several returns of the eagle who would not taste the full freedom of space before all his fledgedesire†, says lings are taught to fly. â€Å"Were it not for a mother’s Gibran’s Jesus, â€Å"I would have stripped me of the swaddling-clothes and escaped back to space. And were it not for sorrow in all of you, . I would not have stayed to weep. I Therefore Gibran’s Jesus was neither meek nor humble nor characterized by pity. His return to earth is the return of a winged spirit, intent on appealing not to human frailties, but to the power in man which is capable of lifting him from the finite to the infinite. One reporter on Jesus says, â€Å"I am sickened and the bowels within call Jesus humble and me stir and rise when I hear the faint-hearted an d when the that they may justify their own faint-heartedness; meek, for comfort and companionship, down-trodden, speak of Jesus as a worm shining by their side. Yes, my heart is sickened by such men. It is the mighty hunter I would preach, and the mountainous spirit 2 unconquerable. † Gibran’s Jesus is even made to re-utter the Lord’s prayer in a way 1 Jesus The Sonof Man, p. 19. 2 Ibid. , p. 4. 68 to the heart and lips of Almustafa, appropriate teaching man to himself to the point of becoming one with the all-inclusive: enlarge â€Å"Our father in earth and heaven, sacred is Thy name. Thy will be done with us, even as in space †¦.. In Thy compassion forgive us and enlarge us to forgive one another. Guide us towards Thee and stretch down Thy hand to us in darkness. For Thine is the kingdom, and in Thee is our power and our fulfilment To dwell further on the character and teachings of Jesus as conIn The Prophet, Gibran the ceived by Gibran is to risk redundancy. thinker reaches his climax. His post-Prophet works, with the possible exception of The Earth Gods of 1931, the last book published in his lifetime, have almost nothing new to offer. s a collection of The Wanderer of 1932, published posthumously, and sayings much in the style and spirit of The Forerunner of parables 1920, published three years before The Prophet. As to The Garden of the in 1933, it should be dismissed Prophet, also published posthumously as a fake and a forgery. Gibran, who had planned The Garden outright state of being and of the Prophet to be an expression of Almustafa’s after he had arrived in the isle of his birth from the city of teachings Orphalese, had only time left to write two or three short passages for that book. Other passages were added, some of which are translations from Gibran’s early Arabic works, and some possibly written by another pen in imitation of Gibran’s style. The result was a book to Gibran, in which Gibran’s attributed are poetry and thought to a most unhappy state of chaos and confusion. brought This leaves us with The Earth Gods as the complete work with which Gibran’s career comes to its conclusion. And a fitting conclusion it is indeed. The book is a long prose poem where, in the words of Gibran, â€Å"The three earth-born Gods, the Master Titans of Life† hold a discourse on the destiny of man. is career was a poet of alienation and Gibran, who throughout strikes us in The Prophet and in Jeszrs the Son of Man, Almuslonging, tafa’s duplicate, as having arrived at his long-cherished state of intellectual rest and spiritual fulfilment. Almustafa and Christ, who in Gibran’s reckoning are earth-born Gods, reveal human destiny as being man’s gradual ascent through love and spiritual sublimation 1 Ibid. , p. 60. 69 towards ultimate reunion with God, the absolute and the infinite. It is possible that Gibran began to have second thoughts about the philosophy of his prophet towards the end of his life. Otherwise why is it that instead of one earth God, one human destiny, he now presents us with three who apparently are in disagreement ? Shortly after Jesus the Son of Man, (libran, who had for some time been fighting a chronic illness, came to realize that the fates were not on his side. Like Almustafa, he must have seen his ship coming in the mist to take him to the isle of his birth and in the lonely journey of towards death, armed as he was with the mystic convictions Almustafa, he must have often stopped to examine the implications of his philosophy. In his farewell address to the people of Orphalese, Almustafa saw his departure as â€Å"A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind†. But what of this endless cycle of births and rebirths? If man’s ultimate destiny as a finite being is to unite with the infinite, then that destiny is a virtual impossibility. For the road to the infinite is infinite, and man’s quest as a traveller through reincarnation is bound to be endless and fruitless. ‘ Therefore comes the voice of Gibran’s first God: â€Å"Weary is my spirit of all there is. I would not move a hand to create a world Nor to erase one. I would not live could I but die, For the weight of aeons is upon me, And the ceaseless moan of the seas exhaust my sleep. Could I but lose the primal aim And vanish like a wasted sun; Could I but strip my divinity of its purpose And breathe my immortality into space And be no more; Could I but be consumed and pass from time’s memory Into the emptiness of nowhere. â€Å"‘ In another place this same God says: â€Å"For all that I am, and all that there is on earth, And all that shall be, inviteth not my soul. Silent is thy face, And in thine eyes the shadows of night are sleeping. But terrible is thy silence, And thou art terrible. â€Å"2 1 The Earth Gods, 3. p. 2 Ibid. , pp. 5-6. 70 If man in his ascent to the infinite is likened to a mountain-climber, then these moments of gloom and helplessness only occur when he casts his eyes towards the infinitely removed summit beyond. It is not so when he casts his eyes downwards and sees the heights he has already scaled. The loneliness and gloom then give way to optimism and reassurance. For a journey that can be started is a journey that can be concluded. Gibran on his lonely voyage must have turned to see There we hear the this other implication in Almustafa’s philosophy. voice of the second God, whose eyes are turned optimistically downwards. His philosophy is that the height of the summit is a part of the lowliness of the valley beneath. That the valley is now transcended is a reassurance that the summit can be considered as already conquered. For to reach the summit is to reach the highest point to which a valley could raise its depth. Man’s journey to God is therefore a journey inwards and not an external quest. The second God says to the first: â€Å"We are the beyond and we are the most high And between us and the boundless eternity Is naught save our unshaped passion And the motive thereof. You invoke the unknown, And the unknown clad with moving mist Dwells in your own soul. Yea, in your own soul your redeemer lies asleep And in sleep sees what your waking eye does not see. †¦ Forbear and look down upon the world. Behold the unweaned children of your love. The earth is your abode, and the earth is your throne; And high beyond man’s furtherest hope Your hand upholds his destiny. â€Å"‘ Yet in Gibran’s lonely journey towards death, a voice not so pessimistic as that of his first God nor so optimistic as that of the second from the youthful past of is heard. This voice, coming perhaps Broken Wings and A Tear and a Smile, though not part of Almustafa’s voice, is yet not out of harmony with it. It is the voice of someone who has come to realize that man has so busied himself philosophizing to live it. Rather than the climber about life that he has forgotten terrified by the towering height of the summit or reassured by the lowliness of the valley, here is a love-intoxicated youth in the spring meadows 1 Ibid. , on the mountainside. p. 22. 71 â€Å"There is a wedding in the valley. â€Å"Brothers, my brothers,† the third God rebukes his two fellows, â€Å"A day too vast for recording. †¦ We shall pass into the twilight; Perchance to wake to the dawn of another world. But love shall stay, And his finger-marks shall not be erased. The blessed forge burns, The sparks rise, and each spark is a sun. Better it is for us, and wiser, To seek a shadowed nook and sleep in our earth divinity And let love, human and frail, command the coming day. â€Å"‘ Thus Gibran concludes his life-long alienation. His thought in the twilight of his days seems to have swung back to his youth where it first started. It is a complete cycle, in conformity, though perhaps unconsciously, The tenacious cedar tree which was with his idea of reincarnation. Gibran the Prophet went back again to the seed that it was: to love, to wake to the dawn of another world. â€Å"2 human and frail-â€Å"Perchance N. NAIMY 1 Ibid. , pp. 25-26. 2 Ibid. , pp. 38-41.

Research Component Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research Component - Essay Example The individuals belonging to both the genders were interviewed. After the research process, the hypothesis was upheld. Crime is a social phenomenon and exists in each and every culture of the world from the most primitive human tribes and clans to the modern contemporary society. With the increase in population of the world at large, the tribes and communities grew widely and developed into society. The crime rate also got its place along with the growth of civilization with an upward trend and increase. The need of rules and system was felt to preserve peace and harmony. Subsequently, social norms, mores and taboos were determined to bring regularity in society. Socio-cultural and political authorities came into being with the passage of time, to evade disturbance and control deviancy from the prescribed manners prevailing in some specific area. Punishment and penalties were implemented leading towards the formulation of the sets of laws and penal codes. Agencies were originated to cope with the individuals deteriorating the peace and stability of society. Abnormal attitude creating public nuisance was declared as crime against the state and its individuals. Durkheim views crime, states Coser (1977:141), as normal in terms of its occurrence, and even as having positive social functions in terms of its consequences. In his words: "Where crime exists, collective sentiments are sufficiently flexible to take on a new form, and crime sometimes helps to determine the form they will take. How many times, indeed, it is only an anticipation of future morality--a step toward what will be." As criminal behavior contains universality in its concept, it is not limited to one social class or age group only. Though there is no hard and fast rule for the victimization of specific crime on specific group, yet there are some types of pestering which can be attributed to particular group or class. The nature of crimes varies from one age

Paul Delvauxs Paintings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Paul Delvauxs Paintings - Essay Example He quickly distinguished himself as an aspiring musician and took his music classes avidly. Like many aspiring artists, Delvaux entry into the world of art was met with determined criticism from his parents, who wished him to pursue a separate career (Carels & Deun, 2004). It was partly due to this parental pressure that the young man occasionally ventured into other subjects but remained a good reader all the while. The books and subjects he read would later influence the kind of art he chose at an early age. Jule Verne’s fictional writings and Homer were his favorite publications at that young age (Carels & Deun, 2004). His parent’s opposition to an artistic career saw him study architecture at an academy in Brussels. At a much older age, he changed his academic course and switched to art under the tutelage of Constant Montald and another artist; Jean Delville (Carels & Deun, 2004). During the inaugural years of his artistic career, the young artist concentrated large ly on naturalistic art. His penchant at the time was painting of landscapes as he saw them within his geographical surroundings. Later on, his art would change from pure surrealism to pick up aspects of expressionists after he encountered the influences of Constant Permeke and another artist by the name Gustave De Smet (Carels & Deun, 2004). These two artists introduced him into the art of surrealism. An artistic encounter with the figure of Venus would later offer him a new motif that dominated his art for much of his later artistic career. From these influences, he developed a strong taste of nudist art. The artist is well known for his remarkable capacity for juxtaposition. In his art, the most ordinary of things would be rendered in peculiarly different forms. The capacity to engage the aspects of naturalism, surrealism, metaphysics, and expressionism brought him out as one of the most accomplished artists of his time. His art continue to influence critical reviews and appraisal s in Belgium especially, and much of Europe and America generally. One of Delvaux’s most famous paintings is â€Å"The Great Sirens.† It is generally considered as the best landmark of his nudist art as compared to others. â€Å"The Great Sirens† also shows the most telling effects of the influences Delvaux received from Rene Magritte and Giorgio de Chirico. Magritte infused into the artistic substance of Delvaux the elements of surrealism. This influence elevated the Belgian’s art to some higher representations that captured multiple influences in ways that appeared to operate above the normal expectations. On the other hand, deChirico’s art influenced Delvaux into the representations of metaphysical and proto-surrealistic paintings. The art of incongruous juxtaposition that expresses itself in the art of Delvaux borrows heavily from the art of Magritte. In the â€Å"The Great Sirens,† these influences are evident from the dramatic way in w hich the pictures are rendered and in the juxtaposition that follows. It is appropriate to determine some of the influences that contribute to the artistic shock that presents them in this painting. The women are brought about as erotic, shameless, and threatening to the male ego and power (Delvaux, 1947). They are no longer presented as weak and conquered, as they are ready to use their feminine qualities and physique to conquer the domineering power of the men in the society in which they leave. By presenting these pictures as uniquely feminine, the painter brings out the fact that he is an essential feminist. He goes against the dominant tradition where patriarchal artists seek to use the physical attributes of women to display their power. In a way, therefore â€Å"The Great Sirens† might be interpreted as an allegory of feminine redemption,

The Utilization of Tuscan Columns in the Coliseum in Rome Essay

The Utilization of Tuscan Columns in the Coliseum in Rome - Essay Example Apart from the brutal sport which was always staged by the Coliseum, the huge structure was the place for culture. The Roman high society exhibited their appreciation for the plebeian entertainment, while having brought their royal tradition amongst their peers. The patrician class, on the other hand, were the avid fans of their iconic gladiators whom they placed their bets upon. Aside from becoming a melting pot of the Roman society, the Coliseum was an architectural marvel. Its colossal image in the Roman urban setting was undefeated through time. Its intricate floor plan was deemed as an innovation of the classical era, an advanced structure ahead of its time. It was frequently compared by modern engineers and architects to the stadiums and arenas of today. This was in terms of organizational planning. Since the Coliseum had the capability to house thousands of individuals, it had to be constructed with respect to the manner of entry and exit of crowds at a single moment. The Coli seum was the first to bear such technical functions. In addition, having to bear such number of audiences, the Coliseum managed to separate the classes of the Roman society as per the seating placements within the arena. More importantly, the architectural design of the structure was an undeniable marvel for during its glory days. The series of arches and wall carvings were testament to the Roman classical art. What is interesting is the series of Tuscan columns prevalent in the entirety of the Coliseum. The Doric, Ionic and the Corinthian columns could be seen from the exterior to the interior of the structure. The prevalence of Roman columns is, indeed, a very interesting notion to look at. These columns have functional and implied meanings which pertain to their structural use and the message they convey to scholars of the Roman classical art. Thus, this research would focus entirely on the mentioned aspect: the use of the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns in the Roman Coliseum . This research will first tackle a brief historical background to the structure in order to fully understand the context which it outlived. It will then establish a better understanding of the Tuscan columns, namely the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, through historical analysis and interpretation. As for the conclusive part of the study, it will use the historical analysis of the Coliseum and the Tuscan columns in order to establish the relationship of both. Hence, the task of this study is to explain the use and presence of the mentioned columns in the Coliseum through a survey of historical contexts associated with the classical Roman period. For the purpose of this study, it will use a series of secondary sources and scholarly works in order to corroborate and prove the thesis of this research. A Brief Historical Narrative of the Coliseum in Rome By mere observation of the ruins which now lay at the heart of Rome, the Coliseum is deemed as one of the most treasured classical legac ies of the Roman period. The magnanimous and huge built of the structure was conclusive of its ambitious accomplishment of having been considered as the focal point of the urban Roman setting. From the origins of its name alone, the Coliseum can be derived from either the colossal traits that it had during its time or from the Colossus of Nero from which it copied its enormity, height and bulk. Even scholars of Roman history are

Serotonin Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Serotonin - Research Paper Example The metabolism of serotonin takes place in the live. The product of metabolism is known as 5-HIAA. In the process of metabolism, serotonin is oxidized by monoamine oxidase to produce aldehyde. Aldehyde is further oxidized into 5-HIAA by aldehyde dehydrogenase. Large amounts of serotonin in the blood leads to certain forms of carcinoid syndrome of flushing. It also leads to diarrhea, and heart complications. Human beings who experience the production of large amounts of serotonin often suffer from tricuspid valve disease. This disease is caused due to proliferation of myocytes into the valve (Chattopadhyay, 2007). Serotonin is not only found in animals. There are plants and fungi that have serotonin. Worms and insects also have serotonin. This is manifested the pain caused due to their bites. Plant spines also cause pain to human beings. Other pathogenic amoebas have the ability to produce serotonin, the effect of the serotonin from amoeba leads to diarrhea. 5-HT receptors belong to the A rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These receptors are said to have seven transmembrane spanning helices which include; three intracellular and three extracellular loops, one extracellular amino-terminus, and an intracellular carboxy-terminus. The transmembrane helices are charged with the function of binding endogenous ligand serotonin. Serotonergic neurons are lovated at the dorsal and median raphe nuclei region of the brain stem. In addition, serotonergic neurons are responsible for the projection of nerve terminals to every region of the brain.... It also leads to diarrhea, and heart complications. Human beings who experience the production of large amounts of serotonin often suffer from tricuspid valve disease. This disease is caused due to proliferation of myocytes into the valve (Chattopadhyay, 2007). Serotonin is not only found in animals. There are plants and fungi that have serotonin. Worms and insects also have serotonin. This is manifested the pain caused due to their bites. Plant spines also cause pain to human beings. Other pathogenic amoebas have the ability to produce serotonin, the effect of the serotonin from amoeba leads to diarrhea (Chattopadhyay, 2007). 5-HT receptors belong to the A rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These receptors are said to have seven transmembrane spanning helices which include; three intracellular and three extracellular loops, one extracellular amino-terminus, and an intracellular carboxy-terminus. The transmembrane helices are charged with the function of binding endo genous ligand serotonin (Chattopadhyay, 2007). Serotonergic neurons are lovated at the dorsal and median raphe nuclei region of the brain stem. In addition, serotonergic neurons are responsible for the projection of nerve terminals to every region of the brain. There are primary targets for serotonergic projections in the brain. The main targets include the substantia nigra, hypothalamus, amygdaloid-hippocampal region, caudate, plutamen and nucleus accumbens. Other areas that are targeted by the serotonergic projections include cerebral cortial areas such as the frontal, occipital, insular, parietal, temporal, and cerebral cortices (Vanhoute, 1993). In the brain, the cerebral cortex region has several nerves of serotonin

Siemens Case Study. Exam Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Siemens . Exam - Case Study Example Further investigation into the corruption cases involving Siemens shows that there are more cases in its overseas branches where the company maintains slush funds for the purpose of paying bribes as was the case in Greece, where it had a large amount of euros set aside for bribes to win contracts and tenders. The cases involve different governments covering sensitive areas such as intelligence and surveillance. In this cases, top government official in Greece reaped massive gains. Other counties involved in the scandal other than Greece include Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the USA for paying large sums to win contracts. Defenses by the company towards the bribery charges indicate the lack of ethics and it actually admits to have paid bribes to different companies and different government officials. One of the main defense claims was that it was never a crime to bribe a company outside of Germany, in the cases that occurred prior to 2002. This covered cases that occurred from 1999 and up until 2002, in which case the bribery became public knowledge in 2003. The validity of the claims made by Siemens were questionable and were deemed to be invalid following the existence of regulation outlawing bribery of companies outside of Germany before 2002 as it was still effective before 1999. The ethical standing of Siemens in this case indicates that the company is ethically corrupt when a utilitarian approach is used to define the case of Siemens. This is where the company overlooked the effects of its action towards other well deserving companies prior to bribery to win foreign contracts. As such, the company sought the cheapest way to bring business to itself while ruining other companies instead of following the right channels as expected. The main concern for the company lies with the shareholder and its ability to maintain their wealth as well as increase it. Therefore, this drives the company towards bribery as the immediate economic benefits are appealing and rewarding, while the long-term can be borne by future leaders of the same company saving shareholder a lot of immediate trouble in poor share sales. Using the different theories of ethics to discern this issue brings utilitarianism into perspective, as it is the only theory that focuses on the product and not on the means through which it is achieved. In any case, when it does pay attention to the means through which objectives are achieved, it only does so in relation to the cheapest and most convenient way and not on its impact on others. Thus, Siemens paid attention to the utilitarian theory that saw it ignore fundamental knowledge on bribery to bring unfair advantage and profits to itself denying other firms their own fair chance at winning contracts the legal way. In addition, the company could have used other means to secure contracts in foreign countries without having to pay bribes such as improving their own conduct, as considering the amount of funds used in bribes and com paring it to the profits, legal business would result in better returns. This denies the executives a proper defense since it does not even safeguard the interests and needs of the shareholders since when caught

Much To Learn From History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Much To Learn From History - Essay Example On many levels through my historical observation of such readings, I have been forever impacted by the diverse fibers that have made up the collective historical record. I found very early on that history would be the right subject matter for me to study. The chance to enter the historical record through the written works of many other historians had and continues to have a great impact on me as I continue my quest for an increased understanding of everything that has to do with history. It is quite empowering to me to be able to read such instrumental works that, in considerable ways, have aided in the formation of an understanding about that which happened between 1865 until the present day. To have the chance to read these works and have the resulting imagery painted in my mind from the words I have read has meant so much to me as a historian and as a person as I seek to learn more about history's offerings. From everything that I have learned personally, I feel that any student in school, or someone who wishes to learn outside of an organized setting, can take away many great things from studying this issue. A student of history can take away a great appreciation and exposure to the many things that have occurred throughout the time that paint a bigger picture of understanding the vast nature of intricacies which are intertwined with each and every historical event that has occurred between 1865 until now. The unique chance to have the opportunity as a student of history to enter the mind, motivation, as well as the circumstances.

Bylaws of Natural Health Essay Example for Free

Bylaws of Natural Health Essay Section 1: Membership shall consist only of the Director/President, Jason Wilson. ARTICLE III AMENDMENTS Section 1: These Bylaws may be amended when necessary. ARTICLE VI Restrictions on Actions 1. All the assets and earnings of the Corporation shall be used exclusively for its exempt purposes, including the payment of expenses incidental thereto. No part of any net earnings shall inure to the benefit of any employee of the Corporation or be distributed to its Directors, officers, or any private person. 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of these bylaws, the Corporation will not carry on any activities not permitted by an organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law, or organizations whose contributions which are exempt under Section 170(c)(2), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. The Corporation shall have no capital stock, pay no dividends, distribute no part of its net income or assets to any Directors, Officers, and private property of the subscribers, Directors or Officers shall not be liable for the debts of the Corporation. 3. No substantial part of the Corporation’s activity shall be for the carrying on of a campaign of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation. The Corporation shall not participate in any political campaign, will not engage in political campaigns or attempt to influence legislation or interfere with any political campaign on behalf or in opposition to any candidate for public office. 4. In particular, but not without limitation of the generality of the foregoing paragraph, during such time as the Corporation may be considered a private foundation as defined by Section 509(a), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law, it shall not: A. Fail to distribute its income for each taxable year at such time and in such manner as not to become subject to the tax on undistributed income imposed by Section 4942, Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. B. Engage in any act of self dealing as defined in Section 4941(d), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. C. Retain any excess business holdings as defined in Section 4943(c), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. D. Make any investment on such manner as to subject it to tax under Section 4944, Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. E. Make any taxable expenditures as defined in Section 4945(d), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. These bylaws were adopted on July 30, 2012. Jason Wilson, President

Dabur PESTEL Analysis

Dabur PESTEL Analysis INTRODUCTION The Dabur company was established in 1884, a young doctor armed with a degree in medicine and a burning desire to serve mankind. This young man, Dr. S.K. Burman, laid the foundations of what is today known as Dabur India Limited. The brand name Dabur is derived from the words Da for Daktar or Doctor and bur from Burman. From those humble beginnings, the company has grown into Indias leading manufacturer of consumer healthcare, personal care and food products. Over its 125 years of existence, the Dabur brand has stood for goodness through a natural lifestyle. An umbrella name for a variety of products, ranging from hair care to honey, Dabur has consistently ranked among Indias top brands. Its brands are built on the foundation of trust that a Dabur offering will never cause anyone slightest of harm. The trust levels that this brand enjoys are phenomenally high. Dabur India Limited has marked its presence with significant achievements and today commands a market leadership status. There story of success is based on dedication to nature, corporate and process hygiene, dynamic leadership and commitment to their partners and stakeholders. The results of their policies and initiatives speak for them. The company has kept an eye on new generations of customers with a range of products that cater to a modern lifestyle, while managing not to alienate earlier generations of loyal customers. Dabur India Limited is the fourth largest FMCG Company in India and Dabur had a turnover ofapproximately US$ 750 Million (Rs. 3390.9 Crore FY 09-10) Market Capitalisation of over US$ 3.5 Billion (Rs 15500 Crore).Dabur Amla, Dabur Chyawanprash, Vatika, Hajmola and Real are the brands of Dabur. Dabur is an investor friendly brand as its financial performance shows. The companys growth rate rose from 10% to 40%. The expected growth rate for two years was two-fold. There is an abundance of information for its investors and prospective information including a daily update on the share price (something that very few Indian brands do). Theres a great sense of responsibility for investors funds on view. This is a direct extension of Daburs philosophy of taking care of its constituents and it adds to the sense of trust for the brand overall. The company, through Dabur Pharma Ltd. does toxicology tests and markets ayurvedic medicines in a scientific manner. They have researched new medicines which will find use in O.T. all over the country therein opening a new market. Dabur Foods, a subsidiary of Dabur India is expecting to grow at 25%. Its brands of juices, namely, Real and Active, together make it the market leader in the Fruit Juice Category. PESTEL ANALYSIS ON DABUR INDUSTRY (P)OLITICAL FACTORS: Government intervences : Government support the industry to expand to export its products to grow. Trading policies : Trading policies are also favourable for dabur company so it can export its products it also help him to expand to grow. (E)CONOMIC FACTORS: Consumer focus : they are continuously focussing on analysing the consumer needs develop products to fulfill there needs. This is the main reason for the growth of Dabur company. Living standard : Rise in the living standard of people have increased their production level, produce high quality variety of products. National income : National income is important factor as if affect the growth of the organisation. If per capita income is more the amount spend will be more if it will be lower the amount spent will be less. Inflation rate : Inflation means the rise in the value of all the product in the economy, if inflation rate is higher the cost of products will be higher if inflation rate is lower the cost of product will be lower. This directly affect the growth of the organization. (S)OCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS: Demographics : Demographics is the study of human population in the economy. It helps the organzation to divide the markets in different segments to target a large of customers. For Example- according to race, age, gender, family, religion, sex. Distribution of income : This shows that how income is distributed in the ecconomy. It directly affect the purchasing power of the buyers. And ultimately leads to increase or decrease in the consumption level of the products. Consumerism : This indicates that a large number of options are available while purchasing of goods to consumers, so the choice becomes easy quality products can be choose by consumers. So while purchasing a consumer have different choices to select product according to his needs. Education levels : Education is one of the most important factor which influence the buying power of consumer, while selecting a particular good a consumer should know all its features so it can differentiate them with another products. Law affect social behaviour : Different laws are made by the government to safe guard the rights of consumers. For example- Consumer protection act, this law indicates that a consumer can file a case against a seller if he finds that he is cheated. (T)ECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS: Discoveries innovation : Continuous innovation in products processes is the basis of there services. They provide consumers with innovative products within easy reach Build a platform to enable Dabur to become a global ayurvedic leader. Advancement in technology : Focus on growing there core brands across categories, reaching out to new geographies, within and outside India, and improve operational efficiencies by leveraging technology. Automation : Change in technology will leads to automation, this means that with new technology labour required is less as machines are automatic. All the works are done automatically by the machines as earlier it is labour oriented. Now all the work is machine oriented. Obselete rate : Day-by-day new inventions are made so the rate of obselete is higher, as in Computer LAPTOPS have replaced the PC. This shows that the technology becomes obselete very fast. Research development : This department plays a vital role in the development of the organization. As this department always do research that what are the demand of the markets how to make advancements so the organization can survive in the competitive world. (E)NVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: Environment regulations : The preferred company to meet the health and personal grooming needs of there target consumers with safe, efficacious, natural solutions by synthesizing the deep knowledge of ayurveda and herbs with modern science. Environmental protection : Responsible company to protect Ecological system use Eco-friendly products. (L)EGAL FACTORS: Companies law : The company fulfill all the Company law requirement so as to grow develop to sustain in the compitative market. Employment law : Employment law provides equal opportunities to every citizen to work earn his livelihood. It provides equal opportunities to every citizen. Consumer protection : This law helps to protect the rights of consumers he can file a case against seller if he find that he is cheated. Industry-specific regulations : These laws are related to industry for example- no industry can establish in between cities i.e. it should be outside the cities.

macbeth :: essays research papers

A Shakespearean tragic hero may be defined as â€Å"an exceptional being of high degree† who contributes to his own degeneration and illustrates a personality flaw. The character of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is in all ways the perfect example of a tragic hero. His greatness and bravery in battle for his country ultimately leads him to be a great thane and eventually a powerful king, making his actions have a significant impact on a country. Macbeth’s ambition on becoming a king leads to an obsession to remain in his current position. His ambition comes to a point where he falls to the temptation of evil which leads to Macbeth’s inevitable downfall. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a brave man whose performance in Scotland’s battle is celebrated. This is clearly evident from the courage in defense of Scotland in the opening scene. A wounded solider describes Macbeth’s actions as â€Å"Cannons overcharg’d with double cracks ... Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe† Act 1, scene 2, line 37-39 With such positive feedback from the battle, King Duncan can not help but be joyous towards Macbeth and his soldiers. His response to the valiant news is giving him a title which upbrings him from his present position â€Å"No more thane of Cawdor shall deceive ... and with his former title greet Macbeth... What hath lost noble Macbeth hath won† Before the hearing of his new title, Macbeth as well as his partner Banquo encounter three witches who give Macbeth a look of what his future beholds. With each word spoken from the witches, the importance he holds for Scotland increases. From Thane of Glamis, to Thane of Cawdor and eventually the all and mighty king. With all the praises he receives and learning about his new title, Macbeth’s ambition to become a powerful king can not help but rises. Macbeth wins a battle and proves loyal to Duncan, however his ambition to become King is too strong to keep his morals. When his ambition is associated with the witch’s prophecies, his morals become non-existent for he is easily persuaded into what he wants to hear. For a moment Macbeth’s ambition takes over, when the thought of killing Duncan comes across his mind, however morality takes over. â€Å"Why do I yield to such suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair... If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir† In spite of this, Macbeth’s moral decision is clouded by his ambition once again when he hears of Malcolm’s succession to the throne.