In Vitro :: essays research papers

In Vitro FertilizationIn vitro fertilization is a technique used to fertilize an egg turn outside of the womans body, usually through with(p) because of the failure of conception with normal sexual intercourse. For pregnancy to occur, a sperm must unite with an egg released from the ovary during sexual intercourse. Normally this joining, called fertilization, happens within the fallopian tube, which joins the ovary to the uterus. However, in well-nigh situations natural conception cannot occur because of factors affecting the couples fertility. In Vitro fertilization permits for the amalgamation of the male sperm cell and the female egg to happen in a laboratory instead of taking place in the fallopian tubes where this process would ordinarily happen. When looking at in vitro it seems to be a blessing to couples that cannot have children on their own. It seems to be a way for science to triumph over nature. But in that description lays the controversy. To some this procedure is a life giving miracle that provides an opportunity for couples, who are by any other means unable to conceive a child, a second chance at bringing life into this world. trance others would argue the ethical point claiming that this process is just a cover for infanticide and causing humans to play God. The moral question that arises from this procedure is in allowing or assisting sperm to penetrate an egg when without help it would have otherwise not been able to do so, are we unnaturally, by human machination, over-riding one of natures barricades to inhibit fertilization? Also, if there is some sort of natural check and a reason that certain sperm fail to reach the egg, could it possible be for good reason that they do not? Is it possible that the sperm is ineffective because it obtains some genetic defect that would cause the child some form of transmittable disease or some other deficiency? In other words, maybe there is some sort of natural or God-given rationale for filterin g out some sperm. If this is true then we could be risking the possibility of manufacturing deformities and inherited diseases by assisting in the overcoming of a theological barrier.The process of IVF involves five major steps the firstly step being the monitoring of the development of the follicles in the womans ovaries. The second is aspiration of the follicles contents and identification of the eggs.

Science of Volcanic Activity Prediction Essay -- Nature Volcanoe Volca

Science of Volcanic Activity PredictionSince the dawn of history, volcanoes have been an awe inspiring feature of the earth that has frightened and intrigued mankind. Volcanoes have interpreted the lives of over 250,000 people in the last three hundred years and changed the lives of millions of others, but up until recently humans have had very little rationality of the volcanic processes that presage an eruption. The advent and implementation of new technologies and scientific methods has allowed us to begin to comprehend the inner workings of one of natures most powerful forces. by means of understanding how volcanoes work, volcanologists hope to accurately predict when an eruption may occur, what the magnitude and type of eruption will be, and what effect it will have on the contact area. Accomplishing this daunting task will ensure that in the future when an eruption occurs, the population at risk will be prepared and lives can be saved.Numerous methods are available for m onitoring volcanic activity, and scientists typically synthesize data and observations from all methods available in order to obtain the most countywide look at the area being observed. One frequently used technique is monitoring seismic activity that may indicate flow of magma and brag beneath the surface. As magma at extreme temperatures of sometimes over one thousand Degrees Celsius rises through cracks in the Earths crust, the intense temperature and pressure causes the surrounding rock to crack, as illustrated in the diagram above. This brittle fracture of the surrounding rock often causes earthquakes or vibrations called tremors. Usually these earthquakes are of magnitude 2, 3 or lower, and seismographs monitor these quakes so that t... ...ray, J. Monitoring Active Volcanoes. London UCL Press Limited, 1995.Week 4 Volcanoes Smithsonian Magazine, When Magma is on the Move. February, 2000.Hill, David P., Roy Bailey, Michael Sorey, James Hendley, and Peter Stauffer. Li ving With a Restless Caldera coarse Valley, California. U.S. Geological Survey, rewrite May 2000.Hill, David P. et al. Future Eruptions in Californias Long Valley AreaWhats Likely? USGS, Fact Sheet revised November 1998.Austin, Ken, Susan Owen, Ilene Cooper. GPS and Long Valley Caldera. University of Southern California, May 2004.News Long Valley Exploratory Well. Information Network International Continental Scientific Drilling Program. GeoForschungsZentrum PotsdamDecember 5, 2003. <http//icdp.gfzpotsdam.de/sites/longvalley/news/news.html Return to Research Projects Return to Sierra Home

The Life Of Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers

The Life of Edgar Allen Poe     Edgar Allen Poe, the greatest American teller of mystery and suspensetales in the 19th century was a tormented artist. He struggled to become theaccomplished author he is known as today. Poe is now acclaimed as one ofAmericas greatest writers, but in his own unhappy lifetime, he struggled tomake ends meet.     When he was 17, Poe entered the University of Virginia. Allan, his stepfather, gave Poe only a small allowance, and the young man soon began owemoney. He gambled and ran into greater debt. By the end of the year he owed2,500 dollars. He was nervous and unstable, and he began to drink. Despite hisfrequenting liquor, he could never hold it well. He would tardily become ill fromthe alcohol. Allan angrily withdrew Poe from school, and a few months later Poeleft home.For the bordering four years Poe struggled to earn a living as a writer. Hereturned to Mrs. Clemms home and submitted stories to magazines. His firstsuccess came in 1833, when he entered a short-story contest and won a prize of50 dollars for the story "MS. Found in a Bottle." By 1835 he was the editor ofthe Southern Literary Messenger. He married his cousin Virginia, who was only 13,and Mrs. Clemm stayed with the couple. The Poes had no children.     This success would not last. Poes stories, poems, and criticism in themagazine, The Southern Literary Messenger soon attracted attention, and helooked for wider opportunities, not a good choice. From 1837 to 1839 he triedfree-lance writing in New York city and Philadelphia but earned very little.Again he tried editing. His work was praised, but he was still paid little. Hisefforts to organize his own magazine were unsuccessful. For the next two yearshe turned again to free-lance writing.

Sartys Transformation in William Faulkners Barn Burning Essay

Sartys Transformation in William Faulkners Barn Burning In William Faulkners tale, Barn Burning, we find a young humans who struggles with the relationship he has with his father and his own conscience. We see Sarty, the young man, develop into an adult while dealing with the many crude actions and ways of Abner, his father. We see Sarty as a puzzled youth that faces the questions of faithfulness to his father or faithfulness to himself and the society he lives in. His struggle dealing with the reactions that are caused by his fathers action contribute in him thinking more for himself as the story progresses. The first instance in which we can see a transition from childhood to adulthood in Sartys life is in the way he compliments his father. Sarty admires his father very much and wishes that things could change for the better throughout the story. At the beginning of the story he speaks of how his fathers wolf-like independence causes his family to depend on almost no one (Faul kner 155). He believes that they live on their own because of his fathers drive for survival. When Sarty mentions the way his father commands his sisters to clean a rug with force though never raising his voice it shows how he sees his father as strict, but not overly demanding (Faulkner 159). He seems to begin to quality dissent towards his father for the way he exercises his authority in the household. As we near the end of the story, Sartys compliments become sparse and have a contrastive tone surrounding them. After running from the burning barn, he spoke of his pascal in an almost heroic sense. He wanted everyone to remember his dad as a brave man, he was in the war and should be known for it, not burning barns (Faulkner 154)... ...r from a individual of innocence into a person with a conscience in Sarty. Faulkner gradually develops Sarty into a man of his own deeds throughout the story. Sarty has to finally realize that blood is not always thicker than water. Faulkners st ory symbolizes the way in which society works today. If one individual is doing wrong, you must overlook the relationship you have with him and look at the wrong deeds he is doing. If you happen to face your fears and set strait the wrong, in the end, the good will always prevail. Works CitedFaulkner, William. Barn Burning. Literature, Compact Edition. Edgar V. Roberts, Henry E. Jacobs. New Jersy Prentice-Hall, 1990. 154-167.Ford, Marilyn Claire. register Legerdenain Evoking Sartys Future in Barn Burning. Mississippi Quarterly, Summer 98, Issue 3 51. Academic Search Elite. GALILEO. 25 Sept. 2000.

Essay on Mr. and Mrs. Bennets Parenting in Pride and Prejudice

Analysis of Mr. and Mrs. bennets Parenting in Pride and Prejudice The roles of Mr. and Mrs. white avens in Jane Austens novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about whats inside of people and a mother who scarcely worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. white avenss parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennets ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social experimental condition. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love for his daughters while, on the contrary, Mrs. Bennets love is over-acted and conditional. Both parents help to shape their daughters characteristics and beliefs Lydia reflecting Mrs. Bennets flyaway and excessive behavior while El izabeth inherits Mr. Bennets pensive and reflective temperament. Looking past their dissimilar personality traits and contradicting convictions, both parents hold the family together and hornswoggle an integral role in the household structure. The constant topic among the majority of the women in the Bennet household was marriage and future suitors. Mrs. Bennet prides in the look forward to that someday all her daughters will be married off to wealthy individuals who can even help support the Bennet family and increase their social status The business of her life was to get her daughters married... (9). Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, only cares to see his daughters happy and content with themselves. Although Mr. and Mrs. Bennets estate is endowed to Mr. Collins, Mr. Benn... ...igued with the raptures of his wife (9). Their children post them with companions as well as people to take their sides. Mr. and Mrs. Bennets relationship revolves around their children because without t hem, they would have an impossible time living alone together. When evaluating Mr. and Mrs. Bennets role in the family structure, they both provide insight into the origins of their daughters personalities. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet both play integral parts in their childrens lives they give or attempt to give them guidance in marriage, in happiness, and in love. Whether its Mrs. Bennet expressing her over-bearing love or Mr. Bennet giving Elizabeth some well-needed advice, they both draw a bead on to help their daughters using their inborn parental love. Works CitedAusten, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Donald Gray. New York WW Norton &. Company, 1996.

Essay on Mr. and Mrs. Bennets Parenting in Pride and Prejudice

Analysis of Mr. and Mrs. Bennets Parenting in Pride and Prejudice The determinations of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austens fable Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about whats inside of people and a mother who only worries about dresser and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennets parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennets ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love for his daughters while, on the contrary, Mrs. Bennets love is over-acted and conditional. Both parents help to shape their daughters characteristics and beliefs Lydia reflecting Mrs. Bennets flighty and excessive appearance while Elizabeth inherits Mr. Bennets pensive and reflective temperament. Looking past their dissimilar personality traits and contradicting convictions, both parents hold the family together and play an integral fibre in the household structure. The constant topic among the majority of the women in the Bennet household was marriage and future suitors. Mrs. Bennet prides in the hope that someday any her daughters will be married off to wealthy individuals who can even help support the Bennet family and increase their social status The business of her manner was to get her daughters married... (9). Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, only cares to see his daughters happy and content with themselves. Although Mr. and Mrs. Bennets estate is endowed to Mr. Collins, Mr. Benn... ...igued with the raptures of his wife (9). Their children provide them with companions as good as people to take their sides. Mr. and Mrs. Bennets relationship revolves around their children because without them, they would have an impo ssible time living alone together. When evaluating Mr. and Mrs. Bennets role in the family structure, they both provide insight into the origins of their daughters personalities. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet both play integral parts in their childrens lives they view as or attempt to give them guidance in marriage, in happiness, and in love. Whether its Mrs. Bennet expressing her over-bearing love or Mr. Bennet giving Elizabeth some well-needed advice, they both aim to help their daughters victimisation their inborn parental love. Works CitedAusten, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Donald Gray. New York WW Norton &. Company, 1996.

Fiction †literature Essay

Hemingways modernist style of storytelling requires an impersonal narrator. The narrator describes the scene, and interjects small actions into the dialogue, nevertheless remains a facilitator for the lecturer to concentrate on the dialogue and the action of the story. The narrator in this story seems to tell the story as if it were a video clip, a unidentified railway station somewhere between Barcelona and Madrid, ghostly white hills, a faceless waitress and an anonymous couple.The use of this narrator makes the reader look more than deeper into the dialogue of the couple, because without the narrator spelling out the action for the reader, one is forced to interpret much more from the characters words. This modernist device tends to separate the reader momentarily from the text, so that the full impact of the story is not truly felt until one is finished reading. However, this device serves to make the story connect on a deeper level, and to have more impact as it hits one sudd enly, instead of being built into a slow climax.From almost the beginning of his writing career, Hemingway diligent a distinctive style which drew comment from many critics. Hemingway does not give way to lengthy geographical and psychological description. His style has been said to want substance because he avoids maneuver statements and descriptions of emotion. Basically his style is simple, direct and somewhat plain. He developed a forceful prose style characterized by simple sentences and some adverbs or adjectives.He wrote concise, vivid dialogue and exact description of places and things. Critic Harry Levin pourboireed out the weakness of syntax and diction in Hemingways writing, but was quick to praise his ability to convey action The majority of his early novels were narrated in the first person and enclosed within a single point of view, however, when Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls, he used several different narrative techniques.He employed the use of internal monologues (where the reader is in the mind of a cross character), objective descriptions, rapid shifts of point of view, and in general a looser structure than in his earlier works. Hemingway believed that a writers style should be direct and personal, his imagery rich and earthy, and his words simple and vigorous. The greatest writers have the gift of brevity, are hard workers, diligent scholars and competent stylistsTo explain Hemingways style in a few paragraphs in such a manner as to satisfy those who have read his articles and books is almost impossible. It is a simple style, bang-up previous and modest. Hemingways prose is unadorned as a result of his abstaining from using adjectives as much as possible. He relates a story in the form of straight journalism, but because he is a master of transmitting emotion with out embelli

Discuss the roles of development learning Essay

The anxious governance is responsible for the initiation, propagation and co-ordination of beast behaviour. How it is constructed and what factors are involved encompasses m some(prenominal) fields of biology, from ethology and neurophysics to organic evolution. In this raise I will describe the roles of phylogenesis eruditeness and evolution in the grammatical construction of the nervous system and give experimental evidence that backs up these theories. growing Evolution deals with the origins of the nervous system, where it comes from determines how it will be constructed.This will have direct consequences on the relative fitness of an individual as the layout of the nervous system relates to how the animal behaves. Phylogeny is actually important therefore to analyse how changes in the nervous system relate to the evolution of behaviour. The only realistic mood of studying the evolution of nervous systems, particularly the events, which lead to, their current day form, is through comparative biology. By comparing closely related species in like niches, the difference in their behaviour must have a genetic/nervous system origin.A good example of how behaviour can be genetic in origin and show that nervous systems can evolve to create different behavioural responses is found in deer. The white tailed deer odocoileus virginianus and the scuff deer O. hemionus use different gaits when alarmed. The white deer g onlyop and the mule deer stott. This alone doesnt confer that the difference is due to their nervous systems moreover the genetic origin for the behaviour is inferred when a cross surrounded by the two species results in a hybrid that bounds when alarmed.In order to attain valued data the use of complex nervous systems, such as mammals, is unfeasible. A simpler nervous system is better suited and likenesss can then be extrapolated for the more complex animals. Within the invertebrates the model organism is, as ever, Drosophila. Since its genome has been sequenced and the comparatively trivial generation time it plays a key role in the study of all type of nervous system construction. Zebra fish have been termed flies with backbones and are perfect for the study of nervous system development in vertebrates.However these relatively simple organisms are still too complex to study fully and so scientists tend to use a part of a nervous system for detailed analysis. The Crustacean Stomatogastric Ganglion STG, which comprises of only 30 ganglions, is most popular for several reasons, mainly because it has been preserved for about 350 million years and is seen across many taxa. This allows for comparison on a smaller scale and although the overall synaptic circuitry is similar there are differences in the relative speciality of connections and the amount of electrical spousal relationship across the taxa.The reason why the STG is seen across so many taxa is because on the whole the nervous system is a very evolutionary conserved organ. This reflects its grandness to an animal. As it is so conserved certain inferences can be made regarding the evolution of the nervous system. The first is that the flighty net consummations must be pretty similar across species meaning that the nervous system is more of a generalist than a specialist. Therefore only small changes to the nervous system are demand in order to produce markedly different behaviours.It is these behaviours that are then subsequently acted upon by born(p) takeion and contri only whene to the nervous system layout in the next generation. Development Once the genetic instructions that determine the constitution of the nervous system have been selected the next step in the construction of the nervous system is the subsequent application of that code, the development. The nervous system develops during embryogenesis and continues in some form or another throughout the animals life, but that latter stages of this development I shall relate to the learning part of this essay.From before we have learnt that the basic mechanisms for constructing a nervous system are highly conserved during evolution. There is a garnish of general tools that are used by all species and perhaps only a few specialist tools are needed in order to study an individual nervous system. The nervous systems building blokes are neurones, and since all cells derive from the fusion of the male and female gametes there must be factors telling cells to induce neurones. The affect of creating neurones is called neurogenesis and the mechanism is spooky induction, the committal of cells to a neural fate.It appears that this process is a permissive one, one where the local inactivation of inhibitors in the ectoderm, creates neurones. The factors that drive neural induction are basic helix intertwine helix type proteins and homologues have been found in both vertebrates and invertebrates, thus stressing their importance. Also the helix loop helix is a very evolutionary old mechanism for gene regulation and the fact that neural cells can be coerced The next step is the man of asymmetry in the ectoderm. This allows a more complex, coordinated nervous system to develop.The formation of layers, maps and modules is an essential feature of neural development in higher animals. The process of creating asymmetry, and so the nervous system as a whole, can be divided into three parts. 1. Pathway Selection The growing tips of the neurones travel great distances in order to reach their stone pit. When confronted with a series of choice points they manage to travel in the right direction. 2. Target Selection Once the neurone has arrived in the correct locality the contact andrecognise their correct target, usually a localised set of neurones. 3. lead Selection Refinement occurs as axonal terminals retract and expand to select a specific subset of cells from within the overall target. Capable of transforming a coarse, grained and overlapp ing projection into a refined and highly tuned pattern of connections. The mechanisms of these processes are still cosmos elucidated although some basic principles have begun to crystallise. The development of connectivity most probably involves general algorithmic principles.The experiments performed in the last ten years have proved to support strong evidence for many of the previous hypothesis. Pathway and Target Selection Mechanisms Axonal growth needs to be controlled in order for a functioning nervous system to develop, however this does not necessarily mean that the neurons have to be firing in order to be set up. The pathway and target selection mechanisms are believed to be autonomous, activity independent. This has been demonstrated by work done on Ambystomid Urodeles (Twitty and Johnson 1934).The embryos were paralysed with TTX for a period of days until the larvae would normally operate and feed for themselves. At that point the TTX induced paralysis wore off and sur prisingly the animals soon began to swim and eat in a remarkably normal fashion. In the 1970s a theory developed that the innervation of muscles is largely at random, with patterns emerging later by the elimination of connections and cell death. This appears to be a very costly mechanism as neurones are be created only to soon be destroyed.This theory was abandoned when studies were performed on chicks (Landmesser 1978, 1980) and zebra fish (Eisen et al, 1986) that showed specific motor neurones supply their target muscle with relatively few error from the outset. They possess unique identities that allow them to differentially respond to the choice point region, follow particular pathways and render specific muscle. Sperry first postulated the mechanism for the directionality of growth cone movement in 1963 when he suggested the chemoaffinity hypothesis.Neuronal growth cones were specifically guided toward their correct targets by specific chemotactic cues and proposed gradients of chemical labels. The neurones enhance and transduce the signals from the extracellular matrix to remodel cytoskeletal elements. This form of gradient-mediated chemotaxis is essential in the formation of more complex structures such as layers and maps. However the directional sensing of neurones in a 2D field such as the tectum is strong evidence for guidance by gradients despite any molecular evidence.Theoretical analysis show that requirements for map formation are simple for target tissue there must be at to the lowest degree one gradient for each of the tangential dimensions. For co-ordinated simultaneous development of the nervous system there must be a series of different gradients to escort that neurones do not switch tracks or get confused when the tissue becomes saturated with the same molecule. This has been seen when the preferred neurones pathway has been ablated and they have chosen not to move down other axons. There is also compelling evidence for chemorepressor molecules which serve to deter axonal growth.Studies by Kampfhammer and Raper in the past times 15 years have shown the mutual avoidance of the CNS axons and the PNS axons. Evidence is also accumulating that the developing midline of the CNS of both vertebrates and invertebrates provides both attractive and outrageous guidance cues. Many CAMs, integrins and extracellular matrix molecules have been implicated in growth cone guidance, owing to their expression in vivo. The experimental evidence for these molecules being directly responsible through the use of immunoassays and mutation is scare.One series of molecules has been identified though, small GTP proteins of the rho family that regulate the focal adhesion, membrane ruffling and filopodial protrusion of neurones. However assessing the the true of targeting is difficult. The mapping efficiency, although higher than simple dorsal-ventral distinctions is still far below the accuracy of some sections in the nervous system, namel y vision. Other theories have had to be conjecture in order to explain the increase in resolution. Selective cell death has been postulated but the one with the most evidence is activity dependent self-organisation.Address Targeting Activity dependent plasticity seems uniquely suited to refine local axonal projections beyond the accuracy achieved by genetic instruction alone. Schmidt and Edwards (1983) demonstrated the effect of activity dependent on creating a fine-grained map in the visual cortex of a fish. The fishes eye was crushed, if left to heal it eventually regenerated and regained the retinotectal map. If the vicissitude was interrupted by the addition of TTX the fine-grained map failed to form although the coarse topographic map still formed.This suggests the relationship between refinement and neuronal activity. save studies revealed that retinal ganglion cells lightingd synchronously, both during embryogenesis (intrinsic origin) and after (extrinsic origin), sugges ting that it was not the neural activity per se but the temporal and spatial firing that refines axonal connections. So called cells that fire together wire together. But the converse is also true, that for any kind of axonal remodelling not only must appropriate connections be fortify but inappropriate ones must be weakened.The evidence for the synchronous firing of neurones continuing into later life means that the environment is constantly altering the neural networks. Learning As we have learnt the constantly changing neural networks are directly related to the extrinsic information they receive. The definition of learning is the acquisition of unsanded information and memory is the retention of that information over time. It is clear now how the two are related in terms of the nervous system, the process of learning effects the construction of the nervous system by the storage of the information gained.The acquisition of information may come in different forms, associative be tween two stimuli or non-associative such as habitualisation. However they do not directly alter the nervous system, the nervous system is altered by the way in which it decides to store this data. The first insight was made by Ebbinghaus (1913) where he determined different phases of memory storage. It was Milner who first made the distinction between short term and long-term memory, the two different types of data storage, which are separated on a temporal basis. Short-term storage involves functional changes in the strength of pre-existing synaptic connections.This was demonstrated by experiments on Alpysia. Conditioning was performed and it was reflected in the neural circuitry as a greatly enhanced strengthening of the input connections of the centripetal neurones to their target cells. Murphy and Glanzman (1997) provide compelling evidence for the changes in synapse being causally involved in the learning of new information through their work on the receptors of glutamate in the synapses. Long-term memory storage involves the synthesis of new protein and the growth of new connections (Flexner et al 19650.Given this information how is short-term memory converted into long-term memory? The answer is not yet fully understood, but experiments have given some clues as t how it occurs. Serotonin is thought to be important (Kandel 1976) as it increases the intracellular concentration of the secondary messenger cAMP. Martin et al (1997) suggests that new genes are being activated in the nucleus have their products distributed widely, but that the products only persistently strengthen those synapses that have somehow been marked by short term facilitation.It also appears that the protein CREB is required for functional plasticity but it is not sufficient for morphological plasticity. The changes to the gross structure of the nervous system in response to learning can be seen in an experiment performed on monkeys that were teach to preferentially use only some f ingers. The cortical representation of those fingers expanded (Merzenich and colleagues). This has also been demonstrated with violinists who show a disproportionate representation of their left contact (fingering hand) when compared to their right hand (bow movement). ConclusionsThe roles played by each factor described here each have their own specific effect on the construction of the nervous system. The evolutionary aspect controls the blueprints of the nervous systems that are hard coded into the DNA of the animal. However it is not specifically the genetic makeup of the nervous system that natural selection acts against, rather the phenotype of the nervous system, which is the combination of the developmental and the learning factors. The evolutionary factors alter the genotype, the only source of variation that can be passed down to their offspring.The development can only attempt to recreate the layout as specified by the different alleles it cannot exceed them in terms of functionality. The true source of variation depends on the extrinsic information obtained and stored in memory, but that us not able to cross generations (with the exception of tradition) and so could be an explanation for the high evolutionary saving of the nervous system.Bibliography Gierer, A & Muller, C. M 1995 development of layers maps and modules. Current Opinion o Neurobiology 5 91-97 Goodman, C. S & Shatz, C.J. 1993 Developmental mechanisms that generate precise patterns of neuronal connectivity Neuron 10 (Suppl. ).77-98 Lumsden, A. & Jan, Y-N. 1997 Development. Editorial overview the end of the beginning? Current Opinion in Neurobiology 7 3-6 Kandel, E. R. & Pittenger, C. 1999 The past, the future and the biology of memory storage Philosophical transactions of the Royal monastic order London B 354 2027-2052 Katz, P. S & Harris-Warwick R. M. 1999 The evolution of neuronal circuits underlying species-specific behaviour Current Opinion in Neurobiology 9 628-633.

Examine the Ideas of Manliness, Hostility and Aggression in a View from the Bridge. How Are These Ideas Connected?

Examine the ideas of Manliness, Hostility and Aggression in A cypher from the Bridge. How ar these ideas attached? A View from the Bridge a tragic drama piece, written by Arthur Miller and first published in 1955. Curtained by the continuous dramatics of the play, is sort of basically a fight for an unconditional love, portrayed by a man of whom perplexes his emotions like no other (Eddie Carbone). The play itself is go by in the 1950s times when masculinity and dominance were vital for a man to obtain, and therefore prove to be key concepts during A View from the Bridge.Due to the invariant battle to be the top of the hierarchy, a hostile atmosphere is continuously present within the circle of male book of factss. To be the to a greater extent pre sovereign man proves highly important it make waters them authority over the female characters, and status over the other males. The play has been written as a classic Tragedy a storyline of where a certain person is destined for disastrous misfortune (the Hero). Linking to this, is the opening narration spoken by Alfieri. Alfieri is a lawyer, and as he quotes I am a lawyer ..Were only thought of in connection with disasters, you are automatically signalled that something bad is bound to sink at some point during A View from the Bridge. Eddie Carbone works as a longshoreman in New York. He lives with his married woman Beatrice, and his niece Catherine. Eddie proves to be the whizz within the first page of A View from the Bridge, of which is chorused by Alfieri (an ageing lawyer). From this, it is rather easy to acknowledge that Eddie is going to play a domineering role, and quite a obviously the hero in this Greek Tragedy comparison.As I have previously workforcetioned, masculinity is highly important, and particularly important to Eddie. Being the termination respected and powerful man proves rather essential to him during the play, as gives him domination over the household females. An face of this would be in Act Two, just aft(prenominal) Eddie rings the immigration bureau. Get them break the house Not tomorrow, do it now. . Here he is giving Catherine orders in a rather authoritative manor, and this is a prime example of the way he speaks to the female characters.Eddie has incestuous desires for his niece, Catherine. This continues to be an ongoing problem throughout the entire play. It is quite clear to recognise Eddies feelings toward Catherine from the opening sentiment. When Catherine enters, Eddie is overly keen to know where she is going due to the way she is dressed (short skirt etc) he questions her before nice complimentary slightly her appearance, because he is obviously panicking that she has dressed herself specifically to impress another male.Eddie quite clearly feels that as a man, he has a right to inquire when he feels infallible possibly using this to conceal the fact he wants nothing more(prenominal) than direct control of Catherines life. Beautiful he quotes Catherine when observing her new hairstyle. by means of the whole of A View from the Bridge, Eddie does not pay Beatrice one single compliment, which seems rather obscure, suggesting he has more admiration for his niece than his wife. Catherine constantly seeks Eddies approval, repeatedly inquire him You like it? around the way she looks. This tells the audience that Eddie has brought Catherine up to believe his opinion is always necessary, relating to the idea of masculinity and the dominance possessed by the household male. The tangible reason Catherine dressed herself differently was due to the fact that she has been newly employed as a stenographer somebody who specializes in the transcription of speech. Yet again, Eddie has something to say about the fact that Catherine has a job. You cant bow no job. Why didnt you ask me before you take a job? are his exact words when telling her rather forthwith how he sees the situation. He is implying that she should of as ked for his permission before taking the job, and has disobeyed him by not doing so. This goes vertebral column to the idea of him cosmos manly and sustaining his authorities. However, I do not think this is the only reason he doesnt want Catherine taking the job. It is quite clear to see Eddie has more feelings for his niece than he should have, although during the first half of A View from The Bridge I put one overt think he has discovered this for himself.From pinpointing that Eddie was overly bothered about the length of Catherines skirt, and her getting a job, it is clear for the audience to absorb that he does not want her to grow up, as this could possibly mean permit go and giving Catherine more independence than prefer fitting. Although Eddie beholds a rather harsh identity, he proves himself a warm and welcoming man when his wifes cousins transmigrate to America in search of employment. Marco and Rodolfo are introduced into the household quoting Youre welcome Marco, w e got plenty of room here, Eddie comes across as a very tactful person.Marco greets Eddie with a firm shake to the hand, however Rodolfo does not. A hand shake is a typically manly gesture, and throughout the play it soon becomes clear that Rodolfo does not fit the stereotypical figure of a man. Eddie expects a man to be a breadwinner, to have obvious physical strength, power and domination. Rodolfo appears to not possess whatever of these qualities, of which soon proves a serious problem to Eddie. Paperdoll.. chorus girl.. kid.. hit-and-run-guy these are just a minority of the nicknames given to Rodolfo throughout A View from the Bridge.Rodolfo shows himself as a man that does not fit all the categorical standards of a typical male, and as the play goes on we see how this controversial character shines a ostracise reflection onto Eddie, bringing him nothing but utter aggravation. Rodolfo likes to cook, sing, dance, and even make dresses. These feminine qualities that he possesse s cause Eddie to become suspicious about his sexuality, although Miller makes it quite clear that Rodolfo is not a homosexual, when his relationship with Catherine begins to bloom. To Eddies dislike, Catherine takes an contiguous shine to Rodolfo.When she asks him You married too? , it is quite clear shes interested in him. Eddie is not in favour of Catherine becoming close to Rodolfo, and he clearly tries to discourage what he does by calling him petty nicknames. Underneath the front that Eddie puts on about hating Rodolfo, I think ,secretly, he is particularly overjealous of him. The play is set in the 1950s, and therefore there was a lot of pressure on men to live up to the expectations and be the typical male. Rodolfo is not afraid to be himself, even if it does go against all rules of typicality.In my opinion, Rodolfo is a very brave character for doing so he has no fear of being judged, and I think Eddie is intimidated by this. Eddie has never known any different, and so he is automatically against this new idea of a man being slightly feminine. This tells us Eddie cannot cope with change, relating back to when I mentioned how he is unable to come to grips with the fact Catherine is maturing and becoming less reliant on him. In Act Two, a drunken Eddie makes the ridiculous decision to kiss both Catherine AND Rodolfo.He clearly does this in an effort to clear all cobwebs, and try to see through to the truth about Rodolfos sexuality. Unfortunately for Eddie, he only comes to discover that Rodolfo is nothing more than a heterosexual . I also believe this was an act of bare desperation Eddie could not think of any other way of getting through to Catherine how he feels, and obviously believed this was the only way to put a stop to her and Rodolfos relationship once and for all. However, the scene proves Rodolfo to be more manly than Eddie thought, when Rodolfo demands Stop that have got respect for her . Respect is an important quality for a man to have , especially in A View from the Bridge. Although saying this, when Eddie pins his arms (Rodolfo), it again goes back to the idea that Rodolfo fails in the physical department of manliness. This scene is a turning point for the audience, as from this they now know rather exactly how Eddie feels towards Catherine, and how insanely jealous he truly is of her and Rodolfos relationship. This is a serious downfall for Eddie, telling you that he is getting progressively closer to his Greek Tragedy ending.As an audience, it is obviously apparent that Marco is in complete contrast to his brother, Rodolfo. Straight away he is thought of as a real man Marco goes round like a man nobody kids Marco. This is quoted by Eddie, who quite obviously knows where he stands with Marco, and seems rather threatened by the fact that there are now two dominant male figures in the household. This goes back to when I mentioned how there is always a secret fight to be top of the hierarchy it is just never make o fficial. It is unnecessary for Marco to prove his manliness verbally, due to the fact that his physicality speaks for him.He demonstrates his strength in a rather protective manor, when he strains to lift a chair directly above Eddies head. He does this as a discrete warning, cautioning Eddie to leave his brother alone. When Eddie punches Rodolfo at the end of Act One, he makes it out to be a joke, but Marco is not silly, and clearly knows that it was nothing more than a camouflaged threat made toward Rodolfo. Marco uses physical communication alerting Eddie that if deficiency be, physically, he will always come out on top. When Marco does this, the other characters are oblivious to the fact that it was meant as a threat.However, the audience would be able to recognise exactly what Marco was implying the staging would portray the shadowed aggressiveness of the gesture, and build serious tension. It would also add to the hostile atmosphere, that had been previously created by Eddie. Alfieri is another example of a conventionally masculine character. His predominate role in the play proves him an honest, helpful and firm man. The fact that he is a lawyer also tells you as an audience, that he possess a lot of power. I think the title of the play (A View from the Bridge), was in fact based around the role of Alfieri.It is as if he is playing God in this tragedy he has the ability to look over and judge the situation, but remains un-bias and uninvolved (possibly a science he has developed from his job). Alfieri has a view from the bridge, and is looking down on a fateful occurrence (Greek Tragedy) that he cannot prevent from happening. Just after Eddies death, Alfieri quotes something perversely pure calls to me from his memory. Due to the fact that Alfieri has been such an honest and trustworthy character throughout, this line could sway the audience into realizing that maybe there was a good side to Eddie, as wellhead as bad.Eddie had a rather double-sided per sonality. Although his love for Catherine got the better of his character, underneath it was quite recognisable that he was generally a caring man that looked after his family very well. He was born poor, and worked hard as a longshoreman to ensure he was able to provide for his wife and niece. The background of the author himself (Arthur Miller), most probably had strong influential effects on the way A View from the Bridge was written. For example, his mother and gravel were finishing immigrants this relates to the storyline of A View from the Bridge, as Marco and Rodolfo are also immigrants.Miller obviously has a clear view of what he expects a man to be. He has made the main character (Eddie) a very typical man domineering, strong, and respected by all. If Eddies death was a tragedy, then in Millers eye he was obviously the hero of the play. Miller was born in 1915, and therefore raised around people who too, believed that these qualities were necessary if you were to be consi dered a real man. A View from the Bridge is a play largely involved in the historical/cultural context of the early 20th century. The American Dream correlates directly to the storyline of A View from the Bridge.The American Dream is basically the idea that all humans are of an equal worth, and that all people should do things that give them a quotably better, richer, and happier life. . Eddies perception of Rodolfo goes against this idea of the American Dream, because he believes that Rodolfo deserves to be lower in status than him, just because he is not the typical man. When Catherine begins to take an interest in Rodolfo, Eddie does his best to prevent their relationship progressing. Dont lay another hand on her unless you wanna go out feet first are his exact words when thinking only of oneself.He is very selfish by doing this, and is potentially forbidding Catherine from living the American Dream (happier life). The Sicilian economy of honour is another historical policy that relates to A View from the Bridge. The Sicilian code is basically a firm rule of extreme loyalty, solidarity and justice. The Mafia in the early 1900s followed this code rather closely, for example if someone was to hurt or even threaten a member of your family, you were to honour them and take an immediate action of revenge. The mafias law would justify the murder of Eddie Carbone, due to the fact Marco killed him purely because he posed a threat to Rodolfo.The female characters in A View from the Bridge are the main victims of hostility, manliness, and aggression in this play Catherine in particular. Due to the fact that Eddie highly dislikes Rodolfo, there is a constant hostile atmosphere present within the household. Catherine is made to feel like she must choose between Eddie and Rodolfo, which again causes hostility. This is not a typical father/daughter relationship it is clear for the audience to see this from the way Eddie behaves when Catherine and Rodolfo are together. E ddie lives in denial about the fact that he is in love with Catherine, and uses insaneness to disguise it.When Alfieri figures that Eddie has these strong feelings for his niece, he says She cant marry you can she? Eddie does not know how to respond to this and again attempts to hide how he feels for Catherine by getting overly angry, I dont know what the hell youre talkin about . The audience are affected by this as, making you pity Catherine and the awkward position she is in. Beatrice suffers from this also, as Eddie is her husband. In one scene they argue about sex, because Beatrice is receiving hardly any attention from Eddie due to his aggression and confidentiality throughout the play.Eddie is constantly taking his anger out on Beatrice, yet she never complains. However, in one scene she has clearly had enough and decides to stand up for herself and go against Eddie. I want you to cut it out now, you hear me? I dont like it Now come in the house. To this I think Eddie is q uite startled, and replies with Ill be in right away. Beatrice knows full well that Eddie has more feelings for Catherine than he should You want somethin else, Eddie, and you can never have her . In this quote I think jealously is getting the better of Beatrice, as she describes Catherine as a thing, rather than a person.

Commentary About the Love and Redemption in the Tale of Two Cities

Commentary approximately the crawl in and Redemption in The storey of Two Cities Abstract This paper begins with an introduction about the content of The twaddle of Two Cities. nether the societal place setting of England and France during the french Revolution in 18th century, The Tale of Two Cities, which was written by Charles Dickens, describes the veritable living conditions and the vivid era characteristics. The falsehood non only reflects the poignant class struggle and distorted amicable circumstances, but besides shows the different fates of different characters under the certain social background through depicting positive and negative get words and plots.Meanwhile, The Tale of Two Cities is an expression of the affair of the author Charles Dickens. That is to say, the novel expresses the deep thinking about oppression and struggle, as well as the high praise about mania and redemption, which implicit the anticipation about the bright future. Key Words love red emption benevolence spirit regular(prenominal) characters social background anticipation about the bright future Contents Abstract. 1 Contents. 2 1. Brief Introduction about the The Tale of Two Cities . 3 1. The plot about the novel.. . 3 1. 2 Introduction about the fates of the Main Characters.. 3 1. 2. 1 Dr. Manatte 3 1. 2. 2 Lucie Manat. . 3 1. 2. 3 Sydney carton 4 1. 2. 4 Charles Darnay. . 4 1. 2. 5 Madame Defarge.. . 4 1. 2. 6 Marquis St. Evremonde. 4 2. The hit the hay and the Redemption among the Idealistical Characters 4 2. The memory of Dr. Manette . . 4 2. 2 Get out of the Aristocratic Ring5 2. 3 The Sacrifice of love.. .. .. 6 2. 4 The Spiritual Bailment in These Idealists 7 3. The Love and the Redemption among the extremist and Federal Aristocracy.. 7 1. Tragedy of Love and Redemption .. 7 2. The Deserved Punishment of the Federal Aristocracy .. 8 3. The ill-use in the Chaos.. .. 9 4. The Love and the Redemption between the Two Cities . .. 10 1. The Compli upchuc ked World.. . 10 2. latterly Reasons behind the Crazy Revolutionary Wave. 10 5. Conclusion 11 References . 11 1. Brief Introduction about the The Tale of Two Cities 1. The plot about the novel The novel The Tale of Two Cities was set in London and Paris at the time of the great French Revolution. It shows the causes of revolution and its effects on pecks daily lives. Before the revolution, the pouf and the aristocracy treated their people cruelly in France.Many people were extremely poor and miserable. The crops in the fields were poor as if even the land divided up the misery of the people. And there were so heavy taxes that all the villagers had nothing to hand over at last. On the new(prenominal) hand, the aristocracy do their will as the law by using money and g overaged. There were no justice, no equality and no fairness. Just as what happened to Dr Manette, he wrote to the Minister to show the hatred what Marquis Evremonde had done, go forthing in him being arrested and sent to the prison Ba equablee without any reason. Then this situation of darkness was needed to be tiltd.As people such as the Defarges inclined(p) and arranged, at length the Revolution came to break out. When the Bastille was captured and the King was move and put to death as well as many other aristocrats, things didnt go on as what they had been expected. The situation stayed the same or even worse. The prisoners from the Bastille were set free while more prisons were filled with people who had done no wrong again. stack who once lived on the bottom of class took the charge now and their heart had been full of evil. The only thing they wanted to do was to revenge.And these so-called patriots would corresponding to suffer more and more innocent prisoners going to the guillotine and thats their joy. As the novel wrote, In everything they did were merciless, for they had been hardened in the fires of suffering and the touch of pity could make no mark on them. 2. Introdu ction of the Main Characters 1. 2. 1 Dr. Manatte He was an old doctor from France. Under the tyrannical and unjustifiable judgment, together with the aristocratic persecution, Dr. Manatte spent 18 years hard time in the Bastille an horrible prison, and nearly became crippled.After releasing from the Bastille, he regained his health under the good thrill by his daughter, Lucie. Since then, Dr. Manatte had led a peaceful life. 1. 2. 2 Lucie Manatte She was Dr. Manattes daughter, a beautiful and smart girl. Although without fathers care since her childhood, Lucie was well raised under the guardianship of her fathers friend Lorry. When her father was released from the prison, the eighteen-years-old beauty took good care of her father. She fell in love with the direman, Darnay, and got married with him. Unfortunately, Darnay was arrested during the French Revolution. scour though Lucie used trial and errors, the situation was still awkward and failure. 1. 2. 3 Sydney cartonful He was a young English lawyer who was full of passion and wisdom. One day, he met the nobleman Darnay when he was traffic with near cases in the court. Coincidently, Darnay looked wish him. Carton also loved Lucie deeply, but he could not marry her. Finally, he showed his selfless spirit and substituted for Darnay going to the guillotine. 1. 2. 4 Charles Darnay He was born in a noble family in France. However, Charles Darnay gave up his marquis status as well as the right of inheritance, earning the living by himself in England.The loyal and hard-working man was arrested when he was rescuing his old servant during the French Revolution. 1. 2. 5 Madame Defarge She was the landlady of a grogshop in the slum in Paris. But she has the explosive personality. Her husband, Defarge and she launched the revolution. As one of the leaders in the women team, she was active to guide others to resist the unfairness. Unfortunately, Madame Defarge was killed herself during the fight with maidservant o f Manette. 1. 2. 6 Marquis St. Evremonde He was the uncle of Carton. The tyrannical man Marquis St.Evremonde, dispatch innocent people, did anything he wanted to threaten people for his happiness. The bad man was killed by the new during the turmoil. 2. The Love and the Redemption among the Ideal Characters 1. The memory of Dr. Manette Prisoned in the Bastille for about eighteen years, Dr. Manette seemed to forget his name and all the things around him. He made the shoes all day and all night. Although he became better under the care of his daughter, he said no words about the life in the Bastille at any time. When Darnay confessed to him about his real name, Dr.Manette might think about something the French aristocracy, the painful past time. He just relied on the shoes to keep him from the indignity and the sorrow, or escaped the memory. However, for love, the love in his daughter, the love among the whole family, Dr. Manette could choose to acclaim back to France and face all the past that he was eager to forget. He told Darnay, his son-in-law, to guarantee not to tell anybody about his noble status. Because he believed that the tyrannical mien had no connection with the young generation of the Charles family. To save Charles Darnay, Dr.Manette tried all he could. He did not care about the feel of the gratitude or impertinence what he wished was to own a reunited and safe family. The love made him put the hostility batch, and the escape from the old memory let him reserve the horrible the true in his own heart. It was the redemption of him, as well as the love for hope that established the credible bridge. The author Charles Dickens expressed the sense of responsibleness into the plots of Dr. Manette. Dickens advocated the peaceful amelioration, hoping that the moral standards and regulations could rescue society. 2. Get out of the Aristocratic RingCharles Darney was another character who attempted to escape the old convention for love and redempti on. The noble blood did not make him feel the sense of dignity instead, he was dissatisfied or even resentful about his evil family. There were no influences in his actions, what he did was acting as the normal man who could fight with the unfair classic exploitation. Even though at the time when he was born, he was ordain to be a noble aristocracy, he was not ready to continue the violence that nobleman used to do. In the novel, Darney was brave enough that he dislike and condemned the offence of his father and uncle.He once said, We did run amuck at society. Even at my fathers time, weve committed lots of crimes, which confused and harmed everyone who wanted to own a happy life. The resistance of Darney was not only rest on the verbal condemn, he also did it in actions that he expected to keep the guilty of his family. For instance, Darney gave up his property and his title, living as an incognito teacher in England. Obviously, in his heart, the value of a person could not be measured by money, status or power. It was undoubtedly to be the bourgeois humanism.Charles Darneys love was so deep that he put down his entire aristocratic stand, taking care of Lucie and Dr. Manatte. No matter how the miserable result of him was, he did successfully jump out of the aristocratic ring, which had been the constraint of his family for a long time. 3. The Sacrifice of love In this novel, the author Dickens did not use outstanding description to lead to the appearance of Sydney Carton. With his hands in his pockets, gross(a) at the ceiling of the court Carton was rumored to be seen at broad day, going home stealthily and unsteadily to his lodgings, like a dissipated cat.The first impression of him was not so deep. However, the man who seemed unruly had kind and exquisite mind. It was he, who first found Lucie falling in a faint it was also he, who passed the thankfulness to Darney. The miserable man Carton also loved Lucie, but he had neer revealed the emotion to any body. Even though he believed that he would be refused if he confessed the love to Lucie, he thought that if he would be happy to pay a visit to Lucie occasionally and to see Lucies happiness that was enough. Carton said to Lucie, For you and for any dear to you, I would do anything.If my career were of that better kind that there was any opportunity or capacity of any give over in it, I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. It was so touching and selfless. The love that tolerates anything was the warmest light. After the rescue of Darney failed, Carton scheduled all things sedately looked after Lucie all the time, stranded on the street which Lucie stranded heaps of times, till he went to the guillotine taking place of Darney. Carton was the materialization of the dependable English spirit that the writer Dickens was forever and a day pursuing.Although Carton was not a popular and social man, his sentiment was profound. Perhaps he was self-abased, or p erchance he was redeeming for his common life which was asocial and gloomy. The love was powerful, just like the words said, What I am doing now are better than anything Ive ever done, where I am going to rest, is much better than anywhere Ive rest. 4. The Spiritual Bailment in These Idealists Dr. Manatte, Lucie, Sydney Carton, and Charles Darney are the materialization of the authors beautiful perspective.There is the humanistic light in these people, that is, the sense of justice, the spirit of devotion as well as the standards of behavior. If ever there were Fraternity in the world, Mr. Sydney Carton owns it, Dr. Manette owns it, and Mr. Charles Darnay, Mrs. Lucie Darnay, Mr. Lorry, Miss Pross and Mr. Cruncher all own it. Because they all have unselfishly fraternized with others, others from the people the barely know to the people who was their love enemies or whose fathers and uncles would have oppressed and enwrapped them. 2. The Love and the Redemption among the Revolutiona ry and Federal Aristocracy 1.Tragedy of Love and Redemption The representatives of the revolution are Defarge and his wife Madame Defarge. Undoubtedly, Madame Defarge was also the miserable image constructed in this novel. She lost(p) her family members at early time therefore the love in her heart was completely covered by the so-called Gothic gloomy. The only way for her to redeem was to struggle to change the awkward situation. After the revolution was breaking out, Madame Defarge almost lost her reason in the blood and fire. The frequent behavior of Madame Defarge was to keep written text the aristocratic atrocity in the pattern of her scarf.As the leader of the women team, Madame Defarge was always on her way to fight, accompanied with her pistol. Her psychology became more and more extreme, even her husband Defarge was made to be one of her murderous tools. At last, Madame Defarge died in her gun which went off fire. It was really a woeful result. Nevertheless, the most dist ressing thing was not the result it was the fate of her. Madame Defarge stood for all the suffering and poor people at that time, she used her love and redemption to the wrong place. It was not her fault, of course. The whole world of poor people at that time was hurt she was the symbol of all the misery.In The Tale of Two Cities, the part portraying Madame Defarge was credible, which showed her distinguished wisdom and courage vividly. When writing the Defarge Family, the author was clean and sensible. For one thing, he was sympathetic about the encounter of the Defarge Family for another thing, he denied the terror brought by the revolutionary rage. 2. The Deserved Punishment of the Federal Aristocrac Another image modeled in this novel was the brothers of Marquis St. Evremonde. They are the representative of the French aristocracy. They killed the poor farmers without any explanation or apologie.The so-called love and redemption in their minds had changed into the shameless atro city. It was also the mentality of most of the aristocracy in eighteenth century. The authors purpose of creating the brothers of Marquis St. Evremonde was not only to reflect the detest about their behavior. In one letter of the author Dickens said, I believe, the dissatisfied emotion like the smoking was much worse than burring. Especially like the common emotions before the first French revolution, it was dangerous. Due to several reasons the bad harvest, the arbitrary government, the overseas failure and so on.All things lead to the significant catastrophe that had never seen before. Thus it can be seen in these words that Dickens built the images of the brothers of Marquis St. Evremonde aimed at the insinuating the capitalist class during the French Revolution. He would like to warn the dispetious bourgeoisie that if they continue persecuting poor people and never stop reflecting themselves, the fate of the brothers of Marquis St. Evremonde would be their model. 3. 3 The Ruin in the Chaos As the rationality and the advance of the bottom citizens, Madame Defarges struggle had the positive side that deserved to be sympathized and confirmed.The born in dignity people got used to not regard poor people as real human being. They were praising the elegant culture while at the same time tolerating these poor people for fun. This made people like the Defarge and Madame Defarge turn the sorrow into anger, into the dead spot. As the result, the helpless people chose to fight otherwise they would wait to die. The burring revolutionary fire was destined to swallow the corrupted society. Yet when we cheer for the standing people, we can not neglect those who were innocent but were affirmed to be guilty.Their frightened and hopeless visual perception made us raise some questions Why the new world can only be built in a pile of carcasses? Is there any sensitive status in the passion of the revolution? The novel revealed the pity truth that pushes us to rethink. That is , at the same time that wrecking the old and conventional standards, we should know clear how can we construct the new world. Otherwise, human beings will fall into the same or similar outcome in this novel. 3. The Love and the Redemption between the Two Cities 4. 1 The Complicated WorldAs is known to all, the novel began with a paradoxical paragraph It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the date of reference of whim, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other wayin short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the whirligig degree of comparison only. Theoretically, this paragraph seemed too difficult to explain. In reality, it was the true reflection of our live, which was filled with unexpected events. The author just told us the truth about the deduction of history and society. That was, the love was not always as romantic as people imagined, and a good beginning might not always bring the wonderful ending.To some extent, the charactors in this novel had struggled against their fates again and again, even though the fates did not bring the best results that they had expected. For instance, Dr. Manatte had undergone the severe circumstance of jail for eighteen years, and had been waiting for so long to accusing the crimes of aristocracy. However, in order to protect his son-in-law, Darney, he chose to keep silent about all he had experienced. As for Lucie, she tried her best to save her husband, even though the final judgement could not be changed. And as for Carton, he sacrifaced his life for saving Darney, just because of his deep love in Lucie. But he did not ask for any return, even though he knew exactly that Lucie loved Darney instead of him. Moreover, the Defarge were eagering to obtain the peaceful live, so they kept fighting for the freedom of all the suffering citizens, even though the outcome was distorted and miserable. What made these charactors so brave to pursue their purposes? It was probably that the firm belief in each of their minds. The love and redemption among most of the people, which was like the driving force, motivated them to struggle for what they expeced. The author did not show the perfect outcome of them, because he would like to tell us that everything in the world is complicated and the result is often beyond expectation.In addition, the author Dickens also told us that since we could not change the complicated world, the most essential thing is to stick to our own belief struggling for the bright future, no matter what the result would be like. 4. 2 Deep Reasons behind the Crazy Revolutionar y Wave There is a famous experience in psychology. In order to test citizens submission to the authority or the professors, the investigators invited some respondents without telling them the purpose of the experiment. They only told the respondents that they were testing the effects of punishment in study. The respondents were made to be teachers to teach students how to remember words. The teachers could use electric deck to punish students who forgot in the exams.When the fake students failed in the exams, these teachers who were acted by the respondents increased the voltage as what professors said(of course not through the electric current). The students screamed and hoped to stop doing like this. At that time, the teachers turned to the professors to ask whether to continue or not. Obtaining the permission from the professors to continue doing so, the teachers increased the voltage to the maximum without hesitation. This is a real experience conducted during the Second World War. To some extent, it can explain why virtuous citizens did so much violence during the war. The explanation also works on the novel, justifying the main reason about the revolutionarys abnormal behaviors.When writing about the French Revolution, the author Dickens mentioned, all people seemed to get the fever. The kind-hearted people were taken advantage by the so-called leaders or professors, losing themselves in the crazy revolutionary wave. The only interest of these poor people was to enjoy the delight which brought by the massacre. They thought naively that the violence could save themselves from the repression by the aristocracy, without any time and courage to exam their own conscience. Nevertheless, what they acquired was really the happy life? I remember Russell once said, The reputation of the happiness is variety. That is sound.In The Tale of Two Cities, the citizens between the two cities used various means to realize the redemption and look for the true love. But th e purpose underlying these actions was almost the same that is , to spread the happiness to more people. 5. Conculsion The structure of this novel is well-organized. Different characters represented different images in the big picture of the French Revolution. Adding the personal emotions and thoughts into this novel, the author Charles Dickens expressed the profound meaning for latter generations. For one thing, though he criticized the offence of oppressors, he still held the prospects of all people. Even though the brothers of Marquis St.Evremonde were inhumane, their nephewCharles Darney was totally different from them. To some extent, the goodness was regarded as sacred spirit, which might sweep the evil away. For another thing, the so-called mobs were attributed to the certain social conditions, but the author Dickens endowed the Defarge couples with honesty and enthusiasm. Dickens believed that the future would be bright, no matter how difficult it was at the moment. Love is one reckon underlying this novel, reflecting the prospect of abandoning the sanguinary chaos. Redemption is another factor penetrating the whole plots, connecting kind people perusing justice with vicious people ruining themselves. To sum up, what is the most significant splendor?That is, the warm love and moral redemption are lighting the historical sky. The Tale of Two Cities has illustrated such magnificence to all of us. References Charles, Dickens, ed. 1993. The Tale of Two Cities. London Wordsworth Editions Limited. George, Orwell, ed. 1981. George, Sampson, ed. 1981. Concise Cambridge English Literature. London Wordsworth Editions Limited. Gedrge,Gissing, ed. 1925. Charle Dickens. London Heemskerk Bookstore. Joaness,Gross, ed. 1981. Nornan,Page, ed. 1984. A Dickens Companion. London The Macmillan Press LTD . Guan Wenyi ,2008, , Liang Shiqiu , 1985, Luo Jingguo ,1981, Wang Yuzhi , 1997, , ,44145 Wang Zuoliang ,1996, Xue Hongshi , 1996, Zhang pout ,1988, , , 23339? Zhu weiliang ,1998, 307308 , , , , , , , ?

The Alcatel Lucent Merger

trial Head THE ALCATEL-LUCENT optical fusion The Alcatel-aglow(predicate) Merger-What went reproach? American Public University 1 THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 2 The Alcatel- bright Merger-What went wrong? Referring to the case and this chapter, discuss what conditions and negotiation factors pushed forth the union in 2006 that were not present in 2001. In 1999, as the Internet boom was approaching its apex, aglow(predicate) Technologies was the worlds largest telecommunications equipment partnership (Lazonick & March, 2011). With revenues of $38. 3 billion, net in line up of $4. billion, and 153,000 employees for the pecuniary year ending September 30, 1999, Lucent was larger and more profitable than Nortel, Alcatel, and Ericsson, its three major(ip) world(prenominal) competitors (Lazonick & March, 2011). Unfortunately for Lucent, as quickly as it blush to the top, it began to fall to the bottom. Lucent recognized, and so did its competitors, that something had to be done to s ustain profitability in its market. In 2001, Alcatel of France, the communications equipment maker in Paris, and Lucent Technologies, the U. S. telecommunications giant, began negotiations for a amalgamation of the two companies (Deresky, 2011, p. 76). In 2001, many communications companies began to see a fall in gross revenue due to an internet crash. Companies like Lucent that were just geezerhood prior at the top of its game in the market were now quickly loosing sales and on the brink of bankruptcy (Lazonick & March, 2011). Creating a merger was a excerpt that Lucent had to again gain power and profitability, but mergers rarely go easily. As in this case at that place are two competitors attempting to come together and negotiate for a mutually acceptable agreement that affects the future of both companies and the employees.THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 3 By the mid-2000s it became evident that Lucent was faced with the choice of becoming merely a niche player in the communicati ons engineering constancy or finding a partner to supplement its resources so that it could compete once again as a full line supplier. In whitethorn 2001, Alcatel and Lucent held initial merger talks with a bring to creating a $50 billion global firm. A year earlier Lucent would slang dominated such a combination. By May 2001, however, Lucent had already been severely damaged by the downturn in the telecommunications industry.In contrast, Alcatel sales and profits remained sacrosanct at the clock time of those merger talks. If the merger had gone by means of, Alcatel shareholders would have got owned 58 percent of the combined guild. It had been agreed that the new headquarters would be in Murray Hill, New Jersey and that Alcatel Chairman Serge Tchuruk would run the company. In the end, the 2001 merger failed when Alcatel insisted that because of its stronger position it would select 8 of the 14 board members, eon Lucent Chairman enthalpy Schacht insisted that his company send two more members for an even assort (Sorkin and Romero 2001).The 2001 merger was not flourishing because negotiations were not successful. For longterm positive relations, the goal should be to set up a win-win situation-that is to bring about a settlement undecomposed to all parties concerned (Deresky, 2011, p. 152). Unfortunately, that was not the case with this merger. The two companies could not agree on how a potentiometer control the French company would have. Lucents executives apparently wanted the deal as a merger of equals, rather than a takeover by Aslcatel (Deresky, 2011, p. 176).Furthermore, according to Deresky (2011), the negotiation process should encompass fives stages preparation, relationship building, replacement of task-related information, persuasion, and concessions and agreement (p. 153). The entire negotiation process in 2001 had flaws. THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 4 Research the spot of the merged company at the time of your reading this case. What has happened in the industry since the merger, and how is the company faring? In 2006, Alcatel was almost twice the size of Lucent in price of revenues and employes when the merger that created Alcatel-Lucent took place (Lazonick & March, 2011).Since then, the merger has proven to be successful overall. To support this, in February 2013, a five year managed processs agreement was announced by Alcatel-Lucent with KPN, the leading telecommunications service provider in the Netherlands (Mena Report, 2013). According to the report, Alcatel-Lucent allow plan, design and implement an end-to-end solution to provide KPNs internet with increased capacity, upgraded equipment, and best-in-class customer service processes.Alcatel-Lucent will in any case help KPN transform its actual multi-vendor vocalization and core networks enabling its customers to access and share multimedia content from wherever they are or using the device of their choice be it a smartphone, electronic comput er or tablet (Mena Report, 2013). Two years after the merger, Alcatel-Lucent University received a certificate of tonus from the European Foundation for care Development, an honor bestowed on besides 14 bodied universities throughout Europe (Alcatel-Lucent University, 2010).Evaluate the comment that the merger is a giant transatlantic experiment in multicultural diversity. What evidence is there that the company has run into cross-cultural problems since the merger took place in 2006? THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER The comment was made because there were so many multicultural and diversity issues surrounding the merger. maculation Lucent was an American company that conducted its business within the borders of the United States, Alcatel was already a global business before the merger.Alcatel already operated as an international company with a wide mix of nationalities (Deresky, 2011, p. 176). The question was raised by many during the merger, how will the merged company deal with cross-cultural conflicts? , but Tchuruk said that, plot of ground cultural issues could arise, everything is under way to make sure this human factor is dealt with (Deresky, 2011, p. 176). This statement of office was genuinely part of the reason why the merger was actually somewhat ironically poised with problems because there were indeed many problems related to multicultural diversity.Some of these problems include delivery barriers between members of the merged companies, their stockholders, and other stakeholders. Analysts quickly suggested that the corporate culture of Lucent clashed with Alcatels French business model (Deresky, 2011, p. 177). This was coupled with Russos inability to work well with Tchuruk and it soon became clear that it was a pitiful decision to appoint leaders based on their nationality rather than their skills. Russo was also the first womanhood to run a company listed on the CAC 40 in the male dominated world where French business and politics ove rlap (Deresky, 2011, p. 77). Chinese rivals were also at Alcatel-Lucents doorstep providing similar service and technology for less money. According to Deresky (2011), a Barrons article in August 2008 noted that while it might have been helpful if outgoing CEO Patricia Russo had mouth French, thats not why she and Chairman Serge Tchuruk failed to make a go of the 2006 merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies (p. 177). 5 THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 6 How much of the fall do you attribute to leadership problems, as opposed to industry factors?I think the majority of the decline was attributed to leadership problems. The structure of the organization is only effective if the leaders within it are committed to achieving company objectives and working with each other as a team. They must perform their roles and responsibilities knowledgeably and creatively when necessary. The cultural change that was infallible to create an entrepreneurial sprit throughout the company began with execut ives being willing to relinquish some of their existing control to drive decision making downward through the organization.The purpose was to enable faster and better decisions and more competitive responses to market conditions and customer desires (Lazonick & March, 2010). What, if any, factors should have been negotiated other than? Just about everything should have been done differently during the attempted first merger in 2001, but both companies did learn a lot from that merger and they were better prepared in 2006, although still a far cry from being as ready as they should have been.The executives of both companies in reality did not take cultural values and differences into consideration as much as they should have and as it turned out they had a difficult time communicating with each other, not only due to language barriers, but also just because business was conducted so differently between the French and American cultures. THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 7 References Alcatel -lucent to transform KPN s fixed network operations in the netherlands over next five years. (2013). MENA Report, Retrieved from http//search. roquest. com/docview/ 1313279184? accountid=8289 Alcatel-lucent university. (2010). Development and Learning in Organizations, 24(2), 31-32. inside http//dx. doi. org/10. 1108/14777281011019515 Lazonick, W. , & March, E. (2011). The rise and demise of lucent technologies. Journal of Strategic Management Education, 7(4), 201-270. Retrieved from http// search. proquest. com/docview/1015336210? accountid=8289 Sorkin, Andrew Ross, and Simon Romero, 2001, Alcatel and Lucent call off negotiations toward a merger. New York Times, May 30.The Alcatel Lucent MergerRunning Head THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER The Alcatel-Lucent Merger-What went wrong? American Public University 1 THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 2 The Alcatel-Lucent Merger-What went wrong? Referring to the case and this chapter, discuss what conditions and negotiation factors pushed forth the merg er in 2006 that were not present in 2001. In 1999, as the Internet boom was approaching its apex, Lucent Technologies was the worlds largest telecommunications equipment company (Lazonick & March, 2011). With revenues of $38. 3 billion, net income of $4. billion, and 153,000 employees for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999, Lucent was larger and more profitable than Nortel, Alcatel, and Ericsson, its three major global competitors (Lazonick & March, 2011). Unfortunately for Lucent, as quickly as it rose to the top, it began to fall to the bottom. Lucent recognized, and so did its competitors, that something had to be done to sustain profitability in its market. In 2001, Alcatel of France, the communications equipment maker in Paris, and Lucent Technologies, the U. S. telecommunications giant, began negotiations for a merger of the two companies (Deresky, 2011, p. 76). In 2001, many communications companies began to see a fall in sales due to an internet crash. Companies like Lucent that were just years prior at the top of its game in the market were now quickly loosing sales and on the brink of bankruptcy (Lazonick & March, 2011). Creating a merger was a choice that Lucent had to again gain power and profitability, but mergers rarely go easily. As in this case there are two competitors attempting to come together and negotiate for a mutually acceptable agreement that affects the future of both companies and the employees.THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 3 By the mid-2000s it became evident that Lucent was faced with the choice of becoming merely a niche player in the communications technology industry or finding a partner to supplement its resources so that it could compete once again as a full line supplier. In May 2001, Alcatel and Lucent held initial merger talks with a view to creating a $50 billion global firm. A year earlier Lucent would have dominated such a combination. By May 2001, however, Lucent had already been severely damaged by the downturn in the telecommunications industry.In contrast, Alcatel sales and profits remained strong at the time of those merger talks. If the merger had gone through, Alcatel shareholders would have owned 58 percent of the combined company. It had been agreed that the new headquarters would be in Murray Hill, New Jersey and that Alcatel Chairman Serge Tchuruk would run the company. In the end, the 2001 merger failed when Alcatel insisted that because of its stronger position it would select 8 of the 14 board members, while Lucent Chairman Henry Schacht insisted that his company send two more members for an even split (Sorkin and Romero 2001).The 2001 merger was not successful because negotiations were not successful. For longterm positive relations, the goal should be to set up a win-win situation-that is to bring about a settlement beneficial to all parties concerned (Deresky, 2011, p. 152). Unfortunately, that was not the case with this merger. The two companies could not agree on how much con trol the French company would have. Lucents executives apparently wanted the deal as a merger of equals, rather than a takeover by Aslcatel (Deresky, 2011, p. 176).Furthermore, according to Deresky (2011), the negotiation process should encompass fives stages preparation, relationship building, exchange of task-related information, persuasion, and concessions and agreement (p. 153). The entire negotiation process in 2001 had flaws. THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 4 Research the status of the merged company at the time of your reading this case. What has happened in the industry since the merger, and how is the company faring? In 2006, Alcatel was almost twice the size of Lucent in terms of revenues and employes when the merger that created Alcatel-Lucent took place (Lazonick & March, 2011).Since then, the merger has proven to be successful overall. To support this, in February 2013, a five year managed services agreement was announced by Alcatel-Lucent with KPN, the leading telecommunica tions service provider in the Netherlands (Mena Report, 2013). According to the report, Alcatel-Lucent will plan, design and implement an end-to-end solution to provide KPNs network with increased capacity, upgraded equipment, and best-in-class customer service processes.Alcatel-Lucent will also help KPN transform its existing multi-vendor voice and core networks enabling its customers to access and share multimedia content from wherever they are or using the device of their choice be it a smartphone, computer or tablet (Mena Report, 2013). Two years after the merger, Alcatel-Lucent University received a certificate of quality from the European Foundation for Management Development, an honor bestowed on only 14 corporate universities throughout Europe (Alcatel-Lucent University, 2010).Evaluate the comment that the merger is a giant transatlantic experiment in multicultural diversity. What evidence is there that the company has run into cross-cultural problems since the merger took place in 2006? THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER The comment was made because there were so many multicultural and diversity issues surrounding the merger. While Lucent was an American company that conducted its business within the borders of the United States, Alcatel was already a global business before the merger.Alcatel already operated as an international company with a wide mix of nationalities (Deresky, 2011, p. 176). The question was raised by many during the merger, how will the merged company deal with cross-cultural conflicts? , but Tchuruk said that, while cultural issues could arise, everything is under way to make sure this human factor is dealt with (Deresky, 2011, p. 176). This statement of confidence was actually part of the reason why the merger was actually somewhat ironically poised with problems because there were indeed many problems related to multicultural diversity.Some of these problems included language barriers between members of the merged companies, their stoc kholders, and other stakeholders. Analysts quickly suggested that the corporate culture of Lucent clashed with Alcatels French business model (Deresky, 2011, p. 177). This was coupled with Russos inability to work well with Tchuruk and it soon became clear that it was a poor decision to appoint leaders based on their nationality rather than their skills. Russo was also the first woman to run a company listed on the CAC 40 in the male dominated world where French business and politics overlap (Deresky, 2011, p. 77). Chinese rivals were also at Alcatel-Lucents doorstep providing similar service and technology for less money. According to Deresky (2011), a Barrons article in August 2008 noted that while it might have been helpful if outgoing CEO Patricia Russo had spoken French, thats not why she and Chairman Serge Tchuruk failed to make a go of the 2006 merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies (p. 177). 5 THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 6 How much of the decline do you attribute to leader ship problems, as opposed to industry factors?I think the majority of the decline was attributed to leadership problems. The structure of the organization is only effective if the leaders within it are committed to achieving company objectives and working with each other as a team. They must perform their roles and responsibilities knowledgeably and creatively when necessary. The cultural change that was required to create an entrepreneurial sprit throughout the company began with executives being willing to relinquish some of their existing control to drive decision making downward through the organization.The purpose was to enable faster and better decisions and more competitive responses to market conditions and customer desires (Lazonick & March, 2010). What, if any, factors should have been negotiated differently? Just about everything should have been done differently during the attempted first merger in 2001, but both companies did learn a lot from that merger and they were b etter prepared in 2006, although still a far cry from being as ready as they should have been.The executives of both companies really did not take cultural values and differences into consideration as much as they should have and as it turned out they had a difficult time communicating with each other, not only due to language barriers, but also just because business was conducted so differently between the French and American cultures. THE ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER 7 References Alcatel-lucent to transform KPN s fixed network operations in the netherlands over next five years. (2013). MENA Report, Retrieved from http//search. roquest. com/docview/ 1313279184? accountid=8289 Alcatel-lucent university. (2010). Development and Learning in Organizations, 24(2), 31-32. doi http//dx. doi. org/10. 1108/14777281011019515 Lazonick, W. , & March, E. (2011). The rise and demise of lucent technologies. Journal of Strategic Management Education, 7(4), 201-270. Retrieved from http// search. proquest . com/docview/1015336210? accountid=8289 Sorkin, Andrew Ross, and Simon Romero, 2001, Alcatel and Lucent call off negotiations toward a merger. New York Times, May 30.

Company Analysis of Nike 2014 Essay

INTRODUCTION/ COMPANY BACKGROUNDThis report examines NIKE Inc. one of the leading sports check in the world. It uses avocation analysis techniques such(prenominal) as thrum, PESTEL, Porters phoebe bird forces, and Ratio analysis to analyse the business environment and performance of this keep phoner. NIKE Inc. is one of the worlds biggest sporting brand ground in Oregon regular army. Founded in 1968, NIKE is the worlds biggest designer marketer and seller of athletic footwear, sports equipment, apparel, accessories and services, by sales revenue of $21.5 billion in 2012 (NIKE, 2013). With 48000 employees, NIKEs opeproportionn cuts across different regions in the world including Canada, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. They posted revenue of $25313 million in the 2013 financial year ending May 2013, the comp any(prenominal) has enjoy growth in its revenue since 2010, and this trend is expected to continue as they leverage on top sporting events to boost their brand r ender (Tefris 2013). PESTEL ANALYSISPESTEL ( semipolitical, Economic, Social, Technological Environment, and profound) analysis is a business analysis technique that is used to analyse the growth electromotive force of a telephoner. It helps firms identify the environment in which they operate, and faeces firms predict future circumstances and situations by using information and data it provides (Yksel, 2012). This report provides a PESTEL analysis of NIKE in the observeing paragraphs. PoliticalPolitical environment have a huge implication on the micro and macro environment of a business, and they advise significantly influence a lam of business decisions (Leslie and Phillip, 2012). Political environment includes political system, government policies and other trade associate regulations. Some of the political factors that can affect NIKE includes the relationship between USA (Nikes country of origin) and other host countries where NIKE operates (for example China). For exam ple increased tension between US and China can lead to certain scrappy policies that can affectthe caller-outs trading operations in China. furthermore recent pressure on US firms to keep jobs in the US can affect plans for future factory locations of NIKE. EconomicalThe sparing environment of the countries NIKE operate in is very vital to the overall strategy and decisions of the confederation. These factors include the state of the planetary economy, economic incentives from the countries where NIKE factories are cited, the general economic condition of these countries, inflation rates and changing oil prices. All of these factors can affect the revenue of the company, increased economic growth in emerging markets such as Brazil and China presented a huge revenue opportunity for the company, however recent decline in the growth of the Chinese economy impart withal have some negative impact of revenue projections of NIKE. SocialSocial factors can influence the business dec isions of NIKE one way or the other. These factors includes tradition, customs, beliefs, level of education, corruption, customers consciousness, changing lifestyle, and income distribution (Singla, 2007). For example increased consciousness to chief(prenominal)tain healthy living will lead to more demand for fitness centres and gyms that in turn could lead to more sales revenues for NIKE. Furthermore clamour for increased better welfare for workers in clothing factories in countries like China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, and pressure from the civil society groups like Workers Right Consortium on companies like NIKE to ensure their suppliers follow health and safety standards are among some of the social situations and issues the company have to contend with. TechnologicalThe commercial success of NIKEs product is based on technical innovation and quality control in the design and manufacturing process of footwear, athletic equipment, and apparel (Nike, 2014). For this reason chang es in technological factors can have severe impact on the overall operations of the company. For example new technology can lead to new products, improve the manufacturing process, and improve the distribution network. This implies that the revenue of NIKE can increased, or there could be reduction in the cost of manufacturing due to better technology. To adjudge competitory advantage the company enquire to unendingly escort the technological factors that affect them. Environmental vocation operations of firms such as NIKE can have huge impact on the environment. Factors such as climate change, waste management, water management, and use of hazardous chemicals are all environmental impact areas the company has identified. NIKE highlights its commitment to reducing the impact of the companys operations through understanding how related these factors are, and how a coordinated approach in the design of its product and processes can mitigate the impact on the environment, and on their business. LegalThe judicial system, consumer rights, trade treaties, and ethical codes are all legal factors that affect NIKE. Constant understanding of laws and regulations is imperative to avoid serious legal implication for the company. Gotham (2013) highlights that one serious legal related issue NIKE take to constantly deal with is the issue of counterfeit product. Ensuring that fake NIKE products are not wide spread is required to keep the NIKE reputation, and avoid lawsuits that can increase the legal cost of the company. Furthermore, keeping ethical standards is very vital in protecting the NIKE brand. SWOT ANALYSISSWOT is a management tool that is used to build strategic business plans (Amin et al, 2011). It is widely used in business due to its simplicity of its four factors (Strength, Weakness, chance and affrights) and its flexibility (Al-Araki, 2013). The SWOT analysis of NIKE is presented in the next few paragraphs below. StrengthOne main strength of NIKE is its dominant position in the market, and the unvoiced brand portfolio of the company. tally to Forbes (2014a) NIKEs market fortune in the global footwear market reached 18.6% in 2012, and it is expected to rise to 27% in the long run. The main source of value for NIKE are footwear and apparel that are sold under the NIKE brand, together they make approximately 70% of the overall value of NIKE (Trefis, 2014). This competitive brand portfolio of NIKE and the dominant position of the companyare key strengths that enables the company outperform the industry. WeaknessWatts (2009) asserts that one of NIKEs weakness is their inability to address problems connect to their labour and factory conditions. The company has been consistently criticised for its lack of control, and dependence on contractors and manufacturers that do not meet labour standard, safe factory conditions in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and China. This has caused to vainglorious publicity for the company, and inc reased calls for product boycott in recent geezerhood. Furthermore the companys focus on quality could be a potential weakness as it explore emerging market like Brazil, because its price points will be higher and some customers in these markets could lack the level of income to barter for their products. OpportunitiesIncreased growth in emerging economies presents a huge expansion opportunity for NIKE. The companys management believes there is high potential for their products in markets such as China, Brazil, and other emerging countries (Trefis, 2011). The growth these economies enjoy expands the global footwear market, and NIKE is in a strong position to tap into this growth opportunity. Furthermore the increase use of multi-channel platforms such as online and mobile for shopping is an opportunity for NIKE to reach out to more customers worldwide. ThreatThe companys main little terror is its increasing competition, the intense competition and unpredicted changes in in techno logy and consumer preference in the industry NIKE operates presents a huge stake that can adventure the operations of the company (NIKE, 2013). Some of the main competitors that remain a threat to the company includes Adidas, Puma, and Under Amour. Furthermore, the strong brand value of NIKE products increases the risk of infection of counterfeiting of their products. This is a constant threat the company needs to tackle to ensure it doesnt lose brand value and revenues. PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSISPorters five forces analysis helps firms to understand the competition and profitability in an industry, the framework includes potential entrants, industrial competitors, suppliers, buyers and substitutes. According toPorter (2008) understanding the competitive forces, and their fundamental causes enables companies overhear the root of current profitability of an industry, while it provides framework that helps anticipate and influence competition over a period of time. The following paragraphs give analysis of the how these five forces influence the competition of NIKE. Potential EntrantsPotential new entrants into the market can cause NIKE to lose market consider, however in the current situation the risk of potential new entrant to NIKE is minimal because of the high entry barrier because of the established nature of the global sportswear industry. While the risk of new entrants is low, it should be noted that there is a risk of new entrant into NIKEs existing product line, this can lead to loss of sales and revenue. The company needs to channel its energy into continuously expanding its market share through improving on existing products, and introducing innovative products that will enable them maintain their competitive advantage. take aim of competitionThe level of competition in the global sport footwear and clothing industry is very high. NIKE faces stiff competition from other brands like Adidas and Puma. According to Forbes (2014b) the company face s tough competition in emerging markets and Western Europe, as rival brands like adidas increases their competitive campaign through lunch of products and other related activities aimed at gaining back lost market share. Furthermore, NIKE excessively faces competition from local brands like Li Ning as they expand to emerging markets like China. The company need to work very hard to continue to protect and expand its brand, for them to be able to maintain the dominant level they are presently. Bargaining Power of suppliersSuppliers practically determine the success of companies selling a product (Bode et al, 2011). However, the availability of commodity items like rubber, and cotton NIKE uses for the production of its goods, and the high amount of suppliers in the industry gives the company absolute advantage over its suppliers. NIKE can choose to switch to any supplier at any time with less cost implication, and low risk of disruption to it supplies due of its brandreputation. Fu rthermore, every supplier will want to do business with NIKE because of the huge manufacturing ability of the firm. This gives NIKE power over its suppliers, and guarantee of calm see supplies. Bargaining Power of customersThe loyalty of customers to NIKE brand gives the company bargaining power over its customers. NIKE can decide to set its prices at high levels because it knows customers are voluntary to pay to be identified with its brand. As long as the company continues sourer products that are innovative and appealing to its customers, the company will continue to maintain it strong position, and attract more customer loyalty (Lussier and Kimball, 2014). The bargaining power the company has over its customers gives them a great deal of flexibility in their pricing. Threat of SubstitutesThere is a high tendency for customers to substitute NIKE products for other brands when they face squeeze in their income during economic downturn. This is due to the fact that NIKE product are considered costly can could be considered luxury product among certain middle class families if there is a squeeze on their disposable income. Competitors can capitalise on this to release cheaper products that will be appealing to these customer during economic checkdown, therefore NIKE need to constantly monitor the overall economic wellbeing of its customers before introducing any product. ANALYSIS OF NIKE FINANCAL RATIO*Extracted dataRatiosFormula201320122011Asset Turnover RatioRevenue/ perfect Assets1.441.511.39Return on Assets(ROA)Net Income/Total Assets14.13%14.37%14.22%Return on Equity(ROE)Net Income/Equity22.28%21.41%21.67%Gross Profit Margin(Revenue-COGS)/Revenue43.59%43.50%45.58%Quick Ratio(CA Inv.) / CL2.602.222.19Current RatioCA/CL3.473.052.85Debt RatioTotal Debt/Total Asset7.89%2.49%4.42%Debt to EquityTotal Debt/Total Equity12.44%3.71%6.74%Inventory TurnoverCOGS/ Inventory4.164.094.35Receivables TurnoverRevenue/Receivables8.127.456.65*P/E Ratio22.9022.4018.90*EP S2.712.372.20Nikes revenue increase by approximately 8% in 2013 from 2012 figures, looking at the profitability ratios in the table above, it can be observed that the companys profit margin reduced from 45.89% to 43.50% in 2012 and slightly increased later in 2013 to 43.59%. The gross profit margin is a reflection what is left field after the cost of production is deducted, other profitability ratios such as ROE also shows upward trend from 2011 to 2013 indicating a favourable year for the company compared to its 2012 figures. This according Forbes (2014a), and NIKE was as a result of pricing actions, and reduce cost of material such as cotton, and lower investment activities by the company in 2013. The asset derangement of the company reduced in 2013 compared to 2012, this could be attributed to the fall in sales in China one of the biggest market for the company. Furthermore, looking at the liquidity ratio of the company, it can be observed that its current and quick ratiohave be en increasing within the period under review. For 2013 quick ratio was 2.60times an increase from 2.22times in 2011, this is well above the industry average which is currently at 0.77times.The current ratio of the company has also been increasing in the years under review, this reflects a strong financial position for the firm because it indicates that the company will be able to meet up future debt obligations. Other solvency ratios such as debt ratio and debt to equity ratio saw a high increase from 2.49% and 3.71% in 2012 to 7.89% and 12.44% respectively. This is an indication that the company relies on debt to fund its assets, this can be due to the strong liquidity position of the company which is reflected in its quick and current ratios. The company has the ability to meets its debt obligations so the risk of using debt of using debt is low. in conclusion from the efficiency ratios it can be observed that the inventory turnover for the company reduced from 4.35times to 4.09t imes in 2012, and later rosiness slightly to 4.16times in 2013. This indicates that the company is dumb slow in the number of times its inventories is sold and replaced compared to the 2011 figure.This could be as a result of the slow recovery of most countries coming out of recession, and slow growth in key markets for NIKE. However this is not a problem peculiar to NIKE, and the company is still above the industry average of 3.6times. The receivable turnover of the company has been increasing within 2011 and 2013, it is possible that this also adds to the increasing liquidity position of the company. The EPS of the company has observed an upward trend from $2.20 in 2011 to $2.71 in 2013, also its P/E ratio also increased 18.90% to 22.90% this is an indication of NIKEs profitability within these years and it reflects NIKEs strong position among the investing community. The increasing P/E ratio of NIKE also indicates investors confidence in NIKEs future earnings and the growth pro spect of the company. In conclusion, from the analysis of NIKE financials it is evident that the company maintains a strong position in the industry, because of its increasing revenue despite slight evenfall in certain emerging market, its liquidity position is strong compared to industry average and their growth prospect is also high as reflected in their growth ratios. ANALYSIS OF SHARE PERFORMANCEFigure Movement of Nike share price in the past 6 months.The figure above presents the share performance of NIKE for the past 6 months, from the figure it could be observed that in the one-third quarter of NIKEs financial 2013 year ending May 2014, the share price of the company observed a sharp drop to $70.51, then rose to $79.64 reaching its peak in the period under review. The share price dropped to $73.2 and since then have been fluctuating within 70 and $71. According to NIKE (2013) fluctuations in NIKE share prices can be attributed to various factors that affects performance in these quarter, they include the seasonality of its products, general economic condition, weather condition, and changes in consumer preference. However, dividend pay-out announcements, expectations of quarterly results and other industry related factors could also lead to the fluctuations of NIKE share price. Overall NIKEs share performance has been fairly stable at $70-$80 as no highly significant drop have been observed in the period under review. CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, the analysis of NIKE indicates that it remains one of the biggest sports manufacturing brands in the world. The companys focus on manufacturing innovative products has kept them in a very strong position in the sportswear and clothing industry. Though the global economic growth has slowed down slightly, and this has also affected key emerging markets such as China, growth projections for NIKE remain strong as investors believe the company has the ability to fight off intense competition and continue to expand it s dominance in the market. It is very imperative for the company to continue to maintain its level of innovation to ensure go on customer loyalty and increasing revenues.ReferencesAl-Araki, M 2013, SWOT analysis revisited through PEAK-framework, Journal Of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, 25, 3, pp. 615-625, contrast Source Premier, EBSCOhost, Accessed on 19th June 2014. Amin, S. H., Razmi, J., & Zhang, G. (2011). Supplier selection and order allocation based on fuzzy SWOT analysis and fuzzy linear programming. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(1), 334-342. Online available from Science Direct computer program on http//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2010.06.071 Accessed on 19th June 2014.BanJo , S. (2014) Inside Nikes Struggle to Balance Cost and Worker Safety in Bangladesh. Wall Street Journal. Online available from http//blogs.wsj.com/frontiers/2014/04/22/inside-nikes-struggle-to-balance-cost-and-worker-safety-in-bangladesh/ Accessed on seventeenth June 2014. Bode, c, Wagner, s, Pete rsen, k, & Ellram, l (2011), understanding responses to supply chain disruptions insights from information processing and resource dependence perspectives. Academy Of Management Journal, 54, 4, pp. 833-856, Available on Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, Accessed on seventeenth June 2014 Forbes (2013) Nike Shares Can Find Some Zip on Emerging Market Sales Online available from http//www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2013/04/11/nike-shares-can-find-some-zip-on-emerging-market-sales/ Accessed on 17th June 2014. Forbes (2014b) Nike Faces Tough Competition In Europe and China. Online available from http//www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/04/nike-faces-tough-competition-in-europe-and-china/ Accessed on 17th June 2014 Forbes. (2014a) Nike Brand Apparel Division in Focus. Online available from http//www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/20/nike-brand-apparel-division-in-focus/ Accessed on 17th June 2014. Gotham, S. (2013) Nikes Changing External Environment. Nik e.Blogpost Online available from http//philnike.blogspot.com/2013/02/nikes-external-environment.html Accessed on 18th June 2014. Hamilton, Leslie & Webster, Philip, (2012) The International Business Environment, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition. Lussier, R, Kimball, D, (2014), Applied Sport Management Skills, Elms College, 2nd Edition. NIKE Inc. (2013) Annual root word and Notice of Annual Meeting. Online available from http//investors.nikeinc.com/files/nike2013form10K.pdf Accessed on 18th June 2014. NIKE, Inc. (2014) NIKE Inc. SWOT Analysis, pp. 1-8, Online Available from Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, database Accessed 18 June 2014. Porter, M. E. (2008) The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 86(1), 25-40. Singla, R. K. (2007) Business Studies. Prince Print Process, New Delhi. Tefris. (2013) Heres What Matters For Nikes $56 Valuation. Online available from http//www.trefis.com/stock/nke/articles/167536/heres-what-matters-for-nikes-56-val uation/2013-02-12 Accessed on 18th June 2014. Trefis (2011) Nikes