How does Shakespeare present the character of Shylock in the play Essay Example

How does Shakespeare present the character of Shylock in the play Paper Shylock is introduced as a wealthy, Jewish man who lends money and charges interest. He seems to know Antonio, a local merchant in Venice, as when Antonio goes to him for money he says how Antonio has previously spat on him. We do not know whether Shakespeare meant this to be literate or metaphorical but we do know that many Christians hated Shylock as in Elizabethan times usurers were looked down at as usury was against Christian practise and Shylock was a Jew. Shylock takes a key part in the bond plot, a plot that involved the lending of some Ducats to Antonio so long as if he need to forfeit he must give willingly a 1lb of his flesh. Antonio agrees as the way Shylock said it to him made it sound like it was a joke, and he was certain that his ships would be arriving soon with more than enough to pay off the debt. Further on in the play, we are introduced to Jessica, Shylocks daughter. Jessica is not very fond of her father and we see this in action when she runs away with a young Christian and is converted. She also steals a number of precious jewels and Ducats from her father. This sends Shylock into a rage and he is pleasantly surprised to find out that Antonios ships have failed him and so Antonio must forfeit the bond. We will write a custom essay sample on How does Shakespeare present the character of Shylock in the play specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on How does Shakespeare present the character of Shylock in the play specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on How does Shakespeare present the character of Shylock in the play specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Shylock seems more irate that his ducats are lost then his daughter. This is his chance for revenge against Antonio and taking out his anger about his daughter. He even says: I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear this shows him in his evil state and that he would rather see his daughter dead if it meant getting his jewels back. He goes to the courtroom fully prepared to exit with a pound of his enemies flesh. However, the fact that shylock keeps making a point of showing importance against sticking to the exact words of the bond go against him. When the Judge (Portia in disguise) reminds him that he didnt ask for blood and so if any blood spills when he takes the flesh then he will have all his possessions taken from him, as he will have broken the bond and law. When Shylock decides he would rather take the money that Bassanio has agreed to pay, Portia refuses him it, as he must take the bond and also reminds him that if he takes too little flesh or too much then he will be breaking the law. Shylock is trapped, there is no humane way that he can take the forfeit and so he pleads with the judge to forgive him and spare him of his life. The judge rules that Shylock must give half his goods the state of Venice and the other half to Antonio. Antonio says that on Shylocks death, half the money will go to his daughter and her Christian husband, he also demands that Shylock become a Christian. The way people view the character of Shylock has changed through the centuries, in the seventeenth century he was seen as a savage villain who is contrasted with the other characters comical and romantic styles. However in the nineteenth century, people focused on the sufferings of Shylock and why he behaves like he does. The reason for the change in opinion could be explained by the way anti-Semitism is seen. When the play was written, it was common to hear anti-Semitic views by the Christians, they often made jokes at those less fortunate and some could say that Shylocks purpose was for some to laugh at a Jewish persons expense. For example in act 3 scene 1 Salarino and Solanio talk about Shylocks misfortunes rather sarcastically. One opinion about the way that Shakespeare presents Shylock in the play is that he is shows him to be a Jewish man who is misunderstood, mistreated and unfairly accused. Shylock can be played as an attractive, sympathetic figure. The ending of the play helps this view very strongly as everything is taken from including his possessions and even his religion. It seems at the end that Shylock has nothing left to live for, even his daughter has played traitor to him and run off with the Christians. I hate him for he is a Christian He lends out money gratis and brings down the rate of here with us in Venice Shylock despises Antonio because of his religion and because his money lending affects Shylocks living standards and how much money he earns. It makes us feel compassion towards Shylock as opposed to Antonio in the first half of the play as by Antonio lending money for nothing it is preventing Shylock from earning more. His speech If you prick us (Act 3, Scene 1) makes us view him with more sympathy than before. He is asking for understanding and Shakespeare may have done this so that the audience could understand his anger at the way he is treated by the Christians and explains why he feels revenge is rightfully his. Yet if any sympathy was gained in this speech it was changed after he uses it to justify his constant refusal for mercy and plain revenge. Towards the end of the trial scene, Shylock is shown in a dark light as well as where we begin to feel sympathetic again. The fact that he has come fully prepared with his own knife and scales shows us the determination that he gets what he came for and it shows that he could be very disturbed to have planned it already. He constantly rejects the pleas for mercy, which could say that Shakespeare wanted to gain trust of the Elizabethans who had anti-Semitism views, if they thought Shakespeare was trying to show pity to the Jew and make him look friendly then no one would see his show as people would think he was trying to make the Elizabethans like Jewish people. So to appeal to everyone you could say he was trying to take no sides showing each character with good and bad qualities, Shakespeare was not anti-Semitic. You could say that Shylock was presented as a villain but for comical purposes. I have already mentioned how the Elizabethans saw Jews to be evil and that when they see him suffering this may have shown some crude and grotesque humour. The way Shylock is mocked in the finial scene is seen to be fairly humorous for Elizabethan standards. In the film version we watched early on in the year Al Pacino played Shylock. The way he played the part, in my opinion, made the audience sympathise with him more as his facial expressions showed that he felt just for all the wrong things he did. In the film, it showed the courtroom scene to be played in a sympathetic way. Al Pacino shows great empathy with his character when Shylock has to decide whether to take the flesh even though he will be punished. Shylocks eventual outcome is rather malicious and the way they treat him considering they should be happy that their friend is not going to be killed is rather heartless. They probably think that their actions are justified as Shylock did intend to kill Antonio, yet if they knew how much it hurts to suffer they would have let him go with no further punishment. Also if they cared about their religion so much they would understand how it would feel if they were made to change their religion.

Example of Formal Letter †English (100 Level Course)

Example of Formal Letter – English (100 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Example of Formal Letter English (100 Level Course) Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing with regard to your invitation for the readers of your magazine to write to you giving views about how governments and individuals could cooperate to protect the global environment which remains as one of the main problems of our planet’s longevity. In my opinion, we should oblige our respective governments to draw their attention a bit more to search, but in cooperation, not like in the UNO where powerful countries still impose their preferences not looking for an equilibrated world but for one where they keep on controlling the rest, for solutions to maintain our natural resources for as long as possible. As individuals it is our duty to do so. And it is governments’ obligation to donate a 0.7% of their GDP (Gross Domestic Product), an international regulation which serves for nothing else but as a demonstration of powerful countries’ ability and possibilities of breaking others’ rules. If at least this law was obeyed, third-world governments would be able to face up to the illegal smugglers who are destroying their national natural resources to profit nobody but themselves and this is something all of us are going to pay sooner or later. As inhabitants of this planet, the â€Å"blue planet† as it is known, and consumers of its resources we should set ourselves in a more far-sighted position to avoid finding ourselves later in a world where the only thing we can do is just sit back and watch time go as a consequence of our previous silliness. Maybe in a national ambit the government should begin spending some of our taxes in campaigns to raise the conscience of people but then do not being hypocritical and apply themselves to the international legislation. I firmly hope that this letter helps readers to begin at least to think about the issue and then, if possible, making the government see a face of the State’s duty that we usually hide in the shade. Yours faithfully Student Name Research Papers on Example of Formal Letter - English (100 Level Course)Comparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoDefinition of Export QuotasAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationStandardized TestingQuebec and CanadaPETSTEL analysis of IndiaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

The Accumulation Of Plastics In The World's 5 Gyres And How It Can Be Essay

The Accumulation Of Plastics In The World's 5 Gyres And How It Can Be Stopped - Essay Example The scale of plastic contamination found in the ocean water is immense. Epic amount of plastic debris has been observed floating on the ocean water beginning from the polar areas to the equator zone. The only solution to the issue is to stop dumping plastic waste in to the sea and minimize the use of plastic by switching to other alternatives where ever possible so that least plastic waste is produced. The disposal of plastic is immensely a problematic issue since much of it have been accumulating in to the enormous islands in the oceans, or gyres that are further continuing to accumulate or disintegrate in to several tiny pieces due to which sea creatures and people consume these plastic debris as we eat the marine animals. It was shocking to get to know that there are five such gyres of plastic accumulate, which is extremely hazardous for both the marine and the land habitat. Numerous marine animals die every year due to the pollution in ocean as they either ingest or get entangled in marine debris that is the waste disposed by us in to the rivers, oceans and other water ways. A vast portion of this waste reaches the seas through the rivers. Almost 80 percent of the trash emanates from the landfills as well as from other urban sources. This waste then accumulates in gyres that are the areas of low winds and slow spiraling water along the coastlines. The fishes consume this waste, the sharks and other marine animals get entangled in it and the coral reefs get damaged by it. This immensely destroys the marine life. There exist five major ocean gyres in the entire world, which are namely: North Pacific Gyre, South Pacific Gyre, North Atlantic Gyre, South Atlantic Gyre and Indian Ocean Gyre. The sailors and the fishermen conventionally avoid these gyres since they are bereaved of wind and marine creatures. The North Pacific Gyre in the Pacific Ocean possess the largest portion of the plastic accumulate than the rest of the gyres. It is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as it covers a massive area that is almost equal to the size of the Texas. The plastic debris extends to about 6 meters or 20 feet down in to the water column (Robards et al, 1997). It has been found that about 3.5 million tons of waste has been deposited to this area turning it in to a plastic island (Thiel et al, 2003). It has been estimated that this size would get double in the next 5 years (Thiel et al., 2003). According to the estimates by the researchers, there is about 6 kg or 13.2 pounds of plastic for every 1 kg or 2.2 pounds of plankton in this area (Moore, et al., 2001). Some researchers and scientists consider that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a misnomer for the floating pile of disposed-waste that is located between the Hawaiian and Oregon islands suggesting that massive amount waste should be managed. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch basically indicates an environmental disaster for the oceans of the world that opens the eyes of the people of the wo rld towards the intense need for the conservation policies taking the oceans in to account. This patch of waste was created and continued to exist due to the ocean currents. Actually, this patch is not static in position as it sometimes drifts in to masses of land that have now appeared to resemble landfills. The patch moves with the zone of high pressure of air that is known as the North Pacific

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies Assignment - 2

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies - Assignment Example The combination of these qualities has been the pivotal reason behind the success story of Apple Inc. which revolutionized the retail industries and the technology. Apple Inc. is dedicated towards the main standards of ethical conduct, environment and social responsibilities. The prime purpose of the paper is to provide vivid information about the ethical and social responsibility, current position and strategies of the Apple Corporation. According to David Kurtz, â€Å"social responsibility is defined as the management values that comprises of contributing resources to the developing in nonprofit programs, community and maintaining the natural environment for the benefit of the general community†. Apple Inc. is a multinational corporation of America founded in 1976. Apple develops, designs, sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers and online services. Apple strives to be committed towards making an extraordinary technology and be socially and ethically responsible (Lencioni, 2012). According to the management of Apple Corporation, â€Å"social responsibility is defined as the essential in the manner of doing business in the organization†. In case of suppliers, it has been stated on the Progress Report of Global Suppliers Responsibility by Apple as providing safe working surroundings. Some of the social responsibility program initiated by Apple Inc. in the year 2010 includes increase in the number of facilities that are audited, use of probable conflict minerals are mapped, prevention of hiring underage workers, introduction of educated facilities that can help to manage third-party recruiters, protection of worker from other countries by dedicated additional resources and expansion in the training initiative. In case of training expansion, 300,000 workers are trained on their protections and

Project report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project report - Essay Example I reached the reception counter of the school 15 minutes before the scheduled time of opening of the school. More on my observations are recorded in the following report: The school is situated in the outskirts of the city. It is about 3 kilometers from the borders of the city. Since school buses are provided from majority of the housing colonies of the city, no problem is encountered on this account. The school is housed in a 12 acre plot of land. The lawns and the garden are well maintained. Tree plantation is carried out within and outside the compound walls of the school in a planned manner. The school works for six days in a week. It is closed on Sundays, but a skeleton management and maintenance staff is always available. Residential quarters are provided for such personnel, within the school compound. The hours of operations are between 8 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. A lunch break is provided between 11.a.m. to 11.30 a.m. The program is in line with the Bush Administration’s early childhood initiative, â€Å"Good Start, Grow Smart.† It includes efforts to strengthen Head Start, partner with States to improve childhood education and provide necessary information to teachers, caregivers and parents. The school commenced its activities from 1-1-1997, which means it was founded about 10 years ago. A registration certificate issued by the State Education Department is prominently displayed in the Office as well as in the cabin of the Principal. The School goes by the standards prescribed by the Education Department of the State Government for various categories of staff in the school. Most of the teachers are post graduates and have done special diploma courses in Montessori system of education. The School has many experienced staff on their rolls as well. Each staff member has to produce two testimonials from gazette officers, or prominent personalities of the area in which they reside. Their original

Children and Nature in Poetry

Children and Nature in Poetry In numerous poems during the romantic period the themes are centered on children and nature. The themes are not just about children alone and not just nature but the two subjects together. This is to suggest that children and nature are connected, the two subjects are one. Poets during the romanticism era use the childhood period as sort of a looking glass into nature and its true aspects which seems to get lost once adulthood is reached. The poems in the romantic era are all about trying to regain that innocence that special bond that a child seems to be able to share with nature. Samuel Coleridges poem Frost at Midnight is set in the winter season with him describing his feelings about his infant baby. Coleridge realizes how special his child is and how his child is able to share a connection with nature. A connection, that Coleridge believes that he was deprived of For I was reared/ in the great city, pent mid cloisters dim, and saw naught lovely but the sky and stars(Coleridge 51-53). Coleridge here claims that because he was raised within the city he never was able to create that special bond with nature. Due to this fact he uses his child now as sort of that medium into understanding nature, since he himself lost that time of innocence to the city. Coleridge is pained by his bringing up in the city life and throughout the poem is rejoicing that his child instead will be able to grow in nature. But thou, my babe! Shalt wander like a breeze/ by lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags/ of ancient mountain, and beneath the clouds.(Coleridge 54-56). The line Shalt wander like a breeze suggest that Coleridge believes that child and nature are one. The child will actually become a part of nature, a breeze and shall wander in nature by the lakes and sandy shores. Coleridge by the end of his poem is still hopeful for his child. That even when his child is grown, will still remember that humans and nature are one, he claims that God will help him maintain this status. Great universal Teacher! He shall mould/ thy spirit, and by giving make it ask. Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee.(Coleridge 63-65). Coleridge uses the child in this poem to show that children and nature are one. Through this poem the audience is meant to see that humans and nature are not separate entities but together they act as one single unit. Unfortunately as we leave childhood and begin our journey into adulthood we seem to lose that view of nature and ourselves and begin to see nature separately. Looking next at Wordsworth poem Ode Intimations of immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood Wordsworth also agrees with the Coleridge idea, that children are able to connect with nature. The only difference between the two is that Wordsworth believes that as every child is born, they immediately share a connection with nature and with heaven, that they are born with this connection. Coleridge on the other hand believes that this connection, yes, occurs during the innocent time of childhood but is not one that is guaranteed. For Coleridge this connection must be made, you are not born with it, for he himself says he never had the chance to connect with nature the way his child is able to. Wordsworth in this poem wants the audience to wake up! To see that we have lost our way and have been sleeping, he wants us to return to the mindset of a child There was a to,me when meadow, grove, and stream,/ the earth, and every common sight,/ to me did seem/ appareled in celestial light,/ the glory and the freshness of a dream.(Wordsworth 1-5). Children are the ones who are able to see nature for what is truly is. Heaven lies about is in our infancy!(Wordsworth 66). Unfortunately Wordsworth loses this way of seeing and thinking to the world as he begins to grow. It is not now as it hath been of yore; / turn wheresorer I may/ by night or day,/ the thinks which I have seen I not can see no more. (Wordsworth 5-9). Here Wordsworth is sadden that although he tries to see what he once was able to, he can not. Wordsworth believes that losing this mentality is inevitable. Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; Shades of the prison house begin to close/ upon the growing boy.(Wordsworth 58, 67-68). Wordsworth is sadden by this thought that we lose our innocence appreciation for the natural world. Yet he is reminded that he can still be happy for he still has the child and his memories to help connect to nature. Wordsworth uses his experiences and a child to keep him connected and Coleridge uses his infant to keep him connected. This is what it means when Child is the father of man. Of course the child can not care for the man, but still the child has something to offer. Just as a father offers protection and care for a child, the child offers the mindset and lens into the natural world. The child is a reminder that nature and humanity are one; they are intertwined with one another.

Lessons about Writing in the Works of Various Artists Essay -- essays

Most recently, I have read several powerful essays in Exploring Language, by Gary Goshgarian, which give straightforward advice about becoming a better writer. One such essay is ?Writing for an Audience,? by Linda Flower. She believes that a good piece of writing closes the gap between the reader and the writer. Another essay that I will be looking at is Getting Started,? by Anne Lamott. She believes that good writing is about telling the truth. Patricia T. O?Conner wrote an interesting essay titled ?Saying is Believing.? In it, she tells us that a good writer is one that you can read without breaking a sweat. Which leads me to the final essay that has helped influence my writing style, ?How to Write with Style,? by Kurt Vonnegut. He contends that your own winning style must begin with ideas in your mind. The essays written by Flower, Lamott, O?Conner and Vonnegut have supplied me with a multitude of lessons and advice, so that I may improve my writing skills and engage my reader better. The first thing that struck me as important is that the writing style must change to meet the different needs and demands of the individual reader. Linda Flower states in her essay, ?Writing for an Audience,? that ?a good piece of writing closes the gap between you and the reader? (156). Before I knew this, I tended to write for an audience of robots, while I now understand that my reader?s have unique faces and personalities of their own. In her essay, Ms. Flower gives concise explanations of my audience?s needs. What does my reader?s need to know? Can they easily digest what I am writing about? What is my audience?s attitude towards my subject matter? For example, I?m going to write an essay about my dog. First, I need to d... ...l quickly loose interest and almost immediately toss my work aside for something more thought provoking. My goal is to continue learning how to improve my writing. Each essay brought valuable information that I will continue to use throughout my college years and beyond. I found it intriguing that some of the essays conveyed the same lesson, an example, ?Writing With Style,? Mr. Vonnegut stresses that language is very important within an essay, Ms Flower concurs with this advice in ?Writing for an Audience.? The essays written by Flower, Lamott, O?Conner and Vonnegut have supplied me with a multitude of lessons and advice so that I may improve my writing skills and engage my reader better. In conclusion, I would like to say with Patricia O?Conner that, ?[a] good writer can express an extremely complicated idea clearly and make the job look effortless? (180).

Globalization of Production in the Textile and Clothing Industries Essay

East European full reintegration into the world economy had already started during the eighties, but the end of the decade and the beginning of the nineties saw a sudden spurt in that direction. This has taken the form not only of a swift trade reorientation towards the West, especially the EU, but also of new forms of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), subcontracting and cooperation agreements with Western enterprises. As a consequence, Eastern Europe has become deeply involved in the larger process of globalisation of production characterizing the international economy, where firms’ operations are becoming much more complex and pervasive than traditional arms-length trade and traditional international investment, including both international production and sourcing. Therewith the process of transition to the market appears to be more and more intertwined with Western firms’ strategies. It is then of some interest to analyse the extent of such relocation, its various forms and the possible impact on both the relocating and the host countries. International relocation can be analysed from different points of view. The perspective of the present paper is to concentrate on one of the most important trade partners of Eastern Europe – Italy – and on two industrial sectors in which the latter is specialised in production and exports – textiles and clothing, which are also of paramount importance in Eastern Europe’s exports. A few data on production, employment, investment and foreign trade may suffice to show the enormous importance of these industries for Italy. In 1993 this country produced almost 40% of the entire EU production of textiles, including knitwear. The other major EU countries followed rather distanced: France (17% – including household textiles), Germany (16%) and the UK (11%). The correspondig employment for Italy was 30% of the EU total, taking into account also the firms with less than 20 employees. The second most important country – Germany – employed just half of that amount. Finally investment, both total and per head employed, reveals a similar pattern, these two countries being followed by France and the UK. The ranking is similar in the clothing industry. In 1993 Italy represented 41% of total EU production, 24% of total employment (including firms with less than 20 employees) and headed the investment ranking, both in absolute terms and on a per capita employed basis. It should be added, in this respect, the particular consumption habits of Italians, who devote to clothing a much higher share of their total consumer spending than the other European nationals. The importance of the internal market is only paralleled by the place of the two sectors in Italian foreign trade. During the last few years Italy has been the second or third world exporter both of textiles and of clothing products, if one excludes Hong Kong due to the paramount importance of its reexports. She is the first Western supplier of the G7 markets for clothing and first on a par with Germany for textiles. The industry presents the second, and growing, largest positive trade balance in Italian foreign trade. The two sectors together represent 11% of her total exports, but a much lesser share of her imports (5%). However imports tend to grow faster than exports. A growing number of competitors is gaining market shares in the EU, at the expense of the traditional leaders like Italy and Germany. Import penetration, which has roughly doubled in the last ten years, is but one of the factors that, starting from the late eighties, is exerting growing pressure on the whole industry at a EU level. Production is falling and labour productivity rising much faster than in average manufacturing. The result for the EU has been 639,000 jobs lost in 1988-94, equal to almost 30% of all job losses in the manufacturing industry. Italy was also hit, although less than other European countries for the reasons indicated later. What is the particular place of Eastern Europe in this process? The CEECs represent only roughly 3% of Italian total trade in textiles, but a much larger share in Italian imports of clothing – 15% -, their importance in Italian exports of the same being minor (2%) (table 1). Almost half of the Italian imports of clothing from Eastern Europe come from Romania and more than one fifth from Hungary, the rest being spread among the Czech and Slovak Republics, Bulgaria and Poland, in the order. Together with an increasing deficit for Italy, the share of clothing in total Italian imports from each CEEC has been increasing recently in all cases, and particularly so from Romania and Bulgaria, where it now stands at 41% and 27%, respectively, and from Hungary (12%). The two sectors behave asymmetrically: clothing looms from two to eight times larger in Italian imports than exports, while textiles are far more important in Italian exports, at the exception of exports to former Czechoslovakia. This was also the only country with which Italy ran a deficit in textiles (today with the Czech Republic). Previous studies conducted by the author (Graziani 1993, 1994a, 1994b, 1995) show a generalized relative specialization of the CEECs in most clothing products both on the EU and on the Italian market. Moreover, in both markets import penetration ratios for the same are on the increase. Does this mean that Italian textile and clothing industry is losing ground vis a vis East European producers? The question is whether international trade data – like surpluses and deficits, market shares, specialization indices and import penetration ratios – by themselves are to be considered reliable competitiveness indicators, if a substantial part of trade flows is in some way or other tied to the importing country. From this perspective, imports into the relocating country could ideally be divided into three distinct flows: a) ‘untied’ imports from foreign firms; b) imports derived from non-equity cooperation agreements (in particular from subcontracting) ; and c) FDI-related imports. International relocation of production – taken here to mean not only the physical delocalisation of production abroad, but also the organized sourcing from other countries – affects directly the two latter flows and is then crucial for interpreting the meaning of trade indicators and trends. 2) The Italian model until the mid-1980s International relocation has been almost completely absent in the Italian experience of textile and clothing production until at least the mid1980s. Contrary to the growing international redeployment of its main EU competitor – Germany -, Italian relations with foreign markets were mostly centered on arms-length exports. The few affiliates abroad of Italian bigger firms had just the task to support the sales network in the recipient country. This explains also why Italy did not incur into the same dramatic employment reduction suffered by Germany, wich lost half of it in the last twenty years. Besides limited FDI, Italian manufacturers did also avoid subcontracting abroad by obtaining its advantages on a purely domestic level. The logics of subcontracting are well known, all the more so in the textile and clothing industry. Through it, producers look for: 1) lower costs, since the subcontractors do not invoice for indirect costs; 2) more flexible and reactive supply, that can be disposed of in case of ceased necessity; and 3) eventually some expertise and know-how not available in-house. Subcontracting has always been important within Western Europe. According to a recent survey, in 1992 the clothing subcontracting sector employed in the EU 800,000 workers, including 200,000 artisans and 150,000 illicit workers (Mercer 1994). This is equal to roughly 26% of total EU employment in the textile and clothing industry. Nearly 30% were in Italy and 17% in the UK, the others following suit. Up to the mid1980s Italian producers could limit subcontracting almost exclusively within the national boundaries. The following features allowed its coming to life and its efficiency: a) the main and most original factor was represented by the so-called â€Å"industrial districts† (Becattini 1987 ).  Production was concentrating in a small area, with a myriad of interdependent small enterprises, horizontally and vertically specialized in each of the subsectors of the industry. Production of wool in Prato and Biella, silk in Como and knitting in Carpi are but a few examples of such districts. We are here in a typical Marshallian world of economies external to the enterprise, but internal to the industry, where all the firms, independently from their size, may reap the benefits from a certain clustering of activities. A traditional culture of industrial work, specialized skills both of workers and services, the possibility of rapid exchange of inventions and improvements, coupled with the widespread use of subcontracting, often to the lower paid workers of the so-called informal economy, were enhancing the locational advantages and decreasing the transaction costs, compensating in this way the higher official labour costs vis a vis lower-wage countries (Forti 1994a); b) most firms were family-run and rather small, a limited number of medium size, as compared to the average West European, while the few larger ones had not yet reached the minimum critical threshold below which a clothing manufacturer is not able to finance the very high costs of internationalization, some of which are typically ‘sunk’ costs ; c) the main outlet was represented by the national market, where a very fragmented retail network (in clothing) acted as a relative shelter from foreign competition, limiting the import penetration ratio to a level well under the EU average; d) progressively, Italian producers had chosen the product differentiation path (especially in clothing), by positioning themselves in the up-market segments, characterized by non price competition and a high fashion-, quality- and value-added content. As one knows, internationalisation of production is all the more convenient the larger the amounts to be produced and the more standardized the productive processes. ) finally, especially in the textile sector, Italian producers had continually fostered technological innovation, obtaining the highest productivity levels in the world, which allowed them to compete worldwide. 3) From domestic to international relocation: the new strategy of Italian firms. Apart from the progressive erosion of industrialized countries’ market shares, by the mid- 1980s new features were emerging in the textile and clothing sector. First of all on the international demand side. Consumption growth started to show the first signs of stagnation, while a general rethinking of the relative value of intrinsic quality as against style was in the making. More in general, a better quality/price relation was sought for. Price elasticity increased also for the high fashion- and quality-content goods. A further factor peculiar to Italy was also at work. Domestic demand started to flatten out at the end of the eighties, bringing it more in line with the demand patterns of the other industrialized countries. On the supply side, at the domestic level the concentration rate in both sectors was rapidly increasing, while large firms reorganized and diversified their production. At the same time, Italy became a very high cost country, moreover characterized by a rather rigid labour market. Abroad, emerging countries were progressively upgrading the quality of their products, through a continuous learning process. On the whole, price competitiveness tended to become more stringent. Increasing competition was stemming as well from the concentration processes affecting the distribution sector. Large distributors tended to place big orders and to intervene in the choice of styles, quality, timing and service standards (OETH 1994). A final contingent factor favourable to the internationalisation of production was due to the real appreciation of the lira between 1987 and 1992, which favoured international operations like FDI and subcontracting. As a consequence, Italian firms started to undergo a rather rapid shift from a purely commercial approach at the international level to a relocation approach. This path was followed not only by large, but also by medium and small enterprises. Relocation expressed itself in two main ways: non-equity cooperation agreements – licensing, management contracts, but above all subcontracting – with some FDI, in lower wage countries; equity agreements – mostly FDI in the form of acquisitions – at first in the most developed markets; These two main ways of redeployment obviously respond to different motivations. At the beginning, relocation in low-wage countries took mainly the form of international subcontracting. The only exception was represented by the textile group Miroglio, which already in 1971 had realized some FDI in Greece, Tunisia and Egypt. In a second phase, the same group has switched to an organization of production based on so called ‘platforms’, that have the task of undertaking some downstream operations in the clothing industry and of optimizing the relations with nearby subcontractors. We have already noted above that the most powerful force behind Italian firms’ subcontracting has certainly been the abatement of production costs (cost saving subcontracting). East Europeans subcontractors have been used only in a very minor way as carrying out special functions (specialty subcontracting) or else as capacity reservoirs in case of occasional demand surges (complementary subcontracting). It can also take various forms. The most widespread is at the start a simple agreement with a local producer in order to buy the final product. At most, the Italian firm bought locally or elsewhere the intermediate products necessary to the productive process. In other cases subcontracting involved the export of semifinished products and the reimport of the finished ones, both without or under the outward processing traffic (OPT) regime. Very similar in nature to the US operations of offshore assembly provisions in other fields of industry as well, OPT takes place when some phases of the textile and clothing production chain – typically: the sewing phase – are carried out by foreign subcontractors. The latter utilise fabrics provided (and owned) by the subcontracting firm, temporarily exported towards the processing country under an EC tariff exemption regime. Up to the entry into force of the Interim Agreements of the EAs customs tariffs were levied only on the value added abroad. Since then, they were abolished altogether. On the other hand, acquisitions in the most sophisticated markets allowed Italian producers to attain several objectives: a) to acquire prestigious brand names; b) to adhere more closely to the host nation’s consumers’ tastes, especially in the medium segments absorbing large amounts of production, and gain market shares from within, keeping a presence in strategic markets; c) possibly, to penetrate third markets and also reimport part of the production; and d) to use the international subcontracting network of the acquired company, especially if it is German. So Marzotto, one of the top textile group in Italy, has acquired the German clothing company Hugo Boss, with a lengthy experience of subcontracting abroad, mainly in Eastern Europe. The aim is to have in a few years half of its production abroad. Another big group, Miroglio, has secured smaller, but more numerous firms: the clothing companies Caroline Rohmer and Sym Claverie in France and Glaeser, Flick, Skarabeus and Gili in Germany, plus the German textile company Steiger&Deschler (Ulmia). Finally GFT acquired the third German clothing producer, Baumler.

Mergers and acquisition

Mergers and acquisition Outline the economic arguments for and against British Home Stores (BHS) taking over Arcadia?British Home Stores has grown from a single store in South London to a multinational retail company with a major presence both in the UK and later on in overseas clothing markets. In 1986 they merged with Habitat/Mothercare to form Storehouse plc. Then in May 2000, Philip Green bought Bhs from the Storehouse Group. Green has been successful so far and has managed to turn the business around and increased the value of the business from 0m to an estimated 0m and raise operating profits by 257 percent. After a failed attempt to takeover Marks Spencer earlier this year Green continued his ambition to expand his empire by moving in to takeover the Arcadia group which has a large portfolio of brands including Topman/Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Evans. The deal would complete a horizontal takeover and, through external growth, create the biggest fashion retail group in the U.K.English: Marks and Spencer store, Birmingham High ...A combination of Bhs and the Arcadia, the UK's second largest retailer after Marks Spencer, would catapult Green's retail empire into pole position in the womenswear market, taking its share to 12.9%, ahead of Marks Spencer's 12.1%. This would in turn increase the buying power of the company and leave Green in a position to take control of the fashion market sector. With these points in mind there are both economic arguments for and against the takeover that I will evaluate and explain. Firstly it can be argued that the takeover will bring a number of benefits to the economy in both the short and long run however there are sometimes trade offs which, will lead to an economic argument against the takeover.Mr Green and Bhs will argue that the...

How to Speak Shakespearean Verse

How to Speak Shakespearean Verse We start with a practical approach to an old question: how do you speak Shakespearian verse? Bring Shakespeare to life in the classroom and drama studio with the understanding that Shakespeare wrote his plays in verse. This poetic framework not only gives characters a structured speech pattern but enhanced authority. What Is Verse? Unlike modern plays, Shakespeare and his contemporaries wrote plays in verse. This is a poetic framework that gives characters a structured speech pattern and enhances their authority. Typically, Shakespeare’s verse is written in lines of ten syllables, with an ‘unstress-stress’ pattern. The stress is naturally on the even-numbered syllables. For example, take a look at the first line of Twelfth Night: If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play onba- BUM / ba- BUM / ba- BUM / ba- BUM / ba- BUM However, verse isn’t spoken continuously in Shakespeare’s plays. Generally, characters of higher status speak verse (whether they are magical or aristocratic), especially if they are thinking aloud or expressing their passions. So it would follow that characters of low status don’t speak in verse – they speak in prose. The easiest way to tell whether a speech is written in verse or prose is to look at how the text is presented on the page. Verse doesn’t go to the edge of the page, whereas prose does. This is because of the ten syllables to a line structure. Workshop: Verse Speaking Exercises Choose a lengthy speech by any character in a Shakespeare play and read it aloud whilst walking around. Physically change direction every time you reach a comma, colon or full stop. This will force you to see that each clause in a sentence suggests a new thought or idea for your character.Repeat this exercise, but instead of changing direction, say the words â€Å"comma† and â€Å"full stop† out loud when you get to the punctuation. This exercise helps heighten your awareness of where there is punctuation in your speech and what its purpose is.Using the same text, take a pen and underline what you think are the natural stress words. If you spot an often repeated word, underline that as well. Then practice speaking the text with an emphasis on these key stress words.Using the same speech, speak it aloud forcing yourself to make a physical gesture on every single word. This gesture can be clearly connected to the word (for example a finger point on â€Å"him†) or c an be more abstract. This exercise helps you to value every word in the text, but again it will make you prioritize the correct stresses because you will naturally gesture more when saying keywords. Finally and above all, keep speaking the words aloud and enjoying the physical act of speech. This enjoyment is the key to all good verse speaking. Performance Tips Always use the punctuation in order to discover the natural places to pause or breathe when speaking verse. A common mistake is to always pause for breath at the end of a line. As Shakespeare often writes sentences that go across lines, this tendency to breath at the end of the line will distort the meaning and create an unnatural intonation.Be aware of the natural stress rhythms in the verse but don’t allow them to dominate your delivery of the line. Instead look at the line in its entirety and decide where your stress should go.Listen to the beautiful imagery and poetic elements of the verse and close your eyes when saying the words. Allow the imagery to form pictures in your mind. This will help you find meaning and substance in your lines. If you connect imaginatively with the language, you will naturally speak the words more effectively.Listen carefully to the colliding rhythms and sounds in Shakespeare’s verse. Often repeated words, harmonic sounds, and clashing s ounds help you to understand Shakespeare’s intentions and the motivations of your character. Obviously, use a dictionary if the context doesn’t present you with the meaning of a word you say. Not knowing the meaning of one of your words can be a problem. If you don’t know what it means, the chances are the audience won’t either!

Human Resource Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Resource Managment - Essay Example 9).4 It will stimulate the HR officer at GS Plumbing to don a professional perspective and will accord a formal recognition and motivation to the HR officer that is Alan Arrowsmith (Bragerstock, 2000, p. 524).5 HR audit will also lead to the identification of the problems marring GS Plumbing, resulting in an appropriate strategy aimed at resolving these problems (Hartsfield, 1990, p. 31).6 This endeavour will also lead to a systematic job analysis of all the employees at GS Plumbing and will help the company in designing appropriate performance management and appraisal systems (Hartsfield, 1990, p. 37).7 HR audit is also about basically recognizing the need for change and initiating and managing change (Stemple, 2006, p. 14).8 So far the top management at GS Plumbing is noncommittal about the issues hampering the smooth working of the organization, as is evident by the approach of Greg Smith, the owner of the company. So, an HR function audit by GS Plumbing will facilitate a smooth a doption and initiation of the change mindset on the part of the management and the employees. To assure the effectiveness of the proposed HR audit, it will be really helpful if the team drafted for conducting this audit involves a cross section of the staff working at varied levels at GS Plumbing (Moore, 2007, p. 53).9 This should include the owner, Greg Smith, the HR manager Alan Arrowsmith, the middle managers, particularly Gail White and at least one representative each of full-time and part-time plumbers. If possible and financially viable, the company can also hire an HR consultant to help and assist in this audit. Another big problem diluting the efficiency at GS Plumbing is the unplanned absence of employees. It is a fact that some of the employees may be resorting to... This paper approves that a formal and effective employee retention policy is pivotal for the long term success and sustenance of GS Plumbing. The success in retaining employees will add to customer satisfaction, will mitigate dissent amidst the staff, will allow for the achievement of a pool of experienced and skilled employees who could act as mentors or could be eventually absorbed in the management, and assure that the knowledge and experience that the employees have gained over time remains embedded within the company’s resource base. The management could come out with a lucrative bonus policy to prevent employees from working freelance after hours. The talent and contribution of the junior employees should be promptly recognized by extending promotions and salary raises. The top managers should spend more time interacting and mixing with the plumbers. Overall, care should be taken to make all the plumbers feel that they are respected and recognized. GS Plumbing being a sm all concern, it will get ample word of mouth publicity by initiating such policies. This essay makes a conclusion that at present, the managerial policies towards HR function at GS Plumbing are noncommittal and non formal. A great deal of this has to do with the lack of interest and initiative on the part of the top management. The dearth of employee retention, recruitment, compensation and review policies are taking a heavy toll on the long term sustenance of the company. Communication gap between the employees and the management is one other sore factor.

Computer forensics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Computer forensics - Essay Example This research will begin with the definition of computer forensics as a method utilized for the analytical analysis and investigative methods to identify, gather, inspect and preserve information and evidence which is magnetically encoded or stored. Typically computer forensics is used to offer digital evidence of a broad and specific activity in any area of life. Additionally, a forensic analysis is performed for a wide variety of reasons. In the majority of cases, computer forensics is used for the high profile civil litigation or criminal investigation, however digital forensic methods can be of value in a broad range of circumstances, comprising, basically re-tracing steps formulated when information has been lost. Companies that the author has selected for this report are 1) New York Computer Forensics [Web site: Â  http://newyorkcomputerforensics.com]; 2) Guidance Software Professional Services [Web site: http://www.guidancesoftware.com]. New York Computer Forensics Company ha s skilled and expert computer forensic staff and experts. These people effectively utilize the proven methods and sophisticated software, and tools which can be used to analyze and retrieve the entire data on a crime scene system to an absolute level as probable. In this scenario, this kind of material can include deleted files and e-mail and logs and other details that can be related to the problems and issues being examined.