Analysis Of The Book The Hunger Games By Scott Westerfeld

Freedom of choice, the transference of power away from and to the oppressed, and rebellion against societal norms: these are some of the many ingredients of a book that hailed a new approach toward writing, trailblazing a whole subgenre of fictitious works. This book, a book which will stand the test of time, embodies the female struggle in an oppressive society. This book, Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, will survive as it became a beacon in the new style of young adult dystopian novels with female protagonists. This book, much in the same way that Charlotte Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Jane Eyre inspired writers like Jean Rhys to write Wide Sargasso Sea and Gilbert and Gubar to pen the first edition of The Madwoman in the Attic, opened the path for Suzanne†¦show more content†¦This name, while not as dehumanizing as Rochester’s other signifiers of choice, diminishes Jane to the level of a child, once again placing Rochester in a position of power over Jane. The concept of naming as a tool to shape relationships is a time-tested literary tool, which in addition to being employed in Jane Eyre, also features as a major discourse in Uglies. â€Å"Uglies’ slang is†¦ugly. It’s all about giving people nicknames that highlights their ugliness-Skinny, Squint,† the difference between Uglies’ use of naming and Jane Eyre’s use of naming is that in Uglies the young adults impress upon each other these oppressive names rather than a more privileged individual bestowing the names, which lower their own self esteems(Wilkinson 10). This tactic of encouraging self-depreciating names is a practice which internalizes the need in the young citizens to live for the day in which they turn sixteen and can be â€Å"reprieved† of their undesirable traits, their skinny frames and squinty eyes. Stylistically, the two books can be compared on the use of character foils to indirectly characterize the main protagonist; character foils, a subtle, indirect characterization formed by comparison of characters, appears in the foil of Jane Eyre and Bertha Rochester and the foil of Tally Youngblood and Dr.Cable. In The Madwoman in the

Marketing Consumer Group Child Help Organization Inc. Free Essays

ChiledHelp.org is a foundation that prevents and treat abused children.   ChildHelp. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Consumer Group: Child Help Organization Inc. or any similar topic only for you Order Now org has a mission to, â€Å"to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused and neglected children. We do so by focusing our efforts in the areas of treatment, prevention, and research.†[1]  Ã‚   They function on the premises that: every child has a purpose to help the community, giving unconditional love is the beginning of healing, and that these unfortunate children deserve the best that the community can give.[2] This wasn’t always how Childhelp.org was. ChildHelp.org was founded in 1959 by two American actresses, Sara O’Meara and Yvonne Fedderson.   It started when they went to Japan after the war to entertain the US troops, a practice to maintain the morale of the soldiers.   While they were there, they noticed 11 desperate orphaned Amerasian children on the street suffering the cold.   Out of the kindness of their hearts, they decided to bring them to an orphanage, later on realizing that these 11 orphans had been rejected by the orphanages due to lack of space and the ethnicity of the 11 children.   Eventually, they found a woman in a hut who was already caring for Amerasian children.   Mama Kin, as she was called, made an agreement with the 2 actresses to take in the 11 children if O’Meara and Fedderson could find financial support. [3] O’Meara and Fedderson did and their efforts were recognized resulting in the establishment of 4 orphanages under their lead in Japan. At that time, they were called International Orphans, Inc. (IOI).   In 1966, they were invited to the White House and were asked to do the same thing for Vietnamese-American children.   They were able to build 6 orphanages, but when the Americans pulled out of Vietnam, the actresses were instrumental in the â€Å"Baby Lift† Operation wherein the Vietnamese children were pulled and were adopted off to very willing and loving American parents.[4] In 1978, the foundation was asked by the White House to put their attention and efforts to abused children in the United States.   This is the point where they changed the focus of their foundation, from orphans to abused children and thus they changed their name to ChildHelp.org.[5] Since then ChildHelp.org has created numerous programs to help abused and neglected children.   They have advocacy centers in 8 regions, namely, Michigan, California, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia, Virginia, Washington D.C, and Arizona which houses two centers, one in Phoenix and the other in their headquarters in Scottsdale.   Each center coordinates with other institutions in the area. For instance, in Phoenix, a partnership has been established between Child Help and Safe Child Center at Flagstaff Medical Center to attend to tribal rural areas.   In Georgia, the Good Touch / Bad Touch program, a violence prevention program and now considered a premium educational product, is being endorsed and given to schools by ChildHelp.org so that the children, as well as the teachers and administrators can be properly educated about sexual abuse.[6]   In Tennessee, a foster family program is being endorsed so that sexually abused children can live in a safe foster home. These kinds of programs that involve the community are one of the ways that ChildHelp.org creates awareness throughout the community. Another strategy that they use, which is often used by most people, is that they have Hollywood celebrities to endorse their product.   In the case of ChildHelp.org it is not a product that they are promoting but they are creating awareness by using their celebrity patrons.   Due to the founders Hollywood connections, a movie was created to pay tribute to the work of O’Meara and Fedderson.   This movie, entitled For the Love of a Child, was an immediate eye opener for the whole of America.   With this movie, not only was the problem of child abuse put to the forefront, but also, the mission of ChildHelp.org was advertised to allow people to contribute to and help these abused children. Another way of promoting and pushing the cause of ChildHelp.org is by affiliating companies and corporation to the program allowing the employees to donate via their employers to ChildHelp.org.   Apart from a straight donation, people can buy items from ChildHelp.org, the profits of which will go to their programs or people can volunteer for programs or become a foster parent. [7] ChilHelp.org has gone a long way from Japan and its orphanages.   It cannot be doubted the effort that Sara O’Meara and Yvonne Fedderson have put into this foundation, making them extremely deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.   From these two people a lot of children have been given proper futures and families.   It started in a small hut Japan and transformed into a fortress of love and care.   It has also transformed itself numerous times to address the needs of children, whatever they may be, in Asia and in America.   Although, the focus may have changed from orphanages to abused children, the core remains the same – children have a purpose and with enough love from the community they will be able to achieve it. Reference: ChildHelp.Org. 12 September 2007.   Child Help Inc.. 12 September 2007. http://www.childhelp.org/home Good Touch/ Bad Touch. 12 September 2007.   Child Help Inc. 12 September 2007. https://childhelp.6connex.com/event/SpeakUpBeSafe/login â€Å"For the Love of a Child†.   LifetimeTV.com. 12 September 2007.   12 September 2007. https://childhelp.6connex.com/event/SpeakUpBeSafe/login How to cite Marketing Consumer Group: Child Help Organization Inc., Essay examples

Information systems Essay Example

Information systems Paper A Transaction Processing System also referred to as TPS is an information system used to collect, retrieve, store, and modify transactions within an organization. For a computer to be considered a transaction processing system it must pass the ACID test. 3 Tescos rely on their TPS because of the fact all there transaction made to there suppliers and customers and any middle parties involved are done by TPS also all the products have a bar code which the TPS uses to figure out how many products have been sold and needs ordering etc. Key Features of TPS Rapid Response Rapid performance and a rapid response time is vital and the businesses cannot meet the expense of the customers having wait for a TPS to respond, the time taken from the input of the transaction to the production for the output must be a few seconds or less. Reliability Many organisations rely profoundly on their TPS if a breakdown was to occur this will disrupt operations and can even stop the business from functioning correctly. For a TPS to be efficient the failure rate must be exceptionally low. If a TPS failure does occur then fast and precise recovery must be achievable. We will write a custom essay sample on Information systems specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Information systems specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Information systems specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This makes well planned backup and recovery measures extremely important. Inflexibility A TPS must be able to process every transaction in the same way in spite of the user, the customer or the time for day. Controlled processing TPS processing must support the organisations day to day operations, i. e. if Tescos wishes to grant certain roles and responsibilities to certain employees then the TPS should adjust and maintain this requirement. 4 ACID Test To qualify as a TPS, transactions made by the system must pass the ACID test. The ACID tests refers to the following four basics: Atomicity Atomicity is a name given to the function which tells you whether or not the transaction has been completed in full or not. For example if a customer came in to Tescos to do their weekly shopping and decided to pay by a credit card, if the money from deducted from the customers account and had not been credited to Tescos account then this would not a completed transaction however on the other hand if the money is deducted and credited to Tescos account then this is classed as a complete transaction. A TPS is in place to make sure this happen correctly. Consistency TPS systems are present within a set of operational rules or reliability constraints. A reliability constraint states that all transactions made on the database must have a positive value the TPS system is there to refuse any transaction made with a negative value. Isolation Transactions have got to appear to have taken place in isolation meaning; when a money transfer is made between the customer and Tescos the deduction from one and the crediting of another account must appear to take place simultaneously. The money cant be credited to an account before it is deducted from another. Durability When the transactions have been completed they cannot be reversed this is to ensure that even in the case the TPS suffers a failure a record will be created to documenting all the completed transactions. These four conditions ensure that TPS systems carry out their transactions in a methodical, standardised and reliable manner. 5 Different types of transactions Each transaction process is standardised to increase competence, Tescos require a custom made TPS which works with Tescos business strategy and processes. This is why there are 2 types of transactions. Batch Processing Batch processing stores data for processing at pre-defined times. Batch processing is useful to an organisation because it needs to process large amounts of data using limited resources. 6 Real Time Processing Real time processing systems are in place to react to an event within a prearranged time. These types of operating systems are found within organisation i. e. banks. 7 Management Information Systems Management information system also referred to as MIS and management information services, this is a computer based system which provides managers with essential tools for managing, evaluating and efficiently running their departments this enables them to provide past, present and prediction information, an MIS can also include software that helps managers in decision making, Within organizations the department which is usually responsible for computer systems is called the MIS department however other names such as IS (Information Services) and IT (Information Technology). For example Tescos can use this system to find out how many hours the employees have worked over a period of time, and get monthly reports of expenses compared to the costs. Tescos also use this system in Replenishment, Pricing Analysis i. e. Markdowns and Sales Management. 8 MIS Key Features MIS help organizations to view sales figures, sales orders, purchasing information, and payroll information. MIS also helps to monitor production information i. e. Productivity and product lifecycle information. In addition to this MIS allow managers access to financial information and try possible what if scenarios. It should inform the company strategy by referring back to the overall mission and business aims. 9 MIS also use raw data to run simulations or theoretical scenarios that answer a range of what if questions regarding alterations in strategy. For example Tescos use MIS system give them a insight about the effect it will have on sales if an alteration in price i. e. mark down would have on a product sales. These Decision Support Systems (DSS) allow more informed decision making within an organisation than would be possible without MIS systems. 10 Data Processing MIS systems enable for the gathering of huge amounts of company data however they also provide a all important time saving benefit to the workforce where in the past business information had to be physically processed for filing and analysis which took a lot of man hours, it can now be entered quickly and easily onto a mainframe by a data processor which in turn allows for swift decision making and faster reflexes for the organisation as a whole. 11 Tescos currently a system that allows personnel and finance department remain up to date with changes in employees preferences for work and their personal contact details i. e. bank account information, and tax contributions. Each time one of the employees clocks in and out of work it is processed electronically enabling personnel department to work out their wages and any tax contribution they owe, these are worked out automatically. Enhanced reporting of business processes leads without doubt to a more smooth production process with better information on the production process this enables the organisation to improve the management of the supply chain including everything from the suppliers of materials to the production and distribution of the complete product. Conclusion In conclusion Tescos benefits from both the transaction processing systems and Management information systems. Using these automated systems helps Tescos to run efficiently by helping with stock replenishment and analysing sales figures and help Tescos bringing in revenues of 42,641 million and net profits of   1,899 million in 2007. 13 1  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Traditional religion as well as religious beliefs and practices are important issues which are discussed in ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe. The major theme focuses on the conflict between the Igbo society and culture as well as the religion of the colonists. The Umuofia society is religious as it is characterized by the worship of Chuckwu the chief the god, spirits and the ancestors. It is clear that the religion practiced in Umuofia is animistic in nature similar to other  traditional religions in other parts of Africa.   The people of Umuofia believed that most of both the living and non living things had the ability of possessing souls and the spirits. For instance, members of the society believed that forests like the evil forests had sprits of  evil and that is why twins were abandoned there as they  were considered to carry bad luck. Further studies indicate  that it was possible for a man to buy a craving in the market and make it to be an object o f worship after invoking his spirit in it.   There were other spirits like the spirits of rivers, lakes, wells and the earth, to name just a few.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the Umuofia society, men and women were regarded differently as they did not hold the same positions. For instance, men were rulers as well as leaders while women were considered   Ã‚  as servants. Therefore, the spirits of women were inferior to the spirits of men although women were also allowed to carry out religious rituals since they could become priests. According to Achebe (pp. 30), the Umuofia community had a female deity who was known as ‘Ani’. In addition, there was also a male deity who was known as Agbala or the ‘Oracle of the Hills and the Caves’ (Achebe pp.30). According to Achebe, (pp. xxxv) ‘chi’  was a personal god for an  individual  which had the ability to  follow people throughout  their whole life.   One of the major characteristic of ‘chi’ was the fact that it was  capable of either  being  good or bad.   Such a characteristic was very important because  it  determined the success of an individual. Therefore, incase someone had a good ‘chi’, such a person ended up being successful while people with a bad chi were full of misfortunes. However, although ‘chi’ was powerful,  a person had the power of determining his destiny. In addition, medicine men could intervene and help someone with a bad ‘chi’  to become successful. The Umoufia society was powerful among its neighbors and was greatly feared. The neighbors considered going into war  with it as a last option, incase all the  other options  failed.   The priests and medicine men who were vey powerful contributed  greatly to  its  superiority.    Its source of the military power was the war medicine although the age of the same was not known.   The medicine  which was the source of  the strength was known as agadi-nwayi which meant an old  woman. Villagers  believed that an old woman with one leg was often seen by someone who passed by the shrine which was centrally placed in the evenings.   Since  the villagers believed that she was sacrificed when the village was being formed, that explains why she was capable of being powerful.   In addition, the villagers believed that performing religious practices and rituals made someone to be powerful. As a result, the woman could have derived  her power from the sacrifices  that took place during the formation of the village.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Achebe, Chinua. Things fall apart. Oxford: Heinemann, 1996. Print.

Mineral Photos - How to Take Great Photos of Minerals

Mineral Photos - How to Take Great Photos of Minerals Do you want to take great pictures of your mineral specimens? Here are some tips and tricks to help your mineral photos turn out looking wonderful. Mineral Photography Tips Know your camera.You can take wonderful pictures of mineral specimens using a disposable camera or cell phone; you can take terrible photos using a high-end SLR. If you know what works in terms of distance and lighting for the camera you are using then youll have a much better chance of taking a great shot.Be accurate.If you are taking a photo of a mineral out in the field, then take the picture of the mineral where you found it rather than moving it to a pretty location.Take multiple pictures.If youre in the field, approach your specimen from different angles and take a variety of shots. Do the same back home. Taking ten shots of the exact same angle, background, and lighting is less likely to give you a great photo than taking several different photos.Make the mineral the center of attention.If possible, make it the only object in the photo. Other objects will detract from your specimen and may cast nasty shadows on your mineral.Choose your background wisely.I take the majority of my pictures on a white plastic cutting board because it doesnt cast reflections back toward the camera and because I can apply light behind the mineral. White is great for specimens with good contrast, but it doesnt work as well for light-colored minerals. Those minerals may do better with a gray background. Be careful using a very dark background because some cameras will take a picture that washes the detail out of your specimen. Experiment with different background to see what works best. Experiment with lighting.You are going to get different pictures in sunlight than you will under fluorescent or incandescent lights. The angle of the light makes a big difference. The intensity of the light matters. Look criticially at your photo to see if it has distracting shadows or whether it flattens out any three-dimensional structure of your mineral specimen. Also, keep in mind some minerals are fluorescent. What happens in you add black light to your specimen?Process your image, with care.Pretty much every device that takes pictures can process them. Crop your images and consider correcting them if the color balance is off. You might want to adject the brightness, contrast, or gamma, but try not to go beyond that. You might be able to process your image to make it prettier, but dont sacrifice beauty for accuracy.To Label or Not To Label?If you are going to include a label with your mineral, you can photograph a (neat, preferably printed) label along with your mineral. Otherwi se, you can overlay a label on your picture using photo editing software. If you are using a digital camera and arent labeling your specimen right away, its a good idea to give your photo a meaningful name (like cordundum rather than the default filename, which is probably the date). Indicate ScaleYou may wish to include a ruler or coin with your specimen to indicate scale. Otherwise, when you describe your image you might want to indicate the size of your mineral.Try the ScannerIf you dont have a camera, you may be able to get a good picture of a mineral specimen by scanning it with a digital scanner. In some cases a scanner can produce a nice image.Take NotesIts a good idea to jot down what works and what fails miserably. This is especially helpful if you are taking a large sequence of pictures and making a lot of changes.

Operations Management MBA program Quality Management case study Essay

Operations Management MBA program Quality Management case study - Essay Example These parts are then accumulated and sent to the film assembly machines to produce a 10-frame cartridge. The completed cartridges are then inventoried and sent to the packaging section to fill a large shipping carton. The shipping cartons are then stacked, palletized and stored ready for shipment. The management of the R2 plant focuses on high volume output, low operating costs, timely production and low defect rates in their manufacturing processes The quality control department was responsible for sampling the lot of finished cartridges for defects and create a disposition whether to release the lot to the market or hold the lot for further testing and rework or reject the whole lot as unacceptable. This is a traditional approach of quality control where the efforts of quality control are focused on the last stage of production prior to delivery of products. This type of approach is very costly, time consuming and wasteful. In 1985, the R2 plant introduced and implemented a new process control program which they named Project Greenlight. The program involves a statistical process control chart that measures the variability of the product attributes and variables such as Pod Weight and Finger Height.

Assessment item 4 Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assessment item 4 Report - Essay Example Pepsi was able to maintain such big reputation in international markets because of their innovative distribution strategies. This paper briefly analyses the distribution strategies of Pepsi in international markets. Distribution strategies of Pepsi Pepsi has concentrated in developing a wide range of distribution channels like, supermarkets/retail stores, fountain/restaurant, convenience stores, vending machines etc for marketing their products. Their product distribution philosophies or objectives were based on; making available all or most of the products in its portfolio within a distance easily reachable by consumers. Pepsi has realized that the beverage market is highly competitive and the customers may not take many efforts in locating the products. Most of the customers who like to purchase a soft drink will select the drink which is easily accessible to them. They will never travel long distances to purchase a soft drink even if they like a particular drink very much. Pepsi k nows better about the above consumer psychology and they structured their distribution channels in such a way to meet the customers at their doorsteps rather than asking the customers to travel lengthy distances in search of Pepsi products. In order to meet the above objective of shortening the distance between the customers and Pepsi products, â€Å"PepsiCo had developed various distribution models to offer its products and services to customers including the Direct Store Delivery (DSD), Broker Warehouse Distribution (BWD) and Vending & Food Service (V&FS) systems etc† (PepsiCo's Distribution and Logistics Operations, n. d). Advanced logic systems were also incorporated to the distribution channels in order to ensure hassle free transport of Pepsi products across the world. Moreover, in order to serve the customers more effectively and efficiently, Pepsi has made agreements with the local bottling companies. Direct channels, retailer channels, wholesaler channels, agent or b roker channels, dual channel or multiple channels etc are some of the common channels opted by product manufacturers to distribute their products. The distribution channels is selected based on the nature of the product, type of customers, market size, the producer’s level of control, the size of the producing company, the size of the retailers etc (The Retail Distribution Channel, n. d, p.36). PepsiCo is one of the largest companies in the world and they can opt for any type of distribution channels because of their immense financial capabilities. Pepsi has made use of different distribution channels based on the geographical characteristics and the cultural and economical aspects of the country in which they operate. For example, in countries like America and Middle East, Pepsi vending machines are available large in number whereas in countries like India instead of vending machines,