Aids Awareness – 2

World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS  pandemic  caused by the spread of HIV infection. Government and health officials observe the day, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an official  proclamation  on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007,[1]  and an estimated 33. million people worldwide live with HIV as of 2007,[2]  making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 2 million lives in 2007,[3]  of which about 270,000 were children. [4] World AIDS Day was first conceived in August 1987 by James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officers for the Glo bal Programme on AIDS at the  World Health Organization  in Geneva, Switzerland. [5][6]  Bunn and Netter took their idea to Dr.Jonathan Mann, Director of the Global Programme on AIDS (now known as  UNAIDS). Dr. Mann liked the concept, approved it, and agreed with the recommendation that the first observance of World AIDS Day should be 1 December 1988. Bunn, a broadcast journalist on a leave-of-absence from his reporting duties at KPIX-TV in San Francisco, recommended the date of 1 December believing it would maximize coverage by western news media. Since 1988 was an election year in the U. S. , Bunn suggested that media outlets would be weary of their post-election coverage and eager to find a fresh story to cover.Bunn and Netter determined that 1 December was long enough after the election and soon enough before the Christmas holidays that it was, in effect, a dead spot in the news calendar and thus perfect timing for World AIDS Day. On 18 June 1986 KPIX'S â€Å"AIDS Lifel ine† (a community education project initiated by Bunn and KPIX Special Projects Producer Nancy Saslow) was honored with a Presidential Citation for Private Sector Initiatives presented by President Ronald Reagan. Because of his role in â€Å"AIDS Lifeline† Bunn was asked by Dr. Mann, on behalf of the U. S. government, to take a two-year leave-of-absence to join Dr.Mann, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control, and assist in the creation of the Global Programme on AIDS for the United Nations' World Health Organization. Mr. Bunn accepted and was named the first Public Information Officer for the Global Programme on AIDS. Bunn and Netter conceived, designed, and implemented the inaugural World AIDS Day observance – now the longest-running disease awareness and prevention initiative of its kind in the history of public health. The  Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS  (UNAIDS) became operational in 1996, and it took over the planning and prom otion of World AIDS Day. 7]  Rather than focus on a single day, UNAIDS created the World AIDS Campaign in 1997 to focus on year-round communications, prevention and education. [7][8] In its first two years, the theme of World AIDS Day focused on children and young people. These themes were strongly criticized at the time for ignoring the fact that people of all ages may become infected with HIV and suffer from AIDS. [7]  But the themes drew attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, helped alleviate some of the stigma surrounding the disease, and helped boost recognition of the problem as a family disease. 7] In 2004, the World AIDS Campaign became an independent organization. [7][8][9] Each year, Popes  John Paul II  and  Benedict XVI  have released a greeting message for patients and doctors on World AIDS Day. [10][11][12][13][14][15] In 2007, the  White House  began marking World AIDS Day with the iconic display of a 28-foot AIDS Ribbon on the building's North Portico. [ 16]  The display, now an annual tradition, quickly garnered attention, as it was the first banner, sign or symbol to prominently hang from the White House since the  Abraham Lincoln  administration. ———————————————— [edit]Choosing the theme From its inception until 2004,  UNAIDS  spearheaded the World AIDS Day campaign, choosing annual themes in consultation with other global health organizations. As of 2008, each year's World AIDS Day theme is chosen by the World AIDS Campaign's Global Steering Committee after extensive consultation with people, organizations and government agencies involved in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. [7]  For each World AIDS Day from 2005 through 2010, the theme will be â€Å"Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise. â€Å", with a yearly sub-theme. 7]  This overarching theme is designed to encourage political leaders to keep their c ommitment to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support by the year 2010. [7] This theme is not specific to World AIDS Day, but is used year-round in WAC's efforts to highlight HIV/AIDS awareness within the context of other major global events including the  G8 Summit. World AIDS Campaign also conducts â€Å"in-country† campaigns throughout the world, like the  Student Stop AIDS Campaign, an infection-awareness campaign targeting young people throughout the UK.Today many people around the world are infected with a serious disease called  AIDS. Unfortunately, the disease has led to many deaths worldwide and yet it still remains untreatable. Many Public Health Departments are now taking the lead in publicizing education about AIDS. Public awareness and prevention programs are possible solutions to the spread of AIDS. The issue of this paper is on AIDS Prevention Programs that target women. One outlook is that prevention programs that tar get women will reduce the number of infections around the world.People opposed to this believe that prevention programs should aim more towards males. The disease is obviously an important social issue which impacts people worldwide. Certain associations and studies believe that women are more at danger then men for contracting HIV/AIDS. They believe prevention programs should be focused merely on women. AIDS cases for women are increasing each year and women are one of the fastest growing populations being infected. At the end of 2002, UNAIDS, a Joint United Nations Progamme on HIV/AIDS, reported that 38. 6 million adults are infected with HIV or AIDS worldwide.Roughly 50% or 19. 2 million are women. Globally speaking, most women infected with HIV or AIDS are from developing countries. The fastest spread of AIDS among women is in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1999, for the first time more women than men were infected with HIV. Out of 22. 3 million people infected in sub Saharan Africa 12. 2 million, or 55%, are female. Of the 1. 1 million youth infected in south Asia, 62% are female. According to research by the CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the amount of AIDS cases in women have more than tripled in the United States.Since 1985, 7% of women were affected to 25% in 1999. With the number of AIDS cases in women increasing, organizations are relying on prevention programs aimed towards women to be the effective solution to prevent the spread of the virus amongst men and women. We can write a custom essay on AIDS for you! In contrary to the opposing viewpoint, reports by UNAIDS felt that men should be the main focus in the prevention programs. In 2000, UNAIDS commenced a World AIDS Campaign which pushed for men to become more involved in preventing the spread of the AIDS outbreak. We must stop seeing men as some kind of problem and begin seeing them as part of the solution,† according to Dr Peter Piot, the head director of UNAIDS. â€Å"Working with men to change their behavior and attitudes has tremendous potential to slow down the epidemic. It will also improve the lives of men themselves, not to mention those of their families. † There are several reasons why men should remain the main target to the prevention of the epidemic. The focus is mainly on changing sexual behaviors amongst men. Men grow up with certain beliefs and attitudes on how they should behave when dealing with intercourse.Dr. Elvira Belingon, Department of Health STD/AIDS Coordinator in Cordillera explained that worldwide studies prove that men are at a greater risk of spreading the disease because they are likely to have more unprotected intercourse and sexual partners than women do. â€Å"Too often, it is seen as ‘unmanly' to worry about avoiding drug-related risks, or to bother with condoms,† said Dr Piot. UNAIDS feel these cultural beliefs and expectations allow men to become vulunerable to AIDS which endangers their own health or the health of their partners and family.This vulnerability has already affected gay and bisexual men in the United States. Sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis have rose for the second year in a row. The government feels that gays and bisexuals are more susceptible to these sexually transmitted diseases and with the help of these prevention programs they can decrease that number. In order to help control the AIDS epidemic, organization’s feel prevention programs should focus more on men’s behavior. I believe that prevention programs should be aimed towards women because of he steady increase of infections year to year. Women are more susceptible to HIV infection for several reasons. Biologically, females are estimated to be eight times more likely of receiving and HIV transmission from a male compared to female-to-male transmission. In 1997, the CDC reported that 38% of women received HIV through heterosexual intercourse opposed to 7% of men. Women are more at risk because the surface area in a female’s genital tract is greater exposed than in males. During intercourse larger amounts of semen fluids are released than in vaginal fluids.This puts women at risk because semen contains a higher amount of HIV. Also, women often have sexually transmitted infections that are left untreated, which increases exposure to HIV. Women who have STDs, sexually transmitted diseases, especially those that cause ulcerations make it easier for HIV to enter the body. Genital sores and immune reactions related with STDs face a greater risk of HIV infection. Treatment of STDs can be an efficient HIV prevention tactic if prevention programs educate women on this exposure. Other biological factors deal with young women among the ages of 13 to 19.Girls in Charge coordinator, Judah-Abijah Dorrington, explained that 49% of all the AIDS cases reported in the United States since 1997 were among these young women. This age group is infected because they have not fully completed their biological development. Many of the women obtained HIV in their teens because of â€Å"having an underdeveloped cervix and low vaginal mucus production. † In the report by AIDS Weekly, young women are found to have three to five times higher HIV infections than among boys. â€Å"Young women really are being viewed as the population with the largest number of new infections,† said Dr.Cynthia Gomez, professor for the AIDS Prevention Center at the University of California at San Francisco. â€Å"They don't realize they're at risk, partly because we've only emphasized certain groups, rather than behaviors. † Women are vulnerable to infection for their lack of power within sexual relationships and sexual violence. Women’s lack of power makes it difficult for them to negotiate safer sex with partners. Women tend not to discuss condom use within relationships in fear of rejection or loss of economic support. When women are in committed relationships, they mainly focus on the intimacy in their relationship.They assume they are in a monogamous relationship with their partner. Unsafe sex becomes more important than protection against HIV. This dependence of men increases the risk of AIDS for women. A report from Secretary General of the United Nation, Kofi Annan concluded, â€Å"The gender dynamics of the epidemic are far-reaching due to women's weaker ability to negotiate safe sex, and their generally lower social and economic status. † Studies in Africa have uncovered that many married women have been infected by their husband. The powerlessness of women to reject sex with their husband has been a major cause of transmission to women.Women's dependence on men makes women less able to protect themselves against AIDS. Typically, men make most decisions about when, where, and how to have sex. In developing countries, women usually maintain little control over their bodies and hold little decision-making power. Violence against women increases their helplessness to HIV and decreases their ability to defend themselves against infection. According to a study, â€Å"physical and sexual abuse were ‘disturbingly common’ throughout life among women at high risk for HIV infection†¦women who have been abused are more likely to use crack cocaine and have multiple sex partners. This puts women are at greater risk for rape or sexual force. Also, some women are forced to enter into sex work or short-term partnerships to exchange sex for economic gain or survival including food, refuge, and security. In many cases, women are in danger merely because they are reliant on their husbands for survival and support. This hinders and restricts their decision making and negotiating control. Sex workers are at a high risk for infection, mainly when they do not have the ability to negotiate with customers who refuse to wear a condom.In order to prevent the spread of AIDS I feel public health ag encies need to raise public awareness by promoting prevention programs for women. If women are educated on the biological and social factors of AIDS, women may have more of a chance to change their behaviors before the possibility of becoming infected with HIV. Programs that specifically target women will have a positive impact on women in the long-run. As new AIDS cases are increasing quickly through heterosexual contact focus on the prevention programs will take on even greater importance.People that agree with the statement that AIDS prevention programs should target women believe that women are vulnerable to HIV infection biologically and socially. To decrease infections of the AIDS virus women change their standard of living especially for women in developing countries through these prevention programs. Those that disagree focus HIV prevention efforts on heterosexual male sexual behavior. By changing male cultural and socialization patterns interventions can be effective. A wid espread HIV prevention policy uses many essentials to protect as many people at risk for HIV as possible.

A comparison of the poems ‘A London Fete’ by George Patmore and ‘Clever Tom Clinch Going to be Hanged’ by Jonathan Swift Essay

The two poems ‘A London Fete’ by Coventry Patmore and ‘Clever Tom Clinch Going to be Hanged’ by the poet Jonathan Swift both share the theme and the horror of public execution, although each poem has a different focus point. ‘A London Fete’ concentrates on the impression the impression that the crowd watching the execution gives to the poet. It expresses the horror that the poet experiences as she watches the crowds attitude towards the execution. The very negative language of the poet expresses how she felt, â€Å"Thousands of eyeballs, lit with hell†¦as when the realm of the damned rejoiced at winning a soul to its will,† compares the event as a vision of hell. The poet describes the crowd as a â€Å"rabble† an uncontrollable force almost like a mob, an evil atmosphere â€Å"as mothers held up their babes to see, who spread their hands and crowed with glee,† everyone in the rabble is involved almost as if they were all one person, all enjoying the entertainment, as it was called during the Pre 20th Century. A crowd would gather around Newgate’s prison, which was a prison in London like death row, during the 1800’s many would have seen the spectacle of a prisoner being brought forth to the hangman’s rope. For many of the people gathered it would have been a form of entertainment almost like a day out and many people would have gathered for the event, waiting with baited breaths. Anticipation rises as the crowd wait for the ‘show’ to begin â€Å"thousands of breasts beat horrid upon hope† depicts how the crowd waited and as more anticipation rose in the already tense atmosphere. â€Å"Blasphemed and fought for places,† describes how everyone wanted a place from which to watch. â€Å"To windows, where, in freedom sweet, others enjoyed the wicked treat,† illustrates how much the people in the crowd enjoyed it, as does â€Å"Thousands of eyeballs, lit with hell. Burnt one way all, to see the rope unslacken as the platform fell† this also shows us that the crowd gathered all stared intently as if they were all one single person. Yet with all the many people there â€Å"a man with yelling tired, stopped, and the culprits crime inquired† the use of vocabulary chosen shows that even though there is a large rabble gathered nobody there at the time knows neither who the â€Å"damned man† is nor the culprits crime was. It didn’t matter about the name of the man, if he had a family or not, even whether he was innocent or guilty, no respect was given to the condemned man. â€Å"The rope flew tight,† the waitings over, â€Å"and then the roar, Burst forth afresh; less loud, but more confused and affrighting.† the crowd has lost its unity, its roar. The use of the word â€Å"common din, the chaos of noises† illustrates the use of how the author describes the pre-hanging scene. â€Å"Clattering and clanging of hateful voices, sickening and stunned the air,† depicts just how much the poet sees the crowd as sinners during this very religious time. â€Å"A thief slunk off with ample spoil, to ply elsewhere his daily toil,† this line tells us that although Public execution was designed to deterrent others from committing crimes others pocketed from the crowd, stealing money, this suggests that the supposed deterrent actually had little effect. â€Å"A baby strung its doll to a stick; a mother praised the pretty trick†¦. two children caught and hung a cat,† Copying the event and the praise received shows that the people considered it to almost be like a show and how it influenced children’s lives even how the children saw of it as a game instead of the dramatic loss of human life. Adults had been little affected even after seeing something so awful â€Å"Two friends went off, in lively chat† Basically it was part of normal life during that time. The poets’ use of language reflects on how she saw the event, its personal, and her view of the crowd as she watched the horrid event and the people almost as bad as the criminals himself. The title itself appears to have a sarcastic tone usually a fete would be a celebration. The poem appears also to be very realistic and quite dramatic with a sinister mood as the crowd is not in anyway sympathetic towards the criminal. ‘Clever Tom Clinch Going to be Hanged’ is also an ironic title seeing as if Tom Clinch was clever then he would never have been caught and the poem also has a comedy feel towards the theme of public execution.

Macbeth and Animal Farm Analysis Essay

Explore the ways ambition is presented and developed in the texts Macbeth and Animal Farm. Macbeth and Animal farm have many common elements that can be paralleled between the two texts. One of the main ideas is the way the two main characters, Macbeth and Napoleon have an intense ambition and languish to have control over others which they take by force and their desperate attempts to contain it. William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a cold-blooded, power-hungry and ambitious tyrant, blinded by his burning desire to be authoritative, who will go to extreme measures to achieve his goals. On the contrary, George Orwell shows Napoleon as a manipulative character who hides his true intentions (much like Macbeth) from all those around him, even those who are his supposed allies. Both texts have historical backgrounds. Orwell writes about the Russian Revolution, in form of an allegory, (which has led to the fable being described as political literature with universal resonance), however Macbeth was a play of extreme violence written in the Elizabethan period for the reigning monarchs (King James I) in 1606. Shakespeare shows the darker side of humanity through Macbeths desire to be the best and how he becomes ruthless and emotionless from securing it. Macbeths ambition first comes to light to the reader when Banquo describes Macbeth as â€Å"rapt withal† after hearing the witches prophecies which strongly indicated that he would become King. The word â€Å"rapt† can be interpreted to be a double entendre suggesting that Macbeth is both wrapped up in his thoughts and is unable to find a way out as well as being literally entranced and â€Å"rapt† by the news the witches have told him. Although Banquo strongly dismisses the idea that the prophecies could even contain the faintest bit of truth however Macbeth quickly becomes intrigued by what the witches have to offer him pleading â€Å"Stay you imperfect speakers. / Tell me more.† It is at this point that the reader realises that Macbeth’s desires are not â€Å"honest trifles† like those of his co mpanions and later on in the scene this idea is reinforced by Shakespeare’s deliberate use of an â€Å"[Aside]† showing that Macbeth is aware his thoughts are wrong. Audiences watching they play at the time would have believed that Macbeth was acting under the influence of the witches enchantments when deciding to keep his desires to himself. This links to the idea of Macbeth’s ambition taking priority over loyalty towards the king and his companions, knowing that if they could hear his thoughts they would horrified. Shakespeare represents  Macbeth’s desire in a direct and harsh way in comparison to Orwell who tries to subtly introduce Napoleon and keep his thoughts private from the reader. When both characters are first introduced their description give the reader an insight as to what their personalities are like and in Napoleons case could foreshadow later events. In the opening of the second chapter Orwell introduced Napoleon as â€Å"a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm† as well as stating that he was â€Å"not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way.â₠¬  This immediately sets him apart from the rest of the pigs and the word â€Å"only† also shows he has a different mind-set from those around him and is a unique and individual character. The deliberate use of the word â€Å"large† is effective as it foreshadows the magnitude of Napoleon’s ambition to gain power and control of Animal Farm. The description of Napoleon as â€Å"fierce-looking† also could suggest that he will terrorise the animals later on in the book and he will rely on fear in order to fulfil his ambition. On the other hand the description of Macbeth as â€Å"noble† and â€Å"valiant† leaves the reader with a false first impression of Macbeth’s personality. In Act 1 Scene 7 Shakespeare expresses Macbeth’s feelings and emotions through the use of a soliloquy. This is a technique he uses to show the confusion that Macbeth is facing due to his ambition to rule Scotland. In the beginning of the soliloquy Macbeth is questioning whether sacrilege is the answer to his problems and his state of mind is unstable suggesting he does not want to commit a crime. Near the end of the soliloquy he uses nature imagery to show what he is doing is unnatural and going against the ‘Divine Right of King’ by personifying nature through stating that â€Å"The tears shall drown t he wind.† This could be a reference to the tears that will be shed by those in the castle upon hearing of King Duncan’s death. The last lines of the soliloquy are important as Macbeth states: â€Å"I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’other–† suggesting that he aware that the consequences of allowing his ambition to control his actions could backfire. This implies that Macbeth’s excessive ambition is like a horse that attempts to cross a hurdle that is too high and falls.† It is extremely convenient that Lady Macbeth enters at this time as this suggests that she is the spur that will drive him on to achieve the power and status that he believes he rightly  deserves.

Literary analysis on The turn of the screw by Henry James Essay

Literary analysis on The turn of the screw by Henry James - Essay Example It does not happen to be a ghost story that wrenches the readers’ interest by the inclusion of gross elements like blood curdling episodes and enervating shrieks and action on the part of the ghosts and apparitions. Rather the horror style of Henry James does differ from the other fiction writers in the sense that it happens to be sophisticated and subtle that inculcates the element of horror in the narrative with much finesse and craftsmanship, thereby allowing the readers to exercise their imagination while perusing a work of fiction that is disturbingly open and inconclusive in terms of climax. In The Turn of the Screw Henry James resorts to a combination of the usual elements of a ghost narrative and his unique ability to engage the imagination of the reader through subtle suggestions, to present his peculiar brand of horror. Even while attempting a cursory perusal of the text, the readers simply cannot help noticing the astute way in which Henry James subscribes to a rang e of narrative devices to facilitate a disturbing as well as fabulous rendition of the psychic elements within the story. As per Jeffery Williams, â€Å"The frame of the Turn of the Screw figures a different scene, the conditions not as fatally serious, but nonetheless as urgent, coding the story primarily in terms of entertainment and an overwhelming curiosity (Williams 112).† It goes without saying that the events and actions within the narrative are so arranged to cull out the desired emotive response on the part of the readers, without leaving any scope for the superfluous and the gross. For instance the governess’ narrative begins with the observation that, â€Å"I remember the whole beginning as a succession of flights and drops, a little seesaw of the right throbs and the wrong (James 12).† These lines bring in an element of expectation within the narrative without resorting to abject horror and intimidation on the part of the writer. Such astute comments on the part of the governess and other characters do command a weight in the sense that they present the way characters react and act, in the meantime bringing forth their moral and dispositional traits. As it gets very evident from the given line, the element of horror is introduced slowly but steadily in the narrative to titillate the senses of the readers, without resorting to any abject presentation of the blood curdling horror. The writers presents the governess’ first encounter with the absurd as, â€Å"That was exactly present to me- by which I mean the face was- when, on the first of these occasions, at the end of a long June day, I stopped short on emerging from one of the plantations and coming into view of the house (James 26).† With the direct encounter of the governess with the imminent horror as expressed in this line, the plot in the novella gets dense to arouse the expectations of the readers as to the future course of action within the story and the e ventual turn that the narrative will take. The way the characters in the story are presented, as in the case of Flora, â€Å"She expressed in her little way an extraordinary detachment from the disagreeable duties, looking to me, however, with a great childish light that seemed to offer it as a mere result of the affection she has conceived for my person... (James 20)†, make the readers readily strike a bond with the characters and they simply cannot help being concerned about as to what will eventually happen to them. This

Language in literature Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Language in literature - Research Paper Example Behavior, which is also a language, will provide clues to ‘breeding’, something that despite its insinuation is actually a learned set of behaviors based upon structures of social learning defined by the classes in which one has been born. Higgins rightly proposes that any person can learn to behave and speak in a manner that will insinuate social class. Through his ‘creation’ that is formed from educating the flower girl, he designs an experiment in which to study his theories about social class. The initial interaction that takes place between Higgins, Pickering, and the Flower Girl, in concern with learning to speak with a more sophisticated nature, takes place through the initiated advance of the girl. She wishes to be able to speak in a manner that is more genteel, her ambitions along those lines intending to get her a job in a flower shop. Therefore, the whole of the play is dependent upon the distinctions of social class and the perceptions of such in regard to personal success. Furthermore, a discussion of the value of a human being in regard to social life is explored during this first meeting. Higgins treats the girl as if she has no will nor say in how she will be treated nor how she can structure her immediate life. He instructs her when to sit, that her clothes will be burned, and that Mrs. Pierce will ’clean her up’, suggesting that she no longer has the right to her own sense of existence. He is clear that her current social class does not afford her the luxury of courtesy (Shaw). It is the language that he uses towards her that places her in this predicament. His authoritative and dismissive tone places her in a dilemma whereby she either gets what she needs out of the arrangement, or defies him and gets nothing. As much as a social contract is put into place, it is not created on equal terms. Her lack of social grace makes her appear to be

Mediums of painting, sculpture, or architecture Essay

Mediums of painting, sculpture, or architecture - Essay Example In today’s world there are many mediums for painting being used by an Artist. Some of the medium includes oil tempera, oil paints, gouache, pastels, water colors and acrylic. Acrylic paint has a quality that it takes little time to get dry and contains pigments which can easily be diluted with water. Pastels have three different forms, the hard, soft and pastel pencils. Amongst which, the soft pastels are widely used by artists because it has the pigments are at a higher portion but has less binder. Hard pastels contain high binding quality but with less pigments and pastel pencils are pencils which contain lead. Tempera is a medium which consists of colored pigments and allow greater precision for the artist. Water colors need water to show their true color and then become transparent. Therefore, other mediums are used with water colors in order to give special effect. As so rightly described by Nicolas Poussin that â€Å"Painting is the lover of beauty and the queen of the arts†, I am greatly attracted towards painting but the medium which I dearly like is Tempera. This is because the medium provides an artist with smooth matte finish and its history can be found in early Egyptian sarcophagi in which they use to decorate mummy portraits. In this medium egg is been used as a binding force which is mostly used in canvas or wood panels. Unlike paints, the color would not change when it dries up and it would not even grow transparent over time.The paper explores the relationship between an artist and a patron.

3 major events in California that we can feel today Essay

3 major events in California that we can feel today - Essay Example Emigration led to the increase in population which brought about desire to own land. The populous areas tended to have small tracts of land for farming and settlement, yet people desired to have large pieces of land. This dilemma was solved through government’s intervention, by introducing the California Land Act (1851). The policy monopolized land and solved the problem of land tenure. The rush brought about diversity in the sense that the people who went to exploit gold came from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We feel the impact of this diversity in California. Currently, there are various ethnic and racial groups living in California. This has enhanced the unity in diversity, and has helped the people of California to appreciate and enrich different cultures. We can feel the impact of the gold rush in current California economy, as it opened up California to other parts of the world for trade. Hollywood movie production is one of the largest movie makers in the world. It makes Los Angeles, California a historical and cultural center for exhibition of movies, and this enhances social growth of the state. The revenue of the movies producer contributes a lot to California economy2. It is true to say that Hollywood productions are part of California’s main exports. Apart from earning the state considerable amounts of revenue, the industry provides employment to the vast population in the state and it offers a positive balance in international trade. It makes more contributions to the economy as compared to legal, medical, insurance and telecommunication sectors. It is indeed an economic powerhouse industry to reckon with, not only in California, but in the whole of America. The Great Depression of 1929-1940s was an economic tragedy that made many people in California jobless. It began with the crash of stock markets in USA on 29th October, 1929, â€Å"Black Tuesday.† The depression rendered many people

Managing Strategy ( case study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Strategy ( case study) - Essay Example 1. Amazon strategy Amazon current business strategy is based on high customer value and experience. Amazon has a low cost structure that ensures that customers access products and services at the lowest prices in the market. In addition, Amazon strategy is based on customer convenience through guaranteed on-time delivery with no compromise to the quality of the products and services (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p 76). The business strategy has been ‘customer-centric’ in terms of the wide variety of products and increased product innovation. The key pillars of the strategy include selection, price and convenience. Although Amazon was originally thought as an online bookstore, the company has established several physical strategic centers that are used to ship customer products such as the Hazleton facility that serves Northeast customers. The company has leveraged on technology to understand the customer purchasing patterns and needs and also delivery the products to t he customers. Technology enabled the company top expand the product portfolio with new innovative products such as Amazon web services, kindle and digital products. For instance, the Kindle which is a wireless electronic reading device was unveiled in 2007 thus enabling customers to conveniently download and save books from kindle store without extra costs for the wireless access (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p 235). Another innovative product is Amazon web services that allow IT vendors to host both hardware and software in their own data centers. The web services include products such as AWS premium support, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Amazon CloudFront, and Amazon EBS. In addition, Amazon expanded the digital products division in 2007 through launching MP3 music store that allows customers to listen to digital music without restriction. In 2008, the launch of IMDb.com which is a subsidiary allowed customers to watch more than 6,000 full length films and favorite TV series. The comp any is committed to enhancing the accessibility of the products and services to customers in order to create customer convenience and customer value. In 2008, the company launched a currency converter that enables global customers to pay for their products in US dollars and ‘Bill Me Later’s† which is a next generation payment service that enables customers to make instant online payments without using a credit card. Amazon TextBuyit service allows customers find and shop for Amazon products using a text message or web browsers. Amazon has implemented aggressive product diversification strategy. The company also diversified in the sale of motorcycle spare parts and software products that feature other languages such as Spanish. The company has also made various mergers and acquisitions in order to access markets and capital. For instance, it acquired Fabric.com which is a leading supplier of cut fabrics, sewing accessories and tools. The company has reported impres sive financial results over the past few years. Other major acquisition was that of AbeBooks and Reflexive Entertainment.

Human Resource Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Human Resource Development - Essay Example The following discussion presents a detailed account of how firms shape and re-invent their HRD policies in conformity with their business requirements and what processes are the most crucial for survival in an environment where a competitive advantage is the only way to survive in the market. The paper also contextualizes the various learning and developmental activities that international firms take up in the attempt to brace with the changing business climates and the paper provides a brief outline of the HRD processes implemented by two international organizations in their various international business units. Strategic steps for human resource development are among the most crucial decisions that organizations take as these decisions usually are the critical factors which determine not only the effectiveness, but also the efficiency of the organization and its workforce in the long run. The initiatives that are taken for developing systematic HRD plans pay out for organizations because they bring together the development of employee‘s competence , the development of a shared vision of the business and the various business strategies employed so that they are aligned together to provide maximum benefit to both the employees and the employer. For a business operating in more than one country, the dilemmas regarding HRD and HRM strategies are numerous and varying in their degree of influence on the organizational success, however, since organizational effectiveness is a key component which drives the need to have any such strategy to begin with, these dilemmas pose a serious question for all such organizations. This paper has tried to evaluate the major forces which drive organizations to bring about a change in their management philosophies and how these changed perspectives affect the Human resource development policies of these firms. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of management ideals and strategic decision making on the

When you Believe by Whitney Houston Essay Example for Free

When you Believe by Whitney Houston Essay â€Å"There can be miracle, if you believe†¦Ã¢â‚¬  such a great line to listen to from the song When you Believe by Whitney Houston. Nowadays, it seems like the word believe is taken lightly. Originally, the word believe has been associated with anything that is religious or spiritual. I remember when I was young, and I would ask someone older than I am if there really is a God, and sometimes they would just tell me that â€Å"hey, young one, all you have to do is believe then you would be able to understand†. You can never be a part of any religious community if you don’t believe in the same things that they believe in. â€Å"Must believe to truly acknowledge their faith† (Harris). Sometimes if there is something that you simply just don’t understand you would need concrete answers not to just â€Å"believe†. One good assumption is that, if there is no religion, then the word believe wouldn’t even exist in our language. Logically, if there are no rules or anything to â€Å"believe† in, then everything would simply be in chaos. People would not fear to do anything bad. The usual things that, say a priest, especially in the early days is that if a person does something unacceptable, then his soul would suffer in the fires of hell for eternity, and that is not something anyone would want to happen. Furthermore, the word believe is like â€Å"Saving faith† (The Oxford English Dictionary 783) Most of the times, whenever the word believe is mentioned in the â€Å"Holy Bible† it would be directed towards one specific thing, say for example:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"For GOD so loved the world, he gave his only son, and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life† (John 3:16) In most religions, they based their practices, teachings, beliefs and way of life according to what their scripture states. It is wrong for them to disobey what they believe in.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Mental acceptance of the truth or actually of something† (Roget’s II The New Thesaurus 85). The followers of a religion simply follow things not because they understand why they have to do it but simply because from the very first, they were brought up to be â€Å"blindly-obedient†. Religious leaders just tell their followers that whatever is written down on their scripture is true and real, even though they have no evidence or whatever it is that they believe in. Take for example for Catholics or Christians; they say that the Holy Bible was written with men guided by the Holy Spirit. Who would ever question something that the elders and the leaders say â€Å"all good and powerful? What makes people continue to struggle everyday is because they believe that somehow, when they die, there would be a better place for them provided that they have been good and they kept their faith in their god. Essentially, believing in something makes people hope and dream. It is like an anchor to them, salvation maybe. â€Å"I believe firmly what I read in the Holy Scriptures†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (MacMillan 41) Mostly, the Christians focus what their beliefs more on the New Testament rather than the Old Testament, but aside from the Holy Scriptures, there are also other basis of what Christians believe in like sacred statues, parades of these statues, feasts and a lot of other practices that they believe in. Furthermore, there are also the 7 sacraments, 10 commandments and such that basically reinforce a Christian’s belief in Christianity. Christianity has been directly linked to the word believe simply because in the early days, and throughout the history of Christianity, a person would have no way of really proving whether the people, claiming to have talked to the â€Å"Lord† really did or simply hallucinations of a hopeless person. Anyhow, in the early days, what they believe in has been their anchor and their pillar of strength that somehow, god is there to help if you believe wholeheartedly and trust in god. The word believe is synonymous to the faith. And sometimes they are used interchangeably in but that faith is like a stronger word than believe simply because when you have faith in something, even though there is no proof that something is true or real, you would still â€Å"believe† in your heart and mind with full conviction that it is true. Believing in god brings Christianity. Aside from the fact that according to the Holy Scripture, Jesus Christ is the son of god, therefore, if you believe in god, you also believe in Jesus Christ thus, Christianity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another good point is that people have greater tendency to believe in people rather than in its meaning. It’s easier to believe in something that you can see or hear, in other words, something tangible than what is more of a subjective meaning. Things and events have different meaning depending on who interprets it. Take for example this line: â€Å"If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him† (MacMillan 41). Most people do not even know why he was crucified or why he let himself be crucified. People simply believed in the idea that it is because he is good and would do anything for the salvation of mankind. Sometimes, in fear of going against what the majority of a religion’s followers believe in, people tend not to question what obviously is a very controversial belief. And sometimes people worship a person even without scrutinizing what he really is and if what he represents is honest and true. Believers have the tendency to just look at the surface and not on what is the entirety of a person they worship. One good deed or one good trait and you’re on a pedestal. And because of this one-way and blind belief, what happens, most often than not is that what is written on the scriptures are taken literally and not on what it was trying to imply. In fear of interpreting it the wrong way and violating their religion, people are more inclined to either interpret it literally, thus defeating the purpose of their belief even without being aware of it.   The difference between hearing and listening is that when you hear something it does not necessarily imply that you understood, but listening is understanding what was being said and analyzing whether it is rightful or valid. Common problem of most followers is that they hear what preachers are saying but they do not understand what was being said and what to do about it. In reality, most of the people who have so much trust and belief are either not well read or was not given enough opportunity for a higher education. I remember a time that my uncle told me that â€Å"religion is an anchor for the hopeless†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this day and age, most people tend to believe in what they see and can prove to be trustworthy and reliable like a friend, a lover, a family member. â€Å"To have confidence or faith in (a person), and consequently to rely upon, trust to† (The Oxford English Dictionary 783) Through time, people started to realize that statements like â€Å"in god’s time† or â€Å"its god’s will†, and â€Å"if you pray hard enough, god will give you your heart’s desire†. People started realizing that if they put everything in what they are told to believe in, then nothing good would happen or it would take a long time before it happens. If you talk to god about your burdens, yes, it feels good to unburden one’s worries if they would talk back to you or show that they understand and can empathize and give suggestions on how to go about finding solutions or doing the right course of action. Eventually, what started out as a mutual need for something to rely on, their friendship eventually becomes their faith: faith that when they need comfort, support or help, that other person would be around. â€Å"The only people I can trust are my friends† (Mulageta).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, absolute trust in another human being became the salvation of some while for some, they have substituted religion. â€Å"Absolute certainty in the trustworthiness of another† (Roget’s II The New Thesaurus 85) While for some, friendship has become a very good substitute for religion, for others it became their downfall because due to so much belief in the trustworthiness of a friend, they are easily influenced or coerced into doing things that are sometimes inappropriate and have poor judgment, mostly character-wise and at times, even on things that should not be said or done. Tendency of a person is that if majority of the population believes in something, natural assumption is that it couldn’t be that bad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today’s media also plays a big part in using words or actions to make people believe in whatever they wanted to make people believe in, a commercial for a product, a movie, a gossip, news and so many other things that sometimes it feels like we are being manipulated into believing something. â€Å"Something believed or accepted as true by a person† (Roget’s II The New Thesaurus 85). Due to so many ways and techniques of the media to get a point across, we are eventually led to believe in statements that are not even facts but are designed to manipulate us into acting according to what they want. We became so dependent on others for opinions on what is right or wrong that we need them to tell us what exactly to believe in before we act on anything. There are so many propaganda techniques used by the media to sell an idea that we can’t actually tell what is true and what is not, that we just assume all the things we see and hear are all true. Most of the times, what the media claims to be true is not really true at all. But then, that is after we initially believed and acted according to what we believed and perceived to be true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Similarly, science also makes people believe in things the way it does on textbooks, as it is. But then some things are not yet discovered or can be explained yet because it is yet to be researched or experimented on. â€Å"To view in a certain way† (Roget’s II The New Thesaurus 85) Science made scholar think in a systematic and logical way that sometimes instincts or feelings are disregarded if it cannot be proven.   The outcome is that, science made some think so logically that they do not make room for possibilities and what-ifs. They seem to think inside a box and that the environment is so isolated. â€Å"If it was proven and tested, then it must be true† (Touneh). Consequently, if it is not written on a journal or book then it is not true, if it says in a book that it is true then it must be even though logically, it doesn’t seem to make any sense at all. Sometimes, the truth of a statement is based on how famous or known the person who said that specific statement. They believe everything in a scientific way and yet science cannot prove anything. It is merely a combination of a series of tests and theories that has logically proved an assumption or idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Originally, my idea of the word believe is simply to trust in what was said to be true and considered facts. But then, on the process of writing this paper, I slowly realized that believing is a dangerous word, not literally but figuratively speaking. What I thought is true could actually be a misunderstanding of what is really being conveyed. Believing in something I learned, is trusting absolutely even without evidence to prove it that it is true. There are times, from the research that I have done that believing in something so much can be harmful if good judgment and caution is not used. By believing in something, somehow, you let that specific idea or person take over some parts of your life. Believing is a good a good thing if used appropriately. Not everything is true just because many people claim it to be as such. I had so much in depth understanding that I was able to understand that from different areas of the world, the belief of a person in something is so important but as sad it is to say, it has also been abused by so many people.

Government Influence on Media Debate

Government Influence on Media Debate Mass media is the vital means which keep people informed about event and news over the world. It is one of the most important stages to communicate and transfer information. Obviously, people receive external and internal news anywhere even they busy by listening radio and/or reading newspaper, magazine and internet. That mean mass media is the most powerful tool of communication. There are many kinds of media such as newspaper, radio, television and internet. It is useful for entertainment, advertisement and news around the world. Mass media has positive and negative impacts on the audience. That mean should be censorship to assess mass media and make it suitable for all audience. It would argue that some people believe that government should not influence on the mass media. However, others think that the government should control the mass media. In my opinion, I think that the government should have responsibilities and duties to control mass media. In this essay will write about advantages and disadvantages of mass media. Then I will discuss about the government should involve in regulating forms of influence on news, violence program, advertisement, sexual themes and education. After that I will mention some suggestion about media. Mass media has positive and negative effects on the people. There are many of advantages of media. First of the advantages, it helps you to increase your knowledge by reading articles in newspaper or watching TV program. Second, it keeps you inform about news internal and external world by listening to radio. Third, it helps you to improve your skills such as reading and listening. Moreover, magazine or TV advertisement obtains best offer for perfect product. On the other hand, if you followed the media extensively it could cause negative impacts such as media may cause obesity because setting long time read, watch or listen. Furthermore, children or young might learn bad habits like smoking or eating drugs because they imitate hero in film. In addition, people may miss some skill like speaking fluently because they learn to read and write with media. In many places around the world people believe that news take part in human life. The people want to know every events that happen around them. Therefore, mass media makes report daily and monthly to keep people informed. Also it reflects the news in best way to affect on people and make them happy to follow the broadcast. Audience might not trust any information sent to them by newspaper or television because fake news influence on the true news. Sometimes the media broadcasts the events in different way or it changes some parts in this events to attract people. Producing fake news may led to make serious problem between people and government entire the country or between two countries. The government should contribute many efforts to regulate the mass media by providing censorship for all kinds of media. Moreover, encouraging the media to make news in easiest way to understand it clear. That means the media not allows to establish programs or report without assessment from the gove rnment. For instance, when the newspaper and/or television produce report they need to have permission to establish it. Watching horror films and excessive violence programs seem good way to spend free time for young people. They set at home or they go to cinema to watch these program in terms of fun and entertainment. These programs design to make you concentrate on the events and try to think what could happen at the end. In this kind of program may show crime unreal like monsters or real but fake film like murder kill people. Excessive watching horror and violence cause many problems for young people especially children as the following. First of all the attitude, mood and behavior will change to worse such as speaking of young uncivilized because they imitate the film. Second, it might make children less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, be more fearful of the world around them and be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others. As result, the government should notice that and teach the parents to look after their children and keep them away. The government shoul d obtain the instruction of any program by provide legal age to watch it. For example, some films indicate the suitable age to watch the film to prevent children from any violence. In many companies around the world use the media to advertise their product. The companies pay huge amount of money to show the product in the media. Usually they target children in advertisement which help them to sale goods. They create best broadcast by using famous hero use this product which attract children to buy it. Also, they use carton film to advertise product by doing unbelievable thing. That might make children believe that unhealthy food make you strong. Watching a lot of advertisements cause negative effects on children such as child believe every think in the media and do not realize the broadcast made for commercial and get money. Therefore, in my opinion the government should limit the advertisement or reduce time broadcasting. Moreover, the government should encourage companies to make broadcast with positive goal such as encourage children to eat fruits or mention in broadcasting some benefits of vitamins. In the visible media use attractive and sexual people to show the program like television and internet also in magazine they use photos of beauty girls. This kind of show to attract people and make them concentrate in the program. Companies provide beautiful girls an handsome boys in terms of fashion. The companies effort the worker more attractive to attract people and sell product. For instance, the companies use semi-naked girls to advertise hair care products, shaving blades and creams and/or body soaps. Some of the boys and girls do strong diet to be slim like the actors or actress. This may cause negative effect on their life such as cause some disease. Moreover, the people tend to watch romantic films which contain a lot of sexual themes. Also, some adult watch sexual films in terms of entertainment. However, the children will watch most of unacceptable themes in television or internet. This will encourage children to do earlier sex and do not care about wearing naked cloths. Because the children do not know sham and they think do right. This issue should solve by government. The government influence on the media by provide suitable age to watch and delay the broadcasting until mid night to be ensure children sleep. The mass media source of information for people so it work hard in terms of education which is the important concept in our life. Media provide variety programs to educate people. There are many program in history and culture in different countries. These broadcast to keep you informed about your traditional culture. Moreover, mass media will increase your knowledge by providing a large number of competition programs. There are many channel provide documentary and scientist material to give you view about the nature. Also, some magazine and newspaper provide different subject and games help you to think. These programs useful for all ages for example children may learn to read and write through TV or magazine. I think, the government keep encouraging mass media to improve the part of education. Furthermore, the government should give the media motivation to work hard and to keep going. Before the end of this essay I would mention some useful suggestion to help us to get benefits of media. First of all, the government should encourage people to read books by giving people pursuers about importance of media and how we use it in correct way. Second, the people should notice list for good program also do not concentrate on TV or internet only but you should read. Third, the parents should look after their children by deleting some channels from TV or band TV at the midnight and help them to understand the correct way for the media. Finally, I would say you should do sport to keep your mental awake. To sum up, me and some people believe that mass media plays a fundamental role in our life. It seems that mass media is the quick way to connect between the government and individuals. Therefore, the government should control mass media to promote education and development target also to protect young people from misleading habits.

Development of the Online Broker Industry

Development of the Online Broker Industry Introduction The purpose of this report is to gain an understanding of the enterprise development by studying the Openshaw case and the development of the online broker industry since then and likely developments in the future. Openshaw Plant Machinery is an online equipment broker that was established in 1998. The founders Neville and Sue Openshaw recognised the lacking of a central and convenient place for business to trade new or second-hand equipment and machinery in the industry. Openshaw staffs have extensive experience from working in many areas of various industries and can deliver excellent service to its customers. A wide range of contracts is strength of Openshaw (Openshaw Plant Machinery 2011). Discussion In this section, I will firstly give a brief background about the online broker/trade industry. Macro-environment and industry environment analysis will be discussed including analysis of recent developments and likely future developments in the industry. The industry Openshaw belongs provides a platform for buying, selling, and sourcing new and used equipment and machinery. It has extensive links with machinery manufactory industry as well as brokerage industry. In the report, I will focus on the online brokerage industry. The online brokerage sector is relatively new. However, the traditional retail brokerage industry has been around for a long time. Online equipment brokerage might be a bit under the radar since most of the brokerage companies or individual brokers work on financial services, such as stock exchange, mutual fund, insurance, and real estate. It was made possible after the development of internet and World Wide Web.ÂÂ   Since then, as the information technology develops, the industry has grown rapidly and represents one of the most successful applications of e-commerce (Bakeos et al 2005). Nowadays, due to the volatile nature of most industries, companies have to adapt new technologies to maintain competitive and keep up with the society. Information technology, especially Internet, offers extraordinary level of convenience and flexibility and subsequently has changed the way the business usually run. People now have the technology to communicate from basically wherever and whenever they like (Lonney, Jessup Valacich 2004). In online brokerage sector, although the quality of online brokerage service might be lower than traditional approach, it offers lower associated cost and more flexibility and grows rapidly worldwide (Bakeos et al 2005). In the future, there are a number of areas that are worth to watch out for. More customers generated content this is will be very helpful for increase the awareness and transactions, because customers trust other customers rather than what the website claim. Therefore, providing the opportunity and encouraging customers to write a review or blog about their trading experience on the website could turn out to be a plus for an online brokerage business. Improvement on products and services- No doubt, the growth and profitability of e-commerce will encourage more business enter the industry. Existing online brokerage companies have to continually improve their products and tools, enhance the flexibility and convenience, and develop better customer support. Video and visual information As we known, human being obtain information quicker with images than just plain text (Audette 2010). Although text is very informative and requires less effort to produce, videos and images are more eyes catching. Also, people, in many occasions, prefer information in a more visualised format. Thus, web-based business can benefit significantly from visual information. Visual browsing and searching are likely to get more attention in the near future. Nowadays, internet speed and technology enable people to view picture and video easily. People can compare products with on-website videos to help them make the right decision. Engaging social media -The success stories about Facebook and twitter shows how important is the social media. Twitter had increased about 40 million accounts in three months and there are about 110 million Tweets a day across the world (Chiang 2011).ÂÂ   Companies have started to employ social media for product marketing, customer communication, and idea generation (Menchaca 2010). Similarly, online broker should do the same thing to engage with customers. Service offered through multiple e-channels-Online equipment broker like Openshaw can offer customer the opportunity to be really innovative and participate in the process of developing equipment that meets the special needs of customers. Online brokers can set up video and/or skype conference between customers and manufacturers who are 20,000 km away and discuss the whole design, costing, and building process. Also, the once the equipment is installed, customers will have 24/7 online support to ensure the machinery working safe and sound. Macro-environment analysis The environment for an organisation includes those factors outside the organisation that influence its strategy. For example, businesses have not much option regarding the company tax policy in many countries. Macro-environment is one of two sections of the external environment. It has impact on almost all the industries and overall economic growth. The analysis of the macro-environment could potentially provide information about what have affected the industry in the past as well as what is going to affect the industry in the future. Mangers and scholar have categorised these macro-environment factors in to groups including economic, political, legal, social/cultural, demographic, sustainability, international, environmental, and technology factors. Government use political and legal system to regulate business environment. The New Zealand government, like other developed countries, mainly allows the market regulate itself. New Zealand political and legal systems are very stable and are very unlikely to pose any political risk to the companies that operate in New Zealand. On the other hand, policy variation between parties and political decision affected by major events could have impacts on business operation. For example, governments support on rebuilding Christchurch CBD may have a positive result for online equipment brokerage sector.ÂÂ   However, the emission trading scheme would have little impact on the industry. Changes in society and culture change consumers demand and consequently affect companys strategy and industrys profitability. If a company can predict and prepare for these changes, the company is likely to succeed. The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) spirit is a piece of culture of New Zealand. Online equipment broker industry could use this factor and extend its products range in order to include more equipment that is suitable for DIY purpose. Certainly, the economy is one of the environmental factors that would have most impact on industries and businesses. Economic factors include taxation, interest rate, inflation, exchange rate, and GDP. These factors affect not only behaviour of customers, but also the behaviour of companies. For example, the strong NZ dollar makes the export goods less attractive yet makes import goods more affordable to domestic consumers. The global financial crisis has affected New Zealand economy although New Zealand and Australia are thought to escape relatively well and have 2 to 3 percent growth in the near future (Sun 2010). In the online equipment brokerage sector, the low interest rate could have a positive effect as the lower rate makes the asset investment more attractive. Additionally, the tax reduction for both individual and business may increase the revenue of the industry in the future. People like new technology and most of us cannot survive without it. Internet, mobile phone, video games, and HD TVs are parts of our everyday life. For many products and services, technology can decrease expenses, increase quality and productivity, and lead to innovation. Advances in technology will ultimately generate benefit for both consumers and the company offering the products and services. In some industry, technological factors are vital for establishing competitive advantages and maintain market position. The industry where Openshaw belongs to particularly requires technology inputs, especially associated with Internet and Web applications. At the end, technology makes the online brokerage system work and it should be able to make the industry better. Industry environment The other part of the environment analysis is the industry environment. The industry environment normally affects companies profitability and market position in a particular industry. Industry environment consists with factors like buyers power, suppliers power, competitors, substitutes, and new entrants. Professor Michael Porter suggested that the profitability of a company in an industry count on five competitive forces (Porter 2008).ÂÂ   These five ‘forces are threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of substitute products or services, and rivalry among existing competitors (Figure 1, Porter 2008). Porters fiver forces model is commonly used for business analysis and research. However, it does not take into account for innovation and change and it is only applicable to industry level in many situations. Existing companies may have the pressure from new entrants on price and costs and may have to invest more to compete. The threat of new entry is likely to be low if the entry barriers are high. Such barriers include customer switching costs, capital investment, economies of scale, access to distribution channels, and government restriction (Porter 2008). For the online equipment broker sector, the threat of new comer is reasonably high. The capital requirement for online brokerage business is little and the customers can easily switching among providers. In addition, there is no obvious government intervention. Powerful suppliers can affect an industry by charging higher prices and limiting quality and quantity of the products. Suppliers will have more power if there are not many them, switching among suppliers are too costly, suppliers do not depend on the industry, there is no substitute for what suppliers provide, and the supplier enter the industry (Porter 2008). Although the suppliers, in this case, the equipment manufacturers, do not depend on online brokers and there is no substitute products, one of the features of Openshaw is it has extensive contacts and can source equipment from many suppliers and countries. Thus, the power of suppliers for online equipment brokers is moderate. Powerful buyers, on the other hand, can drive the price down and demand better quality and more variety products and services. The buyers have more bargaining power if there are few buyers in the market, the products are undifferentiated, the cost of switching providers is little, and the buyers enter the industry and produce the product (Porter 2008). Based on these measurements, because buyers do not always have extensive contacts with equipment manufacturers and Openshaws service is differentiated, the buyers power for online equipment broker is low. However, the number of buyers for the industry is relatively small. The threat of a substitute is high if the substitute has a better price-performance ratio compared to the industry offering and the cost of switching to the substitute is low (Porter 2008). In this case, direct communication between buyers and manufacturers can be the substitute of Openshaws broker service. However, customers will have to spend a lot of time and effort on dealing with manufacturers. Although the cost of switching to substitute is low, the threat of a substitute for online brokerage industry is low. The level of competition of an industry is determined by a number of reasons including numbers of similar size competitors, industry growth rate, exit barriers, and competitors business commitment. To my knowledge, there are not many online equipment brokers within New Zealand and the level of competition is relatively low. In addition, the costs of leaving the industry are low because the initial capital investment is low and there are not much assets for this type of ecommerce. Overall, if the industry has high entry barriers, many small and equal suppliers and buyers, few substitutes, and not much hostile competitors, the organisations in the industry are likely to make good profit from the market. Although the threat of new entrants is high and the buyers are moderate powerful for online equipment broker industry, the power of suppliers, threat of a substitute and rivalry among competitors are fairly low. The online equipment broker sector should, therefore, has a sound industry environment and potential good profitability. Conclusion In the case of Openshaw, the first mover strategy was the key for its establishment and success. Starting up Openshaw was an entrepreneurial action because there was no such online equipment broker at that time, which is only 13 years ago. Its success should be attributed by the combination of entrepreneurial actions and strategic management. Entrepreneurial actions and strategic management are important for business growth independently, yet they generate synergy that increases the value of their individual outcomes (Ireland, Camp, Hitt and Sexton 2001). Entrepreneurship is mainly about innovation and growth while strategic management focuses on competitive advantage. However, they have a common goal, to generate profit. Innovation can create competitive advantage and competitive advantage subsequently increases growth. The strategy that Openshaw used was the first mover strategy. Evidence suggested the first movers in a particular industry usually have long lasting benefits over th e later comer (Suarez and Lanzolla 2008). However, Suarez and Lanzolla (2008) also pointed out that this strategy likely success if the pace of both market and technology evolution is smooth. This is actually the case of Openshaw. When the company was established, the Internet technology has been well developed and the consumers have accepted the technology and have started to enjoy the benefit of it. In the future, the company should keep the focus on integration of entrepreneurship and strategic management. The network approaches to internationalisation might be a good strategy for Openshaw. The study carried out by Loane and Bell (2006) indicates that small entrepreneurial companies will obtain knowledge and resource, such as networks, to internationalise rapidly suggesting social and business networks are valuable resource for small firms. Although, ecommerce business has incredible growth potential, it creates unique challenges for both existing companies and new comers (Saini and Johnson 2005). The overall environment condition for online equipment broker is reasonable. The domestic and international economic growth is one of the major impact factors for the industry in the near future. Openshaw and other existing companies should keep eyes on new entrants as well as continue on their entrepreneurial and strategic development and actions.

Black Widow Spiders :: Biology Biological Spiders Research Spider Essays

Adult black widow spiders have a shiny, black, rounded, circular abdomen and are about 1/3 inch long (about 1-1/2 inches when their legs are spread). Adult spiders have two reddish or yellowish triangles on their bottom which looks like an hourglass marking, and their body color is dark colored usually black or sometimes dark brown. They are usually recognized because of their red or red-orange hourglass design on the bottom of their abdomen. This pattern is changeable and may look like two separated spots. In some spiders there is no pattern on the abdomen. The immature stages of both sexes of the widow spiders have red or red-orange or yellow spots and strips on the top of their abdomen. Females are colored gray or pale brown. Their color gets darker as they get older. The hourglass pattern on the underside of the abdomen forms throughout their development. Male widow spiders are smaller about 1/4 inch long, and they're usually not black in overall color, instead it looks like a light brown or gray. Male widows have an hourglass pattern too. When they are full-grown they have large knob-like shapes called pedipalps, which start from the head. But to females they still look the same. Newly hatched spiderlings are white or a yellowish-white, eventually turning blackish when they get older. Adolescents of both sexes look like the male. Black Widow spiders build loose and uneven mesh-type webs of rough silk in dark places usually outdoors. And build their webs near the ground (sometimes inside of houses) but mainly they build them outside. Black Widows can be found near the ground in dark undisturbed areas. Nest sites are near holes made by small animals, or around construction openings and woodpiles. Also they can be found around low shrubs which are usual sites for widow spiders. Black widows are also found inside in dark undisturbed areas like behind furniture or under desks and in undisturbed basement areas and crawl spaces of homes are areas where black widow nests are. They don't produce a web like the weaving spiders do or the funnel pattern webs that the funnel weaver spider's make. The female lays eggs in silken cocoon sacs about 1/2-inch in width. The sack is a pear shaped, and is a creamy yellow, light gray, or light brown in color. They usually lay about 300 to 400 eggs per sac and have 4 to 9 egg

Comment Paper On Everything Th -- essays research papers

Everything That Rises Must Converge   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge';; Flannery O’Conner uses a number of devices to make an organized plot. Causality, repetition, and structure all contribute in making the plot interesting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The exposition consumes the beginning of the story. This is important because it gives the reader a better understanding of the characters, and sets tones for causality. Being introduced first is Julian’s mother. Her attitude and actions are best described on page 207. It states, “ She sat forward and looked up and down the bus. It was half filled. Everybody was white. ‘I see we have the bus to ourselves.'; This allows the reader to assume that Julian’s mother is prejudice, and was most likely raised in that time era. A good example O’Conner uses to explain Julian is found on page 208. It states, “Most miraculous of all, instead of being blinded by love for her as she was for him, he had cut himself emotionally free of her and could see her with complete objectivity. He was not dominated by his mother.'; It is safe to assume Julian is a depressed son, who is perturbed with his mother and her old ways of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Complications begin to arise after the reader has a good feel on who the characters are, which then leads to the climax of the story. Tension first arrives be...

Elizabethan Playhouses and Performance Conventions

When Elizabeth became Queen of England in 1558, there were no specially designed theatre buildings. Companies of actors (usually small, made of 5 to 8 members) toured the country and performed in a wide variety of temporary acting spaces, mainly in inn yards, but also in churches, Town Halls, Town Squares, great halls of Royal Palaces or other great houses, or anywhere else that a large crowd could be gathered to view a performance. It is true that they continued to tour throughout Elizabeth’s reign (especially during the Plague in London, when theatres were closed or earned but little money). Nevertheless, given the laws passed by the Queen to control wandering beggars and vagrants – which implicitly affected the acting companies as well – many actors were encouraged to settle down with permanent bases in London. The first permanent theatres in England were old inns which had been used as temporary acting areas when the companies had been touring. E. g. The Cross Keys, The Bull, The Bel Savage, The Bell – all originally built as inns. Some of the inns that became theatres had substantial alterations made to their structure to allow them to be used as playhouses. The first purpose built theatre building in England was simply called The Theatre, eventually giving its name to all such building erected in the outskirts of London and functioning until the closing of the theatres in 1642 during the Civil War. The Theatre was built in 1576, at Shoreditch in the northern outskirts of London, by the Earl of Leicester’s Men who were led by James Burbage, a carpenter turned actor. It seems that the design of The Theatre was based on that of bull-baiting and bear-baiting yards (as a matter of fact, bull baiting, bear baiting and fencing shows were very popular by that time, and they were often organized before the plays started. ). The Theatre was followed the next year (1577) by The Curtain, in 1587 by The Rose and in 1595 by The Swan (to mention but the most famous theatres). In 1599, a dispute over the land on which The Theatre stood determined Burbage’s sons to secretly tear down the building and carry away the timber to build a new playhouse on the Bankside which they names The Globe. By this time, the Burbages had become members of Lord Chamberlain’s Company, along with William Shakespeare, and The Globe is famously remembered as the theatre in which many of Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. (The Globe was destroyed in 1613 in a fire caused by the sparks of a cannon fired during the performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII. Rebuilt, it was closed and demolished in 1644 during the Civil War. The modern reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London was completed in 1997. ) Before going into more details regarding the structure of the Elizabethan theatre, distinction should be made, however, between two categories of playhouses: the public (outdoor) theatres and the private (indoor) theatres. The former were amphitheatre buildings open to the air and therefore cheaper – The Globe, for instance, charged two pence for a seat in the galleries or a single penny to stand in the yard. The latter (e. g. Blackfriars; The Cockpit) were built to a hall design in enclosed and usually rectangular buildings more like the theatres we know today. They had amore exclusive audience since they charged considerably more – the cheapest seat in a private theatre cost sixpence. The adult companies did not start to use the private hall theatres until after Elizabeth’s death, but they were used by the boy companies (made up entirely of child and teenage actors) in Elizabeth’s reign and were used by Shakespeare’s Company – by this time the King’s Men – and other adult companies in the Jacobean period. Structure and Design of Public/ Outdoor Theatres Public theatres were polygonal – hexagonal outside and round inside (â€Å"a wooden O† as Shakespeare puts it in Henry V). An open-air arena – called â€Å"pit† or â€Å"yard† – had, at one end, a wooden stage supported by large pillars, with trap doors for special effects (to allow ghosts, devils and similar characters to be raised up) and was surrounded by three tiers of roofed galleries (thatched, later on tiled roofs) with balconies, overlooking the back of the stage. The rear stage was covered by a roof – which they called â€Å"Heavens† through which, by means of ropes, they ould lower down the actors playing the gods/ angels, etc. , for flying or dramatic entrances – held up by massive pillars and obstructing the view of audience members from various angles. The stage wall behind these pillars was called â€Å"Frons Scenae† (taken from the name given by Imperial Rome to the stage walls of their amphitheatres ) provided with doors to the left and to the right and a curtained central doorway – referred to as the â€Å"discovery space† – which allowed characters to be suddenly revealed or a play within a play to be acted. The rear wall of this inner stage was covered by tapestry, the only usual â€Å"scenery† used on the stage. Immediately above the inner stage, there was the stage gallery which could be used for multiple purposes: – as an acting space: on either sides, there were bow-windows used for the frequent window/ balcony scenes (e. g. Romeo and Juliet). Thus the arrangement of a front stage and two-storeyed back stage permitted three actions to go on simultaneously and a life-like parallelism of events. – another part of the gallery could be used as a music-room. Music was an extra effect added in the 1600’s. The musicians started playing an hour before the beginning of the play and also played at appropriate moments throughout the performance. – when necessary, some of the boxes of the stage gallery were used for audience seating. They were referred to as the â€Å"Lord’s rooms† and considered the best (and hence the most expensive) seats in the ‘house’ despite the poor view of the back of the actors. (Nevertheless, the audience at large would have a good view of the Lords and the Lords were able to hear the actors clearly. There were also additional balconies on the left and right of the â€Å"Lord’s rooms† called the â€Å"Gentlemen’s rooms†, also meant for the rich patrons of the theatres. As previously mentioned, the stage wall structure contained two doors (at least) leading to a small structure, back stage, called the â€Å"Tiring House† used by actors to dress, prepare and wait offstage. Above the stage gallery, there is a third storey connected with the â€Å"Heavens† extending forward from the tiring-house over the rear part of the stage, which was often used to represent the walls of a castle or a city. Last but not least, on top of this structure, there was also what might be called a fourth storey of the tiring-house, referred to as the â€Å"Hut† presumably used as a storage space and housing suspension gear for flying effects, while the third storey stage cover served as a loading room for players preparing to ‘fly’ down to the stage. On top of the â€Å"hut†, a flag (a black one, if it was a tragedy, a white one, if it was a comedy, or a red one, if it was a history) was erected to let the world know a play was to be performed that day. The access to the playhouse was ensured by one main entrance, where playgoers had to put the admission fee – i. e. 1 penny, for those who watched the play from the yard, standing, called the â€Å"Groundlings† (shopkeepers, craftsmen, apprentices), or more, up to 4-5 pence for the gentry and the great lords sitting in the galleries. The galleries could be reached by the two sets of stairs in the structure, on either side of the theatre. The first gallery would cost another penny in the box which was held by a collector (â€Å"gatherer†) at the front of the stairs. The second gallery would cost another penny. At the start of the play, after collecting money from the audience, the admission collectors put the boxes in a room backstage, called the â€Å"box office. † The Players There were invariably many more parts than actors. Elizabethan Theatre, therefore, demanded that an actor be able to play numerous roles and make it obvious to the audience by changes in his acting style and costume that he was a new person each time. When the same character came on disguised (as, for example, many of Shakespeare’s female characters disguise themselves as boys – e. . The Merchant of Venice or Twelfth Night) speeches had to be included making it very clear that this was the same character in a new costume, and not a completely new character. All of the actors in an Elizabethan Theatre company were male (which might explain the scarcity of female roles in Elizabethan drama). There were laws in England against women acting onstage and English travellers abroad were amused and amazed by the strange customs of Continental European countries that allowed women to play female roles. Exceptions : One woman – Mary Frith, better known as Moll Cutpurse – was arrested in the Jacobean period for singing and playing instruments onstage during a performance of a play about her life (Middleton and Dekker’s The Roaring Girl) and some suggest that she may actually have been illegally playing herself in the performance, and women sometimes took part in Court Masques (a very stylised and spectacular sort of performance for the Court, usually dominated by singing and dancing), but otherwise English women had no part in the performance of Elizabethan plays. The male actors who played female parts have traditionally been described as â€Å"Boy Actors† – they were actually boys whose voices had not changed. The rehearsal and performance schedule that Elizabethan Players followed was intense and demanding. Unlike modern theatres, where a successful play can run for years at a time, Elizabethan theatres normally performed six different plays in their six day week, and a particularly successful play might only be repeated once a month or so. For example, in a typical season, a theatrical company could perform thirty-eight different plays. The Elizabethan actor did not have much time, therefore, to prepare for each new play, and must have had to learn lines and prepare his blocking largely on his own and in his spare time – probably helped by the tendency of writers to have particular actors in mind for each part, and to write roles which were suited to the particular strengths and habits of individual actors. There were few formal rehearsals for each play and no equivalent of the modern Director (although presumably the writer, theatre managers, and the most important actors – who owned shares in the theatre company – would have given some direction to other actors). Instead of being given full scripts, each actor had a written â€Å"part†, a long scroll with nothing more than his own lines and minimal cue lines (the lines spoken by another actor just before his own) to tell him when to speak – this saved on the laborious task of copying out the full play repeatedly by hand. There was a bookholder or prompter who held a complete script and who helped actors who had forgotten their lines. Costumes, Scenery and Effects Elizabethan costuming seems to have been a strange combination of what was (for the Elizabethans) modern dress, and costumes which – while not being genuinely historically or culturally accurate – had a historical or foreign flavour. Strict laws were in force about what materials and types of clothes could be worn by members of each social class – laws which the actors were allowed to break onstage – so it would be immediately obvious to the Elizabethan audience that actors wearing particular types of clothes were laying people of particular backgrounds and types. The colours were also carefully chosen so as to suggest: red – blood; black – gloom, evil; yellow – sun; white – purity; scarlet – doctor; gray – friar; blue – serving men. Extensive make-up was almost certainly used, particularly for the boys playing female parts and with dark make-up on the face and hands for actors playing â€Å"blackamoors† or â€Å"Turks†. There were also conventions for playing a number of roles – some of which we know from printed play scripts. Mad women, like Ophelia, wore their hair loose and mad people of both sexes had disordered clothing. Night scenes were often signalled by characters wearing nightdresses (even the Ghost of Hamlet’s father appears in his nightgown, when Hamlet is talking with his Mother in her chamber). The Elizabethans did not use fixed scenery or painted backdrops of the sort that became popular in the Victorian period – hence the playwrights had to provide the actors with spoken descriptions of landscape which with Shakespeare represent memorable poetry. That does not mean, however, that the Elizabethans performed on a completely bare stage. A wide variety of furniture and props were brought onstage to set the scene as necessary – ranging from simple beds, tables, chairs and thrones to whole trees, grassy banks, prop dragons, an unpleasant looking cave to represent the mouth of hell, and so forth. Death brought out a particular ingenuity in Elizabethan actors and they apparently used copious quantities of animal blood, fake heads and tables with holes in to stage decapitations. Heads, hands, eyes, tongues and limbs were dramatically cut off onstage, and probably involved some sort of blood-drenched stage trick. A number of other simple special effects were used. Real cannons and pistols (loaded with powder but no bullet) were fired off when ceremonial salutes or battles were required. Thunder was imitated by rolling large metal cannon balls backstage or by drumming, while lightning was imitated by fireworks set off in the â€Å"heavens† above the stage. One thing that Elizabethan theatres almost completely lacked was lighting effects. In the outdoor theatres, like the Globe, plays were performed from two o’clock until about four or four thirty in the afternoon (these were the times fixed by law, but plays may sometimes have run for longer) in order to take advantage of the best daylight (earlier or later performances would have cast distracting shadows onto the stage). Evening performances, without daylight, were impossible. In the hall theatres, on the other hand, the stages were lit by candlelight – which forced them to hold occasional, probably musical, breaks while the candles were trimmed and tended or replaced as they burned down. Elizabethan actors carried flaming torches to indicate that a scene was taking place at night, but this would have made little difference to the actual lighting of the stage, and spectators simply had to use their imagination. The nearest that the Elizabethans came to lighting effects were fireworks, used to imitate lightening or magical effects. Performance Techniques We know very little, unfortunately, about how Elizabethan actors actually played their roles. Performances probably ran continuously without any sort of interval or Act Breaks. Occasionally music may have been played between Acts or certain scenes, but scholars think this was quite unusual except in the hall playhouses, where candles had to be trimmed and replaced between Acts. We do not even know how long Elizabethan plays usually ran. The law (mentioned above) expected plays to last between two and two and a half hours, but some plays – such as Hamlet, which in modern times runs for more than four hours – seem much too long to have been performed in such a short time. What props and scenery there were in the Elizabethan Theatre were probably carried on and off while the scenes continued, while actors were continually moving forward and backward into the midst of the surrounding audience. All entrances and exits were through the doors at the rear of the stage proper: one actor left through one door while a second actor would appear through the second door to swing into the next scene. That means that there would have been no need to wait for scene changes. The actors were kept in constant motion and, given the design of the stage, they had to face in as many different directions as possible during a scene. Another aspect of Elizabethan performance that we know a little about was the use of clowns or fools. Shakespeare complains in Hamlet about the fact that the fool often spoke a great deal that was not included in his script, and in the early Elizabethan period especially it seems to have been normal for the fool to include a great deal of improvised repartee and jokes in his performance, especially responding to hecklers in the audience. At the end of the play the Elizabethan actors often danced, and sometimes the fool and other comic actors would perform a jig – which could be anything from a simple ballad to a quite complicated musical play, normally a farce involving adultery and other bawdy topics. Some time was apparently put aside for the fool to respond to challenges from the audience – with spectators inventing rhymes and challenging the fool to complete them, asking riddles and questions and demanding witty answers, or simply arguing and criticising the fool so that he could respond. With no modern stage lighting to enhance the actors and put the audience into darkness, Globe audience members could see each other exactly as well as they could see the performers and the Groundlings in particular were near enough to the stage to be able to touch the actors if they wanted to and the front row of the Groundlings routinely leaned their arms and heads onto the front of the stage itself. The Groundlings were also forced to stand for two or three hours without much movement, which encouraged short attention spans and a desire to take action rather than remain completely immobile. This means that the Groundlings frequently shouted up at the actors or hissed the villains and cheered the goodies. Elizabethan audiences seem to have been very responsive in this way – as their interactions with the Fool suggests – and were particularly well known for hurling nut shells and fruit when they disliked an actor or a performance. The Elizabethan audience was still more distracted, however, since beer and food were being sold and consumed throughout the performance, prostitutes were actively soliciting for trade, and pickpockets were busy stealing goods as the play progressed. Elizabethan audiences may have â€Å"viewed† plays very differently, hence the origin of the word â€Å"audience† itself. The Elizabethans did not speak of going to see a play, they went to hear one – and it is possible that in the densely crowded theatre – obstructed by the pillars and the extravagant headgear that richer members of the audience were wearing – the Elizabethan audience was more concerned to hear the words spoken than to be able to see the action. This idea is given extra weight by the fact that in the public outdoor theatres, like the Globe, the most expensive seats were not the ones with the best views (in fact the best view is to be had by the Groundlings, standing directly in front of the stage), but those which were most easily seen by other audience members. The most expensive seating was in the Lord’s box or balcony behind the stage – looking at the action from behind – and therwise the higher the seats the more an audience member had to pay. (Some Elizabethan documents suggest that the reason for this range of prices was the richer patron’s desire to be as far from the stink of the Groundlings as possible. ) Specific aspects of Elizabethan performances: bear-baiting: three bears in ascending size are set upon by an English hound in a fight to the death! fencing: less gruesome, this civilized sport also took place before plays. umb-shows/processions: parades or spectacles, these formal groups used all the most ornate costumes they owned, including crowns and sceptres, torches and swords. Dumbshows appeared at the end of each act to summarize the events of the following act. By the turn of the century, dumb-shows were considered old-fahsioned and corny. Processions were more solemn as actors moved mannequin-like across the stage. jigs: at the conclusion of a play, the actors would dance around the stage. Separate from the plays, these were bawdy, knockabout song-and-dance farces. Frequently resembling popular ballads, jigs were often commentaries on politics or religion. masques: masques were plays put on strictly by the royals. These were celebrations, i. e. royal weddings or winning a battle. Designed as banquets of the senses, these celebrations spanned several days during which each member of the party played a part in the allegorical theme of the banquet. Masques were always held in private playhouses.