Standardization And Adaptation Strategies of Macdonalds, Pepsi, Toyota Essay - 8

Standardization And Adaptation Strategies of Macdonalds, Pepsi, Toyota Motors in International Market - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the globalization of the world has totally changed the way to carry out business as companies forced to be precocious concerning the choice of their internationalization strategy. The last few decades have transformed the business world into a marketing mix where companies strive in making globalized decisions to fit the competition spectrum. With globalization, a set of universal needs has developed among people all over the globe, therefore setting a pace for companies to no longer target markets by country. Instead, they target by the segment that congregates groups of citizens from diverse countries with universal needs. This trend is so robustly present in the current world that it creates a completely different class of companies that benefit from international markets. Fascinatingly, the concepts of standardization and adaptation strategies are not new terms in the global marketing perspective. Product strategies of standardizat ion and adaptation experimental investigation have been in existence since the 1970s. Nonetheless, the entry of companies in the international arena does not come effortlessly, for many of these companies are encountered with the challenges of whether to standardize or adapt the essentials of their marketing blend. As stated earlier, the entry of Multinationals in the international market is characterized by some challenges, the researcher will analyze some of the challenges these companies are facing. A final segment of this report will be a recommendation or likely solution to the challenges these companies are facing.

The Port Authority Trans Hudson (P.A.T.H.) Term Paper

The Port Authority Trans Hudson (P.A.T.H.) - Term Paper Example By the close of the 2011 fiscal year, the ridership had risen to over 250, 000 (Carleton 4) There are a number of rail services in the country, which exists independently, in New Jersey, Manhattan, and Hoboken, the PATH uses underground rail networks, this allows for convenience and reduces the chances of accidents as the train rapid train services travels at speed exceeding 200kilometer per hour. As the rail system approaches the New York city, its rail system crosses or runs adjacent to other independently existing rail service providers such as the New York city subway. Despite the closeness of the rails or the crossing patterns of the rail system, PATH uses only its rail system without overlapping or running on other company’s system. Currently the PATH has grown and increased its infrastructure to sustain the current statistics of ridership and intercity connections. This is a reflection of effective management and infrastructural transformations successfully implemented by the port authority during its take over in the 19590s. PATH originally known as Hudson and Manhattan Railroad dates back to before the first New York subway the railroad was first planned in 1874. In the plan, the railroad was to connect New York and New Jerseys while passing through such adjacent neighborhoods as Hudson. The construction could not take effect as the available infrastructure could not effectively tunnel the railroad below the Hudson River. The construction began in 1890 but stopped again in 1900 as the company ran out of funds. When the company through the help of a young Tennessee lawyer, William Gibbs McAdoo secured the funding in 1992, the construction resumed but the company had to change tact as McAdoo became the chief executive officer of the rail system. He called for the application of better technology in the construction of the underground tunnels; the constructor therefore employed the use of tubular cast iron plating. Te tubular cast iron had higher t ensile force and could therefore resist more tension than the compact wrought iron that the company had previously used. The construction of underground rail required a lot of precaution, at some places the ground was soft and readily gave way burying the workers. The company had to take act cautiously while employing the best technology that could safeguard the million plus travelers who would eventually use the system. The rail system was guided by the need to secure the safety of both the passengers and the rest of the society. The company therefore needed to minimize incidents of accidents; this informed the idea of either underground or over ground networks. In the neighborhoods of Grove Street in Jersey City all the way to Newark, the rail system runs at ground level and in raised trucks (Davies 166). The choice of what type of rail to use at the different places was informed by the complexity of the area’s planning. The Groove street was already populated by the time t he rail network was laid, it thus become impossible to displace the people and destroy the buildings, furthermore, the ground is a wetland which proved cumbersome to navigate and install the underground tunnels. The first train journey took place in 1907 between Hoboken and the 19th street. The management at the time lived through some

Monetary Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Monetary Policy - Essay Example Specifically, a core committee within the central bank is tasked to design and undertake monetary policies based on their assessment of economic conditions and objectives to be achieved. This paper compares the operations and mandates of the three most influential monetary policy-making bodies, namely the US-Federal Open Market Committee, Bank of England-Monetary Policy Committee and European Central Bank-Governing Council. The FOMC is considered as the foremost policy-making body of the US Federal Reserve. It primary function is to formulate monetary policies which serve to promote economic growth, full employment level, stable price level and sustainable pattern of international trade (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). This aim is achieved by making key decisions pertaining to the conduct of open market operations, i.e. the selling and purchasing of US Government and Federal Agency securities. Open market operations mainly affect the provision of reserves to banks and other depository institutions. In this regard, open market operations impact the cost and availability of money and credit in the economy of the US (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). As a background, the FOMC is composed of seven members of the Board of Governors and five Reserve Bank Presidents, who must meet at least four times a year in Washington D.C. as mandated by law. It is during these committee meetings that FOMC decides on the policies to be carried out through voting. In view of the monetary decisions it has to make, the FOMC takes into account vital economic factors such as trends in prices, wages, employment, production, consumption, investments, foreign exchange markets, interest rates, and fiscal policies among others. It should be noted that the monetary policies are implemented with primary focus on supplying level of reserves which is congruent with the economic objectives of the US, both in the short-run and long-run (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). This means that the control of open market operations is FOMC's major tool to directly influence the money supply in the economy. The movement in money supply will then affect the other economic factors based on the economic objectives of the nation. Bank of England-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) The MPC's main function is to regulate prevailing interest rates at an appropriate level in order to attain the inflation target over a period of two years. This committee primarily considers the economic performance of the country and determines whether this is accompanied by the risk of acceleration in overall price levels ("Bank of England"). The MPC, which is chaired by the Governor of the Bank of England, consists of five members from the Bank of England and four external members appointed by the chancellor (Bank of England). The setting of interest rates is decided based on the conditions of domestic monetary market, foreign exchange market, production market and labor market ("Bank of England"). To curb inflation, the MPC's primary tool is the setting of interest rates. Should the MPC determine that aggregate demand is expanding and exerting upward pressure on prices, the committee will decide to raise the interest rates in order to control the growth of investment

Project Plan- Risk and Quality Requirements Essay Example for Free

Project Plan- Risk and Quality Requirements Essay IT Project Plan IT projects are complex in nature. A proper plan gives not only maps the elements of the project but also ensures that the progress of project is going in the desired direction. In other terms, a project plan reduces the risk of project failure or over runs and improves the quality of the project. Project plan is the initial step in executing the project management. Project management strives to meet the expectations of the project stakeholders in terms of cost, quality, delivery and operations.    Project management is a crucial process that involves, people, process, price, infrastructure and cost. Project management should balance the interests of different stakeholders of the project like Project team members, management of the working group, client parameters, industry practices and the budget restrictions. In IT industry, it becomes the responsibility of project manager to look after the co-ordination of the above aspects. Project plan becomes an essential helping tool to the project management in directing the project requirements to the people and system. The project plan aligns the activities with the project life cycle and gives visibility to different phases of the project. IT will be like indicating the stakeholders of the project like client and project team to act upon the different activities of the project like, development, testing, rollout, training and implementation. The project plan is developed in connection with Organizational plan, Risk plan, Cost plan, Test plan, Roll out plan, Quality plan, Maintenance plan etc., So it is evident that Risk identification and Quality parameters act as forecasters for the project phase activities and does have a great significance in the successful implementation. However project plan includes the The Project Plan provides complete overview on how and when a projects objectives are to be achieved, by expressing different activities to resources to achieve targets at different milestones The major elements of the project plan are as following: Description of the project or an over view of the project plan. Project specifications and requirements of the client Project Initiation plan and requirements in terms of technology, budget and people Project dependencies- external, internal Project milestones like Analysis, design, development, testing, implementation and training Identification and specification of project assumptions like availability of resources, technical inputs, skills and competency requirements. Project plan with work break down structure through Gantt chart or bar chart and control points at different levels. Project level activity specifications for different stakeholders like client team,, analysis team, design team etc., Project level resource specifications Project budget and cost plan Project tolerance, through put and capacity in terms of users and boundaries Technology to be implemented with constrains and rationale for the usage. Network contingency plans and infrastructure layout plans to be required for the project work out Risk identification and risk tolerance specifications of he system Quality framework under which the project is expected to execute Risk Risk can be termed as the possible loss or damage to a process. Risk identification is the estimation of possible potential dangers that can occur or hinder the progress of the project.   Risk in IT project management is a major component to consider even before the project execution, as the unidentified risks not only obstruct the progress but also may turn the entire project into loss. A risk will have a probability something above 0%.   And there is an identified chance to happen, which other wise is not a risk. So a deliberate approach to identify and mitigate the risks is highly appreciable from the project learning from decades. According to Dr. Barry W. Boehm, (as cited in kjordan) the top 10 identified software risks are as follows: Personal Shortfalls in perception of risk and resources Unrealistic schedules and budgets Developing the wrong functions and properties Developing the wrong user interface Gold-plating Continuing stream of requirements changes Shortfalls in externally furnished components Shortfalls in externally performed tasks Real-time performance shortfalls Straining computer-science capabilities So, IT projects do have a risk management process that is expressed through the risk management plan. The risk management plan contains the four major areas to observe in the plan: Risk Identification: The project manager or risk management personnel will identify the possible potential threats to the project management before well in advance. Eg; Shortage of workforce due to the withdrawal of people from the team; this can be from different reasons like, maternity leave, transfers to other projects or contract termination etc., Risk Quantification: The risk identified should be quantifiable, other wise which it is will not be of much useful. Eg; What percentage of people are going to be placed on another major project or percentage of testers that may not be available on project A. Risk Response: The consequences of risk should be specified, in the sense, sometimes the system may be less altered with certain types of risks. With this, the low response of system indicates and attributes the risk as a less priority risk. And the risks that may cause major alterations to the process will be given high priority by the project plan to address them and mitigate them. Risk Monitoring and Control: Risk monitoring and controlling involves the risk mitigation tools and practices for the easy execution of the project. Eg: Training the new people to fill the gaps on attrition by the time they leave or to be transferred from the current project process. The common risk scenarios in IT projects are as follows: Schedule Risk This is the highly possible risks in IT projects, when projects over run with scheduled times or slip the release schedules or the client priorities and queries are not answered Schedule risks alters the project phases and disturbs many dependencies. Other project dependencies like testing schedules, release schedules and infrastructure costing etc., can be altered and result in excessive costing and   losses. Schedule risk can happened due to the following reasons: Inappropriate or wrong project time estimation Poor tracking and monitoring of work break down plan with the resources. Over estimation of system functionality and through put. Eg: When the existing system support only 50 resources to work, scheduling of 60 or 65 may result in non availability of proper infrastructure. Wrong estimation of effort or skills. Eg: the project with low skilled work force or low effort estimation may take much time compared with the scenario of experienced people on task. Failure to specify or identify complex functionalities or requirements that emerge and become stumbling blocks for the progress execution, takes longer time to resolve and them to continue with the projected phases. Unexpected project scope expansions: These can happen due to the poor business analysis and feasibility guidelines. Budget Risk All the above schedule risks can ultimately result in increase in resource cost. In addition to this, the following at the initial project plan phase also result in budget risks Wrong budget estimation: When the cost of resources is going to be increased in future, adaptation of old compensation rates will ask for more funds to meet the project execution after some time. Cost overruns: These will arise when the project activities are not aligning with the planned activities Project scope expansion: Wrong specification of requirement may lead to extra budgets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eg:   Some IT projects fail to define the project scope very specifically in terms of design,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   development, training (on site), installation, maintenance, and support. A project that fails   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   to differentiate between on site training support and training support through   Ã‚  Ã‚   documentation like user guide and admin guide has to face a situation in which the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   company has to bear the traveling and expenses of training resource when on-site training   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   is demanded in the last moment. Operational Risks Operational risks arises due to non specification of appropriate project methodology and non implementation of project processes like daily meetings (scrums), communication reports, Change requirement reports. Such risks will again result in over runs in operational schedules and results in high costs. Some causes of Operational risks are as follows: Failure to address priority conflicts: when tasks and conflicts are not nor prioritized, people sit on unnecessary or low priority tasks resulting the operational delays. Failure to resolve the responsibilities: The non-defined roles and responsibilities work on the similar operations or raise conflicts at some point of time in the operations. Insufficient resources : A project with in sufficient resources may execute poor operational performance and may result in operational delay.   No proper subject training : When the project stakeholders are not given project training at consecutive levels, there will be no direction and clarity in the project operations.   No resource planning : If the resource allocation is not properly planned, conflict arises between the different activities of the system   No communication in team: poor communication is the major hindrance for smooth project execution. Excessive communication and less communication will also alter the project schedules. Non -defining the desired level and form of communication hampers the information flow . eg: Non-maintenance of Change request forms from the client may result in wastage of work on the old configuration of modules by the developers and may result in project over runs. Technical risks Technical risks are the most unidentified risks with great damage and result in failure of functionality and performance. The causes of technical risks are: Continuous changing requirements: The initial technical specifications may require different technology platform to the technology that is appropriate for the recently added requirements Poor suggestion of technology: Lack of technical expertise of resources may result in compatibility problems. Some advanced features that may not be ready by the time of release, or that may not be compatible with the already developed functionalities will hamper the project execution. Product is complex to implement: When the product development is too complex and there is a dearth of skill and expertise in the market, the project needs to suffer delay or failure. Difficult project modules integration: When different modules are products are to be integrated, incompatibility problem arises between them that result in re work or failure. External Risks    These are the external risks beyond the boundaries of project management. These are all uncertain and may result of the following: Shortage of fund. Market Changes: Transferred demand Changing customer product strategy and priority Government rule changes. Quality Requirements of Project Quality refers to the delivery of projects and products that meet the expectations of all the stakeholders. A project that may meet all the specification of the client, but may over run the project schedule is not termed as a quality project, as it has resulted in extra cost to the management. So in order to bring down the risk, IT projects adopt different Quality models. For example Software design and development projects adopt quality models like CMMI, ISO, BSI, etc., he quality model frames a risk management plan and ensures the system to adhere to the planned project activities until the successful implementation. Usually the quality models identify some risk areas and constantly work on controlling the risk areas. The parameters that are commonly observed by different Quality models for IT systems are as follows: Correctness, Reliability, Integrity, Usability, Efficiency, Maintainability, Testability, Interoperability, Flexibility, Reusability, Portability, Clarity, Modifiability, Documentation, Schedule, Validity, Functionality, Generality and Economy. The quality management department or manager will ensure the project that it is being executed properly as per the plan. All the stakeholders monitor the project activities according to the quality parameters and control the error or risk as per the risk mitigation guidelines. Project Quality Plan defines the expectation of the stakeholders in terms of project specifications, schedule time, technology inputs, dependencies etc., and also maps the process to ensure the system to balance. A Project Quality management supports the following through quality plans and system guidelines: Defining organizational and project level quality objectives and parameters Customer requirements and expectations in terms of functionality, delivery Acceptance criteria of the IT product, which is a prioritized list of criteria for the customer to accept the final product. Roles and responsibilities of Quality management team. Functionality boundaries of the project quality system Reference to Industry practices or standards to be met The quality-control and audit processes to be applied to project management Quality-control and audit process parameters and requirements Change management procedures in case of scope change in project Configuration management plan Validation and verification controls Quality control and Assurance plan and procedures By adopting quality monitoring procedures Defining test lab procedures like- test documentation, testing resources, Test cases, scenarios, error logs and other testing documentation Metrics for quality analysis System guidelines for quality management procedures Maintenance of configuration management and change control requirements Conclusion For the Successful IT Project implementation, the project plan must address the risk issues and Quality requirements to mitigate the risk issues. Effective project planning, quality control, and monitoring will ensure the quality assurance of the project mitigating the identified risks. References Elizabeth and Richard Larson, How to Create a Clear Project Plan, Retrieved February 2,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008 from www.projectmanagement.ittoolbox.com/documents/industry-articles/how-to  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   create-a-clear-project-plan-844 26k – EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans (EPA QA/R-5), Retrieved February   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2, 2008 from http://www.epa.gov/QUALITY/qs-docs/r5-final.pdf kjordan, Introduction to Software Risk Risk Management, Retrieved February 2,2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://baz.com/kjordan/swse625/intro.html Hyatt L. Rosenberg, A Software Quality Model and Metrics for Identifying Project Risks and Assessing Software Quality, http://satc.gsfc.nasa.gov/support/STC_APR96/qualtiy/stc_qual.html Project Management Planning, Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.cio.ca.gov/itpolicy/pdf/PM3.2_Planning_Process_and_Plan.pdf Project Quality Plan , Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documentation_and_templates_project_quality_plan.asp Project plan, Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documentation_and_templates_project_plan_.asp QUALITY ASSURANCE PROJECT PLAN REQUIREMENTS, Retrieved February 2,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008   Ã‚   from     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.wipp.energy.gov/library/CRA/BaselineTool/Documents/Appendices/  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   WAP%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2010.PDF Quality Assurance Planning, Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.chesapeakebay.net/info/qa_planning.cfm Risk management strategy, Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documentation_and_templates_risk_management_strateg  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   y_.asp Risk management framework, Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documentation_and_templates_risk_management_framew  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ork_.as p Risk management strategy, Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documentation_and_templates_risk_management_strateg  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   y_.asp Risk log (risk register) Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documentation_and_templates_risk_log_risk_register.asp Types of Risks in Software Projects, Retrieved February 2, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/types-of-risks-in-software-projects/

Analysis of William Wordsworths Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tinte

Analysis of William Wordsworth's Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey William Wordsworth poem 'Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey'; was included as the last item in his Lyrical Ballads. The general meaning of the poem relates to his having lost the inspiration nature provided him in childhood. Nature seems to have made Wordsworth human.The significance of the abbey is Wordsworth's love of nature. Tintern Abbey representes a safe haven for Wordsworth that perhaps symbolizes a everlasting connection that man will share with it's surroundings. Wordsworth would also remember it for bringing out the part of him that makes him a 'A worshipper of Nature'; (Line 153). Five different situations are suggested in "Lines" each divided into separate sections. The first section details the landscape around the abbey, as Wordsworth remembers it from five years ago. The second section describes the five-year lapse between visits to the abbey, during which he has thought often of his experience there. The third section specifies Wordsworth's attempt to use nature to see inside his inner self. The fourth section shows Wordsworth exerting his efforts from the preceding stanza to the landscape, discovering and remembering the refined state of mind the abbey provided him with. In the final section, Wordsworth searches for a means by which he can carry the experiences with him and maintain himself and his love for nature. . In the first stanza, Wordsworth lets you know he is seeing the abbey for a second time by using phrases such as "again I hear," "again do I behold," and "again I see. He describes the natural landscape as unchanged and he describes it in descending order of importance beginning with with the 'lofty cliffs'; (Line 5) dominantly overlooking the abbey. After the cliffs comes the river, , then the forests, and hedgerows of the cottages that once surrounded the abbey but have since been abandoned. After the cottages, is the vagrant hermit who sits alone in his cave, perhaps symbolizing the effects being away from the abbey has had on Wordsworth. Wordsworth professes to "sensations sweet / Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart" (lines 28-29) which the memories of nature can inspire when he is lonely, just as the hermit is lonely. Wordsworth desires nature only because of his separateness, and the more isolated he feels the mor... ...ame more involved with human concerns. He has become more thoughtful and sees nature in the light of those thoughts. He has traded the boundless energy for maturity and the "still, sad music of humanity" (line 92). Wordsworth ends the poem with the fifth stanza, a farewell to the abbey and the inspiration it has given him. He realizes that there may come a time when he may no longer be able to inspire himself with life-changing situations, and that he will not be able to run back to Tintern Abbey to find himself again. He does what he can, though. He will also be able to rely on his sister, who shared these experiences with him and in whose voice "I catch the language of my former heart, and read my former pleasures in the shooting lights of thy wild eyes" (lines 117-120). Eventually even these may fail him, and in the closing lines of the poem he consoles himself that he and his sister will be able to look back fondly and at least remember their shared time together. Works Cited: Wordsworth, William. Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. M. H. Abrams Gen. ed. New York, London: Norton. 2 vols. 1993.

Study the short stories of both Raymond Carver and John Cheever

It is my intention within this essay to study the short stories of both Raymond Carver and John Cheever, in doing so I propose to address the theme of masculinity which runs throughout both of the author's stories. I shall do this by considering, among other things, such subjects as Post Modernism, Dirty Realism and social climate and how these are applied to the texts Boxes and Elephant, by Carver and The Season of Divorce by Cheever. The background in which both Carver and Cheever write, is very significant to the way in which both writer's male characters are emasculated within the stories. Carver was writing in the decade of the eighties, and as such Reaganite economics had much to do with the way in which the men lost their grip on the hunter gatherer stereotype which had preceded. The traditional role of the male shifted from heavy industrial work to more emasculated work, such as secretarial/office roles, and domestic captivity therefore diminishing their agency. On top of this many men became jobless due to redundancies concerned with this shift from a blue-collar society to a white-collar society, and so this domestic captivity was enhanced. It is such men who Carver writes about in his short stories. The men who have slipped out of this â€Å"traditional male breadwinning world† Cheever again, writes men relevant to the political climate in which he both lived and set his stories in. In the post war era of the fifties, the male role had begun to become redundant, as during the war women were compelled to do work which had been traditionally thought of as male, and as such the myth that women were not equipped to cope with such jobs, was dispelled. Therefore in the post war when all of the men came back from war, there was a new air of female liberation, which they had not had to deal with previously. Given this fact men became emasculated by the new found power of the female. We can see this treatment of masculinity within Raymond Carvers short story Boxes. The narrator, who unsurprisingly is never named within the story is captive within a suburban world of women and sears catalogues, in which he seems a spectator to his own life. This can be seen through the style of the narrative, in which there seems to be a collapse of male agency. Throughout the story the narrator, seems to be completely inexpressive of his feelings: â€Å"I don't know why, but it's then I recall the affectionate name my dad used sometimes†¦ (p. 25) The use of the statement â€Å"I don't know† permeates the text, and shows the narrators lack of voice compared with the expressiveness of the women who seems to surround his life. Contrary to a narrator's role, he seems to say or think very little, and it is in fact his girlfriend, Jill who has all of the active verbs in the story: â€Å"†¦ â€Å"this is what we want†, she says. â€Å"This is more like what I had in mind. Look at this, will you† but I don't look. I don't care five cents for curtains. â€Å"what is it you see out there, honey? † Jill says. â€Å"Tell me. (p. 25) This is one of the rare occasions when the narrator expresses how he feels about the situation, but he expresses it only to the reader, and again within the story itself he has no voice. Jill's use of the word â€Å"we† expresses her dominance over the narrators character, as it shows that she makes his decisions for him and that he is not his own person but has inescapably become part of a couple, from which he can no longer be distinguished, and as it is Jill who is in the driving seat, the narrator seems to have lost his identity altogether. It should also be noted that the way in which Jill addresses the narrator seems more befitting a pet or a dog than it does someone of equal stature and respect. We can see however through this that she does not regard him as of an equal stature to herself within the relationship, or even his life as a whole. Throughout the story the narrator has no contact with anyone of the same gender at all, except those who he sees through his window. It is significant that the men, whom he watches from a distance, always stand in stark contrast to himself. I. e. he is on the inside confined by a â€Å"five roomed cottage of his very own† (Boyd), and the real men are on the outside where they are free of the constraints of domestication. Also they are always doing something masculine, whereas when he is watching them he is always doing something feminine or is feminised in some way, for example a man changes the oil in his car while he, attempts to do something masculine by finding a roach and trying to smoke it while drinking a ginger ale. This scene is highly feminised in that he tries to do something masculine but falls short, because he simply has lost the ability to be male. So where a man would smoke a roach and drink a beer, he only attempts to smoke and drinks a ginger ale instead. The theme of feminisation permeates this novel and there are many other ways in which the narrator is disempowered, which I shall not go into. The image of suburbia however, is significant to this disempowerment as the surroundings represent, among other things the bland depredation of the characters lives. It also represents a highly feminised culture. One in which the sears catalogue is the coffee table equivalent of the bible, it is second nature to be house proud and for miles around there is no refuge from the reminder of the life, in which the characters of Carver's stories live. Within another of Carver's stories Elephant, we can see masculinity and the role of the male portrayed from the point of view of a man desperately trying to hold on to the shred of power which he has, rather than succumb to powerlessness as the narrator of Boxes did. The main theme of Elephant is that of the breadwinner, however within the story this role is taken for granted, as all of his family emasculate the narrator by taking advantage of every male role that he could be classed under, as husband, father, brother, and son. Each of his family guilt trips him into giving them money except his ex wife, who doesn't need to, because it is the law that she gets his money. â€Å"That's four people, right? Not counting my brother, who wasn't a regular yet. I was going crazy with it. I worried night and day. I couldn't sleep over it. I was paying out nearly as much as I was bringing in. You don't have to be a genius, or know anything about economics to understand that this state of affairs couldn't keep on. I had to get a loan to keep up my end of things. That was another monthly payment† (p. 80) We can see from this that the narrator refuses to let his grasp of the role of breadwinner go easily, even although he does not have the ability to sustain such a role. It is the fact that the narrator is trying so hard to maintain some sort of control, that his family are taking for granted, and conversely it is this â€Å"control† which is emasculating him. The brother, plays a very important role within the story, and as such I believe that this is why Carver chose to make him stand out from the rest of his family, as more obnoxious and more amoral than the rest of the narrator's family, the reason being twofold. Of all of the narrator's family the brother is the only male to whom he is not obliged to help, and therefore the narrator grudges him more than the others. He has been emasculated by all of the women in the story, and his children, however his brother seems more than anyone to have picked up on this and be jumping on the bandwagon, and this creates a tension as the narrator feels that as a male adult he should also be a breadwinner. More importantly, however is the fact that his brother epitomises the failure of the traditional male position in life, which he fears more than anything, and as such he resents being confronted with his worst fear. Within this story, we are not given so strong a representation of suburbia, as we are within Boxes, however what we are given is a post modern minimalist image of the narrators life, in which there is very little reference to his surroundings at all. When we are given a glimpse of his surroundings however, it is a very sparse image: â€Å"I didn't bother to lock the door. I remembered what had happened to my daughter but decided I didn't have anything worth stealing anyway†¦ I had a TV but I was sick of watching TV. They'd be doing me a favour if they broke in and took it off my hands† (p. 8). The strength and impact of the story lies in the fact that there is very little to say about the narrators own life. It is empty and devoid of meaning so in order to have some use in life he feels the need to continue on his breadwinning path to destruction. The narrator lives in an emotional suburbia. Through this use of Dirty Realism to create an image of a life so futile and empty that it is barely worth living it at all. But the characters do, and it is because of this futility that many of them attach importance to minor things, such as the type of curtains they want to put up. As I have said earlier, like Carver, Cheever also portrays a portrait of the suburban American man as defeated and emasculated, and we can see this well within his short story The Season of Divorce. Within this short story traditional American masculinity, and the freedom to be a sexual predator, is displaced by the role of the husband and father and commitments to family life. The first two words in the story are â€Å"my wife† and this sets a trend for the rest of the story, in which the narrator is first and foremost part of the family unit, and secondly, if at all, a man. The main plot of the story, is about the way in which the narrator deals with another man attempting to usurp his position as husband, however the way in which Cheever has portrayed these events, creates a reversal of roles, as the man who tries to usurp his position is not put across as very predatory, and it is the narrators wife who is in the position of power. She is flattered by the attention and allows the situation to escalate. It seems that Ethel is in the male gendered role and both her husband and her suitor portray the female reaction to such occurrences: â€Å"At nine o'clock the doorbell rang†¦ e seemed distraught and exhilarated when he appeared†¦ ‘I know that you don't like me here, I respect your feelings†¦ I respect your home, I respect your marriage, I respect your children†¦ I've come here to tell you that I love your wife'†¦ ‘get out' I said. ‘you've got to listen to me'†¦ ‘I know that there are problems with custody and property and things like that to be settled'†¦ ‘get out of her, get the hell out of here' He started for the door. There was a potted geranium on the mantelpiece, and I threw this across the room at him, hitting him in the small of the back†¦ (p. 190) We can see from this passage that the reactions of both of the men, Trencher coming to talk rationally to him, and the narrator screaming and throwing a potted plant at Trencher, are both instinctively female reactions to such a situation. I believe that it is through the suburban surroundings in which they have been immersed that they have come to lose sight of what it is to be male and as such have become homogenised to the femininity of a suburban life, in which all that really exists is a home life. In conclusion, it seems that each of the central male characters within these stories, all seems to have the same fleeting moment of epiphany, in which they realise the futility of their life, but then they forget what it meant and continue on with their lives, convincing themselves that they are happy. In a typically post modern manner both authors seem to draw heavy reference from their own lives and I believe that it is because of this that both Cheever and Carver seem to be protesting against this feminisation and downfall of the traditional American male. Carver however, I believe is much more negative about the downfall of the male role, as he always ends his stories with the feeling that there is no hope: â€Å"what is there to tell?†¦ they leave the light burning. Then they remember, and it goes out. † (p. 26) Whereas Cheever in the end always reverts to a blissful ignorance on the part of the male character, and everyone lives happily ever after†¦ or do they?

The Lord of the Flies Continues to Fly A Socio-Historical Look At Its Banning and Sustained Popularity

Henry Reichman, in his research titled Censorship and Selection, Issues and Answers for Schools. Censorship defines censorship as the â€Å"the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic or educational materials †¦ on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of the standards applied by the censor† (Cromwell, 2005) . Often, the judging of the books as unfit for public or classroom consumption is done unilaterally by an authorized policymaking body tasked with oversight functions.This has adverse impact to the teachers’ exercise of academic and creative freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment that protects â€Å"the students’ right to know and the teachers’ right to academic freedom† (Shupe, 2004). Throughout the history of literature, censorship of literary texts and judging them as unfit for public consumption has always provoked social and political debates. The offensive advocates who pose themselves as guardians of morality and social order insist that the society needs protection from destructive elements that may damage its moral and social fibers.The defensive side, on the other hand, promotes the upholding of constitutional rights for free expression, criticizing censorship us a curtailment of this basic human right. Ironically, banning the books from public consumption has proven to have done the opposite. The public becomes even more curious, finds creative ways to get hold of these banned books and discover for themselves that the very reason of the banning should be the same reason why the public should read them in the first place.For instance, while Mark Twain’s â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† was challenged because of its racial slur, many in the academic circles believe that it should all the more be read by the public to learn about racism and its adverse social impact (Shupe, 2004). Restraining the public from reading a lit erary text that reflects this social reality does not and cannot shield itself from seeing this happening in real life. Unsurprisingly therefore, these banned books or literary texts whose subjects are deemed taboos by the authorities became all-time best sellers continually being â€Å"consumed† by the public.The public’s curiosity has been sustained by the authority’s persistent efforts to dictate what the public can and cannot read defying the provisions of the First Amendments that enshrines creative and academic freedom (Shupe, 2004). This has all the more invigorated the public’s tendency to rebel against repressive authorities. Banning the reading of what the public considered acclaimed literature seems not just illogical but unwarranted. This has made acclaimed banned books like the Lord of the Flies sustained its popularity generations after generations.I. The Lord of the Flies Restrained from Flying To understand the â€Å"restraint flight† of the novel, it may be deemed necessary to trace its roots from its conception to publication, illuminating the tumultuous routes it has taken before it reached the public eye. William Gerald Golding wrote the novel less than ten years after World War II after serving in the Royal Navy from 1940-1945 where he saw man’s unnerving capacity for atrocities. As it is commonly believed, war brings the worst and the best of man’s human nature.But expectedly so, Golding identified more on the evil side of man, owing to his background as a disillusioned advocate of rationalism, championed by his father Alec Golding, a school teacher and ardent believer of rationalism. In his writing about his wartime experience, he wrote: â€Å"Man produces evil as a bee produces honey† (Gyllensten, 1983). He felt that the atrocities committed by the Nazis in such magnitude could be committed just as well by any other nations owing to humankind’s innately evil nature.He wrote the book at a time of Cold War, fresh from the hostilities of the Holocaust, the widespread dehumanizing aftereffects of atomic bombs, and the threat of the so-called â€Å"Reds† behind the Iron Curtain. These conditions all found their way to the book, making it a good study of the political and ideological underpinnings of this milieu. From its pre-publication to its promotion to the public, the Lord of the Flies has undergone a turbulent path. Rejected by publishers a record of 21 times, the book was adjudged as â€Å"absurd and uninteresting†¦rubbish and dull† (Conrad, 2009).Conrad (2009) recalls that the book seemed to have reached a dead end, until a former lawyer hired as editor from the Faber publishing house, Charles Monteith, resurrected the book from its near oblivion and convinced his colleagues at Faber to publish the book at a measly sum of ? 60. As it turned out, Monteith’s business instinct earned Faber millions of pounds as the book sold mi llions of copies worldwide and continues to do so up to this time prompting the author of the book to retort that he considers the royalty income as â€Å"Monopoly money† (Conrad, 2009).The book’s huge commercial success can be attributed to two things: first, it has a good narrative filled with thrilling action and a theme that amplifies the endless battle between good and evil; and second, it has been continually challenged by certain school authorities making it all the more attractive to readers. The more it has become controversial, the more it has gathered cult following, assuming celebrity status as a literary text. The thesis of the book underscores the tendency of man for violence.In the novel, a group of British schoolboys are trapped in a tropical island after the plane that would take them to someplace safer from the nuclear war crashed. Initially acting in a more civilized way, these schoolboys form some sort of a social group with a leader and sets of rul es. As they discover the difficulties of such an arrangement within the uncertainty that surrounds them in that tropical island, they begin to question the existence of that social order and start to defy its conventions.The â€Å"good force† is led by Ralph who symbolizes man’s adherence to civilization and proper social decorum; while Jack leads the â€Å"evil forces† symbolizing man’s innate evil nature that manifests with proper environmental stimuli engendered by the harsh realities of life such as surviving in a jungle. As the story progresses and the uncertainty of being rescued become remote, Jack begins to reconfigure the composition of the social order initiated by Ralph. Within these contesting ideologies, Jack starts to emerge as the leader of choice by the majority of the group.Deciding that Jack’s aggressive stunts and hunting skills are the necessary skills of a leader in such a harsh environment, the majority of the boys shift their allegiance to him and leave the â€Å"orderly† and â€Å"civilized† leadership of Ralph. With Jack’s leadership, the boys undergo a downward spiral and turn to horrific violence to dismantle civilized social constructs in the name of survival. In so doing, two boys are killed and they would have continued to slide down to ultimate self-destruction had their eventual rescue failed to come just in time.Published in 1954 and written by Golding, the Lord of the Flies has been constantly challenged and banned from school curricula in the United States and other parts of the world. The Nettverksgruppa (1996) or NVG, an association of students and staff at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim recounts that the following academic institutions challenged this novel for its so-called â€Å"demoralizing effect that implies that man is little more than an animal†: