A review of Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams essays

A review of Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams essays William Coughlin a grey and boring civil servant , with his wife Bette and son Nicholas, lives a mundane predictable existence in a boring city suburb. . "My father in a grey suit coming in the front door from the office in the fog of a November evenings, the brief case flopping by the telephone table, the creak in the stairs and across the ceiling above the kitchen as he changes into a cardigan and comes down for his tea". His only difference was that he painted and Nicholas was proud of the WC that was his mark in the corner of the pictures. Bette's life was centred on the household. But out of the blue William shatters the security and pattern of this existence by announcing to his family that God wanted him to paint full time. The family are thrown into turmoil - "God had moved in overnight". William abandoned his family and his secure life and took to the wilds of Ireland to paint. Meanwhile life for Nicholas and Bette became empty and poor. "An Elephant came into our house". On a remote island off Galway, Muiris Gore , the island teacher lives with his wife Margaret and their children Isobel and Sean. The "powers" helps Muiris to get through each day. Margaret is in the valley of the squinting windows always keeping an eye on the neighbour. His children Isobel, an intelligent sensitive girl and Sean, a gifted musician, are their parents pride and joy. On the edge of the cliffs Isobel and Sean become alive and free and express their energy in dancing and singing. Then one day God touches their lives. Sean has an attack that leaves him without speech or movement. Isobel feels guilty about her brothers illness and blames herself. Tragedy and misfortune strike both families. Nicholas' mother dies of sadness and depression. Nicholas and William soldier on together but sadly William too has a tragic end. Nicholas looses his interest in his job and his life and is driven by a quest to find a paining of his fathers that ...

The Medias 5 Most Tired Asian American Stereotypes

The Medias 5 Most Tired Asian American Stereotypes Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, but in Hollywood, theyre often invisible or subject to old, tired stereotypes. Stereotypes in the media are especially harmful given that the Asian American community is woefully underrepresented on the large and small screen alike. â€Å"Only 3.8 percent of all television and theatrical roles were portrayed by Asian Pacific Islander actors in 2008, compared to 6.4 percent portrayed by Latino actors, 13.3 percent portrayed by African Americans and 72.5 percent portrayed by Caucasian actors,† according to the Screen Actors Guild. Because of this imbalance, Asian American actors have few opportunities to counteract sweeping generalizations about their racial group. In reality, Asian Americans are far more than the geeks and geishas Hollywood would have you believe. Dragon Ladies Since the days of early Hollywood, Asian American women have played â€Å"dragon ladies.† These female characters tend to be physically attractive but domineering and underhanded. Ultimately, they can’t be trusted. Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong played a series of these roles in the 1920s and contemporary actress Lucy Liu has more recently been accused of popularizing the stereotype. Wong temporarily left the United States to act in European films where she could escape being typecast as a dragon lady in Hollywood films. â€Å"I was so tired of the parts I had to play,† Wong explained in a 1933 interview quoted by the Los Angeles Times. â€Å"Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain- murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass? We are not like that. †¦ We have our own virtues. We have our rigid code of behavior, of honor. Why do they never show these on the screen? Why should we always scheme, rob, kill?† Kung Fu Fighters When Bruce Lee became a superstar in the U.S. after the success of his 1973 film â€Å"Enter the Dragon,† the Asian American community largely took pride in his fame. In the film, Lee wasn’t portrayed as a buck-toothed imbecile, as Asian Americans had been portrayed in films such as â€Å"Breakfast at Tiffany’s.† Instead, he was strong and dignified. But before long, Hollywood began to portray all Asian Americans as martial arts experts. â€Å"So now the flipside of stereotyping is that every Asian American actor is expected to know some form of martial arts,† Tisa Chang, director of the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York, told ABC News. â€Å"Any casting person will say, ‘Well, do you do some martial arts?’† Since Bruce Lee’s death, Asian performers such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have become stars in the U.S. due to their martial arts backgrounds. Geeks Asian Americans are often portrayed as geeks and technical whizzes. Not only does this stereotype surface in television shows and films but also in commercials. The Washington Post has pointed out that Asian Americans are often portrayed as technologically savvy people in ads for corporations such as Verizon, Staples, and IBM. â€Å"When Asian Americans appear in advertising, they typically are presented as the technological experts- knowledgeable, savvy, perhaps mathematically adept or intellectually gifted,† the Post reported. â€Å"They’re most often shown in ads for business-oriented or technical products- smartphones, computers, pharmaceuticals, electronic gear of all kinds.† These commercials play on existing stereotypes about Asians being intellectually and technologically superior to Westerners. Foreigners Although people of Asian descent have lived in the United States since the 1800s, Asian Americans are often portrayed as perpetual foreigners. Like Latinos, Asians in television and film often speak accented English, suggesting that they’re recent immigrants to the country. These portrayals ignore that the United States is home to generation after generation of Asian Americans. They also set up Asian Americans to be stereotyped in real life. Asian Americans often complain about how often they get asked, â€Å"Where are you from- originally?† or complimented for speaking good English when they’ve spent their entire lives in the United States. Prostitutes Asian women have routinely been featured as prostitutes and sex workers in Hollywood. The line â€Å"Me love you long time,† spoken by a Vietnamese sex worker to U.S. soldiers in the 1987 film â€Å"Full Metal Jacket,† is arguably the most famous cinematic example of an Asian woman willing to sexually debase herself for white men. â€Å"There we have the promiscuous API woman stereotype: The one in which the Asian woman wants to have sex, willing to do anything, with the white man,† wrote Tony Le in Pacific Ties magazine. â€Å"The stereotype has taken many forms, from Lotus Blossom to Miss Saigon.† Le said that 25 years of â€Å"me love you long time† jokes endure. According to the TV Tropes website, the Asian prostitute stereotype dates back to the 1960s and ’70s, when U.S. military involvement in Asia heightened. In addition to â€Å"Full Metal Jacket,† films such as â€Å"The World of Suzie Wong† notoriously featured an Asian prostitute whose love for a white man is unrequited. â€Å"Law Order: SVU† also routinely depicts Asian women as prostitutes and mail-order brides.

Challenge of leading a diverse workforce Assignment

Challenge of leading a diverse workforce - Assignment Example Diversity maximization in most companies, have become a significant role to play for the management to date. Researchers have reported that there is a higher prospect to a significant increase in adaptability to diversity in years to come (Noe, 2012 p. 34). For an organization to be rendered successful, it has to recognize the urgency of taking remedial action and be willing to put in a lot of effort in diversity management. In recent years, most organizations have consistently faced immense challenges in leading a diverse workforce. The human resource professional s in many companies has been confronted with a lot of setbacks which they have to address at workplace. Communication barriers among employees in an organization are one of the major challenges to diversity. Workers find it difficult to understand one another especially is they are from different countries of origin (Gordon & Whit, 2010 p.56). For instance, an employee from United Kingdom might find it difficult to interac t with a fellow employee from Germany who doesn’t understand English properly. ... A large populace of employees has failed to accept the significant revolution of cultural composition at workplace. Resentment s has accompanied the idea of incorporating people from diverse background and races. Indirect racial discrimination has been evident in organization leading to a poor workers relation. Workers find it uncomfortable relating with their fellow employees from difference race. Others prefer the top management to be composed of individual from a certain race of preference regardless of their skills. For example, in an organization structure composed of many blacks, most workers will prefer their managers to be black for comfort ability (Brislin, 2008 p.45). These conflicts kill the idea of effective management strategy for the best interest of the entire firm. People have resorted to concealing new ideas as a result, which is an impediment to a company’s ‘progress. Religious segregation is another challenge that ought not to be overlooked. Many firms have failed to give freedom to their employees to freely express their cultural beliefs and practices. Subjecting Muslim women to wearing skirts which reach a particular length by management as a dress code portrays unfair treatment. Their norms require full cover of their body. They should be allowed to wear long attire in accordance with their beliefs and practice (Henderson, 1994 p. 21). It has proven to be difficult in implementing diversity at workplace. Advertisement made by organization in media can pose a negative impression to people from different races. Images depicting of only the whites in top management produce a negative impression to some black people who might perceive that the organization does not entertain diversity

Italian luxuries Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Italian luxuries - Research Paper Example Italy has produced famous artists, painters, actors of all time including Leonardo Da Vinci, Amy Adams, and Rose McGowan etc. As far as the fashion is concerned Italy is jam packed with fashion and luxurious houses like Giorgio Armani, Laura Biagiotti, Bottega Veneta, Brioni, Roberto Cavalli, Corneliani, Brunello Cucinelli, Dolce & Gabbana, Dsquared2, Etro, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Alberta Ferretti, Gucci, Krizia, Loro Piana, Marni, Max Mara, Missoni, Miu Miu, Moschino, Prada, Emilio Pucci, Trussardi, Valentino, Versace, Tods and the list goes on. Italy was into fashion right from the beginning of Renaissance period. Italian fashion is appreciated all across the globe and its fashion shows including Milan Fashion Week is regarded as one of the biggest show in which variety of designers take part to present their fashion skills. Italy, also known as Italian Republic, is situated in the southern Europe so its most of the fashion styles are similar to the other high class fashionable countries of Europe including Germany, France, United Kingdom and Spain. Moreover Milan, Florence and Rome are generally considered to be one of the biggest fashion capitals of the world along with London, Paris and New York. Italian luxuries are not only famous only in Europe but also whole across the globe. One who’s not familiar with Bottega Veneta simple has no right to live according to most of the high class fashion designers of Vicenza. It was founded in 1966 and now comes under the multinational group Kering, formerly known as Gucci Group. It is famous for producing high quality leather goods including fashionable and stylish leather bags, clutches, bracelets, watches and wallets. Bottega Veneta also serve its customers with exquisite fragrances, furniture and home accessories. Versace is one of the leading brands in Italy. It was founded in 1978 by Gianni Versace. Versace serves wide range of ready-to-wear products including bags,

The Impact of Globalization on the UAE and Dubai During The Last Essay

The Impact of Globalization on the UAE and Dubai During The Last Decade - Essay Example This paper demonstrates that globalization has been an integral part in the economic growth of the Dubai. Globalization influenced economic, political and social advancements in the region. The impact of globalization on the UAE and Dubai is considered positive over the last years. Dubai, which is one of the wealthiest member countries in the Middle East, has benefited from globalization. Globalization has influenced Dubai significantly because it has increased the foreign investments, encouraged domestic investment and even stimulated free trade with other countries. Dubai has for a long time enjoyed global economic success since the discovery of oil and gas deposits. Before the oil and gas, Dubai was just a poor desert country but since the discovery of the resources, its market changed rapidly. However, oil is a resource that does not exist forever and one day all the oil resources will run out. However, thanks to globalization, the economic situation in Dubai will still remain stable and continue to enjoy dominance in the global market. The flourishing real estate business and industrial development is because of globalization. Globalization has opened up the country not only on foreign trade but also on import and export market. Globalization has resulted to openness of the country that has its negative impact on culture and tradition. The government must be able to manage the foreign investment flow to have a stable economy. It should be stated, that globalization is not a solution to every economic situation in a country.

College Initiative Essay Example for Free

College Initiative Essay Many people have goals and dreams they would love to achieve in life. My goal is to go into the medical field and become a professional in veternarian medicine. But the only way I can do that is to further my education, have proof of how focus and determined I am about what I want to be in life. My mother always said if you really want something in life strive for it. Dont let someone deprive you of what you want. So here I am in college trying to better myself for my future, because in reality what most people do not know is that they need to go to college if you really want to really support themselves, make a better living. The longer you stay in college the higher the degree, the higher the degree the higher your pay will be. In my family education was always stressed upon me and my brothers, because my parents didnt want us to struggle our whole life living from paycheck to paycheck like many people before us. That is why I am trying to be better than that. I want to beat the statistic, I want to prove to myself, the world that I am not just another number, that I will be able to choose my own future without being so limited in choices. My plans as a student of Saint Johns River State Community College is to receive the highest possible grades, and make the Deans List, so that way at the end of my two years at Saint Johns River State College, when I graduate with my AA degree, I can further my education onto other colleges such as forsay my dream college University of South Florida. They will see that I am not like the rest that I am my own individual who strives for the best of what the world has to offer. How I see it is if you do not go to college, have some form of document, then it is just going to be harder to find an actual decent job. Take for instance, one of my passions in life is music if I were to want to go pursue music and make it something major, the chances of me making it, becoming famous are high, but the chances of me staying famous are slim. Because so many people would want it as much as I do. But if you get a education, an actual filed document showing proof that you know what your doing and that your a very serious individual then you will stand out from the rest, and most likely stay in the lime light. College has so many oportunities. Since I want to major in veternarian medicine the requirements I will need are many certain sciences and many maths. And in college they offer to the classes I need to reach my goal. I personally do not see college as a chore but as a tool to reach where I need to be in life, and others, so why not take advantage of what is offered? Many people think that college is just a bunch of unnecessary work, when in reality the things that are learned in the books are basic knowledge you need in your everyday life. Jobs use basic knowledge from your eduacation all the time, and if you do not have basic educaton knowlegde then how do you suppose you survive in the real world? That is why goal is to stay in college for an estimate of eight years, and gain the knowledge I need to survive in the real world. My hopes and dreams by the end of my college life is that I will become representative, set a good example to people all the people who are around my age, that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Striving for the best for yourself and going infinity and beyond with it, will help you become more independent and well rounded as a person. My love and compassion for animals is what keeps me determined to accomplish what others might say is the impossible but to me is just another task on my list.

Strengths and weaknesses of food and beverage company Kraft Foods

Strengths and weaknesses of food and beverage company Kraft Foods INTRODUCTION Kraft Foods Inc. is the largest foods and beverage company in US and the world second largest industry which is after Nestle. Kraft had been offered consumers delicious and wholesome foods for more than 100 years. Kraft Foods headquarter is in North America. Kraft Foods has many of the best-known brands in the world with operations in 72 countries and sales in 155 countries. Kraft Foods has 140,000 diverse employees around the world and this is one of the reasons why they can succeed. Kraft Foods Inc. is a company which has different roots and founders. The three most successful food entrepreneurs are J.L. Kraft, who started his Chinese business in 1930; C.W. Post, who founded Postum Cereal Company in 1895; and Oscar Mayer, who began his meat business in 1883. Kraft Foods Malaysia was established in the year of 1959 in Malaysia and started with Tyre Hong Biscuit and Confectionary factory. Kraft Foods manufacturing in Malaysia and the factories located at Johor Bahru and Penang. VISION, MISSION AND GOAL Krafts company vision is to lend a helping hand to the people all around the world in order to have a better life and a healthy life-style. Krafts vision is satisfy consumer needs and making healthier foods. Kraft deliver the message to the customers that they concern about the health and wellness of everyone and wanted to provide high quality food and services. Kraft mission is to remain successful in the long-run. Constantly re-strategize the products categories to satisfy the needs of consumers is necessary for Kraft to operate in the future. Seize the opportunity to exploit sales capabilities by coming up with different marketng strategies Krafts corporate goals is to ensure that the products are innovative, high-quality, safe to consume, respectful to environmental needs, and the openness and integrity which seek to commit to the consumers TYPE OF PRODUCT Krafts products are divided into five categories which are grocery, beverages, cheese dairy, snacks cereals, and convenient meals. The well known brands that Kraft have in Malaysia includes Oreo, Jacobs, Chipsmore, Twisties and so on. MARKET SEGMENTATION Every consumer might have different taste and preferences. Hence, using a same marketing segmentation, which is also known as mass marketing by offering a single marketing mix to all consumers are not able to fulfill the needs and wants of all customers. In addition, the global market are becoming competitive and high customers requirements which is very dificult to satisfy. Therefore, Krafts seperate the operation in two main segments: Kraft North America Commercial and Kraft International Commercial. Besides, Kraft target to the customer who concern with their health and wellness. For example, most of the teenagers do not meet the recommended daily intake for calcium. Kraft then shift out the not-so-healthy snacks advertisement such as Oreo cookies and change to the products which meet new nutritional criteria. Kraft will also add the Sensible Solution label on products in order to transfer the message to all parents that the goods are meeting the nutrition criteria and save to consume. Kraft also doubled the calcium in traditional favourites such as Kraft Singles and Kraft Macaroni Cheese. Krafts business was launched internationally and realised that the consumer behaviour are depends on the local eating and social behaviour due to the particular countrys cultures, practices and traditions. Thus, Kraft always shown respect for different cultures, for example, selling HALAL food in Muslim Countries. Furthermore, in the nuts business, Kraft have more of a skew towards men versus other brands that may have more of a skew toward women. Kraft spend a lot of time to understand all the consumers attitudes, beliefs, etc. For example, Kraft focus on the Hispanic consumer as one of the core consumers of the brands. Hispanic consumer preference the brands like Oreo and Chips Ahoy. Kraft marketing will be customized around the insights for the different consumers. STRENGTHS Kraft is a multinational company and having the capability to attract consumer all over the world compare to the local companies. Besides of high market share and financial power, Kraft also has greater financial capability in altering existing products in terms of packaging, the formula of the particular product and others or creating new products, as well as to adapt or upgrade latest information system technology in manufacturing, order processing and other related fields in order to sustain their competitive advantage by delivering lower cost of goods and services than their competitors in this dynamic environment. Secondly, Kraft has an effective strategic marketing capability. For example, Kraft products such as Oreo cookies have built a strong and stable patent in many countries. Although Oreo has many competitors such as Cream-O, whereas the strong advertisements have indoctrinated most of the people that Krafts Oreo is the products of origin. Kraft iconic heritage brands are loved by the consumers worldwide. Around 80 percent of these heritage brands holding number one or two positions in the respective categories and are household names. Besides, Kraft also has great leadership attributes. The management team such as the top executives, branch managers, and others are responsible for the day-to-day operations and success of the company. The management group has extensive food industry experience and management depth. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Kraft Food company faces serious problem in the production sector. Kraft is not able to control the supply of the production. This is due to a sudden and unexpected increased in demand, which will cause extreme supply shortages for commodities that will result in major price increases. For instance, bad weather and natural disasters have always been an issue affecting incoming raw materials. The main problem is the shortage of raw material, Cocoa. Cocoa is a major ingredient for Kraft. Cocoa always used in the production of chocolates, cookies, desserts and others. Because of the importantly of cocoa, therefore, consistency of supply, in terms of price, quality and volume is the main consideration for Kraft. Kraft wants to improve the welfare of cocoa farmers and farm communities in order to maintain the long-term stability of the cocoa supply chain. West Africa is the country that produces seventy percent of cocoa among the world. Unfortunately, farmers face many challenges because of poverty. They do not have adequate infrastructure, lack of the educational opportunities and have only little investment in cocoa farming. These challenges are so complex, requiring the coordinated effort from the local government, industry and other organizations. In addition, this will cause Kraft to encounter a great loss due to the inaccuracy of supply because the farmers could not produce the actual quality and quantity of cocoa. In orders to resolve this problem, Kraft Foods is working as part of the coordinated effort to help to maintain the supply of cocoa. Kraft believes that to improve farmers income can solve these problems and also promoting efficiency effectiveness in the supply chain, quality and productivity. Kraft also works with the non-governmental organizations and industry partners in order to help cocoa farmers and their families. Krafts reaching out to governments and supports the programs that giving education to farmers and promote responsible farm practices. Kraft primary focus is in West Africa, while Kraft also is a member of cocoa sustainability programs in Latin America. Kraft wanted to empower cocoa farmers, their families and communities in order to build better lives for themselves while this can make sure that Kraft is able to maintain an adequate supply of quality cocoa for the generations to come. RECOMMENDATIONS There are some suggestion which can be considered by Kraft to solve the problem of inconsistency and shortage of raw materials. Firstly, Kraft can increase the safety stock level. Safety stock is the quantity of stock which can be used to satisfy unexpectedly high requirements in the stock out period. The purpose of the safety stock is to prevent the occurred of material shortage whereas usually will not be used in production. Therefore, Kraft might need to increase the safety stock in order to avoid the risk of shortage or back order which may incur higher costs. Safety stock can also help to lower down the customer turnover rate. In order to determine the accurate safety stock level, Krafts manufacturing department can implement the Manufacturing Require Planning II (MRP-II) system. MRP-II is an integrated information system used by businesses to centralize, integrate and process information for effective decision making. The function of MRP-II includes business planning, productio n planning and scheduling, order processing, and performance measurement and so on. With the help of MRP-II, Kraft can improve the production process by reduced the inventory level, improved the used of manufacturing facilities, response faster in changing conditions and so on. This will increase the competitive advantage of Kraft to compete with the competitor. Besides, Kraft can engage with multiple suppliers or dealers in particular region, so they could acquire inventories from multiple dealers, which will definitely decrease the risk of shortage due to incontrollable situation. Other than that, mutual trust and strong relationship with all the dealers are needed in order to increase the flexibility of material supply management, as well as to enhance the bargaining power of Kraft. Lastly, Kraft should also refer to the demand and purchase planning on last couple of years of sales to forecast current year of demand and supply. CONCLUSION Contributing towards a better and healthier society are the cocernstone of Kraft Foods business values and philosophy. In addition, Kraft also study about the consumers needs from time to time and satisfy the consumers as much as possible. Krafts strengths such as high financial power, effective strategic marketing capability and great leadership attributes have helped them through the obstacles. In order to achieve the goal, Kraft might need to solve the problem of the production.