“Cat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway Free Essays

â€Å"Cat in the Rain† by Ernest Hemingway The story under the title â€Å"Cat in the Rain† was written by Ernest Hemingway, one of the most favourite American novelists, short-story writer and essayist, whose deceptively simple prose style has influenced wide range of writers. So, the story begins with the description of the hotel where two Americans stopped. It was raining, that’s why the couple stayed in and just a cat in the rain attracted the young woman’s attention. We will write a custom essay sample on â€Å"Cat in the Rain† by Ernest Hemingway or any similar topic only for you Order Now She wanted to get the cat inside but failed and was brought another cat. The problem of the story lies very deeply and we are to uncover it. The story is written in one mood which constantly and directly increases. It starts from the beginning where it’s created by a persistent and repeated use of the â€Å"rain† with a number of phrases associating it, such as puddles, deserted square, glistening war monument. Repetition is one of the widely used and favourite stylistic devices of Hemingway. Here he applies it to reveal the relationship of the protagonist to the old hotel owner (she liked †¦ , she liked†¦ ). As the verb â€Å"to like† is not used to characterize relations of the wife to her husband, this contrast is full of the concealed but easily read meaning. Though the cases of repetition in the story may seem a bit obtrusive, their modifications enter into the core of the narration very organically. They carry emotional character, however penetrating the story the deep sorrow becomes evident gradually. We realize that little, as if meaningless, capricious wishes of a young woman reveal the drama of her fate, the absence of comfort in her life, comparable with the cat in the rain. The title of the story anticipates this confrontation and the fact that the cat’s image makes great play twice – just increases the total effect. In fact, the young woman pines for love, for home, for her family. And the purring cat she’d like to have and to stroke is a traditional symbol of home and comfort she lacks so much. She wants warmth, attention, care, joy, happiness; however she is brought the cat – a pitiful substitution of that, what she, a young, beautiful woman needs incredibly. This is the main problem of the novel we tried to uncover. Perhaps the hotel owner didn’t get the reason of her yearnings and took her wish for whim. But dignity, deference and respectfulness of the old man are confronted to egoism and carelessness of George not occasionally. The war monument is also mentioned deliberately. The world George and his wife belong to – is uncomfortable, homeless after-war world, where the fates of young people joined with such hardships and troubles. If to speak about the text itself, it is told in the 3rd person narrative. he description is interlaced with descriptive passages and dialogues of the personages. The author makes extensive use of repetitions to render the story more vivid, convincing, more real and emotional. The author’s style is remarkable for its powerful sweep, brilliant illustrations and deep psychological analysis. Everything he touches seems to reflect the feelings of the heroes. The story reveals the author’s great knowledge of man’s inner world. He penetr ates into the subtlest windings of the human heart. How to cite â€Å"Cat in the Rain† by Ernest Hemingway, Essay examples

Mental Health Problem Of Mildura Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Mental Health Problem Of Mildura. Answer: Mental illness of parents poses a serious challenge to the quality of life (QoL) of parents and their children. Improving QoL is an important political and public health concern (Bee et al., 2014). The following essay aims to highlight the mental health complications among the adults population of Mildura, the possible interventions for steady recovery and the role of anoccupational therapist in mental health recovery. Mental Health: Parents in Mildura According to the Victorias Mental Health Services Annual Report (2016-2017), 11 % of the Victorian population suffers from mental health complications and the majority of them are adults. Among this 11% of population, half of them are women and 33% of them reside in rural areas like Mildura. According to Van Loon et al., (2014), children of parents suffering from mental health problems are highly susceptible towards developing psychological problems. This is because the child interaction with parents with mental health is not healthy moreover, the family environments with parents with mental illness is negative, which cast an adverse impact on the child. Thus parental monitoring must get a detailed focus in present mental health interventions in Vitoria in order to safe guard adolescents with mentally ill parents from developing similar problems (Van Loon, Van de Ven, Van Doesum, WittemanHosman2014). Health promotion strategies Lifestyle Medicine: Mental health and stress are closely associated with unhealthy lifestyles. Thus, healthy behaviour interventions contribute to physical and mental health along with the management of stress (Min, Lee Lee, 2013). With expand in occurrence of the lifestyle disease, therapeutic changes in lifestyle have now become the prime focus for physical and mental health promotion. Thus life change aimed towards smoking, consumption of alcohol, physical activity, healthy diet, stress management, obesity and stress management (Min, Lee Lee, 2013). Stress management and skills training: Management of stress of daily life and adding towards recovery through adverse health effects are important factors in mental health promotion. Interplay of mind, brain and body in involved in generation of stress and thus interventions designed over mind-body medicine is recommended as an important medium for managing stress (Min, Lee Lee, 2013). Community intervention: Community interventions deal with expand in public awareness about mental health which will help to expand the acceptance of the mental health care for prevention and promotion of the mental health illness (Min, Lee Lee, 2013). Victoria State Government is also in favour of the community interventions toward the improvement of the mental health of the adult populations (Victoria State Government, 2017). Other strategies that can be implemented for mental health recovery or prevention include preventive consultation and positive psychotherapy (Min, Lee Lee, 2013). Kalra et al. (2012), have vouched in favour of improvement of coping strategies in order to reduce stress induced by mental illness. Person centred care or targeted interventions at individuals may also derive positive results (Kalra et al., 2012).Hagenet al. (2012) has opined that evidence-based online mental health promotion an helpful strategy for mental health prevention and treatment. Analysis of five selectedhealth promotion strategies Lifestyle medicine is one of the important mental health strategies because, according to Department of Health Australia (2017), majority of the population in Vitoria abides unhealthy lifestyle life smoking, consumption of alcohol and this are main factors behind the mental health complication among the adult population. Moreover, according to National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum Australia (2014), people with complications in mental health are commonly smoke tobacco in comparison to the general population and this tendency is likely to aggravate the mental health complications further. Taylor et al. (2014), has opined that prevention of smoking or prevention against consumption of alcohol will help the people suffering from mental illness to recover faster. Smoking of cigarette is a crucial preventable risk for mental illnesses. Severity, assessment of patients dependence and willingness to quit smoking, behavioural intervention along with proper knowledge, motivational interviewing and accurate pharmacotherapy will be useful evidence-based approaches. Moreover, counselling and education for low-risk alcohol consumption could to be procured in lifestyle medicine interventions (Min, Lee Lee, 2013). According to Taylor et al. (2014), cessation of smoking is related with reduced anxiety, stress and depression. this in turn helps in promotion of positive mindset and quality of life. Stress management and skills training Stress is the major stigma behind the generation of depressive symptoms and these gradually aggravates into complex mental illness like anxiety (Heim Binder, 2012). Moreover parent stress either arising out of mental illness or responsible for mental illness cast immense impact upon their children. According to Heim and Binder (2012), stress in early stages of life like childhood abuse or parental neglect is a well-established and major risk behind generating depressive disorders in the later stages of life. Hence coping up with adult stress and stress related mental illness of the parents is crucial for better outcome of the children during the developmental stages. Cognitive behavioural approaches or cognitive-behavioural stress management (CBSM) and subsequent skill training is useful for speedy recovery from mental health illness. CBSM promotes strong cognitive and emotional reactivity. It also helps in moderate mindfulness and rumination. Other approaches that are frequently undertaken for optimal management of stress include breathing (abdominal breathing) and relaxation exercises (progressive muscle relaxation) (Gu, Strauss, Bond Cavanagh, 2015) The main goal of this therapy is eradication of irrational thought pattern and replacing the same with rational thoughts. This in turn assists people to cope-up with stress, illness and pain while increase sustained attention towards moment-to-moment experiences (Min, Lee Lee, 2013). Community intervention For the majority of physiological diseases, it is largely accepted that population will benefit via knowing the nature of actions that are required to be undertaken for prevention of the physical disease, early stage intervention, and subsequent treatment. But, similar type of public knowledge in the domain of mental health disorders (mental health literacy) has received significantly less attention. So community based interventions will help to increase the proper knowledge and adequate awareness of mental health disorders among the population of Mildura (Jorm, 2012). Community based mental health approach mostly involve mental health literacy for example interventions in the educational settings, whole-community campaigns and Mental Health First Aid training. Moreover, increasing community based mental health literacy is required to be focused on the national policy and monitoring of population because, the whole community is entitled to under-take effective actions for better mental health outcomes (Jorm, 2012). The community based interventions in mental health disorders or illness will help to increase public's knowledge regarding how to restrict mental disorders, proper recognition about the disorder for example how it is developing, proper education about help-seeking options and the available treatments, adequate knowledge about the effective self-help strategies for mild mental health problems, and optimal first aid skills to assist others who are suffering from mental health problems (Jorm, 2012). Preventive consultation and positive psychotherapy is important mental health prevention as it aims to reduce the vulnerability to depression and anxiety. Positive psychotherapy comprises of 8 to 12 sessions which will focus on self-observation, skill development and sustaining attention towards daily life experiences. Positive psychotherapy aims to improve engagement, positive emotion and thereby improving quality of life(Min, Lee Lee, 2013). Person centred care maximizes the health coverage for both non-communicable diseases and mental disorders. It is helpful in treating mental health disorders like depression and alcohol use disorders that occurs in association with the non-communicable diseases like heart disease and diabetes (Patel Chatterji, 2015). PCC is procured via systematic care and support planning. Optimised implementation of PCC helps in the improvement of wellbeing via developing positive sense of control (Eaton, Roberts Turner, 2015). Linkage between the interventions CBSM is one of the principal approaches used against stress management interventions (Stead et al., 2016). According to the reports published by Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer and Fang (2012), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a famous therapeutic approach that can be utilised to a variety of problems like substance use disorders, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, bipolar disorder, anger, aggression and other related psychotic disorders. Application of CBT under the framework of PCC will help to reduction mental health illness and associated non-communicable disease(Hofmann et al., 2012). The majority of people take help of alcohol or cigarette in order to cope up with stress (Stead et al., 2016). Research reports published by Stead et al. (2016), stated that behavioural support along with positive psychotherapyalong with medications help people to get rid of stress and thereby aiding them to quit smoking. Thus stress management and life medici nes interventions will work in sync in order to protect the adult population of Mildura from the severity of the mental health illness. Furthermore Jorm (2012), is of the opinion that promotion of mental health literacy will help to generate awareness in the domain of mental health complications and thus the people will become more serious about their lifestyle and this will reduce occurrence of mental illness. Ottawa Charter has five key strategies for health promotion and this include building healthy public policy (lifestyle medicines), creating supportive environments (person centred care and positive psychotherapy), strengthening community action (community interventions), and developing personal skills (stress management) and reorient health services. Under these five strategies, all the above-discussed interventions are linked and this will help in procuring comprehensive mental health outcome. For example, Ottawa Charter aims to provide a focused development of personal skills along with the encouragement towards participating individual to change their lifestyle while taking responsibility for their own health (Mittelmark Bull, 2013;Mcluckie, et al, 2014). Strategies and health promotion values The aim of these interventions is to reduce the mental health illness among the adult populations in Australia and this will in turn help to reduce adverse mental and physical health outcomes on the upcoming populations. Thus these interventions are in accordance with the National Mental Health Strategy of Australia (2017) which aims to reduce the impact of the mental health disorders on the individuals, community and family members. Moreover, the National Mental Health Strategy of Australia (2017) also aims to prevent the development of the mental health disorder sand associated non-communicable disease among the population. Whiteford et al. (2013) have highlight the increase of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet and lifestyles in response to stress management as the major contributing factors behind the global burden of mental health complications. The research carried by L Cook et al. (2014), stated that quitting smoking along with reducing consumption of alcoh ol to reduce the mental health complications and this in turn is linked with the reduction in occurrence of non-communicable disease. Values of occupational therapists (OT) to address mental health issues Strong evidence exists at the universal level towards the importance of occupation-and activity-based interventions in numerous areas like programs focused on emotional and social learning and stress management activities (Arbesman, Bazyk Nochajski, 2013). At the target population level, firmg evidence suggests that life skills and social programs are effective for the adults populations who are married and have children. Additionally evidence of social skills programs is strong for the adult population who require assistance at intensive level (serious behaviour disorders, autism spectrum disorder) in order to improve self-management and social behaviour (Arbesman, BazykNochajski, 2013). According to Scheewe et al. (2013), OT nurtures a value towards the observance of the exercise therapy towards the success recovery from the mental health complications. Exercise therapy performed once a week helped to improve the physical fitness and this in turn reduced need of care in patients ( Scheewe et al. 2013). Analysis of the approaches undertaken by OT The main advantage of using exercise in mental health recovery is helps in the release of stress relieving hormones. According to Morgan et al. (2013), reduction in stress helps to fight against mental health severity and also helps in reducing the urging of smoke (Morgan et al., 2013). Rashedi, Gharib Yazdani, (2014) is of the opinion that social participation and interaction helps in the reducing social exclusion among the mentally ill patients and this in turn help them to share their problems and thereby helping in speedy recovery via framing person-centred care. However, the disadvantages of social participation is, it may results in social bullying and thus further increasing the complications of mental health Rashedi, GharibYazdani, 2014). On the other hand, exercise regime may increase the level of fatigue among the patients. According to Naess, Lunde Brogger, (2012) increase in fatigue turn may aggravate the sense of depression further complicating the state of mental health. Challenges of OT The main challenges which an OT face include lack of proper job satisfaction and high rate of burn-out (Scanlan Still, 2013). However, in case of mental health occupational therapists, while providing social support in order to improve the social behaviour, they experiences verbal abuses coming from the participants. This abuse delays the recovery-oriented practice while increasing the burnout and turn-over among the OT (Slade et al., 2014). Thus from the above discussion it can be concluded that in order to control the mental health complications among the adult population of Mildura, proper synchronization of the mental health improvement strategies are required. However, apart from mental health prevention strategies, active participations from the occupational therapists will aggravate the process of recovery. References Arbesman, M., Bazyk, S., Nochajski, S. M. (2013).Systematic review of occupational therapy and mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention for children and youth.American Journal of Occupational Therapy,67(6), e120-e130.doi:10.5014/ajot.2013.008359 Bee, P., Bower, P., Byford, S., Churchill, R., Calam, R., Stallard, P., ... Abel, K. (2014). The clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of community-based interventions aimed at improving or maintaining quality of life in children of parents with serious mental illness: a systematic review. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK261590/ Department of Health Australia.(2017). Evaluation Of The National Mental Health Strategy.Promotion and prevention.Accessed date: 12th March. Retrieved from: https://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-e-strateval-toc~mental-pubs-e-strateval-pro Eaton, S., Roberts, S., Turner, B. (2015). Delivering person centred care in long term conditions.Bmj,350, h181.doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h181 Government of Australia-Department of Health.(2017). National mental health strategy.Accessed date: 13th March. Retrieved from: https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/mental-strat Gu, J., Strauss, C., Bond, R., Cavanagh, K. (2015). How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies.Clinical psychology review,37, 1-12.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006 Hagen, P., Collin, P., Metcalf, A., Nicholas, M., Rahilly, K., Swainston, N. (2012).Participatory design of evidence-based online youth mental health promotion, intervention and treatment. Abbotsford, Vic.: Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre. Retrieved from https://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/141862/20160405-1343/www.youngandwellcrc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Young_and_Well_CRC_IM_PD_Guide.pdf Heim, C., Binder, E. B. (2012). Current research trends in early life stress and depression: Review of human studies on sensitive periods, geneenvironment interactions, and epigenetics.Experimental neurology,233(1), 102-111.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2011.10.032 Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., Fang, A. (2012). The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses.Cognitive therapy and research,36(5), 427-440.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1 Jorm, A. F. (2012). Mental health literacy: empowering the community to take action for better mental health.American Psychologist,67(3), 231.Retrieved from: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-24866-001 Kalra, G., Christodoulou, G., Jenkins, R., Tsipas, V., Christodoulou, N., Lecic-Tosevski, D., ...Bhugra, D. (2012). Mental health promotion: guidance and strategies.European Psychiatry,27(2), 81-86. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2011.10.001 L Cook, B., Wayne, G. F., Kafali, E. N., Liu, Z., Shu, C., Flores, M. (2014).Trends in smoking among adults with mental illness and association between mental health treatment and smoking cessation.Jama,311(2), 172-182. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.284985 Mcluckie, A., Kutcher, S., Wei, Y., Weaver, C. (2014). Sustained improvements in students mental health literacy with use of a mental health curriculum in Canadian schools.BMC psychiatry,14(1), 379.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-014-0379-4 Min, J. A., Lee, C. U., Lee, C. (2013). Mental health promotion and illness prevention: a challenge for psychiatrists.Psychiatry investigation,10(4), 307-316.doi:10.4306/pi.2013.10.4.307 Mittelmark, M. B., Bull, T. (2013).The salutogenic model of health in health promotion research.Global Health Promotion,20(2), 30-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757975913486684 Morgan, A. J., Parker, A. G., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Jorm, A. F. (2013). Exercise and Mental Health: An Exercise and Sports Science Australia Commissioned Review.Journal of Exercise Physiology Online,16(4). Retrieved from: https://www.asep.org/asep/asep/JEPonlineAUGUST2013_Morgan.pdf Naess, H., Lunde, L., Brogger, J. (2012). The effects of fatigue, pain, and depression on quality of life in ischemic stroke patients: the Bergen Stroke Study.Vascular health and risk management,8, 407. doi:10.2147/VHRM.S32780 National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum Australia.(2014). Smoking and Mental Health.Accessed date: 12th March. Retrieved from: https://nmhccf.org.au/sites/default/files/docs/nmhccf_-_advoacy_brief_-_smoking_-_february_2014.pdf Patel, V., Chatterji, S. (2015).Integrating mental health in care for noncommunicable diseases: an imperative for person-centered care.Health Affairs,34(9), 1498-1505. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0791 Rashedi, V., Gharib, M., Yazdani, A. A. (2014).Social participation and mental health among older adults in Iran.Iranian Rehabilitation Journal,12(1), 9-13. Retrieved from: https://irj.uswr.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-131-4slc_lang=ensid=1 Scanlan, J. N., Still, M. (2013).Job satisfaction, burnout and turnover intention in occupational therapists working in mental health.Australian occupational therapy journal,60(5), 310-318.DOI:10.1111/1440-1630.12067 Scheewe, T. W., Backx, F. J. G., Takken, T., Jrg, F., Strater, A. V., Kroes, A. G., ... Cahn, W. (2013). Exercise therapy improves mental and physical health in schizophrenia: a randomised controlled trial.ActaPsychiatricaScandinavica,127(6), 464-473. DOI:10.1111/acps.12029 Slade, M., Amering, M., Farkas, M., Hamilton, B., O'Hagan, M., Panther, G., ... Whitley, R. (2014). Uses and abuses of recovery: implementing recovery?oriented practices in mental health systems.World Psychiatry,13(1), 12-20. DOI:10.1002/wps.20084 Stead, L. F., Koilpillai, P., Fanshawe, T. R., Lancaster, T. (2016).Combined pharmacotherapy and behavioural interventions for smoking cessation.The Cochrane Library.DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD008286.pub3 Taylor, G., McNeill, A., Girling, A., Farley, A., Lindson-Hawley, N., Aveyard, P. (2014). Change in mental health after smoking cessation: systematic review and meta-analysis.Bmj,348, g1151.doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g1151 Van Loon, L. M., Van de Ven, M. O., Van Doesum, K. T., Witteman, C. L., Hosman, C. M. (2014). The relation between parental mental illness and adolescent mental health: The role of family factors.Journal of Child and Family Studies,23(7), 1201-1214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9781-7 Victoria State Government. (2017). Community Interventions: Mental Health. Accessed date: 12th March. Retrieved from: https://prevention.health.vic.gov.au/ Victoria State Government.(2017). Victorias Mental Health Services Annual Report 2016-2017. Accessed date: 12th March. Retrieved from: https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/mental-health/priorities-and-transformation/mental-health-annual-report Whiteford, H. A., Degenhardt, L., Rehm, J., Baxter, A. J., Ferrari, A. J., Erskine, H. E., ... Burstein, R. (2013). Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.The Lancet,382(9904), 1575-1586. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6

It Failures free essay sample

Project Implementation Failures HCS/483 September 19, 2012 Dr. Alex Kadrie IT Project Implementation Failures An IT implementation process can be long and tedious, or short and simple, depending on the size and needs of an organization. While implementing this process it is important to understand the roles and responsibilities of each step. Sometimes when the process is not thought out correctly, IT failures happen. IT failures are common reasons that systems do not work, or have many flaws. Implementation Process The time and resources needed to implement a new health care information system can vary considerably based on the scope of the project, the needs and complexity of the organization, the number of applications being installed, and the number of user groups involved. † (Wager, Lee, Glaser, 2009). The first part in implementing a system is to first assign a team of professionals within the organization. The responsibility and role of the team would be to plan, coordin ate, budget, and manage the new system set up. We will write a custom essay sample on It Failures or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The team should determine what the objectives and goals of the new system should be. After this the next step is to develop and implement the process. Some major steps should include how long each activity should take, resources and budget, and ways to alleviate completion and success. Components of an implementation plan are workflow and analysis, system installation, staff training, conversion, communication, and a go-live date. The size and needs of an organization is what determines the type of system that will be needed. In the Memorial Health System case the process that was used to implement a new information system was poorly thought out. The process described in the case study failed to include fundamental activities such as workflow and analysis of the system. The organization failed to review and evaluate the existing system before trying to implement a new one. Sitting with the employees and analyzing what kinds of changes are needed would make it easier to determine what is needed. In the case study of Memorial Health system, project failures manifested themselves while trying to implement a new system. Lack of clarity of a project is one failing indicator. Although the CEO was determined to have the system up and running in the remaining months of the implementation, it was unclear to the project manager the point of the project if the system was not ready. Other indications are insufficient leadership support and candor, because with all the issues that the project manager had, she should have been able to talk to her boss about the lack of manpower and money to complete the system on time. Dr. Sparks was not open to hear bad news. I would have spoken with the manager to figure out what was wrong and to help solve the problem instead of ignoring the fact that something was wrong. Organizational inertia is a problem as some of the physicians did not want to incorporate a new system because they felt as though it would put more stress on their workload and turn them into more like secretaries than doctors. Along with these indicators is also lack of an appropriate reward system. Physicians can be awarded for many things, but at times when the small things matter the most there is no reward. For me I would have given more initiative for help with the system for all staff to be on board with the new system. Initiative undernourishment was also a problem because of the huge demand of work needed to be done with little staff instead of the right number of employees to get the work done on time. The implementation process of a new health information system has many steps to ensure this done correctly. Many fundamental elements of an information system implementation cause an organization to fail. Causes such as lack of candor, reward systems, lack of clarity and initiative undernourishment make it hard to implement a system without failure. If the proper steps are taken, and the right process is followed a health transition to a new system can be accomplished. Reference Wagner, K. A. , Lee F. W. , Glaser, J. P. (2009). Health care information system: A practical approach for health care management (2nd ed. ). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Dong Son Drums - Symbols of a Maritime Bronze Age Society in Asia

Dong Son Drums - Symbols of a Maritime Bronze Age Society in Asia The Dong Son Drum (or Dongson Drum) is ​the  most famous artifact of the Southeast Asian Dongson culture, a complex society of farmers and sailors who lived in what is today northern Vietnam, and made bronze and iron objects between about 600 BC and AD 200. The drums, which are found throughout southeast Asia, can be enormousa typical drum is 70 centimeters (27 inches) in diameterwith a flat top, bulbous rim, straight sides, and a splayed foot. The Dong Son drum is the earliest form of bronze drum found in southern China and southeast Asia, and they have been used by many different ethnic groups from prehistoric times to the present. Most of the early examples are found in northern Vietnam and southwestern China, specifically, Yunnan Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dong Son drums were produced in the Tonkin area of northern Vietnam and southern China beginning about 500 BC and then traded or otherwise distributed throughout island Southeast Asia as far as the western New Guinea mainland and the island of Manus. The earliest written records describing the Dongson drum appear in the Shi Ben, a Chinese book dated from the 3rd century BC. The Hou Han Shu, a late Han dynasty book dated to the 5th century AD, describes how the Han dynasty rulers collected bronze drums from what is now northern Vietnam to melt down and recast into bronze horses. Examples of Dongson Drums have been found in elite burial assemblages at the major Dongson culture sites of Dong Son, Viet Khe, and Shizhie Shan. Dong Son Drum Designs Designs on the highly ornamented Dong Son drums reflect a sea-oriented society. Some have elaborate friezes of figured scenes, featuring boats and warriors wearing elaborate feather head-dresses. Other common watery designs include bird-motifs, small three-dimensional animals (frogs or toads?), long boats, fish, and geometric symbols of clouds and thunder. Human figures, long-tailed flying birds and stylized depictions of boats are typical on the bulging upper part of the drums. One iconic image found on the top of all Dongson drums is a classic starburst, with a various number of spikes radiating out from a center. This image is immediately recognizable to westerners as a representation of a sun or a star. Whether that was what the makers had in mind is something of a puzzle. Interpretive Clashes Vietnamese scholars tend to view the decorations on the drums as a reflection of cultural characteristics of the Lac Viet people, early residents of Vietnam; Chinese scholars interpret the same decorations as evidence of a cultural exchange between interior China and Chinas southern frontier. One outlier theorist is Austrian scholar Robert von Heine-Geldern, who pointed out that the earliest Bronze Age drums in the world come from 8th century BC Scandinavia and the Balkans: he suggested that some of the decorative motifs including tangent-circles, ladder-motif, meanders and hatched triangles may have roots in the Balkans. Heine-Gelderns theory is a minority position. Another point of contention is the central star: it has been interpreted by western scholars to represent the sun (suggesting the drums are part of a solar cult), or perhaps the Pole Star, marking the center of the sky (but the Pole Star is not visible in much of southeast Asia). The real crux of the issue is that the typical southeast Asian sun/star icon is not a round center with triangles representing the rays, but rather a circle with straight or wavy lines emanating from its edges. The star form is undeniably a decorative element found on Dongson drums, but its meaning and nature is unknown at present. Long-beaked and long-tailed birds with outstretched wings are often seen on the drums, and interpreted as typically aquatic, such as herons or cranes. These too have been used to argue a foreign contact from Mesopotamia/Egypt/Europe with southeast Asia. Again, this is a minority theory that crops up in the literature (see Loofs-Wissowa for a detailed discussion). But, contact with such far-flung societies is not a totally crazy idea: Dongson sailors likely participated in the Maritime Silk Road which could account for long-distance contact with late Bronze Age societies in India and the rest of the world.There is no doubt that the drums themselves were made by the Dongson people, and where they got the ideas for some of their motifs is (to my mind anyway) not particularly significant.   Studying Dong Son Drums The first archaeologist to comprehensively study southeast Asian drums was Franz Heger, an Austrian archaeologist, who categorized the drums into four types and three transitory types. Hegers Type 1 was the earliest form, and that is the one called the Dong Son drum. It wasnt until the 1950s that Vietnamese and Chinese scholars began their own investigations. A rift was established between the two countries, in that each set of scholars claimed the invention of bronze drums for their resident countries. That split of interpretation has persisted. In terms of classifying drum styles, for example, Vietnamese scholars kept Hegers typology, while Chinese scholars created their own classifications. While antagonism between the two sets of scholars has melted away, neither side has changed its overall position. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Dongson Culture, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Ballard C, Bradley R, Myhre LN, and Wilson M. 2004. The ship as symbol in the prehistory of Scandinavia and Southeast Asia. World Archaeology 35(3):385-403.  . Chinh HX, and Tien BV. 1980. The Dongson Culture and Cultural Centers in the Metal Age in Vietnam. Asian Perspectives 23(1):55-65. Han X. 1998. The present echoes of the ancient bronze drums: Nationalism and archaeology in modern Vietnam and China. Explorations 2(2):27-46. Han X. 2004. Who Invented the Bronze Drum? Nationalism, Politics, and a Sino-Vietnamese Archaeological Debate of the 1970s and 1980s. Asian Perspectives 43(1):7-33. Loofs-Wissowa HHE. 1991. Dongson Drums: Instruments of shamanism or regalia? Arts Asiatiques 46(1):39-49. Solheim WG. 1988. A Brief History of the Dongson Concept. Asian Perspectives 28(1):23-30. Tessitore J. 1988. View from the East Mountain: An Examination of the Relationship between the Dong Son and Lake Tien Civilizations in the First Millennium B.C. Asian Perspectives 28(1):31-44. Yao, Alice. Recent Developments in the Archaeology of Southwestern China. Journal of Archaeological Research, Volume 18, Issue 3, February 5, 2010.

Estimate critical analysis of the companys recent history with Essay

Estimate critical analysis of the companys recent history with Financial Analysis of Heartland Express company - Essay Example (Rm-Rf) is the risk premium rate and beta can be defined as a measure of how much the stock and market move together. The following values have been traced through relevant financial sources WACC or the weighted average cost of capital is the weighted average cost of the company’s equity and long term debt. WACC is calculated by multiplying the cost of equity with the market value of the equity and cost of debt with the market value of the debt. Cost of debt is usually the interest rate that the company’s pay on its long term and short term financial borrowings. However, an analysis of the company’s financial statements will show that the company does have any long term or short term interest bearing financial debts. All of its debts comprise of trading nature and the company does have to pay any interest on such securities. Does the cost of debt for the heartland express is nil. Keeping all the above factors into consideration, the WACC of heartland express is equal to its cost of equity i.e. 6.11% The estimated value of the company’s equity is calculated by discounting the free cash flow of the company for the foreseeable future using the weighted average cost of capital of the company (WACC). Free cash flow method is basically a measure of financial performance of the company which is calculated as free cash flows minus the capital expenditure. From pure financial management’s perspective, free cash flow can be defined as the cash which the company is able to generate setting aside the money required to maintain or expand its current asset base. The following table presents the free cash flow calculation and the equity value of the company as at financial year end December 31, 2010. Note 2: In the free cash flow method, the depreciation and amortization expense are added to the profit after taxes since these are the non-cash items. For the

Respond latter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Respond latter - Essay Example The movie includes all the main incidents of Gandhi’s life. It starts with the assassination of Gandhi and then playbacks the whole life story. Once in South Africa, he is thrown out of train despite having the ticket, just because he is an Indian. Thereby Gandhi decides to start a non violent protest for the rights of Indians. After depicting his victory in South Africa, the film illustrates Gandhi’s further life in India. He is urged to return India and requested to lead the nation for its independence. Gandhi holds the command of nation really well without compromising with his rules and regulations of non violence, the only reason for saying him as the national hero. Along with his mass supporters he faces some setbacks of imprisonment during this period. The movie very willingly represents the various associate movements such as Satyagraha, Dandi march, Swedeshi movement initiated by Gandhi to tunnel up the British rule. The movie intentionally includes the mass gathering addressed by Gandhi. Eventually gaining the support of Indians he succeeds to get freedom from colonial rule. One of the notable criticisms against the film was that Attenborough’s Gandhi was seriously biased, pro-Hindu film. According to the critics, it surreptitiously exalted Hinduism and portrayed Gandhi’s religious convictions as of an average Hindu. In the same way, it also abased Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Muslim participation in the freedom movement as if they were religious fanatics who caused the separation of the nation. However, some are of the opinion that the film was discreet enough regarding the religious aspects illustrated throughout the life evens of Gandhi (Markovits, 29). The same was the idea that I personally felt as viewing the film Gandhi. Gandhi was not involved in any of the religious practices; instead, his ideology was that of an egalitarian who cherished love above all and was imbued with the scriptures of all

The Recessions Effect On Consumer Behaviour Commerce Essay

The Recessions Effect On Consumer Behaviour Commerce Essay A recession is a negative decline in economic activity over a period of time. This is usually defined as a decline in Gross domestic product for two or more consecutive quarters. GDP is a measure of the countrys overall economic performance over a period of time. It is made up of consumption, investment, government spending, and exports minus imports. Consumer behaviour is the study that looks at all the reasons why people purchase products and where and when they purchase them. The credit crunch first started with the USA mortgage market and the collapse of the global housing bubble. Individuals were taking out mortgages that they could never afford to pay back. It all went wrong when the house prices in the USA started to fall. This in turn caused the value of securities connected to house prices to fall. The financial institutions all over the world were damaged. This put uncertainty regarding banks ability to pay its debts. The banks panicked and there was a rapid decline in credit availability. The investors confidence also declined and this had an impact on global stock markets. It was argued that investors did not accurately put a price on the risk involved with mortgage-related financial products. This causing the whole finance market to fail. The recession has caused banks to tighten credit availability. This has caused massive problems to secure credit for big ticket items such as cars and holidays. [1] The recession has had a major effect on many peoples consumer behaviour. There are many industries that have been hit by the recession. One important sector hit by the recession is the car industry and a knock on effect to companies that supply the car industry. Due to people finding it hard to secure finance they are unable to purchase new cars. So the sales of new cars have dramatically declined. An example of this is the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. It has always been at the top of its game for many years. It has been producing exceptionally reliable cars and always at the cutting edge of technology. While in the recession the chief of Toyota Mr Katsuaki Watanabe produced the final annual figure which showed a loss of $4.4 billion. This was the companies first loss since 1950. This shows just how bad the car industry has been hit by the recession with many other firms in the industry achieving even bigger losses. [2] Another area that has been hit is the trade associated with the housing market. Due to problems with getting a mortgage people are unable to purchase new houses. So the development of new properties has fallen. Many house building companies such as Redrow and Barretts actually stopped building new houses on their sites when they realised they could not sell them. So all the labour associated were now unemployed. The Steel industry has also been hit hard. This is due to the car industry and house industry not needing the amount of steel they used to demand. With the recession affecting the whole economy the government has tired to use monetary policy to fix our situation. The government has tried to alter the supply of money by lowering the interest rate. But in doing this it has affected other sectors of the population. It will have a massive effect on people who rely on good returns from money they have invested. An example of this is the older population using their savings to give them an income to live on. At the moment the interest rate is at 0.5% compared to 4.5% in 2006. So the return they will receive on their investment has declined. The consequence of this is that their disposable income will fall causing them to purchase less. The government has also reduced Value added tax from 17.5% to 15%. This is a monetary policy that aims to increase the purchasing of consumers in the economy. The recession has also caused the exchange rate to fall against the pound. This means that the price of imports increase and price of exports de crease. This in turn has caused the import of raw materials for manufacturing to increase for many businesses. Due to the fact that the UK does not produce a lot of goods we rely heavily on imports. These now cost more than what they did before. This means that the consumer is getting less value for their money. The recession has had varied effects on different demographics within the economy. How people are affected depends on age, gender, occupation and location. The highest unemployed age appears to be the 18-24 category. This may be due to their lack of experience. A company would prefer to employ people who are skilled in doing their job. The older workers (45-64) will find it harder to obtain a new job if they are made unemployed. The current unemployment rate is at 7.8%. During a recession unemployment is a serious factor that affects consumers behaviour. Even if the individual consumer is not facing unemployment themselves they will still be affected psychologically. This is because other people around them such as family and friends may be affected. It will give them a thought that it may actually happen to them soon. It will affect their consumer confidence. With people having less consumer confidence they are more likely to save money rather than spend. So this makes the recession worse because it will reduce GDP more if consumers are not spending. Consumer behaviour is related to consumer motivation. Motivation is a basic concept in human behaviour. There is believed to be tension that arises as a result of unfulfilled needs that we have. The needs that are unfilled will move a consumer away from homeostasis balance. The Homeostasis See-Saw shows that a consumer needs a balance between Need satisfaction and Deprivation. The balance between these two is believed to be the homeostasis state. There are four drives that take us away from this equilibrium. Biogenic drives are such things as hunger and thirst that we automatically think we need. Psychogenic drives which drive us to achieve a certain status. These will depend on social and cultural environment that a person is used to. Cognitive motives are those that stimulate people to adapt to the environment and achieve a sense of meaning in society. Affective motives are associated with the need of obtaining emotional goals and the ability to achieve a satisfying feeling state. In a recession all these motives would be affected. Peoples purchasing pattern and ability to purchase certain products would follow a different pattern. In a recession when times are hard it could be potentially difficult to reach the homeostasis balance.[3] An impact the recession can have on consumer behaviour is the Lipstick Effect. When times are hard within an economy a consumer will stop spending money on big ticket items such as Expensive holidays or a new car. In order to achieve the feeling shopping brings consumers simply trade down to cheaper items to make them feel happy and content. The recent sales figures from cosmetic companies such as LOrà ©al and Revlon show that the lipstick effect is in operation within our economy at the moment. LOrà ©al showed sales growth of 5.3% in the first part of the year when the recession started. It shows that when consumers budgets are tightened that people just substitute larger luxury goods such as a new fur coat for small luxuries such as expensive makeup. [4] Some consumers in the recession are choosing to drop a brand level in their weekly shop. This means that rather than purchasing the brand products such as Heinz and Kelloggs they are choosing to purchase supermarkets own brands or no frills brands. It is said to save on average 33% on your weekly shop by dropping one brand level.[10] Brand loyalty has less effect in a recession due to consumers not being able to afford to be loyal if there is a cheaper close substitute. While in a recession there are many consumer behaviour trends that start to emerge. One example of this is Sellsuming. This is a trend where Consumers are very creative in selling products or services that they have to offer. With need to generate extra income consumers become inclined to sell things they dont need or want anymore. An example of this is the use of eBay the online auction site to sell unwanted products. Some consumers may even go as far as renting out parking spaces. Another trend is the Increase of  online services and social media usage. With the unemployment rate increasing and jobs not being very secure, people spend more time looking for job advertisements on the internet. Consumers are also being sensible when they are shopping. The consumer is continuously looking for very good deals both online and offline. Consumers are looking for the best price and the best value available to them. Internet shopping has become the best channel for a consumer to achieve this with price comparison websites such as kelkoo.com and comparethemarket.com. Kelkoo is a shopping portal that compares many retailers and shows the best place to purchase a product depending on the cheapest prices found. Another trend in a recession is skills enhancement and  training. When people feel unsure about the future they believe that increasing their knowledge and skills is a good way to keep in them employable. The younger generation are also not entering the jobs market and choosing to increase their prospects for the future. Examples of this are the figures that show almost an 8% increase in applications for full-time study at universities in 2009. This is the biggest growth in eight years. The recession and rising unemployment have been blamed for this substantial increase.[6] While the economy has been in recession there has been an increase in the number of people searching dating agencies. According to the New York Times Online and offline matchmakers are reporting that dating interest is up, way up. Match.com, for instance, had its strongest fourth quarter in the last seven years. There may be a few reasons for this increase. People may now have more time on their hands due to being unemployed. Also meeting a potential partner on the internet is easier and more affordable than socialising in other ways such as going to the pub. A major trend of consumer behaviour in a recession is Escapism. Consumers are said to be spending money on products and services in order to distract themselves from the economic hardship. The entertainment industry should in theory be experiencing an increase in attendance. This would be such services as bowling and cinema. The figures show that in 2009 cinemas are up 13% year on year. Fast Furious tore up the record for the most lucrative opening weekend for a movie released in April 2009.[7] But this can also be seen in related companies such as the American-based chain of DVD and video game rental company Blockbuster. Their sales have increased over the recession with people choosing to rent. This may be due to the reduction in layout cost of actually purchasing the DVD yourself. It could also be another form of entertainment for people. Another business that is doing very well in the recession due to a change of customers behaviour is Dominos pizza. They are benefiting from con sumers trading down on their choice. A consumer who would have usually gone out for a meal now stays in and purchases a dominos pizza. [8] Consumers in recession also tend to talk more about their purchases and experiences. The OTO Research confirms 54% of consumers say that their primary source of information when choosing a brand is the Consumer Generated Content about the product and brand experience. Due to people being careful with their money they want to make a good purchase that will satisfy their needs. In a recession people will be more likely to tell their family and friends about good deals. This is compared to in a boom consumers tend to boast how expensive a product they purchased was. Consumers are also taking out more insurance policies during the recession. It appears that the desire to protect property becomes a high priority in a recession. This may be due to the fact that people are worried about replacement or repair costs if something does go wrong.[9] People are more likely to repair items if they break when the economies in recession. Such businesses as cobblers are seeing more and more people bringing in worn shoes. Before the recession consumers would of thrown them in the bin and purchased a new pair [12]. In order to try and reduce the effects of the recession the government introduced a scrappage scheme. It aims to increase the purchase of new cars. The consumer is offered a  £2000 incentive if they have a car that is over 10 years old and are willing to scrap it. The government has also tried to increase the money in the economy by offering lower vat of 15%. This is not really much of an incentive unless you are purchasing big ticket items. They have also dropped interest rates down to 0.5%. This provides people with mortgages lower repayments. This gives them more disposable income which they could potentially spend in the economy. In the recession not all companies are being affected. Some companies are actually doing better than they did before. Examples of people doing well in the recession are supermarkets, Amazon, dominos, cinemas, pawnbrokers. The best strategy to follow in a recession is cost leadership. By keeping your costs to a minimum you can maximise profit and be competitive. The best way to get consumers to purchase your products is by giving them an irrefutable offer. During a recession companies should try to increase positive motivation in a consumer. You can do this with a good use of advertising. If a consumer has increased positive motivation they are more likely to want to purchase your products. Overall it is important to realise that consumer behaviour and the recession are linked and have an effect on each other. But the effects will depend on the industry, products and the people it involves. Businesses need to be proactive in a recession in order to be successful. They must be able to change their strategy quickly and efficiently. 1 His journal 2 Ian Rowley (May 8th, 2009) Toyotas Loss Is Worse Than Expected, Available at http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2009/gb2009058_991777.htm , [Accessed 16th December 2009]. 3 book- SEE SAW 4 Larry Elliot (December 22nd 2008) Into the red: lipstick effect reveals the true face of the recession,http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/22/recession-cosmetics-lipstick , [Accessed 16th December 2009]. 5 Yulia V Smirnova (June 16th 2009) Top 10 Emerging Consumer Behavior Trends in Recession, http://www.memesponge.com/2009/06/top-10-emerging-consumer-behavior-trends-in-recession/, [Accessed 21st December 2009]. 6 Nicola Woolcock (February 16th 2009) University applications rise by 8% as recession bites,http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article5741496.ece, [Accessed 21st December 2009]. 7 Alain Portmann (April 16th 2009) Consumer Behavior During the Recession, http://webliquidgroup.com/knowledge/consumer-behaviour-during-the-recession-four-key-consumer-trends/, [Accessed 29th December 2009]. 8 Chris Moore (17 February 2009) Recession hots it up for Dominos Pizza, http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=476450HYPERLINK http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=476450in_page_id=3HYPERLINK http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=476450in_page_id=3in_page_id=3, [Accessed 29th December 2009]. 9 Nick Elliman (September 1 2009) Consumer behaviour in the recession, http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising-measures/13183075-1.html, [Accessed 29th December 2009]. 10 Martin Lewis (January 2 2010) Supermarket Shopping Downshift more, halve weekly bills, http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-supermarket-shopping, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 11 CBI (June 2009) Employment trends 2009 Work patterns in the recession,http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/press.nsf/38e2a44440c22db6802567300067301b/56ebefb25149a68b802575da00308471/$FILE/CBI%20-%20Harvey%20Nash.%20Work%20Patterns%20in%20the%20Recession.%20June%202009.pdf, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 12 Sunday Times (November 23, 2008) Riding the recession: how some businesses are doing well in the downturn, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/article5213280.ece, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 13 Charlie Makin (December 23, 2009) 10 key pointers of consumer behaviour in a recession revealed http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/e_article001261803.cfm?x=b11,0,w , [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 14 Philip Atkinson (2009) Customers Consumer Behaviour in 2009 http://www.philipatkinson.com/change-customer-consumer-behaviour-millennial.htm, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 15 16