Reflective exercise for studing marketing module Essay

Reflective exercise for studing marketing module - Essay Example My knowledge on the topic of international marketing has improved tremendously as a result of the classes and lecture sessions. I have learnt that the strategies of marketing for internal businesses have become a crucial and cumbersome task in today’s competitive world. Globalisation is one of the most important contributing factors to international marketing strategies. My information was updated to a much greater extent in the areas of international marketing and its impact on global factors to an organization’s managerial decision making, the approaches of entering new markets, designing and developing new products for international markets, the attributes of marketing research internationally, the marketing mix for international business and a lot more. Our group comprised of three members including me. We had diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds two of us are Chinese and one belonged to Saudi Arabia. Due to the difference in cultural and religious backgrounds I learnt how to communicate and manage a diverse team. We as a team found out that the business rules of International Marketing are not the same as they used to be few years ago. The reasons behind these change of rules and strategies is globalisation and its associated threats and opportunities. I got the information that due to various factors like increased globalisation, technological advancements and increased role of internet, the competition has increased greatly these days in every industry. Due to this reason, businesses have to adopt newer methods and strategies in order to survive in the competitive world and have a sustainable business. I also got familiar with the difference of conventional marketing and international marketing and due to this I realised that the modern marketers have changed their mind sets for global development. In today’s world the traditional ways of marketing are not sufficient for this reason the marketers and the executives need to be more innovative thinkers, create newer and better ideas to market internationally and possess quick decision making capabilities. The concept of innovation in marketing techniques was also highlighted in one of the lectures and I think this is one of the basic requirements for international marketing methods of today’s world. Examples of innovative marketing techniques are video clips posted on social networking websites and viral marketing. The conventional tools for assessing the decision making abilities of an organization which includes the SWOT analysis and the PESTL analysis are found to be quite different from a global business perspective. Important to note, that I studied and analysed that now more number of factors are needed to be analysed and examined in SWOT and PESTL analysis for a global organization. I would also like to accept and appreciate the skills of my teacher who encouraged and motivated us to learn the concepts of International marketing from a broader vi ew point and effectively implement it in the practical world when possible. The lectures, seminars and the reading materials were adequate enough to bring deeper insight in the students and held up to date information. We also studied and learnt to determine the opportunities present in the global marketing with the help of real-life case studies. Moreover, it was studied that the

Organizational change Essay Example for Free

Organizational change Essay Organizational change is an ongoing process with important implications for organizational effectiveness. An organization and its members must be constantly on the alert for changes from within the organization and from the outside environment, and they must learn how to adjust to change quickly and effectively. Organizational change is the movement of an organization away from its present state and toward some future state to increase its effectiveness. Forces for organizational change include competitive forces; economic, political, and global forces; demographic and social forces; and ethical forces. Organizations are often reluctant to change because resistance to change at the organization, group, and individual levels has given rise to organizational inertia. Sources of organization-level resistance to change include power and conflict, differences in functional orientation, mechanistic structure, and organizational culture. Sources of group-level resistance to change include group norms, group cohesiveness, and groupthink and escalation of commitment. Sources of individual-level resistance to change include uncertainty and insecurity, selective perception and retention, and habit. According to Lewin’s force-field theory of change, organizations are balanced between forces pushing for change and forces resistant to change. To get an organization to change, managers must find a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both simultaneously. Types of change fall into two broad categories: evolutionary and revolutionary. The main instruments of evolutionary change are sociotechnical systems theory, total quality management, and the development of flexible workers and work teams. The main instruments of revolutionary change are reengineering, restructuring, and innovation. Often, the revolutionary types of change that result from restructuring and reengineering are necessary only because an organization and its managers ignored or were unaware of changes in the environment and did not make incremental changes as needed. Action research is a strategy that managers can use to plan the change process. The main steps in action research are (a) diagnosis and analysis of the organization, (b) determining the desired future state, (c) implementing action, (d) evaluating the action, and (e) institutionalizing action research. Organizational development (OD) is a series of techniques and methods to increase the adaptability of organizations. OD techniques can be used to overcome resistance to change and to help the organization to change itself. OD techniques for dealing with resistance to change include education and communication, participation and empowerment, facilitation, bargaining and negotiation, manipulation, and coercion. OD techniques for promoting change include, at the individual level, counseling, sensitivity training, and process consultation; at the group level, team building and intergroup training; and at the organizational level, organizational confrontation meetings. CHAPTER OUTLINE 10. 1 What Is Organizational Change? Organizational change is the process by which organizations move from their current or present state to some desired future state to increase their effectiveness. An organization in decline may need to restructure its competences and resources to improve its fit with a changing environment. Even thriving, high-performing organizations such as Google, Apple, and Facebook need to continuously change the way they operate over time to meet ongoing challenges. Targets of Change Organizational change includes changes in four areas: 1. Human resources are an organization’s most important asset. Because these skills and abilities give an organization a competitive advantage, organizations must continually monitor their structures to find the most effective way of motivating and organizing human resources to acquire and use their skills. Changes made in human resources include investment in training, socializing employees, changing norms to motivate a diverse workforce, monitoring promotion and reward systems, and changing top management. 2. Each organizational function needs to develop procedures that allow it to manage the particular environment it faces. Crucial functions grow in importance while those whose usefulness is declining shrink. Thus, key functions grow in importance. Organizations can change structure, culture, and technology to improve the value created by functions. 3 Organizational change often involves changing the relationships between people and functions to increase their ability to create value. 10. 2 Forces for and Resistance to Organizational Change Forces for Change If managers are slow to respond to the forces of change, the organization will lag behind its competitors and its effectiveness will be compromised. (Refer to Figure 10. 1) Competitive forces spur change, because unless an organization matches or surpasses its competitors it will not survive. Managing change is crucial when competing for customers. To lead on the dimensions of efficiency or quality, an organization must constantly adopt the latest technology as it becomes available. To lead on the dimension of innovation and obtain a technological advantage over competitors, a company must possess skills in managing the process of innovation. Economic, political, and global forces, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or other economic unions, are significant forces of change. The European Union (EU) includes over 27 members eager to take advantage of a large protected market. Global challenges facing organizations include the need to change an organizational structure to allow expansion into foreign markets, the need to adapt to a variety of national cultures, and the need to help expatriate managers adapt to the economic, political, and cultural values of the countries in which they are located. Demographic and social forces include an increasingly diverse workforce. Changes in the demographic characteristics of the workforce require managers to change their styles of managing all employees and to learn how to understand, supervise, and motivate diverse members effectively. Many workers want to balance work and leisure. Managers need to abandon stereotypes and accept the importance of equity in the recruitment and promotion of new hires. Ethical forces such as increasing government, political, and social demands for more responsible and honest corporate behavior are compelling organizations to promote ethical behavior. Many companies have created the position of ethics officer. If organizations operate in countries that pay little attention to human rights or to the well-being of organizational members, they have to learn how to change these standards and to protect their overseas employees. Resistances to Change Resistance to change lowers an organization’s effectiveness and reduces its chances of survival. Resistances or impediments to change that cause inertia are found at the organization, group, and individual levels. (Refer to Figure 10. 1) Organization-Level Resistance to Change Power and conflict: When change causes power struggles and organizational conflict, an organization is likely to resist it. If change benefits one function at the expense of another, conflict impedes the change process. In the old IBM, for example, managers of its mainframe computer division fought off attempts to redirect IBM’s resources to produce the PCs that customers wanted in order to preserve their own power. Differences in functional orientation: This means that different functions and divisions often see the source of a problem differently because they see an issue or problem primarily from their own viewpoint. This tunnel vision increases organizational inertia. Mechanistic structure: Mechanistic structures are more resistant to change. People who work within a mechanistic structure are expected to act in certain ways and do not develop the capacity to adjust their behavior to changing conditions. A mechanistic structure typically develops as an organization grows and is a principal source of inertia, especially in large organizations. The extensive use of mutual adjustment and decentralized authority in an organic structure makes it less resistant to change. Organizational culture: Organizational culture, values, and norms cause resistance to change. If organizational change disrupts taken-for-granted values and norms and forces people to change what they do and how they do it, an organization’s culture will cause resistance to change. Group-Level Resistance to Change Many groups develop strong informal norms that specify appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and govern the interactions between group members. Often, change alters task and role relationships in a group; when it does, it disrupts group norms and the informal expectations that group members have of one another. As a result, members of a group may resist change because a new set of norms must be developed to meet the needs of the new situation. Group cohesiveness, the attractiveness of a group to its members, also affects group performance. A highly cohesive group may resist attempts by management to change what it does or even who is a member of the group. Groupthink and escalation of commitment also make changing a group’s behavior very difficult. Individual-Level Resistance to Change People tend to resist change because they feel uncertain and insecure about what its outcome will be. Selective perception and retention suggest that people perceive information consistent with their views. If change doesn’t benefit them, they do not endorse it. People’s preference for familiar actions and events is a further impediment to change. Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change Force-field theory is a theory of organizational change that argues that two sets of opposing forces within an organization determine how change will take place. When the forces are evenly balanced, the organization is in a state of inertia and does not change. To get an organization to change, managers must find a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both simultaneously. Any of these strategies will overcome inertia and cause an organization to change. (Refer to Figure 10. 2) Managerial Implications Managers must continuously monitor the environment to identify the forces for change. They must analyze how the change will affect the organization and determine which type of change to pursue. 10. 3 Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change in Organizations Evolutionary change refers to change that is gradual, incremental, and specifically focused. It adds small adjustments to strategy and structure to handle environmental changes. Sociotechnical systems theory, total quality management, and the creation of empowered, flexible work groups are three instruments of evolutionary change that organizations use in their attempt to make incremental improvements in the way work gets done. Revolutionary change refers to change that is sudden, drastic, and organization-wide. It has repercussions at all levels in the organization—corporate, divisional, functional, group, and individual. Three ways to implement revolutionary change are reengineering, restructuring, and innovation. Developments in Evolutionary Change: Sociotechnical Systems Theory Sociotechnical systems theory is a theory that proposes the importance of changing role and task or technical relationships to increase organizational effectiveness. It emerged from a study of changing work practices in the British coal-mining industry. The socio-technical systems theory argues that managers need to fit or jointly optimize the workings of the technical and social systems. A poor fit between an organization’s technology and social system leads to failure, but a close fit leads to success. When managers change task and role relationships, they must recognize the need to adjust the technical and social systems gradually so group norms and cohesiveness are not disrupted. By taking this gradual approach, an organization can avoid the group-level resistance to change. Researchers suggest that a team-oriented system promotes values that enhance efficiency and product quality. Total quality management uses sociotechnical systems theory. Total Quality Management Total quality management (TQM) is a technique developed by W. Edwards Deming to continuously improve the effectiveness of flexible work teams. It was embraced by Japanese companies after World War II. Changes frequently inspired by TQM include altering the design or type of machines used to assemble products and reorganizing the sequence of activities—either within or between functions—necessary to provide a service to a customer. Changing cross-functional relationships to help improve quality is important in TQM. The changes associated with TQM are changes in task, role, and group relationships. Implementing a TQM program is not always easy because it requires workers and managers to adopt new ways of viewing their roles in an organization. Managers must be willing to decentralize control of decision making, empower workers, and assume the role of facilitator rather than supervisor. The â€Å"command and control† model gives way to an â€Å"advise and support† model. Flexible Workers and Flexible Work Teams In implementing socio-technical systems theory and TQM, many organizations are finding it easier to achieve their goals by using flexible workers and teams. Flexible workers can be transferred between departments and functions as demand changes. The advantages of flexible workers include quick response to environmental changes; reduced boredom and increased incentives for quality; better understanding by learning one another’s tasks; and combining tasks to increase efficiency and reduce costs. A flexible work team is a group of workers who assume responsibility for performing all the operations necessary for completing a specified stage in the manufacturing process. A flexible work team is self-managed; members jointly assign tasks and transfer from one task to another. In a flexible work team, separate teams assemble different components and turn those components over to the final-product work team, which assembles the final product. Each team’s activities are driven by demands that have their origins in customer demands for the final product. (Refer to Figure 10. 3) Developments in Revolutionary Change: Reengineering The term â€Å"reengineering† has been used to refer to the process by which managers redesign how tasks are bundled into roles and functions to improve organizational effectiveness. It involves rethinking business processes, activities that cross functional boundaries. Instead of focusing on an organization’s functions in isolation from one another, managers make business processes the focus of attention. A business process is an activity that cuts across functional boundaries and is vital to the quick delivery of goods and services or that promotes high quality or low costs. Because reengineering focuses on business processes and not functions, an organization must rethink the way it approaches organizing its activities. A good example of how to use reengineering to increase functional integration comes from attempts to redesign the materials management function to improve its effectiveness. In the traditional functional design the three main components of materials management—purchasing, production control, and distribution—were typically in separate functions and had little to do with one another. Thus coordinating their activities is difficult. Each function has its own hierarchy, and there are problems in both vertical and horizontal communication. Today, most organizations put all three of the functional activities involved in the materials management process inside one function. Three guidelines for performing reengineering successfully are as follows: Organize around outcomes, not tasks. 2. Have those who use the output of the process perform the process. 3. Decentralize decision making to the point where the decision is made. Reengineering and TQM are highly interrelated and complementary. E-Engineering This is a term used to refer to companies’ attempts to use all kinds of information systems to improve performance. The importance of e-engineering is increasing as it changes the way a company organizes its value-creation functions and links them to improve its performance. Restructuring Restructuring is a process by which managers change task and authority relationships and redesign organizational structure and culture to improve organizational effectiveness. Downsizing is the process by which managers streamline the organizational hierarchy and lay off managers and workers to reduce bureaucratic costs. The drive to decrease bureaucratic costs results from competitive pressures. Mergers and acquisitions in many industries, such as banking, have led to downsizing because fewer managers are needed. Other companies have reduced staff to match competitors. The negative effects of downsizing include overworked managers and lost opportunities. Companies that fail to control growth must downsize to remain competitive. The terms anorexic or hollow are used to refer to organizations that downsized too much and have too few managers to help them grow when conditions change. Restructuring, like other change strategies, generates resistance to change. Often, the decision to downsize requires the establishment of new task and role relationships. Because this change may threaten the jobs of some workers, they resist the changes taking place. Innovation Innovation refers to the process by which organizations use their skills and resources to develop new goods and services or to develop new production and operating systems so they can better respond to the needs of their customers. 10. 4 Managing Change: Action Research In Lewin’s view, implementing change is a three-step process: (1) unfreezing the organization from its present state, (2) making the change, and (3) refreezing the organization in the new, desired state so its members do not revert to their previous work attitudes and role behavior. Action research is a strategy for generating and acquiring knowledge that managers can use to define an organization’s desired future state and to plan a change program that allows the organization to reach that state. Figure 10. 6 highlights the steps in action research. Diagnosis of the Organization The first step in action research requires managers to recognize the existence of a problem that needs to be solved and acknowledge that some type of change is needed to solve it. In general, recognition of the need for change arises because somebody in the organization perceives a gap between desired performance and actual performance. Determining the Desired Future State This step also involves a difficult planning process as managers work out various alternative courses of action that could move the organization to where they would like it to be and determine what type of change to implement. Implementing Action 1. First, managers identify possible impediments to change at all levels. The second step is deciding who will be responsible for actually making the changes and controlling the change process. The choices are to employ either external change agents or internal change agents or use some combination of both. 3. The third step is deciding which specific change strategy will most effectively unfreeze, change, and refreeze the organization. The types of change that these techniques give rise to fall into two categories: Top-down change is implemented by managers at a high level in the organization, knowing that the change will reverberate at all organizational levels. Bottom-up change is implemented by employees at low levels in the organization that gradually rises until it is felt throughout the organization. Evaluating the Action The fourth step in action research is evaluating the action that has been taken and assessing the degree to which the changes have accomplished the desired objectives. The best way to evaluate the change process is to develop measures or criteria that allow managers to assess whether the organization has reached its desired objectives. Institutionalizing Action Research Organizations need to institutionalize action research—that is, make it a required habit or a norm adopted by every member of an organization. The institutionalization of action research is as necessary at the top of the organization as it is on the shop floor. Managerial Implications Managers must develop criteria to evaluate whether a change is necessary, and carefully design a plan that minimizes resistance. 10. 5 Organizational Development Organizational development (OD) is a series of techniques and methods that managers can use in their action research program to increase the adaptability of their organization. The goal of OD is to improve organizational effectiveness and to help people in organizations reach their potential and realize their goals and objectives. OD Techniques to Deal with Resistance to Change Education and Communication: One impediment to change is that participants are uncertain about what is going to happen. Through education and communication, internal and external agents of change can provide organizational members with information about the change and how it will affect them. Participation and Empowerment: Inviting workers to participate in the change process is a popular method of reducing resistance to change. Participation complements empowerment, increases workers’ involvement in decision making, and gives them greater autonomy to change work procedures to improve organizational performance. These are key elements of most TQM programs. People that are involved in the change and decision-making process are more likely to embrace rather than resist. Facilitation: Both managers and workers find change stressful. There are several ways in which organizations can help their members to manage stress: providing them with training to help them learn how to perform new tasks, providing them with time off from work to recuperate from the stressful effects of change, or even giving senior members sabbaticals. Bargaining and Negotiation: Bargaining and negotiation are important tools that help managers manage conflict. Because change causes conflict, bargaining is an important tool in overcoming resistance to change. Manipulation: Sometimes senior managers need to intervene, as politics shows that powerful managers have considerable ability to resist change. Coercion: The ultimate way to eliminate resistance to change is to coerce the key players into accepting change and threaten dire consequences if they choose to resist. The disadvantage is that it can leave people angry and disenchanted and can make the refreezing process difficult. OD Techniques to Promote Change Counseling, Sensitivity Training, and Process Consultation: Recognizing that each individual is different also requires them to be treated or managed differently. Sometimes, counseling will help individuals understand that their own perceptions of a situation may be incorrect. Sensitivity training is an OD technique that consists of intense counseling in which group members, aided by a facilitator, learn how others perceive them and may learn how to deal more sensitively with others. Process consultation is an OD technique in which a facilitator works closely with a manager on the job to help the manager improve his or her interactions with other group members. Team building is an OD technique in which a facilitator first observes the interactions of group members and then helps them become aware of ways to improve their work interactions. The goal of team building is to improve group processes to achieve process gains and reduce process losses that are occurring because of shirking and freeriding. Intergroup training is an OD technique that uses team building to improve the work interactions of different functions or divisions. Its goal is to improve organizational performance by focusing on a function’s or division’s joint activities and output. Organizational mirroring is an OD technique in which a facilitator helps two interdependent groups explore their perceptions and relations in order to improve their work interactions. This technique is designed to get both interdependent groups to see the perspective of the other side. Appreciating others’ perspectives allows the groups to work together more effectively. Total Organizational Interventions: A variety of OD techniques can be used at the organization level to promote organization-wide change. Organizational confrontation meeting is an OD technique that brings together all of the managers of an organization at a meeting to confront the issue of whether the organization is meeting its goals effectively.

Community Service Essay -- Volunteering Volunteerism Essays

Community Service I have always been involved in groups that perform community service projects. In fact, I was recently elected to as VP of Public Relations of the Student MOVE group. We are a group of 12 individuals that are the advisory committee for all of the community service organizations on campus, but we organize many alternative activities and events. I even did a service learning project for my Spanish class last semester with Cynthia Wells. I attended the Spanish mass every Sunday, and I was a greeter. I learned their culture and rituals while still attending the usual Catholic Mass. Upon learning that I had to do a service learning project for Ethics class, I immediately began brainstorming ideas. I decided I was going to work on a website for the Esprit De Corp group since they could not find anyone to do it. However, I ended up getting paid for so that did not work out. So I had two back-up plans. My first idea is that I was going on an AWOL trip for Spring Break. AWOL stands for Alternative Weekend of Offsite Learning. We spent a week in Denver doing various community service projects. Now, that was a week of community service, but it wasn’t done in Iowa. So I took the initiative of doing some service in Storm Lake. One day after mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Fr. Klein approached me. He asked me if I wanted to help out by leading a confirmation retreat for 90 Storm Lake juniors that would be confirmed in a couple of weeks. I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to help out the community and maybe even help myself spiritual ly. AWOL Trip to Denver I was one of twelve kind-hearted individuals that went on an AWOL trip to Denver, Colorado. We worked at various places includ... ...Denver. It’s a priceless moment that money cannot buy. Working at the confirmation retreat at St. Mary’s taught me how to help carry on my faith as a Catholic. The church is a non-profit group just like any other non-profit group here in Storm Lake. I must say that helping people my own age is much different than helping children. I did not get the smiles like I did working with the children. However, I received a ton of self-satisfaction giving the speech on confirmation. I also understood more about motivation. I am pretty intrinsically motivated. I do not need money, bribes, or incentives to do work. I get can motivate myself to help others with self-satisfaction. I really enjoyed the service learning projects I participated in. I wish more professors made their students extend their learning beyond the classroom and move it out to the community.

Exposing Pain in The Enormous Radio Essay examples -- Enormous Radio E

Exposing Pain in The Enormous Radio  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In John Cheever’s short story, "The Enormous Radio," Jim and Irene Westcott are presented as average, middle-class Americans with hopes and dreams just like everyone else. They are described as "the kind of people who seem to strike that satisfactory average of income, endeavor, and respectability" (Cheever 817). Jim and Irene thought they were the epitome of the perfect American family that was free from trouble and worry. The only way that they differed from their friends and neighbors was a deep passion for serious music. This passion, through the enormous radio, brought to their attention the realization that they had just as many problems as the next family. Their reaction to the radio argues the fact that they were not perfect and did not have a worry-free life. The first sign that the radio was going to cause a problem was its physical appearance. Irene abhorred the radio: "She was struck at once with the physical ugliness of the large gumwood cabinet" (Cheever 817). The radio stuck out like a sore thumb in Irene’s perfectly arranged living room. The radio’s appearance resembled what it would eventually do, "bring a new ugliness into the perfectly arranged lives of the Westcotts" (Giordano 56). When the Westcotts first realize that they had possession of an eavesdropping machine, Irene becomes extremely paranoid about whether or not they are being overheard too, like they have something to hide. Irene quickly becomes obsessed with listening to others’ conversations, as Nathan Giordano points out "it was like tuning into a soap opera on television" (56). The Westcotts would stay up late at night to listen to others’ conversations; some nights they went to bed "weak wit... ...indeed have problems and that turning a blind eye to her problems doesn’t help solve them" (Smith 59). The enormous radio was a reality check for Irene. It was a lesson that all she can do is be the best person she can and that denial only represses guilt for a short time. Whether Irene understands this is uncertain, but the reader finally realizes that even the "average American family" may have problems that must be worked through, not forgotten. Works Cited Cheever, John. "The Enormous Radio." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 817-824. Giordano, Nathan. "Illusions, Delusions." Ode to Friendship & Other Essays. Ed. Connie Bellamy Virginia Beach, Virginia, 1996. 55-58. Smith, TaVeta. "The Perfect Facade." Ode to Friendship & Other Essays. Ed. Connie Bellamy Virginia Beach, Virginia, 1996. 58-59.      

A pair of blue eyes Essay

With reference to the first seven chapters, show how Hardy uses the novels setting to develop character It has been said by many critics, that the main focus of Hardy’s pre-19th century novel â€Å"The Return of the Native†, is none of the characters, but the almost animate heath land upon which it is set. Hardy’s methods of describing the heath, allows us to view it as several different things to several different characters, for example, Eustacia Vye, to whom the heath is a prison, or Clym Yeobright, husband of Eustacia, who views Egdon Heath as an area housing the commonest man, a group of people who have been transformed into simplicity by the heath, who he can educate. One possible reason of this is because the heath is written to seem almost ancient, thus has had time to adapt to the way nature shapes the landscape at its will, â€Å"at present, a place perfectly accordant with mans nature â€Å". With features such as barrows, Hardy has created a religious, almost pagan feel to the heath land, with on which the main characters congregate in the first few scenes, to hold a bonfire, giving the night air upon the land an eerie feeling throughout the rest of the book. The weather upon the heath through the early chapters is somewhat harsh, â€Å"the storm was its love, the wind was its friend† yet still the characters persist to roam the heath at night, Eustacia especially, searching endlessly for an escape. One good example is where Eustacia awaits Wildeve upon a barrow, but she utters a sigh as she waits, pondering whether he will arrive, â€Å"thrown out with the winds, it became twined in with them†. It is events like these which Hardy gives us insight to, that we can see the development of the characters, for example, this is just another step of Eustacia becoming even more heavily buried within the land. Hardy also uses inanimate objects other than the heath, to create an atmosphere, such as the fire which burns between Wildeve and Eustacia as they speak,† The revived embers of passion glowed clearly in Wildeve now†. However, Eustacia does not light a communal bonfire for the sake of community, nor for the sake of sanity, similar to the locals who feel that communication through bonfire separates them from the heath,† perhaps as many as thirty bonfires could be counted within the whole bounds of the district†. She lights her fire, and attempts to communicate with something which will set her free from the realm – a man, to either take her from Egdon to America, such as Wildeve promises, or back to Paris, the location from which her husband has come. Another interesting feature of Hardy using objects, rather than words or actions to describe how a character feels, is Eustacia constantly viewing the heath from her telescope, as if she is hoping for some kind of miracle, a ‘knight in shining armour’ to come and whisk her from her feet. Another good example of a similar event is her checking her hourglass while waiting upon the heath. These two items, the telescope in particular being from distant places (of which she wishes she could travel to), differ significantly from peasant tools or items, from which she is eager to disassociate herself from. However Hardy is again referring to the vastness of the heath, by implementing a telescope, and the immense age of the heath, by an hourglass, however, for Eustacia, the hourglass diminishes the vastness of the heath, almost providing her with something she’s wished for. The heath folk seem to exist in a more than comfortable relationship with the heath, and the heath in a comfortable relationship with civilisation, as it becomes overgrown; the humans cut the furze and faggots, and put them for good use – fire. The folk seem to be driving off the darkness, upon November 5th, Guy Forks night, upon a barrow used for burials in the past, â€Å"the ashes of the original pyre which blazed from that summit lay fresh and undisturbed in the barrow beneath their tread†. The ‘locals’ don’t even appear to be celebrating this fact, more so finding comfort in the spotting of other fires lighted in the district. The people here are highly superstitious, and due to the size of the community, and involvement with other communities (very little), the heath only fuels their ideas, as is shown in the third chapter, when the heath folk are talking about Christian – a man who no man would marry, for the reason of the date he was born upon having no moon,†No moon : hey neighbours, that’s bad for him†? This early superstition in the novel serves many purposes, the main ones being reader interest, and plot evolution – for it is a form of superstition, voodoo, which a heath folk uses against Eustacia as she finally tries to negate the heath, causing her death. Another pastime which suitably provides the heath inhabitants when they are not creating fire is gossip. The heath only fuels the peoples desire to talk about others’ business, because the community is very small, so hence everybody is aware of the news of everybody else, for instance, the news of Clyms success as a scholar travels for miles before he has even reached the age of three. Personally, I do not subscribe to the belief that the heath is a character within its own right, even though Hardy inspires such thoughts with phrases such as â€Å"The storm was its lover, the wind was its friend†. I believe that Hardy’s immense concentration upon the heath is merely a sign of two its importance to the play, and as a method which he can use to develop the rest of the characters, such as Eustacia, helping her to constantly arrive at a â€Å"state of enlightenment which feels that nothing is worthwhile†..

Cool essays

Cool essays Well in Parkers Back, when Parker goes to the tattoos artist and the tattooist told him why he wanted that certain tattoo on his back. He then went on the ask Parker if he was saved and got religion. This is kind of an exaggeration. In a tattoo place, I dont think that they would ask this before you got a tattoo. They just do the design and get the money. Parker goes on to state that he married women that were saved. This is kind distortion a little bit. What does he actually mean by this? I interpret this that she was saved by the Lord and that she was kind of an angel or something to him. In the story Parkers Back he is on a tractor and it crashes on it is upside down next to a tree and burst into flames. This area is when he begins to sit and watch himself quickly become part of the fire. I think at this time he really is looking at the fact that the Lord is there with him and is trying to help him. During this time, the concept of baptism is really not a factor. He i s just talking about the fact of the Lord and how he feels saved by him. In the end of the story, he sits there and lets his wife Sarah beat him with a broom until he is almost completely senseless. I think that this is kind of a distortion or is totally wrong. Someone just does not sit there and let someone actually hit them with a broom and not self defending themselves. It goes on to say that he was to stunned to resist her hitting him. Well I think that if she goes and goes on without him doing anything to stop her, obviously he will be in this state of mind. This story was very different and interesting to read. I felt that after I read it, I find that I disagree with him when he says that baptism is a meaningless rite. I think that when you go and get baptized, it is very sacred and that means a lot to me. This as well should mean a lot to the people that get baptized as well. They should not just feel that it is just a mea...

The Anonymous Author

The Anonymous Author I read an interesting essay recently, fully expecting to gloss it over and move on to my next email. But the theme grabbed my mind and wouldnt let go, and when that happens, when I see it matters to the writers I love, I usually convert the message into a FundsforWriters post. While fame impedes and constricts, obscurity wraps about a man like a mist; obscurity is dark, ample, and free; obscurity lets the mind take its way unimpeded. Over the obscure man is poured the merciful suffusion of darkness. None knows where he goes or comes. He may seek the truth and speak it; he alone is free; he alone is truthful; he alone is at peace. ~Virginia Woolfe Imagine being able to write without worry as to what the world thought of you? Imagine writing not caring how many books sold? Imagine just focusing on leaving your deepest thoughts on paper with no ramifications or backlash from family and friends? Virginia Woolfe said it best when she stated, the delight of having no name, but being like a wave which returns to the deep body of the sea. Oh my goodness, I could envision and embrace that feeling. Isnt that what we crave as writers? To write without repercussions? To write from our most inside place and let it loose into the world then retreat back to our inner self and write again? When we write solely for profit, our writing often suffers a bit, because we write knowing that it has to be accepted When we write solely to release our candid, sincere thoughts, and yes, Im including with fiction, we feel a sense of relief, release, and self-sustaining integrity. But we risk not making many sales. My suggestion is this . . . if you are writing as a career, then you must write somewhat for the public. However, somewhere along the way, write something that is yours. Write something that reconnects with your true being. Feel honorable and principled writing for one person, yourself. You never know . . . that might be your best work.