Baptista and Petruchio Essays

Baptista and Petruchio Essays Baptista and Petruchio Paper Baptista and Petruchio Paper Essay Topic: The Taming Of the Shrew Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare is often called a romantic comedy. It was written during the Renaissance period and set in Padua, Italy. The play focuses on courtship and marriage. Especially highlighting how Elizabethan marriages were arranged mainly for money, land and power. Money was a large factor in marriages and often evidence of the dowry was required prior to the acceptance to marry from the father. The notion of love and romance was a factor in some marriages, however it was very different from our thoughts on love and romance today. This could be linked with the drastic change in the treatment of women overtime. Throughout the play we see evidence of the love and romance, especially from the youngsters such as Lucentio, but also see how love may not always turn out how expected. At the start of the play we are introduced to the main characters these include the Minola family, Lucentio, Tranio, Gremio and Hortensio. The topic of conversation is about marriage, where Baptist Minola will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter to marry until her elder sister Katherina has found a husband. Act 1, Scene 1 shows how Elizabathean marriages come about, and who is in charge. Unlike todays romance and marriage the father, of the bride controls who and how the pre-nuptial and marriage plans happen. The fact that Taming of the Shrew starts with talk of courtship and marriage encourages the opinion of that the play is a romantic comedy, but as the play continues we see various evidence that this is untrue. The notion of love and romance is almost dismissed from the start when we see how that how Baptist controls the whole affair of marriage. We see how the daughters are to take little part in the agreement of marriage. Taming of the Shrew revolves around the antics of finding a partner for Katherina, as she has the reputation of being a shrew, and unappealing to the men; unless you were of gentler, milder mould.. as said by Hortensio, we see clearly how the ideal Elizabethan woman was the silent kind. At the end of Act 1, scene 1, we see how Lucentio has fallen in love with Bianca, and swapped places with his servant Tranio, in an attempt to woo Bianca, but at the same time the allow Tranio to bargain with Baptist. This seems to be our first example of romance, however, Lucentio may seem love struck and full of romance but the underlying theme of the scence still money. This is always a major theme throughout the play, as is the behaviour of Elizabethan women. Gremio shows how little they think of Katherina and also how money is so important when they say Thou her father is very rich, any man is so very a fool to be married to hell The above lines are a taster of what is to come, and gives us an insight into just how financial gain is such a major element of marriage. The power of the men is also shown in this scene, Baptist is not only passed the duty of finding Katherina a man, but also is bargaining profusely to get the best deal on his young, modest daughter Bianca. Scene 1, gives us clues to how the play will continue in unromantic deception and bargaining. Not only have we seen little romance, towards the women, but we see how and disliked woman is treated with extreme contempt. Scene 2 introduces us to Petruchio, a friend of Hortensio, has come to Padua to marry a rich woman. He is told of Katherina, but at the same time warned of her shrewish nature. However, Petruchio is not dissuaded by the reputation Katherina has; I come to wive it wealthily in Padua, if wealthily then happily in Padua. Petruchios attitude shows how is willing to marry solely on the basis of money. He comes across as confident and determine, but at the same time unromantic in his values. Act 2 sees the meeting of Baptista and Petruchio and in turn Petruchio and Katherina. To see how Shakespeare looks on the union of the two as a comical event from the start. There is little romance involved in this union and any kind words towards Katherina are laughed at; good sir. Pray have you not a daughter Called Katherina, fair and virtuous? Are Petruchios first words to Baptista, who replies, I have a daughter, sir, called Katherine. Baptista pointedly dismisses the idea of Katherina being virtuous and fair. This is comical to us, but at the same time shows us the contempt in which Katherina is treated. We see how Petruchios pleasant words towards Katherina are in fact reverse psychology he continually through out the play refers to her as mild and fair when he knows she is the opposite. We are getting a taster of the cruel mind games that Petruchio has planned for his future wife. The annoyance that he stirs in Katherina is comical, but when we look at how hollow these compliments of love are, we again see how the play shows no true commitment to the notions of romance. When ever it is used we see signs of trickery and bargaining, even the acceptance of marriage from Katherina is a trick despite her protesting Petruchio convinces Baptista to start the marriage plans I will unto Venice, to buy a apparel gainst the wedding day. Provide the fest father and bid the guest. Katherina has refused but Baptista could not be happier; Good send you joy, Petruchio, tis a match. The speedy proposal and agreement of marriage was extremely fast, by the first meeting Petruchio and Katherina were to be married on the following Sunday. This again highlights how love within a marriage was very unimportant. Love presumably was forced or pretended for the sake of a happy marriage.

Stephen Leackock essays

Stephen Leackock essays Stephen Leacock led a fascinating life. He lived on various continents throughout his childhood, wrote 35 books, and won many awards. In this essay I will discuss his life, the awards and honours he received, and the amazing number of books he produced. Stephen endured difficult periods during his lifetime. His parents, Peter and Agnes Leacock, had a large family, which they had trouble adequately supporting. They tried farming in many different places including South Africa and Kansas. In 1876 Peter took his family to Sutton, Ontario. In his unfinished autobiography, The Boy I Left Behind Me, Leacock said that our farm with its buildings was, I will say, the damnedest place I ever saw (p. 58 (taken from quote from government web site)). Stephen and his 10 other sibling didnt have a comfortable life on the farm, with the horrific stench of the barn, the horrible coldness of the farm house, and his single miserable candle to study by. His mother was determined to give her kids the best education possible so she took them out of the public school system and home schooled them. She carried the burden of their education herself until a tutor named Harry Park came along. After Stephens father deserted the family, Agnes was left to care for their eleven children as well as run the farm. In 1882 Stephen enrolled in Upper Canada College. He was an excellent student; he was even the editor of the college newspaper, The College Times. In 1887 he graduated at the top of the school, and returned home to find that his father, a drunk and penniless man at this point, had come back. However, the following summer he found some money and left again. He never returned, living out the rest of his days in Nova Scotia. He never saw his wife or children again, and lived with his common-law wife until his death in 1940. Stephens real interest was political science, which he studied at the Uni ...

Research on Occupy Movement Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On Occupy Movement - Research Paper Example Almost in every country of the world, inequality is a common issue and except the extreme top level of the system every other person is somehow related to the problem. As the rate of the suffering reached the highest point, the people who are the victims of the system decided to come out of the border and stand together for the same novel cause, and the name of this movement is Occupy Movement. The name itself describes the motto of the movement. The people have come together to protest against the inequality in the economy and the society. The protest is all about the unfairness to the various levels of people in the country or in the world. Discrimination, ignorance, avoidance, and inequality in the power and authority have created the two different categories that are rich and poor. The main reasons behind the protest are the inequality in the income and the ever increasing corruption. The large corporations and banks in Wall Street and the higher political entities who are the 1% of the population are enjoying the wealth of the world and also earning much higher than the rest 99%. Basically, the 99% is compromising in their living standard, their education, their employment and the 1% is relishing the outcome of the compromise. Once the movement has started it should reach a pleasurable and a fruitful end and the outcome of this protest should spread all over the world to erase the inequality forever (Appleby, â€Å"The Wealth Divide†). Thesis Statement Inequality in the system of a country majorly affects the education, employment, culture, and society. The people of the world are not getting enough return on the world economy or revenue in spite of paying adequate taxes to the government and the protestors at last became conscious about the issue and they came to the streets. The movement can either be a pathfinder for the victims of corruption and inequality, where they can join and fight for their rights or it can be neglected by the government a s they have the supreme power which is yet not in the hand of the 99% (University of South Florida, â€Å"Professors Dissect "Occupy Movement"†). Discussion and Argument Almost in every other country in the present world the middle and lower middle class families, groups, students, employees and any other general people are suffering from a common reason, that is inequality in the economy and the society. Being a part of the country and the economy of the country, every people have to pay a certain amount of tax to the government, which depends upon the income of the people. But the major problem is in spite of paying such taxes the people are not being facilitated enough. Most of the world’s wealth and revenue is enjoyed by the higher level of the country who comes under the 1% of the population, and the rest 99% has to suffer for that, by paying donations to the schools for their children, by paying bribe to get a deserved job and by paying extra money to buy a prope rty among others. The government is not being fair to the people as promised (Hertzberg, â€Å"Occupational Hazards†). Every people in the world have certain Human Rights Acts, which support people to have their own say and to stand against the corruption and the unfairness towards them. And the people of the

Religious Plurality as the Major Issue Surrounding Christianity in Research Paper

Religious Plurality as the Major Issue Surrounding Christianity in Africa - Research Paper Example I will try to cover different religions that exist in this continent. What are the major issues related to it? I will try to analyze them in the light of past and present so that a theme could be developed that connects the historical and contemporary world. In order to do so, we have to peep into the traditional religions of Africa as well as into Islam, this is predominantly the current religion of Africa. I will also try to analyze how religion affects the continent today and what are the defining factors. An analysis of the issues surrounding religion is not possible in isolation. A number of other factors have their own strong impact ( (Deagan) on it such as development, culture, democratic environment, health and security, conflicts, arms and reconstruction. Any study done without taking into consideration all these facts will not be based on reality. In short, we can say it will be inconclusive. So I will do a detailed analysis and will draw a conclusion based on all these factors. We cannot deny the social importance of religion. Religion is an important strand of society. It provides a value system that underpins the foundation of society. Without a common value system of which religion is an important thread, the concept of society is not possible. African history is very vast and old. Africa has a religious plurality. Religious plurality means sharing of different religious traditions by the same family, immediate or extended, similar ethnic groups and nations. Many religions exist side by side. Members of the same family may follow different religions. If we take a closer look we can categorize the religions in Africa into three tiers, Traditional religions, Christianity and Islam. After the Second World War self-concept of Africans has changed due to political, intellectual changes around them. The recorded history of Africa dates back to 3000 BC in Egypt. People worshipped gods like Isis,  Horus, Osiris, Ra, and Hapi. This was the case in Egypt. In West Africa, the trend was to worship the single godlike sky god.  

Solution of trhee question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Solution of trhee question - Essay Example Separating the roles of chairman and CEO mainly helps in distributing the balance of power and responsibilities. Board is the primary internal control mechanism for aligning the different interests of shareholders and top management. When an individual serves simultaneously as chairman and CEO, the Board’s control over him will be weakened. This does not happen when the roles are separated. The role of Chairman includes managing the business of the Board and monitoring its progress. Non-segregation of duties of Chairman and CEO would reduce the monitoring effectiveness over the management of the company. Opportunistic executives may take advantage of their combined role as Chairman and CEO in order to personally benefit at the expense of the shareholders. The chances of such injustice would reduce to an extent if the roles are separated. Having a single leader instead of two helps promote effective action by the CEO speeding up response to external events faced by the company. Separation of roles could lead to delays in such response. (iv) The main reason for any company to issue its rights shares at a discount is to make the offer relatively attractive to shareholders and encourage them either to take up their rights or sell them so the share issue is â€Å"fully subscribed†. The price discount also acts as a safeguard should the market price of the companys shares fall before the issue is completed. The existing shareholders or purchaser of rights would still be interested in subscribing for the shares so far as the subscription price remains lower than the market price of the shares. A company would prefer to use rights issue as a source of finance because the chances of the shares being fully subscribed under rights issue is higher when compared to shares being freshly issued in the market. A firm can grow in two ways: either by merging with or

Types And Causes Of Liquidity Risk Finance Essay

Types And Causes Of Liquidity Risk Finance Essay In  finance,  liquidity risk  is the risk that a given security or asset cannot be traded quickly enough in the market to prevent a loss (or make the required profit). OR Liquidity risk is the current and prospective risk to earnings or capital arising from a banks inability to meet its obligations when they come due without incurring unacceptable losses. Liquidity risk includes the inability to manage unplanned decreases or changes in funding sources. Liquidity risk also arises from the failure to recognize or address changes in market conditions that affect the ability to liquidate assets quickly and with minimal loss in value. 2.1-Types of Liquidity risk: Asset liquidity   Due to the lack of liquidity in market an asset can not be sold it is basically subset of market risk. This can be done by: Widening bid/offer spread Making explicit liquidity reserves Lengthening holding period for Vary calculations Funding liquidity   Risk that liability: Cannot be met when they fall due Can only be met at an uneconomic price Can be name-specific or systemic 2.2- Causes of Liquidity Risk: There are many causes of liquidity risk liquidity risk actually arises when the one party wants to trading an asset cannot do it because in the market no one wants to trade that asset .The persons who are about to hold or currently hold the asset and want to trade that asset then liquidity risk become partial important to them as it affects their ability to do business. From drop of price to zero is very different from that appearance of liquidity risk. In the case when the assets price drop to zero then market said that asset is valueless. On the other hand when one party found that the other party is not interested in buying and selling of an asset then it become a big problem for the participant of a market to find the other interested party. So we can say that in the emerging markets or low volume markets the risk of liquidity is higher. Due to uncertain liquidity the liquidity risk is known as a financial risk. When the credit rating falls the institution may lose its liquidity, in this way rapid unexpected cash outflows, or as a result of this happening the counterparties may avoid the business of buying and selling with or borrowing the loan to the institutions. A firm is also exposed to liquidity risk if markets on which it depends are subject to loss of liquidity. The firm is also seen to the risk of liquidity when the markets in they depend are under the liquidity loss. Liquidity risks tend to compound other risks. If a trading organization has a position in an illiquid asset, its limited ability to liquidate that position at short notice will compound its market risk. Let us suppose a firm has a cash flows offsetting on a given day of with two different counter parties. If the counter party do not make the payment and become a payment defaults. In this way firm will have to make the cash from some other sources in order to make payment. Credit risk is the risk arises due to the liquidity. A position can be hedged against market risk but still entail liquidity risk. This is true in the above credit risk example-the two payments are offsetting, so they entail credit risk but not market risk. Another example is the 1993  Metallgesellschaft  debacle. Futures contracts were used to hedge an Over-the-counter finance OTC obligation. It is debatable whether the hedge was effective from a market risk standpoint, but it was the liquidity crisis caused by staggering margin calls on the futures that forced Metallgesellschaft to unwind the positions. As compared to the risks like market, credit and other risks the liquidity risk is also has to be managed. It is impossible to isolate the liquidity risk because it has the tendency to compound the other risks overall the most simple circumstances. Liquidity risk does not exit in the comprehensive metrics. In order to assessed the liquidity risk the certain techniques of asset liability management can be applied on a day by day basis. A simple test is conducted for the liquidity risk in ordered to see the net cash flows. Any day which shows a sizeable negative cash flow is of concern. Analyses such as these cannot easily take into account contingent cash flows, such as cash flows from derivatives or mortgage-backed securities. If an organizations cash flows are largely contingent, liquidity risk may be assessed using some form of scenario analysis. A general approach using scenario analysis might entail the following high-level steps: Construct multiple scenarios for market movements and defaults over a given period of time Assess day-to-day cash flows under each scenario. Because  balance sheets  differ so significantly from one organization to the next, there is little standardization in how such analyses are implemented. Regulators are primarily concerned about systemic and implications of liquidity risk. 2.3- Liquidity gap The liquidity gap is the net liquid assets of a firm. As a static measure of liquidity risk it gives no indication of how the gap would change with an increase in the firms marginal funding cost. 2.4- Liquidity risk elasticity: Culp denotes the change of net of assets over funded liabilities that occur when the liquidity premium on the banks marginal funding cost rises by a small amount as the liquidity risk elasticity. For banks this would be measured as a spread over libor, for nonfinancial the LRE would be measured as a spread over commercial paper rates. Problems with the use of liquidity risk elasticity are that it assumes parallel changes in funding spread across all maturities and that it is only accurate for small changes in funding spreads. 2.5- Measures of Asset Liquidity: Following are the measures of asset liquidity. 2.5.1. Bid-offer spread: The  bid-offer spread  is used by market participants as an asset liquidity measure. To compare different products the ratio of the spread to the products mid price can be used. The smaller the ratio the more liquid the asset is. This spread is comprised of operational costs, administrative and processing costs as well as the compensation required for the possibility of trading with a more informed trader. 2.5.2. Market depth: Hachmeister refers to  market depth  as the amount of an asset that can be bought and sold at various bid-ask spreads.  Slippage  is related to the concept of market depth. Knight and Satchell mention a flow trader needs to consider the effect of executing a large order on the market and to adjust the bid-ask spread accordingly. They calculate the liquidity cost as the difference of the execution price and the initial execution price. 2.5.3. Immediacy: Immediacy refers to the time needed to successfully trade a certain amount of an asset at a prescribed cost. 2.5.4. Resilience: Hachmeister identifies the fourth dimension of liquidity as the speed with which prices return to former levels after a large transaction. Unlike the other measures resilience can only be determined over a period of time. 2.6- Managing Liquidity Risk 2.6.1-Liquidity-adjusted value at risk: Liquidity-adjusted VAR incorporates exogenous liquidity risk into  Value at Risk. It can be defined at VAR + ELC (Exogenous Liquidity Cost). The ELC is the worst expected half-spread at a particular confidence level. Another adjustment is to consider VAR over the period of time needed to liquidate the portfolio. VAR can be calculated over this time period. The  BIS  mentions a number of institutions are exploring the use of liquidity adjusted-VAR, in which the holding periods in the risk assessment are adjusted by the length of time required to unwind positions.   2.6.2-Liquidity at risk: Greenspan (1999) discusses management of foreign exchange reserves. The Liquidity at risk measure is suggested. A countrys liquidity position under a range of possible outcomes for relevant financial variables (exchange rates, commodity prices, credit spreads, etc.) is considered. It might be possible to express a standard in terms of the probabilities of different outcomes. For example, an acceptable debt structure could have an average maturity averaged over estimated distributions for relevant financial variables in excess of a certain limit. In addition, countries could be expected to hold sufficient liquid reserves to ensure that they could avoid new borrowing for one year with certain ex ante probability, such as 95 percent of the time. 2.6.3-Scenario analysis-based contingency plans: The FDIC discuss liquidity risk management and write Contingency funding plans should incorporate events that could rapidly affect an institutions liquidity, including a sudden inability to securitize assets, tightening of collateral requirements or other restrictive terms associated with secured borrowings, or the loss of a large depositor or counterparty.Greenspans liquidity at risk concept is an example of scenario based liquidity risk management. 2.6.4-Diversification of liquidity providers: If several liquidity providers are on call then if any of those providers increases its costs of supplying liquidity, the impact of this is reduced. The American Academy of Actuaries wrote While a company is in good financial shape, it may wish to establish durable, ever-green (i.e., always available) liquidity lines of credit. The credit issuer should have an appropriately high credit rating to increase the chances that the resources will be there when needed.   2.6.5-Derivatives: The five derivatives that are discuss by bhaduri,meissner yon created specifically for hedging liquidity risk. Withdrawal option: A put of the illiquid underlying at the market price. Bermudan-style return put option: Right to put the option at a specified strike. Return swap: Swap the underlings return for LIBOR paid periodically. Return swaption: Option to enter into the return swap. Liquidity option: Knock-in barrier option, where the barrier is liquidity metric. other Funding sources are abundant and provide a competitive cost advantage. Funding is widely diversified. There is little or no reliance on wholesale funding sources or credit-sensitive funds providers. Market alternatives exceed demand for liquidity, with no adverse changes expected. Capacity to augment liquidity through asset sales and/or securitization is strong and the Bank has an established record in accessing these markets. The volume of wholesale liabilities with embedded options is low. The Bank is not vulnerable to funding difficulties should a material adverse change occur in market perception. Support provided by the parent company is strong. Earnings and capital exposure from the liquidity risk profile is negligible. -Quantity of Liquidity Risk Indicators: In order to assess the quantity of liquidity risk the following indicator should be used. Every characteristic is not necessary to be demonstrated. 2.7.1-Low: The sources of funding are abundant and provide a advantage of competitive cost. Funding is generally expanded. There is little or no reliance on wholesale funding sources or other credit-sensitive funds providers. On the sources of wholesale funding or others providers of credit sensitive fund in it there is no trust. The demand for liquidity goes above by the market alternatives and there are no any expected changes. Capacity to augment liquidity through asset sales and/or securitization is strong and the Bank has an established record in accessing these markets. The wholesale liabilities have a low volume with fixed options. The Bank is not weak to funding difficulties should a material adverse change occur in market perception. The parent company provides the support which is strong. Earnings and capital exposure from the liquidity risk profile is negligible. 2.7.2-Moderate The funding sources which are sufficient are available that provides a liquidity which is cost effective. Funding is generally expanded, by a few providers that may share their common objectives and their economic influences, but no significant concentrations. The wholesale funding is clear and it has a modest reliance. The market alternatives that is available in order to meet the demand for liquidity on reasonable terms. The Bank possesses the potential capacity to expand liquidity through asset sales and/or securitization. The bank has a modest experience in order to access these markets Some wholesale funds contain embedded options, but potential impact is not significant. The Bank is not excessively vulnerable to funding difficulties should a material. the adequate support is provided by the parent company. Earnings or capital exposure from the liquidity risk profile is manageable. 2.7.3-High: Funding sources and liability structures suggest current or potential difficulty in maintaining long-term and cost-effective liquidity. Borrowing sources may be concentrated in a few providers or providers with common investment objectives or economic influences. A significant reliance on wholesale funds is evident. Liquidity needs are increasing, but sources of market alternatives at reasonable terms, costs, and tenors are declining. The Bank exhibits little capacity or potential to augment liquidity through asset sales or securitization. A lack of experience accessing these markets or unfavorable reputation may make this option questionable. Material volumes of wholesale funds contain embedded options. The potential impact is significant. The Banks liquidity profile makes it vulnerable to funding difficulties should a material adverse change occur. Parent company provides a little or unknown support. Potential exposure to loss of earnings or capital due to high liability costs or unplanned asset reduction may be substantial. Liquidity risk management Achieving best practice Managing liquidity risk is often about applied common sense, like operational risk it requires a firm-wide approach and this places a high demand on the right processes and procedures. Any management information system used to mitigate liquidity risk should be: Accurate The best way of encouraging accuracy is to keep reporting simple. Communicative Report and information should speak plainly. Regular Timely reporting allows managers to judge changes in the market and their organizations liquidity profile. Comprehensive Must reflect your organizational reality, such as different entities, jurisdictions and regulations. Realistic Scenario must be rigorous if risk is to be identified in real situations. 2.8-Quality of Liquidity Risk Management The following indicators, as appropriate, should be used when assessing the quality of liquidity risk management. 2.8.1-Strong The polices are approved by the board and communicate guidelines effectively for the liquidity risk management and responsibilities are designated. The liquidity risk management process is effective in identifying, measuring, monitoring, and controlling liquidity risk. The process of liquidity risk management is effective for identifying liquidity risk, for measuring, monitoring, and controlling the liquidity risk. A sound culture reflects that has proven Liquidity risk is fully understood by the management in all the aspects. Management anticipates and responds well to changing market conditions. The contingency funding plan is well-developed, effective and useful. The plan incorporates reasonable assumptions, scenarios, and crisis management planning, and is tailored to the needs of the institution. Management information systems focus on significant issues and produce timely, accurate, complete, and meaningful information to enable effective management of liquidity. Internal audit is comprehensive and effective. The scope and frequency are reasonable. 2.8.2-Satisfactory Polices are approved by the Board which communicate adequately guidance for liquidity risk management and responsibilities are assigned. There may be a minor weakness present. The liquidity risk management process is generally effective in identifying, measuring, monitoring, and controlling liquidity. There may be minor weaknesses given the complexity of the risks undertaken, but these are easily corrected. .the key aspects of liquidity risk are reasonably understands by the management. Management adequately responds to changes in market conditions when changes occur in the market conditions the management respond adequately. The plan of contingency funding is adequate. The plan is current, reasonably addresses most relevant issues, and contains an adequate level of detail including multiple scenario analysis. The plan may require minor refinement. Management information systems adequately capture concentrations and rollover risk, and are timely, accurate, and complete. Recommendations are minor and do not impact effectiveness. Internal audit is reasonable. Any weaknesses are minor and do not impair effectiveness or reliance on audit findings. 2.8.3-Weak The Board has approved policies which are insufficient or incomplete. In one or more material respects the policy is incomplete .the process of liquidity risk management is useless in identifying, monitoring and controlling the liquidity risk This may be true in one or more material respects, given the complexity of the risks undertaken. The liquidity risk does not fully understand by the management. In the conditions when the market changes the management does not take any timely or suitable actions and do not participate. . The contingency funding plan is inadequate or nonexistent. The plan may not consider cost-effectiveness or availability of funds in a non-investment grade or CAMEL 3 environment. The information systems of management are deficient. The plan may be there but they do not adopted by the institutions, it is not reasonable, or they are not implemented as it should be. The information which is material may be a incomplete or lacking. Due to one or more material deficiencies the internal auditor coverage is missing or useless. 2.9-Common problems and misconceptions: Liquidity  risk  is one of the least understood and most underestimated risks that financial markets participants are exposed to. Reasons for this include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Under normal market conditions,  liquidity  problems are not observed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Liquidity  risk  does not lend itself to readily usable measures à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Despite specific BIS recommendations,  liquidity  risk  management  is left out of capital adequacy calculations due to a lack of control and regulation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Liquidity  management is often confused with liquidity  risk  management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Market and credit  risk  management  focus on assets, while  liquidity  risk can stem from liabilities as well Liquidity  risk  is also different in nature to market and credit  risk  and needs to be thought of differently; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Normal markets analyses (expected or going-concern situations) are insufficient; liquidity  risk  can only be understood with scenario-based stress testing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Historical measures of  liquidity  are irrelevant; prospective views are essential à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Liquidity  risk  cannot be readily hedged, and can only be militated against through rigorous monitoring and controls à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The pricing of many instruments does not properly charge for  liquidity .

Critical Thinking Test Week 4 Essay

1. Question : Reporter: A new campaign finance reform bill being considered by Congress would limit the amount of campaign contributions that political candidates can receive. However, a survey of candidates running for mayor, governor, and senate seats shows that not one of them favors the bill. Clearly, there is no desire among politicians to limit campaign contributions. Which one of the following points out the flaw in the reporter’s argument above? Student Answer: The reporter doesn’t indicate the amount that the new bill would limit campaign contributions. The evidence provided by the reporter suggests that most politicians are in favor of the new bill. The reporter wrongly assumes that no politician has ever supported a bill intended to limit campaign contributions CORRECT The views of candidates currently running for office do not necessarily represent the views of all politicians. 2. Question : Mrs. Orlof teaches two history classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Yesterday she gave the same test to both classes. Anyone who failed the test must take a retest. Since a greater percentage of students who took the morning test failed the test than students who took the afternoon test, more of Orlof’s morning history students than afternoon history students will have to take the retest. The conclusion above is not necessarily valid because Student Answer: more students in the morning class may have passed the test than failed the test some students may have been absent from both classes some of the students who passed the afternoon test may have received information about the test from morning students CORRECT more students may have taken the test in the afternoon than in the morning 3. Question : All sages provide both wisdom and inspiration. Since Dasha’s speech contained wisdom and greatly inspired her audience, Dasha is a sage. Which one of the following points out the flaw in the argument above? Student Answer: Just because Dasha is a sage doesn’t mean that she is always wise and inspirational. Just because Dasha’s speech provided wisdom and inspiration doesn’t mean that it provided more wisdom than inspiration. CORRECT Just because Dasha satisfied two requirements of being a sage doesn’t necessarily mean that she satisfies all the requirements of being a sage. INCORRECT Just because Dasha provided wisdom and inspiration in a speech doesn’t mean that all sages use speeches to provide wisdom and inspiration. 4. Question : The average height of members of the high school basketball team is six feet, three inches. Jerry is on the high school basketball team, so Jerry must be taller than six feet. The argument above is flawed because it confuses Student Answer: Jerry with other members of the team the members of one team with the members of another team INCORRECT people who are six feet three inches tall for people who are exactly six feet tall CORRECT an average for the individuals that make up that average. 5. Question : Catherine goes to her local movie theater only to see romantic comedies. Since Catherine did not go to the movies yesterday, there is not a romantic comedy playing at her local theater. The reasoning above is flawed because the evidence Student Answer: CORRECT does not suggest that Catherine goes to see every romantic comedy that plays at her local movie theater implies that Catherine is uninterested in most types of movies does not indicate whether Catherine watches only romantic comedies at home suggests that Catherine’s local movie theater hardly ever shows romantic comedies 6. Question : A recent study of 100 employees from six departments of a major corporation found 65% to be sleep deprived. The researchers concluded that the majority of corporate employees are sleep deprived. The researcher’s conclusion is suspect because it Student Answer: assumes that corporate employees are more sleep deprived than other people is based on evidence that is statistically impossible fails to describe the effects the sleep deprivation has CORRECT relies on a sample that is too small to represent the entire corporate workforce 7. Question : Some politicians claim to support the environment in speeches they make around the country. However, to get to those speeches they ride in gas guzzling, pollution creating private planes. They therefore clearly don’t believe a word of what they say and are actually making the environmental problem worse. Which one of the following, if true, would best weaken the argument above? Student Answer: Some of the politicians try to hide the fact that they travel by private plane to their speeches around the country. Most people who hear the politicians’ speeches on the environment are unconvinced by their arguments. A majority of voters surveyed agree that politicians sometimes make society’s problems worse. CORRECT Improvements to the environment brought about through the politicians’ public support of environmental regulations more than offset the damage done to the environment by the politicians’ private planes. 8. Question : Career counselor: It is best for artists to build a practical and safe career that will guarantee them a secure income, and then pursue their art in their spare time. That way, they will be motivated to work hard at their day jobs to support their art making, and both their career and their art will thrive. Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument? Student Answer: Some forms of art making are expensive and require a good deal of money to pursue. INCORRECT Many people who aren’t artists prefer to pursue practical and safe careers. Having the time and money to make art doesn’t guarantee an artist commercial success. CORRECT Splitting time between two pursuits in life often causes both to suffer. 9. Question : The untimely death of Professor Hathaway halted his groundbreaking research into the uses of solar power. It therefore appears that Hathaway’s research will not result in practical applications. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? Student Answer: CORRECT Professor Hathaway’s research can be used by other scientists to create useful applications. Not all professors at Professor Hathaway’s university knew that he was conducting research into the uses of solar power. Officials at Professor Hathaway’s university have refused requests to make Professor Hathaway’s research public. INCORRECT Researchers at other universities are conducting research into the potential applications of solar power. 10. Question : Surveys show that people who use calorie information to decide which foods to eat consume on average 100 calories less than they would if they didn’t check calorie information before eating. Strangely though, people who use calorie information in this way weigh more on average than people who don’t check calorie information before eating. Which one of the following, if true, best explains the surprising statistic stated above? Student Answer: There are fewer people who check calorie information before eating than people who don’t check calorie information before eating. People who usually check calorie information before eating consume more calories if they stop checking. INCORRECT Some people who check calorie information before eating don’t consume any fewer calories than they would if they didn’t check. CORRECT People with a weight problem are most likely to check calorie information before eating. 11. Question : As part of its reorganization, co mpany X created five new positions within the company. However, after the reorganization was complete, company X had fewer employees than before the reorganization. Which one of the following, if true, would best explain the result described above? Student Answer: Some employees of the company were switched into new departments to fill the new positions. Some employees who quit over dissatisfaction with the reorganization were immediately replaced by new hires. The new positions were created to respond to a greater demand for company X’s products. CORRECT Some employees were laid off as a number of old positions were eliminated in the reorganization. 12. Question : Choose the pair of words/phrases among the choices that exhibits the same logical relationship as the words/phrases in the following pair. building : blueprint Student Answer: ship : sea CORRECT cake : recipe bridge : island guitar : song 13. Question : Choose the pair of words/phrases among the choices that exhibits the same logical relationship as the words/phrases in the following pair. gavel : judge Student Answer: CORRECT baton : conductor symphony : composer stop sign : driver ruler : math 14. Question : Choose the pair of words/phrases among the choices that exhibits the same logical relationship as the words/phrases in the following pair. conductor : orchestr Student Answer: skater : rink teacher : principal producer : movie CORRECT director : cast 15. Question : Arthur: The solutions to most mystery novels I read are not believable. However, my enjoyment of a mystery novel depends only on its suspenseful mood and colorful characters. Norton: Roughly 80% of the mystery novels I read have believable solutions, which is good since I do not enjoy mystery novels that don’t have believable solutions. The speakers above Student Answer: agree that most mystery novels do not have believable solutions agree that a suspenseful mood and colorful characters add  to the enjoyment of a mystery novel CORRECT disagree on whether a believable solution is required for the enjoyment of a mystery novel disagree on whether an author’s enjoyment in creating a mystery novel influences whether that novel will have a believable solution 16. Question : Memmie: The greater the population near a restaurant, the more potential customers it has and the greater chance its popularity will spread through word-of-mouth. O’Sullivans Restaurant just opened in the very densely populated town of Redville, so its chances for success are great. Sam: But the more people living in an area, the more restaurants there are in that area, so the more competition each one faces. There are twelve other restaurants serving the people of Redville. Memmie and Sam seem to disagree about whether Student Answer: O’Sullivans will fail in its first few months O’Sullivans will serve a different kind of food than the other restaurants in Redville CORRECT the high population of Redville ensures O’Sullivan’s a great chance for success word-of-mouth about a restaurant can spread in a densely populated town like Redville 17. Question : Only circus animals with a clean bill of health will perform in today’s exhibition. A monkey, a poodle, and a horse will perform in today’s exhibition. No circus animals with a clean bill of health were prescribed medications this week. If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them? Student Answer: The monkey, poodle, and horse are the only animals performing in today’s circus exhibition. No circus animals were prescribe medications this week. INCORRECT No more than two circus animals have a clean bill of health. CORRECT Neither the monkey nor the horse performing in today’s circus exhibition were prescribed medications this week. 18. Question : The higher the price of an antique, the greater people’s expectation that the object is rare. That, in turn, makes the antique appear more valuable. If the statements above are correct, then offering an antique for sale at a bargain price Student Answer: will likely increase people’s expectations that the antique is valuable will guarantee that the antique will not sell at a profit should be encouraged because it increases the likelihood that antique will be sold CORRECT should be discouraged because it lessens a quality that makes that antique desirable 19. Question : Some drugs combat obesity or alcohol addiction by turning off pleasure centers in the brain. However, if the dosage is too high, there’s a risk that people taking them will be plunged into depression. The statements above, if true, support which one of the following assertions? Student Answer: It is useless to try to treat obesity or alcohol addiction through drugs. All drugs, if taken at too high a dosage, pose the risk that the people taking them will be plunged into depression. CORRECT The benefits of a medication may be at least somewhat offset by its side effects. INCORRECT Drugs that affect pleasure centers in the brain are often taken at dosages considered to be too high. 20. Question : Detective: The robbery at the mall was carried out by a mall employee acting alone roughly one hour after the mall closed last Saturday night. The only employees present at the mall at the time of the robbery were security guards Evans and Clark. Since the mall’s surveillance system was disabled by the thief just before the robbery, the thief must be Evans. The argument above would be valid if Student Answer: CORRECT Clark is incapable of disabling the mall’s surveillance system both Evans and Clark are capable of disabling the mall’s surveillance system INCORRECT Evans and Clark are the mall’s only security guards the mall’s surveillance system is usually used 24 hours a day, seven days a we 21. Question : A company can either invest in employee training seminars or update its computer network. Since updating the computer network would result in more  measurable benefits, the company would be best off updating its computer network. The argument above assumes that Student Answer: INCORRECT investing in employee training seminars would yield negative results for the company CORRECT the more measurable a benefit, the greater value that benefit has to a company the employee training seminars would focus on teaching employees to use the updated computer network the benefit of the company investing in employee training seminars cannot be measured at all 22. Question : The president spoke to 19 congressmen from Texas to encourage them to vote for a bill. Since four of the 19 congressmen went on to vote for the bill, it is clear that the president persuaded those four to vote the way they did. The argument above assumes that Student Answer: the bill will not pass because a majority of Texas congressmen did not vote for it the Texas congressmen who voted against the bill were persuaded by someone other than the president to vote the way they did the president did not try to influence the votes of any congressmen outside of Texas CORRECT the four Texas congressmen who voted for the bill were against it before they spoke to the president 23. Question : The very large increase in allergies over the last thirty years is due to the great success of immunizations administered over this time period. Since immunizations have nearly eliminated life-threatening diseases such as polio, the human immune system increasingly targets other environmental substances in order to keep working properly. Allergy symptoms such as runny nose and itchy eyes result when the immune system attacks pollen that is breathed in from the air. Which one of the following best expresses the main point of the passage above? Student Answer: Immunizations often have surprising side effects. Immunizations have been very successful in eliminating life-threatening diseases. INCORRECT Viruses that once caused polio now cause allergies. CORRECT The use of immunizations has led to an increase in allergies. 24. Question : Political science professor: Many people insist that the Internet is revolutionizing the political process. They argue that Internet debates and online political polls and chat rooms give people greater access to political information. And they’re right that online political chatter increases daily. But offering or reading anonymous online opinions does not by itself make for active political participation. In the past one would attend a rally, protest, or town meeting to engage in real politics. Today, people sit passively in front of computer screens under the illusion that they are connecting with their fellow citizens. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the professor’s argument? Student Answer: Internet debates and online political polls and chat rooms give people greater access to political information. INCORRECT Political organizations of the past bear no resemblance to the political organizations of today. CORRECT While the Internet has made more political content available, meaningful political involvement has decreased. The Internet has revolutionized the political process because it has allowed many more political viewpoints to be expressed. Points Received: 0 of 1 Comments: 25. Question : Whereas many industries suffer during economic recessions, the art industry does well. Some think the reason is that artists feed off the anxiety and uncertainty during recessions to produce inspired works. Others think that recessions, while harmful to most people, produce a handful of very rich people willing to pay very high prices for artworks, driving up the value of the art market as a whole. The author of the passage above is primarily interested in Student Answer: providing evidence that the art industry does well during recessions CORRECT presenting reasons for why the art industry does well during recessions discussing the types of artworks that sell  best during recessions describing the effect that art has on the economy

Marketing Strategy by Pizza Hut Essay

Various tools and methods like, secondary sources were adopted to collect information to critically analyze the marketing strategies adopted by pizza hut, analyze the probable market for the product, study its competitors and substitute products, to estimate future sales and expected share of the market, analyze the effectiveness of advertisement, its target market and finally why people prefer pizza hut. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS MARKETING STRATEGY Pizza Hut follows the following strategy: Total market strategy—-Pizza Hut started with a single product i. e. Pizza but with different segments emerging and the degree of competition increasing, it diversified into several products to serve different segments. It came up with chicken nuggets, wedges, garlic bread, smiley etc. International marketing strategy: Pizza Hut started with local market strategy in Kansas, USA then moved on to regional markets in and across USA. In 1968, Pizza Hut started its international movement by opening its 1strestaurant in Canada. And today Pizza Hut is world’s largest pizza chain with its presence in more than 100 countries. Early Entry Strategy: Though Pizza Hut was not the first entrants in the pizza market infuse. But Pizza Hut followed an early entrant strategy. Customers knew what a pizza is but still there was huge potential to tap. In order to become a leader, pizza hut continued to refine their product &develop new product to suit their customer’s changing tastes. Ultimately Pizza Hut with its superior promotion, manufacturing and distribution activities has turned out to be the â€Å"winner†. Strong Commitment Strategy: Pizza Hut has been operating in the pizza market by realizing all economies of scale in promotion, distribution and manufacturing facilities. If Papa John’s or Little Caesars come out with a new competitive pricing strategy or innovative product, then Pizza Hut quite aggressively fights back by bringing more competitive prices or better innovations in product category. In simple words, Pizza Hut takes all possible measures to defend its leadership position in the market. Pizza Hut: An Overview of the â€Å"Product Strategy† â€Å"Product Strategies specify a market needs that may be served by different products offerings†. Product Positioning Strategy-Pizza Hut has always followed Single brand positioning strategy wherein it has positioned only its pizzas. Although the positioning statement has been different in different countries but it has always hovered around its â€Å"PIZZAS†. For instance, in Canada, its positioning statement is â€Å"The best tasting pizzas under one roof † which reflects great variety of pizza being served , in China it has positioned on â€Å"Dine-in restaurants†, in Australia, it is â€Å"made fresh, served hot and on time† which reflects that best of ingredients are used and pizza is delivered on time. Product-Scope strategy: Pizza Hut follows a â€Å"multiple product strategy† as pizza hut not only sells pizzas, but also deals in a variety of other products as although all the product offerings in pizza hut are not as fast moving as its pizza, but they usually complement each other. For instance, family coming for a dinner usually starts with some soup and garlic breads and then moves on to pizzas along with some diet salads. In this way, pizza hut caters to different people with different needs and tastes and preferences. This helps in increasing sales, profitability, market share and above all â€Å"Customer’s Mind Share† Product-Scope Strategy Salads & Pastas, Appetizers Pizzas, Soups and Desserts Product-Design Strategy:Pizza Hut follows the strategy of selling Standardized Products with modifications. Pizza Hut mainly sells 4 types of pizzas: Pan Pizza, hand-tossed pizza, stuffed crust pizza and Thin N Crispy pizza. Pizza Hut serves these standard style pizzas everywhere in the world but at the same time, it offers its customers to choose different toppings as extra mushrooms or extra capsicum and onions with extra cheese or chicken toppings like toppings of meat, bacon, fish, ham, beef topping, pork toppings etc. Secondly it offers what is known as â€Å"Value meal combos† wherein it offers a combination of pizzas, appetizers, beverages etc at lower prices. For instance, Pizza hut introduced â€Å"Meal for 2† which offers medium pan/ fresh pizza, garlic bread sticks with 2 glasses of Pepsi. Similarly pizza hut also offered â€Å"Meals for 4† where it offered 2medium pan pizzas, with one plate of garlic bread and one portion of wedges with 4 glasses of Pepsi/Soup. Pizza Hut by offering standard products seeks economies of scale and by offering modification options enhances customer satisfaction which adds to brand equity of Pizza Hut Product innovation strategy: Pizza Hut has been constantly involved in innovating new products. It started as Pizza chain in 1958. On one hand, it offers traditional Italian pizzas while on other hand, it innovated several new varieties as pan pizza, thin n crispy, stuffed crust, the big New Yorker pizza, hand tossed pizza, the edge pizza along with the Sicilian Pizza. Pizza Hut spends extensively on research and development of its innovative products. At the same time, customer’s feedback also plays an important role in preparing new pizzas. For example, The Big New Yorker Pizza. Pizza Hut continued to make innovations as it followed â€Å"International marketing strategy†. In India, Pizza Hut launched international style pizza in localized Indian flavors like Tandori pizza range with Punjabi flavors, vegetarian tama-tam, Murgh Mazedar Pizza etc. Similarly, in China along with traditional pizzas, it served â€Å"Sangria â€Å"and â€Å"Escargot†. Along with pizzas, Pizza Hut also innovated beverages and drinks to satisfy the tastes of consumers. For e. g. Pizza Hut in Oman has added a refreshing splash of tropics to their menu with the launch of Monin, a new line of flavored drinks. Value Marketing Strategy: Pizza Hut as far as value marketing is concerned follows Quality strategy, Customer- service strategy. Time-based strategy Pizza Hut promises its customers to give them best quality product busing best quality ingredients. Time and again it re-emphasizes on this fact through its advertisement campaigns. Pizza Hut main motive is to enhance its customer’s satisfaction by providing them best quality products at affordable prices. At the same time, pizza hut always tries to deliver on time. Although Pizza Hut’s competitor Domino’s differentiates on basis of timely delivery in 30 minutes, however, Pizza Hut through its innovative technology is also trying to reduce its delivery time to 30 minutes and fight back Domino’s. Pizza Hut: Overview of the â€Å"Pricing Strategy† Pizza Hut ideology of â€Å"Customers† behind its pricing strategy: Willing to pay for relevance Willing to pay for excitement Willing to pay for quality Willing to pay for simplifying life Willing to pay for forward movement But Selective and defiant Pizza Hut follows â€Å" A High/Low Pricing† strategy as far as its new products is concerned where it fixes the price higher than its competitors and then gradually lowers the price below the competitor’s prices. In simple words, it is applying â€Å"Price Skimming† strategy for its new products. For instance, the price of â€Å"the Extreme† was fixed at $9. 99 which was much higher than its competitors. But several sales promotions were used to reduce the price of the pizza below its competitors since both Pizza Hut and Pepsi are partners; â€Å"Bundle Pricing† is used where 2 liter bottle of Mountain dew was offered free with â€Å"The Extreme pizza†. The high/low pricing strategy has several advantages for Pizza Hut Used to create excitement. Set high prices initially to send a signal that its products are best inequality and service offered is excellent. Helps in segmenting the market as Pizza Hut can sell â€Å"the extreme pizza† to the customers who wish to pay higher price as well as to the bargain hunters too. Pizza Hut in formulating the complete pricing strategy focuses on â€Å"Value which it is providing to the customers at a particular price†. As far as the pricing of established products is concerned, Pizza hut believes to give â€Å"Value for Money â€Å"to its customers. Thus in order to provide maximum value to the customers and enhance the brand value, it sometimes maintains the same prices while sometimes reduces the prices, while sometimes increase prices also. â€Å"One-Price† Strategize. It charges the same price to allot customers under similar conditions and for the same quantities. This helps in establishing a favorable and fair image among its customers as well as having a stable market. Pizza Hut at the same time follows â€Å"Price Bundling† Strategy or â€Å"Value Pricing†wherein it combines the items of its menu and offers at a lesser price then what a customer would have to pay if he bought these items individually . For Example, in India, Pizza Hut offered for Rs. 75 a deal of â€Å"a plate of garlic bread sticks, 1 personal pan pizza, a glass of Pepsi and one scoop of ice cream†. Similarly Pizza Hut offered meal combos serving 2 people or 4 people. These bundling schemes attracted large number of customers who are not only interested in pizzas but in tasting other things as well. In offering such schemes, although Pizza Hut costs less but at the same time, this increases the customer inflow and sales revenue of PH tremendously. Thus Pizza Hut’s pricing strategy revolves around providing maximum value to the customer at an affordable price. Pizza hut never plays the price game as it has positioned its brand on high quality and excellent customer service. And even Pizza hut customers don’t mind paying a little more than its competitors because of the service it renders and quality it promises. Pizza Hut: An Overview of Franchise Model â€Å"Franchising† involves a contractual arrangement between a franchisor (a manufacturer, a wholesaler, or a service sponsor) and a retail franchisee, which allows the franchisee to conduct a given form of business under an established name and according to a given pattern of business. Pizza Hut after its incorporation in 1958 opened its first franchise unit in Topeka, Kansas. Followed by a Pizza Hut restaurant built in just 5 days by franchisees in Oklahoma State Fairing 1968, Pizza Hut made a global entry by entering in Canada. Then it made strong foot holding in Australia, Japan, England, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi. By 1989, Pizza Hut was already serving 54 countries. In 1996, Pizza Hut entered India with the first dine-in restaurant in Bangalore. While entering in the international arena, Pizza Hut used the â€Å"Franchising Route† as the entry strategy. (Scribd, 2010). FINDINGS Promotion mix 1. Advertising 2. Personal selling 3. Sales promotion A) Advertising Advertising is â€Å"non personal communication transmitted through mass media as radio, television, print, internet and outdoor media†. The main objective behind every campaign is either to increase sales by encouraging potential purchasers or inducing repeat purchases or prompting immediate purchase by offering special schemes or to create awareness about a new product offering by highlighting a new flavor or announcing price changes or demonstrating the product in use by depicting inexperience. Advertising Sales Promotion For instance, to launch a new flavor in India named â€Å"The Great Indian Treat†, Pizza Hut signed a Jived Jaffrey for its new TV commercial. Similarly to inform the customers about Rs. 50 pan pizza, Pizza hut showed Zayed Khan as a young teenager boy friend who has to treat his large number of girl friends with something trendy and affordable. Pizza Hut also launched certain ad campaigns to counter attack its competitors promotions. For instance, in 2005 Pizza Hut launchedâ€Å"Freshizza† ad campaign featuring Malia Aurora Khan and counter attacked Domino’s campaign showing Anuran Khmer and Parish Revaluate the same time, Pizza Hut brings about local flavor in its ad campaigns. Indifferent countries, it uses models, situations, positioning clearly related to that particular country. For instance, in India, Pizza Hut focused on occasions such as marriage and used Indian models that represent and relate to their target audience. Similarly, in USA, Jessica Simpson sells chicken nuggets and pizzas for Pizza hut. (Scribd, 2010) Internet Advertising Not only Television advertisement, Pizza Hut along with Pizza innovations, also innovates new ways of promoting its products. Recently Pizza Hut signed a deal with Yahoo internet portal to advertise its products. Print Media (newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, posters) Although Pizza Hut advertises mainly via television, but print ads also constitutes a major portion of its promotion mix. Outdoor Advertisements Pizza Hut adopted a variety of innovative types of outdoor advertisement. Balloon Advertising: Pizza Hut indulged in an extremely innovative form of advertising named â€Å"Balloon Advertisements† where in cold air balloons in the shape of Pepsi can, pizza slices and garlic bread are placed either in front of the hut or placed at its roof top. Space Marketing: Pizza hut came up with a very innovative method of advertising when Pizza Hut paid huge sums (approx $1 million) to put a 30 ft large logo on Russian Proton Rocket. Not only had the logo, Pizza Hut also made its pizza available to the astronauts in the space. On such a successful venture, Pizza hut stated that â€Å"If space tourism is going to be a reality, Pizza Hut pizza will make the trip even better. † Banner Advertisement: Styrofoam along with McCann Erickson came up with really innovative banner advertisements to advertise its new range of â€Å"Gourmet Pizzas†. Poster Advertisement: Pizza Hut came with a tremendously successful Poster advertisement campaign on the occasion of â€Å"Halloween† when Pizza Hut advertised for â€Å"The Ghoulish Tripplecheese, the spooky cheese combo, and the Halloween cheese supreme† B) Sales Promotion. â€Å"Sales promotion† refers to a variety of short term incentives to encourage trial or purchase of a product or service. Coupons and Rebates: Pizza Hut offers discount coupons in physical form with every purchase we make. However in USA, UK, Canada where online ordering contributes a major percentage to total sales, Pizza Hut offers online coupons for different regions of varying denominations Premiums & Gifts: Pizza Hut offers â€Å" Gift vouchers† to be presented as a gift to someone special on marriages, birthday, and anniversary etc. these gift vouchers are available in denomination of Rs. 500, rs. 1000, rs. 2000 etc. Pizza Hut offers CDs and DVD along with their pizzas as gifts to act as an additional incentive for customers to make the purchase. For e. g. Unique DVD Promotion: Pizza Hut came up withal promotion campaign where is offered a free DVD with a large size pizza and in a 6 week promotion, Pizza Hut distributed 10 millionDVDs. Pizza Hut collaborated with Sony to launch a promotion campaignnamedâ€Å"Pizza-Powered PlayStation giveaway â€Å"which was huge success. During the next year, Pizza Hut again came up with a promotion where along with stuffed crust pizza, kids will get PlayStation demo disc free. Sweepstakes: Pizza Hut during the launch of â€Å"Cheesy Bites Pizza â€Å"introduced nationwide online sweepstakes contest to win an autographed pair of shoes by Jessica Simpson. Fans will be able to go online to www. pizzahut. com/cheesybites to enter the sweepstakes. Customers will also have an opportunity to win an autographed pair of Miss Piggy boots. Sampling: Pizza Hut gave â€Å"free samples† of the new pizza which it launches. For e. g. in case of â€Å"Cheesy Bites Pizza†, Pizza Hut offered free slices of it to the customers for sampling and testing it amongst the consumer group. Point of Purchase Material: Pizza Hut restaurants interiors are done in a uniform format for all the restaurants. Pizza Hut also comes outwit several innovative POP materials to attract the attention of its customers. For e. g. spin The Wheel games, danglers and posters. During the launch the â€Å"The Great Indian Treat† the entire interiors were given a pink color and the menu and danglers were all colored pink. On the occasion of â€Å"Valentine’s Day† in Malaysia, Pizza Hut launched a limited edition â€Å"Heart Shaped Pizza† with danglers, greetings cards all over. This limited edition Heart shaped pizza not only created an excitement among the customers, it also increased its brand value. C) Personal Selling â€Å"Personal Selling refers to face to face interaction with the customer†. Entertaining the customers in the restaurant: Crew members at Pizza Hut broke in to a boogie at metros like Delhi and Mumbai and performed â€Å"Hangar† in Chandigarh and Amritsar. Pizza Hut in Delhi organized a â€Å"JIG N JEETO† contest with super star Faradeen Khan judging the show. The show received tremendous response from the customers. Etiquettes of the crew members: The politeness of their speech and the mannerism which Pizza Hut crew members serve their customers is absolutely outstanding which enhances the brand value of Pizza hut in customer’s mind. Pizza Hut: An Overview of the Global Strategy— Pizza Hut before entering into any new country conducts a comprehensive market survey of that country to learn about the culture that prevails in that country, the state of government and politics, the legal framework (product quality laws, packaging laws) , commercial practices (business structure, patterns of competition). Strategy Adopted by Pizza Hut for Global marketing programs Localized strategy: Pizza Hut follows the strategy of â€Å"Think Global, Act Local†. For e. g. in India, the 1stPizza Hut which was launched in Bangalore served complete vegetarian meals. Similarly, in China, along with serving Pizzas, Pizza Hut also serves â€Å"Sangria† and â€Å"Escargot†. Similarly, in India, to match the spicy tastes of Indian consumers, Pizza Hut launched â€Å"Pandora Treat†, â€Å"The Great Indian Treat†. For the cheese lovers in United States, Pizza Hut launched Cheesy Bites Pizza and Stuffed Crust Pizza. International Marketing Coordination: Pizza Hut’s international marketing activities though dispersed in different countries are properly coordinated to gain competitive advantage as all marketing activities as market research, advertisements, and restaurant interiors are done using a similar method. Marketing know-how and skills are transferred from one country to another. For e. g. the â€Å"franchising model† is used successfully in althea countries by Pizza Hut. (AssignmentPoint,2012) SWOT ANALYSIS OF PIZZA HUT The swot analysis provides all the important aspects of the product and the company in brief. Swot stands for S-strength W-weakness O-opportunities T-threats S-strength -best quality of food -quality of services -varieties in toppings -different promotional schemes -consistency -strong brand name W-weaknesses -high price -advertisement shows pizza not salads, sandwiches etc O-opportunities -needs to open more outlets -offer diet food and low calorie food -explore untouched market T-threats—competition (wikiwealth, 2012) RECOMMENDATIONS/SUGGESTIONS 1)High Quality Personnel: In order to maintain the no. 1 position in Pizza market, Pizza Hut must obtain total cooperation of its employee’s thereby increasing productivity, beating competition and enhancing customer satisfaction. For this, proper training program with high incentive schemes must be established. 2) Pay more attention to untapped segment of Senior Citizens: Pizza Hut must innovate and launch some product for Senior Citizens. It could establish Pizza Hut senior club which will organize activities for oldies. 3) Maintain the product quality by continuous innovations thereby giving surprises to the customer off and on. Innovations can be based on consumer’s reviews and feedbacks as to what changes are they looking for in their pizzas. 4) â€Å"Location, location and location†: the most critical success factor for any hospitality business is â€Å"Location†. Pizza Hut does not aim to be premium brand with selective distribution; instead Pizza Hut is brand which must be available anywhere and everywhere people thinks of PIZZA. Thus Pizza Hut must increase it coverage. 5) Emphasis on development of â€Å"Home Delivery† Network: Although in developing countries like India, Pizza Hut has opened up a â€Å"call center† to fasten the speed of home delivery. CONCLUSIONS This project helped in following areas Critical analysis of marketing strategies adopted by pizza hut Knowing the product offered by pizza hut Identify the alternatives available in the market Analyze the target market Know about the existing competition in the market To understand the distribution system in the product Reasons why people prefer pizza hut products Methods to increase sales with maximum customer satisfaction Role of advertisements in the promotion of the product To estimate its future growth and market share. REFERENCES Pizza Hut and Dominos marketing strategy Scribd (2010). Pizza Hut and Dominos marketing strategy. [online] Retrieved from: http://www. scribd. com/doc/25371457/Pizza-Hut-and-Dominos-marketing-strategy [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012]. About Us – Pizza Hut Pizzahut. Co. Uk (2012). About Us – Pizza Hut. [online] Retrieved from: http://www. pizzahut. co. uk/restaurants/about-us. aspx [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012]. Assignment Point – marketing plan on pizza hut Assignment Point (2012). Assignment Point – marketing plan on pizza hut. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.assignmentpoint. com/business/marketing-business/marketing-plan-on-pizza-hut. html [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012]. Pizza Hut Franchise Pizzahutfranchise. Co. Uk (n. d. ). Pizza Hut Franchise. [online] Retrieved from: http://www. pizzahutfranchise. co. uk/html/history. html [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012]. Pizza Today Magazine Pizzatoday. Com (n. d. ). Pizza Today Magazine. [online] Retrieved from: http://pizzatoday. com [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012]. Pizza Hut SWOT Analysis – WikiWealth Wikiwealth (2012). Pizza Hut SWOT Analysis – WikiWealth.[online] Retrieved from: http://www. wikiwealth. com/swot-analysis:pizza-hut [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012]. About Us | Papa John’s: Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Papajohns (2012). About Us | Papa John’s: Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.. [online] Retrieved from: http://www. papajohns. com/about/index. shtm [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012]. APPENDIX/ ANNEXURE Figure 1: specimen of pizza hut coupons printed in newspapers and magazines. Figure 2: specimen showing pizza hut’s space advertisement. Figure 3: specimen of poster ad Pizza Hut launched for Halloween.

Social and Political Effects of the Protestant Reformation Essay Example

Social and Political Effects of the Protestant Reformation Essay Example Social and Political Effects of the Protestant Reformation Paper Social and Political Effects of the Protestant Reformation Paper Martin Luther, a monk from Wittenberg, Germany criticized many of the attributes of the Catholic Church and compiled a list of reasons why he believed Catholicism was entirely flawed. This document was called the 95 Theses and lead to a movement called the Protestant Reformation which ended the unity imposed by medieval Christianity and signaled the beginning of a modern era. Luther’s propositions challenged some portions of Roman Catholic doctrine and a number of specific practices. He argued that the bible not the pope, was the central means to discern God’s word - a view that was certain to raise eyebrows in Rome since the pope was a very worldly figure and accommodated power in the Catholic church. He saw the bible as the most important factor to spirituality and thought that the Christian followers should abide by it as opposed to the orders of the pope. The system of the Catholic Church was constructed imperially giving some people more authority over others according to how financially stable they were. For instance, a Christian would take part in indulgences by paying for their sins to be forgiven granting them a position in heaven during their afterlife. This was seen as injustice towards the true meaning of salvation and was in no means a real way of having faith in God. The Catholic Church economically controlled a majority of Europe in the 16th Century as it heavily taxed 1/3 of its land. Luther saw Catholicism as a way of manipulating the lives of people and essentially drawing them away from God. Once these problems were listed and documented, he presented the 95 theses at the University of Wittenberg in Latin so that only the priests could read them and then eventually printed them in Vernacular so that everyone else could read them. This stirred awe all over Germany a movement began to grow crystallizing a new basis for Christianity. In 1520, the Catholics recoiled in response to the growth of Luther’s followers and a Counter-Reformation was developed. This reformation combated the new reforms and assisted the doctrine and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Mendicant orders such as the Jesuits were formed to reinforce Catholic doctrine, and the Church continued to be supported by the major European monarchies. Ultimately, the Reformation created a north-south split in Europe. The northern countries became Protestant while the south remained Catholic. As old methods of the Catholic Church lost efficiency, and a new denomination of religion formed, political and social changes began to shake the foundations of Europe. For the wealthy, becoming a Lutheran was one way to keep their wealth yet still be given a chance for salvation without paying homage to Rome. The wealthy followed Luther as a form of protest against the Church. For the very poor, Luther offered individual dignity and respect. Not good works or servitude to Rome could guarantee salvation. Instead, faith held out the possibility of salvation. Luther also opened the doors to other theologians who agreed with his stance on the imperfections of the Catholic Church. John Calvin was an important figure to Protestantism who began the Swiss Reform Church. Ulrich Zwingli joined the Swiss Reform and developed radical ideas where he taught about theocracy: the idea that the church and government should be combined. Regardless of his successful achievements, Luther was unable to extinguish radicalism further astray. The German Peasant’s War of 1524-25 was instigated during which many atrocities were committed in Luther’s name. His attacks on the Catholic Church conveyed liberal language leading peasants to believe that he would support an attack on the upper class in general. Revolts broke out in Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia in 1524, even drawing support from disaffected nobles, many of whom were in debt. Gaining momentum under the leadership of radicals such as Muntzer in Thuringia and Michael Gaismair in Tyrol, the revolts turned into war. This was one major social consequence that was rooted from the Protestant Reformation. The political effects of The Protestant Reformation were quite gradual. They involved one item or country at a time. Luther presented his Thesis and the sale of indulgences ended. Henry VIII made England a Protestant nation and stopped paying taxes to the Pope and seized the monasteries and set up a more modern welfare system. After a series of religious wars that ended in 1648, the Pope lost all ability to interfere in the affairs of nations. He could no longer end a war or establish a boundary. The pope would no longer have secular authority anywhere. Overall, the Protestant Reformation created major changes in Christianity while created positive and negative effects in Europe during the 16th century.

Edgar Allan Poes Autobiographical Inspiration †Literature Essay

Edgar Allan Poes Autobiographical Inspiration – Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers Edgar Allan Poes Autobiographical Inspiration Literature Essay In several stories and poems that Edgar Allan Poe created, he left various indications that the written word is rarely disconnected from the person writing it. Through the dark, disturbing subject matter in his work, one can begin to understand the complex life and obstacles, both external and internal, that he had to cope with during every day of his life. Though Poe is widely regarded as the master of the American short story and one of the foremost horror writers in the United States’ brief history, it is easy to see the effect of such a difficult childhood in both the tragic course of events that culminated in his premature death and the mesmerizing and groundbreaking writing that he left behind. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19th, 1809 to David and Elizabeth Poe, two Baltimore-based actors. Acting was looked down upon as a profession in that time, which meant that Poe’s parents were barely able to make a living. It also did not help that the pair could not have been considered gifted by any stretch of the imagination: â€Å"The two were not notably talented; they played minor roles in third-rate theatrical companies† (Buranelli 7). Poe was the second of three children. By the time of the third child’s birth, Poe’s father, who was purported to have abused him, disappeared, abandoning his mother. She took her two youngest children (William Henry, the first, was left to his grandparents in Baltimore around the time of his birth) to Richmond, VA, but soon developed tuberculosis and died, leaving Edgar and his sister, Rosaline orphaned (9). After his mother’s death, Poe was taken into the care of John Allan, a wealthy Richmond merchant and his godfather. His wife Frances had no children of her own and wanted to adopt Poe, but Allan refused, citing that he thought the son of parents whose profession was looked at as immoral would be the wrong choice for an heir and bad for his name and the fortune he was busy amassing. After a move to London and a strict but enjoyable boarding school education, Poe returned with the Allans to the United States. The two did not get along, so Poe was excited to find out that Allan was shipping him off to the University of Virginia. However, Allan did not supply him with nearly enough money to pay his way through school, so Poe took up gambling and by the end of the year, owed over $2,500. After 11 months of college, Allan, refusing to pay the debts, pulled Poe out of school. Terrified and unbalanced, Poe started drinking heavily. Over the next couple of years, Poe was faced with a heap of bad luck. Upon arriving home, he was invited to a party of Sarah Elmira Royster’s, his high-school sweetheart; when he got there, he discovered that it was an engagement party. To make matters worse, Allan forced Poe to join the military. He signed up under the name â€Å"Edgar Allan Perry,† but was honorably discharged in 1829, with the rank of Sergeant Major. A year later, Allan, frustrated with Poe’s situation, signed him up for West Point. In less than a year, Poe was kicked out. A few years later when Frances died, Allan remarried and cut off contact with Poe. However, even without familial support, Poe soon began to write and things began to pick up. Around this time, he married his thirteen-year old first cousin, Virginia Clemm. Though she was simple-minded and kind, she was unable to keep up with his erratic genius and wild behavior. Nevertheless, Poe won a story contest in 1833 for a story called â€Å"MS. Found in a Bottle†; one of the judges, John P. Kennedy expressed an interest in his work and helped him sell a story to the Southern Literary Messenger from Richmond. Soon, Poe got a job on the editorial staff of the magazine and was quickly promoted to editor. With his new position, Poe was seen to be both a keen critic of literature and a gifted writer, and the popularity of his work for the magazine increased the recognition of both his writing and the Messenger. Unfortunately, Poe was an alcoholic and was fired and re-hired by the Messenger several times. He looked for work in several publishing houses, but the financial p anic going on at the time prevented several magazines from being able to thrive, so work was scarce. After a while, Poe was finally was able to publish a long story that recounted a sea voyage, entitled â€Å"The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.† The story was so well-written that most critics actually believed it to be a true account. After two hard years, Poe began to publish again. He got a job working for a magazine called Burton’s Gentlemen’s Magazine; his contract was to write horror stories for the magazine, which in 1840, were compiled into a collection called â€Å"Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.† After Burton’s was sold and the name was changed to Graham’s Magazine, Poe became the editor of that version too, leading the American magazine to become possibly the most important of its time. A year after his story, â€Å"The Gold Bug,† won a $100 prize from the Philadelphia Dollar Magazine, Poe left Graham’s. Not long after, the New York Evening Mirror published his most famous poem, â€Å"The Raven.† The poem became extraordinarily popular and Poe frequently did readings of it, in eerie rooms with the lamps turned low and his voice sounding somewhat demonic. Though he reached the height of his popularity with â€Å"The Raven,† few writers can make a healthy living on writing alone; most must depend on other positions, such as editorial and publishing jobs. He was able to acquire such employment (he worked for such diverse publications as the Broadway Journal, the Evening Mirror and Grodey’s Lady’s Book) but never held them for long due to his alcoholism. At this time, Virginia also started showing symptoms of tuberculosis. Poe began to get more depressed, started drinking more and sunk into a deep melancholy. Finally, in the win ter of 1846, Virginia died, when the couple had little fuel for the cold or food. Shortly after Virginia’s death, Poe met up with his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Elmira Royster, who was newly single, and the two reconnected. Soon, they were engaged. A few days before their wedding, Poe set off on a trip to New York City from Richmond, but disappeared in Baltimore. Days later, he was found in the street. He was brought to a hospital but died shortly after on October 7th, 1949. Though the cause is still unknown, it is widely believed to have been rabies that killed Poe. A quick glance at any of Poe’s works reveals that he was a writer whose life events clearly had a strong effect on what he wrote. Though there are many aspects that can be compared and contrasted, it is his use of women, alternating as the objects of affection and substitute mother figures, and the uncanny similarities between several of his main characters and himself that are the most interesting. Vincent Buranelli said that â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe is the most complex personality in the entire gallery of American authors. No one else fuses, as he does, such discordant psychological attributes, or offers to the world an appearance so various† (19). While this is true, the â€Å"discordant psychological attributes† that Poe frequently wrote about usually referred to himself. Many of Edgar Allan Poe’s personal problems most likely stemmed from the premature death of David and Elizabeth and the resulting lack of strong parental influence in his early years. It is said by Edward H. Davidson in his Poe: A Critical Study that â€Å"one of the major themes in Poe’s whole corpus of writing is his longing for the mother, for a kind of female night-shape who is never there and who will never come† (47). In fact, several psychoanalysts have used Poe and his fixation with his mother as fertile ground for further investigation. In her analysis of Poe’s short story, â€Å"The Black Cat,† psychologist Marie Bonaparte argues that for Poe (taking the form of the narrator), the story enacts his displacement of his hatred for his mother for abandoning him (164). He obviously has cause to be angry with Pluto, the all-black cat which bites him and he kills, while the next cat enables him momentarily to forget his act of murder. However, he begins to loathe Pluto’s successor for no other reason than its involuntary reminiscence of the first cat. This, Bonaparte says, represents Poe’s innermost feelings being projected in the form of a short story, with the two cats as symbols for his several mother figures (Elizabeth, Frances Allan and Maria Clemm). Both Poe and the narrator’s feelings of detestation come from an action or event that was completely beyond control (Elizabeth’s death and the cat’s biting reflex), but the pair still hold both Poe’s mother and Pluto accountable for them. Because their first choice target for hatred is unavailable, they automatically shift their feelings towards an alternate foil. That the second cat has, according to Poe, a large, although indefinite splotch of white, covering nearly the whole region of the breast (â€Å"The Black Cat,† 212) is probably not a coincidence. This splotch, Bonaparte argues, represents milk both by its color and its position and subsequently reminds the narrator of his felicide. Nonetheless, it is quite clear that, at least â€Å"above the iceberg,† Poe felt a strong affection for his mother. Traditional Freudian theory can also be applied to the storyline and characters in another one of Poe’s short stories, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher.† Though its implication of incest (most of which is drawn from the rather suspect behavior of Usher following his sister’s death and the quote that the two shared sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature (â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† 270)) seems like Poe is pandering to the lowest common denominator of reader, he is actually including a topic that was common ground for writing of that time (Wagenknecht 57). Even so, Poe’s insertion of the theme brings to light interesting parallels with his own story. While it is clear that Poe’s time with his parents was not long by any means, it is understood that due to his father’s frequent inebriation and abu sive behavior, Elizabeth had a much larger effect on the then-toddler Poe. It is then no surprise to see Poe acting out his Freudian Oedipus complex by having Usher (clearly analogous to Poe) romanticize a blood relative in concept (if not physically), even after her death (or at least what Usher perceives to be her death). In addition to being concerned with subtly lusting after his mother, Poe also devoted much of his creativity towards the primary love of his life, Virginia Clemm. Within Poe’s poem â€Å"Annabel Lee,† are several references to Virginia’s youngness and their relationship: I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea; but we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee; with a love that the winged seraphs of heaven coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, in this kingdom by the sea, a wind blew out of a cloud, chilling my beautiful Annabel Lee; so that her highborn kinsman came and bore her away from me, to shut her up in sepulcher in this kingdom by the sea†¦ for the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee; and the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes of my beautiful Annabel Lee; and so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, in the sepulcher there by the sea, in her tomb by the pounding sea (â€Å"Annabel Lee,† 12-13). The poem gives the impression that Poe and Clemm’s relationship might have been looked down upon by some, yet Poe’s refutation that they had a â€Å"love that was more than love† attempts to dispel that. It is through the poem that Poe, for once, truly lays out all of his feelings about the entire relationship with Virginia. It is also unfortunately a chronicle of his heartbreaking behavior following her death. Though Pruette says that their union was only existent because of Poe’s desire for a mother figure in Maria Clemm (who he became incredibly close with) (67), â€Å"Annabel Lee† also recreates Poe’s frequent night-time visits to Virginia’s graveside, where he would often sleep (â€Å"all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling†). Poe loved Clemm so much that towards the end of her life and following her death, he could not bear the strain of losing someone so close to him, and he began to drink heavily.  "Each time I felt the agonies of her death- and at each accession of the disorder I loved her more dearly and clung to her life with more desperate pertinacity. But I am constitutionally sensitive- nervous in a very unusual degree. During these fits of absolute unconsciously, I drank, God only knows how often or how much† (qtd. in Buranelli 38). Here, Poe makes direct mention of his bout with depression and admits to drinking every time his depressive side reared its ugly head. Though containing remarkable beauty and examples of Poe’s sheer brilliance, â€Å"Annabel Lee† also became a regrettable testament to the disarray that consumed Poe’s life following the death of his wife. Also notable in much of Poe’s writing is his resemblance to several of his main characters. In one particular case, Poe, with his own private musings, refers to a hypothetical man who he clearly is comparing to himself. Through the piece, he is responding to the speculation of his mental state: â€Å"I have sometimes amused myself by endeavoring to fancy what would be the fate of any individual gifted, or rather accursed, with an intellect very far superior to that of his race. Of course, he would be conscious of his superiority; nor could he (if otherwise constituted as man is) help manifesting his consciousness. Thus he would make himself enemies at all points. And since his opinions and speculations would widely differ from those of all mankind- that he would be considered a madman, is evident. How horribly painful such a condition! Hell could invent no greater torture than that of being charged with abnormal weakness on account of being abnormally strong† (â€Å"Ma rginalia,† 227). Poe views his psychological state as a position of power, rather than hindrance. The passage could also be viewed as a response to his critics, who might view his work (which he believes is far superior to everyone else’s) as the writing of a madman instead of focusing on the brilliance that he’s convinced it contains. In addition to Poe’s essays, he also places himself in the guise of several fictional protagonists as well. In fact, several critics agree that Poe only has one endlessly repeated main character- himself. He is pictured as appearing and reappearing as his melancholic, hallucinated, mad and half-mad creations again and again. However, out of his many popular characters, it is the character of Roderick Usher from â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† that Poe seems to represent the most. In the story, Usher is a man who is well aware of his mental instability but, who like Poe, attempts to hold on to his sanity at all costs, regardless. If there was any doubt about the pair’s similarities, Poe goes onto physically describe Usher, and in doing so, depicts himself: â€Å"A cadaverousness of complexion; an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of delicate Hebrew model, but with a breath of nostril unusual in similar formations; a finely molded chin, speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want of moral energy; hair of a more than weblike softness and tenuity- these features, with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple, made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten† (â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† 198). Even a cursory glance at a picture of Poe will reveal that he not only shares some of these facial features; it is actually a precise depiction of his appearance. Though the resemblance of Poe to several of his characters might be obvious, one can’t help but wonder why he chose to base so many of them on himself. Based on the various vices that many of his characters fall victim to and their resemblance to him in other areas, it is almost as if Poe is vividly describing his character’s flaws as a way of showing his own. Much of the infamous â€Å"evidence† that Poe was a habitual user of opium can be traced back to a few passages from some of his works. Roderick Usher, the character most frequently compared to Poe, is described in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† to be an â€Å"irreclaimable eater of opium† (276). Furthermore, in his short story â€Å"Life in Death,† Poe’s main character goes into an in-depth homily about his drug habit and patterns of use. â€Å"I had never swallowed opium before. Laudanum and morphine I had occasionally used, and about them should have had no reason to hesitate†¦ I would take a very small dose in the first instance. I would repeat it until I should find an abatement of the fever† (â€Å"Life and Death,† 165). His authoritarian tone paints not only the character, but the author as well, as a source of expertise in the field of opium use. If one is to use this logic for proof that Poe was an opium addict or at least had inclinations towards the drug, it can also be asserted that he had a predisposition towards domestic abuse. Because his father was a notorious and abusive drunk, it is very likely that young Edgar viewed battery as a subconsciously acceptable form of resolution. Though he never explicitly confesses to beating Virginia or any women, the closest thing to an admission is his â€Å"The Black Cat† character’s account that â€Å"I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with my own†¦ I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife. At length, I even offered her personal violence† (213). Because the story’s main figure descends slowly into madness, like Poe presumably was himself at that time, it can be assumed that Poe took out his growing confusion and frustration about his mental state on the simple-minded and devoted Virginia Clemm. However, despite that several of his stories and characters either contain themes of insanity or are insane themselves, Poe still attempts to depict some sort of dramatic arc or have his protagonists think about their own actions, sometimes coming to important conclusions. Almost without fail, â€Å"his heroes analyze their obsessions in a sane, perfectly logical way, and he presents the analysis in terms of a highly finished style (Wageknecht 57). Therefore, if one is attempting to compare Poe’s life to his work, it can be maintained that his work is less a reflection of his psychological state and more a reflection of his immersion in his own place and time (Peeples 77). Growing up without his natural parents and without the love and nurturance that most believe is necessary to mature into a well-adjusted, functioning adult, Edgar Allan Poe, most would agree, satisfied a self-fulfilling prophecy of a life of destruction, depression and mental illness. Yet, even though he faced several obstacles on his road to success, he left behind a legacy of pioneering and extraordinary work that most likely would not have been the same, had his tribulations not had a profound effect on the writing’s eventual quality. Peeples, Scott. Edgar Allan Poe Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1998. Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. New York: Coopers Square Publishers, 1969. Wagenknecht, Edward. Edgar Allan Poe: The Man Behind the Legend. New York: Oxford UP, 1963. Buranelli, Vincent. Edgar Allan Poe. G.K. Hall Co., 1977. Bloom, Harold. The Tales of Poe. New York, New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Davidson, Edward H. Poe: A Critical Study. Oxford University Press, 1969. Pruette, Lorrine. â€Å"A Psychoanalytical Study of Edgar Allan Poe.† American Journal of Psychology 31 (1920): 370-402. Bonaparte, Marie. The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe: A Psychanalytic Interpretation. Anglobooks, 1927. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"Annabel Lee.† The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, New York: Walter J. Black, Inc., 1927. 12-13. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Black Cat.† The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, New York: Walter J. Black, Inc., 1927. 209-216. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher.† The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, New York: Walter J. Black, Inc., 1927. 273-286. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"Marginalia.† The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, New York: Walter J. Black, Inc., 1927. 217-227. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"Life and Death.† The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, New York: Walter J. Black, Inc., 1927. 159-164. Research Papers on Edgar Allan Poe's Autobiographical Inspiration - Literature EssayThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsMind TravelPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyHip-Hop is ArtThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationEffects of Television Violence on Children19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraCapital PunishmentHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayComparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito