The Power of Habit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Power of Habit - Essay Example Anything less than perfect is horrible and I can not bear the feeling of being so incompetent for not being able to meet my standards. Committing a mistake is not an option for me. Aiming for perfection is not a bad thing but making a mistake is not the worse either. Perfectionism and Me Setting higher standards is one of the most common things for perfectionists like me. Those who value perfectionism think that having high standards is a good thing. Excellence means strength and failure is something unacceptable. Most of the common thinkings of perfectionism include the "black & white" or sometimes called as "all or nothing" thinking in which "almost" perfect is considered a failure (Scott, "Perfectionist Traits"). There is no space for mistakes ad whenever standards are not met, more often, people like me end up with self pity and will stress ourselves for being weak and stupid. Another kind of thinking perfectionists exhibit is catastrophe thinking which means mistakes create humi liation and disappointment from other people ("How to Overcome Perfectionism, 2). Also known to be common to perfectionism is the "should" statements. For them, everything is a responsibility and must be done respectively. I cannot remember well when exactly did I become a perfectionist. I can only remember that I always strive to be on top and the best among the rest. Striving hard does not necessarily mean only in academic standing. Instead, being perfectionist includes my daily routine and my long term goals. Being a perfectionist, I cannot help but plan my day and my meal. I cannot bear to waste time wondering what to do or what to eat. Thus everyday, I prepare a "to do" list for me to ensure things I should do will be done the way I want it to be. I am not ashamed of being a perfectionist. What makes me hate this part of being me is the fact that I always end up too disappointed whenever I fail to do something in my list and this seem to amuse my family and friends. My family a nd friends always tell me that I overanalyze everything that I forgot to enjoy my life anymore. I hate it when my friends can just make fun and laugh about the some things they messed up while I can't. Making a mistake me feel so stupid and I can't help but blame myself even when replying to emails and text messages. It's harder to stop at this point because I've already got used to it. But my family and friends always encourage me to be light, take things slow and enjoy every moment. As they say, life will never be perfect and being imperfect is what makes us human. Mistakes make a person stronger and better. The Power of Habit and The Habit Loop According to Duhigg (2012), individuals and habits are all different. If we are looking for the correct formula to change habits, then we will never get it because it does not exist. In Duhigg's book entitled The Power of Habit (2012), he identified the habit loop and the framework to identify our habit as well as the formula that out brai n follows why we have habits. The habit loop is constituted by a routine, reward and cue. People can only understand their habit once they know the components of this habit. Routine is the behavior a person want to change. Being a perfectionist by going through planning everything, reviewing and analyzing again and again to avoid mistakes is the routine I want to try to get rid of. Rewards as identified by Duhigg (2012) is the satisfying cravings driving a

Implementing Strategic Sourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Implementing Strategic Sourcing - Essay Example hat provides organizations with the right kind of assistance, enabling them to conduct business within their competency level, while not having to handle issues related with employee incompetence. Cisco, a renowned leader in ensuring a high level of global connectivity, collaboration and augmenting communication channels has grown to a level of 73000 employees, and the organization operates on a global front. The company has registered remarkable progress in its bid to use innovation to transform the means of communication and internet connectivity. The company resolved to focus on reinventing its corporate culture, and overview of its financial services. Considering its global operations, it encountered challenges in ensuring that the cultural and financial aspects of its venture were well addressed, especially because of the pertinent diversity. Therefore, Cisco opted to outsource chief accountants, who would focus on the management of the taxation, statutory requirements and accounting roles (Kling, 2012). As the company diversified into many more nations, it adopted the entity support model, and established a partnership that handled accounting responsibilities and took charge of global operations. The company has registered smooth running of its operations and effective finance managements as well as successful global operations. In 2007, the company settled for an outsourcing venture by signing an agreement with Accenture with the service provider handling accounts, procurement, and management of the documents (Krishna, 2011). This served to solve the challenges that Microsoft was facing, and it has extended the agreement to 2018. Controller workspace and governance workspace are the tools that have served to ensure that Microsoft is satisfied with the efforts of Accenture. In 2012, the clientele of Sprint Nextel soared immensely. At first, the company relied on internal solutions to offer al the required services. However, the need for services became

Battling Boycotts Essay Example for Free

Battling Boycotts Essay 1) Question: What type of boycotts the article is addressing? Answer: The type for the boycott is the companys nationality, it would seem that nothing could be done. The business is boycotted through no fault of its own. And a growing class of boycotts has very little to do with the actions or policies of an individual company. Instead they are related to the companys country of origin. After all, it is neither easy nor desirable to change the nationality of a company to shield it from a boycott attempt. 2) Question: What are the two dimensions along which the four strategies are developed? Explain? Answer: The two dimensions along which the four strategies are developed are: the visibility of the brand and the intensity of the boycott. Brand visibility is defined as an extent to a brand which is related to a country in its customers’ minds all over the world. The more visible the brand, the more likely it is to be targeted by boycotters. In people’s eyes, visibility is very important. For example, the brand is very popular in a given country where the customers don’t strongly consider about its original country. However, another situation is that, the foreign brand is associated with a country in customers’ minds. Intensity can be measured in terms of size, duration and aggressiveness. Size which means how many people are boycotting the brand or product. Duration refers to how long the boycott is likely to continue. And aggressiveness takes into account whether, in addition to boycotting products, violent acts are conducted against the outlets or offices of the company being boycotted. 3) Question: What strategies does the article suggest for businesses to adopt to handle boycotts of this type? Answer: The strategies that the article suggest for businesses to adopt to handle boycotts of this type are: emphasizing their connections to the local community, to countering misinformation with advertising and public-relations campaigns, to simply adopting a low profile. McDonalds is a high-visibility U.S. brand that has faced boycotts in different parts of the world. An anti-U.S. boycott was initiated in Egypt in recent years and has spread to other Arab countries. This action was because of the supporting to Israel by U.S.. Thus, local McDonald established some management to connect with their communities including tailoring menus to local tastes, including the introduction by McDonalds Egypt of the McFalafel sandwich, which was launched with the help of an ad jingle by a famous Egyptian singer. McDonalds franchisees in the Middle East and elsewhere also have long made contributions to local charities. What’s more, McDonald’s franchisees also presented a local face in Islamic countries, Argentina, and the Philippines, such as launched TV ads, wore traditional clothing, changed slogan and set charitable programs. For PG, they also changed logo and set some slogans to respond quickly to the rumors. In the case of a high-visibility brand facing a low-intensity boycott we suggest a strategy of monitoring and blending in. in a high-intensity boycott environment, a company with low visibility may be better off adopting a strategy of lowering its profile, rather than actively trying to offset any potential damage by touting its local connections. For example, a Saudi furniture store in Khobar that sells American furniture has tried lowering its visibility by changing its name from the Saudi-American Furniture Store to the Saudi Furniture Store. Because furniture isnt often distinctly associated with countries in the public mind, at least in the Middle East. A low-visibility company in a low-intensity boycott environment can simply maintain the status quo. But, they still must pay attention to the potential threats. 4) Question: In your opinion, what can companies do to influence their home governments policies that may affect their success in international markets? Answer: In my point of view, I think we can not leave our own national interests in dealing with foreign affairs of other countries. Of course, we are not only talking about the national interests, but also the fact of reason in a rational and favorable circumstances to select the struggle strategy. In addition, we must also realize that, in today’s globalization economic, countries in economic are interdependent which is extremely popular. To be successful, there are some factors. First, they must make sure they have an appropriate team, such as the CEO, the CFO, legal counsel, auditors, accounting. Then, they have to fit the actual schedule and the host countries customs. Secondly, they need to know some of the weaknesses in their own businesses, identify problems that may arise in other countries, employ a high-quality team, and improve operational efficiency. Finally, there is a high level of management support.

Opportunities and risks of FDI in China

Opportunities and risks of FDI in China China, the worlds biggest and most populated country, which has fourth largest area in world. There is not a single aspect in which china is running behind. All the sectors for China are really working fast with fastest growing rate of economy of any major nation. The countrys GDP ratio is so high, economic structure is working good, social and cultural aspects for business and country is bilateral. But when it is not always true, that all the countrys can enjoy success rate much than failure. There are some sections where China needs to look after like, education, health and safety and environmental crisis. As it is a developing country, there are chances of increasing their business prospective in very huge sense with our developed or developing country. According to the news, China and the rest of the world have become closely interconnected with its large territory and population which guarantees the environmental impacts on all over the world. From the point of view of world, they try to increase these impacts by means of the trade and investment which fuels Chinas rapid economic growth. From the business sector aspect, the trade was negligible before 1980s and even FDI in China was nevertheless negligible till 1991. But the way they are accelerating their fast moving economy which is almost exponential. In economic terms there was 40-fold increase in international trade between 1978 and 2003. Therefore, there are several aspects we need to look at in order to find out the success ratio for Chinese Economy. In following article, we have tried to cover the main aspects of the Chinese strengths and weaknesses, as well as other factors such as political, legal and investments and so on. According to the analysis and research we did, the important aspect for Chinese government are legal, political, motivation and obstacles for multinational firms to invest in the country, sectors or industries likely to attract FDI and what are the reasons, there can be possibility of bigger risk for foreign companies which would like to enter in this country and how can these risks be reduced and so on. The political/legal environment: A very good aspect of global marketing is legal/political features. A binding of rules and regulations with their own principles of state and nations is known as International Law. There are two different characteristics, the first is a law which belongs to an individual in a country and that particular law only exists to certain amount of degree that an individual nations are willing to relinquish their rights. The second law is, lack of truly comprehensive international legal system, which has an adequate international judicial and administrative framework for the countries legal system. If we talk about international business, than it will also relate political decrees which are made by government for different home and host countries. There can be different measures which government would like to consider maintaining enough funding and operating smoothly in host country. Host governments take measures like taxations, ownership controls, operating restrictions or expropriation. Whereas for home country government, they take measure like make deal with eligible and approved parties, in order to avoid frauds and to grant an export licence, or withdrawal of export guarantee cover. Availability of the legal or political system as if like, ideology, nationalism, stability and international relations out of which the main features are best described to know legal and political implications: Expropriation: This can be the main possibilities of investor which may try to reduce their risk of doing business in the country. There are certain points which need to be considered while doing business in China. The country should try to make the business transactions so easy, as in case of local supply infrastructure which will help the people to believe in new entrants of the company with similar tastes, whereas it will reduce any adverse action/damages for the host country. In a way, this can be benefitted to both home and host country. Host country should try to make rapid depreciation of assets and repatriation of funds, if in case, there are uncertainties occurring in China, due to which the company has to wind up, it will also helpful for the company to stand with the loss if they are occurring. For the assets and funds they can be transferred at manipulated prices. For Chinese market, whenever any new company or MNEs wants to enter, they should try to invest as much as they can in order to maintain the stability of the market status, as well as they know the tastes of Chinese people which might be helpful for the host countries companys. To maintain the local stock market rates at the same levels, the company has to retain the control of critical inputs. That means, whenever they share any market share with higher price, needs to maintain the prices of those markets shares within the country. Even to make it low prices in order to earn profit, the company needs to maintain their cost of products to certain limit. Incentives: There are different aspects of providing incentives to motivate their workers, employees, public and for their own benefits. There are many countries which try to reduce their own potential risk of promoting their products, brands or advertising its products in different markets. Therefore, many countries try to reduce perceived risk of advertising or promoting inward investment as they are not tied with sharing, during the condition of tax breaks, free posts, free trade zones etc. this type of barriers affects the countries economy, as for example government tries to attract mobile investor, or considering the scheme for poor local skills which might be withdrawn once capital has been accumulated. It is same in the case of incentives which depend on feasibility of incentives compared to real return on investment? Assessing political vulnerability There are political aspects of economy, which create helplessness for the host and home countries business and its growth. Following are some the crucial aspects which we found out are the main features to make the companys profit or loss in host country. Even Chinese economy could not deny to these aspects: For a new MNEs entering in to any new market, needs to create good relations with its legal, political, CSR and environmental aspects, as in case of its own home country. The products should be good in quality, sensible to consumers, and trustworthy relationship with customers industry. Company needs to keep in mind the area and location of it growth. In order to reduce miscommunication, code of conduct, health and safety and good operating services. Promotions of the products, brands and services are much more important for success. Therefore, visibility of the firm is must, in a way advertising the products in host country gives huge public entrance with competitors. As we have discussed different political and legal aspect of host countrys in order to work out strategy accordingly. Contribution to the host country, that means, giving charity, investing in shares or stocks, merging, partnerships, joint ventures, providing employment, good salaries to employees, motivation, incentives, and pensions to the current workers and so on, it is important to bring up a good goodwill in host country. Localization of operations, in order to reduce import-export duties, getting cheaper rates of raw materials, cheap labor, etc. Marketing implications After discussing the internal implications, we can also describe briefly the main external implication which might be the reason for failure in host country. International law on marketing operations is multitude or crowded. Price controls/decisions- taxation, value added systems, resale price value/maintenance, price freezes after certain level in inflation. Distribution- channel of retail or wholesale agents or distributors, physical distribution or manufacturing the products on your own, insurance policies for products, brands or patents. Product decisions- includes designs of products, healthy and safety measure for using that product, overall performance measurement, packaging, labeling and warranty of the products. Promotion- advertising for the products and its services is must, product restriction includes within which age group the product can be used to reduce dangers with peoples life, and sales promotion for products gives better results. The most important market research- collection of details which are required by local public, tastes of particular brand, stock valuation, storage capacity for delivering goods to different areas and transmission of data to its local branches. Reasons for sectors and industries which are more likely to attract FDI in China: What is FDI? FDI means a multinational or transnational firm which engages in Foreign Direct Investment and owes its controls with value-added activities in more than one host country. The most used and widely accepted by data collecting agencies such as organization for Economics Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNCTADs Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development (DITE) adjoined with national governments and supranational entities. There are main points for the development of Chinese economy which are mentioned below: 1. There has been a positive development trend for Chinese economy, as the economy provides a huge entrance for FDI. In this situation and circumstances, the growth of global economy will rise slowly but the highly developed countries like US and Japan will grow slowly as Chinese government guide lines describes expansion of internal demand, implement of positive financial policy and steady monetary policy which will try to accelerates the adjustment of economic structure in Chinese economy. From this aspect further expansion is possible which will open outside world and will run actively and steadily to promote the reforms which will be in favor of Chinas situation as well as its legislation of market economy, it will boost the overall quality and benefit of economy to run smoothly, which will maintain a strong bond with home and host country with its individual growth. 2. With stable political situation, Chinese economy has encouraged FDI as a part of its main entry policy. For certain period of time, the government itself was taking part to consider foreign direct investment in China which resulting made continuous efforts in improving or growing FDI investment. It was also protecting legal rights and interest of foreign investors. 3. After having FDI in China, foreign firms were attracted to start its business in order to earn like the foreign investors. Even some of the firms who invested experienced success in China. Since last 20 years of Chinas restructuring and strengthens of foreign investors in investing in Chinese Economy increase confidence of every individual to make first choice for every firms, MNEs or joint ventures to work in China or start Business in China. 4. Broad Market Potential: As now we all have an idea that China has got highest population with highest growth rate like developed country. The economy is fast growing, and domestic market of its services and products are massive. This is all because of Chinas consistent political environment; low labor cost with high quality of work, whole range of industries, and return on investment is good and so on. In a way China exhibits strengthen and charismatic attraction to an number of foreign firms and enterprises or MNEs. Motivation and obstacles for MNEs to invest in the China: Market size and growth MNEs need more space to wide-spread their rapid growth and they have comfortable market environment in China. E.g. Tesco Cheap labor cost As China is highly populated country and in this country people are ready to work at any cost, the concerned to earn money for their normal standard of living. Exchange rate The huge difference is currency rate. For example, if US wants to start a business than it will double profitable from the budgeted cost for starting a new business, as they can export- or can get each and every raw materials from China at cheaper rates. High investment return As we have studied, FDI has improved the economical level of China; therefore we can say every country is dreaming to start its ventures in China due to this reason, as before we earn profit we can earn money from the investment itself. E.g. shares, funds and charities Government incentive Policies Local government system is quite compatible to motivate and encourage business to do in China, though is not in case of internal motivation but when it comes to business, the different policies are benefitted for outsiders. E.g. free trade zones, loans, etc. Political stability Rules and regulations are not frequently changing with government; therefore it will be benefitted for new MNEs to enter as they dont have to think about any new shortcuts to enter or any other changes with its business working structure and strategies. Part of companys globalization strategy As we know that china is booming with all the aspect all over the world, that means if the countrys economy is booming, there are chances of new entrants to hit the set targets and run business successfully rather than home country. E.g. Wal-Mart Serving as an export platform Being a mediator China serves all the main countries its varieties of goods, technologies and cheap labor. E.g. watches made in China and sold in USA/India with a brand name, as well as toys. Chinas advanced technology This point is not much used by any MNEs as we all have idea about Chinese technological power, what sort of machinery they use for manufacturing and production. Therefore, for MNEs they dont have to worry about its production of goods, as it can be made with cheap labor, materials but with consistent quality. Chinas weak Indus. infrastructure Infrastructure doesnt really matter as the people in China want to adopt western trend, but they are facing constraints while adopting it. The reason might by cultural. Obstacles for MNEs firms to invest in Chinese environment: Political stability This factor can be weakness, as there is no improvement in political aspect of country so there are no chances of MNEs to innovate something new, or nothing such which is beneficial to MNEs Unsatisfactory foreign trade policy Trade, tariffs, subsidies- aid and loans, custom valuation. Whereas regarding the quotas, MNEs needs to consider- Buy Local Legislation, standards and labels, specific permission required, administrative delays, reciprocal requirements, restrictions on services. These factors are not up to certain limit to satisfy the Foreign firm. Regulations not strictly implemented Legal and illegal actions can take place while doing new business or continuing business. The laws which a business man is bound to follow, which are not being followed properly to maintain sustainability of economy. Unsatisfactory banking system The rates for interest, return on investment and etc., are not too enough for MNEs to get its return with double profit. Even the facility of banking is not sufficient for the new company to enter in China and provide every information/database. This can be the important aspect to be a huge obstacles as employees of the companys who has got bank account will not get up to the mark information, resulting failure. The development of business related industry China is huge in area, so in order to increase GDP, China is out sourcing too much to get the companies in to China for employment, high standard of living, good infrastructure etc. Low productivity Because of cheap labor and materials there are chances of doing fraud with public by providing them duplicate products and earn profit. Risks for entering in to market and how to reduce the risks in host country: Risk is such a big factor, which will consider by every firm, organization or enterprise as hindrance towards success. Even in here, there are different aspects of risks, which includes social, economical, political, legal, environmental and technological. But there are certain features which are the main to consider while you enter in host country. Some of them have been discussed below: Build strategies to recruit and train capable managers: In this case, there are many graduates from Chinese business schools, but they are lacking necessary skills like team leading, managing targets and so on. Chinese universities have formed partnerships in order to get successful and efficient employees to work within the companys environment and its management curriculum. They are providing trading promises for future employment by doing partnership with MNEs. firms are being trained properly, capable and intelligent Chinese student to get jobs in host countrys company. Safeguard intellectual property rights: Confidentiality is much more important while starting a new business in host country. Therefore foreign companies need to be cautious while transferring any important or proprietary information regarding its business growth or its development in china. There are chances of information being stolen and privacy for business strategy, budgets, and employees details can be hacked. Firms can pursue legal action for its patent but they are finding difficulties to maintain within Chinese border. With the help of technological development firms are being operated with creative solutions like existing computer code, alliances with Chinese partners, and joint ventures for production and patents for local public use. Some of the firms have found the solution for their problem, an opportunity of greater chance of influencing Chinese policy and enforcement strategies, which will help a lobby to speak for many parties or it can be a representative for one. Understand the competition. To bit the cut throat competition, Chinese are not competing home countries companies but they are also challenging host countrys company. They work on strategy which emphasis on production of high value added products, which resulting in to increase in amount of production or benefitted for foreign firms over Chinese companies. From the Chinese companys opinion, they are not aware about particular design, marketing strategy or any new distribution channel system. Therefore they are required to have experience for the same. Diversify risk: Corporate governance and strategy in China is very crucial as the elements of RD, production and supply chains are not present or not concentrated in any one Chinese province or region or overall Chinese border. Develop strategies to maintain CSR: After being followed first step, employees and local workers are being trained by foreign firm, as well as they invest for their education and in philanthropy/return firms will support host countrys charities which might be helpful for them to construct strong political relations locally. More or less Chinese communities are sensitive, therefore to perceive anything as corporate efforts to change the infrastructure and development of its country, according to western prescriptions. Have an exit strategy: All over the world, everyone is aware that China is emerging economy and everybody praises that. It will be the most attractive market with new development and emerging strategies within next few years. After all this compliments and comments, the long term perception is more likely uncertain. The reason is they dont have political institutions like India, to minimize/reduce long-term risks of sweeping political change. So it is worth to be secure for long-term profits, as if it prematurely cashes in its chips and moves out. So its better to have an exit strategy as plan B, if plan A doesnt work.

War Essay -- essays research papers

The first issue to be considered is what is war and what is its definition. The student of war needs to be careful in examining definitions of war, for like any social phenomena, definitions are varied, and often the proposed definition masks a particular political or philosophical stance paraded by the author. This is as true of dictionary definitions as well as of articles on military or political history. Cicero defines war broadly as "a contention by force"; Hugo Grotius adds that "war is the state of contending parties, considered as such"; Thomas Hobbes notes that war is also an attitude: "By war is meant a state of affairs, which may exist even while its operations are not continued"; Denis Diderot comments that war is "a convulsive and violent disease of the body politic;" for Karl von Clausewitz, "war is the continuation of politics by other means", and so on. Each definition has its strengths and weaknesses, but often is the culmination of the writer's broader philosophical positions. For example, the notion that wars only involve states-as Clausewitz implies-belies a strong political theory that assumes politics can only involve states and that war is in some manner or form a reflection of political activity. 'War' defined by Webster's Dictionary is a state of open and declared, hostile armed conflict between states or nations, or a period of such conflict. This captures a particularly political-rationalistic account of war and warfare, i.e., that war needs to be explicitly declared and to be between states to be a war. We find Rousseau arguing this position: "War is constituted by a relation between things, and not between persons†¦War then is a relation, not between man and man, but between State and State†¦" (The Social Contract). The military historian, John Keegan offers a useful characterization of the political-rationalist theory of war in his A History of War. It is assumed to be an orderly affair in which states are involved, in which there are declared beginnings and expected ends, easily identifiable combatants, and high levels of obedience by subordinates. The form of rational war is narrowly defined, as distinguished by the expectation of sieges, pitched battles, skirmishes, raids, reconnaissance, patrol and outpost duties, with each possessing their own conventions. As ... ...ine war not just as a conflict between states (i.e., the rationalist position), but also a conflict between non-state peoples, non-declared actions, and highly organized, politically controlled wars as well as culturally evolved, ritualistic wars and guerrilla uprisings, that appear to have no centrally controlling body and may perhaps be described as emerging spontaneously. The political issue of defining war poses the first philosophical problem, but once that is acknowledged, a definition that captures the clash of arms, the state of mutual tension and threat of violence between groups, the authorized declaration by a sovereign body, and so on can be drawn upon to distinguish wars from riots and rebellions, collective violence from personal violence, metaphorical clashes of values from actual or threatened clashes of arms. Back to Table of Contents 2. What causes war? Various sub-disciplines have grappled with war's etiology, but each in turn, as with definitions of war, often reflects a tacit or explicit acceptance of broader philosophical issues on the nature of determinism and freedom. For example, if it is claimed that man is not free to choose his actions (strong

Great Expectations and Family Relations :: Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essays

Charles Dickens remains one of the most prominent and certainly the most commercially successful literary artist of nineteenth century England. In addition, Dickens enjoyed a large readership in America. The author’s success on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean stems from his entertaining literary style and his deep respect for social values and the human condition he encountered and incorporated into his writing. Dickens was a prolific writer who drew upon his personal experiences and integrated a certain comic pathos in his writing to delight his reading audience. Dickens can be aptly termed a chronicler of English life as his novels and stories accurately reflect various societal ills and joys of both urban and suburban England. Indeed, his novels and stories continue to amuse and sadden readers of all ages today. This unit will attempt to introduce Charles Dickens and his work to middle school students. The primary focus of this unit is to examine Great Expectations as a novel rich in familial relationships. The novel will be read and studied as a myriad of interacting families, and hopefully these insights will be suitably translated to my students in such a manner as to heighten their awareness of familial relationships they encounter on a daily basis. Great Expectations will allow my students to experience glimpses of nineteenth century English family life as Dickens most capably perceived it. The questions and concerns evoked by the novel will also cause the students to reflect upon family concerns of twentieth century America. Although Dickens was one of eight children and fathered ten himself making him somewhat of a viable source concerning family relationships, the reader is cautioned not to expect only a discussion of the nuclear family from this unit but also a wide array of f amily-like relationships which are characteristic in Dickens’ writing. Great Expectations is a novel of hope and heartbreak, identity and intrigue. The story focuses upon a central character, Pip, who relates his adventures to the reader through Dickens’ stylistic use of the first person point of view. Pip is raised by his sister and her husband, Joe Gargery. Pip’s parents had already died and were buried in the graveyard by the marshes when we first meet him at the age of seven. The reader learns much from Dickens in the opening scenes of the story by his treatment of the family relationship which had been of primary importance to his central character.

How World War One presented in poetry by Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon Essay

A comparison of the ways in which World War One is presented by Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon in their poetry with close reference to â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est† and â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth† by Owen and â€Å"The General† and â€Å"Base Details† by Sassoon. * * * The First World War marked a significant turning point in poetic tradition and history by the revolutionary styles and ideas expressed by the poets. Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are probably two of the most well known war poets and their poetry was instrumental in this change. Prior to 1914, much poetry was written about wars such as the Crimean War in 1854-56 (The Charge of The Light Brigade by Tennyson who says, â€Å"Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.) but the great majority of the poets had not experienced war first-hand. Thus, they reinforced the poetic tradition of glorifying war and death. Both Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, who both fought through most of the First World War, use their poetry in the hope that they can give a more realistic impression of war than the pre-twentieth century poetry. Both Owen and Sassoon present World War One as unheroic, in direct contrast to pre-twentieth war poetry such as The Destruction of Sennacherib by Byron. At the very beginning of Dulce et Decorum est Owen describes the soldiers as ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’. That image is the complete opposite of what we would consider to be a heroic and romantic figure, an attribute that was always given to soldiers in pre-twentieth century poetry. Owen goes on to describe the soldiers as ‘knock-kneed’ and ‘coughing like hags’. Neither of these images can be associated with the glorified, smartly dressed soldier that would be fixed in almost all of the minds of women and children back home. The comparison of the soldiers to hags is not a pleasant one as hags are often scruffy and dirty. The mention of the coughing portrays the many illnesses that soldiers suffered from in the trenches. Although both of them present war as unheroic, they do so in very different ways. The style of Owen’s poetry which is much longer and contains more description than that of Sassoon’s, allows him to expand on the simple description of the horrors of war that he experienced. In Dulce et Decorum est, he describes in graphic and horrific detail the death of a man who was not able to fit his helmet in time during a gas attack. He uses words such as ‘flound’ring’ ‘guttering, choking, drowning’. The word ‘flound’ring’ gives the impression of the helplessness of the man.The onomatopoeic effect of these words gives an image that adds relaism to the horror of war. This makes it more realistic and moreover, more chilling to read. Owen goes on, in the final stanza of this poem to describe the dead man in greater detail. His varied use of language allows him to create shocking imagery which means that the reader can visualise the man. Owen uses phrases such as: â€Å"watch the white eyes writhing in his face† and â€Å"the blood/Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs† The first of these phrases is particularly chilling as it makes the reader think of snakes writhing in his face. This gives the impression of a crazed person, driven insane by what he has seen and what he had suffered before dying. The alliteration of the ‘w’ is also effective as it emphasises the phrase. Owen wants to present the reality of the First World War and in slowing the reader down, he makes them think about what he is actually describing and change the way in which it was brushed over before World War One. The second phrase is also shocking and the use of the onomatopoeic word ‘gargling’ makes it all the more visual and makes the reader feel more chilling. This image of a man choking on his own blood because of gas is very unheroic and it is this that Owen wants to portray – the unheroic nature of war however brave the soldiers may be. This is in comparison to many pre-twentieth century war poems where they emphasise the heroic nature of war such as in a speech in Henry V where Henry says that the man who survives the battle will ‘remember with advantages what feats he did that day’, emphasising the heroic nature of war. Owen’s second poem, Anthem for Doomed Youth also presents World War One as unheroic and unromantic. The very first line of his poem epitomises Owen’s feeling about the young men sent off to war. â€Å"What passing bells for those who die as cattle?† The use of the word ‘cattle’ immediately robs all glory from the idea of war as a whole. The simile compares how cattle are slaughtered for meat to soldiers dying for their country. This is a very unheroic comparison and is effective in what it is trying to portray. On the other hand, in the two poems by Sassoon that I have chosen to discuss, Sassoon does not present World War One as unheroic. His poems, which are short and concise, deal more with the unfairness of war and protest against the generals and commanding officers. However, in The General, Sassoon briefly presents the soldiers in an unheroic way, telling us that Harry and Jack ‘slogged’ up to Arras, instead of the quick, efficient marching of the soldiers that had been frequently portrayed prior to the First World War such as is described in The Charge Of The Light Brigade where Tennyson conveys the riders riding quckly by the phrase, ‘Half a league, half a league, half a league onward.’ The rhythm of these lines show the quick pace of the soldiers. Sassoon’s poetry presents the unfairness and inequality between the front-line privates and the generals who sat in comfort behind lines. Sassoon attacks the establishment of the country and the tone of his two poems is very sardonic, making fun of the generals in quite a light-hearted way but with a pointed message to his poetry. In The General Sassoon presents â€Å"The General† as incompetent and responsible for the deaths many men. â€Å"Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of ’em dead, And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine.† The very last line of the poems refers to Harry and Jack who are named in the poem. This makes the general’s attitude and incompetence more poignant and personal to the reader. â€Å"But he did for them both by his plan of attack.† This short last line is to the point and cuts right to the quick. Sassoon does not play with words like Owen but presents World War One is his poetry in the most succinct way. The majority of his poems are no longer than three short stanzas whereas Owen’s can be eight verses long. However, Sassoon’s message is just as worthy as Owen’s is. Base Details is probably Sassoon’s best poem for attacking the generals as using harsh humour it describes them sitting in luxury hotels while men are starving on the front-line with rationed food. He presents the generals of the First World War as ‘scarlet’ and fat. Although the poem is short, he describes the generals so effectively that we have an image of the generals in our head which does not conform to what we might expect, or certainly not what was generally thought of generals before the war. The title of the poem can be read on different levels – the first being the simple meaning of the word as in headquarters, or on another level, the meanings of ‘in short’ or ‘unworthy’. This emphasises their unworthiness of the elevated positions that they hold. Sassoon’s first line seems to sum up all that he is trying to say: â€Å"If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,† This one line immediately gives us a humorous image of a general which is almost like those we see in cartoons today of blustering, half drunk generals sitting in offices wheezing with a pipe in hand. In Base Details Sassoon continues his theme of their unworthiness by describing the generals’ table manners which according to him, are disgusting. He presents them as ‘guzzling and gulping’. These onomatopoeic words give the effect of pigs eating at a trough, especially ‘guzzling’. It also conveys them ‘stuffing their faces’ when the soldiers on the front-line are risking their lives day after day with little to eat. We associate these words with animal behaviour and this is indeed what Sassoon is trying to present. He also presents the generals as naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and frivolous, spending the war in the ‘best hotels’ and when their presence was required after a battle they brushed off the importance of war calling it a ‘scrap’. Sassoon’s bitterness is also displayed when the general says ‘I used to know his father well’. This emphasises his bitterness effectively towards the upper classes and old boy network, angry that whether you survive the war depends on class and connections. This bitterness is integral to many of his poems and is also evident, in a less direct way, in The General. Both Owen and Sassoon present the loss of youth in their poems. In Dulce et Decorum est, Owen is bitter towards those who tell ‘children’ – a word which emphasises their youth – the ‘old Lie’ ‘Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’ or in English, ‘It is sweet and honourable to die for one’s country’. The use of the Latin here emphasises the traditional nature of war and the patriotism that the Latin evokes in men. The idea of the loss of youth is more evident in Owen’s second poem, Anthem For Doomed Youth, where the very title shows all that Owen thinks about sending boys off to war. He himself was only twenty-two when he joined the army and thus would have known about how terrible it was. The words of the title, ‘Anthem For Doomed Youth’ has the theme of a funeral and says how not only youth itself is doomed but youth as an idea. Owen also mentions, in the second stanza, the words ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ which stresses once again the youth of the soldiers and perhaps of their nurses or their girlfriends. Only Base Details mentions the loss of youth in Sassoon’s poems saying near the end that ‘youth’ is ‘stone dead’. Taken out of the context of the poem, this phrase is disturbing – the loss of a whole generation of men and also the loss of innocence of those who survived. In context, the phrase becomes even more disturbing, that more of the fat, drunk generals of sixty, have survived the war, while boys of seventeen have died. The whole line reads: â€Å"And when the war is done and youth stone dead† The casual nature of this line is shocking and represents how Sassoon pictures the generals’ view of the loss of millions of boys. A whole generation has been lost or affected so badly by the war and the majors would ‘toddle’ safely home to bed where they could die. The word ‘toddle’ is very visual and humourously conveys the generals ‘waddling’ back to England as they are so fat. It also shows their child-like nature and their frivolity. The bitterness that Sassoon feels is clearly evident in this poem. In contrast, The General mentions nothing of the idea of youth but concentrates more on the inept nature of ‘The General’. These poems are very different to the nature of those by Rupert Brooke, a young soldier who was killed at the beginning of the war and had experienced little fighting. The first stanza of his poem Peace he describes how wonderful it is that he is alive at this time and he can fight for his country â€Å"Now God be thanked Who has matched us with his hour† He also describes going to war ‘as swimmers into cleanness leaping’, very different to the dirty and horrific conditions that Owen describes. Owen and Sassoon differ very greatly in the structure of their poems – Owen tends to write longer, more detailed poetry whereas Sassoon writes short and succinct poems. Anthem for Doomed Youth is a sonnet which is traditional style of poetry but the themes that Owen deals with are very modern, contrasting with the style that he has chosen to use. However, the rhyme scheme of a sonnet does not always remain true to its traditional form such as in the last stanza of Anthem for Doomed Youth where it is e.f.f.e.g.g. The rhyme scheme of Sassoon’s poetry is very simple and direct, which reflects the nature of his poems. He generally uses alternate rhyme, except the last lines where he uses a rhyming couplet such as in Base Details ‘dead’ and ‘bed’. In The General the last three lines have the same rhyme – ‘Jack’, ‘pack’ and ‘attack’. The rhyming couplet gives emphasis to the end of the poem. Sassoon’s poetry is short, pithy and succinct, conveying one or several points in maybe two or three short stanzas such as The General, which is only seven lines long compared to Owen’s poetry which is usually longer. The style of Sassoon is more colloquial, using soldiers’ slang such as ‘He’s a cheery old card,’ grunted Harry to Jack.’ and tends to be more vitriolic such as ‘And speed glum heroes up the line to death.’ Conversely, Owen uses descriptive and elaborate words that convey the atmosphere and images that the poems evoke, such as his unforgettable and shocking description of the dead man in the third stanza of Dulce et Decorum est. Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon present different aspects of World War One – Owen, the conditions and horrific deaths of the ordinary soldiers in contrast to Sassoon’s pointed and bitter attack against the majors. They do this in very different ways and despite Sassoon’s influence on Owen, their styles are extremely contrasting but no less effective. Their poetry helped mark a radical change in the way war poetry was written and it is their presentation of their themes that effected this shift.