The True Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone Essays - Operas, Antigone

The True Tragic Hero in Sophocles' Antigone The True Tragic Hero in Sophocles' Antigone In Master Sophocles' Antigone, the question of who the tragic hero really is has been a subject of debate for a great number years. Creon does possess some of the qualities that constitute a tragic hero but unfortunately does not completely fit into the role. Antigone, however, possesses all the aspects of a tragic hero. These are, in no particular order, having a high social position, not being overly good or bad, being tenacious in their actions, arousing pity in the audience, a revelatory manifestation, and having a single flaw that brings about their own demise and the demise of others around them. Antigone possesses all of these traits therefore qualifying as the tragic hero. The first qualifying aspect is that Antigone is of a high social standing in Thebes. Creon himself refers to her as a princess though she is technically no longer one. Because of her high standing she is capable of great suffering, in that she has a lot of fame and regard to lose. Those who say Creon is the tragic hero state say that Antigone is no longer in a high position in the society, therefore does not qualify on that account. If the character had needed to be in a high political position this would be true, but they need only have a great deal to lose in their downfall. Although she may no longer hold political power Antigone is still a powerful figure in Thebes, since she was to be married to Creon's son Haemon and the whole city seemed to know how tragic her life had become. Antigone and Creon would qualify as the tragic hero if the only requirement was not being overly good or bad. Creon shows his negative side when he refuses to bury Polyneices and when he speaks to the sentry. His positive side is shown in his obvious affection for Antigone and Ismene, whom he has attempted to raise since their fathers death. Antigone's ungodly side is shown by her incestuous behavior with her brother Polyneices. Her positive side is shown by the way the she insists on respecting his right to be buried in the religious tradition of Greece so that his soul may live on in the afterlife. Another aspect of a tragic hero is an unwavering course of action, most likely caused by their flaw, that brings about their demise and the demise of those around them. Antigone's flaw is her rash and headstrong behavior. This is the source of the conflict in the play. Had Antigone asked Creon for permission to bury Polyneices in observance of the Greek role in religious life he would have probably allowed it. Instead, she rashly decided to take matters into her own hands, most likely because of her anger in losing the true love of her life. This aspect also emerges later in the play, when Antigone decides to kill herself in the cave rather than give Creon the satisfaction of the deed. Had she not been so imprudently hasty she would have been spared her life by Creon, who was on his way to free Antigone and have Polyneices given a proper burial. Creon does not have a tenacious nature, and therefore could not be the Aristotelian tragic hero. His ineptness as a ruler is prevalent in the way he wavers on the topic of Polyneices burial. In the beginning he seems very stubborn, which some say is one of the fatal flaws that qualify him as a tragic hero, but later changes his mind. The true tragic hero would stick to their fatal flaw, like Antigone did, until their complete demise. As far as the issue of arising pity in the audience and in other characters, it is clear that Antigone clearly wins over Creon in the arena of intensity of emotion. All of Thebes sympathizes with Antigone, especially after she has been sentenced to death. Haemon himself tells his father "And I have heard them, muttering and whispering...They say no woman has ever, so unreasonably, died so shameful a death for a generous act." It is obvious that she had the pity of the entire city except for Creon. Creon, however, is not sympathized with at all except for the chorus, which always agrees with the last point of view presented. Some readers may be inclined to side with him, but the entire city is opposed to him during the play disqualifying him as the tragic hero. Another issue that has been brought up in the

simuulation games essays

simuulation games essays Simulation Games- To take the appearance or form of; to pretend; to make a model of Simulation games have come a long since they first began a long time ago. Graphics and sound have gotten much better, complexity of the game engine and multiplayer capabilities have also made great leaps. People still wonder if it has actually gotten better or had just changed. Now, 3-D cards and huge program files have become the standard to run the simpler Sims. Since simulation games try to accurately represent or mimic real life situations technology will continue to make them better until we no longer separate fiction from reality. When simulation games first came out they were not that big amongst kids. Though they would try and sneak off into a computer lab and try to play as much as they could. When flight simulation games came out kids were amazed at the fact that they could fly around the sky and have it feel like that they are actually in the plane. The game that really turned games around for the future was SimCity. To build an entire city was a new revolution for what games could be. Today the market of simulation games continues to spread really rapidly. Developers of games seem to come up with new ideas daily. SimCity has advanced the whole gaming market. There have been more islands, towers, colonies, and life built. There has been SimCity 3000 and now they are working on SimCity 4000, which should be released by the year 2000. Other games such as helicopter games have also come along way and are rising rapidly. Gunship launched a lot of helicopter games including its latest version Apache Havoc. This gives the option to fly either American or Russian Choppers. Soon Gunship 3 will come out and Apache Havoc will be just another old game. What we see in the future is very amazing, technology is going to continue to grow and everything is going to become much faster. ...

Example of Essay Writing

Example of Essay Writing Example of Essay Writing Example of Essay Writing According to our competent essay writers, If is always useful to read a couple of examples of essay writing. Indeed, having a great example of written essay in front of you gives you confidence to proceed with your own writing. The following excerpts of essays are posted here with the hope to assist you with your essay writing. The first sample is argumentative essay on death while the second one is persuasive essay on the same issue. If you are in need of professional essay/paper writing help, you do not hesitate to order custom paper writing services at our site and you will get a well-written essay crafted to your specific instructions and requirements! Examples of Argumentative Essays We are all familiar with the fact that college essays devoted to the topic of death have increased dramatically within the last decade or so. Interest has been directed not only to the act of dying, but also to related essays topics such as euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion, heart transplants, and after-death experiences. One result of this increased attention to such college essays topics is that children are frequently exposed to death concerns. In addition, since the media attention given to the Kennedy assassination, there has been a societal imprimatur for children to participate in funeral services and mourning rituals. Finally, we have come to acknowledge the existence of childhood depression and suicide, phenomena that previously were denied. Thus, discussions of current argumentative essays topic related to death are now more widely disseminated. We have clearer notions of children's interest in and exposure to death-related college essay topics, and are more aware that children must think about death and dying. Paradoxically, children have less first-hand exposure to death within a close familial setting, since grandparents and elderly relatives are often sequestered in their own homes, in retirement villages, or in institutions. Children no longer witness the playing out of the entire life cycle Examples of Persuasive Essays Many of us may have difficulty dealing with the essays topics of death. Research indicates that teenagers may have particular problems coping with the loss of a loved one. One reason is that teenagers do not have much exposure to death beyond the television set and therefore have no real experience in dealing with it. Today's teenagers may well be the first generation that has been so insulated from personal experience with death. The use of various preventive techniques and new drugs has greatly diminished mortality among children. Those within the growing population of aged persons are less subject than their predecessors to death from acute illnesses such as pneumonia. Most deaths among the elderly now result from chronic and degenerative diseases and usually occur in hospitals or nursing homes. Death is removed from sight by the fact that grandmothers and grandfathers die in institutions rather than at home. Of the 2 million people who will die this year in the United States, two-thirds will be 65 years of age or older. Teenagers account for 6 percent of deaths in the United States. The most common causes of these deaths are automobile accidents, drug abuse, fad diets, and an increasing number of suicides Follow this link to read sample of the descriptive essay: Interesting posts: Thesis Format PhD Thesis Writing Master Thesis History Thesis Dissertation Topics

Forming an International Organization Assignment

Forming an International Organization - Assignment Example The alliance also seeks to remove the barriers of trade imposed by member states, and this includes the introduction of free movement of goods and people. The alliance will also seek to prevent an emergence of another war, by promoting cohesion and peace within the region. In conclusion, the alliance will have four organizations, each performing different roles. These organizations are the office of presidents, the office of ministers, the administrative unit, and the office of security affairs. The office of the Presidents is the highest authority, and they are responsible for policy formulation. Normally, a policy will be decided by a vote, and a policy that garners majority votes will be implemented. The office of the ministers will be responsible for discussing the methods of implementing the policy, while the administrative unit will have the responsibility of implementing the policy under consideration. The office of security affairs on the other hand will have the responsibility of identifying the internal and external security threats that face the region. This is for purposes of finding a solution on how to mitigate the threats under

Germany and the germans class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Germany and the germans class - Essay Example Despite the ban the process still continues in many slaughter houses. According to animal practitioners stunning process is a right to all animals, despite the customs and norms of a given community and it should be put forth at all times. In this consideration, the exemption should be granted only to uphold peoples’ religious and social practices. By doing so, this will reduce conflict from such societies encouraging the integration to all the government functions. The ban of un-stunned meat for example, limits religious practices of the Muslim and the Jewish, limiting their rights of freedom of worship. Therefore, as this order is put in place people’s democratic right should be considered. In addition, people are usually very sensitive on what they purchase (Neville & Grandin, 66). The government should not ban un-stunned meat due to the fact that many businesses that contributes to economic development. For example meat produced ritually is no longer accepted by

Executive Branch Essay Example for Free

Executive Branch Essay The executive branch is the most powerful branch of government. The executive branch makes the president commander in chief. It also gives the president the role of economic leader. And he/she can also make executive orders that have the force of law. These are just some of the many roles that make the executive branch the most powerful branch of government. When the president has the role of commander in chief he/she is given the power to use force to back up our foreign policy. They are in charge of the army, navy, air force, marines, and the coast guard. The top commanders of all of these branches of service are subordinate to the president. The president is also our economic leader. He/She deals with unemployment, rising prices, high taxes and more. When voted into office the president is expected to care of these issues. One key task the president must accomplish each year is to plan the federal government’s budget too. Last but not least, the president has the role of chief executive. He can make an executive order, which has the force of law. During his presidency, Harry S. Truman had to use an executive order in 1948 to integrate armed forces. The president also has the power to grant pardons. A pardon is a declaration of forgiveness and freedom from punishment. The president has many roles to help keep our country in order. From commander in chief, economic leader, and chief executive he/she helps everything run as smoothly as possible. The executive branch is by far the most powerful branch of government, because it helps keep our country out of trouble and copasetic.

Utopian Visions in Love in the Ruins :: essays research papers

Walker Percy's Love in the Ruins presents a society that is a direct satire of our 21st century American society. Percy takes what he considers the negative elements and situations from our society, and reproduces them, distorting them in order to point out the negativity of them. It seems, then, that the society presented in the novel would be distinctly distopian. However, the view that Percy gives us includes many different segments and views of the society, some of which are very utopian. Some of these mini-utopias are actually in the society, but many more are only dreams of the characters. This is an accurate reflection of our society, there are many situations that are utopian for certain people, and every one of us creates utopia in our minds from time to time. Paradise Estates, where Thomas More lives, is aptly named. Paradise is a place where everyone gets along well, the liberals and conservatives, the unbelievers and Christians, the Northerners and Southerners. The distribution is not even, there are minorities, but the majority groups are open to the customs of the minorities. Paradise Estates is community at its best. It is not an intentional community, but rather everyone is free to do what they want and there is love and respect and little argument. Intentional community does have its place, however. The Honey Island Swamp is home to a variety of people, including guerrillas, college dropouts, draft dodgers, radicals, and beats. Some of these people, such as Chuck, came from the town, and have given up city, home, family, career, and religion to live in an intentional community. Chuck's community is different from the community of Paradise estates in that there is common ground that holds the community in place, rather than respect for differences. Chuck's community holds ideals of free love, freedom, peace, and God expressed everywhere. This community is very similar to many of the contemporary utopias that can be found in America today. Normally hospitals are not utopian, but this was not the case for More. More considered his time in the hospital to be "the best months of my life" (p. 90). In his fellow patients, More found love that he was not finding in his life outside of the hospital. Also, while in the hospital, he had the time and resources to do the breakthrough work for his lapsometer, which was his passion at the time. Utopian Visions in Love in the Ruins :: essays research papers Walker Percy's Love in the Ruins presents a society that is a direct satire of our 21st century American society. Percy takes what he considers the negative elements and situations from our society, and reproduces them, distorting them in order to point out the negativity of them. It seems, then, that the society presented in the novel would be distinctly distopian. However, the view that Percy gives us includes many different segments and views of the society, some of which are very utopian. Some of these mini-utopias are actually in the society, but many more are only dreams of the characters. This is an accurate reflection of our society, there are many situations that are utopian for certain people, and every one of us creates utopia in our minds from time to time. Paradise Estates, where Thomas More lives, is aptly named. Paradise is a place where everyone gets along well, the liberals and conservatives, the unbelievers and Christians, the Northerners and Southerners. The distribution is not even, there are minorities, but the majority groups are open to the customs of the minorities. Paradise Estates is community at its best. It is not an intentional community, but rather everyone is free to do what they want and there is love and respect and little argument. Intentional community does have its place, however. The Honey Island Swamp is home to a variety of people, including guerrillas, college dropouts, draft dodgers, radicals, and beats. Some of these people, such as Chuck, came from the town, and have given up city, home, family, career, and religion to live in an intentional community. Chuck's community is different from the community of Paradise estates in that there is common ground that holds the community in place, rather than respect for differences. Chuck's community holds ideals of free love, freedom, peace, and God expressed everywhere. This community is very similar to many of the contemporary utopias that can be found in America today. Normally hospitals are not utopian, but this was not the case for More. More considered his time in the hospital to be "the best months of my life" (p. 90). In his fellow patients, More found love that he was not finding in his life outside of the hospital. Also, while in the hospital, he had the time and resources to do the breakthrough work for his lapsometer, which was his passion at the time.

JetBlue Case Analysis Essay

External Environment To evaluate the external environment of JetBlue airways we will use the PESTEL analysis. PESTEL analysis stands for â€Å"Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environment and Legal analysis†. Political Factors How and to what extent the government does intervenes in the economy. Political factors can be tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political stability. Political factors that are found in the JetBlue case are: Government monitors the airline industry more scrupulously as a result 60% of airline industry is unionized Heightened sense of consumer information privacy Airport slot/gate allocations Security considerations since 2001 attacks Bankruptcy Economic Factors These factors have major impact on how businesses operate and make decisions. They include economic growth, interest rate, exchange rates, and inflation rates. Economic factors that are found in the case are: 1978 Airline Deregulation Act created intense rivalry between airlines Downturn in airline travel after 9/11 2001 affected most airlines – JetBlue reported 18 consecutive quarterly profits IT Spending continued post 9/11 Fuel costs spiraled, aggressive competition and increased operating costs Availability of venture capital Interest Rates Legacy Airlines exiting bankruptcy and streamlining operations Strategic Alliances Fair Pricing is an important competitive factor JFK Expansion Social Factors Trends in social factors affect the demand for a company’s products and how  the company operates. They include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Social factors that are found in the case are: 2001 Terrorist attacks in US negatively affected airline industry Anxiety about safety at airports Travel has become inconvenient due to safety precautions Internal Culture at JetBlue – Management is hands on – a great place to work Technological Factors The technological factors determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. They include ecological and environmental aspects, such as R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. Technological factors found in the case are: Aging fleet Diffusion of Technology Digital Revolution – internet does away with ticket agents but allows price comparison Customer service working from home reduces operations costs Environmental Factors These factors include weather, climate, and climate change. Environmental factors that are found in the case are: War, Political Turmoil and Natural Disasters drive fuel prices from $30/bbl. in ‘03 to $60/bbl. in ‘05 Airport slot/gate allocations Security conditions build barriers to ease of travel Legal Factors These factors can affect how a company operates, its costs, and the demand for its products. They include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law and health and safety law. Legal factors that are found in the case are: 1978 Airline Deregulation Act eliminated government control over fares and routes Airport and FAA density regulations Security laws since 9/11 Porter’s Five Forces In order to understand Jet Blue’s external environment, Porter’s 5 forces are a helpful tool in order to evaluation the company’s competitive environment and the degree of rivalry amongst competitors within the aviation industry. The competitive environment will be evaluated in terms of 4 different aspects, namely the bargaining Power of customers and suppliers, the threat of new entrants and new substitutes. The bargaining power of customers within the aviation industry is rather high as there are standard products and services that are less unique and can be easily imitated by competitors. Furthermore, there are only low switching costs incurred for the buyer in general, meaning that there is usually a lower degree of customer loyalty towards one single company and that customers can compare offers easily especially due to the option to purchase tickets online. Suppliers generally have a moderate to high bargaining power within the industry due to the limited number of suppliers which forces aviation companies to choose from the number available and accordingly to accept their prices. In fact, fuel is the second highest cost for aviation companies. There are highly depended on supplier’s prices and the availability which indicates on a relatively high bargaining power of suppliers. In addition, there are high switching costs which are strongly in favor of the suppliers and means that the company experiences an increase in operating costs when switching to another supplier as flying another type of aircraft leads to additional costs (maintenance, training etc.).Aircrafts are vulnerable to delays due to the location of gate locations which leads to a decrease in utilization and therefore to an increase in costs. In terms of the threat of substitutes there are not a lot serious threats and alternatives to products within the aviation in dustry, therefore the threat can be rated as medium. However, private aircrafts can be seen as a substitutes within the industry. Within the transportation industry there are more alternatives for substitutes such as trains, buses, cars and boats. The threats of new entrants is very low as there are certain barriers to entry such as a high amount of investments that are required and it is rather difficult to build up a reliable and trustworthy from scratch as the industry is already dominated by several  competitors. In conclusion it can be said that there is a medium degree of rivalry within the aviation industry due to a rather high degree of bargaining power of customers and suppliers and a rather low threats of new entrants and substitutes within the industry. One of the remedies to avoid high bargaining power of customers would be to try to differentiate from competitors by building a unique and favorable image on the market. On the other hand companies could use the strategy of backwards integration and acquire their suppliers in order to avoid the bargaining power of suppliers. However, those investment decision are always highly dependable on the company’s financial budget, priorities and goals in general. Financial Analysis The following graph is an evaluation of JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines based on financial information found on the companies’ income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements: Jet Blue As you can see, JetBlue is consistently below Southwest on the ratios. JetBlue’s liquidity ratios have decreased over the last three years and could be considered worrisome. However, we know that the fleet is aging and the company is making investments to replace the old fleet and expand the fleet. This is a very reasonable cause for the decrease in these ratios. JetBlue’s equity multiplier is higher than Southwest. At first, you might think this is better. However, a higher equity multiplier is not a good thing. A high equity multiplier means that a company finances a larger portion of its assets through its debt. Therefore, southwest has a better equity multiplier. While JetBlue’s net profit margin is slightly lower than Southwest’s, it is in line with the industry average of 3.2%. JetBlue’s return on equity is also in line with the industry average of 8%. JetBlue has a high capital intensity ratio which is okay because, as an airline, they require a large amount of capital to operate. Overall, the financial ratios are lower than Southwest’s but they don’t show any problems that don’t make sense. The net profit margin, return on assets, and return on equity have all improved over the last three years. The cash coverage ratio is also improving. The finances seem to show that the company is improving and is stable. Strengths When we look at the case JetBlue shows several strengths. One of the most important is customer satisfaction; they satisfy their customers by being a low-cost airline but at the same time offer excellent experience (the  JetBlue Experience). They have new airplanes (that keep the operational costs low) with inflight entertainment systems, their customers get a drink and a snack and their employers are involved and motivated. JetBlue is an innovative company, for example they were the first North-American airline company that used electronic ticketing and they introduced the first paperless cockpits. Weaknesses When analyzing the company internally we also see several weaknesses. From the case it became clear that the company had problems with facing mass cancellation; a weak reservation system and also no baggage handling systems. The company got high debts because of the rising fuel prices, and also because of the compensations that they gave their customers after making mistakes. Currently the baggage handling system works properly and their online reservation systems are also improved. Another weakness of JetBlue is that is focusses on the middle class of society, therefore they do not have many high class people that are willing to spend more. Opportunities The company is also influenced by external factors, and we will first discuss the opportunities for JetBlue. The case made clear that JetBlue is getting more and more interline agreements with other airline companies. Due to this fact JetBlue will have more destinations to fly to and they can also make reservations under each other’s names. It is therefore wise that JetBlue keeps making new interline agreements with the bigger airline companies. Another opportunity for JetBlue is technological improvements, since JetBlue is an innovative company they like to try new things out such as they did with the paperless cockpit. Also the deregulation of international air travel and loosening laws and regulations are opportunities for JetBlue. There are a lot of regulations around air travel, especially after the terroristic attacks on 9/11 and also the tax laws influence the company. Whenever these will become looser the company will have less expenditures. Threats When we evaluate the external factors that are influencing the company we also find several threats. One of the biggest threats for the airline  industry are fuel prices, since they are the biggest costs for an airline company. Another threat for the airline industry are terroristic attacks, after 9/11 the customers got afraid of travelling by plane. Also all the safety procedures make travelers rather want to use another way of transportation, such as the car or train. Financially the high user taxes and currency changes also influence the airline industry. TOWS Analysis After evaluating the SWOT analysis we can now look at the externally-focused TOWS analysis. The TOWS analysis matches external opportunities and threats with internal strengths and weaknesses. Maxi-Maxi Strategy How can you use your strengths to take advantage of the opportunities? If we compare the strengths and opportunities of JetBlue, some of the strategies they could implement are: Focus on the technology improvements; JetBlue is an innovative company and they like to try out new technologies. They can make the JetBlue experience even better than it already is. Focus on the interline agreements; when JetBlue has more interline agreements with other airline companies their customers will have more choice of countries where they want to go, it will also be easier for them to make a reservation. Lower the operating costs; whenever the law and regulations will be in favor of the airline industry the company can lower its operating costs and therefore also lower their prices. Maxi-Mini Strategy How can you take advantage of your strengths to avoid real and potential threats? The strengths that JetBlue could use to avoid real and potential threats are: Focus on technological developments; again they should focus on this for example they could maybe develop new security check machines that are easier to use and also safer to avoid terroristic attacks Develop the JetBlue experience; there is intense competition in the airline industry, however JetBlue should differentiate itself by improving the JetBlue experience which is already known for excellent customer service, friendly personnel, new planes, entertainment systems etc. If they improve this experience and keep focusing on being a low-budget company they will win  more customers. Mini-Maxi Strategy How can you use your opportunities to overcome the weaknesses you are experiencing? There are several opportunities that JetBlue could use to overcome the weaknesses that they are experiencing, such as: Loosening laws and regulations; whenever the regulations will be looser the turnaround process of the airplanes will be easier and faster. New technology; the new technology could help the company to improve the online presence. The online presence was in the case really bad but currently they already improved this. However E-business and M-business is getting more and more popular so it is always wise for a company to keep on track with this by improving their online systems. Mini-Mini Strategy How can you minimize your weaknesses and avoid threats? The strategies that JetBlue should use to minimize its weaknesses and threats are: Improve the systems; some of the weaknesses are weak baggage handling systems and online presence. Also in the case it became clear that JetBlue faced problems with mass cancellation. This could all be improved by implementing ERP systems so that it is clear what is exactly going on in the company. For online presence they should have an IT department that focusses on that. Improve safety systems: there are a lot of safety procedures because of the fear of terroristic attacks. The airplane industry should invest in have safer and easier systems to improve the safety of its travelers. Differentiate itself from other airline companies; there are a lot of airline companies and this causes intense competition. However if JetBlue makes sure that they offer their product in an exclusive way the company will win customers. Balanced Scorecard In the following we will establish a balanced score card for Jet Blue by collecting and analyzing data on the company’s current performance. The overall goal of the balance scorecard is to analyze the gathered data and compare it to the desired performance and strategic goals. Furthermore it is a helpful tool to align business activities to the company’s current mission and vision. At large, there are 4 major perspectives that are analyzed during the balanced scorecard which are the customer, internal business,  innovation& learning, and financial perspective. In terms of the internal Business Perspective it becomes clear that Jet Blue has one of its major core competencies in quick turnarounds. One of the main reasons for this is the â€Å"paperless cockpit† innovated and introduced by Jet Blue itself. In fact, the paperless cockpit ensures faster takeoffs by reducing paperwork which eventually leads to quicker turnaround rates, as well as higher aircraft util ization. Jet Blue’s high completion rate is another significant competence of the company’s business operation (rate of 99.6 % compared to 98.3% at major airlines). Furthermore, the Jet Blue would keep operating costs low by integrating a less costly plane, the A 320, which is significantly less costly than the Boeing 737. In addition, the A 320 is more fuel-efficient, requires less maintenance costs, and training costs are kept at a lower level which leads to an overall decrease in operating costs and enables the company to offer less costly tickets to the end-customer. However, Jet Blue aims at renewing its fleet expansion in 2012. The airline planes to purchase the A321s and A320neo. Besides, the company had to deal with major system issues in regards to the baggage-handling system, online rebooking system, the sabre airline solution applications which caused significant delays in daily operations and lead to dissatisfaction among customers. Another perspective of the balanced scorecard that needs to be analyzed is the customer perspective. The company markets its service package as the â€Å"Jet Blue experience† which includes the new aircraft, variety of TV channels& movies, leather seats and more leg room. Furthermore, Jet Blue adds value to its customers by offering services such as priority boarding. The company, in fact positions itself as a low-price company, but focuses strongly on customers services (the ‘Jet Blue experience’) as well. This strategy enables the company to differentiate themselves from their competitors and adds unique value to their products. However, after the operations meltdown of 2007, customers lost trust in the company. For the future, significant changes are needed to restore customer’s trust. In terms of the company’s financial perspective it can be said that company’s liquidity ratios have been decreased over the past 3 years and could be considered worrisome, however, as Jet Blue plans to replace its fleet there is a reasonable cause for the decrease. Furthermore, Jet Blue’s equity to debt ratio is still below the average which indicates  on a lower amount of equity financed by banks and is therefore favorable. Jet Blue’s return on equity and net profit margin are in line with the industry average and therefore refer to stability. The net profit margin, and return on equity have all improved over the last three years which indicates on the profitability of the company. The cash coverage ratio has improved as well which refers to Jet Blue’s liquidity. Also the return on assets ratio has been improving and is above the industry’s average (3% compared to 2.46 % in 2013) which refers to a preferable efficiency of the company. The finances seem to show that the company is improving and is stable. Regarding the innovation& learning Perspective it becomes obvious that Jet Blue launched several solutions and systems. The paperless cockpit, for instance, that has been explained in a paragraph above is one of the innovations that Jet Blue launched on the market. In addition, less-congested airports reduced the airline’s turnaround time. Other innovations that facilitated operations and made services more customer-friendly are the tickets and mileage statements that do not require paper anymore. According to the article ‘Jet Blue airlines: getting over the blues ‘, ‘†¦innovation has been everywhere.’ Subsequent to the operations meltdown and the financial breakdown of the company in 2007, Jet Blue attempted to initiated strategic changes within the company by significant capital reduction from 2010 to 2011, a change of the CEO, a renew in flight expansions, partnering up with former competitors, and selling $42.6 of common stock to the German carrier (Lufthansa). Generally, measurable key performance indicators need to be established in order to evaluate the company’s performance. The financial ratios are the means within the balanced scorecard to evaluate the company’s perspective. The customer perspective could be evaluated in terms of market share, customer satisfaction scores, and customer loyalty scores. The internal business perspective can be measured in turnaround rates and completion rates for instance. Number of innovations, an improvement index, or number of employee suggestions can be used to put the innovative& learning perspective into tangible terms. As a result, the company needs to restore customers trust and loyalty, improve on internal operating systems in order to regain former financial strength in the future. Especially, the reliability of the company’s operating system needs to be secured in order to avoid another  major meltdown in the future. Furthermore, the company needs to find adequate strategic changes in order to ensure compliance with Jet Blues current mission, â€Å"Bring humanity back to air travel† which is currently pursued by a low-cost strategy in combination with a strong focus on customer-services and compare current performance to desired performance, however the company’s goals and targets do not become clear from the case.

English Home Reading Project

Todd Bowden is a boy who wants to be a detective when he gets older. He has been doing good in school and in his free time he runs background checks on people he sees. His neighbor Mr. Dussander was one of the people he did this too. He found out that he was using a fake name and was once referred to as the blood fiend of patin the only true thing about his life was that he was very old. When Todd confronts him about it he realizes that this secret is bigger than he thought. Todd soon starts to wonder about why he was called blood fiend so he started to ask some questions about it. When Dussander refuses, Todd black-males him into giving the stories. Todd starting to let his grades drop and when his first high school report card comes home he tries to change his grades with ink remover. He does this several times thought the novella. As the story's get more and more graphic Todd begins to come almost psychopathic. He starts to make Dussander wear these awful Nazi suits and recite saying that he used to say during the war. Dussander starts to have nightmares about the war and find a gruesome way to cope with the stress. Because he used to work in one of the crematoriums, Dussander starts to find stray cats and put them in his kitchen oven. He would soon become worse and â€Å"rescue† dogs from a shelter to burn. ( worst part of book. too many details. ) As Todd grades drop further his guidance counselor try's to set up a meeting between him and his parents. Todd black-males Dussander into pretending that he is his grandfather and proceeds with the meeting without his real parents. Todd is told that if he gets another flunk card that he will have to repeat this grade . One night after having listened too so many of the horrible stories he has a nightmare. These dreams persist for weeks and eventually Todd comes up with a plan to kill dussander. When nightmares continue to get worse Todd stabs a homeless man to death and realizes that murder helps with his stress and the dreams start to go away . he continues to commit murder whenever the dreams get too bad. Dussander starts too do the same as Todd and buries his victims in his basement. towards the end of the story the guidance counselor meets Todd's real grandfather and starts too talk about the meeting they had and when the grandfather dident remember the conversation he puts the pieces together. CLIMAX chapter 17. his is the climax of the story because at this point the entire story changes. Dussander had a heart attack and this leads to new situations that completely change the story. The resolution of this story is that todd bowden is questrioned by the police. After this he goes to a secret spto on the highway. Gets a gun, and goes on a rampage. Only to end in his own death. I t hink this was a great ending to the story. If fit perfect with all the little details that were put into the book. It all fits together at the end. Characterization Todd Bowden: Main character of the book. He is shown as decieving and mean. Througout the novella todd tricks and manipulated people into doing things that could help himself and hurt others. He is important to the story because without him nothing would have happened and it wouldent be a good book. Arthur Denker AKA Mr. Dussander: main character. Shown as a nice man but forceful when need be and his past shows him as a monster. He is important to the story because he feeds all of todds rage to him and is an antagonist to the story. Todds personality chapter 6. this shows Todds evil side and proves just how much of a monster he can be to put an old man throug this rough time again. Todd is not the kind of person I would like to be friends with. He is a lieing kid who is extremly mean. And throughout the book he is seen by his peers as a loser. Conflict One main conflict in this story is when Todds grades start too fall. He constantly changes them to deceive his parents and when he is confronted by his guidance counselor about it he decides to lie about his situation in hopes to fix it. Todd has Dussander go to the school and talk to the counselor instead of his parent to â€Å" sweep the problem under the rug†. This fixes one of his problems but makes life much more difficult in the rest of the story. I can relate to some of todds problems like falling grades sometimes and feeling like your stuck in a place that your know wont lead anywhere good. But as for the rest of his problems like where to bury his victims I cannot say that I have any experience in. Theme one main theme of this novella is deception and black-male can only get you so far, because when the time comes for the truth it will only bring you down. This is shown when todds grandfather meets the counselor and realizes that todd lied to his parents about his grades and the whole situation unfolds.

How to Improve Email ROI With Matthew Montoya From Constant Contact

How to Improve Email ROI With Matthew Montoya From Constant Contact Email marketing is that trusted friend that’s been around forever and will never let you down. You can always turn to it when you need some help. Plus, it gives you a whopping average ROI of 3,800%. That’s $38 for every $1 invested. Today, we’re talking to Matthew Montoya, the partner enablement and training manager at Constant Contact. He has helped consult more than 13,000 businesses on email marketing best practices. Email has been around a long time, but Matthew describes current trends and what works today. People who give you their email address are expressing interest in your business Quantify the value of your email list by multiplying the size of your list by the price point of the average they sell to get a dollar figure Biggest change in email marketing over the last seven years is mobile readership; 51% of business/non-profit emails will be opened on a mobile device People used to spend 35-40 seconds reading an email; now it’s 5 seconds Emails need to be succinct, make an impression, and include a call to action Think of an email not as a message, but an advertisement where people see the information, act on it, and go to your website or elsewhere to learn more Every contact matters and can produce money for your company The more targeting and testing you do, the better your responses HTML vs. Plain Text: Depends on your audience, but concise HTML emails usually generate higher, better responses Preview email messages to see how they display on different devices Know your audience to know what content they will find valuable and relevant Constant Contact’s Marketing Pillars: Segmentation, personalization, automation People look first at who sent an email, rather than the subject line; email should come â€Å"from† the brand Test subject lines to avoid repetition and make sure they grab readers’ attention Explore all marketing options across platforms all work together to share a story Links: Constant Contact Constant Contact for Free Email Subject Line Tester Integrations Write and send a review to receive a care package If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Matthew Montoya: â€Å"Email marketinghas changed dramatically over the last seven years. What used to be a best practice has evolved.† â€Å"Email marketing may haveless sex appeal than social media and other kinds of marketing.† â€Å"The one app that most people don’t even think of as an app is email. And yet, that’s probably the most used app on your phone because that’s where we’re doing business.† â€Å"Think of an email not as a message. It’s not a form of communication. It’s an advertisement.† It’s really important for everybody, if there’s one huge takeaway today beyond just building a mobile-responsive and mobile-friendly email, it’s making sure your content within that email is relevant.

Syndetonâ€Definition and Examples

Syndetons Syndeton is a  rhetorical term for a sentence style in which words, phrases, or clauses are joined by conjunctions (usually and). A construction that uses many conjunctions is called polysyndetic. Examples and Observations At the marina, rain, and steam rising from the bay shrouded boats and birds, and made the few scurrying people indistinct.Blaize Clement, Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs. Minotaur Books, 2010I crawled back under the cover of the boat and huddled there, wet, cold and sobbing.Sam McKinney, Sailing Uphill. Touchwood, 2010The fine rain made a desolate, even sound like breathing in the pinewoods, and below, milky layers of mist covered the lake, and were stained here and there by the darkness of the water beneath.Elizabeth Bowen, Salon des DamesYou are talking to a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe.The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, 1939Rain on all the silent streets and squares, alleys and courts, gardens and churchyards and stone steps and nooks and crannies of the city.Susan Hill, The Mist in the Mirror. Sinclair-Stevenson, 1992 Polysyndeton​​ He and Rawlins had unsaddled the horses and turned them out in the dark and they were lying on the saddle blankets and using the saddles for pillows. The night was cold and clear and the sparks rising from the fire raced hot and red among the stars. They could hear the trucks out on the highway and they could see the lights of the town reflected off the desert fifteen miles to the north.Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992 Marking Coordination Coordination is usually but not invariably marked by one or more coordinators. Three patterns to be distinguished are shown in (6): (6) i SIMPLE SYNDETIC You need [celery, apples, walnuts, and grapes].(6) ii POLYSYNDETIC You need [celery and apples and walnuts and grapes].(6) iii ASYNDETIC You need [celery, apples, walnuts, grapes]. The major contrast is between syndetic coordination, which contains at least one coordinator, and asyndetic coordination, which does not. In constructions with more than two coordinates, there is a further contrast within syndetic coordination between the default simple syndetic, which has a single coordinator marking the final coordinate, and polysyndetic, where all non-initial coordinates are marked by a coordinator (which must be the same for all of them). The coordinator forms a constituent with the coordinator which follows: we refer to expressions like and grapes as an expanded coordinate, with grapes itself a bare coordinate.Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Coordination and Subordination. The Handbook of English Linguistics, ed. by Bas Aarts and April M. S. McMahon. Blackwell, 2006

Alvin Ailey Biography Overview Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alvin Ailey Biography Overview - Research Paper Example The research paper "Alvin Ailey Biography Overview" presents the description of Alvin's way to success. Having graduated from high school in the year 1948, Alvin went to the University of California with the intention of becoming a teacher but his interest in dance soon came back, particularly after he came across the Lester Horton Dance Theatre giving a dance. Horton’s highly theatrical modern dance style and his apparent interest in Native American dances and culture greatly attracted Alvin and he thought of changing his course from teaching to dance. He won a scholarship and enrolled for technique and dance composition classes with Lester Horton. He also got employment with Horton’s stage crew and danced with them. In the year 1951, seeking a more stable career, Alvin enrolled for a major in Romance languages in San Francisco State College. While there, he got to dance with a touring company and soon realized that what he really wanted was dance regardless of how ris ky it was compared to the dependable and stable teaching career. He rejoined the Los Angeles’ Lester Horton Dance Theatre and Lester Horton died suddenly in the year 1953, leaving the company without a director. They asked Alvin to choreograph some dances. He taught at Horton Dance School but later got an opportunity of dancing in a concert in New York and moved to the East Coast. In the year in 1954, Alvin went to New York to dance in the Broadway production of ‘House of Flowers’ with a partner called Carmen DeLavallade and in the year 1958.