Starbucks Corporation and Brand Loyalty Essay Example for Free

Starbucks Corporation and Brand Loyalty Essay In today’s highly competitive business markets, a consumer’s loyalty to a brand often adds reassurance to the company’s stable and lasting position in the marketing world. As the new year continues to unravel, brands must maintain strong marketing strategies in order to keep their current buyers interested as well as capture the eye of new buyers. Brand loyalty after all, is the consumer’s conscious and unconscious decision, expressed through intention or behavior, to repurchase products from a brand continually. It occurs when the consumer perceives that the brand offers the right product features, image, or level of quality at the right price. One of the industry’s most successful companies, with over 19,000 stores worldwide, is Starbucks Corporation. Through the use of various marketing tactics, Starbucks has established itself as the largest coffeehouse company in world with a continuously expanding flock of loyal consumers each year. Pricing: As the leader of the coffee market, Starbucks Corporation is known for setting its prices on a simple idea: providing high value products at a moderate cost. When consumers are drawn to a product they find worthy of their money, they often are willing to pay any cost to attain the item. For Starbucks’ loyal consumers, quality is key. To maintain its brand loyal consumer base, Starbucks ensures their buyers quality coffee to justify its costs. Differentiation: Starbucks spends a large sum of time and energy annually to differentiate itself from its competitors. When one steps foot into one of the coffeehouses’ many locations, he or she will immediately be exposed to the music played in the shop as well as the types of products the shop sells, from bags of freshly ground coffee to jazz CDs. Starbucks also tries to stay up-to-date on the latest technology, often times being the first to introduce the newest advancements to its customers. Through new approaches such as location-based promotions and mobile payments, Starbucks uses various techniques to set itself apart from other coffeehouses in the hopes of attracting brand loyal consumers. Customer Service/Satisfaction: Starbucks has always been strongly devoted to providing its customers with quality service. To ensure this goal is achieved, the company aims to hire motivated and committed employees. Each individual hired by the brand is employee trained for all classes of employees, including part-time workers. Starbucks relies on its baristas and other frontline staff to provide customers with the best â€Å"Starbucks Experience†. My Starbucks Rewards Card: Another tactic Starbucks has used to reel in brand loyal consumers is the introduction of the â€Å"My Starbucks Rewards Card† in 2009. The free, no-contract rewards system allows customers to accumulate stars for each purchase they make at a Starbucks shop. Each star collected is put towards the three level reward system, qualifying card owners for free drinks on birthdays and other benefits. Similar to a reloadable gift card, card users can check there can easily assess and manage their card balances online. The My Starbucks Rewards Card is the perfect way to attract and keep brand loyal Starbucks consumers since customers have the incentive of earning rewards for simply buying products from their favorite coffeehouse. Starbucks’ Social Media Strategy: In addition to operating fan accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, Starbucks also owns its own version of a social networking site called, MyStarbucksIdea. com, where customers are asked to contribute their ideas on anything related to Starbucks. The site allows to users to see what others are suggesting, vote on ideas and check the results. MyStarbucksIdea. com is a brilliant and important aspect of Starbucks social media strategy. Users who are part of this network feel that they have some role in the decision making process of the company and it makes them feel a part of it. Starbucks employees also play role in the company’s social media strategy by participating in the blog entitled, â€Å"Ideas In Action†. This blog is written by various Starbucks employees and discusses how the brand is incorporating the ideas submitted by users on MyStarbucksIdea. com. The blog keeps customers in the company loop by keeping them informed regarding what is happening with their ideas. This strategy helps to increase the loyalty of consumers to the brand as well as showing potential customers, â€Å"Hey, we care about what YOU have to say†. Free Samples: On Tuesday, January 12, 2012, Starbucks Coffee released a new roast of its famous coffee, the â€Å"Blonde Roast†. To help introduce customers to its new lighter roast product, the company offered free samples of its brews during a 3-hour event each day, for two days. The research from tasting event called the, â€Å"Find the Roast You Love Most†, showed that more than 54 million U. S. coffee drinker said they prefer the lighter-roast coffee. Customers who came for the sampling were also given free samples of the light roast to brew at home and a $1 off coupon off a pound of any Starbucks coffee. By offered free samples of their new product to the public, Starbucks was able to draw forth brand loyal consumers as well as other coffee lovers. Today, Starbucks Corporation is one of the most successful and admired companies in the world. Since the company opened its first coffee shop in Seattle, Washington in 1971, it has expanded into a billon-dollar international brand. From its tasty beverages and treats to its specialty, whole-bean coffee blends, Starbucks has developed strong strategic methods that have led the coffeehouse to success, winning over the hearts of many coffee indulgers. Through strategies of pricing, differentiation, providing quality customer service, introducing a rewards program, social media networking, and free samples, Starbucks has been able to acquire thousands of brand loyal consumers each year.

Will ethical behavior pay off in long run?

Will ethical behavior pay off in long run? Answer: I do believe that ethical behavior will pay off in the long run, however I do not believe it will pay off as much as people expect it to. People want ethical behavior to be widespread and change the world, but the truth is that some people will never be ethical. Plus, what is ethical to one person is unethical to another. It depends all in the way individuals interpret things. So although I think that consistently acting ethical and passing those beliefs down through the generations will pay off, I do not believe it will pay off as much as people want it to. Definition: Pearson Custom Publishing (Pearson, 1998-2002) defines ethics as the standards of conduct and moral judgment. Markula Center for Applied Ethics (1995-1998) defines ethics as those standards that compel one to refrain from committing crimes against another person such as stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. It is also the standards that encourage honesty, integrity, compassion and loyalty. Ethics is not a religious principle, nor is it based on feelings about a particular problem. It cannot be defined as a legal practice because laws are created to protect rights, not manage ethical principles. While the definition may seem clear, ethics as a practice is somewhat ambiguous since interpretation plays a big part in how people perceive right from wrong. The Markala Center for Applied Ethics (1995-1998) states that in order to understand the meaning of ethics we must find answers the following questions, According to what standards are these actions right or wrong? What character traits (like honesty, compassion, fairness) are necessary to live a truly human life? Defining ethics is relatively easy compared to practicing ethics in the work place. Since the primary concern of most businesses is the bottom line, the ethical views may differ based on the type of business. Ethical views of employees may also differ from the views of the company. This can cause conflict among workers and management as companies strive to improve the bottom line. Personal ethics may be compromised in an effort to keep a job. Most Renowned companies like Enron, Satyam, Lehman Brothers, Tyco, Worldcom, Adelphia, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Arthur Anderson à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Came tumbling down. They were the darling of the masses as well as the bourses. They were seen to be responsible to employees, shareholders, suppliers, customers. All the reputation and trust built over years was wiped off due to unethical practices. For a business to be successful, it need not compromise with mortality. The more the business does something unethical or illegal the more likely that it will be caught. When ethical environment is poor, organizational performance suffers because of poor group dynamics and suppressed communication. In unethical organizations the employee morale is badly affected leaving organizations vulnerable to setbacks. Sound ethics is necessary precondition of any long term business enterprise. Excellence in business must exist on foundation of values that most of us hold dear. Without a base of shared values, trust and mutual benefits, todays national and international business would fall apart. Basic principles of integrity and fairness can build an enduring reputation. No separate ethical laws are required; we already have a plethora of laws encompassing every facet of business The Factories Act Indian Contract Act Sale of Good Act Companies Act The Consumer Protection Act The Indian Forests Act Prevention of Corruption Act The Mines and Minerals (Regulation Development Act) Agriculture Marketing Act Prescription Drug Marketing Act Accounting Act In the 21st century in the age of instant noodles and instant information, stakeholders can not be taken for granted and they evaluate the business on the following yardsticks Is the business complying with the law of the land? Does the business have a sense of propriety? Do product claims match reality? How forth Coming is the company with information sharing How does the company handle third party ethics How charitable is the company? How does the company react when faced with negative disclosures? Responsible Business Business should not be considered as a commercial activity aimed at maximizing profit. Profit to be maximized but not at the cost of responsibility to shareholders, suppliers and customers. Business should always take into consideration aspects of human rights and social responsibility. Wealth and knowledge must always be shared with the community as water in village pond unlike water in a private well. Pay Back Time Ethical behavior induces further ethical behavior. Employees who are treated ethically will be more likely to behave ethically with customers and business associates. Ethical behavior/decision making will overtake unethical or immoral practices in the long run. Ethical behavior results in confidence, stability of mind and soundness of position, restful sleep and hassle free life. Energies are freed for maximum productivity, creativity, flow of knowledge, information and reasoning capabilities. While practicing unethical behavior one has to engage in exhaustive subterfuge, resulting in diminished effectiveness and reduced success. Satisfy your Inner self Being ethical is doing the right thing when no one is watching Integrity has no need of rules. Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobodys going to know whether you did it or not-Oprah Winfrey. Most Reversed Tatas were among the first families in India to spread their wealth and wisdom for the benefit of humanity, some examples: In 1998 the Tata Mills failed to pay a dividend. The name Tata was at stake. Sir Jamesedji Tata risked his personal fortune to save a public company, displaying that people mattered to him before profits. In 1924 when Tata Steel was its lowest ebb with no money to pay co-workers, Sir Dorabji Tata risked his entire personal fortune of Rupees One Crore(of that time) which also included his wifes jewelry to get a loan from Imperial Bank of India, for public limited company to save the name of Tatas. One of the guiding principles of JRD Tata was- No success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people and is achieved by fair and honest means. Business as a spiritual pursuit encapsulates JRDs philosophy and the ethos of the group he symbolized by stating that we (in Tatas) have retained the fire of idealism and in its glow we have come to recognize that no wealth or power can be more valuable than our dignity; no loss or profit can be more critical than loss of our credibility; no skills or qualification can substitute the integrity of our character. Conclusion Utilizing the principles of ethics in the decision making process will help to ensure that decisions made are fair and respect the rights of those parties involved. Unfortunately, ethical decision making is only as morally sound as the person making the decision. If the person making the decision is does not live by an ethical code, the decision will be swayed in the direction of that belief. Therefore, in order to make sound ethical decisions, decision makers must constantly evaluate their own beliefs and strive to live in an ethical manner and that will definitely pay off in longer run. References http://www.sptimes.com/News/110200/NIE/Treat_others_as_you_w.shtml http://www.powerhomebiz.com/books/ethics101.htm http://essaysforstudent.com/tag/ethical%20behaviour/page1.html http://www.allbusiness.com/buying_exiting_businesses/3503597-1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_leadership http://www.businessballs.com/ethical_management_leadership.htm 7. Fu, Jie, and Joshua Hall. Forthcoming. Fremont General Corporation. In Booms and Busts: An Economics Encyclopedia, Mehmet Odekon, editor. New York: M.E. Sharpe. 8. Morningstar. 2009. Our 2009 CEO of the Year Nominees. Online at: http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=269242. Question 2 Within the business context business are expected to have good ethical values and act socially responsible. The problem is that the ethics of a business is a mixture of individual sets of ethics. This is why it is important to have good individuals as employees. It is also equally important that when you go to work somewhere that you feel like you share the values of those you work with. Ethics is not just talking about the right thing. It is doing what is right in every decision that is made. Based on the above observation discuss the impact on society that ethical leaders can make. American corporations dole out an estimated 15 billion dollars per year on training and consulting for up and coming mangers and leaders. Some target high performers and potential leaders within the organization. Others believe that leadership is more about what you do rather than who you are and, therefore, everyone in the organization is capable of becoming a leader. We have been arguing and writing about the science and practice of management since the early 1900s, and about leadership for at least 2000 years, all in an effort to demystify both. Is management, in fact, a practice, an art, or a science? Are leaders born or made? What do managers actually do? The argument continues. :- It is important to have good individuals as your employees but it is also important that those employees should be ethical because only they make the right decision and make others to follow. Some of the theories that tells us about the leadership ethics are being given to us by some of the philosophers as they are really heplfull they are given below:- Heifetzs Theory -Leadership involves authority to help followers uphold values in the workplace. Burns Theory Emphasizes the moral development of followers and maintains high standards of moral conduct. Greenleafs Theory Strong ethical overtones, true leadership is service to others. Moral development plays a vital role in building up good ethics. Acc. To john locke A new born child is a blank tablet on which life script can be written. Experience and learning shapes the content, structure and direction of a persons life. Examples of Great Ethical Leaders Cyrus the Great (590 BC-529 BC) The study of Cyrus the Great and establishment of his ethical Persian empire some 2500 years ago is a good indication that in our time the concept of world order based on ethics, ethical state, peace and harmony among nations are not an impossible goal and illusion. In this century the most fundamental and essential ingredients of an evolution towards these goals are democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of choice, freedom of religion, cultural toleration, human rights, political feedback mechanism, open trade policy, and open communications among people in this globe. The ethics of life are the pursuit of awareness for us and others. The ultimate goal is total awareness. Ethical Government is a means of achieving that goal by raising man to a higher state of total awareness. Ethical leaders can lead men toward Ethical Government and Society, which can lead man to total awareness. To increase mans power is always ethical. However, only men who use power to expand awareness are et hical. Men who use power to diminish awareness are unethical. Business ethics in the field As part of more comprehensive compliance and ethics programs, many companies have formulated internal policies pertaining to the ethical conduct of employees. These policies can be simple exhortations in broad, highly generalized language (typically called a corporate ethics statement), or they can be more detailed policies, containing specific behavioral requirements (typically called corporate ethics codes). They are generally meant to identify the companys expectations of workers and to offer guidance on handling some of the more common ethical problems that might arise in the course of doing business. It is hoped that having such a policy will lead to greater ethical awareness, consistency in application, and the avoidance of ethical disasters. An increasing number of companies also require employees to attend seminars regarding business conduct, which often include discussion of the companys policies, specific case studies, and legal requirements. Some companies even require their employees to sign agreements stating that they will abide by the companys rules of conduct. Many companies are assessing the environmental factors that can lead employees to engage in unethical conduct. A competitive business environment may call for unethical behavior. Lying has become expected in fields such as trading. An example of this is the issues surrounding the unethical actions of the Saloman Brothers. Not everyone supports corporate policies that govern ethical conduct. Some claim that ethical problems are better dealt with by depending upon employees to use their own judgment. Others believe that corporate ethics policies are primarily rooted in utilitarian concerns, and that they are mainly to limit the companys legal liability, or to curry public favor by giving the appearance of being a good corporate citizen. Ideally, the company will avoid a lawsuit because its employees will follow the rules. Should a lawsuit occur, the company can claim that the problem would not have arisen if the employee had only followed the code properly. Sometimes there is disconnection between the companys code of ethics and the companys actual practices. Thus, whether or not such conduct is explicitly sanctioned by management, at worst, this makes the policy duplicitous, and, at best, it is merely a marketing tool. To be successful, most ethicists would suggest that an ethics policy should be: Given the unequivocal support of top management, by both word and example. Explained in writing and orally, with periodic reinforcement. Doable.something employees can both understand and perform. Monitored by top management, with routine inspections for compliance and improvement. Backed up by clearly stated consequences in the case of disobedience. Remain neutral and nonsexist. The effectiveness of ethics officers in the marketplace is not clear. If the appointment is made primarily as a reaction to legislative requirements, one might expect the efficacy to be minimal, at least, over the short term. In part, this is because ethical business practices result from a corporate culture that consistently places value on ethical behavior, a culture and climate that usually emanates from the top of the organization. The mere establishment of a position to oversee ethics will most likely be insufficient to inculcate ethical behavior: a more systemic programmed with consistent support from general management will be necessary. The foundation for ethical behavior goes well beyond corporate culture and the policies of any given company, for it also depends greatly upon an individuals early moral training, the other institutions that affect an individual, the competitive business environment the company is in and, indeed, society as a whole. The caring leaders focuses on the welfare of : Customers : Employees : Shareholders : Community : Define problems : Find out best alternatives : Collect information Religious views on business ethics The historical and global importance of religious views on business ethics is sometimes underestimated in standard introductions to business. Particularly in Asia and the Middle East, religious and cultural perspectives have a strong influence on the conduct of business and the creation of business values. Examples include: Islamic banking, associated with the avoidance of charging interest on loans. Traditional Confucian disapproval of the profit-seeking motive. Quaker testimony on fair dealing.

Death Of The Author English Literature Essay

Death Of The Author English Literature Essay The word Author is broadly defined by the OED as, the person who originates or gives existence to anything, but does this mean that a text is produced solely by a single author? It is clear that the author of a text will have a defined idea of what they would like their text to achieve, but can we be sure that an author is capable of producing a text that is uninfluenced by external sources? In this essay I will examine the meaning of a text and distinguish whether it is produced solely by its author or if it is a complex collaboration of the author, text and the readers own subconscious understanding. New Criticism argued that authorial intent was irrelevant to understanding a piece of literature. In their essay The Intentional Fallacy, W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley wrote that the design or intention of the author is neither available nor desirable as a standard for judging the success of a work of literary art  [1]  . They argued that an author could not be reconstructed from a piece of writing and that the only source of meaning came from the text itself, with any details of the authors desires or life being purely extraneous. Critics such as Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault have scrutinized the role of authorship to the meaning and interpretation of a text. In Barthes essay Death of the Author, he criticizes the method of reading and criticism that relies on aspects of the authors identity to distil meaning from the authors work. This death is directed at the author expressing an inner vision, not at the idea of writing. He is opposing a view of texts as expressing a distinct personality of the author and despises the idea that they consciously create masterpieces. Barthes states the idea that the explanation and meaning of a work does not have to be sought in the one who produced it, as if it were always in the end, through the more or less transparent allegory of the fiction, the voice of a single person, the author confiding in us  [2]  . The author can be disregarded when interpreting a text, because it is language which speaks, not the author; the words are rich enough themselves with all of th e traditions of language. The words and language of a text itself determine and expose meaning for Barthes, and not someone possessing legal responsibility for the process of its production. The author is merely a scriptor. The scriptor exists to produce but not to explain the work, the origin of meaning lies exclusively in language itself and its impressions on the reader. Barthes notes that the traditional critical approach to literature raises a problem of which we cannot detect precisely what the writer intended. Julia Kristeva invented the term intertextuality, suggesting that no text is free of other texts. Intertextuality leads to speculations about the idea of a text guaranteeing stability and identity. If a text is partly explained by a whole series of other texts, then its meaning clearly does not reside wholly inside it, but is also produced by its relation with other texts. Every reader may have a different understanding of the meaning of a text depending on the external texts they associate with it. Looking at William Shakespeares play intertextually, Romeo and Juliet prompts literary criticism as the play shares a relationship with other literary texts. Romeo and Juliets plot is based around more than one different source, making the audience question the originality of the play itself. Shakespeare based his play on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562. Romeo and Juliet is a dramatisation of Brookes translation, which Shakespeare has followed closely. We see this through Romeos dialogue as he says, Is she a Capulet? / O dear account! my life is my foes debt.  [3]  Shakespeare literally mirrors the plot of Brookes tale in his own So hath he learned her name, and knowth she is no geast, / Her father was a Capulet,  [4]  It is hard to claim that Shakespeare has ownership of this play along with the idea that this is not an original idea and the content of his play has come from influences around him. Shakespeare was also heavily influenced by Ovids Metamorphoses, taking inspiration from the tragic love story of Pyramus and Thisbe. In Ted Hughes translation, it is clear to see that Shakespeare has been influenced by Ovid, The parents of each forbade their child / To marry the other. That was that. / But prohibition feeds love, mirroring the exact same family feud and passion in Romeo and Juliet  [5]  , Deny thy father and refuse thy name; / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And Ill no longer be a Capulet (Act 2, Scene II; ll 34-36). There are rumoured to be so many sources behind one of Shakespeares most well-known masterpieces, this certainly begs the question of whether Shakespeare was original and if he gave meaning to his own work. It is appropriate to approach an Elizabethan play as a collaborative work, given the amount of people used to successfully create a play. A piece of drama is inevitably constructed by many hands, adding to the meaning of the play. Romeo and Juliet would not just be defined by William Shakespeare, but how the play was performed would have enormous effect on its meaning along with those involved in the making of it. Romeo and Juliet was arguably not written by Shakespeare, he took influences from many different texts, collaborating with many other writers. The writing behind Romeo and Juliet does not define the play, but it is the staging and performance that make the play what it is. Performance adds to the text in the sense of connecting to it gestures, symbols and staging, these all produce a definition not in the text itself. In a well-known quotation, Barthes draws an analogy between text and textiles, the text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of cultur e (pp. 142-48) meaning that one persons work is never original. It is the reader/viewer that makes a piece of literature what it is, whether that is personal or not. It is difficult to judge whether a piece of literature successfully carries out what it means to attempt because we can never be certain of the writers intent in the first place. For example Robert Frosts The Silken Tent opened up to much debate about whether the poem was really symbolising a woman and questioned the possibility of its supporting central cedar pole (l. 5) actually representing a boat with language rich in relatable words, for example, guy ropes and compass. It should not be wrong to have a different opinion of a text, finding meaning in literature is all about your personal tastes and experiences allowing you to relate to texts. Literature is all about what you as a reader make of a text in your own personal way. There seems to be no guarantee in this process that the origins of the text, the conventions of the message and the readers opinion are identical in any way. A piece of literature depends on the words and contexts which surround it, but these contexts are not always significant when looking for meaning in a text. The language of textuality itself will present an argument that is potentially counter to the authors conscious intent. The meaning of a text is not produced solely by an author; it is a complex collaboration between author, text and reader. Shakespeare did not give Romeo and Juliet meaning, meaning was created through the text and performance of the play and by the viewer creating their own personal opinions about it. Shakespeare may have been the origin behind Romeo and Juliet but there are many different sources that could have been seen to be used, questioning the originality of the play. The essential meaning of a piece of literature depends on the impression it has made on the reader, the writers passions and tastes do not come into it. Meaning is a collaboration of all these different factors, it cannot be gathered purely from just the author because there may have been no authorial intent behind that text and literature is all about your own personal opinion and where you take that text in your mind. Barthes makes an important point saying, a texts unity lies not in its origins [] but in its d estination, (pp. 142-48) meaning that it all comes down to the reader and society, a piece of texts origins are unimportant. Word Count: 1560

NBC: The Most Watched Television Network Essay -- Television Media TV

NBC: The Most Watched Television Network What makes any company successful? It could be anything from a hard work ethic, a wise decision based on experience, or even luck. Essentially there all kinds of ways that make a company successful. For the last seventy-five years one television network has beat others to capture such a large audience, making it the most watched network. That network is the National Broadcasting Company, otherwise known as NBC. The combination of its television shows, national and local news programs, and history has allowed it to grow into one of the top successful networks. In the beginning NBC was a radio network created by the Radio Corporation of America, also known as RCA, in 1926. (Straubhaar, 2002) Right then and there NBC started to compete with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). They still compete to today. An example is CBS airing Survivor on Thursday night at the same time as NBC’s number one show, Friends, airs. By the 1940s, NBC became a television network. (NBC, 2001) The many reasons as to how NBC is successful are because of its many ground breaking innovations that were soon followed by other networks. NBC was the first permanent broadcasting network, first U.S. coast-to-coast radio broadcast, first license for a commercial television station, first to offer an early-morning news program, first color telecast, first made for television movie, and the first major television network to launch a web offering. (NBC, 2001) In addition to paving the way for other networks, NBC owns and operates thirteen stations. The stations are located in large cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Miami. With these stations and their affiliates, NBC i... ...ds of employees and the help of jointed businesses, NBC has made its way into almost every family room in the United States and five other continents. NBC is a prime example of a small company that made its way in the world by pleasing its audience and keeping up with the times, to come out on top. Their dedication and hard work has enabled them to become a successful company. Works Cited Corporate Info. NBC. 14 October 2001 >. Straubhaar, Joseph and LaRose, Robert. Media Now Communications in the Information Age. Belmont: Wadsworth, Thompson Learning, 2002. 153. Wallace, Bill. â€Å"For NBC, the Olympics Are Already Over.† Bridge News, 12 Sept. 2000: 1-3. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO Publishing. (AN:2W63239835933) 15 Oct. 2001 .

Grapes of Wrath Essay: Steinbecks Powerful Style -- Grapes Wrath essa

The Powerful Style of The Grapes of Wrath      Ã‚   When Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, our country was just starting to recover from The Great Depression.   The novel he wrote, though fiction, was not an uncommon tale in many lives.   When this book was first published, the majority of those reading it understood where it was coming from-they had lived it.   But now very few people understand the horrors of what went on in that time.   The style in which Steinbeck chose to write The Grapes of Wrath helps get across the book's message.    Early in the 1930's Steinbeck wrote, "The trees and the muscled mountains are the world-but not the world apart from man-the world and man-the one inseparable unit man and his environment. Why they should ever have been understood as being separate I do not know."   Steinbeck strove to reconnect them, and it shows in his writing.   Intermixed with the plot are corollary chapters.   The purpose of the corollary chapters is to put the events of the story in perspective to the circumstances of the country, so everyone would be able to understand the context of the book.   The corollary chapters tell little pieces of the "common story", the story held in common. They don't give specifics-they give generalities.   The first chapter gives the background to all of the following events. Every-other chapter gives more background to the story.   Whether a massive draught causes this migration of people from the Midwest, or all the families get told to get off of the land, or all th e migrants are starving; the chapters tell how all of this happened.    Not only does Steinbeck tell his story and put it in perspective, he also gives social commentary.   One might expect this social commentary to be... ...h at the idea of carrying a new life, as well as saving an older life-when aspects of her maternity give life.    The various writing techniques that Steinbeck used in the Grapes of Wrath brought out the message he wanted to get across.   The corollary chapters put the story in perspective, helping the reader understand the context of the events. The two types of social commentary gave each of them added weight.   And finally, the use of repetition gave the whole book a sense of continuity.    Works Cited and Consulted: Noble, Donald R. ed. The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in Criticism. Troy, New York, 1993. Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 1930. Wyatt, David ed. New Essays on The Grapes of Wrath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Grapes of Wrath Essay: Steinbeck's Powerful Style -- Grapes Wrath essa The Powerful Style of The Grapes of Wrath      Ã‚   When Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, our country was just starting to recover from The Great Depression.   The novel he wrote, though fiction, was not an uncommon tale in many lives.   When this book was first published, the majority of those reading it understood where it was coming from-they had lived it.   But now very few people understand the horrors of what went on in that time.   The style in which Steinbeck chose to write The Grapes of Wrath helps get across the book's message.    Early in the 1930's Steinbeck wrote, "The trees and the muscled mountains are the world-but not the world apart from man-the world and man-the one inseparable unit man and his environment. Why they should ever have been understood as being separate I do not know."   Steinbeck strove to reconnect them, and it shows in his writing.   Intermixed with the plot are corollary chapters.   The purpose of the corollary chapters is to put the events of the story in perspective to the circumstances of the country, so everyone would be able to understand the context of the book.   The corollary chapters tell little pieces of the "common story", the story held in common. They don't give specifics-they give generalities.   The first chapter gives the background to all of the following events. Every-other chapter gives more background to the story.   Whether a massive draught causes this migration of people from the Midwest, or all the families get told to get off of the land, or all th e migrants are starving; the chapters tell how all of this happened.    Not only does Steinbeck tell his story and put it in perspective, he also gives social commentary.   One might expect this social commentary to be... ...h at the idea of carrying a new life, as well as saving an older life-when aspects of her maternity give life.    The various writing techniques that Steinbeck used in the Grapes of Wrath brought out the message he wanted to get across.   The corollary chapters put the story in perspective, helping the reader understand the context of the events. The two types of social commentary gave each of them added weight.   And finally, the use of repetition gave the whole book a sense of continuity.    Works Cited and Consulted: Noble, Donald R. ed. The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in Criticism. Troy, New York, 1993. Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 1930. Wyatt, David ed. New Essays on The Grapes of Wrath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Faith love time and dr. lazaro Essay

In this story, Brillantes confronts the most important questions of our lives as Christians: Does God exist? If so, what is the nature of God? I remember Tim telling me that Brillantes succeeds in telling a compelling story because he never preaches or subverts. That he allows the reader to experience, rather than solve, the problem of God’s presence or absence. The story is deceptively simple: An aging medical doctor and his young son are called in the middle of the night to minister to a poor family whose newborn baby has a terminal case of tetanus. The journey towards the family’s home, however, seems to take on a different level when it also becomes a spiritual journey, most especially for Dr. Lazaro, whose beliefs about and disbelief in God, faith, love, and time seem to haunt him with a pressurized intensity – and all because he sees a wide chasm between him and Ben, his son, in terms of how they see life: He has lost so much faith in God and life, while Be n – intent on becoming a priest – seems so infuriatingly fresh and positive. He has also lost his faith because he has been a witness to countless, seemingly random deaths: There is a patient with cancer, whose racking pain even morphine can’t assuage anymore; there is the baby who is now dying from tetanus; but most of all, there was his eldest son who, we later learn, committed suicide. From the latter, the Lazaro family â€Å"died† to each other as well. It made the doctor focus mechanically on his job, just to forget the pain, and his wife became more immersed in religion than in family. For Dr. Lazaro, what kind of God would allow pain? What kind of God would kill a baby? What kind of God would take away a son? Is there really a God? (Many of the students invariably answer that perhaps God allowed this to happen to test their faith. I happen to believe this as well, but I pose for them another gray area: â€Å"That may be true, but tell that to a dying man in excruciating pain, or to a father who has†¦ [continues]

Are the five precepts realistic principles for a Buddhist to live by today? Essay

I personally think that the five precepts are realistic enough because they are quite similar to the things that a Muslim may or may not do. The reason I say this is because I am a Muslim and some of these precepts are the same for me to follow in everyday life. For example, precept 2: ‘I undertake to abstain from taking what is not freely given’ In other words, it means No stealing or any form of exploitation or taking advantage of someone. This should not be hard to follow because, first of all; this is against the law and I doubt it that any other religion would allow stealing. All of the precepts are really what I, as a Muslim is not allowed to do, except the first one (‘to abstain from harming living beings’). The reason I have brought myself into this is because as I said before, I do most of these and I don’t find any of them hard to follow so why should a Buddhist? The obvious answer to the title would definitely be yes, because they are the same as what people with other faiths must not do. Precept 1 is a very simple precept and must be easy to follow, since there are millions of other vegetarians from other faiths in our world and they find it easy and realistic enough. I think that it is easy to survive by being a vegetarian, because there are a lot of other foods to eat except meat etc. Precept number 2 is also realistic because you will never be allowed to steal unless you want to, and if you are not interested to steal, then you won’t; so this one is also realistic enough as well. I would think that Precept 3 would be slightly harder to follow and less realistic because of what everyone else is doing at this moment. In the U.K and in most other countries se outside marriage is a very common thing and this might draw you in. I am not saying that you should, but some people would have sex for fun and this precept may also be interpreted as avoiding any over-indulgence, such as gluttony such as sex for fun which in this world would be hard not to have. Precept 4 is also not as realistic as 2 & 3 because these days talking behind people’s backs and lying is such a common thing that even if you don’t want to lie you will be forced into it. Precept 5 is also not realistic because everyone really has a bit of a drink and even some Buddhist do, so this is not a very strong precept; but still it wouldn’t be hard to follow. Also what would be the point of following this when some Buddhist’s drink moderately or not moderately? They still drink! Basically I think that this is the most random precept and there is no point to follow but all the other precepts should be realistic enough.