Marketing and Product free essay sample

Dexit Inc. is a business that focuses on electronic payment systems for retail transactions. The nature of the business would start with purchases and tinkle down to petty cash purchases, pre paid purchases, and electronic purchases (Exhibit 1) . The Dexit platforms run on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Consumers would use their â€Å"tags† at a retailer store’s terminal. This terminal is linked to Dexit’s server which would be able to read the â€Å"tag†. From here the server will be able to go into the consumer’s prepaid account, which would limit the consumer’s sending to the amount within the account. Even with this broad industry we have are branding themselves as an exclusive e-payment company. The core product for Dexit is convenience for their consumer’s. The actual products are the Dexit tags and Dexit terminals. The two products support one another because without one the other product will not function. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Product or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The augmented product would be the potential retail stores that would use the terminals. The augmented product extends the core product in terms of convenience because of accessibility of the tags. Objectives Dexit Inc. Wants to focus on their company image of being a quick and simple e-payment system for both consumers and merchants. That being said, Dexit Inc. main objective is to market their product and actual become a dominant electronic payment company. For us to achieve this objective we would need to view their marketing mix and make decision that would obtain the highest yield. There were attempts of other companies to test out the small purchase tag system. Both of these attempts failed and stopped the program. Furthermore Dexit Inc. wishes to obtain a six per cent of the market within the low-cash value payment industry. From here Dexit wishes to expand the market and want to grow their share to 50 per cent in 4 years. Dexit is expecting that the low value transactions in Canada would grow six per cent on an annual basis. Problem Statement Like mentioned earlier, the main problem for Dexit Inc and their products are to market them to both the consumer’s and merchant segments. This problem can be broken into different part which includes: Price, Promotion, Market, Product, and Place (Distribution). Price With the price section for the problem, we have to decide what we should charge to their consumer and merchant, if there is any. If we opt into charging our consumers and/merchants we would need to decide on how to charge them. The options for us are to charge their consumers a monthly fee, charge the consumers for a set number of transactions, charge their consumers on a per transaction basis, or Dexit can charge a combination of the choice above. For the merchant segment, Dexit can charge a monthly fee or charge merchants per transaction basis. Promotion Market Dexit has to create essentially a target market for both their consumer market and merchant segments. For their consumer market, Dexit has to decide on whether they should segment on a geographic, attitude, work and life styles, income levels or a combination of them. On top of this Dexit has to decide to use either a pull or push strategy for their promotion for our products. We also must consider different stream to promote our product. The streams we considered were: sales promotion, direct marketing and traditional advertising. Under the advertising stream the option we have would be: radio, newspaper, magazines, televisions, billboard, backlit poster boards and portable kiosks. For their merchant segment, we would have to make the choice on which retailers to target. Product Renah and our team are confident with the decision to use RFID technology for the Dexit platform. Renah was wondering if the key chain tag and the terminal was the best system. Renah is concerned if we should implement a card system would be more accepted. Place/Distribution On top of the other issues, we have to also decide on the location in where they will launch our product. This decision can be broken down to either a nationally level or just be subjected to Ontario. If we go with the option of launching this product in Ontario we would have to look at popular areas, i. e. Toronto. To add on we have to decide how to get the tag we manufacture to our consumers. From here we find that Dexit really need to work out a marketing mix that would let us reach our objectives. Internal Analysis When assessing the internal aspects of our company we have to compare the strengths that Dexit possess and the weaknesses. To start off, our product’s offers a simple and quick service for people â€Å"on the go†. So long as there is money on their Dexit account consumer’s can enjoy this feature. Even with the speed of the Dexit tags it is still secure because the tag and terminals will be communicating with the Dexit Servers. Furthermore from the initial stages of the product development to now the company was able to attract two major banks as well as TELUS Mobility. This means we have a strong relationship in terms of distribution of our product. Weaknesses for Dexit would be that they have not created a marketing mix and do not have a target audience we want to market to. This is a huge downfall because we have a product that could be used but do not know where to go from there. External Analysis When assessing the external environment we have to compare the opportunities we have and also the threat that might happen to us. Opportunities for us are that we could potential tap into a growing and more accepting market of direct payments. Because the intent of the tag is for low value purchases it help when we see that the national average value of debit transaction going down. This implies that people are making more purchases but the values of those purchases are low-value. The threats section of this analysis would be hard to analyze because the product has not been released yet. Other companies have created a similar system in which individual can use a prepaid account to make low value purchases. The problem/threat here is that those competitors have failed or canceled the program. PESTE Under this style of analysis we can look at the external factors that would affect our product. To begin with there would be no political regulations to limit our product. This would be a current analysis, and when our product does become successful there would be implementation on our people could load money onto their account. Current economic trends indicate that  consumers are making purchasing more with their debit cards as means for direct payment. The interesting fact is that the average value of each purchase on a national level is decreasing as the years progress. For the social aspect we have different mean to market our product and have access to many multimedia platforms. The technology that we use for our products has been used before in the past by other companies. This technology offers the most secure way for individuals who want to pay for their purchases quickly. The external environment would be related towards the economic trends of direct payment of debit cards. Because the numbers of transactions are increasing on a yearly basis and the amount of the average transaction is decreasing, it indicates that consumers would enjoy this product. Alternatives To mention again, Dexit main objective is to penetrate the market and be able to hit that sic per cent market share by 2003. In order to do we have look at all the options and look at the entire positive and negative aspects of each option. The best way to demonstrate the positive and negative aspects of each option is the break them into each portion for the marketing mix. Market We have to decide on the consumer basis how we should segment this market. The options we have to segment on the basis of: geographic, attitudes, work and lifestyle, and income levels. In order to reach the objective of six percent of the market share we would want to have a good start. Under a geographic approach we can see which province would yield the best results. From the debit direct payment table we can see that from the ten provinces we see that Ontario has the highest payment of 6,551,298 in 2001. From 1999 Ontario increased their direct debit payment by approximately 13 per cent over the two years. Even with the highest number of debit direct payment the province that has the highest overall increase in payment is Newfoundland with and overall change of approximately 17 per cent. We have two choices and currently with Ontario have the highest number of debit payment and Newfoundland having the highest overall change within the years of 1999 to 2001. If we go with the geographic area of Ontario on the basis of having a higher number of debit payment we can penetrate the market and gain a high market influence. That being said we have to also consider that these debit payment can be for large purchases. Dexit’s products are intended for the low-value purchases and are supposed to be used for quick and simple purchases. If majority of the transaction are higher value then the product will not do so well and will receive negative reviews. For Newfoundland we can see that debit direct payments are increase. This means that the community is adjusting to the new technology and it is gaining awareness. This is a positive aspect because if we implement our product earlier on while the market is growing we can gain awareness and it is more likely to hit our objective. The problem is the number of transactions and our first objective. With number of transaction for debit direct payment is 250,010 it would be hard for use to gain a six per cent market share. As the market is growing it is likely we would obtain the 50 per cent market share by 2007. On a national level we can see that Canada as a whole is accepting the debit direct payment. The overall change is approximately 12. 5 per cent from 1999 to 2001. On top of this the total number of debit direct payment has reached 17,635,731. If we go for the national level for our product we have better exposure for our product. The same problem occurs when compared to the other geographic location; we don’t know how big these purchases are. If majority are large value purchases, the consumers would want to take their time when paying for it. It basically contradicts what the product intended use is. Under the attitudes demographic it would hard to single it out and get enough information about this segment. We would have to tie this with the market segment and look at what the trends are on both a national and provincial level. On the national level we see that the market is more willing/accepting with the debit direct payments. Overall each province is increasing the number of direct debit payment. So even on a provincial level we know that the province is accepting. Again we have to reflect on how big these purchases are. If most of the payments are high value payment then Dexit’s product isn’t going to do well. The work and lifestyle segment is more appealing to Dexit as a market segment because it is geared toward the features of the product. If the lifestyle of our consumers is always on the run then our product is perfect. With the quick and easy use of just tapping the tag on the terminal the consumer can leave in seconds. And as the economy is growing the working industry is getting bigger. With limited time for breaks, consumers want to make their purchases and move on with their day. The negative side of this is that consumers have to have time to add funds to their Dexit account. Dexit’s product should not be affected with the income levels of the consumer’s heavily. This is because the consumer’s have the power to add as much as they need onto their Dexit prepaid account. The only aspect that would affect this segment is the fee that we could charge. If we go for a charge for the account then it would turn down some consumer’s. Promotion The current options for the promotion is to use wither a pull or push strategy. This would be in regards how we would promote our product. The streams we can go for include: radio, newspaper, magazines, television, billboard, backlit posters, and portable kiosks. Looking at the overall strategy we have to compare where the company is and which strategy would be in the best interest for us. Using a push strategy we would be forcing the consumers to get interested into our product. This would be in terms of guerilla marketing and basically surrounding the consumer with our product. With the pull strategy we would be showing the key features of our products that would appeal toward the consumers. Rather than forcing our product we would be creating an interest within the market. With the radio aspect we can appeal to a lot of consumer that would fall into the lifestyle segment. The radio advertisement would run for 30 seconds and be during the rush hour time slot. The costs of the radio advertisement are subjected by city. For Toronto it would cost $250, Montreal is for $175 and finally Vancouver is for $175 as well. With the cost being low and market exposure at the greatest this is the best for our product. During rush hour we can appeal to the work and lifestyle segment. Consumers who are busy most of the time will be hard to advertise to; with the radio ad we would be able to get our information of our product out. The concern here is that the radio ad would be appealing towards individual who listen to the radio (i. e. within a car or have a radio). On top of this rush hour can cause stress for individual and might not pay attention to the radio advertisement. The next alternative for the promotional aspect are newspaper. This advertisement would be half a page long. The cost for this would be $15 000, $7 500, and $15 000 for Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver respectively. These costs are very high but again we would be applying toward very popular newspapers. The positive aspects of this option would be that Dexit would be gaining a lot of market exposure because the newspapers’ we are applying for are very well known. Because of this is has a negative aspect as well because of the cost associated to the prestige of the newspaper. The same positive and negative aspect would also apply to magazines as well. The only additional negative aspect is that the magazine would be geared towards only certain people who subscribe with that magazine. The next option would be to air an ad under a local television channel. The television ad would run for 30 seconds and would air around a prime time spot. With this we would be able to appeal to the mass majority of people who would view the local channel. The bonus is that the ad would also run on prime time so we know that many individual would be watching. The negative aspect for this ad is the cost. Dexit is low on cash and needs to put this money in the best way possible to market the product. Because of this the cost associated with this option is rather expensive. Current cost would be $15 000, $10 000, $12 000 for Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver respectively. The next option is to use poster around various locations. We have two options in where one option would give us 60 sites/locations while the other would give 8 locations where we can post the posters. Both options would be for the duration of 1 week. For the subway poster the cost would be $5,300 for all three locations. The subway poster would give us the best market exposure because of the multiple sites and the duration of the ad. For street posters we might not get the numerous location but we compensate it for the high volume. The cost for the subway options would be $4,000 for the duration of a week as well. Finally the last option is to promote using kiosks in which we have the option for either an indoor kiosk or an outdoor kiosk. The main difference between the two options is the rent in which the indoor option would cost us $5,000 while $10,000 for the outdoor option. The cost for employing 2 staff would be the same of $2,000. The positive side of these options is that the staff would be trained in how to sell the product. For the indoor option it is assumed that we would be in malls which would have high traffic. Outdoor exposure would be a little harder because most of the traffic would be hard to grab their attention. Place/Distribution Under this aspect we have to see where to launch the product, whether it is on a national, provincial, or municipal level. Going back to the demographics on how the attitudes on using a direct debit payment we can see the same trends apply here as well. We can use the same numbers and get the same analysis from our market section. We see that people are using this method of direct payment. Ontario has the highest number of payment while Newfoundland has the highest change in percentage. Again we have to look at what kind of spending for these payments are dominant. Price Under the price category we need to view on how we (if we) charge our consumers and retailers. The options laid out for consumers are that we charge them for a preset number of transactions, charge them a monthly rate, charge the consumers for each transaction, make a combination of the above or do not charge them. For the merchants the same options except for the preset number of transactions. Under the consumers section of this category any charge would be view negatively. This is because they would need to pay for the service of cutting the wait time when they could use a debit/credit card for just a few more seconds. Because the structure is using a prepaid system there would only be the marginal benefit of the quick access. This would apply for any option of charging the consumer. The merchant on the other hand is the one who should receive the charge because the prepaid system is similar to debit and credit cards. The monthly fee would entail a benefit for the retailers because they will not getting charged on a per transaction use. For the bigger retailers that have many transactions this would become cost efficient. On the other hand, the smaller retailers would want to go for the number of transactions because it would cost them less. This option would really depend on the number of transactions the retailer does. And can reflect on how many retailers would want our terminals. Product In addition to the tag system that Dexit implemented we would also like to consider a card like system as well. The main concern was the safety/security of the tag system. Because there is no PIN required, anyone can steal the tag and use it with any machines. On top of this, because the system uses a prepaid structure the consumer is putting their own money into the account. If we go and add the card system along with the tag it affects the image of the company. The whole reason Dexit initiated was because we wanted a quick and easy way to do low level purchases. With a card system being introduced it takes away from the company image of being quick and easy. On the flip side we want do not want to compensate security for quick purchases and introducing a card system would invite consumer to test us out. Even looking at each option individually, Dexit still needs to look at marketing mix options. The first option would include targeting consumer on a geographic basis so that we can go after either a) the province with the highest number of transaction or b) the province with the highest percentage change. Depending on which section Dexit choose it would create a different promotional ad. Under section a) Dexit would want to use a pull strategy so that they create a need for the product. For that reason, the best option would be to use guerilla marketing and go for the local television and subway posters. This would be able to get the mass majority of people Dexit wishes to target. For section b) the promotion would be changed to kiosks and posters, this is because the idea of direct payment is still earlier and with the kiosk we can create more awareness of our product so it is more accepting later on. For both options we would charge the retailers a monthly rate much like debit and credit card companies. On top of this we could go after a national level or provincial level depending on which section we go with. We would still stick with the current tag and terminal system. The second option would be focuses on the work and lifestyle of the consumers. Under this option the promotional ads changes to one with radio and local television. This is because for the market we are targeting are individuals who are busy and on the go. As such they will not have time to look at posters or stop by kiosks. We can implement the other promotional ads later on during the product life cycle. We would go after a push strategy and get retailer to move the products towards the consumers. Initially we would not charge either the consumers or retailers because we want to create awareness of the product. Later on we can charge the retailers a monthly rate. This option we would want to keep the current product because of the busy schedule of our consumers. With the tag system we can give consumers the quick service they want. We would want to apply this marketing mix toward a highly dense city and in this case it would be Toronto because of all the provinces Ontario has the highest number of transaction of debit direct payments. On top of this the advertisement we chose pertain to the Toronto city. The third marketing mix would be going after the attitude of consumers towards the security of the tag system. As a result the product we want to release would be the card system. From previous companies releasing the similar system it seems that the industry is not ready for the tag system. With the card system being implemented it gives consumers more security but as a result it takes away from the quick and easy feature that the company is trying to strive for. Recommendation Upon analysis of the alternative the best marketing mix would be to go after the work and lifestyle marketing mix. This is because it appeals towards the company image of quick and easy purchases. Because of the busy schedule of our target market we would promote using radio and television ads. This is because the only time these consumers have would be either at home watching television or during rush hour listening to the radio. On top of this we would implement a push strategy and get the retailer to push the product. As a result we would not charge the retailers initially because we want them to promote the product. Once the product pickups we can then start charging a monthly rate. We would benchmark our price lower then debit and credit cards so more retailers would want our terminals. We would want to go for Ontario as the place of distribution because of the high number direct payments. The reason we went with this option is because the high number transaction would have a greater chance for the first objective of six per cent. As a contingency plan if the market doesn’t respond well with the tag system we would start the card system. This would give the market the idea that Dexit is concerned about security and still want to promote fast service.

Solidarity and purposefulness Essays

Solidarity and purposefulness Essays Solidarity and purposefulness Paper Solidarity and purposefulness Paper The play I am studying is called The Inspector Calls. In this essay I will assess the dramatic impact of the inspector in the play with reference to one other character in the play.  The Inspector Calls was written in 1945 but set in 1912. This means that the audience has insight into the future. For example when Mr Birling states The Titanic-she sails this week-forty-six thousand eight hundred tons-forty six thousand eight hundred tons- New York in five days-and every luxury-and unsinkable. In this situation the audience would be feeling rather smug because they know that the Titanic does sink. Priestly was aiming to show that everybody in the society should be responsible for their own actions instead of just thinking of themselves. He also shows that people should be treated with the same respect whoever they are. Lastly Priestly tries to make people think about their place in society and the effects of their actions. This is revealed as Priestly takes each character in turn and explains to them and the family how their actions have affected Eva Smith. Before the Inspector arrived the well off family, The Birlings, who wrongly believe they are better than other families, were having a party to celebrate their daughter Sheilas engagement to a man called Gerald Croft who was also very well off. Everyone appeared extremely happy and all of them friendly to each other like a family. Then the Inspector entered. The lighting changes from pink and intimate to brighter and harder. The effect of this is that the audience becomes aware that a more sinister atmosphere is approaching and also increases the temper and emotions in the characters. Also making the play more watch able for the audience. The Inspector immediately quietens the atmosphere. By doing this he makes the mood of the celebration tense. He does this by singling out one person personally and asking the questions he imposed specifically to them. He is described as a not very big man. However he also states that he creates a massiveness, solidarity and purposefulness. Priestly also describes him by saying that he speaks carefully, weightily and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresss before speaking. There is an air of menace about him, unlike the other characters in the play. He is single minded in pursuing his chosen line of investigation. He is so certain about his facts that he unsettles the audience because they can tell that there is something strange about him. When the Inspector is around nobody challenges his version of events. This is because he speaks with a lot of authority so nobody questions him and immediately thinks he is right. However the other characters question these facts after he has left. The Inspector is extremely confident when speaking. This conveys to the audience that he is more powerful than the other people in the house. Furthermore it makes him seem strange and suspicious to the audience. This is because he seems to know everything the family is going to say before they say it. Also, he does not really uncover the truth, he already knows it. He only uncovers it for the characters benefit. This makes him not like a real police inspector because they uncover the truth creating tension. The Inspector acts like a narrator in the play. He tells the story at his own pace. The Inspector links separate incidents into one coherent life story. He often supplies dates or fills in back ground. This adds to the tension because the audience does not know where and from whom the Inspector got the dates and the character background information. He undermines that the characters complacent assumption that they are decent citizens. Each character finds this a devastating experience. The characters that resist telling the Inspector the truth suffer more than people who are open with him. For example the Inspector says to Gerald . if youre easy with me, Im easy with you. He makes no judgement upon Gerald and also tries to stop Sheila from blaming herself too much. However he begins to loose patience with Mr Birling. For instance Dont stammer and yammer at me again, man. Im losing patience with you people He is an enigmatic figure. We never learn his first name causing the audience to wonder who he really is. He neither changes nor develops, but frequently repeats, I havent much time. This creates tension because the audience do not know why he has so little time. Inspector Gooles name is a pun on ghoul a malevolent spirit or ghost. He could be seen as some kind of spirit, sent on behalf of the dead girl to torment the consciences of the characters in the play, or as a sort of policeman conducting an inquiry as a preliminary to the Day of Judgement, or even as a for warming of things to come. This adds to the tension because the audience does not know who the Inspector is. Priestly did not want to tell the audience who the Inspector really is. To reveal his identity as a hoaxer or some kind of spirit would have spoilt the unresolved tension that is so effective at the end of the play. The Inspector behaves as the voice of social conscience. For example You see, we have to share something. If theres nothing else, well have to share our guilt. He is a socialist meaning that he believes that everyone should share. The character I am studying is called Eric and he is Mr Birlings son. Eric is characterised as half shy, half assertive. At the beginning of the play he did not know what his parents were really like and at the end of the play he did not like their real personalities. He conveys the difference between young men and older men. This is shown when Eric does not catch onto the jokes Mr Birling and Gerald share. For example in Act one when the Inspector rings the doorbell, Gerald and Mr Birling shares a joke and Eric says, Here what do you mean? and when he realises it was a joke he says Well, I dont think its very funny. This shows the difference in age between the three and also makes Eric seem very young like hes being treated like a young child. When Eric says Here, what. he does not share the joke again between Mr Birling and Gerald. He attracts attention, and then suspicion, by his evident alarm at the news of the Inspectors visit. This makes the audience think that Eric could be hiding something. Eric arouses curiosity with his sudden guffaw in Act one. This may mean that Eric knows something about Gerald that the others do not because Sheila has just been scolding Gerald for not seeing her over the summer because of his work.

5 Words Caught in Semantic Drift

5 Words Caught in Semantic Drift 5 Words Caught in Semantic Drift 5 Words Caught in Semantic Drift By Mark Nichol Is it possible to simultaneously admire the vibrancy and flexibility of the English language and grumble about shifts in meaning that deprive the language of some of its richness? I know it is, because I often do so. Because of the organic nature of language, English is a victim of semantic drift not as cataclysmic as continental drift, but detectable on the rigor scale and I regret the loss of the far-flung flotsam. Semantic drift is the evolution that occurs in the meaning of some words when careless, ignorant usage alters or even reverses their senses. Such change is inevitable, but allow me to mourn the loss of a word here and there, never again to be applicable to an idea or image with such crisp clarity. Here are five terms tainted by semantic drift: 1. Aggravate The essence of aggravate is right there in the middle: grav-, the root of gravity and grave (as in â€Å"serious†; the word for the resting place of a coffin has a different etymological origin). The Latin word gravis means â€Å"heavy,† and aggravate originally literally means â€Å"to make heavy†; the original sense was â€Å"to make worse.† But almost immediately and naturally, because a burden is irritating it acquired the additional sense of â€Å"exasperate.† Use of that meaning now predominates. Wordsmith H. W. Fowler proclaimed that â€Å"to make worse† is the only correct sense of aggravate; he was undoubtedly irritated (not aggravated) to know that popular usage defied his decree. 2. Bemused The root of this word, muse, means â€Å"to think or ponder,† but it has an amusing origin; it is from a Latinate term for â€Å"snout† and became associated with cogitation from the image of lifting one’s nose in the air, perhaps to sniff a scent and consider its source. (It is apparently unrelated to, though influenced by, muse, meaning â€Å"to think,† from the name of the Muses, the Greek goddesses of the arts and sciences; this is also the origin of museum and music.) Bemused (â€Å"confused†) is often confused for amused (â€Å"comically entertained†) because of their original similarity of meaning: Bemused literally means â€Å"thoroughly thinking,† suggesting being confused by thinking too much, whereas the literal meaning of amused is â€Å"without thought,† with the connotation of being diverted from thinking by some lighthearted entertainment. However, bemusement is serious business. 3. Nonplussed This word, taken literally from the Latin words for no and more, originally was used in the noun form to describe a point from which one could not continue because one was perplexed. For five hundred years, that’s what the word meant. But at some point during the twentieth century, people inexplicably began to assume that it refers to the opposite state, that of being unfazed (not unphased!) or at ease, as if being plussed were a state of bewilderment and nonplussed therefore means â€Å"not bewildered.† The antonymic meaning soon went viral, and now one is likely to be unclear about which meaning a speaker or writer has in mind. When that happens, perhaps it’s best to retire a word altogether and fortunately in this case, at least bewildered and perplexed persist (for now) with unequivocal synonymic meaning. 4. Nostalgia This battle was lost long ago, but the case study is interesting. Nostalgia was coined (from the first part of the Greek word for â€Å"homecoming† and the Latin suffix -algia itself originally from Greek and meaning â€Å"pain†) in the late 1600s to refer to the literal affliction of homesickness. For two centuries, nostalgia was treated as a serious ailment suffered by soldiers and others who suffered ailments caused by a melancholic longing for home. That clinical sense itself wasted away, and though nostalgia continued to refer to homesickness, that meaning was overtaken by the idea of a sentimental yearning for a lost state or condition, usually temporally rather than spatially irrevocable. However, I’m nostalgic about the lost meaning. 5. Voluptuous For hundreds of years, voluptuous meant â€Å"luxurious, pleasure seeking, devoted to sensual gratification† (the Latin root is voluptas, meaning â€Å"pleasure†), but back in the early 1800s, the word came to be associated primarily with female beauty, and later the primary sense shifted to that of curvaceousness. Here are some other words that have been affected by semantic drift. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational WritingConfusing "Passed" with "Past"May Have vs. Might Have

What you want Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

What you want - Essay Example Through this paper, I will share my life experience from my own perspective of being in a country that has a mixture foreign students and professionals from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds. This will be done in relation to the concepts highlighted in The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery by Don Miguel Ruiz, Don Jose Ruiz and Janet Mills. Humans are unique basing on how they were brought up, cultural background, religion, education level and a myriad of many other factors. However, we are all humans and our brothers’ keepers. I have previously been both hurt and encouraged by the words of others towards me and also hurt others by my words towards them. This has a direct bearing with the book The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery. In their first agreement, Ruiz, Ruiz and Mills (38) urge readers to be impeccable with their word. On the contrary, I have seen students from my years in schools and employees in my professional career suffer emotionally and psychologically from what a colleague said recklessly. This was mainly through stereotypes that people have against different cultures, ethnicities or even races. This remains a major problem both among individuals and societies because they do not want to seek out the truth first before openly airing their views but rather, only rely on age-old s tereotypes. While The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery teaches that people should speak with integrity and only say what they mean, the opposite is being done. I now realize that the perpetrators should have taken their time to learn more about their targets. This will contribute in mutual social cohesion and avoid hurting others. For example, I was once told in school that I was not fit to sit at a certain table in the cafeteria because of my ethnicity, yet it was the only one with space and I ended up eating standing.

Should smartphones be bsnned in classrooms Research Paper

Should smartphones be bsnned in classrooms - Research Paper Example 1). In addition, the same discourse has identified that the smartphone owners by age group revealed that 23.8% are owned by young people, specifically within the 13 to 24 years range (Alexander, 2012), or those who are considered within the school-age bracket. In this regard, the current study aims to determine the effects of smartphone use in academic performance. Despite the academic benefits that have been published associated with smartphone use; apparently, there are more costs or disadvantages linked to its usage within the classroom setting. As such, one argues that smartphones should be banned in classrooms due to the greater disadvantages associated to its use and its negative impact on academic performance. Impact of Smartphone Use in the Classroom Setting One of the more prominent reasons for arguing that smartphones should be banned is its being used to promote maladjusted behavior, including cheating and posting inappropriate information about teachers (Gutnicki, 2010; ( Barkham & Moss, 2012). As emphasized by Gutnicki (2010), â€Å"smart phones are being utilized to cheat in the classroom and to record/post inappropriate information about teachers. ... Concurrently, smartphones should be banned in classrooms for being a distraction and taking crucial time from focusing on the instructions. From among the schools that have confirmed the distractive effect of smartphones, instituting banning or prohibitive policies of their use within the classroom setting were noted to have gained benefits in terms of improvements of academic behavior. As noted from a spokesperson for Cockshut Hill Technology College in Yardley, Birmingham, â€Å"we introduced a complete ban on mobile phones two years ago because of the disruption they were causing†¦and it has improved behaviour† (Barkham & Moss, 2012, par. 14). If the collective time spent of viewing and attending to applications in the smartphones are removed, these time would completely be focused on academic endeavors and instructors would enhance students’ awareness of subject matters that would benefit them most. Thus, the banning of smartphones has evidently proven that stu dents’ behavior and academic performance significantly improved. Finally, smartphone use were clearly linked to cyberbullying. Banning smartphones within the classroom setting and within the campus would therefore minimize time spent to send distructive messages that aim to ridicule, discriminate, or victimize unsuspecting students. As emphasized, â€Å"a recent survey conducted by the National Crime Prevention Council reported that 43% of middle school students: received an e-mail or an instant message that made them upset had something posted on a social networking site that made them upset had been made fun of in a chat room; had something posted on a Web site that made them upset; had something posted online that they did not want others to see; and were afraid to go on the computer†

Animal Rights :: Essays Papers

Animal Rights As Doctor Zola-Morgan stated in a speech to animal right activists, "I've seen the impact of the animal rights movement. I believe this is an attack on science of the worst kind. If we allow it to prevail it will take us back to the dark ages." Too much of the public has come to think of medical researchers as "tormenters rather than healers." The good is overlooked and the bad is exploited. Although many people think that animal research is morally wrong, animal research should continue because it is critical to continued progress in human health and alternatives to research animals are not available. Animal rights activists feel that animal research is immoral. They do not see where we as human beings see or feel that we are the dominant species. They often assert that research with animals causes severe pain and that many research animals are abused. The activists do not feel the need to put the animals through such pain. Many of the experiments are replicated also which causes an unneeded demand for animals to perform experiments. Experiments which have already been proven are still being experimented with. However, animal research is an integral part of today's society when thinking of how much progress we have gained in human health with the use of animal experimentation. To date some forty-one Nobel prizes have been awarded to scientists whose achievements depended on laboratory animals. Vaccines against polio, diphtheria, mumps, measles, rubella, and smallpox would not have been possible without such experiments. There also would not be such important techniques such as open heart surgery, brain surgery, coronary bypass, microsurgery to re-attached limbs, organ transplants, and correction of congenital heart defects. The list goes on about the medical advances that required animal research. Insulin to control diabetes and medications important in the management of asthma, epilepsy, arthritis, ulcers, and hypertensions are a few more to add to the list. To take animal research away would also be to halt our society's advancement of more procedures and more medicines to enhance the better living of humans. In addition, there are no alternatives to animal experimentation that can give the same results that it can. In certain research investigations, cell, tissue, organ cultures, and computer models can be used at least in the preliminary phases of the investigation.

Contemporary Art Movement Discussion

Art movements possess varying definitions that are given by art critics, historians and even artists. They emerge from Classical period and then followed by escapes or transitions from the traditions or a mixture of two movements that eventually give birth to another movement of a period. Contemporary art which is personally defined as â€Å"art of the present,† encompasses a number of artistic movements; one of which is performance art, a contemporary art movement that focuses on the acts of the artists who utilize their body to demonstrate a certain work or piece of art.Art pieces that are created during the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries belong in the realm of contemporary art. These are the objects of outgrowth and rejection of modern art. When abstract expressionism’s power and drive shrinks, nouveau art movements and styles arise during 1960s and 1970s to summon and to displace the modernism in visual arts and other media (Contemporary Art, 2008). The d efinition of the term â€Å"contemporary art† varies from art critics to art historians because confusion lies amid the two concepts: â€Å"modern† and â€Å"contemporary,† due to the reason that contemporary art follows modern art.Therefore, no one seems to agree with regards to the exact meaning of the term because there has been no particular agreement on when â€Å"modern art† has ended (What is Contemporary Art? 2008). However, other descriptions regard it as a term that generally refers to the art crafted on the second half of the twentieth century (Harry Carlton School, 2009). On the other hand, three simple definitions cover the concept â€Å"contemporary art. † And these include the following characterization: First, contemporary art is the art created after 1945.It is the meaning that is adhered by most museums; on the contrary, historians affirm it as outdated. Second, contemporary art is art produced in our era or lifetimes. It is the d efinition used by general art historians; however, it is too vague for the functions and purposes. Third, contemporary art is art produced since the 1960s. It is the description that is commonly utilized by art historians and critics but disagreement materializes as to the accurate cut-off date (What is Contemporary Art? 2008). Contemporary art is comprised by a myriad of schools, styles and movements that come to the front during the mid-1960s until present.These are conceptualism, performance, installation, video art, minimalism, photo-realism, earthworks, supports-surfaces, contemporary realism, new subjectivity, London School, graffiti art, transavanguardia, neo-expressionism, Britart: young British artists, neo-pop, stuckism and new Leipzig School (What is Contemporary Art? 2008). Performance Art The concept â€Å"performance art† has commenced in the year 1960s in the United States. It is originally utilized to define and describe any live artistic incident that include s poets, musicians, artists and filmmakers.It is also referred as â€Å"Happenings,† â€Å"Events,† and â€Å"Fluxus concerts† (Esaak, 2009). The history of Performance art can be traced back to the Futurists and Dadaists who often promote their arts during the year 1910 with hilarious and shocking events. However, it is during the year 1950s when a French artist known as Yves Klein includes dragging naked women with whom he spreads and smears with paint across canvas on the floor of an art gallery. It is an accompaniment to one of his minimalist musical compositions. It is not until 1960s when performance art is acknowledged and recognized as a branch or art.Nevertheless, the term â€Å"performance art† is first used in 1970 (Performance Art, 2009). Performance art is a form of art that is concerned and focused with direct audience communication by the artists that can last from a few minutes to several days. There are cases when it is considered as a fo rm of getting out to the institutional dominance of commercial galleries and aesthetic priorities of Modernism (Pookie and Newall, 2007, p. 225). It is the category when artists break away with utilizing only one traditional medium.Performance artists, most of the time, are exploring and seeking several artistic disciplines and creating works of art that may traverse traditional media borders such as works that comprise the aspects of theater, music and visual arts. There are also artists who are enthused in incorporating in their performance activities of everyday life and presenting it in an artistic manner (Byrd, 1998). Women in Performance Art During the advent of Performance Art, women have found their place and fame in the art world. Some of the women through the period have been known in the said branch of art.Among them are Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk and Linda Montano. Laurie Anderson is probably the most renowned performance artist. It is in 1970 when she emerges. Her w orks explore and illustrate the relationship between people and technology. Her masterpieces are usually comprised of spoken text, music, projected slides and videos. She has been known for employing an array of synthesizers to create sonic soundscape and a vocoder to change the sound of her voice when telling stories of her life in the late 20th century wherein laptops and ghosts exist side by side (Byrd, 1998).On the other hand, Meredith Monk is another artist who crafts interdisciplinary theater pieces. She is a composer who deals with inventive and pioneering vocal techniques. Her works are mixtures of free elements and images that are not related to one another. However, it is the combination of those unrelated elements that make her works unique (Byrd, 1998). Linda Montano, on the contrary, is the artist who explores the nexus between art and life. Rituals for her can change one’s perception of life.During those times of her artistic development, she manages to perform life ceremonies that transpire for several years. One of her renowned work is the one in which she spends an entire year tied to another artist known as Teching Hsieh. They have been united and joined by a seven-foot length rope. They did not touch each other for the whole year (Byrd, 1998). Those are just a number of performance arts that have been executed by female artists. There are other performances and pieces that make use of their bodies as a medium on demonstrating a work of art.They reveal issues such as feminism and role of women in society. Performance arts are often open-ended and can happen anywhere. They are usually presented in a live audience and only performed once. Its theme is usually in accordance to the artist’s viewpoints with regards to the link and relationship between art and life, art and technology, people and art or anything that the artist desires to illustrate. Performance art has given way to the feminist agenda during the year 1970s. It is an individual, instantaneous and greatly effective means of communication.Women’s objective when executing and performing a piece is to create an alternative vision for women and their power and status in the world (Gaulke, n. d. ). Their pieces tend to problematize female subjectivity, evaluate personal history, and alter the position of women in society because women are usually excluded from the art world. Women artists, thus, work on different media; performance art and video art are most likely appealing because the new media has no past accounts on eliminating and rejecting women (qtd. Troy, n. d. ).Feminist performance art in the year 1970s encompasses diverse functions and purposes. Women artists never endeavor and attempt to craft a single philosophical system in their works (Gaulke, n. d. ). Their works of art are usually a mixture of different philosophies with regards to the upliftment of women’s status and role in the society, as well as its identity and belo ngingness in the art world. The Performance art is also an essential movement during those eras because it summons the Formalism movement (Troy, n. d. ), where artworks are confined to canvases, paints and plasters.Performance art serves an exploration to the faction between art and life. Artists have made ways to explore and discover the dynamics between artist and spectators in order to comprehend art as social and experiential (Troy, n. d. ). Analysis and Conclusion Performance art belongs in the realm of contemporary art because of three essential reasons. First, it gives birth to a new media in creating works of art. One of those media is the body by which artists, especially women, utilize in order to demonstrate a blend of philosophies on the role of women in society.Another media is the use of technology and the incorporation other traditional media such as paints and canvas while performing and executing a piece. Second, performance art bestows an opportunity for women to a rticulate and fight for their rights. That a woman needs not be oppressed in society. While men are superior in the traditional arts and Modernism, women have grabbed the opportunity to find ways on how to express themselves and how to struggle for their status in society. Their creations offer new perspectives on how to look at women and how to value them.They reveal and delineate their struggles and efforts in the form of performance art so that their voice, angst and activism will be heard. Third, performance art provides a space for the women to be recognized in the art world. Because women are oppressed, their talents, skills and abilities are not acknowledged. However, because of the advent of performance art, women have found ways on how to present their endowments. Performance art is not just confined to well-known female artists.There are also a number of men who execute pieces of art in order to present and to articulate their point of views in life. Performance art has gi ven chances to ordinary people who desire to expose their artistic inclinations. Those art pieces that have been showed have helped and aided them in their artistic developments. A myriad of artists especially poets, musicians and theater artists explore, try and manage to achieve a performance art. They may be controversial, shocking, hilarious, still, for them, it is a way of communicating with the audience with regards to their outlook in life and art.