Coca Cola in India

Cultural Impact on Business: A Case Study on Coca Cola’s Cultural Issues in India admin August 20, 2012 Blog No comments Socio Cultural barriers faced by coca cola in India Coca – cola, the world’s largest selling soft drink company had established its strong presence in the world since 1886. Coca-Cola is the first international soft drink brand to enter the Indian market in the early 1970’s. Till 1977 Coca-Cola was the leading brand in India; later, due to FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act), they left India and didn’t return till 1993.Coca-Cola had to face many issues regarding its quality, resource exploitation and market exploitation along with price-quality trade-offs. People all over India are challenging Coca-Cola for its abuse of water resource. Coca-Cola had affected both quality and quantity of ground water. Due to its waste extracts, Coca-Cola was criticized for polluting the nearby fresh water and ground water and soil; because of thi s issue, farmers are suffering from water scarcity. Despite all these social and cultural issues, customers are using Coca-Cola due to its strong brand reputation all over the world.This is because Indians are now using more soft drinks and the youngsters are more in this category. However, with many studies and policy changes, Coca-Cola will be able to establish its brand reputation and increase its market share in the near future. This report is prepared from an organizational point of view. The point here is to prepare a report from a consultant point of view, as Coca-Cola has hired us to do a market study and analysis on the cultural factors the company is envisaged to face in the Indian Market.Read further to gain better understanding about the impact of culture on business processes and activities, and also on the business performance. 2. TERMS OF REFERENCE? Our company is the leading consultant in India which focuses on Indian market studies. We conduct market surveys on comp anies and their products. We do market survey based on the present and future market situations. We help our client to have a proper stand in Indian market against their competitors, and help them with strategies to enter the market, market segmentation, product segmentation and sales techniques.It is possible by analyzing the past and present conditions of the company, and by learning their past actions in the society and the economy.? Our client is of United States origin which is a leading soft drink company in entire world. Coca-Cola has got a strong brand image through out the world. Our client is the first company which introduced soft drinks in the world. Public has already accepted its taste and quality all over the world.? Our client would like to know about the present condition of Indian market so tat they can start their business according to that.They also want to know about the culture of the Indian people to know about their consuming nature. The client needs to know whether they can survive in Indian market and what are the drawbacks that they may envisage during their operations in India and that they should consider before starting up the business in India. 3. CURRENT SCENARIO? There has been a great competition between refreshment drinks in Indian market. Coca-Cola is the world’s largest and first soft drink manufacturer. As part of the Globalization program, India has made it easy for multinational companies to enter the Indian market.Globalization has made the whole world into one market by reducing the trade barriers and minimizing the risk. It is noticeable that many multinational companies had failed in Indian market. This failure is mainly due to improper knowledge about the country and the national culture. It is very important to know about the people and their consuming behavior. Culture plays an important role in consuming behavior. Coca-Cola is mainly associated to the issues related to the brand, reputation and Corporate S ocial Responsibility (CSR).?Present situation of the country is favorable for multinational companies to start their business in India. As we had already seen that Coca-Cola is the largest selling soft drink in the world, they do have direct opportunities in the Indian market. Even though it is facing some social problem in India, Coca-Cola has got good market in India. The main target customers are youth who has already accepted the taste of the drink.? Coca-Cola should give more importance for the culture of the people because culture is a major element which decides the consumer behavior and purchasing patterns.India is a country where people are keener towards the culture. Considering Geert Hofsted’s cultural dimensions here in this case, it is clear that, uncertainty avoidance India is less and people are not so flexible to adopt the sudden changes. In India uncertainty avoidance is indexed at 50, which shows that people are sensitive and emotional towards exploitation a nd invasions from other people or culture; so that before entering to the Indian market, it would be a good strategy to avoid such issues by planning the re-entry as a step by step process.According to Geert Hofstede (2001), â€Å"culture is the collective programming of human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values. † It is quite understood from the bellow given chart that the US and Indian culture had got vast difference. So it is not easy to cop up with the Indian market. Therefore, it is important to have a detailed analysis on Indian market so that they can initiate a fail proof and systematic market entry.Source: Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions? 4. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION? The present situation can be analyzed by SWOT analysis which clearly shows the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which the client is envisaged to meet. India is a country wh ere the cultural diversity and linguistic differences make it difficult to identify how the company is going to be traded while they enter the Indian market. Indians are those who give more value to trust , value, quality and so on.Therefore, it is very important that they should give importance for Price, Quality and Quantity; which means, Indian consumers have more purchasing power for products like high level of quality with less price; therefore, it is clearly states that the company should not entertain any price quality trade-offs in Indian market.? The below section explains the SWOT analysis of the company. The analysis shows where the company is more powerful in the market compared to its competitors and where it is week and how to improvise them to get more market share in present market.? 4. 1. STRENGTH? †¢ Reputed brand? Global brand recognition? †¢ Bottling system? †¢ Technological advancement? †¢ Efficient management system? †¢ Good marketing k nowledge 4. 2. WEEKNESS? †¢ Lack of knowledge about Indian culture in detail? †¢ Uncertainty avoidance? †¢ Lack of marketing expertise in the Indian conditions? †¢ Hazardous by products and health issues? †¢ Facing issues with water exploitation and resource exploitation all over the world 4. 3. OPPORTUNITIES? †¢ Huge market? †¢ Advancement in technology? †¢ Growing Indian market? †¢ Good brand name? †¢ International trade barriers has been reduced? †¢ Youngsters’ tendency to adapt to the western culture 4. . THREATS? †¢ Threat of substitutes? †¢ Health consciousness of Indian consumers? †¢ Cultural habits? †¢ Price war? †¢ Unstable political condition? †¢ Uncertainty avoidance? †¢ Difference in management styles? †¢ Indian tendency to avoid foreign products The above mentioned are the strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and threats of Coca-Cola’s operations in India. It is very clear from this SWOT analysis that there is good opportunity for Coca-Cola in Indian market because most Indians have accepted the taste, so that it is very easy to penetrate the market and to earn more market share in the Indian market.However, this needs to have clear cut ideas about promotion techniques and public relation activities since the competitors have strong grounds in India market and needs to overcome the pressure raised by socio-cultural barriers.? 5. SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS? Coca-Cola need to concentrate in many aspects so that they can grab more market share and earn respect from the community members. The company’s brand reputation and brand recognition is not enough for them to grow in the Indian soil. Indians take business so seriously and their approach is entirely different when it comes to purchasing patterns and habits.Therefore, Coca-Cola has to adopt alternate branding and promotion strategies to develop its fan base in India.? 5. 1. PUBLI C RELATIONS? The main and foremost solution is that to communicate openly with the key constituents; including the public, media, employees, trade channels, state and national government and suppliers. They should do an open and honest communication to resolve the problems so that issues can be identified and resolved. An honest and open approach is always appreciated in the Indian society. Communication is the best method through which consumers can have proper and clear picture about the company and its product.Efficient public relation is very much equivalent to a smart and efficient promotion, which eventually make the consumers to buy our products. Communication has its roots in a person’s behavioral aspects. Behavior is directly linked with culture. As Smith et al. , (2002), states, a person’s behavior, cultural values and personality can directly affect a business and the managerial behavior. Therefore it is important to communicate with the customers in accorda nce with their cultural status and values. Without proper public elations and communication there are chances that public may not get good knowledge about products and they may be left unnoticed.? 5. 2. ENHANCE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOVERNMENT? In India, it is widely known that the government systems and procedure lack transparency in its operations. Therefore it is very important to have very close relation with the government. This can be done by actively participating in Government driven charity operations and government initiated infrastructure development. Indian people and government always appreciate any true effort towards the development of the country.This also helps in building reputation among the people. India is a country, where reputation and relationships are valued to the core. They believe in qualitative elements than quantitative elements. (Lothar Katz, 2008). Therefore it is important to keep good relationship with the government. Ethical issues like water resource exploitation etc. are believed to be hyped by the media and not the general public. However, it is important for the company to generate and implement a corporate social responsibility system in India, and operate within the guidelines of that system, which will prevent any such unwanted situations.? . 3. LAUNCH MARKETING CAMPAIGNS? Marketing campaigns are the best way to push a product into Indian market. This will create awareness among the general public which makes the sales easy. Indians would like to have more details on everything they choose; let it be soap, or even a television, they would like to know more about the product. If the product is of optimum value in terms of price and quality, they would definitely go for it.? 5. 4. LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMERS? Consumer behavior is an important part in any business. In order to find the differences and their demands, it is very imp0ortant to listen to the consumers.This can be done by initiating a survey or a feedback system. List ening means, the identification of areas and aspects where the company is lagging. If the company can make the customers feel that they are valued and considered, then they would come back to those particular products. Therefore, it is very important to listen to their comments, make necessary adjustments on service and products and creating a strong customer base. 5. 5. MANAGING STYLE? Management style and its efficiency decide the quality of management in a particular country.Multinational companies are believed to have many managing styles and organizational culture. However, t is important to have a management style tailored to the hosting country’s cultural and social value. Having an alien management style may create issues with the domestic employees in the long run. Also, developing a country specific management style will help in delivering quality and on demand services to consumers and general public; which will eventually help the company in the future. This will also make the employees feel that they are considered and their opinions are welcomed.? 5. 6.PULL BACK PRICE- QUALITY TRADE –OFF PLANS? Indians are those who give more importance for quality and trust. It is practiced in India for many long years. Indians rely more upon quality of the product with lower prices. So India is not a place to follow up with Price – Quality Trade – Off. Even if the prices are higher, Indians may consider this product due to its quality. Indian society and the culture are very much vulnerable to quality tradeoffs.? The above mentioned are the important solutions and suggestions that company should concentrate more in Indian market in order to sustaining in this competitive market.It is too important for a company to have a long life in market; so to attain this they should study the market at first in detail and the culture and purchasing power of the public. 6. SUGGESTIONS? According to Robert Tannenbaum and Warren H Schmidt â€Å"ma nagement styles are characteristic ways of making decision and relation to subordinates†. Different management styles can be applied based on the nature and culture of business, the nature of task, the nature of work force and skills of the leader. This definition is given to understand management style in general.Every country has got its own style of management. It is necessary that they should have a correct view about the management style of particular country. As seen in definition, management varies from business and their task; so it is very important to understand the task and the business at the most and then decide the appropriate method of management. As Elenkov and Manev (2005) suggests, it is the responsibility of top managers to coordinate with the subordinate and innovate in management styles and thereby improving the efficiency of the system.?India is the country where people give more importance to culture. Based on Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimension i n India uncertainty avoidance and long – term orientation is more. Uncertainty avoidance means Indians are too slow in accepting the sudden changes and they follow up with traditional styles so it is more important for the company to do a proper analysis on the consumer behavior and product requirement. Another important factor which should be taken into consideration is Long- Term Orientation. India is the place where this is followed more because Indians are more towards tradition and their customs.It is not easy to make them accept the sudden changes. So there should properly take consideration of long – term orientation also (Geert Hofstede, 2001).? They should also give more importance for Price – Quality Trade- Off issues. Indians are those give more value for trust, value and quality. They are keener towards more quality with fewer prices. They give more value for quality rather price. So it is more important for the company to give more importance for th e quality and their pricing strategy which need to be favorable for their business too.?In business it is not enough to keep present condition safe to have a long life and they need to study the market properly in every moment because the nature of market changes as new competitors come in. So to overcome these fluctuating conditions, they should always keep an open eye on how the market goes in next moment. For this the company needs to establish a market analysis team who can conduct on demand analysis of the market or outsource the task to us.? These are all the solutions and recommendations for the company which should be followed.It is not easy for a company to run business smoothly without considering the issues, especially if the company is of foreign origin. Therefore they need to understand the market and key trends in order to sustain in the market.? 7. FORECASTS AND PREDICTIONS? The company can definitely establish their presence in Indian market once again, because it ha s already got a strong good brand image for long years. As Indians are those who give more importance for trust and quality, this brand image from past will help for its sustainability in Indian market. As India’s population is high, they can get a good customer base.Apart from this, in Indian customers include large number of youngsters who is adopting the modern cultural values and supporting westernization. Thus, it is easy for the company to make them as target customers. Due to globalization, many multinational companies had entered Indian market and Indians had accepted many of those companies which clearly say Coca-Cola still have large potential and scope in the Indian market. As India is in the stage of modernization and economic reform, the consumption of soft drinks has been increased so it is a good opportunity for Coca-Cola to make a proper stand in Indian market.After considering the above mentioned solutions and recommendations it is sure that the company can m ake a proper stand in Indian market and re-establish their operations for ever. 8. CONCLUSION? Conclusion is the important part of a case study. After doing a detailed study on socio-cultural barriers of Coca-Cola in India, the most noticeable factor is the company is not following and considering the social and cultural trend and factors. The main drawback which Coca-Cola is facing is it is going against environment or exploiting environment.The company is using fresh water in such a large quantity where there is a crisis for fresh drinking water; apart from that, due to its waste discharge they have been spoiling the water and soil. Therefore farmers are facing numerous problems with their crops. Because of these reasons Coca-Cola is facing problems in India. These problems are indirectly affecting the life of the people staying near by to the manufacturing plant. Apart from this culture is the most important factor which company should keep in mind for further development.?From t he above given recommendation, suggestions and analysis, it is clear that the cultural and economic conditions in India is stable and favorable for the company, but the environmental problems are making g issues among the public and government. Therefore, as suggested, the company should employ an efficient corporate social responsibility team to monitor their operations in the Indian sub-continent and make policies to overcome any such instances. With the help of these suggestions, Coca-Cola can make a brilliant come back to the market. . REFERENCES? 1. Robert Tannenbaum and Warren H. Schmidt, The continuum of Leadership Behavior. [online] Available at: http://www. stewart-associates. co. uk/leadership-models. aspx Accessed on 11th January 2011? 2. PETER B. SMITH, MARK F. PETERSON and SHALOM H. SCHWARTZ, 2002. CULTURAL VALUES, SOURCES OF GUIDANCE, AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOR – A 47-Nation Study. JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 188-208? 3. Lothar Katz, 2008. Negotiating International Business – India. [online] Available at: http://www. lobalnegotiationresources. com/cou/India. pdf Accessed on: 11th January 2011? 4. Detelin S. Elenkov and Ivan M. Manev, 2005. Top Management Leadership and Influence on Innovation: The Role of Sociocultural Context. Journal of Management, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 381-402? 5. Hofstede, G. , 2001. Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.? 6. Geert Hofstede, Cultural Dimensions of India, [online] Available at: http://www. geert-hofstede. com/hofstede_india. html Accessed on 11th January 2011? 7. Casestudy. co. in, New Coke: A Classic Brand Failure, [online] Available at: http://casestudy. co. in/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Classic_Failure_Coke. pdf Accessed on: 10th January 2011? 8. SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR, 2001. What makes MNCs quit India. The Times of India, Published on: 4th November 20 01, [online] Available at: http://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/business/india-business/What-makes-MNCs-quit-India/articleshow/1602986123. cms Accessed on: 11th January 2011

Case Study Of Elektra Products, Inc. Essay

The Elektra Products Inc has faced the problem: market share was declining in competition of foreign and domestic area; new products ideas were few and far; morale was low at all time and employees were actively seeking new jobs. Because they are disenchanted by the current culture and they may see management as untrusted in their abilities. Barbara Russel, a manufacturing vice president has been assigned by Martin Griffin, Elektra’s new CEO who very recently made the challenge: â€Å"As we face increasing competition, we need new ideas, new energy, new sprit to make this company great. An the source for this change is you – each of you†, to lead a team which will implement a plan to change management style to a decentralized organization than encourage employee empowerment in management processing. Ms Russell forms an active team that work hard to achieve management change. And Ms Russell would allow employees to make decision suitable at their positions. When the Mr Griffin is not participate in meeting the department heads’ responses are not workable. The resistance is happen at the middle level management when implementation is done. In answering first sub-question of the question no 1 of â€Å"How might top management have done a better job changing Elektra products into a new kind of organization?†, we would like to express that top management could have included the middle and lower level managers,  and the employees in the teams. The team should have received instruction on the concept behind â€Å"empowerment†, and how the objective was to have employees at all levels taking responsibility for decision making, at that level, and accepting responsibility for the results. And letting them understand that positive attitude is needed in every step and every task to be done, is practically motivated on the other hand. For second sub-question of the question no 1 of â€Å"what might they do now to get the empowerment process back on track?†, it is no doubt that getting the program back on track, Mr Griffin needs to bring managers and employees at all levels into the teams, after all involved have learned what the new management approach entails. And assigning the tast of â€Å"quick and easy to win† to every team support them in gaining the motivation. In answer of question no 2 of â€Å" Can you think of ways Barbara could have avoided the problems her team faced in the meeting with department heads ? † we would like to answer that Ms Russel could avoided the problems her team face by including the department heads in her team, and charging them with identifying the challenge and obstacles to high performance in their departments. She also should have required them to apply this approach to all levels in their departments. Empowerment management means granting authority to subordinates. Her team actually tried to â€Å"empower† lower level management without including them in the solution. In answering the question no 3 of â€Å" If you were barbara Russell, what would you do now ? Why?† If I were Barbara Russell, I would push slowly to reform and work for gradual support from the other teams and I would support Martin to realize the problems with inter-departmental communication that exist at Elektra’s product as he may not have been with the company for long enough a period of time. Encouraging Martin to meet with each department head in advance and try to collect information about the corporate culture and each department head’s opinion of his empowerment campaign and so, he might have had a  better idea as to how he should implement his reforms. Second, by having each team membership consist of only one  department, each team habitually brought their ideas for each department to change and that did nothing to contribute to the poor departmental communication.  The most important things for Barbara to do is to communicate to Martin the existing problems concerning communication and trust between departments. Barbara’s other choices, to p ush ahead with grim determination while the CEO remains ignorant to the real cultural standard, is doomed to failure if for no other reason than that Barbara has no definitive clout among the rest of upper management, and thus not enough weight to throw around to effect change. She could try to make new teams or to debate the proposals of her team, but she may not carry enough authority to lead the other departments in such an action. Such actions could inevitably strain the current inter-departmental communications further and may not provide any positive results without lots of hard work. Once Martin is made aware of the poor communication relationships that currently exist, steps can be made to attack the problem from a different angle. Barbara, by confronting Martin on these issues, serves  herself and the campaign by showing her supervisor that she is both interested in his idea and its success and by providing Martin with necessary insight into the corporate culture that he may have yet to fully realize. As a CEO who’s main function is to please the stock holders of this publicly traded company, Martin should value the information Barbara can provide him as it would serve to both increase his plan’s potential for success and to please his bosses. Once he is made aware of the current situation, Martin will  have a better grasp on just what the problems are that exist at Elektra’s product and how to solve them. As the CEO, Martin should take a strong management stance and exert his power over the department heads by clearly  demarking the chain of command. Done effectively, Martin would thus have established among upper management that his ideas will be implemented and that it would be wise to support him in the campaign. This can be done by simply repeating his credos among the employees, by being very clear on his ideas, and by encouraging open discourse among the levels of upper management. This serves to not only define the company goals but to instill a new sense of purpose among the employees through strong leadership. Next, Martin needs to regroup the initial project teams so that each team consists of a variety of employees from different departments. Having employees from different departments actually work with and speak to each other is the first step to eventually tearing down the communication barriers that currently exist in the company. This  methodology serves other useful purposes as well. As well, by having a team make-up that is cross-departmental, when teams present their ideas there will no longer exist a â€Å"you against us† attitude. At this point it would be nice to know more about Martin and  his history in the corporate world, and the relationship between Barbara and Simon. With this knowledge, it becomes possible to study Martin’s management style and track record so that more definitive conclusions can be drawn concerning what he should do. As well, knowing how Barbara and Simon relate can offer guidelines to how Barbara may be able to use Simon as an information tool for gauging employee’s opinions regarding the empowerment campaign and the corporate culture in general. This is just the first step towards launching Martin’s empowerment campaign and turning the company into a motivated, profitable entity. Much work has yet to be done to ensure that Electra-Quik even has a chance of becoming a market leader again, although Marti n is correct in his desires to change the corporate culture.

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Final exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Final exam - Essay Example To undertake the responsibilities charged to the army, the US government deploys large military troops to maintain law and order as well as ensure that all the activities under the US control are run efficiently. According to the international law, the occupying powers in the stated territories should take all the measures within their power to restore law and order and to ensure that the safety of the public is maintained (Moten 157). One of the goals and objectives that the US military is supposed to accomplish in their services is the general protection of human life, through the implementation of the humanitarian law which protects human beings against life violation through murder, torture or inhuman treatment (Moten 179). They also uphold the humanitarian law by protecting the citizens from being taken hostages and ensuring that the personal dignity of the citizens is guaranteed. The US military also accomplishes the objective of caring for the sick and ailing people by providi ng food and medicine. The military ensures that the sick are collected and cared for, and that food and medical supplies are availed where they are inadequate. Another objective the US military accomplishes through Iraq and Afghanistan is applying adequate forces and correct procedures to enhance the prosecution of criminals involved in the violation of human rights (Moten 183). What type of government would be recommended in a non western nation? If asked to develop a government in a non western developing nation, I would recommend the establishment of a democratic government. Democracy means a rule by the people where the people govern. A democratic government is where the people are given a chance to elect the leaders of their choice to represent them. This type of government will allow the citizen to be directly involved in government decisions, an act which is not common in monarchy, dictatorial and communism systems. Unlike other forms of government such as dictatorial, commun ism and monarchy, democracy also ensures the change of government without violent behaviors. To prevent monopoly in the ruling authorities as practices in a monarchy and dictatorship governments, a democratic government allows elections after certain periods of time to ensure change of authority. Unlike in the other forms of governments, a democratic government gives the people a sense of pride having participated in the choosing of their ruling authorities (Moten 98). Democratic governments however have the disadvantage because the citizens may make the wrong choices while electing their leaders due to influence by the majority. What could be the reason why countries that are not democratic governments go to wars with each other? Unlike the democratic government where the citizens elect the leaders of their choice, countries practicing forms of government such as dictatorship, monarchy and communism are subjected to one kind of leadership. In dictatorship governments, the authority is held by one person who rules according to his beliefs. Dictatorship may lead to internal wars due to differences in the views of the leadership approach. In a communist type of government, all the economic activities are controlled by the central government. This may cause internal conflicts due to lack of economic independence by other citizens. A reason for conflicts in the communist government could be the scrabble for resources such as minerals and cash

SQL Server Column Level Encryption Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SQL Server Column Level Encryption - Case Study Example Even though firms try to encrypt data with various methods and keys, it has been noted that these companies are exposed to two major categories of threats (Jayanty, 2011). Chiefly, restricting access to sensitive information is a basic protective approach to the firm’s data. However, considering that cyber-attacks comprise a major threat to business and research firms, it is observed that access restriction is not enough. Consequently, encrypted data and restricted access to sensitive information suffer from the possible virus attack that can destroy the data rather than expose it. With this in mind, ABC Institute of Research and XYZ Inc. are vulnerable to losing data or having their research finding on genetics expose to their rivals. For this reason, column-level encryption using symmetric keys (Aqarwal, 2011). Under the circumstances defined above, when encrypting data, it is important to note that data can be accessed in two ways. Firstly, sensitive data is stored in forms of memory and anyone can have access to these memory devices. Secondly, sensitive data can be acquired from its storage device for access to another device. As a result, data encryption should ensure that once an unauthorized personnel is able to get to the data, access to that data is not discernable using a simple query. Ordinarily, ABC and XYZ would store their research findings in various columns that comprise of genetic patterns, associations, links, and procedures of deciphering various DNA codes that all need to be encrypted. Using the SQL Server Symmetric key encryption, the SQL Server allows the encryption hierarchy that needs to be followed to the latter. Forthwith, the hierarchy allows the creation of a master key for the SQL Server which provides the first step of encrypting the database using a password.  

Measure for Measure Essay Example for Free

Measure for Measure Essay What evidence is there in the play to support both views? What interests and engages you in the play? There are many aspects of the play that engage and interest the audience, two main aspects being comedy and trickery. There are many characters in the play which contribute to the comedy and trickery which is abundant in the play; in particular Lucio is a character who is often seen as comical due to his lack of restraint in his speech and his ignorance of other characters. He is often associated with bawdy humour but is also associated with noblemen; which brings his character into debate. The main source of trickery which engages the audience is the ‘bed trick’ which is cunningly devised by the Duke, which again brings his and also Isabella’s character into debate. Lucio is one of the main sources of comedy in ‘Measure for Measure’, his humour and almost careless speech engages the audience which will result in the audience liking his character. His speech on occasions appears to possess no restraint which is evident from his conversation with the two gentlemen when he proudly proclaims ‘I have purchased as many diseases under her roof as come to’. Lucio’s tone suggests the he is proud of this achievement which in turn results in the audience being humoured by Lucio. However Lucio’s proclamation also gives the audience reason for concern as it shows that there is a problem in Vienna with widespread disease. This relates to the outskirts in London in Shakespeare’s era as there were a large number of brothels which resulted in widespread disease. Lucio also humours the audience when he slanders the Duke in the presence of Friar Lodowick who is ironically the Duke. Lucio describes the Duke as being ‘A very superficial, ignorant, unweighing fellow’. There is dramatic irony throughout act three scene two as the audience know that Friar Lodowick is indeed the Duke, therefore will be constantly humoured as Lucio unknowingly slanders the Duke without a care. Lucio’s use of ‘ignorant’ to describe the Duke is very ironic as Lucio himself is ignorant to the fact the Friar Lodowick is the Duke. As of yet Lucio is painted as being a bawdy character solely to humour the audience with his ridiculous imagery ‘some say a sea maid spawned him’. However he is often associated with noblemen such as Claudio ‘One word good friend. Lucio, a word with you’. Therefore Lucio can be seen as representing both noble and the low culture societies, therefore the audience will have to judge Lucio and decide. I find Lucio interesting as he is presented as a random and spontaneous character, he also confesses that he will never change his attitude ‘I am a kind of burr, I shall stick’. Lucio’s character appears to contradict puritan ideas and I believe Shakespeare uses Lucio as a tool to get his message across. Using Lucio is a great example Shakespeare is stating that we need variety in life in order to function ‘Why, ‘twas a commandment to command captain and all the rest from their functions’. Shakespeare is saying everyone has a role in life which only ‘God’ can change; this again puts emphasis on the variety of people. This idea relates to the theme of equilibrium, in this diverse society there will be equilibrium between people. The main source of trickery in the play is the ‘bed trick’ which has been cunningly planned and devised by the Duke ‘we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up your appointment, go in your place’. Thus exposing Angelo as a result, the trickery will also give insight to the Duke being deceptive. However the reader will question Isabella’s actions as she appears to be a keen accomplice in the trick ‘The image of it gives me content already’. This painted image of Isabella conflicts with that the audience has been accustomed to, Isabella is often seen as excessively pious as she ‘rather wishes a more strict restraint on the sisterhood’. The audience will therefore gain a different perspective of Isabella as well as being sceptical on her position in the sisterhood, she appears to show no insight to the effect(s) this trick will have on Angelo and Mariana as well as her own reputation; instead she seems to immediately agree with the decision without hesitation. The audience will believe Isabella is thinking only about herself, as she wants to exposes and humiliate Angelo for his earlier refused proposal to Isabella. The use of ‘content already’ shows that Isabella appears to be excited and eager about this proposal, the tone also appears to be joyful again emphasising her eagerness. To summarise, comedy and trickery are both key aspects of the play which engage the audience into debate. The audience will gain insight of the characters and will be able to judge the characters on a number of occasions by considering the arguments for and against the decisions these characters make. The play on a whole I found very interesting and engaging, as a problem play many of the decisions made by the characters can be argued for and against, hence the audiences’ judgements on these characters will be diverse as everyone will perceive character’s decisions in a different manner.

The Dual Career Family And Malaysia Sociology Essay

The Dual Career Family And Malaysia Sociology Essay Family is considering as one of the important units in the social systems which formed a society. As a sub-system of society, the roles and functions of family are similar with other systems in society such as religion, economic, political, and social and education. All these systems are applied to each societies or countries in order to have a well-being life among people. In Malaysia, the established of Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development on 27 March 2004 has shown that Malaysian government has put an attention to the family matters seriously. Malaysia government believes, this country is built based on the harmonious of family institution and the strength of multi-racial society. Thus, if both of these could be achieved, Malaysian society will live in a well-being. Under this ministry, there is one agency called National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) which have been accountable to discuss all the related matters of family in Malaysia (http://www.kpwkm.gov.my). National Family Plan which proposed under Ninth Malaysia Plan Policy (1991-2010) have been submitted to Cabinet for approval as an action plan to strengthen family institution and to make sure this institution remain strong and prosperous family. One of the aim of National Family Plan is to make a clearly statement to Malaysian society about the importance of formation the family institution. From my opinion, this aim has to be imply because of the idea of the traditional family has been changed when Malaysia enters the twenty-first century and itself has become a modern country nowadays. The modernization process has affected the family structure, functions, roles, relationships and others among the family members. The trend perspective of Malaysian society now on family has changed due to the lifestyles which focuses on aspects of higher education, pursue a career, freedom, divorce, and delaying married or decided not to marry especially for women. Therefore, many issues can be arises when women gained tremendous achievement in their life especially in education and labour force. The issues might give an impact on future whether in positive or negative aspects. For instance, higher educational attainment has increased womens income generating capacity and was linked to reductions in maternal and child mortality. Moreover, educated girls were more likely to delay marriage and childbearing instead in order to improve their financial or education towards higher level. For women who married, their participation in the labour force made themselves burden with work, childcare and household duties. Thus, this trend of lifestyles has caused the emergence of dual-career family in Malaysia. Now, the dual-career family who both spouses are maintaining separate careers and contributing to the financial success of the household has become common place. Thus, dual career families are a reality for society today. Due to that, my interest is doing a research regarding to women issues in Malaysia focusing on family institution in Malays society particularly on dual-career family. I believe that there will have an issue on dual-career family especially towards social function of family in human capital in Malaysia as a developing country when both spouses have education and participate in labour force. In line with vision and mission of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, I assume they do not just want to attain gender equality but also to develop harmonious and to strengthen family institution towards mainstream national development and at the same time increased communal and social harmony. In view of this, I realize that if I do a research in family institution, perhaps it will be a valuable topic in contributing towards understanding about women and family as well. The Malays in Malaysia Malaysian population has been divided into Malaysia citizen and Non-Malaysian citizens. They were estimated at 28,457.6 million and contributed to density of Malaysian population in 2009. Of that, 2,069.2 million are Non-Malaysian citizens and 26, 38.4 million are known as Malaysian citizens. Bumiputera  [1]  are made up at 17,640.8 people who encompass Malays as predominantly with 14,494.9 million and other bumiputera are 3,145.9 million. Other groups include the Chinese 6, 45.5 million, Indians 1,946.8 million and others 342.3 million. Furthermore, the population estimates by sex also dominated by Bumiputera at 8,902.1 million in 2009. Malays were the highest population in both sexes with 7, 316.0 million for male and female at 7,178.9 million, followed by Chinese at 3,292.5 million for male and 3,165.9 million for female. In contrast, the number of female was higher than male for Indians and others. Meanwhile, the figure for Non-Malaysian citizens was also male outnumbered wit h 1,145.8 million and for female at 923.4 million (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2009). By legal definition, Article 160 Clause 2 provides that Malays means a person professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom and was before Independent Day born in the Federation or in Singapore or born of parents one of whom was born in the Federation or in Singapore, or is on that day domiciled in the Federation or in Singapore; or is the issue of such a person. (Constitution of Malaysia (n.d.).pp: 131) Based on this article, definition of Malays referred to three fundamental characteristics namely Malay language usage, Islamic religion and customary practice which also known as adat  [2]  (custom). Therefore, Malay is an individual from any Malay race such as Javanese, Minangkabau, Bugis or Atjehnese (Ong, 1990) and all Malays are understood as Muslims. According to Kling (1995), adat (custom) in Malay society have been influenced in cultural elements by a few great civilizations such as from India, China, Arabia and Western. These cultural elements were inedible, therefore, had been adapted and integrated with Malay cultural. However, the integration between local condition and historical interactions of adat (custom) especially with Islam has shaped the way of Malays life in all aspects. Although the process of Islamization had occurred among Malay society, the cultural elements were still remained and these were called as adat. This adat has been categorized as non-Islamic because it was not come from Islamic religion. Adat was reinterpreted to mean the distinctive and traditional cultural configuration of society as differentiated from purely Islamic elements( Kling. 1995 : 46). Therefore, Islamic religion and adat were accepted as basic of beliefs, ideologies and practices in Malay society. Both Islam and adat have become an important principles to organize Malays in undergo all aspects of their daily life as an individual and a society. The reflection of Islamic religion and adat can be seen when it has been practiced by Malays such as in politic, economic and social. The Concept of Family and Dual-Career Family The term of family have been proposed in many definitions which are in line with flux and variation on the ideas of what is a family. For instance, groups of people that live together such as adoptive families, cohabiting couples, single-families, step-families, homosexual families, homosexual couples or groups of people who live together in one house without biological kinship connection has been depicted as a family nowadays. Most importantly, the images of families have obviously changed from traditional to modern understanding when many types and structures of the families appeared (Bogenshneider Corbett, 2004). The foregoing statement, from my point of view is in line with Jackson (2008). She claims that the variety of definition of family and the changes of family life in early twenty-first century have drew a huge attention among scholars to discuss these topics. Indeed, she also stated that many reasons have been evoked to address the word family and most of the reasons were more likely saying the word family is unstable, diversity and fluidity. All these consequences were pertinent with society who has already accepted the inclined of divorce rates, the decreased of marriage rates, or homosexual relationships as an alternative lifestyles. These were a new form of family which have been agreed in general and in relation with the changes of women and men roles. The term of family is not easy to be defined because of different definitions exist by societies within countries. Therefore, to understand the definitions of family given by any individual or society, they prevalent posted their definition connected with their own cultural, tradition, religion and social surroundings (Flandrin, 1979; Trost, 1990). For example, sociologist used the cultural atmosphere to define the images of families from their perspective before elucidate them precisely using sociological theories (Gubrium Holstein, 1990; Cheal, 2002). Therefore, the emergence of these groups made the definition of family and its concept become heated debate and wide discussion among scholars. However, none of the term of family has been agreed as complete agreement, despite, lots of approaches and arguments need to be considered in defining so that the term of family not merely confine for a single explanation (Worsley, 1977; Elliot, 1986; Cheal, 2002). Thus, understanding the def initions of family in its political context is seemingly vital according to the ideological concept. According to U.S Bureau of the Census (2000a), definition of family is referred to a group of people that consist more than two persons who lived together in a house and be bounded one another by blood, marriage or adoption. Elliot (1986) notes that family has formed based on a marriage between man and woman and they have consolidated with their children as unity in a house. They are being responsible to each other in giving love, support and care likewise has a sameness identity. A family also can be defined as people who remain living together in a group. They have close relationships and will form generations based on kinship (Cheal, 1988). Another definition of family ascribe that family can be formed when the household constitute couples who are live together without married and those who are single-parents and having children (Gullota et al. 1986). Furthermore, Coleman Cressy (1999) defined family as a group of people by marriage, ancestry or adoption who live together in a common household. Defining a word of family also referred to structures of families either a nuclear family or an extended family. A definition given by Cheal (2002) describes the nuclear family consists a man and woman who got married legally and live together with their children in a house. He therefore claims that this family structure can be called as a basic unit of household production, such as food preparation. There are also definitions that differentiate the word the family and the household. From my point of view, these two words have been foreseen had a similar explanation in spite of both of these words have been given different meaning by writers. The connotation of these words always related with a meaning of a group of people that live together in a same place. Due to this, Ball (1974) defines the household as groups of people that have been tied to live together in a place and them also known as a spatial group. However, families are referred to people who lived together in a place as groups. They are connected to each other by blood and marriage and these groups called a kin group. In Malay language, term family is called keluarga. From my point of view, definition of family in Malay language is different from western perspectives. Understanding the word keluarga has to be related with the meaning from context of Islam and adat (custom). Therefore, keluarga consists groups of husband and wife, grandfather and grandmother, siblings and their children, auntie and uncle and their children who then knowing as close relatives and distant relatives. They are bond with variety of responsibilities, social functioning, unity of law and others. Those are included in these groups constitute with a division of the inheritance of Muslims called Faraid Law System (Ruzita, 2000). Due to this definition, Mahmud (1997) states that keluarga is referring to extended family where this family is a unit social and individual who involved in this unit have a relationship known as kinship. Elsaie (2004) points out that family is a group of human social and they are ties together as members by blood and marriage. Their relationships are pertinent not merely mutual expectation but also mutual commitments. These include rights, obligation, identity and provision, love, caring, respect the eldest, security and others. All these are proposed by religion, enforced by law and observed by the group members. In addition, many of Quran verses stated that marriage is encounter with moral security, social commitment and religion obligations. For instance, one verse from Quran stated: And among his signs is this: He created for you spouses from yourselves that you might find rest in them, and He ordained between you love and mercy. (30-21) Therefore, in my opinion, there were many definitions and descriptions of the term of family given by scholars. It is noteworthy to make clear that the term of family have been defined differently between the western and the Malays perspective. This is more likely because of the differences in cultural and political context likewise the historical background. For Malays, the family are formed between man and women who legally married and they accepted single-parents family. They rejected the definition of family which is referring to cohabitation families and homosexual families. However, for west people, the definition of family is referring to all types of family either by married couples, cohabitation couples or homosexual couples. Despite of the definitions of families are often changed and became a fluidity context in sociology discussions, Silva and Smart (1999) claim that the basic functions of family are inevitably and still remained like in traditional perspectives. For instance, family members were applying the basic functions of family such as becoming supporter to one another physically, emotional and spiritual. Therefore, compared to the past, some of sociologist, policy analyst and service professions staffs were more stress on family functions rather than family structures while discussing about family is what people in family supposedly do as familys members (Bala, 1994). In Malay society, there are ties between adat (custom) and Islamic law that in relation to family functions. According to adat (custom), women were given the responsibilities of domestic chores such as child-birth, child-rearing and cooking, or maintaining relationships within kinship and neighbours. Despite these roles of women in Malay society were defined by adat (custom), the definition of the roles were still connected with men under Islamic construction (Laderman, 1983). Therefore, under Islamic law, for men, their identity were referring to their ability such as preparing sons to become independent head of household in future, controlling the sexuality of wives and daughters and providing economic sources for household (Ong, 1990). Nevertheless, structures of family, functional of family and family relationship in almost each country throughout the world had changed due to modernization since 1960s. Modernization has caused tremendous changes in economic system particularly on the growth of economy which then wittingly and unwittingly has also affecting other systems in society and country. Most importantly and surprisingly, these enormous effects can be seen when the number of women entering paid labour force has increased due to lots of opportunities has been given to women in education. The existence of these situations has changed the male and female relationships and the perceptions of the family. For instance, conjugal roles had changed distinctly; therefore, dual-career families emerged. This has given a new image of family in modern atmosphere nowadays. Ropoport Ropoport (1971) were among the first researchers who have interested to study of dual-career family. Their study showed that the respondents of dual-career family have achieved success at various levels as dual-careerist in their employment. This research also has opened a new discussion subsequently among researchers who previously more interested to concentrate on doing research about single-earner household. Dual-career family have been defined by Ropoport Ropoport (1971) as a family who comprises both husband and wife as heads of household. Both of the spouses will sustain as a family and live together besides pursue their career simultaneously. They also explain that understanding the term of career is vital in order to differ between dual-career family with dual-earner family and dual-worker family. Therefore, social sciences has designated precisely the term of career as any jobs which need high commitments or any qualification. A developmental character will be undergone continuously in dual-career family to achieve their career attainment. This career enhancement was needed by them either to get the highest hierarchy in jobs promotion or in order to become expert in their field. Compared to dual-career family, those couples from dual-worker family and dual-earner family especially women will be involved in working environment merely for economic reasons and not for personal achievements or commitments. They involved in lots of works that bringing profit for them. In addition, comparing this situation with dual-career family, women who came from dual-earner family or dual-worker family are still facing with burdens and stress or negative impacts as a mother and a wife (Ibid). In Malaysia, there is no definition of dual-career family in Malay language. What I had found was all researchers in Malaysia were using the meanings that given by western scholars referring to dual-career family. In some research, I sometimes realize that they also referred dual-career family and dual-earner family or dual-worker family like having a similar meaning (this can be proved in sub topic: previous research of dual career family). However, due to this, to understanding the concept of family and dual-career family are needed so that I can limit my research subject. My research subject is focusing on Malay dual-career family either they are nuclear family or extended family. They also need to fulfil the meaning of family from Islam and adat (custom) definitions. Previous Research of Dual-Career Family The phrase of sphere of generativity by Daniel Weingarten (1984) explained that family and work entail two impacts which considered as complimentary, contradictory, or a combination of both. From my point of view, modernization has introduced new images of family whereby related with reasons, effects or ideas about dual-career family which can be found in several of research. As such, dual-career family emerged when women and men entering the paid labour force and this happened within countries and families. Thus, discussion on family and work has been increased especially when women participated in labour division. A number of studies have been done on family and work where the focus of the studies were more on the implications of women participation in the paid labour force and how it linked and affected their roles in families compared to men. Almost majority of research done on work and family have identified the conflict between the responsibilities of family role and work role (Greenhaus Beutell, 1985). For instance, previous studies state that there were probability of conflict between work and leisure (Staines OConnor, 1980) and between work and self (Holahan Gilberst, 1979a, 1979b). Nock (1987) notes that womens struggle in the last few decades has influenced the idea of women rejecting being a mother or giving priority to the family. Their focuses have immensely changed towards life attainment such as in education, work and become independent person. Therefore, when women entering labor force, both husbands and wives are going to work and have their own career. Consequently, the numbers of dual-career families have enhanced dramatically when women preparing themselves adequately in order to engage with their careers and, this would allow them to be in the world of labour force (Inglehart, 1979). Goldscheider Waite (1991) assert that traditional roles between husbands and wives have changed nowadays. Traditionally, assumption that men as a breadwinner and women as a homemaker are being accepted by all societies. Nonetheless, the assumption has eroded when women also play vital roles in contributing to economy of family. These changes perpetuated division of roles in family system and it has also given an enormous impact on the conjugal roles. Benokraitis (1996) discovers a few impacts exist in the family of dual-worker couples. For example, this type of family has affected the quality of marriage, responsibilities among family members, and children well-being. A study done by Cherlin (1992) indicates that living separated with spouse and divorces are more likely to be happened when women involving in the wage labour force particularly if a wife has a higher salary than a husband. Women also found themselves more independent and less relies on husbands in their life. Not surprisingly, working women often took either unpaid work or work as part-time compared to men if the family have infants because of understanding that women were wives and mothers at home. Due to this, they will still be the person who responsible to their children notwithstanding they are involved in labour force. Men were rarely to do likewise as Lewis (2001) states that this happened because of career setbacks or VanEvery (1995) claims because of a commitment to anti sexist living arrangements. It is generally accepted that modernisation had increased cost of living to the households particularly in big cities and towns. Due to this, families must have a great income to fulfil familys needs. Thus, it seem to be seen that the number of working wives have increased in order to help their husband. Study by (Lewis, 1995b) illustrates that by entering the paid work labour showed that womens contribution to the household was 55 percent in Filipina. The reason they go for work and earn more money is to make sure that their children will have sufficient life. Facing a role conflict by women in dual-career families were often occurs especially when they have to make decisions whether to be a wife or a mother or an employee who pursuing her career. With these multi-tasking responsibilities and overloaded roles, women almost had a great stress. In contrast, men in dual-career families were less burden and stress compared to women. With these multi-tasking responsibilities and over loaded roles, women almost had a great stress. In contrast, men in dual-career families were less burden and stress compared to women. Nevertheless, the conflict that they faced is the lack of nurturing which means they did not get intimate relationships from their wives (Carter Carter, 1995). Study done by Galinsky etal (1993) show that 83% of working mothers and 72% of working fathers were experiencing conflict between handling their job and family issues. Another study reported that new division of labour between men and women emerged and had eroded the traditional division when both working spouses manage their work and family. Husbands or fathers were more likely involved in the family while wives or mothers were struggled with their job demands and limited roles (Michelson, 1983; Pleck,, 1979). Habsah Roziah (2003) stated that their study on Malay working women in Shah Alam has shown clearly how these Malay women were still trying to fulfil their responsibilities at work place and home. Only few of them said that they can managed both roles simultaneously while others found that they will just can successful either at work place or at home if they gave less attention on one of them. They also faced tremendous challenges for the child-rearing in urban area particularly when both of them are working. Finding of this research also found father or husband were seemed to help their wife such as playing with children, doing groceries shopping, sending and fetching children from school rather than involved in domestic chores like washing or cooking. According to the research done by Fatimah (1994), it would be true to say that form middle middle-class Malay households view, conducting and managing the household are still under women responsibilities though they are working. Hochschild (1989) points out men do not share the raising on their children and the caring of the children and the caring of their homes. A part of that, commuter marriage also can be said as one of marriage that emerged because of dual-career family. Both spouses have to live separately from each other for long times because of the career commitments at elsewhere. The reasons of these commitments and living apart notwithstanding still referred them as family (Gertsel Gross, 1984; Newman Grauerholz, 2002, Lesthaeghe, 1995). Therefore, from the previous research done by researchers showed that there were problems, reasons and ideas arose when they discussed about dual-career family. Many of these research saying that the emergence of dual-career families have affected the family institution itself in various aspects. Mostly, the researches more focused on how women deal with challenges and difficulties when they have two roles which are under their responsibilities. Due to this, dual-career family is a topic that drew my attention to do a further study on it by looking at Malay dual-career family. With a new model of framework, I believe that this topic will expand and enhance existing literature frame with suggestion in dual-career family.

The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

The Great Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Gatsby is a really good book that deals with many different issues with its many different characters. A few of these characters share some characteristics while they are completely different at the same time. In this essay I will show you the similarities and differences in Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First off the similarities. Although there are not many there is a few to be talked about. Number one similarity between Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway is the location of their establishment. Both Jay Gatsby and Nick Carrawy live in the same neighborhood, West Egg. This is the least fashionable of the two but still a nice place to live. The other neighborhood is East Egg and that is where all the rich people with their old money and mansions lived. The West Egg is for the middle class. Although Jay Gatsby is not middle class, he is not considered to live at East Egg because Jay Gatsby did not inherit his parents money who inherited it from their parents, he worked for it. Another similarity between Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway is they are both hardworking people in search of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby has done a little better in his search than Nick Carraway, but Jay Gatsby still has to work for his money. It was not handed to him like Tom Buchanan had it handed to him. Jay Gatsby went to Oxford and then supposedly became a bootlegger. This is part of how Jay Gatsby became so rich. Nick Carraway on the other hand went into business and is just surviving. He is not rich, but with some more hard work he is well on his way.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now onto the differences. Jay Gatsby and his wealth is something that differs from Nick Carraway. Jay Gatsby lives in a mansion where he has his servants that clean and maintain his establishment. Nick Carraway on the other hand lives in a house that he calls an â€Å"eye sore† which is stuck between two mansions. Nick Carraway’s house is maintained but not by servants and not as well as Jay Gatsby’s mansion. Nick Carraway also does not obtain the same social status as Jay Gatsby due to the fact that Nick Carraway is not rich. Being rich gets Jay Gatsby alot of things like ladies, amusement, and

Chilc Abuse Essay -- essays research papers

Each year in the USA there are approximately one million reports of child maltreatment, about 25% relate to physical abuse and about 1000 children die of maltreatment each year (US Department of Health and Human Services 1999). During the past few decades, researchers have aimed at detecting the children, who are at high risk of becoming victims of abuse, so that appropriate interventions can be undertaken. The risk factors that have been emphasized include characteristics of the child, family, and social environment, and the relationship. One of the risk factors that have been widely studied is the parents’ upbringing, specifically whether he or she was abused as a child. This risk factor is often referred to as intergenerational transmission of child abuse. Soon after Kempe introduced the â€Å"Battered Child Syndrome† a number of reports began to appear which suggested that abusive parents were themselves abused as children (Curtis 1963; Galdston 1965; Wasserman 1973). Since this concept was presented there has been a considerable amount of research done on the subject. Steele (1983) declared that â€Å" with few exceptions, parents or other caretakers who maltreat babies, were themselves neglected (with or without physical abuse) in their own earliest years†(p. 235). In contrast, Cicchetti and Aber (1980) have asserted that empirical support for intergenerational transmission is lacking. Kaufman and Zigler (1987) reviewed evidence suggesting that abused children become abusive parents and concl uded that the case for transmission across generations has been overstated. Looking back on past investigations gives support for intergenerational transmission, almost without exception. These investigations identify maltreating parents and then interview them about their own childhood. Investigations done with and without control groups indicate abusing parents report high rates of having been abused physically during childhood (Steele and Pollock 1974; Horowitz and Wollock 1981; Oliver 1978; Kotelchuk 1982; Friedrich and Wheeler 1982). Kaufman and Zigler have pointed out the problem with using results stemming from retrospective investigations to estimate the effect of an abused-abusing cycle. Because these investigations don’t have access to parents who were mistreated as children, they tend to overestimate the incidence of the maltreated-maltreating cycle. There are a... ... Reference 1. Cicchetti, D., and Aber, J.L. Abused children-abusive parents: An overstated Case? Harvard Educational Review (1980) 50:244-55. 2. Curtis, G. C. Violence breeds violence-perhaps? American Journal of Psychiatry (1963) 120:386-87. 3. Friedrich, W. N., and Wheeler, K. K. The abusing parent revisited: A decade of psychological research. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (1982) 170:577-87. 4. Gladston, R. Observations on children who have been physically abused and their parents. American Journal of Psychiatry (19665) 122:440-43. 5. Hilberman, E. Overview : The â€Å"wife-beater’s wife† reconsidered. American Journal of Psychiatry (1980) 137:1336-47. 6. Horowitz, B., and Wollock, I. Maternal deprivation, child maltreatment and agency interventions among poor families. In L. Pelton, eds. The Social Context of Child Abuse and Neglect. Human Sciences Press, 1981. 7. Kadushin, A., and Martin, J. Child Abuse: An Interactional Event. Columbia University Press 1981. 8. Kaufman, J., and Zigler, E. Do abused children become abusive parents? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (1987) 57:186-92. 9. Kotelchuk, M. Child abuse and neglect: Prediction and misclassification.

The Jealous and Selfish Characters of Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Jealous and Selfish Characters of Othello  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the play Othello, there are many jealous and selfish characters. Each of the characters at one point or another let their jealousy take over. It seems like they all have these plots and plans on how to hurt another character in the play either physically or emotionally, as an act of selfishness, so that they can feel better about themselves. One main character who seems extremely jealous in this play is Iago. Infact, probably the most jealous. Many bad things happen because of Iago. The first bad thing that Iago did, was tell Barbantio (Desdamona's father) that Desdemona has married Othello, the Moore. Iago was mad at Othello, because Cassio had made Othello a higher position and not Iago. Iago thought that he was the one who qualified for the position as general, not Othello. Iago was jealous because of this, so he decided to tell Barbantio about Desdemona and Othello. This was bad, because Barbantio did not know yet, and something like that should have been said by his own daugh ter, not someone who was not part of the family. The way Iago went about telling him was also bad. He called to his house in the middle of the night. He yelled it to Barbantio from downstairs into his window in a rude manner. " quote from Othello here." He wanted Barbantio to be upset about what had happened, and most of all, he wanted Barbantio to be mad at Othello and do something bad to him. This was an act of selfishness on Iago's side. Iago's main reason for doing all this, was not to inform Barbantio, but to make everyone dislike Othello so that he could become general. Roderigo also helped out with telling Barbantio about Othello and Desdamona's eloping. The reason Roderigo did this, was not to let Barbantio know for his purposes, but merely for his own selfish reasons. Just as Iago did. Roderigo was in love with Desdemona and wanted to marry her. When he found out that Othello had already married her, he wanted to get rid of him so that he would still have a chance with her. I think that Roderigo may have known that he did not have a chance with Desdemona and that she really did love Othello, and that made him very jealous. He did not like Othello because of this, and that's why he wanted to destroy his reputation.

Information Systems Development Methodologies Essay

This purpose of this paper is to give an understanding of the information systems development methodologies available. A software development methodology or system development methodology in software engineering is a framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing an information system. Here are some iterative methodologies that can be used especially for large projects and some of their characteristics. Spiral Model The idea is evolutionary development, using the waterfall model for each step; it’s intended to help manage risks. Don’t define in detail the entire system at first. The developers should only define the highest priority features. Define and implement those, then get feedback from users/customers (such feedback distinguishes â€Å"evolutionary† from â€Å"incremental† development). With this knowledge, they should then go back to define and implement more features in smaller chunks. Each iteration of the prototype represented as a cycle in the spiral. The Spiral software development model is a risk-oriented. Use the spiral model in projects where business goals are unstable but the architecture must be realized well enough to provide high loading and stress ability. Recognizing: 1. Focus is on risk assessment and on minimizing project risk by breaking a project into smaller segments and providing more ease-of-change during the development process, as well as providing the opportunity to evaluate risks and weigh consideration of project continuation throughout the life cycle. 2. Each cycle involves a progression through the same sequence of steps, for each portion of the product and for each of its levels of elaboration, from an overall concept-of- operation document down to the coding of each individual program. 3. Each trip around the spiral traverses four basic quadrants: (1) determine objectives, alternatives, and constraints of the iteration; (2) evaluate alternatives; identify and resolve risks; (3) develop and verify deliverables from the iteration; and (4) plan the next iteration. 4. Begin each cycle with an identification of stakeholders and their win conditions, and end each cycle with review and commitment. Phases: 1. Project Objectives. Similar to the system conception phase of the Waterfall Model. Objectives are determined, possible obstacles are identified and alternative approaches are weighed. 2. Risk Assessment. Possible alternatives are examined by the developer, and associated risks/problems are identified. Resolutions of the risks are evaluated and weighed in the consideration of project continuation. Sometimes prototyping is used to clarify needs. 3. Engineering & Production. Detailed requirements are determined and the software piece is developed. 4. Planning and Management. The customer is given an opportunity to analyze the results of the version created in the Engineering step and to offer feedback to the developer. Variations. Win-Win Spiral Process Model is a model of a process based on Theory W, which is a management theory and approach â€Å"based on making winners of all of the system’s key stakeholders as a necessary and sufficient condition for project success.† Incremental Development Here the project is divided into small parts. This allows the development team to demonstrate results earlier on in the process and obtain valuable feedback from system users. Often, each iteration is actually a mini-Waterfall process with the feedback from one phase providing vital information for the design of the next phase. Recognizing: 1. A series of mini-Waterfalls are performed, where all phases of the Waterfall development model are completed for a small part of the system, before proceeding to the next increment; OR 2. Overall requirements are defined before proceeding to evolutionary, mini-Waterfall development of individual increments of the system, OR 3. The initial software concept, requirements analysis, and design of architecture and system core are defined using the Waterfall approach, followed by iterative Prototyping, which culminates in installation of the final prototype (i.e., working system). Phases: 1. Inception. Identifies project scope, risks, and requirements (functional and non-functional) at a high level but in enough detail that work can be estimated. 2. Elaboration. Delivers a working architecture 3. Construction 4. Transition Variations . A number of process models have evolved from the iterative approach. All of these methods produce some demonstrable software product early on in the process in order to obtain valuable feedback from system users or other members of the project team. In some, the software products which are produced at the end of each step (or series of steps) can go into production immediately as incremental releases. Prototype Model The prototype model is used to overcome the limitations of waterfall model. In this model, instead of freezing the requirements before coding or design, a prototype is built to clearly understand the requirements. This prototype is built based on the current requirements. Through examining this prototype, the client gets a better understanding of the features of the final product. The processes involved in the prototyping approach are shown in the figure below. Recognizing: 1. Not a stand alone, complete development methodology, but rather an approach to handling selected portions of a larger, more traditional development methodology (i.e., Incremental, Spiral, or Rapid Application Development (RAD)). 2. Attempts to reduce inherent project risk by breaking a project into smaller segments and providing more ease-of-change during the development process. 3. User is involved throughout the process, which increases the likelihood of user acceptance of the final implementation. 4. Small-scale mock-ups of the system are developed following an iterative modification process until the prototype evolves to meet the users’ requirements. 5. While most prototypes are developed with the expectation that they will be discarded, it is possible in some cases to evolve from prototype to working system. 6. A basic understanding of the fundamental business problem – necessary to avoid solving wrong problem. Phases: 1. Requirements Definition/Collection. Similar to the Conceptualization phase of the waterfall model, but not as comprehensive. The information collected is usually limited to a subset of the complete system requirements. 2. Design. Once the initial layer of requirements information is collected, or new information is gathered, it is rapidly integrated into a new or existing design so that it may be folded into the prototype. 3. Prototype Creation/Modification. The information from the design is rapidly rolled into a prototype. This may mean the creation/modification of paper information, new coding, modifications to existing coding. 4. Assessment. The prototype is presented to the customer for review. Comments and suggestions are collected from the customer. 5. Prototype Refinement. Information collected from the customer is digested and the prototype is refined. The developer revises the prototype to make it more effective and efficient. 6. System Implementation. In most cases, the system is rewritten once requirements are understood. Sometimes, the Iterative process eventually produces a working system that can be the cornerstone for the fully functional system. Variation. A popular variation is called Rapid Application Development (RAD). It introduces strict time limits on each development phase and relies heavily on RA tools (allow quick development). Comparison of models * Involves higher cost – needs to be iterated more than once * Not suitable for smaller projects * Project success depends on the risk analysis phase – hence, it requires highly specific expertise in risk analysis * Limited reusability * No established controls for moving from one cycle to another cycle, no firm deadlines, lack of milestones * Management is dubious | Incremental| * Potential exists for exploiting knowledge gained in early increments. * Moderate control over the life of the project through the use of written documentation and the formal review and approval/signoff by the user and information technology management at designated major milestones * Stakeholders can be given concrete evidence of project status throughout the life cycle. * Helps to mitigate integration/architectural risks. * Allows delivery of a series of implementations that are gradually more complete and can go into production more quickly as incremental releases * Gradual implementation provides the ability to monitor the effect of incremental changes, isolate issues and make adjustments before the organization is negatively impacted| * Very rigid and do not overlap phases * Not all the requirements are gathered before starting the development; this could lead to problems related to system architecture at later iterations. * The user community needs to be actively involved throughout the project – time of the staff, project delay. * Communication and coordination skills take central stage in the development. * Informal requests for improvement after each phase may lead to confusion – controlled mechanism for handling substantive requests needs to be developed. * Possible â€Å"scope creep (user feedback on each phase increases customer demands. * Errors and risks can be detected at a much earlier stage, as the system is developed using prototypes * Addresses: inability of many users to specify their information needs; difficulty of systems analysts to understand the user’s environment * Can be used to realistically model important aspects of a system during each phase of the traditional life cycle * Improves user participation in system development and communication among project stakeholders Documents * Increases complexity of the overall system * Involves exploratory methodology and therefore involves higher risk. * Involves implementing and then repairing the way a system is built, so errors are an inherent part of the development process. * Can lead to false expectations and poorly designed systems. * Approval process and control is not strict. * Requirements may frequently change significantly.| Here is another table that consists of the situations where each model is the most appropriate for applying. The data is based on my previous analysis and additional data collected from the internet. Conclusion Why there are so many System Development Methodologies is because all projects and systems require its own road to run. And not each method will be suitable for another one. Selecting the correct software development methodology with a proper cost-benefit analysis for a project can help projects to release successfully, on time, and within budget. Once an organization has determined which methodologies will work best for its projects it can ensure that there is a repeatable process established that will ensure successful projects. Tackling a project blindly with no process defined will result in undesirable product. Errors in the products are common, yet if the process is utilized properly, they can be eliminated quickly. Choosing the better approach or simply understanding the methodologies is important to ensure the right project/product is a result from the hard work.

The Great Gatsby: “It is Nick who makes Jay Gatsby into The Great Gatsby”

The ambiguous â€Å"greatness† of Jay Gatsby is imparted to the reader through the thoughts and observations of Nick Carraway, a character who is personally involved in the intricate events and relationships featured in the plot. He is therefore an excellent choice of narrator as this participatory role places him beside the ‘great' namesake of the book, which is essentially how he appears to portray the idealistic, materialistic and yet naive character of Jay Gatsby. In using Nick as such a device, Fitzgerald presents an insight into Gatsby which is gradually developed from ambiguity to admiration as he refines Nick's perception throughout the ‘riotous excursion'- as Nick metaphorically describes the action of the novel – and establishes his often negative outlook on the selfishness, greed and moral corruption of American society. Nick is conveniently able to acquire this personal knowledge of Gatsby through his approachability, causing other characters to confide in him through his inclination â€Å"to reserve judgement†. However, his negative judgement of society (from which Gatsby is ‘exempt') ironically contradicts his initial claim to impartiality, and Nick continues to judge people thereafter. This reveals his viewpoint to be increasingly subjective and lends his character the virtues of being realistic, thus possessing human failings which evoke a more complete persona, and not merely a mouthpiece for Fitzgerald's thoughts. However, covertly, he also communicates the author's condemnation of 20's society as his own, since Fitzgerald has incorporated such judgements into his personality, creating the illusion of an impartial narrator while pursuing his satirical condemnation of the Jazz Age and his apparent admiration of the idealism implicit in the American Dream (represented by Gatsby's impossible optimism). Indeed, Fitzgerald's use of this â€Å"intelligent but sympathetic observer† at the centre of events â€Å"makes for some of the most priceless values in fiction† (William Troy, 1945). The values of â€Å"economy and intensity† are achieved by his central role in events, while â€Å"suspense† is achieved through Nick's personal flaw of not fully perceiving Gatsby's character, causing revelations about Gatsby's past and present to be frequent and striking. We think particularly of how Gatsby â€Å"came alive† to Nick in Chapter 4 through Jordan's reminiscing, and of how, in Chapter 9, revelations are still made after his death (such as the schedule brought to Nick's attention by Gatsby's father) which consolidate Nick's respect for his extensive ambition. Nick's perception of Gatsby is limited in certain aspects as the latter is an ambiguous character, though this incomplete knowledge does not deter Nick's positive view, which develops from not knowing Gatsby at all to admiring him for his strangely noble, if delusory, dream. Gatsby's ambiguity simply fuels fascination in Nick, who uses the adulatory adjective â€Å"gorgeous† to describe him, and proceeds in his narrative to seek the reason for this attraction in the mystery of Gatsby. The apparent bias presented in Nick's narration may also be due to many connections felt with Gatsby as a result of similarities between both their characters and Fitzgerald himself: many of Gatsby's characteristics are often Fitzgerald's own, incorporated into his character alongside Nick's. Just as the author had fought in the war, so have his characters, a fact which had taken Daisy away from Gatsby and excitement away from Nick's life as he â€Å"came back restless†. They both seek to reclaim these things, Nick by coming East and Gatsby by reacquiring Daisy's love. Nick empathizes with Gatsby's longing, and here perhaps Fitzgerald incorporates his own experience of losing the affections of his first love, Ginevra King, this failure in achieving his own dream revealing bias in the author himself. This may be the reason for the author positing that Gatsby is â€Å"great† while also impressing his negative opinion on the causes of both his and Gatsby's failure – in this case society, and the class differences which precluded Fitzgerald's relationship with the wealthier King. In the wider context of social satire, this contrast between dreams and failure is analogous to the rich and poor within American society, and is portrayed through the rather obvious symbolism of the â€Å"Valley of Ashes† whose uncomfortable proximity to the higher class Eggs foregrounds the vast disparity between rich and poor in the Roaring Twenties. Initially Nick only perceives the visible side of Gatsby – his material possessions and his parties where guests â€Å"came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars† in Chapter 3. He describes the parties as dreamlike, perhaps reflecting Gatsby's outlook on life, and tempting, as wealth was in 1920s America. Fitzgerald's simile of the guests being insect-like expresses Nick's observation of the superficial materialism and immorality of American society (emphasized in the former quotation by the sibilance of â€Å"whisperings†), as they are only tempted by Gatsby's wealth, drawn like moths to his light, while making Gatsby seem somehow compelling and superior to them as they revolve around him In direct contrast to such shallowness, Fitzgerald reveals Nick's admiration for Gatsby's â€Å"romantic readiness†, and his â€Å"infinite hope† in his idealistic love of Daisy, to further build the â€Å"great† element of Gatsby's personality as it is discovered. This aspect of Gatsby, when introduced, also makes him â€Å"more real† (EK 1925) and empathetic, than American society of the time, as his dream is revealed to be for love, not material status. These poetic descriptions, though also used ‘in order to persuade us that Gatsby is a man of poetic sensibility†, do not imply that â€Å"Fitzgerald takes the dangerous, no-hands course of simply saying so† as Kenneth Tynan (1974) states. In fact, Nick's positive opinions of Gatsby are developed very subtly and implied throughout events in the plot. These gradually build the impression of Gatsby's imaginative and beautiful sensibility, such as Nick's discovery of his idealism regarding Daisy's love. At times, such usages of poetic narrative depictions contrast sharply with the dull, bare portrayal of the poorer sections of society. To this end, light is used by Nick in positive descriptions throughout the novel, his own and Fitzgerald's fascination with modern developments of his time projected through Nick's observant and admiring documentation of places lit by electric lighting, such as Gatsby's house which was ‘blazing with light,' and the important symbol of Gatsby's â€Å"hope† for Daisy's love – the symbolic green light at the end of Daisy's dock, ultimately described, with pity, as an â€Å"illusion. Light is thus used in a symbol of both Nick's admiration felt at Gatsby's â€Å"hope†, and his sympathy as it is for an immaterial romantic goal (love), which disregards Gatsby's material prominence. Nick also favourably compares Gatsby to a seismograph; an ‘intricate' device driven by unknown/seen forces which mirrors Nick's own impression o f him. This analogy is not merely an â€Å"apt†¦ symbol for the human sensibility in a mechanized age† (Edwin S. Fussell 1952), showing Nick's focus on material developments; it is also clearly used to accentuate his opinions on how admirable Gatsby's â€Å"heightened sensibility† is. Nick's use of such comparisons also suggests the ambiguity in his rendering of Gatsby. Nick only makes us aware of Gatsby's personality in strategically placed narrative elements. These staged revelations, though revealing aspects of Gatsby that hint at criminality (like his activities in Chicago and various other rumours) simultaneously emphasize his admirable qualities such as his prizing of Daisy's love. Indeed, Nick's narration increasingly overlooks Gatsby's flaws, both his and Fitzgerald's views increasingly colouring the tale and casting Gatsby's dream in a positive light. By creating this empathy with Gatsby, Fitzgerald effectively communicates the intense disappointment felt at the intrusion of reality on idealism in the final chapters of the novel, and sympathy for the failure of Gatsby's dream is invoked. Clearly, though Maxwell E Perkins (1924) feels that Gatsby's ambiguity is â€Å"mistaken† as it makes his character more nebulous, Fitzgerald actually uses this as a main method of drawing the reader into a prominent theme of illusion, the ultimate illusion being love itself. The mysteriousness of Gatsby is also used to enable Nick's â€Å"growth in moral perception† (Troy 1945) which Troy describes as a â€Å"necessity† in such a narrator; Nick gradually perceives Gatsby's â€Å"moral† side- his â€Å"innate purity†, and society's lack of this in comparison, subsequently favouring Gatsby and giving some credibility to EK's evaluation of Gatsby being â€Å"more real† than the other characters due to the paradoxically pure nature of his dream. In this respect, Chapter 4 is used to further Nick's, and the reader's, positive perception of Gatsby. It features Jordan recounting a â€Å"romantic† memory of Daisy's former relationship with Gatsby, Fitzgerald effectively digressing from Nick's narration in order to impart a very deliberate and important revelation from Gatsby's past. It is this relationship which Gatsby seeks to reclaim by means of his wealth, and is the basis of the â€Å"romantic readiness† admired in him by Nick. Nick subsequently colours his narrative with the new awareness and says that Gatsby â€Å"came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor†. With this metaphor of a birth, Fitzgerald makes a clear effort to separate Gatsby's huge vitality from the â€Å"purposeless splendour† of materialism, and, by extension, of American society, which he condemns through Nick's judgement of it. In Chapter 6 Fitzgerald again manipulates narrative structure in Nick's tale of Gatsby's origins, as at this stage in the plot's chronology Nick is not privy to this information- it was imparted by Gatsby himself â€Å"very much later† in the novel, and is presented achronologically to renew readers' faith in Gatsby before it is severely challenged in chapter 8, â€Å"with the idea of exploding those first wild rumors about his antecedence†. Fitzgerald reveals a specific part of Gatsby's background through Nick's narration, selected to instill sympathy for Gatsby in the reader by describing his younger self's (Gatz's) upward struggle from poverty, and the author's admiration for the idealistic dreams that had spurred him to create a â€Å"universe of ineffable gaudiness† that he elaborated nightly until â€Å"wedding [these] visions to [Daisy's] breath†. This metaphor reveals the uniting of Gatsby's original ambitions with a dream of love, and is also used to invoke sympathy for the extent to which his dreams are ultimately and perhaps tragically revealed to have gone â€Å"beyond her, beyond everything†. This revelation of Gatsby's â€Å"childlike notion of beauty and grace† (Maxwell Geismar 1947) is illustrated by this analeptic episode, strongly suggesting Gatsby's ultimate innocence and â€Å"pure† dreams beneath his materialistic exterior Fitzgerald presents the social context of the novel through the transformation of the American Dream in the '20s: the new generation of Americans were â€Å"dedicated more than the last to the fear of poverty and the worship of success†, as Fitzgerald himself had stated at the time. Society's material methods of gaining this success are portrayed negatively through Nick's condemnation of the Dream, as Nick has established himself as valuing morals and hard work highly; his family had become â€Å"prominent† through ownership of a â€Å"wholesale hardware business†, while Fitzgerald's own childhood took place in a farming, working environment. Similarly, the values admired in Gatz's willingness and determination to work for and succeed in gaining his dreams are symbolically those lost values of society that had appealed to Fitzgerald, and would appeal to Nick's sensibilities, which is why Nick still portrays Gatsby as being â€Å"great† in contrast to Jazz Age society which seeks goals through material means rather than hard work. This is paradoxically true in spite of Gatsby's own materialism, because the latter is portrayed as unimportant to Gatsby beside his love for Daisy. Through Nick's narrative, then, Gatsby is presented as embodying the old work ethic of a meritocracy but also its transformation to materialism, and ultimately the unattainable goals of the American Dream, this factor essentially providing the grounds for seeing Gatsby as a tragic hero. His idealistic dreams as Gatz are implied to be â€Å"incommunicable for ever,† as they are, in fact, â€Å"wed to Daisy's breath† which is just as perishable as his money. In Chapter 7, Tom's revelations about Gatsby's criminal bootlegging cause the brittle faiade of Jay Gatsby to be â€Å"broken up like glass† against Tom's â€Å"hard malice†, this simile depicting Nick's dislike of the malicious Tom and of the superficiality of the American Dream, but also, crucially, the way Gatsby's dreams have been demolished due to his â€Å"reliance upon material power as the single method of satisfying his searching and inarticulate spirit† (Maxwell Geismar 1947). Gatsby is thus left â€Å"watching over nothing†, this nihilistic phrase ending the chapter and corroborating the sympathy felt by Nick at the hopelessness of Gatsby's â€Å"dead dream†, making Nick â€Å"not want to leave him†. With his death in Chapter 8, this sympathy might indeed render Gatsby not merely â€Å"great†, but genuinely tragic. Thus as readers, we feel ultimately that Nick's (or Fitzgerald's) message is that the â€Å"colossal vitality of [Gatsby's] illusion† is curtailed by the faults of society and that Gatsby himself, by contrast, is â€Å"greater† than his social milieu. Gatsby's is â€Å"the tragedy of a romanticist in a materialist society† (Kuehl, 1959), his immaterial dreams inevitably perishing in the face of society, the hopelessness that it's glamorous exterior encloses, communicated throughout the novel both by the satire of the parties, the obvious symbolic qualities of the Valley of Ashes, the similarly tragic George Wilson, and the doomed Myrtle. Clearly, though John McCormick (1971) regards Daisy as â€Å"the agent of Gatsby's downfall, just as she had been the agent of his rise,† the apparent cause of Gatsby's failure â€Å"went beyond her,† being the â€Å"vital illusion† created by society which had surpassed Daisy; she had only been the springboard for his ideals. The author's message is ultimately a poignant one of hope being obscured by failure, communicating both Fitzgerald's admiration of such dreams, and contempt of the reality which smothers them. In this sense, Nick's voice in the novel is undeniably Fitzgerald's. Having said this, Nick is rendered sufficiently autonomous to be a convincing narrator in his own right, as Gatsby finally also receives sympathy due to tangible affinities formed with him, such as that of disillusionment, which Nick empathizes with as he has been a victim of his own illusion regarding the true nature of Daisy and Jordan, and Gatsby's character itself. A â€Å"growth in moral perception† (when applied to Nick) is â€Å"the tale of the novel† (Troy, 1945) as it is this which ensures Nick's positive portrayal of Gatsby: Nick comes to discover his true history and admired ambition as Gatz, as well as the ultimate tragedy of his still believing, in the face of such adversity as his â€Å"dead dream. This moving naivety clearly proves, however, that in Gatsby's case any growth in moral perception does not apply; even though Daisy has clearly returned to Tom's alluring wealth in Chapter 8, Gatsby innocently, and dumbly, states, â€Å"I suppose Daisy'll call, too,† not perceiving the immorality of the age he lives in. As Kuehl (1959) says, â€Å"it is illusion, and not it's materialization† which is the centre of Gatsby's character – he is a dreamer despite his material status, and his â€Å"heightened† goals will never be materialized, making them pale in comparison to the concrete aspirations o f society and contradicting E. K's evaluation – Gatsby is not precisely â€Å"more real† than society, but he is â€Å"greater† in many ways, as both Nick and Fitzgerald successfully portray him at the close of the novel: the noble dreams that inspire Nick's admiration within Gatsby are only unattainable due to denounced external factors, and therefore ultimately do not subtract from Gatsby's tragically â€Å"great† portrayal.