The Lottery Essay Example for Free

The Lottery Essay The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a small town and their unique summer tradition. This stories thematic element is conformity and rebellion, showing a clash between two well-articulated positions in which a rebel, on principle, confronts and struggles with established authority (Abacarian and Klotz, 289). Jacksons short story caught my attention through her suspenseful structural technique, and incorporation of a serious, seemingly absurd, event in a nonchalant manner. Mr. Summers, who devotes his time to running civic activities, runs this event very year on June 27th. The children are always the first to assemble, innocent to the severity of the event that is about to occur. The head of the household each picks a piece of paper out of a black box, and keeps it sealed until everyone has picked. At the same time all of the men open their papers, and whoevers family has the paper with the black dot has been selected. This year, it was the Hutchinson family. Now, the paper with the dot is placed back in the box along with more blank slips to equal the amount of people in the family. They each pick, and the person who picks the lack dot is the winner, who then gets stoned by the town. Until the very end of the short story the reader is very much unaware of the situation and why this lottery is taking place, which is one reason I picked this story. Suspense in a story is one of my favorite elements and always keeps me wanting to read in order to find out what happens. Through most of the story Jackson shows the town quite cheerful and happy, but she begins to hint towards a dramatic event with statements such as a sudden hush fell on the crowd Oackson,342), l wish theyd hurry. I wish theyd hurry Oackson, 343), and a long pause, a breathless pause Oackson, 343). Once I realized what the point of the lottery is, I quickly thought back through the story and realized how apathetic she was towards this event. Throughout the course of the story, Jackson showed many of the characters acting very casual and carefree, even though one of their towns members was about to be stoned. I liked the way Jackson incorporated the idea of stones with the children in the beginning of the story. This makes the reader originally question its relevance and shows the innocence of youth. She then follows later with the elderly man stating that he had been at these lotteries for seventy-seven years, which showed the town being used to the tradition and show normal it was to the society, and how it only negatively affects the person who won and their family. The characters discuss how many towns have gotten rid of this tradition, and Old Man Warner states Nothing but trouble in that,, Old Man Warner said stoutly. Pack of young fools0ackson, 342). This displays the theme of conformity and rebellion, since the younger generations want to get rid of the tradition, and the older enerations with more power over the society believe it is for the best. Even the death of an individual in their town they say is necessary and tradition, which I found astonishing. oliday atmosphere, which concludes with a horrific event. The holiday atmosphere is used to diminish the immortality of the event, but the author successfully uses the happiness to add suspense to the tradition and add a dark twist to the severity of it all. Overall, the suspense positively adds to the structure of the story and the casual aspect of the stoning and death of a citizen follows the theme of conformity and rebellion.

Successful Corporate Diversification Strategies

Successful Corporate Diversification Strategies Study of rationale behind corporate diversification, its implication and implementation falls under the subject of Strategic Management. Strategic management deals with the long term goals of the corporation. Managers take strategic decisions to react to the changes in the market place and the competitive environment. Decision making at this level is highly unstructured and are generally considered on case by case basis. The cost of corporate diversification is very large hence managers have to make an informed decision to ensure the continued success of their business. Introduction Statement of purpose An attempt will be made to identify the factors that motivate companies to diversify. Using historical data and examples we will try to understand the different diversification strategy, companies employ. However, is it that particular set of strategy more effective than others? Is diversification more common in a particular industry sector? Should a company diversify when it is successful and have surplus wealth or should they diversify when their business is not doing well? Should all the business eventually diversify? Does diversification help companies to minimize risk? These are some of the questions that will be tacked in this final management project. Globalization has brought about new challenges and opportunities for the companies around the world. Phenomenon such increase in competition, softening of trade barriers and advancement in technology and transportation has forced companies to come up with strategies to position them on the path of sustained growth. Despite being acknowledged as an important topic, very few researches have been undertaken to explore the key drivers behind successful diversification decisions. Literature Review The idea of corporate diversification is not new, over the last few decades there have been quite many companies which have diversified its business, some succeeded while others failed. Due to the lack of any influential ideas and frameworks, it is still a puzzle for many general mangers as to what constitute a successful diversification strategy. Academic researchers have also divided themselves in two opposing schools of thought. There are some who describe corporate diversification as a value destroying practice whereas others consider it as a value creation process. According to Michael Porter (1987), diversification records of thirty three large, prestigious U.S. companies from 1950 to 1986 show that most of them had divested many more acquisitions than they had kept. Instead of creating value, it has led to dissipation of shareholder value. Establishment of business school in 1950s and 60s provided manager the necessary general management skills, basic management principles applicable to all kinds of enterprise was the prime focus. Acquisition of unrelated business and growth of conglomerates, served as an opportunity to experiment new ideas and business models. Success of U.S. conglomerates such as Textron and ITT encouraged other European and Asian companies to try out diversification strategy. However instead of applying management principles and following a process of thoughtful evaluation, emphasis was more on the acquisition of companies whose assets were worth more than their stock price. During this period, popular view suggested that managers of the large conglomerates possessed the skills to manage their extensive business operations. Effective application of key management principles like managerial accounting, rigid financial control, detailed budgets and frequent interaction amongst managers were thought to be mantra for successful diversified business. All these seem to justify the fact that diversification, if managed properly would lead to corporate success. As we approach the 70s, things started looking quite different. Stock prices of conglomerates begin to fall; in some cases it was as high as fifty percent as compared to only nine percent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same period. Even General Electric who pioneered in developing and using sophisticated management practices to manage their diverse portfolio encountered a period of profitless growth from 1965 to 1970. Continued trends illustrating the failure of diversified business forced conglomerates to divest and think about new ways to manage their diversity. Suddenly it was becoming very difficult to manage such diversified business. Managers were confused as to which part of their business should they concentrate. The senior managers began contemplating about on their corporate strategy. By late 1970s formal strategic planning systems and frameworks were put in place, the irony was that it was focused at business unit level and did very little to guide ma nagers handling different business. However Andrews (1980) listed identification of the businesses in which the firm would compete as the main task of corporate strategist, and this became the convention of corporate strategic management. Consulting Groups such as Boston Consulting Group came up with new techniques of portfolio planning that helped executives in allocation of resources amongst different business. Growth/Share matrix and attractiveness/business position matrix etc are still the most widely used strategic frameworks, used to assess the corporate position and opportunities in a particular business. However the problem with portfolio management was found soon. Philippe Haspeslagh (1982) found that organizational framework was an important variable explaining the corporate performance. Different kinds of business had to be managed differently and most companies were missing the right organizational mix/integration/adaptation to run their diversified business efficiently. During 1980-90s, weak performance of many conglomerates drew harsh criticism from prominent management strategists and thinkers like Michael E. Porter. In a bid to restore the faith in diversified businesses, executives turned their attention to Value based planning, motivating them use financial tools such as discounted cash flow, ROE and hurdle rates to improve the stock price and deliver the stockholder expectation. It still did not answer how managers can add value to diversified portfolio. Peters and Waterman (1982) ushered a new wave of corporate view on diversification Stick to the knitting. They observed that successful conglomerates never diversified widely. They specialized in particular sector and focused on building knowledge and skills in those areas. As we fast forward to 1990-2000s the main issues for corporate manager were organizational restructuring, identification of core portfolios and adding values in them. Three philosophies have received support in current management thinking: 1. Limit diversification to business with synergy 2. Diversification should be able to exploit the core competence 3. Build a portfolio that fit within the organizational structure and that has compatible management style at all levels. Methods The research topic will first be explored from an academics point of view, facts and data about diversified conglomerates will be collected from the business/management databases. Management frameworks will be applied to test the hypothesis whether diversification strategy is in line with current academic thinking and whether companies diversified in the right business. List of both successful and unsuccessful diversification will be considered. Websites of the companies can be used as a reliable source to collect information about their different portfolios. Attempts will be made to contact the researchers and academician, who can provide us an updated view on the current diversification scenario.

Man Vs. Himself In The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne :: essays research papers

A great deal of blood has been shed and many wars have been fought during the history of civilization; however, man’s greatest battle and most formidable enemy is only himself. This has been made only more evident with the passage of time and the development of the human character. However, one factor that has remained constant in the human character through this development is conscience. Conscience can be man’s saving grace or his damning affliction; its presence may simultaneously purify and mar. As contradictory as this may sound, it has been explored in depth by Nathaniel Hawthorne who chronicles one man’s battle against himself in The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, an anguished Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to pacify his conscience and withhold the secret of his sin from being known. As his conscience continues to consume all that is his very essence, Arthur Dimmesdale illustrates Hawthorne’s theme of a sin-stained conscience and redemption only through truth. The novel begins to delve into the heart and conscience of Arthur Dimmesdale when Roger Chillingworth questions him about his thoughts on sinners and their secrets. Feeling full well the torment of his own secret, Arthur proclaims that those who hold such "miserable secrets†¦will yield them up that last day†¦with a joy unutterable." By this expression, Arthur offers a glimpse into his tortured heart and shows how heavy a burden his secret is. When Chillingworth further inquires about such sinful secrets, Arthur holds his hand to his breast, a motion that he carries out as "if afflicted with an importunate throb of pain." Evidently Arthur does this frequently, and the reader is presented with the thought that this gesture possibly is not done as much out of physical suffering as spiritual suffering. Not only is the health of Arthur’s body in question, but the condition of his heart, his soul, is dubious. A supernatural light is later shed upon this question as Chillingworth uncovers the secret Arthur had tried to keep intact. It is visible to him as he pulls aside Arthur’s ministerial robe: a scarlet letter A upon his chest. Although Hawthorne lets this aspect of the novel remain ambiguous, this engraving on Arthur’s chest suggests that the burden of his sin had seeped so deeply within him, it has now forced its way outside; it is at all his levels. At this point in the novel, Arthur’s sin had begun, if it had not already succeeded, in consuming him. Arthur’s conscience was now stained with sin, and its weight will

Effects of Industrialization in 1700 - 1850 Essay -- American European

Effects of Industrialization in 1700 - 1850 Industrialization occurred in many countries, each taking a different approach to the implementation of new machinery and technology. The most notable for leading the way in industrialization is Britain. Industrialization not only made dramatic changes in the economic structure of countries but also in the social and political areas of countries. Industrialization led to much upheaval, especially socially since the whole way of life was changing. The emergence of the working class and the growing divide between classes also meant that a new political and economic structure was developed: capitalism. Industrialization began in Britain since there was a large supply of coal and steel and it was seen as one of the greatest colonial powers, thus allowing it to gain the capital and market needed to industrialize. Since Britain led the way for industrialization, it could be seen to epitomise the effects that it had on countries. One of the social effects that industrialization had was that the ‘rhythm of life changed’ . Pre-industrialization, people were based mainly in rural areas. However, when the enclosure of land became popular in the 1760’s, farmers who were tenants began to be pushed of the land. This along with the establishment of new urban towns and cities meant that people started to move away resulting in ‘English peasant villages being destroyed’ . Land enclosure was only one reason why people moved to the new urban areas. The other was the fact that new machinery was making families handicrafts of little commercial value, meaning that they were not able to survive on the money they made. This meant that the promise of a rise in wages appealed to a great many people in the rural areas, resulting in yet more change for the population With industrialization came a new family structure, the nuclear family. This was in complete contrast to the previous way people interacted with each other, but fitted perfectly into the nameless society, which had developed. The pre-industrial villages were very close knit since most of the textile and agricultural industry revolved around the home, with everyone participating in some way to the production of consumer goods. The nuclear family was very unlike this... ...freedom from agriculture, meaning that more people could undertake ‘professional’ jobs such as doctors and lawyers. This was unlike that of the time pre-industrial, because then the basis of society was the worker and owner, now society had the employer, the employee, and the professional. Industrialization also changed the world economic system because places like China and India who, previous to industrialization, had been one of the main manufactures for the world were now being left behind since they could not produce goods as cheaply as industrialized countries. Bibliography J.M. Roberts, The Pelican History Of The World, Pelican, 1986 T.S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830, Oxford University Press, 1970 P. Gregg, A Social and Economic History of Britain, Harrap, 1971 G. Rude, Revolutionary Europe 1783-1815, Fontana/Collins, 1980 P. Mathias, The First Industrial Nation, Methuen&Co Ltd, 1972 M.J. Daunton, Progress and Poverty, Oxford University Press, 1995 P. Lane, Documents on British Economic and Social History 1750-1870, 1972 G. Warner, Marten and Muir, The New Groundwork of British History, Balckie&son, 1968

The Future of Computer Technology :: Exploratory Essays

The Future of Computer Technology Where is the future of computers and computer intelligence heading? Is it good? Is it the wrong direction yet the right track? A look into the past, the present, and the future of computers will likely make up the mind of a person who hasn’t thought about this topic. From a humanist stand point, I do not think the future is bright but from a computer development stand point, the future look endless. The computer was first thought up by a guy named Alan Turing who figured there could be a machine that could do mathematical equations without human interaction. Without the technology available, this thought was just that, a thought. However, in the 1930’s IBM built a calculating machine called the Mark I. Although still not quite a computer because it had to read punch cards, it would set the stage for the future. The next big step in computer technology was the building of ENIAC. The first successful, general digital computer was finished in 1945 and weighed 60000 lbs. and housed more than 18000 vacuum tubes. This computer could not permanently store information however so a new development had to be made and in 1952 EDVAC was born. Now machines could â€Å"remember† information. Technologically, this was a huge advancement but could the developers see what might come of the future if a computer can remember what it has done? But walking talking computers that could think and speak on their own were a far cry considering these machines covered more than an acre in size. The invention of the integrated circuit in 1959 was the biggest development until 1971 when the microprocessor was developed. The microprocessor can house thousands of transistors on an area the size of a pencil eraser. With the creation of the microprocessor(fig.2) came an explosion of computer technology. Now computers could be made to perform thousands of calculations a second and could fit on a desktop (fig.3). But could these computers think on their own and do things without being told? On a secondary level, yes. If a user gave a command to the computer, the computer could carry out a series of task and give the user a result. However, a computer cannot do something without being told to first such as pick up objects and destroy things. That is until the birth of AI or artificial intelligence. The Future of Computer Technology :: Exploratory Essays The Future of Computer Technology Where is the future of computers and computer intelligence heading? Is it good? Is it the wrong direction yet the right track? A look into the past, the present, and the future of computers will likely make up the mind of a person who hasn’t thought about this topic. From a humanist stand point, I do not think the future is bright but from a computer development stand point, the future look endless. The computer was first thought up by a guy named Alan Turing who figured there could be a machine that could do mathematical equations without human interaction. Without the technology available, this thought was just that, a thought. However, in the 1930’s IBM built a calculating machine called the Mark I. Although still not quite a computer because it had to read punch cards, it would set the stage for the future. The next big step in computer technology was the building of ENIAC. The first successful, general digital computer was finished in 1945 and weighed 60000 lbs. and housed more than 18000 vacuum tubes. This computer could not permanently store information however so a new development had to be made and in 1952 EDVAC was born. Now machines could â€Å"remember† information. Technologically, this was a huge advancement but could the developers see what might come of the future if a computer can remember what it has done? But walking talking computers that could think and speak on their own were a far cry considering these machines covered more than an acre in size. The invention of the integrated circuit in 1959 was the biggest development until 1971 when the microprocessor was developed. The microprocessor can house thousands of transistors on an area the size of a pencil eraser. With the creation of the microprocessor(fig.2) came an explosion of computer technology. Now computers could be made to perform thousands of calculations a second and could fit on a desktop (fig.3). But could these computers think on their own and do things without being told? On a secondary level, yes. If a user gave a command to the computer, the computer could carry out a series of task and give the user a result. However, a computer cannot do something without being told to first such as pick up objects and destroy things. That is until the birth of AI or artificial intelligence.

Lazarillo de Tormes and the Swindler

/*Class. Project 1*/ import java. io. BufferedReader; import java. io. FileReader; import java. util. StringTokenizer; import java. io. *; import java. math. BigDecimal; import java. util. *; /** * * @author: Huma UmmulBanin Zaidi * @Project:Project1, Data Structure. * Running program looks like: This program finds sum or product of a LARGE numbers of integers. Enter as many integers > 0 as you would like. Enter the numbers: 1 3 5 7 7 5 3 1 Please select the number of one of these options: 1. Sum the numbers in the list 2. Multiply the numbers in the list Your choice: 1Answer is: 16 Exiting program†¦ */ public class Project1 { //public class ReadFile { // Read lists of numbers from a specified text file. public static void main(String[] args){ if(args. length == 0) System. out. println(â€Å"No file specified. â€Å"); else { FileReader theFile; BufferedReader inFile; String oneLine; int s; try{ // file not found exception must be caught theFile = new FileReader(args[0]); inFi le = new BufferedReader(theFile); while((oneLine = inFile. readLine()) ! = null) { String numbers[] = oneLine. split(â€Å",†); // † † for space s = 0; for (int i=0; i= 0 ){ Node cur = new Node(); cur. setData(Integer. valueOf(n. remainder(d). intValue())); n = n. divide(d); node. setpNext(cur); node = node. etpNext(); } } public void mainLoop() { int numbers = 0; // Used to store numbers read in Node pHead = null; // head of linked list Node pTemp; // used in new node creation while( numbers ! = -1) { if (numbers ! = -1) { pTemp = new Node(); // Insert at head of list pTemp. setData( numbers); // store the number pTemp. setpNext( pHead); // set the â€Å"pointer† pHead = pTemp; // reset the head of the list } }//end while( number†¦ }//end of mainLoop //} public LargeNumbers AddNumbers (LargeNumbers n) { /public static void main(String[] args) { //System. out. println(â€Å"Addition of two numbers! â€Å"); LargeNumbers sum = new LargeNumbers(); sum. head. getpNext(). setData(this. head. getpNext(). getData()+n. head. getpNext(). getData()); int b = 0; int a = 0; int sum1 = a + b; System. out. println(â€Å"Sum: † + sum1); //} return sum; } public static void AddNumbers(LargeNumbers a, LargeNumbers b) { int n1 = 0; int n2 = 0; int sum1 = n1 + n2; System. out. println(â€Å"Sum: † + sum1); //} } public String toString(){ String str = â€Å"†; Node temp = head. getpNext(); while(temp! = null){ str += (temp. etData() + † â€Å"); temp = temp. getpNext(); } //end while return str; } // end toString public LargeNumbers Multiply (LargeNumbers n) { int mul1; int mul2; public static void main(String args[]){ try{ Multiply mul= new Multiply(); int multiplication; BufferedReader object=new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System. in)); System. out. println(â€Å"Enter number:†+† â€Å"); mul. mul1=Integer. parseInt(object. readLine()); mul. mul2=Integer. parseInt(object. readLine()); System. out. println(â€Å"Width is =†+ mul. mul1); System. out. println(â€Å"Height is =†+ mul. mul2); multiplication = mul. mul1*mul. ul2; System. out. print(â€Å"Multiply number is=†+ multiplication); } catch(Exception e){} } } } /*class. node*/ public class Node { // For simplicity sake assume we only store an integer in each node private Integer data; private Node pNext; // Default Constructor public Node() { data = 0; pNext = null; } // Fully Qualified constructor public Node(Integer data, Node pNext) { this. data = data; this. pNext = pNext; } // get and set methods public void setData( Integer data) { this. data = data; } public Integer getData() { return this. data; } public void setpNext( Node nextNode) { this. Next = nextNode; } // return a reference (the address) of the next node public Node getpNext() { return this. pNext; } // toString allows printing a node public String toString() { return( â€Å"† + this. data); } }//end class Node /*data. text */ 9 4 31,415,926,535 2 0 1,234,567,890 1,734,792 131 1,506,033,005,018,000,029 1,992 23,571 100,000,002,750,004,128,293,702,150,000 9,999,999 9,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 31,415,926,535 31,415,926,535 3,276,765,535,021 271,828,128,450,945 112,233,445,566,778,899 99,887,766,554,433,221,100 198,719,881,989,199,019,911,992,199,319,941,995 141,421,356

Sample Acknowledgement

We, the researchers, would like to extend our gratitude to all those people who helped and supported us in completing this term paper. We would like to thank our beloved professor, Fr. Kim Lachica, S. J. , for the lessons, guidance and advices he bestowed upon us. He inspired us to work efficiently on this project. In addition, we would like to thank him for motivating us to work hard in achieving our goals in life.Moreover, we would also want to express our gratefulness to the one who gave all of his time to us in the interview and shared his personal life experiences as an entrepreneur which also motivated us to work harder in our fields. He is no other than Mr. Steffen Eisenbarh, the owner of GROUPWORX101 Company. For without him, we would not finish this project. In addition, we express our sincere gratitude to our families who understood and encouraged us in every time we spent in making this term paper.Last but not the least, we would like to extend our heart-felt gratitude to our Almighty Father for His unending and unconditional support He had given upon us. He enlightened us throughout the struggles and experience we’ve been through in making this term paper. Without the help and support of the particular persons that mentioned above, we would face many difficulties while doing this term paper. Again, we take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this term paper.