Business Proposal On Tailor Made Adventure Holidays Tourism Essay

Business Proposal On Tailor Made Adventure Holidays Tourism Essay This report puts forth a unique business proposal, based on tailor-made adventure holidays. This business plan encompasses unique holiday packages for adventure lovers residing in the United Kingdom, attractive deal of prices and promises of delivering a true value for money experience to our customers, a clear understanding of the market, the anchoring segmentation, marketing and pricing strategies that confirm a competitive edge over existing players in the market, along with the financial projections made in light of realistic terms and conditions. To deliver our customers an entire experience to value, rather than a mere service for a value. Our aim is to make it a very simple and pleasant experience for our customers at every step, i.e. right from the time they consult us to bookings made, to the time their trip comes to an end and even after that we intend to live up to the needs of a good and lasting customer relationship. To encourage eco-tourism. Our second aim is to actively encourage eco-tourism. Any kind of harm caused to the ecology, if witnessed, would certainly not be entertained. Our effort towards this aim would be, say, taking care of the camels during camel safari that is amongst one of our packages for trip to Rajasthan in India. Also, not causing any kind of disruptions to the space and milieu of various animals, during trips to forests, would be highly acknowledged. Especially, during trips to forests in Africa which form a paradise for several endangered species. Our objectives are: To be the first choice of our prospective customers. We wish to be the first choice of the adventure lovers in the UK, seeking to book adventure trips for themselves. To rule the niche market of exclusive tailor-made adventure holidays. Considering the fact that we belong to an extremely niche market, it is one of our prime objectives to dominate the market, where customers come to us by choice, and not just by chance. To cover as many as, all the adventurous destinations round the globe by 2020. We intend to take our customers to numerous destinations to adventure the real variety of adventure! Right from the soft adventures like balloon safaris through the royal palaces of the incredible Rajasthan in India to extreme adventures of confronting the ultimate wildlife in the bushes of Amazon. In years to come, not only cover, but we also intend to discover such adventurous destinations round the globe that are still waiting to be seen and experienced. Product PRODUCT The product we would be offering is the various packages to the destinations mentioned below. Destinations Europe Asia Africa Polland India Spain Thailand Amazon Turkey Tanzania Uganda Initially, we have chosen these eight destinations because, they exhibit variety in adventure. Our packages to these destinations would be promoted by the following names: Phenomenal India Wild Tanzania Thai venture Enticing Poland Frantic Amazon Sensational Spain Kingkong Uganda Thrill In Turkey CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR PRODUCT Exclusively for UK residents wanting to book an adventure tour. Our main focus as far as customers are concerned, are the people residing only in the United Kingdom and the ones who want to go for an adventure trip in particular. Tailor-made in true sense. We are different from other tailor-made tour companies as we provide for freedom of choice in every sense. For e.g. definitely, apart from our advice and suggestions; our customer is given a wide range of choices to make according to his requirement and convenience with respect to selection of hotel rooms (whether deluxe or economy), option of booking Air tickets with us, including or excluding the meal option and so on. Also, our customer is free to decide the combination of adventure activities within a destination, like, he may choose a combination of Tiger Safari and Paragliding in two different places within India that we offer. For all age groups. We are open to all age groups because we offer a mix of soft as well as extreme adventure. The customer decides the price is our key selling proposition. Other agencies offer packages inclusive of all its features for a set price. We would offer only what the customer is seeking for and he pays only for what he chooses. Thus, it is the customers choice of place, adventure and price too! All procedures are just at a click of a button. Our official website would provide for easy accessibility to complete information of our products, booking and payment procedures and all the required guidelines to our customers all over UK. Market analysis Market research is just like the foundation of any business research. Thus, it is one of the most crucial functionality that makes a piece of information more reliable and evident. Businesses, small or large, need this kind of research, not only to keep a track of the market, but also, to understand what and how certain strategies need to be introduced into the business to keep in pace with the uncertain market situations. For a start up business like ours, market research and analysis is of great onus, to determine the feasibility of a new business. Our market analysis comprises of reports from Keynote and other websites like CNBC, that discuss about the UK travel market. The following data largely talks about our market, the customer behaviour persisting in the market and the trends, that in turn suggest us how can our business reach the desired levels of profit. TRENDS IN OUTBOUND TOURISM According to Keynote, the UK tourism market, in total is divided into three categories namely, inbound, outbound and domestic. The combined market yielded  £74billion in the year 2008; out of which the contribution of domestic and outbound was as good as 77.9%. The outbound market increased by 20.6% during 2004-2008; being quite remarkable. (KEYNOTE: A Report on Overseas Tour Operators, 2009) Analysis The table above clarifies the total UK market for tourism. This table was used to identify and understand value and number of overseas holidays made. It implies that outbound travel or overseas trips are greater than others, by value. This says, in UK tourism market, role of outbound is significant. This also means UK population, appreciates trips abroad and hence would buy our packages as we offer mix and range of many countries. PATTERN OF HOLIDAY TRIPS ABROAD Statistics highlighted by Keynote show, that holiday trips both domestic and abroad, estimated up to 120 million; almost equating to two holidays per resident. Figures put forth a lucrative amount of 64.1%, being the share of the total amount of money that people in the UK spend on holidays abroad. In volume (Million Trips) By value ( £ Billion) (KEYNOTE: A Report on Top Markets: Transport Tourism, 2010) Analysis This report was used to identify holiday trips made abroad. Trip abroad can mean a visit to family or friends, or a business trip, or a holiday trip. These two graphs help us in narrowing down to holiday trips only. This shows customers spending on holidays abroad. According to the graphs above, although the outbound holiday trip is less in number as compared to domestic trip (by number of trips made); but, is definitely much superior with respect to value. It can be understood as; value of one overseas trip is equal to value of three domestic trips, concerning the price of package. This also shows outbound holiday trips generate more money than domestic trips. ADVENTURE TRIPS MADE, IN PARTICULAR It is interesting to note that, average expenditure made on activity trips abroad is much higher than that of domestic ones; which is estimated up to a significant  £1,000 in comparison with a mere  £193 respectively. By Volume (Million trips) By Value ( £ Billion) (KEYNOTE: Report on Activity Holidays, 2009) Analysis This report from Keynote helps us to narrow down to adventure holidays in particular. This data is used to investigate, the interest and buying behaviour of UK population towards activity holidays. Total holiday trips abroad comes to 39 £bn, and the total of adventure holiday trips abroad is 7.7 £bn. These figures tell us that out of all holiday trips made abroad, 20% are only for adventure. This is a very positive figure for us, because, there are so many types of holidays like, Sightseeing, Beach holidays, Historic attractions, Honeymoon holidays, Spa holidays etc. Amongst this scattered range, adventure holidays has a good 20% share, which says all; that people in UK like adventure holidays and they spend too accordingly for it. RANKING OF DESIRED DESTINATIONS The following are the favourite destinations, where people prefer to go for holidays. Especially, 13.4 million visits have been made solely to Spain, which makes way for it to top the list of most preferred holiday destinations that people of UK tend to choose. (KEYNOTE: A Report on Travel agents and Operators, 2009) Analysis These are favourite places where people of UK like to visit. According to this report, largest number of tourists is for Spain. We have used this report, to decide onto the choice of countries to offer to the customer. Looking at the statistics, we chose Spain, Turkey, Poland and India, as these are the destinations consumers like to visit. Our other choice of country i.e. African countries is done for a reason that, several UK consumers are yet to explore these regions as tourist places. Our research and observation shows, African market for adventure holidays is still unexplored and untapped for UK customers and the beautiful aspect of this is, the variety and thrill in adventure that Africa has; is what UK consumer will love. So, what intend to offer places they typically go in accordance with what they like and also place that they would like to go, if given a chance. It is more like introducing African adventure holidays to UK consumers in a refined and tailor-made way. US, the second favourite, will be offered in years to come. ROLE OF INTERNET IN BOOKING TOURS (KEYNOTE: A Report on Holiday Purchasing Patterns, 2009) Analysis This table is been used to see the importance of internet for holidays. The chart above reflects the source of information for the last holiday taken in last 12 months (in % of adults) This table supports that, internet is the largest source used by people to book their holidays. This would be very fruitful to us because, as we are a virtually operating tour company, we would have the largest number of potential customers finding us and seeking information. The figure for information from tour operator is also pretty decent. So, in a way, we are likely to benefit in this situation, both, through internet users as well as our physical presence. CUSTOMER SOPHISTICATION According to a Keynote report based on Purchasing Patterns (2009), customer sophistication in terms of their awareness about technology usage has seen a steep rise. Moreover, their ideas about holidays have only and only grown clearer about how exactly they wish to design their trips; further adds to attract them towards our type of service. A survey by CNBC says, Holiday Are a Necessity for Britons Further it mentioned that, Despite the fragile economic recovery, 91% of Britons surveyed are still keen to take their annual holiday, according to the British Travel Awards. Lorraine Barnes Burton, CEO of British Travel Awards, told CNBC Thursday that people are more likely to cut back on other discretionary spend before they cut back on their holiday (CNBC SURVEY, February 2010) FORECAST With respect to a report on Keynote, activity holidays abroad are expected to grow from 5.6 million trips to 6.1 million trips during the year span from 2009 to 2013. Moreover, the expected increase by value, during the same span is  £5.3 billion to  £6.7 billion. (KEYNOTE: A Report on Activity Holiday, 2009) Analysis Considering factors like recession and consumer spending, tourism is definitely in a little unstable situation. But the best part is, things are moving towards positive and the forecast table supports this. Outbound activity holidays are expected to rise in the next three years. The growth is predicted to be comparatively higher in 2012 and 2013. Forecasts further show that outbound activity holidays will continue to generate more revenue compared to domestic activity holidays. There are few more implications regarding the forecast related to Political and Economical issues. Factors like, more specific regulatory issues relating to tour operator licensing and customer safety and restrictive entry visa requirements. There was decline in UK GDP in 2009. However, 2010 observed a 1.2% increase and the prediction for 2012 expects a rise by 2.5%. COMPETITORS As mentioned earlier in this report, we belong to an extremely niche market. Our research says, there are quite a few tailor-made tour operators and travel companies specialized in designing adventure trips; but very few direct competitors i.e. both tailor-made as well as specialized in adventure trips in particular. This gives us a stronger chance to make our presence felt in the market with the help of appropriate strategies. The following are our indirect competitors: Tailor-made holiday Tour operators Tailormade Travel Kirkir holidays Travelbag.co.uk Kuoni travels Audley travels Theres a long list, of about 40tailor made holiday operator companies in UK. These are the most known and popular. They are not direct competition, but there is obviously a threat because they have adventure holidays. There is another aspect to this too that, customers who like tailoring their holiday might look for tailor made adventure holiday as well. Adventure Holiday operators The Adventure Company Explore! World-wide Adventure Travel Adventure Sports Holidays Activities abroad Footloose Adventure Travel Addicted to Travel Active Adventure High Adventure and Wild Expedition These are the tour operators which have only adventure activities. They are even bigger threat, because customer looking for adventure holiday would not necessarily try for tailor made holidays unless he is looking for same. The following are our direct competitors: Tailor-made adventure tour operators Wild Frontier Adventure travel Adventure tours and Tailor made holidays Tailor-made Explore Adventure Holidays Responsibletravel.com Imaginative traveller These four are our main direct competitors, all UK based. Undoubtedly, these travel companies have a wide range of destinations to offer. But, they tailor only to the extent of preferred types of rooms in a hotel, flight bookings. A customer is definitely free to state specifications if any; but, anything more than this might or might not be arranged for. This is what is common in all these adventure tour operators. How are we different from our direct competitors Intensely Tailor-made: We welcome choices made by our customers in light of not only hotel rooms, flight seat specification; but also, to the extent that our customer is free to choose his own adventurous activities at various destinations that we offer. The Kingpin pays only for what he chooses to: By this we mean that our customer has the liberty to make a choice of even the activities at the destination he decides to go. He can choose his own combination of adventure according to his preference and most importantly pays only to the extent of what he chose. Thus, our packages have flexible pricing benefit. Strategy formulation Target segment Our segmentation is divided in two parts: By Age We would be considering all the age groups. Especially, age group ranging from: 30 years-49 years. While, 18 years-29 years and 49+, if applicable. By Class Affluent class. Upper middle class. Basically, our customer can be anyone who can afford to spend an average of  £1,000 for holiday trips as we provide for a blend of adventure with desired levels of luxury. The following table represents the weekly disposable income categorized by age. Considering this information can help us know who can be our prospective customers and how can we generate sales. (KEYNOTE: A Report of Market Assessment on Extended Financial Families, 2005) Analysis Age groups ranging from 30 years-49 years have the highest weekly disposable income; which also form our prime focus for selling packages. Second highest is the age group that ranges from 50 years-64 years of age; which implies that these are people who have money but most probably might not be keen to go for extreme adventure trips. So, we can sell them our packages that ensure soft forms of adventure, say, a balloon safari Rajasthan, India or boat cruise in the forests of Amazon. It shows that we have a good amount of prospective customers. It reflects that the market indeed has the type of customers we looking for, who can potentially buy our services if we can reach them. Competitive position The following table is a glance of what our direct competitors are offering and how different are we, to this regard. These are the specimen forms that are provided in either of the cases under specialized tailor-made holidays. DIRECT COMPETITOR VENTURE FUN TOURS CUSTOMERS PERSONAL DETAILS CUSTOMERS PERSONAL DETAILS CUSTOMERS CONTACT DETAILS CUSTOMERS CONTACT DETAILS CUSTOMERS POSTAL DETAILS CUSTOMERS POSTAL DETAILS EXTRACT INFORMATION: like, how did they hear about us etc. EXTRACT INFORMATION: like, how did they hear about us and so on. DATE OF TRAVEL DATE OF TRAVEL CLASS OF TRAVEL: Business/Economy DURATION OF TRAVEL: Default or set by customer. OTHER SPECIFICATIONS INCLUDE: Flight only/ Self drive/Camper van/ Coach. OTHER SPECIFICATIONS INCLUDE: Flight details- Economy class/Business class (both for International Domestic flights) Preferred Local transport- Coach/ boat cruises/local trains. Meals: Yes/No ; if yes, then Vegetarian/Non-vegetarian; Meals on certainly specified days; Go for the default program. CHOICE OF DESTINATIONS CHOICE OF DESTINATIONS CHOICE OF HOTEL CHOICE OF ROOMS IN HOTEL: Deluxe/Economy/Suite. CHOICE OF DURATION AVAILABLE PACKAGES AVAILABLE PAKAGES AVAILABLE ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES: By Default or chosen by the customer. PRICES OF PACKAGES (fixed) PRICE OF PACKAGE: Set by Customer. SPECIFICATIONS, IF ANY FURTHER SPECIFICATIONS SWOT Analysis The following are the strengths of our business, which grants us certain opportunities: STRENGHT OPPORTUNITY 1. Intensively personalized/tailor-made. Customers needs completely meet our offer. 2. Price of customers choice. Customer is free to stick to his budget. 3. UK has large no. of holidays abroad. We have a large prospective market to attract. 4. 20% of total holidays abroad comprise of adventure holidays in particular. A Large number of people from UK like to go for adventure trips. The following are the weaknesses that might probe into a threat to us in respective ways: WEAKNESS THREAT 1. We are yet to enter the market. The existing companies are presently more recognized. 2. Acts of terrorism tend to badly affect tourism. Reduced sales are a loss to the company. 3. Reduction in the currency rate of Sterling Pound due to recession. Might affect the spending ability of people on holidays thus, may lead to stagnancy in sales. + Pricing Strategy: Our pricing strategy would be Skimming Pricing. Segment: This pricing strategy implies skimming a segment of customers in the market; as, in our case it is mainly the rich class and upper middle class people. Cost of Production: Our average cost of production per package is approximately  £1,000. This includes payments to all our non-labour resources right from hotels/resorts to flight booking to activity operators to local transport providers so on and so forth. Cost Differentiation: It is not possible for us to compete much on grounds of cost differentiation. Hence, our prices are not very different from what other service providers like us are offering, but our service is undoubtedly more personalized. At the most, we can probably give certain discounts in peak season to our customers. For example, discounts for couples or kids in a family, who are below 10 years of age or school/college trips. Negotiation with Suppliers: Negotiation with suppliers might enable us to procure concessions on costs, so that we can either yield a greater profit margin or give discounts to customers to expedite sales. Competitive Pricing: The prices of our packages range from a minimum  £800 to  £1,500 and higher, depending up on how much a customer is willing to spend. This price though is for 7 to 8 days, unless the customer wants to pay more and extend his holiday; other operators quote this price for approximately 15 days. But, we justify our prices because of the extent to which our packages are flexible and personalized. Marketing strategy Throughout our main marketing tag line would be; YOUR place, YOUR priceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ thrill too of YOUR choice!!! Web page: Our official website would be the prime place to promote our service. Hence, we would aim to build a very strong and impressive web page. Our web page would be clear and easy to understand. We would provide for online chat service. If the customer has a query or complaint, this service would facilitate personal contact. Online ads: As we are virtual travel operators, next best choice would be online ads. Online ads reach to large audience at a fast rate and are cost effective as well. For this, we would use Business Internet Directory and Axandra; which would cost us  £289/year and  £52/month respectively. We may also opt for such other online services that offer us still lower prices. Another advantage of this strategy is that we get to choose a keyword for which we want to come in first 10 choices in search engine; so that our customers can find us easily. Digital displays: We wish to have our digital display and banner at Heathrow International Airport. The digital display would have clips of destinations and would depict the tailor-made aspect clearly. The banner (1533/month) would show picture of a popular destination with the name of our company. Expenditure in both the cases would be  £1,533/month. Such ads would be displayed only six times in a year, i.e. those six months would be during and around the peak season. Billboards: Billboards would be put in four main city centres of UK; mostly in Finchley, London and the one in Cardiff. It would be for four months in a year in each of the cities. Billboards will have new features or aspects each time. This would cost us about  £500/month. Brochures: Brochure distribution in city malls would also be done. Around 200-250 brochures and pamphlets would be distributed, say, on any four days of a month. Tie ups: We would try to tie up with restaurant joints like Pizza hut or Burger King and convince them to have a contest or something. The trips awarded to winners then would be managed by us. Universities: Contacts would be made with Universities and our contact details would be furnished to them. We intend to help students by providing them information or internal interviews for their dissertations or research on any topic related to travel, tourism and hospitality. This would make us popular among students and universities. (All costs of advertising are included in Costing, under the heading Advertising.) Costing Costing here will cover costs that would be incurred initially, i.e. at the time of establishing the business; the monthly expenditures like, the rent, electricity charges, salary etc; costs incurred depending up on the type and the number of employees we would be hiring; also, costs anchored to our packages. The following are the costs represented in a tabular format along with their explanations. INITIAL AND MONTHLY COSTS: INITIAL COSTS (In Pounds) Security Deposit 1,000 Rent 500 Equipments 2,500 Advertising (6months) 10,000 Registration 350 TOTAL: 14,350 £ Explanation: Initially we would require paying a security deposit of  £1,000 i.e. double the rent, along with the rent of the first month being  £500. So, that makes it  £1,500 towards rent in the first month. Equipments would include computer systems, printer, scanner, fax machine, Xerox machine and so on. We would enter into a contract with an advertising agency for six months, which would cost us  £10,000. Cost of registration would come up to  £350. MONTHLY EXPENSES (In Pounds) Rent 500 Electricity 100 Water 40 Telephone 16 Stationary 1,000 TOTAL: 1,656 £ Explanation: Monthly rent would be  £500. We would get into a contract with SWALEC, according to which we would have a fixed post-paid amount to pay every month, which would be  £100 each month, which comes up to  £1200 per year. Water charges incurred would be approximately  £40. A special deal with Talk Talk service providers would grant unlimited international calling in a fixed rate of  £16 per month. Stationary would include pen, pencils and erasers, staplers, punching machines, papers, files folders and so on. STAFF WAGES: TYPE OF STAFF (In Pounds) Manager (Salaried Employee) 1,800 Customer service Executive (Full time) 1,200/Month Customer service Executive (Part time) 472/Month TOTAL: 3,472 £ Explanation: We would employee a Manager, who would be a salaried employee and would be paid  £1,800. We would require to employee a full time Customer Care Executive, who would be paid  £1,200 each month. We would also recruit a part time Customer Care Executive having a salary of  £472 per month. COSTS OF INDIVIDUAL PACKAGES: The cost of individual package means the cost incurred to make a particular package. This cost includes expenses to reach to different activity operators; which refers to contacting them or making contract with them, or giving them information or getting information. This cost is counted under the head of telephone cost. (Example: calling the operator dealing with winter sports in Poland and making the deal.) There is no cost involved for signing the deal, its a rapport built by communication modes like emails and telephone. This essentially lets the suppliers know that we too exist in the market, and that we can provide potential customers to them as well. This makes a win-win situation possible for both the parties. With time, we would get more and more familiar with suppliers in the market. Good supplier-relationship will lead to the scope for acquiring concessions also. Keeping aside the profit margin as  £150- £200, all the remaining price of the packages that range from  £1000- £1200- £1500, is the cost behind the packages that we would incur. In the third year, we expect a reduction in cost of sales, as we would be getting discounts from suppliers. Staffing resourcing STAFF Initially, we would be employing: One Manager. One full time Customer Care Executive. One part time Customer Care Executive. The following are the details of their job profiles, criteria of selection, likely remuneration and methods of recruitment. Type of staff : Manager Job profile : Managing and co-ordinating the team of customer care executives. Communicating courteously, in case required to deal with a client personally. Analysing market and financial statistics to mould strategies if necessary. Handling customer complains. Establishing contacts and networking with various hotels, resorts and activity operators, being one of the main demands of our service. Training the staff. Job specification : An MBA graduate or holder of a post graduation degree in Hospitality Tourism. Preferably should have a work experience of minimum one year. Excellent communication skills required. Must know to implement leadership qualities. Well versed with basic managerial skills. Remuneration :  £1,800 per month i.e.  £21,600 per year (8 hours/day, Mon-Fri, salaried employee) Type of staff : Customer care executive Job profile : Receiving calls of the customers. Handling customer queries. Suggesting and advising customers to design trips that best suits their choice and budget. Explaining the features of the various products if required. Co-ordinating with the resort and activity operators based on the instructions given by the manager. Managing the data base and information system. Job specification : Any graduate, preferably in the fields of Management or Hospitality Tourism. Preferably should have some work experience in any kind of hospitality service. Must possess excellent persuasive communication skills. Must hav

Over Population Essay -- essays research papers

The population of our planet will quickly reach a point where there will not be adequate amount of resources to support life on Earth. Population control must be enforced to avoid such a catastrophic occurrence. Many economic, social and environmental problems are either affiliated with or are increased due to overpopulation. With an exponentially increasing world population, the problems created by overpopulation grow correspondingly. In order to stabilize the massive population, the world must work together to maintain population stability. One of the main reasons is due to the fact that Man treats his surroundings, for example like his land, his environment, his atmosphere, his waters and other life forms as merely objects. Man utilizes, destroys and discards them when he’s finish. If Man does not respect his planet, there will be nothing left except for a dead, barren wasteland. We must act soon or better yet, now. The earth does not have enough resources to supply the cur rent enormous population growth. In many areas, there is simply not enough food to feed the growing populations. 150 million children in the world suffer from poor health due to food shortages. Alongside with food, there is another resource that cannot keep up with the increasing population, that is water. Our supply of fresh water is very essential to life and limited. Eventhough, our earth is covered with 2/3 of water and 1/3 land, converting salt water to fresh water can be expensive. In additi...

The Bloody Chamber Notes

The Bloody Chamber Quotes – ‘like an extraordinarily precious slit throat’ – ‘bright as arterial blood’ – ‘faery solitude’ – ‘so many mirrors’ – ‘as if he were stripping the leaves off an artichoke’ – ‘instruments of mutilation’ – ‘the walls†¦gleamed as if they were sweating with fright’ – ‘an armful of the same lilies with which he had filled my bedroom’ – ‘the trumpets of the angels of death’ Characters – Heroine – ‘seventeen and knew nothing of the world’ – ‘the white-faced girl from Paris’ – ‘I was only a baby’ – Marquis – ‘dark leonine shape of his head’ – ‘opulent male scent’ – ‘dark mane’ – ‘waxen face’ Mother – ‘indomitable mother ’ – ‘wild thing’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – Juxtaposition – ‘lascivious tenderness’ – Metaphor – the Marquis as a beast, or as God – ‘the eye of God – his eye’ – ‘Subterranean privacy’ of the chamber – likening bloody chamber to Hell – Form – Castle is a Gothic reinterpretation of the fairytale template – Reworked fairy tales – Carter called them ‘new stories’ not ‘versions’ – Short stories maximise the impact of Carter’s messages – Novelette – the slow pace of which mirrors the brief lifestyle of the heroine in her new life Structure – Long descriptive paragraphs followed by very short sentences e. g. ‘Dead as his wives. ’ – isolated simile – Longer sentences with commas increase the sus pense, short sentences create a sense of fear – Ellipsis also used AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations – Child like language – ‘Baby mustn’t play with grownups’ toys’ (see EK, COW) – Fairy tale motifs – ‘All the better to see you’ – links to fairy-tale form (see EK, LOTHOL) – References to the modern world – ‘shrilling of the telephone’ (see COML) – Aggressive male language – ‘pistons ceaselessly thrusting’ (see EK)Gothic Features – Weather/setting – Castle is isolated, heroine sees its ‘faery solitude’ – how she chooses to view it, away from reality – Walls of the chamber ‘sweating with fright’ – as if guilty themselves – Marquis calls bloody chamber his ‘enfer’ – French word for Hell, ‘subterranean privacy’, ‘ like the door of Hell’ – Carter contrasts light and dark – ‘Lights! More lights! ’ – Foreshadowing – ‘the necklace that prefigures your end’, ‘bright as arterial blood’, ‘like an extraordinarily precious slit throat’ – all foreshadow the heroine’s decapitation Heroine escapes her fate – makes her an even stronger character – Dominant males – Marquis likened to God and a lion/animal – Passive females – Heroine accepts her fate quickly – Religion – Marquis is placed in the role of God – Refers to the heroine as ‘my little nun’, pornography referred to as ‘prayer-books’ shows Marquis’ lack of religion – Bloody chamber as Hell – see setting – Supernatural – ‘as if the key itself were hurt, the bloody token stuck’ AO4 – contextual factors and how they af fect the text – Angela Carter was a feminist – Published in 1979 – after the sexual revolution of the 1960s ‘Carter flirts with elements of the Gothic in many of the tales’ – S. Roberts – Same for all texts The Courtship of Mr Lyon Quotes – ‘one white, perfect rose’ – ‘there was no living person in the hall’ – ‘a lion is a lion and a man is a man’ – ‘there was an air of exhaustion†¦ in the house’ – ‘her own image reflected there’ (in the Beast’s eyes) – ‘Fast as you can’ – ‘an attic, with a sloping roof’ – ‘the roses†¦were all dead’ – ‘as if, curious reversal, she frightened him’ Characters – Beauty – ‘looked as if she had been carved out of a single pearl’ ‘she smiled at herself with satisfaction’ â₠¬â€œ ‘Miss Lamb, spotless, sacrificial’ – Beast – ‘some kind of sadness in his agate eyes’ – ‘a man with an unkempt mane of hair’ – ‘he was so different from herself’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – Extensive imagery of snow symbolises Beauty’s purity – ‘white and unmarked as†¦ bridal satin’ – Personification of the house – ‘the chandelier tinkled†¦ as if emitting a pleased chuckle’ – ‘Pearl’ – pure, beautiful, valuable – Form – Reworked fairy tales – Carter called them ‘new stories’ not ‘versions’ Carter extracts ‘latent content’ – Short stories maximise the impact of Carter’s messages – Beauty and The Beast – both characters change, not just the Beast – rol e reversal of princess in the tower – Structure – ‘I hope he’ll be safe’ – no speech marks, highlighting Beauty’s lack of a voice AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations – References to the modern world – ‘the snow brought down all the telephone wires’ (see BC, LOTHOL) – Fairy tale references – she reads ‘elegant French fairy tales’, ‘Fast as you can’ (see BC, EK, LOTHOL) Gothic Features – Weather/setting ‘Palladian house that seemed to hide itself shyly’ = ‘he forced himself to master his shyness’ – ‘Thin ghost of light on the verge of extinction’ – no signs of Spring at the Beast’s house – reflects what has happened to him – Bloody chamber = Beast’s attic – he is trapped and dying, claustrophobic setting – Roses die as the beast dies: â₠¬ËœThe roses†¦were all dead’ – Countryside = place of purity and femininity, town = masculine place of corruption – Foreshadowing – ‘she smiled at herself in mirrors a little too often’ – pride comes before a fall – Dominant males – no longer dominant ‘a cracked whisper of his former purr’ – ‘I am sick and I must die’ – Passive females – Objectification of women – she is called ‘Beauty’ but gets an identity at the end – ‘Mrs Lyon’ – Supernatural – Magic of the house – her father can call the garage even though the phone lines are down – ‘All the natural laws of the world were held in suspension here’ The Tiger’s Bride Quotes – ‘my father lost me to The Beast in cards’ – ‘I have lost my pearl’ – ‘the lamb must learn to run with the t igers’ Characters – Heroine – ‘always the pretty one’ – ‘Christmas rose’ – ‘no more than a king’s ransom’AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – description of â€Å"glossy, nut-brown curls† and â€Å"rosy cheeks† is repeated to highlight the similarities between the narrator and her â€Å"clockwork twin – Structure – Heroine is given a voice unlike Beauty in COML – objectification of women in a different way – Written in the past tense but changes occasionally to the present to suggest continuity The Erl King Quotes – ‘Erl-King will do you grievous harm’ – ‘the wood swallows you up’ – ‘the stark elders have an anorexic look’ – ‘everything in the wood is exactly as it seems’ ‘easy to lose yourself’ – ‘ What big eyes you have’ Characters – Erl-King – ‘an excellent housewife’ – ‘came alive from the desire of the woods’ – ‘tender butcher’ – ‘skin the rabbit, he says! ’ – ‘Eyes green as apples. Green as dead sea fruit’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – Oxymorons such as â€Å"the tender butcher† and â€Å"appalling succulence† highlight the narrator’s conflict – Isolated similes such as â€Å"green as dead sea fruit† add emphasis to the comparisons – Metaphor is used to link sex to drowning e. g. his ‘dress of water’ that ‘drenches’ her Structure – ‘Erl-King will do you grievous harm’ – one line paragraph to emphasise significance – Switches between tenses and points of view in order to disorient the reader, cre ating a Gothic sense of uncertainty, and reflecting the feelings of the protagonist AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations – Fairy tale references – ‘What big eyes you have’ (see BC, EK) – Superstition – ‘he says the Devil spits on them at Michaelmas’ (see W, COW) – Aggressive language – ‘he could thrust me into the seed-bed’ (see BC) Gothic Features – Weather/setting Wood is personified and isolated – ‘the wood swallows you up’ – More fairy-tale than Gothic – Bloody Chamber = Erl-King’s dwelling – Idea of confinement – ‘vertical bars of a brass-coloured distillation of light’ look like bars of a prison/cage – Erl-King can tie ‘up the winds in his handkerchief’ – Dominant males – childlike, less predatory – Romantic hero, she falls in love with him – Pa ssive females – none, she is mature and purposeful – Supernatural – ‘magic lasso of inhuman music’ – He has a ‘bird call’ – Religion – ‘he says the Devil spits on them at Michaelmas’ The Snow ChildQuotes – ‘midwinter – ‘invincible, immaculate’ – ‘the Countess hated her’ – ‘a feather†¦a bloodstain†¦and the rose’ – ‘It bites! ’ – ‘the whole world was white’ – ‘a masculine fantasy’ – Cristina Bacchilega Characters – Snow Child – ‘as white as snow’ – ‘as black as that bird’s feather’ – ‘as red as blood’ – ‘the child of his desire’ – ‘high, black, shining boots with scarlet heels’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – Alliteration of ‘invicible, immaculate’ exaggerates the extremity of the weather – Rose is a symbol of femininity or the vagina Snow Child bleeds, symbolising menstruation – Bite symbolises the suffering that accompanies being female – childbirth, hymen breaking, menstruation – Form – Vignette – a small, literary sketch – Structure – Written in the 3rd person but from the perspective of the Count – ‘So the girl picks a rose; pricks her finger on the thorn; bleeds; screams; falls. ’ – isolated paragraph, one sentence, uses idea of ‘three’ AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations Gothic Features – Weather/setting – Bloody Chamber = Snow Child’s vagina – ‘White’ setting and snow symbolises purity and virginity, Dominant males – Masculine control of female identity – Coun t = Marquis from BC – Creates both women – Countess cannot exist without a Count – Passive females – Countess belongs to Count – she is only a Countess because of him – Price of being the Countess – subservience and a loss of identity – Neither female can exist without the Count – he gives them their power – One must die for the other to survive – Literal objectification of women – Count undresses and dresses Countess as he pleases, creates Snow Child – Incestuous rape – she was not expected to receive pleasure in having sex, she was his sexual objectThe Lady of the House of Love Quotes – ‘Vous serez ma proie’ – ‘Too many roses’ – ‘Now you are at the place of annihilation’ – ‘Fee fie fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman’ – ‘A single kiss woke up the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood’ â₠¬â€œ ‘wisdom, death, dissolution’ – ‘chinoiserie escritoire’ – ‘this ornate and rotting place’ – ‘Can a bird†¦learn a new song? ’ – ‘the bicycle is the product of pure reason applied to motion’ Characters – Countess – ‘her beauty is an abnormality’ – ‘hunger always overcomes her’ – ‘white lace negligee stained a little with blood’ ‘the fangs and talons of a beast of prey’ – ‘a cave full of echoes’ – ‘the fragility of the skeleton of a moth’ – Soldier – ‘pentacle of his virginity’ – ‘youth, strength and blonde beauty’ – ‘symbol of rationality’ (bicycle) – ‘the trenches of France’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – Foreign wo rds are slipped into the narrative – allows reader to enter Countess’s bilingual mind e. g. ‘chinoiserie escritoire’ meaning Chinese-style desk/cabinet – Form – Reworked fairy tales – Carter called them ‘new stories’ not ‘versions’ Short stories maximise the impact of Carter’s messages – Structure – Broken up by inset couplets of thoughts, either fairy tale villains’ famous lines, or menacing French phrases, which suggest this is the inner voice of her predatory nature – increase ambiguity – Story is divided in two – first half is present tense, second half is past tense – more fairy-tale like AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations – References to the modern world – ‘the trenches of France’ (see BC) – Humour – ‘you will be led by hand to the Countess’s larder’ (see PIB, COW) Gothic Features Weather/setting – ‘cracked mirrors’ – the Countess does not bear a reflection – ‘Too many roses’ – roses are beautiful and dangerous like her – Bird in the cage symbolises her entrapment in her vampiric body – ‘she likes to hear it announce how it cannot escape’ – Predatory females – ‘the fangs and talons of a beast of prey’ yet she evokes sympathy as she tries to change her fate – ‘Fee Fie Fo Fum’ places her in the role of the villain, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ places her in the role of the victim – Supernatural – Soldier does not believe in supernatural: ‘this lack of imagination gives heroism to the hero’ Foreshadowing – The Tarot cards change for the first time ever The Werewolf Quotes – ‘they have cold weather, they have cold hearts’ – ‘supernumerary nippl e’ – ‘Harsh, brief, poor lives. ’ – ‘she prospered’ – ‘they stone her to death’ Characters – Child – ‘good child’ – ‘coat of sheepskin’ – Wolf – ‘grizzled chops’ – ‘less brave than they seem’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – Very unemotional in places – ‘they stone her to death’, ‘she prospered’ – detached narrator – Tricolons emphasise repetition and simplicity of their lives – ‘harsh, brief, poor lives’ Extensive description of superstitions highlights their importance – also seen in Company of Wolves – Pathetic fallacy – ‘cold weather†¦ cold hearts’ – setting mirrors personalities of inhabitants – Very simple language – fairy tale lang uage, childlike, simple to understand – Structure – Isolated paragraph with one sentence – ‘Winter and cold weather. ’ AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations – Superstition – ‘wreaths of garlic on the doors’ (see COW, EK, LOHOL) Gothic Features – Weather/setting – Pathetic fallacy – Supernatural – Superstitions – wolves, witches, devil – Foreshadowing Descriptions of superstitions at the beginning The Company of Wolves Quotes – ‘you are always in danger in the forest’ – ‘a man who vanished clear away on her wedding night’ – ‘the forest closed upon her like a pair of jaws’ – ‘they are grey as famine’ – ‘you will suffer’ – ‘we try and try’ – ‘blood on snow’ – ‘Quack, quack! went the duck’ Characte rs – Heroine – ‘she is an unbroken egg’ – ‘she knew she was nobody’s meat’ – ‘she has just started her woman’s bleeding’ – ‘so pretty’ – Wolf – ‘the tender wolf’ – ‘fear and flee the wolf’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning Language – Narrator addresses the reader – ‘you are always in danger’, ‘you will suffer’, ‘we try and try’ – Written as if to recreate the oral tradition of fairytales – ‘Quack, quack! went the duck’ – ‘hurl your Bible at him’, ‘call on Christ†¦but it won’t do you any good’, It is Christmas Day, the werewolves' birthday’, ‘canticles of the wolves’ – undermining religion (canticle = short song/hymn) – ‘The forest closed on her like a pair of jaws’ – isolated simile, only sentence in paragraph, highlight isolated setting – typically Gothic (see ‘Dead as his wives’ simile in BC = isolated) Fairytale – ‘What big eyes you have’, ‘All the better to see you with’ (‘All the better to see you’ = BC) – Metaphor – ‘night and forest has come into the kitchen’ – Structure – Lengthy introduction highlights importance of superstitions and wolves in the lives of the people – Opens reader’s mind to the supernatural – it is common here – No speech marks increase the strangeness of the story – also, there would be no speech marks in oral tradition AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations – Fairy tale motifs (see BC, EK, LOTHOL) – Personification of the woods (see EK) Gothic Features Religion – ‘you must run as i f the Devil were after you’ – Weather/setting – Personification of the forest ‘like a pair of jaws’, also simile, similar to EK – Night time setting – typically Gothic, increases ambiguity – Dominant male – wolf – Non-passive female – she laughs at him, ‘she knew she was nobody’s meat’ Wolf Alice Quotes – ‘the corners of his bloody chamber’ – room of clothes where Duke’s prey live – ‘it showed us what we could have been’ – ‘her pace is not our pace’ – ‘the wise child who leads them all’ Characters – Duke – ‘his eyes see only appetite’ – ‘he is white as leprosy’ Wolf Alice – ‘not wolf or woman’ AO2 – language, form and structure and how they shape meaning – Language – Carter quickly allies herself with the read er and separates Wolf-Alice – ‘her pace is not our pace’ – Religious reference to Garden of Eden – ‘wise child who leads them all’ – Duke is ‘cast into the role of the corpse-eater’ – not the whole truth? – ‘She could not put her finger on’ – finger in italics, reminds us she is human AO3 – connections between texts and different interpretations Gothic Features – Weather/setting – Duke’s castle – Gothic reinterpretation of the fairytale castle ‘Moony metamorphic weather’ – setting mirrors Duke – Presence of the moon – time, menstruation, Gothic night time, when the Duke is awake – Graveyard settings – Dominant males – Duke – not a real man, doesn’t cast a reflection, doesn’t have a soul, does have physical strength, doesn’t talk to her – ‘separate solitud es’ – Passive females – Wolf-Alice is a strong female, physically, and becomes intellectually stronger throughout the story – Supernatural – Duke is a werewolf/vampire – Superstition/religion – ‘Young husband’ fills a church with silver bullets, holy water, ‘bells, books and candles’

Computer Bugs essays

Computer Bugs essays Original release date: June 19, 2001 There has been a dramatic increase in reports of website defacements and scans for hosts listening on TCP port 80. This activity appears to be related to the "Code Red" worm, a recently discovered worm that exploits the buffer overflow in the IIS Indexing Service DLL. More information can be found at cert.org/advisories/CA-2001-13.html Systems running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with IIS 4.0 or IIS 5.0 enabled Systems running Microsoft Windows 2000 (Professional, Server, Advanced Server, Datacenter Server) Systems running beta versions of Microsoft Windows XP There is a remotely exploitable buffer overflow in one of the ISAPI extensions installed with most versions of IIS 4.0 and 5.0 (The specific Internet/Indexing Service Application Programming Interface extension is IDQ.DLL). The vulnerability allows the attacker to run code of their choice. The attacker may have complete control of the victims system. I think this kind of worm is a common one and administrators need to be aware of new system bugs and apply the appropriate fixes. The solution to this problem is a apply patch. Appropriate patches to protect against attack can be downloaded from the Internet. ...

Timber Cruising Equipment and How to Use It

Timber Cruising Equipment and How to Use It Ed. Note: The first essential step toward selling timber or timberland is an inventory. It is a necessary step which enables the seller to set a realistic price on both the wood and the land. The inventory and methods used to determine volumes are also used between sales to make silvicultural and management decisions. Here is the equipment you need, the cruising procedure  and how to calculate the cruise. This report is based on an article written by Ron Wenrich. Ron is a sawmill consultant and has extensive knowledge on how to inventory your forest using the point sampling method. It is written in three parts, this being the first part, and all links included were chosen by the editor. You could measure every tree and do a 100 percent appraisal, but this is very time consuming and costly to do on large forests. But another way is to use a sampling system. A proven system, called point sampling, is used regularly by foresters and can be used by timber owners as well. We will discuss point sampling and the equipment you need here. Point Sampling Point sampling is a method of determining the frequency of occurrence of trees throughout the stand using a fixed point. These points can either be random or systematic. What you will be measuring is the basal area of the trees occurring at that point or plot center. Basal area is the area of the cross-section of tree stems near their base, generally at breast height, and including bark measured over 1 ac. or ha. of land. This basal area (BA) is then used to calculate the volume of a tree. Basal area increases as stand size and site quality increases. Gauges Some sort of gauge is needed to determine which trees are counted and which trees are not. An angle gauge - either prism (the prism is a wedge-shaped piece of glass that will deflect the image when viewed), string, or stick gauge can be used. Several types of angle gauges can be purchased from any forestry supply company. A stick gauge can be constructed by putting a target on the end of a stick and by keeping a 1:33 ratio. A 1-inch site would be put on the end of a 33-inch stick. You then eyeball each target tree with this gauge to find out if it should be included in the sample (more on this in a minute). It has been suggested that a dime can be used as an angle gauge. As long as a 1:33 ratio is maintained, anything can be used. For a dime, the distance held from your eye would be about 23 inches. A quarter would be held 33 inches away. An alternative to buying an angle gauge would be to build one. Build an Angle Gauge Take a 1-inch piece of sturdy material - plastic, metal, etc.- and drill a small hole to attach a string. Kite string will work well, knotting the string at 33 inches from the gauge and attaching it to the sighting device. Now, when using, simply put the knot between the teeth and sight your gauge with the string completely stretched. An alternative is to put a 1-inch notch in the material which creates a kind of sight. Before taking to the woods with one of these, youll need to know how to use one. Using Your Gauge Trees are counted at a point. This point can be random when just checking stocking at a certain point, or they can be located on a grid to get data for volume or other factors. Trees will either be counted or not counted. Counted trees will appear larger than the gauge. Trees appearing smaller than the gauge are not counted. Some trees will be borderline, and distance should be measured from the plot center if accuracy is desired. For most purposes, counting every other tree will yield effective results. It is also necessary to keep the gauge parallel to the tree. If a tree is leaning towards or away from the plot, the gauge should be moved accordingly. Prism Angle Gauges A prism (most foresters use this type gauge) will deflect the image of the tree that is being observed. Trees that are deflected off the main bole are not counted, while those that fall within the main bole are counted. The difference between the prism and the other angle gauges is that the user keeps the prism as the plot center while other gauges use the eye as the plot center. Prism angle gauges come in a number of sizes, known as factors or Basal Area Factors (BAF). For most purposes, a BAF of 10 is used. At your point you simply make a circle counting the trees that fall into your plot. Multiply by 10 and you have the basal area per acre at your plot. You will also notice that larger trees that are further away will be counted, while smaller trees will not. When computing number of trees, larger counted trees represent fewer trees than smaller counted trees.

The Beatles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Beatles - Essay Example Two of the Beatles are now dead, but the icon of "Beatles" remains, having moved from a Modernist, central position within world culture to a postmodernist, ironic placement as a mixture of nostalgia and commercialism. When The Beatles first appeared on music scene in 1963, the idea of a musical band being anything more than simply a group of young men (and sometimes women) who played live and who would, if successful, release records, had yet to be invented. Pop groups, even those that became phenomenally successful in a manner never seen before, were clearly definable, and limited Modernist figures. A clear delineation could be made between the pop group and the musical culture/general world in which they performed and lived. In a modernist and semiotic sense, the relationship between signifier ("The Beatles") and signified (the live performances and records) was fairly clear (Barthes, 1978). But as early as the late stages of Beatlemania in 1964, a postmodern uncertainty was coming into the sign "Beatles" as a slippery commutability between signifier and signified started to occur. Essentially "The Beatles" became a signifier for much more than the signified of their music. The hysterical "love" that surrounded the four young from Liverpool reached such extreme and massive proportions that some seriously suggested that the fans were suffering from some kind of mass hysteria. "The Beatles", to put them in a Freudian context, were bringing out an id within their fans that dominated their ego and superego. While the raw sexuality of Beatles music was making the previous icon of rebellion, Elvis Presley, seem relatively tame by comparison, their success within Britain caused them to become icons of the mainstream establishment as well. In 1965 Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the MBE, a civil honor, on the band. Their dominance of the music industry - on April 4th 1964 they had all top five records on the Billboard Top 100 (Spitz, 2006) - had apparently led them to become icons of that most traditional of British institutions, the monarchy. When John Lennon told the Royal Command Audience that they should applaud, only the rich should jangle their jewelry the "servants" of the Queen who had been commanded to perform for her (and who bowed so low) were now ironically commenting upon the British class system. The move to postmodern irony had already started before the famous mop-tops were grown long, the Beatles stopped performing live, and the concept studio album took over. The role of the Beatles as something more than merely a pop group began to take on far greater proportions as the Sixties rolled on. Thus they were seen as having snubbed the President of the Philippines' wife and barely escaped the country with their lives, and John Lennon caused a huge uproar by his less-than-diplomatic, but probably correct assertion that the Beatles were at the time more popular than Jesus (Spitz, 2006). Much of 1970's fashion can be traced to a single Beatles album cover: that of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Thus the sheer range of culture and society that the Beatles influenced eventually drowned out the importance of their music. An ideal symbol of this tendency was the perhaps apocryphal moment when the band stopped playing at a gig only for the audience not to notice because of the noise they were

Ethics in Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Ethics in Accounting - Essay Example AICPA principles of professional conduct AICPA principles are the guidelines that guide the conduct of members in the accounting profession. 1.Accounting professionals are expected to exercise moral judgment and professionalism in the conduct of activities. 2.Professional accountants are expected to act in a manner that ensures public interest. Accountants must be committed to professionalism and earn public honor. 3.Accountants are expected to uphold high levels of integrity to earn public interest. 4.Accountants must be show objectivity and independence when discharging responsibilities. 5.Accounting professionals must continuously enhance their competencies to improve service delivery. 6.Members are expected to adhere to professional codes of conduct when determining nature and the scope of services provided. Definition and characteristics of U.S. GAAP U.S GAAP denotes internationally recognized frameworks that guide financial accountants. The principles ensure ethics in the field of accounting. The characteristics include: 1.Financial information must be relevant in that it ought to contain information about the business. 2.Information must be reliable in such a way comparative analysis can be made. The information must also be verifiable (Duska R, Duska S, and Ragatz 33). 3.Comparability ensures that differences and similarities between events can be easily made. That is, Past and currents statements can be analyzed. 4.Financial statements must also be consistent in that they are easily understandable by the users of the statements and the preparer.