Benjamin Franklin Essay examples -- essays research papers

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was a remarkably talented man. He started his career as a simple printer apprentice, but went far beyond the printers shop. He developed products that were far beyond the time. The Franklin stove for example, for cold winter nights and bifocal lenses for reading. Franklin tracked storm paths to help understand the wicked weather endured by the colonies. His study of electricity made him most famous for he was known around the world as the inventor of the lightning rod. Not only was Ben Franklin helpful in developing ideas for better living, he was also a strong force in developing the new nation of America. Benjamin Franklin's political views showed him to be a man who loved freedom and self-government. His views towards Britain gradually changed from favor to disfavor until he finally became a revolutionist at the age of 70. But more than just his political views help in the formation of the United States. His common sense, his whit, and his ability to negotiate behind the scenes, all lent a hand in the formation of the new country across the sea. Franklin's good humor and gift for compromise often helped prevent bitter disputes which could have stalled the formation of the new government. Interestingly, Ben Franklin, who was a chief participant in the battle for independence, â€Å"had a lot to lose by it.† (Wright 1986, page 204). He had a residence in London and was influential in England. However, his love of liberty and his desire to promote the well being of Pennsylvania pushed him toward independence for the colonies. Franklin had to wrestle with his conscience over his own private affairs. Also, since he was well respected in England, he was "the Establishment man-even if he felt now a deep unease on the basic question: What was the authority of Parliament over the American colonies?" (Wright, page 205). At first Franklin wanted the colonies to be and independent free nation under the caring and protecting umbrella of the British Empire. "He had dream...of a great British Empire, gridding the globe, based upon a commonwealth of free nations, each with its own laws, its own government and freedoms, but bound together by compact with the Crown for mutual benefit, mutual defense, and the propagation of English freedoms." (Schoenbrun 1976, p... ...ive impact favoring the colonist, it became more and more impossible for Britain to give the war its full attention. Britain needed a way out and Franklin played a key role. "Franklin was appointed in 1781 a commissioner to negoiate the peace with Britain." (Ketcham 1994, page 1). Franklin was a very good negotiator as "the North Ministry pushed through Parliament two conciliatory bills that gave the Americans everything that Franklin had demanded in his peace negoiations." (Fleming 1972, page 299). Franklin had common sense, whit, and skills that all helped bring favorable positions to the colonies against Britain. Finally, Benjamin Franklin portrays a man torn between his love of Britain and a desire for liberty for the people of the new world. His greatest hope was for Britain to be the great, caring mother country that protected a young free nation across the sea. He was each country benefiting the other. Of course, this could not happen so he made sure that the best for America would be insured through his efforts to bring France to the aid of the Colonies and to finally bring about a livable peace between Britain and America. Benjamin Franklin Essay examples -- essays research papers Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was a remarkably talented man. He started his career as a simple printer apprentice, but went far beyond the printers shop. He developed products that were far beyond the time. The Franklin stove for example, for cold winter nights and bifocal lenses for reading. Franklin tracked storm paths to help understand the wicked weather endured by the colonies. His study of electricity made him most famous for he was known around the world as the inventor of the lightning rod. Not only was Ben Franklin helpful in developing ideas for better living, he was also a strong force in developing the new nation of America. Benjamin Franklin's political views showed him to be a man who loved freedom and self-government. His views towards Britain gradually changed from favor to disfavor until he finally became a revolutionist at the age of 70. But more than just his political views help in the formation of the United States. His common sense, his whit, and his ability to negotiate behind the scenes, all lent a hand in the formation of the new country across the sea. Franklin's good humor and gift for compromise often helped prevent bitter disputes which could have stalled the formation of the new government. Interestingly, Ben Franklin, who was a chief participant in the battle for independence, â€Å"had a lot to lose by it.† (Wright 1986, page 204). He had a residence in London and was influential in England. However, his love of liberty and his desire to promote the well being of Pennsylvania pushed him toward independence for the colonies. Franklin had to wrestle with his conscience over his own private affairs. Also, since he was well respected in England, he was "the Establishment man-even if he felt now a deep unease on the basic question: What was the authority of Parliament over the American colonies?" (Wright, page 205). At first Franklin wanted the colonies to be and independent free nation under the caring and protecting umbrella of the British Empire. "He had dream...of a great British Empire, gridding the globe, based upon a commonwealth of free nations, each with its own laws, its own government and freedoms, but bound together by compact with the Crown for mutual benefit, mutual defense, and the propagation of English freedoms." (Schoenbrun 1976, p... ...ive impact favoring the colonist, it became more and more impossible for Britain to give the war its full attention. Britain needed a way out and Franklin played a key role. "Franklin was appointed in 1781 a commissioner to negoiate the peace with Britain." (Ketcham 1994, page 1). Franklin was a very good negotiator as "the North Ministry pushed through Parliament two conciliatory bills that gave the Americans everything that Franklin had demanded in his peace negoiations." (Fleming 1972, page 299). Franklin had common sense, whit, and skills that all helped bring favorable positions to the colonies against Britain. Finally, Benjamin Franklin portrays a man torn between his love of Britain and a desire for liberty for the people of the new world. His greatest hope was for Britain to be the great, caring mother country that protected a young free nation across the sea. He was each country benefiting the other. Of course, this could not happen so he made sure that the best for America would be insured through his efforts to bring France to the aid of the Colonies and to finally bring about a livable peace between Britain and America.

Great Works of Western Tradition: The Treatment of Time and History Essay

Not a few of the greatest works in the Western tradition tackle the evolution of humanity and of civilization throughout the ages. The question of the evolution of civilization is all the more difficult since it seems to be tortuous rather than linear and progressive. As it shall be seen, thinkers from very different times have pictured civilization in different ways, emphasizing either its wondrous development or its blatant imperfections. Thomas More, Voltaire and Sigmund Freud belong to very different ages of human civilization and have held very different opinions about history and the evolution or involution of man. As it shall be seen however, the major theme in all of the works under discussion is the evolution of man and society throughout the course of time. Moreover, in Utopia, Candide and Civilization and its Discontents the development of civilization is questioned and the achievements of humanity doubted. Despite the fact that the come from different turning points in human history, which had seen a prodigious advance of culture and understanding of the world, the three authors argue that the human civilization is very far from its ideal state. Thomas More’s Utopia is an imaginary project of the perfect human society which resembles Plato’s Republic. As a representative of Renaissance, More is a humanist and a socialist, who criticizes the state of thing in his native England. The work is therefore, in many ways an inverse mirror of his contemporary society. More openly addresses the precarious society and the politics in England and at the same time creates a reverse counterpart for these on the island of Utopia. The most salient target of the scholar’s criticism is the specific form of government characteristic for his society: feudalism. In his imaginary world, everyone is equal and no one is poor or in need, since everything is distributed justly: â€Å"In Utopia, where every man has a right to everything, they all know that if care is taken to keep the public stores full, no private man can want anything; for among them there is no unequal distribution, so that no man is poor, none in necessity, and though no man has anything, yet they are all rich; for what can make a man so rich as to lead a serene and cheerful life, free from anxieties. †(More 86) According to More, money and possessions in general are the key of civilization as he saw it. As such, he attacks his contemporary society at its very roots, by advocating a society in which everyone would be equal and in which money would hold no importance. As he saw it, the human world was moved and impulse by inequalities and disproportion in possessions: â€Å"And who does not see that the frauds, thefts, robberies, quarrels, tumults, contentions, seditions, murders, treacheries, and witchcrafts, which are indeed rather punished than restrained by the severities of law, would all fall off, if money were not any more valued by the world? †(More 87) Another important aspect that More notes is that, all the crimes and misfortunes arising from the pecuniary problems are punished rather than restrained by law. This aspect of the human society has remained true even today, since money is still a key element in the world and since the law is only designed to help maintain a relative order. Thus, More sees the state of civilization during Renaissance as very precarious, since the character of people and their morality is continuously undermined by the inequality regarding the distribution of possessions. Expressing truly revolutionary ideas for his age, More perceives that the nature of the government in his own time is nothing more than a â€Å"conspiracy of the rich† to monopolize the goods and to hold sway over the rest of the population, under the pretense of administering the public affairs: â€Å"Therefore I must say that, as I hope for mercy, I can have no other notion of all the other governments that I see or know, than that they are a conspiracy of the rich, who on pretence of managing the public only pursue their private ends, and devise all the ways and arts they can find out. †(More 157) More’s intuition about the workings of politics and economics in his own society is therefore incredibly accurate. Utopia is moreover a complete society, having all the institution of the modern world, including politics, religion, science, culture and family. More fundamentally remodels the social order of his time, designing an ideal community marked by simplicity. For instance, the political system is democratic, in the sense that we understand it today, with all of the members of society participating in the elections: â€Å"Once a year every group of thirty households elects an administrator, who used to be known as a syphogrant, but in modern times has been called a phylarch. There is another administrator in charge of every group of ten syphogrants with their households. He used to be called a tranibor, and is now called a senior phylarch. All the syphogrants–there are two hundred of them–elect the chief executive. †( More 96) The family is an important cell of this society which hints at the principles of brotherhood that should dominate and regulate the world. The society has very few laws, moreover, which emphasizes More’s views of the contemporary justice system. According to him therefore, the human society is inevitably based on complex and marginal laws, which strive to punish delinquency but which do not manage to restrain it. Furthermore, science and the arts are made accessible to the large public and not limited to a privileged category. More obviously points out to another essential feature of socialism which stipulates the intellectual equality of all people. This also pinpoints the fact that, in More’s view, the financial inequality of people is the key factor causing inequality in all other respects. It should be noted that More constructed his utopian world primarily as a satire for his contemporary society. He did not believe himself in the ideal society he proposed, simply because the project came considerably before its time and before there would be the necessary conditions to establish it. His main contention therefore is that the human civilization of the Renaissance England was a corrupted and dysfunctional system that revolved around the possessions and interests. All the institutions, the government, the law, the economy, politics and even the arts and sciences suffered from this corruption as they were based on inequality between people. More’s view is all the more revolutionary since the world of Renaissance believed in order and in the chain of things. This scale or hierarchy of things obviously applied to the human society as well, where the king was the highest link in the chain, being set there by divine will. In this context, More’s encouragement of equality is all the more mystifying. As it shall be seen, almost three centuries later, Voltaire published a satire that attacks the myth of human civilization and points out its main weaknesses. As More belongs to the Renaissance, Voltaire belongs to another period of cultural revolution and advancement, the Enlightenment. More so than the Renaissance that had established the faith in man and in his powers, the Enlightenment brought incredible evidence of man’s reasoning capacities and his ability for controlling nature and the universe and making these work in his own favor. As More before him, Voltaire satirically attacks the very roots of his contemporary society. His Candide can be easily considered one of the most potent philosophical satires of all times, as it is directed not to a particular aspect of the world but to the world as a whole and to the entire human race. What Voltaire mocks is not so much the state in which the world and humanity are in, but the inveterate optimism that characterized the Age of Reason. The values and creeds of the Enlightenment philosophers are demolished one by one in Voltaire’s work: the famous statement maintained by Leibniz and Rousseau that our world is â€Å"the best of all possible worlds†, the belief that the universe is in a state of unshakable harmony that only gives the impression of chaos, the general optimism that regarded even the dreariest events in the world as good, the faith in the human reason and the free will of man and many other similar optimist opinions. Voltaire makes the eponymous character of his work, Candide (who is, not by accident and as his name indicates, incredibly naive and simple) experience, through his journeys and adventures, the entire range of human sufferance: wars, natural disasters, maladies, slavery, religious persecution, rape and so on. In his way, Candide experiences all there is to experience and meets with all the evil in the world. His gullible nature disposes him to believe the more comfortable theory, which is that of his master Pangloss. Pangloss is thus the prototype of the Enlightenment thinker, the professed optimist who believes in the absolute perfection of the world. Despite of the disasters he meets with and despite of the evil nature of the men he encounters, Pangloss remains a stubborn optimist, an advocator of the perfect harmony of the universe: â€Å"Master Pangloss taught the metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigology. He could prove to admiration that there is no effect without a cause; and, that in this best of all possible worlds, the baron’s castle was the most magnificent of all castles, and my lady the best of all possible baronesses. † (Voltaire 27) As More before him, Voltaire ironically notes here the way in which the belief in the perfection of the world is used by some to justify their own rights. The eulogy of the baron and baroness, who are obviously far from moral rectitude and nobleness, is a hint to the way in which people of rank had to be treated as great men despite the fact that in truth they were full of imperfections. Another bitter allusion is the image of war as one of the most absurd evils haunting the human society. This is one of the most terrifying proof that man has not reached yet the state of absolute civilization, and that he is still a savage: â€Å"Never was anything so gallant, so well accoutred, so brilliant, and so finely disposed as the two armies. The trumpets, fifes, hautboys, drums, and cannon made such harmony as never was heard in hell itself. The entertainment began by a discharge of cannon, which, in the twinkling of an eye, laid flat about 6,000 men on each side. The musket bullets swept away, out of the best of all possible worlds, nine or ten thousand scoundrels that infested its surface. â€Å"(Voltaire 9) In extremely light tones, Voltaire describes the carnage and absurdity specific to war, hinting that such a disaster would be sufficient to recognize the world and the state of civilization for what it is. Instead of the ordered, harmonious world that some of the greatest philosophers and scientists of the time discerned, Voltaire points to the actual state of humanity as he saw it. Discoveries were indeed being made, but man was far from living in an ideal and balanced universe. There are some obvious similarities between More’s and Voltaire’s satires therefore. More imagined an ideal society which would be the reverse of his contemporary world and Voltaire imagined a story of a naive character who is confronted with all the ills and evils of humanity and civilization. Both of the authors therefore imply that the human evolution is not as significant as it is believed. The beginning of the twentieth century, with the dawn of modernism saw equally great changes in all the aspects of human existence. Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents makes a potent critique of civilization as a web of negative impositions on the modern man. Freud puts forth that civilization can only become workable through an economical principle similar to that employed by the politics of a state: it restrains man’s instinctual force in order to concentrate his energy on the exploitation of its intellectual resources. Thus, while the two other authors under investigation proposed that the world was largely primitive at its core, despite the advancement of civilization, Freud points out the opposite. He elaborates on the benefits and incredible progress made by human civilization, all the same criticizing its prospects which have restrained the instinctual nature of man: â€Å"This contention holds that what we call our civilization is largely responsible for our misery, and that we should be much happier if we gave it up and returned to primitive conditions. †(Freud 33) In Freud’s view, as revolutionary for his time as the other two authors’ perspective during their own, it is the basic requirement of civilization which has become pernicious for man. Thus, civilization demands a repression of instinct in man, in favor of intellectual achievement: â€Å"No feature [†¦] seems better to characterize civilization than its esteem and encouragement of man’s higher mental activities–his intellectual, scientific and artistic achievements-and the leading role that it assigns to ideas in human life. †(Freud 41) According to Freud, it is the very nature of civilization which causes man to become more and more frustrated out of his natural freedom and lack of restraint: â€Å"Civilization is built up upon a renunciation of instinct, how much it presupposes precisely the non-satisfaction (by suppression, repression or some other means) of powerful instincts. †(Freud 44) The efforts and results of science and technology as they are perceived in modern times are indubitable. Man has strived to protect himself from nature thus becoming more and more alienated from it. Civilization is in many ways synonymous with comfort, but, in Freud’s view it is and will always be contrary to man’s happiness: â€Å"Is there, then, no positive gain in pleasure, no unequivocal increase in my feeling of happiness, if I can, as often as I please, hear the voice of a child of mine who is living hundreds of miles away or if I can learn in the shortest possible time after a friend has reached his destination that he has come through the long and difficult voyage unharmed? † (Freud 35) As Freud pertinently remarks, people usually think of the advanced state of civilization in terms of victories over nature, such as the invention of soap for instance: â€Å"Indeed, we are not surprised by the idea of setting up the use of soap as an actual yardstick of civilization. The same is true of order. It, like cleanliness, applies solely to the works of man. But whereas cleanliness is not to be expected in nature, order, on the contrary, has been imitated from her. †(Freud 40) Also, people tend to think of the previous ages as uncivilized in terms of cleanliness, order and comfort mainly. In Freud’s opinion however, these victories are as many frustration for the ego, who has definitively lost his liberty. He argues that civilization comes into harsh conflict with the human ego, since the ego’s instinctual nature cannot be ‘corrected’ by culture but only repressed or silenced. As many aspects of human behavior prove it, instincts only lie dormant inside the psyche and can be awaken at any time. Civilization comes with its impositions and claims, attempting to subdue the subconscious and promote only the sublimated characteristics of the mind. Therefore, being denied the attainment of the pleasure principle, men have to content themselves with exchanging it for the milder ‘reality principle’ which will only safeguard them from extreme sufferance. While More and Voltaire have endeavored to show that civilization is far from reaching its perfection, Freud points out the essential conflict there will always be between civilization and man in his natural state. Basically however, all the authors observe the degradation of humanity, despite the efforts of civilization. In modern times, as Freud notes, the primitive forms of violence have been subdued for the greatest part; however violence has only changed its form and not its nature. The same applies to the majority of the aspects of civilization today. Therefore, the fundamental ideas of the three authors selected have a common center. While the advancement of civilization seems to be undeniable at each of the turning points in history, Renaissance, Enlightenment and then Modernism, civilization seems to have evolved superficially without the possibility of reaching an ideal state. Man builds up an artificial civilization which comes in conflict with the natural world and therefore it is far from being balanced. Thomas More, Voltaire and Sigmund Freud all note that, from various stances, we still do not have the right formula for civilization. ? Works Cited: Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and its Discontents. New York: W. W. Norton, 1961. More, Thomas. Utopia. Trans. David Wootton. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1999. Voltaire. Candide. New York: Modern Library, 1918.

Benefits Of Raising Minimum Wage - 1250 Words

Creating jobs, raising minimum wage, donating to the poor are not going to erase the poverty out of the United States of America. The government defines poverty as the bottom fifteen percent of annual income. No matter what one does to increase a person’s income there will always be someone in poverty. Across America there are always charities, religious groups, and civic clubs who are giving to the poor--from food giveaways, clothing giveaways, free tutoring, free health screenings, whatever else there is constantly something for the poor to benefit from. The problem is that people want to help, but if they are constantly giving the needy these items, services, or money, then are the poor becoming dependent? When will one person stop†¦show more content†¦If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime† (â€Å"Chinese† par. 1). This ancient proverb has some truth in it. Right now in America, the poor are not being taught â€Å"how to fishà ¢â‚¬  instead they are relying on charities to give away food and clothing for them to survive. Through work readiness programs and a reform in food and clothing distribution, charities can cut the parasite of the dependent poor and prepare them to go out and earn what they need. Job preparation programs are an excellent way to minister the poor and needy by preparing them for the future and empowering them to be able to take care of themselves. In Seat Pleasant, Maryland, the Training Source offers job-training program, self-improvement workshops, and skill training. The Training Source is teaching those who do not have jobs, job skills which will equip them and help them to find a job (Singletary par. 9). Once the poor and needy have a job, they will not need to rely on donations of food and clothing to survive. In my hometown, Anniston, Alabama, the Christians Women’s Job Corp and the Christian Men’s Job Corp pairs men and women up with mentors who will help the needy with obtaining their GED, interviewing skills, resume building, how to dress for success, and applying for jobs. The job corps also provide, upon completion of classes, interview appropriate clothing and transportation to job interviews. Both of these programs are helping

Subliminal Advertising Subliminal Advertisement

Are customers at the mercy of unconscious cues being pumped into their heads by devious corporations? Subliminal marketing involves the idea that an advertiser can display words or images during a commercial or broadcast so briefly that the viewer does not consciously notice them, but will still be subconsciously affected by them (Dwilson). Individuals are scared that they can be influenced like this, without being aware of it. But in reality, does Subliminal Advertising work? The first question some might ask is what is Subliminal Advertising? The phrase subliminal advertising refers to ad messages intended to not be consciously perceived. The phrase first appeared in American mass media in September 1957 (Subliminal Advertising). Subliminal Advertisements concentrate on consumers hopes, fears, guilt, and sexuality and are designed to hopefully sway consumers to buy products they had never realized they needed (Snopes.com: Subliminal Advertising). Companies and organizations in a hope to make individuals buy a certain product, or make them feel a certain way towards someone or something, use subliminal ads. This does not sound like something that should happen, does it. But the truth is that if these ads were truly successful, government agencies would by now have successfully used this technique to eliminate child abuse drug addiction, drunk driving, tax evasion, etc. (Subliminal Advertising). Some psychologists are suspicious of the claims, while some areShow MoreRelatedThe Effectiveness Of Subliminal Advertising1340 Words   |  6 PagesRunning head: EFFECTIVENESS OF SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING Is there any evidence that companies can make us buy products using subliminal processing? 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Rhetorical Analysis The Great Gatsby - 966 Words

Often times when we consider strong persuaders, a few names easily come to mind. Over the course of history, we’ve seen persuasive candidates like Christopher Columbus that have convinced governing bodies to allow them to explore our planet in the effort of discovery, to political figures comparable to Abraham Lincoln that seek innovation in public sentiment to improve opportunities for all Americans regardless of their ethnicity or gender. These types of positive uses of persuasion allowed the accomplished men that used them to generate powerful advancements for their goals. Powerful use of persuasion isn’t always a tool used by the righteous, however. It is impossible to cover tremendous persuaders without mentioning a few of the infamous ones also. Persuasion doesn’t perceive good and evil and in the case of Adolf Hitler it was apparent. Born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20, 1889, Adolf Hitler was the fourth born child of Alois Hitler and Klara Polzl. As a child Hitler often times fought with his father as their opinions often times clashed with their personal ideals and views. When he was 11 years of age his youngest brother died, causing him to become further introverted and detached from multiple aspects of his life (Biography.com Editors). Adolf struggled with accomplishing his goals much of his life. After his father died, his mother allowed him to drop out of school where he joined the workforce doing general labor and pursuing his passion of art throughShow MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis Of The Great Gatsby 1508 Words   |  7 PagesRhetorical Analysis for the movie The Great Gatsby In the film of The Great Gatsby, based on the novel, Director, Baz Luhrmann shares the elaborate tale of the infamous Jay Gatsby. 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Scott Fitzgerald830 Words   |  3 Pagesstrive to write books that have a purpose, including the author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The author strives to display multiple purposes to readers through strong, sophisticated writing. The purposes Fitzgerald shows in The Great Gatsby include that substance in relationships matters, the truth is important, and that actions have consequences. Fitzgerald executes the purposes successfully by using rhetorical choices such as irony, homilies, simple dialogue, similes, and syntax Read MoreDreams And Failure Of The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1022 Words   |  5 Pagesrealistic reactions to the present. Steinbrink describes this action as an attempt to â€Å"alter reality in order to bring it in line with [one’s] dream.† Several characters in Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby become encumbered by their dreams and unable to act on reality as it is. The Great Gatsby himself, was the most prominent victim of â€Å"shedding his humanity and becoming a manipulator rather than a participator in events† (Steinbrink). His vision of recreating his past love affair with DaisyRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Cesar Chavez s Article1915 Words   |  8 Pages It’s hard to imagine that just ten short months ago I was sitting in a classroom building a spaghetti tower with no idea what a rhetorical analysis essay was or what the word anaphora meant. Now, just a couple of months later, I have read and analyzed six different novels, learned to write an argument, synthesis, and rhetorical analysis essay, expanded my lexicon of literary terms, and sat through a three hour AP exam. This class has not only given me the skills to master the AP exam, but it hasRead MoreTruman Capotes In Cold Blood1591 Words   |  7 Pageswhich an event is reported using traditional literary and rhetorical conventions to expose broader truths concerni ng humanity as a whole without going astray from the truth (â€Å"Nonfiction Novel†). Capote had long felt that journalism could expose broader truths concerning the human condition that fiction could not, as Capote explains in this excerpt from Inge’s Truman Capote: Conversations: I’ve always had the theory that reportage is the great unexplored art form. I mean, most good writers, good literaryRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott B. Fitzgerald1635 Words   |  7 Pagesspeech, unlike those whom are lower class that do not think before they talk. 2. Compare the use of first person narration of the protagonist in Their Eyes Were Watching God to the use of first person narration of a secondary character in The Great Gatsby. What is the effect of having Nick tell Gatsby’s story versus Janie telling her own? Is Nick a reliable narrator? Is Janie? a While Janie tells her own perspective of her American Dream, Nick is under the impression of admiration towards Gatsby’sRead MoreStudy Guide Literary Terms7657 Words   |  31 Pages AP Literary and Rhetorical Terms 1. 2. alliteration- Used for poetic effect, a repetition of the initial sounds of several words in a group. The following line from Robert Frosts poem Acquainted with the Night provides us with an example of alliteration,: I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. The repetition of the s sound creates a sense of quiet, reinforcing the meaning of the line 3. allegory – Where every aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic

Sony and Philips free essay sample

1. How did Philips become the leading consumer electronics company in the world post war era? What distinctive competencies did they build? What incompetancies did they build? Prior to World War II, Philips had created a culture of embracing technical innovation. On the production side, Philips was a leader in industrial research, and scrapped old plants in favor of new machines or factories whenever advances were made. On the product side, strong research enabled the company to broaden its product line, starting with light bulbs but growing into vacuum tubes, radios and X-ray tubes by the 1930s. Because Holland was such a small country, Philips was forced to start exporting in the early 1900s in order to have enough sales volume for its mass-production facilities. Philips evolved into a highly centralized company with decentralized sales and autonomous marketing in 17 countries. Political events in the world during the 1930s forced Philips to change into a truly multi-national company. First, the depression caused countries to erect trade barriers and enact high tariffs, forcing Philips to build local production facilities in the foreign markets they served. Second, in anticipation of World War II, Philips transferred its overseas assets into trusts in Great Britain and the U.S. They moved the bulk of their research staffs to England, and their top managers to the United States. With these assets, the national organizations (NOs) became selfsufficient during the war, skilled at responding to conditions in country-specific markets. In the post-war environment, the NOs had a great advantage in being able to sense and respond to differences in their local countries, and eventually product development became a function of local market conditions. Philips was able to exploit their competencies in research and localization until the late 1960s. At this time, their biggest incompetency was beginning to get in the way of growth. Philips was no longer able to act as a single unified company in order to bring new product technologies to market or to react to recent manufacturing trends; instead each of the NOs acted independently in their  own self-interest. Top management was no longer able to manage the multi-national company Philips had become. For example, Philips was unable to standardize the company for a global push with its V2000 videocassette format when the U.S. chose to license VHS from Matsushita instead. On the manufacturing side, printed circuits were more efficiently produced in large plants, but the NOs were unwilling to consolidate their local manufacturing facilities. Philips’ attempts to set up Product Divisions (PDs) to balance the NOs were largely a failure, and Philips began a long slide, unable to launch new products or to take advantage of the global manufacturing opportunities in low-cost count ries because they were unable to coordinate the NOs. 2. How did Matsushita succeed in replacing Philips as #1? What were its competencies and incompetancies? About the same time pre-war Philips was decentralizing its international structure, Matsushita was a Japanese company that was expanding rapidly into consumer items such as battery powered lamps, electric irons and radios. Post-war, Matsushita integrated horizontally, selling 5,000 products, and vertically, opening 25,000 domestic retail outlets (which gave then direct access to market trends and consumer reaction). Matsushita had a small central research lab, but product development occurred in product divisions. While rarely an innovator, they were very fast to market. When local markets were saturated, Matsushita followed a global strategy of international growth. They shifted basic manufacturing to low-wage countries, but high-value components were still manufactured in Japan. Assembly plants were eventually established in Europe and the Americas to satisfy protectionist sentiment, but the central product divisions kept strong control over the overseas plants. Contrary to Philips, Matsushita stayed in control of the company’s subsidiaries: they developed an effective network of expatriates to build relationships and teach their management process to their foreign subsidiaries, foreign GMs traveled often to the Osaka headquarters, and they stayed in constant contact with daily faxes and nightly phone calls. With a unified global strategy, increased volumes enabled Matsushita to drive costs (and prices) lower, and eventually they overtook Philips based on the strength of their manufacturing operations. 11/7/2005 Page 1 Philips vs. Matsushita Case Greg Tensa This control, however, stifled creativity at the foreign subsidiaries, and innovation began to lag. It seems that the foreign operations were little more than arms of the home organizations, only implementing what they were told by the central organization. While it seems that Matsushita may have desired for their local operations to be more independent in words, in practice American engineers resigned due to excessive control that the their central operations exercised. Unable to develop innovative overseas companies, Matsushita tried to buy innovative companies (i.e. MCA), but the collapse of the Japanese bubble economy and high Yen caused the Japanese economy to enter a protracted recession, and Matsushita was forced to abandon this strategy. 3. What do you think about the changes each company has made to date? The objectives? The implementation? The impact? Why is change so hard for both of them? It seems that Matsushita and Philips had adopted two cultural extremes in their organizations; Matsushita with a highly centralized operation that dictated global operations, Philips a conglomerate of similar businesses with little central coordination. It seems that both realized that they needed to adopt the best practices from the other company. In a mass-market like consumer electronics, this would mean a strong central organization that could develop standards for emerging technologies in order to develop economies of scale for production, yet has the flexibility to adapt the standards to fit the desires of local markets. On the Philips side, seven CEOs over 30 years tried to reshape the company. In the 70’s, they tried consolidate the most efficient local plants into International Production Centers (IPCs), each supplying multiple NOs. It turned out that  the NOs were too powerful, and the PDs were still unable to set direction for the company, so the local operations prevailed. In the 80’s, Philips began closing inefficient plants (40 in Europe then 75 internationally), and identifying businesses as either core (where they were technical leaders or strategically important) or non-core (candidates for divestiture). They also repurchased the North American Philips Corp., in order to regain control. It seems that they might have begun to turn the corner on control, but then Philips also halved its spending on basic research, and made RD the direct responsibility of the businesses supported by the research. The CEO implied that RD spending was being wasted on impractical ideas, but it se ems just as likely to me that money was being wasted because the various NOs were unwilling to rally around the new technologies being developed. Indeed, by 1994 it seemed that the cuts had left the company with few who understood the technology for new businesses. The 90’s were marked by cost cutting; a 22% headcount reduction followed by divestiture on 1/3 of its 120 major businesses, and then shifts of thousands of jobs from North America to APAC. After all of this, in mid-2001 Philips was again losing money, and looking to outsource even more manufacturing. Changing a company culture is incredibly difficult, and changing that of an international company is even harder. It seems that Philips is finally turning the tide and just beginning to get the cooperation necessary to get the scale from their investments in research and manufacturing. Unfortunately, because of all the cost-cutting they needed to do while they tried to get there, they seem to have lost much of their competence in RD. Success in consumer electronics requires constant innovation and efficient manufacturing, and while manufacturing is beginning to improve, their innovation is now lacking. Matsushita, on the other hand, was trying to give more power to its overseas subsidiaries, such as 1982’sâ€Å"Operation Localization,† what gave local managers more choice over the products they sold and authorization to use more local parts. (Importantly, however, product divisions could overrule a local subsidiary if a particular product was of strategic importance). In 1986, Matsushita relocated several major regional headquarters to North America, Europe and SE Asia from Japan. In the early 90’s, the Japanese market for consumer electronics collapsed, leaving Matsushita with a glut of capacity as prices collapsed. While they shifted some production off-shore, Matsushita was  unwilling to restructure its increasingly inefficient domestic production facilities in Japan. By 2000, only 250 of the company’s 3,000 RD scientists were located outside of Japan, and their latest CEO finally decided to consolidate manufacturing facilities. They were slightly p rofitable (0.4% in consumer electronics), but losing money on one-time cash cows TVs VCRs.

Mozart Essays (627 words) - Mozart Family, Freemasons,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on January 27th, 1756. He was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl. Leopol was a very successful composer, voilinist, and the assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court. Mozart showed musical talent at a very young age. By age five he was composing minuets.And at age six he played before the Bavarian Elector and the Austrian Empress.His father taught him, but said teahcing Wolfgang was hard because he knew so much already. His father was also his largest influence. In 1763 Wolfgang's father, Leopold, took him and his sister, Maria Anna, on a concert tour of Europe. The children performed in many courts and large cities including Paris, London, and Germany. They astonished their audiences wherever they performed. In London Wolfgang wrote his first symphonies and met Johann Christian Brahm, who had a very large influence on him. In Paris Wolfgang published his first works, four sonatas for clavier with accompanying voilin. In 1768 he composed his first opera, La Finta Semplice, which was presented for the first time a year later in his home town of Salzburg. In 1769 Wolfgang and his father set out on another tour of Italy. Here Wolfgang wrote a new opera, Mitridate ri de Ponto. He also wrote two more operas for Milan, Ascanio in Alba and Lucio Silla. Three years later in 1772 Wolfgang was appointed concertmaster to the archbishop of Salzburg, his home town. He composed many works while he was concertmaster. But this job was not good for him and he did not get anolg with most of the people around him. So, he soon quit this job to travel to Paris with his mother and look for a new job. In 1777 Wolfgana and his mother, Maria Anna, went to Paris, France. While here Wolfgang composed many works including The Paris Symphony (1778). But, he could not find a permanent job there. His mother died in Paris this year and this upset Wolfgang very much. He returned to Salzburg in 1779 and was made the court organist. He wrote many church works then, including the famous Coronation Mass. He was supposed to write a new opera for Munich, Idomeneo. In 1781 he was called to Vienna by von Colloredo. His career in Vienna started out wonderfully. He was soon assigned to write The Abduction from the Seralio (1782). The emporer loved his music, and later got him the job of court composer. Mozart was now very popular in Vienna. That year he married Constenze Weber, from Germany. His father was not happy with this decision. In 1783 the newly married couple visited Salzburg. During this period many of Mozart's pieces that were composed in Vienna were played. (Such as Mass in C Minor and his greatest success, The Marriage of Figaro, which was composed for the Vienna opera.) After The Marriage of Figaro Mozarts career began doing very poorly, and he was in great debt. The most successful piece after Figaro was Don Giovonni (1787), which was composed for Prauge. After this he composed Cosi Fotte (1790) and The Magic Flute (1791). He also composed his last three symphonies, E Flat, G Minor, and the Jupiter in C. In 1791 Mozart was assigned to write a requiem. His health was in bad shape at the time, but he still worked hard on the requiem. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on December 5th, 1791 in Vienna, leaving the requiem unfinished. Some people think he dies of poisoning, but the most likely reasoning of his death is kidney failure. After his funeral he was buried in a pauper's grave at Saint Marx Cemetary. Mozart was a very large influence on the Classical Music Era, and will never be forgotten.