Harley Davidson case analysis Essay Example for Free

Harley Davidson case analysis Essay This case focuses on the iconic motorcycle brand of Harley-Davidson. Harley-Davidson is an American motorcycle manufacturing company founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since Harley-Davidson was established in 1903, the manufacturer has experienced its ups and down. It especially encounters struggles like any other automobile industry during economic downturns. On the verge of bankruptcy around 1980, Harley-Davidson made a surprising comeback. This comeback was mainly a result of Harley-Davidson’s incorporation of customer services into its products, product differentiation through quality and design as well as focusing production on a consistently high level of quality. Today, the company’s annual worldwide sales total more than $4 billion worldwide and have an annual output of 200,000 motorcycles along 35 different models in seven product lines. With these results it is safe to say that Harley-Davidson dominates the U. S. motorcycle market and is also strong in Europe and Japan. Harley-Davidson does a very good job at differentiating its product. In fact, product differentiation is the main component of Harley-Davidson’s marketing strategy. They want to offer a motorcycle like no other motorcycle on the market at the highest quality. Harley-Davidson not only stresses its level of quality but its consistency of quality as well. Quality refers to the overall characteristic of a product that allows it to perform as expected in satisfying customer needs. Therefore quality can be used to differentiate products because not all products satisfy the needs of the consumer. Harley-Davidson offers many different lines of motorcycles including limited edition models as well as customization options. If the customer customizes the motorcycle then they should be getting exactly what they want at a high quality. Harley-Davidson emphasizes the consistency of quality as much as the level of quality because no matter how high the level of quality is, if it is not consistent then they will lose customers. For example, if you go to a restaurant that serves food the way you like it to be prepared only half of the time, it is likely that you will no longer go there. Then word spreads to others and they are less likely to go to that restaurant too. The same goes for Harley-Davidson. They want to ensure that every motorcycle has a high quality to keep the customers satisfied and bring forth even more customers. They also offer financing and insurance which helps differentiate them from competitors even more. Harley-Davidson believes that customer service is an important part of the product. They help differentiate their product by offering customers training, warrantees, guarantees, repairs and accessories. They want the customers to be comfortable with the employees and have a positive buying experience. Some dealers even take it a step further by offering a Rider’s Edge course. Since this course was offered at some dealerships, more than 150,000 people have graduated and earned a motorcycles license. This customer service section aims at the population of people who would like to buy a Harley-Davidson but do not know how to ride. They join these step-by-step courses with the employees and are on track to one day having their own Harley. They also offer a line of bikes for women and teach women how to ride bikes, pick them up, and assist them with any information they need in the buying process. They even have founded the Harley Owens Group in order to instill a sense of community amongst riders. There are over 1 million members. They have access to certain benefits, group rides, members only website, exclusive magazines, and a special customer service hotline. They even offer free tours at four of its factories, not to mention the museum. The Harley-Davidson museum is located in its headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The museum features exhibits from the company’s past products such as sample boats, bikes, snowmobiles and golf carts, to today’s models. They also highlight the company’s latest technologies, and inner workings of its new product development process. This museum may play a role in influencing how customers perceive the company and its products because they are able to see where the company has been, where they are, and where they want to be. It also gives the potential customers a chance to experience what it would be like to be a Harley-Davidson owner. They even offer a virtual ride bike so that people can almost get a first hand glance at what it is like to own a bike. Harley-Davidson has a very wide marketing mix. They have bikes that attract people of different sizes, styles, age, and gender. They offer a very good bike at a price of $6,999 for beginners. They offer a line exclusively for women with smaller bikes and a wide variety of customizing products. They aim at creating a sense of individuality and freedom for the riders. As a rider gets more experienced they can trade their bike in for a more advanced one if they feel it is necessary. They also offer different styles of bikes for those who are experienced. They range from cruisers to choppers to sports bikes. In total there are seven product lines with 35 different models. Therefore the product depth is 7 and its length is 35. Below is a list going into greater detail about the marketing mix. If I had to invent a brand name for a line of luxury motorcycles I would call it the American Eagle. This brand name would especially appeal to the American market but would also be appealing worldwide. It implies a high American quality, which is luxurious and valuable and is consistent with the American lifestyle. Product   The major product is heavy weight motorcycle of 750 cc for working out on heavy roads.   A number of brands have been introduced in its century of age, and each one was very integrated, well equipped and up to date with respect to technological advancements (Johnstone, 1995). The hallmark productions of the company assisted it to acquire eagle mark for itself. An excellent customer service is provided in case of any ambiguity, and customers are thoroughly guided for the upcoming brands.   Deals in branded motor bikes and other limited sector of open market.   Also deal in used bikes, there usable parts being repaired and introduced in the market at lower price range   Spare part market has also got their name at the top of the list.   Twin Cam engine is its major innovatory product.   They also offer services for repairing. Revolution engine is also introduced on their innovation lists. Price Their prices are mostly maintained around a certain figure.   The major revenue sector is heavy bikes along with spare parts.   The company has been in crisis for few years as its market share dropped by 43 (%) percent.   The company is planning to eliminate its employees in the coming year for maintaining the company’s financial position (Wilson, 1993).   During the time of crisis the vehicle prices were suddenly increased but now it’s being hoped that they will be regulated. Place. The company has acquired 358,000 square foot plant in Kansas City for the production of Dyna Glide, Sportster, and V-Rod models.   For assisting Latin American expansion n Assemly plant is located in Brazil. By establishing manufacturing units, a vast production was achieved (Margie, 2009).   Harley Davidson is also moving forward to export bikes in India as well to increase its production and export sector as well. Harley Davidson also caters the motor bikes export in most parts of the world but it is not that much economical because of high custom duty for heavy machinery. Promotion   Different marketing policies are being applied for the promotion of the company. Lucky draws are timely introduced, while promoting its political frame.   Certain free services are announced for showing goodwill gestures on the new motor bikes sale.   Some times fares are also arranged for bulk sales, especially when there is low sale time. Very attractive commercials are placed on different channels.   Most of the magazines in U. S promote the company by its good coverage. References Pride, W. M.. , Ferrell, O.C. , (2012). Foundations of Marketing. Pg. 77. Australia Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning (2012, ). H-D1â„ ¢ Customization | Custom Motorcycles | Harley-Davidson USA. Retrieved. November 17, 2012, from http://www. harley-davidson. com/en_US/Content/Pages/H-D1_Customization/h-d1_cu stomization. html? locale=en_USbmLocale=en_US (2011, March 8). Harley Davidson Marketing Mix | Marketing Mixx. Retrieved November 17, 2012, from http://marketingmixx. com/marketing-basics/marketing-mix/159-harley-davidson-marketing-mix. html.

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Global warming is one of the most serious issues that the human species face today, yet the majority of the population does not pay attention to it. People are not aware of the dangers and do not care about it much because the main effects will affect the next generation and not themselves. Global warming is happening and it is the reason for changing weather and weather extremes such as earthquakes, floods and wildfires. Global warming is caused by societies lifestyle and these lifestyles destroy the environment and affect the whole world. The use of cars, trains, planes, as well as wasting energy for people’s entertainment has a price; this price is that society is in danger. The common definition of global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants (Global warming, Wikipedia). Moreover, the effects of global warming will bring ecological and social changes. Because there is no exact way to predict the effects of global warming, it is almost impossible to say how strong global warming will affect life in the future. Scientists blame the greenhouse gas effect in combination with societies greenhouse gas emissions for the rising temperature. The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is emitted back towards the earth’s surface and the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what it would be in the absence of the gases (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Simply, global... ... of extreme weather and melting ice caps are indicators of global warming. Because these things will affect society, there are important decisions that have to be made in the present as well as in the future to secure people’s lives and lifestyles. The world community is aware of this serious issue and do already prepare for projects to slow down global warming, but they still have to improve. If the world leaders stop worrying about this issue, the future generations could be in danger. The future lifestyles will be affected by the decisions made in the present day. Society has much to improve to save energy and to lower greenhouse gas emissions. There are also small things people can do to help. Individuals can live a life without wasting energy or polluting the environment. Without effort, global warming endangers the quality of life for the future generations.

The Portrait of Medieval Social Classes as Presented in the General Prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s the Canterbury Tales

The General Prologue fulfils two functions: it tells the story of how the tales came to be told, and it introduces the tellers. There are about thirty pilgrims travelling to Canterbury to pray to the holy blissful martyr- St. Thomas of Becket. These characters can be considered the portrait of the whole Middle English society. All the pilgrims can be divided into particular hierarchic structure of classes. The simplest division of society was into three estates: those who fight, those who pray, and those who labour, typified by the Knight, the Parson and the Plowman.Women were often treated as an estate to themselves. The basic tripartite division of society, for instance, is reflected in Chaucer’s making his Knight, Parson and Plowman the three ideal characters on the pilgrimage- along with the Clerk to stand for those who learn and teach. However, I have to admit that this division is not so obvious, which I explained below. ‘Chaucer starts the introduction of pilgrims with the highest-ranking layman, the Knight, with his entourage, and continues with the highest-ranking ecclesiastics, the Prioress and the Monk.The Merchant, Clerk, Sergeant of Law, and Franklin who follow were regarded more or less as social equals, and various other representatives of the middle classes, most of them keen to push themselves up the social ladder, follow in somewhat haphazard order. The Summoner and Pardoner are social and moral misfits in almost every sense, with no obvious place either in a class hierarchy or in the ‘common weal’, society as a system of mutual support’ (Helen Cooper, Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996).According to Helen Cooper, the basic organization then is by rank, but with some telling exceptions and some haphazardness: society is not an ordered hierarchy, not least because the people who compose it are reluctant to stay in their places. The Knight and Squire represent very diffe rent types, and functions, of chivalry. The Monk is described in terms that make him a different kind of antitype to the Knight, and the attributes that might be expected of each are exchanged: it is the Monk who hunts and loves good food and clothes, while the Knight is ascetic who has devoted his life to service of Christ (cf. Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996). If there is a certain logic in the order of the pilgrims, however, the content of the individual portraits shows a constant variation. The stress can fall on appearance, past life, the pilgrim’s own voice or self-image, moral probity, or tastes and priorities. The estates structure suggest that the pilgrims will be defined by their work, but while many of the portraits adopt an appropriate language, only few show their subject doing what his or her office requires.In my work I will describe and submit every character and then summary the portrait of the class as a whole, a nd finally, in the summary I will put forward the whole portrait of society as a whole by summing up the features of each social class. Chivalry Chivalry was undoubtedly the most important of social classes in middle ages. They fought for the king, his kingdom and the religion. Chivalry is also nowadays considered as a pattern of behaviour of ideal man: he has to be brave, gentle for ladies and honourable; he also has to be ready to die for his beliefs.There are three characters representing this class in The General Prologue. These are the Knight, the Squire, and the Yeoman. The Knight is described by Chaucer with respect and honour. Chaucer does not use any irony or satire in the description of the Knight; the irony is reserved to those who fall short of the standard of perfection he sets. The function of the Knight was to fight; but throughout Christian history, and increasingly in the late fourteenth century, there was a profound unease at the thought of Christian fighting Chris tian.The wars that were held in the highest esteem were those fought in the cause of God, against the infidel. ‘The knight is not only a fighter: he is that most honoured of warriors, a Crusader’ (Helen Cooper, Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996). He participated in many wars against Muslims in Spain, North Africa, and the Near East; and pagans around the Baltic. The Knight’s portrait differs from those of most of the other pilgrims in several respects. He is described rather in terms of moral attributes than physical appearance.It reinforces the sense of his asceticism, his devotion more to God than to things of the world. He is also described in terms of what other people think of him: he is ‘evere honoured for his worthynesse’, set ‘aboven alle nacions’ at the table of honour, ‘everemoore he hadde a sovereyn prys’ (op. cit. ‘The General Prologue’, The Canterbury Tale s, Geoffrey Chaucer; lines 50, 53, 67). It is a portrait of ideal Christian knighthood. Almost every pilgrim has some particular object of desire, that the Knight’s should be: ‘Trouthe and honour, freedom and curteisie’ (op. it. line 46). The Knight is considered perfect by Chaucer. He is modest as a maid, he is devoted to God more than any of the characters representing clergy. He sometimes fought on the side of Muslims, but only if they fought against other Muslims; he had never fought against Christians. Despite of his valorous deeds, the knight never boasted of his actions, nor bored his listeners. The Squire would be a candidate for knighthood. He is young, probably in his twenties. He is a son of the Knight. When not in battle, he thinks of himself as a quite a lady’s man.He takes meticulous care of his appearance. He could also sing lusty songs, compose melodies, write poetry, and ride a horse with distinction. He also has all the other proper attri butes to go with his being a young lover: a fine figure, a dashing military career, and all the courtly accomplishments considered those times as being appropriate for winning one’s lady. According to Helen Cooper, the Squire is the iconographic image of young love and its month of May (op. cit. line 92), for the month was often presented as fashionable and gaily dressed youth on horseback.Chaucer does not quite offer us the Squire at his own valuation- a total failure to sleep on account of love has an affectionate touch of the ridiculous about it, as well as the hyperbolic, but the ‘fresshe floures’ embroidered on his clothes, and his associations with the spring with sleepless birds make Squire a ‘courtly version of the lifetime of spring’ (cf. Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996). The Squire is not only young, strong, and in love; he is courteous, eager to server, and in all respects perfect of his type, however different from his father’s type.The Yeoman was a servant of the Knight and Squire. He was known as an expert woodsman and an excellent archer. A knight held a position in society that had to be visibly maintained, by the presence of at least a minimal retinue. The Yeoman is the servant he brings apart from the Squire, a modesty of display that Chaucer comments in lines 100-101 (op. cit. ). One would expect a Yeoman in the company of such a Knight to be a military figure, a longbowman; by the addition of green clothes and the hunting-horn, Chaucer defines him more closely, as a forester.A forester could be anything from a senior administrative official to a gamekeeper: the Yeoman’s knowledge of ‘wodecraft’ shows him to be one of the more practical kind. ‘The Yeoman is not a standard figure in estates literature, but Chaucer creates and iconography for him as effectively as he recreates the conventional images of the Squire. Whether the Yeoman really needs his bow, peacock, arrows, and horn on a pilgrimage is less important than the way they serve to define him.His excellence as a yeoman is summed up in the neologism Chaucer creates for him, yemanly’ (Helen Cooper, Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996). To summarize, the chivalry social class representatives are shown as brave men, skilful in battle, famous for their deeds, ready to die for their beliefs; servants of their lords and masters. The chivalry participates in wars and is appreciated by the rest of community for its strength, honour, fame, and modesty. Priesthood The priesthood is in the middle class of medieval social hierarchy.Chaucer uses a lot of satire and irony as he describes members of this estate in The General Prologue. Members of this social class who participate in the pilgrimage are the Prioress, the Monk, the Friar, the Summoner, the Parson, and the Pardoner. Descriptions of these characters are much more abundant in satire and irony than any other. The Prioress was a head of monastery. She was rather well educated, even though her French was not the accepted Parisian French. She was very coy and delicate. When she ate, she took great care for her table manners. She was very courteous and amiable and tried to imitate the manners of the court.She had three small hounds with her which she treated very gently and tenderly. Her dress was very neat and tidy and she wore a gold brooch with the inscription ‘amor vincit omnia’. ‘Chaucer’s description of the Prioress is filled with gentle and subtle irony. Here is a picture of a lady who happens to be a nun, but she never forgets that she is a lady first. Her oath, ‘by Sainte Loy’ implies that she has chosen the most fashionable and handsome saint who was also famous for his great courtesy’ (Bruce Nicoll, The Canterbury Tales notes, Coles Notes, 1992). She emphasis on her appearance.The Monk ’s description simply seems to had been ‘swapped’ with the stereotypical description of a knight. The Knight is described as the man who devoted his life to God, and the Monk is called ‘a manly man’ by Chaucer, which means his portrait is that of a country gentleman. The Monk is interested in women (on the way which he should not be, regarding to his profession), wearing expensive clothes and jewellery, he likes hunting. He is not modest. He does all these things although his monastic orders ban him to behave this way. He is supposed to be a beggar and own no goods.In description of the Monk, According to Helen Cooper, Chaucer introduces the materials of antimonastic satire: the good living, his failure to keep within the cloister, his approval of secular offices for religious (op. cit. line 187), and his hunting. But it is he himself, not a satirist, who relays all the standard texts and aphorisms on the ills of such life; and he then dismisses them by reference to those items of food- oysters (a cheap dish), plucked hens- that fall well below his favourite diet of roast swan (cf. Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996).The Monk clearly breaks his vows of poverty, obedience to his rule and ‘stability’, staying within his monastery. The Friar, like the Prioress, is described by Chaucer with a set of epithets and attributes that in other circumstances might be complimentary; he is ‘worthy’ like the Knight, and ‘curteis’ and ‘lowely of servyse’ like the Squire (op. cit. lines 99, 250). But his worthiness shows itself in his refusal to fulfil the basic function of his calling, the relief of the diseased and the outcast. The Friar was hobnobbing with the local franklins and surpassing the Monk in being not just like a ‘prelaat’ but like a pope (op. it. line 261). The Friar is the first of the pilgrims who explicitly sets the mone y above God. Destitute widows are the objects not of his charity but of his greed. ‘Over twenty lines of his portrait are devoted to his skill in extracting money; seven more go to his dubious relationships with young women, fair wives, and the barmaids. ’ (Helen Cooper, Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales) Yet there is no doubt that all such things make the Friar socially attractive: the whole emphasis of the portrait falls on the busyness of his social life, on taverns and love-days, on all the people with whom he is on good terms.The Summoner was a man paid to summon sinners for a trial before a church court. He had a fire-red complexion, pimples and boils, a scaly infection around the eyebrows, and a moth-eaten beard. ‘He treats his sores as leprosy. To make matters worse, he loved to eat garlic, onions, leeks, and drink strong wine. He could quote a few lines of Latin which he was using to impress people. Chaucer calls him a gentil harlot and impli es it would be difficult to find a better fellow, because for a bottle of wine, the Summoner would often turn his back and let sinner to continue living in sin. He was also well acquainted with ladies of questionable reputation’ (Bruce Nicoll, The Canterbury Tales notes, Coles Notes, 1992). According to Bruce Nicoll, the Summoner’s physical appearance fits to his profession well. He is so ugly and gruesome looking that a summons from him is in itself a horrible experience. Thus, Chaucer ironically implies that he is a good fellow. But furthermore, he is a good fellow because sinners could easily bribe him (Bruce Nicoll, The Canterbury Tales notes, Coles Notes, 1992).The Parson is the only one of the churchmen shown by Chaucer that we can call competent and fair. Although he was very poor, he would rather give his own scarce money to his poor parishioners than demand tithes from them. His principle was to live the perfect life first, and then to teach it. His life was a perfect example of true Christian priest, and by his good example, he taught but first followed it himself. Among the other churchmen described in The General Prologue, the Parson stands out as the ideal portrait of what parish priest should be. He is the ideal Christian man.The Pardoner was a church official who had authority from Rome to sell pardons and indulgences to those charged with sins. He had just returned from Rome with bagful of pardons which he planned to sell to the ignorant at great profit to himself. He had a loud, high-pitched voice, yellow, flowing hair. He was beardless. ‘There was no one so good at his profession as was this Pardoner’ (Bruce Nicoll, The Canterbury Tales notes, Coles Notes, 1992). The pardoner seems to be the most corrupted of the churchmen. In the prologue to his tale, he confesses to his hypocrisy.The Priesthood class is widely criticised by Chaucer. The Prioress pays more attention to her manners than to the substance of her calli ng. The Monk cares nothing for the rules of his order, the Friar sets money above God. The Summoner and the Pardoner are corrupted. There is only the Parson to fulfil his duties well. He is that good shepherd to care for his sheep. He is the ideal set in the minority of the clergy. The other churchmen described by Chaucer are focused more on their own ‘business’ than on their mission given by the Catholic church.These characters (excluding the Parson) may be called hypocrites. Higher bourgeoisie Higher bourgeoisie is the class of rich and/or well-educated townsmen and landlords who are not noblemen. The representatives of this class are, as follows: the Merchant, the Clerk, the Sergeant of Law, the Franklin, the Doctor of Physic, and the Reeve. The Merchant is anonymous, ‘I noot how men hym calle’ (op. cit. line 284). He has a forked beard and a beaver hat that reveals his wealth. He talks about his occupation and the risks connected with working as a merch ant.According to Helen Cooper, the merchant, like the Knight and Squire, has his own areas of contemporary campaign (cf. Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996). Chaucer has mentioned something about the debt of the Merchant in his description, but we are not sure whether the debt is still unpaid or the Merchant had dealt with it before. The Clerk is a student of what would nowadays be considered philosophy or theology. He is introduced as a diligent person who has a wide connection of books.He is portrayed as a perfect example of a scholar. He has a bachelor degree and is totally devoted to logic. As a subtext to this portrait, there is an opposite description of less ideal clerks: those who would treat education as a pathway to well-paid office, who would prefer expensive clothes and music-making to the books for which the Clerk longs. The Sergeant of Law is a lawyer whose main focus is to make money. His legal knowledge and skill in ‘p urchasying’ land is apparently used primarily for himself as a purchaser.Chaucer uses a lot of law terms in his description of the Sergeant of Law, but no such word as ‘justice’ appears. The Franklin is the only pilgrim to be involved in running the society. He and the Sergeant of Law are partners in graft. He is a landowner, however he is not a noble. He did not inherit his wealth and he is not a ‘nouveau riche’. The Franklin accepts all the duties and responsibilities that go with his position: he has held the office of knight of the shire, sheriff, auditor, and justice of the peace.There is no a single word from Chaucer that would criticise the way that the Franklin fulfils his duties. The Franklin has a white beard. As Helen Cooper noticed, his love differs from the Knight’s chivalry or the Squire’s ladies, the Franklin loves his morning snack of bread in wine; thus the vocabulary used in his description is gastronomic (cf. Oxford G uides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, Oxford University Press, 1996). Moreover, the Franklin also shares his food with other people. That makes him a perfect landlord.The Doctor of Physic is trained in medicine, astronomy and astrology. He could quote all the medical authorities, but he knew nothing of the Bible. He had made a lot of money during the plague. He has a special love for gold, since he prescribes this metal for cures. The Reeve managed a large estate. He was skinny and bad-tempered. He had a close cut beard and short haircut. His subordinates were afraid of him because of his unrelenting preservance. Similarly to the mentioned later Manciple, he had reaped profits for himself by being clever at buying.The higher bourgeoisie class representatives are shown by Chaucer as people who are greedy (the Manciple, the Doctor of Physic, the Reeve, the Sergeant of Law, the Merchant, the imperfect clerks described in the description of the ideal Clerk), filled with temptation ( t he Franklin) and devoted to their passion (the Clerk, the Reeve). This social class is not criticised so sharply as the clergy. Most of them are fair in their work, some of them are simply perfect (the Clerk, the Franklin), on the other hand some of them cheat (the Reeve).They all want to gain something that make other people consider them ‘upper class’. Bourgeoisie Bourgeoisie are simply the townsmen who are neither that rich nor that well-educated as the people from the class I named ‘higher bourgeoisie’. They are simple people who live and work in town. They are ordinary people and second most numerous class of the middle ages in Europe. The representatives of this class are, as follows: the Guildsmen, the Wife of Bath, the Manciple, the Cook, the Shipman, the Miller, and the Host.The Guildsmen are five craftsmen (four clothworkers and the Carpenter) who belong to a single parish guild. The portrait of the Guildsmen is largely devoted to their anxiety to impress others by climbing on the social class hierarchy ladder; their knives are decorated with silver chasing, which is inappropriate for their social class, because such ornament was reserved for gentry (lower nobility class members). The Guildsmen sit on dais in a guildhall and fulfil their professional obligations. They want to be aldermen and they are improving their qualifications day by day. They work fairly and hard.Unfortunately, the Guildsmen are being corrupted by their wives, who want them to get promoted and advanced in social hierarchy, or at least pretend so. They wish to be accorded the superior title of ‘madame’. Wives of the Guildsmen want to behave ‘roialliche’ and be treated as higher class members and force them to participate in some kind of what nowadays would refer to as a ‘rat race’. The Wife of Bath was an excellent seamstress and weaver. She has been married five times and been on many outland pilgrimages: to Rome, to Bologna, to Jerusalem, to Galice, and to Cologne.Her special talent was her knowledge of all the remedies of love. She was deaf a little. She always was first at the altar or offering in church. The Manciple was a steward for a law school in London. His duty was to buy the food. He was not as learned as the lawyers, but he was smart enough that he had been able to put aside a little sum for himself from every transaction. The Cook in The General Prologue is only defined by his professional skill. He works for the Guildsmen. He has a notorious running sore on his leg.We do not know much more about him from the description in the prologue. The Shipman was the master of vessel and an expert of navigation who knew all the ports from the Atlantic to the North Sea. He was a huge and uncouth man. He could not ride horse well, but no one was a better sailor. Nevertheless, according to Jill Mann, the Shipman had bad habits of thievery, piracy, and mass murder (Chaucer and Medieval Estates Satire: The Literature of Social Classes and The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Cambridge, 1973). The Miller was a stubborn and strong man.His strength would let him outwrestle any man. He had red beard and a wart on his nose. He played the bagpipes as the pilgrims left the town. He had a tendency for thievery. The Host was the leader of the pilgrimage party and the host of the Tabard Inn. His name is Harry Bailey. He was loud, large and merry, although he possesses a quick temper. He was liked by the pilgrims. Members of the bourgeoisie want to get socially promoted and try to do all the things necessary to achieve this promotion (the best example of this is the behaviour of the Wife of Bath).They focus on making money. Some of them, as the Guildsmen, work hard to improve their social and material status, others, as the Miller and the Manciple, prefer continuous small acts of thievery to enrich. Some of them commit more serious crimes, as does the Shipman. All of them a re working hard in their profession and are determined to achieve their destination, one way or another. Peasants Peasants are the lowest social class of middle ages. They are hard-working and poor. Their professions are connected with agriculture. There is only ne representative of this social class appearing in The General Prologue- the Plowman. The Plowman is a small tenant farmer who lives in a perfect peace and charity. He loves God with all his heart. He is always honest with his neighbours. He regularly pays his tithes to the church. He is a brother of the Parson, and so, they are equally good-hearted. The Plowman, unlike most of the pilgrims, is happy with his position in society. He wears his humble tabard which is appropriate for his rank and never tries to be someone else than he really is.The portrait of the only character of peasant class introduced to us by Chaucer lead us to conclusion that peasants are the poorest and the lowest social class of middle ages, but also the most hard-working and morally good people. In my opinion, the Plowman in his morality can be compared to the Knight, although their material and social statuses completely differ. Summary The division of society portrayed by Chaucer is not obvious. In this work I have introduced the division into social classes by the social position, profession and, wealth and education level of each character.I think that Chaucer demonstrates his audience that class order and moral order are two different things. Members of the chivalry and the peasant class are on top and the bottom of the hierarchy. Despite of this fact, in some aspects the knighthood characters and the Plowman are equal. They are all modest, hard-working, truly devoted to god, fair to other people and proud of their position. If we exclude these two classes from the hierarchy, there appears the conclusion that the higher social class character belongs to, the richer, the more educated, and the morally worse it is.The social class portrayed by Chaucer as the most corrupted is clergy. Those who should prevent people from sin appear to be the biggest sinners. We can see that the more powerful and richer people become, the bigger sinners they are. The classes described as these of best morality are chivalry and peasants. Every class has its exceptional ideal representative: chivalry- the Knight, clergy- the Parson, bourgeoisie (as one class with higher bourgeoisie)- the Clerk. These characters are patterns of ideal behaviour for all the members of their classes.By this phenomena, Chaucer shows that there is no class that is totally corrupted- there is always someone who fulfils his duties perfectly. To sum up, the clergy is shown as a class of people who abuse their position for private profits; the bourgeoisie members are only wishing to make more and more money and advance their social status; the chivalry and peasants are happy with their position, neither the Knight, nor the Plowman can be promoted to upper class. The difference is- the Knight, unlike the Plowman, is socially appreciated and respected.Those days your origin and social class membership was the most important part of social life. So, there is no wonder why people from middle classes wanted to be promoted and were ready to do anything to achieve that, on fair or unfair way. Although the portrait of medieval social classes is a little ironical and satirical (and still may appear a literary fiction), I think that it is very likely that it is possibly a complete description of the actual English community in Middle Ages.

Chinas Physical Geography - A Diverse Landscape

Sitting on the Pacific Rim at 35 degrees North and 105 degrees East is the People’s Republic of China. Along with Japan and Korea, China is often considered part of Northeast Asia as it borders North Korea and shares a maritime border with Japan. But the country also shares land borders with 13 other nations in Central, South and Southeast Asia – including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. With 3.7 million square miles (9.6 square km) of terrain, China’s landscape is diverse and expansive. Hainan Province, China’s southernmost region is in the tropics, while Heilongjiang Province which borders Russia, can dip to below freezing. There are also the western desert and plateau regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, and to the north lies the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Just about every physical landscape can be found in China. Mountains and Rivers Major mountain ranges in China include the Himalayas along the India and Nepal border, the Kunlun Mountains in the center-west region, the Tianshan Mountains in the northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Qinling Mountains that separates north and south China, the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the northeast, the Tiahang Mountains in north-central China, and the Hengduan Mountains in the southeast where Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan meet. The rivers in China include the 4,000-mile (6,300 km) Yangzi River, also known as the Changjiang or the Yangtze, that begins in Tibet and cuts trough the middle of the country, before emptying into the East China Sea near Shanghai. It is the third longest river in the world after the Amazon and the Nile. The 1,200-mile (1900 km) Huanghe or Yellow River begins in the western Qinghai Province and travels a meandering route through North China to the Bohai Sea in Shangdong Province. The Heilongjiang or Black Dragon River runs along the Northeast marking China’s border with Russia. Southern China has the Zhujiang or Pearl River whose tributaries make a delta emptying into the South China Sea near Hong Kong. A Difficult Land While China is the fourth largest country in the world, behind Russia, Canada, and the United States in terms of landmass, only about 15 percent of it is arable, as most of the country is made of mountains, hills, and highlands. Throughout history, this has proven a challenge to grow enough food to feed Chinas large population. Farmers have practiced intensive agriculture methods, some of which have led to a great erosion of its mountains. For centuries China has also struggled with earthquakes, droughts, floods, typhoons, tsunamis, and sandstorms. It is no surprise then that much of Chinese development has been shaped by the land. Because so much of western China is not as fertile as other regions, most of the population lives in the eastern third of the country. This has resulted in uneven development where eastern cities are heavily populated and more industrial and commercial while the western regions are less populated and have little industry. Located on the Pacific Rim, Chinas earthquakes have been severe. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeast China is said to have killed more than 200,000 people. In May 2008, an earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province killed nearly 87,000 people and left millions homeless. While the nation is just a bit smaller than the United States, China uses only one time zone, China Standard Time, which is eight hours ahead of GMT. A Poem About Chinas Land: At Heron Lodge For centuries the diverse landscape of China has inspired artists and poets. Tang Dynasty poet Wang Zhihuan’s (688-742) poem â€Å"At Heron Lodge† romanticizes the land, and also shows an appreciation of perspective: Mountains cover the white sun And oceans drain the yellow river But you can widen your view three hundred miles By ascending a single flight of stairs

The Most Powerful Body of the United Nations

The United Nations Security Council is the most powerful body of the United Nations. The Security Council can authorize the deployment of troops from United Nations member countries, mandate cease-fire during conflict  and can impose economic penalties on countries. The United Nations Security Council is composed of representatives from fifteen countries. Five of the Security Council members are permanent members. The original five permanent members were the United States, United Kingdom, Republic of China (Taiwan), Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and France. These five countries were the primary victorious countries of World War II. In 1973, Taiwan  was replaced by the Peoples Republic of China on the Security Council and after the fall of the USSR in 1991, the USSRs spot was occupied by Russia. Thus, the current five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia, and France. Each of the five permanent members of the Security Council has veto power over any matter voted upon by the Security Council. This means that all five permanent members of the Security Council must agree to endorse any measure for it to pass. Nonetheless, the Security Council has passed more than 1700 resolutions since its founding in 1946. Regional Groupings of UN Member Countries The remaining ten non-permanent members of the total membership of fifteen countries are chosen based on various regions of the world. Almost every United Nations member country is a member of a regional grouping. The regional groupings include: The Western European and Others GroupThe Eastern European GroupLatin American and Caribbean GroupThe Asian GroupThe African Group Interestingly, the United States and Kiribati are the two countries which are not members of any group. Australia, Canada, Israel, and New Zealand are all part of the Western European and Others Group. Non-Permanent Members The ten non-permanent members serve two-year terms and half are replaced each year in annual elections. Each region votes for its own representatives and the United Nations General Assembly approves the selections. The division among the ten non-permanent members is as follows: Africa – three members, Western Europe and Others – two members, Latin America and ​the  Caribbean – two members, Asia – two members, and Eastern Europe – one member. Membership Structure Current members of the United Nations Security Council can be found on this listing of Security Council Members. There has been controversy over the composition of the permanent members and the veto power for decades. Brazil, Germany, Japan and India all seek inclusion as permanent members of the Security Council and recommend enlargement of the Security Council to twenty-five members. Any proposal to modify the organization of the Security Council would require the approval of two-thirds of the United Nations General Assembly (193 UN member countries as of 2012). The presidency of the United Nations Security Council rotates on a monthly basis alphabetically among all of the members based on their English name. Since the United Nations Security Council must be able to act quickly during times of international emergency, a representative from each Security Council member country must be present at all times at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Essay about Ethical Issues in Medical Technology - 1213 Words

Advancements in medical technology are made every day. Diseases are being cured, and better treatments are becoming available for the diseases that are not. As a result, people are living longer, and some medical problems that once killed, now do not. Almost anyone would agree that living longer would be great, but for patients’ suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s, or any other debilitating disease, a longer life is just more time to suffer. Prolonged life has become a topic of ethical debate, and there are many things to be considered when discussing it. When asked to choose between quality of life and length of life, most people would probably choose quality over length. In an article by Katy Butler she found that, â€Å"30 percent of†¦show more content†¦Some may argue that doctors purposely provide a lack of information in order to receive the financial incentives associated with performing the aggressive treatments. With many doctors operating in the fee-for-service medical economy, aggressive treatment makes them more money than discussing the outcomes and alternatives in detail. Researchers have estimated that about Medicare spends close to 150 billion dollars of its budget in unnecessary tests and treatments (Butler). Incentives for pursuing aggressive treatment should be eliminated, and doctors should be rewarded for giving their patients the best options. The only way to solve this problem is to intervene on medical market systems, and create a new plan of action. The medical industry should not have such high prof it margins. That only proves that patients are being overcharged for medical services. Getting rid of incentives, could help to solve the problem of uninformed patients. In turn, these patients and their loved ones will be able to make the right decisions. Another big issue in the debate of ethical issues in these life-extending technologies is the lives of the caregivers. 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Emotions Research and Theories Free Essays

Emotion is a feeling that causes physical and psychological changes as well as, influence thought and behavior. Like motivation emotion is categorized into three separate categories: neurological, physiological, and cognitive. Emotionality is associated with a range of psychological phenomena including temperament, personality, mood, and motivation (Cherry, 2010). We will write a custom essay sample on Emotions Research and Theories or any similar topic only for you Order Now Emotion is both an intrinsic and extrinsic source of motivation. The emotions that we feel internally drive us like an instinct. Externally what we experience teaches us how to react in the future. The James-Lange theory was an early theory individually discovered by two scientists in the 20th century, William James and Carl Lange. The James-Lange theory states that emotions happen because of physiological reactions to events. For example; you are walking down the street and see a person who wronged you in the past; your teeth clench and you nostrils flare. The William-Lange theory proposes that you will interpret your physical reactions and conclude what emotion you feel. â€Å"My face tightened therefore I am angry. ) The Cannon- Bard theory sought to dispel the William-Lange theory and stated that we feel emotions and experience physiological reactions such as, trembling, sweating, and muscle tension simultaneously. Example- the toddler sees a doctor with a needle and is scared so she cries. The cognitive arousal theory focuses on the interaction between the two arousal and cognition. The first experiment for this theory was created by Schachter Singer in 1962. This theory focuses on two dimensions of emotion the quality and intensity. They believed that emotion was produced with psychological arousal. When someone is aroused psychologically this can produce a variety of feelings. For example, anger, fear, happiness, anxiety, or sadness depending on the intensity some kind of action will be produced behind these emotions. For instance, a student that lives in a dorm room alone she is just watching television then suddenly hears a struggle to get her door open. Immediately she feels fear and anxiety her next action will be determine by the intensity of her emotions. The arousal in this case would be everything she is thinking is it a burglary, she can get hurt in the process, or is someone there to hurt her. The first thing she grabs is a knife and some mace her father gave her before leaving for college. Her second move would be to call 911. Therefore this scenario proves this theory is correct if there were not any psychological arousal there would not been any action (DeckersL. 2010). Category analysis is a way of analyzing emotion with the study of words associated with that emotion (Deckers, 2010). Category analysis assumes that the development of words happened to describe the emotional experiences of individuals (Deckers,2010), â€Å"in other words, the reason for words such as love, hate, sad, happy, afraid, and angry is because each labels a distinctly unique feeling in a particular situation† (Deckers, 2010. p. 317). These words exist because people have experienced a specific feeling and associated that word to that feeling. To understand the different ways a person express his or her emotions Johnson-Laird and Oatley did a study of 590 English words meanings to classify each word into an emotion category, and words with similar meanings are classified together (Deckers, 2010). One concern with their study was determining if a â€Å"word† used to describe a feeling was subjective. Though their research the results were; categories of five basic emotions, which are happiness, fear, sadness, disgust, and anger. Happiness, fear, sadness, disgust, and anger are words describe basic emotions (Deckers, 2010) Facial expressions are another research method used for uncover basic emotions. The thought in reference to facial expressions is that basic emotions have facial expressions is in accord with that emotion, such as a frown coincides with sadness (Deckers, 2010). Ekman and Izard reported, â€Å"If there is no distinctive facial expression, then the corresponding subjective state should not be considered an emotion facial expression† (Deckers, 2010, p. 18). Ekman along with Izard discovered that facial expressions together with emotions were precisely identifiable by people of differing cultures worldwide, which inspired Ekman’s proposal of the six basic emotions along with the matching facial expressions. The six basic emotions that have recognizable facial expressions are surprise, happiness, fear, sadness, disgust, and anger. The more dramatic the facial expression, the strong er the emotion is for the individual. Lopatovska and Arapakis (2010), â€Å"facial expressions, are the result of facial muscle contractions, which induce movements of the facial skin and temporary deformations of the facial features, such as eyebrows, nose, and mouth† (p. 5). For example, an individual usually expresses sadness through his or her eyes, eyebrows, and mouth regions. Ekman asserts that â€Å"in sadness, the inner corners of brows are drawn up, skin below the eyebrow is triangulated with the inner corner up, upper eyelid inner corner is raised, corners of lips are down or the lip is trembling† (as cited in Lopatovska Arapakis, 2010, p. 5). Facial expressions are a channel for emotions associated with the effect of the emotions, and serve as a universal language, which enriches the interactions between humans. Many studies of Facial Feedback Hypothesis simply say facial expression is the emotional responds to a person’s emotional feelings. One does not cause the other, but both are in response to an emotion stimulus (Buck, 1984, 1985). Viewing cartoons evokes smiles, laughs, and feelings of amusement (Decker, 1994). Unpleasant scenes such as traffic accidents and ritual suicides however evoke facial expression indicating that the feelings induced are unpleasant (Zuckerman et al. 1981). All are affects from an emotional stimulus but one does not have an effect on the other. The more intensified the stimulus the more intensified the facial expression. For example, if you find something funny you may just smile but, the funnier the situation the smile will eventually turn into laughter. The Event-Appraisal-Emotion Sequence can be broken up into four different emotion-inducing situations: (1) different appraisal of different events can produce different emotions. 2) the same appraisal of different events can produce the same emotion (3) the outcome of the appraisal process elicits the involuntary unfolding of emotion (4) appraisal can happen both above and below the level of awareness (Deckers, 2005). This simple says that first an emotion is introduced. Then that emotion is predetermining which way it should go, either negative or positive. After the emotion determines which way to go it starts to see which personal scheme, attitudes, or need it wants to display. Last but not least the emotion is transformed in and affect which is a physiological response, expression, and or a behavior. In conclusion, emotion is something that we all have, some emotions are more noticeable than others and some are hidden, it can be physical and psychological, and influences behavior, emotions are a strong set of feelings that can change rapidly from person to person, emotions influence motivation and cause people to do what they do. There are many theories and hypothesis that try to explain emotion and try to understand why people feed off of three emotions. How to cite Emotions Research and Theories, Essays