The Devils Bermuda Triangle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Devils Bermuda Triangle - Essay Example The Bermuda Triangle is one of these locations of the world that has been a source of curiosity and attraction for thousands because of a course of inconceivable events linked to it. Bermuda’s Triangle also known as the Devil’s Triangle is located in the North Atlantic Ocean and Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico form the boundaries of this imaginary area of the triangle in the ocean. This particular area of the ocean gained the world’s attention when five Navy planes known as Flight 19 disappeared fifty-eight years ago into the ocean mysteriously. Neither the crew members nor the remains of the planes were found in the ocean which has not been explained logically up till now. The disappearance of the crew members and the aircraft leftovers in 1945 was the event that made this area highly controversial and many theories and explanations have been put forward to this day. Apart from Flight 19, which was the most conspicuous event, many other ships, aircraft and yachts have mysteriously vanished along with the onboard travelers which add up to the puzzling nature of this place. Many explanations have been put forward to explain the rationale behind this inconceivable string of incidents occurring in the Bermuda Triangle. Some label these incidents to be caused by the supernatural forces or extraterrestrial forces which lead to the disappearance of anything that enters into the boundaries of the Devil’s Triangle. On the other hand, others explain these occurrences in the light of scientific knowledge by blaming the ocean weather, violent waves or human errors.

Professional Application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Professional Application - Essay Example Some of the best practice and ideas are looked into and the essential settlement of ideas is brought to the fore. A variety of communication objectives are provided. The research also analyzes the targeted market audience. In a nutshell the research paper in depth talks about the marketing strategies that could be employed by the Steve Marden footwear company that aims to break the barriers in its line of business and enjoy a more market base unlike its rivals. Introduction Marketing communication involves bringing the products of a firm to the market and creating awareness that the product exists. It also involves other relevant information by the suppliers to the consumers that could be improvements on quality or branding. Marketing communication consists of the place, price promotion and the product. Methods and techniques of promotion differ with the product and the number of people targeted. It considers the types or groups of people the advertisement is reaching out to, their a ge gap, the kind of media they are most likely to come into contact with most of the time. Steve Marden limited which is a recognized footwear brand aims to make use of the integrated marketing campaign technique so as to rise above their competitors and to also maximize their sales and realize better revenue. One of the most common issues that affect product marketing is the message relay technique. This is an Achilles heel in the Steve Marden limited company. Once a technical team is tasked with the aim of marketing a product, they have to give it an appealing marketing message that will bring out the curiosity effect amongst the targeted market. Here are a number of the technical techniques employed by the marketing team. Steve Marden Limited is aiming to break the barriers in terms of marketing its footwear products. It first needs to re-strategize the marketing department of the company so as to bring in the people who will drive the sales of the company upwards. The marketing team will need to come up with a theme or logo that defines Steve Marden Limited and defines the company amongst its competitors. These is a major step in allowing Steve Marden Limited to be the major footwear brand it aims to be. Brochures hold a lot of information that needs to be passed onto the targeted audience, and also they are easy to fold and pass around. Many can be created at the same time and provide for large coverage without being bulky. Direct mailing gives promotion a sense of personal touch. Mail can also be customized for different people accordingly so as to meet their needs and motivate them. Newsletters contain useful organizational information that needs to be communicated appropriately. Posters and bulletins as well provide a means to reach consumers. However they are often not paid attention and are effective when you place them strategically where the customers are likely to see and notice them. Posters should also be kept neat and made attractive to be noti ced. Social networks that involve discussion groups are effective methods of promoting and advertising products. The social network is cheap to operate with and very fast media. It would involve sites like Facebook alongside company blogs and websites. (Belch & Belch, 2012) Television can sometimes be quite expensive; however, it is a very effective medium as it reaches a very extensive population and grows in popularity with time. Radio on the other hand is also an effective tool of advertisement as it reaches a good population. Even so,

The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell Essay Example for Free

The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell Essay In the Road to Wigan Pier Orwell explained how the English class-system works. He purported that in Britain it isnt possible to determine the class of a person by simply looking at his income. The things that make up a middle-class person are his behavior, birth and profession. To describe fully the concept of middle class, Orwell, in Part One, set out to report, in a detailed and vivid manner, on working class life in the bleak industrial heartlands of the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire. In the seven chapters of Part One Orwell was able to describe the life of miners and conditions down a coal mine. Orwell described how he went down a coal mine to observe proceedings and he explained how the coal is distributed, and that the working conditions are very poor. He described the housing shortage in the region as the reason why people were satisfied even with substandard housing conditions. In the second part Orwell described his personal idea of socialism. His general idea is that socialism and communism are no longer movements of the working class. The movement is lead by the middle-class, the bourgeoisie. He stated plainly that he himself is in favour of socialism but feels it necessary to point out reasons why many people, who would benefit from socialism, and should logically support it, are in practice likely to be strong opponents. Reasons such as ,class prejudice and machine worship. He points that class prejudice is real and it is visceral. Middle class socialists do themselves no favors by pretending it does not exist and by glorifying the manual worker they tend to alienate that large section of the population which is economically working class but culturally middle class. Orwell finds most socialists guilty machine worship. He himself is suspicious of technological progress for its own sake and thinks it inevitably leads to softness and decadence. He points out that most fictional technically advanced socialist utopia are deadly dull.

The natural law

The natural law The subject of the article is the natural law. The term used to describe the experience many people have when they maintain their presence. It is well known fact that the natural law is theory depicted by the existence of law whose substances are set by nature and has validity in every corner of the world. Now, the natural law is complex phenomenon but I am going to focus on basic ideas. First of all, we will consider the meaning, emergence, the origin of the natural law. Secondly, I will describe the reasons why there are so many differences among various cultures and whether different cultures evaluate the natural law with a distinct point of view or not. Finally, I will mention some thought of philosophers like Thomas Aquines, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke who have profound impact on natural law theories. It is obvious that the implementation of natural law has fluctuated variedly through the history. For the first time in the history, almost the entire world have different theories of natural law, varying from each other with respect to the legal norms. The natural law theory is apparently very complicated occasion. It was composed of two types of theories, moral and legal theory. The term natural law is not referred to the laws of the nature which science has tried to clasify. Natural law moral theory acquired from the disposition of the human beings and existen ce of the world. On the other hand; being the legal theory independent, the two theories congregate in term of some respects. Since the time immemorial, it is generally wondered that now human society and its civil institutions come into being. In order to overcome the curiosity, philosophers developed the idea of the natural law. The natural law was made use of comprehending the human behaviour in society. The doctrine of natural law trigger the individual rights in constitutional law. In an attempt to come into existence, these rights constituted according to the fundamental structure of government which eliminated the power of majority rule. Notwithstanding there are some significant questions that we should ask ourselves. Can these fundemental constitutional rights be guarenteed by the governments in an attempt to provide citizens free speech, education, medical care etc. ? It is suggested by Joel Feinberg that moral rights as opposed to legal rights explains that human rights a re a subset of moral rights and that natural rights are a subset of human rights. On the other hand John Lockes ideas formulate theory that natural law is moral law and natural rights are moral rights. It may sound as if the situation that one philosopher differs from the other. For instance, Locke characterizes these fundamental moral requirements as God- given individual rights and more basic than human law or government. However, Bentham believes that all law and rights are conventional. They are the product of agreements of social order of government. Bentham defended that there are no rights without law and there is no law without government. There can be only chaos and individual power. We can say that the natural law is known as to be opposed to the positive law which was revealed by human beings. Natural law started to maintain availability with the presence of human beings. Furthermore, thanks to intersection between natural law and natural rights in United States, the decl aration of independence and the constitution of United States took place. This is the glamorous manifestation that the natural law tradition has immense influence on the development of government and law in western civilization, although the issue of natural law is still extremely controversial subject. Like the differences between ideas and prevision of philosophers, there are many disagreements and discrepancy among various cultures and civilizations. The different cultures assess the situation with the challenging point of view. Natural law is generally identified as an ideal legal system which is known to correspond the social requirements in the best way and is not implemented not only particular time period but also every scope of the lifestyle. Custom traditions law are not documental. Even though these sentiments inhabit in social conscience. The custom which is assimilated as a social attitude among individuals of community should meet three requirements in an attempt to become a rule of law. These requirements are sustainability, general notion and enforcements carried out by the government. Consequently, natural law theory can be defined as its content is substantial intrisically arranged naturally, it is more important that everything and in valid, available and also eff ectual. Natural law theory is great matter in terms of both morality and philosophy of law. Beyond it has magnificent reputation with the influence on philosophers. The first and most significant notion of natural law was detected in antique Greek. Primarily natural law which is perceived by antiquity thinkers is the correspondence of behaviour of human beings to the natural rules. The manner of the human beings should be well matched and proper to the natural law as well as physical occasion to be compatible with the physical laws. The creator of the rationalism, Hugo Grotius who spent some of his time with Descartes thought that natural law is universal and its roots were based on human mind. The natural law originated from the social nature of humanity. Thanks to very nature of mind, human beings can discover the principle implemented on themselves. In history of the humanity, human mind sought to reveal the principle with observing the life, habits, customs of people. Thereupon the natural law theory wa brought up by some specific philosophers known as the pioneer of their period. In that era philosophers, in order to identify the natural law, reached the result that the smallest structure of the society is individuals when they attempted to identify the common life while abiding the analysis method. For instance, in physics the term atom was handled the substance of matter. Like that Philosophers perceived the social life as social physic area. Philosopher sought the way to find the solutions to this issue that how both todays sociability and futures sociability should be constituted. In order to comprehend the nature of disposition of human beings, philosophers rendered a verdict that human should have placed on the isolation. As a result, they reached a decision that the affection of mind concatenation is necessary for indiv iduals to lead a society that is harmonizingly peaceful. That is to say; social lifetime is not becoming together with individuals mechanically, it is just dwelling together by utilizing their mind without damaging and becoming harmful to each other. Although you may think that the cultural diversity contradict the idea of natural law, that is not the case exactly. First then, why do people from various corners of the world experience natural law with an amended structure of consideration. Think about this for a minute when you grow up in a particular set of surrondings naturally, you get used to the rules and guidelines that govern the behaviour of the people around you. In a sense, you become totally dependent on the rules of your social group. You tend not to question them, you just accept them without thinking. These rules are often not clearly articulated and therefore you are not aware of their impact. In other words, you are not necessarily conscious of them. Lets turn to the different situations of natural law. The natural law acquires a different character according to the different cultures and philosophers who have great impact on the cultures on some categories about natural law. Stoic Natural Law: The improvement process of natural law can be attributed to the group of Stoics. The development of natural law is concurrent with the enlargement of the empires and kingdoms in Greek world. Stoic natural law is different from the divine or natural source of law in an attempt to obtain rational, real, purposeful order for the universe. And according to belief of Stoics, prosperity and arrangement can only gained through natural law. Stoics believed that the facilities of virtue can enlarge the power and development. Stoics emphasized influently that the theories of individual worth, moral duty and universal brotherhood played a great role in subsequent legal theory. Christian Natural Law: According to the thought of Christian Augustine of Hippo, a life keeping on with the nature is no longer possible. The human beings should have sought the way to maintain the life with the help of divine law and favor of Jesus Christ. In contrast to the philosopher Gratian who reserved this by coinciding the natural law with divine law. Then at the last stage, Thomas Aquinas reconstituted the independent state not only divine law but also eternal law. He defended his idea but could not really comprehend the eternal law that the perfection of human reason can only achieved with the approaches of eternal law and supported by divine law. Thomas Aquinas also stated that all human beings can be judged by the dependance and the loyalty about the natural law. According to the Christian law, the unfair law is not evaluated as law. In other words the unfair law remains merely the appearance of law. Christian natural law theory adjusted that the natural law was not used just to implement the moral aspects of laws also to make decision about what the law should have said in the first place of the occasion. For this reason, in some circumstances events could be resulted in great tension. It is the most significant fact that Christian law focused on truthfullness of actions in the view of ethic rather than the result. The natural law purpose is to gain the goodness and it focused on the whether the things become real and formed the happiness and goodness or not. Islamic Natural Law: The presence of natural law was admited. The advocator of natural law Abu Mansur AlMaturidi dedicated that the human beings could very well be aware of the existence of God and their apprehension could differentiate the good and the evil with the help of the feature of perception. In addition in this point of view human beings should have taken notice of inaccurate behaviours like killing, drinking alcoholism, gambling which were referred to the evils. Classical Natural Law Theory: The theory pointed out that there is nondocumented relation betweeen natural law and morality. With respect to this observation, law can not be precisely clarified without the favor of moral argument. Thomas Aquinas contributed the composition of classical law theory. Aquinas set apart laws in four groups such as eternal, natural, human, divine law. Eternal law is a degree of God which performs all creation and nature occasions. Human law also is positive law made by human changes persistently. On the other side divine law is defined as any law that in the thought of believers originated directly from the will. It is frequently mentioned that the natural law is composed of eternal law which administrate the behaviour of human beings in order to provide them for possesing free will. Furthermore, Thomas Aquinas can be stated as being representative and pioneer of the classical theory. Thomas Aquinas asserted that it is compulsory to do good things and to avoid bad habits and evil. It is well worth emphasizing that in his view of what is good and evil is came out from nature and temperament of beings. Thomas Aquinas described natural law activity of human participation in the eternal law, in providence. As you know, life of all creators will terminate in the end as human beings are aroused to explore the world. The slice of lifetime is to differentiate the good and the evil and after that maintain life according to precepts. There is a formulatic statement with Aquinas; that Man is by nature a social or political animal(DERS KITABI). Along with this commitment, he does not denote that we have inclination to participate in social contracts. The nature can not be preferred or chosen. It is just given and individuals must adjust their first born place. Because of the fact that it is like ring of chair, the conformation of family have influence on the maintance of life and survival and also humanbeigs flourish the various social and political communities. Aquinas c onveying the impression of Aristoteles depicted the people who can discriminate between the awful, weird and good, pleasent things. In addition to, coming into being individual with nature, human beings go astray and deteoriate with nature. Besides this, people should know natural law even if they are alone. Aquinas characterized the knowledge of primitive and complicated. In his point of view, simple informations are based on just unique definition or descriptions. At the same time the latter, knowlegde of complex abide by affirmation or negation of one thing of another. Put another word; every first happening things is comprised of series of the others. There is s connection between phenomenons. Thomas have a tenet that There is a conception which is prior to and presupposed by all other conceptions and judgement that is prior to and presupposed by all other judgements. Also think about it for a moment what does Thomas mean saying that since knowledge is expressed by language this seems to come down to the assertion that there is a first word that everyone utters and first statement that would appear in everyon es babybook on the appropriate page .(INTERNET KAYNAK) However surely that is not the case. In my opinion, although the life of the human beings resemble each other regarding birth, death, a great quantity of occasions yield different consequences on anothers. Even though there is a common language either the perception of the language or utilizing and keeping it alive varies. To sum up, Aquinas characterizes the God as pure mind and so he thought that individuals dominate the mind, they comprise the model of God. Aquinas thought that the law is an ordinance of reasons directed to the God and also should make by one who has confidence of community and should be promulgated. Another advocater of natural law is Thomas Hobbes. In Hobbes point of view; he dedicated that justifying towards certainity is more difficult than defining oneself. He uttered that individuals are equal in terms of damaging themselves. Hence, in an attempt to secure oneself and maintain existence, people can reach an agreement to constitute a government which is legitimate and quarantee complicated and profound issues, dilemma by setting aside our hostilities. He admitted that there was no reasoning about what is good, bad, better, worse. Hobbes evaluated the world administrated by mechanic movements as an ordinary hole of matters. Lively substances such as animal, plant, human are the fragment of the entire world. As to Hobbes both physical and mental life time dependent of the constution of mechanical actions. Thats why neither spirit, angel nor God are available. They are merely product of imaginary or belong to argument of belief. What distinguishes Hobbes notion from the notions propounded by other natural law theorists is the different denotation is referred to reason. By the side of Hobbes, reasoning is caltulation by means of we draw consequences for the nature occasions in an attempt to express and denote our feelings and opinions. Owing to Hobbes, the law of nature indicates what is good or evil in realiton to given end otherwise the other theorists emphasised that individuals comprise a team about what is good or evil in theirselves. Moreover, the natural law states prominently what is convenient or inconvenient to the reachment of the end which is peaceful and symbolizes supreme utility. For this reason the basement of natural law prescribes the way people seeking peace, benefitions, goodness. Hobbes highlighted especially that it is possible to obtain a peace, provided the state is utilized like an effective bridge. In brief, owing to Hobbes natural law command everyone conveying their specific rigths in order to assure the ways for conserving peace. It is explicit judgement that this can come to the fruition by means of state. We accomplish the thoughts about him by making deduction from his words you would give up liberty to gain security. As a result; the objectives should be seeking the peace, defending ourselves, surrending our Liberties which can be defined as the absence of external impediments for peace. Another theorist about natural law is John Locke who stuck in humans mind despite the fact that he is known in an account generating the fundamentals of revolutions French, Amerikan and British. Owing to John Locke, people are connected each other with no principle of natural law. Natural law are rationalistic and the reason of existence of human beings. In his point of view; God has confered to all peopla fundamental rights about life, health, liberty and possessions. For this reason, he encumbered to the government for protecting rights. Since he anticipated that the state which should be respectful about personal ownership and secure privileges has responsibilities to the citizens,inhabitants. John Locke consistently confronted with the question why should we obey the law of nature?. He thought that reasoning is kind of advisory.In human reason and divine reason it is just admited that what the God looks like. As if Locke took the natural law granted in spite of the fact that God created us with reason in an attempt to pursue Gods will and all of cases are exprienced like in divine and human law. Should the need arise; all humankind drew ones first breath being equal, indepent and free. With the help of natural law, willpower of God can be found out and what can be suited to the rational world. It is not quite accurate that the natural law is command of mind. Since mind can not ascertain the natural law by constructioning, individuals can not generate any social group or unity without natural law. The other prof showing the presence of law is that individual who made mistake on purpose and act in a nasty particular behaviour, can not feel welfare about conscience. Neither virtue nor goodness and rewarding being possible is veracity. Very important feature of Lockes Second Treatise of Government as a work of political modeling is its concern with the question of why people need structures of governance, in particular laws as regulatory forces in communal life. Essentially, a political theory needs to not only study and model the structures and duties of government but also speculate about why we need such a construction and regulation in our lives. Locke examines this by first questioning what state all men are naturally in.1 Men in the state of nature are in a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man.2 That is, the essence of human nature is to be free from any restraints on ones actions. Such unrestrained freedom, however, makes everyone both judge and executioner of the law of nature3 which, in turn, is very likely to impose a threat to another persons freedom and right to live. If, for instance, people punish their offenders in their own judgment and without any regulations that limit such punitive actions, one of the most important principles of justice, that punishment should be consistent and should fit the crime, will be violated. Thus, in the absence of governing structures, mens self-interest and natural instinct to preserve themselves and their possessions will eventually spur the society to unjust practices, thereby disrupting the peace and order of the communal life. This argument about human nature and why it requires certain structures of governance becomes yet stronger with the idea of how men are naturally inclined to protect their own property and seize new property at the same time: The great and chief end, therefore, of mens putting themselves under government and known law, is the preservation of their property. To which in the state of nature there are many things wanting.1 Through his arguments, Locke devises a political theory by analyzing which political model is most likely to bring people out of their state ofcommunal life. This argument about human nature and why it requires certain structures of governance becomes yet stronger with the idea of how men are naturally inclined to protect their own property and seize new property at the same time: The great and chief end, therefore, of mens putting themselves under government and known law, is the preservation of their property. To which in the state of nature there are many things wanting.1 Through his arguments, Locke devises a political theory by analyzing which political model is most likely to bring people out of their state of nature, and looking back to the historical context of his work, does so on the basis of empirical evidence. Thus, Second Treatise on Government, as a work of political theory, creates a strong foundation for why people need a certain political model and laws that it lays the grounds for.

Kubla Khan and Ode on Grecian Urn Essay -- Comparative, Coleridge, Kea

Although both â€Å"Kubla Khan,† by Samuel Coleridge and â€Å"Ode on Grecian Urn,† by John Keats are poems originating from the poets’ inspiration from historical figure, the two poems convey different messages through their respective metaphors. While Coleridge emphasizes on the process of creating a Romantic poem, Keats expresses his opinion about art by carefully examining the details of the Grecian urn. In â€Å"Kubla Khan,† Coleridge expresses his desire to use the inspirations from nature to create his own â€Å"Paradise† of poetry (54, p.1634). In the first stanza, Coleridge creates an exotic oriental garden, where the trees, gardens, hills, and the â€Å"Alph† river, together present the beauty of Mother Nature (3, p.1633). Here, the poet carefully observes his surroundings, as the nature will serve as the source of inspiration for his poetry. The â€Å"pleasure dome† (2, p.1633) in line two has two functions, one representing the creation of human beings on earth, and the other being the foundation of Coleridge’s poetic paradise. As the clash between nature and humans takes place in the second stanza with a â€Å"woman wailing for her demon-lover† (16, p.1633) the poet calls upon nature for his inspiration, represented by the powerful activity of nature. The energy of nature is released in forms of â€Å"a might fountain† (19, p .1633), â€Å"rebounding hail† (21, p.1633), or â€Å"dancing rocks† (23, p.1633) and eventually the natural disasters will accompanied by man-made destruction as â€Å"Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war† (29-30, p.1634)! Coleridge on one hand reinforces that man and nature are inseparable and one the other uses the energy of nature to represent the spontaneous spurring of emotions in the poet’s mind. In the third stanza, all o... ...storal† (45, p.1848). The urn’s eternity only exists artistically and does not reflect human life because only the urn â€Å"shou remain† forever (47, p.1848). Keats contrasts the ephemeral nature of human life with the longevity of the urn. In last two lines, Keats declares, â€Å"beauty is truth, truth beauty† (29, p.1848) embodying both sides of his perspective. By establishing a relationship between beauty and truth, Keats acknowledges that like truth, the beauty of the Grecian urn is unchangeable and that the ability accept reality is beautiful. While Coleridge describes the process of creating Romantic poetry and encourages poets to use the combination of nature and imagination in this process, Keats is more focused on reality and is well aware of the limitations of the Grecian urn. With the poets’ admiration of nature present in both poems †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ to be completed.

Romanticisms Sublime Style in Rip Van Winkle, Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Romanticism's Sublime Style in Rip Van Winkle, Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Billy Budd      Ã‚  Ã‚   "Sublime refers to an aesthetic value in which the primary factor is the presence or suggestion of transcendent vastness or greatness, as of power, heroism, extent in space or time"(Internet Encyclopedia).   This essay will explore different levels of Romanticism's sublime style in Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Herman Melville's Billy Budd. The essay will particularly focus on how the writers incorporate the spiritual and the terror aspects of the sublime into their work. American romanticism requires the wilds of nature to be the setting for the sublime. It is in this setting that the protagonist senses a conflict of good and evil. Even though the beautiful surroundings would suggests a pure serenity, the shadows in the beautiful setting reminds one that there is a dark side to nature. In each story there is an antagonist lurking about requiring the protagonist to choose his thinking - and ultimately his destiny. The antagonist in Billy Budd is Claggart, in The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, Brom Bones, and in Rip Van Winkle it could be a toss up between his nagging wife or the "company of odd-looking personages" he meets in the mountains. Essentially it is Longinus, a first century philosopher, who is first credited with introducing the idea of the sublime into the arts (Weiskel 8). Longinus suggests five sources of sublimity in literature: "(1) the ability to conceive great thoughts, (2) intense emotion, (3) powerful figures of speech, (4) the choice of noble words, and (5) harmonious composition of sentences" (Kennedy, vol. 12). Each of Longinus? foundational sources for sublimity suggests an... ...n Boulton 40).    Works Cited Boulton, J. T. Burke?s Enquiry Into The Sublime And The Beautiful. New York: Columbia University, 1958. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1997. University of Tennessee at Martin. 4 April 2001. http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/s/sublime.htm. Kennedy, George. "Longinus." The World Book Encyclopedia. 1985. Vol. 12:399. Melville, Herman. "Billy Budd." Ed. Paul Lauther. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. New York: Houghton 1998. 2512-2570. Washington, Irving. "The Legend of Sleep Hallow." Ed. Paul Lauther. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. New York: Houghton 1998. 1354-1373. -------- "Rip Van Winkle." Ed. Paul Lauther. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. New York: Houghton 1998. 1342-1354. Weiskel, Thomas. Romantic Sublime. Baltimore: John Hopkins University, 1976.   

Pick n Pay’s Essay

What is your strategy to reverse Pick n Pay’s loss of market share? Pick n Pay lost market share in part because it opened materially less space than some of its major competitors. A significant proportion of its capex was invested in supply chain technology infrastructure in recent years, which by its nature doesn’t drive sales compared to stores. Our capital focus is now on new stores and refurbishment, which will drive sales and, in time, profitability. Over the past year we have refreshed, without substantively altering our strategy. Our overarching ambition is for the Group to become the â€Å"Retailer of choice for all South Africans†. This builds on Pick n Pay and Boxer’s brand strength and strong store portfolio. Importantly this refreshed strategy does not represent a major departure from the strategy that has been followed for the past five years. We have seven themes geared to ensure that the business can grow sustainably and profitably. There is a balance of growth-driven priorities, focusing on space, customer, franchise and product, and those largely focused on improving efficiency such as replenishment and store operations. The â€Å"One Pick n Pay† initiative ties these together to ensure that the business works well as a unified whole. Strategic priority: Grow selling space ahead of the market There is substantial competition for retail space both within South Africa and in other African markets. Ensuring that Pick n Pay increases its overall share of trading space over the long term is an important strategic priority. Over the past three years our space growth has lagged that of our competition particularly into the faster growing lower income areas and small stores. This not only directly reduces our market share but also puts pressure on like-for-like sales growth. We will continue to develop store formats and channels that meet customers’ changing needs both in Pick n Pay and Boxer, in South Africa and beyond. Additionally we continue to build a pipeline of new sites, whether greenfield or through acquisition that will ensure we meet our aspirations. Strategic priority: Build deep customer relationships The launch of our customer rewards programme Smartshopper gives us a  significant opportunity to get to know our customers’ shopping habits and preferences substantially better than we do today. Since its launch in March 2011 the programme has been a great success. After just one year we now have over five million active cardholders, exceeding our initial target by two million. This enables us not only to know and understand each customer a great deal better, but to communicate with our customers in a different and more engaging manner. We have direct access to the vast majority of Smartshopper customers by either sms or email, which means that we can send targeted marketing communications directly to them. We can also ask for feedback directly from them. All of this translates into a very valuable two-way dialogue with our customers. As a result we are designing and executing marketing campaigns which are more relevant to our customers. We are extracting insights from their shopping habits data in order to tailor our product ranges and more accurately serve them. All of this will assist us in growing our sales volumes significantly. Strategic priority: Revolutionise Pick n Pay’s product offer During the past 12 months we have invested considerable time and resources in building a single specialised category buying division. Prior to the establishment of this division, Pick n Pay’s sourcing activities were distributed across the operating regions. This led to fragmentation of the Group’s buying scale, with each buyer having a wide range of products to source. Our new specialised category buying division is made up of category teams each of which is responsible for the end-to-end profitability of a specific product category. They are tasked with developing a product range that meets all customer needs, sourcing those products at the lowest possible cost, constructing shelf layouts that help customers find what they are looking for easily, building a promotional plan that generates customer excitement, increased volumes and higher margins, and ensuring that Pick n Pay’s prices remain hig hly competitive. Included in their responsibilities is the task of improving our Pick n Pay branded offer.