Tips to Improve Your French Vocabulary

Tips to Improve Your French Vocabulary Words, words, words! Languages are made up of words, and French is no exception. Here are all kinds of French vocabulary lessons, practice ideas, and tips to help you get better at learning and remembering French words. Resources to Learn French Vocabulary The following resources will help you learn, practice, and master French vocabulary. French Vocabulary: Utilize vocabulary lists and lessons on all the basics and topic areas including introductions, food, clothing, family, and more.Mot du Jour: Learn 5 new French words a week with this daily feature.French in English: Many French words and expressions are used in English, but do not always have the same meaning.Cognates: Hundreds of English words mean the same thing in French, but some are false cognates.French Expressions: Idiomatic expressions can really spice up your FrenchHomophones: Many words sound alike but have two or more meanings.French Synonyms: Learn some new ways to say the same old things and master words like bon, non, oui, petit, and trà ¨s.   Know Your Genders One of the most important things to remember about French nouns is that each one has a gender. While there are a few patterns that let you know what the gender of a particular word is, for most words, its just a matter of memorization. Therefore, the best way to know whether a word is masculine or feminine is to make all your vocabulary lists with an article, so that you learn the gender with the word itself. Always write une chaise or la chaise (chair), rather than just chaise. When you learn the gender as part of the word, youll always know what gender it is later on when you need to use it. This is particularly important with what I call dual-gender nouns. Dozens of French pairs have different meanings depending on whether they are masculine or feminine, so yes, gender really does make a difference. Chance Encounters When reading French, its very likely that youll come across a lot of new vocabulary. While looking up every single word you dont know in the dictionary may disrupt your comprehension of the story, you might not understand anyway without some of those key terms. So you have a few options: Underline the words and look them up laterWrite down the words and look them up laterLook up the words as you go Underlining is the best technique because when you look the words up later, you have the context right there in the case of words with multiple meanings. If thats not an option, try to write down the sentence in your vocabulary list, rather than just the word itself. Once youve looked everything up, read the article again, with or without referring back to your list, to see how much more you understand now. Another option is to look up all the words after each paragraph or each page, rather than waiting until youve read the whole thing.Listening can also offer up a lot of new vocabulary. Again, its a good idea to write down the phrase or sentence so that you have the context to understand the meaning provided. Get a Decent Dictionary If youre still using one of those little pocket dictionaries, you need to seriously consider an upgrade. When it comes to French dictionaries, bigger really is better. Practice French Vocabulary Once youve learned all this new French vocabulary, you need to practice it. The more you practice, the easier it will be for you to find just the right word when speaking and writing, as well as to understand when listening and reading. Some of these activities might seem boring or silly, but the point is simply to get you used to seeing, hearing, and speaking the words - here are some ideas. Say It out Loud When you come across a new word while reading a book, newspaper, or French lesson, say it out loud. Seeing new words is good, but saying them out loud is even better, because it gives you practice both speaking and listening to the sound of the word. Write It Out Spend 10 to 15 minutes every day writing lists of vocabulary. You can work with different themes, such as kitchen items or automotive terms, or just practice words that you continue to have trouble with. After you write them down, say them out loud. Then write them again, say them again, and repeat 5 or 10 times. When you do this, youll see the words, feel what its like to say them, and hear them, all of which will help you the next time you are actually speaking French. Use Flashcards Make a set of flashcards for new vocabulary by writing the French term on one side (along with an article, in the case of nouns) and the English translation on the other. You can also use a flashcard program like Before You Know It. Label Everything Surround yourself with French by labeling your home and office with stickers or post-it notes. Ive also found that putting a post-it on my computer monitor helps me remember those terms that Ive looked up in the dictionary a hundred times but still cant ever seem to remember. Use It in a Sentence When you go over your vocab lists, dont just look at the words - put them into sentences. Try making 3 different sentences with each word, or try to create a paragraph or two using all the new words together. Sing Along Set some vocabulary to a simple tune, like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and sing it in the shower, in your car on the way to work/school, or while washing the dishes. Mots Flà ©chà ©s French-style crossword puzzles, mots flà ©chà ©s, are a great way to challenge your knowledge of French vocabulary.

Humor and Violence in A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Humor and Violence in 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find is surely one of the funniest stories anyone has ever written about the murder of innocent people. Maybe thats not saying much, except that it is also, without a doubt, one of the funniest stories anyone has ever written about anything. So, how can something so disturbing make us laugh so hard? The murders themselves are chilling, not funny, yet perhaps the story achieves its humor not in spite of the violence, but because of it. As OConnor herself writes in The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery OConnor: In my own experience, everything funny I have written is more terrible than it is funny, or only funny because it is terrible, or only terrible because it is funny.   The stark contrast between the humor and the violence seems to accentuate both. What Makes the Story Funny? Humor is, of course, subjective, but we find the grandmothers self-righteousness, nostalgia, and attempts at manipulation hilarious. OConnors ability to switch seamlessly from a neutral perspective to the grandmothers point of view lends even greater comedy to the scene. For instance, the narration remains absolutely deadpan as we learn that the grandmother secretly brings the cat because she is afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself. The narrator passes no judgment on the grandmothers preposterous concern but rather lets it speak for itself. Similarly, when OConnor writes that the grandmother pointed out interesting details of the scenery, we know that everyone else in the car probably doesnt find them interesting at all and wishes shed be quiet. And when Bailey refuses to dance with his mother to the jukebox, OConnor writes that Bailey didnt have a naturally sunny disposition like she [the grandmother] did and trips made him nervous. The clichà ©d, self-flattering phrasing of naturally sunny disposition tips readers off that this is the grandmothers opinion, not the narrators. Readers can see that its not road trips that make Bailey tense: its his mother. But the grandmother does have redeeming qualities. For instance, shes the only adult who takes the time to play with the children. And the children arent exactly angels, which also helps balance out some of the grandmothers negative qualities. The grandson rudely suggests that if the grandmother doesnt want to go to Florida, she should just stay home. Then the granddaughter adds, She wouldnt stay at home for a million bucks [†¦] Afraid shed miss something. She has to go everywhere we go. These children are so awful, theyre funny. Purpose of the Humor To understand the union of violence and humor in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, its helpful to remember that OConnor was a devout Catholic. In Mystery and Manners, OConnor writes that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil. This is true for all her stories, all the time. In the case of A Good Man Is Hard to Find, the devil is not the Misfit, but rather whatever has led the grandmother to define goodness as wearing the right clothes and behaving like a lady. The grace in the story is the realization that leads her to reach out toward the Misfit and call him one of my own children. Ordinarily, Im not so quick to allow authors to have the last word on interpreting their work, so if you favor a different explanation, be my guest. But OConnor has written so extensively and pointedly about her religious motivations that its hard to dismiss her observations. In Mystery and Manners, OConnor says: Either one is serious about salvation or one is not. And it is well to realize that the maximum amount of seriousness admits the maximum amount of comedy. Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe. Interestingly, because OConnors humor is so engaging, it allows her stories to pull in readers who might not want to read a story about the possibility of divine grace, or who might not recognize this theme in her stories at all. I think the humor initially helps distance readers from the characters; were laughing so hard at them that were deep into the story before we start to recognize ourselves in their behavior. By the time we are hit with the maximum amount of seriousness as Bailey and John Wesley are led into the woods, its too late to turn back. Youll notice that I havent used the words comic relief here, even though that might be the role of humor in many other literary works. But everything Ive ever read about OConnor suggests that she wasnt particularly concerned about providing relief for her readers and in fact, she aimed for just the opposite.

Writing letter, Memorandum and email Assignment

Writing letter, Memorandum and email - Assignment Example eedom of speech, and to showing all sides of an issue make it troubling to print a retraction of the article, or to publish an apology, as you suggested in your own letter. If we were to retract the article, Blaze’s readership would no longer trust the other articles we print, and our circulation would plummet. This would not only have a negative effect on the quality of our journalism, as we would be unable to retain top writers, but would create a deep reduction in the efficacy of our advertising. However, you will be pleased to know that your view is by far the majority. Blaze received many letters over Mr. Smith’s article on vaccines, and fully two-thirds of them did not agree with the author. If your company would like to draw up an equally objective article in response to Mr. Smith’s, Blaze would be more than happy to run it in the next issue, along with a selection of letters from readers who both agreed with and disagreed with his assessment. This will allow your company to properly address its complaints without sacrificing the objectivity and engagement with debate that our readers have come to expect from Blaze Magazine. In closing, please know that we do understand the situation that this puts you in as our advertiser, and deeply regret this. We thank you for supporting Blaze over the years, and hope that this matter can be resolved to ensure that our mutually beneficent relationship lasts for as many more. Yesterday, I had the alarming experience of finding several participating year 9 students in a state of intoxication in the boys’ toilets. Upon being questioned, these students revealed that they had been passing around and smoking Kronik, which they said they had purchased from one of the university students on duty at the facility. After making sure the boys were not in immediate danger, my course of action was to determine whether their account of how they acquired the Kronik was accurate or not. I left the boys in the care of

Hypothesis Tests for Means and Proportions Research Paper

Hypothesis Tests for Means and Proportions - Research Paper Example Type I error is defined as the error of rejecting a null hypothesis when it is true. In this case type error would be the error of inferring that the bags are less than 12.0 ounces (less than claimed value) but in reality its weight is either 12.0 ounces or even greater. Level of significance refers to the probability of type I error, that means a fixed probability, in statistical hypothesis testing, of wrongly rejecting a null hypothesis Ho, when it is true. It is represented by . As evident from the given problem, the investigator had a doubt that the claimed weight of the potato bags is greater than the actual weight. To verify the authenticity of this claim, he collected some 30 bags and found the mean of those bags, which came out to be 11.9 ounces. Although the mean weight came out to be lesser than the claimed one. But the real question or logic behind hypothesis testing is that we want to ascertain that whether it would be appropriate to consider the difference of 0.1 ounces from observing 30 bags with the standard deviation of 0.4 a 'significant' one and infer this difference as on the entire population.

Free

Free Will vs Determinism Essay Socrates: â€Å"May it be that there is substantial reason to believe things are what they are because of what they were? † Nathan: â€Å"So, you too would be describing determinism as the way things will be as a result of how things are and work of natural laws? Socrates: â€Å"Would you agree that this means there is no human freedom of choice or action that was ours to make in the first place? † Nathan: â€Å"No, I would like to believe humanity has the freedom of choice, since our choices are ours in the first place, although they must have an explanation. Socrates: â€Å"Is it possible that every choice may not have an explanation for why something led to specific effects? † Nathan: â€Å"Yes, it is possible, but I would like to think that some situations do not hold explanations. † Socrates: â€Å"Nathan, is there room for acceptance that human choices or situations may be events? † Nathan: â€Å"That would be to say that they are mere objects in time or instantiations of properties in objects. † Socrates: â€Å"Possibly, but wouldn’t that mean they would hold an explanatory cause? Nathan: â€Å"If what you’re asking determines whether or not there is an explanation for why something happened that led to a specific effect, then yes. † Socrates: â€Å"Would you agree that every choice or event would have an explanatory cause? † Nathan: â€Å"Yes, I would like to believe that sometimes some choices or events are random leading to free will. † Socrates: â€Å"Are these human choices or events we speak of the same or are they different? † Nathan: â€Å"I would believe them to be different. Choices are instances of free will through periodic randomness as where events are often reflections of these spoken choices. Hence, they are different. Often choices may lead to an event, but events often lead to choices. † Socrates: â€Å"So you would entertain the idea that explanatory cause is not to be free? † Nathan: â€Å"No, to be free is having the ability to act at will; not under compulsion or restraint. Therefore to be free is merely an individual idea. † Socrates: â€Å"Are these two worlds of free will and determinism able to coexist within the same realm? Nathan: â€Å"Yes, I believe it is possible that a person’s free will may lead them to a point of determinism. This being they make a choice and then in turn that choice leads them to a predetermined point in life. It was just their choice in when or how they arrived there. † Socrates: â€Å"Can there be external determinism and internal free will? † Nathan: â€Å"It is possible that we may have a predetermination, however I believe that at the same time, we are capable of making our own decisions and making our own free choices. Even if these choices may lead to a determined place it is still our own decision on how we may arrive there. Summary I would like to state that I believe it is possible for determinism to exist in a world that is decided by free will even if our life is predetermined. However, just because our life has a determined end it does not conclude that the contents of our lives were without free will. Our choices all have an explanatory cause, even if we would like to think that some choices are made at random. This is, however, just another example that we control our own free will.

Epic of Beowulf Essay - Dating and Locating the Composition of Beowulf

Dating and Locating the Composition of Beowulf      Ã‚  Ã‚   Dating and locating the composition of Beowulf is impossible to do with precision at this time because we do not have enough information about the poem’s specific historical context and because the poem is not constructed in such a consistently symbolic way to warrant a single allegorical-historical interpretation..    Estimates of the date of the poem’s composition â€Å"range from 340 to 1025, with ca. 515-530 and 1000 being almost universally acknowledged as the possible extremes† (Bjork 13). Current thinking is balanced between roughly this view and the late ninth to early tenth centuries. â€Å"critics generally agree upon an early period, ranging from the late seventh to the early ninth century (Greenfield 66). The Cambridge History of English and American Literature states in v1, ch3, s3,n11: â€Å". . . most of the historical events mentioned in Beowulf are to be dated within the first three decades of the sixth century.†    One clue to dating the composition was thought to lie in the use of the word merewioingas (translated by some scholars as Merovingian), a word which is used only in this poem and in no other Old English poetry or prose. In 752 the Merovingian dynasty ended, but poetic reference to it could have been added later – so this is no real help. â€Å". . . the composition of the poem, thich is usually thought to have taken place no later than the eighth century† (Stanley 4).    Scholars now consider that there were only five times and places possessing the power and culture that could have supported the production of such a sophisticated work of art as Beowulf: (1) seventh century east Anglia (the age of Sutton Hoo); (2) late seventh to earl... ...ert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997.    Fulk, R.D.. â€Å"Textual Criticism.† In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997.    Greenfield, Stanley B. â€Å"Nature and Quality of Old English Poetry.† In Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co.: 1975.    Stanley, E.G.. â€Å"Beowulf.† In The Beowulf Reader, edited by Peter S. Baker. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000.    Thompson, Stephen P. â€Å"The Beowulf poet and His World.† In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.    Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000   

Marketing and Zara Essay

1. Background According to BusinessWeek, â€Å"Zara was a fashion imitator. It focused its attention on understanding the fashion items that its customers wanted and then delivering them, rather than on promoting predicted season’s trends via fashion shows and similar channels of influence, which the fashion industry traditionally used.† 5 Zara, the fashion retail chain, is a subsidiary of Inditex Group owned and managed by Spanish tycoon Amancio Ortega. Inditex includes several major brands, namely, Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Oysho, Bershka, and Stradivarius. The group headquarters is located in La Coruna, Spain. It was here where the first Zara store was launched in 1975. Presently, there are about 1,500 Zara stores around the world. Zara employs around 80,000 people. The group recorded revenues of â‚ ¬ 9,434.7 million (approximately $13,068.8 million) during FY2008, an increase of 15.1% over 2007. The operating profit increased by 20.1% to â‚ ¬ 2,148.8 million in FY2008. The net profit, during FY2008, increased by 24.5% to over FY2007 toâ‚ ¬ 1,257.8 million (approximately $1,742.2 million).7 Zara’s claim to fame surfaces from the fact that it needs, on an average, two (2) weeks to develop and market a new fashion product compared to the industry average of six (6) month cycle. In addition to this, Zara is committed to showcasing around 10,000 new designs annually, in a fast and scarce manner, which gives it a constant new look and brings back customers to the stores. Owing to its unique supply chain management, use of information technologies and innovative management strategies, which is a must to survive the highly competitive fashion industry it has managed to come out on top year after year. The major competitors include H&M, GAP and Benetton. Some of the efficient strategies adopted by Zara are broadly the policies of zero inventories, Just in Time systems, contract manufacturing for small orders, decentralizing warehouses to deliver p roducts and above all close monitoring of the fashion trends. Above all, they had few unique strategies, mainly, zero advertising, where in Zara chose to open new stores rather than advertise and, the concept of shunning outsourcing to low cost development centers as it would result in dilution of the high quality fashion that Zara represents. Initial success for Zara is mainly attributed to featuring low priced lookalike products of more popular, high end fashion brand. Following  this success, they adopted new design and distribution method. Since the fashion industry product has long lead times, to the tune of six months, Zara aimed to reduce this and also minimize the uncertainties associated with fashion retail. Zara developed the concept of â€Å"Instant Fashion† that allowed them to respond more quickly to consumer tastes and emerging trends. The strategy helped them to bring in new products to the shelves quickly, in small quantity and produce more if demand occurred. This enabled them to minimize inventory, gauge demand and re move uncertainties. Later on, they brought in information technologies to further revolutionize the distribution processes. These helped Zara to developed fashion lines based on market trends and also, produce its own designs through a team of 200 in house designers. The introduction of information technologies helped them increase the efficiency of state of the art production system and warehousing mechanisms. The stores and warehouses were linked electronically, which facilitated the exchange of real time information thereby allowing them to minimize risk and capital outlays by reducing inventories. This leaner and responsive system helped rotate the stock quickly and also, improved sales as the customers would return to stores every two weeks to check out new designs and purchase as the design would not be available after the time frame. International expansion of Zara started with Portugal in 1988, and since then they have opened more than 1,000 stores globally. This has been done through company owned showrooms, joint ventures and franchisee models. Zara’s Products Currently, Zara caters to men’s clothing and women’s clothing. Each of these sections has 5 subsections, which include lower garment, upper garment, shoes, cosmetics and complementary products. The 50-60% of the demand is produced at the beginning of the season and the remaining is manufactured in season. This sometimes results in either stock outs or markdowns but compared to the competition the number of times the service failure happens is quite low for markdowns. Hence, if the design does not suit the customers’ tastes then it is taken off the shelves and further orders are cancelled. This leads to new designs and above all, no designs stay on the  store floor for more than four weeks, which encourages consumers to make purchases. When compared to the competitors, average number of times a customer visits Zara is 18 times a year compared to 3-4 times for the competition. 2. Mission, Vision, Values and Goals Zara’s Mission Statement is as follows,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"ZARA walks at the pace of society, dressing ideas, trends and tastes that society itself has matured.† Zara through its unique business models and stores has proved business can be successful with little or no advertising. This business is possible only through superior customer service helped by continued ability to restock and respond to customer needs within days. This gives Zara the competitive edge. Hence, keeping in mind the mission, they always innovate their products to enhance shopping experience and provide new designs at affordable costs made from quality materials which follow latest trends. 3. Zara’s Strategy for Growth and Positioning Zara believes in Zero advertising. It would rather spend on store expansion than to advertise. However, the minimally advertise in fashion magazines. The rationale behind this is the quick turnaround of store display, which is around 4 weeks, which renders advertising an unnecessary cost. Also, Zara concentrates on efficient design to market cycle and focus on showcasing large number of designs annually. The workforce in Zara is essential to its success right from the production to the store level as the feedback generated about fashion performance at store is percolated to the designer and production and supply chain helps to put the latest styles in 2 weeks time. We need to take a look at the factors that determine these strategies and also the shortcomings associated with these strategies 4. External Analysis The external environment characteristics can be stated as below 1. Demographic segment   Zara is targeting young consumers with disposable income. This will be primarily in developing countries and developed countries. This presents  them with a sizeable population. As shown by market research, the customers in these countries are willing to try new brands but at the same time are price and quality conscious. The ability to replicate the model and achieve the desired results can significantly enhance Zara’s brand in these market. 2. Economic segment Due to weak currencies, low labor costs and opportunity to be closer to customers, Zara need to think about strategies to take benefits from other location. Since the competition has already entered the newer market and is constantly trying to leverage the benefits associated with these markets. This has a big impact on the profits of the organization. 3. Legal segment Owing to increasing labor costs and stringent labor laws, the production processes in the present countries do not seem favorable as they will increase the production costs. In addition to that, concentration of designers in Spain/Europe can be handled as the labor laws permit that. In case, Zara does not want to decentralize these functions, there are no laws governing their decisions as fashion industry is not under regulations. 4. Technological Segment Zara presently uses IT efficiently in managing their supply chain which leads to lower operating costs. However, the use of IT can be extended to expand their procurement and manufacturing activities outside Spain. 5. Global Segment Owing to globalization and rapid advancement in technologies, several low cost production centers have come up. In order to reduce the costs even further and maintain quality, Zara can have offshore production facilities to low cost location in order to lower the costs. This will enable them to localize Zara and cater to local preference. The critical market for Zara in the coming future would be the Asian nations of India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan. The relaxation of trade norms would help reduce transaction costs, if, Zara plans to expand their activities outside Spain. The environmental characteristics changes very fast in fashion, especially  in terms of demographic and global segments. Zara being in core fashion industry with fast cycles have a unique strategy where in it caters only on the leading edge of the product cycle which enables it to deliver the promise of â€Å"Instant Fashion†. 5. SWOT Strategic Choice We will discuss each of the external and internal variables in details which will give us a better picture as to why Zara needs to act in a certain manner. Strengths * Strong product diversity As a group Inditex is a leading fashion distributor and has ore than 100 associate companies across the world. In addition to this, the stores are located in more than 400 cities across the world. In case of Zara, the international fashion retailing segment, this presents a new opportunity to foray into foreign markets. The group brands can be displayed as well when considering international expansion. This is what Inditex can look forward to offering the wide assortment of goods, replenished quickly to carve a niche for itself. * Strong revenue growth The group company of Zara, Inditex has registered a robust financial performance Y-o-Y. The revenues increased at a CAGR of 18% annually. The operating profit represents a CAGR of 21%. In the meantime, the profits also increase at CAGR of 25% annually. The strong performance of the group, Inditex and various brands leads to increased investor confidence about the company . * Strong distribution network The group, Inditex has a strong distribution network. The presence of an efficient supply chain management in Inditex assures that the goods are delivered within 24 hours of the receipt of the order in Europe and about 40 hours at its overseas outlets. The majority of the supply is handled through its centralized warehouses in each of the European, Asian and American markets. The company’s logistics department has more than 4,000 people  delivering 627 million garments in financial year 2008. * Zero advertising Zara follows the policy of zero advertising to decrease expenses. Hence, in newer markets, it can focus its capital on expansion. The strong brand name, store ambience and product quality will compensate for the lack of advertising. Weaknesses * Overdependence on the European market Zara has a significant market presence in Spain and other European countries. Around 50% of the stores are located in Spain and surrounding countries. However, the revenues contributed by Spain accounts to only 40% of the group revenues whereas 60% of the revenues comes from its international operations with 43% coming from European operations and the rest 17% from outside Europe. The group as a whole is highly dependent on the Spanish and European market to sustain its revenues, making it highly vulnerable to the economic, political and social changes taking place in these markets, especially in Spain. Also, the fashion tastes might reflect heavily the European perspective, even though during international expansion Zara needs to cater to the international customers. * Reliance on local designers Even though local designers are preferred for designing new range of garments for Zara, almost all the designers are from Spain. This leads to a situation where the design might be too localized. Considering the fact that Zara intends to have a global presence, localization of the core designing and manufacturing processes might not be a feasible option. With respect to catering to local tastes and fashion, the designers should be located more closely to the markets. Opportunities * * Expansion plans The group has invested more than â‚ ¬ 2.8 billion to open new stores internationally, in countries where it already has a presence and few new  markets as well. The rate of growth of stores has been as high as 640 stores per year. Zara fashion will be made available in Korea, Ukraine, Egypt and Montenegro. A well defined expansion plan is critical to the corporate objective of international expansion with sustained and robust revenue growth in the future. * Growing apparel retail market in Asia (China, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia) The Asian apparel market is growing at a high rate. Owing to the growing population of affluent household, higher disposable incomes, consumers knowledge of international brands, it presents an opportunity for Zara to enter and expand its operations in Asian market. Accelerated development in these markets will help shift the burden of growth and diversification from mature and intensively competitive European and American markets to the building Asian markets. * Growing online sales Online retailing has been growing at a scorching pace in the last decade and considering UK market, more than  £14 billion has been spent on online shopping. Zara should try to open online retail shops to cater to the audience who need to shop for standardized version of Zara’s products. This also presents an opportunity to display the entire product lines from Zara and can be easily searched. It will enable strong growth in online and well as, offline retail sales. Threats * New avenues being utilized by competitors The competition is always on the lookout for cheaper manufacturing location such as China, India and Eastern Europe. The benefit of lower costs of procurement can be passed on to the customers through low prices. The main advantage of Zara’s vertical integration is the frequent replenishments of its stores and also, feedback from store staff to design. If this feedback works out as expected, then Zara will be able to sustain higher manufacturing costs than its competition in future. The competition is also working on reducing the lead times, which if successfully implemented could lead to erosion in market share and reduction in revenues. * Counterfeit goods The counterfeit goods in the new markets and existing ones adversely affect sales of branded accessories. Widespread counterfeiting reduces the brand value and exclusivity, especially in cases of high end fashion products, through customer dissatisfaction. * Rising Labor cost in European region Since Inditex focuses most of Zara’s designing and manufacturing activities in the European region, the increasing labor costs drive down the profits as it increases the operating expenses. This results in adverse impact on the group’s margin. 6. Internal Analysis We undertake the resource based view and study the internal analysis. Zara’s main assets are the designers, the logistics process, in store sales people and the store ambience. The designers are in charge of churning out new designs in a short span of time. After receiving the feedback, they have approximately 2 weeks to deliver the garment to the store. Each of the designers is a valuable and costly resource and this quick turnaround time is not imitable and therefore exploited by Zara to the fullest. The competitors have not been able to turn around designs as quickly as Zara. Hence, they give Zara a competitive advantage. Since Zara follows zero advertising policy, the word of mouth medium is heavily dependent on how much a customer is satisfied. New designs which satisfy customers go a long way in making Zara an important brand. The logistics process is also a source of competitive advantage. It is because of logistical capabilities that Zara can display 12,000 new designs annually. Assisted by IT and workforce, it forms a competitive advantage but this can be imitated by competition and hence does not present a sustainable competitive advantage. However, along with new designs it plays significant roles in preventing stock outs and piling inventories to help reduce unwanted costs. The sales people, staff and store ambience, although valuable but are easily imitable and hence are at comparative parity Capabilities: Sourcing Materials Inbound logistics Flexible manufacturing / Outsourcing outbound logistics in-store sales. Market research Product design Procurement Outsourcing Distribution Centralized planning Corporate vision and mission Brand Image 7. Competitor Analysis The main competitors are H&M, a Swedish brand and GAP Inc., an American brands. Now, GAP Inc. boasts of large network of stores and has a strong financial leverage as it aims to tap into growing online retail segment and into franchising to expand into new market. GAP Inc. is also targeting growing global footwear market. Some of its shortcomings are geographic concentration and weak performance of comparable stores. It also suffers from low customer loyalty and rising labor wages. On the other hand, H&M are matching Zara in terms of designing and also have strong procurement practices. Unlike Zara, they collaborate with designers and have much wider presence as compared to Zara. They are at present looking to target new niche. However, they are also plagued by issues of customer loyalty and product recall. Currently, all of them are focusing the same segment and added to it the high entry barriers and high profit potential makes it an attractive industry. From the above graphs and the financial data available (refer to Appendix), we can see that although sales revenues of H&M are better than Inditex, operating expenses as a percentage of sales are lower for Inditex mostly due to their operational and marketing strategies which lowers the inventory and due to instant fashion generates more sales. 8. Corporate Level Strategies The Corporate level strategies of Zara can be said to be similar to that of its parent, Inditex Group. Its strategies can be classified based on three frameworks – Ansoff Matrix, BCG Matrix and GE-Directional Policy Matrix. Based on the Ansoff Matrix, Zara follows the following Strategic Directions: * Market Consolidation and Product Development by bringing in the latest fashionable designs from the design stage to distribution within 2-3 weeks, much shorter than the industry average. * Market Development by introducing products to new markets by opening up stores in new locations and countries. It had around 1500 stores in 78 countries, in December 2008,around the globe and is expanding. Zara is operating in an Industry of high growth of about 40% while having a high market share in most of the  countries. This puts Zara as a Star for Inditex Group in the Growth-Share BCG Matrix. Also the strength of its business is high, thus putting it in the Investment and Growth direction of theDirectional Policy Matrix. Thus Zara is one of the main Business lines for Inditex Group garnering about 67% of the revenue for the parent organization. 9. Business Level Strategies Zara defines its target markets as â€Å"Young, educated one that likes fashion and is sensitive to fashion†. This target market is very broad because it is not segmented by ages and lifestyles. Thus the scope of Zara’s business is broad. Zara also follows both the Cost leadership and Differentiation strategies. Thus Integrated Cost Leadership/ Differentiation Strategy are followed by Zara by the following approaches: * Cost Leadership 1. It achieves low cost by lowering lead times which in turn leads to lesser inventories, thus reducing the cost of the supply chain. * Differentiation 2. It differentiates itself from its competitors by providing lead times which are far lower than the industry standards. 3. Zara produces about 11000 designs every year as compared to about 4000 by competitors. 4. Replenishes stores twice a week as compared to once by major competitors. 5. Produces in small batches and takes advantage of shortages in stores by replacing them with new designs. Thus customers who find that a particular design is out of stock may buy a new design in fear of losing the opportunity to but it. Thus it guarantees that customers visit Zara’s stores around 17 times per year on an average as opposed to 3 times for competitors. 6. The designs remain in the stores for only about 4 months when they are taken out. Only about 10% of designs are taken off stores by Zara as compared to 17% of competitors. 7. Takes the feedback of customers in determining the needs of the customers. 8. Takes advantage of IT in vertical integration of the supply chain by maintaining a smooth flow of information through the chain. According to Mile’s and Snow’s Adaptive Strategies, Zara can be classified as a Prospector because of the following characteristics: * Zara has built its entire business on innovation in the supply of fashion apparels to customers. * Zara continually modifies its existing designs to match the  latest fashion trends and needs of the customers. * The competitors have not been able to copy their supply chain strategy. 10. Functional Level Strategies The designs at Zara change every week and this result in manufacturing systems that have to be flexible to cope up with these changes. Thus Zara uses Flexible Manufacturing Technology or Lean Production which reduces setup time for equipments, increases utilization of machines through better scheduling and improves quality control at all stages of manufacturing. The various functional strategies for Zara have been laid down below. * Marketing Strategy * Only one item of each size in each color option was placed on the stock floor requiring stores to maintain a considerable restocking policy. * Customer feedback was taken by all the sales personnel at the stores to gauge the needs of the customers. * New product introductions were planned twice a week to maintain fashion freshness. * Zara stores were located in prime retail locations, thus avoiding the need for advertising to attract customers. Marketing expenses were0.3% on sales as compared to 3.5% of competitors. * Materials Management Strategy * The raw material was stocked in advance according to forecasts. They were sourced from countries like Spain, the far east, India and Morocco. * Due to low lead times, very less inventory needed to be maintained. * Inventory turnover is high leading to lesser capital needs. * Zara outsources its sewing activities to contractors, thus lowering cost. * R&D Strategy * Design team consisting of young individuals in their 20’s who are more conversant with latest fashion. * Around 40000 designs were done throughout the year out of which around 11000 were selected for manufacture. * * Human Resource Strategy * Zara emphasized learning from mistakes and accepting criticism. * Everyone was encouraged to express their opinion. * No performance appraisal system in place but a system of immediate feedback from colleagues at all levels. * Personal empathy given more importance than formal qualifications in recruitment. * A significant portion of salaries varied according to performance. * Information Systems Strategy * IT was used to integrate the chain vertically and horizontally, for smooth flow of information up the chain and across the various functions, respectively. * Infrastructure * Zara had a relatively flat structure in comparison to other firms in the same industry. Cross-Functional Integration existed between the various functions to ensure that: * New designs are developed according to customer needs. * Information flow is quick. * Time to manufacture the new designs and their presentation to the customers reduces. * The costs of development are low. 11. Global Level Strategy Zara had opened up around 1500 stores in around 78 countries in December 2008, and it is still expanding by looking for opportunities. The main factors that helped Zara achieve Global competitiveness are: * Fast growth in the Spanish market * High demand for exports from Spain * Rivalry with other firms like H&M and Gap. The main reasons for Zara to expand globally were: * Expansion of its market by taking advantage of its â€Å"instant fashion† concept, so that it could increase its market share and bring in more revenue. * Since Zara believed in providing the customers with the latest fashion at lowest cost, it supplied the stores with low quantities. So to lower the costs it expanded globally so that it could take advantage of some sort of Economies of Scale. Global Strategy Zara did not follow any localization in the countries where it was present and provided only standardized products. Also it believed in providing the latest fashion at the low costs. Thus from the Global Strategy Grid it can be seen that Zara Followed a Global Standardization Strategy. By doing so it hoped to increase its profitability by reducing costs and achieving economies of scale. Zara chose to enter the different markets using various entry strategies. The strategies are outlined below. * Exporting: Zara exported its products to a few markets where opening up a manufacturing facility would not have been profitable like Monaco, Oman, etc. * Franchising: Zara also opens up stores in various locations through franchised deals avoiding development costs and risks of opening up a foreign market on its own. Examples of such locations are Cyprus, Venezuela, etc. * Joint Ventures: Over a period of time Zara entered various markets by forming Joint Ventures to take advantage of the partner’s knowledge of the foreign country. It entered the Italian Market in 1996 by forming a JV with Benetton. Then in 1998 it entered the German market by forming a JV with Otto Versand, the country’s largest catalogue retailer. It also entered the Japanese market by forming a JV with Japan’s BIGI Group, forming Zara Japan. * Wholly Owned Subsidiaries: Zara entered most of the markets by opening up wholly owned subsidiaries, to take advantage of the controls that it could exercise in those countries. Examples of such locations are US, UK

Analysis of girl, interrupted

Film Synopsis Girl, Interrupted is a true memoir based on author Susanna Kaysen's nearly two-year stay in a mental institution during the late 1960s. Winona Ryder stars as Susanna, an unhappy, upper-middle-class girl who is uncertain about her life after graduating from high school. Her depression, confusion and promiscuity lead her to chase a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. She insists, however, that she was not trying to kill herself, but had a â€Å"headache.† Susanna’s parents take her to a psychiatrist, who asks her if she needs a rest, before suggesting she admit herself to Claymoore Mental Hospital. The psychiatrist diagnoses her with borderline personality disorder and depression. For the most part, the film flip-flops between Susanna’s memories of incidents that may have led to her disorder and her interactions with the other mental patients. Susanna soon realizes that the other patients are much worse off than her. Each character deals with various types of mental disorders caused by previous events in their lives. Polly is a burn victim trying to cope with her disfigurement; Daisy comes from an abnormal, abusive family. She has an odd obsession with chicken and refuses to eat in front of others; and Georgina, Susanna’s roommate, who has been diagnosed as a pathological liar. There is also another main character, Lisa – a veteran of the hospital. She is wild and seems to have sociopathic tendencies. She spends half of her time instigating fights, and embarrassing and scaring the other patients. The other half of her time is spent trying  to nurture them in a way. This is shown by the way childlike Polly looks up to Lisa and believes in everything Lisa says. Played by Angelina Jolie, Lisa constantly escapes from the hospital and makes sure everyone sees her as a leader. Lisa even convinces Susanna to slip out one night after Daisy is released. They visit Daisy in her new house and during the visit Daisy ends up committing suicide. Susanna seems calm throughout the movie, mainly watching and listening to the other patients, especially Lisa. Because of this, it seems Susanna grows stronger throughout the movie and learns from the other girls. Evaluation of disorders and symptoms Susanna’s symptoms are excellently portrayed as she is mostly confused, while dwelling on her past mistakes. She obviously has low self esteem and almost sees herself as invisible to the outside world. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) describes the symptoms of borderline personality disorder as experiencing the same mood for weeks, as well as having intense bouts of anger, depression and anxiety. NIMH indicates on its website, www.nimh.nih.gov, this mood may be associated with self-injury and drug or alcohol abuse problems. Susanna experiences bouts of depression and anxiety before and during the beginning of her hospital stay. The mood eventually leads to her failed suicide attempt. The institute also says that those with personality disorders view themselves as fundamentally bad or unworthy; they feel unfairly misunderstood, bored and empty, and have little idea of who they are. According to NIMH, sufferers often have unstable patterns of social relationships. Susanna portrays this with her promiscuity and stormy relationship with her parents. She also partakes in risky behavior, partying too much and sleeping with married men. The supporting characters’ symptoms are displayed accurately. Polly experiences extremely low self-esteem and looks for acceptance from everyone because she feels ashamed and devalued after her burn accident. Trauma usually causes deep feelings of sadness, anger and distress. Georgina, who is characterized as a pathological liar, seems the most â€Å"normal† of the bunch. Although, she spends her time telling stories which the others are not sure they should believe. Georgina is eventually discharged during Susanna’s stay. Daisy is a very disturbing character in the unit. She has been sexually abused which has caused her many problems including a possible eating disorder and various serious psychological problems. The effects of the sexual abuse have apparently taken a toll on Daisy. She portrays symptoms common to sexually abused children: Being overly controlling and angry, striving for perfection, fear of having close relationships with other people, obsessive compulsive disorder, as well as eating disorders. Daisy finds it hard to trust anyone, except Lisa, and is reclusive, staying in her room for most of the time. Reaction to film Overall, I thought Girl, Interrupted accurately depicted the disorders of which each girl suffered. The flashbacks to previous events in Susanna’s life leading up to her stay at Claymoore helped to explain why she developed the disorder. It almost seemed as though the borderline personality disorder affected her wanting to live in the â€Å"real world.† I thought she seemed to feel safer in the institution and was able to, at times, forget about her own problems and delve into the others’ problems. When she was ready to be released, though, she realized that she does not want to end up like most of the other girls – who will most likely spend the majority of their lives institutionalized. The film, especially because it is a true story, was educational, thoughtful and somewhat heartbreaking. It provided me with a better understanding of what people suffering from mental illnesses go though in their daily lives.      

An Assessment of Clean Up Australia advert We Want You

An Assessment of Clean Up Australia advert We Want You Introduction Clean up Australia is a non-governmental organization which is at the fore-front of environmental conservation. The organization uses community based events as its main tool in environmental conservation. The organization was founded by Ian Kiernan in 1989(Clean Up Australia, 2012).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on An Assessment of Clean Up Australia advert ‘We Want You’ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This was after he had witnessed the level of pollution in various oceans around the world. In 1989, he organized the clean up Sydney Harbour which got an overwhelming response. The first Clean up Australia day was organized in 1990. Clean up Australia has internationalized its operations. Through UNEP, a Clean up the World day was introduced in 1993. Clean Up Australia has launched a campaign through which it intends to raise funds from individual sponsors. Clean Up Australia day has enjo yed support from both individual and corporate sponsors. The campaign is dubbed ‘We Want You’ is a request to Australians to contribute $ 2 Australian dollars (Clean Up Australia day, 2012). Also, businesses can contribute towards the course. They are several incentives that have been set up to ensure that individuals and businesses contribute towards the course. A role of honour has been established for individuals and businesses that contribute towards the course. Businesses that contribute more than $ 5000, a company is given a special honour where they will be featured in by Clean Up Australia as a case study which will be posted on the organization’s website. High effort behaviour is characterised by several things. One of the aspects associated with high effort behaviour is increased personal cost (Barr et al., 2011). Personal cost can be incurred through direct monetary donations. Secondly, an individual can invest time and thus forego income generating ac tivities to engage in alternative activities. Low effort behaviour, on the hand, does not require huge monetary or time investments. The above advert involves low effort behaviour as the amount required is low. An individual is required to contribute only $ 2 only towards the initiative.Advertising Looking for assessment on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Clean Up Australia has shifted focus from big corporate donations to community donors. After the 2008 global financial, companies suffered a dip in their profits (IMF, 2009). This led to constrained resources thus reduced amount allocated for community service projects. The above campaign is aimed to solicit funds from ordinary citizens. Citizens, also, incurred constrained resources after the global crisis in 2008. This was caused by escalating cost of living. Therefore $ 2 contribution is quite reasonable thus more people can afford to contr ibute. Also, individual including young person’s can contribute towards the course. There leads to increased awareness on the environmental conservation when an individual contributes towards the course. The individual is keen on initiatives introduced by Clean Up Australia for the utilisation of the funds. The campaign has set up a role of honour where individuals who contribute towards the campaign are recognized (Clean Up Australia Day, 2012). Recognition acts as an important reinforcement tool. Individuals feel appreciated for the contribution that they make towards the course. The campaign is also an alternative for individuals for individual who may not be in a position to participate in clean up events. By using the ‘We Want You initiative’, Clean Up Australia aims at increasing environmental awareness through donations. Analysis An advertisement is tool of communication used to encourage individuals to take up new products or services. AIDA theory outline s four critical aspects that are associated with an advertisement. They include attention, interest, desire and action (Stern, 2000). In order for an advertisement to be successful, it must generate the above elements. The structure of ‘ Join?You’ advert is meant attracts ones attention. This is because the advert has question mark which is framed into word ‘you’.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on An Assessment of Clean Up Australia advert ‘We Want You’ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, one is attracted to the advert due to the creativity exhibited on the presentation of the advert. The structure of the advert, also, arouses ones interest. The need to know what’s behind the question mark pushes one into opening the adverts’ slides. The low amount of contribution is one incentive that arouses ones desire to contribute towards the project. Another incen tive is the role of honour introduced by the organization for recognizing individuals who have contributed towards the course (Clean Up Australia Day, 2012). The desire to participate in the project is fulfilled by one contributing towards the project. Success of an advert is linked to increase in sales in various firms. Therefore, success of the above advert can only be analysed by the amount of contribution received. Theory of attention Selective attention theories indicate that individuals choose to concentrate on specific characteristics of an object. Selective attention is divided into two main stages. The first stage encompasses attention to all characteristics of the object. An individual focuses on the object as a whole. This is based on mental shortcut known as schemas. There are formed from encounters with similar objects in the past (Meyers-Levy Tybout, 1989). The second stage encompasses focus on a specific characteristic of object. Focus on the characteristic could be as a result of its uniqueness. Therefore, it is a source of new information which an individual tries to process and interpret the new information. Thereafter, the new information and thus is part a schema is constructed for perception of similar characteristics in future. The above advert provokes interest where an individual is firstly drawn to structure of the advert. The imagery portrayed on the advert is quite unique and thus individual are drawn to it.Advertising Looking for assessment on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The creativity on the above advert provokes increased attention to specific characteristics including the intricacy of the artwork. Therefore, one is interest is drawn towards unravelling the initiative behind the advert. Thereafter, incentives arouse ones desire into participating in the initiative. Cognitive based attitudes An attitude encompasses an evaluation of an object. The evaluation is based on several aspects including the perceived conditions of excellence or quality of an object (Campbell Kirmani, 2000). Where the object does not meet the conditions, a negative attitude is developed towards the object. The multi-component theory of attitudes identifies three critical components of cognitive based attitudes. These components include judgements, thoughts and beliefs (Festinger, 1957). Understanding cognitive based attitudes is a basis from which advertising is premised. An advert acts as persuasion tool used for development of a positive image about a product or service. Cognitive based attitudes, therefore, are based on information and consequent use of a company’s product or service. A cognitive based attitude is thereby developed through a continuous evaluation process. Cognitive based attitudes are based on a multi-dimensional structure. Cognitive attitudes are based in specific attributes of a product or service. Attributes can be either positive or negative. Therefore, they are quite distant from affective based attitudes which are more uni-dimensional thus specific attributes about a product are not observed. Specific attributes refer to specific characteristics about the product or service (Campbell Kirmani, 2000). An evaluation based on preset standards forms the basis from where either positive or negative attitudes are formed. There are two main factors that determine the level of persuasion of an advert in relation to cognitive based attitudes. Firstly, the strength of an attitude heavily influences consumers towards purchasing p roducts from a particular company. The strength of an attitude is based on the duration of evaluation of a brand (Alba Hutchison,1987). Where an individual has used a company’s product or service, the attitude towards the brand is usually well-established. On the other hand, first time buyers attitudes are not well established thus rely more on the information provided by the company. Information about the product can be contained in advert detailing use and benefits of product or service. Where a positive attitude towards the brand in well established, there is increased likelihood that the customer repurchases a product from the same brand. Secondly, attachment generated towards a specific brand is also a critical component that influences success of adverts. Attachment to a brand arises when a customer can relate to directly to a brand. A positive attitude towards a brand results in increased loyalty from the customer (Alba Hutchison,1987). He or she, therefore, overlook s some of the faults that may be present in the company’s future products or services. Also, the customer markets the product through word of mouth. This is an important marketing tool where customers act as trusted sources for potential customers The success of the ‘We want You’ campaign is premised on several aspects. One of the critical components is the image of the company. This is based on aspects as transparency in the organization’s financial policies. Clean Up Australia has maintained prudent financial practices thus has continuously enjoyed support from individual and corporate sponsors alike. The role of honour is a tool that will be used to increase sponsor’s attachment to the initiative. Increased attachment gives the initiative momentum by marketing through word of mouth. Businesses that contribute also get recognition by being featured in the Clean Up Australian’s website. Individual contribution has been put at $ 2 Australian dollars. This is important as more individuals can take part in the initiative. Participation of young people is particularly imperative to the initiative. This is because by encouraging positive environmental conservation behaviour in young people, young people will be conscious of environmental conservation (Whitmarsh, 2009). In the long term, this translates to reduced consumer waste thus reduced impact on the environment. This is in line with Clean Up Australia’s long term objectives of reducing environmental pollution across Australia and the world. Conclusion The success of the ‘Join?You’ initiative is premised on the successful marketing of the campaign. Clean Up Australia has designed an advert and placed it on its website. Individuals visiting the website can see the advert and thus is bound to attract their attention. The advert is a combination of a question mark and the word ‘you’. The aim of the initiative is to raise money towards Clean Up Australia day which is observed across Australia. Individual and business sponsors alike can contribute towards the initiative. A role of honour has been established to recognize individual and business sponsors. Through encouraging individuals to make small contributions, Clean Up Australia can use the initiative as a tool of raising awareness on the importance of environmental conservation. Reference List Alba, J.W., Hutchinson, J. (1987). Dimensions of consumer expertise. Journal of  Consumer Research, 13, 411–454. Barr, S., Gilg, A. et al. (2011). Helping People Make Better Choice: Exploring the  Behaviour change agenda for environmental sustainability. Applied Geography,  31, 712-720. Campbell, M.C., Kirmani, A. (2000). Consumers’ use of persuasion knowledge: The effects of accessibility and cognitive capacity on perceptions of an influence agent.  Journal of Consumer Research,27, 69–83. Clean Up Australia Day. (2012).  Join? You A Major S ponsor Of Clean Up  Australia Day  2012. Web. Clean Up Australia.(2012). The Clean Up story. Web. Festinger, L. (1957). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford: Stanford University  Press  IMF.(2009). World Economic Outlook. Web. Meyers-Levy, J., Tybout, A. (1989).Schema congruity as a basis for  product evaluation. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 39–54. Stern, P. C. (2000). Toward a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behaviour.  Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 407-424. Whitmarsh, L. (2009). Behavioural responses to climate change: Asymmetry of  intentions and impacts. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 13-23.

Picassos Guitars and the Birth of Synthetic Cubism

Picassos Guitars and the Birth of Synthetic Cubism Anne Umland, curator in the department of painting and sculpture, and her assistant Blair Hartzell, have organized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study Picassos 1912-14 Guitar series in one beautiful installation. This team assembled 85 works from over 35 public and private collections; a heroic feat indeed. Why Picassos Guitar Series? Most art historians credit the Guitar series as the definitive transition from Analytic to Synthetic Cubism. However, the guitars launched so much more. After a slow and careful examination of all the collages and constructions, it is clear that the Guitar series (which includes a few violins as well) crystallized Picassos brand of Cubism. The series establishes a repertoire of signs that remained active in the artists visual vocabulary through the Parade sketches and into the Cubo-Surrealist works of the 1920s. When Did the Guitar Series Begin? We dont know exactly when the Guitar series began. The collages include snippets of newspapers dated to November and December 1912. Black and white photographs of Picassos studio on the Boulevard Raspail, published in Les Soirà ©es de Paris, no. 18 (November 1913), show the cream-colored construction paper guitar surrounded by numerous collages and drawings of guitars or violins set up side by side on one wall. Picasso gave his 1914 metal Guitar to the Museum of Modern Art in 1971. At that time, the director of paintings and drawings, William Rubin, believed that the maquette (model) cardboard guitar dated to the early part of 1912. (The museum acquired the maquette in 1973, after Picassos death, in accordance with his wishes.) During the preparation for the huge Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism exhibition in 1989, Rubin shifted the date to October 1912. Art historian Ruth Marcus agreed with Rubin in her 1996 article on the Guitar series, which convincingly explains the transitional significance of the series. The current MoMA exhibition sets the date for the maquette at October to December 1912. How Do We Study the Guitar Series? The best way to study the Guitar series is to notice two things: the wide variety of media and the repertoire of repeated shapes that mean different things within different contexts. The collages integrate real substances such as wallpaper, sand, straight pins, ordinary string, brand labels, packaging, musical scores, and newspaper with the artists drawn or painted versions of the same or similar objects. The combination of elements broke with traditional two-dimensional art practices, not only in terms of incorporating such humble materials but also because these materials referred to modern life in the streets, in the studios, and in the cafà ©s. This interplay of real-world items mirrors the integration of contemporary street imagery in his friends avant-garde poetry, or what Guillaume Apollinaire called la nouveautà © poà ©sie (novelty poetry) - an early form of Pop Art. Another Way to Study the Guitars The second way to study the Guitar series requires a scavenger hunt for Picassos repertoire of shapes that appear in most of the works. The MoMA exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to cross-check references and contexts. Together, the collages and Guitar constructions seem to reveal the artists internal conversation: his criteria and his ambitions. We see the various short-hand signs to indicate objects or body parts migrate from one context to another, reinforcing and shifting meanings with only the context as a guide. For example, the curvy side of a guitar in one work resembles the curve of a mans ear along his head in another. A circle may indicate a guitars sound hole in one section of the collage and a bottles bottom in another. Or a circle can be the top of the bottles cork and simultaneously resemble a top hat neatly positioned on a mustached gentlemans face. Ascertaining this repertory of shapes helps us understand the synecdoche in Cubism (those little shapes that indicate the whole in order to say: here is a violin, here is a table, here is a glass and here is a human being). This repertoire of signs developed during the Analytic Cubism Period became simplified shapes of this Synthetic Cubism Period. The Guitar Constructions Explain Cubism The  Guitar  constructions made of cardboard paper (1912) and sheet metal (1914) clearly demonstrate the formal considerations of  Cubism. As Jack Flam wrote in Cubiquitous, a better word for Cubism would have been Planarism, since the artists conceptualized reality in terms of the different faces or planes of an object (front, back, top, bottom, and sides) depicted on one surface a.k.a. simultaneity. Picasso explained the collages to the sculptor Julio Gonzales: It would have sufficed to cut them up the colors, after all, being no more than indications of differences in perspective, of planes inclined one way or the other and then assemble them according to the indications given by the color, in order to be confronted with a sculpture. (Roland Penrose,  The Life and Work of Picasso, third edition, 1981, p.265) The  Guitar  constructions occurred as Picasso worked on the collages. The flat planes deployed on flat surfaces became flat planes projecting from the wall in a three-dimension arrangement located in real space. Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, Picassos dealer at the time, believed that the  Guitar  constructions were based on the artists Grebo masks, which he acquired in August 1912. These three-dimensional objects represent the eyes as cylinders projecting from the flat surface of the mask, as indeed Picassos  Guitar  constructions represent the sound hole as a cylinder projecting from the body of the guitar. Andrà © Salmon inferred in  La jeune sculpture franà §aise  that Picasso looked at contemporary toys, such as a tiny tin fish suspended in a circle of tin ribbon that represented the fish swimming in its bowl. William Rubin suggested in his catalogue for the Picasso and Braque show of 1989 that airplane gliders captured Picassos imagination. (Picasso called Braque Wilbur, after one of the Wright brothers, whose historic flight took place on December 17, 1903. Wilbur had just died on May 30, 1912. Orville died on January 30, 1948.) From Traditional to Avant-garde Sculpture Picassos Guitar constructions broke with the continuous skin of conventional sculpture. In his 1909  Head  (Fernande), a bumpy, lumpy contiguous series of planes represent the hair and face of the woman he loved at this time. These planes are positioned in such a manner to maximize the reflection of light on certain surfaces, similar to the depicted planes illuminated by light in Analytic Cubist paintings. These lit surfaces become colorful surfaces in the collages. The cardboard  Guitar  construction depends on flat planes. It is composed of only 8 parts: the front and back of the guitar, a box for its body, the sound hole (which looks like the cardboard cylinder inside a roll of toilet paper), the neck (which curves upward like an elongated trough), a triangle pointing down to indicate the guitars head and a short folded paper near the triangle threaded with guitar strings. Ordinary strings strung vertically, represent the guitar strings, and laterally (in a comically droopy way) represent the frets. A semi-circular piece, attached to the bottom of the maquette represents a table top location for the guitar and completes the original appearance of the work. The cardboard  Guitar  and the sheet metal Guitar seem to simultaneously represent the inside and outside of the real instrument. El Guitare During the spring of 1914, the art critic Andrà © Salmon wrote: I have seen what no man has seen before in Picassos studio. Leaving aside painting for the moment, Picasso built this immense guitar out of sheet metal with parts that could be given to any idiot in the universe who on his own might put the object together as well as the artist himself. More phantasmagorical than Fausts laboratory, this studio (which certain people might claim had no art in the conventional sense of the term) was furnished with the newest of objects. All the visible forms surrounding me appeared absolutely new. I had never seen such new things before. I didnt even know what a new object could be.Some visitors, already shocked by the things that they saw covering the walls, refused to call these objects paintings (because they were made of oil-cloth, packing paper and newspaper). They pointed a condescending finger at the object of Picassos clever pains, and said: What is it? Does you put it on a pedestal? Does you hang it on a wall? Is it painting or is it sculpture? Picasso dressed in the blue of a Parisian worker responded in his finest Andalusian voice: Its nothing. Its  el guitare!And there you have it! The watertight compartments of art are demolished. We are now liberated from painting and sculpture just as we were liberated from the idiotic tyranny of academic genres. Its no longer this or that. Its nothing. Its  el guitare!

Cloud Computing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Cloud Computing - Essay Example Balance in most cases remains the weight that is distributed in the design through placement of the industry’s elements. Alignment; - In most distribution industries, alignment as a design principle allows the creation of order and organization. It also allows the creation of visual connection within the organization (Morris, 2012). Contrast; - This design principle generally allows organizations to focus on its design elements and by doing this, it helps in improving processes within the organization. Lastly, the space allows free movement in organization especially during the organization processes (Morris, 2012). Adhering to the fundamental design principles is therefore important especially during the development of secure applications. Effective adherence of the design principles in most cases provides balance and a continuation during the development of secure applications. Adherence of the fundamental designs also provides improvement during the development of secure