Susan Glaspell s Trifles Essay - 966 Words

Abandoned places are always ready to tell a story, even the newly deserted ones. In Susan Glaspell’s play â€Å"Trifles,† the setting is the still, recently abandoned kitchen of a recently dead Mr. Wright. The story focuses on the sheriff’s and witness’s wives and their slow realization of who killed Mr. Wright and why. These realizations could not have happened if the wives were anywhere other than where they were. The time period, the kitchen itself, and the cheerlessness of the house all assist in unraveling the story of a house to be left behind. The time period of the play is between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. This aspect is very important throughout the play because of what the time period means for the female characters. In this rough time frame, women were not a big part of the functions of society. Most jobs were men’s only; this left the women to tend to the house and children. [PP2] Throughout the play, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale follow this stereotype as they focus on the homemaking aspects of what was left behind. The men are disdainful of this, saying, â€Å"held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves† (?) or â€Å"women are used to worrying over trifles† (?). They dismiss the wives as if they were children to be mollified until they have something to do, and they do not even consider the possibility of the wives lying or withholding information, despite the fact that they acted â€Å"loyal to [their] sex† (?) earlier in the play. That lack of consideration for womenShow MoreRelatedTrifles : Susan Glaspell s Trifles940 Words   |  4 PagesWhat is a trifle? A trifle is something that has little to no importance (dictionary.com). For instance, the color of your nails would be considered a trifle. In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, women are criticized and made fun of by men because of the little things they worry about, such as the color of their nails or their hair. This exhib its the gender role difference portrayed during the play’s time period. The central conflict is what the plot is centered around. In Trifles, the central conflictRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles 1732 Words   |  7 PagesSusan Glaspell (1876-1948) was an American-born Pulitzer Prize winning writer of both plays and fiction. Glaspell came from humble beginnings and went on to study at Drake University and the University of Chicago. Much of Glaspell s work dealt with the relationships between men and women and the negative effects they have on women. In Glaspell s play Trifles, it is revealed that the operations of patriarchy are just an illusion that men have created to make themselves feel superior to womenRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles 1577 Words   |  7 Pagesfeminism are published. One of those is ‘Trifles’ by Susan Glaspell as the American feminist movement addressed feminism at that time (Manuel, 57). There are several factors in Trifles represen ting the disadvantages of absence of feminism and the importance of feminism such as setting and situation. First, the setting, a first factor, implies the importance of feminism. In Trifles, the main setting is an isolated rural farmhouse. From the line 9 in Trifles, Mr.Hale mentioned the husband as a passiveRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles 3309 Words   |  14 Pagesit’s all just a different kind of the same thing† (561) is a line spoken in Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles. Writers look at the world around them and envision the way it should be. They take bits and pieces of their life’s landscape, add a liberal dose of surreal ideology and finally toss in human oppressions. To that end, the writer hopes to create a memorable character that can touch the human soul for eternity. Susan Glaspell, a writer in the early twentieth century, lived during a time when womenRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles Essay1460 Words   |  6 PagesAn Analysis of Susan Glaspell Trifles The play, Trifles by Susan Glaspell shows her preoccupation with gender and sex roles as notions of culture. The author is spells out the treatment of women as mere trifles in the society, as less important when compared to men. This calls for the questioning of the role of both men and women in the society with regard to the value and devalue given to perspective and knowledge. The reader should thus realize that women have an important role to play in theRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles Essay2025 Words   |  9 Pagescoming?† (Welty qtd. In Literature ). Trifles is a short play, by Susan Glaspell that was written in the 20th century when women were possession of the husband. The division between men and women in the play not just mentally or emotionally but it was also physically , and that symbolizes the different between genders at this time. Susan Glaspell shows that through her characters in this play. Glaspell uses the characters (Mr. Wright and Mrs. Wright) to prove how men wereRead MoreSusan Glaspell s `` Trifles ``924 Words   |  4 Pagesher hope for children, leaving her baron in her womb and her heart. He was a control maniac and demanded power in every aspect of this poor woman’s life; No Children, No Song, No Friends; she had nothing, which meant nothing to lose. In Susan Glaspell’s drama, â€Å"Trifles†, we explore the gender inequality between men and women of that time and why that has such a large influence on the murder investigation. The women in this novel and of this time period seemed to have hope pre-marriage, Mrs. WrightRead MoreAn Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 983 Words   |  4 Pagespreconception someone makes based on gender, race, or religion that in this case is by gender, and affects women based on their expected gender roles. Women endlessly have expectations that go along with being a wife, mother, or simply a female. In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, 1955 by Alice Walker, and Girl by Jamaica Kincaid women are stereotyped by men and told to follow unwritten but expected roles such as being seen and not heard. As well as how they present themselves, their behavior, and tasks they needRead MoreSusan Glaspell s The Play Trifles1410 Words   |  6 Pages The play Trifles by Susan Glaspell is a very powerful play that conveys a strong meaning to the audience. The meaning that Susan Glaspell conveys through this play is the importance of women to stick together and rise up against the suppression of their gender. This message can be felt strongly while reading this play. Susan Glaspell does an outstanding job incorporating this message into an interesting, captivating plot. This play was written around the time where woman’s social equality wasRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Play Trifles870 Words   |  4 PagesIn the Susan Glaspell s play Trifles, gender plays a huge roll in everyday life. Trifles is an exemplary example of the war between male and female. It creates a scene where women are less deserving than the men. Women are used as stepping stones or told to remain dedicated to the male power. Females are the lesser creatures compared to the men who have the power. The play paints a scene where women are in compliance to this unwritten code of conduct expected for them. Towards the end of the play

Advertising and New Customers - 2107 Words

1) Edwards Manufacturing Company purchases two component parts from three different suppliers. The suppliers have limited capacity, and no one supplier can meet all the company’s needs. In addition, the suppliers charge different prices for the components. Supplier Component 1 2 3 1 $12 $13 $14 2 $10 $11 $10 Each supplier has a limited capacity in terms of the total number components it can supply. However, as long as Edwards provides sufficient advance orders, each supplier can devote its capacity to component 1, component 2, or any combination of the two compoents, if the total number of units ordered is within its capacity. Supplier 1 2 3 Capacity 600 1000 800 If the Edwards production plan for the next†¦show more content†¦Warehouse facilities are located in Albany, New York, and Portsmouth, new Hampshire. Distributors are located in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The plant capacities and distributor demands for the next month are as follows: Plant Capacity (units) Distributor Demand (units) Augusta 300 Boston 150 Tupper Lake 100 New York 100 Philadelphia 150 The unit transportation costs (in $) for shipments from the two plants o the two warehouses and from the two warehouses to the three distributors are as follows: Warehouse Plant Albany Portsmouth Augusta 7 5 Tupper Lake 3 4 Distributor Warehouse Boston New York Philadelphia Albany 8 5 7 Portsmouth 5 6 10 a. Formulate the Adirondack Paper Mills problem as a linear programming problem. b. Solve the linear program o determine the minimum cost shipping schedule for the problem. 5) The Darby Company manufactures and distributes meter used to measure electric power consumption. The company started with a small production plant in El Paso and gradually built a customer base throughout Texas. A distribution center was established in Ft. Worth, Texas later, as business expanded to the north; a second distribution center was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The El Paso plant was expanded when the company began marketing its meters in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. With the growth of the West Coast business, theShow MoreRelatedAdvertising and New Customers2095 Words   |  9 PagesPaper Mills, Inc., operates paper plants in Augusta, Maine, and tupper Lake, New York. Warehouse facilities are located in Albany, New York, and Portsmouth, new Hampshire. Distributors are located in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The plant capacities and distributor demands for the next month are as follows: Plant Capacity (units) Distributor Demand (units) Augusta 300 Boston 150 Tupper Lake 100 New York 100 Philadelphia 150 The unit transportation costs (in $) for shipmentsRead MoreMarketing On Social Media, Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Traditional Advertising, And Gaining New Customers Through The Internet1233 Words   |  5 Pagespurpose of this report is to get funding and a dedicated team to begin marketing on social media, avoiding the pitfalls of traditional advertising, and gaining new customers through the internet. Scope: The process for successful Internet Marketing: †¢ Create a team †¢ Create a website †¢ Create a page for major social media sites †¢ Update content consistently †¢ Find new social media sites to market Background: M-Global Coffee mugs has been a successful company creating coffee mugs with unique printsRead MoreFor Targeting New Customers, What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Using These Social Networks Compared to Search Engine Advertising?1497 Words   |  6 PagesAdams Marketing Planning Strategy Think about an online social media network like Facebook or LinkedIn. For targeting new customers, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using these social networks compared to search engine advertising? Provide specific examples of products that lend themselves more to social networks as compared to search engine advertising. I am going to use the quote, â€Å"it takes a village† and put into the context on how social media sites such as Facebook andRead MoreCustomer Lifetime Value and Return on Marketing1459 Words   |  6 PagesCase Study: Conroy’s Acura: Customer Lifetime Value and Return on Marketing Case Summary: Conroy’s Acura was founded in November 1986 by Ross Conroy, a veteran of the car industry who also owned a General Motors dealership to open in Toronto and one of the first in North America. Located in downtown Toronto, Conroy’s Acura sold both new and pre-owned vehicles, and its service department was dedicated to Acura Products. Conroy’s Acura was an independently owned dealership that held a franchiseRead MorePlanning an Advertising Campaign671 Words   |  3 PagesThe Flamingo Grill is an upscale restaurant located in St. Petersburg, Florida. To help plan an advertising campaign for the coming season, Flamingos management team hired the advertising firm of Haskell Johnson (HJ). The management team requested HJs recommendation concerning how the advertising budget should be distributed across television, radio, and newspaper advertisements. The budget has been set at $279,000. In a meeting with Flamingos management team, HJ consultants provided theRead MoreMarketing Communication Objectives1314 Words   |  5 Pagesand encourage action from targeted audience. Creating brand awareness is to notify the target audience about the brand, it doesn’t not necessarily apply to new brands, it also applies to existing brand that is trying to enter new markets. The message can be communicated through some types of communication methods including television advertising and social media, the communication method is dependable on the budget. Persuading targeted market, a positioning should be defined in the marketing communicationsRead MoreChallenges Of The 21st Century And The Role Of Advertising1281 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Challenges of the 21st century and the role of advertising in the future.† There are many challenges and dispute that advertisers face in the marketing. Advertising is an audio, visual, print form of marketing communication with potential and existing target audience either for commercial or social purpose. It is something that captures the attention of a customers. Advertising has moved away from traditional print and television to a smaller screen of the mobile phone. The primary purpose ofRead MoreDesigning An Advertisement Campaign On Beauty Salon1403 Words   |  6 Pagescampaign Lakhvir Singh ID 1502 Introduction Here I am making an Advertising plan on beauty salon it would be helpful to increase its market. The name of the Salon is awesome hair and Beauty studio. It is located in Werribee, Vic. I want to increase its customer number. The name of the owner is Priya. She starts this business to gain profit. The main objective of this advertising plan is to advertising objective is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a product or its ease of use. Read More Advertising Essay1062 Words   |  5 PagesAdvertising According to the American Marketing Association, advertising is, ‘any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identifiable sponsor’. Advertising can be a costly promotional tool but, many businesses continue to use it. I have listed the following reasons why a business needs to advertise: * To create awareness, customer interest or desire * To boost sales * To build brand loyalty * To launch a new product * To change customer attitudesRead MoreCase Study Hypothesis: Wow Gifts Ensure Retention and Customer Loyalty713 Words   |  3 Pagesensure retention and customer loyalty. Management Dilemma The problem presented in the business research case study is the issue of whether or not customer loyalty is being gained from the allocation of money into wow gifts. The second issue is will there be an increase in customers if the money is allocated into advertisement to increase the potential in sales therefore increase the potential in profit, achieving quantifiable results. Overall the main issue is, will customer loyalty or increase

Mystery Shopping in Walmart Supermarket

Question: Write an essay on Mystery Shopping in Walmart Supermarket. Answer: Abstract This paper is a problem-oriented research case study undertaken in Walmart supermarket. The present study investigates how the supermarket offers its services about the service marketing. The study is meant to answer the issues being faced by the supermarket in the provision of services. It reveals why the majority of consumers have negative feelings concerning the services of the supermarket. The survey shows that the problem Walmart supermarket is facing critical and requires appropriate changes to be made. The research identifies the problems and relevant recommendations. This study was conducted through mystery shopping method where I walked in the supermarket and did the research. The primary method used to collect information was through observation. Recommendations are given according to the problems identified. The management of the supermarket should apply fundamental issues identified to improve the standards of the business. The supervisors employed by the company should p rovide their services according to the agreement. The company should maximize on the online selling to avoid the congestion in the premises during pick seasons. Background Walmart is a large business entity which operates in the sale of-of goods, storage for other businesses such construction firms. Walmart has been in operation for years providing different types of services to the public. The interview conducted outside the mystery shopping reveals one customer who is loyal to the supermarket who started shopping here when he was still a young man.[1] This business started the long time ago and had ornamented the market since then. Recently most of the consumers have been facing difficulty in receiving the services. Which according to the service market the business should increase their resources to maximize sales. According to the service marketing framework, the services being offered by the supermarket is classified under retail stores. Therefore, the research program I performed is based on the retail store mystery shopping. The service classification framework, in this case, requires a mystery worker to carry out some observation. Shoppers have an obligation to observe customer experience in overall aspects; health standards in the supermarket, the rate of service provision and overall service scan. The case is based on the services provided in the supermarket. The service offered by the employee should be according to the services as outlined in the blueprint of the supermarket. The supermarket offers the particular process to be followed in their work line of operation. The framework requires all workers to follow a given procedure when offering their duties. The process is precisely defined, containing goals and planning as I observed based on evidence. I entered the supermarket as a my stery shopper determined to check on how the workers conduct themselves according to goals. As I arrived at the door, I get served well but learn that some of the workers do not have tags and badges. This is as a result of a specified objective. The shopping requires the establishment of metrics. Here the shopper is expected to check on the ethics in business. They organize the scope for the shopping for the customers based on the size of the firm. I got served with a lot of smiles but takes notes on the matters which are not according to the business framework. Ericsons User Service Performance Framework Proficient illustration of service delivery uses Ericsons model to demonstrate the inter-linkages between the attendants in the supermarket, in this context, and the customers. Indeed, the model explains that efficient and time-effective service delivery channel engages the use of innovative mechanisms as well as reuses proven technique. The outstanding qualities in to achieve this, as is shown by the model, includes creativity, having a versatile service team that works within a framework of efficiency and robustly flexible procedures, putting the customers interest first. This model helped set the requirements at the system service level through the use of user studies, and definition of system service KPIs which is a reflection of the user experience. The output of this model was secured predictable user-service performance. It enabled me verify system service performance values in Walmart supermarket as the test environment using appropriate network load. Through this model I was also able to verify the system service assurance architecture as well as reports for the systems service KPIs that have already been defined. I was also able to provide a system audit as well as standards to help undertake a comprehensive mystery shopping research which helped assessed the challenges faced by Walmart Supermarket. Throughout of my study, this model has been critical since service performance has remained an important differentiator in supermarket sales. The innovation showcased by Ericson became so much instrumental since the model provided me with adequate KPIs indicators that I used a benchmark to assess the challenges facing Walmart supermarket. This user service performance framework helped showcase how operators can emphasize requirements which influence the shoppers experience. The model was relevant in this study since it has clearly differentiated service into system services as well as user service which outlined a sound foundation from where I measured as well as monitored services as shoppers came in and leave. It enabled me to know the performance of system services which helped me to cost-effectively monitor every service in Walmart Supermarket. Accordingly, I was able to identify as well as monitor a selection of system-service KPIs which in turn assisted me in the determination of the existence of service quality for every session in the supermarket. Process of Service Provision The business blueprint is the architect of the business service provision. The process of providing services to the customers takes place in steps as observed.[2] The process depends on the service required by the client whether online purchasing or physical. The company blueprint indicates that the customer who wants to purchase online has to develop contact with the online site. The consumer orders for the services, employees who are dealing with online selling platforms respond by giving the direction.[3] They are then required to take the service to the consumer where they are located. The customer of the service then makes payment including transport fee, and the process ends. On the other hand, direct purchasing follows another procedure. The process begins at the point of the entrance where the customer is given direction based on the kind of service needed.[4] The consumer then moves and gets the service and makes payments at the cashier desk. After the payment, the buyer may be given after sale service which can be in any form based on the kind of service offered. All the services being provided by the supermarket is expected to follow the procedure as prescribed to ensure maximum sales. Problems facing Walmart supermarket Based on the retail store mystery shopping I conducted in Walmart., I came across several problems within the business. The efficient way to develop an understanding between consumers and the service providers is via appropriate communication. According to my research on the consumers relation and the supermarket workers, it is evident that there is the ineffective relationship. The works employed to help buyers to locate particular location goods do not operate their job accordingly to the requirements.[5] I asked one of the workers to assist me finding some of the services I needed but never reacted as expected. I failed to identify a supervisor who moves on observing what is taking place. The security officers at the entrance of the premise never conducted the scanning since they focused on their discussion leaving their work. This is as a result of poor communication between the clients who are the managers of the business under observation and the shoppers. Mystery shopper goes to the management of a supermarket and gives a least of the comment made.[6] The director of the store rejects the issues because there is no right channel of communication. The company is also lacking properly stipulated marketing research methods which are an essential factor in the survival and profitability of a given business entity. Service marketing is not complete without information thus it is evident that the company might incur losses.[7] Marketing research provides information that enables a service provider to address the challenges and issues affecting the business. The survey I conducted reveals that most of the services provided by this supermarket are done physically. The company mostly deals with direct selling, after my shopping, I stayed for almost twenty minutes before making payments due to congestion. When the majority of consumers purchase commodities directly, the business, therefore, faces congestion since the workers are not able to operate fast enough to avoid the bottlenecks. This leads to deteriorating sales curve on the services offered by the supermarket in the market. According to the research, it is evident that the company is facing a lot of challenges.[8] Though the company gets money from their services to clients, the challenges are also affecting the sale. Walmart supermarket research findings are not satisfactory in most occasions as employees and managers dispute them. This negative response affects the supermarkets reputation in the market. This supermarket does not show the demonstration of profits back into the business investment. This issue has made the supermarket to show slow expansion in the market. The credibility of the employees here is questionable as majorities are not skilled in handling customers to meet the scope of the business. One of the workers I interviewed said that sometimes they even forget some of the duties in their lists of work.[9] My market survey shows that there is little correlation between results given to the stores management the workers this deviation indicates the lack of communication which is not suitable for the business. [10] A store conducted their consumers response survey to identify how skilled their employees operate. They compared their results with that of a shopping company which never matched. Lastly, another problem revealed from the market research is delayed response from the workers. There is no more focus on the external administration. The company focuses more on the internal management leaving other issues related to marketing. This has affected the sales of provided by commodities by the supermarket. Recommendation Mystery shopping is not only relevant to its goals when proper measures are put in place. As such, the Ericksons service delivery frameworks shows that was not very efficient in dispensing mystery shopping function, therefore Walmart managers should come out with a clear way of passing information. They need to get out and share these challenges with the employees to ensure the survival of the business. Further, a good communication system should be developed between the management and the customers to facilitate the profitability and performance. The credibility of the workers should be enhanced. It is recommended that the online operators should provide immediate results to enable their clients to make quick sales.[11] Moreover, the management should ensure that there is follow-up on the workers to eradicate the deviation of opinions between the secret shopper and average shoppers. Sale managers should come up with a way of conducting their marketing research. It is recommended to use more than on shopper to research on one business entity to ensure that the results are positive. The issues related to the incredibility of the employees should be solved through educating them on how to perform their duties. The directors of the supermarket should organize frequent training for the employees to reduce their incredibility and enhance their skills to meet market expectation and customers desire. The business is also recommended to employ workers who are having experience in the field and able to provide results in time to the clients. It is also for the managers to be trained to have perfect skills on the management of the business. The stores management should make inquiries and consultation while dealing with customers from the experts. The marketing management should develop the application of a market research on the comprehensive market research. The research concerning the client should be conducted to enable the rewarding the loyal customers.[12] In conclusion, the above recommendations should be put into practice by Walmart supermarket to ensure its survival in the market and maintain the profitability. These interventions will address the above diagnosed problem. Deduction/Conclusion From the mystery shopping researcher I conducted in Walmart Supermarket, several challenges have been discovered that affects the firms shopping experience leading to negative perception among its customers. Creating a sustained competitive advantage is effective tool in this competitive market, and, therefore, Walmart needs to adopt the recommendations suggested in this paper to restore customers positive perception about its shopping experiences. Communication breakdown in the firm contributes to negative shopping experience and this is a major challenge in this supermarket. Accordingly, Walmart will create sustained competitive advantage when it boosts is communication strategies across all its stakeholders thereby improving its sales volume. Therefore, the finding of this research urges Walmart Supermarket to immediately implement all the recommendations for effective and positive shopping experience which in turn leads to increased loyalty. Bibliography Alexander, M. and Jaakkola, E., 2011, September. Exploring value co-creation within networks: actor-to-actor service provision within a public transport service system. In Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Conference. Baron, Steve, Anthony Patterson, Gary Warnaby, and Kim Harris. "Service-dominant logic: marketing research implications and opportunities." Journal of Customer Behaviour 9, no. 3 (2010): 253-264. Bitner, Mary Jo, Amy L. Ostrom, and Felicia N. Morgan. "Service blueprinting: a practical technique for service innovation." California management review 50, no. 3 (2008): 66-94. Flie, Sabine, and Michael Kleinaltenkamp. "Blueprinting the service company: Managing service processes efficiently." Journal of Business Research 57, no. 4 (2004): 392-404. Furrer, Olivier, and Pierre Sollberger. "The dynamics and evolution of the service marketing literature: 19932003." Service Business 1, no. 2 (2007): 93-117. Leek, Sheena, Peter W. Turnbull, and Peter Naud. "Managing relationships and the differences between manufacturing and service industries." In IMP Conference. 2002. Lovelock, Christopher H. "Classifying services to gain strategic marketing insights." The Journal of Marketing (1983): 9-20. Lovelock, Christopher, and Evert Gummesson. "Whither services marketing? In search of a new paradigm and fresh perspectives." Journal of service research 7, no. 1 (2004): 20-41. Lynn Shostack, G. "How to design a service." European Journal of Marketing 16, no. 1 (1982): 49-63. Martin, C.L., 2011. Eleven years of scholarly research in the Journal of Services Marketing: Editor's response. Journal of Services Marketing, 25(1), pp.14-19. Nel, Deon, Gen Van Heerden, Anthony Chan, Mehdi Ghazisaeedi, Wade Halvorson, and Peter Steyn. "Eleven years of scholarly research in the Journal of Services Marketing." Journal of Services Marketing 25, no. 1 (2011): 4-13. Parasuraman, Anantharanthan, Valarie A. Zeithaml, and Leonard L. Berry. "A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research." the Journal of Marketing (1985): 41-50. Shostack, G. Lynn. "Breaking free from product marketing." The Journal of Marketing (1977): 73-80. West, D., 2007. Directions in marketing communications research: an analysis of the International Journal of Advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 26(4), pp.543-554. Zeithaml, Valarie A., Ananthanarayanan Parasuraman, and Leonard L. Berry. "Problems and strategies in services marketing." The Journal of Marketing (1985): 33-46.

Starbucks-Going Global Fast free essay sample

A – Summary: This case was prepared in 2002, therefore, numbers and references also used at the time of the preparation. Starbucks is one of the largest chains of coffee shops in the world. Their business first started in the early 80s on Sixth Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle as a tiny chain coffee shop. Then, they grew up rapidly in the 90s and spread out 5,689 outlets within 28 countries in 2002. Being very well managed by a well seasoned management team which is known as H2O from the combination of 3 names: Howard Schultz (Chairman and Chief Global Strategist), Howard Behar (Head of North American Operations) and Orion Smith (CEO), this first chain of Starbucks was successfully popular on that time. Since it went public in 1991, the company has expanded colossally. But it also encountered many problems. It was faced with the problem that it had mounted in home and abroad. The period of the Starbucks’ success was the baby boomers in the 90s, but now it change. We will write a custom essay sample on Starbucks-Going Global Fast or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Generation X is different with before, now does not like the environment of the shop, in addition of the young generation feel out of place in the coffee shop. Once of their causes is also the price of coffee seems to be little expensive to them. Being with not much competition likes Mc Donald’s at that time, but they also faced with the competitors such as Tully’s coffee shop. Besides, they also faced with employees’ discontentment. The expensive and aggressive marketing strategy has given Starbucks market dominancy. In account of their earning $181. million in the year 2000, although sales was still growing, but it started grow in a decreasing rate. The problem is their aggressive strategy and attitude towards competitors. They not only grew rivalry with local business people but also starting lost customers. And it became so difficult to them to maintain their growth of 20% only on domestic market. Therefore, they decided to spread out overseas. The larges t overseas market of Starbucks was Japan within 368 shops. Then, UK was their second biggest overseas market within 310 stores. By the end of 2001, they started gain the new market in the Middle East. Their target is having 10,000 outlets abroad by the next 3 years. Simultaneously, they still repositioned their domestic market by adding new service, such as internet, fast food and so on. However, their largest overseas market, Japan has started be decline during 2001. Therefore, Starbucks need to readjust their strategies as well as reposition themselves to recovery and rise up their turnover from the fall. B – Discuss questions: Q1 – Identify the controllable and uncontrollable elements that Starbucks has encountered in entering global markets. These controllable elements are identified through the state of which country. First of all, price in Italian coffee bars prosper by serving food as well as coffee, which is an area where Starbucks struggles. Moreover, Italian coffee is cheaper than. Americans pay around $1. 5 for an espresso while it’s just 67 cents of price in northern Italia and 55 cents in the southern. On the other hand, Starbucks faced with uncontrollable elements with Japan, France and Vienna. There was competition among rival shops in Japan as well as economic depression. In addition, in France, they met up with the political and legal bindings because of France’s arcane regulations and generous labor benefits. Besides, In Vienna, culture is the element which was bringing positive advantages in expanding their business compared to existing coffee shops here. The cause is young people are always enthusiastic about new and easily embrace the new. Q2 – What are the major sources of risk facing the company? Discuss potential solutions. Starbucks faced with 3 major risks at domestic region. One risk is the saturation of the USA market condition. They started with just 17 coffee shops in Seattle 15 years ago but now increase amazingly to the number of 4,247 stores scattered across US and Canada. Then, it brings Starbucks consideration of the upper limit carefully in this market as a result. Another risk is starting losing customers. The major cause is customers have limited available options which satisfy their huge complex changing requirements. The last risk is less but not least with the feeling comfortable for young generation (X). In after all, global expansion poses huge risks for Starbucks which makes less money on their overseas market because most of them are operated with local partners. Based on the risks which Starbucks faced above, there are some suggestion may help to identify the potential solution for this case: With the 1st risk, the saturation market can be overcome by focusing on international or global marketing. Focusing on increase quality of service and quality of coffee may help prevent this risk. It seems easier to prevent the 2nd risk by increase more add-on service as well as more options, include multiple choices or mixture choices for customers. As they was facing with ominously hostile reception from its future consumer (generation X), a repositioning their coffee shops’ environmental strategy or pricing strategy by promotional event such as discount for ages, or saving Starbucks’ credit to gain the new promotional award (discount or add-on products) may help to keep this market attention. Q3 – Critique Starbucks’ overall corporate strategy. There are mismatch between their corporate strategies and the customers’ expectation. One of their strategies, the believe that the more outlets, the more sales, they tried to increase the number of their outlets but not increase customers’ satisfaction within their product and service. Another mismatch is the no differential pricing for generation x or younger generation while their target customers are baby boomer generation. Next, although Starbucks was fully control its business in USA, but it had any related control outside the USA which leads the dependence on the franchises’ undermines the strength of is outside. In addition, become a global brand but Starbucks’ budget for its business management was low compared with its status. Starbuck spent just only 1% of its revenue as advertisement, whereas most of the similar companies’ size spent at least 10% revenue. Furthermore, they have focused on the product concept which narrowed the attitude in marketing strategy. Besides, dissatisfied attitudes from employees for their salary within their work load cause affecting sterling service and even the coffee itself. One more of important thing are the understanding differences between various cultural and ethnic affairs, such as Muslim dominated regions. Q4 – How might Starbucks improve profitability in Japan? According to the present cultural trend in Japan, younger generation is habit spending their time in a constructive manner. In order to increase the profitability in Japan, they should reposition their product and service to fit with the Japanese culture, especially the young generation. One more hing is Japanese are less conscious about the price, so they may consider about their pricing strategy because the culture in work, Japanese have very less time for their leisure. One of the problems of Starbucks in Japan is from the local competitors which are providing the same fare. Then, Starbucks’ market share can be easily eaten up by local brands. So, pricing strategy should be considered overall carefully. Besides, US also work busy, therefore, Starbucks can introduce the US style online system be part of Japan style, so that it can provide more convenient for Japanese customers. Finally, Japanese youth usually lead the new fashion of their own style, so they will be attracted if Starbuck create the new style for them on their advertisement or bring the new culture, new interesting cultural campaign or entertainment campaign. In times of recessive economic, extra and colorful activities are necessary to boost up their sales. More and more flexible option service as well as increasing convenient will be helpful for improve profitability in Japan.

Effectiveness Of Leadership At Mcdonalds Management Essay Essay Essays

Effectiveness Of Leadership At Mcdonalds Management Essay Essay Essays Effectiveness Of Leadership At Mcdonalds Management Essay Essay Essay Effectiveness Of Leadership At Mcdonalds Management Essay Essay Essay I had the chance of working at a McDonald’s concatenation of eating houses after completion of my undergraduate surveies. I was able to detect the function played by members of a squad. their squad work and leading of the Manager of the eating house. I would wish to analyze the leading manners practiced. measure the effectivity of leading at McDonald’s eating house and do recommendations bespeaking how leading and squad work can travel manus in manus to better the public presentation of the administration. The first McDonald’s opened its doors to clients in the UK in 1974. Presently. over 2. 5 million people in the UK place their trust in McDonald. anticipating that the multinational would supply them with nutrient of a high criterion. speedy service and value for money. Models and theories that will be discussed in the ulterior parts of this essay are Adair’s Leadership Model and Maslow’s theory of hierarchy which will be applied to McDonald’s. Leadership manners such as bossy. democratic and persuasive are besides discussed to happen out which of the three is the ideal theoretical account for McDonald’s. A squad is a aggregation of persons who are mutualist in their undertakings. who portion duty for results. who see themselves and who are seen by others as an integral societal entity embedded in one or more larger societal systems ( for illustration. concern unit or the corporation ) . and who manage their relationships across organizational boundaries ( Susan Cohen and Diane Bailey. 1997 ) . A squad is defined as a little figure of people. with a set of public presentation ends. who have a committedness to a common intent and an attack for which they hold themselves reciprocally accountable ( Katzenbach A ; Smith 1993 ) . There are several factors that influence the success of a squad. Team members must hold the needed accomplishments and attitudes and must make an atmosphere in which everyone can work with devotedness. There should be transparence within the squad which is possible if there is effectual system of communicating between all members. All members of the squad must hold set duties and must be cognizant of what is expected from them. In this manner all members of the squad will be accountable. All members must hold harmonizing accomplishments and must organize among themselves to extinguish any uncertainnesss or reserves. Members of a squad must truly appreciate the attempts of fellow members. An effectual leader is one who does the right things. Leaderships can efficaciously develop and take squads if they have the ability to make and pass on a vision what the organisation should be. They should hold the ability to pass on with and derive the support of all squad members. They should hold the doggedness to caput in the coveted way under bad conditions and make the suited civilization to obtain the needful consequences. Levine. R. ( 2000 ) is of the sentiment that leaders need to concentrate on traveling people and administrations frontward by increasing the competence of staff and the co-operation of squads in order to better the administration. Leadership is related to motive. interpersonal behavior and the procedure of communicating. Leadership is of import in trying to cut down employee dissatisfaction ( Crow M. 995 ) . The duties of the Restaurant Manager or the squad leader at McDonald’s are to put marks. program budgets. maintain and control stock. recruit. train and actuate a squad. create and drive selling runs and physique and surrogate client dealingss. Leaderships ate McDonald’s eating houses do non put down any fixed regulations on how rapidly persons of a squad can come on. Opportunities are given to team members to go directors if they perform good. For this to go on. the crew member must lend to the success of the squad. The direction manner adopted by squad leaders at McDonald’s is to make mercantile establishments which are fun topographic points to work. This is called â€Å"team-building† . Leaderships at McDonald’s Foster answerability and understand the societal duty civilization and integrate these activities into their concerns. In fact the squad leaders have all the features that were used by Stogdill ( 1950 ) to specify leading. The characteristic include: traits. behavior. influence. interaction forms. function relationships and business of an administrative place ; jointing visions ( e. g. Bill Gates ) . incarnating values and making environment for the things that can be accomplished ; entities that perform one or more Acts of the Apostless of taking ; the ability to impact human behaviors so as to carry through a mission and Influencing a group of people to travel towards its end scene or end accomplishment. ( Stogdill. 1950 ) The McDonalds Model is that of Adair’s Model which is called action-centred leading. This is a constructive theoretical account harmonizing to which the leader inspires others by their ain enthusiasm. committedness and the ability to pass on enthusiasm to people ( Adair. 1993 ) . Teams were developed by squad leaders so that a common undertaking could be accomplished. Adair ( 1993 ) identifies three different attacks to leading which can be called leading maps ( 1 ) carry throughing the undertaking. ( 2 ) keeping the squad and ( 3 ) meeting the person demands of the squad members. Adair believes that leaders are non born but emerge from state of affairss. The leader who emerges can follow any ‘style of leadership’ that warrants the state of affairs. Harmonizing to Adair a leader is one who has certain innate features which are required to execute his/her function. A leader harmonizing to him must hold personality and character. Adair quotes Harold Macmillian. â€Å"that a adult male who trusts cipher is disposed to be the sort of adult male that cipher trusts† . His leader must hold unity. a integrity and a moral sense. Harmonizing to Adair. the three maps of run intoing the demands of the undertaking. keeping the squad and run intoing the demands of single squad members must be kept in balance and none of them should be neglected. The squad leader countries of duty must include qualities and competences such as ( a ) to act with the highest degree of genuineness and unity by constructing a trusting relationship with all squad members ; ( B ) to be committed to the full to the development of the squad ; ( degree Celsius ) to be unfastened and communicate. but must pattern good hearing accomplishments ; ( vitamin D ) be willing to portion perceptual experiences. premises and positions openly with squad members ; and ( vitamin E ) to let squad members to work independently but in a self-organised mode. Team leaders must take clip required to make the work and support team’s attempts and besides reflect on its actions. They must keep and pattern answerability and at the same clip hold a good working relationship with the squad members. They should ever be ready to supervise and measure how the squad maps. They should clearly province the intent of work without being equivocal or complex. They must seek to experiment and portion experiences without incrimination. They should besides supply coaching and mentoring support to the squad ( Barry Stevenson. 2004 ) . The organisational construction of McDonald’s Corporation is centralised but that of its retail mercantile establishments is different. In McDonald’s outlets the employees work as a squad to guarantee that customers’ demands are taken attention of in a short period of clip. Besides the director the remainder are all attenders who take orders and deliver every bit fast as they can. There is division of labor among members of the administration. and the co-ordination of their activities are directed towards the ends and aims of the administration. Structure is the form of relationships among places in the administration and among members of the administration. Structure makes possible the application of the procedure of direction and creates a model of order and bid through which the activities of the administration can be planned. organised. directed and controlled. Structure defines undertakings and duties. work functions and relationships. and channels of communicating ( Mullins and Laurie. J. 2008 ) . At McDonald’s the span of control of the director is narrow. The span of control refers to the figure of subsidiaries working under the supervisor. So if there are five subsidiaries working under the supervisor or director. the span of control is five. If the span of control is narrow there are certain advantages ( Jenkins and Tessa. 2000 ) . One of the virtues is that there is tight control over subsidiaries and the director is able to closely oversee the day-to-day operations ensuing in better co-ordination. Directors have clip to believe and program and they are non burdened with excessively many jobs. A narrow span of control reduces deputation and directors are able to make more work. On the contrary. a level administration implies a broad span of control. Theorists are of the sentiment that tall administration constructions are inefficient. despite the advantage of a narrow span of control ( Robbins. Stephen P. 2007 ) . One can larn to utilize leading attacks to develop high-performing squads and persons at McDonalds. Team leaders were cognizant of the importance of squad edifice and used suited tools and techniques to assist squads make their full potency. McDonalds Crew Members are responsible for client service. nutrient readying and cleanliness and hygiene. Crew members will be asked to work in any of these countries depending on the individual’s penchants. I worked as a Customer Service Crew member and my occupation entailed taking orders and presenting repasts to clients at the counter. I learnt to be gracious and polite as I was responsible for keeping high degrees of client satisfaction. The duty of the Food Preparation Crew Members was to fix and cook McDonald’s bill of fare. The squads are self managed and all squad or crew member works with squad spirit. There is a sense of regard for each other. However it can be said that most crew members do non understand the administration scheme as they do non hold entree to this information. The communicating between crew members is informal which enables every person to keep good harmoniousness within retail mercantile establishments. The crew members at McDonald’s are committed because their demands are met by the squad leading. The leading has developed an ideal and committed squad which can be easy motivated. A committed and motivated squad is ever successful. Larson and LaFasto ( 1989 ) studied to understand the features of successful squads and found that all the extremely effectual squads ever had the features such as a clear. promoting end. a result-driven construction. competent squad members. incorporate committedness. a collaborative clime. criterions of excellence external support and acknowledgment every bit good as principled leading ( Larson and LaFasto. 1989 ) . From this happening it is apparent that effectual teamwork has a strong relationship with motive. Harmonizing to Maslow’s theory the hierarchy of human demands are classified into five degrees. This theory advocates that the higher degree demands of an person will go motivative factors merely when the lower degree 1s are satisfied. The five degrees get downing from the lowest hierarchy to the highest degree. are: Physiological – At McDonald’s the actuating factors of the crew members are salary. over clip. day-to-day lunch/meal and transit installations. Safety – The following of import factor is safety which includes elements such as occupation security. medical insurance and ill leave. Social – There is really good interaction among crew members and clients. This has resulted in first-class teamwork. Self-esteem – Crew members are motivated as the squad leader/manager has full assurance in their abilities. They have repute because of the McDonald’s trade name equity. They are recognised and appreciated by fellow co-workers. subsidiaries. and supervisors. Self-actualization – The crew member reach their full potency when all his demands are taken attention off ( Maslow. 1987 ) . The disadvantage that I observed was that subsidiaries are unable to do any determination. They have to ever obey and listen to the orders of the director. However the crew members ( team members ) had flexible agendas. There were team members from assorted parts of the universe working together. They had different backgrounds and different involvements and all worked together to do an ideal work force. In fact there was diverseness. I would wish to now give a elaborate history of my observations on leading manners and its impact on teamwork in McDonald’s eating houses. The leading manner practised in McDonald’s eating houses is bossy and hence crew members are non involved in any determination devising. It is besides a fact that suggestions from crew members are non welcomed as most of them are new. Crew members are immature and work in these eating houses during summer holidaies and hence can non offer thoughts to the leader. Crew members are immature and hence motivated if they are paid rewards on clip and given excess benefits such as tiffin and transit. This motivates the crew to work in malice of the bossy leading. Autocratic manner of leading doesn’t fulfil the ego regard demands reflected in Maslow’s hierarchy. However at McDonald’s crew members get self regard and besides respect each other. McDonald’s will non follow another manner of leading as the direction fears that a persuasive or democratic manner will non present the goods. viz. . presenting quality nutrient on clip to its clients. I would wish to compare persuasive and democratic manners of leading with that of bossy leading before geting at a decision: which one of the three manners will ideally accommodate McDonald’s and at the same clip hold an impact on squad work. Persuasion is one of the necessities of all leaders by which act they can travel people toward a new state of affairs. Persuasion does non include rational statements. A leader can utilize persuasion as a tactic to derive the support of diverse groups of people utilizing basic human emotions. It is normal that persuasive schemes may arouse squad members and some of them may oppose thoughts or suggestions. The democratic leading manner or participative manner encourages employees to be a portion of the determination doing leting more engagement of squads in the determination devising procedure.

Take This Endangered Species Quiz

Take This Endangered Species Quiz How much do you know about endangered species? Test your knowledge with this quiz. Answers can be found at the bottom of the page.   1. An endangered species is _____________ that will become extinct if its populations continue to decline. a. any species of animal b. any species of plant c. any species of animal, plant, or other living organism d. none of the above 2. What percentage of the species listed as endangered or threatened by extinction have been saved by conservation initiatives resulting from the Endangered Species Act? a. 100% b. 99% c. 65.2% d. 25% 3. In what ways do zoos help endangered animals? a. They educate people about endangered animals. b. Zoo scientists study endangered animals. c. They establish captive breeding programs for endangered species. d. All of the above 4. Due to the success of recovery efforts under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, what animal is being taken off the endangered species list in the United States in 2013? a. gray wolf b. bald eagle c. black-footed ferret d. raccoon 5. In what ways do people try to save rhinos? a. fencing rhinos into protected areas b. cutting off their horns c. providing armed guards to ward off poachers d. all of the above 6. In what U.S. state are half of the worlds bald eagles found? a. Alaska b. Texas c. California d. Wisconsin 7. Why are rhinos poached? a. for their eyes b. for their nails c. for their horns d. for their hair 8. What did whooping cranes follow from Wisconsin to Florida in a simulated migration? a. an octopus b. a boat c. a plane d. a bus 9. Just one plant may provide food and/or shelter to more than how many species of animals? a. 30 species b. 1 species c. 10 species d. none 10. What once-endangered animal is the national symbol of the United States? a. grizzly bear b. Florida panther c. bald eagle d. timber wolf 11. What are the greatest threats facing endangered species? a. habitat destruction b. illegal hunting c. introducing new species that can cause problems d. all of the above 12. How many species have disappeared in the last 500 years? a. 3,200 b. 1,250 c. 816 d. 362 13. The Sumatran Rhinos total population is estimated at: a. under 80 b. 250-400 c. 600- 1,000 d. 2,500- 3,000 14. As of October 2000, how many plants and animals in the United States were listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act? a. 1,623 b. 852 c. 1,792 d. 1,025 15. All of the following species have gone extinct except the: a. California condor b. dusky seaside sparrow c. dodo d. passenger pigeon 16. How can you help protect endangered animals from extinction? a. reduce, recycle, and reuse b. protect natural habitats c. landscape with native plants d. all of the above 17. Which member of the cat family is endangered? a. the bobcat b. the Siberian tiger c. the domestic tabby d. the North American cougar 18. The Endangered Species Act was created to ___________? a. make people like animals b. make animals easier to hunt c. protect plants and animals that are at risk of becoming extinct d. none of the above 19. Of the 44,838 species that have been studied by scientists, about what percentage is threatened with extinction? a. 38% b. 89% c. 2% d. 15% 20. Nearly ________ percent of mammal species are globally threatened with extinction? a. 25 b. 3 c. 65 d. none of the above Answers: c. Any species of animal, plant, or other living organismb. 99%d. All of the abovea. gray wolfd. all of the abovea. Alaskac. for their hornsc. a planea. 30 speciesc. bald eagled. all of the abovec. 816a. under 80c. 1,792a. California condord. all of the aboveb. the Siberian tigerc. protect plants and animals that are at risk of becoming extincta. 38%a. 25%

Leadership Skills in 21st Century Health Care Research Proposal

Leadership Skills in 21st Century Health Care - Research Proposal Example The clinics that offer both general and specialist health care are mostly for Medicaid recipients. There is a wide middle class of patients without coverage-they make too much for Medicaid and are not old enough for Medicare. Even if they are eligible for Medicare, it does not cover all their health needs. Problem Statement: With so many areas of U.S. health care in commercial chaos at present, it is necessary for leadership to include all members of their organizations in decision making. Only with a leader willing to take advantage of what staff offers can a working relationship be established. Another problem area in health care is a better understanding of the needs and wants of consumers. The most apparent issues in health care at present are related to Medicare, Children's Health Care Insurance Program (SCHIP), and Health Information Technology (HIT). Literature Review and Research Design: In the upcoming elections, health care is a major issue. Studies showing current statistics of the number of people who do not have health insurance and the overcrowded conditions in public clinics can be found on the Internet. As for leadership in health care, the need for cooperation is evident in articles and past discussions of what makes a good leader, again on the Internet.

With todays advances in the use of C.G.I. and digital imagery, will Essay

With todays advances in the use of C.G.I. and digital imagery, will the human actor eventually become obsolete - Essay Example a green grid and a few rudimentary objects; as he first enters the alternate universe represented by CGI animation, Homer Simpson says "this place looks expensive... I feel like Im wasting a fortune just standing here" (Treehouse of Horror VI). This was the attitude of many animators for years who struggled to advance their technology while battling financial constraints. In the last decade, however, great advancements have been made not only in the capabilities of computer graphic artists and software but in the ability of computers to animate more for less; it didn’t hurt that animation studios were granted larger budgets to explore CGI options. Feature films like the CGI breakout hit Toy Story paved the way for more investment in computer animation and now people in the film industry are beginning to wonder whether computer animation is destined to overtake the role of real, live actors. CGI is an acronym for computer generated imagery; this field encompasses many different specific computer graphics such as landscaping, people, animals, weather and other special effects (Pierson, 2002, 3). 3D computer graphics were primarily used for special effects in TV and movies before the trend of feature length computer animated films caught on, animators focused their efforts on creating new, and ultimately cheaper and less complicated, ways of dealing with onscreen special effects. Traditionally, special effects could include anything from a fire in a burning building to a full on explosion, or even the tricks of an illusionist which were too complicated to be performed in reality. With CGI animation, television and film producers can sidestep the often messy and unpredictable hazards of physical special effects and actually make the outcome closer to what they had envisioned to begin with. Specifically, special efforts on computer began to take the place of the creation of miniatures (used when large scale models are too cumbersome) and also to take the

Special Education Laew and Litigation Essay Example for Free

Special Education Laew and Litigation Essay * Special education teachers must know legal liabilities and rights pertaining to student, parent, and teachers. Special education teachers recognize that special education practice is heavily regulated and are able to define relevant laws and policies that related to specific special education. (APTS 8, 9; INTASC 1; CEC 1, 9) Assessment Tool Selected * Essay Specific Performance/Task(s) Articulate relevant educational laws and ethics pertaining to student, parent, and teacher rights and responsibilities. (APTS 8. 13) Explain state and federal laws, rules, and regulations as they pertain to special education. (APTS 9. 2) Identify legal responsibilities of teachers (special and general) in accordance with special education laws, rules, and regulations. (APTS 9. 2) Define relevant laws and policies that relate to specific special education situations. (CEC 1. 2) Analyze influential historical events and human issues in special education from various points of view. (CEC 1. 3) Apply ethical/professional standards, follow legal parameters, and keep within limits of practice in the design and implementation of instruction, decision-making, and collaborative interactions with students, families, colleagues, and agencies. (CEC 9. 1) Relevancy of Task to Teacher Candidate * In the special education classroom setting, teachers must comply with laws and rights pertaining to the field of special education. Assessment: Student Prompts/Teacher Directions * Discovering the Relationship Between the Law and Your School (Benchmark Assessment) Use the GCU eLibrary to research information beyond what is provided in the course materials to explore the law and its application to special education issues covered in this course. Explore state departments of education Web sites to investigate the laws of your state and other states as well as their application to special education issues covered in this course. Schedule an appointment with an attorney well-versed in school law or with a special education director to learn about the following issues: a) How has the legal system evolved, as it applies to special education, over the past 20 years, and how has that affected the legal framework for special education today? b) How does the legal framework differ for special needs students and regular students in private and public schools? c) Who monitors the implementation and evaluation of IEPs in private and public schools? d) In the legal expert’s opinion, are there any elements of special education law that need refinement? Explain. Write an essay of 1,750-2,000 words in which you compare and contrast the findings of your research and the information obtained in the interview. Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is required. Additionally, submit the assignment in TaskStream. Directions for submitting to TaskStream can be found on the College of Education’s page in the Student Success Center. Scoring Tool/Guide (Rubric) Discovering the Relationship Between the Law and Your School Criteria| 1: Unsatisfactory| 2: Less Than Satisfactory| 3: Satisfactory| 4: Good| 5: Excellent| * Required Content * 85% * * CEC: 9, 10| Central purpose or argument is not clearly identified. Analysis is vague or notevident. Reader is confused or may be misinformed. | Information supports a central purpose or argument at times. Analysis is basic or general. Reader gains few insights. | All required content is discussed. Information provides reasonable support for a central purpose or argument and displays evidence of a basic analysis of a significant topic. Reader gains insights. | All required content is discussed and examples are provided to support or exemplify main ideas. | All required content is thoroughly discussed and examples are provided to support and exemplify main ideas. | Comments| Organization and Format (10%)| Essay Structure, Paragraph Development, and Transitions| Paragraphs and transitions consistently lack unity and coherence. No apparent connections between paragraphs. Transitions are inappropriate to purpose and scope. Organization is disjointed. | Some paragraphs and transitions may lack logical progression of ideas, unity, coherence, and/or cohesiveness. Some degree of organization is evident. | Paragraphs are generally competent, but ideas may show some inconsistency in organization and/or in their relationships to each other. | A logical progression of ideas between paragraphs is apparent. Paragraphs exhibit a unity, coherence, and cohesiveness. Topic sentences and concluding remarks are used as appropriate to purpose, discipline, and scope. | There is a sophisticated construction of the essay. Ideas universally progress and relate to each other. The writer has been careful to use paragraph and transition construction to guide the reader. | APA Format and Style Requirements| APA format and style are not evident. | Title page is present, but is missing APA elements. In-text citations, where necessary, are used but they are formatted inaccurately and not referenced. | All key elements of an APA title page are present. An abstract is present and formatted correctly. In-text citations and a reference section are present with few format errors. Mechanics of writing are reflective of APA style. | Plan elements are theoretically supported with accurate citations and references. | A broad understanding of APA format and style is evident in the use of level headings and lists, for example. | Comments| Mechanics, Language Use, and Audience Awareness (5%)| Mechanics of Writing (includes spelling, punctuation, grammar)| Surface errors are pervasive enough that they impede communication of meaning. | Frequent and repetitive mechanical errors distract the reader. | Some mechanical errors or typos are present, but are not overly distracting to the reader. | Prose is largely free of mechanical errors, although a few may be present. | Writer is clearly in control of standard, written American English. | Language Use and Audience Awareness (includes sentence construction, word choice, etc. )| Student uses noncollegiate, conversational tone, inappropriate word choice and/or sentence construction, and lack of variety in language use. Student appears to be unaware of audience. Use of primer prose indicates student either does not apply figures of speech or uses them inappropriately. | Language lacks clarity or includes the use of some conversational tone. Language choice (register) can be distracting or inconsistent with sentence structure. Some lack of control in using figures of speech appropriately is noted. | Language is clear and audience-appropriate. Sentences display varied structure with minor errors. Use of collegiate language is appropriate for the most part. | Uses a variety of sentence structures and collegiate-level vocabulary. Uses figures of speech and idioms to communicate clearly. | Language is precise and sentences display consistently strong, varied structure. Approach to use of language is unique, creative, and appropriate to purpose, discipline, and scope of topic. | Comments| * * * Â © 2012. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

Essay --

Lung Cancer Screening With CT Karyn Terry Pima Medical Institute February 12, 2014 â€Æ' Lung Cancer Screening With CT Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer within the United States with tobacco smoking being the biggest risk factor. In 2012, more than 220,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer and approximately 150,000 died from the disease. â€Å"Lung cancer rates in the United States climbed dramatically throughout much of the 20th century, as smoking became more popular, and peaked in the 1980’s before declining in the 1990’s† (Furlow, 2014, p. 298). Screening of high risk people for lung cancer has been extending patients’ lives with early detection with the use of computed tomography (CT). Likewise, lung cancer affects people who have never smoked due to the presence of radon and household pollutants. Radon has contributed to 10% of all lung cancer deaths and is considered second to smoking. There is no way to predict who will get cancer, but inherited genetic risk factors make some people more vulnerable to carcinogenic exposures than others. Lung cancer starts whenever there is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal tissue cells that affect the normal function within the lungs. As these abnormal cells grow they form tumors which can block the oxygen exchange within the body. (Lungcancer.org, 2014). Original screening for lung cancer was done with the use of standard radiographs, but recently computed tomography (CT) is being used because it offers greater sensitivity in detecting pulmonary nodules. â€Å"The capability of low-dose spiral CT to visualize lung structure using low doses of radiation has greatly improved in the past two decades because of refinements in detector resolution, microprocessor ... ...th chest x-ray does not reduce rate of lung cancer deaths. (2011). Health & Medicine Week, 3314. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/901356988?accountid=89121. Lungcancer.org. (2014). What is lung cancer? Retrieved from http://www.lungcancer.org/find_information/publications/163-lung_cancer_101/265-what_is_lung_cancer. Ostrow, N. (2011). Screening for lung cancer with chest x-ray doesn’t cut deaths, study finds. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-26/screening-for-lung-cancer-with-chest-x-rays-doesn-t-cut-deaths.html. Pyenson, B. S., Sander, M. S., Jiang, Y., Kahn, H., & Mulshine, J. L. (2012). An actuarial analysis shows that offering lung cancer screening as an insurance benefit would save lives at relatively low cost. Health Affairs, 31(4), 770-9. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1009893765?accountid=89121.

Are We Free to Make Our Own Choices in Life?

1st essay Are we free to make our own choices in life? Although it sounds appealing to make one's own decision freely, it is actually an impractable goal as the society has exerted significant influence and restrictions on individuals and has shaped one's value of what they should do and what they should not do. In today's society, people are more free to make our own choices than we were before, but it is true that we canno indulge our interests at the cost of transgressing the basic rules of the society.The first example is about the choice of curriculum. Nowadays, we are much less limited when choosing extracurriculum activities and collegial groups than people were before; however, there are basic disciplines which must not be neglected such as Mathematicis, English Literature, Physics and Chemistry. These disciplines are compulsory because they will greatly assist your future career and well-being, while choosing to ignore these compelling courses will undoubtedly result in a gr eat obstable since you are not equipped with some of the most basic skills.Furthermore, you will be less likely to enroll in an outstanding university or college, which can be attributed to your choice of not taking these basic disciplines. Actually, everyone is provided with a concrete and immutable schedule for daily couses whcih will not be altered by any individual student withour a reasonable application and cogent explanation. From this example, we can see that there are courses that we hove to choose to study. In other words, we cannot make a choice totally freely on which courses to take. Another example is about filial responsibility.Turning to Chinese society, it is a written law that every grown-up should look after his or her parents if economically permitted. One of my neighbour is a vile women, always shouting against her parents and asking her parents for money. I usually herar augument with her parents on economic issues. In fact, she does not shoulder the responsibi lity of a daughter to take care of her elderly parents; instead, she throws herself in the cyberspace, not willing to take on a job to â€Å"act as† a daughter. She may not be punished by law; however, every family in our community has acknowledged her notorious reputation and malicious behaviour.As she decides not to take care of her parents, she has broken the basic law of the society–conscience. Her case indicates that people who make choices regardless of the rules of society will be injurious to not only the people around them but also themselves. In conclusion, we are more or less limited by the rules of society when making decisions. However, as far as I am concerned, these rules should bot by regarded as obstacles, but should rather be considered as contribution to the stability and harmony of the hole society. 2nd EssayWhat must we do to truly understand ourselves? As an old saying goes, ‘It is always being difficult for people to judge themselves evenha ndedly. ‘ And I agree that many people do not have general idea what he or she is like in others' eyes. Therefore, from my perspective, to communicate with other people, discuss some common topics, or even argue about something can not only help people have truly understandings of others but also themselves. Two characters, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy in the Pride and Prejudice, a far-reaching novel, can serve as an example.Their first interaction was on a ball where Mr Darcy refuses to dance with Elizabeth, who regarded him as a person with rude and pride personality ever since. After that, another officer, Wickham's accusations enhanced Elizabeth's prejudice about Darcy. Both of them, Elizabeth and Darcy, have the idea that the other is proud while have no idea about their own personalities. Nevertheless, as time goes by, Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth and expresses his feelings to her. He is astounded by her prejudice about him.He sends Elizabeth a letter telling everything happened between him and Wickham. Thought their communication, they learnt each other's personality, realized the damage they have made in both of their hearts and finally became couples. Darcy's pride of status is founded on social prejudice while Elizabeth's initial prejudice against him is rooted in pride of her own perception. But their true communications afterwards made both of them correct their ideas about each other's characteristic as well as their own personalities. Another example is in the movie of Titanic.Rose was a girl with notable social status and she would be married with a business man, Carl. Though she did not love him, and was tired about the sybaritic life of upper classes, she lived against her own heart. When saved by Jack, and had conversations with him about their distinct life, Rose realized hat she did not want to be a upper class anymore. She finally acknowledged her love with Jack and decided to live with him forever. Jack's discretions prevented Rose from jumping into the ocean and also encourages Rose to be brave and act in accordance with her heart.Communication is the very way that made Rose to change and understands herself as a woman. I agree that the meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances and insist that communicate helps people to recognize themselves. 3rd essay Is censorship sometimes justifiable? Human rights include freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Based on this definition, many people believe that censorship is a flagrant infringement on human rights, and thus it should not be tolerated. However, I believe that censorship can be justified.Through a discussion of censorship of history textbooks in Japan, censorship against racism in Singapore and move ratings, this essay seeks to show the benefits of censorship to the community. The censorship of Japan's war crimes in Japan's history textbooks shows us that censorship is necessary to preserve national pride. In all histo ry textbooks used in Japan, atrocious war crimes such as their cruelties in World War II, most notably the systemised raping and pillage of Japanese soldiers in the rape of Nanking, China, are only briefly mentioned as parts of the wars, all the grotesque details prohibited.Though China accuses Japan of distorting history, this is necessary to maintain the national pride in Japanese students, especially for those younger students whose opinions and impressions of the country are still in the shaping. Therefore, the censorship can be justified if it is used wisely for the good of the nation. Censorship is also justified in Singapore to ensure social cohesion and racial harmony. In a multi-racial country like Singapore, a caustic racist remark can trigger conflict that threatens the social cohesion that took Singapore decades to cultivate.As such, the Media Development Authority (MDA) prohibits the use of derogatory language or insensitive remarks against any races in any form of medi a, be it printed media like newspapers or the new media- the Internet. This ensures the mutual respect between different races, and thus protects social cohesion in a fragile society like Singapore. Therefore, in cases like this, censorship should be justified. The movie ratings system is the most common type of censorship, and it is reasonable as it protects the minds of the young against violence and sexually explicit materials shown in movies.Massive research done on movies containing violence, foul language and sexually explicit materials has shown that exposure to such materials at a young age can lead to psychological instability for viewers and make them more prone to committing juvenile delinquency. As such, the movies are often rated from Parental Guidance to NC17, M18 and in some countries R21, to protect viewers from viewing dangerous materials unsuitable for their age. The movie ratings system thus is a necessary form of censorship to bar the young from being exposed to harmful materials through movies.Overall, censorship is justified in many cases, as it seeks to maintain social stability, racial harmony and to protect the young minds from dangerous materials in movies. However, once misused, censorship can violate human rights principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Due to the complexity of censorship, the government needs to be prudent in using censorship to the best interest of the society. 4th Essay What two options are the most difficult to choose between? The most difficult choice is neither between life and death nor between love and freedom, but between truth and lie.Although I have to admit that it really takes a lot of courage to decide to die when one still have chance to live and it is harder to give up one's beloved to pursue the mental world of freedom, it is the choice of insisting on the truth that takes the greatest bravery. Louis Pasteur is such an example who bravely challenged the majority's opinion in order to hold the truth. Before him, people commonly believed that life comes directly from the lifeless matter. This theory is called spontaneous theory which was synthesized by Aristotle, the unshakable authority at that time.Hence, people from common ones to experts all deeply believed in this theory. However, Pasteur threw doubt on this commonly believed theory after conducting a series of experiments. Seeing is believing. What was shown in the experiments definitely disproved Aristotle's old theory. Here came the choice. He could publish the result of his discovery to insist on the truth or support the old wrong theory to lie to his heart. If he chose the first one, there would be lots of critics waiting for him. No one will exactly know what those crazy people will do who championed the spontaneous theory for so many years.His friends even warned him about the quagmire lain on the endless truth chasing path. On the contrast, if he chose the latter one, he will suffer from the tortur e of consciousness instead of the one from others. Finally, he decided to choose the first choice. Pasteur publicized his discovery in 1864 and brought a controversy immediately. Countless people found fault with Pasteur's experiments but soon people gradually were persuaded by the fact of the experiments. Because of this choice, Pasteur became one of the founders of the microbiology.Unlike to choose death or freedom, people never know what they will get after holding the truth. Perhaps one can earn famous during his or her life time, like Louis Pasteur, or he or she can be punished to die without understanding from other people. For instance, Giordano Bruno donated his life to pursue the truth. While at his contemporary, he was considered as a heretic because his belief of Copernican model offended the authority of the Catholic Church. In the end he was burned at the stake by civil authorities in 1600.Still lucky, his idea was understood by several people and recorded in text form so that his descendants could recover his opinion and memorize him forever. And those people who had no supporters for their persistence or did not record their opinion would be forgotten by generations. In conclusion, either pursuing truth or giving in to lie needs plenty of bravery to chose. However, we have to make decision between them. This was because he was the gold medalist. 5th essay Do we need knowledge of the past to fully understand the present? People live in the present. They plan for and worry about the future.The knowledge of the past gives us all the demands that press in from living in the present and anticipating what is yet to come, why bother with what has been? Knowledge of the past gives us all the desirable and available branches of knowledge. It is why we insist to learn knowledge of past such as history. I agree with what Rosamond MacKitterick told us. He said that a sense of the past is an essential past of our identity . The past is in many respects a for eign country, but on the premise that travel broadens the mind, this is all the more reason to go there.Any subject of study needs justification: Most widely accepted subjects—and history is certainly one of them—attract some people who simply like the information and modes of thought involved. I know that you may have more doubtful about why to bother need to know what the purpose is. In a society that quite correctly expects education to serve useful purposes, History is in fact very useful, actually indispensable, but the products of historical study are less tangible, sometimes less immediate, than those that stem from some other disciplines.In the past history has been justified for reasons we would no longer accept. For instance, one of the reasons history holds its place in current education is because earlier leaders believed that a knowledge of certain historical facts helped distinguish the educated from the uneducated; the person who could reel off the date of the. Knowledge of historical facts has been used as a screening device in many societies, from China to the United States, and the habit is still with us to some extent.Unfortunately, this use can encourage mindless memorization—a real but not very appealing aspect of the discipline. History should be studied because it is essential to individuals and to society, and because it harbors beauty. There are many ways to discuss the real functions of the subject—as there are many different historical talents and many different paths to historical meaning. All definitions of history's utility, however, rely on two fundamental facts. We could borrow knowledge of the past to understand the present situation better in any field.

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury Chapter Nine

â€Å"Well, at least I didn't get taken over,† Bonnie said. â€Å"But I'm sick of this psychic stuff anyway; I'm tired of the whole thing. That was the last time, absolutely the last.† â€Å"All right,† said Elena, turning away from the mirror, â€Å"let's talk about something else. Did you find anything out today?† â€Å"I talked with Alaric, and he's having another get-together next week,† Bonnie replied. â€Å"He asked Caroline and Vickie and me if we wanted to be hypnotized to help us deal with what's been happening. But I'm sure he isn't the Other Power, Elena. He's too nice.† Elena nodded. She'd had second thoughts about her suspicions of Alaric herself. Not because he was nice, but because she had spent four days in his attic asleep. Would the Other Power really have let her stay there unharmed? Of course, Damon had said he'd influenced Alaric to forget that she was up there, but would the Other Power have succumbed to Damon's influence? Shouldn't it be far too strong? Unless its Powers had temporarily burned out, she thought suddenly. The way Stefan's were burning out now. Or unless it had only been pretending to be influenced. â€Å"Well, we won't cross him off the list just yet,† she said. â€Å"We've got to be careful. What about Mrs. Flowers? Did you find out anything about her?† â€Å"No luck,† said Meredith. â€Å"We went to the boardinghouse this morning, but she didn't answer the door. Stefan said he'd try to track her down in the afternoon.† â€Å"If somebody would only invite me in there, I could watch her, too,† Elena said. â€Å"I feel like I'm the only one not doing anything. I think†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused a moment, considering, and then said, â€Å"I think I'll go by home-by Aunt Judith's, I mean. Maybe I'll find Robert hanging around in the bushes or something.† â€Å"We'll go with you,† Meredith said. â€Å"No, it's better for me to do it alone. Really, it is. I can be very inconspicuous these days.† â€Å"Then take your own advice and be careful. It's still snowing hard.† Elena nodded and dropped over the windowsill. As she approached her house, she saw that a car was just pulling out of the driveway. She melted into the shadows and watched. The headlights illuminated an eerie winter sight: the neighbors' black locust tree, like a bare-branched silhouette, with a white owl sitting in it. As the car roared past, Elena recognized it. Robert's blue Oldsmobile. Now, that was interesting. She had an urge to follow him, but a stronger urge to check the house, make sure everything was all right. She circled it stealthily, examining windows. The yellow chintz curtains at the kitchen window were looped back, revealing a bright section of kitchen inside. Aunt Judith was closing the dishwasher. Had Robert come to dinner? Elena wondered. The yellow chintz curtains at the kitchen window were looped back, revealing a bright section of kitchen inside. Aunt Judith was closing the dishwasher. Had Robert come to dinner? Elena wondered. Elena wished she could see more than just her aunt's profile in the flickering light of the TV. It gave her a strange feeling to look at this room, knowing that she could only look and not go in. How long had it been since she realized what a nice room it was? The old mahogany whatnot, crowded with china and glassware, the Tiffany lamp on the table next to Aunt Judith, the needlepoint pillows on the couch, all seemed precious to her now. Standing outside, feeling the feathery caress of the snow on the back of her neck, she wished she could go in just for a moment, just for a little while. Aunt Judith's head was tilting back, her eyes shutting. Elena leaned her forehead against the window, then slowly turned away. She climbed the quince tree outside her own bedroom, but to her disappointment the curtains were shut tight. The maple tree outside Margaret's room was fragile and harder to climb, but once she got up she had a good view; these curtains were wide open. Margaret was asleep with the bedcovers drawn up to her chin, her mouth open, her pale hair spread out like a fan on the pillow. Hello, baby, Elena thought and swallowed back tears. It was such a sweetly innocent scene: the nightlight, the little girl in bed, the stuffed animals on the shelves keeping watch over her. And here came a little white kitten padding through the open door to complete the picture, Elena thought. Snowball jumped onto Margaret's bed. The kitten yawned, showing a tiny pink tongue, and stretched, displaying miniature claws. Then it walked daintily over to stand on Margaret's chest. Something tingled at the roots of Elena's hair. She didn't know if it was some new hunter's sense or sheer intuition, but suddenly she was afraid. There was danger in that room. Margaret was in danger. The kitten was still standing there, tail swishing back and forth. And all at once Elena realized what it looked like. The dogs. It looked the way Chelsea had looked at Doug Carson before she lunged at him. Oh, God, the town had quarantined the dogs, but nobody had thought about the cats. Elena's mind was working at top speed, but it wasn't helping her. It was only flashing pictures of what a cat could do with curved claws and needle-sharp teeth. And Margaret just lay there breathing softly, oblivious to any danger. The fur on Snowball's back was rising, her tail swelling like a bottle brush. Her ears flattened and she opened her mouth in a silent hiss. Her eyes were fixed on Margaret's face just the way Chelsea's had been on Doug Carson's. Margaret's face just the way Chelsea's had been on Doug Carson's. But the snow, settling like a blanket around her, seemed to deaden the words into nothingness. A low, discordant wail was started in Snowball's throat as it flicked its eyes toward the window and then back to Margaret's face. â€Å"Margaret, wake up!† Elena shouted. Then, just as the kitten pulled back a curved paw, she threw herself at the window. She never knew, later, how she managed to hang on. There was no room to kneel on the sill, but her fingernails sank into the soft old wood of the casing, and the toe of one boot jammed into a foothold below. She banged against the window with her body weight, shouting. â€Å"Get away from her! Wake up, Margaret!† Margaret's eyes flew open and she sat up, throwing Snowball backward. The kitten's claws caught in the eyelet bedspread as it scrambled to right itself. Elena shouted again. â€Å"Margaret, get off the bed! Open the window, quick!† Margaret's four-year-old face was full of sleepy surprise, but no fear. She got up and stumbled toward the window while Elena gritted her teeth. â€Å"That's it. Good girl†¦ now say, ‘Come in.' Quick, say it!† â€Å"Come in,† Margaret said obediently, blinking and stepping back. The kitten sprang out as Elena fell in. She made a grab for it, but it was too fast. Once outside it glided across the maple branches with taunting ease and leaped down into the snow, disappearing. A small hand was tugging at Elena's sweater. â€Å"You came back!† Margaret said, hugging Elena's hips. â€Å"I missed you.† â€Å"Oh, Margaret, I missed you-† Elena began, and then froze. Aunt Judith's voice sounded from the top of the stairs. â€Å"Margaret, are you awake? What's going on in there?† Elena had only an instant to make her decision. â€Å"Don't tell her I'm here,† she whispered, dropping to her knees. â€Å"It's a secret; do you understand? Say you let the kitty out, but don't tell her I'm here.† There wasn't time for any more; Elena dived under the bed and prayed. From under the dust ruffle, she watched Aunt Judith's stocking feet come into the room. She pressed her face into the floorboards, not breathing. â€Å"Margaret! What are you doing up? Come on, let's get you back in bed,† Aunt Judith's voice said, and then the bed creaked with Margaret's weight and Elena heard the noises of Aunt Judith's fussing with the covers. â€Å"Your hands are freezing. What on earth is the window doing open?† â€Å"And now there's snow all over the floor. I can't believe this†¦ Don't you open it up again, do you hear me?† A little more bustling and the stocking feet went out again. The door shut. Elena squirmed out. â€Å"Good girl,† she whispered as Margaret sat up. â€Å"I'm proud of you. Now tomorrow you tell Aunt Judith that you have to give your kitty away. Tell her it scared you. I know you don't want to†-she put up a hand to stop the wail that was gathering on Margaret's lips-â€Å"but you have to. Because I'm telling you that kitty will hurt you if you keep it. You don't want to get hurt, do you?† â€Å"No,† said Margaret, her blue eyes filling. â€Å"But-â€Å" â€Å"And you don't want the kitty to hurt Aunt Judith, either, do you? You tell Aunt Judith you can't have a kitten or a puppy or even a bird until-well, for a while. Don't tell her that I said so; that's still our secret. Tell her you're scared because of what happened with the dogs at church.† It was better, Elena reasoned grimly, to give the little girl nightmares than to have a nightmare play out in this bedroom. Margaret's mouth drooped sadly. â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"I'm sorry, sweetie.† Elena sat down and hugged her. â€Å"But that's the way it has to be.† â€Å"You're cold,† Margaret said. Then she looked up into Elena's face. â€Å"Are you an angel?† â€Å"Uh†¦ not exactly.† Just the opposite, Elena thought ironically. â€Å"Aunt Judith said you went to be with Mommy and Daddy. Did you see them yet?† â€Å"I-it's sort of hard to explain, Margaret. I haven't seen them yet, no. And I'm not an angel, but I'm going to be like your guardian angel anyway, all right? I'll watch over you, even when you can't see me. Okay?† â€Å"Okay.† Margaret played with her fingers. â€Å"Does that mean you can't live here anymore?† Elena looked around the pink-and-white bedroom, at the stuffed animals on the shelves and the little writing desk and the rocking horse that had once been hers in the corner. â€Å"That's what it means,† she said softly. â€Å"When they said you went to be with Mommy and Daddy, I said I wanted to go, too.† Elena blinked hard. â€Å"Oh, baby. It's not time for you to go, so you can't. And Aunt Judith loves you very much, and she'd be lonely without you.† Margaret nodded, her eyelids drooping. But as Elena eased her down and pulled the bedspread over her, Margaret asked one more question. â€Å"But don't you love me?† Oh, stupid, stupid, Elena thought, forging through the banked snow to the other side of Maple Street. She'd missed her chance to ask Margaret whether Robert had been at dinner. It was too late now. Robert. Her eyes narrowed suddenly. At the church, Robert had been outside and then the dogs had gone mad. And tonight Margaret's kitten had gone feral-just a little while after Robert's car had pulled out of the driveway. Robert has a lot to answer for, she thought. But melancholy was pulling at her, tugging her thoughts away. Her mind kept returning to the bright house she'd just left, going over the things she'd never see again. All her clothes and knickknacks and jewelry-what would Aunt Judith do with them? I don't own anything anymore, she thought. I'm a pauper. Elena? With relief, Elena recognized the mental voice and the distinctive shadow at the end of the street. She hurried toward Stefan, who took his hands out of his jacket pockets and held hers to warm them. â€Å"Meredith told me where you'd gone.† â€Å"I went home,† Elena said. That was all she could say, but as she leaned against him for comfort, she knew that he understood. â€Å"Let's find someplace we can sit down,† he said, and stopped in frustration. All the places they used to go were either too dangerous or closed to Elena. The police still had Stefan's car. Eventually they just went to the high school where they could sit under the overhang of a roof and watch the snow sift down. Elena told him what had happened in Margaret's room. â€Å"I'm going to have Meredith and Bonnie spread it around town that cats can attack, too. People should know that. And I think somebody ought to be watching Robert,† she concluded. â€Å"We'll tail him,† Stefan said, and she couldn't help smiling. â€Å"It's funny how much more American you've gotten,† she said. â€Å"I hadn't thought about it in a long time, but when you first came you were a lot more foreign. Now nobody would know you hadn't lived here all your life.† â€Å"We adapt quickly. We have to,† Stefan said. â€Å"There are always new countries, new decades, new situations. You'll adapt, too.† â€Å"You'll learn, in time. If there is anything†¦ good†¦ about what we are, it's time. We have plenty of it, as much as we want. Forever.† † ‘Joyous companions forever.' Isn't that what Katherine said to you and Damon?† Elena murmured. She could feel Stefan's stiffening, his withdrawal. â€Å"She was talking about all three of us,† he said. â€Å"I wasn't.† â€Å"Oh, Stefan, please don't, not now. I wasn't even thinking about Damon, only about forever. It scares me. Everything about this scares me, and sometimes I think I just want to go to sleep and never wake up again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In the shelter of his arms she felt safer, and she found her new senses were just as amazing close up as they were at a distance. She could hear each separate pulse of Stefan's heart, and the rush of blood through his veins. And she could smell his own distinctive scent mingled with the scent of his jacket, and the snow, and the wool of his clothes. â€Å"Please trust me,† she whispered. â€Å"I know you're angry with Damon, but try to give him a chance. I think there's more to him than there seems to be. And I want his help in finding the Other Power, and that's all I want from him.† At that moment it was completely true. Elena wanted nothing to do with the hunter's life tonight; the darkness held no appeal for her. She wished she could be at home sitting in front of a fire. But it was sweet just to be held like this, even if she and Stefan had to sit in the snow to do it. Stefan's breath was warm as he kissed the back of her neck, and she sensed no further withdrawal in Stefan's body. No hunger, either, or at least not the kind she was used to sensing when they were close like this. Now that she was a hunter like he, the need was different, a need for togetherness rather than for sustenance. It didn't matter. They had lost something, but they had gained something, too. She understood Stefan in a way she never had before. And her understanding brought them closer, until their minds were touching, almost meshing with each other's. It wasn't the noisy chatter of mental voices; it was a deep and wordless communion. As if their spirits were united. â€Å"I love you,† Stefan said against her neck, and she held on tighter. She understood now why he'd been afraid to say it for so long. When the thought of tomorrow scared you sick, it was hard to make a commitment. Because you didn't want to drag someone else down with you. Particularly someone you loved. â€Å"I love you, too,† she made herself say and sat back, her peaceful mood broken. â€Å"And will you try to give Damon a chance, for my sake? Try to work with him?† â€Å"I'll work with him, but I won't trust him. I can't. I know him too well.† â€Å"I followed Mrs. Flowers today.† Stefan's lip quirked. â€Å"All afternoon and evening. And you know what she did?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Three loads of wash-in an ancient machine that looked like it was going to explode any minute. No clothes dryer, just a wringer. It's all down in the basement. Then she went outside and filled about two dozen bird feeders. Then back to the basement to wipe off jars of preserves. She spends most of her time down there. She talks to herself.† â€Å"Just like a dotty old lady,† said Elena. â€Å"All right; maybe Meredith's wrong and that's all she is.† She noticed his change of expression at Meredith's name and added, â€Å"What?† â€Å"Well, Meredith may have some explaining to do herself. I didn't ask her about it; I thought maybe it was better coming from you. But she went to talk to Alaric Saltzman after school today. And she didn't want anyone to know where she was going.† Disquiet uncoiled in Elena's middle. â€Å"So what?† â€Å"So she lied about it afterward-or at least she evaded the issue. I tried to probe her mind, but my Powers are just about burnt out. And she's strong-willed.† â€Å"And you had no right! Stefan, listen to me. Meredith would never do anything to hurt us or betray us. Whatever she's keeping from us-â€Å" â€Å"So you do admit that she's hiding something.† â€Å"Yes,† Elena said reluctantly. â€Å"But it's nothing that will hurt us, I'm sure. Meredith has been my friend since the first grade†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Without knowing it, Elena let the sentence slip away from her. She was thinking of another friend, one who'd been close to her since kindergarten. Caroline. Who last week had tried to destroy Stefan and humiliate Elena in front of the entire town. And what was it Caroline's diary had said about Meredith? Meredith doesn't do anything; she just watches. It's as if she can't act, she can only react to things. Besides, I've heard my parents talking about her family-no wonder she never mentions them. Elena's eyes left the snowy landscape to seek Stefan's waiting face. â€Å"It doesn't matter,† she said quietly. â€Å"I know Meredith, and I trust her. I'll trust her to the end.† â€Å"I hope she's worthy of it, Elena,† he said. â€Å"I really do.†