Narrative techniques of Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist and David Copperfield Essay

â€Å"Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely; in great aims and in small I have always thoroughly been in earnest.† Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens is considered as one of the greatest writers of all times. His fluid language, the wise mind, the great writing technique, the sharp eye, made his works survive for more than 150 years. He is the author of more than twenty novels. All of them very appreciated from- book lovers- since the time they were written until nowadays and, with great chance that they will be read and appreciated in the centuries that will come. The purpose of this diploma thesis is the comparison of narrative techniques of â€Å"Oliver Twist† and â€Å"David Copperfield†. â€Å"Oliver Twist† belongs to the first years of Dickens’s literary works.1 It was very successful since its first edition but, the critics don’t list it as one of the most valuable works of Dickens.2 â€Å"David Copperfield† comes after twelve years of â€Å"Oliver Twist† and it is considered as one of the most achieved works of Charles Dickens. Dickens himself considers David as â€Å"his favorite child†.3 Speaking from the perspective of the narration, as the study will demonstrate, these two novels belong to different forms of narration. â€Å"Oliver Twist† is narrated by third person narrator. In construction is considered simpler than â€Å"David Copperfield†. The narrator of â€Å"David Copperfield† is David himself meaning that the story is told by the main hero. This typ e of narration is a first person narration. However I will discuss about this in more details during the thesis. 2. Biography of Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature’s most iconic novels and characters4. He was born at Landport in Portsea on Friday, the seventh of February, 1812.5 Charles was the son of John, a clerk in the navy-pay office and Lady Elizabeth Barrow. From the early years of his childhood, he hade to face the life of hardships and difficulties due to his father’s failure in maintaining the family. At the age of twelve he had to quit school because his family was being held into debtor’s prison. When he was fifteen he became a clerk in a law firm and later worked as a newspaper reporter. He published his first fiction in 1836 – a series of character sketches called Sketches by Boz. The work was well-received, but its reception was nothing compared to the international acclaim he received with the publication of The Pickwick Papers in the following year. 6 After this early blush of success, Dickens took on the job as editor of Bentley’s Miscellany, a literary magazine in which a number of his early works were serialized, including Oliver Twist (1837-9) and Nicholas Nickleby (1838-9). He left to begin his own literary magazine, Master Humphrey’s Clock, in 1840, and over the next ten years published many of his most famous novels in serial form, including The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-1), A Christmas Carol (1844), and David Copperfield (1849-50), perhaps the most autobiographical of all his novels. He made his first visit of USA in 1842. He had taken trips in other places like France, Italy and Switzerland but always returning to his home. His journeys abroad influenced him a lot in his work. Other works were serialized in Household Words between 1850 and 1859, which was then succeeded by All the Year Round, which he edited until his death in 1870, publishing such novels as A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860-1), and Our Mutual Friend (1864-5). A workaholic to the end, Dickens died of a stroke in 1870 after having penned a chapter of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, his final (and unfinished) novel, the previous day.7 Although Dickens is distingu ished for his great capability in writing fiction, in his bibliography are included also various poems. Some of them are8: A Child’s hymn, A fine Old English Gentelman, Lucy’s Song, The Ivy Green, Little Nell’s Funeral etc. Dickens has produced a great treasure for the British literature. His novels have challenged the time and today are still present to impress every book lover. 3. Oliver Twist 3.1. Plot 1 of the novel â€Å"Oliver Twist† is the second book of Charles Dickens. As in many of his novels, the author here also displays the difficulties of young children in the English society of XIX century. The story is about an orphan who has to live a life of hardships since the day he was born. When he is at the age of nine he works at a workhouse but after his promiscuous begging â€Å"Please sir, I want some more!† he is taken out the workhouse. After the work house he was hired to an undertaker but from the ill treatment that he undergoes there he is forced to escape. The poor child goes to London with the hope that things will get better in his life but there too he encounters many difficulties and meets people who want to take advantage of his innocence. However, the luck hasn’t completely abandoned him since he meets some good hearted people who take care of him and help him discover the mystery of his birth and find out who were his parents All the adventures of the book end happily. The bad guys pay their dues and the good ones find the tranquility and happiness. This is a very brief recount of the plot since the analysis will be focused in the narration and narrators point of view. 3.2. Narrative form From the first paragraph of the novel the reader can notice that the narrator speaks in third person: â€Å"Although I am not disposed to maintain that the being born in a workhouse, is in itself the most fortunate and enviable circumstance that can possibly befall a human being, I do mean to say that in this particular instance, it was the best thing for Oliver Twist that could by possibility have occurred. The fact is, that there was considerable difficulty in inducing Oliver to take upon himself the office of respiration,–a troublesome practice, but one which custom has rendered necessary to our easy existence; and for some time he lay gasping on a little flock mattress, rather unequally poised between this world and the  next: the balance being decidedly in favour of the latter.† (O.T.; Pg.4; Ch.I )9. A third person narration means that the story is recounted from someone outside the book, meaning that he/she is not a character in the book but, is able to â€Å"observe† the story from distance. To confirm this I will show some passages which the narrator uses to tell that he is the teller of the story: â€Å"That Oliver Twist was moved to resignation by the example of these good people, I cannot, although I am his biographer, undertake to affirm with any degree of confidence; but I can most distinctly say, that for many months he continued meekly to submit to the domination and ill-treatment of Noah Claypole.† (O.T.; Pg.37; Ch. VI)10 3.3. The influence of narrator in reader’s image Although the narrator is objective in most of his narration, when describing some characters he sides a little to influence the readers image about that character. When describing Noah Calypole his tone takes features of disgust and dislike. The narrator did this because his intention was to influence the reader’s opinion about the character: â€Å"With this, Mr. Claypole administered a kick to Oliver, and entered the shop with a dignified air, which did him great credit. It is difficult for a large-headed, small-eyed youth, of lumbering make and heavy countenance, to look dignified under any circumstances; but it is more especially so, when superadded to these personal attractions are a red nose and yellow smalls.† (O.T.; Pg. 29; Ch.V).11 This happens also when the reader is introduced with Fagin, Bill Sikes and all other evil characters. When the reader first meets Fagin besides the repulsive description of the character also the place where he lives appears as dirty and gloomy: â€Å"Oliver, groping his way with one hand, and having the other firmly grasped by his companion, ascended with much difficulty the dark and broken st airs: which his conductor mounted with an ease and expedition that showed he was well acquainted with them. He threw open the door of a back-room, and drew Oliver in after him. The walls and ceiling of the room were perfectly black with age and dirt. There was a deal table before the  fire: upon which were a candle, stuck in a ginger-beer bottle, two or three pewter pots, a loaf and butter, and a plate.†12 Influencing the readers image is a trick from narrators part that he also uses in order to make ground for the image the reader is about to create for a positive character.: When the narrator describes Mr. Bronlown he makes a very pleasant description of him. â€Å"The old gentleman was a very respectable-looking personage, with a powdered head and gold spectacles. He was dressed in a bottle-green coat with a black velvet collar; wore white trousers; and carried a smart bamboo cane under his arm.† (O.T. ;Pg.61;Ch.X).13 At some characters the narrator is a bit satirical. For example when he describes Mr. Bumble he is trying to make him look ridiculous in the reader’s eyes: â€Å"Now, Mr. Bumble was a fat man, and a choleric; so, instead of responding to this openhearted salutation in a kindred spirit, he gave the little wicket a tremendous shake, and then bestowed upon it a kick which could have emanated from no leg but a beadle’s.† ( O.T.; Pg.8; Ch.2).14 When the narrator refers to Billie Sikes, he in the beginning refers to him as â€Å"the man†. After Billie commits the burglary it is revealed what he does and after this the narrator refers to him as â€Å"the thief†. At the end when he murders Nancy the narrator addresses to him as â€Å"the murderer†. The narrator labels this character with the crimes that he makes. This seems to happen because the story teller wants to inform the reader exactly with the features of that personage. In order to mark the characters of Fagin, Billie, Artful Dodger, and all the other members of the gang as â€Å"the bad ones†, the narrator makes their language rude and informal. When the narrator constructs their dialogues he uses the street slang, so the characters appear uneducated and ignorant. There are passages where the story teller represents the innocence of Oliver by making the reader understand some situations that Oliver is not able to. â€Å" ‘Not so heavy as they might be,’ said the Jew, after looking at the insides carefully; ‘but very neat and nicely made. Ingenious workman, ain’t he, Oliver? ‘Very indeed, sir,’ said Oliver. At which Mr. Charles Bates laughed uproariously; very much to the amazement of Oliver, who saw nothing to laugh at, in anything that had passed.† (O.T. ; Pg.56; Ch.IX).15 3.4. Narrator’s point of view It is true that the hero of this book is a child and the story is constructed by the adventures that happen to him but, when Dickens wrote the book he also used it to show his points of view about the social live in England. At the beginning of the chapter II he describes the conditions that the parish children live. The reader can observe that his tone is very satirical but at the same time sad. He mocks with his satire the condition in which the Parish authorities lead the place. In the other hand he uses his language of sorrow when he describes how children suffer there. †The hungry and destitute situation of the infant orphan was duly reported by the workhouse authorities to the parish authorities. The parish authorities inquired with dignity of the workhouse authorities, whether there was no female then domiciled in ‘the house’ who was in a situation to impart to Oliver Twist, the consolation and nourishment of which he stood in need. The workhouse authorities replied with humility, that there was not.† (O.T. ; Pg.7; Ch.II).16 The narrator makes the reader notice the broken system of justice in Victorian England. Throughout the chapter XI are constructed scenes in which the author with his satirical humor r represents the dysfunction of court at that time in England. In â€Å"Oliver Twist† Dickens tries to fight the mentality of people who consider themselves above others 17.Dickens had suffered because of these kinds of people. And he speaks from his heart when he recounts the suffering of the little boy. In this novel, besides the interesting plot the reader can see the point of view and the concern of the narrator about many social problems that in reality were the point of view and the concern of Dickens himself. The critics don’t classify the novel amongst the most valuable works of Dickens but, it surely plays a great part in the success of the author as well known writer.18 4. David Copperfield 4.1. Quick analysis of the plot. â€Å"I am within three pages of the shore; and am strangely divided, as usual in such cases, between sorrow and joy. Oh, my dear Forster, if I were to say half of what Copperfield makes me feel to-night, how strangely, even to you, I should be turned inside out! I seem to be sending some part of myself into the Shadowy World.†19 I initiate the analysis of David Copperfield by these lines from the author himself, to demonstrate what his work meant to him. And this is not casual because Dickens, by Copperfield, has sent a part of his life to the readers. â€Å"David Copperfield† is regarded as an autobiographical book of Charles Dickens. His life and that of David have many similarities.20 His childhood of hardship, the work at wine house, later the work as reporter and in the end his life as a successful writer resemble very much the adventures of the main character in the novel. Despite these passages in â€Å"David Copperfield†, the author has also built some of the characters basing on people that really existed in his life. An example of this is Mr. Micawber who is a personification of Charles father (he also ended up in debtor’s prison), Dora who resembles Dickens’ first love etc. The domestic problems that Charles encountered during his lifetime are also disclosed in this novel. David Copperfield is considered one of Dickens’ most highly achieved works. He personally, in one of his Letter to John Forster states that: â€Å"David remains his favorite child†21 However â€Å"David Copperfield† is not just a pure autobiography. Alongside the facts that relate the life of the author with that of the main character, inside the book are discussed and treated many social problems of the Victorian England. This brief introduction of the plot serves only to have an idea about the novel because as I previously mentioned the theme of the thesis is the comparison of narration and the point of view of the narrator. 4.2. Narrative form To discuss about the narration I will start with the first lines of the novel. â€Å"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show†22 These are the first lines of â€Å"David Copperfield† and those are the ones that intrigue the reader to continue his adventure with the book. However, despite the intriguing role, these lines also serve to show the reader who is telling the story. The story teller is the protagonist, a data which will be elaborated throughout this paper work When David recounts the story of his birth at the beginning of the novel he tells it as he heard it from others who were there at that moment. â€Å"To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night.†23 It is impossible for anyone to remember the moment of his/her one birth so the narrator begins the recount of his life from what he was told. But he uses the dialogue of Mrs. Coppe rfield and Miss Betsy to tell the story. The narrator does this improvisation of the situation to introduce the reader with stories that happened before he was born. The first chapter is constructed this way. In the second chapter David starts being conscious about his surroundings. â€Å"The first objects that assume a distinct presence before me, as I look far back, into the blank of my infancy, are my mother with her pretty hair and youthful shape, and Peggotty with no shape at all, and eyes so dark that they seemed to darken their whole neighbourhood in her face, and cheeks and arms so hard and red that I wondered the birds didn’t peck her in preference to apples.† (D.C. ; Pg. 20 Ch. II).24 Here are shown the first glimpses of narrators understanding of the world. However, we can notice a childish perspective from the narrator. This happens because the narrator tried to show to the reader exactly how he felt and thought at that time as a child. He narrates the story from the child’s point of view in order that the reader can understand better the character of David. When Dickens wrote the novel he was about thirty eight years old.25 However his tone of narration is different in the course of the novel. The tone is different in the sense of maturity of the narrator. Further one I will discus about this side of narration. As I noted previously, in the beginning the tone is very childish and his thoughts are those of a little boy. When the narrator wrote the novel he appears to be middle age man, still, he narrates the story from the eyes of a child. At the end of chapter XIV the tone of the narrator calms down a bit. The narrator creates this atmosphere to indicate that David’s hardships as a child are over and now he feels safe. By this tone of narration Charles wants to transmit to the reader that the live of David will take a new turn, probably a better turn. He is saying farewell to the difficulties of little David’s life. However new challenges expect him in the further chapters. With the passing of chapters the narrator/ David grows up and matures. This means that his capacity of thinking and analyzing things matures together with him. So in further chapters we find David more attentive and more aware about his surroundings. At the beginning of the novel he was presented to us a sm art child also, always paying attention to things, but now he has a sharper look toward things: â€Å"How miserable I was, when I lay down! How I thought and thought about my being poor, in Mr. Spenlow’s eyes; about my not being what I thought I was, when I proposed to Dora; about the chivalrous necessity of telling Dora what my worldly condition was, and releasing her from her engagement if she thought fit; about how I should contrive to live, during the long term of my articles, when I was earning nothing; about doing something to assist my aunt, and seeing no way of doing anything; about coming down to have no money in my pocket, and to wear a shabby coat, and to be able to carry Dora no little presents, and to ride no gallant greys, and to show myself in no agreeable light!† (D.C. ;Pg 470-;Ch. XXXV).26 After the death of Dora we can notice a more serious tone of the narrator. (D.C.; Ch. LIII). It is like the narrator is trying to say that this loss has opened a new vision for David to see how life really is, difficult and unfair. This loss makes him reflect and though the pain didn’t kill him made  him stronger, and stronger we will find him in the next chapters. 4.3. The building of the characters The narrator does not give his opinions about the character because by the way he describes them he lets the reader to have his/her one imagine about those characters. By the dialogue that Miss Betsey and Mrs. Copperfield have, it is possible for the reader to understand many details about these two characters. The reader creates the image of Mrs. Copperfield by the words she says and the decisions she makes. The narrator only shows the way he feels about her but doesn’t impose his feelings to the reader. This also happens when the reader meets Peggottty. The narrator introduces the reader only with the physical description of the character. To understand the personage better we have to pay attention to her thoughts and attitudes. However, the narrator does not behave the same with all characters. When David first meets Uriah his description takes tones of repulsiveness and disgust. It was quite as cadaverous as it had looked in the window, though in the grain of it there was that tinge of red which is sometimes to be observed in the skins of red-haired people. It belonged to a red-haired person – a youth of fifteen, as I take it now, but looking much older – whose hair was cropped as close as the closest stubble; who had hardly any eyebrows, and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep. He was high-shouldered and bony; dressed in decent black, with a white wisp of a neckcloth; buttoned up to the throat; and had a long, lank, skeleton hand, which particularly attracted my attention, as he stood at the pony’s head, rubbing his chin with it, and looking up at us in the chaise.(Pg. 20; Ch.XV).27 In the other hand the to ne of the narrator when he meets Agnes is very pleasant and is noticed a sort of admiration for her. On her face, I saw immediately the placid and sweet expression of the lady whose picture had looked at me downstairs. It seemed to my imagination as if the portrait had grown womanly, and the original remained a child. Although her face was quite bright and happy, there was a tranquillity about it, and about her – a quiet, good, calm spirit – that I never have forgotten; that I shall never forget. This was his little housekeeper, his daughter Agnes, Mr. Wickfield  said. (D.C.; Pg.213; Ch. XV).28 The author does this in order to influence the reader’s image about the characters features and what inform previously the reader what to expect form that character. 4.4. The placing of the narrator In about 900 pages of â€Å"David Copperfield† are shown also stories of other personages besides that of David. In order to continue telling the story in the first person, Dickens uses various maneuvers to make this possible. In cases when describing a situation where the narrator wasn’t present he uses the confession of another character. ‘On the last night, in the evening, she kissed me, and said: â€Å"If my baby should die too, Peggotty, please let them lay him in my arms, and bury us together.† (It was done; for the poor lamb lived but a day beyond her.) â€Å"Let my dearest boy go with us to our resting-place,† she said, â€Å"and tell him that his mother, when she lay here, blessed him not once, but a thousand times.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (D.C. ; Pg131 Ch. IX).29 He describes these situations by dialogue with him and that character. Another situation is when only a specific character tells the story and in some other passages David interferes in tha t narration by adding his impressions about that situation. In these situations the narrator also analyzes the event by his point of view. The reader can encounter some parts in the novel where the narrator is not involved in a situation but, for the sake of narration he â€Å"places† himself in that event as a spectator: â€Å"I said something to the effect that it was a lady whom I had seen before, in a few words, to my conductress; and had scarcely done so, when we heard her voice in the room, though not, from where we stood, what she was saying.† (D.C. ; Pg. 668; Ch. XLVII).30 In order to tell how Uriah Heep and Mr. Littimer ended up, Charles makes a smart move where he invents a visit to the prison where these two were paying for their crimes (Ch LX).  Another smart move of the narrator is as well the chapter when Mr. Peggotty visits David and recounts him how the emigrants are doing in the far land of Australia. The narrator â€Å"puts† the correspondence into Mr. Peggotty’s pocket  (D.C.; Ch. LXII). Due to this correspondence David is able to tell the story by his own words. In this way the narration though not about David, still remains in the first person. 4.5. Different approaches toward situations When analyzing his point of view about things that happened, there are different approaches from narrator’s part. From time to time, while rummaging into his past, the narrator reveals that he has the same feelings about a specific situation or person. â€Å"I fell at once into a solitary condition, – apart from all friendly notice, apart from the society of all other boys of my own age, apart from all companionship but my own spiritless thoughts, – which seems to cast its gloom upon this paper as I write. (D.C. ;Pg. 146; Ch. X).31 But, there are other parts in the book where the narrator now recounts the story with a different approach towards that situation from the moment when it occurred. It seems like the time has passed and the narrator’s attitude toward some things and ideas has changed, which is a natural thing to happen. â€Å"They did just what they liked with me; and wormed things out of me that I had no desire to tell, with a certainty I blush to think of, the more especially, as in my juvenile frankness, I took some credit to myself for being so confidential a nd felt that I was quite the patron of my two respectful entertainers.† (Pg. 243;Ch XVII).32 Being an autobiography the author has still some remembrances about how he felt when he witnessed some events. So, when he remembers the past he also describes the sensation that he experienced at that time. â€Å"There was a trembling upon her, that I can see now. The coldness of her hand when I touched it, I can feel yet.† (D.C. ; Pg. 413; Ch. XVV).33 It looks like he is living that moment and he is addressing it directly to the reader. At some passages the narrator laments some decisions that he took and now that he writes the story he has a different point of view about those decisions. I was a boyish husband as to years. † I had known the softening influence of no other sorrows or experiences than those recorded in these leaves. If I  did any wrong, as I may have done much, I did it in mistaken love, and in my want of wisdom. I write the exact truth. It would avail me nothing to extenuate it now.† ( D.C. ;Pg.602; Ch. XLIV).34 4.6. The revelation of the narrator The chapter â€Å"Tempest† is very important in the narrative sense. At the beginning the author states that the things that he is writing at this stage don’t have very much time that has occurred: â€Å"I now approach an event in my life, so indelible, so awful, so bound by an infinite variety of ties to all that has preceded it, in these pages, that, from the beginning of my narrative, I have seen it growing larger and larger as I advanced, like a great tower in a plain, and throwing its fore-cast shadow even on the incidents of my childish days.† (D.C. ;Pg. 731; Ch LV).35 Besides this fact, the narrator also confirms that this is the story of his life and he is approaching the end of his narration. Another detail in this chapter about the narration is that David places himself in the region where the tempest happened. This is a way of making possible the continuance of the narration in the first person: â€Å"We came to Ipswich – very late, having had to fight every inch of ground since we were ten miles out of London; and found a cluster of people in the market-place, who had risen from their beds in the night, fearful of falling chimneys.†36 Four chapters of the novel, called â€Å"Retrospect† are narrated in the present tense. It looks like he is living these moments at the time the he is writing. Those lines have something poetic in them. They flow like a river from narrator’s pen and the reader is the sea that receives them (D.C.chap. XVII, XLIII, LIII, LXIV). 5. Similarities between Oliver Twist and David Copperfield It is a failure to try to draw a parallel between the forms of narration of these two novels because, â€Å"Oliver Twist† and â€Å"David Copperfield† in the narrative form, are two contrary poles. â€Å"Oliver Twist† is recounted from the third person narrator whereas â€Å"David Copperfield† belongs to the first  person narrator. But, if we dig into the depths of the subjects, the reader can find many similarities, which represent the point of view of the narrator. Dickens lived in a time where the society in England had many disorders and inequalities. Some of them are discussed in both novels. In both novels the main characters are children. With the difficulties these characters are challenged, the narrator tries to present the difficult life that orphan children have to go through. By his satirical tone Dickens addresses his narration to the ear of authorities who were responsible for those children. But this was not only an appeal for the authorit ies who were responsible for those children but also for the society in general to be more attentive and show more compassion for those children. Dickens also represents the difficult conditions in which those children were obliged to work in order to survive. Dickens, with the portrait of these two characters, arouses the voice for the poor law about the children’s labor. He not only questions the poor law but, also puts a question mark whether the children should work at all. The atrocities that Oliver suffers in the undertakers shop and, the difficult job of David in the wine house illustrate Dickens concerns about that matter. Suffering in his flesh the life of hardships as a child, the author was really concerned about this. I can say that the author writes with personal references about this matter. The other subject that Dickens treats in both novels is (if I can name it like this) the immoral women. The moral of women was a delicate subject in the era of Victorian England but, Dickens finds a way to treat this matter with much careful in both novels. The author does not prejudice them, just the contrary he treats them as human beings and explains the reason why those women decided to take the path of immorality. In Oliver Twist the character of Nancy is indicated to be a prostitute. The narrator never states this but, indirectly, all the description of this girl can lead the reader to that conclusion. Even in these circumstances the author manages to have the Victorian’s reader attention without offending him or her. By the portrait of Nancy, the author explains the reason how some of these women have no choice but to take the life of sin. She was an orphan with no one to love or take care of her. To survive she had to do what she could. The character of Nancy is presen ted in both sides of the medal. She was  living a life of shame however, she shows her good heart when she tries to help Oliver escape. Anyway, although the narrator somehow justifies her decision and makes the reader pity her, he makes her pay for the live she led. And the best way to do this was by not letting her live anymore. In â€Å"David Copperfield† are two women who â€Å"torment† the society with their indecency. The first one is Emily who abandonees her fiancà © in order to climb the higher class of the society and become a lady. However, she shows her repentance from the beginning in her letter of goodbye. This way even though she committed an immorality she was not presented as a monstrous person. However in the end, the author convicts her with the isolated life in Australia and although she becomes a worthy member of society in the far land, she is destined to live alone. The second character is Martha. She is an orphan also and she falls into the life of sin. Just like Nancy in Oliver Twist the author never mentions the word to label her but, every reference to her leads that she is a prostitute. The author makes the reader feel sorry for her and maybe forgive her when she helps David find Emily. The author rewards her with a new life in Australia and a descent husband. Previously in the research I have mentioned the way in which the narrator describes the characters ( Pg. 6, 11). Since I have elaborated this above I will not deal in detail with it here. I will just show briefly that the form is the same in both novels. At some characters the narrator uses their dialogue to show their characteristics. In some cases the narrator uses his own thoughts to influence the reader’s image towards certain character. Dickens has used both methods in both novels so I can consider this as a similarity between these two objects of my research. Being written by the same author it is very probable that these two novels have much more in common besides the points which I have mentioned. However, they do not belong to the subject of my research. 6. Conclusion In this thesis I have tried to compare the base on which these two novels are constructed, the narration. These novels belong to two different narrations. â€Å"David Copperfield† is considered as a masterpiece whereas â€Å"Oliver Twist† is not so much distinguished. However, speaking in the plain of popularity they both are at the same level. Due to the images the narrator uses the reader feels sorry for the way Oliver was brought up. The famous expression that the hunger forces the poor boy to utter â€Å"Please sir, I want some more! â€Å", has the power to make a reader cry from compassion. Because of the fluid language with which the narrator pictures the beautiful landscapes, the reader runs from his reading place to those landscapes. The accurate description of characters and their smart construction of dialogues create in the reader’s mind a perfect image for each character. Narration is the essential column in the construction of a novel. It is the key to make the reader cry from sorrow, feel repulsive from the disgust or make him/her feel the fresh air of meadows and sense the odor of roses. Dickens had the talent to create all these effects in his novels but not only. Due to his kind and humble heart we are able to see the things from a poor little boy perspective and feel the irony with which he describes those people who look down on others. Because of Dickens’s sharp eye the reader is able to observe Uriah’s bad intentions. The city of London comes to our room because of his accurate description of it. Despite their different forms of narration Dickens in both of the novels has treated some similar subjects. In both novels are displayed the suffering of two boys in the conditions of Victorian England. The hard conditions in which children are allowed to work, the morality of women the function of courts are some of them. When I read these novels except the satisfactory function that the art of literature can give you, I was introduced to new horizons of thinking and analyzing things. During the research I have read many appreciations that critics have addressed to Dickens. And, after I read and analyzed some of his novels I could not do more but strongly agree with those critics. Bibliography 1. Dickens, Charles, Oliver Twist, Web-Books.com 2. Dickens, Charles, David Copperfield, Project Gutenberg (2006) 3. Forster, John, â€Å"The Life of Charles Dickens† Vol. I, Cambridge University Press (2011) 4. Forster, John, â€Å"The Life of Charles Dickens† Vol. II, Cambridge University Press (2011) 5. Chesterton, G., K. Appreciation and Criticism of the Works of Charles Dickens, Gutenberg Project

Zombie

The Cranberries provides the right qualities for the 60 minutes segment on investigation of the power of public protest. The combination of a strong message, powerful lyrics and visually dramatic video clip creates a public protest masterpiece. The AIR ceasefire of 1994 can be attributed to the success of public protest mounted by The Cranberries in their song Zombie'. Over thousands of years, music has been a part of human culture and been used to convey different messages.Music has the power to Inspire, unify and galvanism people into action. It can be used as a form of public protest to raise awareness of the issue to the general public and create a worldwide movement for a solution. This is demonstrated in the song Zombies' by the band The Cranberries, creating a public protest song about the reciprocal acts of violence between the AIR and the British Army. ‘Zombie' is centrally about Irish society normalizing war and young children losing their Innocence due to the Intense violence.In Ireland, violence was accepted as normal and a part of everyday life, this caused young children to become asininities about violence and its usage in ‘normal' life. Irish children lived a generational perpetuated war, for decades. The Irish Republican Army or AIR committed reciprocally motivated acts of terrorism directed against the British control of Northern Ireland. Zombie' makes the point that the boundaries between war and normal life are confused and ambiguous. This blurring created the atmosphere for accepting and excusing the war.The song ‘Zombies' uses very strong and powerful lyrics to describe the situation of violence in Ireland. With their tanks ND their bombs, and their bombs and their guns' refers to the environment which the Irish people lived in and the lead singer strongly stresses key words like tanks', ‘bombs' and ‘guns'. The message of ‘nothing has changed' is common throughout the song's lyrics, ‘It's the same old theme since 1916' which is a direct historical reference to the 1916 Easter Rising of the RIB (later known as the AIR) and explains the length of time the violence has been effecting Irish society.The lyrics show how the Irish people distance themselves from the violence by saying ‘but you see, it's not me, it's tot my family, they are implicitly denying the conflict and violence. The Juxtaposition and cross cutting between black and white shots of children playing and soldiers creates ambiguity between play and war. The strength of the message to the audience is enhanced by the pace at which the shots are screened in synchronization with the tempo of the music and lyrics. The gold symbolism Is visually dramatic which creates a paradox by contrast to the other bleak Images.Dramatic images are created with Dolores Ordinary against the cross, which is a preference to the 1 916 Easter Rising of the RIB. The singer is completely encrusted in gold and surrounded by golden nymph like figures which invites multiple references to Greek Mythology. The gold represents Justice, power, strength, purity and value. These visual messages add complexity and remove the viewer from the immediate clip and instant recognition by the public, therefore it would be an excellent choice for the 60 minutes special on the power of public protest. The Cranberries hit song ‘Zombies' has become an anthem for the worldwide peace movement.

Health and Behavioral Consequences of Binge Drinking in College Essay

Objective — To examine the extent of binge drinking by college students and the ensuing health and behavioral problems that binge drinkers create for themselves and others on their campus. Design — Self-administered survey mailed to a national representative sample of US 4-year college students. Setting — One hundred forty US 4-year colleges in 1993. Participants — A total of 17,592 college students. Main Outcome Measures — Self-reports of drinking behaviour, alcohol-related health problems, and other problems. Results — Almost half (44%) of college students responding to the survey were binge drinkers, including almost one fifth (19%) of the studenst who were frequent binge drinkers. Frequent binge drinkers are more likely to experience seious health and other consequences of their drinking behaviour than other students. Almost half (47%) of the frequent binge drinkers experienced five or more different drinking related problems, including injuries and engaging in unplanned sex, since the beginning of the school year. Most binge drinkers do not consider themselves to be problem drinkers and have not sought treatment for an alcohol problem. Binge drinkers create problems for classmates who are not binge drinkers. Students who are not binge drinkers at schools with higher binge rates were more liekly than students at schools with lower binge rates to experience problems such as being pushed, hit, or assualted or experiencing an unwanted sexual advance. Conclusions — Binge drinking is widespread on college campuses. Programs aimed at reducing this problem should focus on frequent binge drinkers, refer them to treatment or educational programs, and emphasize the harm they cause for students who are not binge drinkers

An Analysis of Modern Theatre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

An Analysis of Modern Theatre - Essay Example The fluidity that the position offered gave a lot of scope for thinkers like McGrath and Bakhtin. Both these thinkers looked upon the conventions of theatre that privileged a catharsis inducing performance of a play as detrimental to the political fabric of modern democracies. They were thus, according to them, outdated. The principles of tragedy and theatre in general, which pointed to catharsis, a mixture of pity and fear that prevented praxis on the part of the spectator and led him to look at the play as nothing but a fiction could not, or should not be applied to modern theatre, according to these thinkers. This is not to say that theatre in modern times have or have not adhered to these principles. While there have been adaptations of plays that do not seek to do anything but glorify imperial assumptions of race and class, there have also been ones that are political and seek to challenge the very assumptions that the earlier plays held. It is surprising that many of such plays began through a reversal of earlier roles as they were seen. One can look at the play A Tempest and understand its political implications through the reversal of the traditional roles of Caliban and Prospero. The heroic role is played by Caliban who is a monster in William Shakespeare’s version (Cesaire, 2002). This reversal of roles comes at the back of many changes that took place in theatre during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries when the ideals that Aristotle had laid down for theatre had been completely demolished. Even naturalist ideas that had dominated theatre for a while had been pulled down and new fluid conventions were erected in their place. Importance started to be given to the common man who then became the protagonist in many important plays. One of the most important examples of this can be seen in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, where the protagonist, Willy Loman is a common salesman whose death forms the major part of the story (Miller, 2007). This needs to be looked at in conjunction with the theories that were propounded by John McGrath. In his book, he says, You go into a space, and some other people use certain devices to tell you a story. Because they have power over you, in a real sense, while you are there, they make a choice, with political implications, as to which story to tell - and how to tell it. If their work is good and skillfully written, presented and acted, we come out feeling exhilarated: we are more alive for seeing it, more aware of the possibilities of the human race, more fully human ourselves.

Week 2 posts 6340 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 2 posts 6340 - Assignment Example ver wonder who exactly the target audience is since you have mentioned the employees of McDonalds and also the customers and hence am a bit confused, please clarify about the target group and especially those that will be having free check-up of their blood pressure (Dougherty, 2011). Volunteering is not an easy task and especially when it has to do with teaching patients due to the differences in educational backgrounds and hence what you are doing is really honorable and I encourage you to continue and even recruit other nursing students to follow in that good cause (Scheetz, 2000). I also admire the electronic medical recording as I know how efficient it is and makes easier the work of especially nurses. Cancer is a killer disease and any helping hand extending towards furthering research about it and especially by a profession is highly appreciable. The participation by leadership is truly admirable cause. Kudos and continue with the same spirit to raise more funds not only for cancer but also other killer diseases as well which need more research (Pape, 2000). American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (1999). Defining scholarship for the discipline of nursing. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/defining-scholarship Pape, T. (2000). â€Å"Boyers model of scholarly nursing applied to professional development. Association of Operating Room Nurses.† AORN Journal, 71(5), 995-9, 1001-3. Retrieved from

PDA Slim Part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PDA Slim Part 2 - Essay Example The strategy chosen implied decreasing the price of the X5, raising the X6 price and raising the X7 product price. The X5 product is entering the latter part of its growth phase thus a 10% price decrease was used, the X6 was increased by 10%, while the X7 price was increased by 20%. The reason for the greater increase in the X7 product was that the product shown negative profitability thus the price had to be increased enough to turn the product line into a profitable one. Based on the original information no product would be discontinued. The allocation of R&D budget strategy is based on giving more money to product with the greatest potential and under saturated markets. Allocation of R&D budget for each of the products was: X5 =15%, X6=50%, X7=35%. Tbe result for the first round was a total profit of 328.2 million. Both the X5, and X5 profits did very well with over 150 million of income each. The X7 profits were -$3.3 million. The X5 product more than double in total revenues, with profitability going up The market saturation of this product went up to 53%. The strategy seemed to work wonders as far as drastically increasing the revenue stream from this product. The X6 product market saturation went up to 33%, while its revenue growth went down 18%. The profitability of the product improved by 7%. The performance of the X7 product was lackluster. Its overall revenues went up a moderate 8%, while its profitability improved by still remained at a -6% level implying an unprofitable operation. The second round followed the same exact strategy with the same weighted distribution. The results from the first round seem very good, thus I continue with the formula. The results were not what I expected. The major problem was that the 10% decrease to the X5 handeld caused an accelerated movement in the product life cycle. The price movement caused the market saturation to reach 98%. The

The appendices of Poster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The appendices of Poster - Essay Example It owns several cash & carry clubs, forecourt stores, discount department stores, discount stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets. It is a publicly traded organization and its shares are listed in the London and Irish Stock markets. The company was founded by Jack Cohen, in 1919 (Tesco Plc, 2011). The current CEO of the organization is Philip Clarke and its chairman is Richard Broadbent (Tesco Plc, 2014b). The company sells goods and services of various brands but at the same time it also acquires its own range of product lines. The primary products and services of the company are books, furniture, clothing, electronics; financial, telecoms, internet services and DVD rental services; petrol and software and many other products. Since, its inception, the business of the company has significantly grown up and at present it operates in more than twelve major economies in the world. With rise in scope and scale of business, the customer base of the company has also expanded across all mar ketplaces and the gross employment generated by the concern has increased. It is estimated that Tesco generates employment opportunities for approximately 530,000 individuals around the world. The company claims that all important decisions are undertaken according to the vision statement. Tesco acquires multiple superior assets in business and its activities ensure utility maximization of its business stakeholders. It uses innovative ideas in business with which it provides high quality services and this has helped it gain loyalty of customers. The company claims that it prioritises on doing the right thing for its colleagues, customers and the communities and it has gained high brand value in the market only with such initiatives (Needle, 2010). Many economists claim that an institution affects the business outcomes of concerns and are hence susceptible for analysis. It is the set of social, legal, economic and political conventions that institutes the

For this essay, choose someone who serves you, write an essay that

For this , choose someone who serves you, write an that analyzes their service to you - Essay Example As I accept his support of my own college education, I marvel at his feat of having worked his way through college and being the first person from his family to graduate successfully. I am determined to emulate his hard work and focus on academics and adopt his tactics of time management but, at the same time, I hope to make my own attempt to utilize the extra-curricular opportunities that a college education offers. My father has always emphasized the importance of academic excellence, and he is a living testament to the power of education to change one’s life. Even when at High School, he realized that it was only academic excellence which would see him through school and college, as he was dependent on a merit scholarship for financial support. He chuckles as he recalls burning the midnight oil on several occasions, and his brother’s horrified exclamation, ‘He’s gone bonkers!’ when he declined to join him for late-night movies. Throughout his college years, my father adhered strictly to his maxim of â€Å"Study first† (Name, personal communication, February 19, 2009). I hope to retain this focus on academics during my own years at college, for the basic purpose of a college education is the assimilation of academic skills. As my father strove to maintain the grades he needed to retain his scholarship, he also juggled a part-time job at the local pharmacy after school hours. This helped pay for his personal expenses. He says, â€Å"That’s when I discovered the secret of time management: scheduling!† (Name, personal communication, February 19, 2009). His secret entailed writing out a ‘time table’ for the following day, in which he drew columns and assigned tasks for each hour. I do believe I have inherited my habit of writing a ‘to-do list’ every night from this trait of my father’s! Time management will definitely be one of the tools I employ as I set out to make the most of my college days. Perhaps on account of his financial

Critical Assessment of a published qualitative research article Essay

Critical Assessment of a published qualitative research article - Essay Example The realities in Morgan’s stories are uncommon because what he writes is also common for students who have little or no English background with the English language. The only difference is the style through, which they approach their realities. In the case study, it is clear that the teachers are in denial to accept the validity of the student’s realities and experiences and existence of previous learning experiences, whether home based or school based. To understand the concept of the teacher’s refusal to accept the student’s reality, the author explores the English learning experience of two Bangladeshi children who attend mainstream English lessons. The study was conducted at an inner city school because it was public and had multicultural policy settings. The first study indicated that the teachers’ approach to Abdul made him weak, in that, instead of bilingualism being beneficial to him; it became a challenge because his teacher made it difficult to accept his realities. The first study was supported by the Cummins’ theory of Common Underlying Proficiency. The second study showed that the teacher can make the student learn better if they understand and accept their realities. â€Å" It was noticed that in subsequent work an= number of changes occurred to the student’s writing† (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 187). In the case of Mashud, he learnt bilingualism fast, because his teacher was willing to accept his reality and help him correct grammar and make the relevant changes in his composition. The study concludes with the reflections of Ms. Montgomery, where it is seen that although she does not understand the cultural diversity of the student, it does not hinder her from dealing with the realities of his student. â€Å"These doubts led Ms Montgomery to think carefully on broad issues related to cultural reproduction† (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 188). By so doing, she achieves to hasten a

Prior Knowledge That Is Required before Using the Toaster Essay

Prior Knowledge That Is Required before Using the Toaster - Essay Example The memo is summed up in one page and also contains the name of the group members. A toaster is an electronic gadget that allows you to cook, bake, and boil your food. It is important to have a toaster in your house but before buying a toaster one should decide on whether to buy a basic toaster or a toaster oven. A toaster oven can do more cooking than the ordinary toaster so if you do a lot of cooking then the toaster oven is ideal for you. If you want to cook for a crowd of people then a toaster oven will most likely suit you more than the normal oven. A toaster oven is not very different from the normal oven that is found in most of the kitchens. However, it should be known that not all cooking can be done using the toaster oven and so some cooking should be done using the normal oven or cooker (David 8). When you buy a toaster you are given a short wire cord to prevent the chances of tripping in the event where someone becomes tangled with the wire. However, longer cords are available but should be used with a lot of care. When one uses a longer cord, it is advisable that one checks the marked electrical rating and make sure that it is twice that of the toaster oven. The appliance always has a polarized plug and so this makes it safe especially for fitting it to a polarized end. If you try to fix it and it does not fit then contact a qualified electrician and never try to force it (David 34). A toaster makes toasting much easier and faster than before. The toaster also has an easy to clean interior that wipes the interior of the toaster clean at once. The toaster is also big enough to let you bake an entire meal once without having to split the number of cooking. Baking: this is the function that can be used the same way that you would use your normal kitchen. When baking using the toaster, remember to prepare what you want to bake then preheat the toaster for five to ten minutes.  Ã‚  

BFS 3440-07B BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FOR FIRE PROTECTION (BFS3440-07B) Essay - 7

BFS 3440-07B BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FOR FIRE PROTECTION (BFS3440-07B) - Essay Example When high rise structures unfortunately catch a fire, both the residents/occupants and the crew face a number of challenges. Some of them are discussed below. 1- The most common challenge is to cope with the smoke. In a high rise structure building, the smoke circulates differently from that of the low rise building. The greater height of the building having a low air pressure allows the smoke to move briskly. Most of the deaths during the fire occur due to the suffocation created by the smoke. When the smoke is inhaled, it can burn the lungs. The smoke obscures the eyesight of the occupants as well as the fire fighters. Both of them can not coordinate and the delay results in the death of the occupants or collapse of the building on its occupants. 2- In the high rise structures the exit ways are very few. The scarcity of the exits is a serious challenge for the occupants as well as relievers, because removal of a great number of people through a few exits is very difficult. This lea ds to a greater death rate. 3- The high rise structures are availed by mixed types of occupancies like residences and commercials etc. which is again a challenge. The fire fighters are supposed to adopt different strategies for different occupancies. This is a time consuming procedure and encompasses great risks. 4- Fighting the fire in high rise structures is not an easy task. It requires a greater number of crew and equipments to extinguish the fire as compared in the low rise buildings. (U.S. Fire Administration,

Load Sheding In Pakistan Essay Example for Free

Load Sheding In Pakistan Essay There are number of problems which exist in Pakistan,among these problem Load sheeding is the one major problem of Pakistan .There are several reasons of Load shedding.Here we discussed few of them and then its effect on the Pakistan.The first main reason of load shedding is energy crisis,these crisis are due to small number of dams or may be due to miss use of electricity or may be some other reasons also effect,a huge number of person used electricity without pay its bill so it also cause load shedding in Pakistan. In presence of load shedding progress is not possible in Pakistan.Here we also discussed about some problem which happens due to Load shedding.load shedding in pakistan essay is discussed here. The first problem which happened due to load shedding is the failure of industry in Pakistan .This effect badly on all types of industry.In mini industry there is no alternative source of electricity so when load shedding started these industries stop their work.In big industry although they have a source of electricity but if they produce electricity from their own source then its cost become very high.So due to this work is not done in any type of industry.But the mot badly effected industry is the electronic industry.So due to this no investor invest on industry in Pakistan and day by bay Pakistan goes down rapidlly. Another problem which exist due to load shedding is the business in markets due to this markets also effected, no work done mostly in night time.Although many problems occurred in day time but some business has to be done but in night time all shops in markets closed.So economically its has very worst effect on Pakistan.As every one know that students are ingredient for the progress of any country but major bad effect occurred on studies is due to load shedding, students do not decide proper time for their studies. Basically Pakistan is a agricultural country most of Pakistan economy depend on its agriculture Due to load shedding , water problem damaged the crops.There are many other aspect through which load shedding effect on agriculture.

Case Analysis Of Dippin Dots Marketing Essay

Case Analysis Of Dippin Dots Marketing Essay The case analysis of Dippin Dots utilizes tools such as Porters Five Forces Mode, Contingency Framework, SWOT analysis and Value Chain analysis to research Dippin Dots position. These tools have also been used to analyze its potential for the expansion of its franchises. From its inception, Dippin Dots has prided itself on being The Future of Ice Cream, but in recent years the company and the industry as a whole has been relatively flat. This case will review the issues as well as offer alternative solutions that might resolve some of the issues and issue recommendations that the company should consider. Introduction Dippin Dots is an ice cream snack that was created in 1987 by Curt Jones. This product was created by a patented six step flash-freezing process that uses liquid nitrogen. Currently Dippin Dots is operating over 400 franchise locations and is selling products such as ice cream, frozen yogurt as well as frozen ice (Dippin dots, inc., 2011). The company is currently utilizing the marketing slogan as its ice cream being Ice Cream of the Future Dippin Dots Inc. is a privately traded company meaning they do not offer or trade its company stock to the public or in the stock exchange. This company also has global licenses that reach to 10 different countries outside of the United States of America. Most of Dippin Dots are manufactured at their headquarters in Paducah, Kentucky. Dippin Dots believes that through its flash-freezing the ice cream ingredients would lock in flavor as well as freshness (More info, 2011). The company is home to the nations largest -50OF commercial walk in freezer. The once patented company lost its freezing process patent in 2007 through a series of lawsuits. This patent was deemed invalid because Jones had made over 800 sales of the product prior to applying for the patent (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p. C209). Problem Statement Given the case study on Dippin Dots Ice cream a few problems have been identified. Firstly the company is faced with an issue of its previous customers becoming uninterested in the product. Secondly Dippin Dots has seen a significant reduction in franchising numbers since the year 2000. Finally the company is no longer the only company who offers flash-frozen ice cream. All of these factors have contributed to the recent stagnant growth of Dippin Dots. Through extensive research several recommendations will be made in this analysis to address the previously mentioned problems that Dippin Dots faced. Strategic Analysis Contingency Analysis Dippin Dots is facing an issue of whether or not they should continue to expand both its franchises in the midst of a flattened market or should it continue to reduce its number of franchises that it allows to operate. Dipping Dots can also expand into different markets with the most popular being the in-home ice cream market which it has stayed away from in years past do to the shelf life of the product. The contingency analysis below will analyze the different market conditions scenarios and the possible consequences and outcomes that the company might face. Market Condition Scenarios /Possible Consequences Market Continues to flatten out Market starts to grow/ Buyer spending increases Cut back on number of franchises globally Cutting back the number of franchises will cut down some of the overhead expenses for the company if the market continues its trend of flattening out This is the more likely of the two scenarios. If the company continues to cut back on the number of franchises that it has globally and the markets grow then it might not be able to handle the demand for that product which will give competition an advantage if they are better equipped. This is the less likely of the two scenarios. Keep number of franchises where they are This strategy will be more costly than the option to cut back the number of franchises like it has been doing over the past several years. If the market starts to grow then this will be a profitable option. While this decision is profitable the company must be cautious to not over expand in case the market shrinks again. Continue to expand in to different markets such as the in-home ice cream market If the market continues to react the way it is currently, this would result in a failure of entering a new target market. This new target market coupled with a growing market could prove to be one of the most profitable options for Dippin Dots. Value Chain Analysis The value chain analysis of Dippin dots is fairly typical. The different aspects that make up this analysis are its franchising opportunities, finance department and financial information, technical development, marketing and how it converts its traffic to buyers Franchising Dippin Dots, Inc. has very strict rules when it comes to its franchising opportunities. Dippin Dots offers two types of franchising opportunities: an event-based opportunity and a store-based opportunity. In 2008 the initial franchise fee was $12,500 just to be able to use the name. This also came with an initial investment range that topped out close to a quarter-million dollars (Book, p.c208). The companies website gives extra criteria in which owners must meet before they can become a franchise. A few examples of the criteria includes: the location has to be around great neighbors (beach, tourist areas, movie theatres or restaurants) and have great space (good visibility, strong mixture of pedestrian and auto traffic, must be within 800-1000 sq feet and have appropriate signage) (Dippin dots franchising, 2011). Finance Dippin Dots is a privately traded company which makes its financial records and information on its financial department virtually impossible to find. While researching financial information and information about the finance department, the only relevant information that could be accessed was that the director of finance is Sheri Dikin (Dippin dots, inc., 2011). Technical Development (R D) Innovation has always been the driving force behind Dippin Dots, Inc. Their Research and Development departments are constantly looking for the next big thing. New products, such as Coffee Dots, are hopeful in the efforts of Dippin Dots to return to the top of the innovative throne. Marketing Marketing could very easily be a strong point for Dippin Dots. Each of the companies 400 franchises place  ½% into the companies overall advertising fund (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p. C209). While most marketing it targeted at youth, one set of marketing techniques proved to be highly successful. One thing that consumer value is the approval from celebrities. In 2008 Oprah Winfrey had Curt Jones on her show to talk about the product and after she tasted it, she gave Dippin Dots a thumbs-up approval (Horovitz, 2009). Conversion from traffic to buyers The bulk of Dippin Dots sales are based at what the company calls Fun Places. The organization classifies theme parks, major league sports venues and water parks (The original beaded, 2007). Dippin dots is also starting to be involved in on-line sales with the product being delivered in a cooler packed in dry ice. SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Innovative Product Brand Recognition Advertising Fund High Prices Limited places that the product can be sold Storage Issues Target Marketing Opportunities Threats In-Home ice-cream market Different forms of Ice-cream Competitors such as Frosty Bites and Mini Melts Strengths: The first strength for Dippin Dots is what made them famous, their innovative product. Dippin Dots has claimed to re-invent ice-cream (The original beaded, 2007). Innovation is has a great impact on consumers, especially when its based on a technology that hasnt been seen or used before. This was the case with the flash-freezing technique that Dippin Dots employed. Dippin Dots also has a brand recognition that gives them a slight advantage of its competitors. Being the market share leader in high profile locations gives Dippin Dots a brand that is viewed hand in hand with Fun Venues. Any franchise of Dippin Dots must agree to give one-half of one percent to the general advertising fun. This creates strength because with over 400 franchises worldwide, Dippin Dots advertises globally instead of having each individual store be held accountable for its own advertising expenses. This allows for the company to be more unified in its advertising efforts. Weaknesses: The first weakness of Dippin Dots is its extremely high prices. Prices range from an individual Pre-Packaged Dots for $2.50 to a 2.5 gallon tub for $50.00 (Check out dippin', 2011). These high prices are an extreme weakness since the market for ice-cream products as well as an overall buyer downturn in America. Coupled with high prices, Dippin Dots is weakened in the locations in which they can sell their products. The product has to be served at sub-zero temperatures, -10 to -20 to be exact. This makes it nearly impossible to be consumed unless it is near a retail location (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p.c205). This also causes storage issues. Because of the fact that Dippin Dots can only hold it shape for roughly 2 weeks any type of inventory is virtually impossible. This means that if they dont sell their product it goes to waste within two weeks. Target marketing is usually a good thing and it is the first step in creating a marketing plan. For Dippin Dots it was act ually the opposite. Dippin Dots targeted a market that consisted of a younger demographic (The original beaded, 2007). Limiting your demographic, in this case, will also limit your profits. Some of Dippin Dots customers feel like they are being ignored and want something new to keep up with their claim of being the ice-cream of the future. Opportunities: This case only revealed one opportunity for Dippin Dots. Based on one of the companys weaknesses, the move from solely an out-of-home ice-cream company to one that encompasses in-home as well could be very promising as well as profitable. Exploring this market would be difficult based upon the shelf-life of the product, but if Dippin Dots was able to fix this it would add a convenience factor to the marketability of the product. For instance, if you wanted to curb your craving for Dippin Dots at 2am on a Sunday morning, the way the company was set up in the case wouldnt allow you to get any of their products. If there was some way to enhance their product to where it could be bought and frozen in a household freezer, the product becomes that much more valuable and convenient. Also based upon the 2008 numbers there is an $8.9 billion on ice cream products that were strictly for at-home consumption (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p. c205). Threats: Dippin Dots faces a few threats based off of the information given in this case. The first threat is the presence of different types of ice cream. Most of the novelty ice creams could be found at local supermarkets and at a cheaper price. This brings into question, how willing is the buyer to be loyal to Dippin Dots when it can get the other types of ice cream wherever they desire. Secondly the competition from companies who offer the same flash-frozen ice cream is starting to become an issue. If companies like Frosty Bites are marketing its nitrogen frozen ice cream as The Ultimate Ice Cream Sensation and the failed lawsuit to halt Frosty Bites production, it will be hard for Dippin Dots to contain as much of the market share as it currently has (Mehl, 2004). Five Forces Analysis The reasoning behind Michael Porters five forces analysis is to be a model for industry analysis. This is done on an industry by industry basis because different industries can sustain different rates and levels of profitability. This analysis takes into consideration the variance in industry structures. Dippin Dots is classified to be in the frozen dairy industry. The degree of rivalry The degree of rivalry in the frozen dairy industry is relatively high. Not only does Dippin Dots compete with other flash-frozen companies such as Frosty Bites and Mini Melts but they are also in competition with their more traditional counterparts. According to the yahoo directory, there are currently 43 companies who sell ice cream and frozen dairy products nationally, with more companies selling world-wide (Yahoo! directory, 2011). This rivalry is fuelled by the availability of most products. Nearly every convenience store and grocery store that you go to sells multiple brands of ice cream or other frozen dairy products. Based upon a high buyer power companies in this industry must compete to have a quality product that its consumers must enjoy and offer it at the lowest price that they can. The threat of new entrants The threat of new entry for the frozen dairy industry is extremely low. There are several barriers to entry that a company must fight through in order to join the industry. Each of the eight sections that are categorized in the frozen dairy industry has different and high standards that are regulated by the federal government (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p.c205). Things such as different percentages of fat content, weight per gallon and package size make smaller companies with less cash flow for RD nearly impossible to be successful. High start-up costs are another determining factor as to why the threat of new entry is low. Porter says that one thing that would make threat of new entry low is if brand names are well-known. In this industry there are several known brand names including: Dippin Dots, Good Humor, Ben Jerrys and Klondike. The threat of substitutes There is a medium threat of substitutes. The frozen dairy industry is mostly consumed by the same consumers of other desert. If something was to go on with the currently flat industry, many of the consumers would be able to switch to items such as cakes and pies and other deserts. This makes the probability of product substitution high. With this being known the frozen dairy industry has to find more ways to make customers want the frozen dairy products over alternative dairy products. Currently there is also a trend of consumers heading towards a more health-conscious treats (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p.c205). Buyer power The buyer power for the frozen dairy industry is mixed. There are two types of buyers for this market, there are the individual consumers and then there are the retail clients. Individual consumers are more brand-conscious when it comes to this market, meaning that they look at the brand first before they look at the price. Retail clients are the opposite. While frozen diary is a multi-billion dollar industry, it does not make up a significant portion of a food retailers business, which will increase buyer power and heighten price sensitivity at the same time (Ice cream in, 2008, p. 15). The buyer power becomes mixed due to the fact that the consumer still drives the retailers purchases based upon their demand. Supplier power Overall the supplier power for frozen dairy products is moderate. In regards to large manufacturers there is a strong negotiating position and there is also an absence of fixed-term agreements. This makes for the cost of switching suppliers and supplier power to be low (Ice cream in, 2008, p.15). The dairy companies are slightly larger than most of the frozen dairy product companies, and since the companies must maintain a certain level of quality the strength of dairy suppliers is relatively high. Alternative Solutions Utilize the innovation that brought you your initial success Dippin Dots must get back to doing some innovative things that brought them their success from the companys inception. Curt Jones and the rest of his executive staff must make their products stand out at a time in which the market for frozen dairy is stagnant. Its recent efforts have shown that they are taking a step in that direction. In 2009 Jones mentioned that the company was going to try and take its innovative lead business a step further. Keeping the same flash-frozen technique, Jones has gone on record to say that he will be offering coffee dots. All you would need to do is add hot water and the consumer would have freshly brewed coffee. He has affectionately given Coffee Dots the same slogan as its ice cream counterparts by calling it The Coffee of the Future (Horovitz, 2009). Dippin Dots needs to pump money into its Research and development team to find the next big things that will help their company if not the whole industry out of the slump that it currently faces. Dippi ng Dots has made its money being ahead of the curve and without added funding to its RD other competitors may take that competitive advantage. Get rid of targeted market Target marketing in a business strategy is very risky. Targeting a certain market may be risky since it can hamper the organizations ability to quickly respond to changes in the markets condition and needs (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2009, p.252). With target marketing a narrow segment can be accessed less expensively through outlets such as the internet. Dippin Dots was targeting the youth which seemed like a good idea at first. The problem with targeting the youth is that they become older and then they arent targeted again. As seen in the case the adults who still purchase the product are looking for something different from the brand. One customer went on record as saying How can this stuff keep continuing to call itself the ice cream of the future? Well the future is now (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p.c209). Integrate more health conscious items to the company Frozen dairy products arent considered to be the healthiest of industries. By definition ice cream must have at least 10 percent butterfat in it before the additions of its bulky ingredients (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, 2010, p.c205). In recent years there has been a trend towards a more healthy option for after dinner treats. Companies like Nestle and Haagen-Dazs have been offering a low-fat option since 2004. Coupled with the fact that the company needs to be more innovative, it must also become more health-conscious. With a number of consumers going to healthy alternatives such as frozen yogurt and smoothies, Dippin Dots must do something to ensure that they are not losing their consumer base. Increasing product differentiation will also allow them to reach out to a broader market. They must be careful not to go away from the product that made them so successful, but reach out to different markets such as the health-friendly market. Doing something as simple as offering a no-sugar pro duct will show its diabetic consumers, who might not been able to eat the normal product, that they are concerned about them as well. Take no action Doing nothing is always an option. This option poses the most risk for Dippin Dots. If the market continues to flatten out like it currently is, then Dippin Dots and the rest of the market could find itself in more trouble than they currently are. Many would agree that this reactive stance might not be the best stance in regards to growth, if the market continues in the slum that it is in Dippin Dots could potentially save itself a lot of money in the long run. This alternative may also allow for competition to move ahead if Dippin Dots sits back and waits for the market to improve. Recommendations In regards to the overall United States economy, it is recommended that Dippin Dots should continue its expansion efforts and broaden its target market. Based off the above analysis there are a few steps in which Dippin Dots can approach the current problems faced with the following steps: Focus on creating a non- seasonal product that you can market equally year round. (Coffee Dots or Smoking Joes a good start) Keep innovative breakthroughs secret and ensure that all patents are filed correctly. This will hinder competitors from stealing ideas. Put the advertising fund to good use. Continue to build brand equity through the use of celebrities such as Shaq and Oprah. Switch slogan. Ice Cream of the future isnt as promising as it initially was. This approach will allow Dippin Dots to continue to have a competitive advantage with its innovative efforts through its Research Development departments. Currently Dippin Dots has brand recognition advantages over its competition but without working on some of its weaknesses one of the other competitors might close in on the market share. Conclusion The frozen dairy industry and Dippin Dots has faced a reasonably flat market over the past decade. This has made the company reduce its number of franchises in every year since 2005. Dippin Dots has also fluctuated on its position on Entrepreneurs Franchise 500 lists. Through careful analysis of the company and the industry I have illustrated a few alternative solutions for the company that might stimulate potential growth as well as made some recommendations that Dippin Dots should strongly consider. Since Dippin Dots is a privately traded company, its financial records arent made public. These financial records could have given more insight to the financial health of the company and could have yielded some other recommendations. One thing that became completely evident through this case analysis, Dippin Dots must continue to build upon its brand equity and sustain its innovative advantages over its competitors if it wants to stay relevant in its industry.

Criminal Courts And Prisons Criminology Essay

Criminal Courts And Prisons Criminology Essay Prisons institutions are essential in society due to the fundamental use of detaining and punishing criminals as well as to rehabilitate them in order to avoid re-offending. Prisons are guided by government officials. During the 1990s, private prisons were introduced in the UK. The main reason for the introduction of private prisons was to reduce overcrowding as well as costs, and to a certain extent improve prison standards. (Harding, 2001). The idea of involving private agencies in prison facilities has been expanded and recognised by the new labour, conservative and the new coalition government. In the 1990s, regardless of the labour government being strongly against the idea of prison privatisation, they were challenged by an increased prison population which led them to allow private sectors to bid for running new prisons; and also present prisons were not to be occupied by public sectors. As a result, major parties reached an agreement in support of private prisons. However, th ere have been constant critiques from academics and the several sections of the media (Teague, 2010). Prison privatisation is interestingly an old concept. This can be seen as during the 1800s; several prison institutions in the US were contracted to private companies who contracted inmates to business as labourers. This idea was shortened due to corruption and the violent opposition by several businesses who claim that there was an unfair competition due to unpaid workers. Nonetheless, modern prisons now work on a totally different framework to earlier prisons; with even promising features. The introduction of private prisons in modern society has perceived new changes in prisons structure. Prisons are now not only driven by the goal of serving punishment and rehabilitate offenders, but also to gain financial wealth from detaining criminals. The intentions of private prisons were merely to correct present faults from private sector prisons, such as overcrowding; in the process of this, private prisons have suffered heavy criticism. The cost of crime is on the increase due to increased crime rates. In early nineties, it was estimated to cost almost seven billion dollars each year in construction cost as well as the upkeep of inmate population. The price of employing prison guards, administrators, teachers and every prison services within its facility is not included in this cost. Allowing private companies to take over the running of these institutions mean that the associated costs may not be generated from tax payers money, which would mean that governments can make better use of the money to address other public areas needing attention. Private prisons come with several benefits that aim to reduce cost as well as other beneficial factors. Cost saving is one of the main benefits associated with prison privatisation. The increased rate of crime accounts for the cost which is used towards prisons. Crime is widely seen a social problem and due to this, investments of up to nine figure sums each year is spent on the development of prisons; in order to manage the increasing rate of prisoners. Furthermore, prisons also incur more cost for aspects like the recruitment of guards and administrators, as well as other necessary expenses such as healthcare, food, clothes and education. The majority of private prison supporters argue that the government spends far more money on public prisons than private prisons, and both sectors equally provide and maintain the essential quality service needed. The main reasons that these supporters gave in regards to the increased cost of public prisons are due to factors such as red tape and the several laws which increases the cost of public prison management. These factors have been eliminated in private sector prisons which has significantly reduced costs. Furthermore, with private sectors managing prisons, some of the costs that are associated with running prisons may be used for other government projects. This will enable better use of government fund to other possible serious areas that may need addressing in terms of development. The issue of competition privatization will ensure an increase of productivity and also reduced waste of resources. Research show that the boarding cost in private sector prisons is half the cost of public prisons (Young, 2003). Several other studies show that private sector prisons save over 20% in construction cost as well as up to 15% in management costs (Sloane, 1996). Although critics strongly argue that cost reductions in private agencies, may however worsen prison conditions (Smith, 2003). Private companies are also perceived to be more flexible and innovative than public sector prisons. In the early 1990s, ministers argue that private sector prisons had proposed new ideas in the running of prisons. It was proposed that private sectors have the imagination to run prisons and look at things from a different point of view as well as to consider new management techniques and create new measures. This view was recognised in the 1998 inspection of Buckley hall with the chief inspector crediting the prisons improvement to the flexibility in which contractors could present innovative ideas that are free from bureaucratic restrictions, and if possible could be removed in other institutions. Supporters argue that contracting cold be a reason for staff innovation and transformation in the longstanding obstruction. The economic theory states that there will be a reduction in the running of prisons if there is more availability in renting and selling of prison cells, the challenges in terms of the funding and efficient allocation of prison spaces. This plan aims to give back to society as it serves to preserve justice. The economic theory states that the difficulty of financial assistance towards the control of prison services will reduce if there is more availability in selling and renting prison cells, the challenges in terms of the funding and efficient allocation of prison space. Private prisons adapted this concept by trying to exploit opportunities through the use of prison run factories. The idea of this is to allow prisoners to earn whilst giving back to society via labour. More than half of the money generated through this method is used to cater for prison cells and support victims. This process not only generates money but enabled prisoners to acquire skills which they can use in the integration process back in society. They can use these skills to acquire them a living rather than to follow the path of crime and be recognised by society as ex-offenders, which could narrowly lead them back into this system (Young, 2003). Although the public prison tries to carry out this task, it is not as effective as private prisons. It is essential to note that the privatization process may lead to new approaches to criminal control and punishment other than using prisons to deny criminals of their freedom. For instance, new approaches can involve the detaining of criminals through the use of modern technology on the individuals body such as electronic monitor. However, this approach may cause concern due to the safety of individuals in society. This would raise questions on whether the given technique is effective enough in ensuring crime reduction as well as the punishment of offenders (Smith, 2003). In sum, prison privatisation has a lot of benefits due to internal factors such as cost effectiveness. The proposer of this system may use the benefits of private prisons to ensure that most prisons are privatised in order to improve prisons and ensure that justice is served in any given country. The idea of private prisons is certainly a plausible one, as it carries several advantages that benefit both the country as a whole as well as these institutions; although, in order to fully understand all its positive benefits, more studies need to be conducted in this area. This idea has the possibility of being successful if given attention. This is to ensure that social interests come before the need to maximize profits by the companies that have been given the contract to set up private prisons. It is important to realise that each benefits of private prisons has an equal amount of disapproval and this is the same case as public institutions. This is due to the debates surrounding any issue concerning the welfare of individuals in society. A sensitive issue like this one, will attract some challengers (Young, 2003) On the other hand, there have been several disadvantages and criticisms of privately run prisons. There have been a number of factors and researches to back these claims. This section of this essay will point out and address these issues, using a range of studies as well as discussions that have been conducted in order to allow the reader to understand this area well. Critics claim that profit is one of the main motives behind private sector prisons; therefore this factor contributes to conflict of interest. The idea of prisons is not only to punish and isolate offenders from society, but also to rehabilitate them in order to highly reduce the chances of re-offending. Though it is a good factor that private prisons are cost saving, this would consequently mean that private prisons are not as efficient as public prisons. This is due to gaining profits through prison management, which would mean that essential factors such as prison rehabilitation programmes and medical care are reduce d at the cost of prisoners welfare. As a result of this, it is a possibility that prisoners may experience poor living conditions, as well as the lack of effective rehabilitation programs. Furthermore, a report carried out the National Audit Office (2003) voiced concerns on several areas on services provided by private prisons. Factors such as inexperienced staffs and high staff turnovers were pointed on. Poor payment and poor working conditions are some reasons of high turnovers (Sloane, 1996). Also arguments on this topic pointed out that public prison were far safer than private prisons due to environment. This is based on the fact that prison workers in the private sectors had less experience than those in the public sector. This report further goes on to argue that the terms and conditions of the contract which private prisons were run had not been appropriately developed, which raised concerns about the commercial confidentiality that surround the terms which private prisons were under. Another aspect that is of interest to critics is the issue of bad scoring. Reports have revealed private prisons received bad scores in regards to management and security. This is due to failures in the numbers of deliberate criminal activities in this institution, assault and drug containment. Austin (2010) conducted a survey to investigate the welfare of prisoners in several private sector prisons. His findings revealed the intensity in which prisoners and staffs within this system had to cope with. A major discovery that was made within this process showed that there was an increase in the amount of assault cases within these facilities, than in public prisons. Findings show that the number of cases of assault on prisoners by staff had increased to 49%; whilst assaults by prisoners had increased to over 60%. This is almost doubled the figures in public sector prisons. This factor provides evidence to suggest that privately run prisons are less efficient in regards to performance ( Smith, 2003). The issue of low-balling is an aspect that has received some criticism. This is a tactic that is used on the government by contractors. The idea of this method is by under bidding fellow participants with the goal of winning and once they are announced winners, they then increase the figure. Worst of all, the competitors stands a chance of bankruptcy which leaves the government in a non-correctional position. If this method is introduced in this essential system that ensures that justice is served, then the country will see the provision of poor resources and facilities as well as technical hitches; therefore, this will make the whole purpose of this system loose its motives (Logan, 1990) The system has several benefits as well as disadvantages that may obstruct the process of privatizing prisons in any country. Some of the arguments by researchers may not be strong enough due to lack of evidence. On the other hands, some arguments against the idea of private prisons need to be taken into account due to sake of the welfare of individuals, which should be a major factor of any government (Sloane, 1996). Ethics and principles is a key aspect of societal needs in any given institution and it has been proven that there are certain aspects of private prisons that weaken this value. This is an issue that thoroughly needs to be reflected on. It is also important to question whether the issue of morality should be left in the hands of individuals whose ultimate goals are to search for financial gains and to make maximum profits. To a certain extent, this gives the idea that our society is no longer driven by morals, but greedy individuals who use any given opportunity to make money (Alter, 2010). While taking into consideration all the factors mentioned in this essay, the best technique of any given prison organisation appears to be private institutions. The reason for this is due to the number of benefits such as financial benefits, security aspects, prisoner well-being, and accountabilities which makes it a preferred choice. However, the issue of morality seemed to be totally ignored in this case. Should we, the peers of society shift the responsibility for the ultimate sanction by which we measure normative behaviour, to those whose soul motive is profit? Michael Foucault argued that prison institutions are a model, the point of origin, for the entire model of social control that characterised society through its improvement in morals. Has our society become one of opportunist motivated by greed? Foucault then went on to further state that punishment was paid out in days, months and years and draws up a quantitative equivalence between offence and duration. By pressuring i nmates to work, is the system not making the offender pay back more than what is original crime entailed. Would it be right to presume that private prison approach is a symptom or a reaction by private capitalism to the prospects created by societys temper tantrum approach to the problem of criminality in the context of free market supremacy? In the calculation of what is or should be the best system to guard and control social corruption, not only should we calculate the cost, but also the effect it will take on our morals. Prison privatisation is concept that sparks a lot of interest; prison privatisation holds many positive features that deserve further research. The concept of prison privatisation will certainly flourish- however, much care is required in regulation to assure that society interest is at the fore front and not the cooperation interest, and not developed by hucksters with the soul intention of turning a quick buck causing the sacrifice of quality. It is important to remember that for each positive point, there will be an equal rebuttal to counter it benefits, similar to public prison. There is no thinkable problem with private prisons that is not matched by an identical or closely related problem within government based institutions. It is primarily because they are prisons, not because they are contractual, that private operations face challenges of authority, legitimacy, procedural justice, accountability, liability and so on. A possible thought would be the combination of both syste ms, creating a union with safe-guards, quick response times, and technological changes, safety catering, educating and training inmates, while addressing the issue of morality within the criminal justice system. As to their advantages and disadvantages as standalone units both organisations have good and bad points; both suffer equal criticism and similar failings.

Effective Use of Montage in the Film, The Night of the Hunter :: Movie Film Essays

Effective Use of Montage in the Film, The Night of the Hunter In the film The Night of the Hunter, director Charles Laughton uses montage on multiple occasions to create a variety of visual and emotional effects. Montage is used to slow time and create tension, as a foreshadowing device, and as a symbolic depiction of the film’s conflict. Towards the end of the film, when John and Pearl Harper escape from Preacher Harry Powell via the river, montage is skillfully utilized to slow time, thus enhancing the drama of the moment. As the children scramble down the riverbank to the rowboat, the frame alternates between a high angle shot of the children by the river and a low angle shot of the Preacher on the hill. With each successive shot, the Preacher moves steadily closer to the boat, slowly building the scene to its dramatic climax and the children’s narrow escape. By alternating the shots in this montage, the entire scene takes longer to depict than if the camera merely showed a stationary long shot. This additional time amplifies the tension of the moment, making John and Pearl’s escape all the more dramatic. As Eisenstein discusses, montage can also be employed as the combination of two unrelated images to create a third, unrelated concept, similar to Japanese writing. Laughton uses this technique in the candy shop scene, when Willa Harper is told she needs a man in her life to take care of her and the children. The shot then changes to a large, black oncoming train, with loud, bass-heavy music in the background. High contrast lighting and the dramatic music intensify the fear the train produces. These two shots alternate several times, the train coming closer each time. The combination of the unrelated images ominously foreshadows the terror and fear to come when Willa meets Preacher Harry, and he begins to lie and scheme his way into her life and secrets. Harry’s domination and control eventually lead to Willa’s murder, and John and Pearl’s desperate escape. This montage in the first half of the film establishes the fearful tone of the remainder of the film. Laughton also uses montage to illustrate the harshness of nature and society during the children’s trip down the river, in the form of close-up shots of various animals, both predator and prey.