Mercury Footwear Questions Essay

1. Is Mercury an appropriate target for AGI? Why or why not? Yes, we do think so. In the case, we could find some characteristics of footwear industry: (1) It is a mature, highly competitive industry marked by low growth, but stable profit margin. (2) Performance of individual firms could be quite volatile for they need to anticipate and exploit fashion trend. (3) Except some global footwear brands, athletic and casual shoes market is still fragmented, which means each company could has its own market because of its characteristic. (4) In this market, it is important for the brand image, specialized engineering for performance and price. (5) Life cycle is short. (6) Inventory management and production lead times are critical for the success. (7) Main sale channels are department stores, independent specialty retailers, sporting goods stores, boutiques and wholesalers. (8) Most of the firms outsource the manufactures in China. Below are some characteristics for Mercury and AGI we need to focus on during the analysis: AGI Mercury Target Customer Target customers are urban and suburban family members aged 25 to 45. Youth market, mainly 15 to 25. History Among the first companies to offer fashionable walking, hiking and boating footwear. Its mother company decided to extend the brand by creating complementary line of apparel. Because of the poor performance, it was decided to sold. Style Logo is marked with prosperous, active and fashion-conscious lifestyle. Its main customers are not interest in its apparel. Financial performance Among the most profitable firms. Had poor performance after acquisition by WCF. Revenue contribution 42% of revenue from athletic shoes and balance from casual footwear. Revenue and operating income were 470.3 million and 60.4 million in 2006. Revenue and EBITDA were 431.1 million and 51.8 million.. Products Athletic shoes developed from high-performance footwear to athletic fashion wear. Four main segments: men’s and women’s athletic and casual footwear. Casual shoes focus on mainstream market. In order to emphasizing individual products, it began to monitor styles and images from global culture Focus on smaller portfolio of classic products with longer lifecycles and could maintain simple production and supply chains. Sales channels Mainly sold in department stores, specialty retailers, wholesalers and independent distributors. Small percentage is sold through website. Department stores, specialty stores, catalogs, discount retailers and internet. Inventory management Good at inventory management in the industry. Inventory management performance is worse than the average level. Outsource Outsource manufacture in China. Outsource main materials in foreign suppliers. Advantages &Disadvantages It takes small size as its competitive disadvantages. And it faced with some problems in the consolidation of manufacturers. Price cuts and promotion in apparel line hurts operating margins but helped to the growth in sales. Sales growth is lower than the average because of there is little discount in  price. We could learn that managers of AGI want to enlarge the scale of its company and gain larger market share because of the stable profit margin. And since the revenue is almost the same, it is a good choice to merge with Mercury, which means that revenue would be doubled after acquisition. And these two companies have some similar factors, such as : (1) They could use the same sale channels after acquisition, and internet channel could be enlarged. (2) They could combine manufacturers to get a powerful bargain in suppliers. (3) The product segments are almost the same, which means that there should be little work to do after acquisition in product adjustment. (4) Thanks to the profitable ability of AGI, it is much easier to make a better financial performance of Mercury. (5) It is good for them to increase the performance of inventory management if they merge together. (6) Although their target customers are different, especially in ages, which means that style and brand are different in the very beginning, this factor could turn into an advantage for the new company could have a fully segment of customers with a wider age ranges. Therefore, take into above factors into account; we think that Mercury should be an appropriate target for AGI. 2. Review the projections formulated by Liedtke. Are they appropriate? How would you recommend modifying them? In the case, we could find that Liedtke used historical averages to assume the overhead-to-revenue ratio. However, historical data is usually useless for future. Some studies found there is little evidence that firms grew fast continued to grow fast in the next period. And sometimes there are even negative correlations between growth rates in the two periods. Besides, smaller firms tend to be more volatile than others, which we could find the same characteristics in these two firms we are talking about. And just as we mentioned in the question 1, revenue may be doubled after  acquisition, it just fits the theory that it is difficult to maintain historical growth rates as firms double or triple in size. Therefore, based on the above analysis, we think that it is not reasonable to use historical data for future projections. And sometimes, analyst should be better than the historical growth. Considering that there are five main channels for analyst forecasts: firm-specific information, macroeconomic information, information revealed by competitors on future prospects, private information about the firm and public information other than earnings, we think Liedtke could find more information from above channles to get more accurate assumption. And since performance of Mercury is poorer than the average of the industry, it is better to use industry average level for the benchmarking of Mercury when predicting, instead of a discount rate of AGI for example. And from the comparison of 2007 to 2006, we can find Liedtke’s forecast need great input from AGI to support the development of Mercury, whether he has taken this into consideration? And he estimate debt/equity ratio remains the same as AGI, that is also unreasonable, for it is not possible to change that in short period. 3. Estimate the value of Mercury using a discounted cash flow approach and Liedtke’s base case projections. ï ¼Ë†1ï ¼â€°first of all, to calculate the cash flows from 2007 to 2011, Net Income – (Capital Expenditures – Depreciation) – Changes in non-cash Working Capital = Free Cash flow to Firm We can get the result. Free Cash flow -17,192 26,867 21,740 25,158 29,319 (2) then we need to calculate the terminal value. a. Cost of Capital For cost of capital, we know the debt ratio is 20%, and cost of debt is 6%, we need to find the cost of equity. We assume the cost of equity equal return on equity, we can calculate the historical return on equity from 2007- 2011 is as below, Return on equity 12.8% 14.1% 14.5% 14.8% 14.9% We take 14% as reference. Based on the formula: Cost of Capital =debt ratio *cost of debt +equity ratio * cost of equity, We can get the cost of Capital in 2012, 12.7% b. growth rate in future We can find during the period from 2007- 2011, the growth rate of net income is not stable, so we assume from 2012, Mercury enter into stable and slow development stage. And it is necessary to calculate the cash flow in 2012. From 2007- 2011, the growth rate ranged from 4.74%- 16.3%, we assume the growth in future will be not that high. We can find during the period from 2008- 2011, the reinvestment rate 15.57%- 37.1%, we just take a middle one 24.37%, by multi reinvestment rate and cost of capital (assume cost of capital =return on capital), to reach growth rate afterwards= 3.09%. c. based on the growth rate is 3.09%, we can get EBIT in 2012 is 39,930.. We have assumed ROC=WACC Terminal Value=EBIT n+1*(1-t)/cost of Capital, we can get Terminal Value in 2011 is 315,237. (3)Present value of cash flows: We have get the cash flows of 2007-2011 and terminal value in 2011, and the cost of capital is 12.7%, we can get the respective present value of them and reach the total present value 226,514, which is the estimate Firm value of Mercury. (4) Alternative method to calculate cost of capital, then value of Mercury: a. beta We have learnt from Exhibit 3 of peer companies information in this business, we can calculate cost of capital in alternative ways. Unlevered beta for business= Beta comparable firms/[1+(1-t)(D/E ratio comparable firms)] From information provided in Exhibit, we can get average Beta and D/E ratio, is 1.56, 24.9% respectively. Therefore Unlevered beta for business= 1.35 We know the D/E ratio and tax rate of Mercury, then get levered beta for Mercury =1.52 b. risk free rate and risk premium we assume risk free rate is 5%, and risk premium as the historically one 4.3%. The cost of equity will be 11.5%. Then the cost of capital will be 10.6%. c. expect g and terminal value in 2011 expect g and terminal value in 2011 will be 2.6% and 374,576 respectively. d. total present value of Mercury Total value of Mercury will be 247,479, which is the estimate Firm value of Mercury under the alternative method. In my opinion, the value calculated via alternative method will be more reliable. 4. Do you regard the value you obtained as conservative or aggressive? Why? I think my valuation is conservative, the reason is as follows: (1) Under the  basic method, the expected g is much lower than the average g from 2007-2011, even lower the lowest one within this period and the reinvested rate is lower than the average one from 2007-2011 and also not a high one in general business, and we can also found the EBIT Margin is lower than the average one in that business. (2) (3) Under alternative method, the expected g is much lower as 2.6%, the risk free rate is also a medium one, and the risk premium is a historical one, which is much higher than recent risk premium in USA. 5. How would you analyze possible synergies or other sources of value not reflected in Liedtke’s base case assumptions? We have conduct some simulation in the spreadsheet, we can find the present value of Mercury is very sensitive to cost of capital, under basic model if the cost of capital reduce to 10%, the value will rise up to 304,882. As for debt ratio and expect g, it is not so sensitive, but has some influence. To my surprise, the reinvestment rate is not sensitive to the outcome, I have not figure out the reason. Under the alternative model, beta, risk free rate and risk premium are all sensitive to the outcome, but not significant as capital in basic model. As for synergy, the management of inventory has not shown great synergic effect to the outcome, for from 2007 to 2011, inventory level has not reduced. I think if AGI can reduce the cost of capital, which will show the great synergic effect to the acquisition.

Biological Perspective Essay

One client I worked with had very low levels of assertiveness and because of this was often treated very badly by friends, family and work colleagues. This led to her becoming really rather depressed, which meant that she tended to avoid interactions with other people whenever possible, lowering further still her confidence and her ability to deal with social situations. She was becoming increasingly withdrawn. Whilst the counselling helped her to understand how she was contributing towards her own distress by having so low an opinion of herself, the antidepressants helped her to feel well enough to start to re-engage with people and to put into practice some of the ideas and life skills she was learning in therapy. By the time the medication was slowly stopped after her depression had lifted, she had firmly established new patterns of behaviour and relationships. She was easily able to continue this new and more useful way of being, therefore removing the need for further medication . Back to Top The Disadvantages of Antidepressants Many people I know would say that when you are profoundly depressed, there are no disadvantages to taking something that makes you feel better. Certainly I know many clients whose lives have been transformed by taking the right antidepressant, prescribed by their doctor or psychiatrist. Having said that, no medication is without its problems. With antidepressants, the main problems are firstly, finding the right antidepressant and secondly, side-effects. Antidepressants seem to help about half of the people who take them and different antidepressants work better with some people than others. The process of matching the right medication to the person is far from a precise science and one psychiatrist I know will admit that it often comes down to luck and guesswork. Having said that, the choice of antidepressant is usually informed by the exact nature of the symptoms experienced.

Media Convergence Worksheet Essay

Questions Answers What is meant by the term media convergence with regard to technology, and how has it affected everyday life? Media convergence means to bring together old world media coverage with new age technology media coverage. It means someone who does not watch a particular show can still learn a lot about the show via certain websites, such as YouTube. It means people can use their smart phones to access the Internet and gain information on that show they did not watch and still be up to date on what is going on. By using the same smart phone, a person could cast votes for a show he never even watched because of the websites he could visit and gain information from. Also, a person could make video and post it to YouTube, it could be seen by a lot of people, drawing major attention to it. Because of all the attention, the news channels may pick up on that and do a broadcast on it. This could cause even more hits to that video. This is how information is shared most of the times, by mixing old media means and new world technology. Media convergence has affected everyday life in that you do not need to be home when a show is on in order to be up to date on it. You could be on a train and still see the show if you have a phone, laptop, or tablet and Internet access. Media convergence gives a person the ability to stay connected to all things media with the use of the Internet. You no longer have to be home to gain that access. What is meant by the term media convergence with regard to business, and how has it affected everyday life? Media convergence with regard to business means the merging of computing and information technology companies, telecommunications networks, and content providers from the publishing worlds of newspapers, magazines, music, radio, television, films, and entertainment software. This means that one company controls several products or services within the same industry. This could be like a company that owns a newspaper, has its hand in book publishing, broadcast television, and film, etc . Media convergence in a business’ everyday life means that they have the ability to do more  than just one company with only one fire burning. If a company only prints book, then they can only do that. But if there is a mother company that prints books and newspapers, they have just upped the amount of money they can make. The same can be said if the company has the ability to print books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as broadcast television and create films. They can make that much more money at once by owning all those different media outlets for people to enjoy. Outside of the money aspect, if a company can have their hand in that many media outlets, they are that much more of a recognized business. The more exposure a company can get the more successful it will likely be, and be able to stay in business for a longer period of time. What are some of the issues that result from dependency on modern media? Describe at least three issues. One of the issues that results from dependency on modern media is that children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend more than 7 hours with electronic devices each day, in which they c an view about 11 hours of media content in that time. Yes, the children are getting more done in less time, but is it really quality â€Å"work† they are getting done? Or are they performing what is another issue that results from dependency on modern media? With modern media, a person has the ability to multi task. He could be on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, texting a friend and uploading a YouTube video all at the same time. The problem with multitasking is a person is not giving 100 percent of himself to one thing, instead only a portion of his attention is focused on each task. The result is multitasking allows more things to be done at once, but done poorly. Another issue that results from dependency on modern media is the potential for the Internet to erode attention spans, making minds distracted and less capable of deep, thoughtful engagement with complex ideas and arguments. The thought here is that before modern media you read all of the words to understand what was said, whether it was a book, newspaper, or magazine. With modern media a person can skim through the reading and find only the simple little parts they are seeking. For example, when on the Internet you do not need to read for understanding a full article, you only need to skim to gain a slight understanding of what is said. How does media literacy help with responsible media consumption? Media consumption is more responsible due to media literacy because the information is easier to access and has more outlets for easier access,  thanks to the Internet.

Find a multinational trading or manufacturing organisation of your Research Paper

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Through representation of poverty in particular ways, NGOs have been Essay

Through representation of poverty in particular ways, NGOs have been more a part of the problem than a part of the solution. Discuss with relevant examples - Essay Example In the media, image representation not only via virtual means but also with the aid of TV ad artists has selectively utilized those disturbing pieces meant to compel uninformed potential donors part with own money (Coulter, 1989). These depictions fail entirely in relaying the exact situation in the developing states whereby through the media end up blindfolding donors in yielding to support their â€Å"humanitarian† antics. Therefore, this study seeks to relay information on how NGOs despite somehow helping grossly have ended up being problem in their destined respective regions. The formation of many NGOs mainly happens with a certain perspective in mind most of which aim at ending poverty in world at large rather than concentrating in a particular region in the world. While their initial intentions are noble, they end up creating a greater problem in the efforts to curb poverty than helping. This is mainly because they do not clearly elucidate goals of their campaign thus they end up not achieving what they had initially intended (Harrison, 2010). Like in the case of the coalition consisting of various NGOs forming a campaign dubbed â€Å"Making Poverty History† (MPH) in 2003, their focus was on the G8 summit which was to happen in 2005. Their original purpose was to end poverty globally rather than concentrating on a particular segment especially Africa which already had been a matter of discussion for several years (Harrison, 2010, p. 393). The minimal use of images in illustrating poverty conditions diminished their efforts since there was no cle ar representation of what the true condition of poverty was. Their resolution not to specifically use Africa in their main agenda to end poverty blurred the significance of imagery representation. Therefore, instead of them otherwise choosing an image representation elsewhere they

Hasbro Inc. Marketing Plan for new Service Research Proposal

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Margins of society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Fulton's Ice Land Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Conflicts in Organizations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

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Explaining Basic Accounting Concepts and Business Structures Essay Example for Free

Explaining Basic Accounting Concepts and Business Structures Essay Explaining Basic Accounting Concepts and Business Structures I will explain the basic accounting concepts and business structures from the following topics: GAAP sources and hierarchy; Good accounting information using the qualities of accounting principles; Difference between Accrual based accounting and cash basis of accounting; Types of business structures and the features of each structure. 1. GAAP sources and hierarchy Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) is the set of accounting principles, standards and procedures that companies use to prepare their financial statements. GAAP principles are the bases of financial reports and the guidelines of United States accounting practices. There are four categories of sources of GAAP hierarchy as follows: Category (A): FASB Standards, Interpretations, and Staff Positions; APB Opinions; AICPA Accounting Research Bulletins. Category (B): FASB Technical Bulletins (no longer issued), AICPA Industry Audit and Accounting Guides, AICPA Statements of Position. Category (C): FASB Emerging Issues Task Force, AICPA AcSEC Practice Bulletins. Category (D): AICPA Accounting Interpretations, FASB Implementation Guides (Q and A), widely recognized and prevalent industry practices. The category (a) of the GAAP hierarchy has a higher authority than a FASB Technical Bulletin, which is in category (b).The hierarchy is important because it gives the out layer for companies to search for the specific accounting transactions. For example, if a specific transaction can not be covered in category (a), then companies will turn to categories (b) for selecting and applying appropriate accounting principles, then (c) and (d). 2. Good accounting information using the qualities of accounting principles Good accounting information should be understandable. If no one can not understand the accounting information presented, it becomes useless to lose all of the other qualities. The good accounting information should be Reliable and Relevant. Reliability means verifiable, representation faithfulness, and free of error and bias. If the accounting numbers are wrong, there is no any meaning to use the information. Relevance means predictive or feedback value presented on a timely basis. The internal managerial accounting reports are different from the external financial reports. The relevant information is needed to prepare the different kinds of reports. The good accounting information should be Comparability and Consistency. The good information can be used to identify the differences and similarities between companies. The company consistently use the same accounting treatment for better auditing purposes. 3. Difference between Accrual basis accounting and cash basis of accounting The revenue recognition principle and the expense matching principle are two key elements for Accrual basis accounting. Company uses accrual basis accounting to recognize income when goods are shipped or services are rendered, and to recognize expense when it is obligated to pay it. On the contrast, cash basis accounting recognizes the revenue and expenses when the cash is received and paid. The cash basis accounting is prohibited under GAAP because it does not record revenue and expense when earned and incurred. It will misstate the actual income and expenses incurred and can not reflect the real business operation during the accounting period. 4. Types of business structures and the features of each structure There are three types of business structures-Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, and Corporation. Sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person. It is the simplest form of business ownership. The sole proprietor is in direct control of all affairs and entitled all profits and losses and is free to transfer his interest in the sole proprietorship at will. The disadvantage is that the sole proprietor would be fully responsible for all debts and obligations related to the business. The business would have difficulty in raising capital. Partnership is a business owned by two or more persons associate a partner. Partnership can bring broad resources and unique skills. All the partners share profit and losses, share the right to manage and make major business decisions, have unlimited personal liability for obligation of the partnership. For tax advantage, the partnership does not pay federal income tax; rather, partners file their own individual tax return. Disadvantage is that partners are fully and personally liable for the debts if their partnership. Corporation is a legal entity distinct from its owners (called â€Å"shareholders† or â€Å"stockholders†) and manager. It is easy to raise fund. The major advantage of corporation is that the owners are not personally liable for the obligation. Stockholders are free to transfer their ownership interests. Corporation must pay income taxes on any profits that it makes, and stockholders generally do not have to pay income tax on its profits until they are distributed as dividends. The corporate tax rate generally is lower than the personal tax rate.

Importance Features in Good Customer Service

Importance Features in Good Customer Service A good customer service is the lifeblood of any business were can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as they want, but unless we can get some of those customers to come back, the business wont be profitable for long. Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy happy enough to pass positive feedback about the business along to others, who may then try the product or service that they offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers.If the company truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things: How do the company go about forming such a relationship it easy we just should do by remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly and their needs INTRODUCTION Q1: The company go about forming such a relationship it easy we just should do by remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly and their needs . Positive expectation can be achived in some ways such as :Answer your phone an answering service Dont make promises unless you WILL keep them an exampleYour new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday, make sure it is delivered on Tuesday. Otherwise, dont say it Listen to your customers an example Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasnt been paying attention and needs to have it explained Deal with complaints. You cant please all the people all the time. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service. Be helpful even if theres no immediate profit in it. Train your staf f (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable Take the extra step. Throw in something extra. Question 1 There are 5 basic needs of customer. Please list and explain in details those needs ANSWER Q1 : Every customer comes into the customer situation with differing wants.While wants are frequentlyhard to identify and may occasionally be unrealistic, all customer have the following five basic needs: SERVICE PRICE QUALITY ACTION APPRECIATION APPRECIATI-ON ACTION QUALITY PRICE SERVICE FIVE NEEDS OF CUSTOMER. 1: SERVICE: Customer expect the service that they is appropriate for the level of purchase that they are making .A small ,spontaneous purchase may have a smaller service needs than a longer purchase that has been carefully planned and researched. 2:PRICE ;The cost of everything we purchase is becoming more and more important .People and business want to use their financial resources asefficiently as possible .Many products previously considered unique are now considered commodities .This means that while a customer previously had to travel to the local hamburger restaurant to purchase a hamburger , now one can be acquired at many other locagtions.This makesthe component of price even more important to the customer . 3 : QUALITY ; Americans are less likely today to think of thier purchases as throaway items .Customer want the product that they purchase to be durable and functional until customer decide to replace them. This requirement of quality mandates that manufactures and distributors produce products that live up to the customers expection of durabilty .Customer are much less likely to question price if they are doing business with a company thatb has a reputation for producing a high-quality product . 4: ACTION ; Customers needs action when a problem or question aries.Many companies offer toll-free customer assistance telephone lines , flexible return policies ,and customer carryout services in response to the need for action.Customer are human beings and like to think that they are an important priority and that when a need or question arises someone will be ready and waiting to help them. 5: Appreciation : Customer need to know that we appreciate their business.Customer services providers can convey this appreciation in many appropriate ways .Saying THANK YOU . to the customer through our words and action is agood starting points.Preferred customer mailing list ,information newsletters, special discount, courtesy , and name recognition are good beginnings to showing our customers our appreciation .Additionally ,letting them know that we are glad that they have chosen to do business with us conveys a positive message .A fast food restaurant has a sign in its drive -through lane that says , we know that you could eat somewhere else : thank you for allowing us to serve you.. Conclusion Q1 I know this verges on the kind of statement thats often seen on a sampler, but providing good customer service IS a simple thing. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things: If youre a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your approach to customer service that determines whether or not youll ever be able to sell that person anything else. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue. Question 2: All customer have their own unique sets of expectations.Expectations may be positive or negative .Organizations must periodically attempt to determine what their customer expect from their customer experience .In a group, list and explain in details the top five expectations that customers would have of the following organizations: 5 stars hotels International Fast Food Chain Travel and Tours company INTRODUCTION Q2 When we manage a company the most an important thing that we should take note is about the expectation of each customer .Expectation mean the belief that something will happen or come with hope for the future an example an expectation can be the positive and the negative.An expectation is an important because it wil bring your customer or loose your customer. Expectation is base on personal vision of the result and the expectation can be identity based on the experience the way you are treated , the value, prejudice , priorities. There are two levels of expectation : primary expectation and secondary expectation .Primary Expectation is most basic requirement of interaction and Secondary Expectation are expectation that is based on previous experience that are enchancement from primary expectation. Answer Q2: FIVE STAR HOTEL The expectation of five star hotels are must fully equipped with modern facilities and serve the visitors in the best possible way. The warm hospitality, quality and friendly service by the hotel staffs adds to the comfort and luxury of staying in a five star hotels i. The five star hotels must promise the tourists of providing the best accommodation option which ensures comfort and pleasure. The five star hotel live up to the tradition of stylish decors and impeccable customer service.The accommodation offered at the Five Star Deluxe Hotels includes deluxe, suite, deluxe suite and standard accommodation style. All the rooms and the suites of the hotels are air-conditioned, well ventilated, spacious, well lit and are equipped with amenities and facilities like, 24 hours room service En-Suite Bathroom with hot and cold running water Personal safe Wardrobe Television Telephone Work Desk While the dining facilities offered at the Five Star Deluxe Hotels are excellent and comprises of in-house dining at the hotel restaurant. The restaurant must serves multi cuisine dishes like Indian, Chinese, Continental foods. The coffee shop of the hotels is opened throughout the day and serves light snacks and beverages to the tourists. For the business facilities of five star hotels are must considered the best. An example the conference halls, the banquets, the meeting room of the hotels are the ideal venues for organizing business meetings or formal gatherings. The recreational facilities at the Five Star Deluxe Hotels give variety of options to its guests. The hotels must have, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, health club, playing arena, shopping arcade to entertain the guests staying at the hotels. The five star category hotels also must provide additional facilities to their guests along with the facilities mentioned above. The list includes, 24 hours reception Doctor on call Safe Deposit box Travel desk Luggage storage Elevator, lift Car park   International Fast Food Chain The expectation of Fast food restaurant is The expectation of Fast food restaurant is cheap, convenient, filling.  The expectation of Fast food restaurant cannot be over expected with fully equipped with modern facilities and serve the customer in the best possible way with the warm welcoming, quality and friendly service by the restaurant staffs when the restaurant fully pack with customer While the negative expectation are eating out, a fast food restaurant is often the cheapest option, but unfortunately not a healthy one. Eating just one fast food meal can pack enough calories, sodium and fat for an entire day or more. Eating fast food on a regular basis can lead to a host of different health problems, both physical and psychological. Still, in a bad economy the quick-and-cheap temptation can often be hard to resist. As an informed customer, though, you can make healthier choices and still enjoy the price and convenience of fast food restaurants. Travel and Tours company: Travel is a great way to experience new things the expectation when we dealing with the tour guider or tourist department first off all the customer consider the Trip destination Trip dates Activity: biking, hiking, rafting, and Price range The company staff should be friendly, efficient, knowledgeable, and able to answer the following questions the group size for a trip What is included in the price of the trip and what additional expenses should Iexpect What are the food arrangements What type of accommodations are provided What training do the guides have What is thecancellation and refund policy   any references can contact for company and/or this trip Conclusion If you work just for money, youll never make it, but if you love what youre doing and you  always put the customer first, success will be yours. One of the most important customer service skills you can develop is the ability to understand and effectively respond to the customers needs and concerns. For a long time, sales has been perceived to be mostly about trying to convince the customer that he needs the product. Excellent customer service starts by first taking the time to get to know the customer, his situation, his vision, his frustrations and his goals. To devolop our service the company should their staff to Customer Service Skills seminar will guide you in how to get a grasp of these key issues. Once you have a good handle on what is on his heart and mind, then you will know how to offer the customer helpful solutions that are attractive to him because they have value.

Background To Al Tayeb Salih English Language Essay

Background To Al Tayeb Salih English Language Essay The current research addresses the dilemma of translating cultural terms especially in literary works. It aims at shedding some light on the problems that translators, particularly between Arabic and English, face with dealing with cultural terms and on the decisions made by these translators to overcome these problems. The Wedding of Zein, written by the Sudanese distinguished novelist Al-Tayeb Salih and translated into English by the well-known translator Denys Johnson-Davies, has been chosen as a study case to be analysed. The data collected will be categorised according to the procedures proposed by Vladimir Ivir (1997) and by the scale of domestication (translators visibility) and foreignsation (translators invisibility) proposed by Lawrence Venuti (1995/1998). The current study, however, consists of four main sections. In the first section, the background of the novel, the writer, and the translator is highlighted. Moreover, the aims of the study and the methodology are stated. The second section reviews the techniques and procedures put forwarded by different translation theorists, with special focus on Ivirs work (1997). The work of Venuti (1995/1998) is discussed in section two. The data collected from the source text and the translated text will be analysed in section three. Finally, section four contains the conclusion and the findings. 1.1 Background to Al-Tayeb Salih and The Wedding of Zein Al-Tayeb Salih (full name: Al-Tayeb Mohammed Salih Ahmed) 1929-2009. He was a well-known Sudanese novelist and short-story writer. He was born in a small village called Karmakoul in northern Sudan and died in London. Buried in Sudan, his funeral was attended by the Sudanese president. His father was Sufi and named his son after a famous Sufism sheikh. He had spent his childhood in his small village before he moved to Khartoum to get a degree in Science. Later, he moved to England and attended the University of London to get a degree in the International Political Affairs. Al-Tayeb started his career life as a headmaster for a short time before he moved to work in the Arabic section in the BBC and, later, headed the drama section in it. Then, he came back to work in the Sudanese radio before he moved to Qatar and worked as a supervisor in the Ministry of Information. He ended up the last ten years in his career life with UNESCO in Paris and Gulf Area. It is worthy mentioning here that during his work in the BBC, Al-Tayeb used to write, for more than ten years, a weekly column for a London- based Arabic magazine called al Majalla in which he explored various literary issues. Moving from one country to another and from one city to another spurs Al-Tayeb to highlight the conflict between the Western and Eastern cultures and the differences between the Arab world and the Western world in his writings. In an interview (MBC 1994), Al-Tayeb mentions that he starts his literary life as a poet and that: Ù† ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Øلؠ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ù† ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ Øلؠ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Ùˆ Ù† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Ùˆ Øلؠ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  ØÙ† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœ Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœ Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ «ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ª ØÙ† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœ Ø ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ²ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡ Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Øلؠ¹ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Øلؠ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   My translation: We, the Sudaneses, love and recite poetry because we always need to proof our affiliation to the Arab World. Al-Tayeb, who is entitled the genius of the Arabic novel in the literary circles, belongs to the modern Arabic Realistic School which includes big names like Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006) and Taha Hussein (1889- 1973) and many others. He wrote three novels and some short stories. His novels which gained a world-wide reputation and translated into many languages are: Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Øلن¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Øلن° Øلؠ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ The season of migration to the north (1966), Ø ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Øلؠ²Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   The wedding of Zein (1969) and Ø ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Bandarshah in two parts (1971/1979). Some critics claim that these novels form a trilogy similar to Naguib Mahfouzs famous trilogy (1956-1957). The season of migration to the north is translated into thirty languages and chosen among the best 100 novels in the world and in 2001 it is declared the best Arabic novel in the twentieth century by the Arab Literary Academy. His novel The Wedding of Zein was made into a drama in Libya and into a film by the Kuwaiti filmmaker Khalid Siddiq who won an award in the Cannes Festival in the late 1970s. In 2005, Newsweek magazine chose Al-Tayeb among the most 43 influential characters in the Arab World and despite that he did not win Noble Prize, he was always one of the strongest candidates for it. In recognition of his contribution to the Arabic literature, a film, produced by Al- Jazeera Documentary, highlighting the different stages of Al-Tayebs life has been released in his first death anniversary in February 2010. In his second death anniversary, an award named Al-Tayeb Salih International Award for Creative Writing has been launched. Ø ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Øلؠ²Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   , or The Wedding of Zein, is Al-Tayebs second successful novel in which he mixes reality with myth to form what is called ØلوØقؠ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Øلؠ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Magic Realism. The novel is about a young villager called Zein. He is odd in appearance and behaviour. Sometimes he is naÃÆ' ¯ve or Darwish and sometimes you find him chasing the girls of the village from one place to another. What is funny that Zein has made a reputation for himself as the man who falls in love over and over with girls who promptly marry other men; to the point where mothers seek him out in hopes that he will draw the eye of suitors to their daughters. One aspect of Zeins strangeness is that: ÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ Øلؠ£ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Øلؠ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®ÃƒËœÃ…’ ولكÙ†  ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ° Ø £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Øلؠ²Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   ÙˆØلؠ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ° Ø £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ ÙˆØلن ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡ ØللØØ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   ولØØ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø £Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ù†¦ÃƒËœ Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Øلؠ£ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶ÃƒËœÃ…’ ØÙ† Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Ø ¶ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ÃƒËœ. Ù ˆØ ¸Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ÃƒËœÃ‚ °ÃƒËœ Ø ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ø ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡. (Ø µÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ…’ Øلؠ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ 7:1986) as is well known, children meet life with screams. With Zein, however, it is recounted- and the authorities for this are his mother and the women who attended his birth- that no sooner did he come into this world than he burst out laughing. And so it was throughout his life. (Salih, Al-Tayeb 1969: 33). The two main characters of the novel, beside Zein, are Al-Haneen, the Sufi Sheikh, who has a good relationship with Zein and represents the mythic side of the novel and Nima, Zeins beautiful rich cousin, who is the only girl that Zein respects and cannot flirt her and she represents the realistic aspect of the novel. The main event of the novel is the marriage of Zein and Nima which shocked all people in the village because it is unusual for ugliness and poverty (Zein) to unite with beauty and richness (Nima). The events of the novel take place in a week; from the spreading of the marriage news to the wedding party which ends up the novel. A Western critic comments on The Wedding of Zein: Ùˆ Øكؠ«ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Ù†¦ÃƒËœ ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ °ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   Øلن° Ø ·ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Øلؠ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ Ø µÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   ØلكØ ªÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Ø ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ ØلقØ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Øلؠ°Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   ÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ØÙ† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ø ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¸ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ùˆ ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  ØلقØØ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¦ Øلن° Øلؠ¶ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ Ùâ € ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  [1]  ÃƒËœÃ…’ ØÙˆ Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ° ØÙ„Øقل Øلن° ØÙ„ØØ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  [2]  . Ø ºÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± ØÙ†  Ù†¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ °ÃƒËœ Øلن¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  ÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   ØØ ³ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœ Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ° ØلؠªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ . Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ° Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœ Ù† ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   للØ ºÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ù ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ Øلؠ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ª Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¸ Ø ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ã ƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ…’ Ùˆ ØÙ† Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   Ù„ØØ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   Ù†¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ °ÃƒËœ Ù† Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã…   للØ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Øلؠ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ª ØÙ„ØÙ† Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ²Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ùˆ ØÙ„ØÙ†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©ÃƒËœÃ…’ ØلؠªÃƒâ„¢Ã…   ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœ كل ØÙ† ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ØلقÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ° Ùâ €žÃ™Å  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ ØلقØØ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¦ Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœ Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœ Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¤Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  Øلن° ØلكØ ªÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ù†¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ °Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Øلؠ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ª ØلؠªÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©. (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ùˆ Ø ¢ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   1981: 201-202) My translation What attracted me in Al-Tayeb Salihs way of writing is his attitude to the villagers. He sees them in a funny way and invites readers to laugh at them or, at least, smile. However, behind this attitude is a feeling of sympathy. Despite that we find these characters funny, but all of them keep their dignity. I find a refreshing whiff in this. After reading many American and English novels, readers may ask about the reason of writing about some inane characters in these novels. 1.2 A word on the translator of The Wedding of Zein Denys Johnson-Davies (1922- ), a renowned English translator of the Arabic literature, was born in Vancouver, Canada. He had spent his first years in Sudan, Egypt, Uganda, and Kenya, before he was sent to England at age 12. In 1930s, he attended Cambridge University and studied oriental languages. He started his career life with the BBC between 1941 and 1945. In the same year, he moved to Egypt to work in the British Council in Cairo as a translator and then started a journey of more than sixty years with the Arabic literature. In Cairo, he met the pioneers of the modern Arabic literature and made friendships with some many of them. In an interview, Denys states that when I arrived to Egypt in 1945, I was the only translator into English at that timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I was dictator in my field at that time and I enjoyed this. (AUC 2011).He also expresses his attitude towards translation as a profession: Translation is real hard work. Its also not appreciated. If you get your name anywh ere on the book at all, youre very lucky. I wouldve preferred to have been a writer.'(ibid.). In 2006, he published his memoirs under the title: A life between the lines of Arabic literature. In 2007, he was awarded the Sheikh Zayed Book Award as the Culture Personality of the Year. Referred to as the leading Arabic-English translator of our time by Edward Said, there is no translator in the West who conveyed the Arabic literature to the occidental reader than Denys did. His translations are not limited to one literary genre; he translated short stories, novels, plays, and poems or as he states that when I enjoy reading something, I decide to translate it (ibid.). He is also interested in Islamic studies and is co-translator of three volumes of Prophetic Hadith. Al-Tayeb Salih, however, has a special place for Denys who translated Al-Tayebs all three novels. When asked about his favorite writer to translate, Denys unhesitatingly answered Al-Tayeb Salihà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I feel that his work is very simple, very direct, and that theres nothing pretentious at all about ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I enjoy Al-Tayeb Salih works more than any other Arabic writersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I am a great fan of AL-Tayeb Salih. (ibid.). 1.3 Literary Translation Literary text, as an expressive text type by Reiss (1977/1989), has a set of typical features. Jones (2009:152) summarises a wide range of viewpoints about the features attributed to literary texts: They have a written base-form, though they may also be spoken; they enjoy canonicity (high social prestige); they fulfil an affective/aesthetic rather than transactional or informational function, aiming to provoke emotions and/or entertain rather than influence or inform; they have no real-world truth-value i.e. they are judged as fictional, whether fact-based or not; they feature words, images, etc., with ambiguous and/or indeterminable meanings; they are characterized by poetic language use (where language form is important in its own right, as with word-play or rhyme) and heteroglossia (i.e. they contain more than one voice); and they may draw on minoritized styles styles outside the dominant standard, for example slang or archaism. Depending on the above features of literary works, literary translation is unique in some aspects: First, literary texts, as opposed to non-literary texts, are characterized by rhetorical and aesthetic value, which is the essence expected to be captured and maintained in a literary translation. Literary works are created artistically by increasing the difficulty and length of perception, which leads to defamiliarization (Shklovsky, 1917, quoted in Pilkington, 2000: 18). Once the defamiliarization is comprehended by the translators or readers, a unique sensation is created. To reproduce the rhetorical and aesthetic value is one of the main tasks for literary translators. Second, literary translators choices of wording are highly dependent on the target language (TL) and culture. Literary texts are solidly rooted in the source language (SL) and culture, yet due to linguistic or cultural differences, literal translations might fail to gain acceptability. How to cope with the linguistic and cultural differences is a crucial question for literary translators. Third, a consideration of the target audiences is another important issue in literary translation. Literary translation always has a readership which is likely to be quite different from the one the writer originally had in mind. A good translation of any text from any period will, most often, only be good in the context of a particular audience at a particular time and place. A good English translation of Salihs The Wedding of Zein, for example, for people in England in 1960 might not be a good translation for people in Australia in 2010. Finally, literary translation is a complicated act, and to this effect, there is no definite correct translation; yet there is an appropriate translation according to certain criteria. Stylistic approaches to translation studies supply a theoretical perspective, which identify the style as the essence of literary translations. 1.4 Aims of the study The ultimate aim of the current research is to investigate the extent to which Denys Johnson-Davies is successful in dealing with cultural terms in his translation of The Wedding of Zein. This overall goal can be achieved through a set of research questions: 1. What are the different techniques utilised by the translator to convey Arabic cultural terms into his English translation? 2. Does the translator domesticate or foreignise his translation? 3. Does the translators overall strategy to domesticate or foreignise his translation affect his decision to use some certain techniques rather than others in conveying cultural items? 1.5 Methodology: An Integrated Approach In this research, two approaches will be combined to form the theoretical frame of my dissertation. These two approaches will work together in an attempt to answer the research questions. The first approach is Ivirs (1987) seven procedures to translate cultural items. Although many researchers have proposed different procedures and techniques to translate cultural references, Ivirs procedures have been chosen for their comprehensiveness, clearness, and directness. The other part of this integrated approach is Venutis (1995/1998) work on domestication (translators visibility) and foreignsation (translators invisibility). Ivirs procedures to translate cultural items form the lower layer of this integrated approach. They represent the tools used by the translator to reflect his overall strategy towards the text being translated. The overall strategy is the upper layer which is represented by Venutis domestication or foreignsation. In other words, any translator who is dealing with cultural terms has to make two interrelated decisions. Firstly, he needs to decide whether, depending on some certain considerations such as the reader, the place, and the time, he will domesticate or foreignise his translated text. This is a text-level decision. Secondly, and accordingly, he has to decide which specific procedure to choose to deal with every single cultural term in the text. This is a cultural term-level decision. In order to realise the mechanism of this approach, let us consider this simple example. If a translator into English decides to adopt domestication as his overall strategy (text-level decision) to translate a text from Arabic, he may convey, for example, Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ © Øلن¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ into English by defining it (cultural term-level decision) as: Maghrib Prayer, the fourth daily prayer for Muslims prayed just after the sunset. On the contrary, if he adopts foreignsation as a text-level strategy, he simply translates Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ © Øلن¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ as Maghrib Prayer.

Richard II: His Dramatic Downfall Essay -- Literary Analysis, Shakespe

Shakespeare’s plays were grouped into three categories: comedies, tragedies and histories. The histories were those plays based on the lives of English kings. Shakespeare was one of the first writers to write about English history. According to Garber, â€Å"before Shakespeare’s time there were few history plays such written in England--- England history was told in verse and prose chronicles (239)†. It’s considered that Richard II is one of the early â€Å"historical plays†. The play became so iconic that even Queen Elizabeth said that she was â€Å"Richard the second, know ye not that†. Richard II tells the story about a king’s downfall. Richard II is not your average king. He is useless with his power and does not know how to use it. He is the king of England when the play begins but shortly after his kingship is taken away from him. Richard II is a young man who has not matured much since his adolescence. He is disconnected from his land and its people, which becomes one of the downfalls of his crown. He has an extraordinary flair for poetic language. He is witty and poetic personality doesn’t work with his higher calling in life. A king should be strong and fearless. King Richard II is not a man of action and as the play advances, he gets into more and more trouble. As his end approaches, he becomes very poetic. Like most Shakespearean heroes, Richard II has a strong theatrical personality. He likes putting on a show and enjoys a bit of wordplay, even at his own expense. What sets him apart from other Shakespearean characters is the perverse joy he takes in his downfall. There are many tragic events that lead to Richard’s downfall and consequently lost of his crown. The most important one was that he basically didn’t ... ...n moral and royal principles. By the end of this play, it’s clear that Richard has completely questioned the concept of divine right and when he has to shed his crown and turn over England to his enemy, he dramatically states â€Å"Throw away respect, Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty; For you have but mistook me all this while. I live with bread like you, feel want, Taste grief, need friends. (3.3.172-76). Just because Richard as a divine right to be the King doesn’t mean that he is the right choice to accomplished the requirement of what it takes to be a great king. Richard was lacking on the will power of a leader. His downfall was his fault in the sense that he couldn’t concentrate to see what he was doing to his region as a ruler. He failed as a leader but at the same time he gain sometime much better than a crown, Richard gain the understanding of who he is.

Acupuncture :: essays research papers fc

Acupuncture is considered to be a new alternative medicine in western society, and has recently become very popular in the United States (â€Å"All About Acupuncture†). Acupuncture is the insertion of hair-fine needles into the body’s surface, which is supposed to cause psychological effects on the body to cure the patient of an illness. These illnesses may be emotional mental or physical (Singer). But some doctors question the validity of this practice, and believe that acupuncture may be unsafe (Barrett).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first basis of acupuncture was probably first theorized by Shen Nung about 5000 years ago in a document called â€Å"Huang Di Nei Jing† (Singer). Shen Nung believed that there is an energy force running through the entire body called â€Å"Qi† (pronounced chee). Qi travels through the body in â€Å"meridians† or channels. These meridians run vertically up and down the body’s surface (Singer). The Qi is supposed to be the mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of life. The Qi reacting with the forces of the â€Å"Yin† and â€Å"Yang† influence a person’s health (Singer). The Yin and Yang represent the positive and negative forces in the universe (â€Å"All About Acupuncture†). â€Å"Yin is signified by female attributes, passive, dark, cold, moist, that which moves medially†¦ Yang is signified by male attributes, light, active, warm, dry, that which moves laterally†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Singer). If the Qi in a person’s body is not in balance with the Yin and Yang then an illness will befall the person, and he or she should be treated with acupuncture, which corrects this imbalance (Singer).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The process of acupuncture requires the placement of needles at acupuncture points so the Qi can be balanced. There are about nine different kinds of acupuncture needles, although six needles are commonly used today (Singer). The needles vary in size, length, and shape of the head. These needles can be placed between 15 ° and 90 ° angles depending on the treatment that is required. Also the needles may be raised, pushed, twirled or plucked (vibration of the needle) to cause sensations called â€Å"deqi† to correct the Qi imbalance in the body. Electrical currents may also be applied to the needles to allow stimulation at the acupuncture points. Acupuncture is often accompanied by acupressure and burning of herbs near the skin to help correct Qi imbalances (Singer).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several different theories as to how acupuncture possibly works. First acupuncture might possibly cut pain off from reaching the spinal cord or the brain since many acupuncture points are located on neural structures.

Comparison Between Hinduism and Budhism

Comparison of Two types of Pagan Religion i. e. Hinduism and Buddhism South Asian people have a well-defined amalgam of Abrahamic and Pagan religions. Two of the Pagan religions of this region are well-known in this region because their birth place South Asia. These two religions are â€Å"Hinduism† and â€Å"Buddhism†. Hinduism refers to the principal and most ancient religious tradition of India: in it the lives of the believers are governed by the doctrines of â€Å"Dharma† or universal law, â€Å"Karma† or the cumulative effects of personal actions, and â€Å"Samsara† or the cycle of rebirth, liberation from which is the first goal of life; [similarly] Buddhism is a religion and philosophic system, founded in India in the 6th cent. By Buddha: it teaches the right thinking and self-denial will enable the soul to reach Nirvana, a divine state of release from misdirected desire† (â€Å"Dictionary definitions you can understand-†).Altho ugh the birth place of both religions is South Asia and thus they stem from a similar Philosophy and culture, as S. Radhakrishnan says â€Å"Buddhism, in its origin at least is an offshoot of Hinduism† (qtd. In  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Buddhism & Hinduism, Comparative Study of Buddhism & Hinduism, Compare Contrast Buddhism & Hinduism. â€Å"); yet there is also a prominent difference in the major ideational elements of Doctrine of both; which includes â€Å"Concept of God†, â€Å"Reincarnation† and â€Å"Caste system†. In each and every religion of the World, the word â€Å"God† generally refers to designate a supreme power, who is the ultimate creator of the entire universe.In Hinduism there is also such definition for God. â€Å"Neither the multitude of gods nor great sages know my origin, for I am the source of all the gods and great sages. A mortal who knows me as the unborn, beginning-less great lord of the world is freed from all delusion and all evilsâ⠂¬  (â€Å"Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 – Verses 9 & 10. †). But the thorough study of Hinduism reveals it a polytheistic religion; indeed most of Hindus attest it by their worship of God. As they consider the many of living and non-living things to be divine and sacred.For example they consider the trees, the sun, the moon, the monkey, the snake and the human beings as manifestations of God. While in Buddhism, the designation of God is same as in Hinduism. As Gospel of Buddha says â€Å"There is, O monks, an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, and unformed. Were there not, O monks, this unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, and unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. Since, O monks, there is an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, and unformed, therefore is there an escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed† (â€Å"The Gospel of Buddha†).But there appears difference in the belief in gods and godly manifestations of both religions; because in Buddhism there is no such entailment of godly figures in the original Buddhist doctrine, except in few sects. â€Å"Buddha was once asked by a disciple whether God exists. He refused to reply. When pressed, he said that if you are suffering from a stomach ache would you concentrate on relieving the pain or studying the prescription of the physician. â€Å"It is not my business or yours to find out whether there is God – our business is to remove the sufferings of the world† (â€Å"Concept of god in Buddhism†).Doctrine of Buddhism says that all these are the ways, by which people soothe themselves. â€Å"Gripped by fear, men go to the sacred mountains, sacred grooves, sacred trees and shrines† (â€Å"The Dhammapada 188†). But also Buddhists do not condemn the concept of gods and also they do not regard the believers of gods as sinners. Hinduism is considered as the complex mixture of religious philosoph ies and schools; but the soul of all this is â€Å"Reincarnation† i. e. the journey of the â€Å"soul† (atman) from one body to another body(cycle of birth and death).This cycle of birth and death (also known as â€Å"Samsara†) is summarized in the following verse of The Bhagavad Gita: â€Å"Just as a man discards worn out clothes and puts on new clothes, the soul discards worn out bodies and wears new ones. † (Chapter 2-Verse 22). As we profoundly glance over both the religions: â€Å"Buddhism shares some concepts of Reincarnation with Hinduism but on the major there appear differences. For example Theravada Buddhism emphasizes in the doctrine of â€Å"Anatta†, or no soul, which states there is no enduring entity that persists from one life to the next.While in Hinduism, â€Å"Karma† determines the circumstances of subsequent lives, so there is continuity between personalities but not persistence of identity. For this reason, Thervada Budd hist prefer the term â€Å"Rebirth† to â€Å"Reincarnation†. That is why in Buddhism, the law of â€Å"Karma† is viewed as naturalistic, akin to the laws of physics. Thus Buddhists do not consider the circumstances of â€Å"Rebirth† as rewards or punishment handed out by a controlling God, they simply regard it the natural result of various good and bad deeds.Thus contrary to the infinite cycle of â€Å"Reincarnation†: â€Å"Rebirth† inevitably involves suffering and ends when all carvings are lost and â€Å"Nirvana† is achieved† (â€Å"Does Hinduism Believe In Reincarnation. â€Å"). So Buddhists lead their lives in a way (negating the concept of infinite cycle of births and deaths), which leads them to their ultimate destination i. e. Nirvana Some of the teachings of every religion of the world provide the guidelines in order to secure the basic social rights of the people.But the there are some religion in which â€Å"Cast e system† has deprived the people from their basic social rights. â€Å"During the Buddha’s time â€Å"Brahmanism† was the predominant religion in India, in which all humans were divided into four castes i. e priests, warriors, traders and laborers. Later on this â€Å"Caste system† was absorbed into â€Å"Hinduism†, given religious legitimacy and sanction and has continued to function right up till the present. This has made the Social contact between each cast minimal and has provided the lower ones with the less opportunities, the less freedom and the less rights.Outside the caste system there are the outcast’s people, who are considered so impure that they are hardly counted as humans. On the other hand Buddha himself was born into the warrior caste, but he severely criticized the caste system. He ridiculed the priests’ claims to be superior, he criticized the theological basis of the system and he welcomed into the  Sangha  p eople of all castes, including outcasts. His most famous saying on the subject is: â€Å"Birth does not make one a priest or an outcaste. Behavior makes one either a priest or an outcaste†Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"Buddhist Studies: Caste System. â€Å").In summary to the religious beliefs, philosophies and social teachings; Buddhism provides an ultimate concept for an ultimate Power, similarly it gives the fascinating hope for ultimate destination â€Å"Nirvana† and also it maps a just society on the golden rules of equity. While Hinduism limits the ultimate concept of God to worldly figures, similarly the concept of â€Å"Reincarnation†, negates the ultimate destination; which indirectly, is the negation of God and also the caste system in it makes the life of its follower’s worldly punishment, because deprivation of basic social rights leads the people to inferiority complex. Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 – Verses 9,10 &22†³Ã‚  Bamboo Wisdom. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Buddhism & Hinduism, Comparative Study of Buddhism & Hinduism,Compare Contrast Buddhism & Hinduism. †Ã‚  Buddhist Tourism,Travel Buddhist Sites,Buddhist Tourism in India, Japan, Tibet, China. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. http://www. buddhist-tourism. com/buddhism/religion/buddhism-hinduism. html â€Å"Buddhist Studies: Caste System. †Ã‚  BuddhaNet – Worldwide Buddhist Information and Education Network. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. . Does Hinduism Believe In Reincarnation? †Ã‚  Personal Development on a Deeper Level – Tyler Hardy. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. . â€Å"Reincarnation – World, Body, Life, History, Beliefs, Time, Person, Human, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shiite Muslims, Judaism and Christianity, Ancient Greece, West Africa. â€Å"Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. . â€Å"South Asia – Definition | WordIQ. com. †Ã‚  Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus – WordIQ Dictionary. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. â€Å"The Dhammap ada: Verses and Stories.   Tipitaka Network: Bringing Dhamma Studies to You. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. . â€Å"The Gospel of Buddha. †Ã‚  The Reluctant Messenger of Science and Religion: Science and the World's Religions Are Pieces to a Puzzle That Need Each Other to Form a Complete Picture. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. ;http://reluctant-messenger. com/gospel_buddha/chapter_20. htm;. â€Å" Concept of god in Buddhism-by Dr. Zakir Naik† Dictionary Definitions You Can Understand – YourDictionary. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. ;http://www. yourdictionary. com;. http://saif_w. tripod. com/interfaith/general/god/inbuddhism. htm

Diana Ecks Essay

Diana Eck’s writings in Darsan: Seeing the Devine Image in India address many of the key elements of the Hindu culture and traditions. Much of her writing deals with the visual aspect of the religion, and how it is more about the spirituality rather than the actual image itself. Within each chapter she hit on other major details within in the Hinduism. However this essay will discuss the specific concepts such as pilgrimage to certain sites, importance of the visual aspect, and how the construction is a religious discipline in itself. Diana Eck’s essay begins with the discussion of how Hinduism is a visual religion. Numerous times she explains how sight was a major aspect in worship and Darsan. In this section she goes on to explain that the very phrase of the Hindu religion is seeing is knowing. The whole point of the darsan aspect is to see and be seen by the god, goddess or diate that lives in the shine. Furthermore the eyes play a key role in the worship of gods. Through the eyes on can gain blessings of the divine. However to get to the dwelling places of these gods is not always a simple trip to a local shrine. She begins to discuss the pilgrimages or journeys of many people in order to achieve darsan at a specific place. During this portion of the essay she talks about the journeys and dedication that many of the Hindu followers partake in. not only do people traveling for gods but also living religious figures. For example Ghandi was perhaps the most exalted living Hindu figure. Thousands would travel just to get a glimpse of him passing in an attempt to achieve darsan. Towards the end of her passage she explains the importance of the construction of the images, and how each one was a religious discipline in itself. Later on in the passage she begins to explain how the construction of a temple becomes part of the cosmos; and in its construction the entire universe is rearranged. The very ground plan is a geometrical map of their cosmos with the sacred image at its center. Many of the temples are models of sacred mountains said to be the dwelling places of the gods, and diates. In a larger sense the temple are said to be images themselves. The construction of the temple gives evidence to this. Eck explains that from the beginning of the construction to the end is a ritual. My thoughts on the passage were that the author had extensive knowledge on the Hindu art forms along with its culture and myths. Her organization made it so each topic led to one another, and also goes into detail on almost every topic discussed. On the other hand I found one of her weaknesses was that the information got repetitive and made it difficult to focus throughout some of the paragraphs. A clear point however was the comparisons between Christianity’s god and the Hindu gods. Many times she compares the two saying a person that practices the Hindu religion could not comprehend the idea of one almighty invisible god, and that it would also be difficult for us to understand the importance of vision being a main part of the Hindu religion. This book has also shown me that each and every design has a specific importance to the religion itself. Before I assumed most of it had to be meaningless decoration, and that gods with more than eye actually serve a purpose for in achieving darsan. I had always assumed that it was just decoration or something completely different from its actual purpose. In this essay I have given a brief summary of some the major points in Diana Eck’s book Darsan: Seeing the Devine Image. These points include importance of the visual aspects of Hinduism, the ritual practice before during and after in constructing a hindu monument, and what the purpose of the pilgrimage is. I also have given a person opinion on the author strengths and weaknesses, prior stereo types and some comparisons that can be found within the book. Overall I found the book to be helpful in the fact that it gave specific reasons for many of the decorations and practices in the Hindu religion.

Questionnaire for Mcd

We are currently conducting a research on ethics of McDonald’s advertisement. We are surveying on the opinions of college students towards the ethics of McDonald’s advertisement. Are they really advertising their fast food ethically? Your response and feedback will be much appreciated. It will take 5 minutes to complete this questionnaire. Gender: Age: _20_ {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Male Female Which faculty do you study in? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Business Engineering Biomedical Law How often do you eat McDonald’s fast food every month? draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Seldom 1-3 times > 3 times What do you think about the taste of McDonald’s food? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Not tasty Tasty Very tasty Do you think that McDonald’s food is as tasty and attractive looking as shown in their advertisements? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No Do you think that McDonald’s advertisements are affecting kids to eat more fa st food? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No Do you think that McDonald’s food is as healthy as advertised? draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No Do you think that the information provided about the food by McDonald’s is complete and true? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No What factor makes you eat McDonald’s food? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Taste Advertisement/ Promotion Price Time saving Do you agree that McDonald’s advertisement has caused people to eat more and become more obese? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No Does the advertisement or promotion made by McDonald’s make you consume more McDonald’s fast food? draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No Do you think that McDonalds should put complete information about the nutrition in the food prepared in the advertisement? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No Consider this scenario: You are the sales manager of McDonald’s and you have to make a decision in a meeting with colleagues to decide on th e advertising plans for McDonald’s. Your colleagues suggested that you should advertise McDonald’s food as healthy as the society now is getting more conscious of health issues. However, you know that McDonald’s food is not the ideal healthy food. What would you do? {draw:rect} Advertise McDonald’s food as healthy and earn more profits in order to get a higher commission. {draw:rect} Gives full information about McDonald’s food and risk your job as a sales manager because it may affect the sales. When you buy burger from McDonald’s, does it exactly look like how it is advertised? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No If no, do you feel that you are misled by the advertisement? {draw:rect} {draw:rect} Yes No

A Historical Perspective on Reading Research and Practice Essay

This article has responded to both internal and external forces resulting from gradual and dramatic transitions based on historical perspectives. This has permitted a reasonable reflection and a sense of wisdom that is susceptible to loss when one engages in it. The underlying reason is the critical dimension to the present day events and issues analysis resulting from the broadened reading culture. In the late 20th century, reading became a recognized study field with systematic research programs aiming at ascertaining its fundamental nature and its acquisition process. This resulted from the confluence of social, educational, political and economic factors. Quantitative and qualitative changes in U. S. public schools’ systems after the World War II provided favorable environment for the reading transitions. Reading processes and skills were broken down into constituent parts which were practiced and reinforced in a systematic and orderly manner during classroom sections. Reading became a conditioned behavior based on certain environmental contingencies. Individuals positively responded to learning from repeated and controlled stimulation from the environment. This stimulus-response relationship was accompanied by rewards and punishments led to the habituation of the reading act (Alexander & Fox, 2004). Therefore, academic learning involved identification of the preferred behaviors prerequisites and training. This aimed at untangling the chained links in reading so as to train the learner in each component skill. In addition, material effectiveness was structured and controlled in the delivery of environmental stimulation and practice opportunities. Emphasis on studying observable behavior focused on reading as a perceptual activity which included identification of visual signals and validating diagnostic instruments and remedial techniques. However, alternative human learning theories which focused on perceptual process as a whole still operated on underground which examined that reading is per introspection rather than through behavior. Human beings could make a coherent sense out of the perceptional data through whole-word recognition, context comprehension and word identification thus considering reading as a unique human activity owning definitive characteristics. Increased interest in internal mental structures and processes ignited by the advancements in neurology and artificial intelligence has caused transformations in the learning institutions. Moreover, the dissatisfaction with behaviorism as an explanatory system caused changes. The article points that present institutions should conceptualize learning as a natural process rather than conditioning and that language should be developed through a meaningful use. Also learning to read should be viewed as an inherent ability rather than a reflective action with laborious skill acquisition. As a result, reading research unified the literacy field through language arts. Learning to read became a matter of arriving at a facility due to the understanding quest within a language-rich environment. The growing attention to the structure and processes of the human mind and increased federal funding by the Unites States led to creation of research centers caused another theoretical transformation. These new researchers explained human language as an interaction between symbol system and mind. Learning as a natural metaphor was replaced with a mechanistic information processing metaphor. Text-based as a form of learning, involved knowledge which was organized and stored within the individual mind (Alexander & Fox, 2004). In addition, Knowledge base was depicted as powerful, persuasive, individualistic and modifiable since it was linked to the individual’s perspectives on what they had read, their interpretation and recall out of the written text. The information processing of this period resulted in cognition-related constructs which strengthened the aforementioned characteristics of knowledge. Furthermore, it focused on the individual mind. This was because the computer-based guiding had little considerations of socio-cultural influences in processing linguistic information. To add on, the research studies stressed on individualistic interpretations of written text and exhibited that the knowledge of the students could be greatly modified through training, direct intervention and/or overt instructions. Other contributors of improved text comprehension were instructional environments and pedagogical techniques. In view of any reading approach, there must be a shift away from the neurological argument to much concern for naturalism in the materials and procedures used to teach reading. Moreover, they should create unity within the language arts. The cognitive psychology gave a new viewpoint for literacy and educational researchers. It studied literacy with naturally occurring texts in natural settings with holistic and aesthetic school of thought. It aimed creating a mutual understanding arising in the social interaction of individuals in particular contexts at a time (Alexander & Fox, 2004). The dominant perspective was learning being a socio-cultural collaborative experience and the learner being a member of the learning community. Reform on modern schools  Present day schools should anticipate for motivation in the form of readers’ achievement of goals, interest and involvement in the learning experience with change in perception of texts, reader and reading. This can be achieved due to the introduction of the hypermedia and hypertext forms of learning which has increased the attention in classroom discourse thus improving the students’ academic. Effective orientation has to be done so as to capture the complexity of reading and recognize the changing nature of reading as the reader engages in a range of reading-related, goal-directed activities. With the dichotomization of reading into learning to read and reading to learn, it has led to integrated and developmental learning perspective. Engaged learning has led to the acknowledgement of the fact that reading extends to the texts students come across daily such as nonlinear, interactive, dynamic and visually complex materials transmitted using audiovisual media. Current learning institutions should learn about the potentials of alternatives nonlinear media and examine how pedagogical techniques and learning environments can be adapted to aid readers from struggling with traditional texts. Students should be encouraged to participate in meaningful and goal-directed text-based learning. Moreover, attention should be drawn to create a personally and socially valuable body of knowledge. Strategies are put in place to promote reflection, choice and deliberate execution on the learner’s part which actively engages the leaner thus developing the reading perspective. To be complete, readers, and learners should focus on demonstrating fluency in reading and other basic linguistic skills. Workable solutions  Some of workable solutions would include provision of personally relevant texts, both traditional and alternative that will promote deeper and wider student engagement in their learning. Putting in place technological advancements capable of transforming learning and teaching through production of proliferated information sources and different text types can also be productive. Involving high-stakes testing and efforts to institute national standards have hastened the students’ learning since they prescribe the content and skills learners should have acquired at various institutional levels. Investments in basic reading skills and components in special education institutions have helped struggling readers since researchers have greatly supported. Changes which might improve things One of major consideration that should be put in place is recognition of the fact that reading is invariably physiological, psychological and sociological thus an integrated orientation is a prerequisite. Therefore physical, visual, and neurological stimuli to the learning processes should also be employed. In addition, every reading process needs to enhance the psychological interpretation, storage and retrieval of text, goals formulation and expression of interests. Sociologically, a reading culture that focuses in intra-individual and inter-individual communication through linguistic media that are socio-culturally influenced can also play a big role in changing the existing education. Lastly, a fine-grained reading view that incorporate brain structures and mental activities of an individual and social behavior have to be integrated meaningfully throughout these orientations.