Betrayal in Hamlet Essay

How does betrayal or treachery help in developing the main character? What it reveals about the characters? Use a theme. How betrayal was a theme and how if affected the main character? William Shakespeare, one of the most influential writers in history, was renowned for masterfully elaborating themes of real life into his pieces of literature. In fact, his plays were able to transcend time, influencing the course of western literature because of their universal thematic. In one of Shakespeare’s most acclaimed plays, Hamlet, the author dissects the common theme of betrayal. Although the play carries the name of its main protagonist, all characters play crucial roles in the development of the many layers of meaning of the intricate plot and the character of Hamlet himself. Four characters in particular play important roles in developing a predominant theme in Hamlet. From the beginning of the play to the end, Hamlet experiences a development of character through the betrayals of Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Gildernstern. When the play opens, Hamlet’s relationship with his mother was very close. Nonetheless, after his mother married his uncle only two months after his father’s death, Hamlet suspected that she was involved in the plot to murder his father. Consequently, Hamlet’s feeling and trust in his mother were greatly diminished. These incestuous actions by Hamlet’s mother, the most important woman in his life, added the distrust of women to Hamlet’s feelings. He mocked his mother, the â€Å"seeming virtuous queen†, with phrases like â€Å"frailty, thy name is woman†, and â€Å"such dexterity to incestuous sheets†. His words not only illustrated his disgust, frustration and disappointment towards his mother and women in general, but also established Hamlet’s sense of isolation. A young man such as Hamlet often puts his mother on a pillar and uses her as a comparison as to how all women are to behave. Gertrude’s behaviour provided Hamlet with a false sense of security and distorted his views on women. Hamlet showed no affection towards his mother throughout the entire play. It is obvious that he loved her dearly, however, his behaviour did not portray his true emotions. Though it is difficult to see, due to Hamlet’s immature behaviour, it is clear that the loving relationship between mother and son did exist. The extent to which Hamlet felt betrayed by Gertrude is far more apparent with his interactions with Ophelia. Hamlet’s feelings of rage against his mother were directed toward Ophelia, who was, in his estimation, disguised her true nature behind a veil of impeccability. Ophelia complied with Polonius’ orders to stop seeing Hamlet, and later allowed both Polonius and Claudius to spy on her conversation with Hamlet. These continuous betrayals from Ophelia deteriorate Hamlet’s opinion of women. Hamlet advised Ophelia â€Å"Get thee to a nunnery†(3.1.121). Hamlet felt embarrassment and frustration in the failure of persuading Ophelia to care about him. In Hamlets eyes, this failure could only be explained by the fact that she is a woman. Hamlet’s love was broken and misused once again in the case with Ophelia. Hamlet’s consistent betrayal by the women in his life has added to the growing hatred of women through his eyes. Hamlet’s feelings for Ophelia shifted from passionate love, to resentful hatred. He resented her for being the weak character that she is and listening to her father, therefore not returning his love. While at the same time, he was madly in love with her, and could not express his feelings any more than he already has. Not only is he immature in his actions towards her, but also very unpredictable. For example, his behaviour towards her during the play that he created is immoral, and rude. His possessive and persistent behaviour frightened Ophelia, for he continuously threatened her and attempted to persuade her to return his love. Even Hamlet’s close friends Rosencrantz and Gildernstern betrayed him by spying on Hamlet for Claudius and Gertrude (Act 2 Scene 3). Rosencratz and Guildenstern represent disloyalty and dishonesty in the play. They betray their friend and conspire with the King to eliminate Hamlet. Hamlet uncovered their deceitfulness and ironically arranges for their death. Ironically, these two men’s treachery leads to their own demise in the hands of the man they betrayed, Hamlet. The betrayal of Rosencrantz and Gildernstern affected his life significantly. Hamlet reached his lowest point. From the evidence stated above, one can see that it was all the traumatic events in Hamlet’s life that lead him to grieve. Hamlet not only lost his father, but was also betrayed by everyone that he holds dear. Hamlet could not handle and bear all the pressures of life at that particular part in time. Hamlet’s character, though extremely complex and intricate, is also surprisingly immature and unpredictable. Hamlet’s personality is directly reflected in most notably in his relationships with his mother, Gertrude, and his lover Ophelia. The character of Gertrude and Ophelia help to reveal Hamlet’s true personality. The weakness and naà ¯ve aspects of their characters exemplify Hamlet’s controlling personality. Through their own characteristics, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Gildernstern helped illustrate Hamlet’s personality throughout the play. â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman† may have been Shakepeare’s attitude about the female characters of the play; however, this weak and naive characteristic that he placed on the female roles was a necessity to the play. Hamlet’s immature, unpredictable and insane behaviour could not have been defined if the female roles had not existed in the plot to shape his true personality.

Mock interview

Johnson, and we talked a little bit about that company which was about how great that company is. I love Johnson & Johnson this company a lot. It survived from World War One, the Great Depression , and World War Two. And it is coming much and much stronger, more than ever. We went through some Traditional Interview Questions as well. When he asked me, â€Å"do you prefer working on a team or as an individual contributor? I basically combined my own working experience with it, and I said â€Å"l actually more enjoy working on a team rather than an individual contributor, because I used to work In a restaurant before which Is not a one person's Job, it takes many people and time to work on it, to manage it, and run It. † As myself, I take every firm and company as a big running machine, and each stuff members are working as a small part and component of this machine. Everyone Is involved, and everyone Is Important as well.In order to make this machine runs, each part and compon ent Is Indispensable. It may start to running If without some part or component, but It won't work as well as If everyone Is Involved. It was a great experience to having an Interview with him. The whole Interviewing didn't take too long, and it was only about 20 minutes. But he gave me a very good Impression from the beginning to the end. It Is very Important to have such a mock Interview before we take the real Interview with some big companies. It Isn't Just gave me the experience, but It also gives me the courage.

A Day at the Beach

I am the kind of person who likes to go to the beach all of the time and in all kinds of weather.   I enjoy many warm, sunny beautiful days on the sand and in the refreshing water.I also enjoy the scent of a rainy day at the beach and the sight of the rain joining the lake, as if the water is coming home.   Indeed, the beach has provided many happy memories for me.   It is one of my favorite places on earth to go both with friends and alone.   However, there was one very special day at the beach that tops all of the other times I have spent there.On this particular night, the evening sun had just begun to set and the heat of the day was wearing off as I drove to the beach.   I was all alone this evening and had just enjoyed a nice light dinner at my favorite outdoor bistro with my cousin, Paulette.   We had lively conversation, as we always do, and I felt invigorated before I even headed off to my retreat at the beach.   All four of my windows were down, so the air pass ing through the car felt as if I were standing atop a windy cliff.   The breeze felt luxurious on my skin, as if I were slipping into soft silken sheets on a brisk evening.I had the radio on my favorite station, and the music was as loud as I could stand it, but not loud enough to distract me from using all of my other senses to enjoy my surroundings.   I could still hear the wind rushing through my car and the lap of the lake against the breakers.   I could also hear the softer laps of water as I crossed over bridges and sections of road that bordered the water.I could see the orange encrusted yellow sun setting over the shimmering water, with its rays stretching seemingly for miles.   I smelled all of the various scents of the lake and I could still taste the salmon salad that I had just enjoyed with cousin.   Life was wonderful. I was in touch with nature.I pulled into my usual parking spot, a grassy but easily accessible rest spot along the road.   I casually climbed down the rocky wall that led me to my usual spot of respite.I noticed that tonight, I was alone.   There were no other beings around me and not a car passed for at least forty five minutes.   During this time of solidarity, I enjoyed myself.   I took time to be introspective and to have a conversation with myself.   In a spot where I had come and enjoyed the company of many people in my life, I now spent time getting to know myself.   I felt at peace and whole by the time the first car whizzed past my encampment.While being alone may not suit everyone, in it I found strength and happiness.   A very typical day and a very common place ended up leading to my most memorable day on the beach.   The stretching miles of sun rays on the water, the cool, crisp, clean air, and the heavenly breeze brought with them a peace I had never experienced before. The atmosphere was perfect, the day was beautiful, and I was enlightened.  

Freges Puzzle of Identity Statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Freges Puzzle of Identity Statements - Essay Example Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege, a German philosopher, was one of the founder fathers of establishing a systematic and analytical approach to the philosophy of language. He instituted the idea of logically proving the quantified statements. In Frege's philosophy of language he found two puzzles, of which one related to the identity of statements. Frege says Now if we were to regard equality as a relation between that which the names 'a' and 'b' designate, it would seem that a = b could not differ from a = a (i.e. provided a = b is true). A relation would thereby be expressed of a thing to itself, and indeed one in which each thing stands to itself but to no other thing (Bencivenga E, 1993). Here, he observed that mere representation of names and descriptions does not convey the information content of a statement or a sentence in terms of logic and meaning. He further probed and found that a minimum of two relations are required for significant understanding of the language. In the subsequent paragraphs we will discuss the Frege's Puzzle of identity statements in detail and reasonably justify the solution of the puzzle as suggested by Frege himself. Identity statements are the expressions that equate the objects on both sides of the identity sign (Geach, O. and Black, Max, 1960). For example, "(2+3) = 5", "Clint is Eastwood" and "John is Peter's father". All these statements essentially belong to the same clan of kind " a= b". The statement "a = b" can only hold true when "a" and "b" both represent the same object or an individual. Now, consider a statement of kind "a = a". This statement also requires the same truth condition as required for the statement of kind "a = b". For both the cases, object or the individual is same and also, the denotations represent the same individual or the object. However, the meaning conveyed in the two cases is different. This appears to be a paradoxical situation as the representations of a unique object or an individual have a difference while being true at the same time. The Frege's puzzle states that when the difference in the representations, that is, "a" or "b" is not established by the tw o cases under consideration, then how we can find the difference in meaning or cognitive significance between the two true identity statements (Fiengo, Robert and May, Robert, 2006). Cognitive Significance of the Difference of Identity Statements To resolve the issue of difference, we first understand cognitive significance of a name or a statement. Cognitive significance of a statement, as brought out by Frege, can only be described by two important aspects of the statement, namely, 'sense' and 'reference' (Zalta, Edward N, 2005). Here, the 'sense' of the statement conveys more information then its interpretation by mere visual inspection (Schirn, M, 1976). Moreover, 'sense' is the integral part of the name and different names are associated with different 'sense' (Zalta, Edward N, 2005). A group of two or more statements may indicate or refer to a singular object but each statement has a unique sense of its own. Next, we obtain the distinction between the

Democracy High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Democracy High School - Essay Example . Offering many view points as to why, how ,where and why we got this idea of democracy as we now see it, it begins with the very needed statement saying that democracy is not one set institution which I believe over the course of time people have begun to try to force that idea. The idea was forced here in our own country that democracy had to be this way and was supposed to look exactly like this or that, and that is simply not the case, and then again nor should it be. According to the article one of the most important aspects of a democracy is its citizens, and I could not wholeheartedly agree more. The more people who can vote and the much more democratic a state of being is, and just that much more power that is given to the people. In my mind democracy is really all about the powers that the people hold, and how accountable the government is to the people. The government is only there to help run the people, and should be held completely responsible to the democratic voting process. Of course there are some expected procedures that are needed to make a democracy possible, which is completely different from things that can make a democracy feasible. These two ideas should not be confused with one another.

A Description of Human Geography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Description of Human Geography - Assignment Example Some of these include the birth rate, death rate, fertility rate, natural increase rate and zero population growth. All the rates are ratios and their functions are that these aspects are used to check on the population change. The aspects of ratios and rates form the population dynamics, which are treated with critical and spatial information that helps in evaluating the interaction between physical geography and human geography. b) The concept of population cohorts theory is also referred to as population pyramid theory. It is a graphical representation of the five-year age groups called the cohorts. The information in the population pyramid is used in various government sectors, for example, the economic demand notion for teenagers with the sociological concept. This helps the government in responding accurately to various matters such dependency ratios. b) On the other hand, Muslim refers to a person who follows the religion of Islam. Muslim refer to an individual who submits himself or herself to God. They consider Quran as a book containing the word of God and that word revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. b) The Islamic religion has five pillars of faith and they are five observable features that distinguish Islam from other religion like Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism religions of the world. The first pillar of faith is that no God worthy of worship but Allah. In this pillar, the profession of faith require Muslims to bear witness to the oneness of God and Muhammad is his messenger. The second pillar is prayer. The inherent pillar relies on assumption that every individual have a direct relationship with God and therefore individuals should pray five times a day. The third pillar is giving charity where social responsibilities are considered part one's service to God. Payment of a specific possession to the welfare of the community is an act of purification and growth.

Persuasive speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Persuasive speech - Essay Example We decided that we needed to help such women in Africa who had no access to health facilities and who had no way of reaching facilities due to pours roads and poverty. We called some friends back in Kenya who informed us that the problem of woman not having access to health facilities was a chronic problem in the country and infect in the whole continent and that the lady in the video was infect one of the luck few who survived due to the elephants and tourists help. This set us on a fact-finding mission, which put us in connection with the ministry of Health as well as the ministry of gender in the Kenya who were very willing to facilitate and coordinate for us so that we could start up mobile clinics and build health facilities in remote areas of Kenya. They were also willing to give us the free immunization kits for babies and mothers as well as free family planning kits provided by the government. They also promised to give us some medical personnel who would be on government pay. The need for funding was all that remained and this is where we will need our partners help. We concluded that the best way to go about this was to raise money through a website and to seek assistance from other like-minded organizations in order to help the women of Africa. We also decided to seek the help of the WHO were very willing to assist us. To enable this great work we had to be registered as a nonprofit organization. Our name is â€Å"African Sister†. This is the vehicle through which we will work to help our sisters in Africa. A non-profit organization that we have started will enable you to contribute to society by giving of your resources in terms of money and labor. It will also give you the opportunity to travel and interact with new cultures. We shall be giving a certificate of participation for all those who will take part in the

Tyre punctures Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Tyre punctures - Assignment Example Also, the causes and prevention of tyre punctures is discussed. Introduction A tyre puncture or a flat tyre is when the tyre starts riding on the rim of the wheel or the ground. This situation may cause potential damage to the tyre or the loss of control on the vehicle. Though it is a very common situation as it happened because of the everyday extensive usage of vehicles, it has serious consequences. Tyre punctures are easily repairable. They may happen most commonly in vehicles because of some sharp object that lets the air of the tyre release leaving it punctured. The tyre may be collapsed according to the size of the puncture, as the air may be released rapidly or slowly. Driving with a flat tyre can be very dangerous and may cause accidents. When a driver realizes that he has a punctured tyre, he should slow down and stop his car to get it repaired. According to one of the reports, 10% of motor vehicles were damaged because of a tyre puncture. Thus, to be able to drive safely an d avoid tyre punctures, drivers should be aware and focus on the prevention of tyre punctures. One of the best ways to avoid the flat tyres is to drive on proper and safe roads. Drivers should avoid driving on rough roads, construction sites or over debris. These areas may contain objects that puncture the tyre. There may be other serious causes of tyre punctures. There is a valve stem in the tyre, and if there is a failure of or damage to the valve stem, the tyre can release the air and be punctured. Furthermore, there are also issues related to vandalism in which the air is intentionally released from the tyre. Excessive rubbing of the tyre with the road or a collision with any object can also cause the tyre to be punctured. Old tyres or over used tyres can be weak and can allow the rough roads to tear them up. Such tyres should be immediately changed for a better and safe driving (Freitag, 2002, p.8) Global Issues The tyres and their use is a global phenomenon. Not only are there common reasons and consequences related to the tyre punctures, in fact there are also many global issues that are associated with the use of tyres and tyre punctures. Healthy tyres are very important as they tend to allow the motor vehicles to be safe and lower the risk of tyre punctures. In Saudi Arabia we can see many of these global issues that can be related to the tyre punctures. Statistics show that Saudi Arabia was one of those countries where most road accidents and tyre damages have been seen. These are because of many reasons and causes. To start with, global weather is one of the main issues because of which tyres are damaged and punctured. Since tyres are filled with air, it is very important to manage the air in the tyre and the air pressure. If any part of this is affected, it will damage the tyre and more generally cause a tyre puncture. The global weather, specifically the changes in global weathers will deeply affect the tyres. There are summer impacts and winter i mpacts both. Tyres need to be safe and healthy so that there are less chances of risking motor vehicles on the roads. Good tyres will also prevent road accidents. Both the types of weathers can have different effects on the tyre. Thus, drivers should take every measure to prevent the tyres from damaging during the extreme weather. As the summer season starts, there are many warnings given to the drivers to prevent their

Littleton Manufacturing Case Study PowerPoint presentation Speech or

Littleton Manufacturing Case Study PowerPoint - Speech or Presentation Example These changes coupled with increased competition in the market affected Littleton manufacturing through Brooks industries dwindling financial performance (Whiteside, 1994). To address this issue, the management at Littleton manufacturing got concerned with addressing the deep lying problems that affected the company. The company decided to compute a human resources process improvement team-PIT, to outline the issues and second a corrective course of action. This paper will aim towards identifying the problems at Littleton and providing solutions that will help consolidate the company’s position in the market. Problems identified and their symptoms Complaints at different levels of the company’s plant arose over the issue of poor organizational communication at the company. With this as a sign of organizational problems at the company, the management sought help from students at a nearby faculty to asses the organizational communication at Littleton (Whiteside, 1994). Th e PIT team collected the results from the students and conducted an in-house analysis that identified six critical problem areas that the company was to address. The six problems get discussed below in separate paragraphs. The first problem identified was a lack of organizational unity at Littleton. The apparent lack of organizational unity got viewed through the disquiet shown by the workers who believed the fabrication side got overlooked over the newer components side (Whiteside, 1994). The components side had newer machines while the fabrication side had older machines that required frequent servicing yet they never got replaced. Workers also mentioned of the stringent working conditions in the fabrication side of the plant compared to the components side. The workers viewed the management of the components side as stringent while that of the components side appears flexible and relaxed. The workers observed that the two sides of the plant appeared to have different management s tyles. The second problem cited was a lack of consistency in the enforcement of rules and procedures within the different sides of the plant. Complaints arose from workers about the differences within the department and sides at the plant when enforcing rules and procedures. Evidence of this appeared when workers complained that some supervisors in the components side gave longer breaks compared to other supervisors in other departments. In the very components side, some supervisors allowed workers to leave as early as twenty minutes before quitting time (Whiteside, 1994). Inconsistencies also got cited in terms of application of punishments. Fighting in the plant would result to automatic dismissal, but there were two incidents where the culprits never got punished. Some employees mentioned of an incident where someone was caught smoking marijuana within the plant, but only got a written warning for such a misdemeanor. A lady also got suspended from work for three days for missing work due to doctor appointments for her child. However, an operator got no punishment for missing work regularly due to suspicions of drug or alcohol abuse. Another example of inconsistency in applying rules and procedures got viewed through the absenteeism levels from either side of the plant. The fabrication side had less than one percent absenteeism compared to the 2.2% recorded in the components

Java technology related to this tool Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Java technology related to this tool - Essay Example Besides, java is advantageous because it is more secure. Unlike other programming languages such as C++, java has a highly protected interpreter, compiler, compatible browser and runtime environment. This is a good idea since it helps it to ensure that the safety of all records is taken into account. Thus, any data stored in the system can not be compromised whatsoever. In other words, it is very secure software which can be entrusted with the bank and the clients’ records at all times. Last, but by no means the least, java programming language can be useful in the designing and maintenance of the money tracker because of its simplicity. It has got several features that make it to be easier to operate. These include a small number of language constructs, garbage collections and an automatic memory allocation. At the same time, it is equipped with a very clear syntax. These actually make it easier to operate by the programmer, bank’s management and individual

1984 George Orwell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

1984 George Orwell - Essay Example All privacy of the people is done away with. An individual cannot express, he is part of the collective conformity. Each citizen is required to be a loyal follower of the government. Physical and emotional tortures are the accepted procedures to achieve the reformation goals. The supreme leader eliminates the fundamental rights and freedom of expression of the citizens. They are like the dumb, driven cattle. Since each movement is monitored, people are afraid to exhibit even emotions. Human nature is suppressed. Youth is taught to rebel against the parents. "It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children." (Orwell n. d.) They are afraid of their shadows! Newspeak relates to domination of the thought process where in the State will command it in totality, with no scope for the opinion of others. It will remove all shades of meanings from the language that which is not conducive to the philosophy of the state. Thus, the vocabulary gets reduced every year and the words like rebellion, freedom etc., will vanish from the dictionary of the totalitarian state. The processes of destruction of words begin with the introduction and use of Newspeak to give a blow to logical thinking with a deliberate scheme to oppress the freedom-loving speakers. Its negative connotation is its ‘beauty.’ The government’s main aim is to know what is going on in the minds of the people, and telescreens are installed to watch their moves. News about false hopes is broadcasted. The tools like newspaper, print media and speakers give information, not truth, and what is convenient from the government point of view. Psychological principles are used to brainwash the people and to secure their commitment to the philosophy of the party. For example, they apply electrical shocks to subdue and weaken the spirit of Winston. The constant supervision makes the citizens the virtual prisoners in their daily lives in Oceania.

3d System and 3d Printing Essay Example for Free

3d System and 3d Printing Essay As a radical innovation, 3D printing has been introduced to market over 30 years since 1980s. This technology revolution doesn’t only change the process of molding; it also adapts its industry to go green by reducing wasting materials. In the contrast, object is produced by traditional technology (subtractive process) generates surplus cut material. In the early period of development, it was applied in hobbyist uses and industry uses such as design visualization, prototyping, architecture, education, and healthcare. In 2000s, along with mass launches of portable 3D printers from several companies, 3D printer has stepped on consumer product market; also, printed objects have been transformed from components or prototypes to finished goods. The personal 3D printer is incremental innovation of 3D printing. Basically, it was developed from industry 3D printer by design, size, and accessibility. Cube ® as 3D Systems’ first personal 3D printer is part of company’s strategy which is to accelerate 3D printer penetration. Five growth strategies See more: Homeless satire essay * Expand on-demand-parts services * Accelerate 3D printer penetration * Grow healthcare revenue * Consumer and retail * Create Seamless digital scan, design and print platform 3D Systems acquired Rapidform which is a leading global provider of 3D scan-to CAD and inspection software tools, located in Seoul, South Korea in 9 October 2012. 3D Systems is going to achieve its fifth growth initiative: to create a seamless, digital scan, design and print platform for the benefit of its customers. 3D Systems would broaden their range of capabilities with complementary products and technology, and extend its coverage and breadth globally with a significant foothold in South Korea and Japan. Technological Opportunities and Innovation The company has been playing as a leading provider in 3D printing business for over 25 years. It mainly focuses on business purposes e.g. making a rapid prototyping and manufacturing part. The research and development team of the company work closely with marketing department and foresee an opportunity gap in the current market. The team has an idea to entering into â€Å"home personal 3D printing† market by launching a new product line called Cube ® which allows people to print real object in three dimensions. Concurrent with introducing Cubify.com as a marketplace and meeting place where artists, designers, children and makers can sell their 3D designs and anyone can Cube ® in Product Life Cycle According to Product Life Cycle strategy, 3D Systems and its Cube ® have been successfully proving the Introduction stage and are ongoing with Growth stage. The attention has been captured by hyping up the publicity and put the personal home 3D printing into recognition. All sources of public media e.g. Magazine, Newspaper, YouTube, News, Trade Event are widely presenting the debut of company innovation of home personal 3D printer and has been awarded as the winner of â€Å"Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award 2012†. 3D Systems Focusing Strategies In order to move along from Introduction period to Growth, the company has put its focus into 4 main company strategies which one of them is â€Å"Accelerate 3D printer penetration†. It is emphasis on expanding company distribution channel through reseller and subsidiary around the world which currently the company only offers click-and-mortar store. Cube ® in Adoption Curve and its Development Culture Since the personal home 3D printer is new to market, with its intuitive experience offering to consumer, it is not difficult for Innovators group of people to adopt the printing technology. Therefore, with its product features—Simplicity of Plug and Play, WiFi printing support, and more pattern available to download on cubify.com, it would not be an obscurity for Early Adopters to adopt the system as well. Furthermore, Cube ® 3D printer is currently likely positioned on the upper right side of the 3D Systems’ Development Culture model where it is considered to be such a completely new and breakthrough product of the year. The company will constantly improve the printer itself as seen in the company annual report under research and development expenses increased by $5.7 million, or 58.1%, to $15.4 million in the first nine months of 2012 from $9.7 million in the first nine months of 2011 3D Systems Development Culture Cube ® and its complementary product The selling point of the Cube ® 3D printer is not only the machine itself but the company also offer a cloud service community—Cubify.com. - Cubify turns mobile device, PC or tablet into a powerful mobile digital canvas to unleash creativity and bring ideas to life in 3D. On Cubify.com, user can find coloring book, cloud gaming and share creativity in 3D experience. The site also offers intuitive 3D Apps, rich 3D printable content libraries of games, puzzles, and any other collections for creation, purchase, share, or even sell for money. Additionally, the website also provides online printing service and has the printed object ship it right to customer later by air mail. Therefore, this service has driven the company to hold competitive advantage over competitors. People are increasing the awareness of cloud service where everything can be done over the air. The company can create the value of its product by offering a place where community begins which increasing in customer lock-in strategy and generate more revenue to company in long run. What company strategies beyond launch Cube ®: Be fast mover The world’s first personal 3D printer was launched by Stratasys in 2009. At the same time, 3D systems also launched its first personal 3D printer to become one of fast movers to better understand the barriers to broad utilization. As technology world, time is everything. 3D systems entered the market early means to quickly build large installed based as many as its industry section, and keep its leading position in 3D printing technology. They are now working on a multi-front strategy to democratize access and accelerate the adoption of 3D printing for the student, the hobbyist and ultimately, the consumer. The real keys are utility and affordability. Cube is part of its plan. Razor-blade strategy The launch of Cube reflects company’s penetration strategy that attempts to make customers to lock in with its products. The price of Cube is affordable, in addition to its high quality of product and service such as friendly-use application, various materials and colors, platform named Cubify.com where users can download and upload sources. Printer won’t be only product customer will purchase. Once printer is purchased, customer needs to keep purchasing other complementary products such as materials, also service such as applications. They will continuously make profit for company; even the revenue of materials and service is greater than the revenue of machine. RD As a technology company, innovation is critical, and one of the key drives of innovation is research and development. 3D systems’ expense in RD is increasing gradually to ensure its leadership through technology and business innovation. Table: 1. 3Dsystems-2012 Financial Statement Protect innovation Only developing and introducing new technology and product that will meet the customers need is not sufficient to be successful. To gain profit and increase market share, the company need to protect the product and service and development and manufacturing phase copying by competitors and new entrants. 3D Systems consider their technology platforms and materials as proprietary and try to protect them through copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets. 3D Systems has worked steadily over the years to develop the market, protect its position with a portfolio of hundreds of patents, and to improve its machinery, software and materials. This has resulted in improvements in accuracy, surface finish and material properties that have been instrumental in expanding the rapid prototyping market as a whole. At December 31, 2011, 3D Systems held 725 patents and 257 pending patent applications worldwide, including applications covering inventions contained in our recently introduced printers. 3D Systems has also entered into licensing or cross-licensing arrangements with various companies in the United States and in other countries that enable those companies to utilize the technologies in their products or that enable 3D Systems to use their technologies in the products. Under certain of these licenses, they are entitled to receive, or obligated to pay, royalties for the sale of licensed products in the U.S. or in other countries. 3D Systems gain the competitive advantages from these patents and licenses and their success depends largely on the marketing, business development and applications know-how and on their ongoing research and development efforts. Although 3D Systems protect their intellectual property rights, the secrecy of their digital content, confidential information, trade secrets and unlicensed copying through a variety of techniques, the success of 3D Systems will motivate the competitors to copy what they are doing. When the competitors come with up with the technology and product with the same customer need, it will be harmful to their business. The loss of trade secret protection could make it easier for third parties to compete with their products by copying previously confidential features, which could adversely affect 3D Systems revenue and operating margins. Strategic acquisition 3D Systems has made and will continue to make strategic acquisitions in future also. 3D has acquired a number of technologies and competitor companies over the years. It purchased Keltool ® technology from 3M several years ago to address high volume injection mold-making applications. In rapid succession in 2001, it acquired OptoForm SARL (France), RPC Ltd. OptoForms technology was aimed at additive manufacturing applications and RPC was acquired to help the company replace its long-term relationship with resin supplier Vantico. 3D Systems completed twelve acquisitions in 2011 and the Z Corp and Vidar acquisitions in 2012. 3D Systems consolidated its entire personal and professional 3D printer businesses into a single unit. This acquisition integrates Z Corp and Vidar products and services with 3D Systems’ extensive portfolio, uniquely positioning 3D Systems for accelerated growth in the dynamic, rapidly expanding 3D content-to-print space. The transaction completes 3D Systems’ range of product capabilities, fills price gaps with complementary products and technology and doubles its reseller coverage globally. Z Corporation Z Corp provides 3D technologies used to create new products and services more effectively than any other ways, compressing the design cycle, generating new concepts, communicating clearly, fostering collaboration, and reducing errors. Z Corp solutions span the entire 3D CAD/BIM design process from concept through design verification. Z Corp is committed to making their solutions the fastest, easiest, most accessible and most valuable. Vidar Systems Corporation Vidar Systems is a leading provider of optical imaging technology specializing in medical and dental imaging markets. Built upon a solid foundation of innovation and an unwavering dedication to quality, the company is the worldwide leader and number one manufacturer of medical film digitizers. â€Å"This is a historic, game-changing event for our customers and stockholders. Today we gained complementary full color and high speed printing technology, increased our marketplace presence significantly in verticals beyond product development and direct manufacturing, assembled the largest and most-well prepared reseller channel in 3D printing, and catalyzed our healthcare solutions business,† said Abe Reichental, President and CEO of 3D Systems. â€Å"Concurrent with the completion of this transaction today, we have taken immediate, decisive steps to unleash the combined revenue growth potential and deliver the value creation inherent in this acquisition for the benefit of customers and shareholders alike.† 3D Systems plan to evaluate acquisition opportunities in the future in an effort to expand the business and enhance stockholder value. â€Å"Acquisitions involve certain risks and uncertainties including: * Difficulty in integrating newly acquired businesses and operations in an efficient and cost-effective manner, which may also impact our ability to realize the potential benefits associated with the acquisition; * The risk that significant unanticipated costs or other problems associated with integration may be encountered; * The challenges in achieving strategic objectives, cost savings and other anticipated benefits; * The risk that our marketplaces do not evolve as anticipated and that the technologies acquired do not prove to be those needed to be successful in the marketplaces that we serve; * The risk that we assume significant liabilities that exceed the limitations of any applicable indemnification provisions or the financial resources of any indemnifying party; * The inability to maintain a relationship with key customers, vendors and other business partners of the acquired business. Acquisition for the development of Cube * 3D Systems acquired Bit from Bytes (UK) which is one of the more successful of start-up companies producing open-source equipment in 2010. Both companies achieved from this acquisition. BFB has got the patent and technical issues as well as means to accelerate the pace of its development. It also provided 3D Systems with a window on very low price and easier to enter in cost sensitive fields such as education. In 2011, 3D followed up that acquisition and purchased BotMill, an even smaller US company producing RepRap derivative and the purchase of widen their offerings for those customers looking for machine at the lowest cost. At the start of the 2012, 3D introduced a third major initiative in the low cost, the Cube 3D printer presented as a key component in a new web-based consumer community the company has dubbed Cubifyâ„ ¢. It remains to be seen how 3D Systems will integrate these efforts, or whether the entities will maintain their individual identities. What benefits and risks of 3D systems in the future? Enjoy benefits 3D systems make mass targets by providing wide range of product portfolio in perspective of price and performance. In the meantime, its 7 print engines are technical standard in 3D printing industries. It means it can capture the majority of customers. Cube is a good trial to penetrate 3D printer to personal use. In addition, effective adoption of emerged new technology and booming market would urge 3D systems to gain large market share and profits while building its leadership. The powerful materials and services can diversify the revenue generation of the company; they build its competitiveness among market. Potential risks: Global economic, political and social conditions might increase costs, harm the ability of company to do business, change the market trend. Cube is still not dominant design yet; the competitors can easily take over its market position by launching higher performance machine with lower price. The company may incur substantial costs enforcing or acquiring intellectual property rights and defending against third party claims as a result of litigation or other proceedings. In some case, it may not be able to protect them from unauthorized copying, use or disclosure. In rapid changing technology world, it will be always possible that radically new technology emerges and destroy current one. If so, the company and its product will face huge difficulty. Recommendations: To gain greater market share with higher profit, we suggest 3D systems to improve in the following aspects: 1. Price 3D Systems could further reduce price of 3D printers to penetrate into market. If do so, company can build large installed base. Over time, when company gains sufficient user, it could start to reduce price of materials to follow penetration plan. On the other hand, it’s to ease users’ concern, and lift company’s reputation. 2. Product development 3D Systems should bring more advanced products with higher specifications to fulfill diversity of printing requirements. Printing product size, types of materials and level of printing details are main specifications customers care. Therefore product developments in general are to make bigger product size, more types of materials, and higher level of details. 3. Service The complexity of use and lack of 3D creations are key barriers of purchase. In order to ease use experience, we suggest 3D systems to develop a new application itself or gain it from acquisition. The application is complementary product which can convert 2D images into 3D creations. Of course, company might face copyright problems. In this case, it can communicate with a group of giant companies to sign a contract to gain information such as size, material, and color of their products. Certainly, the copyright problems will be solved. This service is not free to customers; they need to pay to download. Those giant companies will also gain big percentage of fee from download. [ 1 ]. 3DSystems2012 – NYSE Investor Presentation [ 2 ]. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/3d-systems-cube-r-wins-135242928.html [ 3 ]. 3DSystems2012 – Form10-Q [ 4 ]. http://cubify.com/cube/index.aspx [ 5 ]. 3DSystems2012 – Form10-Q [ 6 ]. 3DSystems2012 – NYSE Investor Presentation [ 7 ]. http://cubify.com [ 8 ]. http://www.thisweekbangalore.com/issue141/news10-Statasys.html [ 9 ]. http://investor.3dsystems.com/content/financial-reports, http://www.3dsystems.com/personal-3d-printers/ [ 10 ]. http://investor.3dsystems.com/content/financial-reports [ 11 ]. 3Dsystems-2012-form-10-Q.pdf [ 12 ]. 3D system 2011 Annual report on Form 10-K [ 13 ]. 3D system 2011 Annual report on Form 10-K [ 14 ]. 3D system 2011 Annual report on Form 10-K 16 http://investor.3dsystems.com/content/financial-reports [ 15 ]. http://investor.3dsystems.com/content/financial-reports

The consumer decision process

The consumer decision process Section 1: The Consumer Decision Making Proccess The foundation of this research project is to analyse why consumers make purchase decisions through the theoretical paradigm of the Consumer Decision Process (CDP) (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006) it is therefore essential to understand how the CDP works and its uses and limitations. The CDP is a model used to understand how consumers make decisions and the processes they go through before purchasing products. Diagram 3 shows the core process of the CDP which starts with need recognition, this is where a consumer feels a need which has not yet been met, or a problem which has not been solved. Consumers then search for information on satisfying their needs and problems, once they have collected enough information consumers evaluate suitable products identified in the search. Consumers may then purchase the product that they think will meet their needs. Once the purchase has been made consumption occurs, this is where the consumer actually uses the product. Consumers then evaluate the experience and decide whether it met their needs, this last process will influence the chances of repeat purchases and brand loyalty. A benefit of using the CDP is it gives marketers an understanding of what happens after the purchase of a product. This is useful for marketers as it helps them realise that for consumers to purchase an item again, the consumer needs to be satisfied in the consumption and post evaluation phase. Consumer decision process limitations and critisisms A limitation of the model is that it is a simplistic view of how consumers purchase products. Many consumers do not go through a search for information or evaluation before purchasing an item, they may just get what is cheap or something that is easily available. Many consumers also shop in whats known as beta mode (reference) meaning they are not actively evaluating products but choosing items they are familiar with. To thoroughly analyse how consumers make purchase decisions it is necessary to adapt the CDP model and extend it to encompass other needs and decision making processes. Diagram iofreof overleaf shows an extended version of the CDP which includes important influences on decision making such as memory, environmental influences and individual differences. This model gives a more in-depth insight into how consumers make decisions and is a useful tool for locating problems in existing marketing strategies. Although the extended model encompasses further aspects of consumer behavior further criticism has been directed at the rationality of the CDP model for presenting an idealised version of the way consumers make purchase decisions. Arguments against the rationalistic nature of the CDP model suggest that consumers operate in an imperfect world and often posses limited knowledge and skills and that certain values might dominate their goals and decisions. Rational consumer behavior thus seems too idealistic and simplistic (Eramus, Boshoff, Rouseau 2001 pp.84). Dr Dhar on the subject of the CDPs explanation of irrational purchases adds that:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The assumption made in hierarchical models of consumer decision-making, namely that the decision to choose is independent of which alternative to choose, and that the decision-making process necessarily proceeds through the various stages to come to a final decision, may not always be valid. Consumers often decide to choose or not to choose depending on the existing situation. This implies a more definite impact of in store search activities during consumer decision-making rather than preparedness before entering the store. Traditional consumer decision-making models do not portray this possibility clearly. The rationalistic approach of the CDP has also been critised by (reference stewart)who argues that the CDPs assumption that consumers make a purchase after need recognition, search and evaluation is overly simplistic. Futrthermore he argues that consumers often do not know the reasons for their actions and behavior because decisions often become automated (Stewart, D. 1990). Stewart reinforces his argument with an alternate model which proposes that consumer decision processes have no obvious beginning or end. Although it is true not all consumer searches lead to purchase behavior, and consumers solemnly make informed purchase decision, the extended CDP still offers the most relevant and practical way of understanding consumers. The criticisms against the CDP specifically focus on its simplicity, logical process and lack of flexibility; however it could be argued that these are its strengths which allow marketers to effectively analyse consumer behavior better than other consumer decision models. John Whitney argue that in reality the decision making process happens much quicker than implied by the CDP model, but none the less follows its basic structure of need recognition, limited search evaluation and the possibility of purchase (John and Whitney 1983 pp.661-666). This theory is supported by Du Plessis, Rosseau, Blem who take the view that involvement determines how strictly a consumer follows the process (Du Plessis, Rosseau, Blem 1991), for example if a consumer is highly involved in the purchase decision they may undertake a thorough evaluation of competitor products and possibly purchase, however if they have low involvement they may just purchase a trusted brand name. When using the CDP to analyse consumer behavior it is advisable to allow for some flexibility to cover irrational purchase decisions and ones which feature low involvement, as suggested by its critics and supporters. An example of using the CDP in a flexible and analytical way would be analyzing a consumer purchasing chewing gum whilst buying coffee to freshen their breath after consuming the coffee, the consumer would have recognised the need and purchased the gum without any additional search or pre-purchase evaluation undertaken. Section 2: Need Recognition Need recognition is defined as the perception of a difference between the desired state of affairs and the actual situation sufficient to arouse and activate the decision process (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006). There are many theories which suggest how needs are satisfied and why consumers develop the need to purchase certain items, one of the most widely used theories is Maslows hierarchy of needs. Maslows hierarchy of needs is a theory that suggests a consumers needs and desires are graded by importance and can only be satisfied once lower level needs are met. Image jkdnvkidsn below shows a diagram of Maslows hierarchy of needs, on the bottom layer there are fundamental needs such as breathing, food and water which people need to function and stay alive. Once these basic lower level needs are met consumers then strive for higher level needs such as self esteem, creativity and problem solving, these needs are important for a good quality of life but not necessary to survive. The drawbacks of Maslows theory are that consumers needs are rarely met in this structured order, for example people may forgo sleep to work hard at something which to them provides self esteem. The theory is difficult to use in practice particularly when dealing with consumer behavior (Jahnsson-Boyd 2010), empirical research has also suggested that there is little or no support for a hierarchy of needs. To effectively examine consumer needs an alternate approach is needed to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. A more adaptive view of why consumers seek to satisfy needs through consumable items is the theory of need recognition (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006) which is explained in diagram iuriuhw. The advantage of using this model over Maslows is its broad nature of satisfying needs, it does not segment needs in terms of importance or place them in a hierarchical sequence which in reality rarely happens, furthermore it also explains how marketers can in fact stimulate a need through education of a consumers current state of affairs. A possible problem with the need recognition theory is a lack of detailed information as to what needs take precedence or what the possible end purchase decision satisfies in terms of tangible and intangible benefits. Catherine V. Jansson-Boyd suggests that this can be explained by separating needs into utilitarian; such as the need to eat, and heuristic needs; such as eating at an expensive restaurant to meet a self image need (Jansson-Boyd 2010). This theory explains the short comings of the need recognition model and illustrates how needs develop, thus allowing marketers to analyse how and why needs are stimulated. As suggested by the CDP model needs are commonly stimulated by marketer and non-marketer controlled stimuli an example of a marketer controlled stimuli would be an advert which educates a consumer about the dangers of spyware on computers, after seeing this advert they may feel a need to purchase an item which will safe guard their computer. A non-marketer channel may be a word of mouth (WOM) recommendation from a friend who has bought a new TV and recommends it. This theory works well with the need recognition mentioned above as it explains why actual state and desired state perceptions change and create needs. Section 3: Search After consumers have recognized a need the CDP suggests that consumers then commence a search for a product to satisfy those needs. As mentioned in section 1 consumers may sometimes forego searching for an item and purchase a brand they trust or a product they have tried and tested, however it is arguable that a preliminary search would have been carried out and stored in memory for future purchase decisions. It is therefore assumed that for most consumer purchase decisions some form of a search however small has been carried out. Although this theory is useful when analyzing what routes consumers use to search for product information it does not begin to explain what part internal searches such as memory have in the search process. Memories of past purchase decisions or information stored from personal or impersonal sources relating to the current product search will significantly affect how the search is carried out. The CDP model suggests that consumers either make internal or external searches or a combination of the two this explains how consumers use memory in product searches however it does not explain why consumers choose internal searches over external or vice versa. For consumers to purchase products solely from an internal search they must possess some confidence in their knowledge of the product category and the reliability of memories related to personal or impersonal stimuli of the product. When consumers lack confidence in their memory or existing knowledge of the product then some form of external search may be conducted if only to validate the adequacy of existing knowledge (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006). This also explains why consumers can become brand loyal, as consumers who are satisfied with a previous purchase decicion remember that satisfaction and can sometimes only undertake an internal search based on previous memorized experience (Geoffrey, Kiel, Roger 1981). This is also highlighted in the consumption and post evaluative consumption segments of the CDP model. The level of involvement during the search phase of the CDP is an important factor for marketers to analyse as it can highlight places where consumers go to search for information and provides them with opportunities to market products more effectively. There are many theories relating to why consumers undertake extensive searches for information when purchasing products. One view of why there are different levels of individual search involvement is the cost versus benefit perspective which suggests that:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People search for decision-relevant information when the perceived benefits of the new information are greater than the perceived costs of acquiring this information. This theory explains the amount of effort consumers are willing to make when purchasing items but does not take into account a theory by Kiel and Layton that as potential consequences rise in significance perceived risk also increases so extensive searching is carried out to minimize risk (Kiel, Layton 1981). Research by Betty, Sharron and Smith also suggests that as total search effort increases positive attitudes towards shopping for the product also increases (Sharron, Smith REFERENCE!), this phenomena can in some way be explained by both Urbanys theory and the model put forward by Kiel and Layton, as feeling s of risk minimization and making more informed purchase decisions result in greater perceived benefits, this would ultimately lead to positive feelings of the overall shopping experience. Section 4: Pre-purchase evaluation of alternatives Before consumers can compare contrast and evaluate alternative products and services they need to know which products to specifically evaluate, this process has been identified as producing a consideration set. A consideration set is defined as the product or service alternatives considered during decision making (Hauser, Wornfelt 1990). This theory suggests that once consumers have undertaken a search they then choose a selection of items to critically evaluate and compare, however it has been theorised that if consumers are brand loyal to a particular product then they may forgo composing a large consideration set. What is important to marketers is how consumers construct these consideration sets before making a decision, the CDP proposes that consumers use the same stimuli (marketer dominated and non-marketer dominated) used in the search phase of the CDP. Information gathered from marketer and non-marketer stimuli in internal and external searches stored in memory and easily retrieved become known as the retrieval set (Alba, Chattopadhyay 1985). The retrieval set is important for consumers when constructing their consideration sets as the ability to recall or recognize products seen in marketer or non marketer stimuli increases the chances of that product being considered for purchase. This partly explains why brand names are so important to consumers when making purchase decisions. Consideration sets are a plausible theory of explaining how consumers choose products to consider for purchase however what remains a wide subject of debate is how consumers evaluate and compare the products selected within their consideration set. One of the most famous and widely regarded theories on how consumers evaluate products based on their attitudes and beliefs is Fishbeins multi attribute model (Fishbein 1963) which suggests that consumers purchase goods and certain brands because they have favorable thoughts and feelings for the products salient and determinate attributes. To illustrate how Fishbeins model works table yvuvuv shows a comparison of three mobile phones, the scores would be filled in by consumers who have a scale of -3 for disagrees strongly to +3 agrees strongly. In table uyvbuyv the iPhone scores highly in terms of fashion, size, colour, price and simplicity. This means the marketers at Apple have been effective in shaping consumers beliefs towards these attributes. The one area where the iPhone does not score so well is unique purchase, meaning how unique the act of purchasing an iPhone is. This weakness could be exploited by other brands who could market their product as possessing this attribute. By using Fishbeins model brands can also try and change how important this belief is to consumers, thus altering the evaluative criteria. By using Fishbeins equation in box 1 and calculating the totals shown in table mlkmlkm, the theory clearly illustrates how favorable beliefs about the product add up to create a favorable attitude valence t owards the product. The benefit of using Fishbeins theory is its diagnostic power, which enables marketers to see what consumers believe about the products salient and determinate attributes and how important these beliefs are as evaluative criteria. The theory is also useful when analyzing purchase decisions which require extensive evaluation between products or purchasing a particular product category for the first time. A drawback of using Fishbeins multi attribute model is it relies on assuming the consumers has perfect knowledge of the product their buying (which is rarely the case) it therefore does not explain what part memory plays in evaluating products and how it can skew consumers perception of the product and brand they are purchasing. The Accessibility- Diagnosticity theory (Feldman, Lynch 1988) attempts to explain how memory influences pre-purchase decision making. Accessibility relates to how easily a piece of information can be retrieved from memory, and is increased when a stimulus is highly salient, vivid or when the consumer engages in elaborative processing. Diagnosticity is to do with the perceived relevance and increases as the perceived relevance between two variables increases. The Feldman and Lynch theory helps to explain the effect of memory and consumer knowledge on pre-purchase evaluation and explains why consumers will sometimes decide to purchase inferior goods because of a lack of knowledge or because of past negative experiences. A criticism of Fishbeins and Feldan and Lynchs models is that they do not explain why consumers make purchase decisions with minimal pre purchase evaluation. Catherine V. Jansson-Boyd proposes that there are a number of ways consumers make decisions when there is low involvement and motivation these are shown in table niunciw and are collectively known as choice heuristics (Jansson-Boyd 2010). Choice heuristics offers a more realistic view on how consumers make pre-purchase decisions with low involvement and its theories are likely used by every consumer at some stage in their life. Throughout this section focus has been directed as to how consumers evaluate different products, to gain a thorough understanding of why consumers make certain purchase decisions it is necessary to briefly analyse how marketers can influence consumers perceptions, attitudes and beliefs. In all of the models and theories previously mentioned in this section it is assumed that consumers make purchase decisions based on the attributes of the product, these attributes can either relate to the products tangible or intangible properties. Attributes therefore send signals to consumers which they then use to evaluate products and services (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006), an example of this would be a high price may signal quality to certain consumers (Dodds, Monroe 1991) or a cheap price as lower quality (Raghubir, Corfman 1999). The signals that products send are crucial to how consumers will evaluate their consideration set and is one of the reasons company spend so much on advertising to create favorable signals. Table iebhwwb shows how marketers can influence signals by using different advertising tools, which can shape consumers attitudes and beliefs towards products and services (Lutz 1975). Section 5: Purchase After consumers have evaluated the product they can then proceed to purchase their chosen item. Purchase decisions can however change for a number of reasons such as unavailability, a change in the expected perceived attribute of the product i.e price, or lack of motivation. It is important to understand that when consumers go shopping for items to satisfy their needs they may not always have a specific brand, or specific product in mind to satisfy those needs. Blackwell, Miniard and Engel suggest that that once a consumer decides to purchase an item to satisfy their needs it can lead to three types of purchase; A fully planned purchase (product and brand chosen in advance), a partially planned purchase (intent to buy the product exists but brand choice deferred to until shopping), or an unplanned purchase decision (both the product and the brand are chosen at point of sale) (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006). Assuming that this theory is correct it suggests that the retail environment influences and motivates a considerable amount of consumer purchase decisions. In a retail environment consumers are exposed to hundreds possibly thousands of advertisements promoting individual products and services all of which are trying to grab consumers attentions so they are considered for purchase. Consumers cannot however take in every piece of advertising information in a store therefore they become selective of the advertisements they choose to process. For consumers to focus their intention on advertisements it is thought that adverts must pass through three phases of consumer cognitive resources (Atkinson, Shiffrin 1968) diagram uinf shows how attention grabbing stimuli pass from being noticed by a consumers senses through to being stored in their long-term memory. The cognitive resource model gives a good explanation and understanding of how consumers process advertisements and marketer controlled stimuli and is therefore an essential tool for understanding why and how some advertisements work so well and increase brand awareness. It is however important to remember that this model does not cover the broad aspects of consumer attention such as subliminal messages and is therefore limited in its capacity to analyse all types of advertising however for the purposes of this research it is useful as it illustrates how conspicuous advertising works. If consumer attention is to be analysed through the framework of the cognitive resource model then it suggests that for an advertisement to be successful it has to significantly stimulate the sensory store, be thoroughly processed in short term memory and memorable enough to be stored in long term memory. Table uhiru below shows a brief list of ways marketers have used different tools to stimulate consumer sensory stores for their advertised products to be noticed and processed. The CDP model suggests that if marketers have been successful in focusing the attention of consumers on their product and sufficiently motivated them a purchase may be made. This theory however can be disputed as to logical because this type of purchase behavior only happens in a perfect setting it therefore does not take into consideration factors outside the marketers control such as availability or accessibility. The focus of this research is however on what marketers can do to influence the CDP process so although criticisms can be drawn from this view of purchase decisions it still arguably offers marketers the most information as to how they should theoretically sell their products. Section 6: Consumption After a purchase has been made consumption can occur, consumption is the point where consumers make judgments on the products they have bought, these judgements will influence consumers perception of satisfaction and increase or decrease the chances of the product being bought again. One of the problems marketers have with building brand loyalty is influencing consumption behavior after the product has been bought, influencing consumption behaviors is important as it can affect the amount of satisfaction gained from the item and the speed at which it is consumed. Table nuiernu below shows different consumption variables and how marketers try to influence them to increase satisfaction for consumers. Although the above table describes how marketers can affect consumption patterns it does not offer an analysis as to how consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction influences the consumers experience and chances of repeat purchases. Blackwell, Miniard and Engel theorise that the chances of products being repurchased depends upon the feelings experienced during consumption (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006). These feelings can either lead to positive reinforcement; where a consumer receives a positive outcome from the consumption experience, negative reinforcement; where consumption enables consumers to avoid a negative outcome and punishment; where consumption leads to negative outcomes, these three processes are shown below in Diagram ueinwfi. What this model does not include is more complex consumption such as watching old videos that remind consumers of previous experiences or family heirlooms that consumers may feel proud and privelaged to use. A model of consumption proposed by Schiffman, Kanuk and Hansen aims to include these complex emotions in a broad description of how consumers consume items (Schiffman, Kanuk, Hansen 2008) this is shown in diagram iunieun. Although this model attempts to explain how consumers complex emotions are connected with consumption it still does not signify how any of these positive or negative feelings link to repeat purchases or brand loyalty, it is therefore assumed that although Blackwell, Miniard and Engels model does not give a complex view of how consumers experience the consumption phase of the CDP it does offer an explanation as to how consumers use experiences for future purchase decision. Section 7: Post-consumption Evalaution Once consumers have consumed their purchased product according to do the CDP satisfaction or dissatisfaction then occurs (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006). The CDP suggests that if consumers are satisfied they will either purchase the product again or at least consider it for future purchases, however it has been argued that satisfaction does not always ensure repeat purchases and that consumers must experience some sort of delight which only occurs when consumers are expectations of the product are exceeded and completely satisfied (Higgins 1997). This theory has been proven by research conducted which suggests consumers who report to be totally satisfied are also six times more likely to purchase the same product again (Thomas, Jones, Sasser 1995) customer satisfaction has also been shown to lower consumers price sensitivity when purchasing the product again. Although it is helpful for marketers to realise what satisfaction can do for a business it is also important to analyse what actually creates feelings of satisfaction in the minds of consumers. It has been suggested that there are three different determinates which influence customer satisfaction (Blackwell, Miniard, Engel 2006) the first of which is the products performance which relates to how the product actually performed during consumption. The second determinate is the feelings consumers have when consumption occurs this was briefly mentioned in the previous section and featured in diagram urinefvu. The last determinate is how the product met consumers prior expectations, which has been conceptualised in Richard Olivers expectancy disconfirmation model. The expectancy disconfirmation model proposes that satisfaction depends on a comparison of pre-purchase expectations to consumption outcomes ()based on this proposition Olivers suggests that consumers can experience three outcomes when comparing expectations; negative disconfirmation where a product does not live up to expectations confirmation where the product performed as expected and positive disconfirmation where the product exceeded expectations. This theory offers an explanation as to how consumers become satisfied with products, however it is not complex enough to be able to explain why some consumers will purchase items again even if they have had a negative experience, and why other consumers choose to purchase an alternative product, over a previous product they were satisfied. It is therefore assumed that that the two other determinates in consumer satisfaction (product performance and feelings) further influence the way consumers perceive the product to have met expectations. Consumers may also purchase alternative products rather than ones they are satisfied with as consumers often have a need for variety. Although expectations cannot fully explain repeat purchases and consumer satisfaction it is still a significant contributing factor, it is therefore important that marketers set expectations at a reasonable level to ensure expectations are either confirmed or positively disconfirmed. Methodology 500 research design To analyse the research question a mixed method approach to gathering data will be used. The quantitive research will predominately look at secondary data such as Colgates financial reports and industry information that highlights current trends in the market. Primary quantitive information from the questionnaire shown in appendices urnein will be used in conjunction with the financial and market data to analyse consumer behaviour in relation to the toothpaste market and the Colgate brand. Primary qualitive information will be used to interpret the results of the quantitive research, this will include Colgate promotional material, packaging designs and in-store promotions and positioning. A mixed method has been used to analyse the research question as it allows the CDP process to be examined from a consumer point of view whilst including information as to how their feelings have affected the popularity, sales and brand loyalty of the Colgate brand. Survey design The survey design has been constructed to answer specific questions about how Colgate has influenced the CDP with its existing customers and how Colgate can possibly attract consumers who are not using the brand. Consumers who have not purchased Colgate previously will still be allowed to fill out a smaller section of the survey, as it is hoped that by looking at their decisions before purchase it may highlight oppurtunities that Colgate could use to appeal to these consumers. The questionnaire will be placed online where participants can fill out their information; the website used will be www.surveymonkey.com an established site which hosts multiple questionnaires from internet users from around the world. To gain a broad perspective of consumer behaviour and identify popular trends 100 participants will be required to participate in the survey which will give a sample size of uniern? Survey pilot To ensure the survey design is coherent and unambiguous to participants filling out the survey 10 pilot tests were carried out to monitor and gather information about how the participants interacted with the survey. Table inireunf below shows the comments and criticism made by the participants and the modifications made to correct the problems a comparison between the pilot survey and the survey actually used for the research project can be found in appendicies urnieun. Limitations and criticism of methodology Several limitations arise when using questionnaires to study behaviour, as there is no guarantee that participants will answer the questions honestly or indeed understand how their natural consumption behaviour works. An ideal setting to test consumer behaviour would be in a controlled environment where consumers can be observed whilst purchasing toothpaste, however due to constrained resources this type of research s not possible but is recommendable for future studies on the subject. As the answers given are multiple-choice, participants are limited to what answers they can give, the problem with this is that answers participants may wish to give may not be available and therefore important behavioural information may be lost. Allowing participants to enter their own information may be the best way to analyse their CDP however to get a sense of general feelings towards Colgate a set of defined answers is necessary. Participants who take part in the survey are not segmented in

Playground Payback - Original Essay -- Papers

Playground Payback - Original Essay In the far hills of North Carolina, there was a school called Blue Creek Elementary. It was half a century old, and you could definitely tell. The yellow stained walls of the classrooms had marks from play dough and crayon. The chalk board was cloudy with dust from a thousand words before. The smell of each room was basically the same, chalk clappers and weak tea, and the colour of autumn leaves was present throughout the year. It was January 2002. The climbing frame in the playground was rust incrusted, and the paint was crumbling off, but still was in use as if it was new everyday. No one child was dissatisfied with their school life, they could see nothing wrong with the way they were ruled, the rota they followed or the order they had come to be in for so many years. They were treated equally as each other, by the council they had elected. Every new school year in September there would be an election. Any volunteers would under go a number of campaigns to become the new king of the playground. For the last three years no one had been a match for King Rob. In the last year no one was even prepared to challenge Rob Jenkins, but it wasn’t because they were scared, no, quite the opposite. There was nothing wrong with the way he ruled them. He took care of them; he was their agony aunt to their problems, a King Solomon in his own day. He brought them new games, fought for new rights and changed the word recess itself. But all this was about to change, something, or someone was just around the corner. PJ, Felicity, Pikes, Jennie and Russ were playing kickball, a game Jennie ruled without a dou... ... the crowd a few seconds to mull over the information they had just been given, and then spoke once more, â€Å"So I ask you, are you regretful? Are you sorry? But most of all, do you want King Rob back?† the crowd gave no pause, just a dramatic, deafening â€Å"YES!† Prince (or Jack) was expelled from Blue Creek Elementary for stealing. He and his family moved to Alabama. King Rob was restored to his throne. The Jaimes were given luxuries to go in their clubhouse. The gang were labelled playground heroes, and Pikes was given an honorary stationary kit because of his bravery in City Hall. As for PJ, he was given the job of Royal Assistant. He monitored Jack’s movement in Alabama, and checked out any new kids. Blue Creek Elementary was back to where it started, but with more trust, guidance and hope for the future- High School.

Madness and Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet - Madness and Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Madness and Hamlet       Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare's most honored works and is a piece of literature, which has been studied in depth by many a scholar. The storyline of Hamlet follows a vein of madness that begins with Claudius' murdering King Hamlet and ending with the tragic killing of almost every main character. Many reasons have been proposed for the ultimate tragedy, which occurs at the conclusion of the play. It will be argued in this essay that madness is the cause of the eventual tragedy in Shakespeare's Hamlet.    Claudius' murdering of his brother, the king is the first murderous act of mental illness in the story and it sets into course the madness of many other characters. Murdering one's brother so that they may marry their sister in law is not the act or desire of a sane person. After the king's death, Claudius and Gertrude marry within a matter of months. This quick marriage circumvents the standard mourning period of one year that is expected of a queen. Hamlet is greatly disturbed by the fact that his mother does not mourn longer for his fathers death and conveys his anger about this subject on several occasions. The marriage of a man to his sister in law is thought incestuous by the church and contributes to the overall lack of decency in this story. Claudius is directly responsible for the death of the king, Hamlet's father, and he also contributes to the deaths of Gertrude and Hamlet. His actions set into course a series of events of which the end result is the deaths of Polonius, Laertes, and Ophelia. He is also indirectly responsible for the deaths of these characters.    Hamlet's display of mental illness allows him to prove to himself that Claudius did, in fact, murder his father. After seeing the ghost of his father, Hamlet vows to avenge his death and decides that feigning lunacy will provide him with the means to prove Claudius' guilt. Following his initial encounter with the ghost of his father, Hamlet is very excitedly speaking with Marcellus and Horatio and tells them:    But come / Here, as before, never, so help you mercy

The Louvre :: Essays Papers

The Louvre T h e A r t M u s e u m s of P a r i s Paris is renowned worldwide for its art museums. There are so many, each with its own unique pieces of art, this report will only cover two of Paris’ most famous museums. Which are of course The Louvre and Museum d’Orsay. The Louvre History The Louvre was originally built in 1190 AD as a fortress for protection to the city of Paris during the Crusades. It was a fortress for nearly 500 years until it became an elegant palace. By the 1400’s France’s Royalty gathered at The Louvre to enjoy banquets and tournaments. Elaborate gardens were added along with an aviary and many wild, exotic animals. In 1415 France was captured by the British and The Louvre was ravaged by vandals. It fell into disrepair and was left unoccupied for nearly 150 years. This is when Francis the first tore down the original structure and erected an exquisite and prosperous palace. Every king since then on added an addition to The Louvre. It also served as their home until the French Revolution of 1789. The Louvre officially became a museum in 1793. The government opened it to the public which no longer meant art was only available to the upper-class. All through the previous centuries the government had collected priceless pieces of art and now displayed them in The Louvre. The collection was growing so big that more buildings had to be built to display the great and precious collection that was accumulated over so many years. This period was known as â€Å"The Restoration† as Napoleon established remodeling of the interior and exterior of the Louvre and eliminated all the shops that filled the Louvre from the 18th century. The Louvre Today Today The Louvre is one the World’s most famous Art Museums. It houses many famous masterpieces such as: The Mona Lisa Winged Victory of Samothrace Venus De Milo The Seated Scribe

How to be a good son or daughter Essay

In Vietnam, children are considered God’s gifts. A mother gives birth, but children’s characters come from God. Also their personalities are influenced by the society around them. That fact is why some nice parents don’t have good children, or some people are good sons or daughters even though their parents are bad. A good son or daughter should have certain qualities. Being hard working, sympathetic, and respectful of parents are the most important qualities of a good son or daughter. First of all, a good son or daughter should be a hard working person. A good child usually makes parents happy, and parents are happy when their children do what they are supposed to do. For example, if a child is a student, she is supposed to study hard. If she studies hard, whether she gets good grade or not, her parents are pleased with her. In addition, in Vietnam we value children as good sons or daughters when they do not make their parents worry about them. For instance, a boy after graduation from a university got a job and worked hard. Although he did not get a good—paying job, he earned enough to take care of himself. That boy is a good son because he is self—reliant and his parents don’t have to worry about him. Being hard working has remained the same over time in my culture. Additionally, to be sympathetic is one of the most important qualities of a good child. Parents who have to work hard to feed their children are usually tired after a long day. As a result, they sometimes get angry easily and may overreact with their children very small mistakes. If their children were sympathetic, they would understand and would not hate or think that parents don’t love them. Moreover, if sons or daughters understand their parents’ frustration, they know that they should help their parents do what they can do. For instance, elementary school students can clean up their room by themselves, and older children can help their parents wash dishes after dinners. In Vietnam a middle school girl even takes care of her sisters and brothers, or makes lunch when her parents are busy at work. Furthermore, much understanding older children can listen to their parents and can share their stories. Adults who are stressful need someone who can listen to them. That kind of behavior becomes more and more common in Vietnam. These days, conversations between parents and children are not only for parents to understand their children but also for children to understand their parents. The final and also the most important quality of a good child is to be respectful of his or her parents. This is the most valuable quality in Vietnam. If you respect your parents, you love them and obey them. Children who are respectful of their parents understand that they have responsibilities to take care of parents when they get sick or get older. Also they have responsibilities to please their parents or make them happy. In order to do that, Children will try to work hard and to understand their parents. As you can see, this final quality is the most important quality, and it also concludes two others qualities. To sum up, a child needs three important qualities to be a good son or daughter: hard working, sympathetic, and respectful of parents. Because people on Vietnam value relationships with family members, you must be a good child to be a good human being. Consequently, these qualities are also the most important qualities of a good human being.

Locomotion of Horse Movement

Locomotion is the movement of bodies from one position to another. Therefore, locomotion of horse movement refers to the bodily movement of the horse in particular. The bodily movement of the horse depends on the shape, length and structure of the horse. When galloping, a horse alternates between the front and back legs. When one side protracts, the other side retracts, hence the four legs change their position. Therefore, during a complete stride, the horse walking performs four triple stances, two diagonal and two laterals. Starting movement with the protraction of the right hind, the left hind retracts, moving back. This position rotates the right hip a head and the left foot back. Measurement and use of some anatomic parts of the animal body has been considered objective criteria for morphological evaluation. Therefore, the dynamically similar locomotion will not be similar in the animals that have properties that are identical. This means that deviations that are detectable from those that are dynamically similar in locomotion are likely over the size limit that is found in adult horses. These have been bred by human beings in a wider range of sizes as compared to the adults most species. The horses walk is quite similar to that of human beings walk. This fact is supported by the results attained by Ronalndelli e Dust. In his study, he found out that an average hip rotation of 25, 39 degrees measuring the walk of the horse. This result is similar to that of the hip rotation observed by Van de Linden (2002) in kinematics and kinetic gait characteristics of normal children walking at a range of clinically relevant speed. Adding to this too Donald F.  Hoyt*  &  C. Richard  Taylor also feels that there is need to minimize their energy there is need to minimize their energy consumption. Therefore, the quadrupeds need to change the gait from a walk to a trot, then to a gallon to support this. This is seen in human who change from walk to a run at a certain speed that requires less energy than running and vice versa. Therefore, they minimize the energy cost of locomotion as their speed increases. This is because the metabolic rate does increase curvilinear with change in the walking speed. However, this is not the same to the quadrupeds as their metabolic rates increase linearly with the change in speed. In an experiment, extended gaits are taken to be tools of importance in the study of the changes of human beings. Using three trained horses, its seen that through the use of the amount of oxygen consumption as the indicator of the amount of energy consumption, the natural gait shows the s smallest amount of energy a t any speed. According to Dr. Alan Wilson, a horse’s leg resembles a pogo stick that uses energy stored in the muscles and tendons to enable animal move forward and upwards. The stiffer the horse’s leg restricts how quickly it can transmit force to the ground and bounce back up again and increase the chances of injury. However, research has shown that fast horses can bring their legs forward quickly in preparation for the next stride. However, this is difficult and therefore slower for large and long-legged horses. We found that the minimum, preferred and maximum sustained speeds within a trot and a gallop all change in the same rather dramatic manner with body size, differing by nine-fold between mice and horses (i.e. all three speeds scale with about the 0.2 power of body mass).  Also we found out that the mass-specific energetic cost of locomotion is almost directly proportional to the stride frequency used to sustain a constant speed at all the equivalent speeds within a trot and a gallop, except for the minimum trotting speed (Heglund NC, 2002). When in movement, the forelegs of the horse bear the weight of the horse. This leads to the occurrence of a momentary deceleration. This is followed by downward movement due to the force of gravity. That is, the head and neck moves downwards. Therefore, this leads to the stretch of the strong elastic rope found at the back of the skull. It then stretches withers hence forming the upper lining of the neck. As the head pendulum swing s downwards, there is an effect on the spine which is rigid. This leads to the raising of the tail end part of the spine. There is also the swing of the hind legs due to elevation of the hips. This helps to keep stable the inertia that leads to the backward movement of the back legs from the stride they were before. Therefore, the expenditure of the energy used by the muscles to move them forward to in the coming stride is saved amicably. However, the contents of the liver and abdominal are thrust against the diaphragm due to the first deceleration that occurs together with the hips elevation. This diminishes the volume of the thorax and assists respiration. At the suspension stage when the elastic recoil of the ligament is important as it is used to take back or restore the head into original position. This happens when all the four feet are off the ground. As a result, a tug occurs which helps to draw the forelegs caused by the head being elevated. The inertia is overcome and as a result the previous backward move occurs (Chris Webster (2005) The fore legs are then moved forward while the hind legs bear the weight. This combined performance therefore elevates the spine of the horse at a level similar to that of the withers. This leads to the flattening of the diaphragm and as a result of the liver being firmly bound to it. Hence, the thorax enlarges supporting the process of inspiration. As the process of locomotion takes place, 100% efficiency cannot be achieved although economy is enhanced by the cyclic interchange that takes place between the many forms of mechanical energy that is available. A metabolic cost is also associated with fluctuations that occur in mechanical energy that is involved in the locomotion that is of high speed gallop type race horses (Karen E. Adolph (2000). Therefore, natural waving of the head and neck done by the horse is termed as the head bob. Each head bob varies depending on its degree from one horse to the other. This mechanism therefore helps a galloping horse to minimize the amount of energy spent on movement or locomotion and respiration as well. To counter the movement of the horse too the anatomy of the horse at the muscle level also matters for its movement too. Looking at the longest tendons found in the horse, that is the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), disturbance of the locomotors characteristics of the SDFT takes place in most cases at the middle part of the mid-metacarpal area. However, up to date there is no evidence the morphological characteristics of collagen fibrils found at the middle and peripheral parts of the three regions that make the entire tendon. However, there is the presence of the myotendious junction (MTJ), the osteondious joint (OS) and the mid- metacarpal region (mM) The mass average diameter (MAD) is useful since it provides important information on the mean collaged diameter and the strength of the tendon. That is the tensile strength of the tendon. This was found to be smaller in the central are as compared to that at the peripheral area of the three regions. The MAD value however was found to lowest in the two areas at the MTJ region, but increases gradually in a distal way in the OTJ which unite with the bone. Thus, the morphological characteristics suggest that it is similar to biochemical functions in some parts of the SDFT. But for Butcher MT, the process of training and racing the lesions of the superficial tendon always are taken to be common careers ending injuries to the race horses although this is not fully understood. However, this has fatigue –resistant characteristics and force production features as well, which allow storage and return of the elastic energy by the tendons (Andrea Ellis, Julian Hill (2005). Depending on these features and proof from history, it is therefore assumed that overloading of the SDFT is as a result of fatigue of the synergist, which is a faster contracting and deep flexor muscle. Therefore, the horse should be well taken care of and well fed to enhance its locomotion. References Karen E. Adolph (2000) Learning in the Development of Infant Locomotion, Psychology, Blackwell.ISBN0631224564. Chris Webster (2005), The Mechanism of Motion, Performing Arts. Nohingham University press, ISBN1897676468. Andrea Ellis, Julian Hill (2005) Nutritional Psychology pf the Horse, Medical. Elsevier, ISBN0240516664      

America: the Melting Pot? Essay

The Melting Pot? For as far back as history books go there have been stories about people moving from one place to another. Immigration is defined as the movement of people from one country to another for the sole purpose of a stable residence. The United States of America has always been known as the melting pot of the world. Now our country is being faced with people trying to come here illegally and it is creating an argument between legal citizens. Do we allow these people to come here and make their reams real like our ancestors did, or do we take every measure we can to keep them out? While doing research I found that there are many people who are very against illegal immigration. They believe that the people who wish to become citizens need to go through a very vigorous process to gain citizenship. After the attacks on our country, and the ongoing war, many citizens are on their guard. It is very hard to feel safe in such an imperfect world. Many people are scared of what will come and even more terrified that if it happened once that it will happen again. Since many people re so afraid, they want homeland security to be increased along the countries boarders, better background checks on workers, and harsher punishments for the employers who hire the illegal aliens when they know that the workers do not have the proper paper work and are not legal citizens. On the other side of the argument, some Americans feel that it is wrong to punish these people who are Just trying to improve their lives, and the lives of their families. They believe that America was based on a dream, the same dream that our ancestors had when they came here looking for a better future, Just as the people that are llegally trying to get into the country want to do. This does not mean that these people support how the immigrants are trying to get around the system, Just that they should be given a better chance at gaining their citizenship. They want the government to help the immigrants who cannot afford to go about gaining their citizenship legally. This then opens up another argument of who will end up paying for their citizenship, and why should natural born citizens have to pay for others to come into our country, take what few Job opportunities there are left and in the long run, over-populate the country. When choosing a new country to live in, people travel to many places to find the perfect fit. Many countries are not as open and accepting to immigrants as the US is, so that is where they decide to make a new home. While many immigrants look upon the U. S. to make their dreams come true, there are many people who try to come here illegally. These illegal immigrants are often called â€Å"aliens†; they also share the same hopes and dreams of coming to America for a new life, but cross the border without the proper permission. Many reasons they have difficulty crossing the or cannot afford it. They are determined to get here to create a better life for themselves, which then creates a problem for America. The Department of Homeland Security estimated in December 2003 and that 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens resided in the U. S. and 700,000 new illegal aliens enter and stay each year. Many Americans fear that since there is such a great amount of people coming into our country that they will take Jobs and cost our citizens more money. Apologist try to make it seem like illegal immigration is a victimless crime, however others find that that this is a serious problem that causes substantial harm to American citizens. Public funds are being greatly drained because of illegal immigration. The quality of education, health care and other services for Americans are undermined by the needs of endless numbers of poor, unskilled illegal entrants. Another great fear of many citizens is that the presence furnishes of an opportunity for terrorism. With these immigrants sneaking in, being unnoticed it makes it difficult for our government to know whom posses a threat to our society. Most illegal immigrants only come here to improve their lifestyle and to get work. However, it is feared that if terrorists see how easy it is to come in to America nnoticed, that they will do the same and that only means bad things for the safety of our countrys citizens. Some people think that the government should give all illegal immigrants legal status to bring them out of the shadows. Others then fear if we show openness and such accommodation to people who have illegally crossed our boarder that it will send the wrong message to the rest of the world that we condone illegal immigration. This then creates an even bigger problem that America will be forced to face forever. Some citizens feel that it is hard for them to create an opinion on this issue when it has not directly affected them. I am one of those. I have never had any difficulty getting housing, or a Job because of illegal immigrants. The area that I am from does not have any issues with employers hiring people with forged papers, or any of the sorts. However, after doing all of the research I find myself torn between both sides of the argument. I do not believe that people from other countries should be allowed to cross our border, without our government’s knowledge. It is for the safety of the American people that officials know who is in our country and who may pose a threat. Also, it seems as though handing out free passes to those who have already come ere illegally is a way to try and make the situation go away, and that is never a good solution. One cannot blame people for trying to escape a bad life. America prides itself on the freedom it gives its’ people. Our fore fathers created this country on a belief that if a person does not agree with the government of his or her country that they should be able to leave that country to live in a place where they can believe what they want to believe, and become anything they want to become. A lot of early immigrants came to this country with hardly any money to spare they came on a hope and a wish hat coming here would create a better life for them, their children, and their children’s children.