How To Schedule Your WordPress Blogging Workflow

How To Schedule Your WordPress Blogging Workflow When you decide you want to take your blog seriously, youll begin to consider your WordPress blogging workflow. Whats a WordPress blogging workflow? Its the process that takes you from start to finish for each of your blog posts, the way you make it happen.  Perhaps things have changed from when you started to blog, and its not enough to dash off a post when inspiration strikes. Now youre considering other things, such as readers and traffic and page rank and building a platform. Understanding The WordPress Blogging Workflow Any blog, no matter if it is a solo blog, team blog, or agency blog for a client, has a similar WordPress  blogging workflow foundation. Each step leads on to the next as you build your post up from bare idea to completed content. With great ideas comes great responsibility. Make sure you have a place to save them. #BloggingTips1. Organize Your Blogging Ideas With great ideas comes great responsibility.  Idea generation, storage, and access are the foundation of your blog posts, but it is also the step most bloggers struggle with. Its not that they have a shortage of ideas, necessarily, but they need a way to manage them. Your system for organizing your ideas must account for: Jotting your ideas down. Will you use a mobile app that syncs with a service you can access back on your laptop? Or, will you rely on a blogging notebook, perhaps? Catalog your ideas. You will need to find a way to organize your ideas so you can find them again should you need them or want to add new research to them. Even the best search function cant always account for everything, and it certainly doesnt beat out how you already think about the categories of content on your blog. Churning ideas up. Create a system where you regularly dive into old ideas to find those you want to use, and delete those that are no longer applicable or that you dont want to cover. Without this kind of system, your ideas quickly bloat and overwhelm and its hard to know where to start or even know what you have to work with. A key to great idea management is to use a tool youre already using and familiar with, thats already part of other workflows or your daily life, perhaps–anything you dont have to rely on forming a new habit around. Because we work heavily in WordPress, we make apt use of s organizational abilities that connect directly with WordPress. We make selections based on category, and, because it is on a calendar, we get a birds-eye-view of whats coming so that ideas dont drop to the bottom and are forgotten. Do you have a system that churns your ideas up? Or are your best blog ideas forgotten in the pile?2. Schedule Your Ideas On The Calendar People schedule at different points in the blogging workflow process. Some prefer to not put mere work-in-progress ideas on the calendar, but instead wait until they are completed posts. We put the ideas on the calendar before we move forward for this blog, and I do the same for my own blogs. When you put the scheduling of posts into place at this point in the process, the date becomes the determining factor. All the rest of the following activities are centered around the date the post will be published. Scheduling now means you are choosing the best time for the post based on the idea and how it fits into the editorial calendar content. This is the method we use here when we schedule blog posts. We simply drag our ideas around on the calendar, automatically syncing the changes in WordPress as we do so. 3. Collaboration And Communication Solo bloggers are probably not used to this step as they perfect their WordPress blogging workflow, since they are writing completely on their own.  But a team?  For the want of collaboration, the blog was lost. Some of the ever-important things youll want to communicate and collaborate on in your WordPress blogging workflow is: Who is writing the post? When is the post due? Is someone creating the graphics or finding an image? What do the rest of you think about my post? Should I make changes? Are these the most recent updates to the post? (Especially important when writers arent working in WordPress) Who is finalizing the post? Unless your team of writers is functioning as a collection of solo bloggers with no style guides, no oversight, no uniform message, and as a general free-for-all, you will need a way to collaborate.  has collaboration built-in for each synced blog post that combines back-and-forth conversation with assigned and dated tasks; this is the system I use for all of my blogs, both at work and personal. 4. Review And Edit Your Post The reviewing and editing process is what takes the raw material and polishes it up. Your WordPress blogging workflow will want to include this in the timeline. It includes review and critique within the team, and client review if youre an agency. For our team, the process looks like this: Content planning meeting for the next two weeks of content. Write the posts youre supposed to write. Assign a team member the task of reviewing it. The team member reviews the post based on topic and content (not typos and grammar), and offers suggestions. The writer reworks the post as needed. The editor then proofs the post for typos and grammar before publishing. We rely heavily on peer review here, and use to do it. Each blog posts gets a running commentary on headline suggestions, keyword ideas, changes to the content of the post, and image suggestions.

The eNotes Blog The Not Buried Imagination A New Poem by E. E. CummingsDiscovered

The Not Buried Imagination A New Poem by E. E. CummingsDiscovered It is the kind of thing scholars live for, the type of adventure A. S. Byatt wrote so eloquently about in her novel Possession. A few weeks ago, biographer James Dempsey, while working on a biography of Scofield Thayer (publisher of The Dial Magazine), made a remarkable discovery. Going through a file folder containing correspondence between Thayer and Cummings, Dempsey came across a poem he had never seen before. In fact, as he soon confirmed, the poem had heretofore been unpublished. Dempsey dates the poem to about 1916, the naissance of the poets career. E.E Cummings via  The New Yorker Thayer and Cummings had been friends for several years before Cummingss work appeared in The Dial. They maintained a strong friendship for ten years, until Thayer, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, became incapacitated. However, until that point, the two collaborated and enjoyed their mutual passion for the arts. That being said, the relationship between publisher and poet was odd, to say the least. According to Dempsey, Thayer gave Cummings a great deal of money to pursue his craft; publishing his work in The Dial gained the poet wide recognition and acclaim. Cummings, for his part, took the money and fame, and also Thayers wife to his bed, and got her pregnant. Thayer, Dempsey says, did not seem to have much of a problem with this turn of events. Scofield Thayer via Literary Manhattan For a full analysis of the relationship between Cummings and Thayer, you can read Dempseys article here as well as the text of the poem (Warning: the poem contains language that may be objectionable to some readers). This is the poem that he found in that yellowing folder. Perhaps there are more to come. Whatever his personal demons, Cummings remains one of the luminaries of modern American poetry and a previously unknown poem is indeed a great discovery. Cummings lost poem via The Awl   To read more about E.E Cummings and his work, check out his biography on .   (Feature image via Komseq)

Strategic Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Supply Chain Management - Essay Example at even though MCC was formed as a result of supplier integration and partnership cost sharing, but MCC was by far the stakeholder with the maximum investment. MCC had paid more than 50% of the total pre-launch, and infrastructural, product designing investment. The remaining 50% was shared amongst seven integrated suppliers and 16 non-integrated suppliers. Since the primary stakeholder is MCC, it is sensible for them to manufacture the car since the performance of the car in the market, its success or failure, will directly have an impact on them. The customer re consumers who are purchasing the product with the label Daimler-Benz, whereas the customers of the suppliers is the newly formed company MCC. The Brand Name: As discussed above, the MCC car carried the Daimler-Benz name. The brand name is actually a promise to the customer of quality and reliability. Due to this, if there are any technical flaws in the finished product, Daimler-Benz would suffer. The impact would not only be felt on the sales of Smart Car but it would have a sill-over effect and would adversely impact the current high-selling models of Daimler and Benz. For his purpose, even though supplier integration is a crucial part of MCC policies, however, even then MCC has to be in control of the manufacturing process. Influence and Control: Supplier integration is a â€Å"pull† mechanism whereby due to the influence of Daimler-Benz, which has its roots in the volume of business provided to their suppliers and partners by them, the suppliers and partners have willingly decided to invest and be a part of MCC. In the absence of the Daimler-Benz entity, it would be difficult to bring the different players of the automobile sector performing various functions under one roof. Likewise, this influence is needed to keep a control over the supply chain activities and to monitor supplier-supplier relationships. Without this influence and control, there would be greater conflicts and it would be difficult

Global Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Global Marketing - Assignment Example Financial services sector has been experiencing rapid growth in recent times especially after tariff barriers have progressively been broken down with more and more nations joining the World Trade Organization. Egypt and Russia are two countries that vary widely not only in terms of economic prosperity but also in terms of prevailing culture. While the per capita GDP of Egypt is $ 6,200 (Central Intelligence Agency: Egypt Economy 2011) that of Russia is $15900 (Central Intelligence Agency: Russia Economy 2011). When analyzed through GE Matrix, both Egypt and Russia presented markets that would be highly attractive given the medium strength of Bats Bank as a business unit. (12manage 2011) While Egypt is the holder of proud legacy of a bygone glorious civilization, the present condition of the country is not that glorious and its main importance in world commerce and industry is in its guardianship of Suez Canal. But the positive aspect of Egyptian economy is its stable agriculture and large concentration of population along both sides of the Nile River that practically bisects the country. However, the high levels of public debt leave very little opportunity for Egyptian Government to invest large amounts in industry. Hence, the scope of other financiers entering the market is rather rosy. And, this is true irrespective of the current political turmoil that the nation is going through. Russia has finally been able to come out of the trauma of disintegration of Soviet Union and its loss of global superpower status. Free market mechanism has gradually taken a firm grip on Russian economy right from the advent of Perestroika a decade and a half ago and the political and economic stability of the country presents a very attractive opportunity for doing business there. Also, there is a dearth of finance in the market and financial services companies could do very well to bridge this gap. Any company entering Russian markets must take extreme care not to violate the s tatutory requirements of doing business in that country as any violation of local laws usually leads to exemplary penalty. 1.1 The motivation to do this research Globalization has become the norm of today’s industry and commerce. Business entities are finding it imperative that in order to survive and prosper in this age of cutthroat competition; they must cross national boundaries and mark their presence in foreign markets (Kay 1995). Foreign markets, though a treasure trove of opportunities, also present many issues and problems that need to be solved in a novel manner as business environments in these foreign shores need not be identical to those prevailing in the mother country. The primary motivation to do this research has been a desire to identify the process that a business entity must adopt to ensure that its global foray is a success. In the course of enquiry, differences in cultures and levels of economic prosperity between nations have been given a special importa nce as that only would enable one to properly understand and appreciate the multi-layered nuances and intricacies of global marketing. Financial services have an intimate relation with the culture and political climate of a country and cannot be described simply as the end result of a series of cold calculations of interest rates and principal

Admissions Essay Essay Example for Free

Admissions Essay Essay There have been several people with prominent impacts on my life, but why focus only on the people who have influenced me? Let us broaden the scope to include all worldly matter. Then I make no hesitation in stating that my canine companion, Toby, has been my greatest influence. Toby, a vivacious miniature schnauzer, is at a well-ripened age of eleven. He is not the same dog he was when he was younger. He sleeps about 18 hours a day and it is impractical to take a nap on the couch with him, because his snoring is loud enough to be fooled with the reverberation of my dad after a long day of golf. However, just before 5 o’clock in the afternoon, only the gray hairs scattering Toby’s black coat give away his old age. It is around this time every day that Toby begins his racket of letting you know that it is getting â€Å"close† to his dinnertime of 6 o’clock. Toby’s daily reminders guide me to take a stand against the common adolescent breakfast fast. They are also a source of accountability in my quest to keep a positive outlook on all things that I encounter in my life. See more: Satirical essay about drugs While Toby may be an ordinary dog, he and I share something that I have never had with another human. Toby and I communicate better than any two humans do. To a third party, it seems as though I am carrying on a conversation with a non-responsive dog therefore essentially speaking back and forth to myself. However, I assure you that Toby responds back in his own way. What makes our communication so superior is Toby’s masterful ability to express himself non-verbally. This allows me to open up to him and not have to worry about him responding with insensitive or uninsightful utterances. I have learned through Toby that when a person goes to another human to talk they would rather that the person speak less and listen more. I have also found my canine companion to be dependable. He is at my feet when I need him on a cold night to do the job my comforter is supposed to do. After having one of â€Å"those† days I can count on him to be there when I walk through the door and not running to the corner. I use this example of dependability and apply it to my daily life by being there for others as  Toby has been there for me. It may, to some, be a bit silly to consider a dog influential, but these people must not have had the privilege of owning one of man’s very own best friends. I like to think that if our world had more children with dogs like my Toby, it would also have more children learning the core values that aid in responsibility and kindness.

Oconto, WI vs. Las Vegas, NV :: essays research papers

Oconto, WI vs. Las Vegas, NV   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I currently live in Oconto, WI, but would love to go to Las Vegas, NV. Therefore, I am going to compare these two very different cities in terms of economics. There is great variation in the comparison between Oconto, WI and Las Vegas, NV. Oconto is located in Oconto County and Las Vegas is located in Clark County. Las Vegas has an elevation of 2000 feet, while Oconto is only 591 feet. Oconto has a land area of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6.9 square miles, compared to Las Vegas with 113.3 square miles. Also Oconto has only one zip code, but Las Vegas has 36. The population of Oconto, Wisconsin was estimated at 4,751 in July of 2002. Compare this to the estimated population in July 2002 for Las Vegas at 508,604 people. Males made up 48.0% of Oconto’s population at 2,259 and females made up the other 52.0% at 2,449. However, males made up 50.8% of the population in Las Vegas at 243,077 and females made up the remaining 49.2% at 235,357 people. The median resident age for Oconto is 36.9 years. This is fairly close to that of Las Vegas at 34.5 years. Oconto had a median household income of $34,589 in 2000. Again Las Vegas had a fairly close number of $44,069 which was also in 2000. A big difference comes in the median house value between the two cities. Oconto has a value of $69,800 which was in 2000. However, Las Vegas had a value of $137,300 in 2000. The race breakdown between the two cities is also very different. The majority of Oconto is made up of the White Non-Hispanic race at 97.3% of the population. Following are the minorities in Oconto of American Indian at 1.2%, two or more races at 0.9% and Hispanic at 0.8%. By looking at this data it is easy to see that Oconto is not a very culturally diverse town. The majority of Las Vegas is also made up of White Non-Hispanic people at 58.0%. This is considerably lower than Oconto and Las Vegas is made up of many more races than Oconto. Following are the minorities in Las Vegas of Hispanic at 23.6%, Black at 10.4%, other races at 9.7%, two or more races at 4.1%, Filipino at 2.3%, American Indian at 1.5%, Chinese at 0.6%, Other Asian at 0.6%, and Japanese at 0.

How a business can grow it’s customer base Essay

Coles Group Limited The Grocery industry is one of the most important industries in the Australian economy. The industry employs a big proportion of the workforce and is connected to many other industries in the economy environment. Supermarkets are one of the key players in the grocery industry providing around 70% of the value of the retail market for food and groceries. The  two major grocery chains – Woolworths and Coles – dominate with almost 70% market share of an industry valued at A$80+ billion. Over the past 5 years the sector has been witness of some significant developments. Dynamics were changed after new players like Costco entered the market and ALDI verified a rapid growth since its first appearance in 2001, making colossal to chase market shares by reviewing their campaigns. Some key statistics for the participants in the industry are presented in the Table 1 Table 1.1: Players in the grocery industry Retailer Market Share Woolworths 41.1% Coles / Bi-Lo 31.0% Other supermarkets ALDI 14.0% Speciality Foods / Franklin 7.1% Source: Coles Data, 2012 Coles is one of the two major supermarkets operating in Australia. In 1927 became property company and was launched on the Melbourne Stock Exchange; in 1985, Coles Myer Ltd.was established after a A$918 transaction. Myer was divided from the Coles Group to private equity interests in 2005, it has therefor not been part of the group since then. Westfarmers was founded in 1914, and in 1985 has been restructured to a public company and was listed on the ASX. Coles Supermarket is part of the Coles Group and subsidiary of Westfarmers for a total of: 749 full service supermarket retailer stores 792 liquor stores and 92 hotels 627 national fuel and convenience stores The reaserch conducted shows that Cole’s market share of 31% has not moved materially in recent years; is one of the successful supermarkets in Australia in terms of customer satisfaction, innovation in product strategy, marketing strategy, financial capability and strong work culture. To analyze the Global segmentation, we can consider the presence of Westfarmers  in New Zealand, but the nation largest employer remains committed to providing a satisfactory return to shareholders. The management of Coles supermarkets has not had many political barriers except the adherence to the sector’s rule and regulations. The slow growth uncertainity in the Australian economy poses a threat for thr retail players. The links between supermarket and fuel industries have been normalised. In response to concerns that cost of living pressures were affecting families, in 2008, the Australian Government commissioned the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to review of the industry. In 2010, the Trade Practices Act was recast as the Competition and Consumer Act, with several competition policy amendments in recent years. Supermarkets themselves have developed new pricing and marketing strategies. In 2011 Coles partenered with WWF-Australia to improve the sustainability of the seafood supply chain and to educate consumers about sustainable choices. Coles has also adopted new technologies developing its online shopping facilities. It also invested to improve its supply chain and distribution system with significant impact in cost savings. Coles’s commitment to their Ethical Sourcing Policy, a wide range of products, great logistics and a strong brand image among its internal Strengths. Being an important presence in the market, its operating cost is overall high and its management presents Weaknesses. The possibility to seek new sales opportunity and cut cost through technology and the potential to increase the customer base presents only a few of the Opportunities that Coles may have. The uncertainity that Australian economy presents, the vulnerability to attack by the key competitors of the market are to be seen as external Threats. From 2012, Coles has a new pricing and marketing strategy called ‘Down Down’. This has been a high profile campaign designed to increase its company performance. Other supermarkets have their own pricing strategies to compete, including IGA’s with â€Å"Locked Down Low Prices† from July 2012 and Woolworths’s â€Å"everyday low prices†. Over the last four years, Coles sales have increased by $4.8 billion to around $24 billion. Coles have out-performed the supermarket sector overall over the last four years, market share has gone up slightly. Growth in revenue reflects changes in prices and volumes. On the face of it,  a campaign like ‘Down Down’ should have the effect of lowering prices and increasing volumes. To obtain an overall picture of the savings to consumers we aggregate the price movement during this period and calculate a savings figure – based on both old volumes and current volumes. We find that in 2011-12, the one-year savings of the price reductions during the ‘Down Down’ campaign (i.e. over the 18 months from January 2011) is between $1.05 billion and $1.19 billion. The midpoint is $1.12 billion. The benefits of scale are generated due to the large average store size and the ability centralise their procurement so that they obtain better terms. Overall, Coles finds that the larger its stores, the more efficient they are, as measured by costs per store size. On average, a store that is 1000m2 larger has costs that are 3% lower – reflecting the spread of a number of fixed or standard costs for a store that are incurred regardless of store size. Over the past four years, Coles have also increased the productivity of assets, part of these improvements come for the fact that Coles operates larger stores whilst keeping the number of stores relatively constant. In this period Coles have divested or closed almost 90 smaller and underperforming stores and has acquired or built almost 90 larger, more productive stores. Sales generated from every square metre of selling floor area have increased almost 20%. While sales revenue has increased by 25%, total selling floor area has increased by 4.5%. Private labels are unbranded products purchased by supermarkets and then sold as their own products. Typically, these products are che aper than branded products because of limited marketing activities. Historically, private brands had an image of being quite avarage, targeting the most price-sensitive consumer; these days they are increasing thought of as an equal-quality, lower-price alternative. According to Coles’s data on ranging and space allocation decisions, Coles brand products are treated in the same manner as proprietary brand products. In many cases Coles brand products are located together with similar brands and less shelf space than proprietary brands. Coles periodically reviews if their brand is over/under represented by examining the quantity they sell relative to the space on the shelves. Private labels have been a matter of policy discussion: critics have asserted that they are part of a strategy to dominate the supply chain, thus reducing the viability of branded products. Table 1.2: White bread 650 Retail Prices Margin above COGS Coles Smart Buy White bread 650g $1.00 1% Wonder White Bread Wholemeal Plus Iron 700g $3.31 5.4% Table 1.3: Eggs 12 Pack 700gr Retail Price Margin above COGS Coles Eggs Free Range 12 Pack 700gr $4.04 24.5% Farmpride Eggs Free Range 12 Pack 700g $5.44 20% ï ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼ Source: Coles Data We analyze the margins for branded and private label products, following the Tables 1.2 and 1.3. For the white bread the branded product yields greater margins for Coles – for Eggs, the opposite. This suggests it is unlikely that Coles systematically achieves higher margins on its own products and directly encourages consumers not to buy branded products. According to Macquarie, Coles and Woolworths hold 72% of the Australian grocery market. The concentration of competition has made the rivalry palpable, penetrating deep into consumers mind. â€Å"Our customers want good honest food which is fresh, available and affordable†, says Simon McDowell, marketing director of Coles. Woolworths upholds those same values: â€Å"We want our customers to trust us to deliver best quality food and the best value every time they visit one of our stores,† said Lizzy Ryley, GM marketing at Woolworts. The five main players in the Australian retail food industry have vastly differen t approaches. Woolworths and Coles have well-known and similar business models, and command the lion’s share of the domestic food and liquor market due to their long history in Australia. Woolworths is commonly perceived to be more ‘premium’ while Coles promises  low prices, but in reality the experiences offered by both are incredibly similar. Beneath all the taglines and promotional strategies , the mandates of both Woolies and Coles are based on two things: fresh food and value for money. Aldi, like Costco, operates in the eastern states and sells private label (Aldi-branded) groceries, electronics and everyday household goods like bathroom taps. IGA operate small-scale, privately owned, stores across the country specialising in everyday groceries and liquors. In terms of size, Aldi’s 305 stores (March figure) are believed to generate in excess of $5 billion, Costco generated $612 million in 2012/13, while Woolworths reported sales of $58 billion and Coles $36 billion in the 2012/13 financial year. IGA sales data couldn’t be found as they are private companies, however Metcash (ASX: MTS) supplies IGA stores and reported revenue of $13 billion in 2012/13. Therefore, as a rough estimate it can be assumed that Aldi, Costco and IGA account for between 15% and 20% of the Australian food and liquor market. To make the Company a more effective organisation and in order to maximazie the shareholders value, I would focus on increasing staff productivity as well as motivation, not to mention the emphasis of maintaining or increasing profit margins where possible; developing the ‘Down Down’ campaigne and lowering the average prices by a further 1.9% . I would enfasise Exploiting the presence if Westfarmers in New Zealand, I would try an international market penetration and the trading environment. Following a comprehensive reform program that began in the mid-80s, the New Zealand economy is now largely deregulated, and more internationally competitive. Food prices rose 0.6 percent in April 2014, and were up 1.5 percent on a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand declare. The monthly rise follows a 0.3 percent fall in March, and a 1.0 percent fall in February. Niche products and Australia’s reputation for product safety can help the company with the penetration.   I would try and finalize the acquisition of EziBuy, a leading direct retailer of apparel and homewares in Australia and New Zealand, so it will act as a launch pad for our next phase of growth but most importantly it would represent a stop for the expansion of Woolworths into the country. Last but not least I would continue investing in important environmental projects and partnerships to further reduce the impact on the environment and I would also improve efficiencies within the  supply chains, reducing gas emissions across the overall business. In the future I would develop a marketing campaigne based on our recycling and sustainable efforts and we will continue to work on ways to both reduce the waste and increase the level of recycling in our stores. References http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness http://www.deloitte.com http://www.stats.govt.nz http://www.austrade.gov.au/Export/Export-Markets http://www.woolworthslimited.com.au https://www.coles.com.au http://www.euromonitor.com ABARES, 2011, ‘Agricultural commodity statistics 2011.’ King, Matthew, 2012, ‘One shopping basket, four supermarkets, who wins?’ Wesfarmers, 2012, ‘Annual Report 2012’.

Jane Eyre and Social Class Essay

Life is made up of routines and patterns. Every human being has their own unique system of how they carry themselves through the day. These systems are how we survive, and they tend to become part of our subconscious. But there are those who get so caught up in their own conformity that daily life becomes much more demanding than it should be. The results of this perpetual routine can cause someone to forget who they are as a person, and what they are meant to do outside of daily life. Due to the foreboding repetition of their own daily lives, the protagonists in both Hamlet and Waiting for Godot neglect their true purpose, which suggests holding back can be destructive to oneself. In Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon experience each day as it passes without any happenings and with this transition comes their demise. The pair can be described as two interchangeable characters who share the same routine. Even from the beginning of the play, Vladimir and Estragon often argue back and forth. VLADIMIR. It hurts? ESTRAGON. Hurts? He wants to know if it hurts! VLADIMIR. No one ever suffers but you. I don’t count. I’d like to hear what you’d say if you had what I have. ESTRAGON. It hurts? VLADIMIR. It hurts! He wants to know if it hurts! (Beckett 3). Textual repetition between the two is already a sign of something repeating in the lives of our protagonists. Following the basic structure of all stories there is conflict, and with conflict comes the desire to leave. ESTRAGON. Let’s go. VLADIMIR. We can’t. ESTRAGON. Why not? VLADIMIR. We’re waiting for Godot. (Beckett 8). The act of waiting is redefined by the two men who do it day by day. There is no evidence of whom or what Godot is, or what he means to the men. We do not see that there are any physical barriers that are preventing Vladimir and Estragon from getting up and moving on with their lives. All that matters is that everything in the finite lives of these two men depends on the arrival of this mysterious figure. A radical version of Vladimir and Estragon is seen in the characters of Pozzo and Lucky, who have a daily reappearance in the lives of Vladimir and Estragon. Pozzo is the extreme version of Vladimir, since he is the impulsive, more right-brained one. Lucky is the extreme version of Estragon, since he is the left-brained, more intellectual of the two. However, they represent getting through life with someone else just like Estragon and Vladimir. Relating Pozzo and Lucky even more so to Vladimir and Estragon, Pozzo also has a moment of doubt as to whether or not he shall leave this place. â€Å"I don’t seem to be able†¦ (long hesitation)†¦ to depart.† (Beckett 50). The uncertainty of leaving anticipates the same way that Vladimir and Estragon are left waiting at the end of each act. Despite actually admitting that he can’t seem to leave, Pozzo actually does manage to leave, unlike Vladimir and Estragon who remain even as the curtain falls. In Pozzo and Lucky there is an extreme reflection of Vladimir and Estragon, while the messenger represents false hope. He comes only to tell the pair â€Å"Mr. Godot told me to tell you he won’t come this evening but certainly to-morrow.† (Beckett 55). After learning of this, Vladimir and Estragon acknowledge that they both want to leave. The dialogue of â€Å"We’re waiting for Godot† repeats, yet the fact that â€Å"Godot† is not coming tonight is still not strong enough for them to take any direct action. Instead they are left to wait upon their fate from someone or something else to act on. As Hamlet becomes more obsessed with avenging his father, he begins to see more of his own downfall as time passes. Seeing the ghost of his father raises Hamlet’s suspicions of the whole kingdom. Thinking that people will write it off as grief, Hamlet acts strangely, hoping that this will help him catch Cladius as the one who murdered his father. But all this acting and waiting takes up precious time that Hamlet simply does not have, especially as a prince who is not living up to all of his potential. At the same time,  his lover, Ophelia, is forbidden to see him. Ophelia’s father Polonius takes notice of Hamlet’s apparent madness, and tells the king and queen â€Å"Your noble son is mad/ Mad I call it /for, to define true madness, / what is’t but to be nothing else but mad?† (II.ii.92-94). Now it is more about just Hamlet acting mad as a means of trying to catch Cladius, but his madness becomes so realistic that other people in the kingdom take n otice. When Cladius later inquires Hamlet about his state of mind, he replies that he is â€Å"Excellent, i’faith/of the chameleon’s dish/ I eat the air/ promise-crammed† (III.ii.84-86). Since it is not the typical response one would give when one is asked about how they are doing, it only serves to further confirm the fear that Hamlet is going mad. These outrageous acts only push Hamlet further away from his true self. The central point of Hamlet’s waiting and delaying of action is expressed with his â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy. A significant amount of time is passing, and Hamlet has thus seen the ghost of his father and knows what he must do. Yet he asks himself about suicide, and weighs the moral outcomes of living and dying. â€Å"Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And, by opposing, end them?† (HAM.III.i.58-61). Even when he considers suicide as a viable option, he questions what happens in the afterlife. If Hamlet therefore chooses to not commit suicide, is he delaying a possibly better life after he dies? He then turns to philosophy as a way to choose between killing Cladius or killing himself. But either path he chooses won’t end or solve his misery. â€Å"And enterprises of great pith and moment/With this regard their currents turn awry,/And lose the name of action.† (HAM. III.i.87-89). With Hamlet, it is evident that despite how miserable he is, he continually ignores any sort of action that can be taken to put an end to this misery. He forgets that he is still the prince and has a significant say it what can be done. The true Hamlet and his purpose are so far gone from his mind that he contemplates things such as suicide. He waits too long for an outside action to push him forward in the right direction, instead of taking the first step himself. In order to deal with the tasks of regular life, humans have been known to  set up routines of how they believe they should go about their day. Each pattern is unique, and they nearly always consist of repetition. These systems become a part of us as we go on. But when routines become more than just something we follow and they become who a person is, life becomes a lot more difficult than it needs to be. In both Hamlet and Waiting for Godot, the protagonists become their routines, and in this they destroy themselves and lose sight of their true purpose. The product of their blindness to the outside contaminates their souls and leaves them trapped in their own destructive ways. Works Cited Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. New York: Grove, 1954. Print. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print. The New Folger Library Shakespeare. Due to the foreboding repetition of their own daily lives, the protagonists in both Hamlet and Waiting for Godot neglect their true purpose, which suggests holding back can be destructive to oneself. In Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon experience each day as it passes without any happenings and with this transition comes their demise. As Hamlet becomes more obsessed with avenging his father, he begins to see more of his own downfall as time passes. The product of their blindness to the outside contaminates their souls and leaves them trapped in their own destructive ways.

Religion as a cyber society essays

Religion as a cyber society essays The exponential growth of the Cyber society and Cyber culture within the Internet has not gone unnoticed by the religious community. As I write, church web sites are being published and electronic prayer groups zip by in modems and wire networks across the globe. Even isolated monasteries like the Monastery of the Christ in the Desert (see sidebar) are able to send their Benedictine messages from their cloister in New Mexico. New age religions also use the [virtual] soil of the Internet as the center of their virtual church (see end of the Cyber society Observation for links on religious web pages). With these in mind, it is safe to write that Religion has seamlessly incorporated itself within the realm of Cyber society. The presence of Religion in Net Culture is not an unforeseen trend. Although Religion and Modernity does not have the best relationship, Religion has learned that they need to conform with the current trends of technology to survive. Religion sees Modernity (in hand with secularization) as a threat to spiritual well-being and existence of its churches. Today for example, membership in Christian denominations is decreasing and the number of priests is on the downward slope as well. The declining trends are placed on modern individuals tendency to think of religion as neither good nor bad but simply irrelevant. (Encarta Religion) Another reason lies in the prestige appropriated to science, the body of knowledge that made no reference to spiritual gods and the foundation of all the technologies that made human life easier. The religious organizations recognize the decline in membership and religious passivity of the general populace. Instead of going condemning the technology, they adapted to it and used it to perform their evangelical work. Evangelicalism originally means personal commitment to Christ and the authority of the Bible (Encarta ...

What You Should Know About Travel Writing

What You Should Know About Travel Writing Travel writing is a form of creative nonfiction in which the narrators encounters with foreign places serve as the dominant subject. Also called  travel literature. All travel writing- because it is writing- is made in the sense of being constructed, says Peter Hulme, but travel writing cannot be made up without losing its designation (quoted by  Tim Youngs in  The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing, 2013). Notable contemporary travel writers in English include  Paul Theroux, Susan Orlean, Bill Bryson,  Pico Iyer,  Rory MacLean,  Mary Morris, Dennison Berwick,  Jan Morris, Tony Horwitz,  Jeffrey Tayler, and Tom Miller, among countless others. Examples of Travel Writing By the Railway Side by Alice MeynellLists and Anaphora in Bill Brysons Neither Here Nor ThereLists in William Least Heat-Moons Place DescriptionLondon From a Distance by Ford Madox FordNiagara Falls by Rupert BrookeNights in London by Thomas BurkeOf Trave, by Francis BaconOf Travel by Owen FellthamRochester by Nathaniel Hawthorne Examples and Observations The best writers in the field [of travel writing] bring to it an indefatigable curiosity, a fierce intelligence that enables them to interpret, and a generous heart that allows them to connect. Without resorting to invention, they make ample use of their imaginations. . . .The travel book itself has a similar grab bag quality. It incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the discursiveness of an essay, and the- often inadvertent- self-revelation of a memoir. It revels in the particular while occasionally illuminating the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps. Because it results from displacement, it is frequently funny. It takes readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It uncovers truths that are stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness proof of life’s infinite possibilities.(Thomas Swick, N ot a Tourist. The Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2010) Narrators and NarrativesThere exists at the center of travel books like [Graham] Greenes Journey Without Maps or [V.S.] Naipauls An Area of Darkness a mediating consciousness that monitors the journey, judges, thinks, confesses, changes, and even grows. This narrator, so central to what we have come to expect in modern travel writing, is a relatively new ingredient in travel literature, but it is one that irrevocably changed the genre. . . .Freed from strictly chronological, fact-driven narratives, nearly all contemporary travel writers include their own dreams and memories of childhood as well as chunks of historical data and synopses of other travel books. Self reflexivity and instability, both as theme and style, offer the writer a way to show the effects of his or her own presence in a foreign country and to expose the arbitrariness of truth and the absence of norms.(Casey Blanton, Travel Writing: The Self and the World. Routledge, 2002)V.S. Naipaul on Making InquiriesMy books ha ve to be called travel writing, but that can be misleading because in the old days travel writing was essentially done by men describing the routes they were taking. . . . What I do is quite different. I travel on a theme. I travel to make an inquiry. I am not a journalist. I am taking with me the gifts of sympathy, observation, and curiosity that I developed as an imaginative writer. The books I write now, these inquiries, are really constructed narratives.(V.S. Naipaul, interview with Ahmed Rashid, Death of the Novel. The Observer, Feb. 25, 1996) Paul Theroux on the Travelers Mood- Most travel narratives- perhaps all of them, the classics anyway- describe the miseries and splendors of going from one remote place to another. The quest, the getting there, the difficulty of the road is the story; the journey, not the arrival, matters, and most of the time the traveler- the traveler’s mood, especially- is the subject of the whole business. I have made a career out of this sort of slogging and self-portraiture, travel writing as diffused autobiography; and so have many others in the old, laborious look-at-me way that informs travel writing.(Paul Theroux, The Soul of the South. Smithsonian Magazine, July-August 2014)-  Most visitors to coastal Maine know it in the summer. In the nature of visitation, people show up in the season. The snow and ice are a bleak memory now on the long warm days of early summer, but it seems to me that to understand a place best, the visitor needs to see figures in a landscape in all seasons. M aine is a joy in the summer. But the soul of Maine is more apparent in the winter. You see that the population is actually quite small, the roads are empty, some of the restaurants are closed, the houses of the summer people are dark, their driveways unplowed. But Maine out of season is unmistakably a great destination: hospitable, good-humored, plenty of elbow room, short days, dark nights of crackling ice crystals.Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. Boats are repaired, traps fixed, nets mended. â€Å"I need the winter to rest my body,† my friend the lobsterman told me, speaking of how he suspended his lobstering in December and did not resume until April. . . .(Paul Theroux, The Wicked Coast. The Atlantic, June 2011) Susan Orlean on the Journey- To be honest, I view all stories as journeys. Journeys are the essential text of the human experience- the journey from birth to death, from innocence to wisdom, from ignorance to knowledge, from where we start to where we end. There is almost no piece of important writing- the Bible, the Odyssey, Chaucer, Ulysses- that isnt explicitly or implicitly the story of a journey. Even when I dont actually go anywhere for a particular story, the way I report is to immerse myself in something I usually know very little about, and what I experience is the journey toward a grasp of what Ive seen.(Susan Orlean, Introduction to My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Whos Been Everywhere. Random House, 2004)- When I went to Scotland for a friends wedding last summer, I didnt plan on firing a gun. Getting into a fistfight, maybe; hurling insults about badly dressed bridesmaids, of course; but I didnt expect to shoot or get shot at. The wedding was taking place in a medieval castle in a speck of a village called Biggar. There was not a lot to do in Biggar, but the caretaker of the castle had skeet-shooting gear, and the male guests announced that before the rehearsal dinner they were going to give it a go. The women were advised to knit or shop or something. I dont know if any of us women actually wanted to join them, but we didnt want to be left out, so we insisted on coming along. . . .(Susan Orlean, opening paragraph of Shooting Party. The New Yorker, September 29, 1999) Jonathan Raban on the Open House- As a literary form, travel writing is a notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary, the essay, the short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive writing.(Jonathan Raban, For Love Money: Writing - Reading - Travelling 1968-1987. Picador, 1988)- Travel in its purest form requires no certain destination, no fixed itinerary, no advance reservation and no return ticket, for you are trying to launch yourself onto the haphazard drift of things, and put yourself in the way of whatever changes the journey may throw up. Its when you miss the one flight of the week, when the expected friend fails to show, when the pre-booked hotel reveals itself as a collection of steel joists stuck into a ravaged hillside, when a stranger asks you to share the cost of a hired car to a town whose name youv e never heard, that you begin to travel in earnest.(Jonathan Raban, Why Travel? Driving Home: An American Journey. Pantheon, 2011) The Joy of Travel WritingSome travel writers can become serious to the point of lapsing into good ol American puritanism. . . . What nonsense! I have traveled much in Concord. Good travel writing can be as much about having a good time as about eating grubs and chasing drug lords. . . . [T]ravel is for learning, for fun, for escape, for personal quests, for challenge, for exploration, for opening the imagination to other lives and languages.(Frances Mayes, Introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2002. Houghton, 2002)

Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Morality - Essay Example The lies, deception, aggression, bias or secrecy exemplified by politicians and lawyers have a certain practical value as proven by history. The late US president Lyndon Johnson is the perfect example of the practice of lying for the sake of the good. Known by the American citizens as a â€Å"candidate of peace,† Johnson won the election, but secretly launched Operation Rolling Thunder against North Vietnam (Bok 181-182). Nevertheless, although Johnson did not give the citizens a chance to accept or refuse the plan, he did it in order to do what he believed was good for everyone. Besides, had Johnson been transparent and had he given a chance for the electorate to make the decision instead of him, he would have caused not only widespread panic in the whole country but also a possible anarchy or overthrow of the government just to accommodate the people’s rage towards his proposed scheme. The question is not whether it was a wrong decision for Johnson to wage war against North Vietnam but whether the people should be informed at all times every time a decision has to be made. If one chooses to do the latter, then on what basis that should be done? What right do the majority of citizens have in order for them to be qualified to make a political decision in behalf of the government? Perhaps, one has to remember that, in a democratic society like America, the people vote for the President and for the other politicians because they have placed their trust in them. Therefore, whatever Lyndon Johnson did, there was no way the people could put the blame on him for that, because in the first place, the people were the ones who had him elected as President and have somehow given him all the right to make decisions for them. it would therefore be absurd to think that the people voted for someone to make decisions for them but for them to dictate which decisions he should make. It is like hiring a painter to paint your wall, and guiding his hand every time he paints. In such cases, one had better do it himself. The point therefore is that no one can blame politicians for telling lies and for keeping things secret because they would not be doing those things had they not been elected by the people in the first place. Nevertheless, as in the example of Johnson and of many other presidents and politicians who have made drastic decisions in behalf of their country, most of the time the purpose is for the benefit and survival of all. Moreover, when President Franklin Roosevelt made the decision for the United States to join the Second World War, he did not have to consult each and every American, for two reasons – the war would be over even before he finished doing that, or it would certainly be met with tough opposition from religious and peace-oriented groups while Americans at Pearl Harbor were being slaughtered by the Japanese. Secrecy and lies have their own wisdom, and every politician who was honestly elected by his constituent s have every right to do these things if it were to ultimately benefit the people. These negative moral acts also have a practical value based on theoretical philosophy. Although negatively moral, it is true that â€Å"a certain amount of illusion is needed in order for public servants to be effective [and

The Person I Admire Most Is Nelson Mandela Essay

The Person I Admire Most Is Nelson Mandela - Essay Example Slavery became so evident that the victims panicked, and their bodies sweated, as they would not accumulate the mistreatment anymore. People were ruled through abrasive rules that wounded many lives to the extent many sobbed bitterly. In 1994, discrimination was dismantled through the first democratic election and Nelson Mandela became elected as the president. In his leadership, he emphasized much on forgiveness towards a rainbow nation consisted of unity and harmony. To date, many emulate Nelson as a public figure that transformed South Africa into his leadership. An endless flow of peace and harmony became evident in the nation. Today, he belongs to the category of modern heroes that graced civilizations with his noble contribution and personal charisma. His life characterized a man who was a thirst for freedom, equality, political rights. Still, he was distressed to see his fellow Africans suffering and crying all day long. These broke his heart and infused him with the desire to fight for democracy and liberty for all. He accomplished these with cruel torture, shed blood, and resistance from the whites who disregarded the democratic governance. Additionally, Nelson Mandela spent some years in jail and was severely mistreated. While in Jail, Nelson Mandela could hear his conscience whispering â€Å"Do not give up.† Although the experience was so painful, it reminded him of what the nation would become if he gave up. Winning would mean so much that life would be normal and one could go anywhere he or she wished. During his 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela became a source of aspiration and inspiration (Mandela and Crwys-Williams 22). Personally, I emulate him because his greatest accomplishment was not only in becoming the president but also in abolishing slavery and discrimination. He ushered in harmony, democratic governance, social harmony, and national unity that many recognizes up-to-date.