John Locke the State of Nature Essay Example for Free

John Locke the State of Nature Essay In the chapter five of The Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration, John Locke expresses his opinion about property. According to the Bible, all human being is the descendants of Adam and Eve, which mean that this world is common to all humankind. However, in order to that the property is significant to people, the property must be your own private property. The individuals are different from the land and other properties. Everyone is entitled to the private rights; the personal private property may be obtained by the working, and the personal private property is out of the scope of the public property. Therefore, through manual labour, the public properties become privatization. Nevertheless, the privatization of public property is limited; the way to obtain the private property is only in the situation that does not damage others will be accepted by others. Only under such situation that people have provided appropriate resources to others, can they gain own properties to achieve their satisfactory goals through contribution and work. God gives treasure to humans, but does not look forward to seeing humans using it improperly. God expects humans to share and use the treasure in proper way and by their own work. How much treasure people should earn should be decided according to how much they contribute and need. However, it is not ethical to get properties by violating others. When people cannot implement or distribute natural resources in proper ways, others turn such resources into their own properties via ethically appropriate implementation. The right of gaining property from work is prior than lands public-owned status, since most of what people gain is via their hard work instead of natural resources. Above all, if people are willing to work on and properly implement public-owned resource properly, such work will give property as a return. In addition, John Locke indicates that the reason why currency came out was people was making efforts on storing some resource which tended easily to go bad, and making them better use and higher profits. Currency does not have actual value, but its value is from the exchange of other resources. It is pointless to occupy extra property which exceeds the actual need and ability of using it, and is not honest either.

Development of Chinas Economics

Development of Chinas Economics CHINA 2014 Table of Contents 1. Is China a developing country? 2. Theories/ Models of Growth and Development Applied on China 2.1. Rostow’s Stages of Growth 2.2. The Harrod-Domar Model Growth Model 2.3. Lewis’s Theory of Development 2.4. Structural Change and Pattern of Development 2.5. International Dependence Revolution 2.6. Neoclassical Counterrevolution 2.7. Coordination Failure and the Big Push 3. Poverty in China 3.1. Headcount Index Gini Co-efficient 3.2. Poverty Gap 3.3. Poverty Trend Analysis 4. Bibliography 5. Word Count: 1. Is China a developing country? China is a big economy in absolute terms, with GNP second only to the United States. Despite its remarkable economic development over the past decades, China remains a developing nation. China is the worlds most populous country, with a population of 1.3 billion in 2011. Its not far behind India, which contains 1.2 billion people and is predicted to overtake China in the next two decades. China ranks below the 100th place in the world in terms of per capita GDP, which is 3700 US dollars and the country is classified among middle and low income level countries. China is behind the majority of the developed world in terms of per capita possession of natural resources, in some cases, even far below the worlds average. Its fresh water reserve is only 1/3 of the world’s average, coal consumption 1/2 and natural gas 1/5. Moreover, a population of 150 million is caught in poverty and, is living on less than 1 US dollar a day. 83 million people are living with disabilities in the country. With the second largest number of poor in the world after India, poverty reduction remains a fundamental challenge. (WorldBank, 2014) Chinas trade mix is dominated by commodity trade that is resource and labor consuming, putting it at the lower end of the global industrial chain as the knowledge based trade in services only accounts for a small portion in foreign trade. There are shortfalls in scientific and technological innovation capacity that impede the countrys core competitiveness. Furthermore, the country faces challenges in the areas of investment in education which is low and in the areas of medical services and social security. Inequality remains high, rapid urbanization poses threat to environmental stability and there are external imbalances. China also faces demographic pressures related to an aging population and the internal migration of labor. (ChinaDaily, 2013) (Euractiv, 2012) 2. Theories/ Models of Growth and Development Applied on China 2.1. Rostow’s Stages of Growth Rostow’s theory states that each country needs to go through five imminent stages of development. Observing China in the context of the Rostow’s Model of Development, it is reasonable to claim it to be in the fourth stage, which is the drive to maturity. China remained in the third stage for several decades due to its inclination towards remaining a closed economy. As it opened its doors to the world in the 1990s, it saw itself elevating to stage four. China benefitted by a great increase in its GDP (as shown by the graph below) and foreign investment as their interaction with the world increased (Jacobs, 2014) Figure 1 Index of China’s Real GDP Growth Figure 2 Cumulative FDI in China Economicreforms of 1978 caused China’s economy to grow nine times. In 2002, China replaced US as the biggest receiver of foreign direct investment amounting up to $52.7 billion. It accounted for 25% of the global trade expansion. Apart from being a high exporter to US and Japan, China is a high consumer as well. China also became the world’s second largest importer of oil, right after the US. Its consumption of raw materials such as steel and copper became greater than that of the US. In 2003, it consumed 55% of the world’s cement. As China secured its membership of the World Trade Organization, it became a dominant player in the economy (Marcos Chamon, 2011). 2.2. The Harrod-Domar Model Growth Model Harrod-Domar model extrapolates that development is a phenomenon driven by savings and investments. China, in light of the model, faced some ups and downs in terms of savings and investment. The biggest dip in the investment came 1960 to 1962 as the government initiated the ‘Great Leap Forward’ campaign leading to immense nationalization and hence a major fall in investments. Post Economic Reforms in 1978, China saw a stable but increasing rate of investment in China, with the usual cyclical fluctuations. Simultaneously, China has seen a rise in savings from 35% in 1990 to approximately 50% by 2012. Interestingly, mainly the younger population and the elder population have shown a saving trend. This is due to decreasing public provision of facilities such as education and health prompted the younger generation to save for future education costs and the older generation to save for future health costs. (Marcos Chamon, 2011), (Labaria, 2012) 2.3. Lewis’s Theory of Development The essence of this model is to allocate resources more efficiently in the developing world where there is an overflow of labor in the traditional agriculture sector that needs to be dissolved into the industrial sector workforce (Anon., 2008) China’s agricultural percentage to GDP is around 12% and catering to almost 43% of the agricultural employment share, showing that China’s labor force is still not fully transferred to the industrial sector. However, China is still growing fast. According to Spence, high Savings and investment where public spending was on education, infrastructure, international trade, technological up gradation and productive employment were all factors that led China’s phenomenal growth. Although there was agro to industrial migration, people were more towards private sector than state owned enterprises. For example, between 1995 and 2005, the ownership of enterprises fell by 38% whereas private, foreign and individual grew in total by 35 %. The reason for this could be that the capital to output ratio for private was much greater than the state owned ones i.e. 6.7 vs. 3.3. Along with investment, China focused on improving its exports from 2004 onwards. China used the investment for technology that proved beneficial from 2000 where the number of patent applications were 100000 that shot up to 275000 by 2004. As a result, China was the one with the most patent applications from the BRIC nations. Figure 3 In compliance with the Lewis model the economy was able to absorb the extra agricultural labor with a rise in the marginal productivity of labor which is still lower than the wage for the average productivity of labor. (MARCO G. ERCOLANI, 2010) In 2010 China had not reached the third stage as such as there was still a gap in labor productivities between both the sectors. 2.4. Structural Change and Pattern of Development Chenery’s structural change model assesses the characteristic features of development process derived from the different levels of per capita income of countries. For China, the shift from the agricultural to industrial production is seen in the city called Shenzhen which was once farming and fishing village in 1980’s and grew into the richest city in 30 years, as a result of foreign investment and manufacturing. (Shenzhen Facts, 2013) This example only can also explain that there was steady accumulation of both physical and human capital. The rapid growth in Shenzhen was possible due to the capital, labor, technology and information. (Shen, 2008) . These changes were accompanied by shift in consumption patterns to more appropriate ones of demand for manufactured goods and services. Although one can say that China has tried to achieve the decline in family size to cater to its overall population, the disparity between different regions is still prevalent. Hence it canno t be inferred if the child quality is preferred over the child quantity in China. 2.5. International Dependence Revolution The trend of aid received by China has experienced various fluctuations. Up until late 1970s, China was a net donor, but when the Chinese economy started its openness policy, it became a net receiver of aid to finance the industrialization, mainly from Japan. However, this aid rather than being pure loans or grants was more in the form of economic co-operations agreements which gave both China and Japan a ‘win win’ situation rather than China getting exploited by Japan. Post mid 90s however (after the success of industrialization was manifesting), the aid received by China started to drop drastically; and due to the introduction of the ‘Grand Plan’ of 1994,China started to realize the potential of securing resources and export markets abroad and started investing heavily in Africa, the trend of which continues to today . Hence instead of China being exploited by the cores, it is now in a position to exploit Africa. The neocolonial dependence model cannot be applied to China. (Shimomura Ohashi, 2013) The Dualistic Development Thesis however applies extremely well to China, as evidenced by the disparity in public and private spending on education and health (public spending is almost constant whereas private is increasing (WorldBank, 2014)) or by the vast income disparity amongst China’s urban and regional areas. Reasons for this co existence phenomenon are discussed under Poverty in China. 2.6. Neoclassical Counterrevolution Neoliberals suggest that by allowing competitive free markets to function, economic growth will begin because world markets are efficient. In 1979, China was a stiff command economy prey, to majorinefficiencies making it poorerthan India. The government focused on heavy industries, ignoring agriculture and the private sectors. Their leader Chen, recognizing the importance of market and socialism endedâ€Å"The Leap Outward†, allowing the firms tobenefit with the government from the market functioning, showing that Market Friendly approach is needed. Public-choicetheory discusses that by the self centered intervention of government, not only does misallocation of resources occur, but people are left with lesser choices and freedom. China has now shifted to a mixed economy with reforms which shall allow China to reach 60% of America’s per capita GDP. (TheMoneyIllusion, 2010) In the last 30 years, the Chinese economy has seen a shift to a hybrid economy after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Theprivatization of 90% of the urban residential schemes and real estate can be marked as an economic success because it led to a growth in per capita income 8.1% from 1978 to 2004. Neoclassical free-market argument emphasizes onliberalizationof national markets, which draws additional domestic and foreign investment, increasing the rate of capital accumulation. China has acceptedliberation by allowing free trade, to the extent that China, a part of the BRIC nation now has the power to shake the strength of the US Dollar; however the role and hold of government is still strong on the economy and the people. An example of this is the enforcement of one child policy. Although the government has now relaxed these rules, to extending to a two child policy, this was needed to control the geometric progression of the population versus the arithmetic progress of resources which would have led to increased poverty. (Coase Wang, 2013) 2.7. Coordination Failure and the Big Push According to Todaro coordination failure occurs because of the inability of economic agents to coordinate their behavior resulting in an equilibrium in which everyone ends up being worse off and occurs because of pecuniary externalities, asymmetric information, and high wages of workers which warrant government intervention which Todaro named the Big Push. (Todaro Smith, 2012) In October 1949 the People’s Republic of China was established by the Communist Party. The party aimed to nationalize the agricultural sector and use it to finance the growth in industrialization to coordinate the activities of the economic agents in the industrial sector. As a result of this the Industrial sector thrived and grew. (Young, 2014) In 1958 the Great leap forward was announced. Under this communes of farms were formed and private farming was abolished. The purpose of this was to increase output via greater cooperation and greater physical effort. However this failed resulting in drop in agricultural production, three years of famine and millions of deaths. The government responded by initiating policies contradictory to that of Big Push model, i.e. the government allowed for private farming and slashed investment in industrial sector which led to improvements in the industry. (Young, 2014) Lastly the Great ProletarianCultural Revolution of 1966 resulted in a negative impact on industry production resulting in a decade of confusion and strife. (Young, 2014) So it can be inferred that the Big Push model advocating government intervention has resulted in more costs than benefits for the Chinese. 3. Poverty in China 3.1. Headcount Index Gini Co-efficient YEAR Headcount ratio (% of population, at $1.25 a day) Millions of poor (people less than $1.25 a day) Population (in billions) (gapminder) 1990 60.18 683.2 1.15 1991 1.16 1992 63.80 743.3 1.175 1993 53.69 632.7 1.188 1994 59.78 712.5 1.201 1995 54.05 651.2 1.213 1996 36.37 442.8 1.226 1997 47.84 588.5 1.237 1998 47.97 595.8 1.259 1999 35.63 446.3 1.260 2000 1.269 2001 1.277 2002 28.36 363.1 1.285 2003 1.293 2004 1.300 2005 16.25 211.9 1.307 2006 1.314 2007 1.321 2008 13.06 173 1.328 2009 11.80 157.1 1.334 Figure 4 WorldBank, 2014 The trend shows that the headcount ratio was decreasing rather at a slow rate from 1990 till 1999, however the headcount reduced by almost 50%. By 2005 the headcount further reduced by 50% and then gradually till 2009 the headcount came to about 11.8%. It should be keep in mind that the population of China had been increasing around 0.01 billion each year and still the headcount was reduced. From the highest 743.3 million poor in 1992 to almost 157.1 million poor in 2009 is an achievement. (WorldBank, 2014) According to Yu Xie, a sociologist from Michigan University, China suffers from one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world. Inequality prevails even in comparison to other countries that have similar standards of living. The Gini Coefficient has shown an increasing trend reaching 0.472 in 2012. (Gapminder, 2014) 3.2. Poverty Gap The World Bank index presents that Poverty Gap in 2009 was 2.8, but data for the latter years was not available. Beijing and Shanghai have reached high developmental levels equivalent to Cyprus and Portugal because of the government’s efforts via provision of healthcare, education and welfare, but provinces such as south-western Huizhou are comparable to Namibia or Botswana. The city life is becoming increasingly expensive and the middle class is being squeezed. 3.3. Poverty Trend Analysis Extreme poverty defined by percentage of people living below $1.25 per day fell till 1987 in China after which it increased sharply to 64% in 1992. After which it declined in 1993, increased again in 1994 and then declined continuously to 13% in 2008. However there were stalls in poverty reduction during the late 1920s and late 1990s. So the significant increase in poverty in China during the late 1980s was because of the Communist Party’s policy to nationalize the agricultural sector part of their Great leap forward strategy which backfired leading to a significant increase in poverty in the rural areas of China. (Ravallion Chen, 2007) The number of people below the poverty line started to decrease after the peak in 1992 because of: migration from rural to urban growth in primary sector due to the about face policy after the Great Leap Forward economy wide policies including agrarian reforms controlling of inflation increase in government spending as part of the effort to achieve the MDG on poverty and hunger The rate of decline in poverty varied from industry to industry and among provinces because the rate of growth in these was not the same. (Ravallion Chen, 2007) As shown by the figure below, economic activity is prevalent at the coastal regions and declines as we move towards the interior of the country. Figure 5 GDP/Capita by province 2002 (US$) As the economy opened its doors to the world, it saw an inflow of investment in this coastal region. However, the benefit has not been transferred to the inner regions, the urban residents located at the east earn thrice as much as the rural residents (Roberts, 2014), (GeoCases, 2002) Figure 6 (GeoCases, 2002) 4. Bibliography Anon., 2008. Introduction to Economics of Development. [Online] Available at: http://www.pauldeng.com/teaching/development/lectnotes_8_econ175a.pdf [Accessed 2014]. Bertaud, A., 2010. GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION AND URBAN LAND MARKETS: THE CASE OF CHINA. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 29(4), pp. 335-346. ChinaDaily, 2013. China Daily. [Online] Available at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2013-01/10/content_16100813.htm [Accessed 2014]. Coase, R. Wang, N., 2013. How China Became Capitalist. [Online] Available at: http://www.cato.org/policy-report/januaryfebruary-2013/how-china-became-capitalist [Accessed 2014]. Euractiv, 2012. Euractiv. [Online] Available at: http://www.euractiv.com/global-europe/china-developing-country-analysis-498377 [Accessed 2014]. GeoCases, 2002. China: A Third Generation Newly Industrialised Country. [Online] Available at: http://www.geocases2.co.uk/printable/China a third generation NIC.htm [Accessed 2014]. Jacobs, J., 2014. Rostows Stages of Growth Deveopment Model. [Online] Available at: http://geography.about.com/od/economic-geography/a/Rostow-S-Stages-Of-Growth-Development-Model.htm [Accessed 2014]. Labaria, E., 2012. China and Development. [Online] Available at: http://elirozz_labaria.tigblog.org/post/7228633?setlangcookie=true [Accessed 2014]. MARCO G. ERCOLANI, Z. W., 2010. AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LEWIS-RANIS-FEI THEORY OF DUALISTIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR CHINA. Changsha, Chinese Economist Society. Marcos Chamon, K. L. E. P., 2011. The Puzzle of Chinas Rising Household Saving Rate. [Online] Available at: http://www.voxeu.org/article/puzzle-china-s-rising-household-saving-rate Ravallion, M. Chen, S., 2007. Poverty, China’s (uneven) Progress against. Journal of Development Economics, pp. 1-42. Roberts, D., 2014. Chinas Income-Inequality Gap Widens Beyond US Levels. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-30/chinas-income-inequality-gap-widens-beyond-u-dot-s-dot-levels Shen, J., 2008. Urban Growth and Sustainable Development in Shenzhen City 1980-2006. Open Environmental Sciences, Volume 2, pp. 71-79. Shenzhen Facts, 2013. Shenzhen Facts. [Online] Available at: http://www.chinahighlights.com/shenzhen/shenzhen-facts.htm Shimomura, Y. Ohashi, H., 2013. A Study of Chinas Foreign Aid: An Asian Perspective. 1st ed. Tokyo: Palgrave Macmillan. TheMoneyIllusion, 2010. The money illusion. [Online] Available at: http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=5363 [Accessed 2014]. Todaro, M. P. Smith, S. C., 2012. Economic Development. s.l.:Addison-Wesley. WorldBank, 2014. Poverty Data by World Bank. [Online] Available at: http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/CHN [Accessed 2014]. WorldBank, 2014. WorldBank.org. [Online] Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview [Accessed 2014]. Young, E. P., 2014. China. [Online] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/111803/China/71007/Economic-policies [Accessed 24 9 2014]. 5. Word Count: 2571 excluding cover page, ToC, Bibliography and In-text Headings Development Economics ReportPage 1

Essay --

The Racist atmosphere in the South back in the 1920s was exceptionally oppressive. Due to that racist atmosphere many problems arose. In Ernest J. Gaines's â€Å"A Lesson Before Dying†, the two protagonist’s self-perceptions are affected by the racist atmosphere. Jefferson’s self-perception is affected by the racist atmosphere. In chapter One, Jefferson’s defense attorney tries to win the jury by claiming that Jefferson has diminished capacity to reason. He tries to reach the jury’s heart and mind by implying it would be a cruel act to kill a man whose intelligence and moral are no greater than those of a hog. The attorney expresses the ugly belief, held by many Southern whites, that blacks are somewhat beneath whites. Jefferson becomes disturbed by the idea and begins acting like a hog, angrily refusing to talk and going through his food like a hog. Miss Emma realizes the impact the attorney’s words have on Jefferson and makes it her goal to ensure Jefferson dies like a man not like an animal. When Jefferson decides to die with dignity, he shakes off the spiteful stereotypes placed on him by whites. â€Å"Gentlemen of the jury, look at this----this----this boy. I almost said a man, but I can’t sa y man. Oh sure, he has reached the age of twenty-one, when we, civilized men, consider the male species has reached manhood, but would you call this---this---this a man? No, not I†,(Gaines, 7). This quote reveals how even Jefferson’s defense attorney from the start had a stereotype opinion held by many Southern whites, a negative opinion that blacks are inferior to whites. From that point on Grant’s mission in the book is to show Jefferson’s hope, dignity, and self-respect, and to prove to whites and blacks are alike, that i... ...white people because they believe you’re inferior to them. That quotes clearly reveal and describes why Jefferson and Grant were in the situation that they were in. It is unquestionably true that the real individuality, the real human nature can be revealed in extreme situations, when the human life is at stake. This work represents an attempt to show that each individual has an opportunity to change his/her life completely, to make it really humanistic and do something good even if it is the last thing he/she can do in his/her life. A Lesson Before Dying suggest the audience to reevaluate its views on life and realize that everything may be changed. At the same time, it is never late to change the life for better and reveal positive traits of character or even commit some heroic or humanistic acts even if it threatens to end the entire life of the individual.

A Study Of The Negro Policeman: Book Review :: essays research papers

A Study of the Negro Policeman: Book Review Nicholas Alex, assistant professor of sociology at The City University of New York, holds a Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research and a B.S. from the Wharton School. He was formerly a research assistant with the Russell Sage Foundation, an instructor at Adelphi University, and has had working experience in his academic specialty-the sociology of professions and occupations-while an industrial engineer in the aircraft industry, later as business manager of the Walden School. This is his first book. In this book Alex made an effort to examine the peculiar problems of Negro policemen who live in an age which has not yet resolved to problem of inequality in an assertedly democratic society. He drawn heavily on the reflections of forty-one Negro policemen who made plain to me the difficulties involved in being black in blue. Alex was concerned with the ways in which the men were recruited into the police, the nature of their relations in regard to their immediate clientele, their counterparts, and the rest of society. In the broadest terms, the book examines the special problems that Negro policemen face in their efforts to reconcile their race with their work in the present framework of American values and beliefs. The research for the study was based on intensive interviews collected over a period of eleven months, from December 1964 to October 1965. During that time the author talked with Negro police engaged in different types of police specialties, and men of different rank and backgrounds. Alex was interested in preserving their anonymity, and substituted code numbers for names. The language in which their thoughts were expressed is unchanged. Most of the interviews were obtained either at the policeman's home or the authors. Some were held in parks, playgrounds, and luncheonettes. All of the interviews were open-ended. All the policemen refused to have there conversations taped. "I know too well what tapes can do to you," said one. "I can refute what you write down on that pad, but I can't if it's taped. We use tapes too, you know." The author was dealing with a highly expressive and literate group of men who thought of the study as a way in which they could make themselves heard. This book is organized very well. It consist of eight chapters, and each chapter is broken into subdivisions. The first chapter talks about the policemen in the community. Within this chapter mainly describes the police as and occupation, and states how the policemen's job is uncertain. The second chapter deals with the recruitment of Negroes for police work.

Management of Old-growth Forests in the Pacific Northwest Essay

Management of Old-growth Forests in the Pacific Northwest When westward expansion brought settlers to the Northwest in the 1800s, they discovered that coniferous trees â€Å"forty feet in circumference [that] shot two-hundred feet straight up† flourished in the forests of the Pacific coast (Ervin 55). These early pioneers found the opportunity for economic growth in logging these vast forests of towering trees unlike any they had seen before. Today, the timber industry still remains the backbone of economic support for Washington, Oregon, and northwestern California, but an inevitable conflict has arisen between humans and our environment. A struggle over the control of the use of the old-growth forests threatens the balance of the ecosystem and the stability of the economy in the Pacific Northwest. Each year, 55,000 acres of Northwest forest land succumb to chainsaws to feed the ever-increasing foreign and domestic demands for lumber (Time 21). To profitably satisfy these demands, old-growth trees, those of two hundred years or more, are sought by Northwest logging companies. At this rate, environmentalists believe the unique ecosystem created by old-growth forests is in danger of being destroyed. To protect the old-growth forests and the plants and animals found there, a reduction must be made in the amount of old-growth trees logged each year. Yet reducing the amount of logging in the Pacific Northwest decreases the current number of jobs involved in harvesting the forests and the revenue received by both the companies and the government for their processed logs. To fully understand the current conflict over the old-growth forests, we must look at what each side stands to lose and then suggest a possible balanced sol... ...reach an agreement before it is too late. At our current rate of logging, the old-growth forest, its ecosystem, and its loggers will disappear in less than 15 years (Watkins 12). References Abate, Tom. â€Å"Which bird is the better indicator species for old-growth forest?† Bioscience Jan. 1992: 8-9. Carey, Andrew, Janice Reid, and Scott Horton. â€Å"Spotted Owl Density in Northwest California.† Journal of Wildlife Management 54.1 (1990): 11-18. Davis, Phillip A. Congressional Quarterly 4 Sept., 1991: 2611-12. â€Å"Environment’s Little Big Bird.† Time 16 April 1990: 21. Ervin, Keith. Fragile Majesty. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1989. Gup, Ted. â€Å"Owl vs. Man.† Time 25 June 1990: 56-65. Satchell, Michael. â€Å"The Endangered Logger.† U.S. News and World Report 25 June 1990: 27-29. Watkins, T. H. â€Å"The Boundaries of Loss.† Wilderness Spring 1991: 12-16.

Fight Against Death Essay

Dylan Thomas’s poem, â€Å"Do not go gentle into that good night†, is a poignant commentary on death, inspired in part by the impending death of his own father, who faced deteriorating health and frailty during the last few years of his life. After analyzing this poem it gave it more depth and me a better understanding of the poem. I will be covering the structure/form, theme, and symbolism. The first element I will use to analyze this poem is structure/form. This poem is a nineteen line poem with five tercets and a quatrain. This poem is written using the fixed poetry format of villanelle, in which there are only two rhyme sounds. The refrains are; â€Å"do not go gentle into that night† and â€Å"rage, rage against the dying of the light.† (Clugston, 2010, Ch. 12) Line one refrains on six, twelve, eighteen, while line three refrains on nine, fifteen, and nineteen. The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABA and is written in iambic pentameter. Thomas’s use of simple repetitive language keeps the iambic pentameter, which is ten syllables per line. The theme of â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night† is darkness, death, and aging. In every stanza the reader receives an image of death or darkness. An example of the theme is â€Å"Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, and learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, do not go gentle into that good night† (Clugston, 2010, Ch. 12) which represents the sun setting; in other words it is the dying of the day. Thomas tells readers to live strong lives and fight against death rather than accepting it. The whole poem speaks of fighting and raging against dying. Everyone knows that death will come to them in some way, whether that is today or tomorrow but the author wants us to not welcome it. He wants them to embrace life no matter how hard it gets and whenever death is near, to fight against it. Thomas Dylan uses different types of people to prove that his thoughts apply to all men. The wise men whose intelligent is not going to save him from dying, the good men whose good deeds won’t save him, the wild who learns too late and the grave men who sees with his blind sights. All these men lived a different life but in the end, they all reach the same conclusion which is struggling against death. The words that the author uses to illustrate these themes are â€Å"rage, rage against the dying of light and old age should burn and have rage at the close of the day†. His choice of words supports his attitude towards this theme because in these lines, he’s telling his readers to rage against dying which means to fight against death. As we grow old, life becomes a struggle for some people. Even though struggling is hard, the author believes that life is worth fighting for. The theme and symbolism in this poem kind of go hand in hand. Thomas explores the contrast between the natural symbols of light and dark. Light traditionally stands for â€Å"good† while dark traditionally stands for â€Å"bad†. In this poem the night is a symbol of death, signaling an end. â€Å"Sad heights† is also a symbolism of his father’s life. His father’s life was indeed sad because it did not amount to what the poet hoped it would. â€Å"Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray† (Clugston, 2010, Ch. 12) lets the reader know that he had more rage and strength in his dying hours than he did in life. One of the strongest images of darkness and death is shown in the last two lines of the poem, â€Å"Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.† (Clugston, 2010, Ch. 12) The death of the light here shows us blackness: the ultimate darkness. This one line brings to light all of the darkness, death, and evil that is in this poem. In conclusion, Thomas’ uses the literary elements, structure/form, theme, and symbolism to enhance the poem â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night.† The structure/form being that of a villanelle adds to the rhythm of the poem. The theme is darkness, death, and aging which is in evident in every stanza of this poem. There is a lot of symbolism in this poem and it adds to the theme. Without the structure and the symbolism Thomas uses it may have been a different poem. References: Clugston, R.W (2010) Retrieved from http://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG125 http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5796

Building Working Relationships With Customers Essay

Effective communication strategies can help towards building strong working relationships with clients and customers and are very important for the progress of any company. It is essential to create a good impression and therefore it is important that the employee’s self presentation meets the expectations of the customer and leaves them with an overall positive opinion. Employee’s appearance is essential for creating a good first impression to the customer. It is important to look professional and to dress appropriately according to your working environment. While some companies require smart dress code at all times, for others wearing a suit may be seen as too dressy and would suggest that the employee is not familiar enough with the type of business. Ideally employees have to carefully consider the type of clients their company is aiming for and do their best to associate themselves with them, always aiming for a neat and tidy appearance. Major factor for one’s self presentation is their attitude towards clients. It is vital to show interest in meeting the customer’s needs and making them feel valued. A successful employee always shows engagement to a query and ideally aims to be more-productive, customer-focused and profit-gathering. Their manners should display positivity and helpful attitude at all times. It is important to be attentive and respond appropriately to customers’ needs and focus on delivering business results. Satisfied customers are likely to give good feedback about your work and are more likely to remain loyal, making future purchases repeatedly. They are considered a real asset to the organisation and ideally would still choose to use the same company over going for a competitor’s services. Moreover their positive feedback can attract new potential clients, contribute towards achievement of wider business goals for the company and make it more successful at the marketpla ce. In order to be able to deal more efficiently with their clients’ needs, companies have various protocols designed to improve their employees’ customer service and productivity. The protocols consist of a set of guidelines covering the correct conduct towards customers, setting out the main duties which customer-facing employees have to be able to carry out. Thus the company ensures that its employees are delivering a consistently high level of  service to the customers. Protocols usually cover key areas of customer service describing how to appropriately respond to customers and how to refer to a relevant individual. This may include telephone etiquette – aiming to answer a phone call within three rings and greeting the customer with an exact phrase before taking their details. Responding to e-mails on the same day using the correct wording and sending out letters along with a complimentary slips from the company. It can also cover logging details and processes on to a specific database, creating customer files and recording different actions and outcomes of employee’s daily duties – for example completing flow chart templates showing the progress of a certain task or a project. Protocols are important not only for improving the standards of general customer service and minimising the possibility of errors, but also to protect employees from occasions where unfair claims and disciplinary proceedings which may occur. In my job role as an administrator at a traineeship provider company, I rarely have to contact any external customers and my clients are assessors working at different departments of the same organisation. I am responsible for processing their new learners registrations and have to follow a certain guidelines on a daily basis to ensure my work is done correctly. When receiving a new request I register our new learners for the relevant qualification with the correct awarding body and enter their details on to an online registrations system. The next step is liaising with a colleague from finance department and issuing a purchase order number. I have to make a copy of the new registration details and keep in the learners file. According to my company’s protocol I have to complete all new registrations within two days from the original submission date and get back to the assessors by e-mail once I have dealt with their request. Although there is no formal etiquette I have to follow when responding to them, it is important that I stick to the protocol and ensure all data is correctly processed and saved. Appropriate communication between customers and employees is essential for any company’s progress. Showing respect in every interaction is vital and there is certainly no place for negative or rude attitude towards the client. Good telephone manner and polite face-to-face communication is equally important in both formal and informal situations. If any differences in views or ideas occur employees should first try to understand them from the client’s perspective  and then respond by emphasizing what they can do to help resolving the matter. Unfortunately, customers are more likely to s peak up and make a complaint about a bad customer experience, rather than giving feedback about a positive one. On occasions when someone has raised a complaint to me within my company I listen to the client without passing any judgements or rushing to give an advice and follow through with stating what I can do to help resolve the problem. It is important that the customers see a quick and appropriate response to their issue, know that that I am looking forward to helping them and that my organisation cares about providing them with a solution. In situations where I think I cannot resolve a client’s problem I seek advice and help from a manager or a more experienced employee. I focus on issues and not personalities when I address and pass on the complaint and express appreciation when others give me assistance. In situations when a client has complained about an error made by an employee from my company, the situation is usually dealt with by a department manager or coordinator, who ensures that the customer receives the necessary compensation and that the same mistake would not be mad e again in future. Customer satisfaction is essential for the survival of any business, therefore it is important that the client’s needs should be met and if possible – exceeded. To do that, companies look for employees who can identify what the client is looking for and provide with good service. This can prove to be a challenging task as customer needs are a dynamic feature, based on a wide range of changing factors and it can be difficult to know exactly what someone is looking for. Common basic expectations are helpful high quality products or services and competitive pricing. Employees should be prepared to go above and beyond to satisfy the customer expectations, as this will increase the sales and create additional business opportunities. It is important that needs should be met because then there is a better possibility that the client will choose to do business with the organisation. However, if their expectations of customer service are exceeded they are likely to become loyal customers and use other services in future. Thus the company will stand out, differentiate from the rest of its competitors and has better chances of expanding. Positive worki ng relations with any customer will bring more investments and will make the organisation more popular on the market. It will also allow the employees to get to know  their customers better, find the right matches for their needs and find new ways to deal effectively with any problems or complaints. Important aspect in building good working relationships is agreeing on certain quality standards and timescales for their requests. By doing so, both parties are agreeing on setting a specific target and the company can make sure it stays focused on the right needs of the customer and knows exactly what has to be done so that the clients are satisfied with the end result. It encourages new improvements and ensures consistency in service. Reviewing customer service provision is the process through which the company receives and evaluates feedback for their services to their clients. There are various ways to do this and most popular ones are informal feedback and completing surveys, comments book and questionnaires. My company often uses online evaluation sheets and has also dedicated a section from its official webpage for comments and suggestions. Customers can choose to remain anonymous when sharing their customer service experience. Although feedback information important, yet sometimes difficult to obtain, companies need to ensure their customers are not pressurised to participate in the evaluation if they are not interested to do so. Building good working relationships with clients helps towards the continuous improvement of companies services, brings more profits and attracts new potential customers.