Saturday, January 25, 2020

Gothic Novels Essay -- Literary Analysis, The Castle of Otranto

Gothic is described as something that is destructive and barbaric which attracts and disrupts what is considered civilised. Therefore to a certain extent Jackson is right. however the â€Å"very act of speaking about these socially unspeakable is an ambiguous gesture (Punter p.417).† This is where the element of superstition and the paranormal come in. In Horace Walpole’s The Castle Otranto and Matthew Lewis’ The Monk this element of paranormal and superstition gives way or embodies the contradiction of society which Jackson speaks of, or at least some of them. Its is important to recognise however, that though the message or the plot of these stories are sometimes sarcastic or even impractical they do manage to interrogate society and its social norms. But still, while some things are addressed others are repeated and left unsolved and this is what I will try to explore. What does The Monk and The Castle of Otranto have to say about their society as well as how plot and character might impact on the message the reader ends up receiving. The Castle of Otranto brings to light many aspect concerning society but in a way the reader is not sure whether or not to take it seriously; firstly, from Conrad being struck down by an helmet to Matilda being killed. As Markman Ellis (p.32) argues, â€Å"the handling of these elements is somewhat unusual.† The whole plot of the story is build around an enigma, for example the prophecy that states, â€Å"the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it (p.109)† The handling of these supernatural elements though form the base of the main plot, distracts the readers from the seriousness of the reality. Manfred driven by the... ...ntonia and immediately falls for her not realising that what he feels is the bond of siblings recognising each other. Both novels seem to take a stand against evoking morals by repressing education. In The Monk both the church and Elvira play a role in their children's down fall. Antonio is not permitted to read certain parts of the Bible for fear that she will be curupted. The Castle of Otranto and The Monk seems to be about evil and the problem of externalising it. An example of this is the mob's behaviour in The Monk "which provides some kind of justification for violence and at the same time emphasizes the ease with which revenge can be incontrollably excessive( James Watt, 1999, p.92)." This is true for both novel as well as other (Frankenstein and Zofloya). In The Castle of Otranto Manfred kills Matilda, mistakenly, by trying to kill Isabella.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

American Airlines Case Study Essay

Executive Summary With 1988 operating income of $801 million on a revenue of $8.55 billion, American Airlines, Inc. (American), principal subsidiary of Dallas/Fort Worth-based AMR Corporation, was the largest airline in the United States. At year-end 1988 American operated 468 aircraft on 2,200 flights daily to 151 destinations in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, France, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, and West Germany. The objective of American Airlines revenue management effort was to maximize passenger revenues by selling the right seats to the right customers at the right prices. As the decision maker of American Airlines, I recommend introducing Upgraded Computerized Reservation System to replace current SABRE system to keep the company leader of the industry while maximizing profit. Part 2: Issues Identification Immediate Issue Low load factors for Chicago – West Coast Nature: tactic Timing: short term In 1987, in the nonstop markets, American and United competed on the basis of fares, flight schedules, and factors such as quality of service. In the connecting markets, American, United, and Continental also competed on the basis of fares and flight schedules. Once again American and United matched each  other’s fares, while Continental, with its post-Chapter 11 reorganization and low-cost structure, was the low-price provider. So, United had a superior flight schedule, and Continental cheaper fares. As for American, our load factors were down to an unacceptable level. Deep discount for New York – San Juan Nature: tactic Timing: short term New York-San Juan was American’s largest market, measured in revenue passenger miles. The market was fairly evenly divided into three categories. The first category consisted of business passengers; business travel occurred year-round. Leisure passengers made up the second category; leisure travel peaked in the summer. Passengers of Caribbean origin either coming to the United States or returning to the Caribbean to visit friends and relatives constituted the third category. Eastern periodically offered deep discounts to stimulate demand during traditional slow seasons. In September 1988 Eastern introduced a restricted round-trip fare of $198 midweek and $238 weekend. The fare was applicable for travel until December 14, 1988. American had to decide if and how to respond. Systemic Issue Complicity of Yield Management Nature: Strategic Timing: long term American Airlines broadly described the function of yield management as â€Å"selling the right seats to the right customers at the right prices.† At American Airlines, almost everything is automated because the yield-management decision-making process is too large and therefore too complex to be processed manually. Part 3: Environmental & Root Cause Analysis In the past, under regulations, airlines were not allowed to set their ticket prices at will. Rather, all fares had to be approved by the government. Normally, fares were set on a cost plus basis in order to guarantee airlines a minimum return. On the one hand, airlines had no incentive to reduce costs by streaming operations and increasing productivity. Essentially, price discrimination under regulation was based on the assumption of two distinct  and easily separable types of customers: price-insensitive, yet very time-sensitive business travelers, normally flying on expenses, and price sensitive, yet-time-insensitive leisure travelers, typically paying for their own trips. The deregulation of the airline industry has opened up many opportunities to seize market share and revenues. American needs to identify and develop a detailed revenue management and yield management plan to capitalize on this opportunity. Airline deregulation in 1979 led to additional complexity in the practice of yield management. Two major changes took place. First, the number and variety of discount fares increased. Second, airline began offering connecting service, using centrally located airports as hubs, to serve more of the traveling public and provide national service. The resulting airline environment is very complex. The following factors complicated the yield management task: (1) the demand for full- and discount-fare seats on any given flight was uncertain; (2) the demand was variable over time; (3) in certain cases, for example leisure flights, the demand was also â€Å"lumpy†; (4) there was a bewildering multitude of fare types and restrictions; (5) the hub-and-spoke system made some customers in one fare type more attractive than other customers in the same fare type; (6) some customers booked seats but did not show up for their flights. Part 4: Alternatives and Options Below is a detailed breakdown of the alternatives and options for the issues identified above. Option 1: Marketing American Airlines could focus its priorities on marketing in order to realize its full potential from a demand, capacity and yield perspective. Offering last minute vacation packages or more aggressive pricing policies for flights that look increasingly like they will not reach capacity would be another way to help fill vacant spots. Pros: a. To sell deeply discounted seats at the last minute could make additional profit. b. American Airlines could be known to offer fantastic last minute vacations periodically. Cons: a. Focusing solely on marketing in an industry that is undergoing rapid  change could be extremely costly in the long run. b. Marketing would provide short term benefits but concrete improvements by other airlines may leave American behind. c. Another drawback to an aggressive marketing focus is would skew yield management regression models, most notably overbooking. Option 2: Upgrade Computerized Reservation System American Airlines’ â€Å"store front† is the computerized reservations system, SABRE (semi-automated business research environment). All sale and cancellation transactions, whether from American Airlines reservations agents or travel agents, pass through SABRE, updating reservations inventory for all affected flights. Because the yield management decision-making process is so large and complex at American Airlines, effective control of the inventory of seats can be accomplished only with more advanced automated models. Pros: a. Increase the productivity of yield-management specialists and the reduction in work load can allow them to spend more time reviewing only critical flights thus making better revenue decisions. b. Instead of being a price follower, the system could guide the company make better pricing strategies. c. Keep American Airlines leader position in the industry. Cons: a. It takes time and capital investment of new system. b. There is a learning curve for new system and takes time to get used to new system. Part 5: Recommendations Critical to an airline’s operation is the effective use of its reservations inventory. American Airlines currently has the most advanced computerized reservations system – SABRE. To increase the responsiveness and effectiveness of yield-management strategies and to coordinate reservations inventory decision with SABRE, it is recommended that option 2 is applied. Because the yield-management decision-making process is so large and complex at American Airlines, effective control of the inventory of seats can be accomplished only with more advanced automated models. The new model is aiming at handling overbooking control, discount allocation and traffic management. Part 6: Implementation Plan Step 1: Acquire buy-in from stake holders and management. Step 2: Set up target and create budget. Step 3: Establish a team to do the development of new system. Part 7: Monitor and Control Yield management performance is difficult to measure because of the dynamic nature of the marketplace. Decision Technologies developed a reliable and credible method of measuring performance that we believe is unique in the airline industry. In order to gauge the success of implementing this process certain KPIs need to be established to compare against previous system: Load factor Revenue yield per passenger mile Operating expense per available passenger seat mile

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

The History of License Plates in the U.S.

License plates, also known as vehicle registration plates, are required for every car in the United States these days, but when automobiles first started to appear on the road, there was no such thing! So who created license plates? What did the first one look like? Why and when were they first introduced? For these answers, look no further than the turn of the 20th century in the Northeastern United States.   The Very First License Plate Although New York was the first state to require automobiles have license plates in 1901, these plates were made by individual owners (with the owners initials) rather than being issued by state agencies as they are in modern times. The very first license plates were typically handcrafted on leather or metal (iron) and were meant to denote ownership via the initials.   It wasnt until two years later, in 1903, that the first state-issued license plates were distributed in Massachusetts. The very first plate, featuring just the number 1, was issued to Frederick Tudor, who was working with the highway commission (and the son of the Ice King Frederic Tudor). One of his relatives still holds an active registration on the 1 plate. What Did the First License Plates Look Like? These early Massachusetts license plates were made of iron and covered in porcelain enamel. The background was colored a cobalt blue and the number was in white. Along the top of the plate, also in white, were the words: MASS. AUTOMOBILE REGISTER. The size of the plate was not constant; it grew wider as the plate number reached into the tens, hundreds, and thousands. Massachusetts was the first to issue license plates, but other states soon followed. As automobiles began to crowd the roads, it was necessary for all states to find ways to start regulating cars, drivers, and traffic. By 1918, all states in the United States had begun issuing their own vehicle registration plates.   Who Issues License Plates Now? In the U.S., vehicle registration plates are issued solely by the states Departments of Motor Vehicles. The only time a federal government agency issues these plates are for their federal vehicle fleet or for cars owned by foreign diplomats. Notably, some Native American tribes also issue their own registrations to members, but many states now offer a special registration for Native Americans.   Annually Updating License Plate Registrations Although the first license plates were meant to be semi-permanent, by the 1920s, states had begun mandating renewal for personal vehicle registration. At this time, individual states began experimenting with different methods for creating the plates. The front would typically contain registration numbers in large, centered digits while smaller lettering on one side dictated the abbreviated state name and a two- or four-digit year the registration was valid during. By 1920, citizens were required to obtain new plates from the state each year. Oftentimes these would vary in color year to year to make it easier for police to identify expired registrations.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Learning Theory Free Essay Example, 2250 words

Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the principle that, by reflecting on experiences, a person can construct his own knowledge of the world in which he lives. Each person generates his own "rules" and "mental models, " which he will use to comprehend his experiences. Learning then becomes a process of adjusting mental models to accommodate new experiences (Constructivism 2001). Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based on current and past knowledge. In other words, "learning involves constructing one's own knowledge from one's own experiences". Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical real-world context (Learning Theory 2005). Constructivism itself has many variations, such as Generative Learning, Cognitive Apprenticeship, Problem-based learning, Discovery Lear ning, situated learning, and knowledge building. Regardless of the variety, constructivism promotes a student's free exploration within a given framework or structure. The methods of constructivism emphasize a person s ability to solve real-life, practical problems. In school, Students typically work in cooperative groups rather than individually; they tend to focus on projects that require solutions to problems rather than on instructional sequences that require learning of certain content skills (Conway 1997). We will write a custom essay sample on Learning Theory or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The job of the teacher in constructivist models is to arrange for required resources and act as a guide to students while they set their own goals and 'teach themselves'(Roblyer, Edwards, and Havriluk, 1997, p. 70). However, many educational psychologists found the behavioral approach unsatisfying. In the areas of problem-solving and learning strategies, they became more concerned with what was unobservable - what was going on inside the brain (Conway 1997).

Monday, December 23, 2019

Juvenile Crime and Violence in Schools Essay - 640 Words

All Americans remember too well the morning of April 12, 1999, when two enraged students opened fire at Columbine High School. This act of violence resulted in not only their own deaths but the deaths of many other innocent students and one teacher. However, this was not the first instance of violence in schools. There have been many other occasions of violent behavior among school age children, some as young as eleven years old, the past few years. We should carefully consider some possible causes of these tragedies, so we can seek a way to end them. Promotion of violence, neglect of troubled children, and lack of parental involvement in their childrens lives are all factors that could lead to violence in schools. First, we must look†¦show more content†¦Also, video games have gotten so violent that some have been rated MA for mature audiences only. In addition to these, the media promote role models for children who have histories of violent behavior. Professional athletes, movie stars, and rock stars, whom children look up to, are in the news daily for illegal, violent behavior. So the constant barrage of the media promoting violence has definitely played a part in making our society more callous to human life, and thus more susceptible to violent acts. Another factor influencing violence in schools is the neglect of troubled children. There are so many children crying out for help, and no one notices. Patterns of anger, raging tempers, and aggressive behavior in children should be caught at an early age and dealt with before they become serious problems. Children that exhibit signs of emotional disturbance should be sent to counseling and taught how to control their anger and behavior. Also, threats made by children should be taken seriously. If people had not ignored the signs given by those two boys at Columbine, that tragedy could have been averted. So we should not neglect troubled children if we hope to quell violence in schools. Finally, the decrease in parental involvement in their childrens lives has led to violence in schools. In our society, too many parents doShow MoreRelatedCriminological Theories Of Juvenile Violence845 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout time, society has seen its fair share of crime from miniscule crimes to the most serious types of offenses like murder and rape. Violence can come from all shape and sizes from women, men, children, mentally ill, etc. An increasing problem in recent decades include juvenile violence. Juveniles can commit violence for an infinite amount of reasons like parental abuse, being bullied in school or peers, mental illness, and other outside factors. Juvenile are in a period in their lives where countlessRead MoreYouth And School Violence : The Center For Disease Control858 Words   |  4 Pages Youth and School Violence The Center for Disease Control (CDC) describes youth violence as â€Å"harmful behaviors that can start early and continue into young adulthood† (Center for Disease Control, 2016, para. 1). It includes bullying, robbery, assaults, or even acts that include the victim, the offender, and the witness. School violence is a sub-section of youth violence that exists on the school grounds during a school sponsored event or on the way to or from school. It can also involve an adultRead MoreJuvenile Crime and the Influence of Media Violence1463 Words   |  6 PagesJuvenile Crime and the Influence of Media Violence With several arguments for both sides can we truly determine if there is only one main role in juvenile crime? There are many statistics that show there is a higher aggression level formed in people who watched a great deal of violent television or played violent video games as a child. People must begin to consider that there are several contributors to youth crime and violence. Youth crime is often fueled by media violence and can depend on howRead More Juvenile Crime Essay528 Words   |  3 Pageswith is juvenile crime. The reason experts feel juvenile’s commit crimes is because of risk factors when they were younger but experts still have not found the main reason why juvenile’s commit crimes. Some risk factors associated with juvenile crime are poverty, repeated exposure to violence, drugs, easy access to firearms, unstable family life and family violence, delinquent peer groups, and media violence. Especially the demise of family life, the effect of the media on the juveniles today, andRead More No Prison Time for Juvenile Crime and Violence Essay882 Words   |  4 Pages No Prison Time for Juvenile Crime nbsp; Students are shooting up schools across the country. Kids as young as twelve and thirteen are being convicted of murdering their peers. Right here in Hanover, two teens have been charged with the murders of Dartmouth professors. Although juvenile crime across the country may not be on the rise, high publicity, headline-grabbing juvenile-perpetrated homicides certainly are. nbsp; Prosecutors, attempting to satiate public demand for justice, haveRead MoreProblems and Solutions to Violence in Schools Essay1239 Words   |  5 PagesViolence is a very important issue that is coming to the front in todays school systems. School violence is a `complex social policy problem and is considered very complicated and hard to define. My paper is on school violence and the methods in which the government and schools can provide support and/or programs to help stem the recent rash of incidents. These steps include: use of `less violent materials, peer mediation interventions, police presence and action, individualizing of the troublemaker(s)Read MoreJuvenile Crimes1247 Words   |  5 PagesJuvenile crime is a growing problem that endangers virtually every American. Juvenile delinquency is enormously damaging to the health and well-being of the nations families and communities. A juvenile crime can consist of DUI, robbery, rape, minor in possession, weapon in possession a nything an adult can be charged with. Individuals under the age of eighteen who commit these crimes can be charged as a juvenile delinquent. Statistics show that most juveniles that commit crimes are in a gang; weatherRead MoreJuvenile Delinquent Essay1102 Words   |  5 PagesJuvenile delinquents are minors usually between the ages of 10 and 18. They are those minors that have committed some type of act that violates the law. Juveniles are not given the same sentences as adults when it comes to the punishment part. The argument for juvenile delinquents is, if they are born evil or is it part of the environment and or society. Are juveniles who commit a crime really naturally evil as many suggest, or are they their own products of the environment/society they live in?Read MoreCauses and Solution of Juvenile Delinquency in America Essay1726 Words   |  7 Pagesmore than 3300 young adults under the age of 18† (Khan).Juvenile delinquency can be caused by the influence gangs,b ullying, and bad parenting. This topic caught my attention because there a lot of kids getting arrested each year for crimes committed and kids getting involved in gangs, also kids getting access to weapons,drugs, or getting bully by other people. However juvenile delinquency can be prevented by offering bullying prevention, violence prevention curriculums and mentoring programs. â€Å"If gangsRead MorePoverty and a Lack of Education are Fueling Juvenile Crime A 6 page essay arguing that juvenile crime is directly related to poverty and poor education.1698 Words   |  7 PagesPoverty and a Lack of Education are Fueling Juvenile Crime In the early 1960s, the epidemic of juvenile crime began to take shape. The problem of juvenile crime is becoming an increasingly pressing matter in America. Anyone who watches the news on television or reads the newspapers is well aware of the urgency and intensity of Americas juvenile crime problem. Effectively establishing the causes of juvenile crime may help to deter it in the future. A proper solution cannot be executed until the

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Marginal Costs and Benefits Free Essays

Marginal analysis is a technique used in microeconomics by which very small changes in specific variables are studied in terms of the effect on related variables and the system as a whole. Marginal costs and benefits are a vital part of economics because they help to provide the relevant measurement of costs and benefits at a specific level of production and consumption (McCain, 2008). This is the reason why I’ve chosen this topic for my paper. We will write a custom essay sample on Marginal Costs and Benefits or any similar topic only for you Order Now We use economics in our daily lives without knowing it. It would be nice to have an unlimited source of income, where one doesn’t have to worry on how they spend. Of course to most cases, we don’t have that luxury so we must live on a budget. Analyzing the marginal costs will benefit us in the long run because when we live on a budget, we spend most of our lives trying to find the most out of our spending. Let’s say that one person who lives on a tight budget, but they would like to have a nice vacation in one point of their lives. They would work toward that point and find out how much they would need for the costs of the trip. Every dollar now becomes crucial to their spending because we must know how much we can afford and have to be wise about it. We cannot go out there and start spending like mad because in the end we’ll ask ourselves, â€Å"Now how are we going to pay this off? † So calculating within the budget is necessary, but keeping in mind that we should be able to actually enjoy the vacation without being tedious of every single cent that is coming out of our pocket. Let’s say that we have a budget of $2000 total to go on this trip. Looking at the prices of the airfare, transportation, food, lodging etc. , we have to see much this would all cost us so therefore we can know how much money is left to us to spend on certain material items we may come across to when we are on vacation. There’s always something that one could find that raises the question, â€Å"I should buy this because I wouldn’t be able to find it where I am currently living. † When we calculate all the costs, we will see how much it would benefit us in the long run. The benefits of this situation is that if we find deals and discount for the necessary factors of our trip, we have more spending money to enjoy our vacation, buying things without that guilt factor because we know it’s within our budget. How to cite Marginal Costs and Benefits, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

The Truth About Thanksgiving Essay Example For Students

The Truth About Thanksgiving Essay The truth behind the tradition is surprising. Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims seem to go together, but the truth is, the Pilgrims never held an autumnal Thanksgiving feast. However the Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621, after their first harvest, and it is this feast, which people often refer to as The First Thanksgiving. This feast was never repeated, though, so it cant be called the beginning of a tradition, nor was it termed by the colonists or Pilgrims a Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and fasting, and would have been held any time that they felt an extra day of thanks was called for. Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become a model that we think of for our own Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims were not the first people to have a celebration of this kind. Many other civilizations held festivals to celebrate the harvest. The ancient Greeks and Romans prayed to the gods and goddesses of the harvest, and also originated the idea of the cornucopiathe horn of plenty. The Jews celebrate the holiday Sukkot, which honors the awards of the harvest, and the Chinese enjoy the celebration of the Harvest Moon. Even native New Yorkers commemorate the harvest long before Thanksgiving arrives. Pumpkins, apples and corn are abundant in the open-air markets of the city beginning in late September. The autumn of 1621 yielded a plentiful harvest and the Pilgrims, gathered together with the Massasoit Indians to reap the awards of hard work. Celebrating Thanksgiving is like celebrating an even that includes the dead of over 11,000 Wampanoag Indians died due to illnesses that they contracted from white settlers. The truth of the matter is, when the Pilgrims arrived, they found an abandoned Wampanoag village and moved right in. In 1618, a massive epidemic of an unknown disease left by English explorers swept across Wampanoag country and decimated many of the villages. This epidemic caused the death of ten to thirty percent of the total population and all but a few of the 2,000 people of the village of Patuxet. When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, they landed at Patuxet with no idea of what had occurred. At this point, there were only about 2,000 members left in the Wampanoag tribe, down from 12,000 in 1600. Despite the incredible losses to his people, Wampanoag leader Massasoit and 90 of his men sat down for a harvest celebration offered by the white men. For three days the Wampanoag and Pilgrims feasted on deer, wild turkey, fish, beans, squash, corn and other foods native to North America. Although the celebration was good-natured, this event truly signifies the beginning of a drastic decline of native culture and Thanksgiving would be more fittingly observed as a day of mourning rather than a celebration. In the years that followed, skirmishes occurred and more Native Americans were killed. In 1637, English soldiers massacred 700 Pequot men, women and children as an example of the English way of war, yet we still celebrate Thanksgiving as a joyful event. So, as we sit down for our Thanksgiving dinner, let us consider the words of Frank James in his 1970 speech: Today is a time of celebrating for you. .. but it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my people. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags, welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end.American History