Romanticism in El Matadero

Esteban Echeverria, who spent five years in Paris before returning to Buenos Aires in 1830 when he became a political agitator against the tyrant Juan Manuel de Rosas, is credited with bringing romanticism to Spanish America. As a poet, he is remember for his narrative ballad La cautiva, the story of a white girl’s escape from enslavemente by nomadic Indians. Echeverria inaugurated the theme of the pampas as an archetypal landscape – a place of barbarism; but also the crucible of national identity for Argentina. He also wrote El matadero (‘The Slaughterhouse’, 1838), a short satirical prose piece in which a slaughterhouse becomes a powerful symbol of Rosas’s oppression of liberals in Buenos Aires. In 1839, Echeverria helped to found the Asociacion de Mayo, a group of young anti-Rosas activists, many of whom were to become important writers and future liberal leaders of Argentina. The gauchesque genre had its origins during the wars of independence in the River Plate area. It was influenced by the Spanish tradition of the cuadro de costumbres. Gaucho costumbrismo appealed to the romantics because it seemed to reflect a truly American way of life. By transforming the gaucho into an ambivalent national symbol, Echeverria crystallized the problem of national identity which all the Latin American republics would experience. Echeverria's renown as a writer rests largely on his powerful short story El matadero (â€Å"The Slaughterhouse,† written in 1839 but not published until 1871), a landmark in the history of Latin American literature. It is mostly significant because it displays the perceived clash between â€Å"civilization and barbarism†, that is, between the European and the â€Å"primitive and violent† American ways. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, another great Argentine writer and thinker, saw this clash as the core of Latin American culture. Read in this light, â€Å"The Slaughterhouse† is a political allegory. Its more specific intention was to accuse Rosas of protecting the kind of thugs who murder the cultivated young protagonist at the Buenos Aires slaughterhouse. Rosas and his henchmen stand for barbarism, the slain young man for civilization.

Necklace: Writing Process Essay

Choose one of the following topics and write an extended (500-word, multi-paragraph) essay that expands on the chosen topic. Please use all of the steps in the writing process (pre-writing, proof-reading, revising and editing, etc. ). IN THE CONCLUSION OF YOUR ESSAY, DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES IN LISTENING TO OR WATCHING FICTION AND DRAMA. Your grade on this lesson is one sixth (1/6) of your grade for this course. If your grade on this lesson is â€Å"D† or â€Å"F†, you must repeat it until you earn at least a â€Å"C†. A. What is life like in Ireland for â€Å"Eveline† and the boy in â€Å"Araby†? Think about their class/social position. Think about how the people around them treat them. Think about their frustrations and their dreams and possible futures. B. Discuss what happens to Mathilde in â€Å"The Diamond Necklace†. Why did it happen? How could it have been different? What would you have done in this situation? C. Explicate (explain) â€Å"Harlem† (a. k. a. â€Å"A Dream Deferred† by Langston Hughes. What is the main idea (theme) of the poem? Identify and discuss each of the 5 similes. D. The writer in you – Discuss your attitude toward writers and the writing and/or what you have learned about the writing process from this study guide. Do you like to write? If so, do you prefer poetry, stories, non-fiction? WhChoose one of the following topics and write an extended (500-word, multi-paragraph) essay that expands on the chosen topic. Please use all of the steps in the writing process (pre-writing, proof-reading, revising and editing, etc. ). IN THE CONCLUSION OF YOUR ESSAY, DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES IN LISTENING TO OR WATCHING FICTION AND DRAMA. Your grade on this lesson is one sixth (1/6) of your grade for this course. If your grade on this lesson is â€Å"D† or â€Å"F†, you must repeat it until you earn at least a â€Å"C†. A. What is life like in Ireland for â€Å"Eveline† and the boy in â€Å"Araby†? Think about their class/social position. Think about how the people around them treat them. Think about their frustrations and their dreams and possible futures. B. Discuss what happens to Mathilde in â€Å"The Diamond Necklace†. Why did it happen? How could it have been different? What would you have done in this situation? C. Explicate (explain) â€Å"Harlem† (a.k. a. â€Å"A Dream Deferred† by Langston Hughes. What is the main idea (theme) of the poem? Identify and discuss each of the 5 similes. D. The writer in you – Discuss your attitude toward writers and the writing and/or what you have learned about the writing process from this study guide. Do you like to write? If so, do you prefer poetry, stories, non-fiction? WhChoose one of the following topics and write an extended (500-word, multi-paragraph) essay that expands on the chosen topic. Please use all of the steps in the writing process (pre-writing, proof-reading, revising and editing, etc. ). IN THE CONCLUSION OF YOUR ESSAY, DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES IN LISTENING TO OR WATCHING FICTION AND DRAMA. Your grade on this lesson is one sixth (1/6) of your grade for this course. If your grade on this lesson is â€Å"D† or â€Å"F†, you must repeat it until you earn at least a â€Å"C†. A. What is life like in Ireland for â€Å"Eveline† and the boy in â€Å"Araby†? Think about their class/social position. Think about how the people around them treat them. Think about their frustrations and their dreams and possible futures. B. Discuss what happens to Mathilde in â€Å"The Diamond Necklace†. Why did it happen? How could it have been different? What would you have done in this situation? C. Explicate (explain) â€Å"Harlem† (a. k. a. â€Å"A Dream Deferred† by Langston Hughes. What is the main idea (theme) of the poem? Identify and discuss each of the 5 similes. D. The writer in you – Discuss your attitude toward writers and the writing and/or what you have learned about the writing process from this study guide. Do you like to write? If so, do you prefer poetry, stories, non-fiction? WhChoose one of the following topics and write an extended (500-word, multi-paragraph) essay that expands on the chosen topic. Please use all of the steps in the writing process (pre-writing, proof-reading, revising and editing, etc. ). IN THE CONCLUSION OF YOUR ESSAY, DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES IN LISTENING TO OR WATCHING FICTION AND DRAMA. Your grade on this lesson is one sixth (1/6) of your grade for this course. If your grade on this lesson is â€Å"D† or â€Å"F†, you must repeat it until you earn at least a â€Å"C†. A. What is life like in Ireland for â€Å"Eveline† and the boy in â€Å"Araby†? Think about their class/social position. Think about how the people around them treat them. Think about their frustrations and their dreams and possible futures. B. Discuss what happens to Mathilde in â€Å"The Diamond Necklace†. Why did it happen? How could it have been different? What would you have done in this situation? C. Explicate (explain) â€Å"Harlem† (a. k. a. â€Å"A Dream Deferred† by Langston Hughes. What is the main idea (theme) of the poem? Identify and discuss each of the 5 similes. D. The writer in you – Discuss your attitude toward writers and the writing and/or what you have learned about the writing process from this study guide. Do you like to write? If so, do you prefer poetry, stories, non-fiction?

Impetigo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Impetigo - Assignment Example (ii) Even if there is only one member in the family who is suffering from impetigo, the rest of the family members must adhere to the same hygiene. (iii) Do not try antibacterial ointments that are sold in pharmaceuticals shops because applying such ointments carelessly may spread the disease (Jeffrey et al, 2010). Question 3: There are no serious side effects associated with the use of Mupirocin topical. However, if one experiences any side effect, he or she should immediately stop using the medication and seek assistance from a doctor. The most side effects associated with this medication include peeling, skin irritation, dryness, blistering, and redness. Question 4: Various mechanisms through which mupirocin will interact with food as well as other substances in the patient’s body exist. Drug interaction always occurs when there is a decrease or an increase in the drug absorption in the body, drug distribution, drug alterations due to metabolism, and drug elimination by the body. The potential drug interactions will result from changes in body metabolism, absorption, or drug elimination (Barton et al, 2009). Question 5: There are generic versions of this medication (topical antibiotics), which are available. Such generic versions are usually sold as â€Å"triple antibiotic† cream or ointment. Most of the generic versions have less significant effect for treatment of impetigo. Patients who have histories of good results from brand name start experiencing challenges when a generic version is substituted. Therefore, if a patient is using an antibiotic drug that has no specified, no substitution, then such a patient is subjected to generic version drug, which have less significant to the disease compared to the original brand (Mclinn, 2008). Question 7: Both the age of the patient and extent of involvement will determine the

DQWEEK8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DQWEEK8 - Essay Example The software requirements process will give the developers the requirements that will be required of the system that will be developed. The developers will use the blueprint of the business requirements to come up with the system. It is an important process that will determine the outcome of the system. For any system to be accepted by the users, it will have to meet the requirements and the needs of these users (Tan & Ruighaver 2005). Another important software process is that of software development. This is so because the avoidance of software bugs will help to eradicate the errors that will be met when using the software. The software development process should be undertaken using the right software tools and the right technologies. Without proper tools, there will be many deficiencies in terms of functionalities. When developing the software, the right and modern trends and technologies should be used. Technology is dynamic as it keeps changing. The right and current technology should be used. This will ensure that the resultant software product will be as recent and up to date as much as possible (Tan & Ruighaver 2005). Software improvement is yet another important software process that is important in the software processes. This process is important as it enables the organization to have the latest capabilities from the software. It enables developers to integrate the latest technologies and patch holes that have been identified in the software. Even though the technologies that were used in the initial development of the software could be obsolete, this process of software improvement will enable the software to have the latest features and have had recent technologies integrated. It is, therefore, important to have this important process while developing the software (Tan & Ruighaver 2004). The key processes that are used in the course are six. The parts that re missing are the testing of the software. The ramification of the missing parts is that sof tware testing, if not done, will bring software which might be having deficiencies. This could bring errors in the business processes. Deploying a software product without testing will introduces bugs to the business process. If the bug affects financial procedures, then a lot of money will be lost in the business (Tan & Ruighaver 2005). Another important process that has been missed is that of software analysis and design. This is an important which could bring errors if it is not undertaken. The software product that could be developed could meet the technical requirements but not in the way the users wanted it to be used. It is important to follow the needs of the users. The users will require that the software product follows the design that they anticipated. They might dismiss the whole system just because some function has not been designed in the way they wanted it to be (Tan & Ruighaver 2005). Another process that has not been mentioned is that maintenance and repair. If the software product is not well maintained, then there will be a lot of problems that will be met by users. It will bring a lot of problems to the software users. To improve the process, there will be the need to ensure that the requirements of the users are followed to the latter (Tan & Ruighaver 2004). Question 2 Timing issues are an important component that should be considered when implementing a real-time system. Timing will affect many processes in the whole business process if timing is not effectively undertaken.

Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Marketing - Research Paper Example Our products taste just as good as regular bakery items, if not more, and one can hardly depict that one is consuming a low-fat or fat-free item. We keep the two ranges of products as well as bakery items, namely the low-fat and fat-free separate to cater for the interests of customers with different levels of commitment to the lean-body lifestyle. Our Mission Statement To provide our consumers devastated by obesity and its negative impacts on their life with healthy alternative options of both ingredients and ready-made bakery items to help them keep and look healthy without having to compromise upon the taste and quality of the food they eat. Our Vision Statement To be a pioneer in the spread of lean-body lifestyle culture to have a positive influence on the society and fulfill our corporate social responsibility by providing our customers with healthy alternatives to the high-fat food to eradicate obesity from the society, improve the health and safety of our customers and their q uality of life as a whole. Our Principles and Values We Consider Our Customers’ Needs Superior to Ours’ We have a very good reputation of excellent customer service. From time to time, our company has been adopting measures and implementing strategies to provide our customers with more comfort and convenience. Recently, we have started the home-delivery service within a radius of 5 miles from any branch that we have in any city, considering the fact that we normally open our shops approximately at a distance of 10 miles maximum from each other. Our products and services are just a call away from our customers. Achievement of the customers’ satisfaction is our prime goal, and we go to any length to achieve this. We Appreciate Diversity Considering the fact that we make part of and operate in a society which is multicultural, we appreciate diversity at all levels. This can be assessed from the fact that we have two basic lines of products, one of which is Halal an d the other one is General. Moreover, our workforce is diverse. We have employees from different cultures, nationalities, regions, and religions which not only helps us understand the individualistic and collective needs of a wider population of customers, but also provides us with a way to diversify in different ways. We Value Innovation Our research and development (R&D) department works in close collaboration with universities to come up with new tastes, techniques, and products. This helps us involve in a mutually beneficial relationship with the students wherein they find a setup and equipment to conduct the experiments, and we benefit from the results they produce to take our company to the next level. We had initially started our business with making just low-fat ingredients. Over the time, we opened two distinct lines of products i.e. low-fat and fat-free, and recruited expert chefs to use our ingredients to make bakery items for our customers that they can consume without w orrying about their looks, weight, and calorie-count in their diet. We Work With Integrity We have earned fame in the market for doing our business with utmost integrity, dignity, and pride. We appreciate change at all levels and make a continuous

Nursing Assignment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Assignment - Case Study Example From this study it is cleaer that one of the most obvious features that an individual might seek to overlook with respect to Marcus situation and the means by which he adapted to the illness and overcame it has to do with the fact that he was a young relatively fit non-smoker that exhibited a better than average level of physical conditioning and strength. Because of this, the time that he spent affected by the disease and the general care that his girlfriend provided to him, as well as the address and white, bland foods, he was once again ready to return to his normal activities. Without any one of these factors, it is unlikely that Marcus would have improved and/or that would not have required further medical attention.This discussion highlights that  the reason behind the outcome being far worse in a potential outbreak within the community nursing home has to do with the fact that the individuals that are within the nursing home are ultimately there for one of two reasons; perha ps even both of these. As such, these individuals are invariably in a nursing home due to the fact they are either unable to take care of themselves due to old age and/or they are physically incapable of maintaining their own health/body functions.  Within such a weakened situation, the immune system and the overall strength of the body would be compromised; lending to a situation in which the mortality rate of this outbreak would likely be extraordinarily high.

Auditing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Auditing - Research Paper Example This paper is a discussion of what the staff a company should expect auditors to do. The staff of a company should expect the auditors to engage in rendering an opinion of the company’s financial statement being presented fairly. The opinion is arrived at after gathering of appropriate and sufficient evidence and observation tests in accordance with GAAS. Sarbanes-Oxley Act section 302 states that the signing officers of the financial reports must review it first. According to the act also the signing officers are responsible for internal controls and must have evaluated them within the previous ninety days. This is in accordance to the financial reporting framework and all material aspects (Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2002). The staff should expect the audit to provide information to investors and lenders that will boost the degree of confidence in the financial statements. Auditors have the responsibility of understanding and evaluating the internal control system. The staff in an organization should adopt sound accounting policies for establishing and maintaining internal control (Cangemi & Singleton, 2003). This will help to process and report transactions that are consistence with management assertions embodied in financial statements. As per the Sarbanes-Oxley Act section 401, the staffs are expected to publish accurate financial statements and present them in manner that is correct. The auditors are thus able to determine the practices established by the company are implemented as planned (Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2002). Auditors are also responsible of observing the inventory count and performing analytical procedures on expected variances in accounting balances. Some of the procedures that auditors use are interviewing the leadership of an organization. This entails the senior management and the board of directors. The purpose of the interview is to ensure the top level management has an understanding

Drugs and Crime - Neurotransmitters Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Drugs and Crime - Neurotransmitters - Assignment Example The brain as an entry of the CNS is the centre of control in the body that has three main components; brainstem, forebrain and the hindbrain. The forebrain’s responsibility is stretched several functions such as thinking, understanding, perceiving, reception and sensory information processing among others. Some of the structures forming it include thalamus, hypothalamus, cerebrum and the cerebral cortex (Nieuwenhuys, 2008). The hind and midbrain from the brainstem. Visual and auditory responses are carried out in the midbrain. About the hindbrain, it stretches from the spinal cord. It holds structures that build it such as the cerebellum and the pons. This region is vital for the maintenance of equilibrium and balance, coordination and conducting the sensory information. The medulla oblongata is also in the hindbrain, responsible for automated functions such as heart rate, digestion and breathing. The spinal cord is also a structure in the central nervous system; it takes a cylindrical form of bundled nerve fibres that are connected to the brain, running in the protective column that extends from the neck. Its nerves relay external stimuli to and from the brain. Body cells contain neurons and are the basic units of the CNS, they hold nerve processes which consist of dendrites and axons to transmit and conduct signals. Axons ferry signals outside the cell body, while dendrites do the reverse (Nieuwenhuys, 2008). Neurons are further classified as sensory or motor, inter-neurons. The motor neurons transport information from the CNS to glands, muscles and organs while the sensory neurons carry information to the CNS from external or internal stimuli. Signals between the sensory and motor are relayed by the inter-neurons The synapse is the gap between the axon and dendrites that holds the synapse fluid where axon releases the neurotransmitters.  Neurotransmitters are mostly associated with dopamine and schizophrenia.     

Should economic efficiency be the primary consideration and priority Essay

Should economic efficiency be the primary consideration and priority for the enforcement of competition law - Essay Example This research considers both sides of the debate and emphasises EU competition law and policies. It is concluded that there is no real dominant theme as between economic and non-economic policies and purposes in the enforcement of competition law. This is as it should be, since, the social, political and economic aspects of competition law and policies are equally important to the efficient operation of the market. It is argued that economic efficiency cannot be obtained unless, the political and social objectives of competition laws are achieved. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 The Purpose of Competition Law 5 Non-Economic Purposes and Policies of Competition Law 7 Economic Purposes and Policies of Competition Law 10 Non-Economic Factors as the Main Consideration in the Enforcement of Competition Law 11 Economic Efficiency as the Main Consideration in the Enforcement of Competition Law 15 Conclusion 17 Bibliography 19 Introduction Governments have introduced national com petition laws reflecting a growing trend toward a general consensus that competition laws are primarily aimed at promoting economic efficiency in the market (Lloyd, 1998, p. 1129). Non-economic policies are also reflected in competition laws which are divided between social and political concerns (Baker, 2013, p. 2176). ... 93). Economists tend to favour the economic efficiency of competition law while legal scholars are not comfortable with this view (Kerber, 2009, p. 93). Lianos (2013) presents the two sides of the debate in terms of the economic welfare perspective versus the normative perspective (p. 7). The economic welfare perspective views economic efficiency as the main objective of competition laws. In this regard, economic efficiency refers to enabling consumption choices and the fairer distribution of production permitting freer market entry (Lianos, 2013, 7). The normative perspective refers to the promotion of innovation and democracy in the market for the social and political efficiency of the market (Lianos, 2013, p. 13). This paper analyses both sides of the debate and determines that while economic efficiency appears to be the main consideration and priority for the enforcement of competition law, non-economic factors should have equal consideration. In making this argument, this paper is divided into three parts. The first part of this paper presents the economic and non-economic policies of competition law. The second part of this paper analyses the non-economic arguments and the final part of this paper analyses the economic arguments. The Purpose of Competition Law The purpose of EU competition law can be gleaned from Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Consolidation Edition) 2012 (hereinafter TEFU). Article 101 in general bans any agreement or collusion calculated to distort trade and competition in the market (TEFU, Article 101). A list of the applicable activities include, price fixing, production restrictions or controls, sharing markets or

Utilitarianism Today Essay Example for Free

Utilitarianism Today Essay Jurisprudence as we know it is an offshoot of philosophy and more precisely the philosophy that deals with questions of law. When one speaks of jurisprudence there are many theories, calculated analysis and profound philosophies which try, in each its own way, to guide the law as well as us in the end. Utilitarianism is one of them. The original concept of utilitarianism is simple which is, ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’, as utilitarianism’s best-known advocate, Jeremy Bentham, puts it. Stopping there however would not be doing justice to his theory. Bentham goes on to explain that, for every question whereby we judge whether an act is good or bad, the criterion to answer would be by its consequence. This consequence is taken in regard to the effect that particular act would have on human pleasure and pain, the two ‘sovereign masters that govern mankind’. Bentham was a man of numbers and to him, good government needs numbers. The importance of numbers to him is indisputable and if anything his propositions were almost always quantitative in nature. Going back to the pleasure and pains idea, Bentham proposed an elaborate and rather thorough guide to analyzing them. For this, he devised a list of pleasures including pleasures of wealth, power, skill and memories among others as well as a list of pains such as pains of regret, disappointment, enmity and awkwardness to name a few. All in all, Bentham lists a total of fourteen pleasures and twelve pains. The value or degree by which a pleasure or a pain is to be measured posed a problem and so Bentham also devised a calculus in which he takes into account seven factors that is, intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity and extent. John Stuart Mill, another prominent utilitarian, rejected Bentham’s view that all pleasures were to count the same. He argued that differing people would have been brought up in varying manners and as such the appreciation of certain pleasures would greatly differ from one person to another. Also, Bentham’s own definition at the time was to apply the test of utility to private acts as well as public measures but was limited to ‘acts’. It would only be years later that other philosophers would draw a distinction between what we now call ‘act-utilitarianism’ and ‘rule-utilitarianism’. Put simply, act-utilitarianism concerns itself with acts that consequently have the highest net happiness whereas rule-utilitarianism applies where an act is permitted by a general rule whereby following that rule would have the best outcome. John Austin, the well known jurisprudence philosopher, strongly believed that the test of utility should apply to rules. Today, utilitarianism can be used in almost every aspect of our daily lives, whether it be our daily decision making, public policy by governing bodies or simple moral questions we would usually turn to religion for. As can be seen, the test of utility does not discriminate in where it’s applied, merely in how it is used that is, whether to apply it upon the rule or the act. It is no surprise then that the subsequent result of two different applications will lead to distinctively different conclusions. To exemplify how the utility test works and how different conclusions can be made one shall look at the famous Iran-Contra affair and in particular Oliver North’s assessment of the facts at hand and how he reaches his conclusion. In the 1980s, when asked why he had lied to congress regarding his role in the aforementioned affair, North said, â€Å"lying does not come easily to me. But we all had to weigh in the balance the difference between lies and lives†. Here, the ‘good’ decision according to North would have been to lie about certain facts to save others from possible harm. In his mind this was probably the act that would have maximised pleasure and minimised pain by the greatest extent and therefore judged it to be the best course of action. Applying the test on a rule in this case might have led to a different outcome. If, for example, ‘always tell the truth’ was the general rule by which the test concludes to be the best consequence, it may prove to lead North to a different decision in this case. This, however, depends on which rule one wishes to follow. Had the rule been ‘always protect lives’ then North may as well answer in the same manner. The difficulty here lies in which test (act or rule) to use and how to apply it. The news piece that one has chosen, entitled ‘Government to measure people’s happiness’, talks about the British Government’s attempt at measuring the happiness of UK citizens. The reason behind the move, the article reads, is to track the nation’s progress apart from the usual yardstick that is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The article also mentions Jo Swinson, a Liberal Democrat MP and probable utilitarian, as saying â€Å"what gets measured gets done. While its not governments job to make people happy, regular measures of wellbeing will at least make sure it is taken into account†. Statically monitoring the people’s happiness by way of a national survey can be likened to Bentham’s plea for the foundation of a statistical-gathering society to compile facts, as factual information about actual state of affairs will support rational and informed decision making. It is no surprise Bentham wished to propose this as he was an advocate of official criminal statistics which he maintained would be ‘a measure of excellent use in furnishing data for the legislator to go to work upon. ’ Using numbers to evaluate the health of a nation’s citizens is not uncommon or unheard of as, stated beforehand, GDP used to be yardstick. However, in the current state of affairs Britain finds itself in, perhaps it is time to turn to a different set of numbers. Many, if not most, countries use their national statistics on GDP as the focal point for policy decisions and measurement of welfare. Despite this, Treasury minister Angela Eagle who has long been accustomed to analysing GDP and working in the pursuit of economic stability using such data, conceded herself that, although not completely ditching the traditional form, a happiness index would be ‘useful for policy making’. When comparing the use of the wellbeing index as opposed to the GDP, one looks at it from a financial standpoint and in particular, given regard to wealth, opportunity and welfare on questions of distribution. How should it be distributed? According to need, ensuring equality or maybe in accordance with merit? A long standing argument is that utilitarianism does not even consider these factors and on top of that shows no concern whatsoever with how it should be distributed. The utilitarian in this context would look only at achieving the goal of maximising welfare with how much there is in total. For example, given two societies, A and B, with A having a highly imbalanced distribution of welfare but an overall higher total of welfare than B which happens to have exact equal distribution, the utilitarian would point to A to be regarded as the more morally preferable society. Nigel Simmonds, a noted reader in jurisprudence, states that it would be a mistake to conclude that since the distribution does not concern the utilitarian, it does not mean that the question of how wealth, resources and opportunities is ignored. The argument for that would be that a more equal allocation of wealth, opportunity and resources is desirable because it would eventually lead to maximisation of welfare and happiness. Put simply, if one gives a pound to a millionaire it would make for a negligible contribution to his overall welfare. Give that same pound to a poor man for him to use, for instance to purchase a meal he would otherwise not be able to pay for, it would be a significant contribution to his welfare. Insofar as the distribution of wealth, opportunity and resources is concerned, the aim in this instance is for the utilitarian to seek the maximisation of welfare by way of equality. Using the wellbeing index in a way that could enable the government to pinpoint where certain communities are happy and unhappy can help legislators and policy-makers take necessary steps to promote the nation’s state of welfare. Funds could be better allocated towards communities that are in more need of an increase in welfare and happiness by providing facilities, education, healthcare and the like in the right areas While on the topic of economic welfare with regard to utilitarianism, one wishes to mention the economic analysis of law, a principle that has its roots in Bentham’s theory. Since the felicific calculus of the utility test is a difficult one to apply, as one cannot be certain of people’s reaction to alternative measures, the difference here lies in making simple assumptions on human behaviour. The assumption to be adopted here is that mankind will rationally maximise his satisfactions or pleasure. Accordingly, this entire theory uses this premise to achieve, by its definition, what one wishes and what one is willing to pay for that. Payment here is not taken in the strictest sense of monetary terms but can include time and effort. The theory takes on a dynamic principle that this payment is the medium by which a hypothetical market of happiness can be run. Between two individuals, it is easy to demonstrate how this would work. If Adam wishes to run his laundry business all day long without closing shop, and Gary wishes for silence in the night, each would offer a monetary value for either privilege. If Adam’s payment is greater than Gary’s satisfactions are maximised by allowing him to run his overnight business. Economic analysis calls this the ‘efficient’ solution and the most obvious difference with utility is where greatest happiness of the greatest number is replaced by overall efficiency. This movement, primarily attempted in the United States, was first applied to specific areas in law for example anti-trust legislation and nuisance laws. Richard Posner, in his book, Economic Analysis of Law, explains that he believes to have found a more systematic application of this approach which he claims can explain why many of the legal rules and institutions that exist are as they are and also inherent implications for how the law should be improved. This however, leads one to believe that economic analysis of the law concerns itself primarily with maximising economic criteria, begging the question, is this the highest ideal one would want for society? It takes a U-turn on the very basis by which the government had wished to evaluate happiness instead of relying on GDP as a measure of public wellbeing. Even the UKs National Statistician, Jil Matheson, who will oversee the happiness measurement, said: there is growing international recognition that to measure national well-being and progress there is a need to develop a more comprehensive view, rather than focusing solely on gross domestic product. † If the Judiciary were to use this wellbeing index in reference to adjudication, would that infringe on the established practice of judicial independence? One would point out that public opinion is a matter for which the courts do take into consideration when a case of great public interest is in question. The very notion that judges would look into these statistical analysis of numbered data seems highly implausible. The judiciary as we know it preserves the doctrine of separation of powers. This holds that the laws they would apply and uphold cannot be changed whatsoever without the proper due process of parliamentary approval. With regard to those highly publicised cases, a judge today cannot merely change the course of the law due to social pressure even if would produce the greatest net happiness. However, if a judge were to be utilitarian in nature, as one is sure there is at least a single judge of that calibre, he or she might apply a rule that passes the utility test which would state â€Å"judge according to the greatest net happiness† and as such that rule could undermine all other factors including upholding parliamentary legislation. If the same judge were to follow a rule stating â€Å"always follow the letter of the law† the same conclusion as if the other did not exist would apply as always following the law would pass the test as generally being the best solution to achieving the greatest happiness. One would now like to delve into the topic of rights with regard to utilitarianism in the light of the government’s wellbeing index plans. Human rights has been a major concern since the atrocities of the first and second World Wars. Most nations have adopted or are a signatory or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In order to understand utilitarianism’s concept of rights, it is best to leave alone the notion of ‘moral rights’ as it is fundamentally opposed within the theory. Given the example of two conflicting interests in rights, whatever means one would employ would still lead to the same conclusion where one gains and the other loses. As mentioned before, utilitarianism would guide us to act in a way that would produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number and in doing so would find the best possible balance to ensure the net outcome is highest. One refers back to the infamous London riots of mid-2011 where police had a difficult time controlling the crowds. In this instance, the police would have had in mind the rights of the law-breakers and in turn led to minimal crowd control which unfortunately spilled over and caused massive collateral damage. Had the test of utility been applied, officers of the force may have come to a conclusion that infringing a few citizens’ rights will save shops and business from the damage that they eventually incurred. Monmouth MP Mr Davies said that we have to decide where our priorities lie. Is it with the police in trying to maintain law and order? Or does it lie with the human rights of those who break the law? †. One could say the test of utility applied here might have concluded that the former would be the answer to maximising overall happiness of society that day taking into account the welfare of the shop owners and other victims of this tragedy. Or perhaps had the wellbeing index been formulated earlier and the government had helped to alleviate the pains of those who turned to rioting, none of it would have happened. That however, is a purely hypothetical analysis. With every applied theory comes the good and the bad, the success or failure to accommodate all aspects of governance and the uncertain impact it can have on society as a whole. Utilitarianism brings about a change in mindset and approach to dealing with today’s issues but it does come with the risk of failing to protect the most vulnerable members of society. A report has sparked some debate across the Atlantic over the issue of special education funding in Kansas, USA, where budget cuts amounting to over twenty million US dollars are being contemplated. This is no isolated incident however, as a Christian activist group points out that even with the appropriate budget, schools are ever increasing the channelling of those funds to other departments instead of the purpose it was allocated for. In this incident, Broward County in Florida used eighteen million dollars of its special education budget to save around seven hundred jobs which had no relation to special education. It is without a doubt a utilitarian process of maximising overall happiness but it did come with a cost. The losers in this case were the children in need of special education in the first place. It is a difficult time for the economy and budget cuts are to be expected but this highlights the problem inherent within utilitarianism. If you are one of the losers to this policy, then that is the way the cookie crumbles. Unfortunately it was a segment of society that already is vulnerable. Additionally, utilitarianism can lead to injustice and breach of established human rights, that is the right against unlawful detention. Imagine a nation duped by its own government, propagandised to fear and hate and in turn direct those feelings towards a certain legislation that purportedly helps fight terrorism but instead merely gives powers to the state to detain and interrogate terror suspects without due consideration towards his or her human rights. One might think of the US and its anti terror campaign and acknowledge the fact that Guantanamo Bay is not just a movie. A government, using any means necessary, has the potential to manipulate its people into believing that in order to be secure and protected must pass into law some draconian legislation. If people do believe so, a nationwide survey on happiness might conclude that citizens will only be happy if their need to feel said security is fulfilled and the test can succeed if the circumstances are right. If one were to disbelieve such a notion, this idea has indeed been materialised in North Korea where an entire nation is fed news and reports directly aimed to instil a variety of ideas in its people. Of course, it is largely hypothetical but at the same time utilitarianism is not a known and practiced doctrine worldwide and this uncertainty is precautionary in nature. Is utilitarianism the way to go? Has the British government taken the right steps and the right precautions in ensuring a wellbeing index will not be put to use in a negative way? Some critics of the move have instead shown a distinct unhappiness over the issue. Some are calling for the test to be used on itself as to whether it will produce the greatest happiness if used at all. If possible, it would be a fresh undertaking for law-makers to change their mindset on ethical or moral grounds. Alan Coddington, author, spoke of replacing traditional questions of â€Å"should it be done? † and â€Å"is that right? † with â€Å"what would be the totalled up sum of happiness if this is done? †. A wellbeing index does indeed sound like a good idea and one that might help ease the financial instability that Britain currently faces. It could lead to never before known facts and statistics that may trigger the government into acting in the interest of the people to ensure the greatest happiness from the greatest number, in this regard, of Britons. [ 1 ]. Jeremy Bentham, A Fragment on Government, (1776) [ 2 ]. JG Riddal, Jurisprudence, (2nd edn Oxford Press 2006) 154 [ 3 ]. M Freeman, R Harrison, Law and Philosophy Current Legal Issues, (vol 10 2007) 304 [ 4 ]. JW Harris, Legal Philosophies, (Butterworths 1980) 36 [ 5 ]. Harris, (n4) 39 [ 6 ]. Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S. J. , and Michael J. Meyer, ‘Calculating Consequence: The Utilitarian Approach to Ethics’ (1989) Issues in Ethics Vol 2 accessed 4th Jan 2012 [ 7 ]. BBC News, Government planning to measure peoples happiness (2010) accessed 26th Dec 2011 [ 8 ]. M Freeman, R Harrison, Law and Philosophy Current Legal Issues, (Oxford Press ,vol 10, 2007) 304 [ 9 ]. J Bentham, The Works of Jeremy Bentham (Simpkin, Marshal and Co, 1843) 29 [ 10 ]. B Wheeler,’ Crunch Time for Happy Talk’, (BBC News 9th Oct 2008) http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7657465. stm accessed 2nd Jan 2012 [ 11 ]. NE Simmonds, Central Issues In Jurisprudence, (Sweet and Maxwell ,3rd edn, 2008) 29 [ 12 ]. Simmonds (n 11) 30 [ 13 ]. Harris (n4) 42 [ 14 ]. BBC News (n7) [ 15 ]. D Meyerson, Understanding Jurisprudence, (Routledge Cavandish, 2007) 119 [ 16 ]. Daily Record, ‘London riots: Human rights laws have made police sitting ducks’ accessed 9th Jan 2012 [ 17 ]. The Winfield Daily, ‘Let Senate Prevail on Special Ed Funding, (18th Feb 2011) accessed 7th Jan 2012 [ 18 ]. Chuck Colsen, ‘Shorting Special Needs: Utilitarianism and Budget

Corporate Social Responsibility In Mauritius Accounting Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility In Mauritius Accounting Essay ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the current practice of CSR that firms in the financial sector and the tourism sector, more precisely banks and hotels, have to engage themselves in CSR activities and to investigate the relationship between CSR and financial performance. In Mauritius Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gained much popularity and has become a subject of concern, after that the government has introduced an innovative legislation about CSR. Previous research on the topic is reviewed, the engagement of Firm in CSR. This study by means of questionnaires, also tries to investigate their motivations behind investing in CSR. Data collected was then analyzed using SPSS. The results highlighted that there are no differences between banks and hotels in the motives to engage in CSR activities. The results also highlighted that there is a relationship between CSR and Financial performance. Also the implications of other findings are discussed and the study conclud es with its limitations and directions for future research. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) Mauritius since Post- colonial independence, the country over the last four decades have seen the mono-crop sugar island, our first pillar of the economy has significantly moved from the Sugar industry to Financial services industry on large scale offshore financial institutions from multinational companies to local industries, such as the Giant of Rogers Group, Air Mauritius, Island Blyth, Floreal Textile, Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), Barclays Bank, HSBC and others. The field of Corporate Social Responsibility has developed exponentially in the last decades. In the past two decades, CSR appears to have become more omnipresent and perceived as being actually pertinent to companies all over the world (Aras and Crowther, 2008). It is at the forefront of strategic outlook of contemporary organisations of all kinds. A larger number of companies than at any time before are engaged in a serious efforts to define and incorporate CSR into all facets of their businesses. In recent years a great deal of time and attention has been devoted to the concept of corporate social responsibility. This basis has considered it necessary to take notice not only of the economic and financial transactions in a company, but also the social and environmental consequences a business places on its shareholders and society as well as the ecological footprint in all aspects of their operations, which extends beyond their statutory obligation to comply with legislation. CSR has variously been described as a motherhood issue (Ryan 2002, p. 302) the hot business issue of the noughties (Blyth 2005, p. 30) and the talk of the town in corporate circles these days (Mees Bonham 2004). In fact, the last few decades have seen a rise in awareness on behalf of corporate bodies, on the issue that they have a moral duty to give something back to the society. This rise in awareness is plausibly the effect of the recent corporate scandals involving well reputed companies, such as Enron, Parmalat and WorldCom as well as the growing impact of climate change on the environment. One of the fundamental questions still to be answered concerns the effect of corporate socially responsible behavior on profitability. The answers one finds in the specialized literature are numerous and often contradictory. Views emerging from Corporate Social Responsibility can contribute to the financial performance of a company. This approach, has been described as enlightened shareholder approach, believes that corporate decision makers must consider a range of social and environmental matters if they are to maximize long term financial returns. Even if they sometimes can be, CSR initiatives are certainly not always compatible with other organizational strategic goals (namely growth and money-making).(McWilliams, Siegel, Wright, 2006). Even though the link between CSR and corporate performance remains tenuous (Lindgreen, Swaen, Johnston, 2009), companies are following to CSR principles and practices and incorporating CSR principles and aims into their overall corporate strategy in exponential numbers (Godfrey Hatch, 2007; Lee, 2008; C. Smith, 2003). Similarly, as those major scandals have undeniably raised the view of greediness among senior managers, CSR is also seen as a tool for counteracting allegation of corporate greed (Deloitte report, 2008). Each company integrates Corporate Social Responsibility differently. The differences depend on factors such as companys size, the specific industry involved, the firms culture, stakeholder demands, and how progressive the company is in engaging CSR. Some companies concentrate on areas which they consider more important for them, for example human rights or environment while others incorporate CSR in all aspects fields of their operations. CSR IN MAURITIUS CSR initiatives go quite a long way in corporate Mauritius up to 20 years back. According to a report by Deloitte et al. (2008), it was found that the contribution in CSR has ongoing at varying period for the companies surveyed. Many enterprises are involved in CSR initiatives for the welfare of their employees and the society. Due to Government limited means to handle todays social problem, an appeal was made to the private sector in July 2009 to spend 2% of their profits to CSR activities. Government suggested that all gains from various companies regardless of their size should invest part of their profit into non profitable organization such as charity, scientific research and wild life to restore and preserve nature in order to maintain a good balance in the ecological system which means to give back to nature. Moreover, the government has set up a national CSR committee comprising of representative members from the public sector, private sector and the civil society. Additional ly, the companies need the approval of the CSR committee before the application or investment in any CSR activity. In the occurrence that a company has not spent the total amount of the compulsory two per cent of its profit, it should remit the remaining amount to the MRA. PROBLEM STATEMENT CSR is nowadays gaining more and more importance especially after the major corporate scandals and due to changes in norms held by the general public. Such changes have given rise of the interest in the field of CSR. However, most studies have concentrated mostly on the consequences or end results of engaging in CSR activities. Furthermore many researchers have worked to find any empirical relationship between CSR and financial performance. Various Studies have identified different kinds of relationship (positive, negative, no relationship), but currently there is no clear empirical relationship. CSR is problematic as it is often perceived that there is a contrast between CSR activity and  ¬Ã‚ nancial performance with one being harmful to the other and companies having an authoritative to follow shareholder value. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main goal of the study is to scrutinize the current practice of CSR and what are the motivations that lead firms to engage in CSR activities. The study also aims at evaluating the relationship between turnover and level of CSR activities undertaken. This is an issue which has been the subject of an ongoing debate and has become a topic of concern, in the Mauritian context, especially after that the local government revised legislation making investment in CSR activities compulsory. Objectives of the study: Objective 1: To investigate the current practice of CSR conducted by banks and hotels. Objective 2: To investigate what factors motivate firms to increase their involvement in CSR Objective 3: To investigate how these firms benefited from conducting CSR Objective 4: To investigate the differences between firms in different sector of operation in the reasons to engage in CSR activities. Objective 5: To investigate whether there is a relationship between level of CSR activities undertaken and Financial performance. OUTLINE OF THE STUDY Chapter One: Introduction This chapter consists of general overview of CSR. It provides a brief overview of the growing importance of CSR in a general as well as in the context of Mauritius. It consists the problem statement along with the aims and objectives. Chapter Two: Literature Review This chapter consists of reviewing the existing literature by examining diverse articles pertaining to the subject matter. The literature review helps to have a better understanding of what different researchers found on CSR. Chapter Three: Research Methodology This particular chapter describes who are the target population for this survey, what is the sample size, what are the procedures and techniques used for data collection, the methods used to analyze the data to get results and limitation of the study. Chapter Four: Results and Discussions This chapter shows how the collected data is analyzed by carrying out various tests. Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendation In this chapter, conclusions are derived from the study and some recommendations are mentioned forward. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBLE A DEFINITION Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fast-growing facets of organizations. The European Commission defines CSR as a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. (Simms 2002). Adams and Zutshi (2004) define it as the integration of business operations and values whereby the interest of all stakeholders including customers, employees, investors and the environment are reflected in an organisations actions and policies. In present concept of CSR states that the business enterprises is in their usual process of business decision making should pay due attention to the social interests of the people in the community. A company is not only an economic entity but a social and political entity also. Most of the decisions taken by businesses not only affect the stockholders but also the stakeholders namely, creditors, debtors, employees and the society at large in one way or the other. ( Kapoor and Sandhu, 2010). CSR is nowadays gaining more and more importance especially after the major events such as the collapse of Enron and the James Hardieasbestos scandal in Australia and due to changes in norms held by the general public. The argument about the place of CSR in the global economy continues with Solomons opinion that multinational corporations should take responsibility for the improvement of world-wide social and environmental conditions. (Scherer and Smid in Windsor 2001, p. 245). CSR is also looked upon as an umbrella term, including many other business concepts and social practices. Synonymous with some and overlapping a few others, CSR indicates the concept of common relations between businesses and society the world over. Businesses, however small or large, are governed by their place in society and have to take into account the responsibility they bear to the society, people and environment within which they operate. Economist Theodore Levitt criticizes in the Harvard Business Review that is no longer fashionable for the corporation to take gleeful pride in making money. What fashionable for the corporation to show that it exists to serve the public (Time, 2008). It is now being more and more realized world over that a firm cannot afford to function and continue in the long run unless it performs in a legitimate and socially responsible way. Moreover, many recent definitions draw attention to the financial benefits gained through CSR. For example, Vaaland et al (2008, p. 931) explain CSR as management of stakeholder concern for responsible and irresponsible acts related to environmental, ethical and social phenomena in a way that creates corporate benefit. While Mittal et al (2008, p. 1437) define the concept as a business approach that views respect for ethics, people, communities and the environment as an integral strategy that improves the competitive position of a firm. Hence, it is important to understand the point that, whether corporations appreciate it or not, herein lies the idea of CSR. The matter is not that of profit earning alone for a corporation, but that of looking beyond the profit-making attitude. This awareness has made corporations identify the need of CSR and its application along with their particular businesses (Gupta and Saxena, 2006). Economics drivers of CSR Researchers have identified different method in which CSR approach to business decision making may lead to better financial performance. The following economic drivers have been viewed by the World Economic Forum and Business in the Community that have explained the adoption of the concept corporate social responsibility by companies around the world (ADL 2003). It is advocated that these drivers do not operate in isolation, and that different companies may have different drivers. Several drivers may also be stronger in different areas and for different companies. An alteration to adopt corporate social responsibility may arise from a combination economics of drivers. Employee recruitment, motivation and retention Recent studies show that corporate social responsibility is more and more an important factor in attracting and retaining a brilliant and diverse workforce (Globescan Inc 2005). Companies that cater for the interests of their employees by offering good working conditions will attain better performance in terms of quality and delivery, and, thus, experience higher levels of productivity. Learning and innovation Learning and innovation are serious to the long-term survival of any business. Corporate social responsibility can be a vehicle for business to respond to environmental and social risks and turn these into business prospects. Reputation management Businesses function in a market of opinion. Depending on the judgment by customers, suppliers and the broader community on companies will have an impact on their profitability and achievement. Corporate social responsibility offers a means by which companies can manage and influence the attitudes and opinions of their stakeholders, building their trust and enabling the benefits of positive relationships to deliver business advantage. Risk profile and risk management Corporate social responsibility offers more effective management of risk, helping companies to reduce unnecessary losses, identify new emerging issues and use positions of headship as a means to gain competitive advantage. Investor relations and access to capital The investment community is increasingly viewing corporate social responsibility as similar to long-term risk management and good governance practices. Recent studies show that analysts place as much emphasis on corporate reputation as they do on financial performance (Hill Knowltown 2006). Licence to operate A Global Outlook Companies that fail to accomplish their duties to society as a whole risk losing their licence to operate a concept whereby a companys stakeholders grant the company an unwritten authority to do business. This may be supported by favoring competitors, refuses or calls for deregistration. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIEVS OF CSR IN PRACTICE CSR activities and practice used are not intended to be exactly the same in different companies. Companies have diverse resources and all cannot take responsibility to the same extent. According to Lantos (2001), organizations may practice three different forms of CSR namely: Ethical CSR It means going beyond the firms economic and legal obligations and take actions that is morally mandatory. A corporation is morally responsible towards any individual or group that might be harmed or injured by a particular course of action. For example; reduce shareholders profits and used the money to decrease pollution. Ethical CSR may in the long-run generate goodwill by building the publics trust in the company. This will probably minimize the cost of fines and also bad publication that otherwise may prevail from unethical behaviour. Strategic CSR It is an activity where there is a win-win situation. Both the company and some of the stakeholder will benefit. This type of CSR actions implies short-run sacrifices which will usually result in long-run gains. For example, Ford campaigned that children should be seated in booster-seats and gave away millions of such seats. This generated goodwill among customers and government regulators. They believe that the investment will be profitable in the end. Altruistic CSR. It is when organizations are contributing to the common good and making the Society a better place on some sort of expense of the firm, involving corporate competences of the company to societal and community needs. Altruistic CSR goes beyond ethics and are actions that are not necessary for the company to take. The company does not expect any financial gain from it. Examples of altruistic CSR are activities that aid the society to fight drug and alcohol problems, poverty, crimes and chronic unemployment. The three approaches are mutually exclusive and based on the activities nature (required or optional) and the purpose (stakeholders good, firms good), or both. Today businesses are facing high competition which many firms want to perceive as best quality or valuable in customer perception. Moreover, the number of multinational companies has been increasing each year and it demanded a higher responsibility for social, environmental and economic. As the result, the influence of Sustainable Development is growing and accepted from all people. Moreover, due to the environmental issue, many researchers are concerned about environment that many natural resources can be run out if we do not use it wisely. CSR emphasizes the concern of corporate action and accomplishment in the social sphere with a performance perspective, it is clear that firms must formulate and implement social goals and programs as well as integrate ethic sensitivity into decision making, policies, and actions(Carrol,1991). As in the present time, CSR turns peoples attention to be the perception of the corporate engagement, in terms of how well corporate is able to engage with stakeholders. Current practice of CSR worldwide In practice much of the business activity that has been labeled as CSR has been determined by the concerns of investors, companies and consumers based in the worlds richest countries. National CSR agenda in middle and low income countries have been less viewed internationally. For the past five years or so, governments, companies and NGOs in many middle and low income countries have implemented CSR program from developed countries through greater direct engagement. CSR activities have developed in countries such as China, India, South Africa, the Philippines, Brazil and others. Governments in middle income countries have pressed companies to engage in summiting these tasks, as with Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa encouragement of business efforts to reduce poverty in the Philippines. CSR has also potential link with government strategies aiming at ensuring better access of certain categories of citizens to the economy. One example of such strategy is the Citizen Economic empowerment in Zambia, which aims in particular at increasing local participation in economic activities. With detail to developing countries, one major CSR concern is that government will ignore corporate irresponsibility or refuse to enforce protective efforts or environmental criteria in the law as an incentive to foreign investment (Aman, 2001). China for instance, has heavy-duty to collective negotiations, by law, and yet many people in jail for trying to use those rights (Diamond, 2003). Yet some developing country governments are transmitting laws requiring higher standards of responsible environmental or social ways in order to compete for foreign capital and institutional investment, in addition to competing on the more familiar rule of law issues of contract and property law rights, financial transparency and reduced government corruption (Hebb and Wojcik, 2004). Comparing these legal improvements in different emerging countries would be further helpful in understanding the contribution of CSR. Chapple and Moon (2005), have found that CSR in Asia is unrelated to preexisting levels of economic development but is related to the extent to which domestic companies engage in international trade, even where that trade is with other Asian nations. THE CURRENT PRACTICE OF CSR BY BANKS AND HOTELS IN MAURITIUS Mauritius is the first country in the world to require businesses to donate a portion of their profits to NGOs or government projects in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  Apparently recognising the poor level of corporate citizenship in Mauritius, in 2009, the Ministry of Finance introduced the CSR Fund. A company using a Corporate Partner to implement its CSR programme will be allowed to spend only an amount not exceeding 25% of the CSR Fund. A company implementing CSR programme is eligible to administrative costs not exceeding 15% of the CSR value. The company is provided a 12 months period from the end of its financial year to fund project from its CSR fund. If it has not given the 2% CSR fund then they will have to submit it to the MRA. The corporate programme form and Declaration by Applicant is presented below in Appendix D. Banks in Mauritius especially the leading one such as Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), State Bank of Mauritius (SBM), HSBC, Barclays and such that, invest huge amount of money in CSR. Not only Banks but also in the Hotel sector invest in CSR. The role plays by some Banks and Hotels in CSR are briefly described below; Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) J.Francois (2012), of the MCB Forward Foundation, in the Mauritius lexpress Journal talk about A CSR Budget of Rs 45 millions. The creation of the MCB foundation in 2010 was a step in the development of CSR activities of the group. Since its creation, MCB has always affirmed as a bank with a heart. The foundation gather dedicated professionals concentrated only on CSR and handle projects in medium and long terms. Moreover in 2007-2008, Rs23 millions have dedicated to CSR. In 2008-2009, it has been increased up to Rs30 millions. According to J. Francois (2012) the CSR budget varies with their profits. For the Financial year of 2009-2010, they predicted about Rs45 millions. They invest the money of CSR mainly in Eradication of Poverty, Vulnerable Children, Education, and Environment. The value proposition of the Foundation is described below. MCB Forward Foundation Why the Foundation To help meet the social and environment challenges of the country Mission To develop and support sustainable initiatives for the benefit of the community in which we live and work Vision To be instrumental in the creation of sustainable value for the social, environmental and economic well-being of the community HSBC Mauritius HSBC Mauritius has continued to invest in education, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. In the year ending December 2011, the HSBC group in Mauritius has spent 6 million Rupees on community investment. In addition to sustaining communities, HSBC has been continuously involved in environmental sustainability. It also has a long partnership with The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, engaged in preventing rare species. Sun Resort (including La pirogue, le Tousserouk, Long beach hotel and such that) Sun Resort Company has commitment towards corporate social responsibility programmes at both local and national level has proved to be a very influential tool for the advancement of local communities and unprivileged circles of the population. In 2010, the Sun Resorts Cancer Trust helped a number of children and their families in their fight against cancer. The company also has opened a four-bed Cancer Unit at Victoria Hospital in May 2009. Corporate Social Responsibility donations made by Sun Resort Ltd during the year 2010 amounted to Rs3.9 million. Apart from Hotels and Banks, there are other private companies such as Terra, Ireland Blyth Limited (IBL), Omnicane and such that, they invest much in CSR projects. For instance, the IBL Foundation has financed 80 projects costing Rs17, 9 million. Rs6, 7 million for the socio economic development, Rs6,4 million for education and Rs1,2 million for sports. Moreover, there is the Omnicane Foundation which have spent Rs11, 1 million for vulnerable children, Health care, Education, Eradication of Poverty and on environment. MOTIVATIONS FOR FIRMS TO ENGAGE IN CSR ACTIVITIES THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES The motivations for firms to engage themselves in CSR activities can thus be broadly viewed from two main perspectives which are strategic perspective and the moral perspective. Strategic motive linked with Agency theory Agency theory put emphasis on the point that managers are recruited in order to work for the company that employs them, thus their major duty is to maximize the value of the firm and therefore the wealth of those who possess the company. Moreover, from an agency theory perspective, engagement in CSR activities is often viewed as a misused of companys resources which could instead be used invest in projects where profits are maximized. Nevertheless, managers will invest in CSR activities only if such investment will help them to improve the reputation of the firm or simply help them to increase shareholders wealth (Jones, 1995). However an agency problem may occur because of concern that the agent (e.g, the internal or external recipients of funds) will not follow the interests of the principal (e.g., the donor) who wishes to pursue CSR activities (Husted Allen, 2007). Very often, managers are motivated by their self- interest and therefore cannot be relied on to work in the best int erest of shareholders. Strategic motive linked with the Resource-Based View Theory The Resource- Based View (RBV) theory regards CSR as a resource that firm must know how to exploit in order to gain competitive advantages over its competitors. According to Branco and Rodrigues (2006) the firm in this model, is viewed as a unique bundle of resources and capabilities that is developed overtime as the firm interacts with all its stakeholders. This theory assumes that firms are a set of various resources and competences that are not exchangeable among firms. THE MORAL MOTIVE LINKED TO THE NORMATIVE STAKEHOLDER THEORY The moral motive is also linked to the normative stakeholder theory, which is commonly known as intrinsic stakeholder commitment. Success of an organization, according to the stakeholder theory, depends on the ability of the firm to handle and manage its relationships with a number of constituents, such as financers, shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers and then community at large (Donaldson and Preston, 1995). According to Freeman (1984), managers also bear a fiduciary relationship to stakeholders instead of having solely fiduciary duties towards owners of the firm. Similarly, Donaldson and Preston (1995) defined stakeholders as persons or groups with legitimate interests in procedural and or substantive aspects of corporate activity. Thus, CSR is viewed as a means of fulfilling the duties that the company has towards its stakeholders, and therefore it is crucial that the firm engage itself in CSR activities that are significant to the stakeholders. However, the more influential stakeholders are, the more the company has to adjust itself to their demands and this has given rise to questions whether firms engage themselves in CSR activities because they really want to assume their social and moral responsibilities or this is done only to get strategic advantages such as to prevent any stakeholder from withdrawing their support to the firm. Meijer, Bakle, Smith Schuyt (2006) argued that despite the fact it is rational to presume that companies want to do good for the society, it is also true that managers of those companies realize that this will benefit their organizations as well. Thus, put in simpler terms even though reporting pure unselfish intentions, firms engage themselves in CSR from strategic perspectives. On the other hand, Graafland and Van de Ven (2006) exposed through their study that despite some firms strongly believed that engaging in CSR activities might lead to improvement in profitability, enhancement of reputation and more employee commitment, they were also much concerned with making the world a better place to live. BENEFITS OF ENGAGEMENT IN CSR ACTIVITIES This section will try to examine what are those advantages firms get by investing in social activities which, as many academics found, ultimately leads to improvement in the firms financial performance. According to Galbreath (2009), there are only three main benefits a firm can derive from investing in CSR activities and they are namely: increased customer satisfaction; reduced employee turnover and improved reputation; and. It is these benefits that will consequently lead to improvements in the financial performance of the company. Increased customer satisfaction Customers are one of the most important stakeholders of a firm and by meeting justice needs of customers, CSR is likely to increase customer satisfaction (Galbreath, 2009). Hence, customer satisfaction may lead to brand loyalty and consequently improve and increase future sales of the firm. Reduced employee turnover Employee turnover is of the essence since the loss of human capital in companies can have dramatic effects on competitive advantage of a company (Barney, 1991; Huselid, 1995). A key potential gain from CSR initiatives involves establishing the situation that can contribute to increasing the dedication and incentive of employees to become more innovative and dynamic. Galbreath (2009) found that, owing to demonstrated justice, socially responsive activities appear to be a means to reduce employee turnover. Turban and Greening (1997) found that demonstrating CSR is essential for attracting potential employees. In their study on French firms, Maignan and Ferrell (2001) found that CSR is positively linked with employee commitment. Companies employing CSR related perspectives and tools tend to be businesses that provide the prerequisite for increased loyalty and commitment form their staffs. Such conditions can facilitate recruitment of employees, retaining and motivating them to develop skills, reduce absenteeism, and may also translate into marginally less demands for higher wages (Deloitte Report, 2008). According to Galbreath (2009), firms that are unjust, that does not exhibit comportments that match with employees moral or ethical frameworks are prone to obtain negative results that affect profitability. Therefore, reducing employee turnover is crucial so that a firm can improve its performance. Improved reputation Moreo

Comparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and Hills Like White

Authors of great stories often use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are you going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. The comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development. The short story where are you going, where have you been is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting and affixed in the present. She does not know anything about the past or doubts it and has no plan of the future. She argues with her mother and she thinks she is jealous of her. The start of the plot is not very dramatic rather it is more like an introduction. We get a good description of the story’s Protagonist, Connie at the beginning of the story and through out. She is familiar, the typical American teenager, who dream, fantasize and have difficulty differentiating the real world from fairytale. Kozikowsky compares the story to the popular recent Disney tale â€Å"Cinderella† (1999). In â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† the setting of the story is not revealed at the beginning. The reader slowly learns about Connie’s family and her living condition throughout the story. In â€Å"Hills Like Elephants† by Ernest Hemingway, there is no dramatic situation at the beginning of the story either, rather He starts by giving us a detailed description of the setting. The reader gets a clear mental image of where the story will take place. The Author begins the story by introducing the scene since it will have a great significance in understanding the many symbolisms he will be using later. Some experts say that â€Å"Although there is a situation, there is no plot† ( Henningf... ... short story. Works cited Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. "Hills Like White Elephants." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Gale Kozikowski, Stan. "The Wishes and Dreams Our Hearts Make in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'." Journal of the Short Story in English. 33 (Autumn 1999): 89-103. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano. Vol. 70. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 89-103. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Renner, Stanley. "Moving to the girl's side of 'Hills Like White Elephants.'." The Hemingway Review. 15.1 (Fall 1995): p27. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Weeks, Lewis E., Jr. "Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in 'Hills like White Elephants'." Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 75-77. Literature Resource Center. Gale.

The Importance of Going Away to College Essay -- Argumentative

The Importance of Going Away to College Imagine the senior year of high school when students are poised to enter college and become adults. It's a time of responsibility, of being on one's own, and of shaping lives by making daily decisions. One of the major decisions is where to attend college. Should a person stay close to home and attend an in-state school where people and even campuses are somewhat familiar? Or should the decision be to start a completely new chapter in one's life by attending a college farther away, with totally new challenges? I believe the answer is definitely to leave town. Of course, I can only speak from own experience to date. I thoroughly enjoyed high school and had excellent teachers who prepared me for entrance into the new world of college. My family and I discussed and received information from many schools, some of which I was totally unfamiliar with. My parents knew this was an important milestone in my life and therefore, arranged for a trip east to visit campuses and classes. That is how I chose to travel from my North Dakotan home to MIT, halfway across the nation. I had many reasons, one of which is obviously that MIT is one of the top schools in the nation, but another is that it is in the city of Boston. I am from Bismarck, North Dakota, a midwestern town of about 60,000 which I love, but I knew it was time for a new place with new experiences. So far, I am only in my first semester of college, but I love it. I have met a whole new set of friends and find that things are always happening on campus and in the city. I was homesick for about the first week, but after that I never thought about being homesick again. I had too many interesting things to do. For the first t... ...ting, a person can look at an experience from both sides. It has opened up my eyes to a new way of life. Going away to college is a great way for people to meet new friends and experience new things. Usually a setting unlike their home will help them with both of these experiences. While this may not be true for everyone, I believe everyone should try living in an area unlike his or her own. This is what develops a person intellectually and socially. It has been said that the grass is always greener on the other side. Being excited about the newness and challenges of a new place may not enable it to stay green for a lifetime, but the new place is a great place to spend the next four years. So even though I lived my whole high school life in one city where there were no actual problems, it still was time for me to move where there were new experiences.

A Separate Peace - Phineas And Carpe Diem :: essays research papers

"He was everywhere, he enjoyed himself hugely, he laughed out loud at passing sea gulls"(39). This line is describing Phineas, or Finny, and how he lives life to it’s fullest and seizes the day. Finny is an example of living the "carpe diem" (seize the day) philosophy from the movie "Dead Poets Society." There are a few examples in the first part of this novel of how Finny takes advantage of life. The first example is how he enjoys himself so much at the beach. Gene describes how Finny has such a great time at the beach as seen in the opening quote. He says he runs all over the place and jumps into waves, laughing at the seagulls, when most others would be lying on the beach being lazy. Another example of Finny living a full life is that he makes up his own game just because he doesn’t want to waste his time playing badminton. The strange thing is that this game turns out to be a popular game in the novel which is still played 15 years later as the author says. Finny invents this game just on a spur of the moment, making up the rules as he goes along, you can see that he surely doesn’t want to waste any of his ability. Which points you to the last example. The last example is concerning his incredible athletic ability. Finny and Gene are in the pool one day, and they read the plaque that holds the swimming record times. Finny looks at one and decides that he can beat that time record. He tries, and he beats the record. Gene wants him to do it on front of an official judge. Finny Refuses and says "No, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know"(35). This tells you that he lives life to it’s fullest, since he is just doing this to see if he can. Most people wouldn’t even think about trying to see if they could break the record, they would be too lazy to go find a stop watch anyway.

Simple Reasons Why Some People Can’t Write Essays

There are some students, perhaps those that you may know, that can’t seem to write essays. There are some people that will seem to have it all down to a science, while some people will not know how to complete a full blown essay of any type. You’re going to find that there are a lot of reasons why this is prevalent. If you’re looking at writing, and are having a hard time overall, you may want to look into a few reasons why some have a hard time. The following solutions will help you focus on how to get moving forward with the process of gaining the upper hand in writing essays. It’s going to focus on why some people can’t write, which will then help you correct mistakes that you may be facing off against. These are the simple reasons why some people can’t write essays, which should help you gain the upper hand. Once you know what to work on, you will be able to address those things and correct them moving forward.Ideas Don’t Come Quic kly Some people have a hard time brainstorming ideas and topics. Some don’t really know what to write about or where to even start. Even with a simple prompt, many people aren’t sure how to develop the ideas that an essay requires. In academia, there’s a lot of focused solutions that come through, and finding a way to organize the right ideas into a narrative that works is tough, to say the least. Narrowing down the options is difficult enough, but getting to a point where you’re working on one thesis statement and then creating proper annotated essay elements can become a struggle, which causes many writers to give up before they even get too far in the writing process.Many Students Don’t OutlineThe process of writing an essay should not be done by sitting down at a word processor and going forward. That’s the mistake a lot of students make, and it’s not a good thing. To master essay writing, you have to focus on outlining, and creat ing ideas that are easy to work with after the fact. Sitting down and trying to write is not going to help forward progress, it’s just too difficult to do that. Many students try to do that, but end up losing focus because they don’t have a path towards the finish line, which is why outlines matter so much.Students Don’t Like EditingA lot of students fail at working well with writing essays because there’s an editing process that many don’t like. Editing means changing things, and facing off against writing options that aren’t very good to run through. Students often assume that the writing process takes one major push, and that’s it. But that’s not true. In order to sustain the path of good academic writing, a student has to write a rough draft, then edit it down and consolidation ideas to fit the format of the prompt. In some cases, over extending the writing is not a good thing, which is why editing is so important. Students often don’t like to edit, because it feels like they are erasing the hard work that they’ve been working through.Reading Comprehension Is RoughFor some individuals, the process of reading and comprehending different view points can be difficult to manage. To the point where writing an essay can become somewhat difficult. Writing an essay is made even more difficult when you have to cite sources, and comprehend what others have done within certain academic criteria. Reading comprehension is one thing, but taking the information that one has read and then rewriting, citing it, and creating a greater push forward regarding the writing process can be a bit difficult.Length and Word Counts Are IntimidatingThere are some students that look at the prompts and word counts associated with essays and become intimidated by them. There are some essays that aren’t that long, only around 500 to 1000 words. However, there are some options that require a lot longer of a push. For instance, graduate study work could need upwards of 10,000 words, and they all need to be cited in certain style. Citations and references alone could be several pages, and that’s not including the actual essay formatting. Length and word counts can easily be intimidating when a writer finds that they have been working for hours, and may only have around 700 or 800 words. Crafting long form essays can be daunting for the novice, and for others, it could be a major hurdle that they cannot seem to overcome with relative ease.Waiting Too Long To StartThe moment that an essay is assigned, the student should chase the option to start working on it. Many students wait too long to start, and end up trying to cram all of the writing into one night. This is a mistake that many people make, and it becomes an impossible task to work out. Waiting too long to start is a bad idea because the editing process becomes difficult to manage, and it becomes even harder to work through ideas, thesis statements and more. Procrastination is the enemy of students, especially when it comes to writing essays of an academic format.Rushing Through The ProcessSome people can write a lot in a short time, but when it comes to proper formatting, and essay writing, they seem to find themselves lacking the appropriate time frame to work on the essay prompts. Rushing through the process, forgetting drafts, outlines, and editing is a part of the bigger problem as to why people can’t write proper essays and seem to have a difficult time progressing through a variety of different arenas. Writing essays is tough, but when you rush through any of the writing process, it becomes a lot more difficult to put together the appropriate structure. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of reasons why people can’t seem to write essays. The above are just some of the most common issues that people have.

Chicken of the Sea Company Essay

Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the consumer decision making process for a product such as canned/packaged tuna and the response hierarchy model this is most likely to be applicable in the purchase of this product. * Consumers of packaged tuna usually go through the low-involvement hierarchy. Unless consumers have loyalty to a certain brand, they usually pick the product with the lowest price. Tuna is not something that will cause consumers to go though cognitive dissonance because of the low-involvement hierarchy. 2. Discuss the role integrated marketing communications plays in the marketing of canned/packaged tuna for a company such as Chicken of the Sea International. How might the company use the various IMC tools as part of its marketing program? * The role IMC plays in marketing canned/packaged tuna is to establish brand identity and equity. Chicken of the Sea has a target market of women usually 25-54 years old. The idea of promoting the product with the use of Jessica Simpson will help to promote the product to different target audiences, in order to create brand awareness. The company established a budget for hiring Simpson at $11 million in 2004.   Then they must develop an integrated market communications program before implementing the strategies. The company will then implement the strategies through ads on television, radio etc. The company then must monitor and evaluate the program in order to assure that hiring Simpson is benefiting the company and brand identity. 3. Discuss how Chicken of the Sea’s marketing personnel and advertising agency might evaluate the appropriateness of using Jessica Simpson as a spokesperson for the company and whether she is a good fit for the brand. * Chicken of the Sea’s marketing personnel and advertising agency has a lot to evaluate when deciding whether Jessica Simpson is right for their brand. The company was worried if Simpson’s ditzy reputation was something that they wanted representing their products. Chicken of the Sea’s target market usually consists of 25 to 54 year old women and since Simpson is popular among teens, they were not sure how their target market would react to her.   They also had to evaluate how they were going to use Jessica Simpson when promoting the product. The company was nervous that advertising Simpson through television commercials was going to be too expensive and too risky. 4. Discuss the pros and cons of Chicken of the Sea International hiring Jessica Simpson as a spokesperson for the company. Can the company  afford to hire her and spend the money on TV advertising to use her effectively? * Jessica Simpson could be an asset to Chicken of the Sea. Having her as a spokesperson could bring in new customers and establish brand awareness to people outside of their target market. If the company feels that having Simpson on television commercials to promote the product is expensive, they can utilize her singing talents and have a new Chicken of the Sea jingle. The jingle could be played on the radio and it will reach many different audiences. The downside to having Jessica Simpson as a spokesperson is that Simpson’s personality may not agree with the company’s target market that is usually very loyal to the brand. In addition, hiring Simpson as the spokesperson would cost at least one million dollars. If the marketing plan fails, this could r esult in a massive loss. 5. What would you do if you were Don George? Would you recommend that the company hire Simpson as a spokesperson? Why or why not? * The pros of hiring Jessica Simpson as a spokesperson can definitely outweigh the cons. Simpson generated a great deal of buzz from her television by not being able to differentiate between chicken and tuna. Many people heard about it even if they did not follow the show. Don George should capitalize on that buzz and hire Simpson. Not only could she be promoted through television commercials, but she could be used in radio advertisements and magazines. Although these advertisements are expensive, using Simpson should generate brand awareness that could give Chicken of the Sea advantage over its competitors and generate revenue.

Presence of Death in Literature Essay

Literature often contains themes that allow the reader to relate to the characters. From suicide to murders, death is an inevitable theme seen time and time over not only in real life but also in many types of literary works. It is used by many authors as a main driving force behind the plot as well as a method to add emotions in various works. The presence of death is a reoccurring subject in almost every type of literary work such as novels, short stories as well as plays. Firstly, death is seen in many different novels and is present in almost every genre. Death is even present in many novels aiming for younger readers such as William Golding’s â€Å"Lord of the Flies† and others. In the novel â€Å"Lord of The Flies†, death is a very common subject throughout the story as seen with the deaths of the little’un, Simon and Piggy. For starters, already in the first few chapters, death makes its first appearance as one of the little’uns disappears. â€Å"That little’un-’ gasped Piggy – ‘him with the mark on his face, I don’t see him. Where is he now?† (William Golding, p. 46) The little’un was earlier spotted playing in the forest near the mountain top where an accidental forest fire broke out just few moments after. The little’un with the mark on his face is now nowhere to be found and is presumed dead burnt in the fire. Moreover, death is seen a second time later on in the novel when Simon is attacked by all the boys. After his encounter with The Lord of the Flies, Simon manages to make his way back to Jack’s feast only to find a group of boys caught up in frenzy. In their bewildered state of mind, the savage boys descended upon the innocent child thinking he was the best and violently killed him. â€Å"At once the crowd surged after it poured down the rock, leapt on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore† ( William Golding, p.169). Finally, towards the end of the book, death is seen for the third and last time when Piggy and Ralph visit the Castle Rock in hopes of retrieving Piggy’s glasses. However, at the castle rock, the duo encountered and unexpected twist of events which led to Piggy’s death after being crushed by a big boulder of rock thrown by Roger. Although death is seen multiple times in novels, it is also a recurring theme seen in other shorter literary works. Secondly, death is also seen quite often in short stories. Countless authors including Edgar Alan Poe use death as one of the main driving force in there plot line. As a matter of fact, death is seen in almost every Edgar Alan Poe short stories some examples being â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue†. To begin with, the theme of death is seen throughout the story â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† as the main character plots to kill the old man. At the begging of the story, the main narrator explains that he can no longer stand to look into the elderly man’s fake eye and for that reason he must kill him. After a week of planning, the main character finally puts his plan in motion as he rushes in the old man’s house and crushes him to death under his own bed. â€Å"He shrieked once — once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done.† (Edgar Alan Poe, p.5) Likewise, the presence of death is also present in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† where the main character Montresor vows revenge to his foe Fortunato for the thousand injuries and bane he has caused him in the past. In that short story, Montresor lures Fortunato in the catacomb where he is then entombed alive and left to starvation. Furthermore, death is also seen in â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue† but this time in a funnier and more farfetched way. In this play, an unnamed narrator and his friend investigate a crime scene only to find out that an Ourang-Outang was in fact the murderer behind the crime. The monkey wield with a razor had completely cut off the head of an old women in her own apartment. â€Å"The throat of the old lady was not merely cut, but the head absolutely severed from the body: the instrument was a mere razor† (Edgar Alan Poe, p.20). Albeit death is constantly seen in many books meant to be read, it is just as present in other literary works meant to be acted out such as plays. Lastly, death is not only seen in books but it is also frequently seen in many known plays. For the past few decades, the presence of death in plays has been seen time and time over by some of the most eminent playwrights including Shakespeare. From suicide to murder, death is present in almost all of Shakespeare plays some of which are â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, â€Å"Macbeth† and, let’s not forget, â€Å"Hamlet†. In the first place, the presence of death is seen several times throughout the play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† many of which are resulted in combat such as the deaths of Mercutio, Tybalt and Paris. Although many deaths occur in the pay â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, the play is most commonly known for the deaths of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. After Juliet drinks a potion to make her seem dead for 2 days in the hopes of escaping a forced marriage, Romeo finds her corpse. â€Å"O my love, my wife! Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.† (William Shakespeare, Act 5, Scene 3). Thinking Juliet was actually dead; Romeo commits suicide by drinking poison. At Juliet awakening, she is devastated to see her lover’s dead body beside her and decides to stab herself to death. In the second place, death is also seen multiple times throughout the play â€Å"Macbeth†. In this play, in order make the witches prophecy come true, the main character Macbeth killed the King Duncan so as to inherit the throne all and become the new King of Scotland. â€Å"I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell. That summons thee to heaven or to hell.† (William Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 1) Later on in the play, Macbeth then hired murderers to kill one of his former friends as well as a many other noblemen threatening his crown. In the third and last place, the presence of death is also seen in the popular Shakespeare play â€Å"Hamlet†. This play is known for its many deaths throughout the plotline. In the end, almost every round character has been killed. Out of the 12, 10 were either poisoned or drowned. Thus, death is also frequently found in plays. All in all, the theme of death is a major and reoccurring subject that is present in literary works. It is often found in various types of literary works such as novels, short stories and plays. This theme has been used by some of the best authors to ever write for it evokes many emotions. However, there are many other ways the author can use to induce these. Hence, one can wonder about the variety of techniques they use to relate to the readers. Annotated bibliography Mabillard, Amanda. Violence in Shakespeare’s Plays. Shakespeare Online. 2000. (30/10/2012) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/violenceinshakespeare.html > This website describes every death linked to violence in Shakespeare plays all in separate categories (Suicide, murder, killed in combat, etc†¦) in addition to a brief description of every death. This website helped me not only find the deaths I wanted to talk about in my essay but also helped me find quotes for every cases of death. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1954. The book Lord of the Flies was really helpful to me to find quotes for my first argument as well as to make links with deaths in literature for a novel. Because of the novel’s pretty high count of death, I was able to establish a multitude of different links to my essay that bears with the presence of death. William Shakespeare, ed. Cyrus Hoy. Romeo and Juliet (Norton Critical Editions). New York: Norton, 1992 The Shakespeare play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† was helpful for my essay because it was one of the plays I used to link to the presence of death. In addition, â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† is home to the most famous death in literature and had to be inserted in my essay. William Shakespeare, ed. A. C. Bradley. Shakespearean tragedy: Macbeth. New York: Penguin, 1991. The Shakespeare play â€Å"Macbeth† was useful to my essay for many reasons. For starters, I had just finished reading this book before writing my essay which made it easy to make links between the presence of death in literature and this book. Also, like most of Shakespeare plays, â€Å"Macbeth† contains a lot of death’s which made it even easier for me to link it to my essay. Weller, Philip. Hamlet Navigator. Shakespeare Navigators, (21/11/2012). < http://shakespeare-navigators.com/hamlet > This website contains all information that there is to know about Shakespeare (quotes, themes, scenes etc†¦). Although I did not use this site for a lot, it helped me make my annotated bibliography for every Shakespeare play I used in this essay. SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on Poe’s Short Stories. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. (18/11/2012) < http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section5.rhtml > This website is a summary of Edgar Alan Poe’s â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue† which was really helpful for me to understand the plot of the story without having to read the entire short story. I also found quotes on this website.