The cyberpunk novel Feed Essay Example for Free

The cyberpunk novel Feed Essay Analyse how a writer used language to develop the theme(s) of the written text. The cyberpunk novel, Feed, is a book which explores the dangers of overpowering consumerism. Author MT Anderson uses language to develop the theme of a failing futuristic society as an outcome of constant consumerist influence. Anderson uses character dialogue, descriptions of environmental degradation and internally received ‘banners’ or advertising inside the characters’ heads to explore the problems encountered when a society fails to protect their most valuable resource – nature. The characters in Feed are all implanted with a chip at birth which allows them to access the internet without the need of any external device. Computers are no longer outside the body, but are referred to as â€Å"wetware†. This allows the characters to m-chat or text inside their heads. The feed also provides them with a near constant flow of advertising banners or pop-ups depending on current trends or a shop they may walk past. This corporate control of communication leads the characters to live a superficial existence, where their main concerns are for the latest hairstyles and show no interest towards political events, which are hinted at throughout the book. The story is narrated by Titus, a teenager who meets Violet while celebrating Spring break on the Moon. During the exposition the reader learns that in this society the characters have minimal vocabularies and use a lot of futuristic teenage slang. The group refer to each other as â€Å"unit† and describe a good looking girls as being â€Å"meg youch†.There is also a lot of swearing which illustrates how limited their vocabularies have become. The characters use the phrase â€Å"da da da† whenever they can’t think of what to say. This has happened because school no is longer run as a centre for education, rather, it has become â€Å"SchoolTM† and teaches students how to use their feeds, consequently how to consume m ore and more. The poor vocabulary, coupled with a preoccupation with peer pressure to keep up with current trends helps to create a mood of apathy and hopelessness in the characters thoughts and actions.

My Turn at Bat :: English Literature

My Turn at Bat Book Review My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life, written in 1969, could be the name of any number of hitters that have played the game of baseball. It could even be a metaphor for something that doesn’t even relate to the game of baseball. But that’s not the case here, this book is about, arguably the greatest hitter to ever play the game. This book is about the only player to ever hit .400. The only man to be inducted into seven different hall of fames. This book tells the story of Ted Williams through his eyes, the way he lived on and off the field. The author John Underwood does a good job in terms of letting the reader get a first person point of view when it comes to the life of this Boston Red Sox legend. The book first starts out with Ted Williams stating that, â€Å"I’m glad it’s over†, he then goes on to explain what he means by this. Williams says that he is so grateful for what baseball has done for him as a person but he was glad to be out of the game as a player. He tells the reader through out the book that if he could go back to when he was 18 or 19 years of age he wouldn’t do it because knowing now what was in store for him. He says that he had to deal with so much physical pain, the weight of the world being on his shoulders, and last but certainly not least the Boston reporters. At that point in his life, Ted Williams had finished playing Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox and moved on to managing the Washington Senators, a move that he wasn’t all that comfortable with, but was willing to try. This book is a constant one-way conversation with the reader. It seems that is just the way Williams wanted it to be, just so he could tell the story without any interruptions. Williams’s talks about how he always wanted to be the greatest hitter of all time through out the book. He says that a man needs to have a goal for a day, a lifetime and his was to hear people say, â€Å"there goes Ted Williams the greatest hitter of all time†. Williams also talks about how his 22 years of playing the game were the best years of his life but they were also some of the unhappiest. Through out his time as a professional ball player, he felt that people didn’t like him,

Pricing Strategy of Alitalia Airline Essay

Price is very important to the seller of any good or service who wants to make a profit. This is due to the reason that most consumers first look at the price, before considering whether or not to buy a good or service. The sellers have to be very careful when setting price, so that the good or service does not appear to be very expensive, since this will discourage the potential clients from purchasing them (Schade and Schlag 2002: 43-52), (McGrath 2000: 37-43). On the other hand, if the good or service appears to be too cheap, the clients will be suspicious of it. There are many strategies that are used by sellers in pricing their goods or services. These include loss leader, price discrimination, cost plus, penetration, limit, predatory, premium, creaming, marginal cost, target pricing among others (Yates 2003: 22-29), (Nagle and Holden 2002: 26-37). This paper will analyse Alitalia’s problems regarding pricing, among other factors. Introduction Alitalia is an Italian airline that began operation in 1947, and transports cargo and passengers in several destinations throughout the world. This airline serves twenty five Italian airports, forty five airports in North Africa, Europe and Middle East. According to Iatrou and Oretti (2007; 23-28) and Hanlon (2007: 26-28), it is one of the members of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that includes such major airlines as AeroMexico, Aeroflot, China Southern, Air France and others. Last year, the airline transported over 24 million passengers which represented an increase of 1. 5% from the previous year. Nature of Alitalia’s problems Alitalia has experienced financial difficulties over the years, which are mostly attributed to problems with crew members and pilots, political interference by the government and labour difficulties. There have been many allegations of mismanagement and misappropriation of cash. Strikes by workers on several occasions have led to flight cancellations which further discourage customers from using the airline. According to Doganis 2006 (34-39), the government uses the airline to reward its cronies, further fostering its mismanagement. In terms of pricing, Alitalia is perceived by many passengers to charge very high prices which are not reflected by the service it offers. The airline’s customer service, among other departments is also not very effective, and many passengers have complained that the services offered are below standard. This makes customers move to other airlines whose prices reflect the services offered. According to Morrell (2007: 56-67), another problem that the airline faces is bureaucracy, and this causes delay in making crucial decisions. Bureaucracy also leads to inefficiency, since there is duplication of efforts (Wilson and Gilligan 2005: 22-29). Finally, the airline also lacks a clear leadership structure since most CEOs are changed very frequently, which hampers continuity. These factors have combined to discourage potential clients from using this airline. The end result is that the airline has suffered losses for very many years. In fact, since Alitalia began operations in 1947, it only made profit in one year, 1998 (Jarach 2005: 44-46). The net losses that Alitalia has experienced over the last decade amount to 3. 7 billion Euro. Government and private sector attempts to help this airline has bore no fruits yet. The airline has such major financial difficulties that stock exchange regulators in Italy requires it to file its debts, each month in order to monitor them. In 2006, Keegan and Schlegelmilch (2001: 55-61) add that, EU forbade the Italian government from injecting further capital, leading to its sale. Alitalia had a plan of filing for bankruptcy thus protecting itself from creditors. The second part was splitting the airline into the profitable and non profitable part and subsequently liquidating the latter. Comparison between FIAT’s and Alitalia’s problems and strategies. FIAT and Alitalia both experienced similar problems, not only in pricing but in mismanagement. According to Laux 1999 (33-38), FIAT began operations in 1899 and dealt with construction and agricultural equipment, commercial vehicles, aviation, natural gas and power distribution among other operations. It was however not doing well financially, with losses accumulating gradually each year. In 2002, the financial problems became clear after it was announced that the company had losses amounting to $1. 2 billion. General motors was a minor shareholder in FIAT, but did not see it fit to further invest in this company in order to help it overcome these financial difficulties. According to Simonis and Garwood (2004: 44-46), FIAT’s financial difficulties were reduced with the entry of Sergio Marchionne as the CEO. He made radical changes that streamlined operations in the company an improved efficiency. He also integrated an innovation facility specialising in innovating transmissions and engines, which was known as Powertrain technologies. The CEO also ensured that the joint venture with General Motors was terminated since he perceived it to hinder the development of FIAT. He also strengthened the governance structure and introduced non executive and independent directors. Alitalia, as discussed above can use FIAT’s solutions; the revolutionary strategy, not only in pricing but in overhauling the entire organisational structure. Other strategies available. Alitalia has very limited choice of strategies, since its problems go beyond pricing (Baker 2002: 17-19). Any other strategies used, that do not include the revolutionary strategy that overhauls the whole organisation, are not likely to increase the company’s profitability. This is due to the reason that the major problem for the airline lies in the organisational structure and mismanagement. Revolutionary pricing strategy. I would highly recommend a revolutionary strategy, not only in pricing, but the overall organisational structure, in solving Alitalia’s problems. This is due to the reason that most of the strategies that have been previously used have not been successful. In choosing a pricing strategy, I would recommend the penetration pricing strategy, which uses low prices to establish a grip on the market. The airline would then break loyalty that customers have on other airlines, and attract them. This should however be done after re-branding the airline, so that customers may perceive it to have changed for the better. In my opinion, pricing is not the major factor that caused Alitalia’s problems; Government interference did, as seen above. The government of Italy kept on pumping capital to the airline until the EU forbade it. It does not make sense to keep on pumping money into an organisation that is inefficient, since the money will just be wasted. Alitalia needs a revolutionary leader such as FIAT’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne who made changes across the organisational structure of FIAT. He also cut the company free from the joint venture with general Motors in order to create room for FIAT to grow. The CEO of Alitalia should do likewise, and free the airline from interference by the government so that there is room for the airline to grow and develop. He or she should overhaul the current organisational structure since that is where the problem is. He or she should then hire open minded, focused, competent and independent managers who will guide the airline towards prosperity (Pollack 2007: 44-48), (Rhonda 2003: 66-75). Other strategies. Organisational changes cannot take place under the current circumstances since the airline has already lost goodwill and reputation from its clients. The airline should be re-branded and a new vision which reflects the current goals and objectives should be set by the management (Buss 2006: 12-14), (Steward 1999: 44-49). The airline should also take advantage of the airline alliance that it is part of. It should utilise the goodwill of the other bigger airlines such as AeroMexico and use code sharing as a means of marketing its flights. It can also reduce several costs due to sharing resources with the other member airlines. Such resources include spare parts, personnel, administration buildings and others (Lu 2003: 55-59). This will reduce the amount of expenditure that it incurs, which is crucial in attaining profits. Conclusion and recommendation. FIAT and Alitalia both faced similar problems that went beyond pricing. In my opinion, pricing is not the major contributor for the decline of Alitalia. Government interference, mismanagement, bureaucracy and poor service, in my opinion are the main contributors to the airline’s downfall. The airline needs to adopt a revolutionary strategy in the entire organisation, like FIAT did. It also needs to free itself from government interference and re-brand in order to market itself as a new product. After doing this, I would recommend penetration pricing strategy as a means of attracting customers from the other airlines. The airline

Argumentative Essay Sleep Deprivation - 768 Words

Less Homework Endless hours. Sleep deprivation. Deadlines, cutoff dates and time limits. Welcome to the life of every student who has ever lived. When a class is about to end and the teacher announces the homework requirements, everybody wants to flee. â€Å"When school’s out, it should be OUT.† Homework has historically been given to students to reinforce what they learn at school and ultimately help them learn the material better. However, too much homework is not helpful, and can be counterproductive. It can cause stress and usually does not help the student at all. The amount of homework a teacher can give out needs to be restricted, and only assigned due to necessity. Otherwise it will have a bad influence on their academics as well as the students’ social life. A typical school day might begin at 8:30am and conclude by 3:00pm. So piling on three hours of homework each night means students must endure seven hours at school (including lunch time) as well as three hours of homework. Most students spend five days a week at school for seven hours each then are expected to come home and complete homework for the next day. It may be important but that is a bit much to expect. â€Å"My life is a black hole of boredom and despair. So basically I ve been doing homework.†(Kierstin White). 30 percent of high school students say they spend between two and five hours per day studying and doing school work outside of class (Survey conducted by the Hautes-Rivià ¨res school board inShow MoreRelatedShould Schools Compensate And Start Later?1347 Words   |  6 Pagesning head: ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 2 BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! A door opening and a parent saying â€Å"wake up, time for school,† is the average child s worst part of the day. Most kids hate having to wake up before noon to go to school. But why? Why is waking up early as a child such a problem, when adults wake up just as early to go to their jobs? Is it because children stay up later into the night than they used to? Or just because they’re bodies are on a different time schedule all together? And ifRead MoreEssay on Level 3 Childrens and Young Peoples Workforce Assignment 0234376 Words   |  18 PagesBegins to ask why, when and how questions, talks confidently and is able to define objects by their function. | 7 – 12 years | Begins to use and understand complex sentences, enjoys making up stories ans telling jokes and can write fairly lengthy essays. | 12 – 16 years | Has legible style of handwriting, understnads abstract language and can relate word meanings and context. | 16 – 19 years | Communitcates in an adult manner, is able to process texts and abstract meaning and can form complexRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagesillustrated the meaning and use of words; the great majority of the examples are due to him. Their merit is that they are not translations from English, but natural Igbo sentences elicited only by the stimulus of the word they illustrate. The short essays which appear from time to time (e.g. under otà ¹tà ¹, à ²Ã¯â‚¬ ¤gbanÌ„je) on aspects of culture are also his work, as are the sketches which served as basis for the illustrations, a large number of new words, and various features of the arrangement. When he hadRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 PagesPatterns of Industrial Bureaucracy (New York: Free Press, 1954). 4. See, for instance, James D. Thompson, Organizations in Action: Social Science Bases of Administrative Theory (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967). 5. Warren G. Bennis, Changing Organizations: Essays on the Development of Human Organization (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966); Rensis Likert, The Human Organization: Its Management and Value (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967). 6. Henry Mintzberg, The Structuring of Organizations: A Synthesis of the Research