Religious Themes in Oryx and Crake Essay -- World Literature Religion

Strict Themes in Oryx and Crake It is in these portrayals of Snowman that I trust Atwood is offering a complete expression with respect to whether God made man or whether man makes God. Without a doubt Atwood is proposing that man unavoidably, in spite of himself, makes God, with or without outside help. It appears that all through the novel there is an all-inclusive similitude of Snowman as different figures from the Christian book of scriptures. The primary figure that Snowman can be said to speak to is that of Adam, the principal man, however the likenesses between the two characters don't follow a similar sequence. Similarly as Adam is given the creatures as allies to investigate, comparatively Crake has guaranteed that the Crakers and Jimmy are both left in the recently re-made world as colleagues. Another solid likeness and statement with a double meaning can be seen in the Christian story of unique sin and Crake's mass obliteration of humankind. In Genesis, God puts aside one organic product tree and orders Adam not to contact or eat from it, because of Adam's double-crossing, God throws him out of heaven, and powers difficulty on him for the remainder of his life. In like manner, Jimmy is completely mindful the first occasion when he meets Oryx that she is beyond reach to him, yet his treachery of Crake eventually brings about his leaving Paradice and powers different difficulties on him. Ultimately, in the Snowman-as-Adam gadget, there is an acknowledgment that the mates which have been alloted by a higher force are deficient, and the accompanying urgent requirement for associates that are nearer on the transformative chain. For Adam, this friend was Eve. All through Atwood's epic Snowman is totally urgent for some buddy, somebody more understanding than the Crakers, or bet ter than his ow... ...t this prompts a somewhat intriguing discussion: regardless of whether the Crakers would have in the end made religion or in any event workmanship themselves, paying little mind to Snowman's impedance. I accept that Atwood is remarking on the way that it is man's tendency to be existential, to ponder where he originated from, and who made creation, and that it is normal to imagine potential responses to these inquiries when none are apparent. For instance, as Snowman returns after his invasion once again into the Compound he finds that the Crakers have made a symbol of him and are reciting his name in a manner which seems like 'So be it', next they'd concoct icons, and burial services, and grave products, and life following death, and sin...(361). Whichever way you take a gander at Snowman, as a strict patriarch or a portrayal of the scriptural snake, he is as yet ruining the Crakers with his bogus authoritative opinion.

Danger Underground: Nuclear Waste Disposal in Yucca Mountain Essay

Risk Underground: Nuclear Waste Disposal in Yucca Mountain Presentation The U.S. Division of Energy has proposed plans to store 70,000 tons of profoundly radioactive waste underground Yucca Mountain in Nevada. While numerous ecological inquiries and concerns have been raised about the security of the waste removal plan for the following 10,000 years, there seems, by all accounts, to be no other option. Squander from atomic weapons and atomic force plants are a genuine natural issue that will be available for a long time into the future. It ought to be society's obligation to think of progressively effective wellsprings of vitality, in spite of the expenses, to forestall the creation of increasingly dangerous waste later on. The atomic age created 52,000 tons of spent fuel from business, military, and research reactors, alongside 91 million gallons of radioactive waste from plutonium preparing (Long 12). Over 90% of the waste that should be put away is from business atomic force plants, and 10% is from barrier programs (Environmental Protection Agency/Yucca Mtn. Measures). The loss from protection programs basically collected during the weapons contest of the Cold War. Squander delivered from business atomic force plants is as of now put away in 131 separate offices in 43 unique states, the greater part of which are east of the Mississippi (Wheelwright 2002). A few government offices are answerable for dealing with this waste. The Department of Energy (DOE) runs the atomic offices and regulates cleanup performed by business temporary workers. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is liable for setting wellbeing and ecological waste norms for the drawn out capacity of waste created by these offices. The Department of Transportati... ... 2002. www.sacredland.org/yucca_mountain.html The Yucca Mountain Project. 2002. Referenced on 7 October 2002. www.ymp.gov/ U.S. Division of Energy: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 2002. Referenced on 11 Nov. 2002. www.eren.doe.gov/RE/solar.html U.S. Natural Protection Agency/Yucca Mtn. Norms. 2002. Referenced on 7 October 2002. www.epa.gov/radiation/yucca/about.htm Watson, Roland. Nevada Outraged by Eternal Dump for Nuclear Waste. The Times 24 Sept. 2002 Newspaper Source. Palni Site Search. Goshen College Good Library. 7 Oct. 2002. Wheelright, Jeff. Once There Was A Mountain in the Desert of Nevada. Discover 23 (Sept. 2002): 66-76. Scholastic Search Elite. Palni Site Search. Goshen College Good Library. 3 Nov.2002. Why Not Yucca Mountain? 2002. Referenced on 7 October 2002. www.nvantinuclear.org/

Signs Your Spouse Could Be Cheating

Signs Your Spouse Could Be Cheating Relationships Spouses & Partners Marital Problems Print Signs Your Spouse Could Be Cheating By Sheri Stritof Sheri Stritof has written about marriage and relationships for 20 years. Shes the co-author of The Everything Great Marriage Book. Learn about our editorial policy Sheri Stritof Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Carly Snyder, MD on November 13, 2019 facebook twitter linkedin Carly Snyder, MD is a reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist who combines traditional psychiatry with integrative medicine-based treatments.   Learn about our Medical Review Board Carly Snyder, MD on November 13, 2019 Mixmike / Getty Images More in Relationships Spouses & Partners Marital Problems LGBTQ Violence and Abuse Infidelity is one of the more challenging problems faced in a relationship. While many people are blindsided if and when they find out about a spouse or partner cheating, others may suspect it because of actions that are out of the norm. While everyone is different, and few signs of cheating are definitive, there are certain behaviors that, together, may back up your unfortunate hunch. Signs to Look For Behavior changes, curious actions, and odd occurrences can certainly indicate that a partner is having an affair. That said, its important to remember that that is not always the case. If you suspect that your partner is cheating, it is understandable to want a definitive way to prove your suspicion. While things like stepping outside to talk on the phone could be related to infidelity, there may be other explanations. Consider the following possible signs that your partner is not being faithful. As you can see, some of these signs actually are at odds with one another. This range of possibilities, which is certainly not inclusive of everything, shows just how different signs can be from one person to the next. Changes in Your Sex Life There is considerably less intimacy or connection in your relationship.Your sex life is practically non-existent.There are lots of new things introduced in sex that were never before.You learn that you have an STD and you have not strayed. Sudden Change in Habits The words I love you are not spoken by your spouse any longer.You cant even get your mate to fight with you.You cant get your spouse to communicate with you (stonewalling).Your spouse is suddenly more attentive than usual.Your spouse seems to want danger or thrills in his/her life.Your spouse is dressing nicer, looking nicer, or there is a sudden interest in appearance.Your spouse picks up a new hobby that requires a few hours of commitment per day. When you show interest in their new hobby, their answer seems vague or they brush you off.Your mate is working longer and longer hours at work.Your spouses wandering eye seems out of control. Attitude Changes Your spouse exhibits signs of low self-esteem.You notice your spouse has a sense of confusion about him or herself.Your spouse is more negative than before.Your spouse becomes more critical of you.Your spouse seems to be picking fights more often.Your spouse gets very defensive if you mention infidelity or affairs.When you ask for reassurance about cheating, you do not feel satisfied with the response. Lying and Avoidance You feel as if you are being avoided.He/she doesnt want to go anywhere or do anything with you anymore.You find your partner has been lying to you about a variety of things.Your spouse seems more secretive.Your partner abandons religious faith. Indifference Your spouse seems bored with you, a job, your children, hobbies, or even life in general.Your spouse has become lazy, especially around the house.Your spouse doesnt show any jealousy about you, no matter what you say.Your spouse is indifferent to family events like birthdays and holidays. Money Issues You notice charges on credit card statements that dont make sense.Money becomes more of an issue between the two of you.Your spouse stops planning for large purchases (such as a trip, buying a house, starting a renovation, etc.) A Change in Technology Use You notice cloud sharing has suddenly been switched off on your devices.Your spouse stops using shared devices altogether.Your spouse reduces their use of social media.Your partner clears the browser history on the home computer.Your spouses fitness tracker shows exercise at odd times and hours. Again, what may be a warning sign in one relationship may be nothing to be concerned about in another relationship.  In fact, most signs of infidelity are quite subtle. It is only when the lies and stories stop adding up that the cheating usually comes to light. What to Do If You Suspect Your Spouse Is Lying In most cases, even when you confront your partner with accusations of cheating, it will be denied. Unless you have hard evidence or irrefutable proof, many will not admit to infidelity. There are a few ways that you can tell if your spouse is lying. If you keep getting denial and push-back when trying to discuss your concerns with your partner, you may need to get professional help to sort through things. The 6 Best Online Marriage Counseling Programs

Overview of accounting analysis - 1529 Words

HOMEWORK 3: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. A finance student states, â€Å"I don’t understand why anyone pays any attention to accounting earnings numbers, given that a ‘clean’ number like cash from operations is readily available.† Do you agree? Why or why not? I disagree with the finance student, because net income forecasts future cash flow and is informative. a. Net income forecasts future cash flow better than current cash flow, and does so by recording transactions associated with cash consequences when the transactions occur, rather than when the cash is received or paid. To compute net income, the effects of economic transactions are recorded on the basis of expected, not necessarily actual, cash receipts and payments. b. Net income is†¦show more content†¦b. Accounts Receivable Days Ratio = Accounts Receivable Average Sales per Day The company that ships its products evenly throughout the quarter and has steady sales will have a lower accounts receivable days ratio. c. Cash Ratio = Cash + Short-Term Investments Current Liabilities The company that ships its products evenly throughout the quarter and has steady sales will have a higher cash ratio. 5. A. If management reports truthfully, what economic events are likely to prompt the following accounting changes? a. Increase in the estimated life of depreciable assets. If managers find out that the actual life of the depreciable assets lasted longer than was expected, managers will increase the estimated life of depreciable assets. b. Decrease in the uncollectible allowance as a percentage of gross receivables. The firm will decrease the percentage of uncollectable allowance when it receives orders from reliable customers. In contrast, the firm will increase the percentage of uncollectable allowance when it receives orders from unreliable customers. c. Recognition of revenues at the point of delivery, rather than at the point cash is received. A firm could recognize revenues at the point of delivery rather than at the point of cash receipt when its customer’s credit improves or its customer’s cash payment is not aShow MoreRelatedAnalysis: Overview of Accounting Paper1259 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis: Overview of Accounting Paper Running Head: Accounting paper March 25, 2008 MBA503 / Introduction to Finance and Accounting Accounting Paper Introduction The financial information is a very important matter in a company success. Allow them to see if they have been successful in the past, in the present and help them to predict a future performance of you company. The form, the use and the people involve with the financial and accounting information in a companyRead MoreAcc 201 Project 1 Bank Memo1225 Words   |  5 Pagesthe third quarter has generated high profits from the sale of our products. We believe that we will see an increase in profit and as a result we are submitting an overview of Peyton Approved financial information, our accounting system and accounting process to request a loan for business expansion. Overview of the Company’s Accounting System Peyton Approved uses a double-entry system to record all daily transactions; using this method not only ensures that a transaction will not be missed, butRead MoreComprehensive Annual Financial Report1416 Words   |  6 Pages(Investopedia, 2010). Included in this briefing, a comparison of the governmental and for-profit financial accounting will be discussed, an understanding of the government reporting and reporting entity, and an overview of the Management Discussion Analysis report for the state of Washington. The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) requires statistical evaluation, whereas for-profit accounting does not. A government budget document is a blueprint for a specific grouping of government agenciesRead MoreKudler Fine Foods Computer Information System Essay1090 Words   |  5 Pagesinformation systems. This paper will discuss the needs of the company in regards to business operations and accounting, as well as discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the systems currently in place. Based on the current technological opportunities, suggestions will be made to further improve these systems, and evaluate any threats that may affect these systems. Primary Findings Business and Accounting Needs Business Needs As a retail company, Kudler Fine Foods needs to run as smoothly and efficientlyRead MoreGovernment Accounting1454 Words   |  6 PagesOverview of government accounting Government accounting Government accounting refers to the different accounting systems that the different entities in the public sector use. Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) set the accounting standards to be used by the state and local government. The role of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is to set up and improve the accounting standards of state and local government. It also ensures that financial reporting gives accurate andRead MoreComprehensive Annual Financial Report Briefing Essay1158 Words   |  5 PagesNot- For- Profit Government Accounting Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Briefing The Village of Tinley Park, is located in Cook County, Illinois, was entered in 1892 under the provisions of the constitution and general statutes of Illinois. The Village operates under government of the trustee-village and provides many services including planning, public safety, zoning, roads, and general administrative services (Tinley Park, 2009). The accounting policies of Tinley Park comportRead MoreKudler Fine Foods - Accounting System972 Words   |  4 PagesKudler Fine Foods - Accounting System Eric Raymond BSA/310 September 3, 2012 Dr. Marcia Reid Kudler Fine Foods - Accounting System The purpose of this paper is to describe the value of a new accounting system for Kudler Fine Foods. The author will cover the key features, core technology, benefits, and cost of the proposed system. In businesses today, it is imperative that the accounting system be tied into every aspect of a business and integrated within all of the information systemsRead MoreReview of Sandwich Master Essay1747 Words   |  7 PagesInternal Control And Accounting Systems An Overview of the Sales Ledger and Credit Control Sandwich Master Ltd Word Count: I confirm that this is my own work unaided for ICAS and that no additional support has been provided. I have read and understood the terms and conditions. Contents 1. Terms of Reference 3 2. Methodology 3 3. Executive Summary 3 4. Introduction 4 5. Review of Current Accounting Systems 4 6. Weakness 4 7. Recommendations for Improvements 4 8Read MoreProcurement and Accounting Issues1305 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract In this case of Toy Central Cooperation the aim is to evaluate company risks and accounting issues facing a Toy Company, and establish how these issues would transform into required particular audit risks. In performing the analyses, there is need to draw on all-purpose information of toys and perhaps to investigate a number of of the accounting procedure issues confronting the Toy Company. Throughout this evaluation and analyses, there is a necessity for the Company to see a needRead MoreBasic Accounting Syllabus1024 Words   |  5 PagesCourse Syllabus Basic Accounting School Year 2011-2012 First Semester I. CATALOGUE COURSE DESCRIPTION A. Course Code and No.: ACCTG 1 B. Course Title: Basic Accounting C. Course Description: Basic accounting introduces the importance of accounting and also the basic steps and techniques used. The material covered will also include coverage of the principles and procedures of the accounting cycle for a sole proprietorship and merchandising organizations. General-purpose

Measuring the Inflation Risk in the market - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1364 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The Domestic Fisher Effects implies that the nominal rate of interest is equal to the sum of real interest rate and the expected inflation rate. K = Re + Onf. Where: K = Nominal Rate of Interest Re = Real Rate of Interest (roughly which is the same across the world) Onf. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Measuring the Inflation Risk in the market" essay for you Create order = Inflation Rate The real interest rate is defined as the global economy growth rate, which comes out to be approximately 3%. The nominal interest rate is determined by inflation in a country. That explains why the nominal interest rates differ in two countries. The underlying principle is that investors should be compensated to accommodate for inflation. For example, suppose if you invest in Brazil and you expect to get a 3% real return on your investment and suppose the inflation rate in Brazil is 20%, and then you must get at least 23% nominal rate of return. Otherwise it is really not worth investing. Foreign Exchange Risk The Purchasing Power Parity theory implies that the prices of goods, in the nonexistence of restrictions of trade and costs of transportation, should be the same in 2 countries. In short, this leads to the Law of One Price that stands all across the globe. In language of exchange rates, this implies that the exchange rate between two countries should be equal to the ratio of the price level of a fixed basket of goods and services respectively in the two countries. S$/Â £ = P$/PÂ £ For example, this means that a purse in the US should cost the same as a purse in Canada once you take into account the exchange rate. If the purse cost $5 in the U.S. and let say the exchange rate is 1US$ = 1.50 CAN$, then the purse should cost CAN$7.5 in Canada, otherwise then arbitrage could be possible. Secondary Risks:- Political risk associated with investment in foreign country: Nationalization of natural resources (e.g. mines, oil deposits) Limits on repatriation of funds Expropriation Currency controls (e.g. manipulation of exchange rate) Non-tariff barriers design to protect domestic producers (e.g. stringent health or labeling requirements, excessive documentation and red tape) Country of origin and local content rules, Rules about having locals nationals form a significant part of senior management. Government or private domestic equity in multinational subsidiary Economic Risk associated with investment in foreign country: Tax regulations and their effect on expected profitability Exchange rate fluctuations Social Risk associated with investment in foreign country: Labor laws Religious differences Cultural differences Q-2 The portfolio manager wants to fully hedge the primary risks associated with bonds. The primary risk involved is inflation risk and foreign exchange risk. Inflation risk will affect the yield associated with the bonds whereas foreign exchange risk will affect the conversion from foreign currency to UK currency. To hedge against the above two primary risks, hedging instruments that will be affective are bond futures and FX options. As it has been stated in the case that there is some possibility that currency markets could move in their favor and hence FX options will provide flexibility of participation in any favorable move, whilst being fully protected against adverse moves. Bond futures will provide hedge against elevated risk of extreme volatility in the markets during the next three months and also will help cater to the mandate that they remain fully invested at all times. Q-3 Hedge strategy using FX Options:- A portfolio manager can use option derivatives to have the right (not obligation) to buy or sell an asset at a specified price before a given date in the future. There are two types of options: Call Option: When someone buys a call option then he is actually buying the right to call or purchase that underlying asset at a specific price which is known as the strike price, but before a specified point in time which is known as the expiration date. Put Option: When an investor buys a put option then he is actually buying the right to put or sell that underlying asset for a specific price to the writer of the option but before the expiration date. In order to receive the opportunity to buy/sell an option, an investor needs to pay a premium. It should be noted that if the market is not able to reach the strike price of the option, then that option will eventually expire worthless on the expiration date. But if incase the market does actually reach the strike price of the opt ion on the expiration date then in that case the investor will be assigned the underlying future at that strike price. The advantages of buying a call or a put option are as follows: Leverage: It means that an investor could gain leverage in a stock without actually committing to the trade Hedging: It means that options allow investors to protect their positions against price fluctuations in the case when its not attractive to change the underlying position: Buyer of option can never lose more than the premium of the option Seller of option can never win more than the premium of the option The costs associated with option are as follows: Costs. The costs of trading options, which includes both commissions and the bid or ask spread is usually significantly higher than trading the underlying stock when calculated on percentage basis; and these costs can drastically reduce your profits. Complexity. Options are very complex and thus require a great deal of observ ation and maintenance. Time decay. The time-sensitive nature of options actually makes most options expire worthless after expiration time. In the case of the FX options case, let us assume that the Portfolio Manager is presented with the following possibilities for put options. He has an alternative to buy these put options to actually restrict his loss in the event of a market downturn. Option # Strike Price Value Premium 1 $1,450 $50M 2 $1,400 $40M 3 $1,375 $20M 4 $1,350 $15M Lets suppose that the market drops to $1,200. Following are the losses sustained by the Portfolio Manager based on the option purchased. Option Description Loss in Portfolio Loss in Premium Overall Loss Option 1: Buy Put Option #1: ($1,500 $1,450) = $50M $50M $100M Option 2: Buy Put Option #2 ($1,500 $1,400) = $100M $40M $140M Option 3: Buy Put Option #3 ($1,500 $1,375) = $125M $20M $145M O ption 4: Buy Put Option #4 ($1,500 $1,350) = $150M $15M $165M Option 5: Do nothing ($1,500 $1,200) = $300M 0 $300M Hedge strategy using Bond Futures:- Example -1 On 1/10/2010, the notional 10-year bond (from zero coupon yield curve) was Rs.45.43. You think the long rate will go up, so you short three futures contracts (12,000 bonds) @ Rs.49. On 31/12/2010, the notional 10-year bond is at Rs.39. You gain a profit of Rs.10/bond or Rs.120, 000 overall. Example-2 On 19 Feb 1994, the notional 10-year bond was at Rs.32. The 31/10/1994 futures were trading at Rs.33. You thought interest rates would go down, so you purchased two futures contracts (8000 bonds) @ Rs.33. Interest rates went up On expiration; the notional bond was at Rs.21.4. Thus resulting in a loss of Rs.92, 800. Q-4 Short report There are various risk associated with investing in multiple countries. The risks can be categorized in two forms. The primary risks that can be hedged against via various hedging instruments. The secondary risks such as social, political and economic risks which needs to be borne by the portfolio manager and which cannot be completely hedged against even with help of hedging financial instruments. They can be taken care of adequate fundamental analysis of the countries where the portfolio manager chooses to invest. The primary risks associated are inflation risk and foreign exchange risk. Inflation risk will affect the yield associated with the bonds whereas foreign exchange risk will affect the conversion from foreign currency to UK currency. To hedge against the above two primary risks, hedging instruments that will be affective are bond futures and FX options. As it has been stated in the case that there is some possibility that currency markets could move in their fav or and hence FX options will provide flexibility of participation in any favorable move, whilst being fully protected against adverse moves. Bond futures will provide hedge against elevated risk of extreme volatility in the markets during the next three months and also will help cater to the mandate that they remain fully invested at all times.

The Brute Free Essays

The drama essay â€Å"The Brute† by Anton Chekhov is typically referred to that subgenre of comedy known as the farce. What separates a farce from the more pedestrian and commonplace â€Å"comedy† is that it is infused with a sense of whimsy as well as a detachment from reality that, paradoxically, should serve to make it all the more realistic. In the case of The Bear the farcical elements are utilized to heighten the emotional intensity that is under normal circumstances subject to far too much control and restraint to allow it freedom in a work of drama as short as this play. We will write a custom essay sample on The Brute or any similar topic only for you Order Now The revelation that love and the realization of love is enough to make Smirnoff undergo the series of truly bizarre and unexpected changes in register could probably only be accomplished in a farce. The arguments that take place between Mrs. Popov and Smirnov serve both to provide the comic material for the play and as a foundation upon which to build Smirnov’s growing realization that he succumbing to the ultimate debt of love. Popov has retained her commitment to her husband long after his death has released her from that debt. Smirnov is a landowner who had lent money to Mr. Popov’s husband before his death and who has now shown up to demand repayment because he, in turn, is facing down his own creditors. The cyclical nature of debt and repayment serves as a metaphor for relationships between men and women. The play proceeds from a point of Popov’s refusal and Smirnov’s reactions. It is the evolution of Smirnov’s reactions that is the key to understanding his character. The progression of the play is through dialogue rather than action and the progression of the dialogue of Smirnov is one of self-assuredness-almost cockiness-to a sense of losing control, which ultimately leads Smirnov to realize he has fallen in love. Smirnov boasts that he has â€Å"refused twelve women and nine have refused† him. These are the words of a man still secure in his independence before a woman; an insecure man never admits that a woman has refused him, much less nine. The subject at hand is still the debt as the argument intensifies, but then Mrs. Popov takes it from the financial to the personal. She attacks his very humanity by crying out â€Å"You’re nothing but a crude, bear! A brute! A monster! â€Å". Finally, things progress-as it seems it always must-to weapons being brought to bear. Mrs. Popov goes for her husband’s pistols, essentially turning the argument into a full scale duel. There is only one problem: Mrs. Popov does not know how to fire the gun. At this point, she ceases to be a debtor and is well on her way to becoming a woman. Smirnov is lost. Smirnov’s reactions to Mrs. Popov change considerably after weapons are introduced and since it is clear he has no real fear for his life, this change that comes over only can only be attributed to a death in his original feelings for the widow as his emotional trek comes to a rest a full one-hundred eighty degrees from where he started. Nothing in either his words or his actions could lead one to suppose that any element of truth is expressed when Smirnov asserts â€Å"If she fights I’ll shoot her like a chicken! . One can well imagine the Smirnov who first entered Mrs. Popov’s home at the beginning of the play actually entertaining this idea-if not actually going through with it-but the words ring empty and hollow by the point at which they are actually spoken. The Bear is a drama-perhaps even a tragedy if one cares to extrapolate what may happen to these two characters once the curtain comes down upon this small moment in their lives-masquerading as a farce. And, of course, it has to be that way. If the events that take place within the short period of time allotted in this short play were played straight and dramatically, Smirnov’s strange, comedic odyssey from cold, heartless debt collector to overwhelmed object of love would draw even more laughs, albeit unintentionally. To show the absurdity of Smirnov’s situation, indeed the absurdity of how any two people come to fall in love, the farce is the writer’s best weapon. It provides a method of distancing the audience from realizing they too are characters in a real life farce every time they fall in love. How to cite The Brute, Essay examples

Business Entrepreneurship for Di Bella Coffee †Visit for Complete Sol

Question: Describe about the Business Entrepreneurship for Di Bella Coffee. Answer: The entrepreneur chosen for the essay is Phillip Di Bella, founder and managing director of Di Bella Coffee. In a few short years, Di Bella Coffee has become a very successful business. Many topics are discussed in the essay regarding the growth and development of the firm started by the entrepreneur along with future recommendations. The piece will provide a deeper understanding of the ideas and background of opening the new venture. The company has been witnessed some developments along with recognition with an array of various prestigious awards. However, the success story of Phillip Di Bella is fuelled by innovation, commitment, and passion. In the year of 2006, Di Bella Coffee is recognized for its growth of business. Gradually after 2010, the company had started to expand its business operations outside Australia i.e. in China, India, New Zealand, etc. in 2015. Di Bella Coffee is known for the leadership and business strategy of Phillips Di Bella. He is a revolutionary icon in the industry of beverage market, especially in the caf market. There were many competitors at that time when Phillips started his new small venture with a coffee roasting machine. He is passionate about coffee and is focused on providing an exceptional customer service to the people of Australia. Philips has understood that focusing on customers will help in growing his business at world-class level (Maher 2014). A dynamic business environment with the increase of competition in the market has lead Di Bella to introduce new and unique exceptional services to the customers. Before opening the business, Phillips had done an extensive market research about the experience of the clients with the existing caf present in the Australian market. Customers are not satisfied with the taste and flavor of the coffee available in the market. It is the point of opening his new vent ure in the Australian market (Paterson et al. 2014). On extensive research, Philips had found that most of the Australians drink coffee with milk without proper blend and flavor. Phillips vast knowledge about different types of coffee blends and perfect mixes is the key area of success of his company in the market. He believes that focusing on business needs will not only result in success in business in the long run. However, his business focuses towards the needs of the customers. The core aspect of achieving trust from the customers is by targeting the needs. There is an another perspective that has put Philips in setting apart in the field of opening business the coffee retail chain in Australia (Featherstone et al. 2014). Thinking ability of Phillips in changing the traditional standard product into a new product with new texture and flavor helped in gaining customer preference along with loyalty. It is seen that the clients of Di Bella Coffee are very loyal to the brand. They like the products of the company. He has also started to teach people about the coffee industry and the single cup of coffee from the enterprise. Customers can analyze the perfect cup of coffee provided by the corporation (Glavas 2013). It is a unique approach to increasing the brand awareness among the public. Phillips Di Bellas entrepreneurship is celebrated for many years in many parts of the world. The passion for coffee and entrepreneurial spirit had led him to open a small coffee roasting business operations in Brisbane in the year of 2002. Ernst Young have recognized Di Bella as a finalist in the field of entrepreneur of the year in the year 2005. Finally, he received the award on 2008. Entrepreneurship of Di Bella is popular in Australia. The socio-cultural background of Di Bella is influenced by community involvement (Dibellacoffee.com, 2016). Apart from his business, Phillip has many community building roles. The significant level of participation of Philips in many community developmental programs has helped in earning prestigious awards and recognitions. The awards include Corporate Citizenship Award, the order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, etc. for his great contribution to the Italian community (Fritz et al. 2015). Apart from focusing on business, Philip is dedicated to encouraging environment and building relationships. Phillip is a very passionate person. However, he is also interested in developing passion among others also. It is the reason of involvement of him in the community engagement programs (DiBella 2013). He inspires passion among others. Phillip involved in various charitable organizations and contributed a lot. The most notable organization he is involved is Pyjama Foundation. He used to organize a recreational camp for careers and children of the disadvantaged and underprivileged children in the local community (Kosalge and Ritz 2015). He is a keen observer of people. With the dissatisfaction in customer service in the industry, he opened his company by convincing clients of providing better service. This had encouraged him to improve his business in the market. The exceptional signature blends of the coffee of Di Bella are now famous for the creation of the global brand. In his initial days, Philips had visited clients to attract customers for his new business venture (Neilson et al. 2013). The competitive advantage of Philip is there in the Australian market. The main competitor of Di Bella Coffee is Victoria Coffee in Australia. Apart from that, there are other coffee retail chains such as Barista, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. These coffee chains are global chains and are present in many countries of the world. Di Bella Coffee not only faces competition in Australia from these retailers but also in its foreign operations. However, Philips has a different point of view (Carter et al. 2015). It is discussed earlier that, Di Bella Coffee is focused on customers more than its products. It is the reason of maintaining a strong brand image in the market. Phillip also admitted the fact that in the modern competitive business world, with the change in a business environment the taste and preference of consumers also changes. New taste has evolved in the market. This has encouraged Phillip to develop the taste of its products in the Australian market. Consumers preferences have also changed in other countries such as New Zealand, India, etc. The above competitors are present in these markets also. The innovative mind of Phillips has resulted in many methods of brewing coffee that will provide a good taste but different from the previous ones. The caf specializes in bringing coffee from various parts of the world (Perrone et al. 2015). Apart from these, the company for making product differentiation also uses different brewing methods. Though Di Bella Coffee is progressing its operations towards many countries of the world, there are many restrictions that the company has to face while entering into new countries. Phillips mainly faced cultural issues in different countries of the world. The consumers of target market may not prefer the taste of coffee that is preferable in Australia. Apart from that, Philips has to change the business strategy of its company to capture the trust and preference of the customers in the host country (Glavas 2013). The HRM procedures are to be formulated in a way to gaining an understanding of the nature of the people. The policies that are feasible in Australia may not provide actual result in the foreign countries due to cultural differences. Out of the box, thinking is required both in the field of product variation and recruitment of a right candidate for the maintenance of branch operations. There is a need for product changes that can hit the taste buds of the customers of the t arget market. Apart from different blends of coffee, Phillips can innovate new ranges of food products with coffee for the customers. The company can expand its business operations in other countries by adopting various entry modes such as mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, franchise, etc. Among these entry methods, Di Bella can adopt mergers and acquisitions for entering into a foreign market (Neilson and Shonk 2014). Apart from that, Phillips can also expand the stores of the company by increasing the number of products. A different section of the store can sell other complementary fast foods other than coffee. It will also increase the brand image of the company by tapping new customers. Entrepreneurship is setting a business of own. Philips had started his business initially on a small scale. It is discussed earlier that Di Bella Coffee has gradually shown the progress. Now the company has adopted processes of globalization for expanding business operations in many countries of the world. The essay discusses entrepreneurial skills of an Australian entrepreneur. Phillips Di Bella is recognized as one of the most famous entrepreneurs in Australia. His zeal for development and passion for coffee has influenced him to achieve a great platform within such a short span of life. Apart from Phillips, many other entrepreneurs have flourished their business in Australia. Focus on people is the main area of success of the company in the competitive market. Many technologies are used in roasting and brewing coffee. Phillips had identified the potential demands in the market to grow the business of coffee in Australia. References Carter, J.F., Yates, H.S. and Tinggi, U., 2015. Isotopic and Elemental Composition of Roasted Coffee as a Guide to Authenticity and Origin.Journal of agricultural and food chemistry,63(24), pp.5771-5779. DiBella, A.J., 2013. Sustainable change (or the end of change) at the US Mint: A case exercise.The International Journal of Management Education,11(2), pp.55-65. Dibellacoffee.com. (2016).About Phillip Di Bella | Di Bella Coffee. [online] Available at: https://dibellacoffee.com/Our-Story/About-Phillip-Di-Bella [Accessed 9 Sep. 2016]. Featherstone, T., 2014. Q and A with Phillip Di Bella.Company Director,30(9), p.12. Fritz, S., See, L., McCallum, I., You, L., Bun, A., Moltchanova, E., Duerauer, M., Albrecht, F., Schill, C., Perger, C. and Havlik, P., 2015. Mapping global cropland and field size.Global change biology,21(5), pp.1980-1992. Glavas, C., 2013. International marketing implementation:The sweet aroma of success. Modification of products for new markets: The case of TORQ by Di Bella Coffee, case study.International Marketing: An Asia-Pacific perspective (6e), pp.680-680. Glavas, C., 2013. The sweet aroma of success: Modification of products for new markets in the case of TORQ by Di Bella Coffee.International Marketing: An Asia-Pacific Perspective [6th ed.], pp.680-683. Kosalge, P.U. and Ritz, E., 2015. Finding the tipping point for a CEO to say yes to an ERP: a case study.Journal of Enterprise Information Management,28(5), pp.718-738. Maher, B., 2014. Sardinia comes to Australia: Finding spaces for Mediterranean writing in translation.Journal of Australian Studies,38(3), pp.304-313. Neilson, J. and Shonk, F., 2014. Chained to Development? Livelihoods and global value chains in the coffee-producing Toraja region of Indonesia.Australian Geographer,45(3), pp.269-288. Neilson, J., Hartatri, D.S.F. and Lagerqvist, Y.F., 2013. Coffee-based livelihoods in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Paterson, R.R.M., Lima, N. and Taniwaki, M.H., 2014. Coffee, mycotoxins and climate change.Food research international,61, pp.1-15. Perrone, A. and Wodonga, T.A.F.E., 2015. Centralian College: Creating a strategic marketing plan for long-term growth.Marketing, p.85.

Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic Essay Example

Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic Essay Similarly, the economic issues in the industry are also mostly concerned with deregulation. The evolution of industry structure plays an important role in determining the robustness and stability of lower airfares in unregulated markets (2000). Deregulation also keeps airline fares so low as compared to that of other countries. The reason for this is because despite the failure of most entrants since deregulation, investors continue to create new airlines. There is substantial evidence that entry, particularly by low-cost, low-fare airlines, has a substantial effect in constraining fare levels in markets served by the new carriers (2000). The second reason is that some in the industry have argued that financially marginal carriers may act in ways that depress prices below competitive levels, inducing contagion in financial distress (2000). In addition, some industry participants have argued that financially distressed carriers have cut prices in an effort to raise short-term cash, depressing market prices below efficient levels and threatening the financial security of healthy carriers. Another economic concern is the fact that the airline economy of the US is in a huge upset after the September 11 attack. Some of the companies declared bankruptcy while others are still struggling to survive (2003). The contribution of the airline sector to the local and world economy is also another economic issue that should be noted. In UK, one of its contributions to the economy is its role in increasing jobs, whereas it was reported that aviation directly provided 180,000 jobs in the UK in 1998 0. 8% of total employment. 0% of these jobs were in Greater London, where the industry accounted for 2. 1% of all jobs (2002). This has increased over the years as attested by DfT. It reported that the aviation industry now directly supports around 200,000 jobs, and indirectly up to three times as many (2006). The airlines industry also greatly contribute to the GDP of the UK economy as the (2002) reported that the â€Å"total value-added (i. e. the value of its output less the cost of inputs bought in from other industries) by the UK aviation industry in 1998 was estimated to be ? 10. 2 billion in 1998 prices, quivalent to 1. 4% of GDP†. It contributes specifically by region, as it makes a direct contribution as a source of output and productivity growth in its own right (2002). The Oxford Economic Forecasting (2002) also argued that good air transport links are important to encouraging inward investment into the UK and to encouraging firms already located here to base new projects in this country. Furthermore, because it is part of the transport infrastructure, it helps make business transactions faster, creates more options, and provides a boost to the tourism of the country. We will write a custom essay sample on Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As transportation infrastructure theory posits, improved transport systems can boost productivity growth across the rest of the economy. The economic prosperity that UK currently experience also have some implications on the airlines industry. According to (2003), â€Å"Economic prosperity brings with it greater demand for travel. As people get wealthier, they can afford to travel further and more often†. Currently, half the population of the UK now flies at least once a year, and freight traffic at UK airports has doubled since 1990 (2003). It has been forecasted that air travel in the UK will continue to increase over the years, but (2003) warns that this is somewhat uncertain as they may be negative factors that the industry may encounter along the way. For instance, DfT forecasted that market for air travel might mature more rapidly than expected, causing the rate of growth to slow more quickly than forecast. Furthermore, other economic concerns of the industry include the possible increase of flying costs, for instance, due to rising oil prices or due to the costs of tackling global warming. CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES OF VIRGIN ATALANTIC AIRWAYS: Technological factors include head to head competition in the technological innovations in the industry. Traveling in air is a dangerous task that’s why aircraft engineers have been researching ways to improve security in airlines. Technological advances have resulted in automated cockpit procedures to make up for the human errors that usually occur (2000). Sixty eight percent of crashes are attributed to human error. This may include error during aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance, or installation. Security breaches that result in terrorist activities can also be attributed to human error. This is the reason why technological innovations in safety are important in the airlines industry. Other technological factors include Customer Relation Management in the Internet. Online solutions alternative to dial-up are also technological factors that may determine competitiveness as an alternative mean can basically cut the cost of the company. According to (2004), a remote access solution could provide significant cost savings by allowing the engineers, who were responsible for maintaining the aircraft, to access essential information on the companys systems from wherever they were in the world, using remote web access. Fault and service assurance solutions are also technologies that airline companies mostly invest. This type of technology provides the network management team of an airline a real-time, consolidated view of the network to help ensure the availability of network-based products and services (2002). Another technological concern in airline services today is the integration of electronic flight bag solutions or EFB. EFB is an electronic display system intended primarily for cockpit/flight deck or cabin use (2003). One of its advantages is that it can display a variety of aviation data or perform basic calculations (e. . , performance data, fuel calculations, etc. ) (Aircraft Electronic Association, 2003). EFB is categorized into two classes: Class 1 and Class 2. A Class 1 EFB can be used on the ground and during flight as a source of supplemental information, while a Class 2 EFB can display flight critical pre-composed information such as charts or approach plates for navigation (2003). CURRENT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Attention. For airlines, the two most important issues are: the reason for travel (business or leisure); and the class of preferred travel (first, business, or economy). The Frequent Flyer survey in 1997 both business and leisure consumers listed the following ten factors driving overall airline satisfaction: on time performance (22 percent), schedule/flight accommodation (15 percent), airport check-in (15 percent), seating comfort (12 percent), gate location (9 percent), aircraft interior (7 percent), flight attendants (6 percent), food service (5 percent), post-flight service (5 percent), and frequent flyer programs (4 percent) (1998). Today, consumers are more demanding especially in terms of service quality. Fortunately, the airline industry can be considered as the pioneer of customer relationship management as they are the first sector to introduce the frequent-flyers program to increase the loyalty of customers (2002). However, the airlines of today cannot keep up with the pace of CRM. A survey of 17 major airlines around the world reveals that even the most sophisticated among them have only a basic understanding of who their most valuable customers are, or could be, which factors affect the behavior of customers, and which CRM levers are most effective in ensuring loyalty (2002). They stated that most airlines lack the systems and process to implement CRM. (2002) Stressed based on their research, that data aren’t consistently or accurately collected in any of the mediums that airports use. Furthermore, another problem for airlines is that they rarely know how much their customers spend with their competitors. (2002) Stated that building customer database is the key to CRM and should be the easiest part for airlines given that they have loyalty programs. Currently, most airlines still are building or thinking of building data warehouses to store variously sourced databases (2002). Finally, another social factor to be considered is the fact that airlines are still exposed to terrorist attacks. This has a tremendous impact on airline security and economy. This is why two of the utmost concerns of the UK Department for Transport are safety and security (2003). Fortunately, the UK airlines industry has a good record in safety, with accident rates kept low despite the rapid rise in traffic levels over the past two decades. The industry continues to follow a high standard of safety, for instance, regular inspections and maintenance of aircrafts. Safety in the UK airlines industry also improved as a proactive measure on terrorist attacks. For instance, the list of prohibited items in the aircraft cabin has been extended, carrying out secondary searches of passengers and their cabin baggage at the departure gate, requiring UK airlines to fit special intrusion-resistant flight deck doors, and establishing a capability to put covert armed police on UK aircraft where necessary (2003). Service quality is another social concern in the UK airline industry. According to (2003), standards of service are a legitimate element of competition between operators. Airline consumers are now a dynamic part of the industry as they are more empowered than ever, expecting high levels of personal attention and customer service, and more confident in making complaints (2003). CURRENT ENVIRONMENT OF VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS: In the local environment, local elections to be held on May this year could made Tony Blair’s concentration in national issues such as health and education shift into local issues such as crime, anti-social behavior and environment (). As a result, transport industries including aviation should consider this early the type of their fuels and fix emission loopholes. They must research oil suppliers that sell environment-conscious fuels and test its efficiency and compatibility with aircraft engines including preparation to possible fluctuations in present fuel costs. In fuel-related issue, the European Union resorted legal action against member countries like France, Germany and Italy of protecting their utility firms against foreign competition (). As a result, prices of fuels failed to obtain efficiencies of competitive industry making oil prices for the transport sector more costly. Local aviation firms should consider this EU action significant disincentive to their cost-effective strategies because UK, unlike the mentioned countries, fosters foreign imports making oil prices for the industry cheaper. If these countries are able to liberalize the energy sector, possible cost strategy is necessary to retain the prior upper hand. Research suggests that rural, metropolitan and London population employed, unemployed or economically inactive dispose most of their weekly budget to transportation along with food and recreation (). Since socio-cultural segment affects economic and political/ legal segments (2003), aviation industry could less be influenced by the latter outcomes despite of their ambiguity (will Blair retain position or will EU countries accept the directive) because consumers are willing to pay with little regard to price, instead, value of service. As a result, it is more strategic to focus on operations than financial structures. Another finding show that 58% of the household population has computers while 49% of which has internet connection with metropolitan areas like London posted the highest incidence (). This information is relevant to most huge firms like Virgin Atlantic Airways who heavily relies in e-business with its interactive website wherein customers can obtain flight schedules and book a flight with their fingertips. The firm through other forms of media can address the other half of the population without computers. In addition, it can also verify through additional scanning the prevalence of Internet cafe in rural areas where household ownership is relatively low.

The Importance of Infrastructure

The Importance of Infrastructure Infrastructure is a term architects, engineers, and urban planners use to describe essential facilities, services, and organizational structures for communal use, most commonly by residents of cities and towns. Politicians often think of infrastructure in terms of how a nation can help corporations move and deliver their goods- water, electricity, sewage, and merchandise are all about movement and delivery via infrastructure. Infra- means below, and sometimes these elements are literally below the ground, like water and natural gas supply systems. In modern environments, infrastructure is thought to be any facility we expect but dont think about because it works for us in the  background, unnoticed- below our radar. The global information infrastructure for communications and internet involves satellites in space- not underground at all, but we rarely think about how that last Tweet got to us so quickly. Infrastructure is not American or exclusive to the United States. For example, engineers in nations across the globe have developed high-tech solutions for flood control- one system that protects an entire community. All countries have infrastructure in some form, which can include these systems: Roads, tunnels, and bridges, including the Interstate Highway SystemMass-transit systems (e.g., trains and rails)Airport runways and control towersTelephone lines and cellphone towersDams and reservoirsHurricane barriersLevees and pumping stationsWaterways, canals, and portsElectrical power lines and connections (i.e., the national power grid)Fire stations and equipmentHospitals, clinics, and emergency response systemsSchoolsLaw enforcement and prisonsSanitation and waste removal facilities for solid waste, wastewater, and hazardous wastePost offices and mail deliveryPublic parks and other types of green infrastructure Infrastructure Definition infrastructure:  The framework of interdependent networks and systems comprising identifiable industries, institutions (including people and procedures), and distribution capabilities that provide a reliable flow of products and services essential to the defense and economic security of the United States, the smooth functioning of governments at all levels, and society as a whole. - Report of the President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, 1997 Why Infrastructure Is Important We all use these systems, which are often called public works, and we expect them to function for us, but we dont like to pay for them. Many times the cost is hidden in plain view- added taxes to your utility and telephone bill, for example, may help pay for infrastructure. Even teenagers with motorbikes help pay for infrastructure with every gallon of gasoline used. A highway-user tax is added to each gallon of motor fuel (e.g., gasoline, diesel, gasohol) sold. This money goes into what is called the Highway Trust Fund in order to pay for repairs and replacement of roads, bridges, and tunnels. Likewise, each airline ticket you buy has a federal excise tax that should be used to maintain the infrastructure needed to support air travel.  Both state and federal governments are allowed to add taxes to certain products and services in order to help pay for the infrastructure that supports them. The infrastructure may begin to crumble if the tax doesnt keep increasing enough. These exci se taxes are consumption taxes that are in addition to your income taxes, which also can be used to pay for infrastructure. Infrastructure is important because we all pay for it and we all use it. Paying for infrastructure can be as complicated as the infrastructure itself. Nevertheless, most people depend on transportation systems and public utilities, which also are essential for the economic vitality of our businesses. As Senator Elizabeth Warren (Dem, MA) famously stated, You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didnt have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 2011 When Infrastructure Fails When natural disasters strike, stable infrastructure is necessary for swift delivery of emergency supplies and medical care. When fires rage in drought-ravaged areas of the U.S. we expect firefighters to be on the scene until the neighborhoods are safe. All countries are not so fortunate. In Haiti, for example, the lack of well-developed infrastructure contributed to the deaths and injuries suffered during and after the earthquake of January 2010. Every citizen should expect to live in comfort and safety. On the most basic level, every community requires access to clean water and sanitary waste disposal. Poorly maintained infrastructure can lead to a devastating loss of life and property. Examples of failed infrastructure in the U.S. include: When the Oroville Dams spillway eroded, thousands of Californians evacuated, 2017Unsafe drinking water from lead supply pipes affected the health of children in Flint, Michigan, 2014Sewer spills during hard rains in Houston, Texas created a public health hazard, 2009The collapse of Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota killed motorists, 2007Failure of the levees and pump stations after Hurricane Katrina flooded communities in New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005 Governments Role in Infrastructure Investing in infrastructure is nothing new for governments. Thousands of years ago, Egyptians built irrigation and transportation systems with dams and canals. Ancient Greeks and Romans built roads and aqueducts that still stand today. The 14th-century Parisian sewers have become tourist destinations. Governments around the world have realized that investing in and maintaining a healthy infrastructure is an important government function. Australias Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development claims that It is an investment that has a multiplier effect throughout the economy, generating lasting economic, social and environmental benefits. In an age of terrorist threats and attacks, the U.S. has stepped up efforts to secure critical infrastructure, extending the list of examples to  systems related to Information and communications, gas and oil production/storage/transportation, and even banking and finance. The list is the subject of an ongoing debate. Critical infrastructures now include national monuments (e.g. Washington Monument), where an attack might cause a large loss of life or adversely affect the nation’s morale. They also include the chemical industry....A fluid definition of what constitutes a critical infrastructure could complicate policymaking and actions. - Congressional Research Service, 2003 In the U.S. the Infrastructure Security Division and the  National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center are part of the Department of Homeland Security. Watchdog groups like the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) keep track of progress and needs by issuing an infrastructure report card every year. Books About Infrastructure Infrastructure: The Book of Everything for the Industrial Landscape by Brian HayesThe Works: Anatomy of a City by Kate AscherMove: How to Rebuild and Reinvent Americas Infrastructure by Rosabeth Moss KanterThe Road Taken: The History and Future of Americas Infrastructure by Henry Petroski Sources President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, October 1997, pp. B-1 to B-2, PDF at https://fas.org/irp/crs/RL31556.pdf Summary, Critical Infrastructures: What Makes an Infrastructure Critical? Report for Congress, Order Code RL31556, Congressional Research Service (CRS), Updated January 29, 2003, PDF at https://fas.org/irp/crs/RL31556.pdf Infrastructure, Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Australian Government, https://infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/ [accessed August 23, 2015] Elizabeth Warren: There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own by Lucy Madison, CBS News, September 22, 2011, cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-warren-there-is-nobody-in-this-country-who-got-rich-on-his-own/ [accessed March 15, 2017] Highway Trust Fund and Taxes, U.S.Department of Transportation, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/fastact/factsheets/htffs.cfm [accessed December 25, 2017]   Ascher, Kate. The Works: Anatomy of a City. Paperback, Reprint edition, Penguin Books, November 27, 2007. Hayes, Brian. Infrastructure: The Book of Everything for the Industrial Landscape. Paperback, Reprint edition, W. W. Norton Company, September 17, 2006. Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Move: How to Rebuild and Reinvent Americas Infrastructure. 1 edition, W. W. Norton Company, May 10, 2016. Petroski, Henry. The Road Taken: The History and Future of Americas Infrastructure. Hardcover, Bloomsbury USA, February 16, 2016.

Corporate covernance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Corporate covernance - Essay Example Whs intrsts thy srv th ffct thy hv n wlth crtin nd risktking nd th frms f ccuntbility thy mbdy r vitl t th functining f th cnmic nd pliticl systm. Crprt gvrnnc mchnisms r criticl fctr in issus rnging frm th lvl f businss invstmnt t mplymnt nd cmmunity stbility nd th distributin f th fruits f cnmic grwth. Dspit this prvsiv rl in structuring bth cnmic prfrmnc nd civil scity qustins f crprt gvrnnc rmin pliticl sidshw flickring n t th public stg nly in rspns t vry prticulr (thugh imprtnt) vnts such s ppulr cncrn vr lvls f xcutiv rmunrtin r th bcklsh ginst th cnsquncs f unchckd mngmnt filur r finncil imprprity. Indd it is ths fctrs tht hv spurrd th rcnt rrivl f crprt gvrnnc n th UK's pliticl mp. (Wring 2005:65-78) Discussin Th Cdbury Cmmitt ws crtd in 1991 in rspns t th Mxwll scndl nd th cllps f Plly Pck nd thr prminnt businsss. Th Grnbury Cmmitt mrgd in 1995 s rctin t th pliticl furr surrunding xcutiv rmunrtin prticulrly in th rcntly privtisd utilitis. Th Hmpl Cmmitt in its rprt publishd in 1998 st ut t rviw nd updt th cds prducd by ths rlir bdis. 4 cnslidtin f th wrk f ll thr cmmitts nw pprs s th Cmbind Cd. 3ll f th rprts f ths cmmitts hv shrd similr st f ssumptins but bth th ntur f crprt gvrnnc nd th mns thrugh which it shuld b rfrmd.

Phase 4 Individual Project 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Phase 4 Individual Project 2 - Assignment Example There was a keen and clear understanding that percolated through the organization: the company would focus on the discovery of ‘New Chemical Entities’ (or NCEs) and work towards the development of such molecules into viable drugs for sale in the market. The business goal of the company was to be a ‘market leader’ in the field of Drug discovery and research. The various laboratory instruments and equipment were chosen for procurement, based on the planned service capabilities of the company. Our company had invested in top quality bio-safety cabinets, laminar airflow chambers, gel documentation systems, liquid chromatography systems, flow cytometers and incubators, to name a few. The laboratory set up involved bulk investment of capital and recruitment of scientific personnel to handle such precision instruments. Clients were given tours of the laboratory facility and audits were managed professionally. This brought a good reputation to the company and soon, the company won its first major client: one of the ‘Top 10 Pharma companies’ of the nation! Pilot R&D studies were successfully conducted in the laboratory and the client was satisfied with the level of work and commitment. A few months in to the project from its first ever client, our company received a query to conduct ‘Clinical Trials’ on a particular drug that was discovered elsewhere. The management was keen to capitalize on such a wonderful opportunity that came along! ‘Clinical Research’ is indeed a dimension very different from ‘Drug Research and Development’; yet, it was lucrative since it promised good earnings in a much shorter duration. Our company’s senior management consisted of a Managing Director (who was not from the Life Sciences background), a President (who was a figure head) and a Chief Operating Officer (who was specialized in consulting services). The Head of the R&D facility was consulted for expert a dvice on this new project. After a few rounds of internal discussion, the management decided to go ahead with bidding for this Clinical Research project. The client insisted on several rounds of negotiation to which our company acceded. The final quote (which ultimately won the deal) was the lowest bid amongst all the local competitors. There were huge celebrations for winning the project and the existing employees were highly motivated and enthusiastic! The client expressed his urgency to begin the project with immediate effect. The Head of the R&D facility was now required to devote his time to the new project (though it meant a stark deviation from his original job responsibilities), owing to the project’s criticality. Resources were hastily recruited for the sole purpose of meeting the demands of this project. New departments such ‘Clinical Operations’, ‘Clinical Data Management’ and ‘Regulatory Affairs’ were formed in order to cater to the sudden requirements of the ‘clinical research’ sector. The Human Resource Development team was under extreme pressure to recruit the right resources in a very short span of time. The then existing Senior Management arranged for the legal documentation in the absence of a dedicated ‘Business team’. The project timelines and the milestones for payment proposed by the Sponsor (client) were quickly accepted by our company, in a bid to initiate this major project. A ‘Project Kick – Off meeting’ was arranged to formally commence the proceedings. A

Cinema Sequels And Remakes

Cinema Sequels And Remakes Preamble: The remake is both an industrial and a critical genre. Defined primarily in relation to a body of copyright law, the acknowledged or credited remake develops from being an ethical solution to the early practice of duping to become an economically driven staple of the Hollywood industrial mode of representation. Following the Hollywood recession of 1969 and the small-and-weird-can-be-beautiful-revolution of the early seventies, the remake (along with the sequel) becomes typical of the defensive production and marketing strategies of a post Jaws Hollywood. In the case of the unacknowledged remake, the absence of a production credit shifts attention from a legal-industrial definition to a critical-interpretive one, in which the remake is determined in relation to a general discursive field [that] is mediated by the structure of the [filmic] system and by the authority of the [film and] literary canon (Frow, Intertextuality and Ontology 46). In either instance, the intertextual referentiality between a remake and its `original is largely extratextual (Friedberg 175), located in historically specific technologies and institutional practices such as copyright law and authorship, canon formation and film literacy. In their almost one thousand page long Cinema Sequels and Remakes, 1903-1987, Roben Nowlan and Gwendoline Wright Nowlan devote not quite two full pages to explaining the selection criteria for one thousand and twenty five alphabetically listed primary films and the many more associated remakes and sequels that make up their reference volume. The brevity of Nowlan and Nowlans introduction is attributable to the fact that they make little attempt to define either remake or sequel, but rather take these as received categories, i.e., their principal criterion for selection is that a film has been previously designated as a remake or sequel in any two or more of a number of unidentified but reliable source[s], which list remakes and sequels of certain genres of films (xi-xii). While this type of lax definition makes for a wide selection of material and does not preclude the inferential reconstruction of at least some of the unspecified principles of selection (through an examination of th ose films that have been included), Nowlan and Nowlans intuitive approach underscores the extent to which the remake is conceived more through actual usage and common understanding than through rigorous definition.(1) While Nowlan and Nowlan put aside problems of categorization to list thousands of films, Michael B. Druxmans more modest (in scope) Make It Again, Sam, which sets out to provide a comprehensive dissertation on the remake practice by detailing the film life of [thirty-three] literary properties (9), attempts to ground its selection in some preliminary definitions. Druxman begins by electing to limit the category of remake to those theatrical films that were based on a common literary source (i.e., story, novel, play, poem, screenplay), but were not a sequel to that material (9). This seemingly infallible signpost is however complicated by those films that are obviously remakes [but] do not credit their origins (9). In such cases Druxman adopts a heuristic devicea rule of thumbwhich requires that a new film borrow more than just an element or two from its predecessor to qualify (9). This in turn allows Druxman to distinguish between nonfiction films of a single historical incident or b iography of a historical figure (e.g., the mutiny on the Bounty or the life of Jesse James) which differ because they are based around competing versions of the same incident, and those nonfiction films of a like historical incident which are similar even though they are based upon diverse literary sources (9). As might be expected from an approximate rule which arbitrates according to whether a films borrowings are significant or only amount to an element or two, Druxman ultimately admits that there were many marginal situations [in which he] simply used [his] own discretion in deciding whether or not to embrace [a film as a remake] (9). Although Druxmans recognition of unacknowledged remakes introduces a number of methodological difficulties, he funkier grounds his discussion by viewing Hollywood remaking practice as a function of industry pragmatism, driven by three major factors. Firstly, Druxman argues that the decision to remake an existing film is primarily a voluntary one based on the perceived continuing viability of an original story. However, industry demand for additional material during the studio-dominated era of the thirties and forties and attempts to rationalize the often high costs of source acquisition prompted studios to consider previously filmed stories as sources for B pictures, and even for top of the bill productions (13). As Tino Balio points out, the Hollywood majors had story departments with large offices in New York, Hollywood, and Europe that systematically searched the literary marketplace and stage for suitable novels, plays, short stories, and original ideas (99). Taking as an example story acquisitions at Warner Brothers between 1930 and 1949, Balio notes that the pattern of source acquisition demonstrates two often contradictory goals: (1) the desire to base films on pretested material, that is, low-risk material that was already well known and well received by the public and (2) the desire to acquire properties as inexpensively as possible, especially during declining or uncertain economic circumstances (Robert Gustafson qtd. in Balio 99). In practice this meant that while Warners often invested in expensive pre-sold properties, such as best-selling novels and Hollywood hit plays, it offset the high costs of pretested properties by using original screenplays written in its screenwriting department and by relying heavily on `the cheapest pretested material of allearlier Warner pictures (99). Druxmans second, related point is that the customary studio practice at the time of purchasing the rights to novels, plays, and stories in perpetuity meant that a company was able to produce multiple versions of a particular property without making additional payments to the copyright holder (15). Canonized classics of literature, such as Treasure Island and The Three Musketeers, not only had pre-sold titles, but because they were in the public domain, had the added advantage of requiring no initial payment for their dramatic rights (18-20). While the majority of recycled, previously purchased source material (particularly from those films that had done fair to poorly at the box office) made its way into B-unit production (Balio 100), high profile titles were sometimes remade to take advantage of new technologies and practices. Accordingly, Druxmans third and final point relates to the profit potential of redoing established films in order to exploit new stars or screen techniques, e .g., Michael Curtizs 1938 version of The Adventures of Robin Hood as both a vehicle for Errol Flynn and a sound and Technicolor update of the Douglas Fairbanks silent epic, Robin Hood (Allen Dwan, 1922) (15). Druxmans initial definition and the above factors of industry pragmatism allow him to posit three general categories of Hollywood remake: (i) the disguised remake: a literary property is either updated with minimal change or retitled and then disguised by new settings and original characters, but in either case the new film does not seek to draw attention to its earlier version(s), e.g., Colorado Territory (Raoul Walsh, 1949) as a disguised remake of High Sierra (Raoul Walsh, 1941); (ii) the direct remake: a property may undergo some alterations or even adopt a new title, but the new film and its narrative image do not hide the fact that it is based upon an earlier production, e.g., John Guillermins 1976 remake of King Kong (Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933); and (iii) the non-remake: a new film goes under the same title as a familiar property but there is an entirely new plot, e.g., Michael Curtizs 1940 version of The Sea Hawk is said to bear little relation to First Nationals 1924 adaptation of the Rafael Sabatini novel (13-15).(2) While Druxmans account of the remake raises a number of salient points, among them the role that credits and promotions play in the identification of remakes, the publication of Make It Again, Sam prior to the post-Jaws renovation of Hollywood and the transformation of film viewing through videotape and other recent technologies of storage and reproduction make the book somewhat backward-looking. In order to consider some aspects of the remake as a media-intertext, particularly in relation to new Hollywood remakes, it is helpful to turn to a more recent typology of the remake, Thomas M. Leitchs Twice-Told Tales.(3) Leitch begins his account by making a number of points about the singularity of the remake both among Hollywood films and even among other types of narratives: [t]he uniqueness of the film remake, a movie based on another movie, or competing with another movie based on the same property is indicated by the word property. Every film adaptation is defined by its legally sanc tioned use of material from an earlier model, whose adaptation rights the producers have customarily purchased (138). Putting aside for the moment the fact that this description immediately excludes those obvious remakes which do not acknowledge their previous source, the point Leitch wishes to make is that although adaptation rights (e.g., film adaptation rights of a novel) are something producers of the original work have a right to sell, it is only remakes that compete directly and without legal or economic compensation with other versions of the same property (138): [R]emakes differ from adaptations to a new medium because of the triangular relationship they establish among themselves, the original film they remake, and the property on which both films are based. The nature of this triangle is most clearly indicated by the fact that the producers of a remake typically pay no adaptation fees to the makers of the original film, but rather purchase adaptation rights from the authors of the property on which that film was based, even though the remake is competing much more directly with the original filmespecially in these days of video, when the original film and the remake are often found side by side on the shelves of rental outletsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬than with the story or play or novel on which it is based. (139) Taking as an initial proposition the triangular relationship among a remake, its original film, and the source for both films, Leitch suggests that any given remake can seek to define itself either with primary reference to the film it remakes or to the material on which both films are based; and whether it poses as a new version of an older film or of a story predating either film, it can take as its goal fidelity to the conception of the original story or a revisionary attitude toward that story (142). Accordingly, Leitch outlines the following quadripartite typology of the remake: (i) readaptation: the remake ignores or treats as inconsequential earlier cinematic adaptations in order to readapt as faithfully as possible (or at least more faithfully than earlier film versions) an original literary property, e.g., the film versions of Shakespeares Hamlet (Laurence Olivier, 1948; Tony Richardson, 1969; and Franco Zeffirelli, 1990) and Macbeth (Orson Welles, 1948; Roman Polanski, 1971 ); (ii) update: unlike the readaptation that seeks to subordinate itself to the essence of a literary classic, the update competes directly with its literary source by adopting an overtly revisionary and transformational attitude toward it, e.g., West Side Story (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961) and China Gil (Abel Ferrara, 1987) as transformed remakes of filmed versions of Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor, 1936; Franco Zeffirelli, 1968); (iii) homage: like the readaptation, which seeks to direct the audiences attention to its literary source, the homage situates itself as a secondary text in order to pay tribute to a previous film version, e.g., Brian de Palmas Obsession (1975) and Body Double (1986) as homages to Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo (1958), and Rainer Werner Fassbinders Fear Eats the Soul (1973) as a tribute to the Douglas Sirk version of Magnificent Obsession (1954); (iv) true remake: while the homage renounces any claim to be better than its original, the true remake de al[s] with the contradictory claims of all remakesthat they are just like their originals only betterby . . . combin[ing] a focus on a cinematic original with an accommodating stance which seeks to make the original relevant by updating it, e.g., Bob Rafelsons 1981 remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett, 1946), and Lawrence Kasdans Body Heat (1981) as a remake of Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) (142-45). Leitch concludes that, unlike readaptations, updates, and homages, which only acknowledge one earlier text (literary in the first two cases and cinematic in the third), true remakes [emphasize] a triangular notion of intertextuality, since their rhetorical strategy depends on ascribing their value to a classic earlier text [i.e., an original property such as James M. Cains novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice], and protecting that value by invoking a second earlier [film] text as betraying it [Garnetts version as a watered-down film noir, probably due to limita tions imposed by the MGM studio and the Production Code of the forties] (147). While Leitchs recognition of the significance of a literary property, and in particular the relationship of a film adaptation and its remake to that property, leads to what at first appears to be a more nuanced typology than that outlined by Druxman, further consideration reveals a number of difficulties, not only among Leitchs four categories but in relation to his preliminary suppositions. Firstly, while the ubiquity of the Hollywood remake might understandably lead Leitch to conclude that the remake is a particularly cinematic form,(4) we might question to what extent it differs from the remaking of songs in the popular music industry. That is, how does the triadic relationship between (i) the Pet Shop Boys long remake (of their earlier, shorter remake) of Always on My Mind, (ii) the 1972 version of the same song by Elvis Presley, and (iii) the original property (music and lyrics written by Thompson James Christopher, and published by Screen Gems/EMI), differ appreciably from the triangular relationship for the film remake as described by Leitch? Or, to take as another example a case that underscores Leitchs overestimation of the economic competition a remake creates for a former adaptation, the Sid Vicious remake of My Way (and even Gary Oldmans remake of the same performance for Alex Coxs Sid and Nancy [1986]) competes culturally, but not economically, with Frank Sinatras earlier adaptation of a property written by Reveaux, Francois, and Anka. These examples, and others from the popular music industry, adequately conform to, and so problematize, Leitchs initial claim that the film remake is unique because of the fact that its producers typically pay no adaptation fees to the makers of the original [version], but rather purchase adaptation rights from the authors [publishers] of the property on which that [version] was based (139). A second limitation is that while Druxman at least acknowledges the difficulty of identifying and categorizing those films that are obviously remakes [but] do not credit their origins (9), Leitch remains curiously silent in this respect. For instance, Leitch considers Body Heat a true remake of Double Indemnity, but he does not comment upon the fact that the films credits do not acknowledge the James M. Cain novel as a source; similarly, Leitch takes Obsession and Body Double to be homages to Vertigo, but he fails to note that neither of the films credit either the Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor screenplay or the Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narceiac novel, Dentre les morts, upon which the Hitchcock film is based. While I will return to the question of identifying unacknowledged remakes, Leitchs insistence upon the connection between three elementsa remake, an earlier version, and a literary propertypresents a further difficulty in that it marginalizes those instances in which a dyadic r elationship exists between a remake and a previous film that is itself the original property. Although it might be objected that a published original screenplay constitutes a discrete property, the point to be made here is that the remake of an original film property, such as John Badhams The Assassin [Point of No Return] (1994), does not compete directly and without legal or economic compensation with its earlier version, but (generally) pays adaptation fees to the copyright holder of the original film upon which it is based (in this example, Luc Bessons [La Femme] Nikita [1990]).(5) The example of the American remake of Nikita not only demonstrates that a triangular relationship fails to accommodate remakes of those films based upon original stories and screenplays, but highlights the difficulty of Leitchs suggestion that remakes compete with earlier versions and his belief that successful remakes supersede and so typically threaten the economic viability of their originals (139). To stay with the example of the French-Italian production of Nikita, it seems doubtful that, having successfully played an art-cinema circuit and having been released to home video (variously under the categories of cult, festival, and arthouse), the appearance of The Assassin, initially as a first run theatrical release and then as a mainstream video release would have any appreciable impact (either positive or negative) upon the formers economic viability. Admittedly, The Assassin was not promoted as a remake of the Besson film, but even a widely publicized remake such as Martin Scor seses 1991 version of Cape Fear(6) did not occasion the burial, or even diminish the cult following, of J. Lee Thompsons earlier (1961) version. On the contrary, the theatrical release of the Scorsese film (accompanied by press releases and reviews foregrounding its status as remake) prompted first a video release and then a prime-time national television screening of the Thompson version. The reciprocity of the two versions is further exemplified by Sight and Sounds running together of a lead article by Jim Hoberman on Scorsese and Cape Fear and a second, briefer article comparing the two versions ([n]ovelist Jenny Diski watches a video of the first Cape Fear and the Scorsese remakeand compares them) and giving details of the availability of the (then recently) re-released CIC video of the 1961 version (see Hoberman Sacred and Profane; Diski The Shadow Within). While reciprocity may not always be the casein the international marketplace a local remake may supplant an earlier forei gn language and/or culture version(7)it seems that contemporary remakes generally enjoy a more symbiotic relationship than Leitchs account would have us believe. While the above examples suggest that Leitch overestimates the extent to which some remakes compete with original film versions, his recognition of the impact that innovations in television technology, particularly home video, have had upon shaping the relationship between a remake and its earlier versions should not be underestimated. Leitch states that during the studio-dominated era of the thirties and forties it was at least in part the belief that films had a strictly current value that enabled studios such as Warners to recycle The Maltese Falcon three times in ten years (Roy Del Ruth, 1931; William Dieterle, 1936 [as Satan Met a Lady]; and John Huston, 1941) and release many unofficial remakes of its own films (139), although the re-release of successful features, particularly during the late forties and early fifties, gave some films a limited currency outside their initial year of release (see McElwee), the majority of films held in studio libraries were not available for re -viewing until the mid-fifties when the major studios decided to sell or lease their libraries to television. The release of thousands of pre-1948 features into the television market not only gave the general public the opportunity to see many films that had been held in studio archives since their initial year of release, but provided the possibility of seeing different versions of the same property, produced years or even decades apart, within weeks or even days of each other. Moreover, the television broadcasting of films provided the further possibility of viewing remakes outside of the temporal order of their production, i.e., the repeated screening of the same features meant that it was inevitable that the broadcast of a remake would precede the screening of its original. While Leitch does not address the impact of television, his recognition that a remake and its original circulate in the same video marketplace draws attention to the fact that the introduction of an informati on storage technology such as videotape radically extends the kind of film literacy, the ability to recognize and cross-reference multiple versions of the same property, that is inaugurated by the age of television. The ever-expanding availability of texts and technologies and the unprecedented awareness of film history among new Hollywood filmmakers and contemporary audiences are closely related to the general concept of intertextuality, an in principle determination which requires that texts be understood not as self-contained structures but as the repetition and transformation of other [absent] textual structures (Frow, Intertextuality and Ontology 45). Generally speaking, in the case of remakes these intertextual structures are stabilized, or limited, through the naming and (usually) legally sanctioned (i.e., copyrighted) use of a particular literary and/or cinematic source which serves as a retrospectively designated point of origin and semantic fixity. In addition, the intertextual structures (unlike those of genre) are highly particular in their repetition of narrative units, and these repetitions most often (though certainly not always) relate to the order of the message rather than to t hat of the code (45).(8) While these factors yield some degree of consensus, any easy categorization of the remake is frustrated by (i) films which do not credit an original text, but which repeat both general and particular elements of the originals narrative unfolding, e.g., Body Heat as an uncredited remake of Double Indemnity and The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan, 1983) as an unacknowledged remake of The Return of the Secaucus Seven (John Sayles, 1980);(9) and (ii) films based on a like sourcea literary work or historical incidentbut which differ significantly in their treatment of narrative units, e.g., The Bounty (Roger Donaldson, 1984) as a non-remake of Mutiny on the Bounty (Frank Lloyd, 1935 and Lewis Milestone, 1962). Furthermore, the intertextual referentiality between either non-remakes or unacknowledged remakes and their originals is to a large extent extratextual (Friedberg 175-76), being conveyed through institutions such as film reviewing and exhibition, for example, th e BFI/National Film Theatres programmed describes four films from Paul Schrader scriptsTaxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), Rolling Thunder (John Flynn, 1977), Hardcore, and Patty Hearst (Paul Schrader, 1979 and 1988)as updates of The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) (The Searchers: A Family Tree). In the case of Leitchs typology, we have seen that the remake is categorized according to whether the intertextual referent is literary (the readaptation, the update) or cinematic (the homage, the true remake). In the latter case, Leitch states that while homages, such as The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982) and Invaders from Mars (Tobe Hooper, 1986), establish direct intertextual relations to their original films, these quotations or rewards take the form of throwaway jokes whose point is not necessary to the [films] continuity, and which therefore provide an optional bonus of pleasure to those in the know (141). While this may seem consistent with Umberto Ecos account of the intertextual dialogue (i.e., the instance where a quotation is explicit and recognizable to an increasingly sophisticated, cine-literate audience), what Leitch does not sufficiently stress is that his examples of the homage (and of the true remake)all drawn from the new Hollywood cinemasuggest a historically speci fic response to a post-modern (or post-Jaws) circulation and recirculation of images and texts. This does not mean that the classical Hollywood remake never takes an earlier film as its intertextual referent, but rather that, as the continuity system develops through the pre-classical period (1908-17), direct intertextual referentiality is displaced by an industrial imperative for standardization which prioritizes the intertextual relation of genres, cycles, and stars. Accordingly, as the classical narrative strives to create a coherent, self-contained fictional world according to specific mechanisms of intratextual repetition (or alternation), direct intertextual referentiality to either and/or both literary properties (novels, short-stories, plays, etc) and earlier film versions becomes an extratextual referentiality, carried by such apparatuses as advertising and promotional materials (posters, lobby cards, commercial tie-ins, etc), motion picture magazines, review articles, and academic film criticism. What seems to happen with the new Hollywood cinema, particularly in the case of remakes, is that while the intratextual mechanisms of classical continuity are mostly respected, extratextual referentiality is sometimes complemented by what is perceivedwithin specific interpretive communitiesas the explicit and recognizable intertextual quotation of plot motifs and stylistic features, peculiar to earlier film versions. To take a general example, the narrative of Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992) assumes as its primary intertexts the revisionist westerns of the sixties and seventies, and the Eastwood star persona, but (re)viewers additionally see the film as a kind of sequel (the Will Munny character as the now aged Man-with-no-name, from Eastwoods spaghetti westerns) and as a homage to the films of both Sam Peckinpah and John Ford.(10) More specifically, Martin Scorseses remake of Cape Fear may be said to work perfectly well as a conventional thriller (a psychopath attacks a normalin t his case, dysfunctionalAmerican family), but the new Cape Fear also assumes [in its reworking of the original Bernard Herrmann score and the casting of original lead players in cameo roles] that the viewer has seen the earlier one, perhaps even as recently as Scorsese himself (Hoberman 11). Another example, Jim McBrides Breathless (1983), not only quotes the Godard original (A bout de souffle, 1959) in its smallest detail (a characters name, a players gesture), but more generally embraces Godards enthusiasm for American pop-cultural iconography: the title song, Breathless, by the KillerJerry Lee Lewis; the Roy Lichtenstein-type lifts from Marvel Comics The Silver Surfer, the collectable American automobilethe 1957 Ford Thunderbird, the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado. Finally, while it is possible to find similar examples in the classical cinema,(11) the point to be made here is that the type of intertextual referentiality which characterizes (some) contemporary American film circulates in a historically specific context, i.e., the identification of, and indeed the commercial decision to remake, an earlier film is grounded in particular extratextual, institutional, or discursive practices. As in Noel Carrolls discussion of new Hollywood allusionism, the question of intertextual referentiality needs to be related to the radical extension of film literacy and the enthusiasm for American film history that took hold in the United States during the sixties and early seventies. Partly made possible by the release of Hollywood features to television (which had come to function like a film archive) and the wider accessibility of new technologies (e.g., 16mm film projection), this re-evaluation, or legitimization, of Hollywood cultural product was underwritten by such additional factors as the importation of the French politique des auteurs, the upsurge of repertory theatre short-seasons, the expansion of film courses in American universities, and the emergence of professional associations such as the American Film Institute. Accordingly, and this is evident from the above examplesUnforgiven, Cape Fear, Breathlessthe selection and recognition of films, and bodies of films, for quotation and reworking (the work of auteurs, Ford and Peckinpah; the cult movie, Cape Fear, the nouvelle vague landmark, A bout de souffle) can be located in the institutionally determined practice of film canon formation and its contributing projectsthe discussion and citation of particular films in popular and academic film criticism, the selective release and re-release of films to theatrical and video distribution windows, and (in circular fashion) the decision of other filmmakers to evoke earlier films and recreate cinema history (see Staiger 4). An understanding of the formation and maintenance of a film canon in turn goes some way toward explaining why remakes of institutionalized film noirse.g., D.O.A. (Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, 1988), No Way Out (Roger Donaldson, 1987), and Against All Odds (Taylor Hackford, 1984)are discussed with reference to their originals (D.O.A. [Rudolph Mate, 1949], The Big Clock [John Farrow, 1948], and Out of the Past [Jacques Tourneur, 1947], respectively), while films such as Martin Scorseses version of The Age of Innocence (1993) and James Deardens remake of A Kiss Before Dying (1991) defer, not to their little known, or (now) rarely seen, earlier film versions (The Age of Innocence [Wesley Ruggles, 1924 and Philip Moeller, 1934], and A Kiss Before Dying [Gerd Oswald, 1961]) but to the authority of an established literary canon: The Age of Innocence is based on Edith Whartons 1920 Pulitzer Prize winning novel; A Kiss Before Dying is adapted from a best-selling novel by Ira Levin. Indeed, and in accordance with the canonization of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, the more direct intertextual referent for the remake of A Kiss Before Dying is Hitchcocks Vertigoa clip from the film appears diegetically on a characters television screen, and in addition to the figure of the doppelganger there is allusion to Hitchcockian plot s tructure and motif: [l]iberally alluding to Hitchcock by killing off his leading actress in the first reel, Dearden includes subtler references like the washing out of hair-dye and the cop who just wont leave (Strick 50). The suggestion that the very limited intertextual referentiality between the remake and its original is organized according to an extratextual referentiality located in historically specific discursive formationssuch as copyright law and authorship, canon formation and film literacyhas consequences for purely textual descriptions of the remake, particularly those based on a rigid distinction between an original story and its new discursive incarnation (see Leitch 143). Aside from the questionable move of assuming that the unchanging essence of a films story can somehow be abstracted from the mutable disposition of its expression (see Brunette and Wills 53), demarcation along the lines of story and discourse is evidently frustrated by those remakes which repeat not only the narrative invention of an original property but seek, for instance, to recreate the expressive design of an earlier film (e.g., Obsession as a reconstruction of the mood and manner of Hitchcocks Vertigo [see Rosenbaum 217]) or to rework the style of an entire oeuvre or genre (e.