Anomie Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anomie - Assignment Example However, many, especially the lower class and lower middle class are mostly affected and thus unable to achieve their desired thoughts and achievements they keep to the social rules, they thus claim responsibility for their failure, and they continue to keep to their social. Best examples of conformists could be team leaders, students especially at tertiary levels and also apart of workers or employees in an organization. Education and vocational ways are followed by these people to achieve their goals and gain more wealth. Merton discusses innovation as his second mode of adaptation. Merton argues that most of behaviors related with crimes can be categorized as innovative. Innovators are said to be people who live to embrace monetary and material success as a worthy goal, but also individuals who deviate or turn to crime when they realize that their experience or social status restricts access to genuine means of success. According to Gomme, the archetypal example of an innovator is a typical gangster young immigrant with intelligence and ambitions who abandons genuine means to succeed by means of corruption. A good example is a drug trafficker who desires wealth and the best social status yet the attempts of acquiring such ambitions are unfair and illegal. This means that innovators are not seriously offending others: individuals who fake their work experience or educational background in curriculum vitae or an interview would also fall in this class. The third adaptation according to Merton can be said to be ritualism. Ritualists isolate the strain of anomie by reducing their own aspirations of Victor to a point where goals are more practically achievable. They consent to their social status and caste, as well as adhere to the organizational means consistently as they are required to follow. Ritualists tend to avoid taking risks like a violation of law, and in addition, they have no problem living within the confines of daily monotony. As Gomme describes, fo r ritualists; the means became ends in them. A telemarketer or agent who is situated in a customer care desk can pose a demonstration about a ritualistic response. This agent will work hard and also behave conventionally on grounds that he/she accepts the personal wealth and additionally the social prestige. This will them make him/her have a revision on the goals so as he/she is subjected to alignment of possibilities that are practical.it is also depicted that bureaucrats and administrators who are employed in large institutions also pose such ritualistic response making their ambitions to be adaptable to the available possibilities for success. However, ritualists are not depicted as threats to the social and organizational structure since they maintain an outward stability on socio-cultural norms and hence they do not break the law (Gomme 51). Retreatism is discussed by Merton as his fourth adaptation. Retreatists have a tendency for a more dramatic response to the stress of ano mie. Retreatists finally give up if they are driven by the forced expectations of social achievement through conventional and indigenous ways: they then turn back to the cultural goals and also the norms of the society that brings success. Durkheim posed an observation that stated that suicide can be viewed as a retreat which so ultimate. Merton has

Individual report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Individual report - Coursework Example This was further aided by a comparison with competitors in the industry and how their positioning either presents threats or opportunities. The comparisons show that BMW is well placed to take advantage of the key purpose of the existence of the single market, which is for the benefit of the half-a-billion European Union citizens. The key opportunities are seen in the need for clean energy and removal of tariffs while threats are in the form of pricing, substitutes and new entrants. It is concluded that although threats occur, BMW has significant growth opportunities in the European Union’s single market. The single European market (SEM) is a trade bloc composed of European Union (EU) member states with the objectives of simplifying the existing rules of trade through the bringing down of barriers. The ultimate benefits are targeted at the over 500 million people and 21 million businesses of the 28 countries of the EU. It is founded on four strategic freedoms which include the free movement of labour (people), capital, goods and services between all the member states (Europe Economics 2013, p. 8). On the other hand, the Bavarian Motor Works (BMW), founded in 1916 and headquartered in Munich, Germany, is one of the largest companies in the EU and also among the leaders in the automotive industry (Kiley 2004, p. 21). The company still builds slightly over 50% of its products in Germany, but is also significantly present in the rest of the EU, which is supported by the fact that the largest export product in Germany is cars. This report on BMW will focus on the analysis of the business opportunities and threats in the context of the enlargement of the EU, which indicates that the company stands to gain significantly. Before presenting the report on BMW, it is imperative to briefly describe the EU business environment and how it is affected by the EU laws, treaties and policies, since the report will be based on the EU’s

The role of Women in the Middle East

The role of Women in the Middle East There are over half a billion women in the Muslim World in Middle East. They are in Much of the world lack support of the fundamental functions of a human life. Their social Status is low and they receive lack respect by the men. Women in the Middle East also are less nourished than men, less healthy, less opportunity but more vulnerable to physical violence and sexual abuse. Women in Middle East are discriminated by men, religion or even law. They are much less likely than men to be literate or to have a professional or technical education. The only function of women in Middle East is producing children. But the situation has some improvement in nowadays. Some of the women in the Middle- East are standing up and try to fright for their rights. But actually, most of the women in the Middle-East, especially those who live in conservative countries, are still accept their status and the role that they play in the society. (Mahnaz Afkhami, 1996) Women need to play a proper role in the s ociety especially in the conservative society or countries. For example like in Saudi Arabia. The proper role means to be a good children, good wife and good women. In the Middle East societies, most of the people are welcome to have a boy rather than girl. There are several reasons make people prefer to have a boy. First of all, most of the middle-East countries still are the agriculture base community. Therefore, have a boy is more prefer than have a girl. It is because sons are valued for the muscle power they can provide in the fields. Also, in Middle- east there is absence of the adequate social security system. (Ramsay.m.Darik Elsa Marston, 1996) So that sons are supposed to take care their aging parents. But girls on the other hand Often seen as an expense that will not bring family benefits, but only will work for their Husbands family. (Ramsay.m.Darik Elsa Marston, 1996) Furthermore, sons can carry On family name and honor but girls cannot. Therefore, in the eyes of middle- east people Boys are more valuable than girls. This makes the status of girls is lower than boy. Due to the above reasons, the status of girl in Middle East is lower than boy. For example, Most of the name in Middle East always has positive meaning. But some of the girls Names have negative meaning, like Dalenda which means destroy. From this example, We can easy discover that the status of women in Middle East is low. (Ramsay.m.Darik Elsa Marston, 1996). Furthermore, in Middle East most of the girls expect to do more works at home than boys. They need to wash the dishes, preparing food and taking charge of younger children. It is very common to see a child to take care a baby. Girls when they are reaching 11 years old. Then she will be require to be a prefect Islam woman. She will teach by her mother to be a shy and quiet girl. To learn the traditional behavior and skills of Islam. They need to dress more conservative and need to obey their father, brother pr even male relatives or der and advice. They are required to be a prefect girl. Base on the Koran says the seeking of knowledge is a duty of every men and every women. Therefore, even is a girl also will have an opportunity to be educated. However, most of the conservative family in Middle East only willing to sent their girls to the Traditional school. To learn the traditional behavior and norms. The conservative families mainly oppose to sent their girls to the modern school because they believe if a girl learns about something besides the Korans then they might try to communicate secretly with someone outsides her house. Also, the modern education is expensive. The money put on a girl would be waste when she went to live with her husbands family. Therefore, only 38 to 44% of girls in Middle East countries would get a chance to study. (Mahnaz Afkhami, 1996) Although, the girls also can have an opportunity to be educated, but there is a two society in middle- east. For example in Saudi- Arabia require sep arate schools for boys and girls. (Mahnaz Afkhami, 1996) The girl in Saudi Arabia needs work harder at school but they would not have a summer vacations or there are less recreational activities for girls. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia girls need to wear uniform, which is long- sleeved blouse, ankle length skirts or even she needs to wear abba ( Full length black cloak) to school. Moreover, the teaching sllysmulls in Saudi also is quite conservative and old- Fashioned. The schools are teaching the girls how to be a good mother. Also only encourage they be a nurse or a teacher in future but no more. Isam is the majority religion in middle- east, according to the Mohammed speaking, Men have a status above women. And men have authority over women because God has made one superior to the other. Due to this tradition religion, therefore, the women status in the Middle East is low. In some extreme traditional Islamic lands such as Saudi Arabia women are expected to remain strictly obedient to men, womens behavior is not Only the key to her family honor, but also is a key to remain the mortality in the middle East society. Therefore, the western thinking is a kind of dangerous to the traditional society. As this may lets a girl to against her family or fathers order. Moreover, the image of women in right behavior is a necessary safeguard to the culture preservation. Therefore, in many Middle East countries, like Saudi Arabia has a special enforcement Unit knows as religious police. These men aggressively watch the public for such Offenses as women driving and unmarried couples appearing together in public. Also in Saudi Abria women are not allowed to works, study or dress as she pleased. Furthermore, she cannot drive or go out alone. Or even women have no freedom to go to other Countries alone. Womens rights are strictly restricted. ( Martha C. Nussbaum, 2000) Protect the girls honor is the great and important responsibility of the father in middle East. This led out two conservative tradition customs in the middle- east world: Female Circumcision and Honor killing. Women and girls in middle- east countries are affected no matter in urban or rural, educated or non- educated. When a girl is about 5-6 years old then she needs to be circumcised. ( Waris Divie Cathleen Miller, 1999) It is because in the mind of people in middle- east it can prevent a girl from becoming wild and can ensure she will remain virgin until marriage and will then remain faithful to her husband. Or even it can make a girl a woman, purifies, more beautiful. The girls in middle East believes it is another tool for the men to control the women in middle-east. However, the circumcision is quite dangerous to the women. It can result in permanent physical and emotional damage also can cause infections or fatal. (Ramsay.m.Darik Elsa Marston, 1996) so it really is a horrible tradition in the Middle East world. Moreover, if a girl has a Misbehavior then her father or brother will have a right to kill her without serious Punishment. It is because they need to protect the name and honor of their family. Traditionally, the honor of the family depends on the behavior of its female members. So that it is very important for the family to protect female sexual purity. Need to protect the women from sexual misbehavior. Base on the Koran God created sexual desire in 10 parts. Then he gave 9 parts to women and 1 part to men. So women must be closely watched. Therefore, in her familys eyes the longer a daughter waits before marrying, the greater chance that she will disgrace herself with some men. So that most of the girls in Middle East is early married. But the traditional marriage watch in Middle East is lack of Romanic moves but just like a Kind of business. The parents choose the husband for their girl only base on one reason Is this marriage is a right match? The marriage usually is like a kind of alliance Between two families. Furthermore, the marriage will bring th e economic and social Advantages to both families. The girl in Middle East usually has to marry a man she has never met. Or even parents suppose their daughter to marry with an older man. Girls act Like an asset of the family. So the family would like to sell their girls at the highest price. So a girl may be expected to marry a man who can bring the economic benefit to her Family. If the girl wants to disobey her fathers choice then the only way for her can do is run away or attempt suicide. This really is a tragedy in the Middle East world. Wife must need to obey her husband as the male has a dominance status in the middle- East world. According to the Koran says If a wife is rebellious, then her husband should Admonish her, punish her to her couch and strike her. Therefore, the religious gives the Men a right to hit their wife. So the domestic violence is quite common in the Middle East. Also, in the Middle East world polygamy is allowed. That mean man can have more than One wife . Islam allows a man to have up to 4 wives. This is very common in some Conservative countries like in Saudi Arabia. But in fact, women can gain more power When they become older. They will handle the right of household finances, discipline children and not hesitate to speak her mind. In Middle East, it is quite easy for a man to divorce his wife anytime. But if divorce the men need to pay all married cash to his wifes family and the women can keep the gold, jewelly, clothing and need to move back into her fathers or brothers household, under the eye of her male relative. In the tradition view, a wifes primary job is to bear and raise children- especially boys. They are not encouraged to go out for working. It is because working and earning living is the mans responsibility. In fact, if a woman need to go out for working. Then it is a sign to show that her husband cannot support her living. This really is a shameful to the male. But even, the woman can go out for working. However, t here is still sex segregation in some countries. In Saudi Arabia, women can only be a teacher, nurse and mother. The government is restricting the woman to manage business, travel aboard to study, eat in restaurant. Also, women only can work in the restaurant, hospital, newspaper and magazine which for women only. Both in the west and middle east societies, veiling is the popular word for the practice by which a woman conceals her hair and body and sometimes her face. A more accurate term is bijah. The reason for the women to wear the bijah is to hide the sight of womans beauty. Furthermore, it turns their thoughts away from pious, proper behavior: an adolescent youth suffers from frustrated sexual desire and a middle aged man thinks of discarding his wife and finding a much younger and beautiful woman. All of these would led the society become instability. So it is a responsibility for women to prevent these things happen. So they need to put on the veil. Moreover, some of the wome n to go out to the society and can move more freely and not bothered by men. Otherwise, an unveiled woman would likely receive cold stares and insults. Therefore, a woman veiled may say that she feels greater freedom and more safety than she did before adopting the bijah. Furthermore, a veiled woman can prove that she is a good Islam woman and other people will respect her and regard her only as a coworker, fellow students and not as a sex object. Another advantage of the veil is allowed woman stop thinking about her looks and to move concentrate on the important things, such as her job, study and family. Lastly, a girl who covers her face can make her parent to believe her she will behave properly and not attract improper attention. This makes it easier for a girl to go out and spend times with her friends without bother. To conclude, in fact in some Middle East countries the women status has some Remarkable improvement. They can be more independence. There is increasing numbers of women have no men to support them. They can go out for working like in Libya woman even can be a soldier. More and more women love working and see their works as an expression of individual ability, self esteem and growth. Also, more women are choosing to remain independent, postponing or refusing marriage. They even want to work after marriage. Some of them even said they would not marry with a man who wanted them to give up their career. This is really is a sign of improvement in Middle East world. But there is still a long struggle for the women in Middle East to fight for their better life and rights.

Emotion and Diction in Richard Wright’s Book Black Boy :: Richard Wright’s Black Boy

Emotion and Diction in Richard Wright’s Book Black Boy Throughout Richard Wright’s book Black Boy, which represented his life, Richard used great emotion to show us how he was and what he may have been feeling. He also referred the book to his own life by using examples and making them as evidence in the book. His techniques and diction in this book gave a fire to his writing and a voice towards how it was for him growing up. Richard Wright’s main use was Pathos, which means emotion, to show us how he was feeling while he was writing this book. Was he anger or sad, excited or depressed. It all shows in his writing. I like the statement, â€Å" Dick, look, you’re black, black, black see? Can’t you understand that?† The way he used his emotion and it was like he was using anger in his writing to make a point. By saying â€Å"Can’t you understand that?† tells me that back in this time that there is something wrong with being black unlike today. Then another way in which he introduces emotion to us is by using the italicized words. For example, now and black. Doing this to these words give in a little more flavor and excitement. Then diction became another way in which he showed how one acts, how the scenery looks, and just describes the characters in different ways. In the statement â€Å" He lit a cigarette and blew out smoke leisurely† gives me a sense that the guy is some heavy weighted main that does not care and does what ever his heart pleases. Then in another statement like â€Å" Suddenly Griggs reached for my arm and jerked me violently, sending me stumbling three or four feet across pavement.† So if you were to read on you would know that he was doing that to teach Richard a lesson. But instead you got this picture in your mind of some man throwing down a child trying to hurt him. That is how strong Richard Wright’s diction is. So then when you read on it tells you that Richard is growing up and is learning about life. Then we have the evidence in which Richard Wright used to show how he feels and what happened to him in his life. First of all what we have to remember is that this book is basically prototype to his life.

Assessing A Company’s Future Financial Health Essay

Google is a multinational corporation that serves thousands of consumers worldwide. Through Internet related products such as Internet searches, maps, emails, mobile apps, and other online contents for users Google became the company it is today. Every employee of Google is different in his or her own way; making it a well-diversified organization similar to the global audience they serve. Google’s mission statement is to organize information from all around the world and make it universally accessible at a quick and orderly fashion. This means creating a search engine smart enough to understand the difference between Jaguar, the car, and jaguar, the animal. Google went public in 2004 and has been doing exceptionally well ever since. It has an estimated number of over three hundred million servers using the search engine every day. From these statistics it is easy to say that Google is number one in the Internet information industry. This industry is considered to be one of th e most important economic sectors due to the fact that it is for industries that are information intensive. Although there are many search engines similar to Google, such as Yahoo, Facebook, Groupon, Microsoft, and Pearson education, Google seems to be the one consumers use more frequently. The analysis of this paper will discuss the current financial status of Google, conditions relevant to the market, competitors, and recent news. One way to measure the financial health of Google’s current status is to analyze the S.W.O.T analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This being said Google should maintain its current strengths of a successful audience which helped reach a high of $13,100,000,000 operating income for the current fiscal year. With the growth of the company over the last five years Google’s net income, gross profit, and revenue have gradually increased. Hitting a low point towards the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 then rising again in 2010. Even  during a recession, a time of need, Google remained lucrative through its assets, liabilit ies, stable stock price, and efficiency for paying back debt. Google’s total assets have steadily increased from 2008 to 2012. Some key figures to point out in their assets are the slow growth between the second half of 2008 to the second of 2009. This slow growth period is probably due to the economic recession. Google also saw a strong growth in assets from the second quarter of 2012 to the third quarter 2012. Google has mainly kept its liabilities relatively low compared to assets. There was some increase in liabilities in 2010 as well as an extensive increase 2012 compared to earlier years. The stock price during the recession drastically decreased for many companies but this was not the case for Google. In 2008, the beginning of the recession, Google’s stock price increased by $7; every year since the recession the stock price has risen and is predicted to continue rising for future years. Google also remains a strong company because of their efficiency on paying back their debt with their cash received from operations. This can be shown by their operating cash flow to total debt ratio. Google’s operating cash flow to total debt ratio is 2.56%. Meaning cash is double the amount of debt issued. Therefore, Google is able to pay back their debt fairly quick. Although Google has some strength’s the company also has some weaknesses. A key factor that contests Google’s respected reputation is its bond rating. In 2011 Google started to issue bonds; they received a rating of AA, the fourth down level of ratings a company can receive. However, the double a rating still means the company is a high credit-quality investment. According to credit rating Agency Moody’s, who gave the rating, Google received the rating due to their substantial financial flexibility as well as its conservative financial philosophy. For the year ending December 31, 2012 for Google, it finished with $60,454,000 in current assets. This is a big increase from 2011, which had $52,758,000 in current assets, a total increase of $7,696,000. The bulk of this increase is due to net  receivables, which could be the result from selling advertising space on credit or one of the many products Google offers. Cash and cash equivalents also had a major jump of $4,795,000, which could be the result from selling phones, advertising, apps, and other cash generating assets Google owns. This is a promising sign to investors because if they can sustain the growth hopefully enough cash will be retained and dividends will be offered. Assets 2012 2011 2010 Current Assets Cash and Cash Equivalents14,778,000 9,983,000 13,630,000 Short Term Investments33,310,000 34,643,000 21,345,000 Net Receivables 9,729,000 6,387,000 5,261,000 Inventory 505,000 35,000 – Other Current Assets 2,132,000 1,710,000 1,326,000 Total Current Assets 60,454,000 52,758,000 41, 562, 00 Google’s total assets have steadily increased dating back from 2008 to 2012. Some key figures to point out in their assets are the slow growth between the second half of 2008 to the second of 2009. This slow growth period is probably due to the economic recession. Google also saw a strong growth in assets from the second quarter of 2012 to the third quarter 2012. Google has mainly kept its liabilities relatively low compared to assets. There was some increase in liabilities in 2010 as well as an extensive increase 2012 compared to earlier years. Google has a total asset turnover of .6%. The total asset turnover can be interpreted to mean the amount of sales, that each unit of assets can generate. Simply, it’s smarter to get more sales on the assets that you are deploying to a business. The higher the total asset turnover, the better the business is doing. Therefore, Google’s percentage of .6% is an indication that the company is below the average industry of .7%. The current ratio measures a company’s ability to pay short-term liabilities. The higher the current ratio, the more capable the company is of paying its liabilities. Google has a current ratio of 3.94, in comparison to the industry average of 4.8%. Due to the fact that Google is under the industry average it means that Google can pay  back its short-term debt but not as quick as other companies in the industry. The quick ratio is very similar to the current ratio; in the way it also measures the company’s ability to pay of short-term liabilities. The only difference is that it adds the inventory of the company to its calculations. Google maintains a quick ratio of 3.7, which still shows it, is efficient in paying off its short-term obligations. The debt to equity ratio indicates wha t proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. Google has a debt to equity ratio of 11.61%. This is considered high and means that the company has been aggressive in financing its growth with debt. The high number can result in inconsistent earnings as a result of additional interest expense. Google has a return on assets of 10.5%. This is an indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. Since Google maintains an ROA below the industry average, of 15.6%, this shows that the company is earning less money on investments. Google has ‘day’s sales outstanding’ or DSO of 49.8. This means that Google takes a relatively long time to receive revenue once a sale has been made. This could be because most of their sales could be done on credit. With the expansion of the industry, Google has an opportunity for growth. The current growth rate for 2012 for Google is 11.29% and it is predicted to increase to 17.43% in 2013. The reason Google is predicted to grow over the next year or so is because the demand for online use is more predominant. With the growth of this industry it is vital that Google is aware of the threats it may encounter. One of Google’s biggest competitors, Microsoft, has introduced a newly organized search engine called Bing. The search engine Bing is gradually growing and advancing their technology making them a threat towards Google. Whenever Google advances their technology Bing turns around and does something to make their search engine better, creating a war between the two. Google is generally strong in its ability to cover debt. It has a current ratio of 3.94%, meaning it can efficiently cover its short-term liabilities. The company also has a debt to assets ratio of .07%. This number measures the company’s financial risk by determining how much of the company’s assets have been financed by debt. Since Google’s number is equal to industry average it is easy to infer that Google has average financial risk because its assets are significantly higher than its short and long term debt. Google also shows a strong ability to pay off their  interest because their EBITDA to interest ratio is extremely high at 154.64. The operating cash flow to total debt ratio measures how well the cash generated from Google’s operations covers current liabilities. Google’s operating cash flow to total debt ratio is also high at 2.56. This is a good sign and means Google is able to generate a large sum of cash to pay off debts. When a company with operating cash flow is considerably higher than its net income the company is considered to have high quality. This is the case with Google. In 2008 Google’s net income was $6,632,000,000 and its operating cash flow was $7,853,000,000. Over the last five years both net income and operating cash flows have increased. Net income increased to $13,339,000,000 and the cash from operating activities increase to $15,874,000,000. Since Google is generating a good amount of their money back they have been able to reduce debt alo ng with buying backs some of their stock. Google investing activities primarily consist of information technology, consumer discretionary, and financials. In 2008 Google’s investing activity started out at $5,319,000,000 and gradually increased over the last five years till it reached $19,041,000,000 in 2011. In the beginning of 2012 Google’s investing activities decreased to a $12,101,000,000. In 2012 Google’s main investment was information technology with a hint utility research. Over the last few years Google has spent an exceptional amount of money on capital expenditures, items that last a long time to keep the company running. Over the last three years Google spent an average of $2,755,333,000 on capital expenditures. Cash from financing activities measures the movement of cash between a firm, its owners, and creditors. Financing activities consist of issuing dividends and issuing or selling stock. In 2008 and 2009 there was no long-term or short-term debt issued but in 2010 Google issue over $5,246,000,000 worth of debt and only paid back $1,783,000,000 of the debt. The following year Google issued $10,179,000,000 dollars’ worth of debt and repaid more then 2/3s of the debt, making them a credible company. Over the last few years Google did not have any dividends. In 2010 Google repurchased a stock of $801,000,000 because they felt their stocks were undervalued. When a company buys back stock they increase their earnings per share and increase the market value of the outstanding shares. From 2009 to 2010 cash from financing increased drastically, from $233,000,000,000 to $3,050,000,000,000. With a CAPM beta of 1.23 and a P/E ratio of 21.65 Google is a riskier firm. Google’s beta of 1.23 is above average making it riskier than other firms in the industry due to the amount of debt issued. However, firms with higher risk have higher return. Google’s P/E ratio is also currently under the industry average of 28.70% making the stock undervalued. Over the next year Google had predicted that their P/E ratio would decrease to 17.88. Return on equity or ROE, shows a corporation’s profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. Relative to the industry average of 15.30% Google has a relatively high ROE of 17.18%. Meaning Google generates a strong profit with the money shareholders invested in the company. In comparison to Google, Microsoft has a ROE of 24.5%, EBay has a ROE of 21.28%, Akamai Technologies has a ROE of 8.94%, and Baidu with an exceptionally high ROE of 53.6%. Another way to compare Google to its competitors is to compare benchmarks. Benchmarking of Google’s competitors would be measured in terms of profit margin. The higher the profit margin the more profitable a company is. Google has a profit margin of 59.92 % while its biggest competitor Microsoft has a profit margin of 75.23% and Apple has a profit margin of 43.87%. This means that Microsoft has a competitive advantage of cost control compared to Google, Apple, and other com petitors in this industry. Throughout the years Google has remained a strong well-known company that supplies organized information from all around the world to thousands of consumers every day. Through exploiting strengths, executing opportunities, fixing weaknesses, and distinguishing threats Google can remain a top-notch company and continue to dominate the Internet Information system. Some recent news for this company is the mind-blowing lawsuit between Apple and Google. Within the last year Apple had sewed Google for seeking unreasonably high license fees for patent use on wireless technology. Apple claimed that Motorola was in violation of their patent by seeking a license fee of 2.25 percent of the price of devices. Over the last week Google was  pleased to hear that this lawsuit was dropped due to the fact that there was no basis for the claim. References: â€Å"Google Inc.† Yahoo Finance. Yahoo, n.d. Web. . â€Å"Google Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results Investor Relations Google.† Google Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚€Ã‚“ Investor Relations ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚€Ã‚“ Google.n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Reference for Business.† Google, Inc.N.p. n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

House of Spirits – Epigraph by Pablo Neruda

How does the epigraph relate to the greater message in the novel? An epigraph is a quotation, phrase or motto at the beginning of a piece of literary work, thus setting forth a theme for the piece of literature. In this case, this epigraph gives the readers a small gist and theme of what to expect when they read the novel. â€Å"The House of Spirits† is a novel which was written by Isabel Allende. This story revolves around family life, mainly around two upper-class families; the Del Valle and the Trueba family and was originally written in Spanish, then translated to many different languages, English being one. The story is set in a Latin-American country. The epigraph by Pablo Neruda has a much deeper meaning which the reader has to implore. In a nut-shell, the epigraph talks about two things; life and death. Pablo Neruda is Chilean by nationality, which may also suggest that this ‘Latin country’ we thing the novel is set in, may very well be Chile. The first line asks a question which when thought about, not many people have an answer to. Together with the second line, we can reflect to the novel because even though we may exaggerate and say we live a thousand years, the crucial events that define an individual’s life take place in the matter of just a few days and at the end of the day it is those events that decide the fate of a person’s life. We can connect this to the novel by using the example of Esteban Trueba and Clara, when after he hits her, she decides not to speak to him, nor to use her maiden name and never to wear their wedding ring ever again. It was that one moment that sealed their fate, and their real personality was reflected. â€Å"For a week, or for several centuries? †- this line makes us think, how one small contribution to the world can change a person’s life. He will be remembered for years and years to come, just for that one small thing he may have contributed to the world, in a matter of minutes. The fourth line makes us reflect back on life. All along, as individuals we have thought of death just ‘happening’ and getting over. Like an event. But this novel makes us thing otherwise. It portrays itself as a long process. Dona Ester is a very good example from the novel regarding this. Her life is already declining and there is nothing that she can do to change that fact. It is like she has already begun to die, a slow process, she is just counting her days till that ‘moment’. We can also look at death in another way. In a certain situation, death may also mean not physically leaving the world or your mortal body, but killing something, leaving something behind. We can use the example of Esteban Trueba and Clara, as when he hits her and she decides not to converse with him anymore, it is the beginning of the ‘death’ of their relationship. Another comment on the epigraph I would like to make is that everywhere, Pablo Neruda has used â€Å"he† and â€Å"man†, suggesting that at the time he wrote it, the society he was living in was a male-dominated society. This is also reflected in the book as the inequality to women is clearly shown all through. Ironically, this poem has 5 lines and also there are 5 generations in one of the most important families in the book; the Del Valle family: grandmother, Nivea, Rosa, Clara, Blanca and Alba. This epigraph gives us a surface picture of what to expect in this novel, but as we have seen, if we go deeper to explore, there can be so many more meanings to it.