Race and Alabaster Essay Example for Free

Race and Alabaster Essay Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was doomed from the start. Even considering the racial nature of the marriage, his lack of a constant home, and the improper method of his courting, there is another reason why their marriage would never have worked. Othello’s label of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as â€Å"Alabaster†(5. 2.5) he will never consider her capable of responding to his love. Because Othello is at his wit’s end when he refers to her as â€Å"Alabaster†, he is speaking out of his heart. After Othello reads the letter from Venice, he begins to speak in less cohesive manner. For instance the line, â€Å"Pish! Noses, ears, and lips. Isn’t Possible? Confess! Handkerchief! O devil! †(4. 1. 42) contains none of Othello’s former eloquence. He begins to speak with word association, rather than in complete sentences. For instance, the word â€Å"confess! † brings up the word â€Å"Handkerchief!†, and â€Å"devil! †. Because Desdemona, the handkerchief, and the sense of maliciousness were on his mind so much, he begins to express with abstract words and ideas instead of sentences. Although this makes his lines harder to read, they show us what he is constantly thinking of. Instead of clear and concise lines, they are a torrent of his true feelings. Therefore when he describes Desdemona as â€Å"Alabaster†, we can be sure it is his inner picture of her. Alabaster’s beauty gives you an idea about his feelings of bodily inferiority to her. Alabaster is a naturally beautiful stone, used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese to make statues and vases. This word choice gives the reader a sense of his feelings of inadequacy to Desdemona. He is never said to be ugly, on the contrary, he is described as â€Å"far more fair than black†(1. 3. 291). He must have felt some sensitivity about his physical appearance. In contrast, he describes her face as â€Å"fair as Dian’s visage†(3. 3. 389), Dian most likely being the god of healing in Celtic mythology. This implies both beauty and health. He then goes on to say â€Å"begrimed and black as mine own face†(3. 3. 390). Othello superimposes her clean and young white face with his grimy old black face. The fact that he believed her to be unfaithful with Cassio further proves his insecurity. Cassio is a clean white man with golden hair. Cassio is all of the beauty that Othello can not be, and is therefore able to provide something that he cannot. This makes Cassio a threat to Othello’s masculinity. Othello most likely gains this opinion of Cassio from his nonchalant attitude. When Cassio says â€Å"I never knew a woman love man so†(4. 1. 111) Othello immediately jumps to the conclusion that he is referring to himself and Desdemona. Othello is on the offensive with Cassio without any proof, simply because of his physical appearance. Alabaster’s smooth white surface illustrates the racial inferiority he feels to Desdemona. Race plays an enormous part in Othello’s relationship with Desdemona. Although he is an upstanding citizen and a good solder he is still unfit to marry because of his race. A reoccurring theme in the way that people refer to Othello is that of a great black beast. He is often described as an â€Å"Old black ram†(1. 1. 87) or a â€Å"Barbary Horse†(1. 1. 110). There is a sense that he is animalistic, even though in real life he is sophisticated and civilized. This spiteful talk is a back-handed reminder that he is a moor. The constant inference that he is a beast may have caused him to believe it himself. Othello believes that Desdemona could not love an ugly animal like himself. This puts her sincerity into doubt when she says that she loves him. Alabaster is a rock, and can not return any feelings of love that Othello gives to it. This is part of a feeling that Desdemona is something elemental and beyond him. For instance in the same speech he describes her as having â€Å"Promethean heat†(5. 2. 12), Prometheus being the god that stole fire for man. Therefore â€Å"Promethean heat† would refer to the element of fire in its purest form, something divine and primeval. He also says that her death should bring â€Å"A huge eclipse of sun and moon†(5. 2. 97). This paints her as something cosmic in scale, so large and important that the entire universe should be changed in her passing. Othello puts her on a different scale than himself. When he dies he says only that â€Å"in your letters†¦ [you should] speak of me as I am†(5. 2. 338). While he is normal, she is a cosmic and divine being, unfit to love a mortal like himself. This creates insecurity in Othello. He begins to ask how can a rock, or fire, or a star in the night sky love him? Because of his high view of her, he creates a complex of his own insignificance. From his point of view, Desdemona is unable to love him because she is too elemental to have emotion. Othello has, put simply, encased Desdemona in alabaster. He has formed an opinion of her that she is unable to break free of. Because he has so strongly locked her into this state of mind he is unable to think of him in any other way. She is so high up on the pedestal that he puts her on that he is unable to see who she truly is. This is Othello’s failing. By making her too powerful, too divine, any minor fault is a glaring defect to her immaculate surface. Then at the first flaw, she becomes low and nothing, and he needs to return her to her former glory. He must â€Å"Quench thee†¦ [and] again they former light restore†(5. 2. 9). He fails to see her love through her alabaster covering.

The Vision Of Audi Company Marketing Essay

The Vision Of Audi Company Marketing Essay Mr.August Hoch originated a company named Horch and Co in 1899 and then he developed his first automobile in 1901. As he encountered management problem, he left his company in 1909 and created a new company called Audi afterward. The brand of Audi Automobile in 1910 was GmbH and Audi continue to produce cars until the First World War. In 1931, Auto Union was formed. Before Second World War, this union among manufacturers had prodigious success. Manufacturers had a new start in Ingolstadt, Germany after the war as a lot of military vehicles maintenance and spare parts were needed. Since Auto Union unable to generate massive profit, the company was closed in 1960 and coincidently permitted the rediscovery of Audi. The vision of Audi Company is Audi- the premium brand. Audi Company emphasized its core brand Audi on the challenges of the future when adopting its strategy 2020. This strategy became firmer contour since Year 2011 because the mission of Audi Company We delight customers worldwide was explored deeper. Audi products are convincing in its brand values, sportiness, permissiveness and also superiority. The mission statement also plays an important role on the path to lead Audi to become the leading premium brand. Audi defined its customer delight in four areas of action which are, we define innovation, we live responsibility, we create experience, and we shape Audi. There are also four objectives of Audi Company which are continuous growth, superior financial growth, global image leader and attractive employer worldwide. Generally, target market is defined by gender, age, social-economic grouping, geography or any other combination of demographics. Audi Company targets on upper middle class consumers which comprises of professional employees at the upper level of company ladder, celebrities and businessman. Besides that, most of the Audi products are designed to be high in velocity therefore Audi targets male rather than female as according to surveys, majority of the female will not purchase a automobile because of its high velocity but they are only focusing on the artistic design and comfort level that a vehicle can offer whereas for men, high velocity will be the main criteria. Moreover, male which have age ranging from 30 to 65 years old are more preferred because Audi, for now, are non-economical product, it is impossible for young men who are still fresh in the society to afford a luxury car. Marketing Mix Strategies Promotion Promotion is one of the key elements of marketing mix strategies that informing, persuading and influencing a consumer decision. The components of the promotion mix are personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, publicity and direct marketing. Audi implemented a strong marketing strategy consisting of digital and television advertising in order to hit their target sales. According to the journal Audi all-time sales record driven by strong digital advertising, it stated that Audis TV advertising helping it top 100,000 vehicles sold in United States for the first time in 2010(Rachel Lamb, 2010). Besides that, another Audi strong initiative is its social media and digital strategy. For instance, Audi consistently updates its company news or products new feature through social networking sites such as Facebook and its own Web to make sure consumer can get the latest news instantly. Direct marketing is a channel that allows business to communicate straight to the customer. As a major car manufacturer, Audi does not only focus on innovation but also tried to attract new customer. Audi targeted prospective buyers with a mailer which using Royal Mails Mailsort ® 1400 service to deliver it. This mailer would deliver the new technological features that the new vehicle model had. Sales promotion is one of the key elements in promotion strategy that offer incentives for buyer to purchase the selected items. However, Audi doesnt do much sales promotion compare to other car companies such as Toyota, Nissan and Honda. The sales promotion of Audi company deals offered only happen at dealership level. They usually dont rely on these kinds of promotions because Audi has already established their brand in the automobiles world. Moreover, Audi utilizes personal selling techniques in their entire retail store. The salesperson in Audi retail stores are knowledgeable of the brand and should be trained to understand what their customers are looking for. Personal selling can be considered as an important source of marketing information. The salesperson should act as problem solvers and advisor for customer rather than using hard-selling strategy, it might help Audi to build a long-term relationship with customers. Besides that, Audi also sends representatives to retail stores to keep sale associate up to date on their merchandise and the technology behind to give the consumer better feel of the product. Pricing Marketers are concern on the pricing strategy with the objectives to be competitive and to raise profit as well as return on investment. Setting the right price is vital to trigger the companys impressions towards the potential customers. Audi as a luxurious brand with prestige brand image hires premium pricing as one of its pricing strategies. The price of a product will affect customers perceptions towards its quality. Customers often associate prestige with high prices because it is common that high quality raw materials and components are never cheap. Therefore it is reasonable for Audi to position its brand through premium pricing. According to Bojan IliĆ¡ and Vesna MiliĆ¡eviĆ¡, the business history of a number of enterprises proved that reducing in price for certain prestige products brought negative effect on sales. In fact, Audi automobiles, the quality leader, are always for society of at least upper-middle class. Below is a diagram regarding price-quality strategies. pricing strategy.jpg Source: www.atkinson.yorku.ca Besides, like other automobile companies, Audi also uses optional product pricing. All companies will not hesitate to increase the amount customers spend once they start purchasing, so do Audi. There are optional or extra products or equipment for customers to add on to their automobiles. For instance, customers can choose to equip their vehicles with pearl colour effect with an additional charge of RM4,000 or the normal one. Other optional equipments that Audi offers are Bang Olufsen sound system, electronically opening closing tailgate, panaromic glass roof and MMI navigation system with reverse camera. Another pricing strategy that Audi employs is geographical pricing strategy. This pricing strategy is quite useful as there are variations in prices in different parts of the world. A very good example is that Audi vehicles are cheaper in Langkawi Island than in Peninsular Malaysia. This strategy may not seem fair for areas which pay higher price but Audi makes professional pricing decision based on the distance and economic situation of the those areas to avoid negative impact on the demand of its products. Product Product strategy includes tangible and intangible elements. Tangible products are things that we can see, touch, and feel whereas intangible products comprise things such as the image of the offering and the psychological aspects of pricing. For instance, customer will form a perception that expensive goods are usually high quality products. As known worldwide, Audi produces different types and classes of luxury cars to suit the taste and preference of the demanding customers. Automobile that Audi offer ranges from normal family suite sedan car to throttling speed sports cars. However, the technology use in building each automobile is similar which fulfill two of the product strategy criteria- product features and product quality. The body frames of the cars that Audi produces are fully galvanized to prevent corrosion and rusting. Additionally, the full-body zinc coating has proved to be very effective in preventing rust. Moreover, the bodys resulting durability even surpassed Audis own expectations, causing the manufacturer to extend its original 10-year warranty against corrosion perforation to currently 12 years and this factor has form a perception for the customer that Audi automobiles are superior in quality and cars made to last. Besides body frame, even the space frame and engine, all are building using high quality materials. Furthermore, the design and layout of the automobile are attractive and unique. Audi refused to adopt the traditional rear-wheel drive layout favored by its two arch rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW, preferring either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. Besides, Audi also have a deep length of product line. Audi Company target both upper class and middle class customers by producing normal sedan cars to sports cars and even MPV cars. The models are classified into normal Audi cars, Audi coupà ©s and SUVs, S (Sport) and RS (RennSport/Racing) models. With each of these category lines, Audi came out various models with different design and specification so that it can further penetrate the market of automobiles. Additionally, Audi also apply branding strategy where the brand of Audi symbolizes the four overlapping rings. The four rings represent the four labels of Auto Union: Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer. Place Under marketing mix strategy, place actually is refer to distribution of the product. This means that all aspects which related to how goods and services are transfer from the producer to the end consumer. This also indicates that how is the coordination of wholesalers or retailers involved in moving those products from head office, factory or warehouse, to the end consumer. Audi sites comprise the two German plants in the worldwide network, which are in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. There are seven production facilities which are in China, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Slovakia, Spain and Belgium. The channels using by Audi is from producer to distributor to wholesaler to dealer and to customer. Euromobil Sdn Bhd is one of the distributors for Audi who buys large quantities of Audi cars from manufacturer and then creates smaller units and delivers the cars to their customer. It opened a state-of-the-art Audi Hangar which cost around RM30 million to provide as a one-stop centre for Audi customers. With well-equipped work bays, Euromobil intend to provide a complete services support and convenience to Audi customers. Audi also expanded its distribution network by opening a brand new showroom in the financial capital which located in Mumbai. Car dealers are important in promoting and selling their products. A dealer network and team understand what a brand, product, enterprise, competition and consumers really mean is the key to Audis success in marketing. Audi City London is an innovative dealership experience delivered by one of the most advanced technology retail environment. This digital environment features multi-touch display help configuring Audi vehicle from millions of possible combinations. This will help people place greater emphasis on a direct personal bond of trust with their vehicle brand. In addition, Audi are very convenience to access, there are sold in specialized outlets, shopping mall and also major department stores. For example, there was an Audi Display zone from 31 August to 2 September 2012 at Orion Mall, Malleswaram. Therefore, people will easily get the latest information about Audi and can easily get them. Market Opportunities Audi was known as one of the top automobile producer in the world for its sports series cars and also normal sedans which are the dream cars of almost all car owners. By just relying on the current market will not be sufficient for the rapidly changing customer preferences but to come up with new innovative ideas to maintain and expand its market opportunities. We discovered a way that Audi Company might find it useful way in grabbing its market opportunity by modifying its cars especially the S (sports) and RS (RennSport/Racing) models to strengthen the image of the company by building fantastic sports series cars that no one ever built. To be outstanding, Audi must produce car which beyond what everyone is doing which is having a jet powered engine with the complement of rocket building material which are able to withstand intensive heat and even can absorb large impact during collision, and the last one will be the fuelling system will be 100% eco-friendly and economical. The first step is to use a jet engine instead of the normal valve engine to be empowered its car. By applying the jet powered engine inside our sports cars which approximately will reach a speed of 450mph, it will replace Bugatti Veyron to be the fastest sports car in the world and lets name it as Audi TurBoo. It is a limited edition product. Although Audi TurBoo is such a high velocity sports car it still can withstand a large impact when collide with object. To complement its high velocity, Audi company should joint venture with one of the rocket building company that supply rocket and rocket spare parts to NASA- Rockwell International company, by having their supply on building material, technology and labor power (expertise) they can build the car chesses using titanium and aluminum to help keep the car weight down which contributes to faster velocity and higher resistance against any impact. Furthermore, the car body will be build using the same material but in the middle of the two pieces of metal it contains the Reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) and thermal tiles which are the components that provide for the most heat protection for a during breaking through our atmosphere and out to space, these material are used where reentry temperature exceeds 1,260  °C (2,300  °F). For the last thing that customer ever considers about is the fueling system. The fuel is cheaper than the price of a liter of petrol can cost. First of all, for the fuel part, the cars are going to run on liquid hydrogen and oxygen, Hydrogen, a light and extremely powerful propellant it has the lowest molecular weight of any known substance and burns with extreme intensity (5,500 °F). In combination with an oxidizer such as liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen yields the highest specific impulse, or efficiency in relation to the amount of propellant consumed, of any known propellant and yet they also are storable, transportable, reliable, less complex and the most important thing is it just 98cents per gallon. Other than modifying a sports car, Audi should form a subsidiary company to target younger middle market which is the majority population. The subsidiary company adopts operation of the parents company and is under the supervision of Audi. We suggest that the name of the new subsidiary company to be JIMT, this name is created based on the initial of four founders of the new subsidiary company and it is easy to be pronounced and remembered. JIMT Atom is a mini sized economical car produce under Audi Company which target at young and upper-middle class buyers. The small but perfectly formed JIMT Atom takes the small luxury car spoils for comfortable compare to other mini sized car. On the move, it makes consumer feels as solid and composed as Audis bigger and more expensive models vehicle, while the petrol and diesel engine delivers a strong blend of performance and economy. As despite its premium image, Audi would not cost a fortune to run this project. An attractively priced, low tax bills, rock-solid resale values and pre-paid servicing package help Audi keep running costs to a minimum level. Besides, standard feature of JIMT Atom include LED interior lighting package, Xenon plus headlamps, light and rain sensor as well as automatic air conditioning. The LED interior lighting provides several alternatives of lighting for the interior of JIMT Atom. Furthermore, Xenon plus headlamps use less energy consumption and last longer than standard dipped lights. The light, rain and air condition sensor is an optional feature in which headlights, wiper and air condition function automatically according to the weather. Among the advantages of owning a small car like JIMT Atom is fuel saving because it consumes lesser fuel and energy without affecting the performance standard. As many people emphasize on maneuverability of vehicles, small cars are easier to control and are much easier to park in crowded parking spaces. Moreover, JIMT Atom is able to pick up speed more quickly than other heavier vehicles. Recommendations To implement the market opportunities that mentioned above, Audi Company is suggested to hire world famous celebrity to be the spokesperson of their developed products. Celebrities not only bring enormous impact toward their adorers but also influence the publics purchasing behaviour. The reason behind this phenomena is because public has the psychological perception that a product is of superior quality with the renowned spokesperson. This also indirectly promotes the new innovated products through the spokespersons popularity. For instance, we suggest Audi Company to hire a young pop star such as Girls Generation, Justin Bieber and Hyuna to advertise JIMT Atom. JIMT Company will sponsor JIMT Atom to the contracted spokesperson for the usage in his/her concert, movie or music video. By this way, the rate of exposure of JIMT Atom will be higher rather than displaying in the traditional showroom. Therefore, the chain effect of hiring young pop star is increase in sales by obtaining support from younger generation as they would like to imitate their idols trend. Moreover, increasing rate of exposure leads to strong brand position and preference which caused JIMT Atom to become the first brand choice whenever the public think of buying a vehicle. As for Audi TurBoo, we would like to recommend Audi Company to hire a famous racer such as Michael Schumacher and sponsor him a brand new Audi TurBoo for racing competition. With his professional skills and techniques, we are pretty sure that this sports car best suited him as he has the capability to bring out the innate qualities of Audi TurBoo. Thus, the strengths of this product are explicitly revealed and intensely impress the public. Hence, public confidence towards Audi Company will be greatly boosted making the reliability of Audis product to be increase undoubtedly. In order to obtain higher profit, we propose Audi Company to organize a tour which permits Audis loyal customer to have a visit at Audis manufacturing department with the main objective to deliver the information about Audis high credibility and guaranteed product quality. Potential customers will have the opportunity to recognize the utmost effort of Audis management before a product is being commercialized to the market. Paying a visit to the manufacturing department also allows the visitors to witness the conscientiousness of Audis workers in accomplishing their tasks. In return, loyal supporters will definitely transform as advocators and circulate the good name of Audi to the people whom they associate. Since buying a vehicle is a high involvement purchasing decision, inviting potential customers for a tour to the manufacturing department, in fact, is helping them to collect as much information as possible which they absolutely need in making a purchasing decision. By comparing the information gathered, customers can easily differentiate the merits of JIMT Atom or Audi TurBoo with other similar products such as Mini Cooper Coupe, Volkswagen Beetle, BMW Z4 coupe and Lamborghini Gallardo. As for the welfare of potential customers, this may assist them in making a right investment decision as well as improve customer satisfaction. As mentioned, Audi TurBoo is a limited edition product in which its core purpose is to enhance the brand image rather than gain profit because of its high technological product which signifies a logo of success. Although Audi TurBoo is unaffordable for majority, producing Audi TurBoo will not cause a penny loss to the company but instead the up surged brand image boost up the sales of other products of Audi, a few example, JIMT Atom, Audi R8 and Audi A6. Audi TurBoo symbolizes the highest achievement of prestige automobile industry, resulting Audi Company as the quality leader and placing Audi in the most competitive position in continuous motion. In a nutshell, we strongly recommend Audi to set up subsidiary company- GIMT and produce GIMT Atom under the umbrella of Audi and implement the concept of Audi TurBoo into practice to enhance the sales of all ranges of Audi products. Conclusion In summary, Audi Company fully utilized the 4Ps marketing mix strategies to produce their products with its luxurious, exclusive capability to display style and comfort together to improve customers satisfaction and attract new customers. Audi keep tracks with the needs and wants of the people and designs its cars to meet the requirements of the people to gain sales for its company. Moreover, Audi has shown its significant progress in the field of technological innovations and superiority as it puts a lot of attentiveness and effort to success in automobile industry. The Audi Company also employed workers who are dedicated and hardworking and those workers really formed Audi excellently with their innovative, creative and class-apart design. From this assignment, we can understand and gain more knowledge about 4Ps marketing mix strategies. Besides that, we also know that how important marketing strategy and marketing mix for a company to success in the market and also the way how company can use marketing mix effectively to sustain competitively in the market. Through this assignment, we also know that creativity and innovative in developing new products is very important to gain competitive advantages among its competitors. 3483words

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Smart Antenna

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Smart Antenna The Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation algorithm which may take various forms generally follows from the homogeneous solution of the wave equation. The models of interest in this dissertation may equally apply to an EM wave as well as to an acoustic wave. Assuming that the propagation model is fundamentally the same, we will, for analytical expediency, show that it can follow from the solution of Maxwells equations, which clearly are only valid for EM waves. In empty space the equation can be written as: =0 (3.1) =0 (3.2) (3.3) (3.4) where . and ÃÆ'-, respectively, denote the divergence and curl. Furthermore, B is the magnetic induction. E denotes the electric field, whereas and are the magnetic and dielectric constants respectively. Invoking 3.1 the following curl property results as: (3.5) (3.6) (3.7) The constant c is generally referred to as the speed of propagation. For EM waves in free space, it follows from the derivation c = 1 / = 3 x m / s. The homogeneous wave equation (3.7) constitutes the physical motivation for our assumed data model, regardless of the type of wave or medium. In some applications, the underlying physics are irrelevant, and it is merely the mathematical structure of the data model that counts. 3.2 Plane wave In the physics of wave propagation, a plane wave is a constant-frequency wave whose wave fronts are infinite parallel planes of constant peak-to-peak amplitude normal to the phase velocity vector[]. Actually, it is impossible to have a rare plane wave in practice, and only a plane wave of infinite extent can propagate as a plane wave. Actually, many waves are approximately regarded as plane waves in a localized region of space, e.g., a localized source such as an antenna produces a field which is approximately a plane wave far enough from the antenna in its far-field region. Likely, we can treat the waves as light rays which correspond locally to plane waves, when the length scales are much longer than the waves wavelength, as is often appearing of light in the field of optics. 3.2.1 Mathematical definition Two functions which meet the criteria of having a constant frequency and constant amplitude are defined as the sine or cosine functions. One of the simplest ways to use such a sinusoid involves defining it along the direction of the x axis. As the equation shown below, it uses the cosine function to express a plane wave travelling in the positive x direction. (3.8) Where A(x,t) is the magnitude of the shown wave at a given point in space and time. is the amplitude of the wave which is the peak magnitude of the oscillation. k is the waves wave number or more specifically the angular wave number and equals 2à Ã¢â€š ¬/ÃŽÂ », where ÃŽÂ » is the wavelength of the wave. k has the units of radians per unit distance and is a standard of how rapidly the disturbance changes over a given distance at a particular point in time. x is a point along the x axis. y and z are not considered in the equation because the waves magnitude and phase are the same at every point on any given y-z plane. This equation defines what that magnitude and phase are. is the waves angular frequency which equals 2à Ã¢â€š ¬/T, and T is the period of the wave. In detail, omega, has the units of radians per unit time and is also a standard of how rapid the disturbance changing in a given length of time at a particular point in space. is a given particular point in time, and varphi , is the wave phase shift with the units of radians. It must make clear that a positive phase shift will shifts the wave along the negative x axis direction at a given point of time. A phase shift of 2à Ã¢â€š ¬ radians means shifting it one wavelength exactly. Other formulations which directly use the waves wavelength, period T, frequency f and velocity c, are shown as follows: A=A_o cos[2pi(x/lambda- t/T) + varphi], (3.9) A=A_o cos[2pi(x/lambda- ft) + varphi], (3.10) A=A_o cos[(2pi/lambda)(x- ct) + varphi], (3.11) To appreciate the equivalence of the above set of equations denote that f=1/T,! and c=lambda/T=omega/k,! 3.2.2 Application Plane waves are solutions for a scalar wave equation in the homogeneous medium. As for vector wave equations, e.g., waves in an elastic solid or the ones describing electromagnetic radiation, the solution for the homogeneous medium is similar. In vector wave equations, the scalar amplitude is replaced by a constant vector. e.g., in electromagnetism is the vector of the electric field, magnetic field, or vector potential. The transverse wave is a kind of wave in which the amplitude vector is perpendicular to k, which is the case for electromagnetic waves in an isotropic space. On the contrast, the longitudinal wave is a kind of wave in which the amplitude vector is parallel to k, typically, such as for acoustic waves in a gas or fluid. The plane wave equation is true for arbitrary combinations of à Ã¢â‚¬ ° and k. However, all real physical mediums will only allow such waves to propagate for these combinations of à Ã¢â‚¬ ° and k that satisfy the dispersion relation of the mediums. The dispersion relation is often demonstrated as a function, à Ã¢â‚¬ °(k), where ratio à Ã¢â‚¬ °/|k| gives the magnitude of the phase velocity and dà Ã¢â‚¬ °/dk denotes the group velocity. As for electromagnetism in an isotropic case with index of refraction coefficient n, the phase velocity is c/n, which equals the group velocity on condition that the index is frequency independent. In linear uniform case, a wave equation solution can be demonstrated as a superposition of plane waves. This method is known as the Angular Spectrum method. Actually, the solution form of the plane wave is the general consequence of translational symmetry. And in the more general case, for periodic structures with discrete translational symmetry, the solution takes the form of Bloch waves, which is most famous in crystalline atomic materials, in the photonic crystals and other periodic wave equations. 3.3 Propagation Many physical phenomena are either a result of waves propagating through a medium or exhibit a wave like physical manifestation. Though 3.7 is a vector equation, we only consider one of its components, say E(r,t) where r is the radius vector. It will later be assumed that the measured sensor outputs are proportional to E(r,t). Interestingly enough, any field of the form E(r,t) = , which satisfies 3.7, provided with T denoting transposition. Through its dependence on only, the solution can be interpreted as a wave traveling in the direction, with the speed of propagation. For the latter reason, ÃŽÂ ± is referred to as the slowness vector. The chief interest herein is in narrowband forcing functions. The details of generating such a forcing function can be found in the classic book by Jordan [59]. In complex notation [63] and taking the origin as a reference, a narrowband transmitted waveform can be expressed as: (3.12) where s(t) is slowly time varying compared to the carrier . For, where B is the bandwidth of s(t), we can write: (3.13) In the last equation 3.13, the so-called wave vector was introduced, and its magnitude is the wavenumber. One can also write, where is the wavelength. Make sure that k also points in the direction of propagation, e.g., in the x-y plane we can get: (3.14) where is the direction of propagation, defined counter clockwise relative the x axis. It should be noted that 3.12 implicitly assumed far-field conditions, since an isotropic, which refers to uniform propagation/transmission in all directions, point source gives rise to a spherical traveling wave whose amplitude is inversely proportional to the distance to the source. All points lying on the surface of a sphere of radius R will then share a common phase and are referred to as a wave front. This indicates that the distance between the emitters and the receiving antenna array determines whether the spherical degree of the wave should be taken into account. The reader is referred to e.g., [10, 24] for treatments of near field reception. Far field receiving conditions imply that the radius of propagation is so large that a flat plane of constant phase can be considered, thus resulting in a plane wave as indicated in Eq. 8. Though not necessary, the latter will be our assumed working mode l for convenience of exposition. Note that a linear medium implies the validity of the superposition principle, and thus allows for more than one traveling wave. Equation 8 carries both spatial and temporal information and represents an adequate model for distinguishing signals with distinct spatial-temporal parameters. These may come in various forms, such as DOA, in general azimuth and elevation, signal polarization, transmitted waveforms, temporal frequency etc. Each emitter is generally associated with a set of such characteristics. The interest in unfolding the signal parameters forms the essence of sensor array signal processing as presented herein, and continues to be an important and active topic of research. 3.4 Smart antenna Smart antennas are devices which adapt their radiation pattern to achieve improved performance either range or capacity or some combination of these [1]. The rapid growth in demand for mobile communications services has encouraged research into the design of wireless systems to improve spectrum efficiency, and increase link quality [7]. Using existing methods more effective, the smart antenna technology has the potential to significantly increase the wireless. With intelligent control of signal transmission and reception, capacity and coverage of the mobile wireless network, communications applications can be significantly improved [2]. In the communication system, the ability to distinguish different users is essential. The smart antenna can be used to add increased spatial diversity, which is referred to as Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA). Conventionally, employment of the most common multiple access scheme is a frequency division multiple access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). These independent users of the program, frequency, time and code domain were given three different levels of diversity. Potential benefits of the smart antenna show in many ways, such as anti-multipath fading, reducing the delay extended to support smart antenna holding high data rate, interference suppression, reducing the distance effect, reducing the outage probability, to improve the BER (Bit Error Rate)performance, increasing system capacity, to improve spectral efficiency, supporting flexible and efficient handoff to expand cell coverage, flexible management of the district, to extend the battery life of mobile station, as well as lower maintenance and operating costs. 3.4.1 Types of Smart Antennas The environment and the systems requirements decide the type of Smart Antennas. There are two main types of Smart Antennas. They are as follows: Phased Array Antenna In this type of smart antenna, there will be a number of fixed beams between which the beam will be turned on or steered to the target signal. This can be done, only in the first stage of adjustment to help. In other words, as wanted by the moving target, the beam will be the Steering [2]. Adaptive Array Antenna Integrated with adaptive digital signal processing technology, the smart antenna uses digital signal processing algorithm to measure the signal strength of the beam, so that the antenna can dynamically change the beam which transmit power concentrated, as figure 3.2 shows. The application of spatial processing can enhance the signal capacity, so that multiple users share a channel. Adaptive antenna array is a closed-loop feedback control system consisting of an antenna array and real-time adaptive signal receiver processor, which uses the feedback control method for automatic alignment of the antenna array pattern. It formed nulling interference signal offset in the direction of the interference, and can strengthen a useful signal, so as to achieve the purpose of anti-jamming [3]. Figure 2 click for text version Figure 3.2 3.4.2 Advantages and disadvantages of smart antenna Advantages First of all, a high level of efficiency and power are provided by the smart antenna for the target signal. Smart antennas generate narrow pencil beams, when a big number of antenna elements are used in a high frequency condition. Thus, in the direction of the target signal, the efficiency is significantly high. With the help of adaptive array antennas, the same amount times the power gain will be produce, on condition that a fixed number of antenna elements are used. Another improvement is in the amount of interference which is suppressed. Phased array antennas suppress the interference with the narrow beam and adaptive array antennas suppress by adjusting the beam pattern [2]. Disadvantages The main disadvantage is the cost. Actually, the cost of such devices will be more than before, not only in the electronics section, but in the energy. That is to say the device is too expensive, and will also decrease the life of other devices. The receiver chains which are used must be decreased in order to reduce the cost. Also, because of the use of the RF electronics and A/D converter for each antenna, the costs are increasing. Moreover, the size of the antenna is another problem. Large base stations are needed to make this method to be efficient and it will increase the size, apart from this multiple external antennas needed on each terminal. Then, when the diversity is concerned, disadvantages are occurred. When mitigation is needed, diversity becomes a serious problem. The terminals and base stations must equip with multiple antennas. 3.5 White noise White noise is a random signal with a flat power spectral density []. In another word, the signal contains the equal power within a particular bandwidth at the centre frequency. White noise draws its name from white light where the power spectral density of the light is distributed in the visible band. In this way, the eyes three colour receptors are approximately equally stimulated []. In statistical case, a time series can be characterized as having weak white noise on condition that {} is a sequence of serially uncorrelated random vibrations with zero mean and finite variance. Especially, strong white noise has the quality to be independent and identically distributed, which means no autocorrelation. In particular, the series is called the Gaussian white noise [1], if is normally distributed and it has zero mean and standard deviation. Actually, an infinite bandwidth white noise signal is just a theoretical construction which cannot be reached. In practice, the bandwidth of white noise is restricted by the transmission medium, the mechanism of noise generation, and finite observation capabilities. If a random signal is observed with a flat spectrum in a mediums widest possible bandwidth, we will refer it as white noise. 3.5.1 Mathematical definition White random vector A random vector W is a white random vector only if its mean vector and autocorrelation matrix are corresponding to the follows: mu_w = mathbb{E}{ mathbf{w} } = 0 (3.15) R_{ww} = mathbb{E}{ mathbf{w} mathbf{w}^T} = sigma^2 mathbf{I} . (3.16) That is to say, it is a zero mean random vector, and its autocorrelation matrix is a multiple of the identity matrix. When the autocorrelation matrix is a multiple of the identity, we can regard it as spherical correlation. White random process A time continuous random process where is a white noise signal only if its mean function and autocorrelation function satisfy the following equation: mu_w(t) = mathbb{E}{ w(t)} = 0 (3.17) R_{ww}(t_1, t_2) = mathbb{E}{ w(t_1) w(t_2)} = (N_{0}/2)delta(t_1 t_2). (3.18) That is to say, it is zero mean for all time and has infinite power at zero time shift since its autocorrelation function is the Dirac delta function. The above autocorrelation function implies the following power spectral density. Since the Fourier transform of the delta function is equal to 1, we can imply: S_{ww}(omega) = N_{0}/2 ,! (3.19) Since this power spectral density is the same at all frequencies, we define it white as an analogy to the frequency spectrum of white light. A generalization to random elements on infinite dimensional spaces, e.g. random fields, is the white noise measure. 3.5.2 Statistical properties The white noise is uncorrelated in time and does not restrict the values a signal can take. Any distribution of values about the white noise is possible. Even a so-called binary signal that can only take the values of 1 or -1 will be white on condition that the sequence is statistically uncorrelated. Any noise with a continuous distribution, like a normal distribution, can be white noise certainly. It is often incorrectly assumed that Gaussian noise is necessarily white noise, yet neither property implies the other. Gaussianity refers to the probability distribution with respect to the value, in this context the probability of the signal reaching amplitude, while the term white refers to the way the signal power is distributed over time or among frequencies. Spectrogram of pink noise (left) and white noise (right), showed with linear frequency axis (vertical). We can therefore find Gaussian white noise, but also Poisson, Cauchy, etc. white noises. Thus, the two words Gaussian and white are often both specified in mathematical models of systems. Gaussian white noise is a good approximation of many real-world situations and generates mathematically tractable models. These models are used so frequently that the term additive white Gaussian noise has a standard abbreviation: AWGN. White noise is the generalized mean-square derivative of the Wiener process or Brownian motion. 3.6 Normal Distribution In probability theory, the normal (or Gaussian) distribution is a continuous probability distribution that has a bell-shaped probability density function, known as the Gaussian function or informally as the bell curve[1]. f(x;mu,sigma^2) = frac{1}{sigmasqrt{2pi}} e^{ -frac{1}{2}left(frac{x-mu}{sigma}right)^2 } The parameter ÃŽÂ ¼ is the mean or expectation (location of the peak) and à Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °2 is the variance. à Ã†â€™ is known as the standard deviation. The distribution with ÃŽÂ ¼ = 0 and à Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °2 = 1 is called the standard normal distribution or the unit normal distribution. A normal distribution is often used as a first approximation to describe real-valued random variables that cluster around a single mean value. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Standard_deviation_diagram.svg/325px-Standard_deviation_diagram.svg.png The normal distribution is considered the most prominent probability distribution in statistics. There are several reasons for this:[1] First, the normal distribution arises from the central limit theorem, which states that under mild conditions, the mean of a large number of random variables drawn from the same distribution is distributed approximately normally, irrespective of the form of the original distribution. This gives it exceptionally wide application in, for example, sampling. Secondly, the normal distribution is very tractable analytically, that is, a large number of results involving this distribution can be derived in explicit form. For these reasons, the normal distribution is commonly encountered in practice, and is used throughout statistics, natural sciences, and social sciences [2] as a simple model for complex phenomena. For example, the observational error in an experiment is usually assumed to follow a normal distribution, and the propagation of uncertainty is computed using this assumption. Note that a normally distributed variable has a symmetric distribution about its mean. Quantities that grow exponentially, such as prices, incomes or populations, are often skewed to the right, and hence may be better described by other distributions, such as the log-normal distribution or Pareto distribution. In addition, the probability of seeing a normally distributed value that is far (i.e. more than a few standard deviations) from the mean drops off extremely rapidly. As a result, statistical inference using a normal distribution is not robust to the presence of outliers (data that are unexpectedly far from the mean, due to exceptional circumstances, observational error, etc.). When outliers are expected, data may be better described using a heavy-tailed distribution such as the Students t-distribution. 3.6.1 Mathematical Definition The simplest case of a normal distribution is known as the standard normal distribution, described by the probability density function phi(x) = frac{1}{sqrt{2pi}}, e^{- frac{scriptscriptstyle 1}{scriptscriptstyle 2} x^2}. The factor scriptstyle 1/sqrt{2pi} in this expression ensures that the total area under the curve à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢(x) is equal to one[proof], and 12 in the exponent makes the width of the curve (measured as half the distance between the inflection points) also equal to one. It is traditional in statistics to denote this function with the Greek letter à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ (phi), whereas density functions for all other distributions are usually denoted with letters f or p.[5] The alternative glyph à Ã¢â‚¬   is also used quite often, however within this article à Ã¢â‚¬   is reserved to denote characteristic functions. Every normal distribution is the result of exponentiating a quadratic function (just as an exponential distribution results from exponentiating a linear function): f(x) = e^{a x^2 + b x + c}. , This yields the classic bell curve shape, provided that a 0 everywhere. One can adjust a to control the width of the bell, then adjust b to move the central peak of the bell along the x-axis, and finally one must choose c such that scriptstyleint_{-infty}^infty f(x),dx = 1 (which is only possible when a Rather than using a, b, and c, it is far more common to describe a normal distribution by its mean ÃŽÂ ¼ = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °b2a and variance à Ã†â€™2 = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °12a. Changing to these new parameters allows one to rewrite the probability density function in a convenient standard form, f(x) = frac{1}{sqrt{2pisigma^2}}, e^{frac{-(x-mu)^2}{2sigma^2}} = frac{1}{sigma}, phi!left(frac{x-mu}{sigma}right). For a standard normal distribution, ÃŽÂ ¼ = 0 and à Ã†â€™2 = 1. The last part of the equation above shows that any other normal distribution can be regarded as a version of the standard normal distribution that has been stretched horizontally by a factor à Ã†â€™ and then translated rightward by a distance ÃŽÂ ¼. Thus, ÃŽÂ ¼ specifies the position of the bell curves central peak, and à Ã†â€™ specifies the width of the bell curve. The parameter ÃŽÂ ¼ is at the same time the mean, the median and the mode of the normal distribution. The parameter à Ã†â€™2 is called the variance; as for any random variable, it describes how concentrated the distribution is around its mean. The square root of à Ã†â€™2 is called the standard deviation and is the width of the density function. The normal distribution is usually denoted by N(ÃŽÂ ¼,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ Ã†â€™2).[6] Thus when a random variable X is distributed normally with mean ÃŽÂ ¼ and variance à Ã†â€™2, we write X sim mathcal{N}(mu,,sigma^2). , 3.6.2 Alternative formulations Some authors advocate using the precision instead of the variance. The precision is normally defined as the reciprocal of the variance (à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ = à Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢2), although it is occasionally defined as the reciprocal of the standard deviation (à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ = à Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1).[7] This parameterization has an advantage in numerical applications where à Ã†â€™2 is very close to zero and is more convenient to work with in analysis as à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ is a natural parameter of the normal distribution. This parameterization is common in Bayesian statistics, as it simplifies the Bayesian analysis of the normal distribution. Another advantage of using this parameterization is in the study of conditional distributions in the multivariate normal case. The form of the normal distribution with the more common definition à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ = à Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢2 is as follows: f(x;,mu,tau) = sqrt{frac{tau}{2pi}}, e^{frac{-tau(x-mu)^2}{2}}. The question of which normal distribution should be called the standard one is also answered differently by various authors. Starting from the works of Gauss the standard normal was considered to be the one with variance à Ã†â€™2 = 12 : f(x) = frac{1}{sqrtpi},e^{-x^2} Stigler (1982) goes even further and insists the standard normal to be with the variance à Ã†â€™2 = 12à Ã¢â€š ¬ : f(x) = e^{-pi x^2} According to the author, this formulation is advantageous because of a much simpler and easier-to-remember formula, the fact that the pdf has unit height at zero, and simple approximate formulas for the quintiles of the distribution. 3.7 Cramer-Rao Bound In estimation theory and statistics, the Cramà ©r-Rao bound (CRB) or Cramà ©r-Rao lower bound (CRLB), named in honor of Harald Cramer and Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao who were among the first to derive it,[1][2][3] expresses a lower bound on the variance of estimators of a deterministic parameter. The bound is also known as the Cramà ©r-Rao inequality or the information inequality. In its simplest form, the bound states that the variance of any unbiased estimator is at least as high as the inverse of the Fisher information. An unbiased estimator which achieves this lower bound is said to be (fully) efficient. Such a solution achieves the lowest possible mean squared error among all unbiased methods, and is therefore the minimum variance unbiased (MVU) estimator. However, in some cases, no unbiased technique exists which achieves the bound. This may occur even when an MVU estimator exists. The Cramà ©r-Rao bound can also be used to bound the variance of biased estimators of given bias. In some cases, a biased approach can result in both a variance and a mean squared error that are below the unbiased Cramà ©r-Rao lower bound; see estimator bias. statement The Cramà ©r-Rao bound is stated in this section for several increasingly general cases, beginning with the case in which the parameter is a scalar and its estimator is unbiased. All versions of the bound require certain regularity conditions, which hold for most well-behaved distributions. These conditions are listed later in this section. Scalar unbiased case Suppose theta is an unknown deterministic parameter which is to be estimated from measurements x, distributed according to some probability density function f(x;theta). The variance of any unbiased estimator hat{theta} of theta is then bounded by the reciprocal of the Fisher information I(theta): mathrm{var}(hat{theta}) geq frac{1}{I(theta)} where the Fisher information I(theta) is defined by I(theta) = mathrm{E} left[ left( frac{partial ell(x;theta)}{partialtheta} right)^2 right] = -mathrm{E}left[ frac{partial^2 ell(x;theta)}{partialtheta^2} right] and ell(x;theta)=log f(x;theta) is the natural logarithm of the likelihood function and mathrm{E} denotes the expected value. The efficiency of an unbiased estimator hat{theta} measures how close this estimators variance comes to this lower bound; estimator efficiency is defined as e(hat{theta}) = frac{I(theta)^{-1}}{{rm var}(hat{theta})} or the minimum possible variance for an unbiased estimator divided by its actual variance. The Cramà ©r-Rao lower bound thus gives e(hat{theta}) le 1. General scalar case A more general form of the bound can be obtained by considering an unbiased estimator T(X) of a function psi(theta) of the parameter theta. Here, unbiasedness is understood as stating that E{T(X)} = psi(theta). In this case, the bound is given by mathrm{var}(T) geq frac{[psi'(theta)]^2}{I(theta)} where psi'(theta) is the derivative of psi(theta) (by theta), and I(theta) is the Fisher information defined above. Bound on the variance of biased estimators Apart from being a bound on estimators of functions of the parameter, this approach can be used to derive a bound on the variance of biased estimators with a given bias, as follows. Consider an estimator hat{theta} with biasb(theta) = E{hat{theta}} theta, and let psi(theta) = b(theta) + theta. By the result above, any unbiased estimator whose expectation is psi(theta) has variance greater than or equal to (psi'(theta))^2/I(theta). Thus, any estimator hat{theta} whose bias is given by a function b(theta) satisfies mathrm{var} left(hat{theta}right) geq frac{[1+b'(theta)]^2}{I(theta)}. The unbiased version of the bound is a special case of this result, with b(theta)=0. Its trivial to have a small variance à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ an estimator that is constant has a variance of zero. But from the above equation we find that the mean squared errorof a biased estimator is bounded by mathrm{E}left((hat{theta}-theta)^2right)geqfrac{[1+b'(theta)]^2}{I(theta)}+b(theta)^2, using the standard decomposition of the MSE. Note, however, that this bound can be less than the unbiased Cramà ©r-Rao bound 1/I(ÃŽÂ ¸). See the example of estimating variance below. Multivariate case Extending the Cramà ©r-Rao bound to multiple parameters, define a parameter column vector boldsymbol{theta} = left[ theta_1, theta_2, dots, theta_d right]^T in mathbb{R}^d with probability density function f(x; boldsymbol{theta}) which satisfies the two regularity conditions below. The Fisher information matrix is a d times d matrix with element I_{m, k} defined as I_{m, k} = mathrm{E} left[ frac{d}{dtheta_m} log fleft(x; boldsymbol{theta}right) frac{d}{dtheta_k} log fleft(x; boldsymbol{theta}right) right]. Let boldsymbol{T}(X) be an estimator of any vector function of parameters, boldsymbol{T}(X) = (T_1(X), ldots, T_n(X))^T, and denote its expectation vector mathrm{E}[boldsymbol{T}(X)] by boldsymbol{psi}(boldsymbol{theta}). The Cramà ©r-Rao bound then states that the covariance matrix of boldsymbol{T}(X) satisfies mathrm{cov}_{boldsymbol{theta}}left(boldsymbol{T}(X)right) geq frac {partial boldsymbol{psi} left(boldsymbol{theta}right)} {partial boldsymbol{theta}} [Ileft(boldsymbol{theta}right)]^{-1} left( frac {partial boldsymbol{psi}left(boldsymbol{theta}right)} {partial boldsymbol{theta}} right)^T where The matrix inequality A ge B is understood to mean that the matrix A-B is positive semi definite, and partial boldsymbol{psi}(boldsymbol{theta})/partial boldsymbol{theta} is the Jacobian matrix whose ijth element is given by partial psi_i(boldsymbol{theta})/partial theta_j. If boldsymbol{T}(X) is an unbiased estimator of boldsymbol{theta} (i.e., boldsymbol{psi}left(boldsymbol{theta}rig

Becks Music :: essays research papers

Music is central to my life. Without music, the world would be naked, cold, and quiet. Music can set the rhythm for a long day of work, the mood for a date, for a party, for your whole life. It can wrap you in a blanket of comfort when you are lonely, or inspire you when you are down. Music is a vehicle for expressing love, telling a story, or showing happiness. My love for music has grown immensely throughout the past few years and continues to grow without bounds. Playing musical instruments, such as the piano and guitar, has deepened my appreciation for the sounds I hear when I listen to music. From personal experience playing in concerts and writing my own songs, I have captured the views of both sides of music's artistic prism: creation and presentation. Creation, I have learned, can be a tremendously tedious task. It involves much more than perseverance and determination. Creating music requires the harmonious articulation of one's feelings and thoughts through instrumental or vocal sounds. There is no one who accomplishes the feat more cleverly than Beck.Beck Hansen, known as Beck, is a musical genius who performs an unparalleled, funky, and melodic music style. At the age of 29, he has produced six full albums and will soon be releasing his seventh. Beck has become an inspirational icon among rising musicians and has defied the classification system of musical genres. Much disagreement has arisen over what kind of music it is that Beck performs, but the resistance to classification is what makes it unique. He merges coinciding genres, such as psychedelic hip-hop, folk, rap, and country, to define his own genre. Beck's dynamic music adjusts to the latest musical trends and builds off of talent from past generations. Like a catfish feeding on the bottom of a lake, Beck's music feeds off of the styles of other successful musician, such as Bob Dylan and The Beastie Boys. However, this does not mean that Beck is a copycat artist. It means that his music is based on a collaboration of the sounds of the world, and this makes his music very diversified. Beck is one of the most original musicians of all time, and to classify him as anything but a genius would be even more absurd than Beck himself. He is always "courting cultural disaster, and part of his genius is that he's always on the verge of making a complete ass of himself"(Rotundi).

Metafiction and JM Coetzees Foe Essay -- Foe

Metafiction and JM Coetzee's Foe    Is writing not a fine thing, Friday? Are you not filled with joy to know that you will live forever, after a manner? (Susan Barton, Foe, 58) Of the many literary conventions used to describe JM Coetzee's Foe, one of the more commonly written about is metafiction. Since about 1970, the term metafiction has been used widely to discuss works of post-modern fiction and has been the source of heated debate on whether its employ marks the death or the rebirth of the novel. A dominant theme in post-modern fiction, the term "metafiction" has been defined by literary critics in multiple ways. John Barth offers perhaps the most simplified definition: metafiction is "a novel that imitates a novel rather than the real world." Patricia Waugh extends our understanding to add that it is "fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to itself as an artifact to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality." According to these definitions, metafiction concerns itself not with the creation of a new narra...

Essay --

South Africa Presenter: Mr. Confidence Okoye Board: Prof. Donna Cooke Class & Location: MAN3611 & LA 243 Date: March 12, 2014 Time: 9:30 am Customs South Africa (SA) is a multicultural society and therefore has many diverse customs, communication styles and cultural values. Among all the 9 provinces and the 11 official languages, the text will focus on only four: English, Africans, Xhosa, Ndebele, and Zulu. The English speakers inherited most of their customs from the British after they were colonized. The Africans also inherited a portion of the Dutch settler’s food traditions like rusk and biltong. The rusks are dried biscuit and they are often served with tea or coffee. The biltong is a way to preserved meat in place of a cold fridge. Xhosa tribe is located at the eastern cape of South Africa. This tribe in particular has many customs which is expected of their people to follow so as to be recognized by the community [Academia]. Since the birth of a child, the Xhosa speaking tribe initiate the new born into their customs. At a certain age in a man’s life the culture mandates that the male undergo a circumcision ritual to transform him from being a boy to a man [Academia]. A man in this context means someone who can partake in community discussions, acquire or inherit wealth and to have a wife. This ritual last for 3 months and any male undertaking the process will be referred to as a â€Å"thing† or a dog, of no significant value to the community and his family, until they have completed the requirements of the ritual [Academia]. The males must overcome pain as the surgeon clips a portion of the penis skin. This male shall also repeat these words stated by the doctor, you’re a man and the boy says I am a man. And by d... .... "THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE." South Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. . Deresky, Helen. International Management: Managing across Borders and Cultures: Texts and Cases. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson Education, 2011. Print Katz, Lothar. "Negotiating International Business - South Africa." N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-6. Rpt. in Http://instruction2.mtsac.edu/rjagodka/BUSM_51_Project/Negotiating/SouthAfrica.pdf. N.p.: n.p., 2007. Web. "Join Academia.edu & Share Your Research with the World." How Boys Become Dogs: Stigmatization and Marginalization of Uninitiated Xhosa Males in East London, South Africa. Qualitative Health Research Xx(x) 1-11. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. "Zulu Traditions." Reveal the Story of the Heavenly People – South African Tourism. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Political compromise Essay

Evaluate the extent to which political compromise contributed to maintaining continuity as well as fostering change concerning sectional tntions in the period of 1820-1861. Sectional tensions had always existed in America, however during the period of 1820-1861 differences in the North and South became so serious that the nation was on the verge of division. There were many attempts at compromise, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, but to no affect. Disunion and division could not be avoided and the Civil War began in 1861. There were many issues dividing the North and the South, the most controversial of which was slavery. Slavery was seen as a moral abomination in the North and revered as a way of life in the South. Northern reformers and others wanted slavery to end, while Southerners were devoted to its preservation. When Missouri applied for admission to the union as a slave state in 1819, the balance between non-slave states and slave states in the nation was threatened. There was violent debate until the Missouri Compromise was submitted by Henry Clay. Under this compromise, Maine was admitted as a free state, Missouri was admitted as slave state. However the compromise was later thrown away after the Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Stanford. Scott decided to sue for his freedom after his master had held him in a slave free state on multiple occasions. The Chief of Justice at the time, Roger Taney, disagreed with Dred Scott and even argued he had no right to sue for his freedom because he wasn’t technically a citizen. This lead to the court rule that congress had no right to ban slavery in any area in particular and the Missouri compromise was overturned. Northern fears of Southern Slave power grew, which further divided the nation. Another ultimately unsuccessful attempt at negotiation was the Compromise of 1850. California had experienced a huge population increase and was ready to apply for statehood as a free state. Southerners objected because the balance of Slave states vs. Free states would be tipped to the Free states. Once again, Henry Clay had a solution. He proposed compromise admitting California as a free state and banned the sale of slaves in Washington D.C., but strengthened the Fugitive Slave law to keep the South happy. Overall, sectional tensions were hardly decreased by any compromise. The divisions were too deep, and no political compromise could bridge them. The country was left with no solution and the tensions  exploded into the Civil War.