Business accounting - Lampeter Builder's Merchants Essay

Business accounting - Lampeter Builder's Merchants - Essay Example Vehicle running expenses 44,000 Electricity 3,000 Insurance 15,000 Stationery 2,000 208,000 Net profit 540,000 (2) Profit and Loss Statement LAMPETERS BUILDERS MANAGEMENT BALANCE SHEET AS AT MARCH 31, 2011 Amount in ? Non-Current Assets Fixed Assets (Cost) 200,000 Accumulated Depreciation (100,000) Fixed Assets (WDV) 100,000 Current Assets Trade debtors 18,000 Bank (9,000) Closing Stock 478,000 Total Assets 587,000 Current Liabilities Trade creditors 43,000 Capital 28,000 Drawings (24,000) Profit for the year 540,000 Total Equity and Capital 587,000 (3) Value Added Taxation Research The prime resource for research was the website ‘HM Revenue and Customs’ Planning and ordering What are the prevailing VAT rates in UK What rates are applicable on the business that the company is currently engaged in What are the methods and procedure of filing the VAT returns How the VAT is calculated What are the deadlines for submission of the return Presentation VAT is applicable on diff erent rate depending on the type of Goods and services offered by the company. In addition, there are some goods and services that are exempted from VAT. The VAT rates are divided into three segments Standard Rate 20 per cent Reduced Rate 5 per cent Zero Rate 0 per cent [1] Since the Company, Lampeter Builders’ Merchants is involved in the construction and material business, the following rates are applicable on the company Type of work VAT rate Construction of a new house or flat zero Converting a building into a house or flat reduced rate Renovating or altering an empty house or flat reduced rate Supplying and installing certain mobility aids for elderly people reduced rate Supplying and installing certain energy saving materials and equipment reduced rate Supplying and installing certain...VAT is applicable on different rate depending on the type of Goods and services offered by the company. In addition, there are some goods and services that are exempted from VAT. The VAT rates are divided into three segments Standard Rate 20 per cent Reduced Rate 5 per cent Zero Rate 0 per cent [1] Since the Company, Lampeter Builders’ Merchants is involved in the construction and material business, the following rates are applicable on the company At the end of every three months, the company already registered for VAT needs, to file a quarterly VAT return. The return can be filed either electronically or through paper returns. The returns, after properly completing are then sent to the following address

Freud and Jung- the Unconscious Essay Example for Free

Freud and Jung- the Unconscious Essay The unconscious is hypothetically a region of the mind that contains desires, recollections, fears, feelings and thoughts that are prevented from expression in the conscious awareness. One of the most influential philosophers who made theories about the unconscious and its aspects is of Sigmund Freud. Freud distinguished between three different concepts of the unconscious: descriptive unconsciousness, dynamic unconsciousness, and the system unconsciousness. The descriptive unconsciousness refers to all those things in mental life in which people are not instinctively aware of. The dynamic unconsciousness refers to mental processes and contents, which are removed from the consciousness as a result of contradictory attitudes. The system unconsciousness indicates the idea that when mental processes are repressed, they become organized different from those of a conscious mind, such as displacement. Freud eventually abandoned of the system unconscious and replaced it with the ego, super-ego, and id concepts. Throughout his career, however he retained the descriptive and dynamic concepts of unconsciousness. Freud also believed that the unconscious was a storage facility for all repressed sexual desires. With this in mind, he created a theory called The Oedipus Complex. The Oedipus complex is a theory, which implies hatred and a death wish for the parent of the same sex (father for boys and mothers for girls) and love/sexual attachments towards the parent of the opposite sex. Freud states that at some point, the child realizes the differences between their mother and their father. With this, the child learns to understand gender because they come to grasp that they are similar to one of the parents and different from the other. When the child finally comprehends this, he/she feels as though the opposite sex is affectionate to another person besides them (their same sex parent). Thus, the child â€Å"competes† with the same sex parent for the opposite sex parents love and fondness. Freud believed that these feelings are deeply fused into the unconsciousness of every person, but are suppressed. Another influential philosopher who gathered theories on the concept of unconsciousness is Carl Jung. Jung studied under Freud, but eventually broke off and made his own theories and opinions about different concepts, such as the unconscious. Jung believed that there were two levels of unconsciousness: personal unconscious and collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is interior to the ego (a person’s conception of themselves) and corresponds to a mix of Freuds unconscious and preconscious. Containing elements of the outside world and of personal experiences repressed by the ego, the contents of the personal unconscious can be accessed by therapy, art and cultural expression. According to Jung, the collective unconscious is part of a person’s unconscious that is common between all human beings as opposed to personal unconscious, which is unique to each individual. Jung also believed that the collective unconsciousness contains archetypes, which are forms or symbols that are apparent by all people of all cultures. The five main archetypes that were associated with the collective unconscious are the persona, animus, anima, shadow and self. The persona is the mask presented by each individual to society but it may or may not conceal the real personality. The anima is the feminine part of a man, which evolves as a result of a mans experience with women but also recognizes the bisexual nature of all human beings. The animus is the masculine part of a woman. The shadow is the reverse of the outward personality we show to the world. The self is the most important archetype and holds all the other systems together. With these archetypes, Jung felt that we should know ourselves from the inside as well as the outside. Both Jung and Freud’s theories on the unconscious differed in many ways. Freud described the unconscious as a container underlying the conscious mind, whose task is to contain unwanted and un-encountered events, feelings, thoughts and experiences of the disliked conscious mind. Jung however added to this theory by proposing two layers of the unconscious: a personal unconscious, right under the conscious mind, taking in personal psychic contents and the collective unconscious which contains the accumulating experience of all humanity. Another theory that both Jung and Freud had different opinions on was sexuality. In Freud’s speculation, he claims the force of life is driven by sexuality and the original unconscious contains nothing but feelings, thoughts, experience and frustrations of resulting unhappy sexual desires. Jung however believes there is much more to life than sexuality, which underlies the process of individuation and constant search for meaning. Jung also thinks the unconscious has a compensatory regulating function, aiming at healing and growth. In conclusion, I personally favor Jung’s version of the unconscious mind rather than Freud’s. I feel as though Jung has a better understanding of the human mind in many ways that everyone can benefit from. Although Freud had good theories and speculations about the unconscious mind and sexuality, I did not grasp a connection between my thoughts and Freud’s speculations. With that being said, I can definitely understand why the mind is very difficult to study. Work Cited 1. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: â€Å"The Collective Unconscious† 6 October 2008 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Collective_unconscious 2. C. John Holcombe: â€Å"Carl Jung† 10 October 2008 http://www. textetc. com/theory/jung. html 3. Benjamin Nagari: â€Å"Freud vs. Jung† 10 October 2008 http://www. hypnojung. co. uk/freud-jung. htm 4. Collective Unconscious, Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2008 http://encarta. msn. com  © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Tsarist system of government Essay Example for Free

Tsarist system of government Essay The Tsarist system of government underwent many changes throughout the years of 1881-1914. Both Alexander III and Nicholas II created several modifications, being both good and bad, to the government during these years. Alexander III created mostly negative changes, due to him being seen as a reactionary, whereas Nicholas II created mainly positive changes to the government as a result of the 1905 revolution. These changes can be categorised into political, economic and social modifications. Alexander III made a few political modifications to the Tsarist government. In 1851, he introduced Land Captains. These meant that people, sometimes locals, could be appointed to have more power over the people within their towns or cities, meaning power was seemingly being more wide spread. However, these lands captains were chosen by the Tsar himself, meaning he could manipulate who had extra power based on what he wanted. Therefore, some could argue that this was a negative modification made to the government. Alexander III also introduced the Manifesto of Unshakeable Autocracy in 1881. This showed the Tsars rejection of democracy and further reform, meaning he had further influence and power over everyone else. He also introduced the Statue of State Security in 1881, which allowed for the Okhrana to have more powers. For example, the Okhrana was now able to break into people’s houses without reason or their consent, meaning the government had further control over the population of Russia. Although Alexander III’s political reforms were mostly bad, the introduction of the Land Captains meant that his power was in fact becoming more widespread amongst the population of Russia, and not all of Russia’s power was given to one person. Therefore, the political reforms made by Alexander III showed a slight modification the government during his reign. Nicholas II also introduced several political reforms. These took place after the 1905 revolution. In 1905, Nicholas issued the October manifesto. This gave people a lot more freedom than they previously had. Freedom of speech, organisation and assembly was now made legal; allowing opposition groups to now be able to be more organised as they were allowed to meet in public. Nicholas also introduced the fundamental laws in 1906, which allowed for the government to become more democratic. Under the fundamental laws, Article 87 was introduced, giving the Tsar the complete right to exercise any policy that he wished, without having to gain permission from the Dumas beforehand. The first State Duma was also introduced under Nicholas II in April 1906, which allowed for the population of Russia to have more of a say in the governments decisions. It was believed that the Duma was a step forwards towards a democracy for Russia; however, the Tsar could change and manipulate the Dumas in whatever way he wished through the use of Article 87, mean they were only put in place to make Russia seem more democratic when in reality it was not. Nicholas II also introduced a pro-government terrorist group called the Black Hundreds in 1905, meaning the government had further control over Russia as they were willing to use violence to get what they wanted. All of these new policies introduced by Nicholas seemed like positive reforms, however Article 87 meant that the Tsar could still pass laws and policies without consulting the Dumas beforehand, so really the Tsar and his power still heavily remained in Russia. The modifications made by Nicholas II throughout the years of his reign drastically changed the Tsarist government, showing the fact that Nicholas’ modifications greatly impacted the Tsarist government. Both of the Tsars between the years 1881-1914 also introduced a range of economic reforms. Under Alexander III were Witte, Bunge and Vysknegradsky. Witte made several economic reforms, including the building of the Trans-Siberian railway in 1891, the increase of foreign loans, the gold standard and industrialisation. All of these meant that Russia was now becoming a much richer country, with more exports going to other countries. The production of coal, iron and oil was majorly increased, meaning the country had a lot more sources of income other than just agriculture. The building of the railway meant that trade was much easier, and therefore the countries income was increased as a result. Despite all of Witte’s efforts, Russia still lagged behind other great powers economically, and therefore the economic policies put in place did improve Russia but not as much as Witte intended. Also, Alexander III introduced the Peasants Land Bank in 1862, which meant that peasants would now find it easier to rent land. However, they still had a difficult time paying this back and not many peasants owned land after this was put in place, the majority of land was still owned by the major, richer landowners. As a result, this shows a major change to the government during Alexander’s reign as a wide range of economic policies were introduced by Witte which dramatically improved the countries overall income and as a result Russia was much better off as a country. Nicholas II also put various economic changes in place. These were under Stolypin, who changed a great deal for Russia and put a lot of policies in place. One economic policy which was put in place by Stolypin was the ending of redemption payments for peasants to pay to the Mir in 1907. This in turn meant that peasants had more money to put towards land and farms, meaning they could make more income and not lose any money due to having to make redemption payments. Stolypin also introduced loans for peasants which were easier for peasants to get hold of. This meant that they could own more land and were encouraged to own a farm, and therefore would have an increased income as a result of this. Also, the peasants easily would have been able to pay off these loans due to having an increased income, so as a result peasants were no longer as poor as before. This however can be counter-argued by saying that in 1906-14, only 25% of peasants owned lots of land/farms, showing that this policy did not fully do what was originally intended. Also, the richest 10% of landowners still owned majority of the land, meaning not much of it actually belonged to the peasants. Nicholas II therefore made several economic modifications to the government during his reign which attempted to benefit the peasants of Russia. However, although most of these changes were beneficial to Russia, some of them did not take the desired effect; for example Nicholas II tried to make peasants gain more land, but figures show that majority of the land was still owned by the richest land owners and not peasants. Finally, both Alexander and Nicholas introduced a range of social reforms. Alexander III introduced the policy of Russification in 1883. This meant that the official language of Russia was Russian, and all schools and documents had to be written in Russian; any other language was not allowed. This meant that other cultures and other languages were repressed, as someone could not speak the language of their home country within Russia. This then would have created a further breeding ground for more opposition to the Tsarist rule, so Russification had negative effects on Russia and on the Tsarist government. Alexander III also emancipated the serfs in 188. This was a major social reform for the serfs as it now meant that they had a lot more freedom and were no longer enslaved by serfdom. However, it can be argued that the serfs were no actually freed. The now ex-serfs were still tied to the land, meaning they still had to work on that land for the land owners and they therefore were not actually free. Also, ex-serfs had to pay redemption payments on the land they used to be tied to, so they are having to compensate the government. As a result of these modifications, the Tsarist government was modified in many ways based on Alexander’s social reforms, even if all of his reforms made were not as beneficial as originally thought. Nicholas II also introduced many social reforms. Under Stolypin, Nicholas introduced the policy of every head of each household inheriting some land. As a result, each family would then therefore have some land ownership within the family, meaning they had some source of income if no other sources of income are obtainable. This was a positive reform made by Nicholas II as not as many people faced poverty and poor living conditions and therefore they overall had a better life. Another reform made by Stolypin under Nicholas II was the demolition of the Mir. These meant that peasants had to live within a Mir and had a lot of restrictions based on where they could go and when they could leave. Stolypin got rid of Mir’s in 1908, which as a result gave peasants a lot more freedom than they previously had. The social reforms made by Nicholas II were overall positive as they greatly benefited the population of Russia; mainly the peasants. This then shows that the Tsarist government did face many modifications throughout the years 1881-1914 as Nicholas put in place many social reforms which greatly changed how Russian peasants lived. Overall, it is clearly evident that several modifications were made to the Tsarist government in the years 1881-1914, which were made by both Alexander III and Nicholas II. These took form in political, economic and social changes, and some had positive effects whereas others had negative effects. However, not all of the reforms put in place fully did what they were originally intended to do, and therefore the modifications were drastically made but not to the extent in which they were intended to do so.

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant But shes cooped up in the house all day with nothing to do, and her days are marked with boredom beyond belief. Her only way out of dealing with it is to live in a fantasy world of glamour, wealth, and beautiful people.. And cant we all relate in some way to Mathildes desire to live a more exciting, glamorous life, even if we can only do it in daydreams? You also wont find a more perfect encapsulation in story form of an experience we can certainly all relate to: the if I hadnt lost that one thing! experience. Thats right, if you think losing something once ruined your day, just wait until you see what happens to Mathilde. Its painful to read about, yes, but sometimes its good to have a reminder of just how badly chance can ruin your life. Finally, if you like interesting plots and crafty endings with a twist, they dont get much more classic than this one. At the beginning of the story, we meet Mathilde Loisel, a middle-class girl who desperately wishes she were wealthy. Shes got looks and charm, but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks, who marry her to another clerk (M. Loisel) in the Department of Education. Mathilde is so convinced shes meant to be rich that she detests her real life and spends all day dreaming and despairing about the fabulous life shes not having. She envisions footmen, feasts, fancy furniture, and strings of rich young men to seduce. One day M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to a fancy ball thrown by his boss, the Minister of Education.. She doesnt have anything nice to wear, and cant possibly go! M. Loisel doesnt know what to do, and offers to buy his wife a dress suggests she go see her friend Mme. Forestier, a rich woman who can probably lend her something. Mathilde is able to borrow a gorgeous diamond necklace. The night of the ball arrives, and Mathilde has the time of her life. Everyone loves her (i.e., lusts after her) and she is absolutely thrilled. Mathilde suddenly dashes outside to avoid being seen in her shabby coat. But once back at home, Mathilde makes a horrifying discovery: the diamond necklace is gone. So he and Mathilde decide they have no choice but to buy Mme. Forestier a new necklace Buying the necklace catapults the Loisels into poverty for the next ten years. They lose their house, their maid, their comfortable lifestyle, and on top of it all Mathilde loses her good looks. After ten years, all the debts are finally paid, and Mathilde she wants to finally tell Mme. Forestier the sad story of the necklace and her ten years of poverty, and she does. At that point, Mme. Forestier, aghast, reveals to Mathilde that the necklace she lost was just a fake. It was worth only five hundred francs Shes charming, attractive, and, believes that she should have been born into a rich family. Instead she wound up in a family of employees and ended up marrying a little clerk in Department of Education (1). Our ordinary girl is convinced that shes meant for the extraordinary life of a fabulously rich girl. She hates her own humble surroundings and spends her time dreaming about fancy tapestries and tall footmen. While her husband slurps his stew she imagines grand banquets. A life of luxury is all the girl wants its what shes made for. But sadly, she doesnt lead the luxurious life of which she dreams. Consequently, she spends all her days weeping and feeling sorry for herself. She tears it open to find that she and her husband M. and Mme. (Monsieur and Madame) Loisel have been invited to a fancy party at the Minister of Educations palace. Her husband cant wait to see her reaction. Mme. Loisel is not happy about this. Shes got nothing to wear. This is enough to send her into tears. M. Loisel feels awful Mathilde stops four hundred francs would probably do it. The date of the party approaches, and Mathilde is in a bad mood again. she doesnt have any to wear over her dress. M. Loisel suggests that Mathilde borrow some jewels from her rich friend Mme. Forestier. Mathilde isnt satisfied with anything she sees, but then Mme. Forestier brings her another box containing a spectacular diamond necklace. Mathilde is beside herself. Its the only thing she wants! Mme The evening of the party arrives, and Mathilde is a smash hit. All the men including the Minister notice her. Shes in heaven. Her husband, meanwhile, has also been having a great time: hes been off dozing in a corner since midnight. M. Loisel brings the coats. But Mathilde is self-conscious: her coat is so shabby compared to the rest of her appearance. So she dashes off into the street to avoid being seen. . Mathilde doesnt want to go back to her ordinary life But the diamond necklace is missing. She screams. Mathilde, meanwhile, spends the day stuck in a chair, too traumatized to do anything. When he returns, M. Loisel has Mathilde write to Mme. Forestier to say that they broke the clasp of the necklace and are having it fixed. They need to buy more time. A week passes, and still no sign of the necklace. M. Loisel, who already looks five years older, decides they have no choice but to replace it. So he takes out enough loans to pay for the necklace and to ensure that his life will be ruined forever and then goes back to the jewelers to buy it. Mathilde takes the replacement necklace to Mme. Forestier, whos miffed that she didnt return her necklace sooner. Mathildes worried shell notice the substitution. Now Mathilde and M. Loisel are poor. They have to dismiss the maid and move into an attic. Mathilde starts to do the housework, and run the errands, haggling at stores over every cent. This goes on for ten years, until all the interest on the Loisels loans is paid. Mathilde is now a rough, hard woman, and her looks are ruined. She occasionally thinks of how her life might have been different if she hadnt lost the necklaceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ One Sunday, Mathilde goes for a stroll on the Champs Elysà ©es (main street of Paris that you see in all the movies), and notices a beautiful young-looking woman walking with her child. Its Mme. Forestier, who hasnt aged one day. Mathilde decides its time to tell her everything that happened. When Mathilde greets Mme. Forestier by her first name, Mme. Forestier does not recognize her former friend, because she looks so different Mathilde explains that shed lost the diamond necklace, but replaced it, and has spent the last ten years paying for the replacement. (Mme. Forestier apparently hadnt noticed the difference) Her diamond necklace, she tells Mathilde, was a fake. It was worth at most five hundred francs. The Necklace Theme of Wealth The Necklace gets its title from the gorgeous piece of diamond jewelry that drives the storys plot. The expensive nature of the necklace is not the only way in which wealth is central to this story. The main character of The Necklace is obsessed with wealth. She wants nothing else than to escape from her shabby middle-class life with a shabby middle-class husband and live the glamorous life for which she was born. Shes so jealous of her one wealthy friend it hurts. When Mathildes given the chance to get decked out in diamonds and go to a ritzy party to mingle with all the beautiful people, it seems like her dreams have finally become a reality. Then she loses the borrowed diamond necklace, gets cast into poverty, and learns what it means to truly live without money. Questions About Wealth Is Mathilde a greedy character? What signs can you find that she is or is not? Why does Mathilde want to live the life of the rich so much? Are her dreams understandable, or do they seem silly and exaggerated? What difference does money make in the lives of the storys characters? Does the story itself have a message about whether wealth is a good thing? Is it shown to be worth pursuing, or not worth pursuing? Chew on This Mathildes greed is revealed in her inability to be satisfied by anything. The Necklace Theme of Women and Femininity Mathilde Loisel, the main character of The Necklace, is a 19th century French version of a desperate housewife. Because shes a woman in a mans world, she has almost no control over her life. She finds herself married to a husband she doesnt care for, and cooped up in a house she despises. What she wants more than anything else is to be desirable to other men. And whats particularly irritating is that she has all the womanly virtues she needs in order to be desirable: shes charming, graceful, beautiful. Shes just doesnt have the necessary wealth. Is she a victim of the patriarchal society in which she lives? Or is she just a shallow and materialistic character? Questions About Women and Femininity In what ways is Mathilde a typical woman according to the story? How are Mathildes desires feminine desires? How might Mathildes being a woman be a cause of her unhappiness? Do you think it is the primary cause of her unhappiness? Why or why not? How are wealth and femininity connected in The Necklace? Where in the story do you see a connection? Chew on This Mathildes desires are feminine, because what most interests her is attracting male attention. Wealth and femininity are intimately bound together in The Necklace. The Necklace Theme of Pride You can read The Necklace as a story about greed, but you can also read it as a story about pride. Mathilde Loisel is a proud woman. She feels far above the humble circumstances (and the husband) shes forced to live with by her common birth. In fact, her current situation disgusts her. Shes a vain one too, completely caught up in her own beauty. It could be that it is also pride that prevents Mathilde and her husband from admitting theyve lost an expensive necklace. After the loss of the necklace makes Mathilde poor, and her beauty fades, she may learn a pride of a different sort: pride in her own work and endurance. Questions About Pride What signs are there at the beginning of the story that Mathilde is a proud woman? In what way is she proud? Of what is she proud? Is it pride which prevents the Loisels from telling Mme. Forestier theyve lost her necklace? If so, whose pride is it? Or is it something else? Does Mathildes experience of poverty humble her? Does it make her proud in a different way? Chew on This Its M. Loisels pride that is responsible for the tragedy at the end of the story. It is not pride, but the Loisels sense of honor, which is responsible for the tragedy at the end of the story. The Necklace Theme of Suffering The Necklace is a difficult story to read. If you think about it, its about nonstop suffering, caused by the cruelty of life and chance. At the opening, we meet Mathilde, the classic dissatisfied housewife, who spends her days weeping about how boring and shabby her life is. Mathilde finds one moment of real joy when she goes to a ball, but chance is cruel. Her happiest night becomes her worst nightmare when she loses the diamond necklace she borrowed. Then she and her husband experience a very different sort of suffering: the suffering of real poverty. And all of this is just the buildup to one devastating endingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Questions About Suffering What is responsible for Mathildes unhappiness? Is it her own fault, or is it the fault of her circumstances? Is Mathildes suffering worse when shes a poor woman? In what ways might it be, and in what ways might it not be? Chew on This Mathilde is responsible for her own suffering; she just refuses to be happy. Mathilde suffers less when shes poor than when she was comfortable but dissatisfied. Quote #1 She was one of those pretty and charming girls, born by a blunder of destiny in a family of employees. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished. (1) The first thing we know about Mathilde is that she seems meant for a life of wealth and luxury, but instead is born into a lowly middle-class family. The conflict between what she wants (which is quite a lot) and what she has is established immediately. Quote #2 She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five oclock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired. (3) Mathilde spends her time living in a dream world, in which she imagines all the fabulous things shed have if she were rich. The most detail we get in the otherwise sparse story comes in Maupassants descriptions of the fancy stuff Mathilde wants. But being rich also means more than just nice stuff to her: it means having the glamour to attract men. Quote #3 She had a rich friend, a comrade of her convent days, whom she did not want to go and see any more, so much did she suffer as she came away. (6) Mathilde wants to be wealthy so badly that shes driven mad with jealousy by the one rich friend she has, Mme. Forestier. She cant bear to see Mme. Forestier, because it brings her within arms reach of the world of wealth she wants so badly, but cant have. Quote #4 She reflected a few seconds, going over her calculations, and thinking also of the sum which she might ask without meeting an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the frugal clerk. (24) It looks like Mathilde is milking her husband for all hes worth here. Was her the crying fit put on so she could seize the opportunity to get a fancy dress from him? Quote #5 It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look wretched. I would almost rather not go to this party. (33) OK, so after shes gotten an expensive dress out of her husband, Mathilde refuses to go to the party again. Shes still not satisfied. She needs jewels. Does this mean Mathilde actually expects her husband to get her a piece of jewelry? Quote #6 All at once she discovered, in a box of black satin, a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began to beat with boundless desire. Her hands trembled in taking it up. She fastened it round her throat, on her high dress, and remained in ecstasy before herself. (48) Maybe diamonds are a girls best friend. Just seeing and touching something expensive and beautiful drives Mathilde crazy. Shes in ecstasy over a necklace. The necklace may be a symbol for wealth, or glamour in the story. Quote #8 Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed the servant; they changed their rooms; they took an attic under the roof. (98) After losing the necklace, Mathilde now finds herself actually poor. Though she felt herself poor before, she was fairly comfortable, and middle class. Now her life is much harder. Quote #9 The other did not recognize her, astonished to be hailed thus familiarly by this woman of the people (111-112) Mme. Forestier and Mathilde are now greatly separated by their wealth, which translates into social class. The class difference is so big that it seems improper for Mathilde to even address Mme. Forestier by her first name. Their classes are also immediately apparent from the way they look. Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred francs! (128) Mme. Forestier reveals that the diamond necklace Mathilde lost was actually a fake. Does the falsehood of the jewels symbolize the falsehood of wealth? Does it change the way we think of Mathildes former dreams? Or, on another note, does it perhaps mean something about Mme. Forestier? If her best piece of jewelry is a fake, maybe shes not quite as wealthy as she initially seems. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished; and she let them make a match for her with a little clerk in the Department of Education. (1) Mathildes future prospects are not in her own hands. Shes a woman, which means the quality of her life will basically depend upon her family and her husband. And in both respects, shes out of luck, as far as shes concerned. With so much powerlessness, its no wonder shes frustrated and dissatisfied. She was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class; for women have no caste and no descent, their beauty, their grace, and their charm serving them instead of birth and fortune. Their native keenness, their instinctive elegance, their flexibility of mind, are their only hierarchy; and these make the daughters of the people the equals of the most lofty dames. (2) The narrator is suggesting that looks and charm make the woman, not wealth or good birth. According to this train of thought, a pretty, charming poor woman can be the equal of the most lofty dame. This is certainly the way Mathilde feels about herself she has the looks and the charm to be better at being a woman than most rich women. Its telling that the two virtues of a woman are the qualities that make them attractive to men. We dont hear anything about intelligence, or kindness, or creativityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only. She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5) Mathilde wants to be desired by men. To some extent, even her desire for wealth is just derivative of that. Her highest wish is to be approved of and wanted by someone else. But by a violent effort she had conquered her trouble, and she replied in a calm voice as she wiped her damp cheeks (20) Mathilde comes across as overly sensitive and emotional. She has to work very hard to control her emotions. Theres a feminine stereotype for you on which Maupassant is playing. No; theres nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women. (37) Wealth and womanhood are intimately bound up in Mathildes mind. She wants to look wealthy so she can compete with the rich women. The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53) Mathildes a huge hit. She gets all the men to pay attention her, including the most important one of all (the minister). This is the best moment of her life. She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a womans heart. (54) The narrator seems to be suggesting here that Mathildes desires to look glamorous and beautiful and be desired by men are more generally womans desires. Thats what makes women happy and pleases their womanly hearts. She went away about four in the morning. Since midnight her husband had been dozing in a little anteroom with three other men whose wives were having a good time. (55) M. Loisel could care less about the party hes just happy to have an opportunity to sleep. And hes not the only man in that situation, either. What does that mean? Maybe being a man he has different desires than his wifes womanly ones. Or maybe hes not interested in scouting out other mens wives because hes already got an attractive and charming wife of his own. Mathilde, on the other hand, doesnt seem to feel the same way about her husband. Mme. Loisel seemed aged now. She had become the robust woman, hard and rough, of a poor household. Badly combed, with her skirts awry and her hands red, her voice was loud, and she washed the floor with splashing water. (104) Once more, we see a connection between wealth and womanhood. According to Maupassant, Mathildes poverty makes her less feminine. Shes less attractive, and less graceful. Instead, shes hard and rough, and older looking. And apparently has a perpetual bad hair day. Then, one Sunday, as she was taking a turn in the Champs Elysà ©es, as a recreation after the labors of the week, she perceived suddenly a woman walking with a child. It was Mme. Forestier, still young, still beautiful, still seductive. (107) Unlike Mathilde, whos lost her looks and womanly charms to poverty, Mme. Forestier still looks good. All of that even after becoming a mother (another sign of womanhood). This makes us wonder why Mathilde doesnt have a child? She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her indignant. (3) Mathilde feels herself to be better than her circumstances. She deserves more than she has, and is angry at the universe because she isnt getting it. Her dissatisfaction seems intimately connected to pride. When she sat down to dine, before a tablecloth three days old, in front of her husband, who lifted the cover of the tureen, declaring with an air of satisfaction, Ah, the good pot-au-feu. I dont know anything better than that, she was thinking of delicate repasts, with glittering silver, with tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest. (4) Mathildes husband is the opposite of Mathilde: hes happy with what he has. So far as hes concerned, theres nothing better than the good old stew his wife puts on the table every evening. All Mathilde can think of at the same moment is how much better things could be, and how shed rather be elsewhere. It all seems too low to her. Nothing. Only I have no clothes, and in consequence I cannot go to this party. Give your card to some colleague whose wife has a better outfit than I. (21) Instead of being happy with the invitation her husband has worked so hard to get, Mathildes first reaction is to be angry about it. If shes going to go, she just has to look the best, and she doesnt have any clothes that are nice enough Is she ever happy? Then again, would you want to go to the one nice party youve been invited to looking shabby? Its hard to tell whether Mathildes vanity, or greed, is making her overreact, or whether she does have nothing nice to wear. She saw at first bracelets, then a necklace of pearls, then a Venetian cross of gold set with precious stones of an admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the glass, hesitated, and could not decide to take them off and to give them up. She kept on asking: You havent anything else? (45-46) OK, so the jewel situation looks better: Mathildes found a treasure trove of the things. But shes still not satisfied. None of them makes her look as good as she wants to look. Her vanity once again seems to be making her greedy. The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53) Mathildes the happiest shes ever been when everyone is admiring her. For once in her life, she can live up to the expectations her vanity has set for itself. Quote #6 He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought to go home in, modest garments of every-day life, the poverty of which was out of keeping with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this, and wanted to fly so as not to be noticed by the other women, who were wrapping themselves up in rich furs. (56) After a successful evening at the ball, Mathildes too proud to let herself be seen wearing her shabby wrap. She needs to keep up the illusion. It could be that her rushing off like this is what causes her to lose the necklace. At the end of a week they had lost all hope. And Loisel, aged by five years, declared: We must see how we can replace those jewels. (86-87) Why does it never occur to Mathilde or M. Loisel to tell Mme. Forestier theyve lost the necklace? Instead, once they lose hope of finding it, M. Loisel decides the only solution is to buy a new one. Is he too proud to admit that its been lost? Or is it something else? (See M. Loisels Character Analysis for more of our thoughts on this.) Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. (98) When Mathilde becomes poor, she is forced to work. Getting down to work and paying off the debts seems to make her proud in a new way. She can be proud of her hard work, and of her endurance. Meanwhile, her looks which used to be her pride and joy start to disappear. I brought you back another just like it. And now for ten years we have been paying for it. You will understand that it was not easy for us, who had nothing. At last, it is done, and I am mighty glad. (122) Mathilde is proud of all the work and suffering she and her husband have put into repaying for the necklace. It was an honorable and difficult thing to do. But theyve succeeded. Yes. You did not notice it, even, did you? They were exactly alike? And she smiled with proud and naÃÆ' ¯ve joy. (126-127) Mathilde is even more proud to learn that Mme. Forestier didnt notice the difference between her original necklace and the substitute. It adds extra validation to her work: she did fully make up for losing the necklace. Mathilde Loisel Character Analysis Mathilde Loisel wants to be a glamour girl. Shes obsessed with glamour with fancy, beautiful, expensive things, and the life that accompanies them. Unfortunately for her, she wasnt born into a family with the money to make her dream possible. Instead, she gets married to a little clerk husband and lives with him in an apartment so shabby it brings tears to her eyes (1). Cooped up all day in the house with nothing to do but cry over the chintzy furniture and the fabulous life shes not having, Mathilde hates her life, and probably her husband too. She weeps all day long, from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress (6). She dreams day after day about escaping it all. Mathilde the Material Girl When it all comes down to it, Mathildes kind of a material girl. The most obvious thing she wants out of life is: expensive stuff. She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxuryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five oclock chat with the most intimate friendsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (3) Now why does Mathilde want all of these expensive, material possessions? It doesnt sound like she just wants it because shes money-obsessed. No, for Mathilde, the rich life is attractive because its glamorous, beautiful, exciting, fine, and unlike the dingy apartment in which she lives. The glamorous life has a certain kind of magical allure to it. A lot of the objects Mathilde wants are magical, like the tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest (4). For Mathilde, being wealthy amounts to living in a fairy tale. Being middle class amounts to boredom. She wants the fairy tale. Does her wish to live the fairy tale life make her greedy? Well, you ever notice how throughout the first part of the story, Mathildes never satisfied with anything? When her husband brings her the invitation all she can think about is the dress she wants. When she gets the dress, all she can think about is the jewels she doesnt have. And when she visits Mme. Forestier, shes not really satisfied with any of her jewel collection she keeps on asking, You havent anything else? (46). At least until she sees the most fabulous, expensive looking piece of jewelry, that is: the diamond necklace. So yes, by many standards, Mathilde is probably greedy. But her greeds not the end of the story. Material things arent the only things she wants. And theres also a deeper reason for her greed: dissatisfaction. We cant help but thinking that if she truly were satisfied with her life as it is (i.e., marriage, home, etc.) that she wouldnt be day-dreaming of a life she could never have. Mathilde and Men The other thing Mathilde wants? Men. Rich, attractive, charming, powerful men. That passage we quote above finishes with: the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired (3). Just a little afterwards, were told: She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5) Whats interesting about Mathildes man-craze is that she seems to be more interested in seducing men than in the men themselves. Thats because what Mathilde really wants is to be wanted. More than being just desired, Mathilde wants to be glamorous gorgeous, charming, graceful, and thoroughly decked out in diamonds. The ultimate measure of being glamorous just happens to be being attractive to glamorous men. It all forms part of one big glamorous, fairy-tale world, the world about which Mathilde fantasizes. Whats particularly frustrating to Mathilde is that she knows shes got the natural looks and charms to be a splash with the rich playboy types she wants to impress. She just needs the outward signs of being wealthy, but cant afford the necessary clothing and jewelry. Mathildes quite vain about her feminine charms. Her vanity may be why shes unwilling to go to the ball unless she looks better than everyone else there. And when she does go to the ball, thats exactly what she is: Her triumph: The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant I could say that Guy de Maupassants stories are just mundane waste of ink. Reading the story you understand things you have never thought about before or, by contrast, have already faced in your daily life. However, what do people think? Did all of them recognize the same the author did? Each of us should answer this question by own. Years passed but plays, novels on the theme, which Maupassant talked about, are still writing, and films are still shooting, why? There are things, which we remember, and things, which we cannot forget. In this work, I will try to describe the story called The Necklace and give full and needed for understanding information. The authors person is going to be talked about. Thus, let me start explaining. Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant The person of Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant is definitely interesting to talk about. Maupassants place of being born is not known in definite; however, it was perhaps the Chà ¢teau de Miromesniel,Dieppe. His biography is obviously worth of attention, but I will notice the most important and interesting facts of Maupassants life in order to understand his stories better. Maupassants relatives were noble. His parents divorced when he was a little boy of 11 years old. Maupassants first embryos appeared when he was studying at the Rouen Lycà ©e. Little Maupassant was gaining knowledge and skills from his friends; he improved his gifts and talents, which helped him in his poetry and writing. Maupassant was a civil servant in the period between 1872 and 1880 years. However, he had never loved working, all his free time Maupassant spent in women pursuit. He had a pseudonym Guy de Valmont, which he used in the articles in the newspapers. The 1880s years were productive and significant in the life of author, because he wrote about 300 short stories and 6 novels, including travel books and even a volume of verse. Unfortunately, Maupassant had a syphilis (he was then only 20 years old) that shortly after led him to the increasing of his mental disability. The author used narcotics, I think trying to be saved from awful and cruel headaches he suffered from. Critics have mentioned that Maupassant describes his diseases in some of his stories, giving main characters and heroes his own painful suffering and struggling. Allan Edgar Poe is one of those, whose stories encouraged Maupassant and made him to go through the same paths as Poe did (in some fiction horror stories). Stephen Kings novel The shining encouraged Maupassant when he was writing The Inn, which is very similar and common to The shining. I am sure it will be appropriately to notice some Maupasants words to understand his nature in full length: Now listen carefully: Marriage, to me, is not a chain but an association. I must be free, entirely unfettered, in all my actions -my coming and my going; I can tolerate neither control, jealousy, nor criticism as to my conduct. I pledge my word, however, never to compromise the name of the man I marry, nor to render him ridiculous in the eyes of the world. But that man must promise to look upon meas an equal, an ally, and not as an inferior, or as an obedient, submissive wife. My ideas, I know, are not like those of other people, but I shall never change them (Liukkonen, 2008, pg 2). The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant However, The Necklace at first was published in the newspaper Le Gaulois in Paris, France on February 17, 1884. It was a part of Maupassants collection of short stories called Tales of Day and Night, which appeared in 1885. She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education with these words we faces in the beginning of the story and meeting a main character Madame Mathilde Loisel. She had a dream common to the American dream. She wants to become rich and have leisure. The story teaches readers many things. The middle-class Matilda discovers many ironic nuances through the story. Talking about the plot of the story, should be noticed that Maupassant is definitely talented, taking in account not much words he needed to illustrate many ideas and problems, which worries the humanity through the centuries. The story tells about middle-class woman Matilda, who wants to impress the society. Matilda Loisel was invited on the high-society affair (because her husband worked there), unfortunately, she understood that she had nothing to wear. A husband, Loisel, gave her money to buy a dress. Being unsatisfied, Matilda borrows a necklace from good friend Madame Forestier. After the affair, Matilda finds out that necklace is lost. Loisels started to find money to buy a new necklace: Loisel possessed eighteen thousand franks, which his father had left him. He borrowed it, asking for a thousand francs of one, five hundred of another, five louis of this one, and three louis of that one (The Necklace, pg 7). Finally, Loisels bought the same necklace and brought it to Madame Forestier. However, she said to the Matilda, who was proud and happy to give back the necklace, that her necklace was fake and coasted about 500 francs! To give money back Loisels have to have many limitations. Ten years of Matilda’s life have been robbed — and for what? For an evening of vanity and pride (Barthes, 2004, pg 1). Conclusion However, the story is successful among readers. It teaches readers many useful things. It triggers many emotions and feelings, especially sorrow and sadness. I liked how Maupassant said in his The Necklace: How strange life is, how fickle! How little is needed to ruin or to save! I agree with these words. The Necklace is worth of attention, undoubtedly! The story is about pride going before the fall. Hardship – is the known word for Matilda, but did she know what were the reasons of it? All money she earned during ten years she paid for one evening! People learn from the story how much one can pay for its pleasure and pride. Thus, Guy de Maupassant brought a lot of significance in the literature of whole world. Moreover, it is going with out saying and any doubt. References 1. Barthes, Roland. TheEiffelTowerand Other Mythologies. Tr. Howard, Richard.Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress. 2004. 2. Clyde K. Hyder, Algernon Swinburne: The Critical Heritage, 1995, p.185. 3. Harriss, Joseph. The Tallest Tower. Unlimited Publishing LLC, 2004, pg 15, 16. 4. James, Henry. Guy de Maupassant, reprinted in his Partial Portraits, Macmillan, 1888, pp. 243-87. 5. Liukkonen, Petri and Personen, Ari. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) – in full Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto, 2008. 6. Matthews, Brander, ed. The Short-Story: Specimens Illustrating Its Development.New York: American Book Company, 1907; Bartleby.com, 2000. . 7. Maupassant, Guy de. The necklace and other short stories. Courier Dover Publications, 1992.

Significance of Chapter 5 in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Essay

Comment on Chapter 5’s significance in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Famous writer, Mary Shelley was born in London in 1797. She was the daughter of writer William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Shelley’s mother sadly died while giving birth to her. This was an influence included in the later successful novel ‘Frankenstein’. At 19, she married poet Percy Shelley, who she married in 1816. Together, Mary and Percy had five children, but only one survived past childhood. This tragedy, along with the early death of her mother influenced Mary Shelley's theme linking creation with death. She started to write Frankenstein at the age of 18, completing it in less than a year. She said the idea came to her in a dream, and dreams are created by unrelated events, and memories. Science became one of the main influences for Shelley’s novel. At the time, the influences of the scientific world became fascinating to everyone. The idea of bringing people back to life was being tested by some of the most intelligent minds. The main character in the story, Victor, grew up in Geneva, where Mary Shelley wrote the novel. Whilst staying there, Mary, Percy and Byron then met ‘Monk’ Lewis who was famous for writing supernatural novels. Byron’s group talked for hours on end, and reading ghost stories. He challenged the group to write a ghost story – Frankenstein. Frankenstein is a gothic fantasy novel as it features horrifying events, stormy and dark settings, satanic imagery and themes of revenge and pursuit. The novel was purposely written to shock and scare readers. The novel has been suggested to be a romantic, psychological, social, political tale. However, I think that it is a philosophical tale. Certain events which... ...ontrast to this statement a little bit later on, ‘†¦and I selected his features as beautiful’ - Victor goes from negative to positive. Another significant aspect of chapter 5, is Shelley’s description of Victor’s nightmare, which shows how disturbed he is by his creation. Shelley immediately links the ‘birth’ with death, and mentions Elizabeth, Victor kissing her while she is being killed. ‘†¦imprinted the first kiss on he lips, they became livid with the hue of death.’ This is ironic because Elizabeth is murdered later on in the story, by Victor’s creation. Shelley also uses a variety of motifs. ‘By dim and yellow light of the moon’, this phrase is associated with the monster, as it appears when the monster is created. When the monster threatens revenge, it comes across as an eerie moment. ‘One hand was stretched out’. This is again, a different motif.

The Purpose and Nature of Architecture Essay -- Design Architecture

The Purpose and Nature of Architecture What is it that we mean when we say ‘the architecture of the city’? What are cities planned to be? Why should we plan anything? When we plan ahead, we perhaps have a goal in mind. What is this goal, for an architect or an urban designer? Simply putting it, their goal is to make environments in which man can live in ways better than he could before. Right from the early times, when shelter meant only a roof over ones head, or when taking shelter meant seeking protection inside a cave or getting under the tree cover, man sought to improve his living conditions. He sought shelter that was more comfortable than the one he had before. From caves and trees, man moved to mud huts and animal skin tents. Constantly striving towards improvisation to suit his changing needs, he has today, shelter in the form of buildings in brick and concrete, that he has termed architecture; gardens and malls where he spends his leisure time, these along with the buildings and the spaces between, he calls urban fabric. There are road networks, that link buildings to each other, buildings to public plazas, that link living areas to work areas, or living areas to educational areas, or living areas to shopping areas. Man has first fragmented his lifestyle and living spaces, then attempted to join it with roads. What he fragments, often stays fragmented forever. Life for him is still a series of experiences which he sometimes can see as a whole but often not. What was once upon a time harmonious living, is divided up into neat compartments with supposedly greater efficiency. Today, we have intelligent buildings that have automated functions. But, what is the sequence of experiences one can have within these buildings? Does that matter or not at all? Are they experiences that satisfy human nature or is it a contrived environment that is far removed from the real world? Do experiences generated by this new architecture, by this new urban design, by this new city planning still inspire man to think and to feel? Does it make him grow, or does it strangulate his sense of being? As an architect or urban designer, must one know all about space and form and structure and nothing about life's experiences, about feeling, about nature? How does an architect or urban designer know about all of life's experiences? Is it... ... parts. I believe that research into the phenomenon of architectural experience and its possible objectification is the spring board towards a more vibrant and humane built environment. We must know if the design processes we employ are the same as the thought processes we undergo whilst experiencing these urban spaces that we design. We must know, which experiences we enjoy the most, how these experiences come about and if the designer must play a role in making these happen, where must he begin? . For example, in our country ,India, there is a lot that is fragmented and that comes together randomly to form a whole which is so much more rich in nature than a putting together in an orderly fashion, of uniform, standardized parts. The study of the experience of architecture I think is the spring board to the creation of more vibrant and humane environments. We must know if the design processes we employ are the same as the thought processes we undergo whilst experiencing these urban spaces that we design. We must know, which experiences we enjoy the most, and how these experiences come about and if the designer must play a role in making these happen, where must he begin?

Managing and developing people Essay

Introduction In this part of my coursework, I will be explaining a group activity or teal working in our business which is the high school musical stalls which is all about selling merchandise product. In this team I’m the one participating of this team and I hope that I will work correctly my responsibility in my team. In our group activity in our team will be working on team structure which is defining our duties and responsibility inside the business and the leadership style will also be discussed – means that what types of leadership style we used to managing our people at work. Also I must evaluate the team theorist which is applicable in our team and discussing the other factors that affect the performance level of team work means what kind of skills or qualities of our team members inside the business. On the group activity with my team, we are working on the type of planning, technique and preparation of our merchandise business. Our business will be selling High School Musical merchandise inside from the College of Archbishop where they have a high school musical concert. Our business will provide and selling different kinds of High school musical merchandise items and we selling sweet food as well. In our preparation we arrange the tables within two parts so that when the peoples coming, they see our selling products. Team Working About the team working – it is important to consider my own job in team in the business. Team working for me is to encourage my other team workers to create good communicate each other so that can lead a wide range of good team working as a group which can lead to high motivated. The Diagram below shows our team structure in our business, which also belbin team working role: In this structure of our team, its shows that our team have a different duties and responsibilities to run a business, including making objectives with the business. Our team leader which Sean helps us to improved our decision and giving guidelines on making aims and objectives inside from the business. In my idea, I will decide to working in Resources investigator for the chosen role within the business which is High School musical Product – which is all about responsible for all resources within the business. As the Resources investigator, I will ensuring as a team a good communication with my other team workers in the business, gives a team a rush of enthusiasm at the start of the project within the business. In my role as a Resources Investigator – I will be probably the most immediately likeable members of the team. My job is to keep good at communicating with people both inside and outside the company. This job is natural negotiators and adept at exploring new opportunities and developing contacts. As the role of the team, I will be bringing new ideas, information and development as a team. This may be physical, financial or human resources, political support, information or ideas. Being highly driven to make connections with people, the Resource Investigator may appear to be flighty and inconstant, but their ability to call on their connections is highly useful to the team. My team had the role of being the coordinator (which is Sean) – His Function is coordinator as a team which is organiser and good communication. The Sharper (Sean role) – which is taking charge in all staff performance like their absences etc, On our HSM stall team group, we decided to take Sean as a Manager price because we know that he can handle on organising the prices of the product we sell. The plant (Claudia Role) – which the innovator of the group and planning the different ideas, suggestion and proposal on how to success the business we made. Also Claudia working as a budgeting of the business which handling all profit making in the business and buying all stock to sell. The monitor evaluator (Thom role) – which is to analysing all idea and plan within the business, also they must step into makes a contribution before the final decisions are made from the other team in the business. Thom also organising selling our product in different location or area, at this task Thom must make sure that the place for selling to the customer is being appropriate and where more customers coming in that area. The implementer (Kevin Role) – which provides a good organiser and administrator with planning and scheduling the entire task needed in the business. The team worker (Drew Role) – which supporting and encourage from the team, his job is also the problem solver within the group. The completer (Kyle Role) – His job is to ensure the group meets its targets, both terms on time and quality. Also Kyle must usually checking all the details about the task doing on time, to ensure if there is something wrong with the task, it can be prevent quickly. The specialist (Claudia Role) – the last role of the team where must have knowledge and skills of the required the entire task needed to the business. We figured out which roles we both fit into once we had started working together as a team in the business. Here on, we fell into our roles automatically and took it further from there. We found it easier that splitting up our roles shared out the responsibility. My team group both still be working on the same task but we would take different parts of the task as our skills would be different. We found that this gave the best output as the best of our skills were put to use. The benefits of making own task and responsibilities as a team for the business is where I getting experience on how to deal with the customers, its likely when I was selling HSM folders for our product which is quite hard to sell because its expensive and the product is quite not popular to the people – means poor varieties and people don’t like it, however I have experience and idea on how to improve on selling product the customers. This means that I identify the different methods and strategies to improved selling from the customers; it’s like giving more information about the product, proving good pricing strategies and other types of customer services. These can be increasing our range of product selling to the customers because we will provide a very good strategy of customer satisfaction. Each team will have its own unique limitations, based on the skills and characteristics of the team members, resource and time constraints, and length of time together. In my contribution as a team, it will face limitations resulting from common factors, such as the human tendencies that can be results of absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to the team which can be lead not supporting with others which can be poor range of productivity and can be risky for our organisation. So that I must aware that I will ensure that I understand what my common goal in the business we made, attending and helping any kind of work, and helping on the member of the team to avoid and problems coming in our business. The hardest part of working with my team is where I will provide a high performance level to recognise out team as a first place. It can challenge for me to increase our productivity and quality in the business. So that in members of the team must contribute different skills and express the individual interest and opinions to achieve the common goal in the business. However there is also limitation for me to working as a team within the business. For my own limitation in the team, I think I’m very shy to talk for the team on what information I need to talk about which can be lead a poor communication each other and I did not sharing my other information within the team which also cause of unprepared and misleading work. In this case, as a team member of this business, I need to share my knowledge to my group and talk what other information I know to create a good impact of motivation and creating good communication with my team. Also as a member of the team, I showing that I hard working and doing my role correctly so that they can trust on me as a resources investigator in the business. For me working on the team must always share and corporate with each other to planning and organising work. The benefits of good team working in the our business is team working is efficient, means that our team gets the work done faster because of our desire to improved the customer satisfaction in our product and increasing our profit and growth in the business. Its like when have a large task, it can be broken down and getting into the smaller task which is easier for my team to work. Another benefit of team working in the business is that have a unique skills which can be combined and used to benefits within the business to making better product which can lead increasing the creativity in our team inside from the business. This can be done if our team have a desire to improve the customer services and high growth in the business. In the relationship within the team is like important to our business as well because they can help people communicate better with one another, and friendships contribute to the job satisfaction. In that case our team will be comfortable relying each other and individual can be developing their own skills which can be future success in the business. We are more motivated working as a team because we felt that there is a loyalty and respect means that we tried our best to improved the future growth for our business is the future. The last thing is we also benefits for being to able to learn a new skills from each other which means that we sharing skills and qualities each other for making successful business growth in the business. The limitation of our company is like if one of our member of the team didn’t corporate or sharing information on running a business, Its possible that our business going down and going to saturation and decline stage because people inside from the business haven’t don’t care on cooperating and running a business, Or even if one members of the team have a mistake for making a decision within the business, it can be lead a poor quality product and services or misleading. Another limitation for our company is the merchandise product we sell has not well enough profit because of the bad quality to the eye of customers and selling a very high price each product which leads a poor profit within the business. Its is because we have not using a pricing strategies in the business, my team has responsibility to talk each other and comment what pricing strategies we using so that people encouraging to buy our merchandise product. But opportunely in the second day and third day selling a merchandise product to the customers is gaining a profit and the level of the product we selling to our customers is high which means that people like our services and the amount of prices we sell from them. And the last limitation for our company is we buy many stocks for our merchandise product which did not consume a higher profit that we expect to be. But hopefully we have our money back that we spent for all our stock in the business which is kind of successful in the team. Leadership Style There are numbers of different style of leadership that can used when organising and motivating peoples inside from the business. There are many types of leadership that can be found in the organisation which can be big impact to the employee or employees in the business. It can be affect the morale, and affecting in their work. Obviously, any businesses want to get the best performance on the workplace. The effective leadership must have a good knowledge on how maintaining the good performance people in the business. These can be lead to make greater good performance level, high motivated and good environmental and happy working in the organisation. However, bad leadership in the company while be occur that can lead staff laziness, absenteeism, misconduct and it could be one of the future risk in the business. One of this is Dictator/Autocratic are leaders that tell their teams on what kind of job they do rather than just asking what kind of role they like, in this kind of style is that decisions can be lead very quickly and no wasting time for discussing for the business. This leadership is strict to their employees or workers. However, this will discipline the workers and that could lead to a high production. Employees working on an Autocratic leadership I think are not motivated as much as democratic, because being strict on your employees will not motivate them, instead they will have bad feelings towards on the boss. Democratic leadership means a leader allows all employees to work and taking responsibility within the business, and making their own decisions within their framework. I think that democratic style of leadership has a good effect especially for the employees. They will feel motivated because their leaders have trust on them and this will encourage their employees to make decisions. This is employees or workers are motivated because they felt that they are important in the company. In other words, more efficient is done, and people tend to have a little more respect to each other since everyone seems to be equal. Employees or workers might get slightly less work and more productive and proactive. However Businesses can’t afford any mistakes from the decision making process and not all members giving their ideas to use. Laissez Fair means leaders who just giving work and responsibilities to take task, deadlines and allowing them to complete the task. Also they feel that they empowered employees allowed to work they own. The benefits of this style are the team getting more creative and bring more ideas within the business. However there is a problem that the leaders from the business did not like the employees produce the production or the services which can be poor production, and poor communication in the business. Sean which is the team leader of our team used a democratic leadership style which providing organising, and monitoring the team to our merchandise business. Sean make decision for all members of the team on what members doing, technique on what type of what type of pricing strategies we going to used to sell our product and what kind of presentation we going to used to impress our customers to buy. But our leader giving framework of what type of merchandised we had to provide to sell and when we had to sell it. Sean making this type of leadership style its because we were able to make our team decision each other and deciding on what duties and responsibility we going to decided when the events is going to start. A leadership is also can be a proactive and reactive leaders; proactive leadership – leaders are responsibility on business prediction on what might happen in the daily bases or in the future, also they work with the member of the staff to determine potential problems and opportunities. On the other hand reactive leadership is where leaders are one that just deals with the situations as they arise. They are not innovative, preferring to follow the example of the other managers. So for leader of our business, Sean was a reactive leader because he did not predict what might be happen if our business is going to expand, but Sean demonstrates the pricing technique to sell our product to make more customers, also Sean planning how to do them before the day of our selling merchandise. This kind of work we doing in the team is allowed to not waste time before the selling day and some things might be wrong, but we must have time to ready and prepared for the day that we sell to make sure that no future risk are happen with us. Team Theorists Belbin Dr Meredith Belbin is a British researcher and management theorist, best known for his work on management teams for nine years from his team which is based in Henley Management College in UK. Belbin study on how to create a successful team working with 9 different types of behaviors which is known as â€Å"team roles† – â€Å"wikipedia.com†. Also he is best known for his team-role theory enabling better understanding of the roles played by team members and how team interactions can be adjusted to increase team effectiveness. Belbin identified that sometimes people have their own strength and weaknesses to each roles. The basic premise of the Belbin team roles theory is quite simple. When individuals become aware of their own strengths and abilities, and understand the role that he or she is capable of playing within a team, it helps them to deal better with the demands of the team environment. â€Å"http://www.teambuildingportal.com/articles/systems/belbin-team-roles† Belbin theory is divided into 3 roles which are Action Oriented Role – include shaper, implementer, completer/fisher. People skills Oriented Roles – the coordinator, team worker and resources investigator. Cerebral/Intellectual Role – Planter, Monitor/Evaluator and specialist. I draw the table and it shows each Belbin team role’s what the strength and weaknesses each roles: Team Role Strengths Weaknesses Shaper Improving the team working (Motivated), can handle work pressures and has the courage to overcome obstacles. Argumentative, and those they may offend people’s feelings. Implementer Conservative, disciplined people who work systematically, efficiently and are very well organised. Implementers may be inflexible and somewhat resistant to change. Completer Finisher The completer/finisher’s strength lies in meticulousness, attention to detail and the ability to meet deadlines. However, a Completer-Finisher may worry unnecessarily and find it hard to delegate. Coordinator They are often excellent listeners and they are naturally able to recognise the value that each team members brings to the table. They are calm and good-natured and delegate tasks very effectively. Their potential weaknesses are that they may delegate away too much personal responsibility, and may tend to be manipulative. Team worker Good listener, being collaborative, co-operative, easy going and tactful. Their weaknesses may be a tendency to be indecisive, and maintain uncommitted positions during discussions and decision-making. Resources Investigator Develop contacts, communicate well, explore new ideas and opportunities, and bring enthusiasm and drive to the team effort. On the downside, they may lose enthusiasm quickly, and are often overly optimistic. Plant Problem solver, Original and making new ideas and creative Poor communicators and can tend to ignore given parameters and constraints. Monitor Evaluator Good judgment, good strategic thinking ability and very strategic Poor motivators who react to events rather than instigating them Specialist Provide knowledge and skills who can contribute information and knowledge in a team situation. Limitation for their contribution I think the strength and weaknesses to our team is based when we work together for out business. Its like when one member want to change a job, obviously they do not want that roles but I think our sharper in the team which is Sean is they provide a good motivator for our team which can be driven to complete our task with no complaining happen. I was the resources investigator of our team which bringing new ideas and opportunities for my team. The implementer who is my brother Kevin was able to discipline with us during our work and being able to help new ideas as well to complete the work. Kyle is the completer for our time which making sure that all work must be done on time. The coordinator and specialist which is role of Sean and Claudia which means coordinating and organising our team and specialist which teaching us what we do next session. The team worker and monitor evaluator role of drew and Thom is where help us to communicate clearly and the last one is Claudia role which is plant which she bringing new ideas and one of our problem solver making in our team. For our team I see that all Belbin’s team working responsibilities are covered and hopefully that we successful our team in future making. If there is any problem with our team, we make sure that we solved the problem immediately.