Great Expectations :: Great Expectations Essays

Great Expectations What techniques does Dickens use to present the characters? Dicken’s uses a variety of techniques in order to present his characters. By doing this it gives us a better and a clearer image of the characters. The first technique I’ll consider is his use of language which he uses very well. This technique is used to present his characters very effectively. Dickens aim is to show how physically and mentally destroyed Ms. Havisham is. He does this by surrounding her with images and language of death. The phrase ‘corpse-like’ tells us this. It shows the audience that Ms. Havisham is half alive yet half dead. That she looks like a corpse. The words ‘corpse-like’ suggests that Ms. Havisham is the living dead. By using this language it will give the reader an image and idea on how Ms. Havisham looks and feels. Dickens also tells us that she has, ‘a dead lull upon her’. This is implying that she no longer has life or energy. She looks like as if she is dying. Almost life less. It suggests that Ms. Havisham is very calm and quiet. Dickens uses these words to illustrate that Ms. Havisham is dying and her mental state is or has been destroyed. ‘Grave clothes’ is also showing the audience that she has an appearance of a person dead. He continues to use this because he is using languages of death and images of death and by using this it will give the reader an even better impression of Ms. Havisham. Dickens knows that nobody wears grave clothes apart from people who are dead and buried. It is as if she has buried herself alive in the house because her heart has been ‘broken’. Dickens also uses languages of loss. The words ‘once white, now yellow’ is implying she had a prime, and now she is past it. It also suggests that Ms. Havishams belongings were ‘once white, now yellow’ as well. Dickens wants to show the readers that his protagonist has nothing left, therefore he links Ms. Havisham to the idea of loss, ‘she has lost its lustre’, she has even lost her human structure, and ‘chest had dropped’. Her fiancà © has left her and she cannot carry on with her life. Dickens is emphasizing that his character has lost everything. She was attractive, bright but now has lost her life shine, radiance and therefore is now dull and old. The readers see that Ms. Havisham is a lost soul and cannot carry on with her life. ‘Nothing would ever lift it up again’ helps support this. It is saying that whatever is done she would never recover and she will never be

Faamatai: Traditional Religious System

It also alms to define and determine religious connections between the Mat system and the tabulate (Indigenous religion). Last but not least, it also focuses on how the system changed after Christianity arrived. Many people define the term mat in different ways. For example, Via and Tintinnabulation define mat as a â€Å"member of the nun (village) and a leader of an alga potato (extended family) with a complex network of fall (diffuse cultural connections'. Pall's offers another deflation which states that mat evolves from two words â€Å"mat† (eye or seeing) and â€Å"l† (towards or at).When two words are put together, It creates a traditional definition, the â€Å"act of looking towards or at someone or something†. In other words, a mat is the â€Å"eyes† of the family. He or she is the role model of the family. Family members look up to him or her as a strong leader and effective decision maker. To understand the framework of the mat system, one must first review the Samoan culture characteristics. The Samoan identify their culture as the Fashion way of life according to custom.Pall's described the term Fashion as referring to â€Å"the ancient ways of life Inherited from the ancestors†. The rod FAA means â€Å"in the manner of†, so the Samoan made it blend in with certain words in order to contrast the different ways of doing things. Traditionally, there are no laws in the context of the Samoan culture. However, Samoan people respected the decisions made by their own mat. To further understand the Samoan way of life, one must understand the village structure In the Samoan culture.The (nun) village Infrastructure Is made up of all extended females and relatives who reside In that particular village. They are Individual heirs and descendents of the mat such as father, mother, brother sister and etc†¦ In the alga, all can be related whether by blood as traceable to a common ancestor, through marriage ties or eve n adopted connections. At the head of each alga was a mat. He was the one who held the family title until it was passed on by choice rather than by inheritance. The first stage in becoming a mat was to serve as a tattletale's (untitled man).A tattletale's Is defined as an untitled man who serves his mat with honor and diligently. Being In this level requires a lot of patience and caring. Each tattletale's has one goal in life which was taut (serve) as further explained by Applied as follows: â€Å"A fulfill mat a Samoa faithful muumuu maim lava lee tag as taut Elli I lee mat male alga ma lee nun. O taut a lee tuna's e mama maim AI fumigant's ‘see's. A iii SE e via Oho I lee tutelage pull, all e taut, AAU o lee ala I lee pull o lee taut†. When a chief was chosen, a person who served the chief, family and village well Is most likely the primary he must first serve because the path to leadership is service) When a mat was sought, each alga would agree on a candidate and th en all would decide on one who would be worthy to succeed to the title. Once receiving the title of mat, he is responsible for the leadership of the whole family. In the fond o lee nun (council of chief), the mat was the one who represented the whole family.The authority of the mat was freely expressed by him in all matters, but most of the time he is free in so far as what he does was for the good of the family. In this respectful way, it could be seen, that the role of the mat was not merely authoritative, but it was also one of serving. It was then seen that all behavior was conditioned by the loyalty and devotion not only of the mat but the whole family. It was the pride of one's family which seemed to be the basis of the Samoan culture. This has been an initiating factor by which â€Å"law and order† was kept.In the Fashion, the extended family is the basic component of the village. Like I mentioned earlier, the village infrastructure is made up of all extended families which headed by a senior chief. Without the extended families and their chiefs, there would be no council of chiefs in the traditional village structure. The village itself became a factor in keeping the strong bond within the society. Socially, each village was embraced by a common pupilages (traditional greeting of mat titles in seniority).Mauve stated that a pupilages is a rotational formula which contained all the dignity accorded to the village especially to the principle chiefs, stating their relationship to the broader royal lineages of Samoa. In the olden times, Samoan lived in a hierarchical society. In all levels of its political structure including the mat system, it was so clear for it to be seen. Through all these levels, there was one of unifying force at work in the maintenance of â€Å"law and order† such as loyalty and devotion, being part of the family, and villages and districts connecting to the royal line.Politically, with the hierarchical structure of so ciety, it could be seen that the ancient gods were also structured in such a way. It was the case that authority was delegated from the top to the bottom. If there was a need to carry out a proposal or any new ideas, it was first to be approved by the higher authorities. Permission had to be sought from the chiefs. Although these different levels still existed in the Samoan society, but there was still the awareness of the necessity to function together as a corporate unity in order to survive.The socio-political structure of the mat system was believed to have great importance. Many believed the importance again lies within the idea that it was probably within such a social structure and that the structuring and the understanding of the gods had originated. According to Mauve, he stated: In Samoan society, there were â€Å"As† such as the As Militate, As Loyola or As Amiga. The â€Å"As† gives the meaning of being very high in rank within the Samoan society. The full meaning of this word would not be expressed if only the word honorable was used.The meaning of the word was not only â€Å"honorable† but took up other meanings such as sacredness and holiness in the ensue of been higher above all others in society. In this sense, As would really refer to the Alai(high or paramount chief). An Alai(high chief) was considered as the head of the village and its council of chiefs. Telltale (high talking chief) were orators and they spoke on the behalf of the Alai. According to Applied, mat were always the ruling powers in the society. Their authority is still strong today.Their authority was to be chiefs were, it was always to be carried out by the magma(group of tattletale's or untitled men). What can be said at this point is that in the structural set up of the Samoan society, there is a clear distinction between the higher and lower classes. The structure of the society and the distinctions could have been the basis of the religious structurin g and understanding of the ancient gods. In fact, the Samoan indigenous religion also had a structure where there was the recognition of higher gods and lower gods.In such a structure, there were responsibilities and functions performed by the gods that coincided with the responsibilities set out in the social life of the people. If the high chiefs were seen to rule and grant permission, then the higher gods were seen to posses more power. The higher gods would then be sought for the granting of the things that the society wanted. In this section, I will focus on the religious connection between the Mat system and a more detailed study of the traditional religious beliefs and other cultural practices.I strongly believe that much of these beliefs and practices had great affect on the way Samoan had accepted Christianity. Before Europeans had ever set foot on the islands, Samoan had their own beliefs of deities believed to be divine. According to Melissa, he stated â€Å"Samoan relig ion as it generally understood refers to a system of beliefs, the ceremonial and tall activities that are associated with it, and the worship of a supernatural being or beings. † In addition, Samoan had no national religion. This was a time of myths and what has often been referred to as a time of superstitious beliefs.It was at this early stage that these myths and the history of Samoa were preserved in memories and through oral traditions. According to traditional beliefs, every individual had his own â€Å"tutu†(guardian spirit). It was the case that the families had minor gods and villages had their own local deities. These deities such as fire, rain, agriculture and etc†¦ Were insider sacred and important to the Samoan. In the next couple of paragraphs, I will briefly explain the religious connections of the mat system and the indigenous religion through many traditional beliefs such as the Toga myths, man, spirits, and other various gods.One of the most popul ar beliefs in Samoan society was the Toxicological creation myth. In the alga, the head of the family is considered as the mat which was closely similar to the Toxicological and his rule. According to one myth, it stated that Toxicological existed as the main source in space and created the heavens. He was also known as the superior being or leader. I believe these creation stories had influenced many traditional world views of the Samoan and its mat system. In fact, the mentality about Toga creating Samoa still exists.The variety of these creation stories has led to the idea that traditional beliefs had been elaborately connected in Samoa. In this case, the Samoan culture was produced in distinction of ranks and indigenous religion enforces it by giving the high ranks a special place in it. As also stated by Isaiah: The Samoan ranking system and cultural structure appears deceptively simple on the surface at first glance, but a deeper look into it vales a very competitive, complica ted and rigid system. The religious beliefs of the people played a very important part in society.As I mentioned earlier, the Titus (guardian spirit) had influenced many Samoan greatly especially the mat. The tutu is sometimes considered as a god of an individual. In most cases, mat are considered as the god of their own family. They believe the spirit of an ancestor is links the mat system to the indigenous religion is the concept of man (invisible living force) which responsible for all the startling occurrences and effects beyond the human mind. In the Samoan culture, if a mat was able to defeat another mat at war, then he was said to have possessed more quantities of â€Å"man† than the man he defeated.This concept was always associated within the mat system. The traditional belief of man(power) that a mat had to protect the family physically and his ability to supply materially had been a strong qualification for becoming a leader. Man, however was also known in the prim itive world as the abundant special supernatural forces that could present in a man. In Samoan society, man was that force behind anything which was impossible for man to do. In this case, Samoan believe man and gaga(spirits) have strong relations.It can be noted that for a man or mat to receive man, it would be possessed through favor of the gods or the passing of it to him by another man who had it before him. Many scholars saw this concept as a way for the gods to communicate their will to the people. Many believe that Samoan were also committed to polytheistic beliefs. Applied stated that the life of the people depended greatly on the gods in which they recognized as having strong powers over them. It was the gods that they would always call upon in times of difficulties.Some of these various gods such as Laminas, Lethally, and Fee were believed to help many people avoid sickness, war and death. Laminas was defined as the child of the moon. This particular god was identified wit h the moon. In worshipping this god, there was much feasting and prayers. The head of the family or mat would pray that the god would help their family to prevent disease and death from entering their home. In other cases, such as war, this god was also asked to help that particular family or chief. It has been noted that this god was one of the inferior gods in the traditional beliefs of theSamoan society. Another particular god which many believe to be one of the well known house- hold gods was Lethally. This god was known to be embodied in the form of the centipede. In worshipping this god, people would often seek it in a tree that was usually near the house. If a person within the family was very sick, this god was called upon as to determine whether this person would die or become well again. In this particular belief, the mat would take a mat outside and await the coming of this god. The mat would be under close observation.If the god did come, and was seen to eave crawled und er the mat, this meant that the sick person would die. If the god came and crawled on the mat, this meant that sick person's health would be restored. One of the most famous gods which was also well known to the Samoan people was the Fee (octopus). This god was often worshipped as the warrior's god. It was believed that this god had its resting place on the island of Western Samoa. According to Melissa, it showed that before any war, the chiefs would seek this god and receive his blessings.In receiving the blessing of this god, there was the renewal of strength among the warriors. As a matter of fact, the main point behind all these traditional beliefs is that these gods really had much affect on the lives of the people. Not only the gods helped wartime or other ceremonial events. This proved to me that many of these gods were considered as important factors behind keeping the law and order in the Samoan society and also the mat system. Samoan also had strong affection towards many cultural practices such as the outage, VA ceremony, biogas, sofa's and etc†¦In the next part of the research, I will explain the relationship of the mat system and each cultural practice that Samoan hared and believed in since ancient times. Earlier, I mentioned that the framework of the Samoan society was revolved around the mat. These mat were responsible for all lands and matters pertaining to the alga. They also served as main decision makers for the alga or village. They also had man(power) that could cause any injury to anyone in society. In this matter, the power of the chiefs and traditional beliefs of the gods was believed to bring law and order in unity.It also brought strong ties and cultural connection between the gods and chiefs. One of the most important cultural practices that Samoan dealt with was known s outage (oath). According to Mauve, outage is one of the scariest and most sacred practices that chief ever gathered in the olden time. In this practice, the ac cused offender goes before the village councils and admits his guilt. This was where the fear of the gods came in to help solve a problem within society. This method was strictly practiced and enforced by the chiefs.According to the practice, if a crime was committed and the person who committed the crime was not known, all the villagers would be gathered by the chiefs of the village. Each person was asked to sake the outage(oath) and swear by the name of their own family god or village god. The chiefs then asked the curses of the gods to be on that person if he was the one. It was often the case that the curse would include one's family member to become very ill if the person lied. It was the fear of these curses by the chiefs that would lead the guilty person to confess. In fact, many believe these cultural practices hardly failed.The reason for this is because the guilty individual really feared the possibility of offending the gods and he could not at any time compromise the rep utation of the await to which he belonged. Another important cultural practice that Samoan still carried on today was the ‘VA ceremony. ‘VA ceremony is a traditional ceremony in which formal speeches are present among the chiefs. This ceremony usually held during the welcoming of the amalgam(traveled group). The religious part of this ceremony is when a chief partake his ‘VA cup. Before each chief take his cup, a portion of the ‘VA was poured out of the cup.This was considered as an offering to the gods. It was also a sign of respect to acknowledge the help of the gods in bringing the Amalgam to their destination. To clearly explain the meaning of it, Tubule stated: The spilling of a few drops of VA on the floor before drinking would seem to have the same significance as do many of the ceremonies in/the various religions of the world – incense burning – sprinkling of holy water – offering libations of wine – and the offering of sac rifices varying from pound notes to lizards eggs – all are offered with the idea of placating or seeking the assistance of some God.We are apt, perhaps, to view the custom of the Samoan as being merely the prostration of the intellect at the thresh-hold of the unknown, but re not all sacrifices by whomsoever offered, Just this. Mauve also stated that among the chiefs. For example, a chief would say: â€Å"o lee ‘VA linen o lee ‘VA o taut, la mania lee auto ambulant† It means this VA, it is for the gods, bless our gathering. In all, I found out that most of these traditional practices shared an important relationship between religion and social life of the Samoan people.It was so clear that Samoan had to live in a society where religion was seen as an important aspect in the culture. It was also clear that many of these cultural beliefs and traditional practices were considered as a set stage for Christianity. In this stage, it pointed out two important key elements that summarized the whole relationship between the mat systems and indigenous religion. One key element was the recognition of one great god above all gods, which was Toxicological.It was this god that was so superior and was given such high respect. This reveals that even though Samoan were viewed as polytheists, there was still the recognition of one god, Toga. Secondly, Fear for the gods and spirits was another key element in the Samoan indigenous religion. This element explains the fact that gods could bring disaster to the people o matter what the case is. It can be said that the people in fearing had imagine the awful punishments that could take place because of disobeying the chiefs and the gods.With all the tradition beliefs and cultural practices that Samoan shared in their society, I can now have a clear mind of what the early missionaries had walked into. Last but not least, this section focuses on the new changes of the mat system when Christianity arrived in Sa moa. During my research, I found many ways of how the traditional and cultural beliefs were adapted to accept and embed Christianity without losing its value. I also found out how the mat system was easily led to the process of accepting the new religion.There are many reasons why Christianity was easily accepted in Samoan society. Some of those reasons can be willingly determined while other reasons are more difficult to discover. To look deeply in those reasons, I trace it back to the importance and significance of the cultural and traditional beliefs that I mentioned earlier in the research. A fact that is now to be noted is that many of these beliefs and practices are still kept by the people. Though there have been many changes that have taken place, the practices of the past can till be noticed in the present.In the mat system or political structure of Samoa, mat were always heading the families or villages. Within any villages, there was an Alai (high chief) that holds a high er rank. The fact is that there is only one Alai for a village and his authority becomes highly respected and recognized. According to Applied,'Alai would hold the authority to express what to do and forbid the things that should not be done. This political structure is very similar to those that Christianity shared.This was one of the few reasons why Samoan easily accepted the Christian god because of the reactive of owing respect and obedience to anything that the chief ordered. Another reason that linked the mat system to the new religion was the creation myth of Toxicological. During ancient times, Toga was referred as the creator of the heaven and earth. I personally believe that the knowledge of these myths created a clear path for Samoan to easily accept the new Christian God. It seems that what the new religion was teaching to the people was nothing new.Same goes to the concept of man and spirits. I also mentioned earlier that Chiefs were also believed and strength. Chief al so held the roles of expressing the will of the gods. In this concept, it has a very strong relation to the new religion. Christianity believed missionaries were looked upon as priests receiving power from God to preach out the new religion. For what has already been mentioned, I can now see a strong relationship between the traditional beliefs in the mat system and Christianity. Today, mat system played an important part in the new religion.In the pre- Christianity era, chiefs were believed to have powers that can meditate with the ancient gods. When missionaries arrived, they assumed new roles. They became deacons in the church. It was so obvious that many of these traditional practices and beliefs have helped greatly in accepting and understanding Christianity. I believe the Samoan society was always flexible ever since the start of their civilization. With this flexibility, Christianity was able to integrate with the traditional Samoan beliefs.As a result, it seems the new relig ion had to be taken up and practiced as if it was truly part of the ancient Samoan society. In conclusion, I believe the structural set up of the mat system served as a basis for the continuing strength of the Fashion (Samoan way). The continuing strength f the Fashion was to a great extent due to fact that an authority did not come to bear all the weight of the emotional, political, social and religious attachment to the people to their culture.The culture and the religious beliefs had helped making the people remain Samoan. I also believe the mat system had a strong relation and religious connection to the ancient indigenous religion. After gathering all the necessary information and specific evidence, it proved me that the mat system not only had similarities with Christianity, it was very easy for the people to accept the new religion into their indigenous society.

Beyond Europe

The Roaring Twenties brought forth a new musical style in the United States. Piercing together the complex blend of European and African American musical traditions, merging the soulfulness of the blues and the syncopated rhythms resulted in a unique, rhythmic compelling music that is known as jazz. It is a music dominated by improvisations and a definitive beat (Kamien, 1998, p. 359). This popular music has produced some of the best American musical figures- Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker.Indeed, it has become one of the more popular music the world has known and continues to enjoy today. There are two clear-cut jazz features: syncopation and rhythmic swing. It boasts of lively rhythm that is oftentimes hard to describe but easy to recognize and listen to. Its call and response feature, wherein a voice is answered by an instrument or an instrument is answered by another instrument arose from the African American church services where the congregation responds voc ally to the preacher’s call (p. 360).But more than the percussive sounds, improvisations, call and respond, and the performance techniques that accompany jazz music, jazz music is popularly known as the â€Å"only truly American contribution to the world of music† (Wright, 1996, p. 390). While jazz music is an amalgam of different musical streams, it is in America where jazz was planted and flourished. There is no contest about that. There is no concrete record that show when jazz started or how it first sounded because the music was only heard; hence no musical notations were traced.However, its origin was placed somewhere in 1900 (Kamien, 1998, p. 359). What was certain about jazz music though was where it was first heard: in southern and Midwestern cities. Jazz music was first heard in the streets, bars, brothels and dance halls in New Orleans, St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago (Wright, 19976 p. 390). Furthermore, it was in New Orleans where many jazz legends began - Armstrong, King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton (p. 391). One of Oliver’s finest works is the Dippermouth Blues, which showcase instrumental blues in its unique New Orleans style.This style is usually rooted on a march, a church melody or a ragtime piece (p. 365). On the other hand, Armstrong was best known as the inventor of scat singing, warbling nonsense syllables like dat-a-bat—a-dip-da (p. 365). He was also an outstanding jazz trumpeter and his performance of Hotter than That with this group The Hot Fives focused on the improvisatory solos. When the Spanish-American War ended, there was a surplus of military band instruments sold at a cheap price. Many black musicians brought instruments and took up employment in bars and brothels (Wright, 1996, p.391). Band instruments were instrumental (pardon the pun) in shaping jazz music. It was a reflection of the African Americans’ love of music and importantly, their determination to succeed. The precursors of jazz m usic were ragtime and the blues which existed in the 1890s to 1915 (Kamien, 1998 p. 360). Ragtime was generally played by black pianists (Wright, 1996p. 390). Black pianists experienced difficulties looking for employment so they were reduced to playing in brothels, saloons, and dancehalls. Despite that, the popularity of ragtime music could not be discounted.By the end of World War I, roughly two thousand piano sheets of piano ragtime music were sold (p. 390). Scott Joplin, the man behind famous pieces like Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer was the best-known composer of ragtime music. Similar to ragtime music, blues was another music that grew out of the African Americans. It is said that blues were a kind of black folk song that originated in the 1880s-1890s in the South (Wright, 1996, p. 387). It was developed out of the work songs, spirituals and field hollers of the black slaves (p. 387).Typical blues subjects were of poverty, loneliness, oppression, and melancholy. By 1912, the blues were printed as sheet music (p. 387). Ragtime music, with its upbeat sound, and the blues, which reflected the hard life and the tough-minded humor of the African Americans, helped uplift peoples’ spirits. The Progressive Era, which covered 1900s up to the First World War, was a period of marked changes in the country. Problems on capital, labor, immigration, and corruption in politics pervaded the country (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, pp. 570-594).Adding more reason to be depressive was the aftermath of the First World War. Repression and intolerance pervaded the country. The post-war years brought despair for many African Americans. With the Jim Crow restrictions, the lynching, beatings, and revival of the Ku Klux Klan, Americans, especially the African Americans, turned to music for comfort. Their desolate living unleashed their creativity. Out of ragtime and the blues came the expressive, raspy style that became the jazz. The end of the war and the great black migr ation made it possible for jazz music to spread in America.As aforementioned, jazz became the rage in the 20s. Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald even dubbed the time as the â€Å"Jazz Age† (Wright, 1996, p. 394). Jazz music became so popular that it was now performed in large dancehalls and even in movie houses (p. 394). In the years to follow, jazz developed into a rich sub styles such as swing, bebop, cool jazz, free jazz and rock fusion. Ellington was one of the most revered composer, arranger and conductor in the swing era. Some of his works include Ko-Ko, Air shaft, and Blue Serge (Kamien, 1998, p. 367).Other notable jazz piece is the bebop-syled Bloomdido performed by alto saxophonist Charlie â€Å"Bird† Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, bass player Curly Russell, pianist Thelonious Monk and percussionist Buddy Rich (p. 368). Meanwhile, Miles Runs the Voodoo Down from trumpeter Miles Davis exemplifies jazz rock. No doubt, jazz music is one of the most important Ameri can contributions to twentieth century popular culture. At the heart of jazz is improvisation. Looking back, people were probably drawn to jazz music precisely because of this.Through music, they had the freedom to follow their own flights of fancy. It is this appeal that made it popular with people during that time. Jazz music became a diversion, bit at the same time, an aspiration that perhaps one day, they would do more than make do. References Kamien, R. (1998). Music An Appreciation 3rd ed. USA: McGraw-Hill. Jordan, W. and Litwack, L. (1991). The United States Combined Edition 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Wright, C. (1996). Listening to Music 2nd ed. Minnesota: West Publishing Company.

Marketing Plan for Rain at the Palms †Business Paper

Marketing Plan for Rain at the Palms – Business Paper Free Online Research Papers Marketing Plan for Rain at the Palms Business Paper Overview: Rain nightclub is located in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a 25,000 sq. ft. nightclub with six bars, and two floors. It employs over 250 people, with me being one of them. On the top level it has six skyboxes which overlook the whole club, and come equipped with couches and a TV, and can easily fit a party of 15-20 people. One level down there are six cabanas for parties of 8-10 people, and than one more down are our water booth tables for parties of 4-6. The rest of the club can pack in 3600 dancing maniacs on the main floor. Rain is one of the top competitors in Las Vegas for this market but over the years the numbers at the doors has been declining dramatically. Life expectancy in this line of business is very short, and they are very fortunate to have lasted this long, but now it is the time to do some drastic changes to regenerate some more business. The plan will increase the attendance at Rain and increase table sales, as well as inform our tar get market of 21-35 year old tourists with money to spend about all the events and changes coming up. Environmental Factors: There are a select few other competitors that have opened in the past two years that have affected Rain’s business. There is Pure inside Caesar’s Palace and Tao at the Venetian. These are our two main competitors that took a huge percentage of our clientele away. In the next month Jet, a new nightclub in the Mirage, opens for New Years Eve so now is the time that a plan of action needs to come together. One environmental factor that hurts business a little is the fact that Rain which is inside of the Palms is located off the tourist filled strip. The people would rather take a $2 cab ride to a closer venue than to pay $5, or what ever it is, to leave the strip. The hotel is always filling their rooms up, and even the people staying at the Palms are getting in cabs and going to other nightclub venues besides the one rite downstairs. Target Market: Our ideal targeted customers would be 21-35 years old, single males and female tourists, and locals with a yearly income of $30,000 –whatever. People in this age bracket that come into Vegas are not coming just for the shows and the gambling any more. A majority of them are coming specifically for the nightlife. They sleep all day, get up and go to dinner, and than hit a club. This is ideal for Rain because they can do some package deal with their restaurant the N9NE Steakhouse. I chose this market because lets be real†¦.mom and dad do not go out to the clubs together, and grandma and grandpa definitely do not, only on rare occasions and they are getting laughed at. Objectives: The objective of this marketing plan is to increase numbers at the door and to increase table (bottle) sales. Goal is to increase the number of people coming in to the club 25%. So if we do 2000 people on a Friday night, than after the plan is in affect we should expect 2500 guests. As for bottle sales the goal is to increase the number of bottles sold a night by 15%. If 30 bottles are sold on Thursday, than 35 should be sold the following Thursday after the plan has been put into action. Product: The product is liquor plain and simple. How you get them in there and make them want to stay is the atmosphere of the club itself and the crowd. We can provide the atmosphere, but we have to entice the crowd to come in. People go to nightclubs depending on the crowd. If there is a line outside the club than people are curious as to what is happening inside. So your customers at the same time of being customers they are also the product that is selling your club. People want to go to the clubs where the beautiful people are. As far as the liquor goes, we offer every type from the low end choices to the $5,000 dollar bottle of Louis XIII. Also the entertainment value, and the music we play can be our product because another main reason why people choose the clubs they go to is to listen to music and dance. Rain plays a little of every type of music. They cater to every type of music preference and have a humongous dance floor to get down on. Price: This market is definitely price sensitive and low priced items would be preferred over high priced items. Liquor is liquor and depending on where you are drinking it the prices will vary. A beer at the local pub is around two to three bucks. In any given popular nightclub in town its about 6-7 dollars. A shot of well vodka goes for about 10 bucks in the club and 5 in a local bar. That is if you’re just buying drinks at the bar. If you have a table you have to do bottle service, which policies differ in every club, but usually when you do this you not only have to purchase the bottle of liquor that you and your party will be drinking, but you have to buy the actual table as well. Now the bottle prices in every club for a bottle of Grey Goose lets say goes for $350 dollars, including juices and excluding red bulls. And for every two more people in your party after 4 people you have to buy another bottle of liquor. If we were to drop the price just a little and changed some of those policies we could sell a lot more tables. Than there is also cover charge which recently was raised from 20 a head to 25. Place: Location is great for locals and bad for tourists. It is located a few blocks west of the strip on Flamingo across from the Rio. This is convenient for locals that come see a concert at this venue and don’t have to put up with the traffic of the strip. As I mentioned earlier though tourists tend to like to stay on the strip near the hotel that they are staying at. Overall though, it is an excellent location for a nightclub, especially the Palms because they cater to our target market as well. Promotion: This is a large FB company that has venues nationwide so I know they have some dollars for some promotions. One that is very cost effective though is to hire an e-mail girl to get the contact information of our guests coming in so we can send them all of our up coming parties and events. As I mentioned earlier maybe doing some cross promotions with the steakhouse. Like bring your receipt from dinner at N9NEto the cashier at Rain for free entry. Give passes to the guests staying at the Palms for free admission. Drop the bottle prices on Thursdays to regenerate some table reservations. Buy one get one free bottles on Thursdays. Promote a locals night once a week where all locals get in for free to start generating more word of mouth within the city. Hire a promotions street team to go out earlier in the day Thur-Sat passing out fliers in all the major casinos. Run radio ads in Vegas and L.A. since half of our customer base is young adults driving into Vegas from Los Angeles. Hand out punch cards for our bottle service guests like a subway card. Buy 6 bottles get one free. Ghostbar at the palms is owned and operated by the same company two but they are two different venues with two different covers. Maybe on one of the slow days a week like Thursday do a two for one cover of $25 for both clubs. Marketing Control: The e-mail girl at the front would really help out keeping our focus on the type of customers frequenting our club and allows us to have access to them directly for promotions. Also for complaints because when we e mail them our up and coming events there will be a link to our website where they can post complaints, or remarks. There are not many budgetary constraints with this company. Also when getting their contact info to include their zip code so we can keep track of the locals and to know where the majority of our customers are coming from so we can run ads in their parts to constantly re-inform them of the fun they had here. Target Market ? Dual income couples with kids that live in the Seven Hills, Anthem area. This group has high income, little discretionary time, and propensity to want to eat out (but not necessarily fast food). This market demands convenience, high quality, freshness. Healthy items should be available as well to especially appeal to mothers. Objectives The objective of this marketing plan is to increase awareness of Rocco’s NY Deli, and through increasing awareness impact sales. Goal is for sales to increase 20% over the next 3 months, and then sustain through the year. Dips in sales will be responded to with promotional offers. Next year the plan will be reassessed Strategy: Marketing Mix ? Product: current product offering is good, maybe offer a few healthy items to appeal to the â€Å"Moms,† definitely move on the alcohol license and get a credit card/debit machine. Currently have a case of frozen foods, add a case with ready-made items in the refrigerated section. ? Price: this market is not necessarily price sensitive, and higher quality items would be preferred over low cost items. Marketing Mix ? Place: location is great, right on the way home from work for many working parents, perhaps making a delivery option available too. Need an Internet site where they can see the menu and place an order from home or work. ? Promotion: this is a Mom and Pop organization so limited dollars, consider placing bouncing arrows to increase attention to the restaurant, pass out fliers in the karate, dance and learning centers offering families a price promotion and also magnets that families can place on their refrigerators that have the phone number; blanket the area homes with promotional fliers, and if any formal advertising is done, focus on the Henderson area, maybe in the View section of the RJ. Have â€Å"awards† for patrons that bring in new patrons (discounts on pizzas, etc) to help increase word-of-mouth. Marketing Control ? Every customer will be greeted on entry to the deli. Sometime within their visit they will be asked â€Å"how did you hear about us.† There will be a list behind the counter to keep track of those responses. Additionally, all promotional fliers and coupons (and advertising) will need to be collected in order to receive the discount so we can determine which promotion is directly getting the customer in-the-door. The sales during an â€Å"arrow† day will be compared to a similar non-arrow day to see whether that is an effective tool. If advertising is done in the RJ a similar comparison will be done to determine if it is â€Å"worth† the cost. The word of mouth offers will also be tracked and efforts will be made to establish relationships with those patrons. Research Papers on Marketing Plan for Rain at the Palms - Business PaperBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Fifth HorsemanIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalDefinition of Export QuotasTwilight of the UAWThe Project Managment Office SystemHip-Hop is ArtGenetic EngineeringNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceWhere Wild and West Meet

Analization of There are no Children Here essays

Analization of There are no Children Here essays You do not fully know a man until you have walked around in his shoes Social isolation due to economical disadvantages is the criteria of which Alex Kotlowitz novel There Are No Children Here is based upon. It is a true story in which free lance journalist, Kotlowitz followed the lives of two children, there mother and the rest of their siblings growing up in government project home in Chicagos west side ghetto. The main characters of the story are Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers and their mother La Joe and how they survive the hardship and struggles of an impoverished life and non existence to the rest of the world. The first thing that La Joe mentions to Kotlowitz when she agrees to let him follow and live in their footsteps is the following comment, "But you know, there are no children here," she told him. "They've seen too much to be children.", and it is here that we receive the title of this sentimental and heart felt novel. The predicament that the people of this socially separated, violence reigning, horrendous poverty stricken urban community saw on a daily basis gave them no hope for the future. The people learned to become accustomed to and accept that there was little they could do to change the views of the upper class citizens to help them in their dilemma of living out there daily lives. The children are always caught in the grasps of gangs exchanging gun fire and letting out there anger and may not even live to see a new day as a result of it. A way to ignore a problem that exist is to not acknowledge that there is one or try and understand it. Early off in the beginning of the novel Lafeyette and Pharoah along with a couple of the other neighborhood children go to the railroad tracks in the attempt to discover a snake. Upon hearing the people on the train arriving the children flee for cover because of rumors they have heard of the passengers carrying weapons for their safety. The passe ngers...

The Kid with a Bike Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Kid with a Bike - Movie Review Example This paper is a review of the film â€Å"The Kid with a Bike† Directed by Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. The film is about the one sided yet blissful blood bond relation between a father and an eleven year old who is abandoned by his father and lives in a foster home and is being told by the father that he would have to live there for only a short while. With hopes in heart that he would return to his father soon, the distracted boy is never able to relate to life without his father and his desired bicycle. He runs in search of the bike which he considers a special symbol of attachment to his father. To his small childish memory he runs tracing his father in all the places he can image. He visits the place where his father lived, but much to his disappointment, he finds out that his father has moved out.The very first scene of the movie tells us about the boy’s state of mind who is lacking the peace and it is evident through an encounter with the counselor of th e foster home where the boy hopes to find out about his father. He often tries to flee the foster home in hope of going to his real home which was promised by his father to him. While in pursuit of his little dream, and peace, along with hope of finding the bicycle and his father again, his life and future days take a turn for the good when he comes across a generous hairdresser who would later on adopt him. The Theme is based on the attempt of interpretation of the boy’s distracted mind which he suffers due to one of his parent’s unstable social standing.... While in pursuit of his little dream, and peace, along with hope of finding the bicycle and his father again, his life and future days take a turn for the good when he comes across a generous hairdresser who would later on adopt him. The Theme is based on the attempt of interpretation of the boy’s distracted mind which he suffers due to one of his parent’s unstable social standing. Being not able to bring him up, he falsely tells his young son that the stay at foster home would be a brief one; however, in real the things are gloomier for the ill fated boy. The theme is a very apt one considering the modern day unstable social standings of number of parents in various societies across the world, and it equally applies to the American Society and parents as well. It lives up to the expectations and delivers the message in a very calculated manner and warns all those with such intentions that abandoning their kids is the last best option available for their kids. Early day s of life are the days where the kid needs proper attention and their parents guard. Even the toys and other childhood kits do not mean as much to the kids as much as their own parents. This has been shown in a very skill full manner where the kid considers the bicycle as a symbol of his father’s love towards him. The movie will definitely leave a spark in the minds and hearts of all those parents who are going through the thick of times and have even for once thought over similar lines of foster homes for their children. They would get to know what these actions could have in offer for the young ones if sent away from home. What three or four sequences are most important in the film? Why?   There are number of scenes that would give the viewers goose bumps on any given day, and those moments were

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How have the different types of propaganda (white, black, grey) been used to manipulate opinion - Essay Example In this context, two views can be positioned in contrast. The first is the view of the civil libertarian, which posits the rights of the individual to be most important and subsequently seeks to maximize individual freedom and minimize State control of all activities pertaining to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In contrast to this are societal forces, fascist in their most extreme form, that seek organization to limit and control others as a form of governance, either for minority social, cultural, and economic interests or for personal gain, power, ego, and other self-motivating factors, often using organized political violence as a tool to further ideological ends. Control is opposed to liberty, but organization in this context is ironically more associated with the controlling aspects of power than freedom as historically conceived. Indeed, as societal structures such as those in the military and government agencies of superpower States grow to unprecedented technolo gical and economic prowess, the absence of such agencies of control still exemplifies the libertarian approach. Within this duality is the traditional duel between Marxist critics and the apologists of Capitalism, with the â€Å"Western† ideal firmly based in the historical tradition of Greece and Rome, including both democracy and imperialism in the ideal Republic. In the context of critical theory and post-modernism, the historical approach can be used to deconstruct architectures of power to delineate types of State control through the analysis of media operations and propaganda techniques found both in totalitarian regimes and liberal democracies, to see what joins and differentiates the two approaches to government and media communications. The initial discussion of personal bias and political ideology when constructing an ideal by which to judge a process such as government communications or the proper end goals of society highlights that absolute objectivity or complet ely dispassionate review is not entirely possible in the context of political analysis, contrary to the appearance of historical fact. In order to judge and analyze the activities and processes involved in media operations of governments, there must be an a priori establishment of legitimacy and this inevitably involves a decision that introduces political bias into the argumentation. As such, the humanistic context of shared social and cultural values are assumed to be the base from which â€Å"true† judgment proceeds, as these are viewed as the best of historical values shared by diverse cultures across numerous countries in the course of the evolution of civilization, as well as those that are the most fair, egalitarian, and progressive for building the future of mass-society. Yet, at the very moment when these ideals are viewed as universal, critical inquiry based in Marxist philosophy particularly challenges whether these so-called Western ideals of supposed Greek and Ro man origin are really truth as universal and divinely ordinate, or actually another form of propaganda masking the â€Å"true†