How Social Media Contributes To Retailing Marketing Essay

How Social Media Contributes To Retailing Marketing Essay The retailing industry has found itself constantly evolving and transforming in the past two decades. Globalization and advanced technology developments have a very big impact on the retailing landscape. One of the major reasons for this process is the drastic increased growth of the internet and social media. The concept of social media has existed since the days of cave paintings but the internet has made things possible on a whole new scale. In this era, social media is one of the best opportunities available for a brand to connect with its customers. Social media is hot and it is the trend. Globally, customers that are buying the items that they wanted via virtual media had increased drastically. Traditional customer relationship management is not sufficient for a company to interact with customers. Social media has definitely changed the way big companies communicate with their customers. This study explains how social media contributes to retailing. Besides that, this study wil l also describe about the impacts social media have on customer relationship management. Keywords: social media, customer relationship management Introduction Internet is now one of the most important channels of distribution right after high street retailing ever since its commercial launching about fifteen years ago and it is one of the major sources of empowerment and also customer information (Constantinides, Romer and Boria, 2008). The recent developments of internet, information technology and some other Web services had created a bigger area of opportunities in businesses especially retailing. The Internet has changed our lives forever and it  allows  us  to  communicate  in  ways  unimaginable  only a  few  years  ago (Leary, 2008).According to Borges (2009) it is said that commercial internet started to have a huge boom in about mid-1990s to 2001 and it his highly related to the peoples ability to absorb online information and having the choice to buy online product via ecommerce. In this era of globalization marketing and retailing are slowly embracing social media. The social media had given customers the c hance to have more control, information and power over the market process, posing retailers with a number of important dilemmas and challenges according to Constantinides et al. (2008). We often turn to the Internet for encouragement, entertainment, knowledge and advice. Advice on what to buy, where to buy it and who to buy it from (Leary, 2008).Besides that, in the recent years there is rapid growth of marketing strategies that involve in the circle of customer relationship (Pietro Pantano, 2012). Social network which is now widely used by people around the world and it does have a big effect on the systems of customer relationship management and a new way to CRM is coming out as an ideal platform for using social network in the systems of traditional CRM (Pietro, Pantano Corvello, 2012). According to Divol, Edelman and Sarrazin (2012) it is stated that thirty nine percent of companies that they have surveyed have already started using social media as their first choice of digita l tool to reach out to customers. In about four years, the percentage is estimated to rise to forty seven percent. The way organizations are capturing benefits from the internet technology in the enterprise nowadays is totally different from the past where they attend to other enterprise information systems (De Hertogh, Viaene Dedene, 2011). Overview of Social Media What is social media? The term social media is made up of two words that have its own meaning. In general, the word media means to have advertising and communication of information and ideas with channels and publications while the word social implies to the interaction between a group of people or a community (Sisira,2011). According to Sisira (2011) any kind of website that allows its users to have the authority to share the content, views, personal opinion and encourages interaction can be considered and classified as social media. The worldwide users of social media are over 1.5 billion. Social media is now an evolving wave in retailing. Examples of famous social media sites are Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and Scribd. There is also Flickr or Snapfish which emerged as support storage, to share digital photos and an organization (Stefanone, Lackaff Rosen, 2010). Boyd and Ellison (2007) illustrate a better definition of social network site is that it serves as a web-based s ervice which allow people to build a profile within a system whether it is public or semi-public and to connect with a list of people which they have connection to like their family and friends. Social networking had given us a chance to interact with far more people in numbers comparing to our ancestors (Dunbar, 2012). Social network like Facebook and Twitter has the advantage to able to get and win the heart of its customers because social media can connect to them at a very deep level. Now, it seems like a new social network launches every week. To add on to all these famous networks, location-based social networking such as Foursquare and Facebook Places are on the rise (Kidwai Imperator, 2011). Out of hundreds of social networking site in this era, Facebook is undeniably the worlds largest social network. Facebook initially started in February 2004 and it is originally meant to be a social networking site only for Harvard University students (Brothers, Dewland, Hahn Martin, 2011). Somini (2011) states that Facebook has already reached 800 million users worldwide as of as of September 23, 2011 and the users of Facebook press the like button or comment more than two billion times each day. Besides that, they upload a shocking 250 million photos each day too. Twitter is the second leading social networking site after Facebook. Wasserman (2012) said that twitter has already reached 140 million users as of March 22, 2012. According to Anderson (2011) Twitter is actually a place where its users talk about their daily doings, have a gallery to expose photography and as a platform for famous celebrities to be sure that they are part of their fans lives. Twitter is often described as a micro-blog where individuals publish short and personal message about themselves (Brothers et al., 2011). Before the digital revolution, gathering a large amount of crowd is unthinkable but with Twitter, it is now possible (Dunbar, 2012). Social medias contribution to retailing The use of social media occasionally begins in public communication, marketing and retailing department or other department that have direct connection with stakeholders and customers whether it is in business or non-profit organizations (Evans McKee, 2010). There has been a dynamic change in the retailing industry in this 21st century. It is all because of the rapid growth of the web and social media. Generation Y are putting a greater emphasis on networking by using social media because they approaches work in a different way from their progenitor (Karen, 2009). If you are a marketer or building a brand, do not be worries that your company has missed the boat on taking advantage of social media because the majority of social media programs are actually fighting with each other too (Taylor, 2011)..According to Burby, Atchison and Sterne (2007) social media allows super fast and easy communication with billions of customers in a short amount of time and have certainly raised the spe ed where company and its brand can be created, have more exposure and grow. Social media has an enormous potential and capability for companies to engage with customer, thus increasing revenue and efficiency of the company (Baird Parasnis, 2011).The change in this industry does not depend on the size or a big idea of the company it is now nevertheless more focused on customer demand. The information about weaknesses, the good or bad and how can the product have further improvement can be analyzed within a week now compared to older days where much more time is needed to do so (Yazdanifard, Obeidy, Yusoff Babaei, 2011). Decision makers are trying to find ways to enable firms to earn profit by making use applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Wikipedia (Kaplan Haenlein, 2010). Social media users have the opportunity to offer feedback and feel more involved with a brand when the profiles status is update with positive information and challenges. It enables organizations to increase customer loyalty while at the same time getting feedback from customers and discovering what changes they want (Friedman Friedman, 2008). According to an eMarketer study in 2008, nearly six out of ten United States users now communicate with businesses and believe that the businesses must interact with their consumers and deepen the brand relationship via social networking website (Abedniya Mahmouei, 2010). According to Gilbert (2010) social media cost may be low but there is a need to invest time and energy in it to be successful. For example, if a retailers want to start a blog or Facebook page, they need to update it regularly or no one will return to see the content (Gilbert, 2010). Simply creating a presence on a popular platform like Facebook or Twitter does not guarantee that customers will be attracted to a firms page and engage with the firm and other customers (Culnan, Mc Hugh, Zubillaga, 2010). This is also because the use of social media by customers are v oluntary and interaction among members need time, organizations need to take great steps in order to build communities and learn from the interactions (Culnan et al., 2010). Figure 1: The Social Feedback Cycle (Burby, Atchison Sterne, 2007) As we can see in Figure 1, it is the social feedback cycle. The word of mouth is important as we can see in the figure. According to Brown, Broderick and Lee (2007) a big part of online customer interaction is word of mouth communication and it influences on a persons evaluation and will to purchase a product. With social media, retailers can get data from their customers opinion or talk and use it as a consideration to enhance their product. As retailers and marketers, brand and business are very important and activity that they do need to have a return on investment, whether it is by increased sales, market share or brand recognition and social media that changed the way people interact with one another have a significant help for marketing, retailing, business and also branding (Drury, 2008). How do retailers turn this potential into real business opportunity and how does social media contributes to retailing? As an example, we can take a look at the best practices of some company in the retail sector. Take a look at IKEAs Social Catalogue, their objective is actually to raise awareness of a new IKEA store with almost no media budget at all. According to Shercan (2010) IKEA is the worlds largest furniture retailer that is held privately and sells accessories and ready to assemble furniture. In the late 2009, IKEA had a Facebook campaign where the idea is contributed by Forsman and Bodenfors to promote a new IKEA store to be launched in Malmo and it was claimed to be a social media campaign that have the most innovation in Facebook (Shercan, 2010). The approach of this campaign is to upload photos of the rooms in the ikea showroom to Facebook, then they allow people to tag themselves against an item of furniture for the chance to win it in real life (Lindsay, Matthew, Jamie, Eveline Chris, 2011). When a person is tagged in a photo on Facebook, their friends will automatically receive an up date that shows the photo. This simple competition will make people have the desire to get free stuff which also meant that this campaign had received a huge amount of public relations. With this, IKEA can increase their companys revenue. Dunay and Krueger (2010) also said that Facebook offers unique ways to communicate with customers such as the Facebook Ads as it can be bought on a cost per click basis and it is very popular as it let company to reach the audience that they desire whether it is narrow or wide. Besides that, there is also Starbucks Mayor Offer where mayor of Foursquare in Starbucks at any local store gets to buy a frappuchino at only one dollar (Keath, 2010). This is special as it is the first national special for mayor using Foursquare. In this situation, customers get value from the discounts and they will have a sudden ego boost to become the mayor of their favorite Starbucks or the one nearest to them. Starbucks will of course get popularity in a form of word of mouth and they are able to identify its top customers. On top of that, there are small businesses that use social media as a real business opportunity. As an example is Wrigleyville, a small company that sell sports related clothing in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Wrigleyville has build a Facebook page for three years and now has twenty two thousand likes and the company tracks sales and marketing efforts from Facebook. They also had contest on Facebook on Mothers Day for visitors to upload some picture of Mom demonstrating why shes the biggest fan of Chicago Cubs (Doug, 2012). Social medias impact on customer relationship management (CRM) Customer relationship management is a combination of technology, business processes and people that want and seek to understand a firms customers and it focus on the incorporation approach on relationship development and customer loyalty (Chen Popovich, 2003). The premise of CRM is that is is a process of relationship building and dual creation of value between firm and its customers, to create win-win situations, enhance customer life time value and increase profitability ( Nguyen Mutum, 2012).According to Jayashree, Pahlavanzadeh and Shojaee (2010) customer relationship management is the collection of processes, people and technology that seeks to find costumers of organizations and CRM develops customers retention and relationship.Progress in Information Technology and organizational changes in customer-centric procedures have positive effect in the development of CRM. Organizations which implement CRM successfully, will gain customer loyalty and profitability (Jayashree, Pahlav anzadeh Shojaee, 2010). All employees in a firm are managers of customer relationship, whether you are the receptionist who answers the phone or customer service operator, and everyone in the company handles customers in the departments (Ronald, 2001). CRM focuses on the integration of customer information, knowledge for finding and keeping customer to grow customer lifetime value and it also has an important role to help organizations to keep their customers and to make them loyal. Organizations should know the reasons of leaving customers and finding the ways of keeping them (Ramakrishnan, 2005). With billions of people having access to a variety of social media, the ability of the word to share and connect is infinite and from a business point of view, companies are now allowed to create a customer experience never before done in the past. Traditional CRM was born in the early 1990s and customer behavior is in a very different phase today (Rich, 2010). According to Vissing (2011 ) CRM is one of the most fundamental elements in any organization because of the emergence of social media in the industry. According to IBM research, there is a large perception gap between what the customers seek via social media and what companies offer (Baird Parasnis, 2011).It is important to master online communication in order to know the people that can influence a particular market. Retailers today are working in a challenging era but they are now able to get closer to their customers and engage with them with a timely and relevant manner (Green Starkey, 2011). Together with CRM, social media can achieve a higher financial benefits to companies and it does not matter which sector they are in (Green Starkey, 2011). What does this change mean for CRM and how this social media phenomenon change the way firms interact with their customers? To engage with customer by using social media will definitely fail if conventional CRM approaches remains the same (Baird Parasnis, 2011). CRM has slowly moved to become social customer relationship management (SCRM). A more strategic and holistic approach that combines social media with more aspects in businesses improves the rate of consistency in achieving success (Leary, 2012). Social CRM is often called CRM 2.0 and it grew because of the empowerment of customers that each customer has the experiences, tools and products with the company that satisfy their personal desire (Mosadegh Behboudi, 2011). Social CRM had pulled the world of customer relationship management into sticking with social media and it results in a very unique and interesting way of working (How do you think, 2012). Social CRM is about joining ongoing conversations customers and prospects that are already engaged in while trying not to control them and it is also about understanding where and what kind of people you want to do businesss by hanging out on the Internet (Leary, 2008).Social CRM is now a new paradigm in combining social networking into traditional CRM systems (Askool Nakata, 2011). At the same time, the interactions between buyer and seller can now be effortlessly stored in a CRM database system for the benefit of the marketer and retailers (Nguyen Mutum, 2012). This interactive era has not only increased collaboration between firm and customer but coupled with continuing technological advances, a marketer has now the ability to track and store customer information optimally, in order to customize offerings to suit individual customer needs and desires (Nguyen Mutum, 2012). Kaftalovich (2010) claims that social media allows company to go into their customers social network and enable them to connect with the customers in an informal way. She also men tion that social media is its own lead generation machine and at Luxor CRM, they found that Twitter is extremely effective because they can gather customers curiosity, opinions and interest in the products as well as gathering about the audiences preferences and buying behavior. According to Green and Starkey (2011) SCRM can deliver insight, which will help drive real customer centric innovation. However, what is sometimes proposed is nothing more than the refreshing of old ideas such as one-to-one communication, relationship marketing or customer engagement applied to social media.  Such thinking actually misses the crucial main point that social media is about people interacting with each other (Ang, 2011). To develop a good social media strategy, it is important to realize that technologies are now allowing people to quickly connect, converse, create and collaborate with each other (Ang, 2011). Besides that, the impact of social media on CRM is the raise of customer centricity. In the world of CRM, the enhanced emphasis is being placing focus on the developing measures that are more customer-centric and that give manager a much well rounded idea about how their CRM is performing (Russell, 2001). This growth of social media had an indirectly result to the growth of much more and better customer centric companies. With social media, it does not matter how much revenue you invest but it is the time, knowledge and patience that you offer in order to satisfy customers (Kaftalovich, 2010). The comparison between traditional CRM and social CRM is that traditional is more data driven and process centric while social CRM is more content driven and conversation centric (Leary, 2008).With social media nowadays, people does not really care about companies that kept promoting themselves, instead individuals are seeking companies that can actually provide them with value. According to He ckadon (2010) if brands want to succeed in social networks environment then marketers must keep content fresh and relevant and the information in social networks must be easy to understand and share. In order to become successful in todays retailing world retailers need to understand about people opinion on their brand in the social sphere. Smart retailers will take a look at their social CRM from the public relations, customer support, product development to maximize connection with customers (Bush, 2011). Retailers can help a brand create top-of-mind awareness by responding effectively to user communications (Heckadon, 2010). Retailers should alsofrequently update their brands social networking profiles and status, and establish RSS feeds so followers can subscribe and obtain updated content on their computers and mobile devices (Heckadon, 2010). Besides that, one of the biggest advantages social CRM has over offline CRM is that social CRM can have a much bigger volume of real-tim e data and it can be used to personalize experiences of the company (Bush, 2011). The growth of more customer-centric companies had resulted in social media being a new wave of customer service and it is all about maintaining long term relationship and partnership with their customers and this is not just a business deal. The development of customer centric firms and lead generation definitely is the impacts of social media on CRM. Discussion As conducted and explained earlier, the purpose of this study is to explore the contribution of social media towards retailing and its impact on customer relationship management. The world of retailing is changing rapidly as time pass. Trends and major development in social media is one of the causes for the rapid change in retailing industry. This paper shows an overview on social media from Facebook, the worlds largest social networking site to Twitter, Foursquare, Youtube and so forth. Then, it can be observe that major networking sites really helps a lot in the retailing industry. Many companies limit their employee to have access to social media sites because of their concern on their employees productivity (Karen, 2009). Social media allows company to communicate with a wide amount of customers much faster and efficiently. Retailers will also know how to further develop their product as they can get data about customers opinions, preferences and talk through the word of mouth a bout their product in a short amount of time. This would eventually make the retailers produce what the customers want. Besides that, social media had helped retailers to have more real business opportunities. Firstly, there is IKEA who launches the Social Catalogue and is able to raise awareness with zero media budget. They focus on the desire of human being to get free stuff and consequently they get a huge amount of public relations. Then, we have Starbucks that have the Starbucks Mayor Offer on the Foursquare application. With this, Starbucks is able to gain popularity and also revenue. This shows that creativity does pay off in social media marketing campaign. Social media has definitely contributes to retailing with unique strategies in getting to know more about companys own product and also improving their sales and revenues. Furthermore, it can be observed by reading this paper that social media also have an impact on customer relationship management. We know that all employees are important in managing customer relationship in a certain company and that social media had changed traditional CRM in a more holistic way and soon it became social CRM. The two major impact social media has on CRM is the growth of customer centricity and social media has become its own lead generation machine. Social CRM also enable company to promote and grow their brand through social media tools like Facebook. There has been a shift in power that can be observed when reading this paper as customers are being given much more priority compared to older day where seller or company had the power. Companies that implement a successful CRM will get the rewards in obtaining customer loyalty and long run profitability. Conclusion There is no way to escape social media these days whether it is for individuals or business companies. It is almost impossible to draw a line separating online world from social media. There are many reasons that social media rapidly gain usage in this era of globalization. The ability to achieve news and information through social media is one of the reasons. Companies are changing and rethinking about their traditional retailing and marketing strategies. This shows that social media is contributing to the retail world. Social network is free and is available for everyone to access and it is generating a mass amount of data which is a big help to marketers and retailers. By carefully understanding the importance of customer relationship management, companies can target their customers more specifically as they have the data of their preferences and opinions. This is the impact social media has on customer relationship management. This is the time where every business takes social me dia seriously and adopts it in their departments. It is now a baseline requirement that whether you are a small or large corporation there is need to have online presence and prolonged conversation with customers. Different retail brands will have different needs and they have to adopt different approaches with different customers. It is very interesting to see how the retailing world will be affected by Facebook and Twitter in the upcoming years.

Partnerships :: Business and Management Studies

Partnerships Deed of partnership A written document that sets out the business relationship between members of a partnership. Limited Partner A member of a partnership who has unlimited liability. Such partners invest money and have a share of the profit, but play no part in running the firm. Partnership Where two or more people own a business together with a view to making a profit. Sleeping partner A member of a partnership who invests money in the firm but plays no part in its running. What is a partnership? A partnership exists when two or more people own a business together with a view to making a profit. Most partners have unlimited liability, therefore if the business fails they can lose all their personal wealth. A maximum of 20 partners is allowed in general partnership. Each partner is a part owner in the business and has the right to take part in running it. Sleeping partners of limited partners may invest in the business but take no part in its running. Why form a partnership? To finance expansion of a sole trader’s business. A sole trader’s own resources will be limited. To obtain capital for a business To get someone to share the work and responsibility of running a business To add new skills to the business. Deed of Partnership This is a very important document and is the contract that sets out the terms of the relationship between the partners. Benefits of working as partners More start up capital Shared costs Shared decision making Wider range of skills More ideas. Drawbacks of working as partners Unlimited liability Have to share profits Limited capital One partners actions can ruin the business No continuity / stability Hard to get money back Activities 1. Unlimited liability is more of a risk to partners than it is to sole traders because if the business fails, the partners could lose all of their personal wealth, not just the money invested in the business, even if the problem was not to do with them. If someone was owed money by the business, the partnership can be sued or just one partner could be sued. If that partners had to pay the debt, he or she would have to get the other partner to pay their share of the money owed. 2. The reason that there is a legal limit on the number of partners in a partnership is because if there are to many partners it gets out of hand, and it becomes hard to keep track. 3. See separate sheet 4. We don’t believe this statement to be very true at all because, we

The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform Essay -- Poverty Government Argume

The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o... ...ademic ASAP. Article A83774321. Ehrenreich, Barbara and Frances Fox Piven. ?Without a Safety Net.? Mother Jones. 27.3 (May-June2002):1?4. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A86047838. O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A82106612. ?Off Welfare, Better Off.? National Center for Policy Analysis. October 1,2002. http://www.ncpa.org/iss/wel/2002/pd100102a.html. (March 26, 2003). Rector, Robert E. ?Welfare-Reform Critics Were Wrong.? The Heritage Foundation. March 6, 2003. http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed030603.cfm. (March 26, 2003). ?Vanishing Act.? The Progressive 62.5 (May 1998):1-2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A20527623. The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform Essay -- Poverty Government Argume The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o... ...ademic ASAP. Article A83774321. Ehrenreich, Barbara and Frances Fox Piven. ?Without a Safety Net.? Mother Jones. 27.3 (May-June2002):1?4. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A86047838. O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A82106612. ?Off Welfare, Better Off.? National Center for Policy Analysis. October 1,2002. http://www.ncpa.org/iss/wel/2002/pd100102a.html. (March 26, 2003). Rector, Robert E. ?Welfare-Reform Critics Were Wrong.? The Heritage Foundation. March 6, 2003. http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed030603.cfm. (March 26, 2003). ?Vanishing Act.? The Progressive 62.5 (May 1998):1-2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A20527623.

Analysis Of Sea Fever By John Masefield :: essays research papers

John Masefield's poem "Sea Fever" is a work of art that brings beauty to the English language through its use of rhythm, imagery and many complex figures of speech. The meter in "Sea Fever" follows the movement of the tall ship in rough water through its use of iambs and hard hitting spondees. Although written primarily in iambic meter, the meter in "Sea Fever" varies throughout the poem. The imagery in "Sea Fever" suggests an adventurous ocean that appeals to all five senses. Along with an adventurous ocean, "Sea Fever" also sets a mood of freedom through imagery of traveling gypsies. Perhaps, the most complex part of this poem is the use of personification and metaphor. These figures of speech go beyond the meter and imagery to compare life to a sea voyage and portray a strong longing for the sea. The two main themes of "Sea Fever" bring the reader closer to the sea and help the reader understand why the speaker must return to the sea. "Sea Fever" not only depicts a strong longing for the sea through its theme, but also through use of complex figures of speech, imagery, and meter. "Sea Fever" is an excellent example of varied meter which follows the actions of a tall ship through high seas and strong wind. Lines one and two contain the common iambic meter found throughout the poem. "Sea Fever" may be categorized as a sea chantey due to its iambic meter and natural rhythm which gives it a song like quality. This song like quality is created through the use of iambic meter and alliteration. For example, lines three and ten contain the repeated consonant sound of the letter "w". In line three, the meter becomes spondaic through the use of strongly stressed syllables. These spondees suggest the repeated slapping of waves against the bow of the ship. As a result, John Masefield creates an image of powerful ocean swells. In addition to the meter suggesting the repeated slap of the waves, "the wheel's kick" is a reference to the ship's steering wheel spinning out of control. To further support the theory of the waves slapping against the bow, "The wheels kick" suggests that the tall ship is traversing very storm seas. Through the combining of iambic and spondaic meter, "Sea Fever" not only gains a magnificent rhythm, but gives clues into the location and movement of the tall

Folk Custom Essay

Chapter OneA General Introduction to Folk Customs 1. Folk customs: a definition Folk customs, or folk ways, comprise the part of cultural life that people of a country or nation have created, practiced and transmitted in their endeavors to satisfy their needs at various stages of their history and society. Deep-rooted in the cultural life of a community, folk customs are passed down from generation to generation in a temporal dimension and spread from one place to another in a spatial dimension. In the history of human society, folk customs have evolved from naught to existence, from simple to complex. In primitive society, a common folk custom was to eat animal flesh raw and drink its blood and to live in caves or hollows. With the development of society, the material life, the related organizational forms of social life, wedding ceremonies, funerals, and etiquettes came into being, and by and by they are established as folkways, or folk customs. In China, for instance, chopsticks are used at meals, which is a Chinese folk custom. Northerners eating jiaozi and southerners eating rice cakes in Chinese New Year Festival, all people eating moon-cakes on Mid-Autumn Day and greeting each other with â€Å"Have you eaten? are all Chinese folk customs. Folk customs are shared and practiced by members of a nation in their daily life. There are folk customs governing the daily life of people, traditional festivals, various stages of life, as well as ideological aspects of social life. The various taboos in life are highly ideological. For example, the taboo against sweeping the floor from December 30 to January 2 on the Chinese lunar calendar resulted from the folk belief that this would affect the luck of wealth in the coming year. Some folk customs, as they originated from religious beliefs, carry a strong religious flavor by laying down rules for marriages, wedding funerals, and diet of believers. Every nation has some folk customs, ways of life or national styles that distinguish itself from other nations. People of that nation have a strong affection for these distinctive ways and recognize them as national symbols. Prevalent in a society with people hardly knowing them, folk customs apply to such matters as clothing, eating, living, transportation, decorum and etiquette, and manners of getting along with others. In this sense, folk customs are basic forms of national culture that may directly reflect and influence the material and spiritual life of a country or nation. 2. Characteristics of folk customs 1. 2. 1 Collectiveness The birth and transmission of folk customs is both social and collective. From the very beginning, their creation and development involve the participation of a group and reflect the mentality, linguistic and behavioral patterns of that group. For instance, the wedding ceremony is an activity attended by members of a particular group, as the would-be couple need win social recognition through this ceremony. . 2. 2 Regionality Geographical surroundings exert a strong influence over human life, thus the regionality of folk customs. Take for example the Mongolians in northern China. They used to be a nomadic people, and now animal husbandry is still their major concern, for the reason that the chief regions they inhabit are more suitable for animal husbandry in terms of na tural resources. The Hezhen people use dog-sledges and go for hunting and fishing, and the Oroqen people go hunting on horseback, all for the sake of their geographical surroundings. 1. 2. Transmissiveness and disseminativeness Folk customs are established through passing down from one generation to the next; they exist and disseminate in a certain area. The earlier they were created and the stronger functions they perform, the more areas the folk customs are disseminated to. The practice of giving New Year money to the young generation, for example, has been observed in all places year after year. 1. 2. 4 Relative stability and variability Once established, folk customs will become a stable part of life. The more stable a society, the more stable its folk customs. However, folk customs are liable to change with the development of society. Take for example the Chinese wedding ceremony. In the past, the Han people used jiaozi (old-fashioned sedan chair) to take the bride from her childhood home to the bridegroom’s house, but now they use cars. Stability contributes to the preservation of folk customs, and variability to their development. 3. Classification of Folk Customs Folk customs are numerous and complicated, and are developing day by day. It is universally acknowledged among researchers that folk customs fall into the following eight categories. . 3. 1 Folk customs of production Folk customs of production grow out of various production activities, including agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, handicraft industry, service industry, etc. In the history of human beings, these customs have played a role in ensuring production efficiency.

Colonies and Colonizers costums Essay

Although Alexie was a creative writer, his essay uses metaphors in the context of straight forward statements. Only his reference of a fence can be treated so far as a rhetorical statement. This shows how he might still be saying that although he is teaching his fellow people, they are still not open to real education, as he expresses in some of his statements where instead of learning to read and write, some of his students still ought to stay at the back and be indifferent to education as what was their parents’ custom. In fact in the essay’s last paragraph, Alexie expresses his frustration and in some ways, insult to his fellow people. Among colonized nations there is this one behavior that is very evident among them, refusal to learn the practices of their colonizers especially their education (or in other words colonizers teaching the colonies how to be them). Indians had been long standing in the colonies that have refused to learn the ways of the non-Indians. All in all, Sherman Alexie’s essay speaks of frustration and yet hopes—frustration in the fact that his people are not open to education. That the non-Indians don’t always offer their own customs but an opportunity to be fulfilled in one’s life. Alexie’s usage of a Superman not only offers a quick way of learning how to read but a comic relief to the essay. Alexie was arrogant, he was smart, he was able to save his life and now he is trying to save the life and the culture of his people. Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. â€Å"Superman and me†. The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me (1997) McAdam, D. J. â€Å"American Indian Culture and American Society†. D. J. McAdam Where the world goes for free advice. < http://www. djmcadam. com/ojibwe. html>

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 36

Damon was the first to move, which didn't surprise Elena. His leather jacket scorched, long burns running across his face and arms, he staggered past the others through the fire and threw open the garage door. Outside, thunder rumbled overhead and a heavy rain was fal ing. Despite the rain, the garage was burning ferociously, flames licking their way up the sides of the smal building and across the roof. As they al stumbled outside, Meredith, coughing, turned her face up to the rain. Matt and Alaric supported Mrs. Flowers and placed her in the driver's seat of her car. Elena held her hands out, letting the driving rain wash away the soot and soothe her burns. The rest of her friends mil ed around not far from the burning garage, stil stunned. â€Å"Oh, Damon,† said Bonnie. She paused to cough and wheeze for a few seconds, then leaned careful y toward Damon, avoiding his injuries, and kissed him on the cheek. â€Å"I'm so happy you came back.† â€Å"Thank you, redbird,† Damon said, patting her on the back. â€Å"Excuse me for a second; I need to take care of something.† He stepped away and caught Elena by the hand. In the distance came the wail of sirens, signaling the advance of fire trucks and police cars drawn by the fire. Damon pul ed Elena toward the dark shadows under a tree near the house. â€Å"Come on,† he said. â€Å"You need blood now.† He felt his throat with charred fingers, then drew a fingernail against one of his veins. His leather jacket was practical y destroyed, just rags and ashes hanging from him, and the long burns on his face and body were stil red and raw-looking, but already better than they had been a few minutes before. â€Å"I could do that,† said Stefan, approaching them and leaning against the wal of the house. He looked tired and bedraggled, but his injuries, too, were already healing. â€Å"Elena's always welcome to my blood.† â€Å"You can definitely pitch in. But that's a bad injury she's got,† said Damon matter-of-factly, â€Å"and you don't have the Power to heal it right now.† Elena had been trying not to look at her right hand. Although she couldn't real y move it, it didn't hurt much anymore. Which was probably a bad sign, actual y. Did that mean the nerve endings were dead? A quick, anxious glance down at her hand made her stomach churn. Even that tiny glimpse showed her horribly blackened and reddened flesh and peeling skin and – God – she thought she'd seen a glimpse of bone beneath the flesh. She let out a low, involuntary whimper. â€Å"Drink,† said Damon impatiently. â€Å"Let me fix it before they come and drag you off to the burn unit.† Elena stil hesitated, and Damon sighed and turned to Stefan again. â€Å"Look,† he said, his voice softening, â€Å"it's not always about Power. Sometimes the blood is just about taking care of someone.† â€Å"I know that,† Stefan replied, blinking tiredly at him. â€Å"I just wasn't sure that you did.† Damon's mouth twisted in a wry smile. â€Å"I'm an old man, little brother,† he said. â€Å"I know a lot of things.† He turned back to Elena. â€Å"Drink now,† he insisted, and Stefan smiled reassuringly at her. Elena nodded at Stefan before pushing her mouth tightly against Damon's neck. The second she tasted his blood, Elena became wrapped in warmth and the pain in her hand stopped. She no longer felt the unpleasant cold drumming of the rain on her head and shoulders, the icy trickle of water down her body. She was cozy and safe and loved, and time had stopped just long enough for her to catch her breath. Damon? she thought, and reached out to his mind with hers. He answered her without words, but with a wave of affection and care, of undemanding love. Through the haze, Elena realized there was something new here†¦ When she and Damon had al owed their minds to touch in the past, she had often sensed that Damon had been holding back a part of himself. Or, on the rare occasions when she got past the inner barriers he'd thrown up against intruders, she'd found hurt and rage, a lost child chained to a rock. Now Elena sensed only love and peace as she and Damon melted into each other. When she pul ed back from him at last, it took her a moment to return to the real world. Stefan was no longer next to them. It was raining stil , cold water running through her hair, over her shoulders, down her neck and arms and body. Her hand ached and was stil badly burned, but it had healed to the point of needing ointment and a bandage rather than surgery. A couple of fire trucks and police cars pul ed into the drive, lights blazing, sirens screaming. Closer to the garage, she saw Meredith abruptly drop Stefan's arm, and Elena realized Meredith had been drinking from his wrist. She realized vaguely that she would have been shocked by this only a few hours ago – she would have assumed Meredith would shy away from touching the blood of any vampire, and Stefan had always reserved his blood for Elena as part of the connection only they shared – but she couldn't work up any real emotion about it now. It felt like al the barriers between their group had broken down. Whether this new state of things lasted or not, they were al one for now. They'd seen the worst of one another. They'd told the truth and come out the other side. And now, if Meredith needed to be healed, of course Stefan would give her his blood. It would be the same for any of them. The firemen jumped from their truck and unrol ed the hoses. As they turned their a ttention to putting out the fire, a couple of uniformed police officers and a man who must be the fire marshal walked purposeful y toward Mrs. Flowers, Matt, Alaric, Celia, and Bonnie, al of whom were now huddled in the car. Meredith and Stefan headed toward them, too. â€Å"Why didn't they help her into the house?† Elena wondered aloud suddenly, and Damon turned a blank gaze of surprise on her. â€Å"I have no idea,† he said slowly. â€Å"It never even occurred to me that we could go inside. I guess everyone felt like they should be out here to watch it burn. Make sure the phantom doesn't come out.† â€Å"It's like we were at the end of the world,† she said softly, thinking aloud. â€Å"Even the boardinghouse seemed so far away that it just wasn't part of the picture. Now that other people are here, the world is starting to turn again.† Damon hmmmed noncommittal y. â€Å"We'd better get over there,† he said. â€Å"I think they could use some help.† Mrs. Flowers's voice was raised indignantly, although Elena couldn't make out the words. As she trailed after Damon she smiled to herself: Since when had Damon cared whether anyone, except Elena herself, could use some help? As they got closer, Elena could see that Mrs. Flowers had gotten out of the car and assumed her best expression of dottiness and eccentricity, blue eyes wide, arms akimbo, as Alaric held an umbrel a over her head. â€Å"Young man!† she snapped at the fire marshal. â€Å"What are you trying to imply by asking why my car wasn't parked in the garage? Surely I have every right to distribute my possessions anywhere I like on my own property! What sort of world do we live in where I am penalized, where I am judged for not fol owing conventions? Do you dare to suggest that I might have had some advance knowledge of this fire?† â€Å"Wel , ma'am, it's been known to happen. I'm not suggesting anything, but the matter has to be investigated,† said the fire marshal stolidly. â€Å"What're al these kids doing here?† one of the police officers asked, shooting a glance around. His eyes lingered on Damon's burned leather jacket and the raw skinless patch on Stefan's cheek. â€Å"We're going to need to talk to al of you,† he said. â€Å"Let's start by getting your names and addresses.† Stefan stepped forward and held the officer's eyes with his. â€Å"I'm sure that won't be necessary,† he said softly, compel ingly. Elena could feel him using his Power. â€Å"The garage burned because it was struck by lightning in the storm. No one was here except the old lady in the house and a few of her guests. Everything's so straightforward and simple, there's no need to question anyone.† The officer looked puzzled and then nodded, his face clearing. â€Å"These storms can cause a lot of property damage,† he replied. The fire marshal snorted. â€Å"What are you talking about? Lightning didn't strike anywhere near here.† Stefan shifted his gaze to the fire marshal. â€Å"There's nothing to bother investigating†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But the spel was broken, and now al three men were looking at him with suspicion. Stefan's Power wasn't going to be strong enough to use on al three, Elena realized, and he wouldn't be able to convince even one of them if the men were al together, awakening one another's doubts. Stefan's face was drawn and tired. He had fought a long battle – more than one, actual y. And Stefan was never strong in Power, not when he didn't drink human blood. If he'd been worrying over her and preparing to fight the phantom, it had probably been days since he had had even more than a few swal ows of animal blood. Damon stepped forward. â€Å"Sir?† he said politely. The fire marshal looked at him. â€Å"If I could speak to you privately for a moment, I'm sure we can clear this up.† The marshal frowned but fol owed him to the back porch of the boardinghouse, the second police officer tagging along. Under the porch light, they faced Damon, at first suspicious. Gradual y, as he spoke to them, their shoulders relaxed and they began to nod and smile. Stefan spoke softly to the other officer again. He'd be able to handle influencing one person alone, Elena knew, even in his current state. Meredith and Bonnie had gotten into the backseat of Mrs. Flowers's ancient automobile – so old that Elena suspected it might predate Mrs. Flowers herself – and were deep in conversation, while Alaric and Celia continued to support Mrs. Flowers under the umbrel a as she listened to Stefan's conversation with the police officer, Matt hovering nearby. Elena walked quietly past them and slipped into the back of the car with Bonnie and Meredith. The door shut with a satisfyingly heavy clunk, and the black leather bench seat creaked and groaned under her. Bonnie's red curls were soaked straight, wet tendrils hanging down over her shoulders and sticking to her forehead. Her face was smudged with ash and her eyes were red, but she gave Elena a genuinely happy smile. â€Å"We won,† she said. â€Å"It's gone for good, isn't it? We did it.† Meredith was solemn yet exultant, her gray eyes shining. There was stil a smear of Stefan's blood on her lips, and Elena stifled the urge to wipe it away for her. â€Å"We did win,† Meredith affirmed. â€Å"You both did so amazingly. Bonnie, it was real y smart of you to start casting off jealousies as fast as you could. It kept the phantom off balance. And Elena†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She swal owed. â€Å"Plunging into the fire was so brave of you. How's your hand?† Elena held out her hand and flexed the fingers in front of them. â€Å"The incredible powers of vampire blood,† Elena said lightly. â€Å"Very useful for the aftermath of a battle, right, Meredith?† Meredith flushed at Elena's teasing, then smiled a little. â€Å"I don't know,† she said. â€Å"It seemed sil y not to use al our†¦ advantages. I feel better already.† â€Å"You were terrific, too, Meredith,† Bonnie said. â€Å"You fought like you were dancing. Graceful and strong and beautiful and so supertough, the way you used your stave.† Elena agreed. â€Å"I never could have gotten the rose if you hadn't cut the phantom.† â€Å"I guess we're al terrific,† said Meredith. â€Å"The first meeting of the Robert E. Lee High School Alumni Mutual Admiration Society is now cal ed to order.† â€Å"We'l have to get Matt in and tel him how wonderful he is,† Bonnie said. â€Å"And I guess Stefan also counts as an alum, right? I think now that the world's changed, he might have graduated with us.† She yawned, showing a smal pink tongue like a cat's. â€Å"I'm just worn out.† Elena realized she was, too. It had been a very long day. A very long year since the Salvatore brothers had come to Fel ‘s Church and life had changed forever. She slumped down in the seat and rested her head on Meredith's shoulder. â€Å"Thank you for saving the town again, both of you,† she said sleepily. It seemed important to say it. â€Å"Maybe tomorrow we can start working on normal again.† Meredith laughed a little and hugged them both. â€Å"Nothing can defeat our sisterhood,† she said. â€Å"We're too good for normal.† Her breath hitched. â€Å"When you were both taken by the phantom,† she said quietly, â€Å"I was afraid I had lost you forever. You're my sisters, real y, not just my friends, and I need you. I want you to know that.† â€Å"Absolutely,† Bonnie said, nodding feverishly. Elena reached out for both of them. The three friends squeezed one another tightly in a laughing, slightly tearful group hug. Tomorrow would come, and maybe normal – whatever that was at this point – would come, too. For now, Elena had her true friends. That was a lot. Whatever happened, that would be enough.