What does the Shannon Matthews Case Suggest about Family Life in Modern Britain

This essay will examine and discuss whether the Matthews family is a typical representation of family life in modern Britain. It will take a look at social class and investigate whether this effects the morals and mechanics of family units today, taking into account contributing factors such as financial issues, the benefit system and changing values in the 21st century. Nine year old Shannon Matthews from Dewsbury, West Yorks, went missing for a period of 24 days in February this year, in a suspected kidnapping. Shannon was found a short distance from her home, and later media coverage informed us that despite her publicised pleas for Shannon's safe return, her mother Karen, had known of her whereabouts the whole time. Since her release Shannon has remained in the care of social services. Her mother has been charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice. Shannon's stepfather Craig Meehan was charged with possessing indecent images of children. Public and media speculation suggests that the kidnapping was little more then a publicity stunt that went wrong. Police officers are examining alleged similarities between Shannon's disappearance and a storyline from the Channel 4 drama series ‘Shameless' that was shown shortly before the nine-year-old vanished. Stokes, P (2008) Shannon Matthews' mother charged over disappearance. Telegraph. 9 June. As the family depicted in ‘Shameless', The Matthews family live within a typical example of an unloved and unkempt council estate. According to the local newspaper, The Dewsbury Reporter, Moorside is â€Å"†¦one of the most deprived areas in the country† This is backed up by information collated in the ‘Index of Deprivation 2007†². Kirklees, the county in which the town of Dewsbury is located has been deemed as the 12th worst district in England in terms of low income levels, high crime rates, health deprivation and unemployment. Only 11.2% of the 32'482 other LSOA's are in a worse state than Moorside itself. Karen Matthews is unmarried, has seven children by five different fathers, only four of which reside with her. She comes from a working class family and is one of seven siblings, her parents were married and both worked, as does her sister who also has seven children, by one man, her husband. Despite the differences between her and her family, Karen is not an exceptional case within her surroundings, or for that matter, in other deprived areas around the country. † †¦here was an example of Britain's feckless but fecund underclass, churning out children at a reckless rate, cushioned by benefits and permanently estranged from the world of work.† Tweedie, N (2008) Another side to Shannon Matthews' Moorside. Telegraph. 27 September Britain's social classes were originally divided into three distinct social groups, these represented an individuals level of education, occupation and financial status; The Upper, Middle and Lower/Working classes. Since the welfare system was created a new class has begun to emerge. The Underclass, consists of people that are reliant on state benefits for the majority of their income. Not only does it include; teenage and single mothers who are unable or unwilling to work, and temporary benefit claimants who are trying to get back on their feet, but also; layabouts, high school drop outs, drug addicts and those involved in criminal activities. Many of the underclass are quite happy to live and raise their children on state benefits. Through an attempt to help the needy the welfare state has created a dependency culture with no incentive to work, marry or educate themselves and who expect handouts to survive. The benefit system highlights the perks of not working, recipients not only receive free money from the state but can also be entitled to free health care, interest free loans and free or discounted accommodation and council tax. Council housing estates increase the segregation of the underclass from the rest of society and creates a never ending social circle of crime, dependency and insolence. People who live on these estates rarely have any positive influences around them, grouping deprived families together in one community leaves them with nobody to learn from except each other. â€Å"Council estates became places of last resort for people who had failed to keep up. They have been given this label of the ‘underclass' †¦.and begin to act like worthless people. So you get domestic violence, alcohol abuse and family breakdown.† (Estates; An Intimate history – Lynsey Hanley) It is not only the welfare system and morals of the lower classes that have brought about changes to modern society and family life, prior to the 20th century, women married young, stayed home and raised their children. After the war women's aspirations began to change as they questioned their positions as wives and mothers. It was within the same era that contraception became commonly available and divorce was liberalised. People were no longer restricted by so many rules, regulations and assumptions regarding what kind of behaviour was acceptable and as the 20th century progressed this new state of mind caused the traditional aspects of family life to change tremendously. People no longer had to marry before beginning a sexual relationship or starting a family, and could choose divorce when things didn't work out the way they had expected. In modern society it is acceptable for both parents to work, and for children to attend childcare settings whilst their parents are occupied. In some ways working families are depriving their children of the necessary parental interactions needed to aid their development. In their aspirations to make more money in order to keep up with modern living parents are having to prioritise their jobs over their families. Halsey A H Quoted in Dennis N and Erdos G Families without Fatherhood, 1993 â€Å"..children of parents who do not follow the traditional norm (i.e. taking on personal, active and long-term responsibility for the social upbringing of the children they generate) are thereby disadvantaged in many major aspects of their chances of living a successful life. On the evidence available such children tend to do less well at school, to exist at a lower level of nutrition, comfort and conviviality, to suffer more unemployment, to be more prone to deviance and crime, and finally to repeat the cycle of unstable parenting from which they themselves have suffered..† Conclusion Shannon Matthews family is not a valid representation of family life in modern Britain. Families now come in many shapes and sizes and are defined by much broader categories. It would be stereotypical to assume that untraditional family units or those that are further down the social ladder are more likely to have come from an unstable family background and themselves incapable of creating and sustaining a successful family life. Despite the fact that modern life has altered the mechanics of the family unit, many families/parents are still striving to provide for their children in the best way that they can, regardless of social status. Parents from lower and underclass backgrounds are just as likely to provide loving and caring parenting and create insightful and ambitious children as those from other classes. In comparison, those from the upper and middle classes are just as likely to create dysfunctional family units where the children feel neglected and unloved because of their parents busy lifestyles. It is the ignorance of individuals that play the main part in the creation of dysfunctional families and the negative psychological issues this then creates for those within that family. Overall an individuals personal strengths, weaknesses and morals are what cause them to make their choices in life regardless of nature, nurture and social grouping.

Personal practice related to ANA scope of practice Essay

As a nurse, one must follow a scope of practice, what is expected of them within their role of the nursing profession. These guidelines shape the responsibility of the professional nursing organization and serve to protect the public. According to, Nursing’s Social Policy Statement: The Essence of the Profession (American Nurses Association, 2010, p. ) defines contemporary nursing: â€Å"Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations. † I believe my role, as a nurse is consistent with the scope of practice outlined by ANA and the contemporary definition cited. As a nurse, I strive to be clinically competent and aware of the constant challenges that one faces on a daily basis. Being well informed promotes health and prevents further illness and injuries. One goal I try to set aside every week is to attend a weekly ground rounds meeting, where additional education is provided on a specific case study. This opportunity allows me to stay current and up to date on new medications available, research findings and team collaboration feedback from staff on effective treatment options for optimal patient outcome. In addition, completing required competencies and being a member of Oncology Nursing Society also strengthens my knowledge and skill in providing the best evidence based practice to an individual and their families. Being a resource nurse for my unit allows me the opportunity to share my knowledge with the staff and actively participate in mentoring young nurses build a strong foundation and develop critical thinking skills. Education is critical in the nursing profession. Lifelong learning must be an ongoing process due to the rapidly growing population and technology advancements in our society today. I believe it is the responsibility of the nurse to facilitate this process and collaborate with other nurses in their field to continue to work together to strengthen the role of the nurse in an environment that requires continuous education and competencies. â€Å"Registered nurses must continually reassess their competencies and identify needs for additional knowledge, skills, personal growth, and integrative learning experiences† (American Nurses Association, 2010 p. 13). State legal regulations and professional standards of nursing The Ohio Board of Nursing defines nursing and the scope of nursing practice. Rules and regulations are in place to determine compliance set in motion by the Nurse Practice Act. Responsibility is outlined by establishing standards for nursing education programs, eligibility to sit for the state licensure exam, renewal criteria of that license, and setting standards for continuing education to meet renewal criteria. The Board is also responsible for defining the standards of delivering safe nursing care for registered nurses and protecting the community with these standards. Another role the Board is responsible for is reviewing and investigating violations of this Nurse Practice Act and determining if a nurses license is to be denied, revoked, suspended, or restricted in any way (Ohio Nurses Association). It is essential that nurses maintain an understanding of the legal regulations within their nursing practice. The Ohio Board of Nursing requires all Ohio nurses to have continuing education on Ohio law with a total of 24 continuing education hours every two years for license renewal (Ohio Board of Nursing). As a professional, I feel it is my primary responsibility to understand the law and regulations defined before me, this knowledge allows me to safely practice nursing care and deliver the best care to my community. I have worked in other states as well, and of those states I have worked, Ohio is the only one requiring a continuing education credit with a focus on state law and regulations. I feel every state should have continuing education credit requirements for renewal and at least one of the required credits have a focus on law. It is important as a professional to have knowledge of this. To have a check and balance system in place to make sure one is justly maintaining these standards and expectations in delivering a safe competent nurse to our community is vital to the population as a whole. Provisions 7, 8 and 9 â€Å"Provision 8 describes the nurse’s moral obligation to society. Provision 9 describes the responsibilities of the nursing profession to both the individual nurse and society in general. Provision 7 provides the necessary linkage between individual competence and evolving professional standards of practice, in addition to giving nurses a responsive and collaborative role n health policy for the overall advancement of the profession† (Fowler & Association, 2010, p. 91). Initially, these Provisions were never intended to be carved out of stone, but historically, they have been a guide and continue to be a guiding force of moral and ethical standards to follow. I pride myself on working for a hospital that fosters an environment on ethical integrity and professionalism. Because of this strong thread, it motivates me to do more, achieve more, and be more than I am today. I want my patients and my community to feel that they are receiving the best nursing care. An example I recently explored was implementing a grid to follow based on patient’s diagnosis and treatment pathway prior to admission to the floor. I work in the hospital’s rapid admissions unit. My goal is to have the patient to their room in 30 minutes or less. Of recent, we have received a lot of admissions for pancreatitis, however, I have noticed that the patient arrives to my unit without pain management options, i. e. PCA pump. This has delayed the patient’s comfort and care prior to arrival to HRAU leaving me scrambling to get pain orders, equipment and recover any customer service issues. This grid allows a framework to use as a guide of anticipated orders and outcomes. I presented this grid to my nursing manager, our staff and the ER manager and charge nurses for their collaborative input and suggestions. So far it has been effective, and we are working on additional areas to cover as well. Nursing is continually evolving and as a professional it is our job to facilitate education within our community of nurses so we can better serve our patient population. Philosophical forces influencing practice Philosophy is an attitude toward life and that attitude evolves from every nurses belief system. One’s attitudes are shaped by their environment and an accumulation of life experiences, I define nursing as a way to give back. Giving good nursing care doesn’t stop at being knowledgeable about medicine and having the very best in technology. It goes beyond, by reaching that individual on a spiritual level and connecting with them. I have always believed that one cannot be taught how to show compassion, an individual either possesses that ability or they do not. I have always believed that that is one of my strongest qualities, and this has been reconfirmed back to me by my patients through the years. To truly interact with a person you need to gain their trust, once that has been achieved through a therapeutic environment, healing is then possible. Ethical principles influencing practice There are standards in place to dictate the need to protect patient’s values, beliefs, culture and safety. It is difficult at times, when dealing with challenging patients and having to handle the stress of our jobs to remain open and unbiased. It is nice to have a reminder that our patient’s values come first and respect their choices. Our role is to educate them about their treatment plan and make sure they are well informed, while letting go of our own attitudes. Determining, nursing practice are essential for dealing with day-to-day ethical issues (Jormsri, Kunaviktikul, Ketefian & Chaowalit, 2005). I recently had an Asian woman who presented with abdominal pain and requested to have cupping performed by a healer specialized in the field. I was initially at a loss, how was I going to find someone to perform cupping. I wanted to help this woman and when I asked my colleagues and manager they had no suggestions. So I contacted the department that handles cultural awareness and was able to get a lead on whom to call. After, two hours of my day spent looking for someone to call, I finally had my answer. I came back to give my patient an update on the progress and she was so relieved. It was like you could see the anxiety drain out of her. By the end of the day, the therapist arrived to do cupping with her and she was relaxed and expressed that she truly felt like I heard her. It was not easy and I did find myself getting frustrated with the process of trying to make something work that I knew very little about. I’m happy I followed through with it, because in the end every patient has a right to believe what they believe, even though her values and attitude toward medicine is very different than my own, I was able to put aside my own views and attitude and really help someone else. Conclusion Many might say nursing is a science and some might say nursing is an art. I believe it is both. To be a successful nurse one must have the passion to continue their education and apply their knowledge through the science of nursing, and have the efficacy and compassion to provide the art of caring. Without caring the nurse is unable to connect with the patient and if the nurse cannot connect, trust will not develop between the nurse and the patient. I have always believed nursing is a calling and it is one of the most challenging jobs to have, but by far it has been the most rewarding.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay

You make decision everyday; whether it is choosing what you make for breakfast or choosing what you want to be when you grow up. It is natural in humans to make decisions and act on what they believe is to be true. This not only applies to humans, but authors use them in their books or plays to create different types of characters. In one of the greatest works by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are characters that make many different kinds of decisions that determine their role in the book. In the play, the protagonist Hamlet, after his father’s death, is angry about his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius. He sees a ghost of his father one night and tells him that Claudius had murdered him. Hamlet plans to kill Claudius but he has trouble making decisions and throughout the play, his poor decision making skills bring downfall to himself and many others. Every tragic hero has a tragic flaw and Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to make decisions. Hamlet’s inability to kill Claudius after hearing from the ghost, that he had killed Hamlet Senior, contributes to his stubborn indecisiveness, which brings about his own downfall. His indecisiveness leads to many character’s deaths; such as Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Laertes, Polonius and his own mother. He had many chances of killing Claudius but he constantly over thinks the situation thus delaying his major task of killing Claudius: To take him in the purging of his soul When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No.  Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent. When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, Or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed, At game a-swearing, or about some act That has no relish of salvation in ’t— Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven (III.III. 85) This is an example of Hamlet being indecisive on whether or not to kill Claudius in the Church after the Mouse Trap play. He decides not to kill him there because he is praying and therefore will be forgiven for his sin. This results in delaying of his main task and also made more room for error; such  as killing Polonius and also getting sent to England, which leads to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s deaths. If Hamlet would have decided to kill him then, he would not have created the mess he ends up making at the end. Hamlet’s inability to talk and discuss to Ophelia about what is happening, after she starts rejecting his messages, leads to losing his love and ultimately ends up to her demise. Even though they were in love, when Ophelia begins rejecting Hamlet’s messages because Polonius told her to, Hamlet tells Ophelia that she was not worth anything to him. This leads her to believing that Hamlet does not love her anymore. As a conclusion, she goes crazy and out of control; for example: By Gis and by Saint Charity, Alack, and fie, for shame! Young men will do ’t, if they come to ’t. By Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, â€Å"Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. So would I ha’ done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed. (IV. V. 40) This is the scene where she has become insane. She sings about how a man promised her to marry her before they went into bed together but he left her. On top of Hamlet’s rejection, Hamlet has killed her father, Polonius, so she has completely lost control of herself. She sings a very sorrow song in front of many people and also gives out fake flowers to people. After this scene, she ends up committing suicide at the lake. If Hamlet had talked with Ophelia about what was going on and why she was ignoring her messages, she would have not become insane and Hamlet and Ophelia would still be in love. Hamlet’s final flaw is his inability to decide whether life is worth living or not, which contributes to his stubborn indecisiveness, which ultimately leads to his own downfall. Hamlet is very confused about his own life and is out of his mind. He is very depressed from his father’s death and the feeling of betrayal he has from Gertrude, his mother, who remarried right after his father’s death. He does not know if life is worth living or not and this is obvious when he says: To be, or not to be–that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep– No more–and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep– To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. (III.I.56) This is his famous soliloquy on the topic of life. He compares life and death and he cannot decide whether or not to stay alive or to be dead. He believes that death is the way to escape all his troubles and his depression but then on the other side, he knows he needs to complete the task of killing Claudius. His indecisiveness about his own life delays his action from doing what he really wants to accomplish. Even though Hamlet kills Claudius at the very end, as a result of his indecisive behavior, he has taken way too much time to accomplish one single task. Also, it killed many innocent people he could have prevented from killing them. If Hamlet would have not been so depressed and actually decide whether or not he should stay alive or die, he might have had a better chance accomplishing his tasks much faster and efficient. Clearly, Hamlet is very indecisive all over and his indecisiveness brought about his own downfall. His mother’s death, his love’s death and his friend’s deaths are all caused by Hamlet. If he were to be decisive and straightforward, he could have killed Claudius much faster and he also could have prevented all of the deaths that happened. Many theories attempt to explain why Hamlet takes so long to kill Claudius but out of many theories, Hamlet’s indecisiveness is the only one with full satisfactory answers. Every book or play has a tragic hero and every tragic hero has a tragic flaw and in the play Hamlet, there is no exception. These themes present in many of William Shakespeare’s plays are relevant even today. There are times when we are indecisive when it comes to difficult situations. To be able to decide and to act on what you decided to do is what we try to aim for, however, since Hamlet did not complete this, he led himself to his own downfall and also many other’s to their downfall as well.

Listening Paper Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Listening Paper Assignment - Essay Example The factors that influenced my listening behavior were my concern for the money that seemed going wasted, my angriness, and my intent to know the real cause of the bug. I used problem-oriented supportive response to get through the situation. For example, I talked about the problem that occurred with my phone. I acknowledged the description of the support official about the problem at the start of the discussion. Counter-arguments started when the support official started talking about the reason of the problem. I was most attentive when the support official was explaining the causes behind the connectivity issue. I wanted to know what the support official would say about the issue. I was least interested when he was telling me the cost of the service because at that time I had gotten angry at the situation because the phone was in the period of its warranty and the company should have done the service free of cost in my view. The communication situation got some heat due to inattentive listening, cross talk, and counter-arguments. I learned from the situation that one should listen to the viewpoint of others attentively because things are not always the same as we think about them. For example, in my situation, the problem had occurred because of water input and water damage does not come under warranty cover for cell phones. The five personal goals for becoming a better listener are: to know the exact situation; to avoid misunderstandings; to avoid ineffective communication; to get to the solution within less amount of time and with less arguments; and to build good personal

Proposal Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposal - Article Example Infringing products have consequently been targeted for a ban in the United States, including Samsung's front line, iconic Galaxy series phones. The message seems to be this, that Apple will protect its American turf from Samsung, which it views as largely copying Apple's designs and technologies for the iPhone. The peripheral goal, too, is to make sure that Samsung is put on notice as Apple brings the fight to other markets and legal jurisdictions the world over. There are big underlying logistics and design considerations that are tied to these battles, apart from the patents, but the patent front is the busiest by far, and most visible. This is owing to the fact that in the smart phone market, whoever holds the patents for key technologies and innovations have the ability to dictate the terms of their use. Meanwhile, what complicates the picture is that both rely on economies of scale and efficiency in parts production and sourcing. Moreover, tied to this, Samsung is also a suppli er of essential components of smart phones to Apple. This being the case, it is difficult for the two players to untangle themselves from the patent mess that they find themselves in. For Samsung it is a delicate balancing act, because as much as they need to compete in smart phones, they also rely on Apple to shore up their own components business, and losing Apple would amount to losing a valuable components customer. For Apple, the tussles with Samsung on the smart phones front highlights their need to find alternative suppliers for essential components (Lohr, 2012; Lloyd et al., 2011; Cromar, 2010; Gerardin and Layne-Farrar, 2011; Seppala and Kenney, 2012; Layne-Farrar, 2012; Boldrin and Levine, 2012; Siren, 2011; Gotts and Sher, 2012; Hagiu and Yoffie, 2011; Allison et al., 2012). Problem Formulation The literature review has highlighted the need for innovation around key aspects of technology, components, design, and software for both Samsung and Apple moving forward. Also, as far as Samsung is concerned, Apple's litigation win underscores the need to shore up Samsung's intellectual property portfolio in order to protect its smart phones business and to make sure that Samsung continues to dominate the market in the future. One key problem is that while Samsung has an enviable position as a key manufacturer of essential smart phones components, and benefits from scale economies by being so, its reliance on Android and its seeming problems with defending itself from intellectual property lawsuits from Apple and other firms makes it vulnerable. The problem is how is Samsung to position itself and to spend its money and resources so that it is able to get itself into a better position relative to the intellectual property battles it is engaged in with Apple and other firms (Lohr, 2012; Lloyd et al., 2011; Cromar, 2010; Gerardin and Layne-Farrar, 2011; Seppala and Kenney, 2012; Layne-Farrar, 2012; Boldrin and Levine, 2012; Siren, 2011; Gotts and Sher, 2012; H agiu and Yoffie, 2011; Allison et al., 2012). . Proposal This is a proposal that takes off from the problem formulation above, and tries to come up with a viable strategy for Samsung relative to its competitors in the global smart phones market. That strategy has to address the gap in Samsung's arsenal of patents related to innovations in basic technologies, components, and design, among other things. The proposal is to explore different strategic options

Relationship between strategic and financial planning Assignment

Relationship between strategic and financial planning - Assignment Example lves one of the following: raising or lowering an organization’s activities, responding to changing customer demand and preferences, countering competitors, technological adjustments and responding to globalization (Chorafas, 2007, p. 5). While Starbucks takes the initiative of expanding its business outside the United States, there will be an obvious need to adjust its financial resources. This will directly reflect on its financial plan. In a business world guided by the principles of competition, Starbucks should strive to have sound financial planning to raise its competitive advantage and prevent underperformance now that it aims market outside the United States. Its strategic planning should be aimed at producing innovative and high quality products and services. This will immensely contribute on easing the strains, which may be experienced in financial resource planning. Financial risk is a factor related to strategic and financial planning that any able organization needs to thoroughly plan around. Chorafas advises that an organization should strive to attain a low cost of staying in business (Chorafas, 2007, p. 22). Losses or insufficient profits will reduce funds available to cater for expanded Starbucks’ operation expenses such as production cost and payment of employees. This threatens Starbucks’ financial stability and jeopardizes its further expansion and

Turkish Maritime Cabotage Rights Research Proposal

Turkish Maritime Cabotage Rights - Research Proposal Example The Republic of Turkey is strategically placed in an area between the Asian, African and European continents and the three sides of the country are encompassed by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Black Sea to the north and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Turkish Straits is the only water route between Black Sea and Mediterranean and have unique physical, hydrological and navigational conditions (Unescap, Turkey Report 2000/2009). It has been recently contended that the volume of traffic flow in the Straits have exceeded limits of safe navigation as there has been an increase in the number of vessels and quantities of dangerous cargo. Any accident could cause irreversible damage to the environment. In order to maintain safety of navigation, life and property in the region, the Turkish Government has adopted a set of regulations for maritime traffic in 1994. Turkey's approach to maritime transport is consistent with international regulations and principles of fostering free mari time competition, safety and environmental concerns. Turkey's maritime transport facilities are rather extensive. ... Turkey has merchant fleet with capacity more than 9.5 million DWT and about 899 ships and is in the 20th rank in the world fleet. Total capacity consists of 5 per cent public and 95 per cent private sectors. The majority of ships comprising total merchant shipping fleet are bulk carries (48 per cent), dry cargo ships (19 per cent), oil tankers (10 per cent). The other types of ships constitute 23 per cent of the fleet. (Information available from Unescap Report on Turkey, 2000/2009) Cabotage Laws and Rights: The maritime sector in Turkey is also subject to certain legal arrangements and Law 815 on Cabotage Auxiliary services rendered in Turkish ports and waters are subject to the Law on Cabotage. In accordance with the Cabotage Act, all commercial shipping and related activities between the ports and all trading in the coastal lines is reserved for Turkish-flag vessels and supply of services are given to Turkish companies only although all auxiliary services at the ports are available to all nationalities. Transportation that violates Cabotage rights is not accepted and negotiations on Cabotage transportation services in turkey have been very rigid. Turkish Code of Commerce is related to maritime transport and is harmonized in accordance with the arrangements of EU. The application and implementation of Cabotage rights is a very important milestone in Turkish Maritime Industry and this thesis will delve deeper into the maritime industry, the regulations in Turkish shipping industry and the role of Cabotage rights in helping Turkey to integrate its shipping industry with EU and international shipping standards. Turkish fleet

Xenophobia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Xenophobia - Essay Example However, unlike the Holocaust which built up gradually from Fascist ideas developed by Hitler and his followers in the years after the First World War, and what was seen as the humiliation of the German people, ( The Israeli- American Co-operative 2011) it could be argued that one incident sparked the Rwandan atrocities. The Hutu uprising against their countrymen was triggered when Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, and at that time the Rwandan president, was killed when he was in a plane which was shot down during a rocket attack near Kigali airport on 6th April 1994. The blame was placed firmly on the shoulders of Tutsi leader Paul Kagame, who is now the current Rwandan President, but then leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), (BBC News and Le Monde 2004). This was denied by Kagame who blamed the attack on Hutu extremists. Nevertheless, within a few hours of the attack, violence broke out all over the country; and such violence would not wane until three months after the assassination of Habyarimana. By then nearly a million Rwandans would lose their lives. The persecution of the Jews began in the early 1930’s. when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933. The persecution he engendered continued and built up into and through World War II., finally ceasing in 1945 when war in Europe finally ended. .It is believed that some 6 million Jews died , as well as members of other minorities such as Gypsies. Others were tortured or suffered in other ways and some 5000 Jewish communities were totally destroyed. ( Nazi Germany 1933-1941) The deaths did not begin as soon as the Fascists came to power. Time was spent first in spreading propaganda across Germany against those seen by the government as the enemies of the Aryan race, a the same time making life very difficult for the minority group. The aim was to encourage Jews to leave the country and to some extent this succeeded, but Hitler could not wait and in 1938 came Kristallnacht - state

Photography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Photography - Essay Example Arbus has successfully constructed a definitive position on photography; she helps in drawing a thick line between the camera and the body. Her proposition is that the camera is not in any way an extension of the body. Arbus draws a triadic relationship between the apparatus in photography and the subjects. She claims that the works are between her and the ‘others’. The camera itself has its own flaws. There are things that cannot be revealed through a camera. Some discomfort makes an individual to shun having a thoughtful glance on the photograph. The gaze that a photograph gives to us creates a situation whereby we are unable to keep staring at it. There appears to be a relationship between the three components of photography, the camera, the photographer, and the subject. Throughout the relationship there appears to be misconceptions that results to flaws. According to Armstrong, Arbus draws a gender construct whereby the camera is categorized as ‘other’. Here it introduces an aspect of gender politics, Arbus brings forth differences as a result of plurality which are caused by aspects of gender and sexuality. In addition to expression of gender issues, Arbus’ works are rich in photographs that feature hermaphrodites. In addition to gender and sexuality based photographs, children have also featured in her works but have not lacked controversy especially when it comes to interpretation. Armstrong talks about the photograph of a baby that has various features. In the photograph there is difficulty in interpreting the meaning because of its nature. The immediate clue that tells an interpreter of the meaning of a photograph lacks. This is a possibility especially because the lips are shut up as well as the body is completely covered. According to Armstrong an interpreter is left with the option of postulating the likelihoods which have a margin of error. Most of the times there

Screening report Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Screening report - Movie Review Example The movie is segmented in three sections. The protectors’ gathering which encompasses the introduction of the samurai forms the first segment with the proportion coming up as a set-up but important to the understanding of characters and their roles. The second portion covers the preparation for the battle; they teach the villagers how to fight and the bond occurs. The third section covers the battle after the bandits have attacked. The samurai launch a pre-emptive strike on the bandits’ camp before the battle. The bandits are in possession of guns and therefore advantageous with the first casualties resulting from those guns. In the Movie, Kurosawa has employed the deep focus technique which keeps everybody in focus regardless of the distance in relation to the lens. Although it lacks three-dimensionality, he rarely employs close-ups unless there is a reason for it. He often shoots the figures which are silhouetted against the horizon with the battle scenes very

Food and Beverage Operations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Food and Beverage Operations - Assignment Example It may be ready to serve when it is delivered or it may need to be cooked and finalised (as it is still cold or frozen) in another kitchen, or a second kitchen. The sous vide is the most recently developed system of preparing food. Raw foods are prepared (such as by browning), then placed in vacuum sealed bags or pouches, and then steam-cooked at high temperatures that will pasteurize them. The food can then be served to the customers or chilled and stored. Food prepared this way can be stored for up to twenty-one days. The cook-freeze process means a catering system that requires fully cooking and then rapidly freezing the food. Then it is stored at temperature of -18 degrees or below. The food will be reheated before serving to customers. Care should be taken to prevent the food from being contaminated and to make sure that the stock is rotated and is fresh. before being served to customers. The shelf life of foods prepared by the cook-chill process is much shorter than foods prepared by the cook-freeze process as the shelf life is only five days (including the day of production, the time it takes to be distributed, and the time it takes for regeneration. a waiter who serves guests at the table using forks and knives. The food is served with a salver on to the plate and then placed in front of customers. This is also known as the Russian service. Family service is similar to that of the American service. The gueridon service is when silver salvers of food is placed on a small cart called a gueridon which has a

Park Tea Room Essay Example for Free

Park Tea Room Essay Master â€Å"Hally† Harold is the seventeen year old lead of Athol Fugard’s work, a white boy of South African descent, son of his mentor Sam’s employer. Sam is one of two black waiters employed by his family’s business, the St. George’s Park Tea Room. The focus of the play is of the two men’s mutual educating of the other. The younger of the two, Hally takes great pride in his â€Å"educating† Sam on book knowledge, the things that he has learned in reading or the classroom, whereas the elder Sam spends his days educating Hally on the ways of life and the world, showing him how important it is to take pride in oneself and the things that can be accomplished by your own hands. Hally has been caught in a dastardly position being a young man desperately in search of his place in this world as he rapidly approaches manhood, and being the only son of an immensely racist drunkard in the face of South African apartheid. Hally has found himself stuck between the ideologies of his inadequate father and the teachings of his gifted mentor. He battles himself for both loving and being ashamed of his white South African roots and alcoholic father. This play is about the corrosive power and denunciation of racism, ignorance and hatred in a society where those elements are all that surround you. Hally is a very bright young lad torn by his implied societal position and his loyalties to the man whom he feels has afforded him life’s greatest lessons, a black waiter who works for his father, Sam. Hally is a tortured and tormented soul; even the title of the play denotes the societal position of these individuals-Hally is referred to as Master Harold, a seventeen year old boy while Sam and Willie are grown men referred to as boys. The division between the races is clear, there is no â€Å"distortion of the political significance† (Jordan pp. 461) of the setting in which this work takes place, white is better than black and can in no socially significant way be mixed without ill regard. The only comfort to be found in the underlying premise of this work is the fact that Harold does not initially feed into the views of his father and society. He, in the beginning sees what great things he can learn from these black African men and chooses to err on the opposing side of his father’s views of race relations. It is not until Hally begins to feel trapped and cornered by his father’s impending release from the drunkard ward of the local hospital that he slips into the standard ideology of a white male finding his path during South African apartheid. He turns on his mentor, spits in his face and throws a total tantrum because he has not learned how to deal with all the scrapes and cuts that can come of being a man in this world. The introduction of Hally’s drunkard father back into the home is the unadulterated reason for his abruptly abusive and racist behavior toward â€Å"the boys†. His underlying fear is that he won’t be able to stand up for himself and his true beliefs if his father is present. Deep down I don’t feel that Hally believes himself to be any greater or more important than Sam or Willie but he is aware that society feels him to be superior to these two men and that he has yet to find it within him to give his own personal ideals a voice. He has spent all of his life under foot of one of the most racist men in South Africa, yet in the face of that socially and paternally enforced racism Hally has, for the most part, allowed himself to remain open-minded to the gifts and understandings of others, realizing that everyone has something to offer. His father’s hospital stay afforded Hally the time he needed to reflect on his own thoughts to determine what his outlook on this world would be. He was able to live without the weight of race long enough to become comfortable with himself as an individual and the other individuals surrounding him without regard to race or social standing. Being the intelligent lad that he is, he realizes that his father coming home means a lot for the way that he has been living his life, he is inevitably going to have to make some changes; he will either have to change the way that he views the world and begin fully subscribing to his father’s way of thinking, or he will have to find his own manhood and let his father know how he really feels. Hally is a clay chameleon being molded to fit whatever situation he finds himself in; he harbors an immense amount of disgust and disdain for his father and it is apparent at every turn except when he is speaking to his father. When engaging with the patriarch of his family Hally appears loving, caring and compassionate. He does not allow his hatred for his father’s world views to be seen by the man who gave him life, instead he hunts for the underlying love and respect that a son should have for his father as a man, and harnesses that love long enough to engage in an empathetic exchange. The fact that this young man has named the cycle of life the â€Å"principle of perpetual disappointment† speaks volumes of his outlook on the daily affairs of this world. He feels that having his father present in the home will just complicate the lives of everyone else around without justification; his father is just an impediment of unnecessary worth, a hurdle to be overcome if Hally ever desires to see himself find true happiness. As far as Hally is concerned, where reference is made to life being a dance as discussed in the play, it is his thought that no one knows the moves, no one man has all of the steps in order because no one can fully hear the music; as such the voluntary reality that these men discuss throughout the play could never exist. Just the thought of his father coming home changes Harold for the worse. Even in remembering the night that Sam strapped Harold’s father to his back and carried him home from the bar in the rain or the day that Sam took Harold under his wing and taught him not only to ‘fly a kite’ literally but symbolically by spreading his wings as a man and learning to fly on his own. The kite was merely a symbol to teach Harold how important it is to find his own way in this world, not to follow his father’s mind or anyone else’s other than his own. Yet where Sam felt that all these things made he and Harold closer, forging a bond that could not be broken, Hally instead turns on Sam stressing that he no longer refer to him as Hally but as Master Harold, signifying the social position and difference between the two. He does the one thing that Sam would have never expected him to do; he takes the position of the superior being and reduces Sam to a â€Å"nigger† thereby inflicting upon his former mentor an irreversible wound. Hally took his opportunity to put Sam in his place and let him know that no matter what Sam has been to him or done for him and his family over the years that he is not immune to the underlying hatred that erodes the human conscience in instances such as the time period in which this play has been set. Sam tries to make clear the implications of Harold’s actions and stresses the significance of what he has done to him, and their relationship, until the young lad comes to his senses and admits the effect that his love for his father has on him and his behaviors. Hally is fully dependent upon Sam for his understanding of this world because Hally can’t even understand himself. He lashes out at Sam because Sam is the closest person to him and sometimes it’s just easier to hurt the ones you love because you know better what will hurt them than a stranger, but I feel that another reason why he lashed out at Sam in such a way was because beneath it all he knew that Sam could always see his heart and his true intentions. Sam was able to discern and decipher the complex feelings that Hally had for his father and the emotions provoked by the idea of his father’s return. I understand the impressionable minds of youth but this young man is seventeen years old, it is time for him to stop relying on things like his relationship with Sam and to start making a way for himself. In a world full of adults you can’t just act out whenever you want to lashing out at those around you and always expecting people to be as forgiving as Sam was in this instance because it is my thought that the fact of the matter is-Hally was releasing some pinned up thoughts and emotions that he has been harboring, waiting for the day that he could release that portion of his father’s essence which he holds within him. There is no doubt that the relationship previously held between the two has forever been changed. Because he is seventeen years old the world says that it is time for this young lad to become a man, but he is not ready. He’s still relying upon others to tell him what he thinks and how he really feels. If he can’t handle the complexity of his thoughts and emotions for his father how could he ever hope to handle a life out in the world on his own. Harold knows that racism and hatred are wrong, both a lose thread eroding the fabric of life, but that makes no difference to him, when put in a position of discomfort he lashed out at Sam and Willie in the same manner that one would expect of a small child. In his article Boehmer makes it clear how often Fugard uses his main character to bring about the realization of conditions of separateness by shining a light on the trappings of historical pains, that his inevitable alienation has given representation to ordinary lives and not necessarily unique and therefore ‘dramatic’ situations† (Boehmer pp. 165). That is the point which commands emphasis in our analysis because there is nothing particularly special or significant about the setting of this play other than the backdrop of the apartheid era. Without knowledge of this story having taken place during the apartheid era these events could have taken place in any part of the world at any time throughout history. ‘Master Harold’ was no special case; he was a seventeen year old boy like any other seventeen year old boy enthralled in the decision to either follow in his fathers footsteps or to tread his own path. Cummings piece says that Fugards’ work â€Å"dramatizes the racial situation in South Africa† (Cummings pg. 2), this is true insofar as Fugard has taken the apartheid struggle and turned it into a dramatic work, as have many other artists, but not in such a way as for the thoughts or ideas of the characters within the play to have been exaggerated because just like I said, Hally was no special case. There was no need of exaggeration because we see young men like Hally everyday, unsure of themselves or their place in this world, worried that if they make a decision for their life that it may be the wrong one so they choose to sit idly in their comfort zone too afraid to venture into any unfamiliar territory. For Hally it would have been widely unfamiliar for him to stand up to his father and say, ‘thank you father, for giving me life, but my thoughts of this world should be formed of my own volition, not handed down from generation to generation’ and it is until just such young men can do that very thing that the older ideals of racism and hatred will begin to falter. Cummings is right about one thing though, the simplicity of the setting does largely contradict the complexity of the characters (Cummings pg. 2) but I think that it must be understood that if the setting and characters would otherwise be in constant competition with each other and no one would be able to follow the play. The characters are what carry the work. If Hally had no minutiae to set his character apart and was just another seventeen year old lead, there would be nothing pivotal to hold this play together. All the little details are what make these characters so profound and the work of such high quality; it would be a detriment to the production if anyone was to ever tamper with the formula. References Fugard, Athol. â€Å"Master Harold †¦ and the Boys†. New York: Penguin Plays (1982). Boehmer, Elleke. â€Å"Review: Speaking from the Periphery†. Third World Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan. , 1989), pp. 161-166. Cummings, Mark. â€Å"Reclaiming the Canon: A World Without Collisions: â€Å" â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the Boys† in the Classroom†. The English Journal, Vol. 78, No. 6 (Oct. , 1989), pp. 71-73. Jordan, John O. â€Å"Life in the Theatre: Autobiography, Politics, and Romance in â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the Boys†. Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 39, No. 4, Athol Fugard Issue (Winter, 1993), pp. 461-472. Solomon, Alisa. â€Å"Review: [untitled]-Reviewed work(s): †¦Master Harold†¦and the Boys by Athol Fugard†. Performing Arts Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1 (1983), pp. 78-83.

Bertolt Brechts View on the Function of Theatre

Bertolt Brechts View on the Function of Theatre Bertolt Brechts view on the function of theatre was that it should provoke its audience to change. The epic theatre, Karl Marx and German directors Max Reinhardt and Erwin Piscator were all inspiration for Brechts theory on the social function of theatre. (2004: 709) Brechts essays Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction and The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre clearly outline his understanding of what epic theatre is and how it should be used in practice. In both essays, Brecht explains what makes the epic theatre different from modern and dramatic theatre and discusses the techniques available with epic theatre and the effects they can have on the audience. When comparing his play Mother Courage and Her Children to the two essays, it is clear that Brecht has used the essays almost as guidelines to write the play and put his theories on epic theatre into practice. Mother Courage and Her Children is an extremely typical Brechtian play as it contains all the elements that Brecht wanted to include in his plays in order to present his new form of theatre which he believed had a greater social function. One of the most obvious examples of Brechts essays being put into practice in Mother Courage and Her Children is Brechts use of narrative instead of the plot. Each scene begins with a narrative description of what will happen in that scene, and the play itself starts with a prologue which introduces the central character (Mother Courage) and reveals what the play is about. Despite the fact that there is a storyline running through the play, the narrative style ties in with Brechts aim of not giving the audience the chance to become emotionally attached to the characters. The way in which the play jumps with each scene keeps the storyline general and tied more to the greater social events running throughout the play rather than single, individual events in a particular scene. Having spent much of his life in Germany and experiencing two world wars, it should come as no surprise that many of Brechts plays, including Mother Courage and Her Children, feature war as the overriding theme of the play. Brecht believed that war was a continuation of business by other means. †¦ Brechts theory on theatre meant that he did not want his audience to emotionally empathise with the characters on stage. In fact, Brecht deliberately created characters which would be subject to criticism from the audience. In order to invite this active rather than passive response from the audience, to provoke a reaction, Brecht instils traits in his characters which tend to make the audience not identify with them, but criticise them. Mother Courage is portrayed as a strong, witty, formidable woman whose sole purpose is to provide a living for both herself and her children. She is a sacrificial character and her love for her children draws an audience to like her. What prevents the audience from empathising with her is her extremely contradictory nature. Whilst pulling out a knife at the Sergeant and Recruiting Officer to protect her children, Courage calls refers to herself and her children as peaceable sorts. The Sergeants cool reply of your knife shows the sort you are further displays Courages contradictions. (Brecht 2004: 715) When sending her daughter Kattrin into town with the Clerk, Courage tells her not to worry and that nothing will happen, but upon Kattrins return where she is wounded, Courage claims she should never have let her go. When arguing with the Cook over a possible move to Utrecht, Courage tries to end the conversation with thats enough, only to continue it herself moments later. In the same scene, Courage encourages Kattrin for the two to go with the Cook to run his pub in Utrecht because life on the road is no sort of life, but after she sees Kattrin trying to run away she quickly turns on the Cook and questions what she and Kattrin would ever do in a pub. Of course the greatest contradiction of all throughout the play is Courages constant criticism of the war off of which she makes her living. It is this contradictory nature of Courages which constantly reminds the audience to view the character from a distance, analyse her so to spe ak, and not empathise with her situation. Had Mother Courage been presented as a fully-rounded character, the audience would have been tempted to empathise; but her presentation as a paradoxical character helps to jolt the audience into some kind of reaction. (Leach 1994: 136) Mother Courage is not the only character in the play that is given a specific trait to keep the audience empathising and becoming emotionally involved with her. Her sons Eilif and Swiss Cheese are both killed in the play, and it is because of their flaws that they are killed. Her eldest son, Eilif, is strong and intelligent, but his boldness costs him his life. Her younger son, Swiss Cheese, is simple and honest, but he too is led to his death because of his stupidity. The audience are constantly reminded throughout the play by Mother Courage that her children have these traits. I have another who is foolish but honest is just one example of Brecht giving Mother Courage a specific line for two reasons: both to remind the audience of the paradoxes each character possesses, to stop them from being empathised with, and to support the epic idea of the play that each scene should be its own. It is frequently seen in Brechts plays for an off-stage characters absence to be explained throu gh an on-stage characters dialogue. (ref) Robert Leach argues that for Brecht, character is only of interest in so far as it illuminates the fleeting event which provides the writer, or the actor, with a usable gesture. What Leach is saying is that for Brecht, the character is only a function to the greater social and economical forces which control and shape the world (within the constructed reality that are his plays), and that the actors, whilst portraying characters, can use them as tools to show the effect of these greater social implications. This can be linked to Brechts observation in the essay Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction that actors too refrained from going over wholly into their role in the sense that not only did actors do so to invite criticism from the audience of their characters, not only to draw attention away from the individual and place it on the social, but to also show that the characters are simply functional to the social. Another one of Brechts main aims was to not focus on the individual emotions of the character, but to explore and show the importance of the greater social implications. In Mother Courage and Her Children, emphasis is not put on the decisions the characters make but the social events which dictate the action of the play. War, religion and family are three main themes which run through Mother Courage and Her Children, and ultimately the fate of each character is determined by these themes. Unlike naturalistic plays where emphasis is usually placed on the individual, in Mother Courage and Her Children Brecht focuses on the relationship between the social implications and the characters of the play. All of the characters in the play are linked together by these themes, and their inability to change their individual (or in the case of Courage and her children, combined) situations. (Examples) Brecht has created Mother Courage as the central character of the play, but because it is not on ly her, but all the characters that are affected by the war, the spectators focus is neither on the central character Mother Courage nor any of the character. The spectators focus is drawn, by linking the characters and making them unable to change their situations, to the superseding social themes presented in the play. Brecht liked the notion that epic theatre allowed for jumps in time, and this is reflected in Mother Courage and Her Children. There is a jump in time between each scene of the play, usually a year or two, and the constant curves and jumps in the play the dialectic approach allow for Brecht to show a process and effects over time rather than one particular point of time and its individual effect on characters. (Brooker 1994: 189) These jumps in time also allow the play to be epic in the sense that they allow each scene to stand independently. The jumps in time also go hand-in-hand with Brechts idea that with epic theatre, the audience should be looking with eyes on the course rather than eyes on the finish. Swiss Cheeses death and Mother Courages refusal to admit the body is his is one of the most intense moments of the entire play, but it comes as early as Scene Three. Also, the jumps in time show man as a process rather than man as a fixed point. Rather than focusing on the centr al character (Mother Courage) at one particular point, Brecht draws out the play so that the audience view Courages process and development as a character subject to the social and political circumstances. The end of the play sees Mother Courage, now completely alone; walk with soldiers who are singing the same song that is sung in the prologue, reminding the audience of the process that has begun from the very beginning of the play and the effect it has had throughout. The jumps in time between each scene of Mother Courage and Her Children are typical of Brechts aim to get the audience to look at the events that have taken place from a more general period of time rather than a specific point. One of the key parts of Brechts theory on theatre was that the audience should constantly know that what they are watching is not reality but a construction being presented on stage. By doing so, Brecht could show to his audience that what they were watching was not reality but a presented image of reality, and that could inspire change. To this end Brecht used several techniques in many of his plays (including Mother Courage and Her Children) which allowed him to reveal that the play was indeed a construction. A typical Brechtian technique used in the play is the use of stage directions at the start of each scene, which then reveal what is going to happen in that scene. By using these stage directions (either spoken aloud or displayed with placards on stage) Brecht is able to both remind his audience that what they are watching is a construction. Also, by telling the audience what will happen before it happens, Brecht can eliminate the shock factor, thus keeping the audience away fr om having an experience and focused on learning from the action on stage. Openly revealing that the play is not real allows Brecht to prevent any sense of emotional attachment to the piece. This can be linked to Brechts essay The Modern Theatre is The Epic Theatre where he says: †¦once illusion is sacrificed to free discussion, and once the spectator, instead of being enabled to have an experience, is forced as it were to cast his vote; then a change has been launched which goes far beyond formal matters and begins for the first time to affect the theatres social function. Brecht states in his essay The Modern Theatre is Epic Theatre that words, music and setting must become more independent of one another. (reference) This statement is echoed in Mother Courage and Her Children as Brecht uses not only dialogue and stage directions but songs and music in the play, and makes sure that the songs used are seen on an equal level to the other elements such as words. In fact, Scene Ten of the play is constructed entirely of only a few stage directions and song. By giving the songs such importance in the play, on the same level as stage directions and dialogue, Brecht implements his idea into practice, showing that he has used his two essays almost as guidelines for writing Mother Courage and Her Children. Songs are also used in the play to fit in with Brechts theory that plays should not be presented to the audience as reality, but as a construction. The direct delivery of a song from a character to the audience, thus breaking the fourth wall, is one of the w ays in which the audience is reminded that they are indeed watching a play. The songs also tend to reflect the social and political themes of the play and inspire the audience to think about what they are watching. Looking at Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction and The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre in comparison with Mother Courage and Her Children, it is clear to see that the play falls into all of the categories that Brecht lists in his two essays for his theory on the function of theatre. Throughout the play the focus is taken away from the characters individual emotions and drawn to the greater social and political forces which affect the characters. The play is used as a discussion forum of sorts for some of the common Brechtian themes such as war, religion and family. The use of non-naturalist techniques such as placards and songs helps to break the illusion that the audience creates and prevents them from developing empathy for and emotional attachment to the characters. The jumps in time between each scene of the play keep the audiences focus on the process over time and not at a fixed point. Mother Courage and Her Children is without question of Brechts most typical pl ays and it is clear to see his essays Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction and The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre have been put into practice to create the play and inspire the audience to change, rather than experience.

Waves of Mergers and Acquisitions

Waves of Mergers and Acquisitions Introduction Mergers and Acquisitions (MA) have always assisted in nursing corporate health and growth pattern of developing and developed countries just taking out sickness in industries, the concept of mergers and acquisitions have played a truly crucial and pivotal role in shaping the business and have been part of international business in recent times. Mergers and acquisitions (MA) have always been an interesting area to study. As we know all our daily newspapers are filled with cases of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, tender offers, other forms of corporate restructuring. It have been stated that mergers and acquisitions account consist of 78% of all foreign direct investment, with 97% of that being acquisitions. Van Marrewijk (2006, pg 294) The year 2007 had undoubtedly been landmark of the year for Indian corporate buisness with respect to recession taking toll of many Indian business. With passage of time ,the Tata announced the acquisition Corus , a US$ 12.2 billion deal . India industries has not looked back since. The continued growth in the Indian economy and investment and operating climate has resulted in improved health and growth appetite for Indian compines. What are Mergers and Acquisitions? Mergers and acquisitions are arguably the most popular and influential form of discretionary business investment (De Witt Meyer, 1998).In simple terms merger is the combination of the assets and liabilities of two companies, mainly of similar size, into one business entity. The term acquisition is used when the assets and liabilities of a smaller company is purchased by a larger one by paying shares, cash or other assets to the target companys shareholders. When there is a merger between two similar sized firms, the shares are exchanged and one firm issues new stock to the other in an agreed ratio. The value of two firms before and after a merger is the same when you exclude the synergies resulting from it, considering that the valuation of the shares and the exchange ratio has been correctly formulated. Target firms shareholders are normally paid a premium, which means that the exchange rate is skewed. Merger Waves in the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries, Martin Lipton, York University September 14, 2006 Overview of MA Waves A merger wave is an intense period of merger activity in a particular sector or industry and last from a short period to a long time partly depending on the performance of the market and the participating companies. In his paper released on September 14, 2006 Merger Waves in the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries, Martin Lipton of York University talk about merger waves Economists and historians refer to five waves of mergers in the U.S. starting in the 1890s. As I said, I believe a sixth wave started three years ago. The starting date and duration of each of these waves are not specific, although the ending dates for those that ended in wars or financial disasters, like the 1929 crash or the bursting of the Millennium Bubble, are more definite. Indeed, it could be argued that mergers are an integral part of market capitalism and we have had a continuous wave of merger activity that has ebbed and flowed since the evolution of the industrial economy in the latter part of the 19th Century, with interruptions when fundamental forces turned exogenous merger factors negative. The merger activity needs to show a pattern in which the peak year had a greater than 100 percent increase from the first year followed by a decline in acquisition activity of greater than 50 percent from the peak year to qualify as a wave. In some industries the waves were as long as six years. Lets us see the five merger waves below: First Period 1893 to 1904 Merger for Monoploy- This was the time of the major horizontal mergers creating the principal steel, telephone, oil, mining, railroad and other giants of the basic manufacturing and transportation industries in the U.S. The Panics of 1904 and 1907, a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1904 making the recently enacted antitrust laws applicable to horizontal mergers, and then the First World War are pointed to as the causes of the end of the first wave, which some view as continuing beyond 1904. Second Period 1919 to 1929 Merger for Oligopoly- This period saw further consolidation in the industries that were the subject of the first wave and a very significant increase in vertical integration. The major automobile manufacturers emerged in this period. Ford, for example, was integrated from the finished car back through steel mills, railroads and ore boats to the iron and coal mines. The 1929 Crash and the Great Depression ended this wave. Third Period- 1955 to 1969-73 Conglomerate merger- This was the period in which the conglomerate concept took hold of American management. Major conglomerates like ITT (Harold Geneen), LTV (Jimmy Ling), Teledyne (Henry Singleton) and Litton (Tex Thornton) were created. Messrs. Geneen, Ling, Singleton and Thornton were viewed as visionaries and heroes of the new concept of business organization. Many major established companies accepted the concept and diversified into new industries and areas. The conglomerate stocks crashed in 1969-70 and the diversified companies never achieved the benefits thought to be derived from diversification. Fourth Period 1974-80 to 1989 The Megamerger- Generally referred to as the merger wave, or takeover wave, of the 1980s and frequently said to be the period from 1984 to 1989. However, its antecedents reach back to 1974 when the first major-company hostile bid was made by Morgan Stanley on behalf of Inco (the same Inco that has been involved in the four-way takeover struggle that has now ended with its takeover by Vale) seeking to take over ESB. This successful hostile bid opened the door for the major investment banks to make hostile takeover bids on behalf of raiders. In addition to hostile bids, this period was noted for junk bond financing and steadily increasing volume and size of LBOs. In Europe in the latter half of the 1980s companies sought to prepare for the Common Market through cross-border horizontal mergers. In the U.S. this was the period that saw corporate raiders like Boone Pickens run rampant with two-tier, front-end-loaded, boot-strap, bust-up, junk-bond, hostile t ender offers until the playing field was leveled by the poison pill in the mid-1980s. However, even after the poison pill, merger activity increased through the latter part of the 1980s, pausing for only a few months after the October 1987 stock market crash. It ended in 1989-90 with the $25 billion RJR Nabisco LBO and the collapse of the junk bond market, along with the collapse of the savings and loan banks and the serious loan portfolio and capital problems of the commercial banks. Fifth Period 1993 to 2000 Strategic Restructuring This was the era of the mega-deal. It ended with the bursting of the Millennium Bubble and the great scandals, like Enron, which gave rise to the revolution in corporate governance that is continuing today. During the fifth wave companies of unprecedented size and global sweep were created on the assumption that size matters, a belief bolstered by market leaders premium stock-market valuations. High stock prices simultaneously emboldened companies and pressured them to do deals to maintain heady trading multiples. A global view of competition, in which companies often find that they must be big to compete, and a relatively restrained antitrust environment led to once-unthinkable combinations, such as the mergers of Citibank and Travelers, Chrysler and Daimler Benz, Exxon and Mobil, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, AOL and Time Warner, and Vodafone and Mannesmann. From a modest $342 billion of deals in 1992, the worldwide volume of merg ers marched steadily upward to $3.3 trillion worldwide in 2000. Nine of the ten largest deals in history all took place in the three-year period 1998-2000, with the tenth in 2006. Most of the 1990s deals were strategic negotiated deals and a major part were stock deals. The buzzwords for opening of merger discussions were, would you be interested in discussing a merger of equals. While few if any deals are true mergers of equals, the sobriquet goes a long way to soothe the egos of the management of the acquired company. The year 2000 started with the announcement of the record-setting $165 billion merger of Time Warner and AOL. However, after a five-year burst of telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) mergers, there was a dramatic slowdown in the TMT sector, as well as in all mergers. It started with the collapse of the Internet stocks at the end of the first quarter followed by the earnings and financing problems of the telecoms. While merger activity in 2000 exceeded 1999 by a small amount by the end of the year, the bubble had burst. The NASDAQ was down more than 50% from its high, many TMT stocks were down more than 50% (some as much as 98%), the junk bond market was almost nonexistent, banks tightened their lending standards and merger announcements were not well received in the equity markets. So ended the fifth wave, with merger activity in 2001 half of what it was in 2000. To my surprise (and I think to the surprise of most) the sixth wave started just three years later. The sixth period of merger wave is what Lipton believes started in 2003. Sixth Period: From a low of $1.2 trillion in 2002 the pace of merger activity has increased to what appears will be a total of $3.4 trillion by the end of 2006. Among the principal factors are globalization, encouragement by the governments of some countries (for example, France, Italy and Russia) to create strong national or global champions, the rise in commodity prices, the availability of low-interest financing, hedge fund and other shareholder activism and the tremendous growth of private equity funds with a concomitant increase in management-led buyouts. CROSS BORDER MERGERS ACQUISITIONS GLOBAL SENARIO Globalisation is a key feature of the new competitive landscape within which the mergers and acquisitions frenzy is taking place. . Globalization has spurred an unprecedented surge in cross-border merger and acquisition activity. (Child J.et al, 2001). Cross border MAs have become a fundamental characteristic of the global business landscape. Cross-border MAs are one mode of entry for foreign direct investors to host economies. The ownership advantage,location advantage and internalization advantage, factors such as the search for market power, efficiency gains through synergies, size, diversification, and financial motivations affect the decision of firms to undertake cross-border MAs. Organizations which aspire to expand across geographies are funding their cross-border acquisitions through a mix of local and foreign financing. According to World Bank statistics, new capital raised through corporate securities offerings and loans from international bank syndicates totalled US $400 billion in 2006, a threefold increase from 2003. Multi-national companies based in developing countries made more than 700 cross-border MA purchases in 2006, up from just 11 such deals in 1987. These developments have put some of these companies on par with large companies from developed countries. As many developing-country governments have eased their policies toward capital outflows their companies have expanded their operations abroad. 15000 multinational corporations have their presence in developing countries. Cross border MA activity was one of the primary reasons for increasing FDI outflows from developing countries. The total cross-border MA activity from the developing countries was valued at $80 billion in 2007, up from $75 billion in 2006. The activity was across sectors with service sector contributed about 60% of the total activity. MA ACTIVITY IN INDIA Indian MA activity totaled US$19.8 billion in FY08 as compared to US$33.1 billion in FY07. The decline in MA activity was in line with the global activity. The average size of deals in FY08 was US$23.4 million; far lower than that of US$70.5 million in FY 07. Cross-border MA totaled US$8.2 billion in FY08 after declining of 56.3% from the previous year, where the total cross-border MA was US$18.7 billion. The sector which witnessed highest decline (97.6%) in MA activity was the telecommunication sector due to the base effect of acquisition of Hutchison by Vodafone in FY07. Followed by telecommunications sector was the healthcare sector; declining 72.3% in FY08 again due to the base effect of US$1 billion acquisition of Matrix Laboratories in FY07. Financials sector was the third sector to experience decline in the MA activity. Trends Patterns of Indian acquisitions abroad MA activity has seen phenomenal rise in India in the past few years and some patterns are discernible in this mass of financial transactions.India has passed several milestones and come a long way from overseas investments of about $0.7 billion in 2000-01 to $2.7 billion in 2005-06 and finally to $11 billion in 2006-07. Save a slight lull in cross-border deals in 2000-2002,MA has only been rising in India. The number of overseas acquisitions was 38 in 2003 and rose to 177 in 2006. The first six months of 2007 saw a whopping 123 transactions. The value of outflows has increased from $649 million in 2003 to $32.9 billion in 2007. The value of overseas acquisitions by Indian firms far exceeded the value of foreign firms acquisitions in India for the first time in 2006. The African nations have especially opened up their economies to FDI flows from India hoping that the funds transfer; knowledge transfer and skill development will give their nearly stagnant economies a much needed boost. The Indian services sector was the first entrant to the area of overseas MA and later the primary manufacturing sectors ventured into it. However, eventually the manufacturing sector surpassed the services sector both in terms of number of transactions and value of transactions with overseas acquisitions in the services sector rising 2-3 times as compared to 5-22 times increase in the manufacturing sector in the period 2001-2007 Literature review According to Jankowitz (1991) have given more emphasises on the importance of the literature review by stressing that knowledge does not exist in a vacuum and your work only help in relation to others. He describes the literature review as providing a theoretical framework and condition for the project. An attempt has been made in the present paper to understand the motives and implications of the Merger-wave in the second half of the nineties. The analysis has been conducted in a comparative perspective by classifying the Acquiring firms into two categories in terms of ownership, namely, Indian owned and foreign owned. The paper is divided into seven sections iii) Policy-shift regarding MAs during the 1990s iv) Impact of MAs on the performance of Acquiring firms, v) Source of financing and some plausible issues for corporate governance Section I: Theories on Motives and Implications of MAs According to Cantwell and Santangelo 2002 the theories on MAs have been spreaded over the vast terrains of industrial organisation, financial, economic and international business studies. Thus researcher has been pointed out that the trends of MAs can be theoretically traced back to particular motives for MAs emphasized by industrial organization theories that is market power and defensive reactions, the financial economic literature that is managerial ego and international business research which is access to markets or technologies. We have classify these theories into four categories, namely, i) Mergers as efficiency enhancing measures: Mergers can lead to increased efficiencies. Such efficiencies and cost savings can flow from economies of scale and scope possible in the larger post-Merger operations, greater control over key inputs, product rationalisation, combining marketing, advertisement and distribution, or from cutting down overlapping Research and Development (Ansoff and Weston 1962. International MAs may be regarded as a new cross-border strategy that aims at increasing corporate global competitiveness by pursuing related diversification and by integrating affiliates into a global network (Cantwell Santangelo 2002). Schemalensee (1987) argued that the cost-reducing effect of a particular proposed Merger might probably outweigh its collusion-enhancing effects. Sanjaya Lall rightly questions whether the positive economic effects that cross-border Acquisitions can have outweigh the concerns they arouse (Lall, 2002). ii)Mergers as enhancing concentration and monopoly: The immediate effect of a Merger is to increase the degree of concentration as it reduces the number of firms. Another effect of Mergers on 8competition is on the generation of barriers to entry. Artificial barriers can be raised or strengthened, if the Merger results in a strengthening of product differentiation through legal rights in designs, patents and knowhow. Williamson (1968) argued that a small efficiency gain would generally be offset by a large increase in market power, which creates a situation that sets prices above the competitive levels. Further, the motives behind transnational or cross-border Acquisitions differ from those, which drive purely domestic Acquisitions. An Acquiring firm might decide to go in for international Merger in order to take advantage of cheap raw materials and labour, to capture profits from exchange rates, or to invest its surplus cash (Weston et al. 1996). The entry and subsequ ent activities of Multinational firms affect the structure of markets for goods and services in host countries in several different ways. Numerous studies for individual developing countries as well as developed economies indicate a positive association between TNC activities and the concentration of producers in host country industries (UNCTAD 1997: 137). Some qualifications and exceptions have also been pointed out about this trend. Greenfield investment in new production facilities adds to the number of firms engaged in the production of a good or service and it might reduce or at least, leave unchanged the concentration of producers in an industry. In contrast, FDI-entry through a Merger or Acquisition would increase the concentration of producers if a Merger or Take-over results in increased sales for the newly created foreign affiliates; or leave it unchanged, if its size is the same as that of the incumbent firm acquired(UNCTAD 1997: 141). The actual impact of an Acquisition on competition depends upon the marketing strategies of TNCs, as well as on industry and country-specific circumstances (Dunning 1993). The risk that CB MAs may reduce competition tends to be greater in those industries in which shrinking demand and 9 excess capacity are important motivations for MAs and in countries in which competition policy does not exist or where its implementation is weak (Zhan Ozawa 2001: 61). In sum, MAs as concentration enhancing and building oligopolistic market power is a rather familiar view in studies on Mergers internationally. iii) Mergers as driven by macro-economic changes: MAs areundertaken to compensate for instabilities such as wide fluctuations in demand and product mix, excess capacities related to slow sales growth and declining profit margins and technological shocks (Post 1994; Weston et al. 1996). Firms may pursue MAs for the sole reason of growing in size as size more than profitability or relative effic iency is considered to be the effective barrier against Takeovers (Singh 1975; 1992). It is also argued that the development of an active market for corporate control may encourage managers to empire build, not only to increase their monopoly power but also to progressively shield themselves from Takeover by becoming larger (Singh 2003). What is referred to herein is the defensive tactics of firms in a developing country like India. While there are firm-specific motives for undertaking CB MAs, there are also economic forces that have acted to encourage the CB MAs, such as the economic integration of the European Union (EU) and NAFTA represented by the creation of a common market (Caves1991;UNCTAD 1997). Macro-economic changes become the context or provide opportunities for MAs. Mergers may also be resorted to as defensive measures in response to major policy-shifts. iv) Mergers as driven by financial motives: Firms adopt MAs as a route to growth whenever alternative investment oppor tunities for financing corporate expansion in specific environments are less attractive. Availability of capital to finance Acquisitions and innovations in financial markets such as junk-bonds can also be among the reasons 10 for cross-border Mergers (Sudersanam 1995). The valuation differences of the share prices or economic disturbances lead to Acquisitions of firms that are low-valued from the viewpoint of outsiders (Gort 1969). Lower interest rates also lead to more Acquisitions, as Acquiring firms rely heavily on borrowed funds (Melicher et al 1983). It is also argued that the under-valuation of the dollar vis-a-vis pound and yen in the early eighties had resulted in some very substantial Acquisitions of assets in the United States by British and Japanese firms (Dunning 1993). The currency devaluations in the risis-affected countries as well as falling property prices reduced the foreign-currency costs of acquiring fixed assets in those countries and it has provided a golden opportunity for TNCs to enter their local markets (Zhan Ozawa, 2001). Our own earlier study (Beena 2001) clearly pointed out how financial motives had a crucial role in MAs during the first half of the decade of liberalisation. The study argued that among the motives for Mergers, in many cases, could have been the desire to improve the financial position of the firm through a viable capital structure and the desire of firms to exploit the opportunity provided by the initial post-liberalization buoyancy in the Indian stock market. It should not be surprising if in latest phase of contemporary finance capitalism, financial motives are also the major determinants of MAs in our country. Paul Sweezy (1994[1999]: 249) had spoken of the enormous growth of a financial superstructure atop the real productive base of the world economy [over the last three decades]. However, the linkages between a huge financial superstructure of the global capitalist economy and the financial motives of MAs in India is not so apparent and would need further exploration. Our classification of the four categories of theorisations on MAs throw light on one or the other aspect of the phenomenon. Each of them is true in its own right. However, it is context-specific studies that could substantiate the validity of each of these arguments. Motivation of cross-border acquisition There are four main reasons for Indian firms to have engaged in crossborder acquisitions, (see Acceenture, 2006). These include the need to enter new markets to maintain the current level of growth, to get closer to global customers to easily achieve market share and customer base via mergers compared to starting up new firms in foreign countries. Further, crossborder acquisitions help Indian firms to gain easier access to targets resources. Since 1995 over 60 percent of Indian MAs took place in Europe and North America; in the 2000-2006 period US firms followed by UK firms were the major target of 9 Indian acquirers. These developed markets were attractive due to their large customer base,advanced legal system, knowledge foundation, and sophisticated technologies. More importantly, acquisitions often prove to be the only way for Indian companies to be able to begin competing in these markets, due to the high level of existing competition in developed countries. However, to a lesser degree, Indian firms have also acquired firms in less developed countries. These deals are profitable because of high demand for foreign investment in some of these economies. These deals have also provided the Indian firms with access to resources Many Indian firms participate in crossborder MAs to expand their overall technical capabilities and to update their existing knowledge base. In most cases, the knowledge and technical expertise earned abroad can help the acquirers in improving their productivity in the domestic Indian market as well. Furthermore, crossboarder MAs can create excess value for Indian acquirers, relative to their competitors, by allowing them to save on labour and production costs. Some Indian firms, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, strive to increase their market share by enhancing the size of their product range or in general, to diversify the portfolio of products or services. This is possible through two avenues: buying the technology, or acquiring firms who already own that technology. Indian firms seem to have used both methods Trends of MAs: Indian Experience MA activity has seen phenomenal rise in India in the past few years and some patterns are discernible in this mass of financial transactions There are four sectors in India which have experienced the most detectable MA trend after deregulation, starting in 1991 (see Srinivasan, 2001). Consumer goods sector in which firms want to quickly achieve market share and banking and financial industry where size is an important factor due to higher capital requirements set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) experienced many mergers. Sectors that are overloaded with many small players underwent consolidation. There were two sectors within which the need for high technology increased dramatically, such as telecommunication and pharmaceutical also underwent major merger activity The motivations underlying domestic takeovers in India are similar to the ones that promoted crossborder MAs in recent years. Liberalizations and deregulations have been the main driver of domestic as well as crossborder takeovers. Political, financial, and cultural reforms have fueled both crossborder and domestic MAs in India. Why India leads China in cross-border MA? Although FDI flows to China are relatively higher than those to India, Indian firms have performed much better than their Chinese counterparts in terms of overseas MA. A McKinsey analysis shows that Indian companies generate twice as much revenue from foreign sales as Chinese companies do! Other aspects like foreign asset-ownership and number of workers employed abroad also indicate a similar trend. In the year 2007, India registered a 126% jump in amount spent on international MA deals as opposed to a mere 82% of China. Now let us see some of the specific characteristics of Indian crossborder of MAs There are a host of reasons why Indian firms have outperformed their Chinese rivals in corporate deal-making abroad. Indian MAs have several distinct characteristics compared to those done by firms in the west or from China 1) Language skills and know-how English is the official business language in India and is built into the Indian education system. Chinese, on the other hand,have always been rigid and insisted on the use of their own language. Aversion to English language led to the isolation of the Chinese industry from the international corporate world. Now China, having realised this, is making concerted efforts to switch to English as the official language of communication. Chinese undervalue the role of soft skills in managing employees, business partners, stakeholders etc. Delegation of work,transparency, objective outlook, employee growth etc are aspects that are not yet developed in the Chinese work environment. This deters foreign employees from working in Chinese firms. Western employees are used to working with a high amount of latitude and things like close supervision, no clarity regarding management policies/expectations, corporate governance issues, favouritism and high level of political interference in the routine functioning of an organisation are deeply resented by western professionals. This impedes post-merger integration of a Chinese and western firm. China lacks the kind of leaders with international cultural understanding and flexibility to adapt to different markets and work environments. Leaders that can lead all employees without giving a sense of alienation to any specific group and successfully steer cross-border organisations are visibly lacking in China. Even though the economics of the deal make perfect sense, the inability to integrate the operations and most importantly employees of the two companies, spells doom for the new entity. Inhibitions about western cultures and practices have a profound effect in that Chinese leaders are now increasingly wary of undertaking overseas assignments. They find it difficult to blend and work with completely different thought processes and working culture. The loss of face resulting from the failure to integrate prompts Chinese employees to shun overseas assignments. To overcome this, these days Chinese companies do organise mandatory international training and orientation programmes to prepare its workforce for cross-border experiences. Since Chinese companies are still vastly state-controlled, finance skills of Chinese managers are at a nascent stage yet. Indian firms however and especially the private ones have very well developed finance skills competing with some of the best in the world. Handling diversity and differences in race, religion, ideas, personalities etc is much easier for Indians as compared to Chinese due to the relatively homogeneous Chinese society. Although both nations are huge (China being much bigger), India is considered as one of the societies with the highest intra-country diversity and hence Indians are much more used to handling differences/conflicts. 2) Corporate structure Many Indian firms have corporate structures similar to those prevalent in North America. These are companies with central leadership provided by owners but managed by professional managers. In contrast, most of the large Chinese companies are still state-owned and hence riddled with bureaucracy, political objectives. Senior management of these firms is always composed of members or people close to members of the Communist Party and strategy of the firm always is in line with the policy of the Chinese government. The lower management is ineffective, weak and resentful. Hence Indian firms responses to changes in the global industry are much quicker and strategic than those of Chinese firms. Chinas IT industry tried hard to give tough competition to the booming Indian IT industry but the fragmented nature of Chinas IT sector, along with poor product management and weak process controls failed Chinas attempt. Consolidation is the key to exploring better opportunities for the Chinese IT industry since its top 10 IT-service companies command only 20% of the market share as opposed to 45% market share of Indias top 10. 3) Focus on exports Majority of Chinese companies still focus on only exports for achieving short-term growth. MA is thought of as a strategy that is best suited for long-term growth. In the period 1995-2007, only 17 out of the top 100 Chinese companies signed cross-border deals as opposed to 31 out of the top 100 Indian companies with 18 of them successfully closing more than 3 deals each. 4) Political opposition Chinese companies frequently face fierce political backlash in western countries due to a general muted feeling of distrust regarding Chinas global plans and its eagerness to take possession of international natural resource reserves. CNOOCs (Chinese state-contro

Gaining from Detective Work in Oedipus the King and A Scandal in Bohemi

A detective story is a genre of fiction in which a person attempts to solve a crime. The detective may be a professional or an amateur, and generally has nothing to gain from solving the crime. However in Sophocles’ â€Å"Oedipus the King†, the main character Oedipus is not only determined to solve a crime, but he is also in pursuit to find his own identity. This is similar to Arthur Conan Doyle’s â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† where Sherlock Holmes has been hired to work as a detective in return for monetary compensation. Both situations enable Oedipus and Sherlock to gain from unraveling the mysteries that sweep their towns hence making these stories different from most detective stories. Few people think of detective work in regard to â€Å"Oedipus the King†, but this play builds on riddles solved, and unsolved, making it to be a mystery. Oedipus starts out as an optimistic individual who is in charge of a cold case proclaiming that he is going to solve the mystery of the murder of King Laius, in order to life the plague from his city Thebes. The people of Thebes look up to and Oedipus for solving the Sphinx riddle, â€Å"You freed us from the Sphinx; you came to Thebes and cut us loose from the bloody tribute we had paid that harsh, brutal singer. We taught you nothing, no skill, no extra knowledge, still you triumphed (Sophocles 44-47). The people believe in him without any prior knowledge of him. When he first hears of the murder, Oedipus immediately takes on the role as a detective when he hears â€Å"where shall we find clue to solve that crime after so many years† (Sophocles). The Oracle at Delphi tells Oedipus that the plague will be lift ed if Thebes banished the man who killed Laius (Sophocles 74, line 350). In the beginning Oedipu... ...pensation for his services, but he receives much more, he learns never to under estimate the power and wit of a woman. The label engages the reader to into the literature in order to piece the clues together to form and understanding of the story. When the reader gets all the clues they realize that these two stories go against the typical form of a detective story, because of the fact that they both gained from solving the crimes. Oedipus was able to benefit from solving the crime in that he was able to lift the plague from Thebes, save the people and find out his true identity. Although the answers didn’t necessarily benefit Oedipus in his favor they helped the city return to a state of normalcy. Holmes may have been beaten by a woman’s wit, he solved the mystery of â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† received a monetary compensation as well as learned a life lesson.