Annotated Bibliography Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Annotated Bibliography - Research Paper Example A correlation is demonstrated between pollution and areas with high population density coupled with low green spaces. They present a short, mid and long term strategy to improve the environment. It is suggested that the high cost of land in worst affected areas necessitates creative solutions such as roof gardens. A mid to long term strategy of conserving existing green spaces and developing new areas is suggested. It is also suggested that biodiversity be introduced by planting appropriate species to address specific ecological conditions and create planned connections between fragmented green areas to create larger overall interconnected units. In this paper, Ketabi gives suggestions to implement sustainable urban development in the Tajrish area of Tehran with economic, social and environmental dimensions. Ketabi places these suggestions in perspective by identifying the current environmental and urban state of the city which is regarded among of the most polluted in the world. Through data, fast population growth and continued extensive use of old vehicles are identified as prime causes of pollution. Tajrish district, which is one of the fastest growing suburbs of the city, suffers from unplanned growth. The bus terminal is a major source of pollution as is the large number of cars going to central Tehran. Ketabi suggests that the mass transit subway connection to Tajrish be completed early to reduce the traffic and pollution burden and also explains other suggestions for traffic management. In addition, the old prized cultural heritage of this area is being destroyed by fast and unregulated construction. It is suggested that campaign must be run to educate the area’s inhabitants about its heritage, parts of the old city be revived, and architectural heritage be preserved aesthetically. Lutfi and Koohsari investigate the spatial variation in accessibility to public spaces in a selected area, zone 6, of Tehran and

Common Difficulties Encountered in Academic Writing Essay

Common Difficulties Encountered in Academic Writing - Essay Example For me, writing can be really difficult at times because the act itself is solitary. It comes from within us. We concentrate on planning and thinking on how to transform our complex thoughts into an organized written text. For instance, when I write argumentative essays, there are abstract concepts that I need to explain using my own words and this makes writing difficult for me. Sometimes, I would find myself staring at a blank paper for hours because I do not know how to start the topic I am working. I would have difficulty in coming up with solid arguments for my essay topic. Even though I have read a lot about the theme of the essay, I still have trouble translating what I have read into writing. Worse, when I get to start writing, I would it difficult to end the topic. It is as if I am going nowhere when I start my writing task. Moreover, in the middle of the work, I would get distracted because sometimes I would be confused in grammatical rules especially when I construct complex sentences. Also, the rules in punctuation and spelling would confuse me a lot, especially when I would try to write longer sentences. Indeed, I am very conscious of all the technicalities in grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary when I start to write. However, amidst all these difficulties I encountered in writing, I have remained patient in re-writing and editing my drafts to come up with a presentable essay. I have learned that there are methods that would make writing easier for beginning writer and that is to have a plan. In this class, I have learned the process of pre-writing, writing, revising, and editing in order to get my essays done. Prewriting would mean that I have to jot down all the ideas I have, regardless of my ideas are correct or not. Writing an outline would then help me in organizing my thoughts and ideas.

The Decisive Role Of Humour In Advertising English Language Essay

The Decisive Role Of Humour In Advertising English Language Essay Humour plays a decisive role in our daily life and it is also a subject of interest of numerous disciplines such as linguistics, popular culture, psychology, mass communications, marketing and some others. The discussion of what humour is can be traced back to Aristotle and Plato. The complexity of this phenomenon has been an intrigue for many researches. Humor is a universal human activity found among all cultures and throughout all of recorded history (Alden, Hoyer, and Lee 1993). Humour is widely used in advertising as a form of communication in order to persuade customers to purchase products and services since it is generally believed among advertisers that making us laugh will encourage positive thoughts and feelings toward their products and brands and put us in a receptive mood for their sales messages (Beard 2008: 2). Cook said that advertising is always a handy and useful mirror if we want to reflect on the way we behave socially (Cook 1992:5). However, the use of humour in advertising remains very controversial as its presence in advertising can cause both positive and negative effects. Response to a humorous ad can be different as individuals have different sense of humour. Therefore humour is very individual and subjective but at the same time it is universal. According to Raskin responding to humor is part of human behavior, ability, or competence, other parts of which comprise such important social and psychological manifestations of Homo sapiens as language, morality, logic, faith, etc. Just as all of those, humor may be described as partly natural and partly acquired (Raskin 1985: 2). Throughout its history there were many attempts to define humour but none of the definitions accounts for all its possible types thus underlying its complexity. Humour can be broadly identified as a form of communication in which a created stimulus may act to provide pleasure for an audience (Gulas and Weinberger 2006: 95). Attardo states that linguists, psychologists, and anthropologists have taken humor to be an all-encompassing category, covering any event or object that elicits laughter, amuses, or is felt to be funny (Attardo 1994:4). It is very important to distinguish between humour and laughter as humour has been often identified with laughter  [1]  which seems to be wrong as humour a mental phenomenon while laughter is rather a neurophysiological reaction to it. 1.2 Aim and scope The objective of this thesis is to contribute to further understanding of one of the numerous strategies employed by advertisers, namely humour. However, this thesis does not set out to provide a theoretical framework for humour in spite of the fact that the following chapters make frequent reference to the academic and scientific literature. The overall aim of the study is not only to provide a better understanding of humour in print advertising and give an insight into different linguistic theories of humour as well as its different types but also to describe different linguistic features which advertisers use to incorporate humour and illustrate this by means of empirical material gathered from a variety of sources. Under this point humour will be divided into two groups: pun-based humour and non-pun humour. We deal with pun humour when the advertiser uses elements of language to create new meanings that result in humour. My supposition is that this is the type of humour which mos t often occurs in print advertising. In this regard such linguistic devices will be described as polysemy, homonymy, idiomatic expressions, neologisms and nonce formations, and antonyms. However this would be just mere identification of a certain type of humour in advertising and its enabling factors. Therefore the extent of the study is to look how different types of humour vary across different products and services advertised in magazines. Since it is generally believed that the best media suited to the use of humour are radio and TV, lots of studies exploring the use of humour and its effectiveness were conducted mostly in this field. Therefore this thesis is focused on the advertisements presented in print media and does not feature ads that appear on the television, radio, internet, and cinema. There has always been a great debate over whether humorous print advertisements work and of course there is no need to say that they do. We just have to remember that humour print invol ves a more intimate relationship. Graham Warsop, the only creative director to have judged the big four international advertising awards, once said: Print humour gets someone to smile inwardly rather than outwardly (Aitchison 2004:). This states again that not everybody will laugh at the same things. It should be noted that headline and body copy of an advertisement will not be the crucial means of attraction since most advertisements are humorous only due to the interplay of text and image. The picture often functions as an eye-catcher in the ad whereas its meaning differs from the meaning of the text. Cook considers pictures to be a part of advertising discourse as they are used to convey a central idea in the ad (Cook 2003:6). Thus, both pictures and headlines will be seen as equivalent and will be considered together as their interplay contributes to the overall meaning of the text.  [2]  Advertising in its turn will be seen in the thesis as a communication process. 1.3 Outline As shown in the table of contents, this thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is the introduction in which the purpose and the research questions are stated. It starts by providing a background of the subject of the thesis, and then moves on to description of material and methods and ends by introducing the advertising terminology. Chapter Two is dedicated to a more detailed delimitation of the concept of humour, with an overview of the major humour theories which are necessary for introducing the operational definition of humour that will be used in this study. Chapter Three presents humour types. It discusses numerous existing taxonomies of humour types and offers a new classification which subdivides humour types into two main groups: pun based humour vs. non pun humour. The structure of this chapter is centered on this taxonomy with the corresponding analysis of the advertisements. Chapter Four is a research part of the thesis which analyzes the incidence of the identifie d humour types across various products and services and presents the collected empirical data as well as the results and findings. Chapter Five functions as a summing-up in which the research questions are answered and the conclusions are drawn. A bibliography and appendix will conclude the thesis. 1.4 Material and Method As stated above this thesis is focused on the advertisements presented in print media and does not feature ads that appear on the television, radio, internet, and cinema. The selected material consists of a total of sixty two humorous advertisements chosen from the range of around two hundred English-speaking magazines published between the years 2006 and 2010. Popular lifestyle magazines have been mainly used as they are directed toward a general audience and have a high content of ads which advertise a wide range of products and service. I used so wide range of magazines because one and the same ad have been found in numerous magazines as well as in different issues of one and the same magazine. For this thesis I have mainly used such glossy magazines as Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, In Touch, Chat, OK, In Style, Self, The Economist and some others. No gender issues will be put forward in this thesis as well as no differentiation will be made between humour in British and US magazine s as it would give this thesis a whole new dimension. As a first step in the selection procedure, I looked for any ads that displayed humorous context. The selection was relatively wide as this resulted in around 100 ads which I considered to be humorous. It should be noted that when browsing through numerous magazines it is very difficult to determine whether the ad is humorous or not as certain subjectivity is always involved into the process of decision making. That is why the subjectivity is inevitable. Despite the fact that such procedure of selection is often employed by many researches, I tried to avoid making decisions without consideration of opposing opinions and different points of view. For this purpose one interview was conducted the aim of which was to exclude prevailed subjectivity in my selective procedure and to explore two basic questions: which advertisements will be still considered as humorous according to the interviewees and how they will determine the type of humour in case the ad proves to be humorous. A remark should be made under this point that anyway it will be to a certain degree the so called unilateral decision as in the long run it is me who decided which ads would be included and which would be left out. It is also worth of mentioning that the interview is not the main purpose of this study and that is why its presence in the thesis will be limited by the short description of its procedure and results. Coming back to the interview procedure, it should be noted that the interview was conducted in a small group consisted of twelve participants. The length of the interview was two hours. Around one hundred fifty different ads were presented to the participants chosen on the assumption that all of them were humorous. In order to ensure that the results would not be biased, the participants were not informed about this fact as well they did not know what the study was exactly about. The participants were asked to have a look at each advertisement and to determine whether they consider it to be interesting or boring, creative or not creative and humorous or non-humorous. The two supplement questions besides the question about the presence or absence of humour in the ad were introduced only with the purpose of trying to avoid some potential disadvantages which are directly connected with an interview. This is the so called participant reflexivity, which means that the person being intervi ewed (interviewee) tells the interviewer only what s/he wants to hear. Then, since many people often expect from a humorous ad to make them burst into laughing and such an attitude would bias the results of the interview I decided to ask them to rate (in case they think the advertisement is humorous) how humorous it was on a five-point-scale. Rating an advertisement as 5 meant that they considered it to be very humorous, 3 indicated that it was a moderate representative of humorousness whereas 1 suggested that it was a very poor example of a humorous ad and should be probably excluded from the list. The results drawn after the evaluation of twelve questionnaires were surprisingly consistent. The agreement was particularly high for the identification of the given advertisements to be humorous or non-humorous. As for rating is concerned the results were not similar, better to say they were very inconsistent and that proves again that humour is always being judged individually and subj ectively. After that all the ads were sorted out to determine which ads would be fruitful for a qualitative analysis. The advertisements which were considered by most of the participants as not humorous at all were excluded from the list of candidates for future analysis. 1.5 Advertising terminology No need to say that advertising hat its own terminology. I am not going to list all the terms you can find in the field of advertising. Thus, the terminology will be limited to a few terms which are frequently used in this thesis. I will follow Cooks definitions which he presents in his Discourse of Advertising (2003). According to him Headline Phrase(s) found at the top of an ad. Caption Phrases (s) found in close proximity to an image. Body copy A piece of smaller text, often containing the main (or copy) information. . CHAPTER 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Introduction As was mentioned in the introduction, humour is by no means homogenous. Since there is no general acceptance in classifying humour, there is no ideal theory of humour which can cover all its factors and embrace all its peculiarities. Most of the existing humour theories are mixed and it seems to be impossible to incorporate such a huge phenomenon as humour into a single integrated theory. As a starting point it can be asserted that humour is triggered by particular mechanisms (Spotts, 1987). Spotts states that these mechanisms can be grouped into three main categories: the cognitive theory, superiority theory, and the relief theory (Spotts et al. 1997:20). The chapter that follows is dedicated to some of the main threads of the theories of humour that have emerged although it is important to notice that not all humour theories ever proposed will be presented in it and it will not be attempted to make a comprehensive survey of all these ideas. Only those theories will be discussed which play a significant role for working out an operational definition of humour for this thesis. 2.2 Incongruity and Incongruity-Resolution Theory Incongruity can be called in other words inconsistency or contradiction. The incongruity theory goes back to Francis Hutchesons Reflections Upon Laughter published in 1750. Later on it was revisited and represented by Kant, Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard. Incongruity theories are considered to be cognitive in their nature. This is the group of theories which dominates humour research. According to McGhee (1979) humour is as reaction to incongruity and he defined incongruity as the relationship between components of an object, event, idea, social expectation and so forth. When the arrangement for the constituent element of an event is incompatible with the normal or expected pattern, the event is perceived as incongruous. The existing theories of incongruity have a difference based on the question whether incongruity is a necessary condition for humour to be produced and if yes, whether it is sufficient or probably there are other conditions needed to cause humour. Based on this fact tw o schools of thought about incongruity theories appeared: the so called one-stage incongruity theories and two-stage incongruity-resolution theories. One-stage incongruity theorists like many representatives of some psychological theories propose that we often laugh when we see or hear something unexpected. In terms of this theory it can be said that we cognitively process (or think about) the message in a single stage that includes three parts interruption (whats that?), perceptual contrast (theres something incongruous and unexpected here!), and playful confusion (whats it mean) (Speck, 1987:7). Other theorists like Jerry Suls and Thomas Schultz, the opponents of the two-stage incongruity resolution theory, postulate that it is not sufficient for a message to be funny by itself and they insist on the overlapping of meanings of the incongruous parts and on the presence of a second stage, namely the resolution of the incongruity. Incongruity becomes stronger only when it follows a resolution process and is understood and accepted by its audience (Gulas and Weinberger 2006: 23à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 26). Attardo considered incongruity theories to be cognitive in their nature and were often associated with linguistic theories of humour. To summarize the ideas, it can be added that incongruity theory is based on the idea of a contrast between two overlapping scripts whereas incongruity-resolution theory requires the presence of two stages: incongruity as derivation from expectation and incongruity understood in resolution which in its turn results in amusement. Incongruity is seen by many researches as a humour type. I prefer to see it as a condition needed to produce humour. 2.3 Superiority Theory The second branch of the main humour theories is presented by theories of superiority. These theories have gone by lots of names such as disparagement, criticism, hostility, aggression, malice, degradation, and derision. This group of humour theories is based on the ideas of Aristotle, Quintillian, Plato, and later Thomas Hobbes (seventeenth century) and it is directly connected with the social function of humour which cannot be said about the incongruity theories which consider humour as an individual phenomenon. Superiority theory is a theory of mockery. In terms of this theory humour is pointed against something or somebody thus making us to believe that something or somebody is superior to somebody else. In other words we laugh from feelings of superiority over other people, from suddaine Glory arising from suddaine Conception of some Eminency in our selves, by Comparison with the Infirmityes of others, or with our owne formerly (Critcheley, 2002: 3). It is suggested that people joke about things that make them feel unsure and/or uncomfortable as a way of releasing feelings of tensions (Gulas and Weinberger 2006: 28). 2.4 Release Theories Release theories as well as superiority theories have numerous names such as arousal theory  [3]  , freedom theory  [4]  , and tension-release theory  [5]  . This group of theories describes how people respond emotionally to humour. It was put forward by Herbert Spencer in the nineteenth century but it was better explained and thus it is better known from Freuds analysis of humorous utterances given in his book Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905). Freud proposed that jokes provide us with a release from the constant need to repress our natural aggressive and sexual desires, and are thus experienced as pleasurable. Like dreams, jokes come from the unconscious, bur are first transformed into less explicit forms, thereby providing a socially acceptable way of breaking taboos (Ventola, Guijarro 2009: 79). The release theory has rather to do with the physiological function of humour. It is based on the notion of homeostasis, which means that humans regulate their inner environment on the physiological level in order to ensure certain stability in response to strain, tension, and anxiety. Morreall (1983) talks about the biological function of laughter and insists on the possibility of coexistence of relief theory with other theories discussed above: incongruity (relief through resolution) and superiority (relief through triumph.  [6]   2.5 Linguistic Theories of Humour Since all the existing theories of humour are based on the notion of incongruity there is no theory about which it can be definitely said that it is a purely linguistic one. Linguistic in this case is rather a conditional name. Nevertheless, the first step into this direction was put forward by Raskin, who suggested a script-based semantic theory developed for verbal humour. Viktor Raskins Script-Based Semantic Theory of Humour was presented in his book Semantic Mechanisms of Humor (1985) which was a great contribution to all of the humour theories ever proposed and a first attempt to describe humour from a linguistic perspective. Raskin set his goal as following: Ideally, a linguistic theory of humour should determine and formulate and the necessary and sufficient linguistic conditions for the text to be funny (Raskin, 1985: 47). The script-based semantic theory of humour was designed as a neutral theory which takes in account all the three theories discussed above. According to Raskins theory, verbal or written communication is considered to be a joke if the text is fully compatible with two different but at the same time opposite scripts. Script in this case presents a large chunk of semantic information. This is the main hypothesis of his theory: A text can be characterized as a single-joke-carrying text if both of the conditions are satisfied. i) Th e text is compatible, fully or in part, with two different scripts ii) The two scripts with which the text is compatible are opposite in a special sense (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). The two scripts with which the text is compatible are said to overlap fully or in part on this text (Raskin 1985: 99). Raskin introduces the notion of the trigger or a punch-line, which switches the listener from one script to another thus creating the joke (Raskin, 1985: 36). Raskins theory can be interpreted within the terms of incongruity ­-resolution school of humour. Although his theory was primarily developed for verbal humour it proves to be effective for many types of humorous advertising, both for verbal and for visual. It should be noted that there is also a revisited version of the SSTH called The General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH). This theory was a result of collaboration of Raskin and Attardo. The main aim of the GTVH was to broaden the scope of Raskins SSTH in order to apply it to any humorous text.  [7]  Attardo comments about it as following: Whereas the SSTH was a semantic theory of humor, the GTVH is a linguistic theory at large that is, it includes other areas of linguistics as well, including, most notably, textual linguistics, the theory of narrativity, and pragmatics (Attardo 1994: 222). Attardo postulates that resolution does not exclude the presence of incongruity; they coexist and accompany each other so that any humorous text will contain an element of incongruity and an element of resolution (Attardo 1994: 144). 2.5.2 Operational Definition An operational definition of humour will have to encompass all the above listed theories as all of them are important for the analysis of the advertisements in this thesis. Under this point I would fully agree with Raskin when he said that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the incongruity-based theories make a statement about the stimulus; the superiority theories characterize the relations or attitudes between the speaker and the hearer; and the release/relief theories comment on the feelings and psychology of the hearer only. (Raskin 1985: 40) The operational definition of a humorous advertisement will be worked out in terms of Raskins SSTH. The question arises why no I do not follow the GTVH. There are reasons for that. First, the GTVH adopted the main hypothesis of the SSTH. Second, the broadenings introduced, are not of much importance for a current analysis. The third reason is that the GTVH is still under development and not all the problematic issues have been resolved yet. So the advertisement will be considered to be humorous if it fulfills the following conditions: the advertisement has two overlapping scripts which cause the incongruity these two scripts are in the opposite relation to each other. The first condition alone would not be enough for the advertisement to be humorous as the overlapping of two scripts may have a non-funny text as a result as well. CHAPTER 3. HUMOUR TYPES 3.1 Introduction Since there is no universal definition of humour, there are many ways to classify it and there is no universally accepted classification of humour types. Taxonomies of humour types are very different and not homogeneous. There have been many attempts to classify humour according to different criteria. Kelly and Solomon (1975), for example, classified humour according to techniques used in order to produce humorous effect and presented seven types such as a pun, an understatement, a joke, something ludicrous, satire, irony and humorous intent whereas Goldstein and McGhee talked about three types: nonsense, sexual and aggressive. An overview of some main classifications is presented in Table 2  [8]  , which proves the fact that the typologies of humour types are diverse and mixed as well as terminology used for different types of humour: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Raskin) The classification of humour types presented in this thesis is based on the taxonomy offered by Catanescu and Tom (2001) which in its turn used Reicks practitioner-oriented classification system as a basis. Catanescu and Tom adopted five types from this classification and added two new types which resulted in seven following humour types: comparison, personification, exaggeration, pun, sarcasm, silliness, and surprise. As the study they conducted was not only devoted to homour in print advertising, not all humour types presented in their taxonomy could be included into classification for this thesis. Thus, such category as surprise had to be left out despite several examples of using this technique in a print advertisement which could be found during the analysis of selected material. The reason for that was the fact that the operational definition did not work with this humour type as some other mechanisms were involved in such advertisements which were beyond the current analysis. To avoid the mixture of devices, types and techniques about which Raskin spoke, all these types were divided into two main categories, namely pun humour and non-pun humour each of them was subdivided into several sub categories. In such a way polysemy, homonymy, nonce-formations and idiomatic expressions fell under the category of pun humour and such types as comparison, personification, exaggeration, sarcasm and silliness under the category of non-pun humour correspondently. The goals of this chapter are: a) to introduce some definitions of a pun to frame the discussion, b) to give an insight into some types of pun taxonomies, c) to develop pun taxonomy for the current analysis and to describe the nature of the linguistic phenomena involved in puns illustrating it with the help of gathered material, d) to offer a taxonomy of non-pun humour taking into account the occurrence of each type in the advertisements collected from the magazines. 3.2 Oh! Thats a pun and I didnt mean it  [9]   Before talking about pun-based humour it seems to be of great importance to determine what will be understood under pun. Puns are said to be the most common basis for humour.  [10]  The management of humorous language is largely a matter of devising transfers the transfer from set to set, from scale to scale, from layer to layer, until the happy conclusion of a double vision is achieved. At the heart of this process of continual and multiple transference, an important process aping the shiftiness of thought itself, is the apparently frivolous device of pun; word-play is the lure, the spinning toy that draws up the lurking and fishy meaning. We take punning for a tawdry and facetious thing, one of the less profound forms of humour, but that is the prejudice of our time; a pun may be profoundly serious, or charged with pathos (Nash 1985: 137). As mentioned in the introduction, my supposition is that pun is the type of humour which most often occurs in print advertising despite qui te the opposite points of view when puns were criticized for their frustrating ambiguity and for representing a simple and less sophisticated form of humour. That is why many advertisers prefer not to include puns into advertisements believing that they have a low intellectual status. Nash defends the pun against such accusations offering his own list of puns and insisting on the fact that puns are common in the language of journalism (Nash 1985: 137). Sherzer provides another argument in defense of puns in advertising stating that puns are higly appropriate for advertising as they deliver two meanings for the price of one (Sherzer 1985). The same opinion shares Redfern: Advertising space is costly. Economy is essential, and puns are highly economical (two meanings for the price of one word or phrase), and in fact much more of a labour-saving device than many of the products they seek to promote. (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Since the fundamental message of all advertising is known to everyone in advance, there is a need for diversification. Wordplay, with its distortions, bifurcations and re-creations, introduces variety and refreshment into saturation. Puns, the devious ones, are a way round those rather stuffy rules of the advertising watchdogs: adverts should be legal, decent and true. A recipe for mass-producted boredom. The words of adverts are double-talk, necessarily. If adverts told only the verifiable truth, they would be pedantic and tedious. And so they have to approximate; they have to say one thing and suggest another. Obliqueness is all. So why not make a virtue out of necessity, and a silk purse out of a sows ear? (Redfern 1982: 130-131). Redfern asserts that puns are well suited for advertising as they are usually delivered with the requisite ambivalent mixture of false apology and only too real aggression (Redfern 1982:275). Definitions of pun as well as definitions of humour vary greatly from researcher to researcher. Freud considered puns to be the lowest form calling them cheapest stating that they can be formed with the least effort.  [11]  Walter Redfern (1984) devoted a whole book to pun in which he said that pun can make an individual. (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) It can ruin lazy expectations; subvert the nature of language and thought (Redfern 1984: ). Sherzer defined it as a form of speech play in which a word or phrase unexpectedly and simultaneously combines two unrelated meanings (Sherzer 1978: 336). This the point (the presence of two senses) on which all linguistic and non-linguistic analyses agree. Following the rules of the incongruity-resolution theory a phenomenon of pun can be defined as two meanings incongruously combined in one and the same sentence. These two meanings cause ambiguity due to which a conflict arises between the two senses which is subsequently resolved by the surprising punchline (Ross 1998:8). Following the operational definition of a humorous advertisement, a pun-based humorous ad has to fulfill the following conditions: two meanings have to be semantically incompatible, i.e. opposed. This is the so called deliberate ambiguity in a pun which creates the incongruity. Then it must be followed by resolution leading to humorous interpretation. 3.3 Pun taxonomy There are numerous taxonomies of puns witch essentially differ from each other. Attardo criticized these taxonomies and attempts to explain the phenomenon of pun through its taxonomy. He tried to build the taxonomy of the taxonomies and distinguished four major types of pun classifications, namely: taxonomies by linguistic phenomenon, by linguistic structure, by phonemic distance, and eclectic (Attardo 1994: 112). Tanaka distinguished four categories of puns in advertising: nonsense puns, contextual puns, puns with sexual innuendo, and puns with two communicated meanings (Tanaka 1994: 64-80). I will keep to taxonomy based on linguistic phenomena as it is the most relevant one for this thesis. Taxonomies based o

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus :: essays research papers

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. His Christian name was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. His father Leopold Mozart educated him and was a violinist, author, and composer. He began composing minuets at the age of five. When Mozart was six, he was successful at the clavier, violin, and organ. Mozart started composing symphonies at nine years of age. In 1762 his father brought him to many concerts through Europe. Europeans ignored Mozart when he was 21 in his search for more spirited and pleasing career. He traveled to Mannheim, then he went to the musical center of Europe, because of its famous orchestra and fell in love with Aloysia Weber. His father promptly told his son and wife to come to Paris. His mother died in Paris, on July 1778. he was rejected by Weber and the neglect from his girlfriends made Mozart's trip in Paris the most miserable moments in his life. The success of Mozart's opera, "Idomeneo re di Creta," influenced the archbishop of Salzburg to invite Mozart to his palace at Vienna. His exploitation to the people of the court forced Mozart to leave ­! In 1782 Mozart married Constanze Weber, Aloysia's sister. Poverty and illness endangered the family until Mozart's death. While Mozart was working on the "Magic Flute" in 1791 an emissary requested a requiem mass written by Mozart but he never got to finish this because he died. He supposedly died of typhoid fever, in Vienna on December 5, 1791. His funeral was attended by a few friends. Mozart died young and had an unsuccessful career, but he ranks as one of the greatest composer of all time. With more than six hundred works it shows that even as a child he had a feel of the resources of musical composition as well as an original

The Lion King

According to French and Raven, individuals have five sources of power by which they can induce others to behave in accordance with their wishes. These five sources of power are coercive powers, reward powers, legitimate powers, expert powers, and referent powers. In the movie, Lion King, an alpha male, the king of the jungle, which is a Lion name Mufasa, is killed by his jealous older brother Scar. The planned death only worked due to the manipulation of Mufasa’s son, Simba, by Scar. After Mufasa dies, Simba runs away and Scar takes control of the Pride Land. Years later Simba returns to the Pride Land to tell everyone the truth, take back the control of his late father’s, once, great land, and to return it to its former nourishing state. So exactly what do these powers have to do with a Disney Movie? Let’s find out. Coercive power is the power to force someone to do something that they do not want to do. This force could be either physical or mental torture. In the movie the The Lion King, when Scar takes over the Pride lands he uses coercive powers to make the lionesses hunt for the food and to hold other dictatorial powers. In the movie, Scar even goes as far as hitting Simba’s mother, because she compares him to Simba. He thrives on instilling fear. Reward power is the power in which you are able to get what you want because of bribery. The person that holds this power is the one who can control the other by giving them exactly what they want. The reward can be anything, that the person who is being bribed desires. Also, this is not always negative. In the movie Nala, Simba’s childhood friend, finds him after he has left his home for so long. She asks Simba to return home, but it is evident after repeatedly asking that he does not want to return. So she uses reward power, even though the Pride Land is not her possession, she tells Simba that he needs to return and if he does he can take back the Pride Lands and rule it as his father once did. And because of this logic he returns. The next power is called a legitimate power, it is very self explanatory. This person holds a legitimate power, but only due to status. The person, though, forgets that the people he or she is ordering around is not obeying them, but their status. Scar is again a perfect example of this. When he became the King of the Pride Lands he didn’t realize that his subjects did not respect him, but his position. He kept this respect in his position, by using coercive powers, which is very common in legitimate power. Referent Power is a person possesses characteristics that makes someone else aspire to be like them. Therefore this person is willing to do whatever the person they aspire to be like wants them to do. This power can be either positive or negative. Mustafa and Scar both possessed referent power when it came to the young impressionable cub, Simba. In a positive aspect, Simba aspired to be as great as his father, hence the song â€Å"Oh I Just can’t wait to be King. † He also, in a more negative note wanted to be accepted by his uncle Scar. This is how Scar was able to manipulate Simba into tricking his father to follow him to the canyon, where Mustafa fell to his death. The last power is expert power. This power is exhibited when the person has knowledge that someone else wants. The most prominent example of this power, throughout the entire move would be Rafiki, the baboon. He was the king’s advisor, led Simba back to the right path, and then became Simba’s advisor, once he became king. According to Katz an outstanding leader must possess these three skills: technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills. Technical skills are when the person understands specific work and activities and are able to excel in them. Human skills are when the leader is able to work well with other people, they are able to exchange ideas and work together towards one goal. Conceptual skills are when the person is able to put ideas into actions. However, not everyone is perfect; most people don’t possess all of these skills. If I had to choose one of the skills that a leader must possess, it would have to be human skills. Now it is possible for a leader to be in charge without possessing human skills but things tend to work better if the person heading the community or organization is able to get along with his citizens and co-workers. If the leader is able to get along with other people then there will be no need for real conceptual skills because his subjects and co-workers will come up with ideas that he will be able to work out with others to put into place. In the movie, Mustafa possessed human skills; everyone in his kingdom liked him. Therefore, it was easier for him to run his kingdom, unlike Scar. Scar ran the kingdom, but did not have that human skill which made it hard for him to completely have the kingdom on his side. Thus, the kingdom was ready to fight against him as soon as Simba returned because they didn’t like Scar; he didn’t possess that human skill. Some people believe that if your kingdom loves you, the respect will come and then is when you will become a good leader. This was the leadership styles practiced by Mustafa and his son Simba. They treated the other animals with respect and that respect was returned allowing the kingdom to run peacefully. Scar, on the other hand, had a different agenda’ he just needed to instill fear in his subjects to receive respect. But in actuality, it made them hate him, this did not help him in the end, when Simba returned, his subjects were eager to fight against Scar. If an enemy undermines a leader sometimes he doesn’t realize the leader’s support system. A prime example exhibited in the movie is when Scar undermined his brother Mustafa. Scar assumed all he had to do was kill Mustafa and the kingdom would just come to him, but he undermined Mustafa’s support system, his wife, Simba, Rafiki, and the rest of the kingdom, once Simba came back the entire kingdom rebelled. An organizational leader should use all three of the skills that they need to posses to their utmost ability. An organizational leader should always keep their enemies close. The worse the enemy the closer he should be kept so you can know what they are up to. As anyone who has experienced life knows it is not wise to run away from your problems. It is always best to confront them. If you do not confront or resolve they will eventually catch up with you. The same holds true for a leader. A leader must never run from their problems, because all they are doing is prolonging the problem. This makes it worse because when you prolong a problem now the likelihood of others being influenced negatively increases. Such is the case in this movie. When Simba fled his homeland eventually his problem caught up with him because he did not nip it in the bud, (confront it). Instead he chose to run from it. When his father was killed he should have stayed and told his people what really happened. When Simba ran he actually made the problem worse because it allowed his uncle, Scar (who was actually the problem) to lie to the people and claim the throne. The people did not trust or respect Scar and his bad leadership showed in the famine that spread through the kingdom. When Simba finally went back and confronted his problem, (his uncle) the kingdom was restored. Just as in the movie, effective leadership is seen as being positive and ineffective leadership is seen as being negative; the same applies to leadership in business organization. The analogous outcomes in business organization that are associated with effective and ineffective leadership respectively are financial success and growth of the company especially global expansion and the company being in financial debt and downsizing.

Humanities Today Paper Essay

Humanities is the academic discipline that study human culture , incorporating methods that are critical, analytical and hypothetical that also have important historic components, acclaimed from the approaches from natural science. Humanities consist of philosophy, performing arts, modern and ancient languages, literature, religion and visual. Social sciences such as history, anthropology, area studies, communications studies, cultural studies, linguistics and law are also viewed as segments of humanities. In this meaning the key point for identifying humanities from other modes of individual query is the point that humanities depends on traditional and significant presentation rather than concept and reasoning. Humanities consult about the human’s presentation of his or her environment. The queries come from the common inhabitants or an individuals own concept of the reaction to traditional events and the way that it is indicated by way of art, technology, politics, literature music, structure, and religious beliefs. Other modes of individual query are centered off of confirmed information and scientific concepts. Music Music has changed drastically since the 90’s .Walkman’s and tape players were what were used to listen to music and today technology has change and enables you to listen and access music from the internet such as Pandora, ITunes and you tube, and cell phones such as smart phones and IPod’s. Music has an influence on politics and political movements. Songs such as the national Anthem, patriotic songs and political campaign jingles are all apart of music with in politics these songs are called topical songs (Goodman, 2013). A powerful connection between the art and politics, particularly between various types of art and power, occurs across traditional epochs and societies. As they reply to coexisting events and state politics, art takes on governmental as well as public measurements, becoming themselves a target of debate and even a power of governmental as well as social transformations. Art A great number of colleges offer classes such as computer science, engineering, electronic music and digital art. These classes enable an individual to create and design is through technology. In regards to components, architecture has to do with the preparing, developing and building form, room and atmosphere that indicate efficient, specialized, social, ecological, and visual concerns (Thagard, 2013). It requires the artistic adjustment and synchronization of material, engineering, light and darkness. Architecture involves the realistic aspects of recognizing components, such as arranging, cost effectiveness and development management as certification produced by designers, sketches, plans and specialized requirements, framework and actions of a building or any other kind of system that is to be or has been constructed. Philosophy Philosophy and politics are generally linked together. As both talk about the query of what is excellent and how individuals should remain. From olden days, and well beyond them, the origins of justified reason for governmental power were certainly linked with outlooks on individual instinct (Thagard 2008). In The Republic, Plato provided the discussion that the perfect community would be run by authorities of philosopher-kings, since those best at viewpoint are best able to recognize the excellent. John Dewey, Martin Heidegger, Herbert Marcuse, and Gunther Arendt are outstanding philosophers from the 20th century that seen technology as a pathway to the modern life. One of the attributes the people liked about our new president is that he would end wars. Today he is out in a position to where he is going to have to start a war or end one. According to Shapiro his philosophy is â€Å"Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable,† he said in 2009, while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway (Shapiro, 2013). Conclusion Implied in many of these justifications supporting the humanities are the components of arguments against community assistance of humanities. John Carroll claims that we reside in a changing world, a world in which â€Å"cultural capital† is being changed with â€Å"scientific literacy† and in which the loving idea of an early humanities student is outdated ( Thagard 2013).

Zen in the Art of Archary essays

Zen in the Art of Archary essays As I sat around thinking of how I could answer this question, I realized that I had never experienced the feeling where I lost my ordinary sense of self-consciousness that Eugen Herrigel describes. I can come up with numerous occurrences in my life where I lost track of time, but not the loss of self-consciousness as well. I would imagine it must take vigorous training to learn this skill of such magnitude. Of course there are instances when I have become very relaxed where I just think to myself and lose track of my surroundings. However, to me this state of mind is more of a daydream state, which everyone has. It is still very far from losing your self-consciousness, because even with that feeling I can still say that I am thinking in terms of I and not in terms if IT. I cant say that I have ever felt this outside force of IT that Eugen mentions. Nevertheless, the closest occurrence I can think of is when reading a book, in which I am very interested. When I get into this s tate of mind I began to truly enjoy the experience, doing so with extreme focus on the text. This is the best example I can supply that contributes to a very concentrated state of mind. The book example came to mind because I felt there were similarities in the activities that led to the Zen state that Herrigel explained. When indulging in a great book I can feel myself getting caught up with every word, and hanging on to every little detail. I can read a textbook and have minutes feel as hours. When reading a great book time can just fly away, and I can feel myself becoming one with the book, where its no longer me reading but experiencing the words. I also feel this book example can relate to Eugen since he as well had to exemplify great focus in his breathing and in his form. However, I feel that it does not relate because, when reading a book, there is no need for me to achieve a purposeless ...

The Meaning of s.t. or Subject To in Economics

The Meaning of s.t. or Subject To in Economics In economics, the letters s.t. are used as an abbreviation for the phrases subject to or such that in an equation. The letters s.t. proceed important constraints that the functions must follow. The letters s.t. are generally involved in stating relationships between economic functions using the mathematical functions themselves rather than articulating the same in prose. For example, one a common usage of s.t. in economics may appear  as follows: maxx f(x) s.t. g(x)0 The above expression, when stated in or translated into words, would read: The value of f(x) that is greatest among all those for which the argument x satisfies the constraint that g(x)0. In this example, f() and g() are fixed, possibly known, real-valued functions of x. The Relevance of s.t. in Economics The relevance of the use of the letters s.t. to mean subject to or such that in the study of economics stems from the importance of mathematics and mathematical equations. Economists are generally interested in discovering and examining different types of economic relationships and these relationships can be expressed through functions and mathematical equations. An economic function attempts to define observed relationships in mathematical terms. The function, then, is the mathematical description of the economic relationship in question and the equation is one way of looking at the relationship between concepts, which become the variables of the equation. The variables represent the concepts or items in a relationship that can be quantified, or represented by a number. For instance, two common variables in economic equations are  p  and  q, which generally refer to the price variable and quantity variable respectively. Economic functions  try to explain or describe one of the variables in terms of the other, thus describing one aspect of their relationship to one another. By describing these relationships through mathematics, they become quantifiable and, perhaps most importantly, testable. Though at times, economists prefer to use words to describe economic relationships or behaviors, mathematics has provided the basis for advanced economic theory and even the computer modeling that some modern economists now rely upon in their research. So the  abbreviation s.t. simply provides short-hand for the writing of these equations in place of the written or spoken word to describe the mathematical relationships.

At the Turn of a Dime

The only thing I could think of as I stood at the end of the vault runway were my sweaty feet. As a nervous habit, I fidgeted, making it obvious that I felt a little uneasy. It seemed silly that I had trained so many demanding hours to perform this one vault skill, and that I was still anxious. Once I saluted the judge indicating I was ready, I thrust all negative thoughts to the back of my mind and launched into an aggressive sprint hurtling towards the vault. The next two seconds consisted of me holding my breath as I pushed off the vault table and completed a full 360 degree flip until I landed on my feet almost with ease. Immediately, I felt joy swell inside of me as I knew I had just performed the best vault I had ever done in my entire gymnastics career. As I walked back to the end of the running strip, my teammates clapped me on the back giving encouragement and support. The exhilaration I had felt after my first vault supplied me with adrenaline. When I began my second vault, I pounded down the runway with new energy and power. However, once I was in the process of flipping, I knew something was wrong. I ended up landing short, causing my ligaments to jam and tear within my left ankle. The audience that was once before bubbling with exuberance, instantly became deflated and silent as I lay there motionless on the mat. But I didn’t cry, I just gritted my teeth. I didn’t scream, I just shook my head. And I didn’t get up, I just sat there clutching my ankle with one hand while resting my head on the other, face down. Sharp pains exploded through my ankle and I could feel everyone’s stares burning a hole right through me. Needless to say, I probably scared the pants off my parents. From success to disappointment, I had learned that life could change on a dime. After this incident, I dedicated my time to my recovery and I began to understand that in the real world, people experience ups and downs too. Whether it may be about losing a job or going through a heartbreak, it’s the recuperation process that helps strengthen our character. While I was frustrated at first with my injury, I learned to cope with it and began to feel optimistic about how it could help me in the long run. I was determined to not let this slow me down, but rather build it up as a motivation and an extra push. Gymnastics has been my building blocks for life that I will continue to carry with me into the future. All the countless hours toiling away in the gym have given me the basic fundamentals for achieving accomplishments in life. I have been able to utilize these skills that I have learned, such as determination, perseverance, and time management, and use them to my advantage in school and work experiences. Getting home at a late hour every night has forced me to efficiently get my homework done since I know I don’t have a minute to spare, and when I help my parents in their flower shop, I make good use of my time. The principle of time management has been drilled into my head after so many years of steadily keeping my busy schedule on track. I have attained the qualities of patience, dedication, and focus patience in the way that I can accept the drawbacks along the way to achieve something greater, dedication in the way my willingness can persevere challenges without giving up, and focus in the way I can accomplish anything by being mentally tough. I intend to employ these attributes that I have gained from gymnastics as I begin my quest into the real world.

Business Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Theory - Essay Example As the IS curve shifts to the right the goods market will clear on a new equilibrium level E2 increasing the interest rates and the level of income. As the IS-LM model is based on the assumption of continuous market clearance in the assets markets the adjustment path is along the LM curve, as depicted in the figure below. Through the increase in the government expenditure the private investment spending falls since the interest rates get higher changing the formation of output with the increased share of larger public sector. The decrease in investment spending with an increment in the government expenditure is regarded as the notion of crowding out. With more crowding out the fiscal policy becomes more ineffective. This can be understood as, the more interest rates rise in response to the increase in government spending the more crowding out will occur and the less effective fiscal policy will be in expanding the economy. This can be graphically understood as the steeper the LM curve the greater the crowding out effect. As we know that the slope of LM curve shows the interest elasticity of the demand for money. A steeper LM curve shows that the increase or decrease in the rate of interest does not effect the demand for the real balances. For instance, the less responsive the demand for real balances to changes in interest rates the steeper the LM curve. This leads to a conclusion that in case of significant crowding out the demand for money is not affected by increase or decrease in interest rates. In this particular situation the Government can increase spending by financing it through lower the price of its bonds and hence raising the interest rate. The slope of the IS curve also depicts the effects of expansionary fiscal policy. The effects of expansionary fiscal policy also depends on the size of the shift in the IS curve arising from the government spending increase. Complete Crowding Out A vertical LM curve depicts the complete crowding out. When the LM curve is completely vertical it means that

Petroleum off shore and refineries occupational safety and health Essay

Petroleum off shore and refineries occupational safety and health hazards - Essay Example netheless, numerous provisions pertaining to occupational safety and health hazards are formulated and implemented with the intention of protecting the workers from fatal injuries and reducing exposure to health hazards substances. Petroleum off shore and refineries involves various activities which include drilling, exploration, processing, pipeline operations and extraction. Petroleum off shore and refinery operations is conducted on a global context. In this regard, the main locations that are used for petroleum as well as refineries operations are the Gulf of Mexico, the Caspian Sea, the North Sea and the South China Sea. There are other locations used for the same activities that include India, Western Canada, West Africa and Brazil to a large extent. The operations associated with petroleum along with refineries are identified to pose different types of threats and hazards in the area of biological, physical, chemical and ergonomic factors. The hazards that are associated with the offshore petroleum and refineries operations are recognized to adversely influence flora as well as fauna... In this regard, the different hazards that are associated with petroleum off shore and refineries are identified to ha rmfully affect the health of workers, communities and environment in an immense manner (Niven & McLeod, 2009). The petroleum off shore industry is identified to be operating on a global context. The petroleum off shore operations are conducted in environment ranging from the Arctic regions to the tropical regions. The operations associated with petroleum off shore pose different threats to human and natural environment in an immense manner. The off shore operations mainly pose health hazards in the field of chemical, ergonomics, physical and biological hazards (Niven & McLeod, 2009). The off shore working environment comprises different health hazards that are common for petroleum drilling and extraction industry. In this context, the workers of off shore

Segmented Marketing and Branding Big Mac Research Paper

Segmented Marketing and Branding Big Mac - Research Paper Example This paper focuses upon Big Mac, a hamburger which was introduced by McDonald’s in Pennsylvania in the year 1967 with a selling price of 45 cents. It was promulgated on a national scale in 1968. The burger was created to contend with Big Boy sandwich, a similar type of item with a bread slice in between with the purpose of holding together the stuffing and averting spill out. Over the years, it has become a signature product of the company with an exceptional brand name. It consists of two layers of beef patties merged with molten cheese and mouth watering sauce along with an onion and munch of pickle, served together in a delicious three division sesame seed bun. Iceberg Lettuce is also a core ingredient of the burger. The Big Mac is popular all over the world and is often regarded as an icon of American capitalism. In fact, the Big Mac Index is used as an indicative factor for contrasting the cost of living in countries around the world since its availability is common. This index is also considered to be Burgernomics. There exist several branding theories which identify brand as a unique feature of value proposition of a company. A branding promotion initiates with the development of a value proposition and relies on inspired apparatus along with a combination of consistency, continuity and commitment. The brand of Big Mac, ever since its establishment, has not looked back. It has been able to build its reputation not only in the United States but across 119 countries in the world. The brand of Big Mac is not just a name or a symbol. It has become a vital component of the relationship which McDonald’s has established with its consumers. For the consumers of McDonald’s in general, Big Mac, as a brand, has set its place in the hearts and minds of the consumers. For any brand, its real value exists in its ability and power to retain customer’s brand loyalty by influencing their preferences. The brand strategy of Big Mac has been so s uccessful that it has been thriving in the market as the leading hamburger choice for quite sometime. Being a powerful brand in its own domain, the brand equity of Big Mac is significant. It has been able to develop a positive differential effect upon its consumers and consequently, create a value for itself among people in different continents. McDonald’s have always made use of Big Mac’s classical taste and enriched quality in setting up its Brand Positioning. In this manner, the company has been able to devise such a competitive combination attributes, benefits, beliefs and values for the brand Big Mac that they have been able to develop the image of it in the minds of their consumers in the manner in which they wanted. Likewise, another core brand strategy

Hunting and Fishing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Hunting and Fishing - Essay Example Although fundamental for man’s survival, Culture is equally fragile as it keeps changing hence across generations, certain cultural aspects have been lost in all societies. Perhaps there are no other groups of people that have rich and much told culture like the Native Indian-Americans. They possess a great history of struggle and success and many of today’s life practices of the Americans like; teepee, peace pipe and moccasins, are borrowed from the Indian-Americans2. As noted above, Food is a fundamental aspect of every culture, hence a comprehensive study into the Indian American food related practices gives sufficient information of their cultural background. The research paper will therefore focus on one aspect of culture, hunting and fishing as a source of food and the role the two practices played within the indigenous culture of the Indian-Americans. ... Boys had to learn the hunting and fishing skills early in life. A story is told of a boy 8 years of age who in his first hunt he killed a goose, took it to his father who showed it to the whole community and at 10 years of age he killed his first Buffalo and the whole community rejoiced with the family, to Indians, successes in hunting were happiness to the whole family and community at large4. The hunting tribes’ important wild animal for hunt was the Buffalo which they hunted in twice yearly; during winter and summer. During the hunting periods, particular communities the whole village could go for hunting for fear of attack from hostile tribes, carrying all they needed for the journey in ponies putting women in charge while the rest of the luggage was buried and dug up upon return. They made camps at night and in the morning again break the camp and continue with the journey. They moved in single way and young boys kept watching for the Buffalo herds which they approached w ith great care done under the leader when spotted at a distance.5 The disparities and unity brought by hunting and fishing There were a number of ways that Native Americans obtained food key among them of which included, farming and domesticating animals, hunting, fishing in lakes and rivers and gathering wild fruits6. Majority of Native American tribes took part in fishing and hunting, the Eskimos who live far North depended on fish and hunted animals to survive, the Blackfoot & Sioux were the big game hunters who were on frequent migration to follow bison and the Chippewa who also took part in hunting to obtain food. Tlingit and Salish obtained their food from fishing in rivers and lakes.7In these earlier times there were no conventional equipments or tools,

Personal and Professional Development Assignment - 7

Personal and Professional Development - Assignment Example From this study it is clear that  the most common approaches to self-managed learning include workshops, seminars and conferences, social networks, internet, and in-service trainings. It is possible to learn through seminars, conferences and workshops because people use these forums for expressing their experiences and finding new ways of making changes for the future. Seminars, workshops, and conferences are effective in self-managed learning because they provide participants with opportunities for presenting their knowledge about various aspects to other people, who also learn new things from them.This essay declares that social networks provide additional forums for self-managed learning. Social networks include Facebook, Twitter, and My Year Book. People spend time chatting with friends and learning new inventions and information from others through their posts. The internet contains several articles written by various authors and on a variety of subjects, including accounting, management, economics, and marketing. The internet provides the most convenient source of information; knowledge from the internet learners can be transfer and put to practical applications at their workplaces. In-service trainings constitutes learning programs organizations plan, develop and administer to their employees. These programs are effective in self-managed learning because they are provided by the organization that exactly understands its needs and skill requirements.   Ã‚  

HR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

HR - Essay Example Forced ranking can be described as a controversial management tool that is employed in organizations in order to identify the best and worst workforce employees. This method of performance management is significantly efficient since; the hard working personnel are rewarded while the lazy ones are normally fired. In most cases, forced ranking is used by large business firms which are required to systematize their human resource (Bacal 59). The criteria used in determining the rank of an employee should be more qualitative rather than quantitative. In fact, the success of a business is normally measured by the quality of services provided. The higher the quality of services offered the higher the quantity of sales. Therefore, forced ranking cannot be effective in an organization whereby all the staff members are superstars. This method is valuable to the employee, since; they have to work hard in order to avoid losing their jobs. On the other hand, this method substantially benefits th e company since; they improve their presence in the market. In this context, performance management is the main topic of discussion. This presentation presents the importance of performance-appraisal systems that can be employed in an organization in order to improve the effectiveness of the firm. Performance-appraisal systems are critical in an organization because; without this strategy, the progress of the company is weakened. Therefore, most companies evaluate the performance of their staff in order to augment their sales (Bacal 48). Research asserts that performance management is quite critical. As a matter of fact, the progress of any company simply relies on the performance of its employees (Bacal 49). Therefore, if the employees are not serious with their work, they are likely to be relegated or even fired. Therefore, the evaluation of performance of an employee is critical in ensuring that he or she remains focused on his or her

Personal and Professional Development Assignment - 7

Personal and Professional Development - Assignment Example From this study it is clear that  the most common approaches to self-managed learning include workshops, seminars and conferences, social networks, internet, and in-service trainings. It is possible to learn through seminars, conferences and workshops because people use these forums for expressing their experiences and finding new ways of making changes for the future. Seminars, workshops, and conferences are effective in self-managed learning because they provide participants with opportunities for presenting their knowledge about various aspects to other people, who also learn new things from them.This essay declares that social networks provide additional forums for self-managed learning. Social networks include Facebook, Twitter, and My Year Book. People spend time chatting with friends and learning new inventions and information from others through their posts. The internet contains several articles written by various authors and on a variety of subjects, including accounting, management, economics, and marketing. The internet provides the most convenient source of information; knowledge from the internet learners can be transfer and put to practical applications at their workplaces. In-service trainings constitutes learning programs organizations plan, develop and administer to their employees. These programs are effective in self-managed learning because they are provided by the organization that exactly understands its needs and skill requirements.   Ã‚  

Strategic Research Project Essay Example for Free

Strategic Research Project Essay This paper is about a strategic overview of Medtronic Inc. Medtronic is a global leader in medical technology- alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for people with chronic conditions around the world. Medtronic conducts business in more than 120 countries developing and manufacturing a variety of products and therapies with emphasis on providing a complete continuum of care to diagnose, prevent and monitor chronic conditions. Mission Statement The mission statement of Medtronic Inc. is to contribute to human welfare by application of biomedical engineering in the research, design, manufacture, and sale of instruments or appliances that alleviate pain, restore health and extend life. It is evident that Medtronic is meeting their mission statement. Medtronic is providing doctors with new therapy procedures through their research and development. Medtronic is able to design and modify medical devices that assist and meet the needs of physicians around the world. In addition, Medtronic is conducting business in more than 120 countries and focused on preserving the lives of individuals with medical needs and plagued with chronic health conditions. Medtronic’s mission statement is firmly preserved in all of its employees around the world that want to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life.† It is apparent that Medtronic has not lost focus as to their purpose by the assistance to nearly 6 million people benefiting from therapies each year. Porter’s analysis of competition for Medtronic Inc. Rivalry among competitors Medtronic Inc. participates in the development, manufacture and marketing of medical devices. There are very few competitors in this field that include Johnson Johnson, Guidant Corp., St Jude and Boston Scientific Group. Medical devices that are developed cost a considerable amount of money and if they have to be recalled these costs have to be absorbed. These recalls are viewed by competitors as an opportunity to move in a particular direction in medical device development. Because of the threats from competitors and their debatable actions dispute resolutions often transfer  to court rooms for litigation to determine rights to patents. This often leads to the delay in product development and an increase in costs associated court determinations. Potential entry of new competitors There are several obstacles that competitors will have to overcome in in the development, manufacture and marketing of medical devices. First, The Food and Drug Administration regulations are very specific and detailed. A competitor attempting FDA approval should expect a lengthy approval process. Once an approval is obtained they are not covered against product recalls that can cost a lot of money. Furthermore, recalls can tarnish the reputation of the company leading to a loss in consumer confidence. Secondly, the design and manufacture of medical products will require a solid understanding of the management of high end technologies. Next, competitors entering the market will spend a lot of money in the Research and Development in an economy where few companies willing to invest. Potential development of substitutes products Medical devices are considered a minimally invasive form of treatment and are considered a substitute for more invasive treatment procedures used in the past. Medtronic has several departments all working on product lines and are susceptible to other companies developing similar devices with the same purpose. This drives certain secureness when new procedures and equipment are developed preventing a competitor from knowledge and profit. Bargaining power of suppliers Just as the electronic industry, medical device makers send their work to a growing industry of contract manufacturers. These manufacturers do not have a lot of bargaining power due to the low customization of their work. The device makers do not rely on one manufacturer and can easily find another. This tactic enables device makers to deal with speed-to-market and the cost associated with closing plants and laying off employees. There is not an estimated increase to the bargaining power of the suppliers because new companies are not likely to develop products overseas due to the trouble in changing contracts to foreign manufactures. Bargaining power of consumers Some hospitals organize and group together to lower costs. These enables more bargaining power over the suppliers due to their collective size. This causes competitors have also to deal with the final payers that are sometimes the insurance company that try to minimize their costs and influence the type of patient care. Even if the buyers are not directly the doctors, the suppliers have to target them since they are advisers providing influence to the decision process. This gives tremendous bargaining power over the suppliers of medical devices enabling better competition and ability to absorb the pressures of the t healthcare system. Intensive Strategy of Medtronic Medtronic has seven main divisions and combines operations into a single operating segment. Market Penetration Medtronic’s market penetration in solidified in the Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management division where it is the world’s leading supplier of pacemakers. In addition, Medtronic’s holds over 50% Implantable Cardiac Rhythm Devices (ICD) Market share which contributes to 25% of Medtronic’s overall sales. Market Development Medtronic is continually moving toward innovation through their pursuit to develop markets in areas of healthcare distribution and treatments. They are have collaborative partnerships, product development and are pilots of new business models in several developing countries. Eli Lilly Company have partnered together in the field of Drug Delivery systems. Together they are working to develop treatments for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. They are engineering implantable pumps that allow the delivery of drugs directly to a targeted area of the brain bypassing the blood-brain barrier that restricts drug therapy for these diseases. Medtronic is also collaborating with Ford Motor Company to develop and integrate medical technology with the Sync in-car system. This mobile health monitoring system will monitor chronic heart conditions, diabetes and transmit alerts if a driver health puts them in danger. Medtronic is also leading numerous cities and hospitals in India increasing patient access to cardiac therapy and improve awareness through health promotions. Through these initiatives Medtronic has assisted in the developed a tiered service and financing  program provides affordable health care. Product Development Medtronic has always led the way with many technologies and product lines, as shown with the first pacemaker in 1957. Medtronic has adopted policy that phases out its own products to make way for newer developments. Medtronic has a solid process of innovation improving their own products. This is accomplished by utilizing computer aided design systems that allow for an 80% reduction in the time required model complex designs and a 90% reduction in required production time. Medtronic’s product development reaches into marketing approaches in the areas of technical support, customer education initiatives and product line expansion and bundling. Collectively, this provides the motivation of lowering costs for product and process improvement. SWOT Analysis of Medtronic Inc. Medtronic engaged in engineering a range of medical devices and therapies. They have a large portfolio that is used to enhance its influence and market share. However, current and future health care policy changes may have a negative effect on the company. STRENGTH| WEAKNESSES| Diverse portfolio protecting risks- Strong Focus on RD capabilities- Product Innovation- Global presence with stable revenues| Issues with manufactured products and recalls reduce credibility of company| OPPORTUNITIES| THREATS| Global acquisitions prospects- Growth in emerging markets- Future product lines increase revenue and market share- positive demographics’ toward healthcare spending| Intense industrial competition in medical devices that affect share of market- Non-compliance with rules relating to reimbursement and regulation of healthcare services- Changing healthcare policies have negative affect on company| Strengths As a result of having a diverse product portfolio, Medtronic has a diversified stream of revenues and not heavily dependent on one particular business. For instance, during FY2011, the cardiac rhythm disease  management contributed 31.4% of the total revenues of the company, spinal (21.4%), cardiovascular (19.5%), neuromodulator (10.0%), diabetes (8.5%), surgical technologies (6.5%). Weakness In July 2011, Medtronic recalled its SynchroMed II implantable infusion pump because it had reduced battery performance. This recall if not corrected could lead life threatening withdraw symptoms to patients with these pumps. Opportunities Medtronic has a good track record of acquisitions. In January 2011, the company acquired Ardian, a privately-held company engaged in developing catheter-based therapies to treat hypertension and related conditions. This acquisition augmented Medtronics existing interventional therapies. Emerging markets are set to become the chronic disease centers of the world. By 2015, China and India will be the largest cardiac markets, and by 2017, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in India will increase to more than 60 million cases from 28 million cases in 2007. To exploit the growth opportunities in these markets, Medtronic is expanding its presence by building distribution, training, education, and other healthcare infrastructure needed to ensure greater access to its products and therapies. Threats Medtronic is competitive in more than 120 countries around the world and encounters opposition from various product lines and markets that similar products are sold. Major competitors from Boston Scientific, St. Jude Medical, Johnson Johnson, and Abbott Laboratories add pressure to areas of product reliability, performance, quality, and price. US Department of Health and Human Services along with foreign governments regulate the devices produced and health services provided by Medtronic to ensure the cost and quality. Recent US health care legislation and policy changes re aimed at controlling costs and limit the amount that Medtronic can charge for medical devices and therapies. This is evident when,  President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act imposing new taxes on medical device makers. Conclusion Medtronic is a world leader in medical technology- alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for people with chronic conditions. Medtronic with its relentless pursuit to bring affordable healthcare through therapy and medical devices should continue with current strategies. Over the next five years, it is beneficial for Medtronic to further explore emerging markets bringing innovative ideas to healthcare officials. Continuance in research and development will continue to reform traditional healthcare with micro-sized implant devices. Continued mission focus to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life† will further propel Medtronic as a medical development leader.

Impact Of Tourism On Penang Island Tourism Essay

Impact Of Tourism On Penang Island Tourism Essay Introduction The students of International Tourism and Hospitality Management from SEGi University College went on a case study research at Penang Island from the 12th November to the 15th November. In these 3 three days and two nights study, the students managed to interviewed as many as 60 local residents of the state to probe and investigate on the impact of tourism towards Penang Island. Literature Review- Penang Island, A Place for Tourism and Heritage! The main reason why our study trip chose Penang Island is because of the historical sites and heritage places. Penang incorporates modernity with a touch of traditions and old world charm that is sure to captivates the heart of many tourists and travelers alike. With George Town which was recently listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site makes visiting Penang an even more eventful trip. Penang also entices the tourists with its rich and plentiful scrumptious cuisines and mouth-watering food. Home to the Baba Nyonya descendants, this beautiful state is also rich with cultures and traditions all living harmoniously under the one same roof! Penang is located at the Northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Straits of Malacca. It is the second smallest state in Malaysia right after Perlis. The name Penang is actually derived from a tree called Pokok Pinang that is widely found along the sea side of Penang Island. Generally the state of Penang could be sub divided into two geographies; the Penang Island and also the Seberang Perai. Penang which is widely made out of hilly topography has a limited low land area for development hence the land reclamation project near the coastal area. In an average day, the temperature at this place varies from 27 degree Celsius to 30 degree during the day time while the night time promises a temperature from 22 degree Celsius to 24. Since Malaysia is located on the Equator line, this place has a very high humidity and the average annual rainfall is approximately 2670 mm. All in all, the students of ITHM find that Penang Island is indeed filled with abundant of cultures and traditions that many other places in Malaysia is definitely lack off. The culture and heritage sites at these beautiful places are still intact and maintained to perfection. Tourism undeniably has change the way of life for the Penangites vastly. Here I enclosed in the Itinerary of the whole 3D2N study trip of ITHM students. (*Refer to Appendix IV) Methodology Questionnaire- Method of Data Collection During the fieldtrip to Penang on the month of November, the students of ITHM manage to compile a total of 60 pieces of questionnaires per group on the impacts of tourism on Penang Island. Local residents of Penang were informed of the survey and requested to answer 10 simple questions regarding on the issue. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions divided into three parts: Impacts of tourism on local environment, impact of tourism on local people- socio-cultural, and impact of tourism on local economy. The answers to the questions are in the form of Yes or No and could be ticked in boxes. A total of 60 respondents were found and they agreed wholeheartedly to help us out on the mission to uncover the facts about tourism in Penang. Of the 60 respondents, the highest number of responses agreed that Tourism Penang has indeed brought about positive feedback on the economics of the state. Even though some respondents had difficulty understanding the questions given, but we manage to sort it out by slowly explaining to them on what the questions are all about. The analysis of the response was done in two ways. We divided our group member into two units, where one unit is assigned to complete the (i) 30 pieces of questionnaire by asking local hawker peoples opinion, whereas the remaining (ii) 30 pieces are distributed among the local residents whom are not working at the current moment. Nonetheless all of whom answered the questionnaire were from the local people of Penang Island. Discussion Tourism Development- Infrastructures   Unlike any other states in Malaysia, Penang is labelled as one of the leading destination in the country today and many tourists who visited Malaysia would definitely anticipate the visit to this very heritage site. The main reason why Penang has been where it is today is mainly because it also has a better and more developed infrastructure than most of the other places in the country.    Generally there are two stadiums located at Penang for the convenience of the locals as well as to attract tourists and outsiders to take part in any sports event over here. The City Stadium or more commonly known as Stadium Bandaraya Pulau Pinang is the first and oldest stadium which is still in use up till today. It was built by the British in 1932 and ever since then had become a popular spot for any football matches. The other stadium mentioned is the Penang State Stadium. This newly completed stadium back at the year 2000 has a capacity of 40, 000 spectators.    The next cutting edge design infrastructure built in Penang is none other than the Geodesic Dome located at Komtar.   This progressive and advance looking dome is a multipurpose hall used for official functions, performances, states events and many other event purposes. The design of this dome comes from the concept study by R. Buckminster Fuller who is the master mind behind this partial-spherical structure. The main entrance to this dome is through the level five roof top which only makes it even more appealing to the tourists and visitors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In terms of highways infrastructure, Penang is certainly quite commendable as well. Highways such as the Bayan Lepas Elevated Highway, Jelutong Expressway and Butterworth Outer Ring Road are the few expressways constructed for the convenience of the automobile users. And let us not forget about the advanced-looking Penang international airport. The Penang International Airport (PEN) is the main airport for the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. At present, the airlines flying to the Penang International Airport includes AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Firefly, Jetstar Asia, China Southern Airlines, Kartika Airlines, Lion Air, Malaysia Airlines, Silkair, Singapore Airlines, Sriwijaya Air, Thai Airways and Tiger Airways. This airport is also known as the fourth biggest airport in Malaysia after KLIA, Kota Kinabalu International Airport and Kuching International Airport. It has also been awarded as the Airport of the Year for 20 09 Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific Aerospace and Defence for airports for the category of below 15-million-passenger. Economic Impact of Tourism The main economic development in Penang would most certainly relies on the tourism sector as it turns out that this sector yield major contribution towards the income and financial growth of the state. Based on the record by the Tourism Ministry, Penang has recorded a 40 per cent increase in the number of international tourist arrivals between January and June this year (2010). There were 405,932 tourists up till June, as compared to 244,146 in the same period last year. Of the tourist arrivals, Indonesians topped the list at over 92,000, followed by Singaporeans (51,392), China (16,000), Australia, Japan, Latin America and India (12,000 each), United States (10,000) and Middle East countries (1,360). The economic benefits of tourism were readily acknowledged by research participants in this study. Nearly everyone interviewed agreed that tourism led to the creation of jobs and it somewhat turns out to be the main source of income for most of the family as well. Residents of the communities commented that tourism often brings about positive feedbacks on the economics of the state and the standard of living too. A resident of the local neighbouring town said that, Without tourism, the economy would be stagnant. Another resident also noted, With the existence of tourism in Penang, we get to enjoy many top notch facilities and infrastructures such as the better public transportation system and the Penang stadium. For some there was a sense of certainty about the likelihood of tourism flourishing in this state. With so many demands from tourists all over the world, regardless of domestic or international, many believed that tourism was expected to take place whether or not local reside nts desired it. The Swettenham Cruise Terminal which was recently redevelopment has added an extra entry point into the island. Based on the statistic from Penang Economics Monthly April 2010 Issue 4.10, it states that in year 2009, a total of 680, 000 cruise passengers are recorded to have arrived in Penang. It has been estimated that this year at least 890, 000 numbers of tourists will turn up. The average cruise passenger spends anywhere between US$85 (rm280) to US$115 (rm350) a day when they come on land. Thats not bad considering they are in Penang for less than 12 hours. Penangs the perfect destination for cruise passengers with limited time, the minute they step off the pier, theyre already in a World Heritage Site, said Battistotti, PGT director, who is also the chairman of the Malaysian Association of Hotels (Penang chapter) and the General Manager of G Hotel. Another factor that contributes to Penangs thriving economic from the tourism sector is no doubt the Tourism Malaysias active courtship of the Middle Eastern market. It has been clear that 11th September incidence is a significant factor influencing the increase of Middle Eastern tourist arrivals to Malaysia. There are however other factors such as tourist expenses in Malaysia, tourist income, travelling expenses and the standard of living in this country that affect vastly on the number of tourists arrivals as well. Based on the work done by Norlida Hanim Mohd Salleh (2010, pp. 37-52), she mention that, The importance of the Middle East tourists to the Malaysian tourism industry can be viewed from several indicators such as number of tourist arrivals, tourism receipts, the average length of stay and potential of future tourism market. She also mentioned that the average spending of the Middle Easterners have a higher purchasing power than other tourists over here. According to the c ase study, the average expenditure of the Middle Easterners was RM3, 503 during the year 2003 whereas tourists from other places only spent RM2, 013. In general, tourism has a variety of economic impact on the Penang Island. All these could be explained using the Multiplier Effects Theory. From the work done by Daniel J. Stynes (1997, pp. 11-14), he mentioned that; The most direct effects occur within the primary tourism sectors lodging, restaurants, transportation, amusements, and retail trade. Through secondary effects, tourism affects most sectors of the economy The study might use a sales multiplier of 2.0 to indicate that each dollar of direct sales generates another dollar in secondary sales in this region. This clearly shows us that tourism the main the effect of this Multiplier theory where with tourism it brings about the development of other industries as well such as restaurants, shopping malls, and theme parks. However there are still numerous negative impacts of tourism for Penang Island. For one, a country that relies on tourism industry alone as their main source of revenue could be risky and dangerous. Economic dependence should always be versatile and all-rounded in order for a state to prosper and flourish. This is because tourism business is very seasonal. During peak season, tourist arrivals will increase tremendously especially during the year end period. Conversely the number of tourist will dropped drastically during off-peak season. And this can post immerse danger to the states wellbeing as it might create a high rate of unemployment. Environment Impacts of Tourism    It is important to understand that although tourism has boosted the economics of Penang vastly but one shall never forget on the value of the environment and natural habitat of the very island. For what we know, land is a very scarce resource in Penang Island. This is mainly due to the fact that Penang is largely made up of hilly topography and most of the low land area has already been accommodated and developed.    Based on the research done by Ngai Weng Chan (1998, pp: 305-318), he also mentioned that the efforts at industrialization and the development of other economic sectors had bring about the improvement of the states urbanization. Unfortunately this had also caused greater pressure on the land usage. As a result, the Government act upon on the land reclamation as a solution but it is still not enough to satisfy the high demand for land in the island. At present, many developers have already resort to the remaining hill land and also the reclamation area on the island for their next huge projects. Example of such project would be the Waterfront City Project (*refer to appendix I), which represents one of the highest proportions of leisure-based services anywhere in South East Asia. Promising as it may seem, this project which is to be built on the 338 acres of reclaimed land along Penangs eastern coastline will majorly impact on the condition and status of the islands wellbeing. To begin with, placing fill in a reclamation area could disturb the water quality of the adjoining sea as well as threatening the flourishing existence of fish stocks and habitats found in coastal seas and connecting lochs and lagoons. Another example of project built without the heed and consideration of the environmental issues would be the Tanjung Bungah suburb which is situated between Georgetown and Batu Ferringhi. This village was built at the hill land areas which could post many dangers to the environment and also on the inhabitants over there. Based on the journal written by Adrian M. Steinberg (2010, pp. 318-340), he mentioned that, There are many environment risk by project at hill site areas in Tanjung Bungah, Batu Ferringhi. Tanjung Bungah used to be a peaceful village only lodged by small groups of families and fishermen. However over the years, many huge corporate chose this very spot to build commercial buildings for tourism purposes. Example of these recreational structures includes the Tanjung Bungah Floating Mosque and also the Penang Water Sport Centres. Hence, the quality of the sea water deteriorates due to the discharge of raw sewage and the resulting pollution makes it a breeding ground for jelly fish. As a result, the sea all along the northern belt is no longer suitable for swimming anymore.   Penang Hill which is another famous tourist destination spot is an example of tourism development at hill land area. Located high above the land, Penang Hill is perfect as a holiday sanctuary due to the breezy and cooler environment. The state Government permitted this development because it brings forth higher monetary and fiscal policy to the states economy. Based on another case study by Ngai Weng Chan (1998, pp. 14-27), he mentioned that, Massive hill development, especially the clearing of vegetation and the cutting of hill slopes will bring about increased and accelerated run-off, increased soil erosion and a high probability of landslips and landslides. In the event of heavy rainfall, such as that which coincided with Tropical Storm Ryan on 18 September 1995, landslips and landslides would occur. In fact, a total of about 60 landslides were reported along roads on Penang Hill and its vicinity after the heavy rainfall during the above storm. This clearly shows that without a proper planning and preparation, many inadvertent events might occur. Paya Terubong used to be a predominantly agriculture area. As the years gone by, it slowly turns into a working-class neighbourhood in the central part of Penang Island. Based on a case study by Ngai Weng Chan (1998, pp. 14-27), he found that there is a total of 60 landslides reported along the roads of Penang Hill after the destructive Tropical Storm Ryan which happened back at 18 September 1995. Landslides not only harm the residents of an area but, in fact, it post tremendous dangers to motorists as well. In addition, it might pollute the river and in long-term run, may results in flood at low land area. The massive expansion project at Paya Terubong is the most apparent example of hill land development at Penang which is rather an impulsive and foolish action. The project which mostly accentuate on housing, infrastructure and a new township is actually one of the main tourist attraction at Penang Island at current. According to the Malaysian Law however, hill land with slopes of more than 20 degrees should be safeguard and conserved in its natural state, generally as a forest reserves. Ngai also stated in his case study that the Paya Terubong hill land development is a major failure of the state island by saying, According to the Consumer Association of Penang (in its April 1996 issue), the Paya Terubong housing project is an invitation to a disaster, possibly comparing the Majestic Heights as similar to the Highland Towers which collapsed in 1993. Soon after this report, the extensive mudflows occurred in early May 1996. Chan (1997) has demonstrated how rapid development on the hill slopes of the Paya Terubong valley in Penang has given rise to landslides, mudflows, sedimentation of rivers and downstream flooding. (*refer to Appendix II) Culture and Heritage Impacts of Tourism Even though the official religion of the country and state is Islam, the residents in Penang are all given the freedom and rights to follow on their personal beliefs. Buddhism is still the main religion over here. As such, the Peranakan or more commonly known as the Baba Nyonyas made 5% out of the 2 million residents of Penang. The Baba Nyonya is actually a descendent of the Chinese immigrants who partially adopt Malay customs with a touch of Chinese as well. This made the Penang Island rich with an abundant of cultures and traditions. For Penang Global Tourisms (PGT) new managing director Ooi Geok Ling, she exclaimed that if she were to describe Penang as a dish, she would go for the Rojak; All the individual fruits and veggies retain their individualism, and the rojak sauce brings everything together. This is what makes Penang so unique, our diversity and our pride in being Penangites. This clearly indicates that Penang has a presence of people from so many ethnicities and religions living together in harmony. All these could be reflected in the many festivities that are being celebrated throughout the year, ranging from the Chinese New Year to the Indian Festival, Thaipusam. Besides, Pesta Pulau Penang which is an annual carnival event makes the city all vibrant and vivacious. Besides that, Penang is also famous with the Dragon Boat Festival. Since 1979, it has been a culture to hold the International Dragon Boat Festival over the Teluk Bahang Dam. Besides attracting international tourists during the period of this event, this amazing festival also strengthens and tightens the bonds between the each and every citizen. Another remarkable festival held yearly over this state would none other be the Chingay Festival. This interesting event which all started back at 1919 to celebrate on the birthday of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy displays a wonderful act of skill in the form of a procession. (*refer to Appendix III) George Towns entry into the Unesco World Heritage Sites listing is a big recognition of Penangs unique history. This big recognition was declared back at July 2008. George Town which was one if the first British colonies to be established back many years ago is indeed filled with many historical sites. Besides that, Penang is also famous for many other historical sites that some even dated back at centuries ago. All these factors contributed to the rising numbers of tourist arrivals into the state regardless of domestic or non-domestic. Conclusion After all the investigations done on the impact of tourism on Penang Island, we found that tourism has indefinitely brought about many changes to the used-to-be-peaceful island. The most apparent changes would definitely be on the environment of the island. Noted as one of the best and most relaxing destination in Malaysia, Penang was once a very serene and calming place to holiday at. Currently however, many unplanned and unorganized development had cause many environment degradation. In terms of states economic, there is no doubt that tourism plays a major role in sustaining the monetary of the country. Tourism brings positive impact on economy by providing more job employment for the local peoples. With proper action and care from the Government and the residents of the state. Penang will definitely continue to flourish and blossom into a more majestic and magnificent state in Malaysia!