Development Theories

Erik Erikson elaborated Freud's genital stage  in adolescence, and added three stages of adulthood (William, 2011). The eight stages according to Mcleod are: Trust Versus Mistrust (birth – 1 year), Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (2 – 3 years), Initiative vs. Guilt (3 – 5 years), Industry (competence) vs. Inferiority (6 – 12 years), Identity vs. Role Confusion (13 – 18 years), Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood), Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood) and Ego Integrity vs. Despair (old age). I am going to discuss the first two.At infancy, children learn to trust or/and mistrust people and environment. I still have family members I am uncomfortable being around because they use to tickle me as a child. Now there is always a sense of mistrust when I am around them. As toddlers, (18 months-3 years) take pride in self and learn to face fears or self-doubt. This is the stage where we gain sphincter control and begin potty training. If our car egivers are overly critical or impatient, or if they demean our efforts, we develop feelings of shame and doubt.After my mum showed me a few times how to go potty, I would tell her I did not want her in the toilet and I could do it myself. This gave me a sense of autonomy and self-esteem. For Erikson, psychosocial development involves certain crises which the individual must face at each stage. Reference McLeod, S. A. (2008). Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Stages. Retrieved from  http://www. simplypsychology. org/Erik-Erikson. html#sthash. dBmFr2FJ. dpbs Crain, William (2011). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications (6th ed. ).

A Brief History Of The Internet Origins

By default, any definitive history of the Internet must be short, since the Internet (in one form or another) has only been in existence for less than 30 years. The first iteration of the Internet was launched in 1971 with a public showing in early 1972. This first network, known as ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency NETwork) was very primitive by today's standards, but a milestone in computer communications. ARPANET was based upon the design concepts of Larry Roberts (MIT) and was fleshed out at the first ACM symposium, held in Gaithersburg, TN in 1966, although RFPs weren't sent out until mid 1968. The Department of Defense in 1969 commissioned ARPANET, and the first node was created at the University of California in Los Angeles, running on a Honeywell DDP-516 mini-computer. The second node was established at Stanford University and launched on October first of the same year. On November 1, 1969, the third node was located at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the fourth was opened at the University of Utah in December. By 1971 15 nodes were linked including BBN, CMU, CWRU, Harvard, Lincoln Lab, MIT, NASA/Ames, RAND, SDC, SRI and UIU(C). In that same year, Larry Roberts created the first email management program. As a side note, Ray Tomlinson is the person who established the â€Å"@† sign as a domain/host designator from his Model 33 Teletype. The first international connection to ARPANET is established when the University College of London is connected in 1973, and RFC-454 â€Å"File Transfer Protocol† was published. 1973 was also the year that Dr. Robert Metcalf's doctoral thesis outlined the specifications for Ethernet. The theory was tested on Xerox PARCs computers. 974 saw the launch of TELNET public packet data service. UUCP (Unix-to-Unix Copy Protocol) was developed at AT&T Bell Labs in 1976, and distributed with UNIX the following year. 1978 saw the split of TCP into TCP and IP. In 1979 the first MUD (Multi-User Domain) was created by Dr. Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw from the University of Essex, and was the foundation for multi-player games (among other things). This event marked the gradual decline of productivity over the Internet. In 1981 a cooperative network between CUNY (City University of New York) and Yale was established. This network was called BITNET (Because It's There NETwork) and was designed to provide electronic mail transfer and list serve services between the two institutions. RFC-801 â€Å"NCP/TCP Transition Plan† was published that same year. It was because of the growing interconnectivity of new networks that the phrase â€Å"Internet† was coined in 1982, and the Department of Defense also declared TCP/IP to be its defacto standard. The first name server was developed in 1983 at the University of Wisconsin, allowing users to access systems without having to know the exact path to the server. 1983 also saw the transition from NCP to TCP/IP, and it was at this same time that ARPANET was split into ARPANET and MILNET. 68 of the current 113 existing nodes were assigned to MILNET. It was also in 1983 that a San Francisco programmer, Tom Jennings wrote the first FidoNet Bulletin Board System, which was capable of allowing both email and message passing over the Internet between networked BBSs by 1988. In 1984, the number of hosts on the Internet broke 1000, and DNS (Domain Name Services) was introduced. Moderated newsgroups also made their first appearance this year, although it would be almost a year and a half before NNTP (Network New Transfer Protocol) would be introduced. In 1985, the WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) was launched out of Sausalito California, allowing San Francisco Bay Area users free access to the Internet. The Internet had grown so fast, and to such large proportions by this time that some control was needed to oversee its expansion, so in 1986, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) came into existence under the IAB. 1988 Saw the advent of IRC (Internet Relay Chat), developed by Jarkko Oikarinen, and it can be safely assumed that the first â€Å"Hot Chat† took place very shortly afterwards. By 1989 the number of Internet hosts had capped 100,000, and the first commercial Internet mail service was created by MCI. In 1990, ARPANET was finally closed down and ceased to exist. Two other notable events this year include the release of ARCHIE by Peter Deutsch, Alan Emtage, and Bill Heelan at McGill, and the first remotely controlled machine to be linked to the Internet; a toaster (controlled by SNMP). 1991 was the year what WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers), was released by Brewster Kahle, of Thinking Machines Corporation; Paul Lindner and Mark P. McCahill released Gopher from the University of Minnesota, and most notably, World-Wide Web was released by Tim Berners-Lee of CERN. By 1992 the number of hosts on the Internet had exceeded 1,000,000 and the first MBONE audio multicast was made. In 1993 InternNIC was created by, the National Science Foundation (NSF). InterNIC provided a centralized organization for domain name registration, and continues to regulate that function today. As the great, unwashed hordes began to flood into the Internet, it was only natural that vendors would soon follow. So in 1995, the first Internet based â€Å"shopping mall† was opened on the World Wide Web. It was also in this year that the World Wide Web edged out FTP as the most popular service on the Internet. In 1995, Compuserve, America Online and Prodigy opened up Internet access portals, and hundreds of thousands of commercial users flooded into what had previously been the private domain of veteran computer users. The average IQ dropped dramatically at this point. Since 1995, some of the new and/or emerging technologies have included Server Push, Multicasting, Streaming Media, E-Commerce, ASP and XML. Although the Internet started out of military necessity, it is doubtful that its creators could envision its impact, not only on the American culture or the world in general, but on the future of the human race. The Internet will continue to grow and evolve in the years to come, becoming an indispensable channel of communication and a catalyst for human evolution.

Power of One

Chapter One Summary On his Granpa's farm in the province of Natal in South Africa, an unnamed blonde infant is suckled by his black Zulu nanny. She sings to him of warriors and women washing at the baboons' water hole. At five, the little boy's mother has a nervous breakdown and he is sent to an Afrikaans boarding school. He is the youngest student by two years, and is hated because he is the only English-speaker in the school, which makes him a â€Å"rooinek† (Afrikaans for â€Å"redneck,† a derogatory term for the British, inherited from the Boer War).Two eleven-year-olds put the little boy to trial – he is made to kneel naked in the shower, where he says a prayer to his Zulu nanny instead of to God. The Judge, along with his â€Å"council of war†, pee on the boy. The little boy has never seen a shower before – his nanny always washed him in a tin tub. The matron of the hostel, simply called â€Å"Mevrou† (â€Å"Missus† in Afrikaans) , smells the pee on the boy and drags him to the showers. She switches on the cold faucet, but the boy thinks that she too must be peeing on him. The Judge asks the boy why he wets his bed. The boy cannot answer.The Judge pulls down the boy's pants, and the kids all look and laugh at his â€Å"hatless snake† – his circumcised penis. They all chant â€Å"pisskop† (â€Å"pisshead†), which becomes his nickname. The Judge now displays his own large, uncircumcised penis. The little boy manages to whittle the tortures down to one hour a day. His bedwetting still lingers, however, causing him shame and misery. Mevrou examines his bed every morning and sends him to wash the rubber sheet until his hands reek of the carbolic soap. The boy learns that he needs to adopt a camouflage in order to cope. As part of this camouflage, he resolves never to cry.This decision infuriates the Judge. The boy gains some respect from the other kids for holding the school record for the largest number of beatings, yet they continue to ostracize and torment him verbally and physically. At the end of the first term, the boy's district doctor and the flyhalf for the Northern Transvaal rugby team, Dr. Henny Boshoff, picks him up to drive him home to his Granpa, and nanny on the farm. The Judge, impressed by this grand exit from the school, promises the boy better treatment after the holidays. Dr. Henny tells the boy that his mother is recovering from her reakdown, but is not ready to return home yet. It is late summer, and on the farm, the black women spend their days singing as they gather cotton. Nanny prays for Inkosi-Inkosikazi, the great black medicine man, to visit them to solve the little boy's bedwetting problem. Inkosi-Inkosikazi eventually arrives in a black Buick. The women gather gifts of food for him, among them being some â€Å"kaffir chickens,† not quite dead. One of the chickens reminds the boy of his Granpa. The only difference rests in the eyes: the cock has beady eyes whereas the boy's Granpa has eyes â€Å"intended for gazing over soft English landscapes. The boy's Granpa despises Shangaan people (one of the black tribes of South Africa), but he respects the Zulu medicine man, Inkosi-Inkosikazi, who once cured his gallstones. Inkosi-Inkosikazi is considered the last of the sons of the famous Zulu king, Dingaan, who fought off both British and Boers (Afrikaners). The boy's Granpa welcomes him to the farm. Inkosi-Inkosikazi orders the black women to let the chickens loose and catch them a second time. Then he uses â€Å"low-grade magic† to put them to sleep. He beckons the boy to sit with him on the â€Å"indaba† (meeting) mat – a great honor, since only chiefs are allowed to sit on these mats.Inkosi-Inkosikazi now summons Nanny to tell the boy's bedwetting story in Shangaan. Nanny brings the women to tears with her impressive elocutionary skills. Dee and Dum, the twin kitchen maids, are dazzled by Nanny's story. But Inkosi-Inkosikazi simply scratches his backside and orders â€Å"kaffir beer. † That night Nanny hugs Peekay, telling him he has brought honor on her by allowing her to show that a Zulu woman can rival Shangaans in tale-telling. The following day Inkosi-Inkosikazi's magic Ox shinbones tell him to visit the boy in his dreams. In his dreams, the boy must leap over three waterfalls and cross ten stones of a river.Inkosi-Inkosikazi puts the boy to sleep and speaks him through the dream landscape, calling him the â€Å"little warrior of the king. † Then he wakes the boy and tells him that he can always find him in the â€Å"night country. † Inkosi-Inkosikazi now teaches the boy his magic chicken trick and gives him one of the chickens – the one that looks like his Granpa – on which to practice. The boy names the chicken Granpa Chook. Analysis The novel opens with the startling image of a blonde boy being suckled by a black wet nur se. We are immediately confronted with the issue of race, and more specifically of idiosyncratic racial relationships.The voice narrating-that of the protagonist Peekay-is critical of any racial intolerance it encounters. A reflection on Afrikaners' hatred for the English, spawned during the time of the Boer War, ushers in the description of five-year-old Peekay's arrival at boarding school. As the narrator explains, the Boer War (1899–1902) was fought between the Boers (the Afrikaans-speakers of South Africa) and the British (the English- speakers of South Africa) for full possession of the country. Both Boers and British believed themselves to be the rightful inheritors of South Africa.It witnessed the first concentration camps in the world—the British confined the Boers to these concentration camps, where twenty-six thousand men, women, and children died. The derogatory Afrikaans term â€Å"rooinek† (redneck)-used to describe the British-was coined at the tim e of the war since the necks of the British burnt crimson under the hot African sun. By introducing the historical conflict between the two â€Å"white tribes† of South Africa, Peekay reminds readers that racial tension goes beyond difference in skin color-in his words, it enters the â€Å"bloodstream,† and extends to all kinds of cultural and ideological differences.He subtly critiques this inherited â€Å"hatred,† which the descriptions of his torture at the hands of the boarding school boys serve to illustrate. Peekay's adult voice uses hyperbole, or exaggeration, to describe the torture sessions the Judge and his â€Å"council of war† forced upon his five-year-old self. The military and legal metaphors that Peekay uses seem apt when one considers the extreme violence exercised upon the boy-he is urinated on, caned, and severely beaten. Moreover, many of the terms-such as â€Å"standing trial† and â€Å"passing sentence†-are the boys' own invention.We are required to compare the cruel imagination of the boarding school boys with the imagination Peekay discovers at the end of the novel through Inkosi-Inkosikazi. While the narrator keeps an ironic distance between himself and the younger self he is narrating (demonstrated by the narrator's sophisticated vocabulary such as â€Å"stentorian† and â€Å"carbolic†), he often portrays events through five-year-old eyes. He introduces the theme of the difficulty of defining death by providing us with young Peekay's thoughts on the topic: â€Å"I wasn't quite sure what death was.I knew it was something that happened on the farm in the slaughterhouse to pigs†¦ The squeal from the pigs was so awful that I knew it wasn't much of an experience, even for pigs. † The latter quotation also reveals the narrator's sense of humor-throughout the novel, the narrator finely balances tragedy and comedy, suggesting that laughing is sometimes the only way of coping w ith adversity. Chapter Two Summary The holidays end. The little boy's bedwetting problem is solved, but he remains concerned about his â€Å"hatless snake,† even though he recalls that Inkosi-Inkosikazi assured him they shared that anatomical trait.Nanny packs the boy's bags, and includes a red sweater that his mother sent from â€Å"the nervous breakdown place. † They drive in Granpa's Model A Ford truck with Mrs. Vorster, the neighboring widow. The boy, his nanny, and Granpa Chook travel in the back. Nanny is going to town in order to send money to her family in Zululand since there has been a drought. They arrive at the boarding school early, so the boy and Granpa Chook perch in the boy's secret mango tree. Later, the boy leaves Granpa Chook in a clearing in a citrus orchard while he visits Mevrou—he reports that he no longer has a bedwetting problem.Mevrou answers that her â€Å"sjambok† (caning stick) will be lonely. On returning to the clearing, the boy watches Granpa Chook fight a grass snake. The chicken wins, biting off and eating the snake's head. The boy hangs this second â€Å"hatless snake† from a branch near his dormitory window. That night the other kids return. The Judge and his â€Å"jury† beat the boy up for comparing the Judge's new arm tattoo to a â€Å"kaffir† woman's face tattoos. The Judge boasts that his tattoo is a swastika, the symbol of Adolf Hitler. He tells the boy that Adolf Hitler is going to help the Afrikaners exterminate the English.All the boys swear death to all Englishmen in South Africa. Afterwards, the little boys try to figure out who Hitler is. Danie Coetzee, the little boys' spokesman, guesses that it is the new headmaster. That night the little boy experiences â€Å"the loneliest moment that had ever been. â€Å"The next morning, Granpa Chook wakes everyone up with his cock-a-doodle-doing on the boy's windowsill. When Mevrou enters, she notices the â€Å"chicken shit † on the boy's bed and canes him. She wants to butcher Granpa Chook, but when the chicken kills two cockroaches in her defense, she gives him the position of â€Å"cleaner of creepy-crawlies† in the kitchen.Months pass. The boy–still only known to us as â€Å"Pisskop†Ã¢â‚¬â€œbecomes the Judge's servant. In class, Pisskop quickly learns to read Afrikaans and becomes the best in his class in all subjects, even though he is the other boys' junior by two years. In addition to English and Afrikaans, he also speaks the African languages of Zulu and Shangaan fluently. However, aware that his intelligence may be detrimental to his safety, he pretends not to be as clever as he actually is. World War II arrives. A new headmaster comes.The old headmaster, who has a drinking problem, leaves, but only after announcing the â€Å"good news† that Hitler will save the Afrikaners and destroy the English. The Judge warns Pisskop that he will be the first of their pris oners of war. In class, Pisskop's ear gets mauled when the new teacher, Miss du Plessis, hits him for pretending not to know the twelve times table. Then she faints. Another teacher, Mr. Stoffel throws Pisskop against a wall and blames him for killing the teacher. When Pisskop wakes up, he is relieved to find that Dr. Henny is looking after him.Mevrou makes Pisskop lie to Dr. Henny and say that he fell out of a tree. Miss du Plessis has a nervous breakdown and a new teacher, Mrs. Gerber, arrives. Pisskop believes that he has caused both his mother's and Miss du Plessis' breakdowns. Analysis Chapter Two explains the title of the book and introduces us to the novel's main theme: the importance of independence. The five-year-old Pisskop has already learned the necessity of developing an independent spirit within himself. His experiences show him that he cannot rely on anyone at the boarding school; he must nourish this power on his own.Adaptation, or survival through camouflage, is as important as independence for survival. The boy, whose constant consideration of how to cope with his difficult life makes the novel's style approach a kind of stream-of-consciousness, believes that he must camouflage his brilliant mind. He asks himself questions such as â€Å"How could you go wrong with a friend like [Granpa Chook] at your side? † He also occasionally uses the imperative voice, as though counseling himself: â€Å"†¦adapt, blend, become part of the landscape, develop a camouflage,†¦try in every way to be an Afrikaner. In some senses, the author keeps the boy camouflaged from us as well. For example, we are implicated in referring to him as â€Å"Pisskop† or â€Å"rooinek† since we have no other name for him. The notion of naming-as- identifying becomes a vital issue in this novel, where white people do not distinguish between black peoples, but instead clump them all together under the derogatory term â€Å"kaffirs. † Naming so meone else is a powerful tool for establishing identity–as a bedwetter, an English-speaker, or a black person.With the continuation from Chapter 1 of the little boy's education, the novel begins to suggest that its genre is that of the â€Å"bildungsroman†-a novel which follows a protagonist from early childhood to maturity. The fact that the novel is narrated by the protagonist-as-adult from some safe point in the future confirms this genre. The narrator tells the events as he perceived them through his five-year-old eyes, but at the same time gives glimpses of his mature perspective on the events. For example, there is wry irony in the description of how the little boys agree that the new headmaster must be Adolf Hitler.The narrator does not contradict the boys' view, but allows the reader to chuckle at the misunderstandings of young minds. The protagonist already begins to stand out, however; in spite of his naivete, his observations are often uncannily accurate. We are by no means to mock the boy, but rather to marvel at his resilience in this tough world. The narrator confronts the reader with the nastiness of the situation through vivid, immediate story-telling through an abundance of dialogue. The language is often shocking or crude-at one point the five-year-old Pisskop exclaims to himself, â€Å"What a shit of a day already! At other times, however, Pisskop does not possess enough vocabulary to describe the experiences with which he is confronted-for example, he refers to the mental institution simply as â€Å"the nervous breakdown place. † Chapter Three Summary The Judge and his jury interrogate the boy about why his names are â€Å"Pisskop† and â€Å"rooinek. † The Judge pulls down the boy's pajama pants and tells him he is an English â€Å"rooinek† because his â€Å"snake has no hat. † Boers, in contrast, have hats on their snakes. The boy's punishment is to march around the playground every day, co unting backwards from five thousand.However, he actually spends this time doing the Judge's homework in his head. The boy helps the Judge with his homework, reasoning that if the Judge passes the school exams, the boy will no longer have to deal with him. He manages to convince the Judge to allow him to become his full-time homework helper. He realizes, however, that the teacher Mr. Stoffel will smell foul play if the Judge's mental ability drastically improves. The Judge compliments the boy for being a â€Å"slimmertjie† (a little clever one). In return for the help, the Judge annuls the marching after school, and promises not to tell Hitler about the boy.Everything seems to be proceeding more smoothly for the boy and Granpa Chook. The boys hear that Newcastle disease has erupted on a chicken farm nearby. The boy worries about his Granpa, his mother, and himself. He ardently wishes to live with his nanny in Zululand, hidden from Hitler. The Judge reports news of the war, sin ce Mr. Stoffel allows him to listen to his radio. Hitler has taken Poland, which the boy thinks must be in South Africa, owned by the â€Å"Po† tribe. No one explains to him that South Africa is on England's side. The Judge holds â€Å"war councils† behind the school toilets.The senior hostel boys are called â€Å"storm troopers. † The boy and Granpa Chook are the â€Å"prisoners of war† and are tortured and interrogated. The boy must submit to â€Å"Chinese torture†-that is, holding an iron bar with his arms stretched out in front of him-and â€Å"shooting practice,† where he holds tin cans into which the storm troopers catapult stones. In the interrogation, the boy is forced to call his mother a â€Å"whore† who sleeps with â€Å"kaffirs. † They burn him and put biting ants in his pants, but nothing they do can make him cry. The boy's stoicism infuriates them.The boy admits to us those he only cries inwardly-in the â€Å"nig ht country. â€Å"The school term draws to a close. Mr. Stoffel holds up the Judge as an example of academic improvement. The Judge shows no gratitude to the boy for his help. Instead, during a final torture session, he tries to make the boy eat human feces. The boy refuses, keeping his mouth tightly shut. The Judge thus rubs the feces into the boy's teeth, lips, face, and hair. As the Judge cries â€Å"Hail Hitler! † to the skies, Granpa Chook defecates into the Judge's open mouth. In retaliation, the Judge catapults a stone into the â€Å"kaffir chicken rooinek,† breaking his ribcage.The boy begs them not to kill Granpa Chook, but they pelt the chicken to death. The boy cries for the first time-thus ending the drought in Zululand. He gives Granpa Chook a fine burial, and covers his battered body with stones. The â€Å"loneliness bird† settles inside the boy. At dinner that night, the boy is told he must visit Mevrou in the dispensary after the meal. Analysis Chapter Three adds the notion of an inner and an outer self to the theme of the power of one. Pisskop learns how to lead a double life–how to be â€Å"in two places at once†Ã¢â‚¬â€œso that he can appear to have a tough exterior, while hiding his vulnerable interior.In fact, everything that the boy has learnt in Chapter One and Two becomes complicated in Chapter Three. Suddenly the Judge shows glimpses of humanity by treating the boy â€Å"not entirely without sympathy. † Although the litotes-or double negative of â€Å"not entirely without sympathy† indicates that the Judge has only microscopically improved his behavior, it nevertheless shows that the boy has learnt that this is not a clear-cut fight between good and evil, Afrikaners and English, black and white.Bathos, or anti- climax, also serves to highlight that the boy's torturers are human beings, not nameless demons: at the end of Chapter Three we finally learn that the Judge has a name–Jaap ie Botha. While the boy realizes that his imagination is his one way out of the horror of his life, at the same time he has to recognize that â€Å"imagination is always the best torturer. â€Å"As the first person narrator, the boy describes not only the events of his early life, but all his emotions and philosophies. He shares with us universally valid musings that he has extracted from his experience: â€Å"One thing is certain in life.Just when things are going well, soon afterward they are certain to go wrong. It's just the way things are meant to be. † The reader's compassion, or sense of pathos, for the protagonist increases because the descriptions of his neglect by his mother are subtle. Instead of blaming other people, Pisskop becomes everyone's scapegoat. We learn that no one has recognized his birthday when he remarks, in a non-accusatory tone: â€Å"I had turned six but nobody had told me, so in my head, I was still five. † Chapter Four Summary After din ner in the boarding house, the boy visits Mevrou.She hands him a train ticket to Barberton, a small town in the Eastern Transvaal province. The journey will take two days and two nights. The boy's Granpa had to sell his farm to their neighbor, Mrs. Vorster, because Newcastle disease killed off his chickens. The following day from his secret mango tree, the boy watches the other kids leave. Then Mevrou marches him off to buy â€Å"tackies† (sneakers) at the Jew Harry Crown's shop. The boy has never owned shoes before–on the farm, the kids simply wore khaki shorts, shirts, and a sweater if it was cold. When they arrive at Harry Crown's shop, it is closed.Mevrou sends the boy to wash his feet at a garage, and the boy notices a sign above a workshop entrance that reads â€Å"BLACKS ONLY. † He wonders why whites are forbidden there. Harry Crown, jaunty and jocular, arrives. He brews up some coffee for Mevrou and gives the boy a raspberry sucker. He expresses shock wh en, on asking the boy his name, he replies â€Å"Pisskop. † With the money the boy's Granpa has sent, Mevrou buys him some tackies which are two times too big for his feet-she stuffs them with balls of newspaper so they will fit. Pisskop feels grand in them, even though he can barely walk.Harry Crown packs four more suckers into the shoe box while Mevrou is not looking. He also invents a new, more sanitary name for the boy-Peekay. The boy likes the name and decides to adopt it for himself. That evening Mevrou takes Peekay to the train station. She puts his Granpa's change-a shilling-into a pocket on his clothes. When the train arrives, the stationmaster introduces Peekay and Mevrou to the train guard, Hoppie Groenewald, who he says is â€Å"champion of the railways. † Peekay trips up the train steps because of his tackies getting in the way but Hoppie kindly gathers him up in his arms.Hoppie keeps Peekay company in the train compartment, and allows him to take of the t ackies. Peekay asks Hoppies about the sepia photographs hung on the walls- they show Cape Town and Table Mountain. This sets Hoppie off talking about how he almost competed in the National railways boxing championships in Cape Town. He begins giving Peekay a boxing lesson, slipping some leather boxing gloves onto Peekay's hands. Although the gloves are far too big, they feel comfortable to Peekay. Peekay secretly delights that Hoppie may be able to each him how to defend himself against the likes of the Judge. Hoppie tells Peekay that when he grows up he will be the welterweight champion of South Africa. He urges Peekay to start boxing lessons as soon as he arrives in Barberton. When the train refuels at Tzaneen, Hoppie treats Peekay to a mixed grill at the Railway Cafe where the bar ladies interrogate Hoppie about his next boxing fight. Peekay notices that Hoppie likes the younger woman, who has very red lips. Peekay falls asleep and the last image he remembers is Hoppie tucking hi m into bed. AnalysisThe novel's main plot, involving boxing, begins in Chapter Four as Peekay meets Hoppie Groenewald. Peekay compares Hoppie's role in his life to that of a sudden and temporary â€Å"meteorite† and calls him a â€Å"mentor. † The boxing plot initiates a new theme in the novel: the role of mentors in education. Education is not defined merely in formal terms, but as relating to the development of the person in his entirety. In such a way, the novel begins to tackle possible prejudices against sport, and particularly boxing, which is often assumed to give leeway only to violence and aggression.The boxing plot also incorporates the theme of the power of one, since Peekay's ambition to become the welterweight champion of South Africa, and then of the world, is purely his own ambition. The people Peekay encounters later in the novel support him in his endeavor, but often do not understand it. Chapter Four also introduces the main milieu–or backdropà ¢â‚¬â€œof the novel: apartheid. ‘Apartheid' is an Afrikaans term meaning simply ‘apartness,' and was coined by the Nationalist president of South Africa, Daniel Malan, in 1948.Chapter Four occurs before 1948, however, when white supremacist behavior was already in operation, but not yet systematized. Peekay's first consciousness of apartheid comes in this chapter, when he notices the â€Å"BLACKS ONLY† sign. In keeping with his childlike perspective, however, the author does not explain apartheid but pushes it to the background. Peekay's lack of understanding of apartheid established dramatic irony, as the reader understands the social institutions which define and affect Peekay from a more informed point of view.Peekay's confusion is not intended to be analyzed as a childlike confusion, however–the questions Peekay asks are terrifyingly legitimate and precise. For instance, when he wonders why white people cannot enter the workshop, he unwittingly touches at the irrationality of racism and apartheid. The novel is clearly founded in its South African context, with the author extremely conscious of the fact that he is writing for an international audience. He italicizes South Africanisms such as â€Å"stoep† (verandah) and â€Å"doek† (headcloth), and explains concepts that non-South Africans could not be expected to understand.For example, Peekay explains that years after his meeting with Hoppie he â€Å"discovered that the Cape Doctor was a wind that blew in early spring†¦Ã¢â‚¬  At the same time, Peekay's meteorite simile reveals a yearning for something much larger. The author is clearly aiming to make a universal statement about the pointlessness of discrimination against any group of people. The introduction of a Jewish character, Harry Crown, discloses that discrimination works on all levels-racial, cultural, and religious.The fact that Harry Crown coins Peekay's name for him is of vital importance-the author offers the lesson that people can make a difference in one another's lives regardless of how short their period of contact. Chapter Five Summary Peekay wakes early and surveys the savannah outside the train window. He expresses amazement at the washbasin which Hoppie shows him, neatly stashed away beneath the compartment table. Hoppie tosses away Peekay's soggy packed food from Mevrou and insists on buying him a proper â€Å"first class fighter† breakfast.As Hoppie lifts Peekay out of bed, Peekay covers his penis and apologizes to Hoppie for being a â€Å"verdomde rooinek† (a damned redneck). He expects â€Å"retribution. † Nothing happens, however, and Peekay begins to lose his fear of being an Englishman. Hoppie takes Peekay to the dining car where the waiter walks past and asks Hoppie the â€Å"odds† on his fight. Peekay wonders what â€Å"odds† are. He asks Hoppie whether he is frightened for the fight, eliciting another inspiring lecture from Hoppie, who is a â€Å"southpaw† (left-handed boxer). Lunch arrives with free steaks for Hoppie and Peekay.All of the passengers chat enthusiastically about Hoppie's imminent boxing bout. The waiter takes money for bets, and Hoppie has to explain what â€Å"betting† is to Peekay. Hoppie encourages Peekay to bet ten to one with his Granpa's shilling. Peekay is a little worried since Mevrou told him only to use the shilling in emergencies. Hoppie tells Peekay this could be considered an emergency. In Gravelotte, Hoppie takes Peekay to his home on the railway mess. Then they go to buy new tackies for Peekay at â€Å"Patel and Son,† which is owned by an Indian man, Mr.Patel. Hoppie treats Mr. Patel and his daughter–whom Peekay notices as being very beautiful–with disdain and tries to swap Peekay's large tackies for new ones. When Mr. Patel recognizes Hoppie as the famous boxer â€Å"Kid Louis† (Hoppie's boxing name, taken from a black non-Afric an boxer), he wants to return Hoppie's nine pence. Hoppie tells him to give the money to Peekay instead. Mr. Patel hands Peekay a shilling. Peekay is relieved his Granpa's money has strangely been restored. Mr. Patel says that he has bet ten pounds on Hoppie's victory.On the way back to the railways, Hoppie tells Peekay not to address â€Å"coolies† (derogatory term for Indian or â€Å"colored† people) as â€Å"Mister. † They head for the billiard room, where Hoppie's opponent, Jackhammer Smit, comes swaggering towards them. He laughs at Hoppie's small stature and calls him a â€Å"midget. † Hoppie tosses back a witty comment before exiting. Peekay meets Hoppie's friends Nels and Bokkie. At his home, Hoppie educates Peekay in pre-match rituals: a shower, a lie-down, and glasses of water every ten minutes (since it is deathly hot). At dinner, Hoppie introduces Peekay to people as â€Å"the next welterweight contender. Peekay remembers all that Hoppie tell s him, and Hoppie marvels at Peekay's perfect recall. Hoppie's army forms arrive in the mail–he tells Peekay that he has been summoned to war. He explains that Hitler is a very bad man–the enemy, not the ally. Analysis The racism of whites towards non-whites in South Africa becomes clearer in Chapter Five. Peekay's description of Mr. Patel's daughter as wearing â€Å"diaphanous cloth† and having â€Å"dark and very beautiful† eyes contrasts with Hoppie's racist description of Indians as â€Å"coolies. † Thus, the theme of people contradicting themselves in their behavior emerges further here.While showing extreme generosity and compassion to Peekay, Hoppie shows only arrogant racism towards the Patels, and tells Peekay not to call Mr. Patel â€Å"Mister. † Peekay thus becomes more than simply the protagonist-he becomes a moral yardstick by which we are to judge the other characters. Peekay shows respect and courtesy to everyone he meets. Alt hough Peekay's insight into the world remains limited and somewhat humorous, he is fast being forced to grow up. The bildungsroman structure usually involves a series of shifts from one setting to another, with very few visits to past settings.With Peekay surrounded by fresh faces on a train bound for Barberton, a new town, this novel certainly continues to fulfill the bildungsroman criteria. Moreover, most readers are in the same position as Peekay-unclear of the exact details of apartheid, and without an intimate knowledge of the boxing world. When Peekay confides that he does not understand Hoppie's â€Å"boxing parlance,† we share his newcomer's perspective. Chapter Five offers a couple of examples of the author's method of characterization–a simple, conventional method whereby a character's name is subsequently furnished with a short physical sketch.Peekay illustrates Mr. Patel's daughter, for instance, through the following description: â€Å"She was a mid brown color, her straight black hair was parted in the middle†¦Ã¢â‚¬  While the author pursues a conventional characterization method, the reader can understand his preoccupation with appearance, and particularly with skin tone. By Peekay almost taking inventory in noticing the woman's â€Å"mid brown color,† the author highlights the impossibility of categorizing people, especially according to something as nuanced as skin color. People should not be quantified and pigeonholed, he suggests.Yet some of the character descriptions fall into stereotypes or caricatures, contradicting this notion. Mr. Patel, for instance, speaks in a caricatured Indian dialect, using expressions such as â€Å"very-very† and â€Å"by golly. † Such stereotypes suggest that the book belongs to the genre of â€Å"popular adventure. † The characters and events, as will be seen in the rest of the novel, lack authenticity but replace it with the kind of exaggerated magic found in ch ildren's fairy tales. Chapter Six Summary Jackhammer Smit, a miner, has all his fellow miners on his side.The miners have constructed a makeshift boxing ring on Gravelotte's rugby field. All the townspeople gather on the stands (bleachers), with the black denizens having to squat underneath and peer through the whites' legs. Bokkie and Nels, Hoppie's seconds, lead Hoppie and Peekay to the warm-up tent where Hoppie points out the referee–a dwarf–to Peekay. Jackhammer Smit is already decked out in full boxing gear-Hoppie whispers to Peeky that he is â€Å"one big sonofabitch. † Hoppies opts to â€Å"glove up† in the boxing ring to provide more amusement for the crowd.Bokkie, following boxing etiquette, carries the gloves to Jackhammer Smit's seconds so that they may choose. Jackhammer and Hoppie taunt each other verbally, and Hoppie instructs Peekay: â€Å"Never forget, Peekay, sometimes, very occasionally, you do your best boxing with your mouth. † Nels escorts Peekay away from the tent and up the stands to Big Hettie, a large woman who chugs brandy throughout the fight and forgets to conceal her Irish accent when drunk. Hoppie and Jackhammer Smit enter the ring. Big Hettie hurls a curse at Jackhammer and the crowd roars with laughter.Big Hettie calls the dwarf referee â€Å"Sparrow Fart. † The dwarf invokes Biblical imagery, introducing the match as one between David and Goliath. In the first round, Hoppie lands a dozen punches to Jackhammer's left eye. The second round proceeds similarly, except that Jackhammer connects with Hoppie's head three times. Rounds three to five witness Hoppie attempting to wait out Jackhammer by taunting him around the ring. At the end of the sixth round, Jackhammer's left eye is almost shut, and Hoppie's ribs are red from the blows.In the seventh round, the heat begins to take its toll on Jackhammer-his left eye has closed. He manages to punch Hoppie right under the heart, however, and Hop pie crumples to the ground. Jackhammer refuses to move to the corner of the ring, thereby unwittingly giving Hoppie thirty seconds to recover. Hoppie manages to rise on the count of eight. Big Hettie nourishes Peekay with creamy coffee and chocolate cake during the fight. In the eleventh round, Jackhammer purposely knocks the referee backwards so that he cannot witness him headbutting Hoppie to the ground.The railwaymen, supporting Hoppie, cry â€Å"Foul! † After much confusion, and outbreaks of fighting amongst the crowd, the referee decides to award Hoppie the fight on a foul. Hoppie, however, is not satisfied and calls for the fight to resume. In the fourteenth round, Jackhammer knocks Hoppie down-suddenly Hoppie rises with a punch to Jackhammer's jaw, knowcking him out. A â€Å"braaivleis† (barbecue) and â€Å"tiekiedraai† (dance) follow the fight. Hoppie puts Peekay to sleep, next to Big Hettie. Analysis As the narrator matures, his voice gives the story a lyrical tone.The adult Peekay describes the gum trees near the boxing ring with â€Å"their palomino trunks shredded with strips of gray bark,† and the moths and insects which â€Å"danced about the lights, tiny planets orbiting erratically around two brilliant artificial suns. † He uses the same lyricism to describe, almost blow by blow, the boxing match between Hoppie and Jackhammer Smit-indeed, most of Chapter Six is taken up with the fight itself. This foreshadows many similar lengthy fight descriptions in the following chapters: the novel becomes in part a sports novel, with Peekay taking the role of commentator.Yet The Power of One differs from other sports novels in that it raises sport to the level of an art form. Peekay uses music metaphors and similes, subtly comparing boxing to music. For example, he notes how the referee â€Å"orchestrated† the audience to silence, and how Jackhammer Smit bangs his right fist into his left palm â€Å"like a metronom e. † The incongruity of music and a thug such as Jackhammer Smit works like an intellectual conceit-that is, an outrageous comparison that makes sense only after a couple of moments of thought.In such a way, the author compels us to accept boxing as an art form. The rich boxing vocabulary-including terms such as â€Å"straight left†, â€Å"feinting†, and â€Å"clinch†-heightens Peekay's storytelling power. This contrasts with Big Hettie's crude, yet hilarious commentary-she calls the dwarf referee â€Å"Sparrow Fart† and does not listen to a word Peekay says. The fact that the referee is a dwarf, and Big Hettie is partly Irish, adds to the already colorful human landscape of the novel-once again, the author forces us to recall the many types of differences between human beings.Hoppie's victory over Jackhammer is an important plot moment for the young protagonist Peekay since it gives him the faith that â€Å"small† can prevail over â€Å"lar ge. † He admits to the reader that â€Å"Big, it seemed to me, always finished on top †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The battle between small and large takes on a new dimension in Chapter Six: Hoppie teaches Peekay the necessity of strategy, of tactics. His main advice to Peekay is â€Å"First with the head, then with the heart,† an aphorism which Peekay never forgets. Peekay must change his own theme from the battle between small and large to the struggle between brains and brawn.Chapter Seven Summary Peekay awakens on the train to see â€Å"koppies† (little hills) and â€Å"lowveld† (bushland) flashing by outside. He finds a letter and a ten-shilling note attached to the front of his shirt-it is from Hoppie. Hoppie tells Peekay that the ten-shilling note is the money Peekay won from his bet, and in the note he reminds Peekay that â€Å"Small can beat big† and â€Å"first with the head and then with the heart. † Peekay is upset that Hoppie has disappeared from his life, but realizes that Hoppie has given him something to take away-the power of one.Peekay defines this as â€Å"one idea, one heart, one mind, one plan, one determination. † Soon Peekay notices a stench in the train compartment. He looks down from his bunk to see Big Hettie, fully dressed, sprawled on the bed below â€Å"like a beached sperm whale. † She reeks of brandy. When Peekay returns from the toilets, he finds that Big Hettie has half-collapsed onto the floor, with her dress over her ears. Peekay restores her to a normal position by shifting her legs onto the ground. Big Hettie belches in reply and Peekay exclaims â€Å"Boy, did she stink! The conductor, Pik Botha, arrives and gives a melodramatic lament when he realizes that Big Hettie is on his train. He gets even angrier when he discovers that Peekay's ticket is not clipped, and he blames it on Hoppie. Peekay pleads for Hoppie and succeeds. Pik Botha takes Peekay to breakfast, where the boy meets Hennie Venter, a waiter. When they return to the compartment, Botha—a born-again Christian—tells Peekay that Hettie is a â€Å"good example of God's terrible vengeance. † Hettie, however, wakes up to defend herself, calling Botha a â€Å"self- righteous little shit. She sends Peekay to fetch water for her. Peekay returns, and looks after Hettie by cooling her chest with a damp cloth. Hettie orders Botha to engineer a way to get her out of the compartment since she cannot get up. As Botha attempts to climb over Hettie to get a grasp on her, Hettie belches and Botha falls on top of her. Hettie begins to laugh and Peekay realizes that they are â€Å"in a real pickle. † They try a different tactic, with both Botha and Peekay pulling. Peekay loses his grip, however, and falls into Botha's crotch, causing him enormous pain in his waterworks. † They give up for the moment, and Hettie orders a lavish breakfast for herself and Peekay from Hennie. Peekay, no t hungry, gives his helping to Hettie, who scoffs everything. While Hettie eats, she tells Peekay that Hoppie could have been a famous boxer if it were not for the fact that he does not know how to hate. Peekay decides that he needs to learn how to hate. Hettie also tells Peekay about her love affair with a flyweight, who used to beat her up because he could not beat up his opponents. He died of a brain hemorrhage, during a match.Peekay watches Hettie binge herself on food all day, and intuitively realizes that he is witnessing â€Å"a sickness or a sadness or even both. † Hettie cries for herself, and Peekay comforts her. That afternoon the train arrives at the Kaapmuiden station. The railwaymen have to employ monkey wrenches to try to get Hettie out of the compartment. After telling Peekay she has faith in his becoming a great boxer, she dies quietly. Analysis In Chapter Seven, Peekay takes a detour, describing the tragicomic events that occur on his train ride between the towns of Gravelotte and Kaapmuiden.Big Hettie is representative of the â€Å"passing characters† pattern in the novel-some characters remain, while others coexist only briefly with Peekay. As with Hoppie, Peekay takes something away from Big Hettie. He learns about pride and courage. Peekay is learning how to absorb the essence of other people, how to remember what they say. Thus, â€Å"the power of one† does not refer to an individualistic sentiment, but rather to an all-encompassing notion, which acknowledges that the individual is shaped by all those people who pass through his life, whether for a brief or lengthy time.Peekay describes the events of the novel with humor and compassion; events are often both funny and sad. Big Hettie becomes one of the novel's caricatured, burlesque characters, and this chapter could almost be called a tribute to her. Chapter Seven thus deviates from the overarching plot. Hoppie's letter to Peekay, included at the beginning of the ch apter, also works to disrupt the neat, narrative flow and-as Peekay's first letter (and wager won)-it acts as a kind of mark of initiation into a more adult world.The â€Å"toilet humor† apparent in this chapter (Big Hettie's belches, for example) not only works as part of the burlesque, but constructs an invisible hierarchy amongst the characters- proximity to bodily Chapter Eight Summary The train arrives at Barberton station late at night. Hennie Venter says farewell to Peekay and promises to tell Hoppie that Peekay â€Å"behaved like a proper Boer, a real white man. † Peekay does not recognize anyone on the platform and so he sits silently crying, longing for his nanny to arrive and sweep him up. Then he notices a lady approaching.She calls him her â€Å"darling† and holds her against her bony body. Peekay realizes that it is his mother. When Peekay asks her where his nanny is, she simply says that he is too old for a nanny and hurries him out to a car where a certain Pastor Mulvery is waiting to take them home to Granpa. Peekay's mother and Pastor Mulvery spend the car ride home praising the Lord's precious name. Peekay's mother intimates that he must become a born-again Christian at the Apostolic Faith Mission, and Pastor Mulvery says they are on their way to meeting the Lord.Peekay asks if they can meet the Lord the following day–he is too exhausted that night. They both laugh. Peekay longs for the continuation of his past life on the farm. He discovers, fortunately, that the new house has exactly the same furniture as the farmhouse. He surveys the scene: the grandfather clock, the stuffed Kudu head, the painting of the Rourke's Drift massacre, the zebra skin. Peekay's Granpa enters the room and Peekay notices that he remains unchanged too. Only the kettle in the kitchen looks â€Å"new and temporary. † Peekay resolves to question his Granpa about nanny's whereabouts the following day.In the dawn he explores the back g arden, which he finds full of rosebushes–he observes that â€Å"the garden looked like the sort of tunnel Alice might well have found in Wonderland. † Beyond the fences surrounding the garden, Peekay notices plants of a wilder nature-quince, guava, orange, lemon, avocado, poinsettia, and aloe. He decides to explore and, before he realizes, he has climbed high up the hill. Compared to the African bush, the rose garden looks â€Å"tizzy and sentimental as a painting on a chocolate box. † He surveys the town of Barberton from above, and then joins his Granpa in the rose garden.When he asks where his nanny is, his Granpa slowly puffs on his pipe and tells Peekay a cryptic story about his grandmother, for whom he says Africa was too severe. Then he tells Peekay to ask his mother about nanny. Returning to the house, Peekay is reunited with the twin kitchen maids Dum and Dee, who tell him that Nanny is still alive. They also explain to Peekay that his mother has become a seamstress. When Peekay finally confronts his mother about Nanny, his mother tells him that she returned to Zululand because she refused to remove her â€Å"heathen charms and amulets. Peekay shouts that the Lord is a â€Å"shithead† and runs through the â€Å"Alice in Wonderland tunnels† until he reaches the hill. The eggs of the loneliness birds are crushed into powder inside him and, in a moment, he grows up. Analysis Chapter Eight contrasts the preceding two chapters (which cover Peekay's temporary adventures on the train home) by introducing Peekay and the reader to his new permanent place, Barberton. He has to deal with the prospect of a life with his returned mother and her religious fanaticism. He desperately searches for continuity and finds that his Granpa, Dum, and Dee are his only constants.While Peekay's experiences keep shifting from one backdrop to another, his method of narration is not disrupted, but is conventional and linear. Occasionally, he rem inisces about past events, but generally he moves forward chronologically. You may ask how a six-year-old could think like this. I can only answer that one did. The reader finds continuity in the story itself through the recurring motif of the loneliness birds, whose eggs transform to dust at the conclusion of Chapter Eight. This shift is significant, and Peekay observes that, suddenly, he has grown up.He ends the chapter by addressing the reader directly. He specifically addresses the reader's skepticism. It may seem ironic that at the same moment that Peekay announces his burst into the adult world, he confronts the reader's adult rationality. However, as the novel unfolds, it will become apparent that Peekay possesses a special manner of combining adult logic and rationality with a childlike appreciation for the magic and mystery of the world. The literary allusions to Lewis Carroll's novel Alice in Wonderland highlight this belief in magic.It is no accident that the names of the kitchen maids are â€Å"Dum† and â€Å"Dee,† reminiscent of the Carroll's characters Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Peekay presumably provided these nicknames for them in his youth). Not only does Peekay profess to grow up in this chapter, but for the first time he truly begins to grapple with the concept of â€Å"Africa† and his place in it. With his simile comparing his Granpa's rose garden to a chocolate box picture, Peekay consigns the garden to symbolic status-he sees the cultivated garden as a symbol of Englishness.The epithets he uses to describe the garden- â€Å"tizzy† and â€Å"sentimental†-suggest that he wishes to repudiate this part of his identity and allow himself to be captivated by the wild, untamed African land. Chapter Nine Summary While Peekay sits on a rock on the hillside, surveying Barberton, a very tall and thin man with a camera introduces himself as Professor von Vollensteen. He tells Peekay that he could not resist taking a photograph of him as he sat on the rock. He asks for Peekay's permission to call it â€Å"Boy on a Rock. † Peekay notices that the professor is carrying a cactus in his canvas backsack.He asks why the cactus is not pricking the professor, and the old man promises to reveal the secret. He takes the cactus from his bag and introduces it to Peekay as â€Å"Euphorbia grandicornis†¦ a very shy cactus. † He shows Peekay that his backsack is made of leather, protecting his back from the cactus' prickles. Peekay says that he could have worked that out for himself, and the professor calls him a â€Å"schmarty pants. † He asks Peekay whether he knows what a professor is, and Peekay has to admit that he does not know. Suddenly the professor notices a rare aloe under the sock on which Peekay is sitting, and yelps â€Å"Wunderbar! Peekay reminds him that he has not yet explained the word â€Å"professor. † The man replies, â€Å"‘A professor is a person w ho drinks too much whisky and once plays goot Beethoven. ‘† Then he tells Peekay that he can call him â€Å"Doc† instead of â€Å"Professor. † Doc and Peekay part ways and Peekay returns home, to a dismal Dum and Dee. Cowering, they tell him that his mother wants to see him. Peekay does not feel scared-his mother does not realize that he is a â€Å"veteran of interrogation and punishment. † Peekay's mother makes him apologize to her, then breaks down into tears of self-pity.At this, Peekay feels relieved because he is more accustomed to this side of his mother. He tells her to lie down, and brings her some tea and an Aspro. Two days later, Peekay sits watching army trucks filled with soldiers passing by the house when Doc arrives. Doc greets Peekay warmly and says that he wishes to speak to his mother-he has brought an aloe and the photograph of Peekay as presents for her. Doc discovers, to his horror, that Doc is a German. Doc tells Peekay's mother that he believes her son is a genius and he wishes to give him music lessons. At first she resists, since she does not accept charity from anyone.Doc eventually convinces her by saying that in return for the lessons he requires Peekay to work for him, collecting cacti. Peekay's mother now agrees- having a son trained in classical music will be a status symbol for her, a â€Å"social equalizer. â€Å"The summer months pass and Peekay spends the majority of his time with Doc, roaming the Barberton â€Å"kloofs† (cliffs) collecting cacti. Doc teaches Peekay â€Å"the priceless lesson of identification. † He teaches Peekay how to observe, how to listen to himself, and how to use his brain for both original thought and as a â€Å"reference library† for storing information.Doc supplements Peekay's outdoors education with morning piano lessons, and frequent trips to the Barberton library, run by Mrs. Boxall. Peekay soon realizes that he is competent but not a gifted musician. His mother, however, is delighted when Peekay stuns all the Barberton citizens at the bi-annual cultural concert by playing Chopin. The Afrikaners leave the concert when all the English people begin singing â€Å"White Cliffs of Dover. † Peekay explains the close relationship between the Boers and the Germans, who gave the Boers assistance during the Boer War. AnalysisDoc, or Professor von Vollensteen, helps Peekay to counter generalizations about Germans. Peekay is at first shocked since he associates all Germans with Hitler's Nazi party. Chapter Nine shows some stylistic deviations from previous chapters by Peekay's deviations into historical descriptions. At the conclusion of the chapter, he provides the reader with a lengthy description of the close relationship that developed between the Germans and the Boers during the Boer War. In such a way, he undertakes to educate the reader-he does not make allusions to historical events; he explains them.This results in the novel being self-contained—one does not have to undertake much external research in order to understand its context. Perhaps the author is suggesting that the very notion of history and historical recording is at stake in this time period. History cannot be taken for granted, and history text books cannot be trusted. By taking Peekay under his tutelage, Doc becomes the next of Peekay's string of mentors. Doc's character introduces a couple of new vocabulary sets into the novel-that of Latin cacti names, and that of his quirky half-German half- invented dialect.He uses nonsense terms such as â€Å"absoloodle,† and German exclamations such as â€Å"wunderbar. † Doc is a caricatured character (he occupies the space of a kind of fairy godfather), who becomes a foil to Peekay's Granpa-the latter confines himself to the preened, meted world of his rose garden, while the former exposes himself to the dangerous, exciting life of cacti and aloes. Although Peekay now has his mother and Granpa with him, there exists a glaring absence of anyone playing a truly parental role in his life.Doc fills this role. Instead of caring for her son, Peekay's mother neglects him in favor of the Lord, and Peekay in fact plays the role of parent to her. Peekay subtly underscores his mother's hypocrisy-while subscribing to the Lord as the only avatar of morality and modesty, she enjoys the status that Peekay's skill at classical piano affords her. Chapter Nine demonstrates a distinct method in Peekay's narrative style: he begins to provide the reader with recaps, or summaries, of events that have already happened.For example, he recapitulates the events of Chapter Eight and the beginning of Chapter Nine as follows: â€Å"The loneliness birds had flown away and I had grown up and made a new friend called Doc and had learned several new things. † The abundance of the coordinating conjunction â€Å"and† stresses Peekay's eagerness to tally these occasio ns-the effect is one of insistence and continuity. The reader can almost hear the tremble in Peekay's voice. The older narrator-Peekay reminds the reader that the younger Peekay has to hold on to the constants in his life-even the loneliness birds have become a constant.The reader senses Peekay's need to impart his life story-it is not a self- aggrandizing process, but a way in which he can circumscribe the uncertainties of his past. Indeed, the chapter concludes with the adult Peekay foreshadowing the loss of Doc from his life. Chapter Ten Summary Peekay skips two classes at the local school. Doc has convinced him that he should drop his camouflage and reveal his intelligence. Doc is Peekay's true teacher. When around Doc, Peekay says that his brain is constantly â€Å"hungry. † As in the summer months, Peekay arrives shortly after dawn each day for his music lesson with Doc.Doc's eyes are often bloodshot and he tells Peekay that the â€Å"wolves were howling† in his head the previous night-his euphemism for being drunk. Doc's Johnny Walker whisky bottles border the path in Doc's cactus garden. One Saturday afternoon in January 1941, Doc and Peekay are working in the garden when Peekay notices a military police van draw up. An officer and a sergeant emerge and, smoking cigarettes, they wait for Doc and Peekay to approach. Then the sergeant arrests Doc under the Aliens Act of 1939. Doc does not resist but instead sadly tells Peekay that he now must care for the cactus garden.Then Doc asks permission to shave and make a change of clothing before leaving for Barberton prison. Peekay brings jugs of water for Doc to wash. Peekay helps Doc to pack, and slips a half-bottle of Johnny Walker into Doc's bag. The sergeant finds the whisky in the bag and wants to share it with Doc, but Doc refuses to drink. The sergeant drinks part of the whisky then pours the rest onto Doc's beloved Steinway piano. Doc smacks the sergeant's wrist with his walking stick, an d the sergeant calls him a â€Å"fucking Nazi bastard† and a â€Å"child fucker. † Doc, however, is already walking towards the military van.The sergeant runs after him and handcuffs him, then kicks Doc's legs so that he collapses onto his knees. Peekay runs after Doc, screaming, and tries to throw his arms around Doc's legs. As he leaps, the sergeant's kick intended for Doc's ribcage connects with Peekay's face and knocks him unconscious. Peekay regains consciousness in Barberton hospital, terribly worried about Doc. The boy's jaw has been broken, making it impossible for him to speak. A fifteen- year-old nurse with acne, Marie, looks after Peekay and calls him her â€Å"skattebol† (fluffball).She tells Peekay that he has become a town hero for trying to restrain a â€Å"German spy. † Peekay's mother and Pastor Mulvery visit him often, and continue their attempts to proselytize him. Peekay remembers Doc's version of God-a force too busy training bees to fuss with silly humans. Peekay's mother calls Doc an â€Å"evil man† who attempted to kill him. Peekay fumes with frustration-he is the only one who knows the truth but he is unable to speak up to defend Doc. He writes to Mrs. Boxall asking her to visit him as soon as possible. Marie eventually agrees to convey the letter on Peekay's behalf. While waiting for Mrs.Boxall, Peekay writes a long letter explaining the details of Doc's arrest. Mrs. Boxall expresses delight at Peekay's testimony and exclaims that it has arrived just in time-the military court is about to put Doc on trial. She shows Peekay the front page of their local newspaper, The Goldfields News. The picture Doc took of Peekay on the rock is headlined with the words â€Å"THE BOY HE TRIED TO KILL! â€Å"Peekay receives a letter from Mrs. Boxall–she has shown his testimony to Mr. Andrews, the lawyer, but he has said that the piece is so sophisticated that no one will believe that a seven-year-old wrote it .Marie, the only person who can understand Peekay's garble through his broken jaw, is thus commissioned to be his interpreter. Peekay, Marie, Mrs. Boxall, and Mr. Andrews arrive at the magistrate Colonel de Villiers' office. Marie takes a while to find her voice, but Peekay manages to prove that he wrote the statement by writing down the names of various Latin succulents. They win the case, but Doc has to remain in prison since he did not register as a foreign alien when he arrived in South Africa fifteen years previously. Peekay visits Doc in prison and meets Klipkop (Johannes Oudendaal) and Lieutenant Smit.Klipkop tells Peekay that he is a boxer, and Peekay begs him to give him lessons. He tells Klipkop he has to become the welterweight champion of the world. Klipkop says that he is too young-the youngest trainee in their boxing prison squad is ten years old. Peekay watches as Klipkop brutally beats one of the black prison servants, accusing him of stealing some biscuits. Smit wat ches quietly, then tells Klipkop afterwards that he was the one who ate the biscuits. The men take Peekay to meet Kommandant van Zyl, who tells Peekay to inform Mrs.Boxall of a surprise he has for the townspeople the following Monday, in the town square. Peekay asks the kommandant if he can box with their squad. Smit is furious with Peekay afterwards. However, Peekay has realized that Jackhammer Smit is Lieutenant Smit's brother. When he refers to the Gravelotte fight, Smit's eyes begin to shine and he accepts Peekay into the squad. Peekay is forbidden from boxing for two years–he may only do technique training. Eventually Peekay gets to see Doc. Doc tells Peekay the â€Å"surprise† on Monday is a very stupid thing.He tells Peekay to meet him in his cactus garden at noon that day, and to find Beethoven's Symphony Number Five in his piano stool, as well as what is above the sheet music (his whisky). Mrs. Boxall becomes very excited when Peekay relays this news to herâ⠂¬â€œshe says Doc is to give a concert. On Monday Smit and Klipkop fetch the Steinway from Doc's house. They introduce Peekay to another warder, Gert Marais. Gert, an Afrikaner who does not speak English, cannot understand Doc and Peekay's conversation. Doc tells Peekay that he does not want to give the concert-he has not performed for sixteen years.However, the prison warders will not allow Peekay to visit him if he refuses. Doc tells Peekay of his musical history-he describes the disastrous concert of 1925 in Berlin where, playing Beethoven's Symphony Number Five, he froze up. As the mayor is introducing Doc in the Barberton town square, a fight breaks out between the English and the Afrikaners. Doc, trembling, takes a swig of whisky and begins to play. The crowd immediately quiets and is captivated by the music. Doc plays beautifully and Peekay has never seen him so happy. AnalysisChapter Ten is one of the novel's longest chapters, taking up almost a tenth of the novel. It carrie s through on Peekay's foreshadowing at the end of Chapter Nine-the loss of Doc and, in a sense, the loss of his childhood. For the first time in his life, at a mere seven years of age, Peekay must confront military and legal institutions-not as a peripheral visitor, but as an eye- witness of Doc's arrest and thus as an insider. Peekay reserves his own critical judgment of the cruel events he experiences (Doc's arrest, Klipkop's brutal treatment of the black prison servant) in order to allow the reader to draw her own conclusions.Peekay takes on the role of objective reporter or observer in these situations. However, he hints that his reserved behavior does not stem from disinterestedness–he realizes that survival in these settings depends on being diplomatic. Neither does the adult narrator withhold critique of the immorality of the prison world-his tone, often earnest, becomes ironic in his descriptions of the prison staff. After describing the office of the kommandant, with its stuffed gemsbok, eland, steenbok, and springbok heads, the narrator illustrates the kommandant himself, who claims to love wild animals.The narrator's precise descriptions–including, for example, the names of all the different kinds of buck on the kommandant's walls–stress the effect Doc has had on Peekay. Doc has taught Peekay how to observe, analyze, record. These skills will be vital to Peekay's success and survival throughout the novel. There are other reasons why it is sensible for the narrator to unleash his criticism of the harsh, racist behavior in South Africa in a subtle, rather than direct manner. Firstly, The Power of One was written at a time when apartheid was still alive in South Africa.The author himself has to take a diplomatic tone. Secondly, the author does not wish readers to see the South African struggle as one between good and evil forces – he paints the prison staff as humans, not monsters. They have redeeming qualities. Klipkop, Lie utenant Smit, and Kommandant van Zyl are all extremely kind to Peekay. The officers who arrest Doc take a moment to have a cigarette. It is a human moment before their violent treatment of Doc. Moreover, Doc's ability to halt the brawling in the town square, with his beautiful rendition of Beethoven, suggests the triumph of our shared humanity.The chapter ends on an optimistic note when it intimates that a universal spirit holds us all together in spite of our myriad differences. This tone of optimism emerges as the novel's distinguishing tone. In spite of Peekay's portrayal of crude or violent behavior, his faith in the notion of â€Å"the power of one† lingers. Chapter Eleven Summary Dee and Dum wake Peekay every morning with coffee and a rusk (a hard biscuit) and he heads to the prison for boxing lessons and then his piano lesson with Doc. The prison staff allows these lessons to proceed since they enjoy the social status afforded by having two classical musicians in their midst.Doc does not understand Peekay's need to box, but he assists Peekay with â€Å"musical analogies. † He says that in music, as in boxing, exercises make up one's foundation. Peekay's visits are so constant that he becomes part of the prison â€Å"shadow world. â€Å"Peekay becomes friends with Gert Marais, the Afrikaans warder. Gert fixes the boxing speedball so that it is low enough for Peekay

Firewall Applications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Firewall Applications - Essay Example Firewalls protect a computing device throughout its connection to the internet by continuously monitoring all its activity. The software reduces popups by allowing only the trusted set of programs to access the internet. It determines the set of trusted and non- trusted programs by maintaining a set of sites that may attract potential scam. The Firewall passes all the known leak tests in order to protect the host computing device. Survives spy attempts and transfer of diseased files that may sometimes survive system reboots. Detects and acts against applications that assign themselves substantial system privileges. â€Å"Banking Mode† is a salient feature. In it, the firewall remains in a banking mode throughout the time the computing device is connected to the internet. During its connection the banking mode of the firewall prevents the host from scams and also from entering the phishing websites. It is a two-way firewall that monitors every connection to a computing device. It provides Protection from Trojan Horses, Viruses and Worms. Spyware and Adware are restricted. The firewall Scans files, Internet services and all connections for any possible intrusion. It also Prevents access to unwanted websites. An edge that it has over other firewalls is that if a computer is already infected it restores the computer to its prior state. It is recommended to my elder sibling that Online Armor Premium Firewall be installed in his home PC. This is because in a reasonable cost it provides adequate support that should be present in any firewall software. Especially its feature of maintaining a databank of trustable and non-trustable sites reduces the number of popups for the system user thus increasing its usability. Top Ten Reviews (2011) Kaspersky Internet Security 2011. Personal Firewall Software Review. Retrieved from http://personal-firewall-software-review.toptenreviews.com/kaspersky-internet-security-details.html Top Ten Reviews

Ismg 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ismg 4 - Essay Example The question whether IT systems is an expense or an asset depends on the business being operated (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 49). Some businesses need IT systems to help them in running their operations. However, some businesses can do well without IT systems. If IT systems lead to the high cost of a business, then the business should consider the systems as expenses (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 50). However, if an IT system brings more profit to a firm than when it lacks the system, then the firm should consider the system as an asset. The purpose of cost allocation is to offer relief to shared services in an organization (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 50). Allocating cost is similar to spreading the cost amongst those who use it. Firms allocate costs in order to assign accountability of those who use the cost, either a single department or numerous departments in the company. For instance, a firm, which offers complex IT systems, can allocate duty to various departments to people who have specialized in specific fields of IT. IT departments should have full control of spending with regards to IT systems. This is because every field of occupation knows best the cost of running their business (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 51). IT departments should have their own system of administration separate from the whole company. This will enable the department to spend what is appropriate regarding their activities. It will also enable the department to avoid any financial hitches that might face the entire company since they control their own funds (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 51). However, this is not to mean that the company should not monitor the spending of the department. The overall management should monitor the spending of the IT department to ensure that their spending is in line with the company’s objectives. There should be a percentage cost that an IT department can spend on the maintenance of their IT systems, and this should

Susan Schwartz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Susan Schwartz - Essay Example Term used for determining the target market is â€Å"market segmentation† (Daniel, 2012). Market segmentation can be defined as a process of â€Å"dividing a market into smaller groups of buyers with distinct needs, characteristics, behaviors, etc. that might require separate products or marketing mixes† (Bragg, n.d.). When the target market is to be determined for a certain product, its traits need to be studied first. It might be useful either for people of a certain age group or all age groups, a certain culture or all cultures, a certain religion or all religions, and a certain ethnicity or all ethnicities. These factors need to be considered. Three factors that play a pivotal role in the selection of target market are the size and growth of segment, its structural attractiveness, and the goals and resources of business. Modification of a product design to expand the consumer base by incorporating the requirements of a lot of communities makes the target market subj ective. â€Å"I dont know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody† (Cosby cited in Bragg,

M&s clothing business report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

M&s clothing business report - Essay Example The implication here is that if Marks and Spencer were not attempting to reach out to the more fashion-conscious consumer, its primary competitors would be BHS and Evans. The fact is, however, that the company is trying to reach beyond that particular market as evidenced in the fact that it has hired new designers and has development new fashion lines which target the younger generation of male and female adult fashion consumers (Marks and Spencer, 2007). Within the context of the above stated, Marks and Spencer's primary competitors are Next, Topshop and Gap. These three command the lion's share of the fashion-conscious, working adult clothing market for two reasons. They provide quality clothing at reasonable prices and are perceived of as trendy and fashionable (Marks and Spencer, 2007). Marks and Spencer may be recognised for the first but definitely not for the second. The implication here is that it stands in a weak position vis--vis its primary competitors, largely because of market perceptions. As indicated in the above, Marks and Spencer faces two types of competitors. The first type, related to the older generation fashion market, is comprised of Evans and BHS.

Project Management Organizational Structures Paper Research

Project Management Organizational Structures - Research Paper Example Each form of organizational structure has its strengths and weaknesses, and is able to handle particular projects based on the context. Functional organizational structure involves divisions based on major functional areas such as marketing, finance, human resource, manufacturing, and so on (Meredith and Mantel, 2012). Functional organizational allows flexibility in staff planning and resource allocation because functional divisions can act as the administrative base for a project. Further the functional unit may be specialized to tackle the project thereby providing the technical expertise required to successfully complete the project. Additionally functional structure allows the technical expertise and know-how to be concentrated in the units and hence available to work on different projects. The staff can be shifted from one project to another while the functional division continues to provide a pool of experiences and specialized staff (Meredith and Mantel, 2012). The functional division acts as the center of specialists which ensures availability of specialized staff to work on different projects. The presence of experienced staff also enables the relevant expertise to be channeled into the project for successful execution and completion of the project. Lastly, the functional organizational structure organizes the specialists in a unit so that the arrangement not only helps in project execution but also in the advancement of the appropriate talent. A downside to functional organizational form is that it puts clients at the backseat. Often client interests are not the focus but functional units focus more on the work and how the expert staff is allocated to the projects (Meredith and Mantel, 2012). This sometimes leads to client interests to be ignored. The fact that the functional organizational form deals with functional areas means that the form is more inclined towards the activities involved in the project completion. It is

Milton's Paradise Lost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Milton's Paradise Lost - Essay Example mon values riches of the world as Milton puts it, â€Å"Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell From Heaven; for even in Heaven his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of heaven’s pavement, trodden gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed In vision beatific.† (Milton 25). The followers of Mammon also value riches and earthly pleasures and the reason for this is that, they took after their master, Mammon, who fell from Heaven due to his greed. The love of the followers of Mammon for the things of the world affect their relationship with God due to the fact that, Mammon, is more like the opposite of the one and only true God. Thus, while the children of God lay up treasures in heaven, the followers of Mammon lay treasures for themselves on earth. the implication of this is that, the more the followers of Mammon layup treasures for themselves on earth, they keep getting farther away from the truth. Another implication of this is that, the followers of Mammon can never have a cordial relationship with God as one cannot serve God and Mammon. The values of the devil Mammon and the values of the followers of Mammon are similar in the sense that, just like their master, the followers of Mammon also have an irrationally strong desire to acquire and keep money. Thus, the values of the followers of Mammon and their master are similar in their avariciousness. It is significant that Milton chooses to make Sin a woman as it is believed that the devil used woman to bring Sin into the world. It was through the deception of the first woman, Eve by the serpent that Satan succeeded in turning the hearts of men from God. This shows the significance of Milton’s choice to make Sin a woman. Milton used the relationship between Sin, Death, and Chaos to show how sin brought many plagues to mankind. Milton tried to show that it was sin that brought chaos and confusion into the world and the result of which is ultimately death. The Bible even

Travel to Peru for Yoga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Travel to Peru for Yoga - Essay Example Other elements such as product price and ease of acquisition come into play. For instance, you have a car and you want somebody to clean it every day (ideal situation) because you feel bad about cleaning it every-day (actual situation) so you decide to outsource the services of an individual or a specialized firm to do this task at whatever cost. You don’t judge how to reach this ideal situation. So you won’t have a purchase in this situation. This is the second most important element in the buying process of a consumer. Once the consumer had identified the need for a product, the consumer will explore possible solutions to the needed problem. They will look for more information or less information depending on the choices they need to make as pertains to the identified need. There are two main sources for gathering information. They are external and internal sources. The internal source is already present in the consumers’ memory while the external source is obtained from either friends, family or from the press. The consumer will pay much attention to the internal information as opposed to the external information to make purchase decisions. Once the consumer collects all the information, they will explore more alternatives that seem suitable to satisfy their needs and pick the one that befits them. To make this possible, they will evaluate the attributes of a product. Each consumer has a unique way of evaluating these attributes. All brands are not equal to all consumers; consumers prefer different brands to others depending on how they perceive these brands.Consumers will also use the information that they had collected previously to make the evaluation easier for them. At this stage the consumer has evaluated all the options available with regards to the products. The remaining part is to make a purchase for the product that ultimately fulfills their need. This stage may also be

Adversary vs. Civil Law Essay Example for Free

Adversary vs. Civil Law Essay The two legal systems in question are the adversary system, most commonly practiced in the United States, and the civil law system, also referred to as the inquisitorial system, most commonly practiced in European countries. Both systems have the same goal; to find the truth. However, each system has a very different path to justice. The adversarial system implies that two parties assume opposite positions in debating the guilt or innocence of an individual. In this scenario, the judge is required to be neutral at the contest unfolding before him or her. The role of the judge in this arrangement is to ensure the trial proceeds according to the procedural rules of trial or due process of law and that evidence entered is done so accordingly. The basis of this approach in criminal matters in which two sides engage in debate and battle about the guilt or innocence of an accused and since each side wants to win, then the debate will foster a critical look at the issues and the evidence to be examined by both parties. See more:Â  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay By engaging in this discourse, the truth should emerge as the judge watches on. This means that the roles played on both sides are very distinct. The defense counsel as one adversarial party gather the arguments to defend the client and attacks the credibility and worthiness of the evidence presented. The prosecutor puts forth the arguments on behalf of the state and gathers and presents the evidence pointing that the accused has committed an offense. The judge is the referee and arbitrator on issues related to clarifying what the law is. The judge does not intervene on any side except where procedural fairness is jeopardized by either party as dictated by the Sixth Amendment. In an inquisitorial system, a judge is involved in the preparation of evidence along with the police and in how the various parties are to present their case at the trial. The judge questions witnesses in depth and can even call witnesses to appear while prosecution and defense parties can ask follow up questio ns. The judge plays the central role in finding the truth and all the evidence that either proves the innocence or guilt of the accused before the court. The judge takes on the role of prosecutor and judge in the inquisitorial system. Some other major distinctions is that there are no jury trials in an inquisitorial system and a judge can force an accused to make statements and answer questions. This differs dramatically from the common law and adversarial right not to take the stand in ones own defense. In my opinion, I prefer an adversarial system. I think it does a better job of protecting the rights of those accused of crime than does the inquisitorial system. One of the key reasons for this is the use of juries in an adversarial system. In an inquisitorial system, judges determine the facts, and then make their decision. Often a small number of judges would make that decision, and perhaps even just one man. In contrast, a jury is made up of 12 people, not always which allows fo r a broader range of experiences and opinions, which ought to secure more consideration of what has been proved. Another weakness of the inquisitorial system is the role that the judges play. Not only do they act as the judge and the jury, they will often act as prosecutors. This is a huge conflict of interest, and is extremely harmful to the accused. A judge who is also acting as a prosecutor is not going to be unbiased, and will not act as a neutral decision maker. In an adversarial system, however, the prosecutor is separate from the judge, and appears before the judge like any other lawyer. The United State could never use the civil law system because of Constitutional problems. For instance, to avoid putting responsibility for the search of truth in the hands of judicial agents of the state the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to trial by jury but of course civil law countries generally do not use juries except for certain countries in capital cases. Other rights include the right to effective council; to testify on his/her behalf; to compel the testimony of others; to confront accusers; and the right to cross examination. The Fifth Amendment privilege of self-incrimination further limits the powers of the states. Good job identifying multiple c onstitutional problems and pointing out where the protections are found in the Constitution. Case in Point: State of New Mexico v Valdez, 95 N.M 70 (Supreme Ct. of N.M., 1980) underline or italicize case name The defendant in this case, Richard Valdez, had been convicted of armed robbery in a district court. He appealed since a fellow inmate, Richard Garcia, had confessed to the crime in front of his former attorney, Alice Hector, who was a public defender. Also present during the confession was Garcia’s attorney, a public defender under Hector, the district public defender. This attorney warned Garcia that Hector was not his attorney and any statement Garcia made would be used at the defendants trial and could be detrimental to his own interests. Garcia repeated his confession to Hector and indicated his willingness to testify on defendants behalf. Garcia later changed his mind and exercised his Fifth Amendment right refusing to testify. The court upheld an objection to Hect or’s testimony of the confession based on attorney-client privilege. Although Ms. Hector was not directly involved in the representation of Garcia, her staff was, and all information obtained by them was thereby imputed to her.

Junk food Essay Example for Free

Junk food Essay Whether adult or child, junk food is bad for everyone. Teenagers and young children easily tend to develop the habit of gorging over junk food, which may well escort bad health consequences for them. It massively ruins their health and therefore, it is very important for parents and adults to keep a tight check on the diet and eating habits of their young guns. It is the only way of ensuring they eat a balanced diet which is nutritious and healthy enough to offer them sufficient amount of energy. Junk food not only makes you addict to a non-healthy diet pattern but also brings a plethora of diseases for you. Effects of junk food on health Obesity: When people eat more and more junk food, they become prone to overweight. The oils used for frying junk food make you fat and fatter. In the same fashion, fats and processed flour used in junk food tends to make you bulky. Besides, junk food forces you to toss down sodas and colas. These drinks are full of sugar and thus, they increase your tendency to put on weight. see more:short essay on junk food Lethargy: When you eat processed food, your energy levels lower down and you feel more lethargic. Reason behind this process is that junk food contains high amount of carbohydrates that prickle your blood sugar levels. As soon as your sugar levels start fluctuating dramatically, you start feeling drowsy and tired. Soon you feel less active and alert, and your brain and body starts seeking sleep. In a nutshell, with dulling reflexes and senses, you are forced to an extensively inactive life. Diseases: Other than obesity issues, junk food is also related to some of the most lethal diseases. It can result in diabetes and heart ailments. If you don’t exercise regularly and have a family history of diabetes, then junk food is likely to activate the peril of various crucial diseases at an early stage. Secondly, junk food releases some kind of fats that have a tendency of increasing your cholesterol levels. This way, your arteries get clogged up which might lead to heart attack. So, being overweight is a simple welcome note for various diseases. Poor nutrition: Junk food snatches the nutrition proffered by your diet. When

Role Of Technology In The Operations Of Argos Marketing Essay

Role Of Technology In The Operations Of Argos Marketing Essay The organisation, Argos was founded in 1973 and is part of Home Retail Group (Parent Company). It is a generalized store, which sells a vast number of household products such as: household appliances, toys and games, DIY, sports and leisure, etc. According to the Times: Argos has a formidable grasp in most of the aforementioned markets. This establishments business model is based on a simple initiative: combine the comfort and the convenience of home selection (catalogues, internet, and phone) with the nearness of its high street stores. Since it first started out, Argos has always been noticed for its innovative use of technology similar to the way other organisations like Walmart, Amazon or Tesco utilize this type of technology. Computer systems have always had a huge impact on the way Argos functions as a retailer. Argos uses ICT to monitor stock levels, to recognise market developments earlier, to avoid stock shortage situations and to eliminate product theft. Tesco has a very similar business structure/model. Argos is convenient because of its integration with its virtual online business and its retail stores, just like the way Tesco operates; using its stores as its main core of operations. Argos also publishes two catalogues a year, the spring/summer edition at the start of January and the autumn/winter catalogue around mid-July. Finance and Accounting Argos is one of the UKs major non-fare retail groups. In 1998, after poor financial results, it was taken over by GUS (Great Universal Stores) plc. The then new appointed managing director Terry Duddy then set out to improve its performance. Part of Terrys job was to change the values and beliefs (the culture) shared at Argos. As stated in the Times 100 case study: The culture he (Terry) developed is one that values: customer service, teamwork, encouraging managers to take their own decisions, respect for each other and wanting to be competitive and improve. The Times then goes on to say that these values were clearly communicated to the employees; so that they felt more a part of the business. This clearly shows how Argos consulted with its staff to build a sound team, with team values such as: Welcoming change Being impatient to win Having lots of opportunities Working in teams Argos has built these values into its culture. To support this change, they also provided good introductory training, promotional opportunities and performance goals. As well as changing the culture at Argos, managers changed the marketing fusion. This consisted of the traditional Four Ps along with other issues which Argos thought important. Product. Market studies showed that the Argos brand was seen as dull and old-fashioned. Argos then modernised the brand with a new logo and new slogan: Brighter Shopping. It also extended its product range. Promotion. Argos advertises to separate market sectors. It divides its market by traditional ways but also uses brand awareness. As quoted from the Times: The get it group who know and understand the brand are used to help bring on board the dont get it group. Price. Argos continually keeps its prices as low as possible. Place (distribution). Argos continues to expand its retail market by opening new shops. Its catalogue is a key part of its distribution system and is found in 70% of British homes.  [2]   People Argos provides good training for its staff as part of its culture change. Process Alongside traditional shopping methods, Argos introduced Quick Pay and Text and Take Home. (Customers text to see if an item is in stock, and then reserve it to collect later) Quick Pay cuts down on queues by allowing customers to check availability, order and pay using credit or debit cards. Physical environment. Argos invested in improvements to make shops more appealing to consumers. As a result of these implemented changes to Argoss culture and the employment of technology. Argos now out-performs the market as a whole: Between the periods (2002-2003) sales grew by 13% and profits by 17%.  [3]   Sales Marketing For advertising, it (Argos) uses a variety of different media to promote its retail market, such as: television, radio, newspapers, catalogues, magazines, posters and the internet. Depending on which is the most beneficial and efficient at the time. This method of utilizing technology is very effective relating to attracting new and old customers namely by proposing: Value for money Convenience. Marketing managers at Argos are continually concerned with addressing questions such as: Who are our consumers? (Argos wants to discover as much information as possible on its customers in order to meet their requirements.) Are we proposing enough variety of products, appeal and convenience? How can we gain advantages over competition? (How is Argos different from the opposition?) How can we defend what trade we already have and how can we expand? How do we successfully interact with our customers? According to the website, computerworlduk, this year Argoss internet website accounted for 32% of the organisations total sales, 22% of which used the online click and reserve service. This shows how much of a positive impact the technology of the internet has had on this retail giant. However, compared to last years same interim sales review this year was 11% down, but despite the 11% fall in profits, online sales had significant growth. Argos sales ( £M): 2006 = 3,859, 2007 = 4,164, 2008 = 4,321, 2009 = 4,282, 2010 = 4,347Description: % Sales across more than one channel: Totals: 2006: 32 2007: 35 2008: 37 2009: 40 2010: 43 2010: Home delivery Store 7.7 Phone 1.6 Internet 9.5 Check Reserve Phone 9.5 Internet 22.5 Sales ( £M) (Picture on left) Definition: Sales in the 52 weeks to 27 February 2010 increased by 1.5% in total. There was further strong growth in televisions and personal computers, offsetting weakness in the video gaming market. Toy sales grew strongly. Challenging market conditions continued in home-related areas such as furniture, but the rate of decline moderated over the year. Source: audited financial statements. Sales across more than one channel (%) (Picture on right) Multi-channel sales grew to  £1.9bn or 43% of Argos sales. The internet represented 32% of Argoss sales; over two-thirds of this or 22% of Argos total sales were customers using online Check Reserve for store collection, with this channel growing by 36% for a second year in a row. Definition: Percentage of sales across more than one channel. There are three ordering channels: the internet, phone or store and two fulfillment channels, store or home delivery. Source: Measured internally. Argos has a multitude of unique marketing and sales strategies in retail. Argoss stated mission statement is: We provide our customers with the best value for money through the most convenient shopping experience. This statement clearly sets out the main areas which differentiate Argos from its rivals, namely by offering its customers. As stated in 2002 by managing director of Argos, Kate Swann. Customers can: Pick up a catalogue Choose at home (internet) Use a store to collect or order Use a store for collection point Order at home (telephone) Use home delivery She also specified that Argoss drivers for growth were: Small kitchen appliances (which it was in top position in 2001 for both value and volume) Beds and mattresses Watches Jewellery Portable audio Toys Retail Structure Tesco was the first to use such a structure; by combining its online website(s) with its supermarkets. Argos most likely adopted this similar strategy based on Tescos overwhelming success. However, Argos retail stores have minimal staff (unlike Tesco), and exploit technology to its full potential (like Tesco and Amazon). On an independent case study by Databank Consulting, they stated that: Argoss business model is a multi-channel approach: customers are offered different types of outlets for shopping. Prior to the introduction of the new e-channels, the customers could only browse the offer in the catalogue or directly at the store  [4]   They also suggested that Argoss success as a retailer has been based on its influential decision to adopt a technological based approach, by stating: The Argos website was launched in 1995à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Nearly 10 years later, Argos can be called a pioneer and leader in e-commerce. With www.Argos.co.uk, the company became UKs number two Clicks and Bricks retailer, combining both store based and online sales.  [5]   Before its decision to introduce a system called Nominated Carrier Scheme, the problem of receiving and delivering products was problematic and complicated, because every supplier has its own form of transportation, its specific method of documenting and specific time schedules. The decision was therefore to adopt a single system to bring together all the produce from suppliers and have them offered as only one delivery. This stock chain solution by UPS receives, validates and handles shipments from several hundred Argos suppliers. UPS then checks that the order is accurate, merges it with other orders and then sends it to Argoss own warehouses for the final delivery. Possible Improvements Argos could implement an improved stock ordering and restocking system. Argos stated that it would continue to roll out a voice put away process across all stores over the next two years. They then went on to say: This technology (voice put away) helps to automatically guide stock room assistants to the correct location  [6]   The key benefits of this technology would be; quicker processing and enhanced stock accuracy, thereby improving availability of stock and the level of customer satisfaction. Another possible improvement could be directed towards their gaming sector; as this is one of the areas they do not perform well in. They could do this by adopting a similar strategy to gaming stores like; Gamestation or Granger games. Which will include a trade in system for games and the value of the trade in(s) would be deducted from their chosen purchase from the Argos stores. Argos could then go on to sell the traded in games. The key benefits of this adopted strategy would be; increased sales at Argos as many people who buy games would be more inclined to shop there, increased revenue and a larger share of the gaming market. Conclusion Overall, this organisation effectively utilizes technology for growth, stability and convenience for both Argos and its customers. Argos has gained competitive advantage over competitors by distinguishing itself on the basis of providing the best value for money for customers through the most convenient shopping experience  [7]  . Tesco was one of the first organisation giants to integrate its already existing chain of supermarkets with a virtual online one, Argos uses the similar strategy but with a difference; convenience of reserving products online and collecting at the customers nearest retail store (there Click and Reserve service). The dominance and success of Argos (and other organisations like Tesco and Amazon) are a result of each of them applying their own unique shopping experience  [8]  . Argos is popular and successful because it is focused around meeting the customers needs. By incorporating new technologies, Argos continues to provide the methods that are most appropriate to the modern-day retailing experience.