The Macro Perspective On Basf Chemical Company Commerce Essay

The Macro Perspective On Basf Chemical Company Commerce Essay To start, here is the macro perspective on BASF Chemical Company. BASF is one of the leading chemical companies in the world, like this BASF is influenced by many political and economical factors. Different laws and regulations determine the production of the company. Moreover, the technological factor has hardly influence in this area of chemical production, where the innovations are leading force. In addition, the main mission of the company is to create chemistry for the sustainable future. Consequently, BASF Company has a lot of strategic methods to achieve its goals. This report has some objectives. To start, one of the main objectives of the report is to analyze BASF Company. To show the strengths and opportunities of the company`s future development. On the other hand, this report presents the weaknesses and threats of the company, for which it gives advice to make BASF more successful. In other words, this report aims to gives advice to BASF Company how to improve its internal and external situation. The following information was collected for this report. For collecting of information were used two main research methodologies. First, secondary research was done on micro and macro environment of BASF Company, for which the main source was used internet. Second, the primary research was done by conducting an interview with Mrs. Sengel, who is member of Executive Board of the company. The report has the fallowing structure. In chapter two, BASF Company and its product line are shown. In chapter three, the project`s description and aim are explained. Chapter four of the report is the Theoretical Framework of the report, in which the McKinsey`s seven S model, PEST analysis and SWOT analysis are theoretically described. In chapter five and six, PEST analysis and McKinsey`s seven S model are attached to collected information. PEST analysis is used to analyze BASF`s eternal environment, while the McKinsey`s model is used to analyze BASF`s internal organization. In chapter seven, is shown SWOT analysis based on the collected information. In chapter eight the conclusions based on the analyses are drawn. In chapter nine, recommendations for company improvement are given. In chapter ten, this report is critically appraised. 2. Company description 2.1 General Company Information Here is general information about BASF Company. BASF is the leading chemical company, which chemicals are used in almost all industries. The production of the company is separate in six different segments: Chemicals, Plastics, Performance Products, Functional Solution, Agricultural Solution and Oil Gas. BASF like an International company has 70 global and regional business units around the world. The department in Germany is thoroughly oriented in produce of Performance Products. BASF combine economic success, social responsibility and environment protection. The main mission of the company is to create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASFs 111, 141 employees, located all over the world, help the company to achieve its goals. BASF is market oriented in four main areas: Europe, North America, South America and Asia. In 2011, the most sales are made in Europe and company`s annual turnover amounted to 73, 5 billion Euros. 2.2 Product Description Germany`s department of BSAF has a broad range of products. The main segment is called Performance Products, which includes the fallowing product lines: Dispersions and Pigments, Care Chemicals, Nutrition and Health, Paper Chemicals and Performance Chemicals. The product portfolio of the company in this segment includes vitamins and foods additives, ingredients for pharmaceuticals and for hygiene, home and personal care items. Examples are products for hair care, sun and decorative care, body care, facial and oral care. The company does not offer products to the final client. BASF develop and sale molecules, catalysts and ingredients to the other companies which use this things for manufactures of products for final client. These things are not end- product; they are intermediate products which go to other steps of the production process. 3. Project description This chapter will give project description. The chapter will be separate in tree sub chapters, which will describe project description, project aim and research approach. 3.1 Project description This sub chapter will show the project description. To start, BASF is one of the leading chemical companies on the world market. In this market there is a big competition. Firstly, the future opportunity for the company is to create new products. Secondly, to find new market`s possibilities. Thirdly, one of the most important things in this branch is innovation. On the whole, to achieve its goals, BASF have to understand its own strengths and weaknesses. 3.2. Project aim The purpose of this sub chapter is to explain the project aim. For this project was collected information about external and internal environment of BASF Company. The aim of this project is to understand the company`s situation based on McKinsey 7S analysis, PEST and SWOT analysis and based on it to give recommendations about BASF`s future development. Furthermore, to show BASF`s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In other words, these are most important factors which describe present situation and future possibilities for one organization. 3.3 Research approach To start, for analysis of BASF Company`s present situation are used two research methods. First, the primary research was done by conducting an interview with Mrs. Sengel, who is member of Executive Board of the company. This information is used for internal analysis of the company. Second, the external environment is analyzed by secondary research method. This includes McKinsey 7S analysis and PEST analysis. Thirdly, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are described with use of SWOT analysis. In conclusion, all of collected information is used to give recommendations of the company, about its future development. *The world can be seen in the Glossary 4. Theoretical framework The purpose of chapter four is to show the theoretical framework of internal and external analysis. Hence, the real companys situation will be shown. First, in sub-chapter 4.1 will be shown the internal analysis- McKinsey 7S model. The model include seven elements, which are separated in so called hard S`s Strategy, Structure and Systems and four so called soft S`s Shared Values, Skills, Staff and Style. Second, in 4.2 will be discusse the external PEST analysis. In other words, Political, Economic, Socio-cultural and Technological factors that influence the company will be include. Finally, in 4.3 SWOT- overview of the company will be given. 4.1 Internal analysis Figure 1: McKinsey 7S model 7S.gif Source: 7S strategy software In this paragraph will be shown the so called hard S`s of McKinsey 7S model. Firstly, Strategy describes actions and plans of an organization to achieve specific goals. The external environment influences the company and its strategy. Thus the enterprise prepares to adapt on changes and to determine the right place among customer and competitors. Secondly, Structure describes the hierarchy of the company. It shows the relationships between the people which work in the organization. It can be seen on the organization chart. It always depends from the business strategy, form the business internationalization, size and diversity. The third S from so called hard Ss is Systems. Systems are all procedures which company uses to operate every day. This includes internal and external procedures. Systems are directly related to the Structure and Strategy of the company, because they describe the main practices of the organization to achieve its goals (Cuypers 2010, 3-9). The soft S from McKinsey 7S model, which will be given in this paragraph includes Shared Values, Skills, Staff and Style. Peters and Watermans (1984) argued that shared Values in 7S analysis determine the core guiding principles of the company. Moreover, it refers to what an organization stands for and believes in. Understanding the Shared Values of the company is the easiest way to find the main ideas and goals of the enterprise. To achieve these goals helps Skills. Skills are the unique abilities of the company. Skills describe the capacity and quality of the company in contrast with the competitors. It refers to the learned capability of staff within the company. Very important here is quality of the products and services within the organization. These things are related with the Staff and Style of the company. Staff refers to the number and type of people employed by the company. However, staff describes the processes used to manage the careers of employees. It is related to the Style, because it is directly dependent on the human resources system that manage the way staff is encourage, reward and motivate. Style is the work culture. It is describe the main way in which senior managers run the organization. It is related to the system that influences the procedures in the company. The most important things that style describes are how managers allocated their time, beliefs and their leadership skills. The main factors are the size and the structure of the organization which determines how different departments inside of the company are managed (Spencer, 2011). 4.2 External analysis In the first place, every organization depends on the political factors. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues. The political factors define the structure of the company and the rules under which the company must operated. It depends on the structure, because in the different countries the trade restrictions, tariffs, tax policy and employment laws are not the same (Oxford University Press, 2004). The second factor which directly influences every kind of company or organisation is the economic factor. The economic environment consist different factors, for example income and income distribution, current and project economic growth, inflation and interest rate. This environment can offer to the company both opportunities and threats. Understanding of economic environment determined the company development (Oxford University Press, 2004). Thirdly, the company is influenced by social factors. This lifestyle trends and demographic changes determined the consumer behavior. The main purpose of every company is to understand which exactly are the consumers wants and needs. If social-cultural changes are clear, it is easier for the company to developing strategies and practices to achieve its goals (Oxford University Press, 2004). Finally, in these days, one of most important factors which influence the company is technological environment. This is the most dramatic and the fastest development factor. These are forces that create new technologies, products and market opportunities. In the world of technology, the company has to be open and prepare for new opportunities (Oxford University Press, 2004). 4.3 SWOT According to Berry, the SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (Berry, 2012). Strengths are internal capabilities that may help the company to reach its objectives; in contrast weaknesses may interfere for that. This includes understanding of the internal environment or the situation inside of the company or organisation. The factors which determined the straightness and weaknesses of the company are tend to be in the present. Factors are relating to products, pricing, quality, staff and processes within the company. With understanding of these factors the company may understand the unique selling proposition and how to improve it (Berry, 2012). Opportunities and threats are related with the external environment which shows the situation outside of the company or organisation. Here, the factors tend have to be in future. Factors here are relating with markets opportunities fashions, trends, seasonability, politics, society, competitors and every other external factor which influence the company. With understanding of opportunities company is able to exploit the external factors to its advantage. Threats are negative factors that may challenge the company`s performance (Berry, 2012). 5. External analysis This chapter explains the external environment analysis PEST. The chapter is divided into four sub charters. Firstly, sub chapter 5.1 will give the Political factors, which influence the BASF Company. Secondly, 5.2 illustrate Economic factors. Thirdly, 5.3 show Social factors. Finally, sub chapter 5.4 analyzes Technological factors which influence the company. 5.1 Political factors There are some political factors, which influence BASF Chemical Company. One of these factors is a common initiative for a sustainable chemicals industry has launched by European Union in 2005 year. This factor has a positive effect on BASF, because the mission of the company is to create chemicals for sustainable future. This political factor gives opportunity to the company to make more innovations with collaboration on European Union. The negative political factor for the company is unfavorable political environment. In European Union there are different laws and regulations about Genno- modified products and some molecule products. For these reason USA is more favorable market for these kinds of products (Thomas, 2005). 5.2 Economical factors One of the results from present credit crisis is reduced consumption of customers. This is strong factor, which influence BASF Company. It makes the future more unstable and precariously. Only the best companies with the best products could keep their market`s place. The second economic factor which influences BASF is increasing energy prices. It is negative because it could damage chemicals industry competitiveness further. On the other hand, there is increasing competition from new economic powers, such as China. To avoid these negative factors, BASF Company could orientate to different markets, such as Africa and Middle East (Thomas, 2005). 5.3 Social factors In chemical`s industry is very complicated to find new well educated faces. The reason is the fact that young people choose other careers in different branch. Young talents in chemical`s branch, which are well educated require very high remuneration and good working conditions. BASF Company is working to improve matters. Flexible working time is one of decisions of the problem. On this way could be attached qualified labour (Thomas, 2005). 5.4 Technological factors For BASF Company the technological innovations are very important. The main reason is that technological innovations gives opportunity to the company to make products better, and to add new products in company`s portfolio. The company is focus of solutions for sustainable future, and definitely innovations are the key point for it. At all, the global technology platforms act as partners in product development (Thomas, 2005). 6. Internal analysis 6.1 McKinsey seven S framework To start, for BASF like as world`s leading chemistry company is very important to strengthen its position on the market. To achieve this goal, company has to focus their business on customer`s needs and demands. In chemistry market, and for company, which do not produce product for the final consumer is required to focus on innovation, to create new products and functionalized materials, and to find new solutions for more sustainable future. These things are very important too, for the other aim of the company, which is to increase year`s profit with average four percent per year, and to grow two percentage points faster than global chemical production (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). The structure of BASF Company is a Matrix structure. The Matrix organizational structure divides authority both by functional area and project area. In BASF there is Board of Executive Directors which consist eight members. They are responsible for the management of the company. The Board of Executive Directors regularly reports to The Supervisory Board. Supervisory Board consist 12 members, six shareholders representative elected by the Annual meeting and six members appointed by the representative body of the employees. Every country and every different department in BASF Company has a chief, who are supervise from the Chairman of the management board Kurt Bock (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). The company systems are very important for the business and for good done work. BASF has an own marketing department in every country where the company is located. In addition, they have supporting marketing agency outside the company, which helps them to develop the motives and the way BASF wants to present itself to the customers. Like a chemicals company, BASF use only trait media for advertising home personal care magazines or euro- cosmetic magazine, which are special magazines for cosmetic market. To exist and to be successful a big company like BASF is necessary to have fixed rules and good communication between different departments. Primary method within the company to discuss the problems and development in the market are manager`s meetings. The complicated structure of the company determined the need from daily meetings of the leader figures in the organization, much that the other companies (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). One of BASF`s goals is to make rules and system more common in the different countries. The leader style in the company allows to employees to share their ideas about innovations. Every idea on issue placed by some of employees is consider, but the main decision is always taken by The Supervisory Board. In the same time, the management style is people oriented, one of the most important things for the company is to understand consumer needs, and to create values for them (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). BASF is company with almost 200Â  000 employees. Every day in Germany for BASF works 54Â  000 employees. They work in different departments but the responsibility for their work is taken by managers of every department. There are a lot of frameworks and guides which are coming from the central department, and which are common for every employee. The employees have to respect the rules and framework given by the main department. Rewards and warnings in the company depend from Human Resource Department. There is not something special within the company, they fallow the legal system. Every employee has a set of target which is called employee dialogue. This makes management style in the company open for ideas from employees. Employee dialogue gives opportunity to employees to talk about the goals which they are achieving in the year and to share new ideas. The incentive system in the company is connected with reward as money bonuses for well done job (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 201 2). BASF Company, as company which do not produce product for the final customers, it is very important to makes products better, healthier and safer than competitors. The reason is that the end consumer never seen and could not understand that BASF Company is better than competitors, and cannot contrast them. The most important thing for the company are innovations, this is the only way that company can be unique and distinctive from competitors. The Company spending a lot of money every year to make research, which helps to find new opportunities for development. In the same time, the company makes everything possible to have products which are already developed and to make them successful on the market. The main question for BASF is to understand better than competitors what are exactly consumer`s needs and to be ready to satisfy these needs on time (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). The core value of BASF is to create chemistry for sustainable future. To achieve its goals BASF tries to be a company with innovative products, intelligent solution of problems and good service departments. The company strives to be the world most widespread supplier in the chemical industry and to generate high return of its assets. It wants to reach these intentions without harming the environment and nature (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). 6.2 Interconnection of the seven S To start, for BASF like as world`s leading chemistry company is very important to strengthen its position on the market. For achieve its goal for the Company is necessary to make its products better than competition and to has high quality of its services. For this helps The Matrix organisational structure and the management style of BASF, which is people oriented oriented to understand customers needs. The company is focus on innovations and every decision for a new idea is taken by The Supervisory Board. For the company`s success is important to have good communication between the different departments and to have fixed rules. In BASF this is achieve with regular meetings of The Board of Executive Directors. The company strives to be the world most widespread supplier in the chemical industry and to generate high return of its assets. For these goals, company has to employ highly qualified staff. Moreover, the leader system of the company is focuses to encourage the employees to share their new ideas. For this, the company use so called Employee dialogue. On the other hand, the company has to invest in researches. The RD department is responsible to find new market opportunities for BASF. The main mission of BASF is to create chemicals for sustainable future. For this goal helps the good organisation structure, cooperation between departments. On the other hand, very important are employees and the way they are managed. Very important are innovations and the style of the company. All of these things determined the current situation of the company and its future position and development of the market. 7. SWOT overview First, BASF Company is one of the leading chemicals company in the world. This factor gives chance to the company, to manage the big part of the market and to have hard influence on smaller chemicals companies. Moreover, as so international and big company BASF has a lot of production sides around the world. One of the company`s strengths are production sides, so called Verbund sides. These sides have really good conglomerates of the production. This conglomeration allows, every kind of product produced within the company, to be used in the most efficient way. Different materials produced in one department of the company, can be used in another one, which means that the BASF Company produce raw materials which use in its own production. Besides, this allows to the company, to produce a lot of different materials and products, to make innovations in this sector and to create more value for the customers than competitors (YouSigma 2011). Second, BASF Company has a huge profit in the last year. Nevertheless, in the last few years is observed declining earnings in several business segments, which is one of the company`s weakness. There are several reasons about this fact. The firs reason, is one of the company threats, is the Economic slowdown in the European Union Region, which is due of the present credit crisis. The credit crisis in these days covers and influence, both small and in the same way huge companies like BASF. The other reason is that people in European Union have possibility to choose between hundred different products. Here the competition is really strong and the market in Europe is developed till maximum. One of company opportunities is to rising commodity chemicals market in regions like Africa, Asia Pacific and Middle East. These are the growth regions of the future, for almost every kind of industry, because the growth rate of profit in future in European countries would not be so high. The other o pportunity for the company is always to develop new products and new ideas (YouSigma 2011). Figure 2: SWOT analysis table Location of factor Favorable Unfavorable Internal Strengths Leading chemical company Concept of Verbund Variety of products Weaknesses Decrease earning in some countries Less expenditure for RD External Opportunities Product innovations Expand the business in Africa, Asia and Middle East Threats Laws and regulations Economic slowdown in European Union 8. Conclusion BASF is international company, which is leader in chemical market. The company production is separated in six different departments and its market is oriented in four main regions. The department of the company which is located in Germany is oriented primly in production of Performance products products for personal care. Moreover, the main mission of the company is to keep its position on the market and to create products for sustainable future. For understanding the present situation of the company was collected information, based on it was made analysis for internal and external environment of the BASF Company. In this report, BASF Company was analyzed. For this analysis were used McKinsey 7 S model for internal environment of the company. The weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats were analyzed based on SWOT analysis of BASF. Based on these analyses it was found that the company has well conducted Matrix Structure and good working management style. Nevertheless, global company like BASF is difficult to manage and demand strict rules and frameworks for the employees. On the other hand, the company produces intermediates, which are used from other manufacture companies to produce final products. For these reason, the final customer is not always informed for the quality of BASF`s products. This is the main fact, that one of the most important things for the company is innovations. Certainly, the innovations and development are the company`s main mission. For this mission helps quality R D and marketing department. The conglomeration of the different departments is one of company`s strength. For understanding of BASF`s external environment was used PEST analysis. It was found that, there are different political, economical, social-cultural and technological factors which influence the company. One of negative factors is different laws and regulations, which limited the production of Genno- modified products and some molecule products in European Union. In the same way, negatives factors which influence the company are increasing price of the electricity in these days, and increasing competition from countries such China. But at the same time, the European Union gives opportunity for innovations, which is positive political factor for the company. In conclusion, the company is focus to produce products and to find solutions for sustainable future. Understanding of internal and external environment is the main factor for achieve its goal. 9. Recommendation In this report BASF Chemical Company was analyzed. Based on these analysis was determine the opportunities, threats, strength and weaknesses of the company. Moreover, the internal and external environment of the company was analyzed. Based on this information, this report gives recommendations of BASF how to take advantage of its opportunities. Firstly, BASF Company can be better than competition if it makes more innovations. This is possible with collaboration of RD and marketing department. The company has to be open for new ideas and to search for people who are useful for it. Moreover, the opportunity for the company is to rising commodity chemicals market in regions like Africa, Asia Pacific and Middle East. On this way, BASF will continue to develop the business and to retain its position on the market. Secondly, one of BASF`s mission is to make its management systems more common for every company`s department in the world. For this mission the company has to create more strictly rules and frameworks, which a common for every employee. Furthermore, BASF have to keep the good communication within departments. Finally, BASF Company have to invest more in research about customer`s needs. This is the best way to strengthen its position on the market. The most important thing for one company is to know exactly customers demands and to make everything possible to create products better than competitors. 10. Critical appraisal Firstly, the information collected for the external environment of the company PEST analysis, was very less. There were not interview questions about PEST analysis. For this reason, was very difficult to determine the current external environment of the company and factors which influenced it. Secondly, BASF Company is huge company for which is easy to find a lot of information. It is difficult to determine which of the information is really important. Moreover, the time for writing the report was limited and the interview was conducted late. It is very difficult with so much information to find the right source. To close, it is necessary to be more prepare with the information for this kind of report.

Sociological Imagination Essay

The blackboard website will be unavailable between 7PM to midnight on June 29th for maintenance, so please make sure you upload it before 7 PM. Do not wait till last minute. Late assignments will result point deduction or even a zero essay grade. Format: Please submit an electronic word file named â€Å"your full name essay 1†, such as â€Å"JohnSmithessay1†, through blackboard on time. This essay should be 3-4 pages in total, double spaced, 11 point font. Do not directly copy and paste your assignment on blackboard! Choose to attach your assignment word file. Late assignments are not going to be accepted. â€Å"The sociological imagination enables individuals to see the intimate relationship between the events of history as they occur in human societies and the events of an individual’s or family’s biography.† wrote C. Wright Mills. In this assignment, you are to write up an Essay explaining the connections between your family biography and historical events over the past 50 years. Choose one family members of yours to focus on, such as your grandparents, you parents, your brothers and sisters, or you. Reflect on his or her life and think about how his/her life trajectory is intertwined with the historical changes in the country that you are from. The purpose of this assignment is to for you to apply the sociological imagination to analyze the profound influence that historical and societal contexts have on lives of individuals. Please make sure that you fulfill the following requirements: Clearly state what the personal events are. Explain how these personal events in your family are related to or affected by some of the historical events you listed. Explain in your own words what the sociological imagination is and whether/how it has helped you to better understand the life experiences of your family members. You can refer to the first assigned reading to answer these questions. Before you start your essay, you can do the following exercise on a piece of paper. Please do not include the time line drawing in your essay! It is just used for you to better conceptualize your essay. Draw a time line that begins in the 1960 and ends at the 2013. Above the line you are to identify in chronological order three significant events and/or transitions in the life of you or your family members (such events or transitions are like births, graduations, marriages, divorces, employment changes, income changes, geographic mobility, employment changes, or other changes you can think of). Next, think about the historical and social contexts underlying this particular individual’s life trajectory. What historical or societal events have affected his/her path or life? What historical or societal factors have influenced the important decisions he/she made in his/her life? Below the line identify in chronological order some of these important historical events. Write down the historical events and the time period it occurred or lasted. Such events in the United States include, are not limited to, World War II, the â€Å"Cold War†, the Korean War, the Civil Rights and Women’s movements, the Vietnam War, the recession of the 1980s, and etc. Please do not be limited by the events I list here. You are free to choose some historical events that are less well known (such as the development of colon technology, tea party movement and etc.) but you think are influential in your life or the life of the family member that you chose. After you have decided which family member and life events to focus on, write an essay on the relationships between these personal events and some the important historical events in your country. Please note: I am not asking you to write what you or your family were thinking or doing on the day of 911 or the inauguration day of president Obama. You are supposed to write about how these historical events substantially shaped the life trajectory of the particular individual you chose. Your essay will be graded based on how well you answered each question and the overall quality of your assignment. I strongly recommend you read the grading rubric in the appendix carefully before you start. Please organize your thoughts and arguments, present them in a logical manner and explain them in detail. Please proof read papers for typographical and grammatical errors. Appendix 1: excerpts of other students’ assignments as example The following are some examples from other students’ assignments. Please learn from them how to apply the sociological perspective to your own life events but do not be constrained by them. (1) During World War II my family underwent some great changes. My grandmother took a second job, working in the woolen mills making army blankets. My grandfather joined the marines and moved his whole family from Ohio to California†¦ It was during this time that my grandparents divorced. Divorces are higher during any period of dramatic economic change. Although I’m sure my grandparents blamed themselves, their divorce was a product of the economy and society. The same theory holds true for my parents. When they divorced, they blamed themselves, wondering what each had done wrong, as I did. When I look at what was happening in the economy, the similarities [with my grandparents] are easy to see. The nation- wide divorce rate was up dramatically and the economy was beginning to take a terrible turn for the worse. (2)When people ask me why I enrolled in college a year ago, I usually answered that I enrolled because I wanted to. I realize now that my answer cannot be quite that simple. Because my family doctor believed that the â€Å"pill† was finally proven safe in 1963, I was able to plan my family. In doing so, my son and daughter are nearly raised and I am still young enough to pursue a second career. More than any other factor, though, the women’s movement probably was the greatest influence on my decision. The successes of the movement in social equality have given me the necessary courage and confidence to attempt to be more than a mere shadow of my husband’s social position. Appendix 2: grading rubric Sociological Understanding (40%) The essay should apply key sociological concepts, ideas, theories learned in class correctly and properly to analyze related topics. Assertions in the essay must be supported by evidence (from texts or from data) that is logically related to the thesis. Coverage (30%) The essay must be clearly based on readings and topics related to the course. Essays that are simple summaries of sources are adequate, but will not get the highest grades. The essay should answer all the required questions in the essay guideline. If you fail to answer any questions, some points will be deducted. However, you should organize the essay in a way that it flows smoothly. Do not just list your answers to each question. Originality (10%) The essay should be original. Originality does not mean that you must be the first to think or write something, but that you take different sources and write about them using your point of view. Originality is entailed in taking your sources and forging them into an essay in your voice. Summarizing sources will be adequate, but not very original. Papers written by you and previously submitted to other courses are not original for this course. Such recycled papers will get a failing grade. Copying directly from internet without citing properly is considered plagiarism and will result in a failing grade. What is plagiarism? Writing Quality (10%) Words and constructions should be chosen with care. Statements should be direct and clear.w The essay should contain no errors of sentence structure, spelling, word choice, or punctuation. If you have difficulty writing or English is your second language you should tell me at the beginning of the semester. I’m not a writing teacher, but I will do what I can to help you become a better writer. You should also seek help at the Writing Center. Every paper must have a title and the author’s name, either at the top of the first page or on a separate title page. All citations and references must be in ASA, APA or MLA format. The general tone of the essay should be academic and professional. Good writing often â€Å"sounds† like well-organized thoughtful conversation. I do not want you to imitate the turgid academic writing found in some sociology journals. I want you to write with a level of sophistication appropriate for well-educated college stu dents.

Shakespeare and Robert Browning

Intro Shakespeare and Browning both present the theme of desire through their central characters. Lady Macbeth (and Macbeth) is motivated by the desire for ambition and authority in ‘Macbeth’ whilst in the Browning monologues; the monologists are driven by the desire of power and control in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and revenge in ‘The laboratory’. All of which seem to have fatal conclusions as a result of each of their desires.As the texts were produced over 400years ago, audiences may have found the works of Shakespeare and Browning highly thought-provoking and entertaining whilst contemporary audiences finding the different aspects of desire relatable to modern situations. Lady Macbeth’s need for authority in her famous soliloquy ‘unsex me here’ reflects on the feelings of many women at that time longing for power.Likewise, audiences of the ‘the Laboratory’ are able to empathise with the protagonist’s desire for revenge upon their adulterous lover. In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, Browning reveals an obsessive and controlling persona who can only satisfy his absolute love for his lover by strangling her, presenting his desire for control over others. Section 1: How do the writers introduce the central characters? LADY MACBETH Lady Macbeth’s introduction to the audience in Act 1, Scene 5 immediately makes it clear of her intentions. ‘Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty’. As this is a soliloquy, it invites the audience in to see her inner thoughts and feeling and her true desire for power. * Her use of imperative verbs, ‘come’ and ‘fill me’ not only notifies the audience of her desire for power, but the lengths she is willing go to achieve it. Lady Macbeths mention of the supernatural shows how desperate she is for her desire as she craves to posses characteristics of a man by calling upon the ‘spirits’ and this possibly confirms the dark affiliation she has to the witches prophecy as she uses commanding language ‘come’ followed by supernatural references ‘spirits’ and only calls upon them. * She says ‘come to me woman’s breast and take my milk for gall’. Stating the physical differences of males and females not only shows the limitations of her desire (she is a woman), but reflects on the position of women at the time because she is pleading to have all her feminine traits emoved to attain her desire. * Likewise, when she says ‘that tend on moral thoughts’ unsex me here’ she is asking the spirits to de-feminise and undo her natural order her as she wants to be emotionless and not feel guilty as she recognises that her desire goes against the moral order thus emphasising her strong feeling of desire and how far she will go. It could also be argued that the fact that women had to act in certain ways in the 16th century, for instance being completely against violence of any sorts, may have spurred on lady Macbeth to rebel and achieve her desire. Also, the reference to ‘direst cruelty; make thick my blood’ further supports her portrayal to the audience as an evil and corrupted character. The use of the semi-colon emphasises the use of the word ‘cruelty’ which is a trait seen to be masculine not feminine * This may have been shocking yet entertaining to the Elizabethan audiences as women at that time weren’t expected to act and think in such a way. * The fact that when we meet her when Macbeth is not present (or any one else) shows her desire for power as she is telling us what she wants THE LABORATORY Similarly, in Robert Browning’s monologue of ‘The laboratory’ the audience are made fully aware of the narrators intentions from the beginning. ‘May gaze thr o’ these faint smokes curling whitely’. The personae describes deadly arsenic fumes as something beautiful which suggests to the reader that she is somewhere where chemical reactions take place- hence the title. * The fact that we are introduced to her in this setting brings a dark atmosphere similar to intro of lady Macbeth * This may portray signs of insanity which questionable throughout the poem. Reference to the ‘devils smithy’ further enhances her desire for revenge as she knows she is doing something bad by going to a devils smithy * ‘Poison to poison her’- reinforces the narrative to kill and the first glimpse to who the revenge is on (‘her) and doesn’t mention the name * It shows how deranged the protagonist's nature has become, who goes so far as to poison her rival in love The use of rhyming quickens the pace of the poem, adding to the woman's increasing excitement as the apothecary grinds up the mixture.Many of Brownin g's poems were written about people with an unusual nature. At first glance, the poem appears to be written as if she were talking to the apothecary, but reading into it shows that she may be thinking to herself as at the start of the poem she tells the man to take his time, but as she thinks about the possibilities and power the poison will bring her she begins to hurry him. Her careless attitude towards her future crime suggests that she may have previously killed and does not care about being found out as she is proud of what she will have done. PORPHYRIA’S LOVER ‘ the rain set early tonight’- tonight is a time indicator and possibly foreshadows something that will happen tonight * Use of pathetic fallacy- weather mirrors feeling felt by the narrator * Irregular rhyme pattern- may show narrators instabilltiy * No stanzas –reflective of the narrators mental state/personality * When obsessed can’t stop talking about something * Build up of tension at the beginning to get to the climax COMPARRISON OF ALL * All start in a sinister gloomy way * Section 2: How do the writers show that desire motivates and drives these characters?LADY MACBETH * Act 1, Scene 7- ‘When you durst do it; then you were a man’ shows Lady Macbeths play on masculinity as she uses the perfect tense ‘were’ highlighting the difference now and before which provokes Macbeth and in turn manipulates him to go through with the execution of Macbeth with will get allow her to attain her desire for power (again shows how far she is willing to go to achieve happiness) * * Strong imagery and emotive lang-passionate * Blank verse instead of prose * Shakespeare uses a metaphor and contrast to show that Lady Macbeth is ruthless.In Act I scene 7, when Macbeth wants to back out of killing Duncan, she tells Macbeth â€Å"I have given suck, and know / How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, / And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you†. * First, Lady Macbeth uses feminine language, showing she knows what it means to be tender and nurturing with words like â€Å"tender love† and â€Å"milk†. But then, she shocks the audience by using violent language such as â€Å"dashed the brains out†.This is an upsetting image; it makes the audience understand that Lady Macbeth would put a promise before the life of her own child. * Lady Macbeth seems to have no problem with violence of the cruelest kind: violence against a child. What makes Lady Macbeth sound even more ruthless are words like as â€Å"boneless† and â€Å"smiling† because the baby sounds defenseless, yet Lady Macbeth won’t show it mercy. * By having Lady Macbeth talk about committing infanticide, Shakespeare makes her a villain in the eyes of the audience, because in the 1600s, women were seen as soft and nurturing.Behavin g this way would be seen as unnatural and would have shocked Shakespeare’s audience. * This shows how her she is driven by desire because for Lady Macbeth (who portrays a strong personae) to talk about how she knows what I’s like to be a ‘woman’ and be nurturing, which doesn’t happen very often in the play, as a way to control her husband into getting into power shows how driven she is and again how far she’ll go. THE LAB * Browning also presents the reader with a character who is completely ruthless when it comes to fulfilling her desires.Although Lady Macbeth desires power whereas the speaker in â€Å"The Laboratory† desires revenge, they share the same determination to get what they want regardless of the consequence. When talking to the chemist about her plans for revenge the speaker says â€Å"and Elize, with her head, and her breast, and her hands should drop dead! †. Just like the presentation of Lady Macbeth, Browning al so paints a vivid image of death and murder. Worryingly for the reader, Browning strongly suggests the speaker’s enjoyment of the idea of her rival’s death.By repeating the word â€Å"and† it suggests that she is relishing the idea of revenge and also that she has thought about it just as much. Section 3: How do the writers show how desire affects relationships in the text? Section 4: How do the writers show the results/consequences of desire? LADY MACBETH * In the final stages of the play the result of Lady Macbeth’s desire for power becomes clear when she loses her mental stability and starts to re-live the murder she and her husband committed. Whilst in her room she utters the phrase: * ‘Out damned spot! * Out I say! *   The use of the command here clearly shows the fact that Lady Macbeth – a once powerful and desire driven woman – is becoming increasingly unstable. Shakespeare’s use of the repetition of the word out shows how desperate she has become, how she has lost control. The repeated use of the exclamation marks highlights the intensity of her need for her hands to ‘be clean’. The ‘spot’ to which she is referring to is that of the blood of King Duncan, however in this instance the blood is a metaphorical manifestation of her guilt, and one that will never go away.Her need for power has destroyed her; she can no longer escape the consequences of what she has done. In this dialogue Lady Macbeth also alludes to the fact that she herself has been ‘damned’, just like she may never get the spot of blood off of her skin she will never be able to clean her own soul, she will never be able to escape what she has done. Through the use of the word ‘damn’ Shakespeare successfully suggests the idea of hell, one which was key in Lady Macbeth’s initial soliloquy.In this scene many may feel a sense of sympathy for Lady Macbeth, as she is going through a traumatic experience, and yet there is no sign of Macbeth, once again taken over by desire he has abandoned his wife in her time of need. However, this scene may be considered to be appropriate by Shakespearean audiences as Lady Macbeth losing her mental stability is seen as a result of her dealing with aspects of life that are deemed to be ‘not feminine’. Conclusion: present your own ideas about the varying successes of the different writers, evaluating which of the treatments you prefer and why – exemplar to follow * Whilst Shakespeare presents highly compelling characters in the shape of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, both of whom are driven to self-destruction by their strong feelings of desire, it is Browning’s monologist in ‘The Laboratory’ that conjures this desire most convincingly. Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,/Pound at thy powder, — I am not in haste! ’ Both the language and the form compel the reader to reluc tantly empathise with the persona. We feel drawn into the conspiracy she has arranged with her apothecary, driven by the imperative commands she expresses through the use of alliteration, exclamations and commanding verbs. Moreover, the use of bilabial plosives ‘ paste†¦ pound†¦ owder’ attracts the reader, caught up in the excitement she feels as she anticipates the deadly outcomes of the concoction being created. Of course, she is [in haste]. What is interesting is that all three texts make desire enticing (even though we know that moral boundaries are being challenged and broken). Browning not only shows the corruption that strong feelings of desire can bring but also succeeds in corrupting the reader as we ‘warm’ to her intentions †¦

Informative Speech How to Be Happy Being Single - 735 Words

Title: Surviving a Break-Up: How to be Happy Being Single General Purpose: To inform. Specific Purpose: To tell about surviving a tough break-up, and how to rediscover yourself and find happiness in a newly single life. Thesis Statement: The aftermath of a relationship break-up can allow time for self-discovery, friendship, and a chance to do things you want to do. . Introduction . To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful. . Going through a break-up can be a really stressful and emotional experience; how do you move on and find happiness in a newly single life? . The reason I am up here talking about this topic today, is that about a month ago, I ended what was a 2  ½ year relationship. . It has†¦show more content†¦. It is important to balance out spending time alone, because too much time alone may lead to feelings of resentment and longing for the relationship. . Friends may have felt they were put on the backburner during your relationship, and will be happy to have you back to spend time with you again. . To quote Judy Ford, â€Å"A relationship with a friend is a special place. It is a sheltered environment in which we can endlessly explore ourselves in the presence of another and in which we can offer the possibility of the true reflection of another. And still we are one person.† . It may be possible to fear being independent, for that may leave one to feel loneliness and unloved. However, if a person becomes independent, they can truly do the things they want to do. . Do the Things You Want to Do . Ever been in a relationship where you either are forced to watch sports, or on the other end, a chick flick? Well, now you have the freedom to watch whatever it is YOU want to watch. . Right when you find yourself single, go ahead and make plans of things you never could do before. 1. Travel, skydive, go on a road trip . 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