Catching Fire Essay

Catching Fire Suzanne Collins is a mutually celebrated writer of many books, including The Hunger Games trilogy. Catching Fire is just one of these astounding books. Catching Fire, written by Suzanne Collins, belongs in the science fiction genre because of the advancements and invention of different technologies. For example, mockingjays, a common animal in the story, are the product of female mockingbirds and male jabberjays. These jabberjays were genetically engineered by the Capitol, a ruthless gathering of officials that oversee the various districts of Panem, and can eavesdrop on conversions remembering every word that was uttered. Mockingjays on the other hand can only remember short verbalizations, such as a song. Also, during the Hunger Games, the Capitol has the ability to materialize objects directly into the arena in which the tributes fight, for example the â€Å"beasts† that enter the arena in the first book of the trilogy. There have also been many advancements in the field of medicine. Most notably, there is a cream for almost anything, whether it be a third-degree burn or a stab wound. This episode of the best-selling trilogy is written in first-person point of view. We are only allowed to know the thoughts and feelings of the main character, Katniss, causing us to wonder what other characters are thinking and feeling as well. This also causes us to create a deeper connection with Katniss. For instance, in the first book of the trilogy Katniss has a flashback in the arena about the explosion in the mines that killed her father. She relives this memory often and often reminisces of the times before her father died. Overall, the point of view of the story ultimately helps the reader identify with the main character. The point of view in this story causes it to be more relatable. Collins wrote the Hunger Games trilogy in present tense. This causes the reader to take the persona of another character or a diary that Katniss tells everything to. This style seems to be very easy to read, as the plot follows an extremely chronological event base. Contrary to her easy to read style, she uses rather impressive diction. This styles gives her a very competitive edge over other writers of today. This novel is enticing. It leaves no stone unturned. By the end of the novel you know that almost every conflict has been elucidated and resolved. The only conflict that was not resolved is between the Districts and the Capitol. This leaves a major opening for the third book in the series, Mockingjay. Works Cited Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. Hunger Games Trilogy. New York: Scholastic Press, 2009.

Brand Strategy for Supermarket Industry in Hong Kong

Brand Strategy for Supermarket Industry in Hong Kong The advent of computers and technological innovation that has faced mankind in the recent past coupled with varied customers need and aspiration has left the business world to be highly competitive. For this reason, there are a number of strategies that organizations have used to cut for themselves a market edge in this competitive business world. The main strategy is branding usually followed by advertisement and publicity. The concept of branding has come out to be deemed by management of any organization as a top priority (Chaudhuri 2001). Additionally, it has been categorized together with human workforce to be the most valuable assets within an organization. It has been argued that brand building is a long process that utilizes a lot of resources and cannot be separated from advertisement and strong marketing strategies. Organizations have resorted to branding with the belief that it will save them from failing as it will enhance the value of the product/organization. However, many of these organizations fail to have prior knowledge that adequate planning is key to successful branding (Kotler 1997). For this reason, long-term promotion prop up for a brand, on the basis of definitions of the distinctiveness of the target consumers is necessary. Additionally, understanding of customers preferences, aspirations and expectations from the brand need to be considered. History and transition of branding Historically, ‘brand’ was though to mean a hot or burning thing and thus associated with marking of animals with unique symbols so that owners can easily identify them (Gregory, 2003). The process involved burning an iron that has been fashioned into a distinct symbol then pressed on the animal skin leaving a permanent mark. Over the years the term has been used in a wider context especially in the field of business to refer to â€Å"name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one selle r or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers (Chaudhuri 2002). One notable example of earlier use of branding in China, where merchants used branding names â€Å"Misty Mountain Tea†, or â€Å"Garden in the Sky Tea† to sell poor quality garden tea to buyers Oscar Wilde wrote that pessimist is an individual that who is a ware of all things but do not know the price of anything. It is only in the recent past that top management have deem brand to be an important asset to their organization. (Davidson 1998; Ward and Perrier 1998) In simple terms, brand is entity that provides end-users with an added value on the basis based functional performance. All these help distinguish the product or service being offered by a business entity. The four Ps of marketing has been used for a very long time to bring about values associated with a brand (Lancaster 1995; Kotler 1997) As time passed, knowledge possessed by the community that engage in marketing has led to managers being brand leaders. There is recognition of branding strategy as source of competitive advantage in domestic markets (Chaudhuri 2001; De Chernatony 2001; Moore et al 2000).

The relationship among professional values, ethics and career success Essay

The relationship among professional values, ethics and career success - Essay Example this issue, as some have argued that on long-term perspective; it is very essential and imperative to perform tasks while implementing professional values and remain ethical in the organization. Experts have noticed that employers seek to hire individuals with professional values. However, a number of adversaries (O’Donovan-Polten, 2001) of this school of thought have argued that in today’s business world, it has become very difficult to remain ethical, as managers and employers incline employees to perform some jobs while setting aside professional or ethical values in order to acquire more revenues. In this regard, employees end up in acting unethically to satisfy managers and employers that is a critical issue in this debate as whether tasks with unethical considerations performed for managers and employers will fall under professional values or not. It is an observation that a number of individuals focus on satisfying managers and employers personally rather than fulfilling the organizational tasks, in order to acquire quick promotion and personal benefits. Unfortunately, abovementioned has been the usual practice at jobs that deteriorated the professional values that were once essential for acquiring and maintaining jobs (Wines, 2006). In other words, experts have witnessed a transformation in the category of professional values that now focuses more on employer/manager’s satisfaction rather than fulfillment of organizational objectives and mission. At the same time, many optimists (O’Donovan-Polten, 2001) in the society believe that ethical values play a significant role in success of any career. Some experts have indicated that it is important for an individual to remain ethical in order to perform his/her job in an efficient manner, as once an employee remained unethical, he/she will end up being the same in the future as well, reducing the chances of getting success. However, it has now become very important for employers to remain ethical and

Airline Regulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Airline Regulation - Essay Example The first major benefit the airline industry would gain would be the safety of its passengers. Section 601(b) of the FA Act specifies, in part, that when issuing certificates, the FAA shall give full consideration "to the duty resting upon air carriers to perform their services with the highest possible degree of safety in the public interest . . ."  Why? Because safety is also related to profitability of an airline company! The first step would be to establish the fact that safety issue is not just about accidents, it is also about prevention. Accidents are few but they cost the company a lot of money in terms of insurance payment as well as bad publicity. In a study made by Mitchell and Maloney ( 1989) it was revealed that â€Å"found that share price falls can be attributed both to the projected future costs of higher insurance and to a brand name effect associated at-fault attribution â€Å" ( qtd from. Button,1997 ). Bad publicity is bad marketing and people lose trust in a certain carrier that is involved with frequent accidents. If management wants to avoid costs, then it must pay attention to its safety programs. The best possible way to change the management’s view about safety is to make a presentation that would justify safety as a way to minimize future costs. I would ask a group of industry specialists on safety to present to the management the benefits of safety to our company and relate it to financial matters. The only problem with the implementation of safety is that some airlines do get favorable treatment from the government. Popular participation from citizens such as lobbying in Congress as well as writing the government should put pressure to the government to be more tight in its monitoring and control of private airline companies. It is not evil to make profit out of rendering service, that is free trade. However, profit is not

Does Alcohol dependancy lead to depression Essay

Does Alcohol dependancy lead to depression - Essay Example cancers, unintentional injuries, and violence.† (Mokdad, Marks, Stroup & Gerberding 2000) Professional health care practitioners are constantly vigilant on monitoring alcohol dependents, especially if it exists in conjunction with other illnesses, like depression. The negative effects that alcoholism causes cannot be undermined. This paper is written to present a review of literature on the topic: does alcohol dependency lead to depression? Given the research question, the purpose of the study is to explore four scholarly researches made on the topic identifying methodologies, findings and general consensus. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services define alcoholism, also known as â€Å"alcohol dependence,† as â€Å"a disease that includes four symptoms: craving: a strong need, or compulsion, to drink; loss of control: The inability to limit one’s drinking on any given occasion; physical dependence: Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, occur when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking; and tolerance: The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to â€Å"get high.† (2001, 1) â€Å"The American Medical Association and the World Health Organization have both recognized addiction (including alcoholism) as an illness, not a lack of willpower†. (Dossey, Keegan, & Guzzetta, 2000, 514). Definitely, this is a fact that pervades people from all walks of life depending on diverse factors. According to Dossey, et.al. (2000), â€Å"although there are many types of addictions to various substances, alcohol addiction is the most prevalent in the United States, afflicting at least 11 million people†. (514) There are a multitude of scholarly researches written on alcoholism and diverse concerns related to it. Through secondary sources from books, journals and electronic references, appropriate materials would enable one to proffer a comprehensive and objective view of the topic. A study conducted by Dr. Achal

International Political Economy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Political Economy - Assignment Example The labor product in this case was alien from the producers themselves (Mandel and Marx 69-72). The introduction of capitalist system opened trade to global world with the employment of huge masses of people to work in industries. However capitalist still remains exploitation of the workers by the ruling class the wealth produced by the workers is of benefit to the ruling class. Working in industries has exposed workers to poor working conditions. With the increase in market competition the workers who are viewed as commodities are turned to work under strict rules. This has had an adverse effect to human beings who in turn are subjected to harmful chemicals in the industries, which may lead to contraction of diseases (Scott 71-75). It is impossible to prevent some circumstances in capitalist. The overgrowing use of machines enhances high productivity of goods which creates employment opportunities for workers to work in those industries. It will however be difficult to avoid the use of child labor to work within these industries. Huge gap of social inequalities has also continued to widen further. The exploitation of the workers has constantly resulted into wars and crises which has been difficult to prevent (Scott 81-82). The division between the owners of production and the workers meant there is likelihood of war eruption which in this case is inevitable as a result, impairing the development of a capitalist economy. With huge concentration on capital whereby small retail units had to pave way for the enlargement of wide markets agriculturalists had to suffer. It should however be noted that this system of capitalist makes it very difficult to control the economic crises. Transition to communism is related with the struggle of class. Whether it is a violent or peaceful transition, it cannot be achieved through reforms that are isolated.

Thinking Blues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thinking Blues - Essay Example This ‘first encounter’ as he calls it and the many that followed brought on the realization that there was a palpable tension between the author and other nighttime pedestrians especially women just because he was black. He became ‘thoroughly familiar’ with ‘the language of fear’ within a year of his coming to Chicago. He learned to expect car-drivers stopped at traffic lights to hurriedly lock their car doors as he crossed in front of their cars on dark, lonely intersections. He learned to deal with pedestrians preferring to cross to other side of the street rather than have to pass him. He suffered ‘unpleasantries’ with people like policemen, bouncers etc whose job it is to keep troublemakers at bay. To keep his peace of mind the author has learned to control his anger at being mistaken for a criminal every now and then. In actual fact he makes it a point to make elaborate gestures of being peaceful and on the right side of the law likening his various ways of assuring his ‘victims’ to the cowbell worn by hikers in bear country. Through his essay the writer brings forth very clearly the dilemma and dangers that are faced in public spaces in urban America by black men who do not conform to the stereotype of being themselves dangerous or outside the law. Black Men and Public Space, by Brent Staples is an essay that illustrates the above thesis very poignantly. His hurt more than indignation at being perceived as dangerous simply because he was big, burly and black is palpable through out the essay. The essay begins with the words, â€Å"My first victim was a woman- white†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . (Staples, para1) In actual fact, it is the author himself who was victimized. Soon after he arrived in Chicago as a young graduate who by his own admission was timid, a ‘softy’, a ‘good boy’ and one who ‘doubted the virtues of intimidation’ got wrongly suspected of being a mugger