The Woman Who Watches Over The World English Literature Essay

The Woman Who Watches Over The World English Literature Essay Linda Hogan is a Chickasaw meaning she belongs to a group of Native Americans who migrated in to east of Mississippi river, Oklahoma. She is a poet and a novelist writer and has contributed much in this field. In her book, The Woman Who Watches over the World: a Native Memoir, she brings about different themes some of which are associated with her difficult past and those of her people painful history. She assumes the position of a Clay Woman named The woman who watches over the world, and uses her to view the worlds problem and that of her tribe in that perspective. The title is derived from a sculpture figure made of clay which she bought and which became broken on the way to being delivered to her. It is from the figure that she realizes the comparison to human beings life which gets hurt; just as it is with her personal life. From the many fragments in this anecdote, we can piece them together to see the whole history and current status of the Native Americans have undergone. History, survival and healing are the major themes in this book. The book is a journey from childhood to adulthood and the various problems one encounters. Healing is supposed to be understood from the power derived from words and also the natural healing. The history of physical and emotional suffering she inherited from her people contributes to the way she reacts in life. The Natives Americans are presented with their many problems and are reflected on Hogans hard and painful life. The Native Americans or the American Indians had a traumatizing history. They were deeply religious and most of their beliefs were connected with nature. Land, water and animals became to them a symbol of gods gift to mankind. This made it possible for them to practice collective ownership especially of land. Their relocation from their land in 1837 was met with caution since they had to pay allegiance to the USA government. Despite their effort to keep their ancestral land they nevertheless got evicted and trading posts established in their land. The tribal leaders were forced to sell the land and move away to Indian territories. In the new Oklahoma area, where they finally got relocated, the adaptation was not easy bearing in mind that they had to struggle to get food. By the turn of 19th century, the United States government foresaw the dissolution of the Natives tribal government and a division of their land. Missionaries were established which were taxed with the job of educating the Indians in the American way. Ironically, such an education proved worthless because the girls returned to their world afterwards. Poverty and lack of important physical amenities was the order of the day. The Chickasaws had endured such a life for many decades and it is this life that Hogan addresses. She wants to stress the important aspect of healing from the past so that the people can move forward. Hogan was born in German and grew up under her father who was a sergeant in the American army and a neurotic mother. Her earlier life saw her move to many places and eventually ended up in Oklahoma. Hogan relationship with her mother was depressing and mostly neglectful in nature. She never experienced love and this fact left her to seek it from other sources. Although, her mother did her duties like any other mother, Hogan asserts that she could not love. The rest of her life is spent in pursuit of love so as to heal her wounds she experienced when young. As a young child, she was susceptible to diseases and infection common to young children. In addition, clinical depression and poor mental health would lead her to alcoholism in later life to an extent of committing suicide. These physical and mental ailments caused her much trauma and she was to live with it in to adulthood. Her mother rarely provided details about her childhood life but remained silent perhaps in line with her ancestors to bury the painful past. To heal from this trauma she was to adopt two daughters and who had similarly undergone a difficult life as her own, in order to connect with that experience. At only the age of 12 years, she became involved romantically to a man twice her age and they stayed as married. They would later part with Robert and she in turn move from Germany to the USA. This episode hurts her so much that she reminisces it as having been a child but responsible for an adult. Hogan yearned to heal from the trauma she faced of being in school yet married at a young age. The gap she felt would later lead to her adopting two daughters in order to fill the love void she dearly missed. Both daughters, Jeannette and Marie, also had their own share of hard life, but Hogan felt that love could heal almost anything in this world. Despite her trying to live with the adopted daughters, it proved very difficult for them to heal completely to an extent where Marie denied her own children. We observe that Hogan tried to heal from her loveless childhood by playing motherhood to these two adopted daughters. The silence she experienced about her past could now be replaced by a history of her daughters which she knows. Luckily enough, they have a terrible past just like her own and it helps to connect with her lost past. Both daughters are then a reflection of a past and a future for the Natives especially Jeannette who heals to become a purposeful mother. Hogan on the other hand contracted a horrible disease called fibromyalgia. The disease caused her much trouble leaving her weak and unable to sleep. The desire to sleep and dream about emotional healing was too affected. She sought a physical healing which initially became elusive and later even though medicine helped, she never became what she was originally. This was the time she lost faith in medicine world when she reckoned that money was being used in search of a cure yet none came her way. Waiting and hoping was all that was left for her. Through medicine which is extracted from nature in terms of plants and naturally occurring substances dug from the earth, she later in life received her treatment from physical ailments. A horse named Mystery became to her a close companion. Hogan was able to draw parallel in the horses life and hers. Mystery dies in the process of giving birth that was characterized by pain. She likens this pain to her experiences in life and the yearning to heal from it. Another relationship with a horse, the Big Red Horse, also leads to fate as she falls while trying to ride. She suffered numerous injuries leading her to experience short term memory loss. Hogan attempts self healing by indulging in a number of hobbies. She embarks on horse breeding, because in it she finds joy and contentment but it becomes tragic to her. Both of these two occurrences fueled the pain in her life in as much as the desire to heal was multiplied. Hogan was addicted to alcohol when she was young. The addiction came about as she experimented to find a solution to her troubles. In the search for her self, she ends up drinking in order to forget her woes and sleep. The pain and confusion she felt would so many times lead to drinking so as to drown them. History and the ability to remember the past is a disease. Our ancestors underwent much trouble which after we learn it becomes a burden too hard to bear. It is under such an illusion that Hogan just like many Native Americans sought drink to escape the memories from the past and present. As she says falling was the answer to a broken heart, as a reference to the attitude she had towards alcohol. She eventually conquers drinking once she became an adult albeit this leaves a scar in her life. It is by extending love to other humans and animals where she finds a healing. Under all the above traumas, she stood hard to see the healing take place. Hogan just like her ancestors found solace in nature and the environment. Of her doctors she says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦they became earth, water, light, and air. They were animals, plants, and kindred spirits. It was not healing I found or a life free from pain, but a kind of love and kinship with a similarly broken world. The sickness and suffering she felt can also be identified with the Native Americans fight for their survival. Such thoughts also reflect nature which if left alone tends to heal by itself. To be what she is, Hogan had to get changed by pain and events and diseases and she did it with courage and honesty which are vital values in the world today. Personal survival depends on history and by examining hardships undergone so as to find power to refresh ones spirit. Nature also plays a role in this healing by providing elements that can be used to cure a disease for example. Hogan is able to overcome and find strength over the many obstacles that stood her way in the course of self-actualization. An interesting parallel is drawn in relation to different natural elements like woman to land and bird to water. Love is the connecting element since each needs the existence of the other in order to survive. In conclusion, Hogan lays down the many problems faced by people not only in America but in every part of the world. Each people and nation has a history that was faced by problems such as land and identity. Some have even become extinct if their war to survive got worse. In all these stories, it is important to learn from their duel and get insight which in turn should be applied in our day to day lives. Problems are inevitable and it is the way we appreciate and deal with them that counts. Healing as a process should be core in life, whether personally or as a society. If people look for solutions they will always find a way to overcome their pain.

FedEx: Porters 5 Analysis

FedEx: Porters 5 Analysis External environment analysis refers to analysis of events, factors, and entities that surround an organization. These elements tend to influence an organization operation, its opportunities and risks. In business when we talk about external environment analysis of an organization, we essentially concentrate on conditions to which such an institution operates. This relates to both social, political/legal, economic, competition, and technological environment. This paper therefore gives external environment analysis of FedEx, a transportation company found in the air delivery and freight services industry. Introduction Federal Express (FedEx) is a delivery company found in the logistic industry. Frederick W. Smith established the company, in the year 1971 and it chiefly specializes in delivery of documents and freight across many cities in the world. The company employs more than 200000 employees globally, and operates under four main categories namely, FedEx Services, FedEx Freight, FedEx Express, and FedEx Ground (FedEx.com). Identification of the industry FEDEX can be categorized in the transport industry, and its main domestic competitors are United Parcel Service (UPS), and the United States Postal Service. In addition to competition at home, the company competes globally with well-established companies such as Deutsche Post (DHL), FCML Couriers, LDH Express, Royal Mail, and other private and public regional carriers. The company has a global presence, but USA and Europe is its largest market (Devan, 2010). Porters five forces model FedEx Corporation Suppliers Power LOW- Products supplied to the industry Threat of Entry LOW- High start up costs Threat of Substitutes LOW -Limited services for large freight and air freight Buyers Power LOW MEDIUM-Shipping choices Large Buyers Existing Rivals HIGH- FeDEX, UPS, USPS, DHL Source: Datamonitor (2009). FedEx, Inc.: company profiles. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis database. External Environment Analysis As mentioned earlier, FedEx is found in the logistic industry that is determined by Porters five forces model, which includes- Intensity of Rivalry Regardless of few competitors, logistic industry still remain a competitive sector due to large numbers of consumers, low cost of changing providers and poor demarcation among competitors. According to Parnell (2009), various type of information is required to evaluate this porters force. This rivalry is measured by elements such as industry concentration that measures the percentage market share of its rival competitors such DHL, United Parcel Service (UPS), and the United States Postal Service. The CR ratio of FedEx is moderate and this is attributed by progressive EPS and P/E ratio that tend to combat this discrepancy. In pursuing a competitive advantage over its rivals, FedEx continuously lowers prices to gain temporal advantage over its rivals .The company also employs strategic alternatives which include the concept of increasing size and sales using tactical alliances and internal growth models .FedEx also maintain a competitive edge by focusing on specific five core strategies that make it grow a company. These strategies include growing core business packages, growing e-commerce networks, growing competent new products and alliances, growing internationally, and growing capable supply networks (FedEx.com). The only disadvantage of this material is that its labor intensive, and at times there is no readily available data on resources required for each type of service. In conclusion, we can say the source is very credible. Threat of Substitutes In contrast to other sectors, the threat for substitutes in logistic industry is very low because of low number of alternatives .This is attributed to availability of few companies offering air delivery services. From the article, FedEx maintain this force by establishing high level of universal marketing objective that is aimed at producing high quality products that are trustworthy across all end users. The company focus on threat of substitute revolves around a marketing technique that concentrates on specific customer need. Generally this article is very conclusive has it spells out the strategies undertaken by the company to beat rival substitutes. Threat of New Entrants This industry is credited to have minimal threat of new entrants due to the high costs involved. This includes high cost of operations, and capital equipments. When appraised with Porters Generic Strategies, FedEx and its rivals uses a focused-low cost approach that makes entrance of new competitors very difficult. According to the FedEx Corporation Company, profile (2009). For any company to remain functional in the industry, it must consider the economic environment especially GDP. This material is very pertinent and useful to other players in that it provides interventions that can be used by other companies to reduce risks of new rivals entering the market. Bargaining Power of Suppliers unlike beverage industry, logistic industry tends to have low bargaining power because they provide their product in bulk. Most of the products are tentatively available from other market leaders hence this tends to eliminate bargaining power. FedEx tends to have low bargaining power of suppliers because most of their products are also standardized and due to availability of backward integration. Sources used here include the company website and Beijing Review, 49(34), 36-37.As the two sources assess the idea; it emanates that suppliers uniqueness can be a great indicator of the nature of interventions necessary for the successful implementation of stable suppliers bargaining. Bargaining Power of Buyers just like bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers is also low but at times, it fluctuates. Customers have the sole discretion to choose their providers according to their taste and needs, though they do not have rights to negotiate prices. According to, http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.html,the bargaining power of buyers is very concrete on making a particular industry successful. Many of buyers of FedEx have low bargaining power because most of them are fragmented in different areas hence they have no particular influence on the product and its price (Devan, 2010). Conclusion and Future Prospects for the Company As days go by and the company proceeds into the future, management of the company must be vigilant if they want to remain competitive in the market. Just like any company in the industry, FedExs major risk includes increased global fuel prices, erratic economic and political conditions in their target markets, and client retention. In order to emerge the winner, FedEx must adopt strategies that will give them a chance to remain in the market.

The secret of Wal-Marts success :: essays research papers

The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, is moving into Europe, and the UK is its second target after Germany. BBC News Online's Tim Weber looks at the secrets behind the company's success. The figures make the owners of corner shops and small retail chains shudder: Wal-Mart operates 3,601 stores, employs more than 910,000 people world-wide, sales amounted last year to $137.6bn (Â £85.7bn) - equivalent to a tenth of Britain's total economic output. Patrick O'Connell: The largest retailer in the world began life as a single store in Arkansas The company serves about 90 million customers every week and has stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Argentina and South Korea. Where Wal-Mart treads, competitors tremble. UK supermarkets will face tough times, but consumers are bound to reap the benefits. Expansion Wal-Mart is the grand-daddy of all discount chains. Its huge US stores, twice the size of the largest European hypermarket, sell everything from food to clothing to sporting goods to hardware. Richard Quest delves into the secret of Wal-Mart's success Operating from cheap out-of-town warehouse sites, Wal-Mart's discount prices have trounced the competition. After the death of founder Sam Walton in 1992, the company briefly seemed to have lost its way. But under the guidance of new chief executive and chairman David Glass it soon re-invented itself. Wal-Mart offers a one-stop shopping experience, from groceries and clothing to hardware and work-out equipment Wal-Mart is now stronger than ever. Sales are rising again - up 17% last year. Strong consumer spending in the United States has helped the company's fortunes. But the main driving force of future revenues will be Wal-Mart's programme of relentless international expansion. In Europe the company has only entered the German market so far, buying 21 Wertkauf stores a year ago and adding 74 Interspar shops last autumn. Bob Martin, president of Wal-Mart's international operations, says he wants to serve "a good deal of Europe". And one of his vice-presidents, Carlos Criado-Perez, adds: "We are looking for any open door that could open in Europe." Wal-Mart wants to set up shop in cyberspace as well. Mr Martin believes the Internet is "at the threshold" of taking off and he wants his company to be "a dominant player". The secret of Sam's success Wal-Mart is a relatively young company, founded 37 years ago by Sam Walton. Sam Walton, self-made man and an American legend

Hope for Rehabilitation for Institutionalized Youth Offenders Essay

â€Å"You do the crime, you pay the time,† is a common phrase uttered throughout our society in regard to juvenile delinquency. It has been suggested that a punitive response to the problem of youth violence in America is an effective means of solving the issue of youth crime, and would also deter future offenders. As a result, the existence of rehabilitation strategies within the system available to offenders is under threat. A harsh and punitive response to youth violence was, in part, brought about by a moral panic across America. Exaggerations by the media and political figures act as instigators of panic. Both the media and politicians promoted the concept of the super-predator youth. The media played its part by publishing or airing many individual stories of violent youth. Those in question represented only a small amount of the adolescent population. However, many Americans took these media-conveyed stories at face value, and it seemed to the public that there could be a juvenile delinquent around every corner just slavering to steal their wallet or sell them narcotics (Howell, 27). As a political ploy, many of those running for office and looking to gain support drew on this fear and called for more punitive measures toward youth violence. Politicians pushed to confine youth within adult prisons (Howell, 27). In some states, those under the age of 16 can now be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the United States reserved the right to execution of those under the age of 18. Eighteen youths have been put to death in the United States (Howell, 39). There were high hopes of deterring violence in thi... ... considers these young people a lost cause, we are doing ourselves a serious injustice. They may not be able to physically give back what they have taken, be it life, possessions, or the integrity of others or themselves. Giving comes in many shapes and sizes. A rehabilitated young man may become a mentor for at-risk kids. A young woman out of treatment may start midnight basketball in her crime-ridden neighborhood. Another may move on to further his education. The possibilities are endless for so many of these youths. However, they need help in accomplishing their potential. This being said, who are we to deprive someone so young with so many years ahead of them, of life and liberty? These young people deserve a chance. They can change for the better. This can be accomplished by further investigating effective treatment. Now is the time to make it happen.