Combination in the adjective Essay Example for Free

Combination in the adjective Essay Another feature of gothic novels, which helps to create the grim atmosphere, is the weather. Weather in gothic literature is normally cold and wet, adding to the dullness of the environment. The Hound of the Baskervilles features lots of references to cold, wet weather, reinforcing the feeling of gloom. In chapter 9, Dr. Watson refers to a cold night wind. This phrase creates an ominous feeling as the two adjectives convey to the reader darkness and bleakness. Dr. Watson also speaks of the dull moaning of the autumn wind which sets a depressing atmosphere because of the heavy initial consonant and vowel combination in the adjective. The mysterious and long oan sound makes the setting seem intimidating. Moaning can reflect pain, which links to the idea of the moor being a dangerous place to be. The phrase also shows Conan Doyle using personification, which has a strong effect on the reader as it makes elements seem human, therefore powerful, and perhaps uncontrollable. Nature is a strong force in itself though, so the personification could be designed to show the reader that even nature can seem in pain in these bleak and wild locations. The wind talked about in this sentence is another common characteristic in gothic novels, where weather conditions appear harsh and hostile. In the extract from Dr. Watsons diary in chapter 10, he writes, rain poured down. Describing the wet weather, poured tells us that the rain is heavy and the harsh p sound emphasises the harshness. Also from Dr. Watsons diary in chapter 10 comes this tempestuous and melancholy day. The word melancholy is also used repeatedly in the novel to reinforce the impression of the bleak landscape; it gives the whole setting a thoroughly depressing feel. Tempestuous adds to the sombre feeling of weather but also generates a sense of tension as tempestuous means stormy and violent. Such weather conditions, it could be argued, are reflected in the nature of some of the characters- a technique called pathetic fallacy. The Hound of the Baskervilles contains many of the typical weather conditions that are seen in gothic literature therefore, in this sense, the Hound of the Baskervilles could be classed a piece of gothic literature. A feature of the landscape included in The Hound of the Baskervilles is a place called Grimpen Mire. This is a boggy area upon the moor where people are liable to sink. Dangerous places like this are often evident in gothic novels and add to the dire atmosphere of the text. The mire is talked about mainly in chapter 7 where Stapleton is informing the other characters about the mire. When Dr. Watson first enquires about the mire Stapleton replies a false step yonder means death to man or beast. Here Stapleton is saying that it is a dangerous place for man and animal alike and so the statement creates a very grim mood. Further into chapter 7 Stapleton says, It is a bad place the great Grimpen Mire. The shortness of this sentence increases the impact of it, as it gives the impression that there is no doubt and that the statement is fact and cannot be challenged. The adjective bad clearly shows that it is a dreadful place and the word great suggests that it is a vast area. Combined, these words help the sentence to increase the miserable tone of the novel. Also, in chapter 7 Stapleton describes the mire again as the impassable mire. Impassable gives a sense of danger to the phrase and the harsh ss and im sounds suggest a strange, mysterious ambience. Harsh or difficult terrain occurs frequently in gothic novels and the descriptions set a mysterious and grim tone. This depressing atmosphere is also apparent in The Hound of the Baskervilles therefore I would class it as a piece of gothic literature. One factor of The Hound of the Baskervilles that distinguishes the novel as a piece of gothic literature relates to the locations featured within it. Buildings in gothic novels have a distinct style of architecture that includes points; arches; crenellated walls; partitioned and stained glass windows and the buildings are often raftered. The way buildings are described in gothic novels often creates an eerie atmosphere and usually causes the buildings to seem spooky because of the dark dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½cor creating a heavy and oppressive atmosphere. Many of theses characteristics are shown in The Hound of the Baskervilles. The two main buildings in the novel are Baskerville Hall and Merripit House. These two locations are described when the characters first arrive at Baskerville Hall in chapter 6 and when they first visit Merripit House in chapter 7. Primarily the buildings are described through the observations of Dr. Watson. The general feeling of these buildings is a creepy one. At the beginning of chapter 6 Dr. Watson describes the outside of Baskerville Hall by saying weather-bitten pillars. Pillars are a common feature of gothic buildings and the fact that they are weather bitten shows that they are old and also reinforces the idea of hostile weather conditions. The harsh tt sound within bitten emphasise the hostile weather conditions and give the impression that the outside of the building is rough and imposing. Also in chapter 6 Dr. Watson observes, The whole front was draped in ivy and ivy-covered walls frequently appear in gothic novels and are usual of gothic buildings. Ivy covered walls give a blanketing effect and the image created by an ivy covered wall gives a gloomy impression. Later in chapter 6 DR. Watson talks about the towers of Baskerville Hall: the twin towers, ancient, crenellated, and pierced with many loo pholes. Crenellated walls of towers appear regularly in gothic architecture and are often featured in gothic novels because they add to the impression of the buildings being towering and forbidding. Further into chapter 6 Dr. Watson describes Baskerville Hall as large, lofty and heavily raftered. The oak paneling of the building is also depicted in chapter 6 through Dr. Watsons observation huge balks of age-blackened oak and the oak paneling. Oak paneling and heavily raftered rooms often occur in gothic architecture and are common features of gothic buildings. They also make the rooms in gothic buildings seem very dark causing a negative impression. High, thin window of old stained glass is dr. Watsons account of the windows. Dr. Watson also depicts the windows in chapter 7, high mullioned windows. Something that is mullioned is vertically partitioned. Stained glass and partitioned windows are common in gothic buildings. Another feature Arthur Conan Doyle uses to help create an eerie atmosphere is a reference to shadows. In chapter 6, Dr. Watson depicts the shadows within Baskerville Hall, long shadows trailed down the walls and hung like a black canopy above him. This simile helps create the depressing and spooky atmosphere. The elongated sound of ong within the adjective long gives a depressing impression and the adjective dark creates a spooky image. During chapter 7 Dr. Watson describes Merripit house by saying the effect of the whole place was mean and melancholy. The words mean and melancholy emphasise the dreary atmosphere of the location as melancholy means sombre and the definition of mean is harsh. Dr. Watson also says There were large rooms furnished with an elegance. The large rooms and elegant furnishings mentioned are common of gothic style buildings, both of these features help to create a majestic atmosphere and show that the building is posh reinforcing the fact that the characters who own it are wealthy. I can conclude, from the fact that the buildings featured in The Hound of the Baskervilles contain so many features of gothic architecture, and from the negative atmosphere and impression the descriptions of the buildings create, that the novel is a piece of gothic literature, which was written, in the gothic period.

Robert Brownings Poetry | Analysis

Robert Brownings Poetry | Analysis Compare the examination of abnormal psychology in Robert Brownings poetry, and in Iain Banks novel, The Wasp Factory. Make illuminating connections with the work of Edgar Allan Poe.   The abnormal mental state of the narrators in both Brownings poetry and in Banks novel, The Wasp Factory, is intrinsic in achieving the gothic style. Whilst the protagonists insanity is more implicit in Brownings poetry, the narrators, nevertheless, display similar characteristics of psychosis and delusion. Indeed, this madness disconnects the characters from the rest of society, and this element of monstrosity is vital in creating the intrigue and terror that ensues. Inclusion of such monstrous figures destabilises the natural order: it challenges the fixed social structures and ideology, and becomes inconsistent with what the majority considers both acceptable and intelligible. Yet, whilst on the surface gothic works may appear to reinforce these seemingly grotesque characteristics, in many respects, through exposing the unnatural, they deconstruct the illogical, and thereby attempt to create a set of social norms. The first chapter of The Wasp Factory, The Sacrifice Poles, serves as a warning to the reader that they are entering into the domain of Franks psyche. The unconventional behaviour she displays is evident through her intentional replacement of common nouns with proper nouns: for instance, the capitalisation of words such as Factory and Poles. Essentially this represents the objects which Frank views as significant in the private world that she has constructed for herself. Franks tendency to fantasise is further demonstrated through the naming of her catapult- The Black Destroyer. In fact, Frank goes beyond symbolism- for instance she assigns the house with humanistic attributes through personification: powerful body buried in the rock. Of course, this description may well be representative of the dark life she lives, in regards to both her social isolation and the sinister lifestyle that she leads. The conflicting behaviour that Frank exhibits, that is her seemingly child-like behavio ur and her meticulosity with rituals, underlines her highly unusual mental state. The initial lines of Porphyrias Lover similarly imply the protagonists unusual frame of mind. The use of pathetic fallacy and personification, for instance, the sullen wind is not only effective in creating a cold and melancholy atmosphere, but may be representative of the narrators mind; consequently, there is a strong sense of foreboding. The abnormal psychology of the narrator is further exemplified through the description of how the wind did its worst to vex the lake. Likewise, the wind is awake and tears down the elm-tops for spite. Thus, the wind is perhaps an emblem of the narrators destructive capacity: it could be argued that the lake is representative of Porphyria, and the wind is representative of the narrators anger towards Porphyria. In this sense, the narrators anger is possibly a consequence of his inability to possess the femininity that Porphyria exudes. The Laboratory also reveals a narrator that exhibits an unstable mental state. The anapaestic meter of the poem po ssibly reflects her enthusiasm and engagement in producing the poison. Additionally, the tricolon Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste is representative of her increasing exhilaration as the poison approaches completion, whilst active verbs such as grind and pound convey violent connotations, which present us with an ambience of foreboding. The exquisite blue and the gold oozings of the poison, however, are possibly an allusion to the opulence of the French court. There is a stark contrast between the murky laboratory, which is arguably representative of the decadent aristocrats, and the affluence of the court; this is perhaps symbolic of the widespread corruption that encompassed the French aristocracy. During the emergence of the gothic literary movement, history was characterised by widespread political unrest often resulting in revolution. Subsequently, the genre became very popular with writers as it enabled them to express sympathy and moral concern over such movements. I n The Fall of the House of Usher, Poes imagery describing the attrition of the house is perhaps an attempt to symbolise the narrators degenerating mental state. Also, the Haunted Palace that is occupied by evil things (that) assailed the monarchs high estate is possibly an allusion to how his mind is being possessed by the malevolent forces that ostensibly surround the house. In The Wasp Factory, Franks father also displays an abnormal state of mind, which is demonstrated through his efforts to exert constant authority over his daughter. Mr Cauldhame has ultimately left Frank excluded from society through his decision to conceal his identity and home educate him. More sinisterly, however, Angus, through experimentation, has essentially created a contemporary Frankenstein. Fundamentally, Angus has suppressed Franks innate feminine characteristics through experimental hormone therapy and has indoctrinated her with misogynistic views. This enables Mr Cauldhame to think that he is in control of what he views as the correct father- son relationship. Of course, normality has no association with Franks life: the child-like mentality that she exhibits through her fantasy, perhaps signifies that, in reality, Frank is scared of the real world in a multitude of ways. Alternatively, this fantasy world may keep Frank at least partially sane: Eric shows the stark conse quences that may result from the real world. Moreover, their use of imperial measurements is not only indicative of Mr Cauldhames compulsive disorder, but accentuates the concept that the island does not progress with time. In this respect, the Cauldhame family is a microcosm of the demise of the empire and the island is a last remnant of it. Accordingly, it can be argued that it was the demise of Angus position as a patriarch that has ultimately brought about his decision to devise an all male enclave. Angus obsession with control, therefore, stems from his fear of being replaced as the monarch of the empire because of the emergence of the new feminist movement. Thus, Angus Cauldhames behaviour is synonymous to the description found in Jerrold Hodges gothic textbook: Angus has created a patriarchal enclosure designed to contain and even bury a potentially unruly female principle'. The way in which Banks presents the reader with a typical boys story whose protagonist is, in truth, a girl is perhaps a critique of the way in which society devises fixed binary gender stereotypes, and thus is an attempt to undermine these traditional gender expectations. Frank, however, conforms to the typical gothic female character, who is suppressed by a domineering male; the irony is that Frank is both the subjugated female and the tyrannical male. A similar desire for control is displayed by the narrator in Brownings My last Duchess. This element of control, that the narrator wishes to possess over his wife, is exemplified through the poems iambic pentameter. With twenty-eight rhyming couplets, the very tight structure of the poem is possibly representative of the level of authority and control that he expects to exert over his wife. The curtain that he has drawn over his late wifes picture is again perhaps symbolic of the level of authority that he desires to exercise over his female partners. Indeed, he gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. The underlying sense of threat signifies his expectations of how his wife should behave. Ironically, however, the Duke can only, when his wife is dead, counteract what he perceives as her earnest glance. Fundamentally, his wife has been objectified from subject to object; she is simply one of his possessions. Similarly, the narrator in Porphyrias Lover demonstrates a notion of control. The sibilance in the sentence, she shut the cold out stresses how she is able to alleviate the narrators mental anguish. However, it also stresses the narrators dependency on Porphyria and this concept is reiterated through the way she was mine, mine. The use of repetition thus highlights the possessive nature of the protagonist. Certainly, it is possible that the narrator is resentful of both her social superiority and of her more commanding presence. In the nineteenth century, society was characterised by patriarchal codes, which women had to adhere to; men typically exerted absolute control over their female partners. Thus, Porphrias gay social life may also be a source of the protagonists bitterness and the only way to free himself of such powerlessness is to kill her. Browning may be attempting to indicate a reversal of gender roles; the male is the weak character through his inability to keep control of himself- let alone Porphyria. In this sense, the protagonists obs ession with maintaining control is similar to that displayed by Mr Cauldhame in The Wasp Factory. Franks aggressive behaviour also illuminates her abnormal psychology. In many ways, the buck, which Frank encounters, is symbolic of all the things that she wishes to possess: that is, ironically, an alpha-male persona. This concept of masculinity is maintained through the way that Frank hissed. This animalistic imagery, once again, highlights Franks aggressive and territorial nature, which reveals her very apparent abnormal mindset. In essence, though, this encounter is an externalisation of Franks internal battle. This externalisation of an internal conflict is perhaps representative of Franks struggle with her dual gender identity. Additionally, this attack of revenge on the buck reinforces that Frank has the capability to kill and in fact clarifies her monstrosity. More disturbing, however, is Franks admittance that it felt good; this compounds her mental disposition. This scene provides the reader with a very clear image of Franks ability to inflict suffering and destruction whi lst chillingly deriving pleasure out of it. The externalisation of internal conflicts is equally manifested in Poes work. For instance, in The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat the narrators attempt to bury the corpse symbolises their attempts to conceal the problem. In The Black Cat, the narrators attempt to hide the corpse under the wall is ultimately representative of his desire to contain his problems within. Alas, for the narrators, their failure to deal with their problems effectively, leads to the resurfacing of the initial problem, and, inevitably, their downfall. However, despite Franks seemingly grotesque and in many ways nauseating behaviour, the reader can, nevertheless, sympathise with her. Franks manipulative nature may well be an attempt to expose her abnormal mind further. However, an encounter with this element of monstrosity is sometimes known to provoke paradoxical emotions. This notion of abjection as Julia Kristeva describes is the in-between, the ambiguous, the composite. Thus, the monstrous element has the ability to induce sentiments of horror and desire, disgust and fascination. Indeed, Franks mix of monstrosity and humanity possibly provide us with a forewarning of the transgression of which we may all be capable of; this, of course, presents a poignant and unsettling dimension. The Inclusion of animals is evident in Franks encounter with the buck, and in Poes The Black Cat. Poes story, like Banks novel, perhaps includes these animalistic aspects to reiterate that by undertaking such vicious acts the narrators are in complete deficiency of a logical human psyche, and are more comparable to animals who ultimately do not work within such moral frameworks. The authors are perhaps attempting to demonstrate that the narrators are deficient in human ethics: as philosopher Daniel Dennett states, many regard human ethical knowledge as a marvellous perspective that no other creatures have. The unconventional behaviour displayed by the narrator in Porphrias Lover, is implied further through the way he debated what to do. This uncertainty accentuates that when he kills Porphyria, it is a conscious decision and not an impulsive act. The composure, which the narrator exhibits is also shown through the very orderly ABABB rhyme scheme which is ultimately suggestive of the attitude, albeit this makes him appear all the more dangerous. However, alliteration in the sentence Blushes beneath my burning kiss presents a degree of desire for Porphyria. The paradox may nonetheless simply epitomise his psychosis. In The Wasp Factor, Franks casual admittance that his killings were Just a stage (he) was going through, stress his lack of remorse; in fact, like the narrator in Porphrias Lover, Frank is essentially justifying his actions. Hence, it reveals the very apparent psychosis of both narrators. In addition, despite Brownings clues towards the protagonists madness, it is never evide nt through the tone or diction of the poem. Instead of being presented with a stereotypical mad character, like Eric in The Wasp Factory, it is more implicitly implied. Alternatively, his madness is suggested through what the narrator does not say and the fact that he perceives Porphyria as being happy and at peace: The smiling rosy little head; the narrators portrayal of events can simply not accord with reality. Undoubtedly, the narrative of Porphrias Lover could well be a figment of the protagonists imagination; if this is the case, then it clearly reinforces that the narrator exhibits an element of abnormal psychology. The concept of the narrator justifying their actions is illuminated in The Tell-Tale Heart. The narrator is essentially justifying the murder of the old man through the notion that he had an evil eye: I think it was his eye!- yes, it was this! In essence, the narrators uncertainty alludes to the concept that it is simply an attempt to justify the sinister and irra tional behaviour that the reader is about to witness. A parallel can be drawn between the way in which the narrators justify their behaviour and the notion of self-deception. In The Wasp Factory, Franks self-deception is exemplified through the way in which she has essentially created her own fantasy. Franks propensity to self-deceit is apparent through the final chapter: the factory was my attempt to construct life, to replace the involvement which otherwise I did not want. Moreover, the level of deception is explicitly expressed through her engagement in rituals, which is an attempt to affirm her position as man. Franks repetition of the secret catechisms thus helps her to create the illusion of her male persona. Ultimately, though, her attempts are futile: the juxtaposition of the bowie knife and comb that Frank carries around presents the reader with a subtle intrusion of Franks real gender identity. These two contrasting objects possibly symbolise Franks conflicting personality: the knife is representative of the destructive behavi our that she asserts to conform to her male persona, whilst the comb is representative of her inherent, albeit more restrained, feminine character. This lingering uncertainty regarding sexual identity, as Boris Kà ¼hne argues, is a source of the uncanny and presents us with a pervasive gothic feeling; this ostracises Frank from societal norms and is inevitably the major source of her monstrosity. This is also evident in Brownings Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister. Essentially, the narrator soliloquises his own inadequacies and attributes them to Brother Lawrence. Stanza four illustrates the narrators perception of his own self-righteousness, and indeed his dedication to denouncing Brother Lawrences commitment to his faith. The narrator describes Brother Lawrences ostensible lusting over the two nuns, Dolores and Sanchicha. Yet he goes on to explain that that is, if hed let it show; crucially, there is no evidence that Brother Lawrence has been looking at the nuns lecherously. Rather, the detailed account of the nuns activities must be a product of the narrators own impure thoughts, and his attempts to attribute these unchastely thoughts to Brother Lawrence can only serve to accentuate his self-deceptive and manipulative personality. The monks attempt to describe himself as the epitome of morality continues with his comment regarding the symbolic divide between their table eti quette. The crossing of his silverware, the narrator argues, symbolises his remembrance of Christs death on the cross; Brother Lawrence displays no such gesture. Additionally, the narrators absurd suggestion that Brother Lawrences drinking of the watered orange pulp in three sips supposedly denies the Arian doctrine again provides us with an illustration of his attempt to reaffirm his moral superiority. Ironically, despite the narrators belief, his attempt to condemn Brother Lawrence into eternal damnation reiterates his spiritual inferiority; this irrational behaviour provides an indication that Brownings narrator also exhibits an elementary characteristic of abnormal psychology. The quasi-religion that Frank constructs evidences the depth of her delusion and, correspondingly, her abnormal psychology. However, Franks religion has not stemmed from an intrinsic religious belief, but arguably out of a necessity to harbour some control, whilst denying any element of responsibility. Frank, in light of the failure of familial relationships, relies on The Wasp Factory to guide and ironically protect her. Frank creates a polytheistic religion: water, fire and death are all pseudo-Gods and perhaps compose Franks trinity. Indeed, Franks monstrosity is a result of her moral indifference. Since sea has destroyed what (she has) built wiping clean the marks (she) made Frank perhaps deduces that this permits her to inflict suffering on animals, which are below the pseudo-hierarchical order that she has constructed. However, the contrast to the sea destroying her dams and the sadistic killing of the rabbit is not apparent to Frank. Franks quasi-religion naturally has many Ch ristian elements: the lighting of the candles in Franks religions, nevertheless, contrastingly symbolises a destructive power. Banks notes that this was an attempt to satirise religion, and expose the ways in which we are all deceived, misled and harking back to something that never existed. Consequently, Banks ridicules all religions perhaps in a bid to create a society that is free from religious doctrine, and one that advocates logic and equality. Poes work also contains religious undertones. For instance, in The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator essentially ascribes himself the role of God; this is reinforced by the way he describes the extent of my powers- of my sagacity. The delusion of grandeur ultimately reveals his damaged psychological state. Religious overtones are similarly apparent in Porphyrias Love. The imagery arguably possibly portrays Porphyria as an angelic entity. The way she glided in and her ability to make the cottage warm suggest a supernatural quality, with her yellow hair and bare white shoulder possibly alluding to her angelic purity; even when Porphyria is dead, the narrator describes her blue eyes without a stain. The presentation of Porphyrias purity and innocence may well be an attempt by Browning to accentuate a feeling of anguish after Porphyrias death. Conversely, the magical element that the narrator has ascribed to her may ultimately be a result of the magic in his head. In this respect, the reference to her eyes, which were without a stain, is perhaps his warped perception that Porphyria worshipped him; after all, the eyes are a window to the soul. Certainly, the notion that she worshipped him is reinforced by his absurd insistence that she is happy and at peace in his arms: the smiling rosy lit tle head. The fact that God has not said a word, however, is perhaps a direct attack on God: a sin has been committed yet no justice has been obtained. Indeed, Brownings poem was written during the Age of Enlightenment, a time where the legitimacy of the Bible was challenged and an emphasis of rationalism over religion occurred. In a rather different perspective, the God which is referenced may simply be a rhetorical God, which the narrator uses to convey his perception of how any God across all religious spectrums would view the strangulation of Porphyria as morally correct; this would clearly reinforce that the narrator exhibits an abnormal mental state. To conclude, all the texts examined contain quintessential characteristics of gothic mode and symbolism, which disclose the abnormal psychology of the narrators. The monstrous aspect pervades us with a feeling of uneasiness and revulsion. Yet, through including the seemingly grotesque and disconnected narrators, the gothic is able to defuse the transgressive, and challenge the conventional expectations of society. In The Wasp Factory, Banks perhaps attempts to satirise the way in which society constructs binary gender stereotypes and, in doing so, challenges what appears to be an illogical social norm. Similarly, Brownings Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess, through including subjugated female characters, possibly battles to expose the patriarchy that characterised Victorian society. Poes narrator in The Fall of the House of Usher, perhaps similar to Frank in The Wasp Factory, possesses a dual persona, or doppelganger, which accentuates the transgressions of which all humans may be capable of. In this way, through exposing the unnatural, the gothic advocates rationality and, as Kà ¼hne argues, acts as final safeguarding device against the invasion of the monstrous in the readers actual life.

Sociological and Psychological Theories of Crime

Sociological and Psychological Theories of Crime In this task I am going to be looking at different theories which involve criminology, once I have completed that I am going to research one sociological and one psychological theory. At the same time I am going to look at the normal factors that might influence crime. I am also going to be looking at what criminology is and lots of different aspects of crime. Contents (Jump to): Biological Theories  of Crime Nature vs nurture Sociological Theories of Crime Functionalism Merton’s strain theory Marxism Labelling Theory Chicago School Psychological Theories of Crime Psychoanalytical theory Social learning theory Introduction What is criminology? Criminology is a subject which has a lot of different aspects to it. There are a lot of different areas why people turn to committing crime. The reasons are: Sociology Psychology Biology Geography Law Anthropology What is crime? My definition of crime would be that it is something that someone has done wrong, which is breaking the law. So should be punished for it. Another definition for crime would be crime is the breach of a rule or law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a punishment. Right or wrong? We also had a class discussion about what is crime and what is right and wrong? The comments that came up are: An act that is punishable by law. Something that someone has done which is illegal. Behaviour which is contrary to the laws of society. I think that a right reason for breaking the law if there was one would be if someone was so poor and they didn’t have any money to get any food and they stole some food to keep them from starving to death. That isn’t as bad as some crimes and they are only committing the crime so they can stay alive. A wrong reason for committing a crime would be if someone murdered someone else. That is a wrong crime because there will never be a good enough reason for killing someone. Time and place Laws are brought in everyday and different parts of the country and also world. Some examples of different times and place laws have come in are, in 1908 incest was not regarded as a criminal offence in the UK. Everyone knew that it was wrong and that you shouldn’t do it but it wasn’t until 1908 that a law was brought in to stop people who do commit the crime. Another example of this was that it wasn’t illegal to rape within in marriage and that only changed in 1991, when it became illegal. An example of places when it comes to laws is that some laws are different in some country than others. An example of this would be, in the Netherlands they are legally allowed to have sex at the age of 12, but in England they are only legally allowed to have sex when they are 16. In a class discussion we had a look at what might be legal in five years and what is legal now but wouldn’t be legal in five years. A few examples of thing that might not be legal in five years are: Drinking age might have gone up to age of 21. Driving age might go up so there are will be fewer accidents involving young drivers. Children allowed in pubs. Having a drinking whilst eating a meal with parents. We also looked at laws that are illegal at the moment but they might be legal in five years. Examples of this would be: Smoking cannabis might be made legal for everyone not just people who need them for the medical reasons. They might have special licenses that mean people are allowed to smoke in pubs which have the license. Explanation of why do people commit crime? There are many reasons why people commit crime but they have been defined it into three categories. The three groups that they have been put into are biological or genetic, sociological and psychological. Biological or genetic: this is theory that people who have committed have inherited it from their parents. So they are basically born as a criminal. Sociological: this theory is that people will commit crime on depending on who they socialise with. They might do it because they are being pressured by the people they socialise with. Psychological: this is theory s that people will commit crimes all depending on what their personality is like. If there have a good personality they are less likely to commit crime. Biological Theories for Crime Underlying which is also known as distal. Something that effect someone their whole life and it is being held deep down might cause them to commit crime. This might be how they were brought up when they were younger. Immediate this is also known as proximal. Is where the surrounding of a person include the people they will be hanging around with, might effect if someone commits crime or not. Factors that might affect people to commit crime are: Cultural factors (learned social behaviour). This could be their family or even where they come from. It could relate their religion and what they are told they should and should not do. Power of peer group. This could be friends because they might feel pressured to commit crime because all of their mates are. They might want to fit in a group and to be in that group they may have to do something to show they are good enough. Media- the media can affect people in a lot of different ways. It can make people happy, sad or even angry. They have affect on people to do things might not normally do. Statistics Statistic is something where they will collect data and make averages and probabilities out of the results. One of many statistics is that men are twice more likely to commit a crime than women are. Another statistic is that 16 24 have the highest rate for crime in both sexes. BIOLOGY – nature v nurture Nature and nurture will come into to forms when it comes to crime. They have two different views on why people commit crime. The two different views are that people are born a criminal or they are made a criminal once they are born. Nature: This is a theory where they believe that people are born the way they are and they don’t develop into the way they are now. So when crime is involved they have the theory that they will be born as a criminal, and they don’t develop it over time. It will come down to the genetic inheritance, if their parents are criminals they will become a criminal as well because of the genetic inheritance. They will say that genetic determination is inherited which includes the tendency to commit crime. Not many people still believe in this theory it came about in the early stages of the last century, when biologists like Darwin where about. They did studies with twins, which are identical. This means that they are the same in everyway including the same genes. They studied both of the children to see if one of them or both of them become a criminal. They also looked if one did commit a crime the other one is more likely to commit a crime. This is known as concordance. This is more likely to happen with Identical twins than just twins because identical twins have the same genes but twins only share half. A study which supports this theory with evidence is Goldman and Cottesman (1995). They have evidence to support this theory because they showed that if one identical twin does one thing the other one is more likely to do it as well. But they also found that they are in the as environment so they have been brought up the same. Maybe if they were apart it might be different. Nurture This is a theory where they don’t believe it is anything to do with genetic inheritance. They think that everyone is born normal and that lived experiences affect if we will commit crime in are life time or not. Certain area’s that might affect why people will commit crime are: Low family income- they might have any money so they have might have to resort to crime because they will want to buy things that everyone else have, like the latest toys and because they cant afford to pay for them they might steal the instead. Poor child-rearing techniques- if their parents don’t bring their child up right they might know what is wrong and they might think that stealing is acceptable. Large families- that could many reasons like if they had a large family they might not have enough money to provide for them, or they might commit a crime because they don’t get much attention so they do it to get attention, etc. Low educational achievement- that is because they will have no qualifications, so they will not be able to get a job so they won’t have any money to pay for anything which might make them resort to crime. My own view My own view on the biology would be that I agree with the nurture theory because I don’t think that people are born the way they are. I disagree with the nature theory because in some families the parents have never committed a crime and they have a child and that commits crime. It shows that it is nothing to do with being born in a certain way. I think that people commit crime because of people who are around them who can influence them. I think it is all down to influences. Sociological Theories of Crime In this I am going to be looking at different theories. The theories that I am going to be looking at are: Functionalism Marxism Labelling Theory Chicago School Functionalism This is a theory which was developed from Emile Durkheim (1858-1917). Emile Durkheim theory was all based his own theory that people want to be able to live and work, they need to have a strong sense of social order. This means that there has to rules and regulations, and there is always either a right or wrong answer. He thought they needed rules because people will abide by them, he thought that if there wasn’t any rules or anything everything would break down. Crime is universal and normal Durkheim has come to the conclusion that crime is normal because it happens everywhere in every country, all over the globe. He thinks that it is normal because it has always happened and probably will always happen. Crime is relative: This is where the rate of crime is changing all the time. It will change because crime depends on certain factors. Factors that it depends on are things like time, culture, society, and etc. culture might affect the amount of crime because some cultures are more into crime than other cultures. Crime is functional and necessary Durkheim also thinks that crime is necessary in some ways because when people are committing crimes, the government are making new laws to try and punish people when they do commit that crime. This will show criminals that are thinking of committing a crime will not want to because they know what the punishment. It sets boundaries for people and if they commit crimes they will be punished. Functionalism and anomie: This is where there is a major change in society. This will affect people in different ways it all depending on what changes. An example of this is depression, they will lower their sights and expectations but if there is a boom people will react completely different and they will set their sights higher. This will affect functionalism because it will affect the way people live and work. It will either make it better for them or worse. My own view When it comes to functionalism theory I think that some of the aspects of the theory are right but some aren’t. I agree with the fact that we need rules and regulations to live are lives and that if there wasn’t any, everything would break down. I also agree with bringing in laws to stop people from committing offences. I think that if someone has committed a crime that they should be punished for it. So that I agree with basically all of the aspects of the theory. Merton’s strain theory This is another theory that Durkheim came up with. This theory is all to do with where they took the anomie theory further and developed it. This theory is all to do with anomie and how it encourages people to do better. It encourages for people to strive for wealth. The only thing that it won’t be the same from person to person. It all depends on the person. Not everyone will strive to achieve the same thing. Durkheim came up with this theory in 1938. This theory breaks down into five sections. He talks about 5 different ways in which people are able to adapt to the change when the strive comes. Conformity- this is where they accept what they have been given and get on with it. An example of this would be in work, they have been given a task to do and they accept that they have to do it and just get on with it. Innovation- this is the opposite of ritualism. Innovation is where they will accept the cultural goals and they will stick to them but the way in which they achieve it like the traditional way, they will reject it and achieve them in their on way. They might resort to illegitimate ways or illegal ways. Ritualism- this is where they will reject the cultural goals that are there but they will accept and comply with the means of completing something. This would be the traditional ways of achieving things that they have to do. This would be known as bureaucrat. This is where they will do the job to what it is worth they will not put any more effort than what is needed to complete the task. Retreatism- this is the less extreme form of rebellion. They will not accept the social goals, aims and method. They will not comply with them. They will be a drop out of society. Rebellion- this is where they will not accept any of the social goals, which means that they will go by their own rules and do what they want. They will do what they want, not what other people tell them to do. An example of this would be terrorists because that is going against the social goals and rules. When it comes to relating this to crime. You can relate it because he came up with within the theory that people who are in lower classes are more likely to commit crimes because they have more of a strain than people in higher class. They also came up with a theory that working class is more likely to commit crime. The only thing that also he could not find out when it comes to crime is that is nothing to do with finance and people in classes. They can not explain why people are killed and assaulted when it isn’t anything to do with money. He also found out that not everyone has the same goals; it all depends on a lot of factors like living, finance, religion and many more. Merton could not explain why people will choose one adaption other another one. My own view I agree with the theory, the only thing that I don’t agree with is that I don’t think that people are split into some many groups. I think that there should only be three groups. The three groups that I think there should be are conformity, ritualism and also rebellion. Marxism This is a theory that Karl Marx came up with in (1818- 1883). This theory includes information about the new criminology, Critical criminology, Radical criminology, Left realism, Conflict theory. His theory wasn’t much to do with crime, it was more so to do with economics and ownership are the power influences in society. Examples of this that the more land you own the more powers you have. They will employee people to work on the land. Which also help with the theory that they will have more power than the people working on the land. The Bourgeoisie are the owners of the means of production. The Proletariat are the working classes. He believes that there is always a conflict between classes which will lead to social change. It is basically a conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat. Bad behaviour was seen as things someone does that the people in power do not approve of. The people in power will bring in laws if they think that the people who are behaving in a bad way are at risk of taking over. Crime comes from the unfairness and also the corrupt nature of the society. The way in which working people were treated. The reasons why working people committed crime was because they were fighting against the repression. The bourgeoisie decided what should be laws and what shouldn’t be. The proletariat listen and just thought they were normal. The reasons why the bourgeoisie brought in the laws was to make sure that the proletariat don’t try and take over and take their place. Crimes of the Bourgeoisie Crimes of the Proletariat tax fraud benefit fraud embezzlement theft pollution assault corporate crime vandalism This table shows the different types of crimes that both categories are most likely to commit. The bourgeoisie group are most likely to create pollution because if they own factories as their own business. They will have fumes coming out and if there are too many they will be polluting the surrounding area and the earth. The proletariat group are most likely to commit crimes like theft because they don’t get paid much money for doing jobs for the bourgeoisie. This means that they may not be able to provide for their families properly which might force them to commit crimes. The two group’s crimes are so different, the bourgeoisie will do because they know they can get away with it and save more money but the proletariat might do it so they can live properly and provide for their families. Labelling Theory This is a theory that a theorist called Becker came up with. His theory was completely different to the other theory because they blame crime on society where as in this theory it is all to do with people who label people. This is where people label an act as a criminal offence. If people didn’t label them people wouldn’t think they were a criminal thing or a wrong thing to do. It won’t be a crime till we say it is. In this theory they say that it is not the criminal who is responsible, it’s the society. He pointed out that most people have committed a crime in their life at some time, big or small. Most people have been caught for doing it so they haven’t been labelled. The only difference between people and criminals is that they have been caught for it and labelled as a criminal. My own view I agree with this in some ways but I don’t agree in others. I agree that some crimes should be labelled because some people might look at it and think that it isn’t a crime but it actually turns out to be. I don’t think that some crimes don’t need labelling because everyone morally knows what is right and what is wrong. So everyone knows that killing someone isn’t right so I don’t think crime with seriousness of that doesn’t need labelling. Chicago School This is a theory that was made by the Chicago school developed. It all came about in the 1930’s in America. It relates to Robert Park’s theory where he talked about urban ecology. They looked at the people and what happen when there are ecological changes in the environment. This could result in people competing for space, invasion of territory and also dominance of other groups of people. This pictures shows where crime is more likely to happen. It is based on a concentric zone theory where different zones and Burgess points out that more crime will be committed in ‘the loop’ and the zone ‘in transition’. (Criminology_theories and effects on portal in crime and its effect on society folder.) My own view I agree with this theory in the fact that the area that people live can affect people to commit crime, but I think it is to focused around that one aspect why people commit crime. An example of this would be peer groups, family etc. Psychology Theories of Crime There are two different parts of psychological. The two different areas that I am going to be looking at are: Psychoanalytical theory Social learning theory Psychoanalytical theory Psychoanalytic theory which is also known as Freudian theory is where they think that people are being dominated by unconscious forces and driven by sexual and aggressive desires. The theory also says that we are not free and we aren’t in charge of ourselves. So something else does everything for us. Freud came up with three state of the mind: The id: the childlike demanding side of a person The ego: the rational logical side The super ego: the moral part of our personality He came up with the theory that if parents do not socialise with their children enough, they will not be able to develop the super ego properly which might result in them not being able to control their ID. Which means that it can lead to bad and also destructive behaviour. My own view When it comes to this theory I don’t agree with it in the sense that it is all to do with sexual and aggressive drives. I think it is just to do with thoughts not sexual or aggressive thoughts. I also disagree in some ways with if the parent don’t show enough attention to their children they would stay in the ID stage. I think that they might slightly be affected but not to the extent that he says it will be. Social learning theory This is all about behavioural psychology. Behavioural psychology is where they people learn behaviour and they are able to maintain it by rewards and also sanctions. When this comes to crimes, they say that crime has either been learned or it is a failure of socialisation process. This is where they were never taught what was right or wrong. They say crime is a learned behaviour, which doesn’t differ from any other learning experience. Criticism of the social learning theory The criticism that was made was that people are very different and no-one is the same and that you don’t know how someone will react to punishment. Someone might be happy but some people might not. All depends on the person. The theory assumes individuals are passive and unquestioning. It neglects the influence the influence of media and wider culture Other contributing factors to crime There are other factors that affect why people commit crime than the ones that I have covered. The other factors that might affect people are: Family Farrington and West (1990) they found that a small amount of people will commit crime because of their family. They account for the large proportion of criminal activity. Families account for a small amount of it though. (UK most crime committed by 10% of the population). Economic factors this shows that people from low economic are more likely to commit crime or involved in criminal activities. Benyan (1994) and Harrower (1998) looked into this theory and found that the nature been poverty and crime will never be a rock solid evidence to prove why people commit crime. Peer pressure this is where friends and also peer groups influence people to commit crime. They might do it because they want to be in a group. Or they feel like an idiot if they don’t do what everyone else is doing. This would normally happen in gangs. Education a poor education can affect it because if they don’t like it. They might not go which might turn them to committing crime because they have nothing else to do. My own view I think that these all contribute to crime in a major way. I think that normally most contributes to crime would be peer pressure because you will be with your friends and other peer so they affect a lot of different things you do and also how you live your life. I think that family is close behind because they will teach you what is right and wrong when you are younger so that you know for when you are older.

In The Essay -- English Literature

In The â€Å"In The Knight, the knight is an epitome of human society, yet his appearance doe not portray his true self. Do you agree?† In Adrienne Rich’s poem The Knight, the reader is given a brief yet profound insight into the deceiving nature of humans; how we give a calm, collected front full of light and purity, yet beneath the surface we are in truth dark and inevitably mortal. The Knight portrays what every man, woman and child must inevitably decide on: to expose their true face or to hide behind a false mask to please others. The initial line â€Å"A knight rides into the noon† evokes a sense that the knight, a chivalrous and pure being, is riding gallantly into the noon, where the sun’s brightness is at its apex. When the knight’s â€Å"helmet points to the sun†, it further reinforces the first line by exemplifying the light that exists on the knight’s outer coat of armour. His bright shining armour has the brightness of â€Å"a thousand splintered suns†, dazzling any who would cross him in glorious battle. â€Å"The soles of his feet glitter†, evoking a feeling that every little detail of his armour blazes, even the soles of his feet, which would not normally see much light at all because they face down towards the earth. The knight’s outward appearance illustrates the mask that all of us put on in front of other people, whether to please or manipulate others. However, towards the end of the first paragraph, we start to see that things are not all they seem, that not all that glitters is gold. Because â€Å"under his crackling banner he rides like a ship in sail† gives the sense that although his task is underway, his â€Å"crackling banner† symbolises that the knight’s image is starting to give way to what he is truly b... ...the same peers. Rich evokes the feeling that not everyone is willing to give up their false image and that they hide behind their mask to be praised by society. Only a select few go against the false mask and live a true life free from lies and being a crowd-pleaser, but at the same time being shunned by their peers. In the end, the knight may go either way, living a false life and a dying a false death; or he could live a false life but atone himself by revealing his true self in death. Without his armour to conceal him, his true form would be exposed to the world and he could stop living a lie. Inevitably however it is out of his hands, he cannot choose whether or not to shatter his own armour in an intense battlefield. However, the knight’s true form might be known, and he might find that one measure of peace that all people seek, in death, at last. In The Essay -- English Literature In The â€Å"In The Knight, the knight is an epitome of human society, yet his appearance doe not portray his true self. Do you agree?† In Adrienne Rich’s poem The Knight, the reader is given a brief yet profound insight into the deceiving nature of humans; how we give a calm, collected front full of light and purity, yet beneath the surface we are in truth dark and inevitably mortal. The Knight portrays what every man, woman and child must inevitably decide on: to expose their true face or to hide behind a false mask to please others. The initial line â€Å"A knight rides into the noon† evokes a sense that the knight, a chivalrous and pure being, is riding gallantly into the noon, where the sun’s brightness is at its apex. When the knight’s â€Å"helmet points to the sun†, it further reinforces the first line by exemplifying the light that exists on the knight’s outer coat of armour. His bright shining armour has the brightness of â€Å"a thousand splintered suns†, dazzling any who would cross him in glorious battle. â€Å"The soles of his feet glitter†, evoking a feeling that every little detail of his armour blazes, even the soles of his feet, which would not normally see much light at all because they face down towards the earth. The knight’s outward appearance illustrates the mask that all of us put on in front of other people, whether to please or manipulate others. However, towards the end of the first paragraph, we start to see that things are not all they seem, that not all that glitters is gold. Because â€Å"under his crackling banner he rides like a ship in sail† gives the sense that although his task is underway, his â€Å"crackling banner† symbolises that the knight’s image is starting to give way to what he is truly b... ...the same peers. Rich evokes the feeling that not everyone is willing to give up their false image and that they hide behind their mask to be praised by society. Only a select few go against the false mask and live a true life free from lies and being a crowd-pleaser, but at the same time being shunned by their peers. In the end, the knight may go either way, living a false life and a dying a false death; or he could live a false life but atone himself by revealing his true self in death. Without his armour to conceal him, his true form would be exposed to the world and he could stop living a lie. Inevitably however it is out of his hands, he cannot choose whether or not to shatter his own armour in an intense battlefield. However, the knight’s true form might be known, and he might find that one measure of peace that all people seek, in death, at last.

Phaedo by Plato :: Papers

Phaedo by Plato The main theme behind the "Phaedo" is Socrates' readiness and willingness to die, because of his belief of immortality. Socrates believed that when his body ceased to exist anymore, that his soul would leave and join that of the forms, where he would be eternally. Socrates believed so strongly in this, that not only did he not fear his death, he welcomed it. He believed that only when the soul separated from the body, is a person able to be truly enlightened and gain all knowledge. This "enlightenment" has been Socrates' life long goal of discovering the truth. Even at his hour of death, Socrates showed no hesitation. However, Socrates' friends did not believe so strongly, and took some great convincing by Socrates, to allow his friends to be okay with his death. The two proofs that Socrates used to convince his friends are the "Doctrine of Opposites" and the "simple and composite theory. The first proof, the "Doctrine of Opposites," is the type of proof that uses a sequence of factual statements the lead from to another to prove that one thing is the same as another thing. The "Doctrine of Opposites" uses simple references to allow the reader to easily comprehend and follow the steps of the logical process. For example, hot comes from cold. An object could not possibly be hot if it was never heated up from the state of being cold. The same holds true for the reverse of this analogy. If cold object must have at one point been cooled down from a state of being hot. Since hot and cold are opposites, this simple statement proves that things come from there opposite. Also by using this example, Socrates is trying to imply the idea of eternal existence. He is saying that cold doesn't come from thin air. It had to have come from some previous existence in some other form, which in this case would be hot. Another example that he uses is the asleep and awake analog y. One would have to agree that a person could be only one or the other. If you are not sleeping, then you are awake and if you are not awake then you have to be asleep. This example further proves that you can only be one of something or the other, its opposite, but you must be one of them.

Forest of Voices by Chris Anderson

In Chris Anderson†s essay titled â€Å"Forest of Voices† he talks about the forest around his house and what it means to him. However there is a much deeper meaning to his essay. Throughout the essay, one can get a hint of human interference and human interaction with forests. Anderson once thought of the forest as a place to get away from things and go hike and explore. He, like many others, just saw the trees from his place in town as a line of timber. His thoughts were changed however when he moved up to the boundary of the forest. He started to learn about the trees and how they provide habitat for many animals and different things. Anderson wanted us to know that he supports forests without actually saying it. He gives many clues to this. He tells us his experiences in the forests with different people and hints to what he is feeling. He talks about human interference and what he has been seeing change in the forest. Take for instance the time when Anderson was walking in the woods and came upon a wedding. Another time he came upon a dirt bike race. Anderson came to realize that the forest near his house was a forest of voices. He began to see that the forest had a deep history and many voices to it. The forest also had a certain language to it. This showed him that the forest is a complex place, a natural place, not just something to acquire some financial gain from. The general perception is that trees are only good for three things. The first is lumber to build houses and other buildings. The second is paper for us to write on, and finally, to keep the childhood fear of a dark scary place in the forest stuck in our minds. Anderson came to realize that the forest is a much more complicated and interesting place. He started to experience the forest. He found that satellites now map out forests. He learned that the forest he lived by wasn†t there one hundred years ago, but actually it was a prairie that the Indians burned until the white men and there diseases killed them off. That is when the trees started to grow and a forest took the prairie†s place. Humans interact with forests all the time. Anderson learned of the different types of forest management. He learned that trees fall naturally, trees fall because of disease and trees fall because we cut them down. There are many types of cuts. The clear cut, the two story cut, the slash and burn, and patch cuts are a few examples that Anderson learned about and witnessed first hand. There are many reasons why forests are cut down. One is to benefit economically, with furniture and homebuilding. Anderson talks a little bit about reforestation throughout the essay. There are many methods for planning a forest. The simplest method of replanting a forest is to not plant at all and leave it to nature. A suitable seedbed in which trees will readily take root is integral for successful regeneration. Another method is reducing competition by eliminating grass, weed or shrubs securing a new crop of trees. These will sprout to produce seedlings. Though the weeds were eliminated before, they still grow back, and because of this, poor quality trees will grow. Another method though, is to create a planned forest, where new conifers are grown from seed in a special nursery. Following this is the planting. In many cases, planting is the only means of initiating a new forest. Usually immature forests have to be tended. This means continuing protection from fires, disease and insects and routine thinning to focus the growth on selected crop trees. Yes, it does take money to do all of the methods stated above, but it is worth it to human. In summary of the above, trees are very valuable to the human race economically and for health. Without trees, the environment could worsen to the point where we would be living on one large dessert. We must remember that forests do not grow as easily as they used to because of fires and other disasters. This is why many forests are planned, and cared for. This is also where technology comes into play. The satellites map out the forests that have been planted by us. We also have airplanes and helicopters that put out fires. America sends thousands of people to fight fires across the US all the time. Scientists have studied fires and we now know a lot about how they spread and there danger. Great amounts of money are spent on forests every year to protect it and to log it. There are many reasons why we should have reforestation. One being mostly that we need forest to live! There are not many arguments against reforestation, but there can be some opposition for the land being used by the University. Anderson feels replanting of forests is very crucial to the human race. At the end of the story, Anderson runs back to his home in the forest. This is where he is comfortable. We as humans need a place to go. We need beauty around us. Forests provide this and much more. He states that he wants local and personal knowledge. This means he wants people in the communities that are near forests to be aware of what†s in them. We live in an age of human interference, leaving behind us the past. With the past we are forgetting forests; we must make sure this doesn't happen.

Amazon SWOT Analysis of Inc

Amazon.com, Inc. or www.amazon.com has a mission statement to be the most customer-centric or customer-oriented retailer on this planet, where people can browse and buy anything they want to buy online with prices as low as possible on the market. (About Amazon) They are one of the world’s most important online retailers and providers of web service. (Amazon.com Inc.) They offer a large-scale of products such as clothing, merchandises for car and industrial uses, beauty and health products, books, games, electronic devices, grocery, food, jewelry, merchandises for kids and babies, movies, music, toys, sports goods, and etc. (Amazon.com Inc.)They also offer delivery and shipping, web hosting services and some other related services. (Amazon.com Inc.) They also make Kindle devices, and provide their products via company-owned online retailer websites. (Amazon.com Inc.) Not only they sell brand new unused merchandise, they also sell refurbished and second-hand used goods online. (About Amazon) Internal analysis – Strengths (their business model is their strength) In strategy, Amazon has improved the operations of their business by diversifying it from online bookstore to online merchandising with a wide variety of different kinds of products. (Amazon.com Inc.)Their dealing with costumers online without reseller model increased their inventory turnover with better returns. (Amazon.com Inc.) With their business models they also run warehouses that are not huge and large, but small and lean in many different places in the world. (Amazon.com Inc.) Their direct-to-customers with no resellers strategy makes it easier for them to handle their capital investments in their warehouses and lower possible inventory risks. (Amazon.com Inc.) By that strategy of dealing with customers directly also have increased the volume of their sales. (Amazon.com Inc.)Their business model offers everyday low prices for their products online. (Amazon.com Inc.) They have expande d their presence to many different countries globally by offering websites modified specifically according to different countries’ needs and wants like languages and taste with fulfillment networks. (Amazon.com Inc.) They learned and copied the most successful business  ventures from any other countries in the world internationally, and tested new features for their business strategy within the US market. (Amazon.com Inc.)Their product offerings are expanding by making agreements with third-party sellers around the world. Moreover, they let other retailers use their e-commerce online retailing platform technology for a price. (Amazon.com Inc.) They also offer bundle services to consumers for bringing in greater efficiency and lowering their prices in the market. (Amazon.com Inc.) And their bundled services later on diversified itself in the e-commerce markets to other platform services within the industry of cloud computing. (Amazon.com Inc.) Amazon has a broad product port folio allowing them to provide various products to serve a market of diversified customers. (Amazon.com Inc.)Customers of Amazon.com are offered a one-stop shopping experience to shop from clothing to smartphones to food. (Amazon.com Inc) Their efficient customer service and wide choice of goods and products putting their business focus on product selection, product prices, and the convenience to shop them. (Amazon.com Inc) Their product offerings include clothing, auto and industrial items, beauty and health products, books, computers, digital downloads, electronics, grocery, games, home goods, jewelry, kids and baby items, movies, music, office supplies, outdoor goods, shoes, sport goods, toys, and other kinds of tools. (Amazon.com Inc)Their strategy also emphasizes on selling their products at the lowest possible price by everyday low product pricing and free shipping such as the package Amazon Prime offering for free two-day-delivery on millions of items plus other features. (Am azon.com, Inc.) More and a greater number of customers shopping online are drawn to shop on Amazon.com because of Amazon’s broad and diverse product assortment with low prices. (Amazon.com, Inc.) And lately, Amazon just introduced their newly invented product, Kindle Fire, the most-advanced tablet providing a fully-integrated and end-to-end service for customers. (Amazon.com Inc.)They also started renting thousands of college textbooks to college students with a recently launched service called Amazon Textbook Rental. (Amazon.com Inc.) Amazon’s wide range of product offerings gives them a good chance of future financial growth. (Amazon.com Inc.) Amazon has adopted different technologies that make their website more customer-friendly. (Amazon.com Inc) With key features such as editorial and customer reviews written on their website,  manufacturer product information, gift guides, web pages customized to individual preferences like recommendations and notifications, 1- Click technology, secure payment systems, digital content and the Search Inside the Book technology. (Amazon.com Inc) And shoppers can track their orders on the website with â€Å"Your Account† features. (Amazon.com Inc)Amazon provides customer service all around the world easily with their customer service centers located on different parts in the world globally. (Amazon.com Inc) Moreover, their delivery is free with other options for shipping available worldwide around the globe. (Amazon.com Inc) With all those satisfactory shopping features available on their website, in return they have also gained high customer loyalty. (Amazon.com Inc) But they are still expanding not stopping with their customer serving coverage across the world, lately, they have just launched their Amazon Appstore in Western Europe including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain providing access to their wide range of various Android apps which give convenience to customers using Andro id phones and tablets to shop. (Amazon.com Inc)Debt, for the fiscal year 2012, Amazon recorded a total of $3,830 million in debt, and compare to their debt in the fiscal year 2011 that was an increase of 170% in one year! (Amazon.com Inc) Amazon’s total long-term debt was almost $3,084 million. (Amazon.com Inc) Their debt could make them less likely to borrow more money to finance their working capital, capital expenditure, or other kinds of investments, particularly if rating organizations downgraded Amazon’s debt securities’ ratings. (Amazon.com Inc)This weakness would be unfavorable for Amazon especially during tough times in the economy with unstable market conditions to respond to. (Amazon.com Inc) Another very obvious unfavorable effect that Amazon’s huge debt has on them is that they need to pay back what they owe in principal plus accumulated interest which is a substantial amount of their cash flow from their business operations, which then reduc ed the amount of funds available for them to expand their business via activities like acquisitions and create more product offerings and to spend on their marketing. (Amazon.com Inc) Legal proceedings, Amazon has many lawsuits filed against them both in actual terms and those haven’t yet but have the possibility to do  so. (Amazon.com Inc)And majority of those cases suing Amazon are concerned with the issues of patent violations, the relations between Amazon and their employees, contract issues, liability of products, environmental issues, antitrust issues, and other kinds of issues, etc. (Amazon.com Inc) The companies that filed and On-Demand Publishing LLC dba CreateSpace claiming that Amazon has infringed US patents in the number of 7,392,283 and patent number 7,174,362. (Amazon.com Inc) And another case filed against Amazon was in September 2012 by B.E. Technology, LLC claiming that Amazon Digital Services, Inc. has again infringed people’s US patents in the num ber of 6,771,290. (Amazon.com Inc)An Australian quasi-government entity, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, filed a lawsuit against Amazon for their infringement of US Patent number five-four-eight-seven-zero-six-nine. (Amazon.com Inc) Not only did Amazon face the lawsuits filed against them mentioned above, they have been also sued for patent infringement, violation of copyrights and etc. (Amazon.com Inc) Regardless if the companies filed lawsuits against Amazon won or lost, any legal proceeding could have a negative impact on Amazon’s cash flow and waste management’s time and effort. (Amazon.com Inc) External Analysis, uncontrollably good opportunities for Amazon Strategic acquisitions have continued to be considered as an important way by Amazon as a strategy for business growth. (Amazon.com Inc)Although merely viewed as supplements to their core business growth, acquisition is one way for them to expand their business including adopting n ew technologies of newly acquired companies, introducing new products, and expand their business reach in geography. (Amazon.com Inc) Examples such as their recent March 2013 acquisition of the company Goodreads a website providing customers a place for sharing books online. (Amazon.com Inc) Another example of their acquisition is with a company called IVONA Software in January this year 2013, which did text-to-speech technology. (Amazon.com Inc)And Amazon’s company which mainly works for their publishing, Amazon Publishing, bought another company, Avalon Book’s publication rights, of over three thousands backlist titles, and mostly in the romance, mystery and western book categories in the June of 2012. (Amazon.com Inc) And they have also made an agreement in March 2012 to acquire another company called Kiva Systems, Inc. or Kiva that focused on working with and inventing innovative technology forhandling material. (Amazon.com Inc)Amazon intended to raise the level of productivity via the acquisition of this innovative material handling company, making the employees able to pick, pack and stow their products in their fulfillment centers. (Amazon.com Inc) And this particular strategy is called â€Å"inorganic growth strategy†, as organic stands for â€Å"characterized by continuous or natural development†, might be able to help expand their market share in a significant extent. (Amazon.com Inc) Amazon’s opportunities for growth are also driven by their initiatives in strategy to make their product assortment better in the market. (Amazon.com Inc)For example, they have expanded their multi-year licensing agreement with PBS Distribution in order to offer free-of-charge online streaming of past seasons PBS programs to registered members of their Amazon Prime package in June 2013. (Amazon.com Inc) And in May of 2013, Amazon introduced their invented Kindle Worlds, a platform product made for publishing commercially and available for the first time in the market. (Amazon.com Inc) Then in January 2013, they made an agreement regarding the licensing of the content of A+E Networks, in order to add earlier seasons of A&E, bio, HISTORY and Lifetime channel into the prime instant video service on their Amazon.com website. (Amazon.com Inc)And earlier in November 2012, they started to provide a service called Amazon Redshift, which is a fully managed and powerful warehouse in the cloud for petabyte-scale data storage. (Amazon.com Inc) In the meantime, Amazon also introduced a marketplace called the Amazon wine in the market, where customers are offered more than a thousand wines. (Amazon.com Inc) And in earlier in August 2012 in the UK, Germany, France and Italy and Spain in Western Europe, Amazon launched their Amazon Appstore providing an access for European customers to download and use their wide range of high quality Android smartphone apps conveniently to shop on their website when the European customers are u sing their Android electronic devices such as cellphone and tablet computer to shop. (Amazon.com Inc)And then earlier in the March of 2012, Amazon made an announcement to the world that they were going to make a $150 million USD investment to open a new Jeffersonville, Indian fulfillment center in the US. (Amazon.com Inc) Their initiatives to make themselves able to provide customers with more product offerings with a new fulfillment center in the US could give them a better chance in business growth. (Amazon.com Inc) Another area of  opportunity for Amazon to potentially expand their presence in the market is in the E-Commerce business. (Amazon.com Inc) There is a good chance of potential for Amazon to grow their business and raise their profitability with direct marketing along with e-commerce business’ rising trend. (Amazon.com Inc)Due to the recent scenario that a growing number of consumers these days rather shop online than visit the retail stores physically to save t heir time and money in one stop. (Amazon.com Inc) According to professionals in the industry, traffic of the IP data in the globe is forecasted to go up to six point six zettabytes annually by the year 2016, and also traffic of the cloud storage is forecasted to rise from 2011’s 39% of total data centre traffic up to 64% in the year 2016. (Amazon.com Inc) The growth of E-commerce market is driven by smart phones, tablets and other internet enabled electronic devices’ uses. (Amazon.com Inc)Along with this growth of online shopping using internet enabled electronic devices, this trend pushes and changes other retailers to invest more into serving the new format of electronic device online shopping customer segment. (Amazon.com Inc) And Amazon could increase their cost savings and expand their share in the retailing market with an already well established position in the e-retailing. (Amazon.com Inc)The fact that Amazon is subject to the government and the law’s re gulation and intervention is considered an external threat. (Amazon.com Inc) The government and the law could pose external threats to Amazon’s business in aspects such as taxation, privacy, data protection, pricing, content, copyrights, electronic device certification, electronic waste, consumer protection, the provision of online payment services, the design and operation of websites, and the characteristics and quality of Amazon’s products and their services. (Amazon.com Inc)Today, the US Supreme Court does not allow collecting state and local taxes for Internet sales. (Amazon.com Inc) However, some states in the US and the Congress have been thinking of initiatives that could restrict the Supreme Court’s place and voice in matters regarding issues of Internet sales’ taxation. (Amazon.com Inc) And if those states and Congress succeed, Amazon might will be required to either collect a certain tax called â€Å"sales and use taxes† in some states  or alter the ways of how they practice their business for the law. (Amazon.com Inc) Imposing taxes by the local government and by state could create a burden on the company’s administration. (Amazon.com Inc)Moreover, those taxes if imposed on the bills of Amazon’s customers could less their demand and make their products and services less attractive in the market with increased cost. (Amazon.com Inc) The online shopping market is a very competitive one to do business in, including for Amazon. (Amazon.com Inc) The kind of competitors they have such as any other online e-commerce and mobile e-commerce sites, publishers, media companies and other companies designing, manufacturing, marketing digital media devices. (Amazon.com Inc)They compete in terms of price, product selection, how convenient is it to shop, product quality, how much time it takes/speed, and their services and tools’ reliability. (Amazon.com Inc) The list of names of Amazon’s online shopp ing competitors would be eBay, Yahoo, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, ValueVision Media, and Netflix. (Amazon.com Inc) Their competitors could possess more resources with more customers and better recognitions than Amazon. (Amazon.com Inc)Along with the competition getting fiercer Amazon needs to maintain their stock while adapting to an unstable environment of changing needs and wants in order to survive. (Amazon.com Inc) In international finance, there is a risk called foreign currency exchange risk, and that’s the kind of external threat that Amazon is exposed to as a global company doing business internationally. (Amazon.com Inc) Last year in 2012, Amazon’s revenue in total has a 43% stake outside the US in the international segment. (Amazon.com Inc) And for that year their business profit went down dramatically in the figure of $853 million compare to their 2011 revenue due to the ups and downs of the values of foreign currencies, in other words they lost a lot o f money because of their vulnerable and high exposure to exchange rate risk. (Amazon.com Inc)As they have revenue denominated internationally in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. (Amazon.com Inc) They also have things in value other than revenue such as assets, liabilities denominated in many different foreign currencies. (Amazon.com Inc) Those currencies for example such as they do business transactions with the European Euro, British Pound, Japanese Yen, Chinese Yuan and Korean Won and etc. (Amazon.com Inc) Yet they still have the USD as their main functional currency. (Amazon.com Inc) If the foreign  currencies devalue against the USD then they would lose money when they convert their foreign revenue back to the US, but if the US dollar exchange rate weakens against all other major foreign currencies, then Amazon would face potentially greater long-term liabilities. (Amazon.com Inc)