The narration of the cosmos Essay Example for Free

The narration of the cosmos Essay The happy days take off when the author was hardly three years old. At the age of sixty, as a news columnist, the nostalgic days show his own style of emotional impact. His narration of the cosmos as a child sitting in mother’s lap makes the reader younger by years. His vivid memories travel freely and end up just before his teenage. The way his youthful eyes captured all incidents dating back to his third birthday leave us spell bound. His schooldays of learning give an insight of the rural delights of summer homes even though old and ruined, appear elegant through his eyes. His grandfather’s death gave him joy to stay away from school. His fascination for police officers, food, literature and athletics sounds interesting. Many references to political exposition of his era appeared in contrast to the modernity. Throughout the memoirs, the author has described the actual growth of Baltimore and especially how the mobs of civil commotion were treated as superior professionals. His arguments with the acquaintance of his father, a French businessman is worth reading with a touch of practical jokes and imaginative comedy tones. His depiction of his Aunt Sophie and her attire would project a lavish ancient fabric to be visualized. His lavish languishing through the pages of first steps in divinity, record of an athlete, career of philosopher, has stamped his boldness. His good vernacular no doubt made him a reputed columnist later in his career. All through the pages of his book, his voice remains a chronicle of his childhood days and proves to be a readers’ delight and especially for those who travel down memory lane. References H. L. Mencken, Happy Days: Menckens Autobiography: 1880-1892, John Hopkins University Press, 2006

Air Asia Marketing Analysis

Air Asia Marketing Analysis Airlines offer air transport services for passengers or cargo, normally with a recognized operating license. Airlines have leased or owned aircraft with which to supply these services. Airlines may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for common benefit. Airlines differ from those with a single aircraft carrying mail or freight, through full-service international airlines operating hundreds of aircraft. Airlines can be classified as being intercontinental, intra continental, domestic, or international and may be operated as planned services or charters. Many countries have national airlines that are owned and operated by the government. Private airlines are under government regulation for economic, political, and safety issues. For example, governments often interfere to stop airline labor actions in order to guard the free flow of people, communications, and goods between different regions without compromising safety. Some countries have deregulated or start deregulating their Airlines, for example The United States, Australia, and to a smaller extent Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Japan. Because of deregulation, airlines have been largely free to negotiate their own operating arrangements with different airports, enter and exit routes easily, and to levy airfares and supply flights according to market demand. In a deregulated market, the entry barriers for new airlines are lower, so it creates greater competition and average fares tend to drop 20% or more. The competition, together with pricing freedom, means that new entrants often take market share with highly cheap rates that, to a limited degree, full service airlines must match. This is a main limitation on profitability for established carriers, which tend to have a higher cost base. Consequently profitability in a deregulated market is irregular for most airlines. These factors have caused some key airlines to go out of business, in addition to most of the poorly established new entrants. INTRODUCTION TO AIRASIA The world leading low fare airline in the Asia, Air Asia has been growing rapidly since 2001, to become an award winning and the major low cost carrier in Asia. AirAsia was founded by a government-owned conglomerate DRB-Hicom in 1993. On 2 December 2001, former Time Warner executive Tony Fernandess company Tune Air Sdn Bhd purchased the heavily-indebted airline for the token sum of one ringgit. Fernandes advanced to engineer an outstanding spin, turning a profit in 2002 and introducing new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Air Asia believes in the no-frills, hassle-free, low fare business idea and feels that keeping costs low needs high efficiency in every part of the business. Efficiency generates savings which are then passed on to customers so that inexpensive air travel can become a reality. Through its idea of Now Everyone Can Fly, Air Asia has introduced a revolution in air travel with more and more people around the region choosing Air Asia as their preferred choice of transport. The total AirAsia fleet (including Thai AirAsia, AirAsia X and Indonesia AirAsia) consists of the following aircraft as of 14 July 2010 STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS AirAsia opened a 2nd hub in 2003 at Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru near Singapore and started its 1st international flight to Bangkok . In January 2004, airasia began its first international service from KL to Phuket in Thailand. In 2006 A new budget terminals, the 1st of its kind in Asia was opened in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. AirAsia is presently the largest customer of the Airbus A320.[4] The company has placed an order of 175 units of the Airbus A320 plane to service its routes and at least 50 of these will be ready by 2013. Tony Fernandes (CEO) announced a five-year plan on 27 December 2006, to further improve its existence in Asia.[5] In the plan, AirAsia will build up and improve its route network by linking all the existing cities in the region and expanding further into Indochina, Indonesia, Southern China (Kun Ming, Xiamen, Shenzen) and India. AirAsia declared a three-year partnership on 5 April 2007, with the British Formula One team ATT Williams. The airline brand is displayed on the helmets of Nico Rosberg and Alexander Wurz, and on the bargeboards and nose of the cars.[6] On 27 September 2008, AirAsia has on its list 106 new routes to be added to its current list of 60 over the next few years [7] SUBSIDIARIES Notes Thai AirAsia Established on 8 December 2003 as joint venture with Shin Corporation Indonesia AirAsia AirAsia acquired the then Non-operational Awair in 2004 with a 49% stake in the airline. Full rebranding to Indonesia AirAsia was completed on 1 December 2005. VietJet AirAsia AirAsia announced On February 2010 that it has purchased a 30% stake in VietJet and changed the name to VietJet AirAsia. AirAsia RetTix AirAsia launched their new event ticketing system called AirAsia RedTix On March 20, 2010, targeting on non-airline flight tickets such as events, sports, and music. Associate Companies AirAsia X: It is a service operated by AirAsia X Sdn. Bhd. as a franchise of AirAsia. It offers long-haul services from Kuala Lumpur to Australia and China using an Airbus A330-300. Tune Hotels: Tune Hotels.com is a hotel chain established by AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes. Presently it has hotels in operation in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Penang, Sepang and Bali. Tune Money: It is Asias first no-frills online financial services portal. Same as Virgin Money, it includes life, home and motor vehicle insurance as well as prepaid credit cards. PORTERS FIVE FORCES To asses the attractiveness and identifying the sources of competition for Airline industry we use porters five forces model. 1. Threat of new Entrants in Airline Industry The extent of barriers to entry depends on following factors:- Deregulation: Some countries have deregulated or start deregulating their Airlines, for example The United States, Australia, and to a smaller extent Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Japan. In a deregulated market the entry barriers for new entrants are lower. Capital Requirement: Setting up airline business requires huge investment. The cost of setting up of offices, leasing or buying aircraft, hiring pilots and other staffs incur a high cost. Thus, the threat is low for the industry. Switching costs: In airline industry customers do not need to spend more on switching to another airline. The price would not be extremely significant in differences, which it depends on the accessibility of competitors services and suitability of the flight time that prompts them to switch. So low switching cost attracts new entrants. 2. Rivalry among existing firms Fixed cost: In airline industry fixed cost are high, for example finance cost, lease cost, and staff costs. To cover these fixed costs airline companies have to gain more market share. In doing that, constant price reduction is done by them to compete with others. Thus, the rivalry is strong. Customers easily switch: In airline industry customers priority is to look at price and flight schedule that suits them the best when buying air tickets. The main purpose of using the services is to get to the destination planned. Customers can switch to other airline easily that makes the industry competitive. Similar Products: As discussed earlier, the main purpose of using airline services is to reach the destination. Every airline is providing similar services to customers. So it makes the industry highly competitive. Excess Capacity: presently there has been excess capacity on many routes; as a result, airlines have to participate in price wars in order to attract customers at all costs. 3. Threat of Substitute products No doubt Airline is the fastest way to travel from one destination to another thus there is no Perfect Substitute available. However, taking into consideration Domestic Airlines, there are options available to the customers like by-road and train arrangements but again time consumption and convenience are the reasons which discourage customers to adopt any one of these two options. Price of Air Travel however is a hurdle which let customers to think to take other available options. International Airlines have a very less or no threat regarding other options. 4. Bargaining power of buyers Internet technology resulted in increasing the bargaining power of buyer. Because the buyers are now able to compare the prices more easily and in view of no switching costs, they could choose whichever airline offers a low price. Thus the buyers may be able to influence the airlines to reduce their prices. 5. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Number of suppliers: The suppliers for airlines are fuel suppliers, foods suppliers, merchandise suppliers, and aircraft suppliers. There are few suppliers in the market for aircrafts; the companies are either Airbus or Boeing. So the power of supplier is strong. High switching costs: AirAsia use Airbus models aircraft. In the past it was using Boeing models, which they lease it and later they replaced Boeing models with Airbus. If Airasia change to Boeing again, then the cost will be high, because training cost for staff to go well with the aircraft features must be offered. Other than that, the technology used by Airbus is the most advanced, so Airasia have to rely on the Airbus model. Thus, bargaining power of suppliers is strong. SWOT ANALYSIS The purpose of this analysis is identifying external factors (opportunities and threats) and internal factors (strengths and weakness) that AirAsia needs to consider in achieving its goals and objectives to be low cost carrier in the airline industry. The strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats for AirAsia are as follow: Strengths Single aircraft type: AirAsia operates a single type of aircraft, the airbus model. (It switched from Boeing 737s in 2005) A single aircraft type offers economies in purchasing, pilot training, maintenance and aircraft utilization. Direct Sales: AirAsia engages in direct sales through its web site and call center. As a result it avoids paying commissions to middlemen. A direct sale has reduced AirAsias dependency on outside resources for its revenue. Direct contact with customers provides an opportunity to keep up to date of their expectations and solve their problems on time. Strong management team: This is the strength of AirAsia that it has a very strong management team that consists of industry experts and ex-government officials. For example, Shin Corporation (formerly owned by the family of former Thai Prime Minister- Thaksin Shinawatra) holds a 50% stake in Thai AirAsia. This has facilitated AirAsia to start up and capture significant market share in Thailand. Well established Brand: AirAsias partnership with other service providers such as hotels, hospitals (medical tourism), car rental firms, Citibank (AirAsia Citibank card) has created a very unique picture among travelers. AirAsias local presence in countries such as Indonesia (Indonesia AirAsia) and Thailand (Thai AirAsia) has effectively elevated the brand to become a regional brand. Their links with ATT Williams Formula One team and Manchester United (one of the worlds most famous football teams) have further improved their image to a greater extend beyond just Asia. Weaknesses At start, it may be a good strategy for AirAsia not to have its own maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities. But now with hubs in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia and 97 planes currently owned and over 100 planes to be received in the next few years, AirAsia have to make sure proper and continuous maintenance of the planes which will also help to keep the overall costs low. It is becoming disadvantage not to have its own repair maintenance facilities. Opportunities Increase in oil price: Increase in oil price may become an opportunity for AirAsia, being a low cost carrier; AirAsia has an upper hand because its cost will be still the lowest among others. Thus it has a great opportunity to capture some of the existing customers of full service and other low cost airlines customers. Partnership with other LCC: AirAsia can partnership with other low cost operators such as virgin to tap into their existing strengths or competitive advantages like brand name, landing rights and landing slots. Population: Population of Asian middle class is increasing. It will be 700 million by the end of 2010. This creates an excellent opportunity and huge market for all low cost carriers in this region including AirAsia. New destinations: AirAsia has strong presence in Asian region. Currently they are operating from three countries Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and covering several destinations in China, India, Sri-lanka etc. but still most parts of these countries are under served. So AirAsia can add more destinations. Threats Uncontrollable costs: Certain charges like landing charges, security charges and departure charges are beyond the control of airline operators. This is a threat to all airlines especially low cost airlines that tries to keep their cost as low as possible. New entrants: AirAsias profit margin has attracted many competitors. A good number of the full service airlines have or planning to create a low cost subsidiary to compete with AirAsia and other low cost carriers. For example, Singapore Airlines has created a low cost carrier Tiger Airways. Terrorism: Terrorism is affecting tourism and confidence in the airlines. It might happen in many ways of terrorism either in certain countries or it might happen in the plane itself. If there is terrorism happen in the area where AirAsia operates, it results in stopping their flights to ensure safety of passengers as well as the plane. Negative perceptions: Passengers have some negative perception about low cost carriers. One common perception is that they may compromise safety to keep costs low. AVAILABLE STRATEGIES FOR AIRASIA There are three strategies that Air Asia can follow in order to be a major player in the Low Cost Carrier market. These strategies are Diversification (substantive growth strategy), market penetration and market development (limited growth strategies). Diversification There are kinds of diversification such as horizontal, vertical integration, and conglomeration. Ansoff Matrix source: wikipedia.com In horizontal diversification, the company developed activities that are directly complementary to a companys present activities. AirAsia has done horizontal diversification when entering into Indonesian market by partnering with Awair, which is an Indonesian airline. The partnering with Awair helps AirAsia to understand the condition of local market, so the company will have direction on how to enter and survive in the market by the help of an experienced partner (Awair). AirAsia has done vertical diversification as well, for example it is selling flight tickets without the help of agents through its own website and call centre. Through unrelated diversification (conglomeration), AirAsia might spread risk if suddenly airline industry is having difficulties and have elevated profit opportunity from the new business. But, to establish new business, open up a new company, strong management and financial ability is required to make it successful, but if it is not successful, it might create unbalanced circumstances for Air Asia because of loss of money and resources. Market Penetration In Market Penetration company will not introduce new products. It will go with the same products in the same market. The way to gain more market share with the same product is to attract competitors customers and get more loyal customers by marketing. Market Penetration will not cost as much as Diversification. AirAsia can peruse this strategy by using marketing budget and using the existing marketing department. Market Development Another strategy that AirAsia can pursue is Market Development. Market development is the strategy to sell the same product in new market. For example Air Asia can open up new routes to other places than the existing routes. Opening up more routes is going to be advantages, but it costs more than doing market penetration because more aircrafts and pilots will be needed. AIRASIA RESOURCES EVALUATION In order to implement a strategy AirAsia has to evaluate the resources because if the resources are not enough, the implementation will not be maximized and there will be possibility that the strategy will fail. There are resources to be evaluated before choosing a strategy, such as budgets, human resources, and network analysis. For diversification huge investment is required, because the company might have to build a factory or buy/rent new premises. The company might have to recruit new employees who have knowledge about the new business. Market penetration and market development strategies require less money as compared to diversification strategy. Market penetration and market development strategies only grow existing resources to get more profit or bigger market share, and usually the budget for these strategies are mostly taken from marketing budget. Now a days LCC market is becoming very competitive. Its profit margins attract many new competitors. As I discussed above, a good number of the full service airlines have or planning to create a low cost subsidiary to compete with Air Asia. In this situation AirAsia should not think about diversification. It should only focus on airline business. So strategies like market development and market penetration will be preferred at the moment. POSSIBLE FUTURE STRATEGIES FOR AIRASIA AirAsia have to pursue limited growth strategies such as market penetration and market development in the future. These strategies work a lot for AirAsia in order stay competitive in LCC market. Many new competitors like Tiger Airways directly threatening its market share. So at present AirAsia needs to increase its brand image and get more loyal customers. Air Asia can increase its brand image by promoting low-priced, on time and safe traveling experience campaign. As I discussed above people have negative perception about LCC. People think that LCC may compromise safety to keep cost low. So in promotions AirAsia should try to change these negative perceptions. Advertisements on television are expensive but effective to increase the brand image, so Air Asia may advertise on the television. Ads on Channels like BBC, National Geographic will work a lot. To help reduce the cost, advertisement time may be made shorter and advertisements may not be aired very frequently. The best time for AirAsia Ads is during holidays when people are thinking to go on traveling. There are upcoming sports events like 2011 Cricket World Cup in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and 2012 Olympics in London. By sponsoring these events AirAsia can further improve its image. AirAsia has strong presence in Asian region as compared to other low cost carriers. Currently they are operating from three countries Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia and covering several destinations in China, India, Sri-Lanka etc. but still most parts of these countries are under served. AirAsia alone dont have capacity to cover this whole region. So partnership with some other airlines is required at this stage. Partnership with Virgin Airline will provide great opportunity to expand its business in Asia as well as in other parts of the world. RECOMMENATIONS AirAsia has strong position in Asian market. Now a day Asian low cost carrier market is becoming very competitive. To keep stronger position in the market AirAsia has to adopt combination of market penetration and market development strategies. As we know AirAsia has strong management team, which will surly make these strategies successful. AirAsia has some weaknesses but these do not seem to be very dangerous. Rising fuel prices have made operational costs high for the whole industry. However these high operational costs means companies with fewer profit margins than AirAsia may become unneeded in the future thus, opening up customer bases previously not available to AirAsia. Middle income earners are increasing specially in china and India; there is much talent for AirAsia to expand its routes. AirAsia engages in direct sale through web site and call center. It should be very careful that problems with internet can seriously damage their business. REFERENCES Orders, Deliveries and Operational Asia Pacific. January 2010. http://www.airbus.com/fileadmin/backstage/documents/od/January_2010.xls. Retrieved 9 February 2010. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/9/business/4284964sec=business http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/09_06_16_a350xwb_airasiax.html http://www.tiags.com.vn:8080/?idx=newsdetailmod=newsact=detailid=92type=2 Leong Hung Yee (27 December 2006). AirAsia embarks on 2nd chapter. The Star. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/27/business/16419327sec=business AirAsia sponsors the Formula One team Williams AirAsia unleashes its X-factor

The Shoe Carnival :: essays research papers

The Shoe Carnival Character List: Whitley (Cashier) Raymond (Floor Supervisor) Jessica (Floor Supervisor) Brett (Sales Associate) Karen (Loss Prevention) Shoplifter(female) Customer #1 Police Officer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Extra Customers in store Setting: The Shoe Carnival is a retail store where this scene takes place. It is approximately 7 p.m. and one of the employee’s, Whitley is returning to work after a brief break. Just as she is approaching the entrance to the store she notices the flashing police lights and a crowd of spectators. She also notices Raymond the Floor Supervisor standing at the door. Employees are wearing lime green shirts and kaki pants; Shoplifter and customers are wearing regular street clothes and the police officer is in uniform. Whitley:† Raymond, what’s going on?† Raymond: â€Å"That lady just tried to steal some shoes and she got caught!† Whitley:† Are you serious? I miss everything! Why did I have to go on break?† Raymond: â€Å"Ha, Ha!† (Chuckle) (Jamie and Jessica are in the â€Å"mike stand† and Karen is on the steps.) Jamie: â€Å"Whitley you missed it girl!† Jessica: †Ha Ha, we caught her and now she looks like a fool!† Whitley: Where is she? Karen: â€Å"She’s in the back office with the police.† (Karen leaves and goes to the office, and Brett walks up toward us.) Brett: â€Å"Man! I did a great job holding that big lady down!† (Raymond over hears this conversation and comes over) Raymond: â€Å"Brett, if I remember correctly, you were standing behind the shelf the whole time while I held the lady down.† Brett: (Loudly) â€Å" Dude! Whatever! I don’t know what you’re talking about!† (Everyone laughs at both Raymond and Brett as they continue to argue) Jessica: â€Å"Whitley that man is ready to check out†. (Begrudgingly, Whitley slowly walked up to the register where Customer #1 was patiently waiting). Whitley: â€Å"Hello Sir, how are you doing? Did you find everything you were looking for? Would you like any socks or shoe cleaner?† Customer #1: â€Å"No thank you, this is fine.† Hey what’s going on?† Whitley: â€Å"Oh nothing, this lady just tried to steal some shoes. We caught her and called the police.† Customer #1: â€Å"That is crazy. People these days will do anything.† (Whitley rings up the customer’s purchase and soon returns to the mike stand).

The Medieval Gothic Cathedral Essay -- European History Architecture E

The Medieval Gothic Cathedral The medieval Gothic cathedral was in many ways a civic building as well as a religious one. This particularly was the case with the famous cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres (Our Lady of Chartres) in the town of the same name, 80km south-east of Paris, built in the 13th century. Chartres cathedral was planned not only as a place of worship, but also developed as the centre of the town's economy and way of life, as the place that housed the relic of the cloak of the Virgin Mary. The local citizens assisted the building of the cathedral by providing the labour, giving food to the workers and donating money to pay for its construction. The architecture of the cathedral dominated the town in the way that modern skyscrapers are the centre civic buildings today. Many of the decorations in the cathedral such as the thousands of sculptures and beautiful stained glass windows were donated by guilds and tradespeople of the town. People visited Chartres for the fairs held on the feasts of the Vir gin, a major place for trade. Townspeople also used the majestic cathedral and its grounds for business. Medieval cathedrals such as Chartres show the strength and majesty of the Catholic church. The original Romanesque cathedral in Chartres that was built in the eleventh century burned down in a fire in 1134. The cathedral was then rebuilt in the gothic style, but then another fire destroyed all except the towers and the west front in 1194. (See Hallam & Everard 2001) The new Gothic cathedral was regarded as one of the first examples of High Gothic architecture. There was a genuine desire, of course, to build places of worship and prayer and to build a cathedral as a way to pay homage to God. However, the catholic... ...ey, A. 1922, Medieval France A Companion to French Studies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK Von Simpson, O. 1988, The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval concept of Order, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey USA Wison, C. 1990, The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church 1130-1530, Thames and Hudson, Singapore http://art.ranken.edu/borchardt/archistI/Course%20stuff/Medieval/medieval.htm, accessed 13/04/04 Classical Architectural History Lesson, subheading "The New Cathedrals" Halsall, P. 1988, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1210chartres.html, accessed 13/04/04 Halsall, P. 1988 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1224chartres.html, accessed 13/04/04 Ingersoll, R. 1995, Rice University Cities and History http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~arch343/lecture9.html, accessed 13/04/04

Robert Browning’s Andrea del Sarto Essay -- Andrea del Sarto

Robert Browning’s Andrea del Sarto Lucrezia del Sarto (To My Dear Husband) My dear husband, put away your plate of bread Or, pray you, hand it to the dogs; the sun Has but an hour to make its mid-way trek, And here sit you etching pewter with crust, And smearing cheese and jam with lazy thumbs. Ah, yes! Kiss me so. Then kiss me better To smother my lips. Your artlessness is What makes me smile so, dear, and not your kiss. No, I will speak. And should you be so kind As to listen, you’ll find me plainly spoken. Long last night, in my bed, I turned and turned; As much as I’d suffered your words while they Tumbled from your lips, I suffered them once More, and more fresh, fettered fast inside my head! Love, the night wore on, black, blank, and at last Thinned. But how you wear me! Tell me you shall Keep your promise to each one of the three: To myself, to my cousin, and to thee! I will tell you how I mean: Do life’s work, Honor your wife, your word, and yourself If it pleases you. But be first a man; No—a husband—above all else. Tell me, ’Tis possibly better to honor yourself? My dear husband, I have much in reply To offer your last eve’s soliloquy; So perhaps it shall suit you to gaze less Dumbly at my brow and more at my mouth Whilst I so plainly speak. Your talents do Not waste themselves on me. Do not doubt it. I am more certain of your skill than you May think. And so I am less humored by The fickle errantry of a mind which once Was sharp and sweet. My pride in you has waned. Pick, pick, pick, but never paint! Well enough, You say we are all only but in God’s Hands; ’Tis not God who binds you down, nor I! Your works have touched heaven, but you are low; God, you think, assign... ...ehind a play of words or a psychological puzzle, tempting his reader to dig for it there, later. I have come to appreciate the rich expressiveness inherent in the dramatic mono-logue format. Without actually stating or describing very much, the poet is able to depict a scene and its props, animate characters, and imply action, emotion, and rhthym for the audience. I discovered that each time I implied action on the part of either Lucrezia or Andrea, (â€Å"put away your plate . . . But even now you entwine me . . .†), I was, at the same time, implying action—and its accompanying emotion—on the part of the second character, as well. The poem becomes a dance—a dense, complex web of subtleties and surprises. This poetic form is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to mimic. It carries an intimacy which embraces the poet, the characters, and the reader all at once.

Part Five Chapter I

Privilege 7.32 A person who has made a defamatory statement may claim privilege for it if he can show that he made it without malice and in pursuit of a public duty. Charles Arnold-Baker Local Council Administration, Seventh Edition I Terri Weedon was used to people leaving her. The first and greatest departure had been her mother's, who had never said goodbye, but had simply walked out one day with a suitcase while Terri was at school. There had been lots of social workers and care workers after she ran away at fourteen, and some of them had been nice enough, but they all left at the end of the working day. Every fresh departure added a fine new layer to the crust building over her core. She had had friends in care, but at sixteen they were all on their own, and life had scattered them. She met Ritchie Adams, and she bore him two children. Tiny little pink things, pure and beautiful like nothing in the whole world: and they had come out of her, and for shining hours in the hospital, twice, it had been like her own rebirth. And then they took the children from her, and she never saw them again, either. Banger had left her. Nana Cath had left her. Nearly everybody went, hardly anyone stayed. She ought to be used to it by now. When Mattie, her regular social worker, reappeared, Terri demanded, ‘Where's the other one?' ‘Kay? She was only covering for me while I was ill,' said Mattie. ‘So, where's Liam? No †¦ I mean Robbie, don't I?' Terri did not like Mattie. For one thing, she did not have kids, and how could people who didn't have kids tell you how to raise them, how could they understand? She had not liked Kay, exactly, either †¦ except that Kay gave you a funny feeling, the same feeling that Nana Cath had once given Terri, before she had called her a whore and told her she never wanted to see her again †¦ you felt, with Kay – even though she carried folders, like the rest of them, even though she had instituted the case review – you felt that she wanted things to go right for you, and not only for the forms. You really did feel that. But she was gone, and she probably don't even think about us now, thought Terri furiously. On Friday afternoon, Mattie told Terri that Bellchapel would almost certainly close. ‘It's political,' she said briskly. ‘They want to save money, but methadone treatment's unpopular with the District Council. Plus, Pagford wants them out of the building. It was all in the local paper, maybe you saw it?' Sometimes she spoke to Terri like that, veering into a kind of after-all-we're-in-this-together small-talk that jarred, because it sat alongside enquiries as to whether Terri was remembering to feed her son. But this time it was what she said, rather than how she said it, that upset Terri. ‘They're closin' it?' she repeated. ‘It looks that way,' said Mattie breezily, ‘but it won't make any difference to you. Well, obviously †¦' Three times Terri had embarked upon the programme at Bellchapel. The dusty interior of the converted church with its partition walls and its flyers, the bathroom with its neon-blue light (so you could not find veins and shoot up in there), had become familiar and almost friendly. Lately, she had begun to sense in the workers there a change in the way they spoke to her. They had all expected her to fail again, in the beginning, but they had started talking to her the way Kay had talked: as if they knew a real person lived inside her pockmarked, burned body. ‘ †¦ obviously, it will be different, but you can get your methadone from your GP instead,' said Mattie. She flipped over pages in the distended file that was the state's record of Terri's life. ‘You're registered with Dr Jawanda in Pagford, right? Pagford †¦ why are you going all the way out there?' ‘I smacked a nurse at Cantermill,' said Terri, almost absent-mindedly. After Mattie had left, Terri sat for a long time in her filthy chair in the sitting room, gnawing at her nails until they bled. The moment Krystal came home, bringing Robbie back from nursery, she told her that they were closing Bellchapel. ‘They ain't decided yet,' said Krystal with authority. ‘The fuck do you know?' demanded Terri. ‘They're closin' it, and now they say I've gotta go to fuckin' Pagford to that bitch that killed Nana Cath. Well, I fuckin' ain't.' ‘You gotta,' said Krystal. Krystal had been like this for days; bossing her mother, acting as though she, Krystal, was the grown-up. ‘I ain' gotta do fuckin' anythin',' said Terri furiously. ‘Cheeky little bitch,' she added, for good measure. ‘If you start fuckin' usin' again,' said Krystal, scarlet in the face, ‘they'll take Robbie away.' He was still holding Krystal's hand, and burst into tears. ‘See?' both women shouted at each other. ‘You're fuckin' doin' it to him!' shouted Krystal. ‘An' anyway, that doctor didn' do nuthin' to Nana Cath, that's all jus' Cheryl an' them talking shit!' ‘Fuckin' little know-it-all, ain't yeh?' yelled Terri. ‘You know fuck-all – ‘ Krystal spat at her. ‘Get the fuck out!' screamed Terri, and because Krystal was bigger and heavier she seized a shoe lying on the floor and brandished it. ‘Gerrout!' ‘I fuckin' will!' yelled Krystal. ‘An' I'll take Robbie an' all, an' you can stay here an' fuckin' screw Obbo an' make another one!' She dragged the wailing Robbie out with her before Terri could stop her. Krystal marched him all the way to her usual refuge, forgetting that at this time in the afternoon, Nikki would still be hanging around outside somewhere, not at home. It was Nikki's mum who opened the door, in her Asda uniform. ‘He ain' stayin' ‘ere,' she told Krystal firmly, while Robbie whined and tried to pull his hand from Krystal's tight grip. ‘Where's your mum?' ‘Home,' said Krystal, and everything else she wanted to say evaporated in the older woman's stern gaze. So she returned to Foley Road with Robbie, where Terri, bitterly triumphant, grabbed her son's arm, pulled him inside and blocked Krystal from entering. †Ad enough of him already, ‘ave yeh?' Terri jeered, over Robbie's wails. ‘Fuck off.' And she slammed the door. Terri had Robbie sleep beside her on her own mattress that night. She lay awake and thought about how little she needed Krystal, and ached for her as badly as she had ever craved smack. Krystal had been angry for days. The thing that Krystal had said about Obbo †¦ (‘She said what?' he had laughed, incredulously, when they had met in the street, and Terri had muttered something about Krystal being upset.) †¦ he wouldn't have done it. He couldn't have. Obbo was one of the few people who had hung around. Terri had known him since she was fifteen. They had gone to school together, hung out in Yarvil while she was in care, swigged cider together beneath the trees on the footpath that cut its way through the small patch of remaining farmland beside the Fields. They had shared their first joint. Krystal had never liked him. Jealous, thought Terri, watching Robbie sleep in the street light pouring through the thin curtains. Just jealous. He's done more for me than anyone, thought Terri defiantly, because when she tallied kindnesses she subtracted abandonment. Thus all of Nana Cath's care had been annihilated by her rejection. But Obbo had hidden her, once, from Ritchie, the father of her first two children, when she had fled the house barefoot and bleeding. Sometimes he gave her free bags of smack. She saw them as equivalent kindnesses. His refuges were more reliable than the little house in Hope Street that she had once, for three glorious days, thought was home. Krystal did not return on Saturday morning, but that was nothing new; Terri knew she must be at Nikki's. In a rage, because they were low on food, and she was out of cigarettes, and Robbie was whining for his sister, she stormed into her daughter's room and kicked her clothes around, searching for money or the odd, overlooked fag. Something clattered as she threw aside Krystal's crumpled old rowing kit, and she saw the little plastic jewellery box, upended, with the rowing medal that Krystal had won, and Tessa Wall's watch lying beneath it. Terri picked up the watch and stared at it. She had never seen it before. She wondered where Krystal had got it. Her first assumption was that Krystal had stolen it, but then she wondered whether she might have been given it by Nana Cath, or even left it in Nana Cath's will. That was a much more troubling thought than the idea of the watch being stolen. The idea of the sneaky little bitch hiding it away, treasuring it, never mentioning it †¦ Terri put the watch inside the pocket of her tracksuit bottoms and bellowed for Robbie to come with her to the shops. It took ages to get him into his shoes, and Terri lost her temper and slapped him. She wished she could go to the shop alone, but the social workers did not like you leaving kids behind in the house, even though you could get things done much quicker without them. ‘Where's Krystal?' wailed Robbie, as she manhandled him out of the door. ‘I wan' Krystal!' ‘I dunno where the little tart is,' snapped Terri, dragging him along the road. Obbo was on the corner beside the supermarket, talking to two men. When he saw her he raised a hand in greeting, and his two companions walked away. †Ow's Ter?' he said. ‘N'bad,' she lied. ‘Robbie, leggo.' He was digging his fingers so tightly into her thin leg that it hurt. ‘Listen,' said Obbo, ‘couldja keep a bit more stuff for me fer a bit?' ‘Kinda stuff?' asked Terri, prising Robbie off her leg and holding his hand instead. ‘Coupla bags o' stuff,' said Obbo. ‘Really help me out, Ter.' †Ow long for?' ‘Few days. Bring it round this evenin'. Will yeh?' Terri thought of Krystal, and what she would say if she knew. ‘Yeah, go on then,' said Terri. She remembered something else, and pulled Tessa's watch out of her pocket. ‘Gonna sell this, whaddaya reckon?' ‘Not bad,' said Obbo, weighing it in his hand. ‘I'll give yeh twenty for it. Bring it over tonight?' Terri had thought the watch might be worth more, but she did not like to challenge him. ‘Yeah, all righ' then.' She took a few steps towards the supermarket entrance, hand in hand with Robbie, but then turned abruptly. ‘I ain' usin' though,' she said. ‘So don' bring †¦' ‘Still on the mixture?' he said, grinning at her through his thick glasses. ‘Bellchapel's done for, mind. All in the paper.' ‘Yeah,' she said miserably, and she tugged Robbie towards the entrance of the supermarket. ‘I know.' I ain't going to Pagford, she thought, as she picked biscuits off the shelf. I ain't going there. She was almost inured to constant criticism and assessment, to the sideways glance of passers-by, to abuse from the neighbours, but she was not going to go all the way to that smug little town to get double helpings; to travel back in time, once a week, to the place where Nana Cath had said she would keep her, but let her go. She would have to pass that pretty little school that had sent horrible letters home about Krystal, saying that her clothes were too small and too dirty, that her behaviour was unacceptable. She was afraid of long-forgotten relatives emerging from Hope Street, as they squabbled over Nana Cath's house, and of what Cheryl would say, if she knew that Terri had entered into voluntary dealings with the Paki bitch who had killed Nana Cath. Another mark against her, in the family that despised her. ‘They ain't making me go to fuckin' Pagford,' Terri muttered aloud, pulling Robbie towards the checkout.

Belonging: ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’, ‘Migrant Hostel’ and Photo Essay ‘Belongings: Felt, Presented, Challenged’

Belonging is the ability of an individual to reconcile identity with their social environment. Peter Skrzynecki’s poems Feliks Skrzynecki and Migrant Hostel from the anthology ‘Immigrant Chronicle’ explore this concept in relation to migrants during the post WWII period and are reflections of Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory. The photo essay entitled Belongings; felt, presented, challenged transfers these same principles to a modern context, illustrating the enduring nature of the struggle humanity faces in the endeavour to belong.Feliks’ gardening in Feliks Skrzynecki can be seen as a response to the years of forced labour in Germany which left him at the mercy of bigger tides in the affairs of humanity. Once in Australia as part of the post WWII influx of migrants, Feliks devotes himself to creating an environment which he can control. Stanza one and two establishes a sense of comfort and familiarity within the niche he has created for himself . Feliks recognises that belonging is gained through the possession of particular socially valued and accepted criteria.In an Australian context, uniformity is made the criteria for belonging, something which Feliks himself does not value highly, as expressed in â€Å"Did your father ever attempt to learn English? † The condescending tone employed portrays the perceived societal value of assimilation and the representation of an unwelcoming society as seen from a migrant’s perspective. Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory states that a person’s sense of self is based on their group membership(s); that in order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong (in group) and discriminate against the groups that we do not (out group).Peter Skrzynecki presents a contradictory self-categorisation in the poem Feliks Skrzynecki. â€Å"His (fathers) Polish friends always shook hands too violently† connotes cultural exclusiv ity and the affinity of the persona with a non-Polish culture. Child voice serves to highlight the generation divide between Feliks and his son as Peter seeks to strengthen his sense of belonging in his new Australian culture by establishing his father and â€Å"his Polish friends† as the ‘out group’.Conversely and simultaneously, the persona distinguishes himself from the Australian bureaucracy through the use of derogatory, stereotypical language: â€Å"A crew cut, grey haired department clerk who asked me in dancing bear grunts†. This highlights the difficulty of establishing a sense of belonging when conflicted with two cultural identities. The poem Migrant Hostel (Parkes 1949-51) explores the alienation of and animosity shown towards ‘newcomers’ to Australian society. â€Å"Nationalities sought each other out instinctively† connotes the importance of familiarity, as expressed in Feliks Skrzynecki.Individuals are more able to reconc ile their personal identity with the inherent need to belong to a group in a known and familiar environment. The emotional and physical security provided by one’s own cultural group is evidence of the pre-programmed biological need to form ‘tribes’. The migrants are dehumanised through a lack of information- â€Å"left us wondering† and â€Å"unaware†. The migrants pose a threat to current Australian pattern of existence and the construct of social Darwinism dictates that the new threat must be eliminated.In order for the individuals to maintain their feelings of belonging, the two groups are in a constant state of competition; hence the hostility felt by the migrants is a result of competing identities. Consequently the perception that we must learn our right to belong permeates society. Belonging is not an inherent right of the human being, but something that is earned through socially valued criteria. Just as Feliks is denied acceptance by Austra lian society in Feliks Skrzynecki, so too are the migrants by â€Å"a barrier at the main gate†¦.Pointed in reprimand or shame†. The migrants are made to feel prisoners, subverted to authority and â€Å"needing its sanction† to live their lives. Due to their alternate cultural identity migrants are excluded and alienated from society, revealing that t concept of belonging is heavily based on dominant culture. Belongings: felt, presented, challenged explores perhaps the most conflicting yet thought provoking aspect of belonging; that of the struggle between society’s expectations of conformity and the individuals search for a unique sense of identity.The photo essay is compiled of images taken by victims persecuted for choosing not to belong to the popular vision of society. In the post 9/11 context, where choosing not to belong can result in civil wars and racial persecution, this simultaneous need to belong to society and an individual’s own search for identity are harshly conflicted. Individual torment and dislocation is experienced by thousands of people as they become the casualties of an internal jihad of ethics and instinct.The control exerted over these people is a gross exaggeration of the control portrayed in Migrant Hostel and represents the dire consequences of the inability of the individual to reconcile personal identity with their social environment. The ability is indeed affected by the nature of the individual’s context. The ideas about belonging communicated in Belongings: felt, presented, challenged are such that some milieu do not foster individual thought but rely solely on conformity as a basis for belonging. Any deviance from this structure results in persecution and in extreme cases, genocide.To a lesser extent, Peter Skrzynecki experienced these feelings of oppression and conveys the emotional isolation involved in the process of migration and assimilation. Migrant Hostel reveals the perception th at we must earn our right to belong and the opposition faced by competing groups. Feliks Skrzynecki further explores this concept, looking at the effects of conflicting cultural identities on an individual and the affiliation with competing ‘in’ and ‘out’ groups. Thus belonging is determined by the ability to reconcile personal identity with social environment.