Courtly love essays

Courtly love essays The idea of courtly love, as we understand it, began during the Romantic revival of the nineteenth century, when there was a period of general mythologizing about the Middle Ages (Jordan 134). According to the Romantics, courtly love describes an ideal of adulterous love between medieval aristocratic men and women, and relationships of this nature being more genuine than the common arranged marriage. Scholars believed this idea of love was characteristic of aristocratic culture in the Middle Ages because a great many texts of the period expressed a longing for finamors. Finamors, according to William Chester Jordan, is the closest medieval term to courtly love and means something like unblemished love love which, because it cannot or should not be fulfilled, achieves a certain purity and poignancy (Jordan 134). The doctrine of courtly love was designed to teach courtiers how to be lovely, charming and delightful. Its basic premise was that being in love would teach you how to be loveable and pleasing; so love taught courtesy. This kind of love is a social phenomenon, designed for communal living at a wealthy court where people had plentiful leisure and desired to entertain and be entertained delightfully. When properly applied, courtly love refers to an extravagantly artificial and stylized relationship a forbidden affair that was characterized by five main attributes () being: Courtly love began in the late eleventh century with William IX of Aquitaine. William was a well-known troubadour in southern France, and his influence on granddaughter Eleanor (and in turn, her influence on her daughter, Marie) led to the Courts of Love. The Courts of Love were presided over by Marie de Champagne and Eleanor DAquitaine. With many scholars and theologians present, t ...

Ionic Radius Trends in the Periodic Table

Ionic Radius Trends in the Periodic Table The ionic radius of the elements exhibits trends in the periodic table. In general: Ionic radius increases as you move from top to bottom on the periodic table.Ionic radius decreases as you move across the periodic table, from left to right. Although ionic radius and atomic radius do not mean exactly the same thing, the trend applies to atomic radius as well as to ionic radius. Key Takeaways: Ionic Radius Trend on Periodic Table The ionic radius is half the distance between atomic ions in a crystal lattice. To find the value, ions are treated as if they were hard spheres.The size of an elements ionic radius follows a predictable trend on the periodic table.As you move down a column or group, ionic radius increases. This is because each row adds a new electron shell.Ionic radius decreases moving from left to right across a row or period. More protons are added, but the outer valence shell remains the same, so the positively charged nucleus draws in the electrons more tightly. But, for the nonmetallic elements, ionic radius increases because there are more electrons than protons.While the atomic radius follows a similar trend, ions may be larger or smaller than neutral atoms. Ionic Radius and Group Why does radius increase with higher atomic numbers in a group? As you move down a group in the periodic table, additional layers of electrons are being added, which naturally causes the ionic radius to increase as you move down the periodic table. Ionic Radius and Period It might seem counterintuitive that the size of an ion would decrease as you add more protons, neutrons, and electrons in a period, yet, theres an explanation for this. As you move across a row of period of the periodic table, the ionic radius decreases for metals forming cations, as the metals lose their outer electron orbitals. The ionic radius increases for nonmetals as the effective nuclear charge decreases due to the number of electrons exceeding the number of protons. Ionic Radius and Atomic Radius The ionic radius is different from the atomic radius of an element. Positive ions are smaller than their uncharged atoms. Negative ions are larger than their neutral atoms. Sources Pauling, L. The Nature of the Chemical Bond. 3rd ed. Cornell University Press, 1960.Wasastjerna, J. A. On the radii of ions.  Comm. Phys.-Math., Soc. Sci. Fenn.  vol. 1, no. 38, pp. 1–25, 1923.

Marketing Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Marketing Mix - Essay Example The basic purpose however is to make a sale during all this while on the part of the marketing team coming under the organization’s umbrella. The elements of the marketing mix might not be applicable to every organization or product since there are discrepancies in the understanding of each and every product. However on the condition that all of these 4P’s create value for the end user is something to understand from. The 4P’s basically outline the exact basis for the know-how related with the product as the product itself is discussed which includes the brand mark or the house mark as well as the symbol. (Lazer, 1971) The aspect of price includes whether or not this product is sold in line with the industry’s other competitors or it is skimmed to a high price right at the very beginning of its induction in the market. At times, this product could be penetrated at a low price so as to ignite more sales but then again it could backfire since the product can have bad reputation and be considered of low value and hence a negligible brand image is conveyed nonetheless. Place is the distribution aspect rel ated with that product where the product is made available for the right target audiences. This includes the retail outlets, stores, mobile vans, corner shops and just about any place where it could be purchased from. It can even include the Internet since a lot of online sale is being done through it and hence could rightly be termed as a point of sale for the eventual end consumers. The promotional aspect, the last P amongst the 4P’s is related with marketing communications, which not only takes advertising, sales promotions and personal selling into its fold but also the aspect of word of mouth communication, with or without the creation of the opinion leaders and quite rightly so the public relations tenet. Now we move on with the aspects of the marketing mix in relation with each other. If there is no product, there would

Contract law as practiced in Europe Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Contract law as practiced in Europe - Case Study Example The aim of this letter is to examine whether your wife has a chance of getting a favourable settlement in court if she decides to take legal action against you after all. The issue here is whether Penny's case will succeed if brought to court. In other words, will the case find you, Max Power, liable of paying Penny the money that you owe her for support for the past six months This is given the fact that the two of you are still legally married under the Irish Family Law Act 1995 and you having promised to support your wife who is unable to work because of the work place accident that she had five years ago. These are the questions I, as your legal adviser, will be trying to answer in this letter. As to whether Penny's case will succeed if it comes before any Irish family court, I strongly believe that your wife stands a higher chance of convincing the judge to force you to clear the outstanding balance and to continue paying her the monthly allowances. This is if she accuses you on other grounds apart from the current grounds of ostensibly breaking a contract. However, since she has opted to sue you for breaking a contract, I believe that her case does not stand a chance in a court of law in England. This is because there is no legal document that exists showing that the two of you entered in any form of contract. ... 3 In June 2008, you left for Dubai and left your wife alone at home 4 You verbally agreed to pay Penny support allowances of $1500 verbally and you did so for six months 5 In January 2009, you met Stacey Floodgates and soon took her in as your partner 6 Since January 2009, you defaulted on paying Penny her monthly allowances 7 Five years ago, Penny had an accident which left her unable to work, and so she had been relying on her husband's support payments for upkeep 8 The reason why Penny is suing you is because she believes that the contract between the two of you, though verbal, was binding Rule Statement and Rule Synthesis For a contract to be binding under the European code of conduct, there are some requirements that it has to meet. These are generally referred to as "the three c's" (Gordley, 2008). The first is the cause, whereby a reason should have emerged that required for the drafting of the contract (Gordley, 2008). The second is consideration. This is whereby the two parties must have identified the form of contract that is best to enter into to given their circumstances. The third and most important aspect of a contract in our case here is the consent (Gordley, 2008). This is an indication that the parties went through the contract and agreed to abide by the terms provided for there. This consent is indicated in form of a signature that is appended by both parties in the contract. Without a signature, leave alone without the written document, the contract is null and void, and nobody can be accused of breaching it. The only exception whereby an actual signature is not needed on the document is when the contract is done online (Orlando, 2009). But even these form of contracts, under the Irish law that governs electronic contracts,

Group Motivation Inventory Essay Example for Free

Group Motivation Inventory Essay Majority of us humans get up from bed in the morning, set out for school or our job and practically do our daily routines in a way that is unique to us. We interact to our environment and the people around us without fully understanding why we are doing our routine – why we go to school or do great in our job or are amused from a particular activity. Nonetheless we all know that there is something that motivates us for doing this. Motivation refers to the things either internal or external to a person from which makes him enthusiastic and persistent on pursuing a particular course of action (Daft, 526). Studying motivation makes us understand what makes us people initiate a certain action, and what influences our selection of actions. After I took the motivation rating exam, I have a moderate level of group motivation. This means that I am not fully committed to my group but also not completely disregarding how my group will perform. After taking the exam, I realized that there are factors that affect a person’s motivation on a group. Some of these factors are: 1) composition of the group; 2) commitment and dedication of other members; 3) chemistry within the group; 4) appreciation of the group; and 5) each member’s contribution for the group’s success. Upon taking the exam, I became aware that the factor that mostly affects my motivation in a group is a member’s commitment and dedication to the group. This is maybe because I have the habit of giving my best on anything that I am doing. Having this attitude makes me compare what my contributions to the other members of my group. If I think that they are not as dedicated as me, my motivation becomes lower. Appreciation of the group is the next factor that affects my motivation. In my opinion, only a martyr would work on a group that does not value what he is doing. When it comes to the composition of my group, the only problem is that some of the members of the group are so shy to even tell their names. I have encountered this kind of members. They usually want to work on their own. The only thing a leader should do is give him/her what she will do and that is all. The composition of the group is essential to another factor, chemistry. The interaction within a group is also important when considering one’s motivation. Working with group whose chemistry is good usually leads to achieving the group’s goal. Contribution of other members to the group also affects my motivation. If all of the members participate well and contribute what they should give makes me want to also do my part well. On the other hand, if some members do not actually help with the achievement of our group’s goals, the other members, including myself, would have to exert more effort. Thus, we have to be more motivated. The motivation exam made me realize that I am moderately motivated when I am involved in a group. Unlike before, I think I can also measure the dedication of the other group members. With this, I am able to compare my level of motivation with the other members of the group. Only a little bit has really changed. I still do my part wholeheartedly. I try to attend all of the scheduled group meetings and do my best to help the group finish its goals. The only thing that changed is on how I interact with them. Usually before taking the exam, I only ask something to the group if I am having trouble understanding what I should do. I do not want a conversation other than the problems that the group is dealing with. Now, I talk to my other co-members about anything under the sun to further improve our chemistry. With each member’s trust and friendliness, I became a lot motivated. After taking this exam and analyzing my results, there are some things that I would change in order to further improve my participation and motivation in other future groups. First, I will improve my interaction to my future co-members. The chemistry becomes the â€Å"spark† of a good group relationship. If group members interact to each other with respect and friendliness, everyone will help on each. Thus, group goals will be done in a smooth way. In the future, I will also motivate my co-members. I will talk to them if I think they are not participating well in the group and encourage them that we are a team and we have to work together to be successful. There are some theories or approaches to further improve motivation within an organization. One particular theory is the Expectancy Theory associated to the works of Victor Vroom with a number of contributions from other scholars. The Expectancy theory implies that the degree of motivation of a certain individual is associated on his expectations on their capability to perform a particular task and the desired awards he will receive. Expectancy theory focuses on the thinking process present to an individual to gain rewards, not on recognizing what his needs are (Daft, 536). With this theory, I think that sharing my expectations to my co-members will further improve each of our motivations, thus improving the performance of the group. The factor that mostly affects my motivations, based on the results, is the commitment of the other group members. If other members do not do their part, my motivation decreases. I am not comfortable working with a group who is not as committed as me. In order to avoid this, confrontation is needed. Other member should be confronted regarding their attitude and their respective responsibilities to the group. In a sense, before the group does anything, rules should be made clear. Content Theories can also be used to improve motivation within an organization. One of these Content theories is the famous Hierarchy of Needs theory by Abraham Maslow. The theory suggests that there are five classes of needs that motivate a person existing in a hierarchical form. Maslow argues that needs with low-ranks should be the priority. These needs (from lowest to highest rank) are as follows: 1) Physiological needs – the most basic physical needs of humans; 2) Safety needs – the need for a protected and harmless physical and emotional setting; 3) Belongingness needs – the desire to be in a particular group with their trust; 4) Esteem needs – the need for appreciation and recognition within a group or organization; 5) Self-actualization needs – the need of self-fulfillment (Daft, 529-530). The suitable incentive for the group would be from the categories of belongingness and esteem needs. To improve motivation within the group, one should acknowledge each member for what he had done for the group. Appreciation should also be given to them even though their work is not that excellent. At least they have given their best. For every work that a member accomplishes, the other members should at least try to thank him/her. A simple line of â€Å"good job† will make a person exert more efforts and be more motivated. Reference: Daft, Richard. 2005. Management 5th Ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.

Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire :: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911. As a   successful playwright, his career was greatly influenced by events in his life.   He was noted for bringing the reader "a slice of his own life and the feel of southern culture", as his primary sources of inspiration were "the writers he grew up with, his family, and the South."   The connection between his life and his work can be seen in several of his plays. One strong influence that is evident in Tennessee Williams' plays is his family life, which was "full of tension and despair".   His father, a businessman who owned a show warehouse, was known for his gambling and drinking habits.   He was often engaged with violent arguments with his wife that frightened Tennessee's sister, Rose.   Williams cared for Rose most of her adult life, after his mother, Edwina, allowed her to undergo a frontal lobotomy.   This event greatly disturbed him.   Many people believe that Williams' first commercial success, The Glass Menagerie, was based on his own family relationships.   This play tells the story of Tom, his disabled sister, Laura, and their controlling mother, Amanda, who tries to make a match between Laura and a Gentleman caller.   The characters seem to resemble the people in Williams' immediate family. Tennessee Williams was also inspired to write by the writers he grew up with.   During college, he saw a production of Ibsen's Ghosts, which inspired him to become a playwright.   After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1938, he moved to New Orleans to launch his career as a writer.   Here he found himself affected by the works of such writers as Arthur Rimbaud, Hart Crane, and D.H. Lawrence.   He wrote the play I Rise in Flame, Cried the Phoenix, which dramatized the events surrounding Lawrence's death.   He considered it a tribute to a writer he greatly respected and admired.   Lastly, Southern culture inspired Tennessee Williams to write one of his most famous plays, A Streetcar Named Desire, as he based his major characters on people he knew or encountered.   The character of Stanley Kowalski was based on a good friend of his whom he worked with at the International Shoe Company in the 1930's.   He was also inspired by the image of a young woman who had just been stood up by the man she was planning to marry.

Express and Courier Industry

Global express and courier industry overview Introduction The primary business of the express industry is the delivery of time-sensitive shipments, typically with a transit time of two to three days. These are delivered mainly by air and ground. The industry has been witnessing significant growth as a result of the constant rise in demand for express and courier services over the last decade across user industries, including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, financial services and high-tech sectors. In the last decade, the advent of e-commerce business models and their subsequent penetration along with increasing demand from the financial services sector contributed to strong industry growth. Most companies provide an additional range of activities besides pure transportation, including online tracking of shipments, online payment collection and insurance facilities. However, in recent times, the industry has witnessed a deceleration in growth as a result of rising fuel costs and reduced demand from user industries due to the global economic slowdown. Major players Traditionally, due to low demand and high costs of operation, the express industry has been dominated by national postal departments. While some of them still continue to be dominant in their respective national markets, others have evolved into larger regional and global players with multi-modal operations such as Deutsche Post World Net (which also operates DHL) and La Poste. Globally, the industry is dominated by the big four — Deutsche Post World Net (DHL), FedEx, United Postal Service (UPS) and TNT, all of which have strong multi-modal arms with worldwide operations. Key markets The US is the single largest market for express services, followed by Europe and the Asia–Pacific region. In recent years, the Asia-Pacific region has experienced tremendous growth, largely attributed to increased demand for express and courier services in China and India as well as sustained demand growth in Japan, Korea and Australia. Strong economic growth and increased international trade due to manufacturing outsourcing from the western countries has particularly resulted in the fast-growing demand for express and courier in India and China. Key challenges Rising fuel prices: Rising fuel costs have been the biggest concern of the express and courier industry globally over the past two years. Rising fuel costs have affected the industry directly via an increase in input costs and also indirectly by hampering growth prospects due to decreased demand from user industries. Environmental concerns: As part of the transport industry, the express industry has also come under renewed pressure from both environmental groups and governments to lower its carbon footprint. Environmental laws have necessitated increased usage of vehicles run on alternative fuel to transport and deliver shipments across the globe. DHL, UPS and FedEx have begun to deploy vehicles run on alternative fuel for deliveries and collection, especially in the mature US market. Outlook Over the past two years, the global express market has been reeling under the pressure of rising fuel and transportation costs and decrease in demand from the western countries. However, demand for express services is set to rise over the medium term with sustained growth of the Chinese and Indian economies. Over the longer term, the industry is expected to witness the emergence of large integrated players in the emerging markets of China and India. The market is expected to witness consolidation activities and a shift toward third-party logistics (3PL) and fourth-party logistics (4PL) players.