The Gates Of Hell essays

The Gates Of Hell essays Albert Einstein once said; True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist (Art). This quote can define many artists over time, especially Auguste Rodin. Rodin was an incredibly talented sculptor of the nineteenth century. He created many well known pieces including The Thinker and The Kiss. Rodin was also commissioned to create The Gates of Hell in 1880. The Gates were one of Rodins most ambitious pieces. After twenty years of hard work, it was still not complete, but Rodin was finished. The Gates of Hell stand approximately twenty one feet high and are emotionally enveloping. The intensity and emotion that Rodin created within The Gates is one that shows what life is like after death. Rodin was born in 1840 in Paris. At the age of fourteen he was enrolled in the government Ecole Speciale de Dessin et de Mathematiques, a school for French industrial workers. Rodin applied to the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts three times but was never accepted. He began working as a decorative sculptor after he graduated in 1857. As an assistant to Frances premier sculptor Belleuse, Rodin learned many skills. In 1875 Rodin visited Italy to study the work of Michelangelo. He was infatuated with Michelangelos unfinished sculptures; how the figures and their emotions seemed to emerge from the block. These ideas captured Rodins interests and were later applied to his work. Rodin returned to Paris two years later to exhibit his Age of Bronze sculpture. It was incredibly lifelike in that every muscle and movement of the body was captured. He was thrown into the spotlight, being falsely accused of casting a live model instead of creating his own work. On the other hand, there were people who loved the work by Rodin and were excited to see what else he would create. ...

Density of Common Substances

Density of Common Substances The table below shows the  density of some common substances, in units of kilograms per cubic meter. Some of these values may certainly seem counter-intuitive- one would not expect mercury (which is a liquid) to be more dense than iron, for example. Notice that ice has a lower density than either water (freshwater) or seawater (saltwater), so it will float in them. Seawater, however, has a higher density than freshwater, which means that the seawater will sink when it comes in contact with freshwater. This behavior causes many significant ocean currents and the concern of glacier melting is that it will alter the flow of seawater- all from the basic functioning of density. To convert the density to grams per cubic centimeter, merely divide the values in the table by 1,000. Density of Common Substances Material Density (kg/m3) Air (1 atm, 20 degrees C 1.20 Aluminum 2,700 Benzene 900 Blood 1,600 Brass 8,600 Concrete 2,000 Copper 8,900 Ethanol 810 Glycerin 1,260 Gold 19,300 Ice 920 Iron 7,800 Lead 11,300 Mercury 13,600 Neutron star 1018 Platinum 21,400 Seawater (Saltwater) 1,030 Silver 10,500 Steel 7,800 Water (Freshwater) 1,000 White dwarf star 1010

Class inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Class inequality - Essay Example To put the short story in context, the following statistic pertaining to academicians in Morocco raises a relevant point. Since 1981, average earnings for non-manual workers have increased by almost 40 per cent in Morocco; academicians earnings since then have increased by just one per cent, which means that their middle-class status is under threat, and theyre starting to wear a haunted, underclass look. But, as recent as the early 1970’s, things were looking much brighter for the middle classes. Back then it was believed that academic scholars are on a social parity with lawyers, only with access to more, and better, resources and with other trappings that bestow social status. But, the present state of affairs and the lack of enthusiasm for academic jobs paint a grim picture of the nature of class disparity within Morocco, which is related to the kind of disparity depicted by Abouzeid. For instance, the custodian says â€Å"My pay is very low. The Children are endlessly in need of things, costs keep rising and no one gives a damn about us† (The Discontented). This utterance clearly captures the sentiments expressed above about the state of the middle classes in Morocco. The labor unions, which have been pivotal in improving the working conditions of the working classes, have traditionally been very active in Moroccan politics. But the recent trend is unfavorable to the labor movement. The adverse trend is manifest in the kinds of youth conferences taking place across Morocco. One can see the difference: â€Å"The beer-bellied salt-of-the-earth types who still pervade the delegations of the old manual unions at labor unions could never be mistaken for the small businessmen and their wives with the conservative sections. One can hear the difference: many labor union delegates may be quaffing Chardonnay not bitter these days, but there is no equivalent of the upper-class baying for G-and-Ts which will echo

New Deal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

New Deal - Essay Example They could either develop programs from the bottom-up by federally generated job creation and welfare benefits thus forming social partnership with racial minorities and the working class including labor unions or they could give businesses freedom to correct the economy itself by expansion thus creating more jobs which would pump money back into the economy. Contrary to popular historic perceptions, the country was hardly moving in a socialist direction.   The New Deal represented the prevailing capitalist societal structure culture as, for an example, its policy continued the division between what was considered the worthy poor, mostly widows and their children and the ‘unworthy’ poor, which included just about anyone else, who were disregarded. The First New Deal (1933 to1934) decidedly orientated governmental policies toward big business.   The Second New Deal which began in 1935 was less pro-business in position, but in practice continued to support top-down economic growth.   Later in this stage of reform, the government increased its focus on antitrust enforcement and stronger regulations on business regulation but ultimately, big business maintained influence over essential decisions concerning investment, pricing and production. In addition, the government assisted industry by limiting competition. Rather than attempt to regulate businesses, New Deal advocates wanted to greatly increase the size and control of the government so that it could act as a counterbalance to private sector industries (Yantek, n.d.). When Roosevelt took office; the government was fairly simple in design with functions primarily limited to the necessities of administration. Afterwards, it was altered into a multifaceted agency controlling business and intruding into citizen’s liberties. â€Å"It is no exaggeration to say that he took the

Book Report - Middle School Series Essay Example for Free

Book Report Middle School Series Essay ? Rafe Khatchadorian has enough issues around his family life, without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, hes got an incredible plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off. With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his schools Code of Conduct. Having gum in class scores him 5,000 points, running through the hallways, another 10,000 points and pulling the fire alarm, 50,000 points! But not everyone thinks that Rafe’s game is a good idea, especially the teachers, parents and other students at the school, so hell have to decide if winning is all that matters, or if hes finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths hes been avoiding. http://www. jamespatterson. com/books_middleSchool. php#. UWY9FFdstN4 Middle School the Worst Years of My Life is written by James Patterson and is a realistic fiction book that takes you through the journey of Rafe’s first year at middle school, dealing with the awkwardness of crushes, bullies, and family issues as he tries to break every rule in the school’s Code of Conduct. The book features many different pictures that tell you what’s going on as well, and is considered a graphic novel. Middle School the Worst Years of my Life received a critical acclaim from the most reviewers, it won the YALSA 2012’s Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers award and James Patterson got nominated for the Children’s Book Council’s Author of the Year award. James has written well over 50 books, a lot of them being in series, and has won many awards. Middle School the Worst Years of My Life is the first book in the Middle School series. The setting of the Middle School series is in middle school. There is no specific day or time that this book is set in, other than it being during middle school. A lot of the time the rules that are broken are broken within the school timing, but there are one or two rules that get broken out of school times. I think the setting has been chosen well, and believed it suited the book well. The novel starts with Rafe entering sixth grade at Hills Village Middle School. Beginning the new school year with a negative mindset means that Rafe starts the year bored and believes that ‘it was a prison Pilgrims back then, but not too much has changed. Now it’s a prison for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. ’ Rafe quickly understands that he will be stuck in middle school for 3 years, and invents â€Å"Operation R. A. F. E. † with his best friend Leonardo the Silent. The plan was to break every single rule in the schools handbook. He also has to put up with the issues in his home life. His mum is always working double shifts at a diner and never gets time with her children, Rafe, and Rafe’s younger sister, Georgia. He has a verbally abusive stepfather (Bear) who looks after him when his mother is away. Then, there’s Jeanne Galletta, who Rafe is madly in love with. Jeanne is a doubtful of Rafe’s plan and wishes he would spend more time on school work then his games. Operation R. A. F. E’s consequences consists of many detentions with his English teacher, Ms. Donatello. This creates tension between Rafe’s family, and after having a fight with Bear about Leonardo and how he is a bad influence on Rafe, we discover that Leonardo is Rafe’s imaginary friend. Rafe’s actions eventually lead to bad grades, getting himself suspended, and then forced to be tutored by Jeanne, whom he had been trying to avoid because she doesn‘t like him. While the tension in the family gets stronger, Bear throws Rafe’s mother to the ground and moves out, Rafe gets expelled for spraying graffiti on the school walls, but Ms. Donatello see’s the potential artist within him and comes up with the idea to send him to art school. The final part of the book reveals that Leonardo is Rafe’s dead twin brother. An exciting part of the novel is when Rafe graffiti’s the school wall at four in the morning. ‘The next morning, I left a note for Mom saying that I had to go to school extra early to work on a project, which was basically true. I just left out the part about how early meant four in the morning and project meant highly illegal activity. â€Å"You’re not going to regret this,† Leo kept telling me. The way he saw it, the whole point of Operation R. A. F. E. was about breaking rules, so why should I let a little thing like losing the game stop me from doing the part I’d been looking forward to the most? Like I said before – genius†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦I unpacked my new flat black marker, a big old camping flashlight, and some of my latest practice sketches. I’d drawn these ones on graph paper, which is kind of like a brick wall, to show me how big everything would need to be. But Leo was feeling impatient, â€Å"You don’t need those anymore,† he said. â€Å"The clock’s ticking. Stop thinking so much and just go. † So I did. I set up the flashlight on a rock so that it was shining right at the wall. Then I picked up my marker and started. It was king of slow-moving at the beginning. I wasn’t sure what to draw first, or what order to do things in. But the more I kept going, the more I got into it, and then somewhere along the way everything started to flow†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. After a while I was running around like crazy, working over here, working over there and getting up on an old trash can to reach the higher parts when I needed to. The whole thing started to get so big that I felt like I was inside it, even while I was still drawing. It was like Leo had said – I wasn’t thinking anymore. I was just doing it, like the marker was just another part of me, and the lines and shapes and pictures were coming right out of my hand. ’ After a while, the police show up, and are surprised that a kid had done all that work, but then again, it was illegal, so into the cop car went Rafe and Leo. I like this part of the novel because I felt as if I was in the actual scene. It was as if I was Leo and I was scared we’d get caught. This scene, although it’s short, it was intense. You didn’t want Rafe to get caught, but you wanted to know what would have happened when he got caught. I just believe that the way this chapter/scene has been written makes it believable and makes you feel like you’re there. The style of this novel is average pace. The novel begins out very slowly, and it doesn’t have much meaning, but once the novel gets a fair way into it, the drama begins, and the pace slowly picks up. At the end of the novel, things get more intense and more happens in a shorter amount of time, and by the end of the novel, so much has happened, that it takes a while to comprehend what has happened, but you realise that James wrote it that way for a reason, and to me, that reason was so that he could have a short book, that had a lot in it, and might eventually be able to make a movie, much like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies. The Worst Years of my Life uses a lot of slang humour, but not so much that it’s over powering, it’s just enough that it creates the characteristics of the book. A genre is the category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter. There are several genre’s the feature in this novel, some more than others. The genres that feature heavily in Middle School the Worst Years of My Life are: Comedy Humour Drama The genre that is featured in the book, but not as heavily is romance. Have you ever had a crush on someone and had them not like you back? Romance is a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. Rafe Khatchadorian discovers his feelings for Jeanne Galletta on one of his first days at school. They were all sitting in the school gym and she was one of the candidates for the student council representatives and part way through or speech, she offers to buy Rafe fries later that day, and that’s when he knew he liked her. Towards the end of the novel, Rafe’s grades start to go downhill and the school as well as his Mum think it’s a good idea to get some extra help. Little did Rafe know that his dream girl Jeanne was going to be his tutor. Even though Rafe is a teenage boy who likes girls, middle school would not be any good without a sense of humor or a comedian mixed into the scene. The biggest class clown in the school is here, and his name? Rafe Khatchadorian. A class clown is the funniest person in the class who often gets in trouble. Rafe’s first year at middle school is spent trouble making and trying to make people laugh, but not everyone thinks that his plan to break every rule in the Code of Conduct. Miller the Killer was the school bully, and his new prey is Rafe. Throughout Rafe’s middle school year, he comes into conflict with Miller many times. The biggest thing that happens to Rafe because of Miller the Killer is when he discovers Rafe’s notebook with all the Operation R. A. F. E. (Rules Aren’t For Everyone) and makes Rafe buy each page back off of him for a dollar a page, but Rafe discovers Miller’s plan with the notebook early on, and it isn’t pretty. Miller the Killer enjoys making Rafe’s first year at middle school hell, but Rafe enjoys the humorous side of school. School is tough on everyone, so what’s the best way to get through? Have fun! And that’s what Rafe intends to do by breaking all the rules in the Code of Conduct and earning himself points. The catch is, he only gets given three lives, and if he breaks all three, the games over. All the seriousness aside, Rafe gives himself, and Leo a good laugh. The funniest scene in the book to me was when Rafe decides to break the schools dress code, and he was given the best chance to do this with Halloween just around the corner. Leo knew that it would only be a matter of time before Rafe was caught by a teacher, so Leo was giving him 10,000 points for every 50 yards of the school he covered in his costume. Rafe ran, as fast as he could in all black, with a pocket full of Cheerios as throwing stars, and nunchucks made from paper towel roles with rope knotted at either end. Yep, you guessed it. Rafe was a ninja. ‘I came tearing out of that bathroom at full speed and just kept running – through the first floor (10,000! ), up the stairs (10,000! ), down the second floor hall past all the lockers (10,000! ), throwing Cheerios and swinging my nunchucks like crazy. ’ Right before he got caught, Miller the Killer was right in his aim. ‘I made sure my mask was pulled down tight over my face. Then I took a big windup as I went by, and beaned him upside the head with one of the chucks (10,000! ). â€Å"What the ? † Miller turned the wrong way, just as I passed him. By the time he’d figured out where I came from and where I was headed, I’d already left him in the dust. He was twice as big as me, but I was twice as fast. Eat it, Miller! ’ And then it happened. Caught right in the act. Yep, a teacher saw him†¦ Well, he ran into the teacher. Games over Rafe. ‘And then – splam! I ran right into Mrs. Stricker. Literally. Let’s just say, she wasn’t in the mood for wrestling. ’ But Rafe had another plan and it was going to earn him double points. ‘I went into the bathroom and came out a minute later without my ninja costume, running just as fast as before. Some kids got out of my way. Some even ran in the other direction. A few of the girls screamed when I cam2 through, but I dont think they meant it. And a few people even yelled stuff like â€Å"Go, Rafe, go! † and â€Å"Dont let ‘em get you! † Because, like I said, I wasn’t wearing my ninja costume anymore. In fact, I wasn’t wearing much of anything at all. ’ No, he wasn’t naked, but he wasn’t wearing much†¦ ‘Just sneakers, a pair of boxers, and a big old smile. Boy, did Rafe get in big trouble for that, but on the other hand, he did earn himself a lot of points! Rafe loves making people laugh, and I believe that the reason he does it isn’t for other people, but he does it to make himself feel good. I believe that the main theme in this novel is coming of age and growing up into a better person in a way. To me, I think this means that by using the resources that are around you (family, friends etc. ) to become the person you are supposed to be. For Rafe, this is trying to get over his prank, funny, humorous stage, and into the more serious schooling stage. This can be hard for some people, especially when they don’t get along with their family, and when their only friend is in their imagination, but by the end of the book, Rafe has realised that even though he isn’t academically smart, he does have a gift with art, which sees him going to art school. Love is also in the novel, as Rafe discovers Jeanne Galletta, but it doesn’t impact on the story as much as growing up does. The main characters in the book are: Rafael (Rafe) Khatchadorian – Rafe is the trouble maker in the story who is in his first year at Hills Village Middle School. Rafe is important because without him, there is no story. I like this character because he makes the book fun. Even though he isn’t an actual person, this character has a funny personality and a childish sense of humour. I believe that James Patterson has described this character well. Georgia Khatchadorian – Georgia is Rafe’s annoying little sister who likes to be in everyone’s business and know what’s going on in Rafe’s life, especially when he is in trouble. She is also the family tattletale and always dobs Rafe in when she catches him doing something wrong. Even though Georgia annoys Rafe a lot, he also protects her, which is like all siblings love-hate relationships. I like her because I think I can relate to her because I am the younger sister in my family, and I like to annoy my older brother, but I also know that he will always be there for me. I think that Georgia is a main character in this story because she is a part of Rafe’s home issues because she never leaves him alone and always wants to know what’s going on in his life. Carl AKA Bear – Bear is Georgia and Rafe’s, abusive, rude, obese stepdad who can be found on the couch. Bear is often yelling at Rafe after school. He also argues with Mrs. Khatchadorian, Rafe and Georgia’s mum, and one argument let Bear to accidently push her down the front steps, and when the police show up, it doesn’t look good for Carl. I don’t like him at all! He’s so rude and obnoxious, and I would hate to have a step parent as bad as him. Leonardo (Leo) the Silent – Leo is Rafe’s best friend, who we later discover is in his imagination. We also later find out that Leo was Rafe’s twin brother who died when he was still a baby. I think that Leo is the glue that holds everything together. He helps Rafe with school, with home, and he gives him the motivation to keep going when things get tough. I really like Leo the Silent because even though he isn’t real, he is the perfect best friend. Jeanne (Jay-Gee) Galletta – Jeanne is Rafe’s crush. He is madly in love with her, but she is also the goody-two-shoes of the school, and she hates Operation R. A. F. E. I like her but I don’t. I feel like she tries too hard to be a good student, and doesn’t give herself enough freedom, which is why I don’t like her. I think that being a teenager, or getting to that stage  means that you can manage school and social life, and to me, it’s like she has no social life. She’s important in the story because as we get older, we start to see people in different ways, and we start to like them, and I believe that Jeanne is important because without her, it’s not a real adolescent’s life. Ms. Donatello AKA the Dragon Lady – Ms. Donatello is Rafe’s English teacher, as well as his detention buddy. Even though she is strict and can get aggravated easily, she also has Rafe’s best interest at heart and wouldn’t help him if she didn’t believe he was better than what he shows. I like her because I have had plenty of teachers that are hard on me, but they do it because they want what’s best, and without that push, we wouldn’t grow and evolve as people. I understand why Rafe doesn’t particular like her, but teachers always want what’s best, and he will eventually see that. Miller AKA Miller the Killer – Miller is the school bully, hence the name ‘Miller the Killer. ’ He is constantly giving Rafe a hard time throughout his first year at middle school, and without the school bully, school wouldn’t be school. There is always that one person that puts people down to make themselves feel good, although not a lot of bullies take kids lunch money, but hurt them mentally, or even physically. I don’t like Miller because I believe that he hurts people because he can and he needs to get disciplined. Without Miller, or a bully in the book, it wouldn’t be like school life, so I can understand why James Patterson included him in it. I’m not much of a reader, but I really enjoyed this book, and I found it easy to understand and comprehend because of the little sketches throughout the book. This book is much like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and I believe it is aimed at the same kind of age group. I think that I was too old to read this novel, but I didn’t find it so easy that I could just read it in a day, but not hard enough that it took me forever to read. It was a good balance, so I would suggest it for kids 13 years old and younger, somewhere between 9 and 13. To be honest, it was a good book, but it could have been made longer so not everything happened at once towards the end. In general, it was a good read, and I would recommend it to younger kids who enjoy having a good laugh and getting into trouble.

Jonathan Edwards Sinnners in the Hands of An Angry God Essay -- Chris

Jonathan Edwards' Sinnners in the Hands of An Angry God Jonathan Edwards delivered his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, in Enfield Connecticut on July 8, 1741, the year following George Whitefield's preaching tour which helped inspire the "Great Awakening." Weeping and emotional conviction among Edwards’ audiences came at a time of great spiritual thirst. While very foreign to mainstream American opinion today, this extraordinary message was fashioned for a people who were very conscious of how their lifestyles affected eternal consequences. By today's popular perspective, the doctrine of predestination probably discourages conversion because of the new-age independent attitude. However, in Puritan culture, through Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, fear might have powerfully affected people to look within them for the evidence of grace and then experience salvation. First, Edwards' sermon is filled with graphic images of the fury of divine wrath and the horror of the unmerciful punishment of the wicked in hell. If one were to continue in their sin, according to Edwards, not only would a person be tormented in the presence of holy angels, but God’s terribleness would be magnified upon his/her life and forced to suffer through God’s wrath for all eternity (74). â€Å"Although it conveys the reek of brimstone, the sermon does not say that God will hurl man into everlasting fires--on the contrary, doom will come from God’s indifference...† (Thompson 71). Edwards had little need to justify his scare tactics and theology. His consuming obligation was to preach it; to preach it fiercely, purposely, persuasively, and firmly. Next, an example of God’s wrath is seen through Edward’s p... ...e wrath of God be seen as a primitive or obscene concept? Is the very notion of hell an insult? If so, it is clear that the God one worships is not a holy God: thus, He is not a God at all. If we despise the justice of God, a person is not a Christian. One stands in a position which is every bit as dangerous as the one which Edwards so graphically described. â€Å"If we hate the wrath of God, it is because we hate God Himself. We may protest vehemently against these charges but our vehemence only confirms our hostility toward God† (Sproul â€Å"God In The Hands Of Angry Sinners†). But a God of love who has no wrath is no God. One who does not love God in this present world is considered a loser, as he has lost all peace, comfort, strength, and even hope. A person’s greatest detriment in the hereafter is found in the loss of the sight of Christ and the beholding of His glories. Jonathan Edwards' Sinnners in the Hands of An Angry God Essay -- Chris Jonathan Edwards' Sinnners in the Hands of An Angry God Jonathan Edwards delivered his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, in Enfield Connecticut on July 8, 1741, the year following George Whitefield's preaching tour which helped inspire the "Great Awakening." Weeping and emotional conviction among Edwards’ audiences came at a time of great spiritual thirst. While very foreign to mainstream American opinion today, this extraordinary message was fashioned for a people who were very conscious of how their lifestyles affected eternal consequences. By today's popular perspective, the doctrine of predestination probably discourages conversion because of the new-age independent attitude. However, in Puritan culture, through Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, fear might have powerfully affected people to look within them for the evidence of grace and then experience salvation. First, Edwards' sermon is filled with graphic images of the fury of divine wrath and the horror of the unmerciful punishment of the wicked in hell. If one were to continue in their sin, according to Edwards, not only would a person be tormented in the presence of holy angels, but God’s terribleness would be magnified upon his/her life and forced to suffer through God’s wrath for all eternity (74). â€Å"Although it conveys the reek of brimstone, the sermon does not say that God will hurl man into everlasting fires--on the contrary, doom will come from God’s indifference...† (Thompson 71). Edwards had little need to justify his scare tactics and theology. His consuming obligation was to preach it; to preach it fiercely, purposely, persuasively, and firmly. Next, an example of God’s wrath is seen through Edward’s p... ...e wrath of God be seen as a primitive or obscene concept? Is the very notion of hell an insult? If so, it is clear that the God one worships is not a holy God: thus, He is not a God at all. If we despise the justice of God, a person is not a Christian. One stands in a position which is every bit as dangerous as the one which Edwards so graphically described. â€Å"If we hate the wrath of God, it is because we hate God Himself. We may protest vehemently against these charges but our vehemence only confirms our hostility toward God† (Sproul â€Å"God In The Hands Of Angry Sinners†). But a God of love who has no wrath is no God. One who does not love God in this present world is considered a loser, as he has lost all peace, comfort, strength, and even hope. A person’s greatest detriment in the hereafter is found in the loss of the sight of Christ and the beholding of His glories.

Interior and Exterior Concepts of Visual Merchandising Essay

Visual merchandising is the art of implementing effective design ideas to increase store traffic and sales volume. Visual merchandising is known to be silent selling, in the sense that the product should sell itself. It is all about delivering good customer service to enhance the experience in store. There are many tactics and techniques for visual merchandising which are all linked to the physiological ways of the consumer are buying behaviours. Visual merchandising is very important to retailers because it shows how well they know the consumer, it will increase their foot flow in store and their sales if they get it right. It is important because it’s about creating the right experience to make them want to come back and buy things when in store. I will be looking at visual merchandising of three stores. The three stores I have chosen are Bank, JD sports and Farm and Pet place. Bank: Bank has a target market of 15-25, they provide the latest branded fashion and the competitors are arcadia group. JD Sports: JD sells the latest sportswear for their target market of sports enthusiasts. Their competitors are JJB sports and Sports direct. Farm and Pet Place: Farm and Pet place provide farm and get goods to its target market of farmers and pet owners. Its main competitors are pets at home and wynnstays. Findings Location & Visual Merchandising There are three types of locations for retailers these are: * Primary * Secondary * Anchor As the primary location is the main, they are town or city, it is important the retailer makes the store stand out compared to its competitors. Retailers in a primary location usually have standard visual merchandising. The secondary location is the quieter area of the towns and cities far away from main facilities and amenities; this is why there is less foot flow than a primary location. There is normally not a lot of space for retailers to experiment with their visual merchandise and the retailers located in the secondary location usually have poor visual merchandising as they follow procedure instead of being creative as they don’t have a big budget. An anchor store is a store within a precinct or on a high street with large overheads it attracts well known retailers who have the pulling factor to bring other retailers to the area. An anchor store retailer will have a very large budget to be able to become creative with their visual merchandising this why they usually have very food visual merchandising. Bank store in Llandudno is in a secondary location, so is Farm and Pet place and JD sports. Bank and JD are both in outlet centres therefore they have a lot of foot flow even though it’s just a secondary location. I think that Farm and Pet place are situated in a place where there isn’t much foot flow; you’d go there because you knew about it. Purpose Built or Interior Buildings Whether a retailer has decided to buy a previously owned building or buy a purpose built building, it affects the visual merchandising as every building has a different shape. If retailers buy a purpose built building they will have an advantage as they’re much better for visual merchandising because of the shape and the height, it is more suited. The purpose built buildings have considered the needs of the visual merchandising. For the inherited buildings it is not as easy as some of them are listed therefore the shop front cannot be changed, so if a retailer wanted to have a fancy shop front they could not because the building cannot be changed. Also they are really narrow and long therefor it is really cramped spacing to visual merchandise; it limits how much you are able to do. Even though purpose built buildings are more costly they are more cost effective in the long run. Bank has a purpose built building, however they haven’t taken full advantage of it because they have a false ceiling which could be potential selling space but it’s been wasted because they rushed getting the store open. The Farm and Pet place also have a purpose built building which they too haven’t taken full advantage of as they have windows in their store except the glass in the entrance doors. JD has purpose built buildings and they have taken full advantage of their purpose built store as they have put everything to its use. It has two floors, one for clothes products and the upper level footwear selling space. Store Architecture The design indicates the size and prestige of the retailers operation. The use of materials will create different images and effects within the store. As I have mentioned in the above paragraph about listed buildings, retailers are unable to change them to suit the ways of their visual merchandising as they cannot be structurally altered. As all three of the retailers I have chosen have purpose built stores they should be able to store and suit their store to the type of visual merchandising they may have, it should work in their advantage however in these cases it seems to not work as an advantage as they have poor visual merchandising displays. Farm and Pet place have no windows even though there store is purpose built so they could change it they haven’t therefore they have window displays to encourage people to go into the store. Even though JD have ken full advantage of the space of their purpose built store they don’t use their window space properly as they have little displays and Bank haven’t used their second floor and aren’t very creative with their displays. Fascia The fascia of a store is what identifies the store and attracts attention from the public. They also are what able customers to identify the store, what is sold and where the retailer is located. Here are three types of fascia: * Straight Flat Format * Side Hanging Format * Raised Front Format The straight flat format can only be seen from the front of the shop I feel this this isn’t the best option for a fascia as it doesn’t stand out very well they usually use these formats in precincts. The side hanging fascia are usually used in high streets, they are quite affective as customers can see it from both directions, creating more attention. The raised front format is usually illuminated and can be seen from far away I feel this is good as it creates a lot of attention from people walking past or people passing in cars. Many retailers tend to take a safe approach to their logo for example just using a black and white colour scheme, this is not a good approach as the store doesn’t stand out and it may lose out to other competitors. It is replicated throughout the store. Bank and JD have raised front format but Farm and Pet place has a straight flat format, Bank stores sign lights up as does JD which makes it visible to customers in the dark but Farm and Pet Place don’t have a sign that lights up. As is their window isplays in Bank and JD they have timing for the lights to go on and off at appropriate times but because Farm and Pet Place don’t have any windows, as they are a warehouse, they don’t need timed lights. All three retailers have their brand displayed through the fascias. I think as a recommendation to them all they should invest in side hanging fascia this makes it harder for customers to overlook the store because they haven’t seen the sign. As a personal recommendation to Farm and Pet Place they should light up their sign and invest in windows to display their merchandise. The Importance of the Shop Format This is the first part of the store which the customers see, this is where they create there first impression therefore it is important to get it right. There are three recognised types of shop front these are: * The Straight Front * The Angled Front * The Arcade Front The straight front is for shops that run parallel to the street with small entrance; this is hard for retailers with visual merchandising as they have small spaces to work with to be able to make their shop front stand out. This makes it harder to compete with competitors. The angled front enables shops to create a more attractive and interesting front this helps direct customers into the store. It also creates a better viewing angle and can reduce the glare on the window making everything more visible. The arcade front is straight with several recessed window and entrances this provides the shopper with a protected area for window shopping drawing them in and creating a more relaxed atmosphere. The Importance of Window Displays The window displays an important part of visual merchandising as this is what entices the customer into entering the store. In order to pull the customers into the store is through window dressing, it needs to grab the customer’s attention it only takes 3 seconds for a customer to gain an impression. There are two types of window displays these are: * Simplistic * Artistic The UK retailers have tended to stick to the simplistic look for their window displays except for the bigger stores such as Harrods as they have a lot of money to spend. The purpose of the window displays is to represent a small sample of merchandise the store holds and to enforce their corporate image; they are also to be informative to the customers. Informative window displays provide information to customers for example as we have had the Olympics back in 2012, the theme of their window may be based around that theme. The fact that they were themed displays around the Olympics meant that they would be tackling two things at once because you are meant to display them in an informative way. As Farm and Pet Place don’t have a window they cannot display window displays and customers cannot see anything they see in store they actually have to go into the store this may put customers off as a lot of customers like to window shop. Bank fashion has a very simple window display, it shows what offers they have but they don’t show many products displayed in their window, so to improve they could think about extending the window space to display more products to show their range that they stock in store and be more creative. JD Sports don’t have a good window display, they display barely any products and a few pairs of footwear, it doesn’t look appealing to customers therefore they won’t go into the store because of the window display.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Nineteen

Jon The courtyard rang to the song of swords. Under black wool, boiled leather, and mail, sweat trickled icily down Jon's chest as he pressed the attack. Grenn stumbled backward, defending himself clumsily. When he raised his sword, Jon went underneath it with a sweeping blow that crunched against the back of the other boy's leg and sent him staggering. Grenn's downcut was answered by an overhand that dented his helm. When he tried a sideswing, Jon swept aside his blade and slammed a mailed forearm into his chest. Grenn lost his footing and sat down hard in the snow. Jon knocked his sword from his fingers with a slash to his wrist that brought a cry of pain. â€Å"Enough!† Ser Alliser Thorne had a voice with an edge like Valyrian steel. Grenn cradled his hand. â€Å"The bastard broke my wrist.† â€Å"The bastard hamstrung you, opened your empty skull, and cut off your hand. Or would have, if these blades had an edge. It's fortunate for you that the Watch needs stableboys as well as rangers.† Ser Alliser gestured at Jeren and Toad. â€Å"Get the Aurochs on his feet, he has funeral arrangements to make.† Jon took off his helm as the other boys were pulling Grenn to his feet. The frosty morning air felt good on his face. He leaned on his sword, drew a deep breath, and allowed himself a moment to savor the victory. â€Å"That is a longsword, not an old man's cane,† Ser Alliser said sharply. â€Å"Are your legs hurting, Lord Snow?† Jon hated that name, a mockery that Ser Alliser had hung on him the first day he came to practice. The boys had picked it up, and now he heard it everywhere. He slid the longsword back into its scabbard. â€Å"No,† he replied. Thorne strode toward him, crisp black leathers whispering faintly as he moved. He was a compact man of fifty years, spare and hard, with grey in his black hair and eyes like chips of onyx. â€Å"The truth now,† he commanded. â€Å"I'm tired,† Jon admitted. His arm burned from the weight of the longsword, and he was starting to feel his bruises now that the fight was done. â€Å"What you are is weak.† â€Å"I won.† â€Å"No. The Aurochs lost.† One of the other boys sniggered. Jon knew better than to reply. He had beaten everyone that Ser Alliser had sent against him, yet it gained him nothing. The master-at-arms served up only derision. Thorne hated him, Jon had decided; of course, he hated the other boys even worse. â€Å"That will be all,† Thorne told them. â€Å"I can only stomach so much ineptitude in any one day. If the Others ever come for us, I pray they have archers, because you lot are fit for nothing more than arrow fodder.† Jon followed the rest back to the armory, walking alone. He often walked alone here. There were almost twenty in the group he trained with, yet not one he could call a friend. Most were two or three years his senior, yet not one was half the fighter Robb had been at fourteen. Dareon was quick but afraid of being hit. Pyp used his sword like a dagger, Jeren was weak as a girl, Grenn slow and clumsy. Halder's blows were brutally hard but he ran right into your attacks. The more time he spent with them, the more Jon despised them. Inside, Jon hung sword and scabbard from a hook in the stone wall, ignoring the others around him. Methodically, he began to strip off his mail, leather, and sweat-soaked woolens. Chunks of coal burned in iron braziers at either end of the long room, but Jon found himself shivering. The chill was always with him here. In a few years he would forget what it felt like to be warm. The weariness came on him suddenly, as he donned the roughspun blacks that were their everyday wear. He sat on a bench, his fingers fumbling with the fastenings on his cloak. So cold, he thought, remembering the warm halls of Winterfell, where the hot waters ran through the walls like blood through a man's body. There was scant warmth to be found in Castle Black; the walls were cold here, and the people colder. No one had told him the Night's Watch would be like this; no one except Tyrion Lannister. The dwarf had given him the truth on the road north, but by then it had been too late. Jon wondered if his father had known what the Wall would be like. He must have, he thought; that only made it hurt the worse. Even his uncle had abandoned him in this cold place at the end of the world. Up here, the genial Benjen Stark he had known became a different person. He was First Ranger, and he spent his days and nights with Lord Commander Mormont and Maester Aemon and the other high officers, while Jon was given over to the less than tender charge of Ser Alliser Thorne. Three days after their arrival, Jon had heard that Benjen Stark was to lead a half-dozen men on a ranging into the haunted forest. That night he sought out his uncle in the great timbered common hall and pleaded to go with him. Benjen refused him curtly. â€Å"This is not Winterfell,† he told him as he cut his meat with fork and dagger. â€Å"On the Wall, a man gets only what he earns. You're no ranger, Jon, only a green boy with the smell of summer still on you.† Stupidly, Jon argued. â€Å"I'll be fifteen on my name day,† he said. â€Å"Almost a man grown.† Benjen Stark frowned. â€Å"A boy you are, and a boy you'll remain until Ser Alliser says you are fit to be a man of the Night's Watch. If you thought your Stark blood would win you easy favors, you were wrong. We put aside our old families when we swear our vows. Your father will always have a place in my heart, but these are my brothers now.† He gestured with his dagger at the men around them, all the hard cold men in black. Jon rose at dawn the next day to watch his uncle leave. One of his rangers, a big ugly man, sang a bawdy song as he saddled his garron, his breath steaming in the cold morning air. Ben Stark smiled at that, but he had no smile for his nephew. â€Å"How often must I tell you no, Jon? We'll speak when I return.† As he watched his uncle lead his horse into the tunnel, Jon had remembered the things that Tyrion Lannister told him on the kingsroad, and in his mind's eye he saw Ben Stark lying dead, his blood red on the snow. The thought made him sick. What was he becoming? Afterward he sought out Ghost in the loneliness of his cell, and buried his face in his thick white fur. If he must be alone, he would make solitude his armor. Castle Black had no godswood, only a small sept and a drunken septon, but Jon could not find it in him to pray to any gods, old or new. If they were real, he thought, they were as cruel and implacable as winter. He missed his true brothers: little Rickon, bright eyes shining as he begged for a sweet; Robb, his rival and best friend and constant companion; Bran, stubborn and curious, always wanting to follow and join in whatever Jon and Robb were doing. He missed the girls too, even Sansa, who never called him anything but â€Å"my half brother† since she was old enough to understand what bastard meant. And Arya . . . he missed her even more than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair and torn clothes, so fierce and willful. Arya never seemed to fit, no more than he had . . . yet she could always make Jon smile. He would give anything to be with her now, to muss up her hair once more and watch her make a face, to hear her finish a sentence with him. â€Å"You broke my wrist, bastard boy.† Jon lifted his eyes at the sullen voice. Grenn loomed over him, thick of neck and red of face, with three of his friends behind him. He knew Todder, a short ugly boy with an unpleasant voice. The recruits all called him Toad. The other two were the ones Yoren had brought north with them, Jon remembered, rapers taken down in the Fingers. He'd forgotten their names. He hardly ever spoke to them, if he could help it. They were brutes and bullies, without a thimble of honor between them. Jon stood up. â€Å"I'll break the other one for you if you ask nicely.† Grenn was sixteen and a head taller than Jon. All four of them were bigger than he was, but they did not scare him. He'd beaten every one of them in the yard. â€Å"Maybe we'll break you,† one of the rapers said. â€Å"Try.† Jon reached back for his sword, but one of them grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. â€Å"You make us look bad,† complained Toad. â€Å"You looked bad before I ever met you,† Jon told him. The boy who had his arm jerked upward on him, hard. Pain lanced through him, but Jon would not cry out. Toad stepped close. â€Å"The little lordling has a mouth on him,† he said. He had pig eyes, small and shiny. â€Å"Is that your mommy's mouth, bastard? What was she, some whore? Tell us her name. Maybe I had her a time or two.† He laughed. Jon twisted like an eel and slammed a heel down across the instep of the boy holding him. There was a sudden cry of pain, and he was free. He flew at Toad, knocked him backward over a bench, and landed on his chest with both hands on his throat, slamming his head against the packed earth. The two from the Fingers pulled him off, throwing him roughly to the ground. Grenn began to kick at him. Jon was rolling away from the blows when a booming voice cut through the gloom of the armory. â€Å"STOP THIS! NOW!† Jon pulled himself to his feet. Donal Noye stood glowering at them. â€Å"The yard is for fighting,† the armorer said. â€Å"Keep your quarrels out of my armory, or I'll make them my quarrels. You won't like that.† Toad sat on the floor, gingerly feeling the back of his head. His fingers came away bloody. â€Å"He tried to kill me.† † ‘S true. I saw it,† one of the rapers put in. â€Å"He broke my wrist,† Grenn said again, holding it out to Noye for inspection. The armorer gave the offered wrist the briefest of glances. â€Å"A bruise. Perhaps a sprain. Maester Aemon will give you a salve. Go with him, Todder, that head wants looking after. The rest of you, return to your cells. Not you, Snow. You stay.† Jon sat heavily on the long wooden bench as the others left, oblivious to the looks they gave him, the silent promises of future retribution. His arm was throbbing. â€Å"The Watch has need of every man it can get,† Donal Noye said when they were alone. â€Å"Even men like Toad. You won't win any honors killing him.† Jon's anger flared. â€Å"He said my mother was—† â€Å"—a whore. I heard him. What of it?† â€Å"Lord Eddard Stark was not a man to sleep with whores,† Jon said icily. â€Å"His honor—† â€Å"—did not prevent him from fathering a bastard. Did it?† Jon was cold with rage. â€Å"Can I go?† â€Å"You go when I tell you to go.† Jon stared sullenly at the smoke rising from the brazier, until Noye took him under the chin, thick fingers twisting his head around. â€Å"Look at me when I'm talking to you, boy.† Jon looked. The armorer had a chest like a keg of ale and a gut to match. His nose was flat and broad, and he always seemed in need of a shave. The left sleeve of his black wool tunic was fastened at the shoulder with a silver pin in the shape of a longsword. â€Å"Words won't make your mother a whore. She was what she was, and nothing Toad says can change that. You know, we have men on the Wall whose mothers were whores.† Not my mother, Jon thought stubbornly. He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind. â€Å"You think you had it hard, being a high lord's bastard?† the armorer went on. â€Å"That boy Jeren is a septon's get, and Cotter Pyke is the baseborn son of a tavern wench. Now he commands Eastwatch by the Sea.† â€Å"I don't care,† Jon said. â€Å"I don't care about them and I don't care about you or Thorne or Benjen Stark or any of it. I hate it here. It's too . . . it's cold.† â€Å"Yes. Cold and hard and mean, that's the Wall, and the men who walk it. Not like the stories your wet nurse told you. Well, piss on the stories and piss on your wet nurse. This is the way it is, and you're here for life, same as the rest of us.† â€Å"Life,† Jon repeated bitterly. The armorer could talk about life. He'd had one. He'd only taken the black after he'd lost an arm at the siege of Storm's End. Before that he'd smithed for Stannis Baratheon, the king's brother. He'd seen the Seven Kingdoms from one end to the other; he'd feasted and wenched and fought in a hundred battles. They said it was Donal Noye who'd forged King Robert's warhammer, the one that crushed the life from Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident. He'd done all the things that Jon would never do, and then when he was old, well past thirty, he'd taken a glancing blow from an axe and the wound had festered until the whole arm had to come off. Only then, crippled, had Donal Noye come to the Wall, when his life was all but over. â€Å"Yes, life,† Noye said. â€Å"A long life or a short one, it's up to you, Snow. The road you're walking, one of your brothers will slit your throat for you one night.† â€Å"They're not my brothers,† Jon snapped. â€Å"They hate me because I'm better than they are.† â€Å"No. They hate you because you act like you're better than they are. They look at you and see a castle-bred bastard who thinks he's a lordling.† The armorer leaned close. â€Å"You're no lordling. Remember that. You're a Snow, not a Stark. You're a bastard and a bully.† â€Å"A bully?† Jon almost choked on the word. The accusation was so unjust it took his breath away. â€Å"They were the ones who came after me. Four of them.† â€Å"Four that you've humiliated in the yard. Four who are probably afraid of you. I've watched you fight. It's not training with you. Put a good edge on your sword, and they'd be dead meat; you know it, I know it, they know it. You leave them nothing. You shame them. Does that make you proud?† Jon hesitated. He did feel proud when he won. Why shouldn't he? But the armorer was taking that away too, making it sound as if he were doing something wrong. â€Å"They're all older than me,† he said defensively. â€Å"Older and bigger and stronger, that's the truth. I'll wager your master-at-arms taught you how to fight bigger men at Winterfell, though. Who was he, some old knight?† â€Å"Ser Rodrik Cassel,† Jon said warily. There was a trap here. He felt it closing around him. Donal Noye leaned forward, into Jon's face. â€Å"Now think on this, boy. None of these others have ever had a master-at-arms until Ser Alliser. Their fathers were farmers and wagonmen and poachers, smiths and miners and oars on a trading galley. What they know of fighting they learned between decks, in the alleys of Oldtown and Lannisport, in wayside brothels and taverns on the kingsroad. They may have clacked a few sticks together before they came here, but I promise you, not one in twenty was ever rich enough to own a real sword.† His look was grim. â€Å"So how do you like the taste of your victories now, Lord Snow?† â€Å"Don't call me that!† Jon said sharply, but the force had gone out of his anger. Suddenly he felt ashamed and guilty. â€Å"I never . . . I didn't think . . . â€Å" â€Å"Best you start thinking,† Noye warned him. â€Å"That, or sleep with a dagger by your bed. Now go.† By the time Jon left the armory, it was almost midday. The sun had broken through the clouds. He turned his back on it and lifted his eyes to the Wall, blazing blue and crystalline in the sunlight. Even after all these weeks, the sight of it still gave him the shivers. Centuries of windblown dirt had pocked and scoured it, covering it like a film, and it often seemed a pale grey, the color of an overcast sky . . . but when the sun caught it fair on a bright day, it shone, alive with light, a colossal blue-white cliff that filled up half the sky. The largest structure ever built by the hands of man, Benjen Stark had told Jon on the kingsroad when they had first caught sight of the Wall in the distance. â€Å"And beyond a doubt the most useless,† Tyrion Lannister had added with a grin, but even the Imp grew silent as they rode closer. You could see it from miles off, a pale blue line across the northern horizon, stretching away to the east and west and vanishing in the far distance, immense and unbroken. This is the end of the world, it seemed to say. When they finally spied Castle Black, its timbered keeps and stone towers looked like nothing more than a handful of toy blocks scattered on the snow, beneath the vast wall of ice. The ancient stronghold of the black brothers was no Winterfell, no true castle at all. Lacking walls, it could not be defended, not from the south, or east, or west; but it was only the north that concerned the Night's Watch, and to the north loomed the Wall. Almost seven hundred feet high it stood, three times the height of the tallest tower in the stronghold it sheltered. His uncle said the top was wide enough for a dozen armored knights to ride abreast. The gaunt outlines of huge catapults and monstrous wooden cranes stood sentry up there, like the skeletons of great birds, and among them walked men in black as small as ants. As he stood outside the armory looking up, Jon felt almost as overwhelmed as he had that day on the kingsroad, when he'd seen it for the first time. The Wall was like that. Sometimes he could almost forget that it was there, the way you forgot about the sky or the earth underfoot, but there were other times when it seemed as if there was nothing else in the world. It was older than the Seven Kingdoms, and when he stood beneath it and looked up, it made Jon dizzy. He could feel the great weight of all that ice pressing down on him, as if it were about to topple, and somehow Jon knew that if it fell, the world fell with it. â€Å"Makes you wonder what lies beyond,† a familiar voice said. Jon looked around. â€Å"Lannister. I didn't see—I mean, I thought I was alone.† Tyrion Lannister was bundled in furs so thickly he looked like a very small bear. â€Å"There's much to be said for taking people unawares. You never know what you might learn.† â€Å"You won't learn anything from me,† Jon told him. He had seen little of the dwarf since their journey ended. As the queen's own brother, Tyrion Lannister had been an honored guest of the Night's Watch. The Lord Commander had given him rooms in the King's Tower—so-called, though no king had visited it for a hundred years—and Lannister dined at Mormont's own table and spent his days riding the Wall and his nights dicing and drinking with Ser Alliser and Bowen Marsh and the other high officers. â€Å"Oh, I learn things everywhere I go.† The little man gestured up at the Wall with a gnarled black walking stick. â€Å"As I was saying . . . why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what's on the other side?† He cocked his head and looked at Jon with his curious mismatched eyes. â€Å"You do want to know what's on the other side, don't you?† â€Å"It's nothing special,† Jon said. He wanted to ride with Benjen Stark on his rangings, deep into the mysteries of the haunted forest, wanted to fight Mance Rayder's wildlings and ward the realm against the Others, but it was better not to speak of the things you wanted. â€Å"The rangers say it's just woods and mountains and frozen lakes, with lots of snow and ice.† â€Å"And the grumkins and the snarks,† Tyrion said. â€Å"Let us not forget them, Lord Snow, or else what's that big thing for?† â€Å"Don't call me Lord Snow.† The dwarf lifted an eyebrow. â€Å"Would you rather be called the Imp? Let them see that their words can cut you, and you'll never be free of the mockery. If they want to give you a name, take it, make it your own. Then they can't hurt you with it anymore.† He gestured with his stick. â€Å"Come, walk with me. They'll be serving some vile stew in the common hall by now, and I could do with a bowl of something hot.† Jon was hungry too, so he fell in beside Lannister and slowed his pace to match the dwarf's awkward, waddling steps. The wind was rising, and they could hear the old wooden buildings creaking around them, and in the distance a heavy shutter banging, over and over, forgotten. Once there was a muffled thump as a blanket of snow slid from a roof and landed near them. â€Å"I don't see your wolf,† Lannister said as they walked. â€Å"I chain him up in the old stables when we're training. They board all the horses in the east stables now, so no one bothers him. The rest of the time he stays with me. My sleeping cell is in Hardin's Tower.† â€Å"That's the one with the broken battlement, no? Shattered stone in the yard below, and a lean to it like our noble king Robert after a long night's drinking? I thought all those buildings had been abandoned.† Jon shrugged. â€Å"No one cares where you sleep. Most of the old keeps are empty, you can pick any cell you want.† Once Castle Black had housed five thousand fighting men with all their horses and servants and weapons. Now it was home to a tenth that number, and parts of it were falling into ruin. Tyrion Lannister's laughter steamed in the cold air. â€Å"I'll be sure to tell your father to arrest more stonemasons, before your tower collapses.† Jon could taste the mockery there, but there was no denying the truth. The Watch had built nineteen great strongholds along the Wall, but only three were still occupied: Eastwatch on its grey windswept shore, the ShadowTower hard by the mountains where the Wall ended, and Castle Black between them, at the end of the kingsroad. The other keeps, long deserted, were lonely, haunted places, where cold winds whistled through black windows and the spirits of the dead manned the parapets. â€Å"It's better that I'm by myself,† Jon said stubbornly. â€Å"The rest of them are scared of Ghost.† â€Å"Wise boys,† Lannister said. Then he changed the subject. â€Å"The talk is, your uncle is too long away.† Jon remembered the wish he'd wished in his anger, the vision of Benjen Stark dead in the snow, and he looked away quickly. The dwarf had a way of sensing things, and Jon did not want him to see the guilt in his eyes. â€Å"He said he'd be back by my name day,† he admitted. His name day had come and gone, unremarked, a fortnight past. â€Å"They were looking for Ser Waymar Royce, his father is bannerman to Lord Arryn. Uncle Benjen said they might search as far as the ShadowTower. That's all the way up in the mountains.† â€Å"I hear that a good many rangers have vanished of late,† Lannister said as they mounted the steps to the common hall. He grinned and pulled open the door. â€Å"Perhaps the grumkins are hungry this year.† Inside, the hall was immense and drafty, even with a fire roaring in its great hearth. Crows nested in the timbers of its lofty ceiling. Jon heard their cries overhead as he accepted a bowl of stew and a heel of black bread from the day's cooks. Grenn and Toad and some of the others were seated at the bench nearest the warmth, laughing and cursing each other in rough voices. Jon eyed them thoughtfully for a moment. Then he chose a spot at the far end of the hall, well away from the other diners. Tyrion Lannister sat across from him, sniffing at the stew suspiciously. â€Å"Barley, onion, carrot,† he muttered. â€Å"Someone should tell the cooks that turnip isn't a meat.† â€Å"It's mutton stew.† Jon pulled off his gloves and warmed his hands in the steam rising from the bowl. The smell made his mouth water. â€Å"Snow.† Jon knew Alliser Thorne's voice, but there was a curious note in it that he had not heard before. He turned. â€Å"The Lord Commander wants to see you. Now.† For a moment Jon was too frightened to move. Why would the Lord Commander want to see him? They had heard something about Benjen, he thought wildly, he was dead, the vision had come true. â€Å"Is it my uncle?† he blurted. â€Å"Is he returned safe?† â€Å"The Lord Commander is not accustomed to waiting,† was Ser Alliser's reply. â€Å"And I am not accustomed to having my commands questioned by bastards.† Tyrion Lannister swung off the bench and rose. â€Å"Stop it, Thorne. You're frightening the boy.† â€Å"Keep out of matters that don't concern you, Lannister. You have no place here.† â€Å"I have a place at court, though,† the dwarf said, smiling. â€Å"A word in the right ear, and you'll die a sour old man before you get another boy to train. Now tell Snow why the Old Bear needs to see him. Is there news of his uncle?† â€Å"No,† Ser Alliser said. â€Å"This is another matter entirely. A bird arrived this morning from Winterfell, with a message that concerns his brother.† He corrected himself. â€Å"His half brother.† â€Å"Bran,† Jon breathed, scrambling to his feet. â€Å"Something's happened to Bran.† Tyrion Lannister laid a hand on his arm. â€Å"Jon,† he said. â€Å"I am truly sorry.† Jon scarcely heard him. He brushed off Tyrion's hand and strode across the hall. He was running by the time he hit the doors. He raced to the Commander's Keep, dashing through drifts of old snow. When the guards passed him, he took the tower steps two at a time. By the time he burst into the presence of the Lord Commander, his boots were soaked and Jon was wild-eyed and panting. â€Å"Bran,† he said. â€Å"What does it say about Bran?† Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, was a gruff old man with an immense bald head and a shaggy grey beard. He had a raven on his arm, and he was feeding it kernels of corn. â€Å"I am told you can read.† He shook the raven off, and it flapped its wings and flew to the window, where it sat watching as Mormont drew a roll of paper from his belt and handed it to Jon. â€Å"Corn,† it muttered in a raucous voice. â€Å"Corn, corn.† Jon's finger traced the outline of the direwolf in the white wax of the broken seat. He recognized Robb's hand, but the letters seemed to blur and run as he tried to read them. He realized he was crying. And then, through the tears, he found the sense in the words, and raised his head. â€Å"He woke up,† he said. â€Å"The gods gave him back.† â€Å"Crippled,† Mormont said. â€Å"I'm sorry, boy. Read the rest of the letter.† He looked at the words, but they didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Bran was going to live. â€Å"My brother is going to live,† he told Mormont. The Lord Commander shook his head, gathered up a fistful of corn, and whistled. The raven flew to his shoulder, crying, â€Å"Live! Live!† Jon ran down the stairs, a smile on his face and Robb's letter in his hand. â€Å"My brother is going to live,† he told the guards. They exchanged a look. He ran back to the common hall, where he found Tyrion Lannister just finishing his meal. He grabbed the little man under the arms, hoisted him up in the air, and spun him around in a circle. â€Å"Bran is going to live!† he whooped. Lannister looked startled. Jon put him down and thrust the paper into his hands. â€Å"Here, read it,† he said. Others were gathering around and looking at him curiously. Jon noticed Grenn a few feet away. A thick woolen bandage was wrapped around one hand. He looked anxious and uncomfortable, not menacing at all. Jon went to him. Grenn edged backward and put up his hands. â€Å"Stay away from me now, you bastard.† Jon smiled at him. â€Å"I'm sorry about your wrist. Robb used the same move on me once, only with a wooden blade. It hurt like seven hells, but yours must be worse. Look, if you want, I can show you how to defend that.† Alliser Thorne overheard him. â€Å"Lord Snow wants to take my place now.† He sneered. â€Å"I'd have an easier time teaching a wolf to juggle than you will training this aurochs.† â€Å"I'll take that wager, Ser Alliser,† Jon said. â€Å"I'd love to see Ghost juggle.† Jon heard Grenn suck in his breath, shocked. Silence fell. Then Tyrion Lannister guffawed. Three of the black brothers joined in from a nearby table. The laughter spread up and down the benches, until even the cooks joined in. The birds stirred in the rafters, and finally even Grenn began to chuckle. Ser Alliser never took his eyes from Jon. As the laughter rolled around him, his face darkened, and his sword hand curled into a fist. â€Å"That was a grievous error, Lord Snow,† he said at last in the acid tones of an enemy.

Reformation and Counter-Reformation and examples

Reformation and Counter-Reformation and examples Within the Church, decisive action had to be undertaken to meet the challenge of the Reformation and other difficulties that had arisen. The rise of Protestant power in northern Europe set off a defensive and totalitarian response in Catholic Italy. The Counter-Reformation put Italian culture on a war footing with the Catholic Church claiming, in effect, total control of Italians' minds and bodies. The Council of Trent, which met intermittently from 1545 to 1563, was called by the pope to deliberate these matters and to undertake reform of the Church from within. As a result of the Council's recommendations, humanistic thinking was replaced by violent reaction, with coercion and persuasion being used as twin prongs to ensure conformity to the teachings of the Church. Promises of liberal religious attitudes were broken by a return to strict Church doctrines. New access to literature and knowledge through the printing press and scientific discoveries was suppressed through the Inquisit ion; the Inquisition was a vast repressive machine that worked through informants and secret courts to meet ideological deviance with humiliation, prison, torture and burning alive.Matthias Church and Calvinist Church, Danube, Buda...God appeared not as the Loving Father but as a terrifying Judge, Christ not as the Good Shepherd but as the Great Avenger.Art was enlisted to serve the purposes of the church militant, but that art was rigorously policed according to a system of decorum in painting which dictated what was and what wasn't acceptable in art. It was all set out by Cardinal Paleotti in 1584 and reinforced by Carlo Borromeo, the young, energetic archbishop of Milan who spent time in Rome. Borromeo gave voice to the new Church doctrines in the manuals he wrote for architects and artists, as well as for students and teachers in the many seminaries he founded. Nudity and eroticism were out,

Writing Motivation How to Persevere in Writing When You Want to Give Up

Writing Motivation How to Persevere in Writing When You Want to Give Up Writing Motivation: How to Persevere in Writing When You Feel Like Giving Up Writing motivation is fickle. It comes and goes but the feeling of wanting to give up might linger even longer.So how do you persevere in writing if you feel like giving up?Contrary to popular belief, writers and authors dont just want to write all day every day. Maybe the very rare person does, but thats not the normAnd so writers must learn to reach beyond themselves and understand how to stay motivated to write and persevere until they finish writing a book, especially if you want to self-publish a book.Heres how to keep your writing motivation high:Learn how perseverance in writing worksForming a writing habitGather the right writing toolsIncrease writing motivation through dedicationKeep your writing datesKeep the document visibleDo writing sprintsConnect with other authorsBe kind to yourselfNOTE: If you want a system as well as an accountability resource to keep up your writing motivation, check out our VIP Self-Publishing Program where we do just that (with 1-on-1 coaching) an d much more. Learn more about it hereHow Perseverance Works, Even in WritingI’m going to start with showing you an image of my nine-year-old’s perseverance that can be applied to anyone.Every week she climbs a 16 ft rope at her gymnastics class. She decided that she was going to make it to the bell about 2 months ago and she has steadily climbed further up the rope each week.Her hands slide up the rope with precision, her knees are out like a butterfly and she uses her whole body to climb up the rope. Every week I shoot a Facebook live video of her.And every week the time it takes her to climb the rope decreases.Preserving in writing is a lot like my 9-year-olds determination to squirm her way up the rope.It is climbing, hand over hand, using all the resources you have to keep your eye on the finished target. In my daughters case, it is the bell at the top of the gymnastics rope. In my case, it is finishing my second book this year. When my family and friends ask me ab out my first book, how much time it took, and what keeps me going, I shrug and say, â€Å"I started working on it consistently in November.† I went from idea to self-published in 6 months. Of course, that was with intentional, uninterrupted writing times and the determination to keep going even when it was hard.You can write a book too. You just have to make the most of every second and continue on your journey, even when it is hard.How to Form a Writing Habit to Maintain Writing MotivationIt is not always easy to consistently write. In fact, there are days when it is downright HARD, but we all have the same 86,400 seconds in every single day.How we choose to use our time is one of the things that sets apart those who persevere in writing against those that don’t.  And forming a writing routine and habit is the best way to make that happen. I dont have a lot of time for writing during the day- so I have to create time. The absolute best time for me is to wake before the sun and spend the first two hours of my day writing and creating. I do find small chunks of time during a break at school to pull up the google doc app on my phone and write a few words. However, as you can see by Chandler’s video about burnout, it is super important to create hard and fast boundaries about your life and your writing routine, so that you don’t burnout and you’re able to continue writing.Gather the Writing Tools to Help Writing MotivationSometimes those boundaries include using the right tools for writing, which will also help you persevere and keep you motivated to keep going. The right tool or writing software is generally not your phone.That’s not to say that you can’t have your phone as an occasional tool; however, it is equally as important to understand that if you pull your computer out and go to your dedicated writing space, you will likely accomplish a lot more. There are different people and people who do things in di fferent ways. In the writing community, we call them plotters and pansters, or discovery writers. The plotters plan every single detail out and they are then able to compile their narratives. The pansters go with the flow and get things moving by simply putting one word in front of the other. Here are some of the best tools for writing:A word processing program (like Microsoft Word or Google Docs)A journalA blank piece of paperA notebookA pen/pencilA keyboardKeep in mind that the word processor you use can make a huge difference in writing motivation.For example, using something like Scrivener to track your word count and goal line can keep you pushing to reach the end.Check out our Scrivener Tutorial below if youre curious to learn more. Keep Writing Motivation Through DeterminationWhen I am most likely to want to throw in the towel, I usually get some inspiration from someone that I’ve allowed to read my work to help me keep going. If that’s not possible, I reach out to the #writingcommunity on Twitter and someone there will give me some sage advice- like go for a walk. So many writers dream of having the ability to work from home, never get dressed if they don’t have to, and being an authorpreneur. However, it takes a lot of perseverance to get there.It takes the dedication of finding the one time in your day to keep an appointment with the most important VIP in your life: yourself.How to Maintain Writing Motivation Even When it Gets ToughMy writing coach, R.E. Vance, told me that the worst thing I can do is not to look at my writing for a few days. He said that when you aren’t engaged with it, it takes longer to move to the creation part because you have to re-read, figure out where you are, and you lose momentum.So follow these steps for persevering in your writing journey every day.#1 Keep a Writing Date With YourselfYou are a very important person in this blank page to published process. So, find a time that works for you, w hether that is early in the morning or after your family is in bed for the night, and dedicate five, ten, twenty-five minutes, or an hour to working on your book.â€Å"But I am tired.†Guess what? You’re making the most of those 86,400 seconds in a day by finding a few minutes to commit to writing. Personally, I am a morning writer. I know that I am a lot less likely to be interrupted in the morning than at any other time.#2 Keep the Document Open and VisibleWhen you open your work in progress document, you’re setting yourself up for success.You know that you want to add more words to the page and you can do this by simply putting one word down and following it with the next.You can edit bad writing, but you can’t edit a blank page.Thats why keeping the doc open, no matter what writing software you use, can help keep it top of mind. Think of it like keeping a sticky note out reminding you.Whenever you log on to your computer, youll have a reminder to writ e right in front of you.#3 Do Writing SprintsFor those of you who dont know, writing sprints are when you set a timer and simply write as much as you can during that time. You dont go back and read, you dont edit, you just write and keep writing until the time is up.Set a timer for a few minutes. It can be one minute, it can be two minutes, or it can twenty minutes.You get to decide how many minutes you want for a sprint and then during that time period, you simply write.You write as many words as you can in that sprint and perhaps it will inspire you to do another sprint.If you want to have more accountability do this, hop on Twitter and search the hashtag #writingsprints to find people who are currently looking for sprinting buddies.This can help you stick with it and then be accountable for it at the same time, since many post their word counts after (usually followed by more sprints).#4 Connect With Other AuthorsSometimes we need a little motivation to keep us going. Most othe r authors are more than willing to help you when you’re feeling down.Reach out to the author communities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They often have advice for you, whether it is on their blogs or through direct messages.If youre not sure where to go to find other writers, here are some hashtags you can use to search and find people writing in your genre!PlatformHashtagsTwitter- #amwriting - #writerslife - #authorlife - #aspiringauthor - #writerproblems - #[yourgenre]writerInstagram- #amwriting (as in, "I am writing") - #writerslife - #fantasywriter, #scifiwriter, #contemporarywriter, etc. - #writerprobs, #writerproblems - #writersofig, #writersofinstagram, #writersofinstaFacebook- #amwriting (as in, "I am writing") - #writerslife - #fantasywriter, #scifiwriter, #contemporarywriter, etc. - #writerprobs, #writerproblems#5 Be Kind to YourselfThe research from writer Joseph Epstein says that more than 81% of Americans believe that they have a book in them, but very few will put n the work to do it.You, however, are doing it and this deserves recognition.Often times we get down on ourselves, but in these times, you need to remember to speak to yourself like you would a friend. When I talk to a friend about my writing, they give me kudos and credit for the things I am doing. You should speak to yourself as you would speak to a friend. Writing Motivation from other AuthorsAny author will tell you that there will be days that you simply do not want to write, but many have tricks to help overcome the writing void.Here are a few of my favorite blog posts on finding the perseverance in your writing routine:7 Common Writing Mistakes that Will Stop You Finishing Your BookHow to Write Every Day (and why you should)9 Steps to Set Writing Goals and Commit to Your Book Writing PlanJust Write Every Day Of Your Life How to develop a daily writing habit, and why you shouldMake Time for Writing: Create a Writing Schedule That Works for YouRemember that there will always be times that you lose writing motivation and struggle to produce excellent content, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write.Even the best writers struggle. They keep moving forward, by putting one word in front of the other and finding writing motivation that works for them, and you can too.Persevere in Writing TODAYStep 1:Set aside some of those 86,400 seconds in your day today and take time to write. It can be for 60 seconds or 60 minutes, but by putting engaging with your writing today, you are making the choice to persevere.Step 2:Sign up for your FREE training. Oftentimes, it helps to hear just how easy and manageable this process can be.

Barnes and Noble Company and Amazon.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Barnes and Noble Company and Amazon.com - Essay Example The company branched out to sell E-books. Jeff Bezos persuaded its current and future customers to benefit from the time-saving and travel money-saving benefits of online shopping for Amazon.com products. Management Styles. Both companies implement effective management styles. The Barnes and Noble Company focuses on the consultative management style. The style includes taking into consideration all positive and unfavorable feedbacks and inputs. The inputs include the feedback from the parties. On the other hand, Amazon uses persuasive management style. Management uses persuasion to convince its current and future employees eagerly implement company policies, increasing customer service quality. Product Launch and handling of products and services. Both companies have different product launch versions. The Barnes and Noble Company offers several products in different genres. The products are sold over 800 United States stores. On the other hand, Amazon’s product launch is focus ed on website selling. The company opens its www.amazon.com website to initially sell physical books and other related products. Marketing products and services. Both companies use different marketing strategies. The Barnes and Noble Company sells various products and services in over 800 stores in the 50 states and its website. On the other Amazon.com only uses online selling. The company opens its www.amazon.com website to initially sell physical books and other related products. ... The Amazon.com’s financial statistics show that its revenues better than Barnes and Noble Company’s revenues. Amazon.com’s net income is better than the dismal net loss of Barnes and Noble Company. The sales figure prods investors to funnel their investment in Amazon.com. With more Amazon.com customers, the investors must choose Amazon.com as their investment destination. Amazon’s better implementation of the marketing aspects contributed to its being a market segment standout. Amazon.com sells quality products at reasonable prices. The company promotes its products at the easiest place to buy, the internet. Statistical Comparison                                     Barnes &             Amazon    Noble       Year    2011    2011       Sales $ 57.26 billion $ 7.16 billion       Net Income (net loss) $ 40 million $ (69.44 million)       Market Share    26%    3%       Employees    56,000.00    35,283.00       Stores    1 online    800+       Equipment    No printing Press    Printing Press                         CONCLUSION. It is very clear that Amazon.com’s financial and business performance is higher than Barnes and Noble Company’s business performance. Unquestionably, investors must pick Amazon.com as the better investment destination. MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: The following shows the financial analysis of the two competing companies. The two companies are Banes and Noble Company and Amazon.com. Background information. Barnes & Noble. The Barnes and Noble Company generates a profitable background information. Charles Barnes and Clifford Noble, separate bookstore sellers decided to joined hands during the 1800s. The company