Messaging apps Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Messaging apps - Research Paper Example Some of the most common messaging apps that allow users to send free messaging texts, images, photos and free calls over a data connection include Whatsapp, Tango, Viber and iMessage, Skype among others (Olson, 2013). These apps have been a threat to the conventional message carriers considering that they have done away with the fees that people used to pay for the same services. As such, the traditional message carriers have to close shop or innovate better ways to attract customers. Therefore, the use of messaging Apps in sending contents through mobile networks has led to a transformation in the usage of mobile phones, making them ideal gadgets to communicate and receive content in real time. Messaging apps have challenged the incumbent social messaging sites such as Facebook and Alibaba. The apps facilitate chatting and sending of different contents a much better way compared to the conventional methods of sending the same contents. Tango is one of the most commonly used messaging apps. Currently, Tango has over 70 million monthly active users and enables members to send video and voice calls along text messages in real time (Kan 2014). Tango has capitalized on the fact that most of the calls that people make are not answered, especially at nights. As such, the company has come with special services to users that facilitate recording of messages, which are then viewed later after the person wakes up (Kan, 2014). Thus, the company has to store such messages in their servers, where they are accessible to any member with an android device, devices using apple operating system or through any web browser (Kan, 2014). The company plans to start making money by requiring that users pay minimal charges on using special services such as the Tango surprises that allows animations of messages. For instance, users of the Tango Surprises will get a single animation free of charge

Aristotles Account on Happiness Essay Example for Free

Aristotles Account on Happiness Essay In Book X of Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, he writes about pleasure and happiness. Aristotle makes the point that happiness and pleasure should not be confused with each other. He argues that pleasure is not good, but a good. Pleasure is not a process, and not all pleasures are desirable, so pleasure is not the supreme Good. However, happiness is not a process. It is an activity that serves as an end itself. Aristotle writes that happiness is our highest goal in life. He touches on the idea of contemplation being our highest rational faculties and like happiness, it is an end in itself. This quality is observed in happiness and contemplation, but not in practical activities. A supreme God could spend an entire lifetime only occupied with contemplation, so humans should strive to achieve this activity through happiness. Aristotle writes that all the moral virtues have to do with aspects of human life. These aspects are necessary in life, but only secondary to the godlike act of contemplation. Humans need to act morally, but it is not a quality needed for contemplation. To contemplate means to admire something, or think about something. I believe that to be truly moral, you often have to contemplate your morals and know what you stand for and believe in. I believe that in order to be moral, you must be capable of deep contemplation and reflection. This differs from Aristotles belief that the two are not connected.

Globalisation on the Indian Economy

Globalisation on the Indian Economy Introduction Recent events on the financial markets show how interdependent the world is. Common value should not be forbidden but what about common losses. Who should be responsible for them? Many blame globalisation. But what is globalisation and does the world have any other alternatives to develop? Should we return to the strategies of the past? Or should we continue to live in an age of essential economic revolution? The term globalisation generates constant debates and controversies. But most of those who talk about globalisation are not even aware of its fundamentals. Globalisation is the one specific modality of international integration. Technology has definitely changed the way we live and also the ways in which the business is done. The countries by means of internet connection and enthusiastic workers can have access to unlimited jobs and industries. Lets imagine a picture of a world where all limitations are disappearing. A world where there are no boundaries and where competition can come from anywhere. Thats the world where our future lies. To make this world a healthier place globalisation is going to play a very important role. There are some people in developed world who believe that we must try to turn our back on this novel rapidly changing and integrated world. They also think that the chance to preserve ones living standard is to make a fortress around ones country, stop trading with other countries and depend only on own industries. But at present it is impossible to turn back the waves of globalisation but in doing so we can actually make ourselves worst off. So in my opinion, instead of fearing the future we should embrace it. Globalisation and Structure of Indian Economy Globalisation has been expressed beautifully through a poem by Canadian economist Gerald Helleiner- The poor complain, they always do, but that is just idle chatter. Our system (globalisation) brings reward to all, at least to all who matter. Broadly speaking the term globalisation is an economic process. Even though it is modeled as a way of bringing the world together, globalisation is all about the business community breaking down the remaining barriers to the free flow of its capital around the world. It fundamentally means opening up of any country economy system and its integration among the other economies of the world. It involves liberalism and implementation of economic liberalization policies and reforms to promote the progression of private sector. The word globalisation itself means something new is happening to the world. The world is becoming a Flat and experiencing global practices, values and technologies that are shaping people lives. For India, there are ample confusions about the costs and benefits of globalisation. Data Source Projection: VMW Analytic Services Figure 1: Indian Economy since its Independence at Constant Prices (Projected up to FY 2012)Indias population has already crossed the billion mark; this fact is easy to read but much more difficult to absorb one thousand million people, each of whom sees the world in a slightly or radically different way from the other. Since Indian independence in 1947, the economy of India has increased almost exponentially (Refer Fig. 1). From early 1990s, different governments have adopted inward oriented development strategies i.e. the state encouraging an economy through self sufficiency and a dominant role in the economy via state planning. Forces of demand and supply were not allowed to play a key role in resource allocation. After 1991 balance-of-payments crisis, where foreign currency reserves fell to $1 billion inflation went high to 17%, India laid numbers of stabilization-cum-structural adjustment measures with widespread effects. The main aim was to remerge the Indian economy with the world economy by reducing barriers to trade and investment, and deregulation of a highly bureaucratized economy. The Foreign Direct Investment was also encouraged to reduce the countrys reliance on debt-creating capital inflows, simultaneously renovating Indias ancient technologies and advancing easily into global markets. Figure 2: India GDP growth from 1991 2007Regardless of the unfinished reform agenda, Indias GDP growth (Refer Fig. 2) has increased >9% over the past 3 years, by an average of 5.8% annually during the period 1991-2004. It contributes nearly 2% to world GDP and around 1% to world exports of goods and services (Source: World Development Indicators). Consistent with excellent growth, per capita incomes were doubled from 1990 to 2007 and poverty dropped from 46% in 1986 to 36% in 2000. However, still poverty remains a grave problem. Recently several economists and lobbyists have compared Indian economy with that of Chinese economy but Indias progress path has been significantly different from Chinas. Indeed, it has been also very different from that followed earlier by Japan, Korea and the other Asian giants. Firstly, the recent economic rise in India is largely due to services rather than manufacturing sector. India has became a global player in several services such as IT and business process outsourcing, while its manufacturing sector keep suffering from low productivity. Secondly, the majority of Indias population still relies on agriculture for a living as compared with Asian countries and thirdly, India tried to remain closed to trade in comparison to other developing and emerging countries. Even FDI inflows have also ten folded in last two decades. It has been tripled since 2005 and in 2007 it was around $23 billion (Data Source: Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Economic survey). But India is not yet as present in the Central and Eastern Europe markets as China is. Its share in the European market was 0.7% (2006), almost unchanged from 1990s. However, Chinas share in these markets has increased sharply from 1.3% in 1992 to 5.7% in 2006 (Data Source: OECD). Indian economy has the potential and should make the efforts to move from good growth to rapid constant growth. The problem in India lies in the spurring productivity which is badly affected by the low education and poor health system and also by the petite openness of the Indian economy. Indias weak infrastructure has hurt the booming potential of Indian production. From undependable energy, lacking water supply to bad roads and train conditions, infrastructure shortages have created high business costs across the sectors (Source : OECD, 2007c). Benefits and Costs of Globalisation on Indian Economy Globalisation has been a classical process with ups and downs. Its growth has been largely led by the technological forces in the fields of transport and communication. The flow of trade has been frequent and there are lesser barriers for the people across the geographical boundaries. There are less tax barriers and fewer limitations on fund flows. India is no exception to globalisation. In year 1991, when India was neck-deep in financial deficit, very high inflation (around 17%), balance of payments crisis and low industrial production, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailed India out through significant loans with assistant Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). This led to Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation. Indian Economy has undergone many important reforms in the 1990s. The LPG model has helped the Indian economy to grow rapidly and become internationally competitive. From early 1991, a new epoch has dawned for India and its huge population. This formidable phase of economic evolution has had a wonderful impact on the overall Indias economic development. All major sectors of the economy have improved dramatically and its effects over the last decade can hardly be ignored. Moreover, it has marked the dawn of the real integration of Indias economy into the Worlds economy. Globalisation has created employment bought large investments to India. Indian economy has been on the rise at good rates for the past few years many new prospects have opened up for India. It has highly benefited from economies of scale. The change in global barriers has permitted the companies to profit from the largest cheapest labor market, raw material and technology. Foreign businesses have significantly augmented their investments in Indian industries. The salaries of industrial labor have improved largely; therefore, the lock outs and strikes have declined sharply as labor class is happy. Now days business market has no boundaries and companies can promote their products globally. This has helped the Indian companies to lay hand on global technologies which has certainly increased our living qualities standards. Indian Entrepreneurs has become more aware about their competitors, recent trends and quality of products. The competition between the global companies can be seen in the improve quality of the brands and services to the customer. Presently, we can talk about the story of two Indias: It has the best of times; it has the worst of times. There is bright prosperity, there is high poverty. We have stunning 5 star hotels and near by these big hotels homes without electricity. The following phrase is perfect to describe the situation in India Globalisation gave us everything, globalisation gave us nothing. Although Rajiv Gandhi government, the sixth prime minister of India, introduced some economic reforms between 1985 -1989 but it was the Narasimha Rao government, ninth prime minister of India from 1991-1996, that gave a exact shape and started the novel economic reforms in India. Below are the highlights of some extreme benefits of globalisation on Indian Economy: Figure 3: The sector wise contribution to Indian GDP (Source: MOSPI Statistics (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation)) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate: The rate of increase of Indias real GDP was low during 1980-90 (5.6%) to 1993-2001 (7%). But in the last few years, the GDP annual growth rate in India has been remarkable i.e. 7.5% (2003-2004), 8.5% (2004-2005), 9% (2005-2006) and 9.2% (2006-2007). Present P.M. Dr. Manmohan Singh is certain to have a 10% increase in the GDP for 11th five year plan (2007 2012). In 2006-2007, the sectors contributing highest in GDP growth are Industry sector (26%); Service sector (55%) and Agriculture sector (19%) (Ref Fig. 3). The increase in GDP has in fact helped to increase the foreign exchange reserves from $39 billion (2000-01), $107 billion (2003-04), $145 billion (2005-06), $200 billion (2007-2008) to around $268 billion on 1st February 2011 (Source: IMF). Figure 4: An overview of Indias top cities which contributed heavily in FDI equity inflows. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Since early 2003, Indias FDI promotion board is officially run by government i.e. Ministries of Economic and Finance. Since then there have been drastic reforms in the rules and regulations of FDI in India. The FDI is now acknowledged as a key driver of development in the country. India is ranked 2nd in international FDI in year 2010 behind 1st ranked China and ahead of Brazil Russia and it will continue to be in the top 5 destinations to draw global investors during 2010-12 (Source: World Investment Prospects Survey 2009-2012 by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)). India attracted cumulative FDI equity inflows of $122.68 billion from mid 2000 to end 2010, according to the data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). In October 2010, the FDI inflows were $1,392 million. The figure 4 shows Indias top cities and sectors which attracted the highest FDI inflows in Jan 2008 (Source: DIPP India). The main attractive sectors have been information technology, telecom, services, healthcare and telecommunications. India controls almost 45% of the global outsourcing market with income more than $50 billion. Foreign shareholders are getting good returns in India. The possibility for FDI in India is endless. Foreign investors are offered fair packages of fiscal incentives for exports and industrial investments. Imports and Exports: The general idea of the independence movement in India (year 1940s), led by great M. Gandhi, was based on the dislike for anything foreign, especially the one originating from Britain. The imported goods were burnt on regular basis and everyone believed that everything can be produced home. The belief was that we can be self reliant and self dependent and import of goods can bring the foreign dominance. In 2009, 7 decades later India is ranked 15th in world in terms of import volume and 22nd in the terms of export volume. In 2004 2005 our imports were $107 billion (Ref Table 1), a record increase of around 36% as compared to $79 billion in 2003 2004. The exports also jumped by 24% recording $79 billion as compared to $63 billion the previous fiscal. The oil imports increased by 19% and the import bill zoomed from $21 billion to $29 billion in two fiscal years. Other imports excluding oil were $77 billion in 2004 2005 that is 34% higher than $58 billion in 2003 2004. Poverty: Though globalisation has drastically improved our living standards but still it doesnt have the significant effect in improving the poverty. The 2005 World Bank estimation was that 41% of Indian population live below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day. The figure 5 shows the Indian population living below poverty line from 1973-2000. We can see that since 1973 -1974 (54.9%), Indian population living below the poverty line has improved a lot (26.1% in 1999-2000). Nevertheless, Indian government is still making lots of efforts to remove poverty in rural areas. It is trying to provide more facilities to the poorer. India government Figure 5: Indian population below poverty line. (Source: Planning Commission of India) has still a long way to go to improve the poverty situation of India. Other Benefits: Information Technology (IT) and outsourcing has been given a special status in the growth of Indian economy. The reason may be that the government desires to present India as a technologically advanced nation and to achieve this they must encourage the IT sector. The term special status means that the sector and global / local investors will get many special advantages from the government. Furthermore, the impact of the global economies has influenced the Indian education system over the last few years. Improved educational institutions, high technology colleges, developed schools are the fruits of globalisation. The colleges have implemented the urbanized teaching technologies so that students can be aware of the latest developments. India is in the 4th position in respect to market capitalization with $894 billion after the US ($17,000 billion), Japan ($4800 billion) and China ($1000billion). India will soon cross the trillion $ mark. Even though we have not so far reached the end of history but globalisation has sure took us closer to the end of geography. The globalisation has not always been fair. The cash flow over the last two decades has been very unsymmetrical. For $1 of aid money to poor countries, the rich countries get $10. It has deepened the poverty and inequality. It has affected both the social and political stability among and within states. Capital rights are given more advantages over the labor rights. The trade and finance rule are unfair and this has had mixed effects on rich and poor countries. In India, the main casualties of globalisation are the poverty and the agriculture sector. Here are some costs which India paid because of globalisation: Agriculture Sector: Agriculture has always been the strength of the Indian economy. It plays crucial part by not only in providing food to people, but also supplying of raw material to industries and to export trade. 60% of the Indian population works in agriculture sector and however its contribution in GDP is only 20.6%. India agricultural growth continued to drop down from 4.70% in 1991 to 1% in 2003 (Source: agricoop.nic.in/Agristatistics). The seeds are most important component for farmers. Before globalisation, Indian farmers got seeds from state government institutions. The states were producing their own seeds and they were maintaining the good quality and lower prices for seeds. Even the private seed quality was very good as the seed market was well regulated. But with globalisation, the seed market has been opened to global agribusinesses and more than half of the government processing units have been closed in 2003 due to IMF deregulation guidelines. This had hit the farme rs very badly as due to open market the prices have raised sharply and bad quality seed has made its way to market. Moreover with the devaluation of Indian currency rupee in 1991, more and more farmers were attracted towards export and hence they started producing much more of cash crops like tobacco than traditional crops. Indian farmers are offered zero subsidiaries and very less help from government. The Indian government has taken no significant measures to negotiate with foreign companies to set up technologies for the farmers assistance. All these factors have led to decrease in the income of the farmers and have increased the rural debts. In 2000, the farmer suicides were registered to 12% of total suicides in the country. Industry: The globalisation has raised a high competition between the foreign companies and domestic companies. As the foreign products being better, people prefer to buy them instead of Indian ones. This has reduced significantly the amount of profit for Indian companies. The new technology has reduced the requirement of labor and thus resulted in job losses. No doubt that the effects have been both positive as well as negative but the Indian government should make such economic policies related to industries that are beneficial and not harmful. Human trafficking and increase in diseases like HIV are also the very high cost paid for globalisation. And the pity is that womens and childrens are among the most exposed to it. Conclusions Globalisation has provided India the opportunity to grow substantially. Though through globalisation all the economies are linked together and crisis in one have drastic effect on the others and recent events have confirmed so. Though India sailed through the crisis without being too affected due to its balanced and resilient macro structures but it has surely given India a wake up call to focus on the challenges and opportunities to shape its developing economy. Nevertheless, globalisation has definitely helped India to become a better economy, improve and unleash it potential. It has the ability and skills to adapt and change according to the flow of global market. In my opinion, for the betterment and the bright future of India it is imperative that India should go out and face this globalising world. I am certain that India of 2025 will be a different place. It will be much more leading force in the world economy, than it was 25 years ago or even at the start of the 21st century.

Analysis of Burns Poem A Red, Red Rose :: Burn Red Red Rose Essays

Analysis of Burn's Poem A Red, Red Rose 'A Red, Red Rose', was first published in 1794 in A Selection of Scots Songs, edited by Peter Urbani. Written in ballad stanzas, the verse - read today as a poem – pieces together conventional ideas and images of love in a way that transcends the "low" or non-literary sources from which the poem is drawn. In it, the speaker compares his love first with a blooming rose in spring and then with a melody "sweetly play'd in tune." If these similes seem the typical fodder for love-song lyricists, the second and third stanzas introduce the subtler and more complex implications of time. In trying to quantify his feelings - and in searching for the perfect metaphor to describe the "eternal" nature of his love - the speaker inevitably comes up against love's greatest limitation, "the sands o' life." This image of the hour-glass forces the reader to reassess of the poem's first and loveliest image: A "red, red rose" is itself an object of an hour, "newly sprung" only "in June" and afterw ard subject to the decay of time. This treatment of time and beauty predicts the work of the later Romantic poets, who took Burns's work as an important influence. 'A Red, Red Rose' is written in four four-line stanzas, or quatrains, consisting of alternating tetrameter and trimeter lines. This means that the first and third lines of each stanza have four stressed syllables, or beats, while the second and fourth lines have three stressed syllables. Quatrains written in this manner are called ballad stanzas. The ballad is a old form of verse adapted for singing or recitation, originating in the days when most poetry existed in spoken rather than written form. The typical subject matter of most ballads reflects folk themes important to common people: love, courage, the mysterious, and the supernatural. Though the ballad is generally rich in musical qualities such as rhythm and repetition, it often portrays both ideas and feelings in overwrought but simplistic terms. The dominant meter of the ballad stanza is iambic, which means the poem's lines are constructed in two-syllable segments, called iambs, in which the first syllable is unstressed and the second is stressed. As an example of iambic meter, consider the following line from the poem with the stresses indicated: That's sweet / ly play'd / in tune.

Use of Symbolism in Cynthia Ozick’s the Shawl:

In The Shawl, Cynthia Ozick uses descriptive details to engage the reader. The story describes the horror of Nazism. The setting of the story is a concentration camp. The three main characters are Rosa, who was a mother of two daughters, Stella who was fourteen and Magda who was fifteen months. The plot of the story surrounds a magic shawl. The shawl is a major part of the complication, climax and resolution of the story. The magic shawl is the only thing the three starving women have keeping them alive and eventually leads to their demise. The plot of The Shawl ends with a camp guard tossing the infant Magda onto an electrified fence. Ozick's use of symbolism is very important to the story. The author uses symbolism abundantly to help the reader envision the setting. In the beginning of the story, Ozick refers to the baby Magda as, â€Å"someone who is already a floating angel† (Jacobs 299). Ozick refers to Magda as an angel throughout the story, â€Å"smooth feathers of hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosa's coat† (Jacobs 300). Other symbolism within the story, talks of the shawl as the â€Å"milk of linen† (Jacobs 300). Beyond the concentration camp, outside of the steel fence, â€Å"there were green meadows speckled with dandelions and deep-colored violets: beyond them even father, innocent tiger lilies, tall, lifting their orange bonnets† (Jacobs 301). Past the steel fence was beauty or maybe heaven. , but not the poor conditions of the death camp. Of the three characters in The Shawl, Stella is a flat character. She is only part of the story to allow the author to get to the climax. The climax comes when Stella becomes cold, and takes the shawl for warmth. Again, the author uses symbolism, Stella is cold or cruel. Magda is the most dynamic character. She is presented to us first as a quite baby, who is hungry and does not cry. Magda simply sucks on the shawl. When her shawl is taken, she cries and walks wobbly into the yard. In the yard of the concentration camp, she is picked up and thrown by a guard to her death. Rosa is a flat character, she does not change throughout the story. As the mother of the two girls, she tries to keep her family from their impending death. When Magda is killed, she does not run into the yard, knowing she will be shot. **** There are false statements in this article. Stella is NOT Rosa's daughter, she is her niece. – Megan â€Å"Use of Symbolism in Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl. † 123HelpMe. com. 03 Apr 2010 .

Italian versus American Christmas Essay

Merry Christmas or Buon Natale! Let us all celebrate the birth of Christ. It is that time of year when family and friends come together to rejoice for the savior is born. It is when we the love is most felt between family and friends and even strangers. The voices of carolers add to the festivities of the season (Miles 359). The Christmas tradition takes its roots from Christianity. This is also the reason behind the non-celebration of Christmas in some countries, especially those which are non-Christian. Nevertheless, there are places like the United States and Italy where Christmas traditions are observed for the purpose of celebration, which transcends religious customs (Miles 359). As traditions dictate, Italians take turns drawing out a wrapped gift from an ornamental bowl which is called the urn of fate (Miles 359). As most Americans are Christians, holidays are encouraged during this time of year. This includes the tremendous amount of gift – giving and shopping (Barnett 144). Italians decorate their homes during Christmas time with a ceppo (tree of light) or l’albero di natale, their version of the traditional Christmas tree (Miles 359). It is a wooden frame shaped like a pyramid. Resembling a ladder it is formed by several layers of wooden shelves as support. The presepe is placed at the bottom of the ceppo. Candies, fruits and other presents occupy the upper shelves. The ceppo is adorned with miniature pennants, gilt pine cones and colored paper. Candles are placed on it and further topped by either a doll or a star to complete the look. The origin of the manger scene was in Italy. This is the reason why it has been an important part of the Italian Christmas tradition. Italian homes decorate their presepe or nativity scene as elaborately as they can afford it. Americans, on the other part of the globe adorn their homes with wreaths, mistletoes and Christmas trees too. The streets of New Mexico are lined with luminaires or candles in a bag full of sand during Christmas time. Houses with flat roof are also adorned with these. These serve to light the way for the newborn child. In Washington D. C., the first national living Christmas tree was planted way back in the year 1924. From then on, it has been the tradition of the President of the United States to turn on the ceremonial lights at Christmas. Going around with a star is characteristic of an Alaskan Christmas. A large star made out of bright colored paper is carried by boys and girls as they go door to door on Christmas day. They even bring lanterns on poles with them as they sing carols. Hospitable neighbors let them in for refreshments as young and old gather in observance of this joyful occasion at this time of the year (Barnett 144). If the Italians have their Babbo Natale, Americans know him to be Santa Claus. He is known in the United States as the fat man on red robe and black boots, riding on his sleigh. He slides down the chimney to leave his presents to the nice kids at Christmas time. Gift giving in Italy happens on the la festa dell’ Epifania or the Epiphany which falls on the 6th of January. Babbo Natale makes his rounds on la vigilia di natale or Christmas Eve. In other parts of the region, he is known as La Befana, an Italian folk character. The gift – giver of Christmas gifts in other areas is believed to be St. Lucia. On other places, he is known to be Gesu’ Bambino or the Child Jesus (Miles 359 – 360). The United States is a cultural melting pot indeed. In this part of the world, different customs and traditions blend in harmony. It is during Christmas time when this cultural diversity is very much evident. Nevertheless, the combination of different cultures eventually produced a distinctly American taste although traces of diverse roots of these traditions are somehow still evident. The most common among these influences are British in origin. The Americans find a way to make Santa Claus feel at home. This is the reason why they created homes for him across the country. In one of the villages at Torrington, Connecticut, one can find a real life Santa, along with his elves. At Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, New York a permanent home for Santa Claus was designed by Arto Monaco. This house replaced the reindeer for a blacksmith. It even has a post office and a chapel in its overall design. Every year, about 100,000 people visits the Monaco designed Santa home (Barnett 144). Italian kids are not out reciting poems around the neighborhood, they lovingly write letters to their parents during Christmas while American kids list the things they would love to receive as presents from Santa Claus (Miles 359; Barnett 144). The holiday season does not start and end on the 25th of December as far as the Italian calendar is concerned. The Italians practice certain customs and traditions to mark this season. On la vigilia di natale or Christmas Eve, an elaborate meal called the pronzo delta vigilia is served. Here seafood soup or stew, fish, cannoli (Italian pastry) and other treats are served but no meat included. When il natale (Christmas) falls, the whole family feast with panettone or the Christmas cake together with other meals (Miles 359). Potatoes, meat, onions and beans are boiled over campfires for a Christmas feast at New Mexico. To cup the meal, buns, breads and donuts are served with coffee. Polish Americans have their own unique holiday tradition. On the morning of Christmas Eve, no meat is served. However, when the first star appears over Wigiliais, meat can already be served for dinner. The main features of the meal are sweet meats made from poppy seeds and honey, various fish, mushroom, cabbage and beetroot soup. The head of the house gives out an oplatek which is an oblong wafer. The nativity scene is imprinted on this oplatek. A piece of the oplatek is broken off as each family member including their friends who are present exchange wishes for one another. As tradition dictates, there is a place set especially for Mary and his son in case they come in search for a place to stay for the night. Hay is spread on the floor and under the tablecloth reminiscent of the manger where Christ the savior was born (Barnett 144). Carolers singing Christmas hymns provide entertainment in America. As compared to their fellow Americans, Hungarian Americans place a high premium on church services and carols during Christmas Eve. On this day, they gather around the Christmas tree as they do their gift giving when the first star of the evening appears. Right after the gift giving seasonal foods are served. The rest of the family feasts on poppy seed, walnuts, biscuits, topped with aniseed, caraway or sesame seeds and dumplings. The Italian version of this is the Zampognari and Pifferai. Flute players and bagpipers from the Abruzzi Mountains of Rome are dressed in sheepskin vests, dark cloaks, white stockings and knee – high breeches. They travel all the way to religious shrines to entertain the crowd (Barnett 144). We may not speak one language, we may not share one religion, we may not observe the same ritual but December 25 means the same thing for all of us. It is the day when the savior was born. It is the day when the promise of salvation was made flesh. On that night at a manger in Bethlehem, Jesus came to the world. In all humility, he lived his life on earth. In this light, let us remember that while there is nothing wrong with extravagant celebrations during Christmas, there is a much deeper meaning behind all these trappings. There is more to the food served and the gifts given and received. It is the birth of Christ, and this is the perfect reason to celebrate. In all certainty, wherever in the world you are in at Christmas time, whichever way you celebrate it, one truth remains the same, it is the most wonderful time of the year (Maloney NP). Works Cited Barnett, James Harwood. The American Christmas: A Study in National Culture. New Hampshire: Ayer Publishing, 1976. â€Å"Christmas in United States. † 2008. TheHolidaySpot. com. Retrieved February 21, 2008, from http://www.theholidayspot.com/

equal right for women essays

equal right for women essays EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN- WELL NOT IN THE AD WORLD Women have demanded equal rights for themselves in all aspects of their lives- in the voting system, in business and even in the home. Yet they are consistently bombarded by stereotypes through the media, which reflect them as not being intellectually, and emotionally equal to men. The role most women play in adverts has not improved much over the years. If you think of all the adverts you see in one day, how many women are shown as being unattractive? The main reason for eight out of twelve women being in adverts is so that their bodies can be used to help sell the product. The odd advert that does show an ordinary looking woman is one advertising something unromantic like a washing-up powder. Women in most adverts are represented as having blonde hair, being between the age of 20 and 30 and exceedingly slim and attractive. This promotes the ideology that women should be blonde, young, slim and attractive. As images like this are constantly being shown to us, most women feel pressurized to conform to them. As the single woman has became readily accepted in the society, producers now tend to show more women as being single. More women have active roles in adverts now, so they no longer just sit/ stand there looking pretty whilst having no apparent connection with the product. They are now actually shown doing something for instance using the product, with the help of a male (of course) if it's a complicated technical product e.g. in big car ads. In most adverts women are no longer shown in the kitchen, they are usually shown outdoors, and then are mostly either in the local supermarket as in the surf adverts or in a scenic place like in some deodorant adverts. This is done to show that women still do most of the housework and that they are more in touch with nature and are therefore more delicate then men. Adverts do not tend to show women as having a specific occup ...