Thursday, October 31, 2019
Design of an Enterprise Level Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Design of an Enterprise Level Business - Essay Example An Enterprise's need for tighter financial controls1, more consistent data2, support for streamlined sourcing and procurement processes3, a single data source for product or services data4, support for closed-loop sales and operations planning processes5, portfolio approach6 collectively points to the requirement of a software system named Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). It's a comprehensive system capable of breaking down barriers between departments within an enterprise and brings together various pockets such as sales, production, finance, human resources, purchasing and shipping - to unify access to the up-to-date information to produce a consistent, single version of the truth on Talking simply about organisation and its processes isn't understanding them. To get a deeper understanding of the processes, one needs the right information for capturing process detail. It's in the heads of the people who, day in and out, are living the process (Ben B Graham, 2004). This is where Ben Graham process mapping methods steals the picture. The symbols used call attention to value-added work, non-value-added work, work inspections (controls), movement of work from one location to another and delays (when nothing is happening). No other mapping technique provides such a transparency, decision making support and support for analysis that is provided by Ben Graham Process Map. Another such is the 'IDEF' methodology (Integrated DEFinition language). It frees the process from arguing about process modelling taxonomies. IDEF suite provides functional, information, data, process, object oriented and ontology modelling to map business processes. The 'BPMN' (Business Process Mode lling Notation) provides a set of graphical elements, Swimlanes is most popular among them, which facilitates the developers in implementing the technology that will perform those processes. For a close comparison, Graham stands taller than the rest (See figure 1). Documenting the design requires a right tool. It should provide clarity without being overly simplistic and provide detail without clutter. There are a lot of flowcharting tools which provide symbol sets but unless it's wrapped in a methodology, it's of no use. The 'Process Developer Enterprise Edition' is a mapping tool for internal activity, flowchart mapping and document control. It helps an organization to meet ISO 9000:2000 standards. Another very useful tool is the 'FlowBreeze Flowchart Software'. It is 100% MS Office integrated tool for making flow charts faster and easier. It lets you just type the text and converts it into flowchart shapes, adds flow lines, and formats the drawing. It is in accordance with Sarbanes Oxley. The 'Stylus Studio XML' Enterprise Edition is another mapping tool with IDE features, XML Editing, Debugging, Testing, Graham vs IDEF vs BPMN Features G I B Displays All the Items that are involved in the process / detailed Shows step by step processing at the task level- the work people do Shows processing at a function level Shows relationships between items Shows multiple related flows Displays single-line flow Identifies WHO
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Resilient Rowers of the 1936 Olympics Essay Example for Free
Resilient Rowers of the 1936 Olympics Essay ââ¬Å"In an age when Americans enjoy dozens of cable sports channels, when professional athletes often command salaries in the tens of millions of dollarsitââ¬â¢s hard to fully appreciate how important the rising prominence of the University of Washingtonââ¬â¢s crew was to the people of Seattle in 1935â⬠(Brown 173). As seen by this quote, America is a much different place than what it was in the 1930s. The times have changed significantly. In todayââ¬â¢s day and age we have it all too good. The world we live in is one of leisure and not nearly as much hard work as there used to be. Back in the early 20th century the people had it pretty rough and dealt with many frightening problems of their generation such as World Wars and the Great Depression. The nonâ⬠fiction novel, Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown, takes place in this turbulent time period of US history that started around the 1930s. The book is the story of how the University of Washingtonââ¬â¢s crew won the 1935 Berlin Olympics. The main character, Joe Rantz, and his team start off as an inexperienced freshman crew at the university and worked their way to the top amongst many obstacles. The story is one of great heroism and persistence that takes place during the heart of the USââ¬â¢s struggles. The lives of the great Olympic athletes were affected by this time period in several ways. The Great Depression greatly amplified the athleteââ¬â¢s drive to succeed as well as their great sense of patriotism, and the less complicated technology of the time allowed them to invest wholeheartedly in the handcrafted vessel in which they rowed. The book begins in 1933 in Seattle on a gloomy day. It was the fourth year of the Great Depression and at this point it seemed like it would last forever. ââ¬Å"Nobody could say when, or if, the hard times would ever endâ⬠(Brown 9). The time period brought on a bleak, depressing, and failing society. Howard Zinn, in his article called Selfâ⬠Help in Hard Times, provided a great illustration of what the time was like for people of the US through the quote, ââ¬Å"After the crash, the economy was stunned, barely moving. Over five thousand banks closed and huge numbers of businesses, unable to get money, closed too. Those that continued laid off employees and cut the wages of those who remained, again and again. Industrial production fell by 50 percent, and by 1933 perhaps 15 millionwere out of workâ⬠(Zinn). This description by Howard Zinn reallyà paints a picture of the turmoil that was occurring in the US during the depression. The depression caused people to be afraid of the future because of all the uncertainty that came with it. This was especially true for Joe Rantz. Joe came from an extremely poor family and had been hit hard by the depression. He knew that if he wanted to rise above the depression and the sad life he lived, he would have to make the cut for the University of Washington crew team. Joe knew all too well that ââ¬Å"failing at this rowing business would mean, at best, returning to a small, bleak town on the Olympic Peninsula with nothing ahead of him but the prospect of living alone in a cold, empty, halfâ⬠built houseâ⬠(Brown 13). It was this that motivated Joe and it was this that pushed him to succeed. The Great Depression sparked the fear of an uncertain future into Joe, which is demonstrated by Brown in the quote,â⬠Whether you were a banker or a baker, a homemaker or homeless, it was with you night and dayâ⬠â⬠â⬠a terrible, unrelenting uncertainty about the future, a feeling that the ground could drop out from under you for good at any moment,â⬠(Brown 9). This fear affected his life tremendously and is ultimately what caused Joeââ¬â¢s drive to win an Olympic gold medal. As well as serving as a motivator for the crew team, the Great Depression also sparked much patriotism into the lives of not only the rowers, but the whole nation. Coming off of WWI the US still had a strong sense of nationalism amongst its people. Once the depression hit and hard times came around, the people of the United States instead of losing their sense of nationalism, held on to it tighter and believed that America would recover back into the prospering nation it once was. For the crew team of the University of Washington, times were challenging however they were proud to be living in America because, as demonstrated by the following quote, they knew that other nations didnââ¬â¢t have the freedoms that they had: ââ¬Å"In a few days, he would be sailing under her on his way to a place where as he understood it, liberty was not a given, where it seemed to be under some kind of assault. The realization that was settling on all the boys settled on Joeâ⬠(Brown 289). This place they were about to sail off to was Germany. Germany at the time didnââ¬â¢t have any of the freedoms that America did and was under the control of Hitler. The quote, ââ¬Å"They were now representative of something much larger than themselvesââ¬âa way of life, a shared set of values. Liberty was perhaps the most fundamental of those values. But the things that held them togetherââ¬âà trust in each other, mutual respect, humility, fair play, watching out for one anotherââ¬âthose were also a part of what America meant to all of themâ⬠, (Brown 289) reveals the crew teamââ¬â¢s feelings about their great American nation. It shows the true level of patriotism that the crew possessed and their deep understanding and respect for the values of America. These true feelings of patriotism were brought forth by the Great Depression and affected the lives of the Olympic athletes by motivating them even more to win the gold for their nation. Another effect that the time period had on the lives of the Olympic Athletes was caused by the lack of advanced technology in the row boat industry. The time period in which the story was based was during a time in which many things were still crafted by hand and not by machine. The handcraftsmanship of the era carried over into the rowing industry. George Pocock, an expert boat builder, designed and built the Husky Clipper, the winning Olympic boat. George Pocockââ¬â¢s expertise is illuminated by the quote, ââ¬Å"A large part of Pocockââ¬â¢s genius as a boatbuilder was that he managed to excel both as a maker of machines and as an artistâ⬠(Brown 136). Due to his expertise, the boat became something more important than it seemed. The 9 crew members feel in love with the boat and really became a part of it. Joe began to develop a true connection to the boat when he heard George Pocock describe the wood in the following way: ââ¬Å"The wood taught us about survival, about overcoming difficulty, about prevailing over adversity, but it also taught us something about the underlying reason for surviving in the first place. Something about infinite beauty, about underlying grace, about things larger than ourselves. About the reason we were all hereâ⬠(Brown 214). The values taught to them through the craftsmanship of the boat aided them in victory and taught them to persevere and push through. Joe Rantz and his eight crew members worked relentlessly to achieve a gold medal at the 1935 Berlin Olympics. By all accounts this was a huge accomplishment because rowing is not only physically demanding but also mentally challenging as seen through the quote from the article entitled Me Time, ââ¬Å"On the one hand they (rowers) must possess enormous selfâ⬠confidence, strong egos, and titanic willpower. And yet, no other sport demands and rewards complete abandonment of the selfâ⬠(Crosby). Many factors influenced their success including a strong desire to escape the desolate state of poverty brought on by the Great Depression, a heightened sense ofà patriotism, and a great appreciation for their rowing vessel that was meticulously handcrafted. They achieved many successes and experienced failure as well, along the road to Olympic victory. However it was not until the last few hundred meters of the race that Joe felt truly at one with his teammates. Joe finally was able to trust his teammates, which is what he was searching for all along. The true prize of his journey, however, wasnââ¬â¢t really the gold olympic medal. It was the friendships he gained along the way. Works Cited Brown, Daniel. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. New York: Penguin, 2014. Print. Crosby, Josh. ââ¬Å"Me Time.â⬠Rowing Magazine Apr. 2014: 61. Web. Zinn, Howard. ââ¬Å"Selfà Help in Hard Times.â⬠In A Peopleââ¬â¢s History of the United States, 377à 406. New York : Harper Collins, 2003.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Background Of Rolls Royce Information Technology Essay
Background Of Rolls Royce Information Technology Essay Information Technology now a day is growing in rapid pace. Almost every sector and the activities in this world are being attached with the Information Technology. Business organisations cannot survive in this competitive world without using some form of technology however, they must have to use technology strategically in order to keep their existence for a long term. In this essay I am going to present the case of one of a large, power engine manufacturing organisation ie, Rolls Royce. This essay will discuss about the scenario of Rolls Royce with its system before the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, why the organisation felt need for implementation of ERP and what are the business advantages they are able to get with the strategic implementation of ERP and how. Introduction: Todays business organisations find themselves in a more vibrant and competitive environment. Business leaders have responded to these by laying more emphasis on technology so as to continue with smooth and efficient running of businesses and gaining competitive advantages. Computer based information systems have been very popular in recent years, organisations like Rolls Royce have stake most of the business operations on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). ERP is an information system that integrates financial, material and human resources of an organisation, it also facilitate information flow between different business functions and connection to external stake holders. This paper will seek to desert the implementation of ERP by Rolls Royce, understand the business needs of ERP, and last but not the least the aftermath implementation of ERP. Background of Rolls Royce: Rolls-Royce is a multinational company which manufactures power solutions for the customers in aerospace, marine and energy markets. The founders of this company are Henry Royce and Charles Rolls. The brand name Rolls Royce came after their surnames. The company came into existence about 100 years before. It is first established with the intension of manufacturing the best car in the world. Later on Rolls Royce organisation slowly expands its business in various markets, its name and brand was extended and now it has its manufacturing industries situated in 20 different countries and has its customers in more than 120 countries.à [1]à Now it has became one of the worlds largest power engine manufacturing companies. One of the main reasons behind their success is the strategic use of technology to compete in this business world. Though its main headquarter is in UK 45 % of their employees are based outside the UK. They are running a civil aerospace business from UK with emerging capabilities in Germany and the US. They are growing up day by day. All the transactions, interdepartmental coordination, coordination with their supplier, consumers and customers are maintained well and effectively and it is possible for them only by using modern technologies to communicate, gather and process the information. [Rolls-Royce Group plc, Annual report 2009]. They look forward to their customers need for the next 30 to 40 years and do research in the technology to stay competitive. They are having good market strength with many products and many customers. It produces goods as well as provides services to its customers in fact, services are the most important part of their business it accounts for nearly above half of their revenue every year. So there is the great importance of real time data management which enables them to be predictive and they can immediately react to the issues related to the engine that comes for the service.à [2]à Information System: Information Technology (IT) and Information System (IS) are part of each other. Information system is the computerized program which collects data, processes it and gives the useful information. This information can be used for various purposes to add up the value in the business. It can be used for report generation, planning, decision making, business operation and which further will lead the organisation to obtain competitive advantage. Figure: Strategic Frameworkà [3]à Information technology has become one of the largest components where organisations are investing their capital. Most of the business organisation are wisely investing large amount of their money in information systems. The wise choice of investment can outperform competitors and if it was the poor choice then it will be nothing more than wasting their valuable capital. [Laudon (2006)]. Today the world is getting smaller and smaller this is because of the information technology and hence competition in the businesses is rising day by day. So to gain the competitive advantage, strategic use of information system is the must no matter it is smaller business organisation or the larger. According to Brooks (2003), adding value to the business means to extend products, decrease the cost, improve the quality of services and products and so on. The reason for adding value to the business is to attract more customers, and keep organisation in a better place in the market. The use of Information technology and information system has become the efficient and more common way for adding value to the organisations of todays business world. Only the use of IT system is not sufficient to add value and to take competitive advantage of it, the strategic use of IT System is the most. According to WU J (n.d.), ERP system is such a strategic tool, which integrates information and infor mation-based processes within and across functional areas in an organization. Rolls Royce was using information system since long. It was using 1500 systems before using ERP (SAP R/3), many of those systems were built internally by Rolls-Royce in last two decades. Those systems were costly to operate and not easy to maintain. They didnt give precise and steady result because these systems were not centralised and using the values from different systems will give inconsistent result. Looking at all these problems Rolls-Royce formed a partnership with electronic data services (EDS) in 1996 and EDS was responsible for the development of ERP for Rolls Royce [Yusuf Y, Gunasekaran A and Abthorpe MS (2004)]. Though there are many implementation difficulties such as cultural difficulties (Training of new system to the employees), business difficulties (modification of working to fit in the ERP) and technical problem (transferring of previous records into the new system and to reach the consistent stage), Rolls Royce needs to implement the ERP because they knew the nec essity of the centralised, robust, accessible and accurate system to gain the competitive advantage and to improve their supply chain. ERP combines all departments together into a single system in a single computer. It uses internet technology and it can be accessed by authorised department and authorised personnel anytime from anywhere so interdepartmental communication can be done easily and efficiently and hence optimizes the time and the cost. Impacts of ERP Implementation in Rolls Royce: According to the annual report (2009) of Rolls Royce Our process excellence and improvement journeys continued throughout 2009. Our joint venture engine overhaul facilities, Hong Kong Aero Engine Services Limited (HAESL) and Singapore Aero Engine Services Limited (SAESL), were the latest to benefit from the rollout of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and SAP process systems. Rolls Royce has implemented and is making use of information systems very efficiently and effectively that is why they are in the apex of success today. Rolls Royce is making use of ERP for communication, decision making, to manage their business operations, improve value chain, to reduce competitive forces and as a whole to gain competitive advantage. We will now discuss one by one how Management Information System (MIS) like ERP will help the business organisation to gain the advantages maintained above and we will see the impact of using ERP in the Rolls Royce. Communication One of the critical factors which lead the organisation towards its success is the effective communication (intra-organisation and inter-organisation). Employer and managers of todays business organisation must have to be familiar with the effective communication techniques for the success of the organisation. And effective communication has become an important tool for the organisations success. ERP boost the communication between the functional boundaries within the organisation. Rolls Royce is efficiently and effectively using this advantage provided by ERP. Rolls Royce is also a service provider to its customers. When customers demand services to be delivered in more timely and perfect way, organisations must overcome functional boundaries to meet this challenge. Rolls Royce is widely spread in different countries and all of its organisational functions are not carried out in a single place. ERP helps the effective communication within different departments and between their suppliers, customers as well as with their partner organisations. And this obviously adds value to the organisation by reducing the research time, providing the accurate and the optimized reports and minimizing the communication cost. Lets take an example, Rolls Royce uses Suppliermanager website to pull together all the information their supplier needs. They are using SABRe which shows the external part of the Rolls-Royce Quality Management System, and is applicable to all its suppliers or partners who are providing products or services that effect upon Rolls-Royce and its customer requirements.à [4]à By using these strategy of using information system and providing the information, Rolls Royce is minimizing the cost and time for the communication. Decision Making Decision Making is one of the important factors in every business organisation. Again the decision is made with the help of report generated by the Information System. One of the major advantages of using good information system like ERP is that it increases the speed of decision making within an organisation and provides the circumstances to make faultless decisions in strategic, managerial as well as operational level. Lets take the case of Rolls Royce, the legacy systems used in Rolls Royce did not provide accurate, consistent and accessible data that was required for good and timely decision-making and performance assessment. Those old systems mostly did not fit to the modern manufacturing environment. But in the ERP system a data warehouse (integrated collection of data) is created. Data is stored centrally and is extracted from different databases. The data is monitored, edited and then finally standardised for future use. The data is kept in a logical and user friendly format. It also allows nontechnical users to queries the databases which allow and provide the management information for business intelligence and helps Rolls Royce for operational, managerial and strategic decision making [Yusuf Y, Gunasekaran A and Abthorpe MS (2004)]. Business Process Management Business Process is the set of activities carried out by a business organisation that is initiated by an event, transforms information, materials, or business commitments, and produces an output [Harmon (2003)]. Business Process Management is the process of managing the activities of business process. One of the major benefits of using ERP is the business process automation. So, ERP can be very useful for the management of business process, in fact, ERP itself defines the business process because the organisations business process is integrated in the ERP system. Rolls Royce had also faced difficulties to change their business process in order to fit the SAP. But they need to implement the ERP to automate their business process, to access accurate management information in less time and to add value in their supply chain. Value Chain Figure: Value Chain in an Organisation [adapted from: Porter ME (1985); Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, Free Press] The value chain model includes the exact activities in business organisation where we can apply the competitive strategies [Porter ME (1985)] and where we can implement the information system effectively to gain competitive advantages. These activities of the organisation defined by value chain model are distinguished in two different categories Primary activities and Supportive activities Primary activities are those activities which are involved in the process of production and distribution of the organisations product and the services. Those activities shown by the value chain model are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing and services. Inbound logistics define the receiving and storing of the materials for the production of the goods. Operations define the process to convert the inputs to the end products. Outbound logistics define the storing and distribution of end product. Sales and marketing describes the promotion and selling of the outbound logistics and last but not the least is the services which includes after sale repair and maintenance of the end products. Supportive activities support for the successful outcome of the primary activities which includes; infrastructure of organisation (administration and management), human resources (recruitment, hiring and training of employees), technology (technology used for the impro vement of product and production process) and procurement (gathering inputs for the organisation) [Laudon (2006)]. ERP system connects every department of the organisation with each other so every activity can be monitored at any time. The information about those activities provided by ERP system is used to find the point in the value chain where the cost can be lowered and value can be added. Moreover, it can be used to tie up the organisations supporting bodies such as suppliers, customers, partner organisations and distributers and the value chain of the organisation will be linked with the value chain of its supporting bodies. The use of the information system for the linkage between value chains will enable the organisation to reduce the cost for inventory and to response the customers demand promptly. Competitive Forces Figure: Competitive Forces [adapted from: Porter ME, Harvard Business review, January 2008] According to Porters competitive force model there are five major forces that are acting upon any business organisation which tries to diminish the organisations performance and these forces must be made ineffective by the organisation in order to survive in the market. These five forces are: Possibility of new entrance of competitor Bargaining power of customer Bargaining power of supplier Substitute products or services Position of the existing competitors Different strategies can be applied to reduce these forces. And use of information system can make ease for the organisation to determine the strategy that should be applied in order to gain the competitive advantage. Rolls Royce has very low risk of new entrants. Because of their brand name and their well establishment make hard for the possible competitor to compete with Rolls Royce. The high initial investment cost will also discourage the threat of new entrants into this market. Rolls-Royce collects real-time data of their engines which are operating all around the world. By analysing, sharing and acting upon this information, they can optimise the performance of their engines in service [Rolls-Royce Group plc, Annual report 2009]. They have such a good information system to take care of the services needed by their customers, which reduces the bargaining power of customers and threat of substitute product and services. Information system in Rolls Royce and their direct communication with the suppliers are also helping them to maintain good relationship with their suppliers minimising their bargaining power. Rolls Royce is operating its business in a very competitive market in response to its competitors such as Pratt and Whitney, General Electric, CFM International. That is why they invest large amount of money for research and technology to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Rolls Royce has developed a balanced business portfolio and continues to maintain a steady focus on improvement in operational performance by modernisation of its facilities and focusing on managing the costs of operations and products. Continual investment in technology and strong protection of intellectual property, together with the establishment of long-term customer relationships, allow the Rolls Royce to make its products and services different from its competitors [Rolls-Royce Group plc, Annual Report 2009]. One of the examples for their investment in technology is the implementation of ERP removing their old systems investing huge amount of money in it. Competitive Advantage In a simple sentence, we can define competitive advantage in the business term as the advantage gained by a company in the market competition with their competitors. Any organisation can gain competitive advantage over their competitor by the following means: Reducing their production cost and then the cost of their product, Improving the quality of their product, Providing good after sale services, By differentiating their products from the product of their competitors, Growth of the company Companies that successfully alter their business around IT can achieve a significant window of competitive advantage [Tapscott D (2004)]. This doesnt mean that all those companies who use IT and IS in their business processes can gain competitive advantage but, the organisation who smartly and strategically use IT and IS will certainly gain the competitive advantage. Rolls Royce is operating in the market which wants them to deliver increased value in terms of cost, quality and delivery performance. So they always try to minimize the cost, increase the quality of their product and promptness in services. Management information system like ERP implemented in Rolls Royce provides the relevant information which directly or indirectly helping them to achieve those advantages. ERP benefits Rolls Royce to control the business operations and helps costs reductions. It is used for real time data management which also helps them to provide good and on time service to their customers. For instance, real time data management enables them to be more predictive they can know when engines are going to come along and they can provide the exact down time for the aircraft and the maintenance. According to the article by Ashford W (2007), the CIO of Rolls Royce, Mr Jonathan Mitchell states that We have traditionally operated factories independently, but the standa rdisation of systems and processes means we can now operate more effectively at the global scale. ERP is the integrated system for business processes so, moving of the factories, expanding the business and production throughout the globe is not so difficult. They have got a different department for the research purpose only, which always works on how to add value to the products? They are trying to make their product different from other competitors by inventing the engines that produce less pollution and without the processed information provided to them it wont be possible for them to carry out these tasks. Conclusion: The niche behind the success of Rolls Royce in its market place is the implementation of the latest technologies and the information system in its business processes, which provide a message to those who think that, investment in the IT and the IS is nothing but just waste of the organisations capital. Rolls Royce were using many systems since long however, looking at the feasibility and importance of ERP in strategic decision making, business process and connecting their departments as well as business functions, they invested large amount of money for developing and implementing ERP system replacing the old systems. The smart integration and implementation of Information System and Information Technology in a business organisation and its processes will lead it to the competitive advantage in its industry. Its very difficult to find any organisation which has faced up to the failure in spite of strategic implementation of IS in its business processes.
Friday, October 25, 2019
Swirl of Colors :: essays papers
Swirl of Colors Sandra Cisneros has spent a lifetime trying to discover her own literary voice, only to be drowned out by the mostly white and mostly white voices that she imitated but never identified with. The only daughter in a family with six sons, Cisneros was often the "odd-woman-out-forever" (Ganz 21) early on in life. It was not until she was enrolled in the Iowa Writers Workshop that she finally discovered that her experience as a woman and a Chicana in a male dominated world was the voice that was uniquely hers. Cisneros was influenced by her family's constant travels between Mexico and Chicago. Cisneros never had the opportunity to make friends since she was seldom in one place for very long, nor did she have any sisters to confide and identify with. When her family finally settled in a small red house in Chicago, Cisneros had a home and a sense of permanence that she had previously never known. But it was not the house she had dreamed of nor been promised by her father. She had always thought of a house with a green lawn, white picket fence, and a bathroom for every person. Instead she got a dilapidated bungalow in an impoverished inner-city neighborhood. Cisneros described the house as "an ugly little house, bright red as if holding its breath" (Ganz 22). It was this house that inspired her first and most successful novel, The House on Mango Street. Cisneros' writing has been shaped by her experiences, which have given her a perspective and voice very different from traditional American writers, such as Poe, Thoreau, and Emerson. These are the writers that have helped comprise the literary cannon of the United States for nearly two hundred years. She has something to say that they do not know about. The House on Mango Street is an elegant literary piece, somewhere between fiction and poetry, that explores issues that are important to her: feminism, love, oppression, and religion (Mathias 4). In addition to addressing these issues, Cisneros is also propelling Chicana literature into the larger macrocosmic white male club that governs the United States (Lucero-Trujillo 621). One of the tools utilized by Cisneros to achieve these goals is the use of symbolism in her writing. The House on Mango Street reads more as poetry than as a narrative. This is accomplished through the liberal use of color throughout the vignettes. Nearly every passage in this book contains reference to color. Specifically then, it is the symbolic use of color that defines this novel. Even the title of the book brings to mind the
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Humanities Chap 14
1. This German Augustinian friar made the first dramatic act of the Protestant Reformation by issuing the invitation to debate indulgences issued in 1517 in Wittenberg. A) Luther B) Knox C) Wyclif D) Hus Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 2. In which country was John Calvin the leader of the Reformation? A) Geneva B) Zurich C) Vienna D) Madrid Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 3. Which of these countries remained faithful to Roman Catholicism during the Reformation? A) England B) Sweden C) Austria D) Switzerland Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):C 4.This man translated the Bible into German in 1521. A) Luther B) Erasmus C) James I D) Zwingli Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 5. This group created the Index of forbidden books in the 1500s. A) Roman Catholic Church B) Anabaptists C) Puritans D) Calvinists Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 6. Our modern form of the essay is rooted in the short meditative writings of this author. A) More B) Montaigne C) Cervantes D) Petrarch Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):B 7. Much of Durer's greatest work is done in this medium. A) oil painting B) woodcut C) fresco D) watercolorPoints Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):B 8. Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights is an example of a: A) fresco. B) watercolor. C) oil painting. D) triptych. Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):D 9. This artist is best known for his paintings of peasant life in the 1560s. A) Bruegel B) Bernini C) Rubens D) Giotto Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 10. The type of speech is delivered by an actor alone on stage or unheard by others and is used to reveal the character's inner feelings. A) soliloquy B) burin C) requiem D) aria Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 11.This artist painted portraits of prospective brides for England's Henry VIII. A) Hilliard B) Holbein the Younger C) Grunewald D) Durer Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):B 12. To whom is ââ¬Å"A Mighty Fortress I s Our Godâ⬠most frequently attributed? A) Zwingli B) Calvin C) Knox D) Luther Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):D 13. This man first introduced the printing press into England. A) Bosch B) Calvin C) Durer D) Caxton Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):D 14. What term is used to identify the spectators who stood in the pit as they viewed a performance of an Elizabethan play?A) groundlings B) soliloquies C) burins D) treatises Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 15. Which language was used in written form for the first time in translating the Bible? A) Greek B) Sanskrit C) Latin D) Finnish Points Earned:0. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):D 16. To which nation of the British Isles did John Knox spread Calvinism? A) Ireland B) Wales C) England D) Scotland Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):D 17. The burin is associated with which artistic technique? A) woodcut B) fresco C) triptych D) watercolor Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):A 8. Which country is m ost closely associated with Martin Luther's initiation of the Protestant Reformation? A) England B) Italy C) Germany D) Spain Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):C 19. This artist is best known for his miniatures, small portraits often painted in watercolors. A) Durer B) Grunewald C) Hilliard D) Holbein the Younger Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):C 20. This Polish astronomer asserted that the planets revolve around the sun rather than the earth. A) Galileo B) Copernicus C) Newton D) Erasmus Points Earned:5. 0/5. 0 Correct Answer(s):B
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Earning Money in the Beginning Readers and Chapter Books Market
Earning Money in the Beginning Readers and Chapter Books Market Writing beginning readers and chapter books has been the bread and butter of my career. Over the years, Iââ¬â¢ve written more than 400 beginning reader stories that have been published in a variety of formats including a bestselling book with Scholastic Teaching Resources, 25 Read and Write Mini-Books That Teach Word Families. This book of 25 reproducible beginning reader stories has sold over 250,000 copies to date. If youââ¬â¢d like to try your hand in this field that is full of variety and fun, here is an overview of some of the opportunities available. Trade Book MarketDr. Seuss invented beginning readers in the trade book market with his book, The Cat in the Hat. Since then most of the big publishing houses have developed their own line of beginning readers. This market is tight, but not impossible to break into. For example, if youââ¬â¢re represented The Educational MarketTeachers as well as homeschooling parents use beginning readers in the form of mini-plays, mini-books, and reproducible stories. They can photocopy these and put them in the hands of their students to help them learn how to read. Visit your local teacherââ¬â¢s supply store to look for publishers such as Creative Teaching Press who publish books of reproducible beginning readers for teachers. Search on Amazon see more examples of their stories using the ââ¬Å"Look Insideâ⬠feature. The ESL MarketThere is a variety of opportunity to earn income writing for the English as a Second Language (ESL) market. Publishers for this market need beginning reader materials in a wide range of formats for students from preschool through adult. To learn more about exciting opportunities available to writers of all levels, explore sites such as: TESOL at www.tesol.orgESL Magazine at www.eslmag.comELT Journal at http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/ Readers TheaterWith the nation-wide focus on teaching children to read along with the development of the Common Core State Standards, publishers are seeking to provide resources such as readers theater plays for educators to use. Readers theater plays can be read aloud while students sit in their seats and donââ¬â¢t require a stage, costumes, or a director. Publishers such as Libraries Unlimited and Lerner are often on the lookout for adding more of these book titles to their product line. Childrenââ¬â¢s MagazinesMany childrenââ¬â¢s magazines feature some type of beginning reader story. From rebuses to repetitive stories to readers theater, there are a variety of formats you can submit to magazines in order to start gaining experience writing for and building published credits in the beginning readers market. When I first started writing for the beginning readers and chapter book market, I didnââ¬â¢t know the first thing about the opportunities available or the techniques needed to write a manuscript or land a contract. Yet writing for this market became a solid source of income over my career. If I can learn how to experience success, you can, too! Explore the possibilities. Go ahead and give this market a try.
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