Descartes First Meditation Essay - 1328 Words

Descartes First Meditation Rene Descartes decision to shatter the molds of traditional thinking is still talked about today. He is regarded as an influential abstract thinker; and some of his main ideas are still talked about by philosophers all over the world. While he wrote the Meditations, he secluded himself from the outside world for a length of time, basically tore up his conventional thinking; and tried to come to some conclusion as to what was actually true and existing. In order to show that the sciences rest on firm foundations and that these foundations lay in the mind and not the senses, Descartes must begin by bringing into doubt all the beliefs that come to him by the senses. This is done in the first of six†¦show more content†¦He does this by attacking straightaway those principals which support everything [he] once believed.(Pg60) He decides that he must not try to show that all of his opinions are false, which is perhaps something [he] could never accomplish(Pg59) but rather he should withhold [his] assent no less carefully from opinions that are not completely certain and indubitable that [he] would from those that are patently false.(Pg.59) By doing this he will tear down all the false ideologies that he holds, and be subject to only the opinions that he can prove to be absolutely and necessarily true. In the first meditation, Concerning those things that can be called into doubt, Descartes main goal is to distinguish what it is he can take to be true, and what supposed truths hold even the smallest degree of doubt. When he reviews all of his opinions he concludes eventually [he] is forced to admit that there is nothing among the things [he]believed to be true which it is not permissable to doubt--and not out of frivolity or lack of forethought, but for valid and considered reasons. Thus [he] must be no less careful to withhold assent henceforth even from these beliefs then [he] would from those that are patently false, if [he wishes] to find anything certain.(Pg62) At the beginning of Descartes meditations, he finds that there is really no concrete pillars of knowledge to base the foundations of his supposedShow MoreRelatedDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1318 Words   |  6 PagesPhilosophical Questions November 2, 2017 Cogito Ergo Sum Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy and his questioning of our existence in reality is a question which philosophers have tackled throughout time. 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Then I will go on to explain how it isRead MoreAn Analysis of Descartes’ First Meditation Essay example1448 Words   |  6 Pages13th, 2012 An Analysis of Descartes’ First Meditation In Descartes’ First Meditation, Descartes’ overall intention is to present the idea that our perceptions and sensations are flawed and should not be trusted entirely. His purpose is to create the greatest possible doubt of our senses. To convey this thought, Descartes has three main arguments in the First Meditation: The dream argument, the deceiving God argument, and the evil demon â€Å"or evil genius†. Descartes’ dream argument argues thatRead MoreEssay on Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy2121 Words   |  9 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Descartes believes that knowledge comes from within the mind. This is a single indisputable fact to build on that can be gained through individual reflection. While seeking true knowledge, Descartes writes his Six Meditations. In these meditations, Descartes tries to develop a strong foundation, which all knowledge can be built upon. In the First Meditation, Descartes begins developing this foundation throu gh the method of doubt. He casts doubt upon all his previous beliefs, including â€Å"mattersRead MoreDescartes First Three Meditations And Explain How Descartes Discovers The Foundation Of Knowledge1503 Words   |  7 Pageswill go over Descartes’ first three meditations and explain how Descartes discovers the foundation of knowledge, I will go over his problems with sensory knowledge, I will evaluate his claims, and I will present my objection to them. Descartes is very well known as the father of skepticism, which is very ironic, considering his main goal was to make a fool proof reason to believe in the existence of God. He wanted to make a case so strong, that if any atheist were to read his meditations, they wouldRead MoreBeliefs Beyond Doubt, What All Other Respond To: Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy1998 Words   |  8 PagesRene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy is considered to be one of the most important works in modern philosophy. John Locke, Immanuel Kant, and countless other philosophers wrote largely in response to Descartes. Yet there are serious doubts related to the treatises major argument. In the Objections and Replies, a collection of objections to the work along with Descartes personal and often very detailed replies to said objections, the philosopher Antoine Arnauld raises the question of whetherRead MoreDescartes First Meditation2099 Words   |  9 PagesDescartes First Meditation Descartes believes that knowledge comes from within the mind, a single indisputable fact to build on that can be gained through individual reflection. While seeking true knowledge, Descartes writes his Six Meditations. In these meditations, Descartes tries to develop a strong foundation, which all knowledge can be built upon. In the First Meditation, Descartes begins developing this foundation through the method of doubt. He casts doubt upon all his previous beliefsRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy807 Words   |  4 PagesConner Ruhl Professor Copley Philosophy 1000C 4 May 2015 Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes was the first great philosopher of the modern era, He had a new approach which was focused on scientific and mathematical truths. Descartes came to reject the scholastic tradition, one of which he was educated, due to his pursuit of mathematical and scientific truth. Much of Descartes work was done to secure advancement of human knowledge through the use of the natural sciencesRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1079 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes argues for the ideas and philosophical beliefs behind skepticism. In his writings, he describes the fallibility and importance of the body of man and through extension the senses with which we observe the world. This paper will first show that within Descartes’ writings the body is an extension of the mind. Secondly, this paper will prove that the senses are a false form of understanding which leads to the deception of the mind. FinallyR ead MoreDescartes First Meditations By Rene Descartes1352 Words   |  6 PagesIn Renà © Descartes’ First Meditations, he introduces three main sceptical arguments for the possibility of doubt: illusion, dreaming and error. Descartes’ purpose in his First Meditations is to define knowledge by placing doubt on the sceptical arguments capacity to provide truth. In this essay, I will focus on the argument from dreaming. There are many objections against the argument; therefore I will assess the soundness of the argument and whether it establishes universal doubt based on the plausibility

Indo European Folktales Study guide Free Essays

string(6216) " close to nature and the events in the past than the upper class Simplicity and authenticity Tales are something organic Monogenic One origin of the stories and then variations arose from that one version Polynesia Multiple origins of the same type of tale because the same people are going through similar experiences in different places Carol Jung – Archetypes Show us ways to transformation and development Genres of Folktale Literature Legend: has historical grounding, is unspecific Ex: Johnny Applauded Fairy Tales: rely on magic to provide fantasy solutions to overcome problems Myths: narrative projection formed into a story, relationship deeper with the universe Fable: moral, usually explicit, personification, very short stories, always have animals who talk, not like fairytale were they can talk through magical power but no magic is needed for them to talk Everyday life situations Protagonists are animals Moral truth NOT magic Animals give Didactic function Th e Stake Tales The Panchromatic Function of Folktales Explanatory Traditional \(accompany rituals\) Social \(help bring people together\) Schools of Folklore Inquiry Origin Form Meaning Style Origins: Early Stages Distribution and dissemination of folktales Grimm Frederic Max Mueller Scholar of Sanskrit Solar mythology: doesn’t have anything to do with the sun, but the natural world Folktales are explanations of natural phenomenon Mueller Theodore Bendy German Orientals Studied Eastern cultures Argued that tales began in India Folktales traveled through three major avenues: Oral traditions from merchants Arabic and Persian Translations Contact between Muslim and European Origins: Historical and geographical method Reconstruct the history of a particular tale – look at versions and triangulate what the common origin is Methodology: assemble all the known variants of a tale; from Motif: reoccurring theme, each element in a table Type: a bunch of motifs strung together, a traditional tale that has a uniq ue ordering the motifs Form Two major schools Formalist Vladimir Prop Functions Actions that are taken by characters, how do these action move the tale, slow it down, or influence the overall structure of the tale Ex: LORD meeting the wolf\? What function does this have\? Functions happen in a certain order 31 possible functions, sequential, but not all functions appear in all tales Structuralism Levi-Strauss Myths reflect the logical structure of the human mind Binary opposition: two things in nature that are opposed See formalist and functions above Believed folklore is a special form of verbal art Works of folklore and literature have different morphologies that folklore has specific structures Literary works have an author, folklore works never have an author Literature is constant, folklore changes independently of people’s will Morphology: a ascription of the tale according to its component part and the relationship of these components to each other and to the whole Max Lithium Style Stylistic Analysis Four Features of Folklore One Dimensionality Coexistence of a real and enchanted world Happen to walk from a real world into an enchanted one Dependableness Absence of character motivation Don’t need to know the character history to know their motivations Often found in fairy tales Lack of psychological depth Abstraction Extremes and conventions contrasts Ex: troll eats an ox BC Hess so hungry Fixed formulas: man living alone at top of a mountain, obviously is a troll Isolation ND Universal connection Lack of sustained relationship between characters On the other hand, everyone is connected to and affects everyone else Relationships either do not matter or you cannot escape them Style: Performance Centered Approaches Focus of studies from social context to creative process of storytelling Looking at the Changeling Definition: a child who is exchanged by a supernatural being for a good human child Anonymous take the good baby and leave evil offspring bedding Why do these stories arise\? Attempt to explain natural problems, physical deformities Usually in the form off legend Luther believed in changelings Bethlehem Prefers fairy tales to other kinds of children’s literature Can learn about the inner problems of human beings Children can better understand herself and complex world Fairy tales differ from children’s literature Parents impact the children most, then cultural heritage Hansel and Greeter Anxieties a child must overcome Oral fixations Mother†source of food to children, fail to meet oral demands Witch†personification of the destructive aspects of reality Gingerbread house†oral greediness and giving into primitive satisfactions Jewels†children transcend their oral anxiety and free themselves of relying on oral satisfaction for security, and can free themselves of the image of the threatening mother \(witch\) Birds†all white, divine intervention, guidance Breadcrumbs†starvation, anxiety Expanse of water†Christian allegory, symbolizes the way they have changed, maturity, baptism Teaches the lesson to explore your imagination, work together, and mothers are important Bluebirds Interpreted Blueberry tales as patriarchal power with violence, yet women can see through the power of men and come on top with their sight Little Red Riding Hood She is not yet ready for sexuality People say he only picked certain parts of the fairy tale to prove his argument Promotes themes of sexuality Cinderella split of mother helps a child to preserve an internal all good mother while the mother is not good at all, but permits anger with bad stepmother as a different person to protect child from being overwh elmed Jack and the Beanstalk Transition out of the oral phase into the phallic phase Why\? Boy is forced to sell cow BC it stops giving milk Beanstalk episode is Jacks dream, growth represents growth of sexual power Giants re Oedipal projections, father is rival and has to fight with his father to take his place Resolution of Oedipal conflict in the end Sleeping Beauty Undines Female virgin water spirit Defined by having to marry a man on earth to become a human SST\." Broad geographical grouping with a common linguistic background William Jones founded that Sanskrit was salary to Alan and Greek Proto-London European : no actual proof this group of people existed Folklore Colloquial definition: is a folktale true or not? Scholarly definition: how does a tale reflect the customs or values of a people Precursors to the Grimm Anne Sexton relation to the Grams Snow White – Anne Sexton Focus: female beauty Mirror motif Superficial male desire – women is an object of beauty, man knows nothing else about her Mother-daughter conflict Queen Is losing beauty with her age, Jealous of Snow White because Snow White Is becoming more beautiful Happy ending Snow White is made to look Like a china doll † she Is beautiful on the outside but empty on the Inside, an object to be viewed Similarities Real subject matter Issues/themes are similar Differences Narrative perspective – Anne Sexton uses â€Å"l† Identifies herself as a middle age witch She critiqued patriarchy – spoke to a contemporary New England audience New Issues/theme † she spoke to a contemporary audience, she tells her tales In modern form applying them to today’s society Angela Carter The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories Rewrote some of the Blueberry tales She wanted to focus on the desires/thoughts of women Believed women could show they had power Not romantic (as opposed to Anne Sexton who was more romantic) Wrote â€Å"Tiger’s Bride† based on the Beauty and the Beast and Tigers Bride (merged stories) Her Version of Tigers Bride Narrative perspective: included thoughts of characters Characters Bride – coming of age Father – bad father, gambles everything away Tiger – beast figure – not sure what Hess Like on the Inside Father sells her In a game of cards, beast just wants to see her naked He shows her his stuff and there are sexual encounters (because she turned on by the animal inside him and he brought out the animal in her) Themes of the story: social restrictions, confinement, code of honor that restricted women, rejecting patriarchal society, liberation of women (feminism), she doesn’t go to save her father R egular version of Tiger’s Bride Enemy of patriarchy Patriarchy Ideals of the submissive wife Western Tradition Wives submit themselves to heir husband, husband is the head of the wife and savior of her body Russian folk The man is the head but the woman is the neck, the head will follow the neck where it turns Less patriarchal than western society Wish Tales, all the Wives tales promote patriarchal society Women’s desires are irrational Female threats to patriarchy Pride (shrewdness) Insatiable and irrational desire Disobedience Women are always doing the opposite of what should be done Memento moor Reminder put into paintings that you will eventually die Ex: a feast, everyone is having fun, in a painting, and a skull or crossbones as a reminder you are going to die Death tales – reminders of death Deaths messengers Mourning A natural process, Just grief in general Have some sort of ceremony where we can externalities the grief Monument Tale: the Mustard Seed Melancholy Initialization of grief Don’t get rid of it Tale: The Place Where There Are No Graves Ate the dead bodies – literally internalized death Parody Humorous/satirical imitation Blatant discrepancies Criticizes original Sheer Objects of Parody Disney Moral structure, technology, family structures, Americanization Fairy Tales Ideals of Beauty Methods of Parody Pop culture references Irrelevant and crude humor Problems with Parody No alternative offered Must rely on what it ridicules American Dream Used music and color for the first time Made propaganda during WI for the US Disney’s Reworking of Fairy Tales Challenges: Length Objectionable subject matter Moral murkiness Its hard to turn a fairy tale into a film because the fairy tales are short, there’s not enough material, unclear at times and some things are inappropriate Disney Formula Disney took oral tales Clear structure of good and evil Heightened romance Omits a lot of the violence Romance repl aces sex Clear defined value system Gender roles are traditional Cultural stereotypes Technology and form Technology as a subject: magic Visual elements vs†¦ He text Genre Hollywood musical Characterization Formulaic 19th Century Melodrama Innocent Heroine Gallant Hero Evil Villain Minor Characters Secondary wives, animals, dwarves, sidekicks for common relief Family Structures Absent mothers Absent or inept fathers Americanization Democratic Protagonists are all teens Domestic/submissive role of women Rags to riches with personal ingenuity Made fun of nobility – very much American No direct violence between humans – instead inanimate objects (candles) or animals Sublimation of Violence Irony Cinderella – violence between animals instead of humans Royal Dahl Skipping background and analysis due to time constraints Verse form Plot somewhat different than original but still similar Modern details not from ancient past – fit into modern society Tales linked together in a fairy tale world Fairy tale audience – what children want to hear, didn’t take out much of the violence or crude stuff Woman as a victim – making fun of this and gives his tale a feminist twist, women have a sense of power Techniques of parody Form and style – rhyme with adult type of humor, uses a lot of slang, emphasizes the difference between tales then and now Characters and plot make us see the inconsistence in the original tale Know his version of Little Red riding Hood Gilles De Raise A blueberry figure Murdered children Gunman the Accursed Historical basis for the blueberry character Murdered several of his previous wives and his fourth wife found the body chamber Real event Fourth wife was Saint Therein Saint Therein (see above) Jane Champion (the Piano) Had a blue filter on her piano The woman was mute and only used the piano as a means to communicate Her husband (a blueberry character) chopped off her fingers so she could not communicate Margaret of Invader (the Heptathlon) Queen of Invader Defender of well known humanists and some authors in her writing Important figure in her time Story represents husband forgiving her Renaissance culture The Heptathlon Adulteress punishment Pretty high up in French nobility Progressive for her day Giovanni Vacation (The Dodecahedron) Philosophies Poetry of the people Everyday people are close to nature and the events in the past than the upper class Simplicity and authenticity Tales are something organic Monogenic One origin of the stories and then variations arose from that one version Polynesia Multiple origins of the same type of tale because the same people are going through similar experiences in different places Carol Jung – Archetypes Show us ways to transformation and development Genres of Folktale Literature Legend: has historical grounding, is unspecific Ex: Johnny Applauded Fairy Tales: rely on magic to provide fantasy solutions to overcome problems Myths: narrative projection formed into a story, relationship deeper with the universe Fable: moral, usually explicit, personification, very short stories, always have animals who talk, not like fairy tale were they can talk through magical power but no magic is needed for them to talk Everyday life situations Protagonists are animals Moral truth NOT magic Animals give Didactic function The Stake Tales The Panchromatic Function of Folktales Explanatory Traditional (accompany rituals) Social (help bring people together) Schools of Folklore Inquiry Origin Form Meaning Style Origins: Early Stages Distribution and dissemination of folktales Grimm Frederic Max Mueller Scholar of Sanskrit Solar mythology: doesn’t have anything to do with the sun, but the natural world Folktales are explanations of natural phenomenon Mueller Theodore Bendy German Orientals Studied Eastern cultures Argued that tales began in India Folktales traveled through three major avenues: Oral traditions from merchants Arabic and Persian Translations Contact between Muslim and European Origins: Historical and geographical method Reconstruct the history of a particular tale – look at versions and triangulate what the common origin is Methodology: assemble all the known variants of a tale; from Motif: reoccurring theme, each element in a table Type: a bunch of motifs strung together, a traditional tale that has a unique o rdering the motifs Form Two major schools Formalist Vladimir Prop Functions Actions that are taken by characters, how do these action move the tale, slow it down, or influence the overall structure of the tale Ex: LORD meeting the wolf? What function does this have? Functions happen in a certain order 31 possible functions, sequential, but not all functions appear in all tales Structuralism Levi-Strauss Myths reflect the logical structure of the human mind Binary opposition: two things in nature that are opposed See formalist and functions above Believed folklore is a special form of verbal art Works of folklore and literature have different morphologies that folklore has specific structures Literary works have an author, folklore works never have an author Literature is constant, folklore changes independently of people’s will Morphology: a ascription of the tale according to its component part and the relationship of these components to each other and to the whole Max Lithium Style Stylistic Analysis Four Features of Folklore One Dimensionality Coexistence of a real and enchanted world Happen to walk from a real world into an enchanted one Dependableness Absence of character motivation Don’t need to know the character history to know their motivations Often found in fairy tales Lack of psychological depth Abstraction Extremes and conventions contrasts Ex: troll eats an ox BC Hess so hungry Fixed formulas: man living alone at top of a mountain, obviously is a troll Isolation ND Universal connection Lack of sustained relationship between characters On the other hand, everyone is connected to and affects everyone else Relationships either do not matter or you cannot escape them Style: Performance Centered Approaches Focus of studies from social context to creative process of storytelling Looking at the Changeling Definition: a child who is exchanged by a supernatural being for a good human child Anonymous take the good baby and leave evil offspring bedding Why do these stories arise? Attempt to explain natural problems, physical deformities Usually in the form off legend Luther believed in changelings Bethlehem Prefers fairy tales to other kinds of children’s literature Can learn about the inner problems of human beings Children can better understand herself and complex world Fairy tales differ from children’s literature Parents impact the children most, then cultural heritage Hansel and Greeter Anxieties a child must overcome Oral fixations Mother†source of food to children, fail to meet oral demands Witch†personification of the destructive aspects of reality Gingerbread house†oral greediness and giving into primitive satisfactions Jewels†children transcend their oral anxiety and free themselves of relying on oral satisfaction for security, and can free themselves of the image of the threatening mother (witch) Birds†all white, divine intervention, guidance Breadcrumbs†starvation, anxiety Expanse of water†Christian allegory, symbolizes the way they have changed, maturity, baptism Teaches the lesson to explore your imagination, work together, and mothers are important Bluebirds Interpreted Blueberry tales as patriarchal power with violence, yet women can see through the power of men and come on top with their sight Little Red Riding Hood She is not yet ready for sexuality People say he only picked certain parts of the fairy tale to prove his argument Promotes themes of sexuality Cinderella split of mother helps a child to preserve an internal all good mother while the mother is not good at all, but permits anger with bad stepmother as a different person to protect child from being overwhel med Jack and the Beanstalk Transition out of the oral phase into the phallic phase Why? Boy is forced to sell cow BC it stops giving milk Beanstalk episode is Jacks dream, growth represents growth of sexual power Giants re Oedipal projections, father is rival and has to fight with his father to take his place Resolution of Oedipal conflict in the end Sleeping Beauty Undines Female virgin water spirit Defined by having to marry a man on earth to become a human SST. George / Dragon Slayers Ideals of chivalry Emblem includes red cross Symbol of England Golden Legend – Jacques De Favoring Frau Whole Freer Collected by Grimm Didactic function: teaches hard work and respect for higher being Typical: woman loses distaff, goes underground and meets Frau Whole who tests willingness to work Folk Hero People identify with See virtue embodied in them Teach lessons to those in power Ridicule those in power Disney (Beauty and the Beast) vs†¦ He Tale Rose in both stories, but in Vhf, the male picks a rose from the beast’s estate, but in the Disney film, the rose is a different symbol Different family structure in film and Vhf – only child in Disney, in the book there are three daughters and sons Message is similar in both: looks can be deceptive, don’t Judge by appearances Simpleton Stupid boy, youngest of all sons Ex: The Flying Ship and The Rabbit herd Overcomes impossible tasks to marry kings daughter, gets help from an older mentor pro-social side) Motif of three tasks to overcome The tasks usually involve the boy having a confrontation with the king (finding place in patriarchal society) Animal Brides The skin: different identity, gender roles, type of person you are, antisocial identity, sexuality can be linked to independence or freedom, put ring on finger which is the symbol of a chain, skin as protection for women Men trying to take the skin: personal violation, controlling women Incompatibility of two worlds, social classes, etc Animal Bridegrooms Morals: keep promises Arranged marriages and coming to terms with an arra nged marriage Wild Man Origins: India, Roman Empire, Grimm in Medieval Christian Europe Wild Man represents the natural, wild aggressive tendencies of boys and the boy must rely on the aggressive/courageous tendencies of wild man and rules of society to have coming of age Promote pro-social and antisocial tendencies to have coming of age Frame Narrative Story within a story 1001 Arabian Nights: someone is telling a story in the story Stake Tales Tales of Buddha Reincarnation, Buddha in different times and places Characterized by humor and imagination Jean De la Fontanne Political Unmask corruption and dishonesty of the court Used animals not humans Criticism of political figures without using names The Paid Mostly about animals Had morals Quick thinking Oldest collection of tales in Sanskrit Nobility Teach young princes how to act Vampire Between fairy tale and legend Definition: corpse rise from the grave at night, get blood from humans Similar to today’s zombies In Christian legends were souls of pain, not baptized, referred to as sorcerers Souls from purgatory Eastern European source: Alasdair Fantasy Socio-historical Reasons for Vampire Lore in Eastern Europe Improper decode Christianization of Eastern Europe Bubonic plague Vela Tepees Drachma Romania Prince Historical Vampire figure Elizabeth (Ersatzes) Battery Slovakia Countess Took virgin’s blood, drank it, took a both in it, preserve youth She wasn’t executed because she was a royal, but was locked in the castle the rest of her life Jeanne-Marie eel Prince De Beaumont Taught in schools for all social classes Wanted to teach proper conduct for young women Frederica Nietzsche (On the Genealogy of Morals) Good and Bad / Good and Evil Talked about power in the Catholic church Nietzsche said the Catholic church gains power by telling people they should be cake and submissive Freud – Stages of Sexual Development Oral: as a baby, you get pleasure through â€Å"oral† things, such as sucking on thumbs Sadistic/anal: little kids find pleasure in making bowel movements Phallic Genital: you want pleasure via genital contact of the opposite sex and same age Latency Period of sleep Oedipal complex Bang your mom, kill you r dad Fools vs†¦ Tricksters Fools teach lessons by making themselves a fool Tricksters teach lessons by making you a fool Recitation Readings Donald Hawse: mirrors, Mine, or Ours? Perpetual, the Brothers Grimm and Ownership of Fairy Tales† Nationalistic ownership results in stereotyping Universalistic Belongs to everyone, but is wrong BC were all products of different stuff We should individually own them – not owned by Disney or a corporation Soar Shaves: â€Å"The Concept of Childhood and Children’s Folktales: Test Case – ‘Little Red Riding Hood† Jack Zip’s: â€Å"Breaking the Disney Spell† Folklore body is a communal effort – we all own it together Marxist Corporate ownership of what should be communal The Morals/Themes of the Tales The Shrewish Wives Manipulating the women by threatening to go back to her fathers place Public immolation Weaken Grizzlier Humiliation Sexual = he made her pregnant Social = marrying a beggar Financial = marrying a beggar (previously a princess) Morally/ethically = makes her steal and get caught Women Who Rule Their Husbands Show the danger of letting women be in charge Wish Tales Plot Structure Wish(sees) granted Asks wife for advice Wastes wish Woman tells man what to do with the wishes, which is a mistake Disaster results from weak husbands Talkative Wives Motif: wife who talks too much Lesson: women are chatterboxes, talk too much Foolish Wives Another female character flaw: foolishness How to cite Indo European Folktales Study guide, Papers

Generic Competitive Strategies-Free-Samples -Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss Which One Of The Five Generic Competitive Strategies Is Virgin Galactic Employing? Answer: Porters Generic competitive Strategies are ways of competing with other organisations in the market. According to Ibrahim (2015), this competitive strategy actually determines whether the profitability of a firm is above or below the industry average. It is when the average profitability is above the industry, the organisation can be said to have competitive advantage in the long run. Porters showed two basic types of competitive advantages as enjoyed by the organisations. These are low cost and differentiation strategies. These are the basic means that the organisations undertake at times in a combined way to achieve competitiveness in the market where it operates (Becerra, Santal Silva, 2013). These two competitive strategies have leaded to three generic strategies that would help an organisation to achieve above average strategies and better performance in the industry. These three generic strategies are cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Again, the focus strategy has tw o other variants; these are, cost focus and the differentiation focus. Fig: Porters Competitive Generic Model (Source: Becerra, Santal Silva, 2013) In the case study, it has been found that the Virgin Galactic group has come up with a completely new and innovative approach where the group will start offering spaceflights to the customers. The company wants to design a robust spaceship called Virgin Galactic that would offer customers to travel to space and have an orbital journey and then come back to the only habitable planet. Richards Branson vision is to introduce space tourism to the consumers. The idea is to make opportunities for people to become astronauts and visit space in lieu of a huge amount of money. For the same purpose, it has been found that the Virgin Galactic had also taken $25, 000 deposits from people who want to ensure their flight to be booked in advanced, while the actual price of the ticket has been kept as high as $200, 000. The confidence that the Virgin group showed towards their venture showed that the dream can be easily turned into reality. Among the keenly interested passengers, Stephen Hawking, Ka ty Perry, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are few names worthy to be mentioned. The company has already come up with the physics and chemistry behind the launch of this vehicle that would take people far away from the earth. All it requires is now the accomplishment of the plan to see the reality that has always been a dream for people. Keeping this particular case study and the business venture into consideration, it can be said that the Virgin group is definitely undertaking the approach of product differentiation strategy as part of the business strategy. The three generic strategies can be explained here: Cost Leadership: The idea of the cost leadership strategy is to offer the particular product or service in the lowest possible price to the consumers in the market. As commented by Lechner and Gudmundsson, (2014), cost of products is definitely a vital factor when it comes to consumer decision making. Therefore, considering the price or rate of the product is important and in fact a lower priced product has the chances of higher selling in the market. In order to offer the product at a lower rate, the organisation needs to manage the cost required for the manufacturing of the product. This is when the concept of cost leadership comes to play. The idea of cost leadership is when s firm sets out to become the low cost producer in the industry where it operates. The cost leadership strategy include the pursuit of the economies of scale, the proprietary technology and the preferential access to the required raw materials and other things for the manufacturing of the particular goods (Bre nes, Montoya Ciravegna, 2014). It is when the organisation will be able to gain the cost advantage, it would become a low cost producer in the industry and will be an above the average performer. Aligning this factor with the idea of Virgin group, it is clearly evident that the company is not at all looking for cost leadership strategy because the business idea that has been proposed requires huge investment and there is no scope for reducing the price in terms of its raw materials or products. Therefore, this particular factor can be easily rejected from the given factors of Porters Generic Forces. Differentiation: The second generic factor is the differentiation. The idea is to serve a unique product or service that will be equally acceptable by the consumers because the product will be best from all the dimensions. The differentiation strategy is based on the concept buyers would perceive the product to be important as it will uniquely serve the needs of the people (Herzallah, Gutirrez-Gutirrez and Munoz Rosas, 2014). In fact, this product can also be rewarded with a premium price for the uniqueness that it will serve. The differentiation strategy can be rightly aligned with the case study as the idea is to introduce a completely new venture of taking people from the earth to the outer space. The cost and expenditure on these ventures are not low but it requires lot of money that is easily been appreciated by the interested people because they have been found to make advance payment for the future venture. Focus: The third strategy is focus when there is a narrow scope of competition within the industry. The particular business head selects a particular area of business and they expand in that direction. Moreover, in this particular strategy, the organisation also selects a particular target group of people for whom the business will be proposed (Riasi, 2015). This is the method of serving exclusive service or product to the particular target group. From the case study, it can be clearly stated that the Virgin group has focused on creating a completely new business venture that would create hype among the target group of people. In this case, the Virgin Group has also selected a particular target group of people as well. The target group is the rich and wealthy people which can easily afford the high price that this venture demands (Cusumano, Kahl Suarez, 2015). At the same time, the science enthusiasts as well who want to know about the uniqueness of this universe. The Focus generic strategy has also been broadly divided into two segments, these are: Cost focus: In the cost focus strategy, the particular firm looks into the cost advantage among the target segment in order to achieve more profitability in the business. Differentiation focus strategy: This is another narrowed down feature of the business strategy where the organisation makes focus on the difference in the product or the service offered by the organisation considering the target group of consumers. It is important to consider the particular target group segment to which the product can be sold (Prajogo, 2016). Therefore, it can be easily said that the business strategy as undertaken by the Virgin group is definitely the differentiation focus strategy. As commented by Porter and Heppelmann, (2015), the focus strategy delivers certain competitive advantages to a particular organisation in terms of serving the rivals and offering a better product or service to the consumers. In this respect, it can be easily said that the target group of people were selected prior to thinking about the business. The idea of sending people to the space and to create thousands of astronauts cannot be considered as a product idea for the common people but this has been definitely done for the sake of the rich people who can easily afford the price of the ticket required for flying high (Grant, 2016). In fact, from the case study it has also been evident that the organisation has also taken money from the interested candidates who want to visit the outside world. Therefore, there is no doubt that the competitive strategy as undertaken by the organisation is nothing but the focus differentiation strategy. There are certain points that need to be considered when an organisation undertakes the differentiation strategy. Primarily, the organisation needs to carry out detailed research and analysis of the market where it wants to operate (Teeratansirikool et al., 2013). As mentioned that the focused differentiation strategy aims towards a particular target group, delivering the best suitable product is the most important criteria. The ability of delivering the high quality service to the target group is the only major concern for the business. If these factors are not fulfilled then there remains the chance that the business venture will not be accepted by the target group and the business venture will not be a successful one. In such cases, risks will be inevitable and the organisation might have to suffer a lot (Porter Heppelmann, 2014). The differentiation strategy is not undertaken by large organisations because there remains the chance of risk. On the other hand, these organisations always prefer to undertake the cost differentiation strategy and look into the expenses behind the cost of manufacturing the product and offer the same to the consumers (Panwar et al., 2016). It cannot be denied that these are on-going strategies that are undertaken by the organisation in order to create a difference in the market and create a better market for itself that would increase the profitability of the organisation. With the detailed analysis on the Porters Generic Strategies, it can be said that the business strategy undertaken by the organisation is Focus Differentiation strategy where the company wanted to offer something new and unique to the people. The target group of people was fixed before proposing the idea and that they were the rich and wealthy people having crave for something unique to experience. The proposed business idea has not turned into reality till now but it has definitely created a stir among the particular group of people who want to gain the experience. The proposed strategy could be successful if the proposed plan is successfully carried on. There was no scope for undertaking other generic strategies as per the recommended business and this was the only suitable strategy for the business. It can be said that the business strategy should always be considered on the basis on the market condition and the target group of people as well and with it the other competitors pres ent in the market References: Becerra, M., Santal, J., Silva, R. (2013). Being better vs. being different: Differentiation, competition, and pricing strategies in the Spanish hotel industry.Tourism Management,34, 71-79. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517712000593 [Accessed on: 15-8-2017] Brenes, E. R., Montoya, D., Ciravegna, L. (2014). Differentiation strategies in emerging markets: The case of Latin American agribusinesses.Journal of Business Research,67(5), 847-855. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296313002683 [Accessed on: 15-8-2017] Cusumano, M. A., Kahl, S. J., Suarez, F. F. 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WHICH ONE Humanity. That is what I feel Essays

WHICH ONE Humanity. That is what I feel a UWC education can offer me. The values of the UWC which aim to instill responsibility, integrity, open-mindedness, respect as well as an understanding that we are all the same are among the values which form the basic foundation of humanity. In my opinion, I feel that this is truly one of the best benefits from a UWC education as humanity is one of the fundamental things missing from humans in this generation. Therefore, a UWC education will definitely be the stepping stone in the correct direction as it will play a role in awakening the humanity in me which in turn will push me to strive to improve myself. True to the words of Shelby Davis, I want to be one of the dreamers who will actually aim to achieve her dreams. A UWC education will benefit me by making me a more emotionally and socially mature person. Its curriculum which provides a holistic approach towards education and recognizes the importance of co-curricular activities and volunt ary work. It will make me more independent, balanced, and tolerant in many aspects. I believe that a UWC education will finally allow me to fit in because of its values, one of which celebrates differences. It would offer me a chance to see and immerse myself in various different cultures which I would not get to see normally. As a teenager who dreams of a peaceful future where there is a mutual understanding among all living things, I feel that a UWC education will help me achieve at least a part of this dream.