For developing nations, tourism has been seen as the road to Essay

For developing nations, tourism has been seen as the road to development. Choose one area and identify the specific benefits and cost of tourism to the area. Th - Essay Example The income generated from these tourists, in turn, facilitates the countries to meet the conservation costs of these cultural assets. However, an accelerated development in the tourism leads a country to pay great costs associated with the sustainability of its national heritage. Therefore, tourism brings both benefits and costs to a country. Singapore is one of those developing countries that are benefiting a lot from the growth of tourism industry. This paper sheds light on various costs and benefits associated with the cultural tourism in the country, in particular, the costs that the country is paying for its quest to commercialise the industry in the competitive tourism market. Cultural tourism is one of the rapidly growing fields of tourism that are becoming more and more attractive for travellers across the globe. Tourists’ destinations in the developing world such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, India etc are especially known for their cultural attractions for the visitors coming from the developed world. The profound importance of culture in the tourism lies in the innate quest of human beings to inquire into cultural assets and values of different countries, in particular, those that serve to be the remnants of historical traditions. There happen to two general categories associated with cultural attractions at a tourist’s destination. The first one refers to ‘tangible heritage’ that includes landscapes, physical assets and properties, whereas the other one falls into the category of ‘intangible heritage’ constituting norms, values and mixes that various cultures shares (Saunders, 2004). Developing countries, in particular the Asian region is richly endowed with cultural heritage that attracts tourists from different corners of the world to these places. This has particularly led to the enormous development of countries in the East Asian region. However, as tourism leads to modernisation, this development is

Sports commercials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports commercials - Essay Example The next advertisement that is very successful in its marketing strategy is the Adam Oates NHL commercial. This ad is clever because it involves sexuality in the form of a woman to provoke thought. The ad uses phrases like â€Å"patrols the offensive zone,† and â€Å"loose rebounds† to compare hockey with picking up a date. This is clever on the part of the advertisers because they make hockey seem fashionable to the viewing public by contrasting scoring on the hockey field with scoring on the dating front.The next advertisement that is very successful in its marketing strategy is the Adam Oates NHL commercial. This advertisement is clever because it involves sexuality in the form of a woman to provoke thought. The ad uses phrases like â€Å"patrols the offensive zone,† and â€Å"loose rebounds† to compare hockey with picking up a date. This is clever on the part of the advertisers because they make hockey seem fashionable to the viewing public by contrast ing scoring on the hockey field with scoring on the dating front. The final advertisement that I found to really hit the mark was the â€Å"NBA Cares† campaign, which contained three different ads. In the first two ads, a vast number of professional basketball players plead with the audience to help contribute to those in need. This strategy generally works because the audience likes to think that they are on the same level as their role models. The third ad combined the use of star power with everyday fans to get its message across.

Michael Graves Essay Example for Free

Michael Graves Essay Art Appreciation Michael Graves Michael Graves is a post-modern architect born in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 9th 1934. He graduated from Broad Ripple High School; he then attended and got his bachelor degree at the University of Cincinnati. After getting his bachelors, he went to Harvard where he got his masters in Interior design. After college he started career as an architect, it was in 1968 when he designed and built the Hanselmann House in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He built houses for about 10 years until he started building all kinds of buildings. He built anything from the Dolphin Resort at Disney world from the Denver Public Library. Graves has been designing buildings of all types since 1968 very rapidly, some years designing four or more buildings a year. One of Gravess most famous buildings is the Portland building in Oregon. This building was made in 1980 and is unique because of how he surprised everyone with the exterior design. He used a pair of classical columns that have no structural function. He made these columns stand out by setting them in a reflecting pool. The Portland public says the building is both formal and playful, governor Ivancie says that most big city building were beginning to be built to simple with Just glass outsides. He says the Portland building doesnt lack design features like other big city buildings. Some did criticize the design but most were thrilled by the uniqueness of the new building. People say there is type of humor to his designs and buildings. Graves has become an opponent of modern works who uses humor as an integral part of his architecture (1). Graves uses designs from the past and puts his own twist on them. Graves re-interpreted the rational style that had been introduced by Le Corbusier in the 1920s into a neoclassical style (1). Michael Graves has many building that are very famous, but his design on the Humana Building in Louisville, Kentucky is maybe his best design hes had. His design on this building got him in the time magazine. TIME Magazine listed it as one of the 10 best buildings of the decade (2). The building looks different from every side. Many say it is one of the most unique and distinctive skyscrapers in America. Critics say it is a textbook example of Postmodernism. Graves Humana building is said to have its fair share of flaws but the brilliant design more than counteracts the flaws. While the building has undeniable flaws, they are easily outweighed by its attributes, hich have only grown stronger with time(3). http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/house/ http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/technology_internetcritic/ https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=JwhZCwAAQBAJpg=PA225lpg=PA225dq=http://featuresblogs.+chicagotribune.+com/tsource=blots=CwG3pAKd5lsig=5KrPfyo2wN90yu3ZXrsblMPOpewhl=uksa=Xved=0ahUKEwjy0NvQhoPUAhVKD5oKHUzSCe8Q6AEIRDAE#v=onepageq=http%3A%2F%2Ffeaturesblogs.%20chicagotribune.%20com%2Ftf=false https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humana_Building Humana http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Michael_Graves.html

Whether The Marketing Mix Contributes on the Success of Wal-Mart

Whether The Marketing Mix Contributes on the Success of Wal-Mart Introduction The marketing mix, as a paradigm, has been keeping applied in business since it was merged more than 50 years ago. Many companies are still using it as a guide in marketing (Zineldin, 2007) to gain more competitive power in the market. The activities integrated in marketing programmes to create, communicate, and deliver value for consumers were classified into product, price, promotion and place in marketing mix tool by McCarthy (cited in Davies et al., 1995) in 1960, and Kotler et al. (2009) defined the sub activities of each element of the 4Ps: product variety, quality, services, etc for Product; list price, discounts, allowances, etc for Price; sales promotion, advertising, public relations, etc for Promotion; and channels, coverage, locations, transport etc for Place. By using the guide and adjusting the elements and the sub activities of them, companies can find a marketing strategy suitable for both the industry and the organizations. Although the application of the marketing mix seems to be different among industries, it still has influences on the businesses in extents. To see whether the marketing mix can work to the achievements of the organizations, the strategies and the application of the marketing mix of Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, can be a great choice to analyze. As a well known hypermarket business leader, Wal-Mart serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 8,650 retail units under 55 different banners in 15 countries (Anonymous, 2010), and it is still extending its business globally. This essay will analyze the contribution of the marketing mix on the success of Wal-Mart, and a brief scheme of improvement will also be looked at. Product As a retailer, the term product can be divided into two parts, the retailing service to suppliers, and the products and services to customers. Since both suppliers and retailers are pursuing a low-margin, high-volume strategy (Kotler et al., 2009), the stable and high-volume orders from Wal-Mart can meet the needs of the suppliers. However, only large orders are not enough in current business, according to Hansen (2009), a service-centered philosophy and service quality are crucial for building long-term relationship with suppliers. To keep a high quality of service, Wal-Mart is innovative and a pioneer in technology development. It is among the first retailers using computers to track inventory (1969), adopting the bar codes (1980) and wireless scanning guns (late 1980s), and introducing EDI for better coordination with suppliers (1985) (Johnson, 2002), which developed the efficiency of distribution and turnover of goods so that it can meet the requirements of suppliers. To individual customers, not only selling products of suppliers, Wal-Mart has private-labels such as Great Value, OlRoy, Partents Choice etc, which provides products in wide fields. Kumar et al. (2007, cited in Geyskens et al., 2010) argued that private-label products are positioning at mid-quality, and they are as good as national brand offerings but cheaper. However, Wal-Mart focuses on the quality rather than only mimic other brands (Neff, 2009), trying to meet the needs of most customers focusing on cost performance. Because of the efforts Wal-Mart made, customers are increasingly relying on the private labels (Rae, 2009). Also, according to Min (2010), customers evaluate the service with product quality, which is followed by cleanliness of the store, competitive price, product variety and fast checkouts. By making collection of customer information and IT innovation, these factors are getting focused on by Wal-Mart, which keeps the service quality and satisfaction of customers. Price The price factor of Wal-Mart can be looked at by the view of both B2C and B2B businesses. For the pricing strategies towards individuals, a lower price can capture more market share even competitors build price wall to fight in the market (Chiu et al., 2009). Wal-Mart has a great advantage in the competition among retailers because of offering a lower price and promising it the lowest among all, but lowering the price does not definitely lead to a cut in the profit. Wal-Mart uses a broad line and low value added product lines to keep prices low and raise the volume that is increased greatly enough to make up for the low margin (Kotler, 2009). However, there is always a risk: if the added revenues from the increased demands cannot cover the loss of margin, it will diminish the profit (Nijs et al., 2007). By using and collecting a huge database of consumption of products in large regions and super centers, according to the law of large numbers, the demands of the products could become stable and predictable. With a prediction of consumer behavior and risks, an aggressive pricing strategy helps Wal-Mart gain huge advantages and profitability. Place For Wal-Mart, a company that has been focused on discount merchandising and growth (Graff, 1998), cost is always a key to it. With mature management and decisions on places the products available to customers, distribution and channels, Wal-Mart gets phenomenal growth and excellent performance. First of all, considering the size, majority of Wal-Mart supercentres are located in nonmetropolitan counties and get around the distribution centers (Graff, 1998), which can make Wal-Mart benefited from a low land-rent cost and a more efficient distribution. However, a great negative impact on Wal-Marts market share occurred because of the factors of the growing maturity of internet retailing industry and lower prices offered by on-line retailers (Bock et al., 2007). In order to keep the market share and the customer satisfaction, Wal-Mart launched its own retailing websites and planned to build multichannel. This shall benefit the giant retailer as researchers found that the adoption of inte rnet and a multichannel strategy will be more profitable for retailers than traditional strategies (Zhang, 2009; Bock et al., 2007). Other than the location of supercentres, the performance of distribution of Wal-Mart is outstanding. Firstly, by geographical segmentations, distribution centers, around by supercentres, are located in appropriate regions. Suppliers make most deliveries to distribution centers, and retailer then ferry goods between the regional centers and individual stores using its own trucks (Burritt et al., 2010), which reduces the cost of transportation and enhances Wal-Marts control on the whole inventory and process of delivery. Also, a mature IT system weighs greatly for Wal-Mart: hand-held computers used by employees can collect the information of products such as storage, packaging and shipping, and a satellite communication system set up in 1983 helps managers to track sales and inventories in stores across the country (Chandran et al., 2003), which keeps the distribution under control and improves the efficiency. In addition, Wal-Mart puts a great concern upon the suppliers and the integration of supply chain. Because great volumes of products are sold through Wal-Mart, suppliers are delighted to do business with the retailer at a lower price because of the large orders, which increases the bargaining power of Wal-Mart. As what Davies et al. (1995) found: strength in bargaining power positively relates to commercial success. It seems that Wal-Mart keeps a superior power upon its suppliers to squeeze the cost. However, Even suppliers treat Wal-Mart as a primary customer perform worse financially (Bloom, 2001), there may still be benefits for suppliers to keep a long-term relationship with a higher performing channel member being efficient and aggressive to attract consumers to suppliers products, because the revenue with a high volume sold might cover the squeeze, and some suppliers hope it might help them expand their market share (Bollm, 2001; Erdem et al., 1997). By cutting the cost in the B2B part, the prices of products could be lower and more advantages Wal-Mart can gain in the market. Also, with a thought that putting the volume together of both itself and its suppliers are buying from one supplier can reduce costs (Muntaner, cited in Boyle, 2010), Wal-Mart has been trying to team up with suppliers to purchase the raw materials, like teaming up with Pepsi to purchase sugar together from one sugar supplier at a lower price, in order to reduce the cost of private labels so that more attractive prices can be offered to customers. A good management of the place factor improves the efficiency of distribution and lowers the cost of the company. Promotion The element of Promotion was divided into sales promotion, including reduction of price, discount etc, and communication, including advertising, public relations, store design etc (Van Waterschoot et al., 1992; Davies, 1995). In sales promotion, Wal-Mart uses reduced prices to increase the sales of the inventory in order to keep a high turnover rate and release the problem of stocking of inventory. Also, as it was found that a slight change in the price will lead to great improvement of business performance in a high price-elasticity product (Driussi, 2007), Wal-Mart uses short-term discounts on particular products to stimulate the consumption of products. Concerning about the communication of Wal-Mart, with an increasing budget on advertising from $405 million in 1999 to $2.3 billion in 2008 (Norman, 2009), the brand name and the slogan of save money, live better, formerly always low prices are getting widely known, which leads to a greater awareness of public and an increase in brand equity (Keller, 1993). Also, it uses diversified advertising methods such as TV, websites and newspaper, which is crucial to the success of any advertising campaign (Scott, 2009). In addition, according to Ataman (2010), by making efforts on advertising can improve the customer loyalty to the companies, which might also be an important reason for Wal-Mart being attractive and well accepted by publics in either new or existing market. It seems that Wal-Mart focuses greatly on communication with customers and trying to get more strength of brands. However, there are still some factors that Wal-Mart needs to take into consideration. First of all, although Wal-Mart is widely accepted by the public, the public relationship and the social image from the public tell a different story. With a history of anti-union tactics and worker disputes, including an ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit (Bustillo, 2010), Wal-Mart is getting into a social issue negatively affects its social image. Society worries about Wal-Marts lacking of consideration to health, life and rights of employees. However, Wal-Mart has been trying to making efforts on its CSR while the public does not realize. It offers a better health care plan than the retail average, in which 80% of its US workers can get health coverage while only 58% for the retail sector as a whole (Bustillo et al., 2010). This phenomenon shows that Wal-Mart needs to make effort o n PR to change the biases made by the society. In addition, with a development of customer perspectives, physical environment and social cue, factors influencing customers feelings and satisfaction (Bitner, 1992; Hu et al., 2006) are getting more focused. Wal-Mart can try to collect more customers preference to the store environment such as store designing and employees behaviours in order to build a welcoming feeling to customers and serve customers better. Integration of The Marketing Mix Although each element of the marketing mix Wal-Mart focuses is analyzed, the marketing mix should be treated as a whole. An application of the marketing mix upon the business needs the coordination among departments of a company, not only marketing department, and part-time marketers who are not working for marketing department but have connect with customers need to be greatly relied on to generate and disseminate the market intelligence (Davies et al., 1995; Grà ¶nroos, 1994). It can be shown from the above analysis that the elements of the paradigm influence each other such as price and PR, supply chain and price, cost and distribution etc, and Wal-Mart controls them in a macro vision. With an interaction among the departments, Wal-Mart can get advantage in each element of the marketing mix by using resources widely and efficiently. Conclusion By analyzing the concentration of Wal-Mart upon the marketing mix, it not only treated the paradigm as a guide, but also applies it upon the strategy and management of the company. It is not unfair to say that with a proper application upon the business and a great interaction in the marketing mix, Wal-Mart gets benefit from the classic theory. The application of the marketing mix could be seen as a key positive factor of the success of Wal-Mart. However, to improve the business performance of the giant retailer according to the paradigm, some soft factors such as the flexibility of distribution, PR and consumers emotion can be concerned by Wal-Mart.

Smart Prepaid Energy Meter Using GSM Module

Smart Prepaid Energy Meter Using GSM Module Abstract This paper aims at proposing a system that reduces the power loss and power theft due to illegal activities. This framework embraces another strategy known as prepaid power. The GSM module is utilized so that the client can persistently be educated of the energy utilization and if the sum energized achieves a base worth, it alarms the client to energize. The fundamental point of this task is to lessen the long lines at power charging counters and to remove the power naturally if the bill is not paid. The mechanized power charging framework stays informed regarding the continuous utilization and leaves little degree for contradiction on charging and utilization. GSM is a cell system which implies that cellular telephones unite with it via looking for cells in the prompt region. A kind of system in which zone is separated into cells, every served by its own reception apparatus, handset and is assigned a band of frequencies that is unique in neighboring cells to maintain a strategic dis tance from contortion in signs is known as a phone system. I.  Introduction The present energy use perusing is made physically by moving to shopper areas. This obliges substantial number of works and long meeting expectations hours to perform this errand. Manual charging is once in a while confined and deferred because of awful climate. The printed charging infrequently may get lost. Shrewd prepaid energy meter has been proposed as an inventive arrangement went for encouraging reasonableness and decreasing the expense of utilities. This requires the clients to pay for the power before its utilization. At first, the prepaid card is energized for a certain sum. The setup of Smart Energy meter utilizing GSM advancement makes the clients to pay for the energy before its usage. A gameplan is moreover made to close the client with the aid of GSM correspondence module when their credit in their offset goes low. This system has been proposed as an imaginative response for the issue of sensibility in utilities structure. Since a microcontroller based structure is being made, the readings can be continually recorded. This diminishes human work and meanwhile constructs the viability in calculation of bills for used energy. Brilliant energy meters will bring an answer of making mindfulness on wastage of energy and will tend to decrease wastage of power. This module will reduce the heaviness of energy giving by building the association viably and no thievery of energy will happen. II.  Existing system The current situation of recording energy utilization is by physically moving to shoppers area and composing the perusing. This obliges vast number of works and long living up to expectations hours to complete this errand. Manual charging is infrequently limited and postponed because of terrible climate. We propose a Smart prepaid energy meter has gone for recording and paying bill calm. This requires the clients to pay for the power before its whole utilization is over. The printed charging at times may get lost. III.  Proposed system This framework has been proposed as a creative answer for the issue of reasonableness in utilities framework. Since a microcontroller based framework is being planned, the readings can be persistently recorded. This diminishes human work and in the meantime builds the productivity in estimation of bills for utilized power. Brilliant energy meters will bring an answer of making mindfulness on superfluous wastage of energy and will have a tendency to lessen wastage of energy. This module will lessen the weight of energy giving by securing the association effectively and no robbery of energy will occur. We make a few suppositions, for example, we consider rough duty in the sim card furthermore expect the specified levy to be contrasted and energy meter readings. The GSM innovation is utilized so that the customer would get messages about the utilization of energy (in watts) and on the off chance that it achieves the base sum, it would naturally caution the shopper to revive. This innovation holds useful for all power appropriation organizations, private groups, IT stops and self-containing lodging ventures. The execution of this task will help in better energy administration, protection of energy furthermore in getting rid of the superfluous bothers over wrong charging. IV. Literature survey Ben Belghith, O.,Sbita, L. proposed a method to monitor and control photovoltaic system [1].Photovoltaic system is used to generate electricity using sun light, solar cells are used.a sensor network is created with start topology.LABVIEW is used to manage sensor sensors.In this paper, the author proposed a remote monitoring technique to replace the manual monitoring and checking of the proper working of the cells.GSM module is used for remote controlling. A sensor network is established in a remote large area to study the environmental conditions. Punetha.D.,Mehta, V. proposes a method to use this technique to send the details to the registered GSM [2] . The receiver end gets the information whenever he needs and if any update is there, it is sent as a message to the user. Mohammad .N.,Barua, A. ; Arafat, M.A. uses GSM module to recharge when electricity is needed .[3]. This is done using the pin number in the scratch card. Song Lai-quan ,Sun Huai-yuan ; Zhou Yu-dong ; Ge Bin proposes a method to bring the blood pressure details of the patient to his cell phone.[4] This reduces time wastage and gives accurate result. V.  Experimental setup The components utilized as a part of this project are PIC controller otherwise called Peripheral Interface Controller are utilized due to their minimal effort, wide accessibility, extensive client base, far reaching accumulation of utilization notes, accessibility of ease or free advancement devices, and serial programming and re-programming with blaze memory capability.It is utilized to give an interface between the energy meter and GSM module.It contrasts the qualities with send the revive update or demonstrate that energize has been fruitful or not. GSM module otherwise called Global System for Mobile, is a kind of cell network.It is utilized to join with the system. LCD otherwise called liquid crystal display is utilized to show the messages/ reminders.It is a level board. Power supply gives electric power and proselytes AC to low voltage. Energy meter is utilized to gauge the measure of energy devoured. Output load is the output terminal, the outcome obtanined will be shown. The PIC microcontroller 18f452 goes about as the essential controller,collects data from energy meter and additionally from the sim card. The energy meter perusing is contrasted and the sim card data by the microcontroller. The coding underscores the way that it diminishes human work however builds the proficiency in count of bills for utilized power. The GSM modem is serially joined with the controller which is the real correspondence module in the middle of client and meter. The GSM correspondence module is utilized to send message to the client about the units of energy devoured and the current accessible parity sum in the prepaid card to the client. A Liquid Crystal Display is utilized to show the expended energy and the offset add up to the outside world. The client will get a caution on coming to the base offset and the energy will be cut off utilizing transfer switch when the revived sum gets spent. Rationale is made that fluctuates the energy utilization as indicated by the use of burden, so under no heap, there is no energy utilization and no diminishment in the sum that is revived. The framework wipes out charging postponement, uproots expense included in detachment/reconnection, empowers controlled utilization of energy, and helps clients to spare cash through better energy administration. VI. Discussion The configuration of Smart Energy meter using GSM innovation makes the users to pay for the power before its utilization. A course of action is additionally made to close the user with the assistance of GSM correspondence module when their credit in their balance goes low. This framework has been proposed as an innovative answer for the issue of reasonableness in utilities framework. Since a microcontroller based framework is being composed, the readings can be constantly recorded. This lessens human work and in the meantime builds the effectiveness in computation of bills for utilized power. Smart energy meters will bring an answer of making awareness on wastage of power and will have a tendency to lessen wastage of force. This module will lessen the weight of energy giving by building the connection effectively and no burglary of power will occur. VII.  Conclusion The outline of Smart Energy meter utilizing GSM innovation can make the clients to pay for the power before its utilization. Thusly, purchasers hold credit and afterward utilize the power until the credit is depleted. The off chance that the accessible credit is depleted then the power supply is curtailed off by a hand-off. A game plan is additionally made to close the client with the assistance of GSM correspondence module when their credit in their parity goes low. This framework has been proposed as a creative answer for the issue of moderateness in utilities framework. Since a microcontroller based framework is being planned, the readings can be persistently recorded. This lessens human work and in the meantime builds the productivity in estimation of bills for utilized power. Keen energy meters will bring an answer of making mindfulness on superfluous wastage of energy and will have a tendency to lessen wastage of energy. This module will decrease the weight of energy giving by securing the association effectively and no robbery of energy will occur. IX. Analysis The analysis performed on the project shows that it has the following features that makes it more advantageous . Improved operational efficiencies i.e.,the prepaid meters are likely to cut the cost of meter reading as no meter readers are required. In addition, they eliminate administrative hassles associated with disconnection and reconnection.. Better customer service:The system eliminates billing delay, removes cost involved in disconnection/reconnection, enables controlled use of energy, and helps customers to save money through better energy management. Power sector reforms:The upcoming competitive and customer focused deregulated power distribution market will force the market participants to make the existing metering and billing process more competent. This is likely to drive the prepaid market. Increasing non-technical losses:Metering errors, tampering with meters leading to low registration and calibration related frauds are some of the key components of non-technical losses. X. Result The images given below shows how the output will be displayed when the project is executed. The command prompt displays the respective messages to the registered number. LCD displaying the message (to recharge) LCD displaying successful recharge XI. References Ben Belghith, O.,Sbita, L. ,â€Å"Remote GSM module monitoring and Photovoltaic system control†, IEEE Green Energy, 2014 International Conference on March 2014. Punetha.D.,Mehta, V. ,â€Å"A Wireless Approach to Real Time Remote Monitoring System examining Environmental Parameters Using Feasibility of a GSM Module†,IEEE Advances in Engineering and Technology Research (ICAETR), 2014 International Conference on Aug 2014. Mohammad .N.,Barua, A. ; Arafat, M.A. ,â€Å"A smart prepaid energy metering system to control electricity theft†,IEEE Power, Energy and Control (ICPEC), 2013 International Conference on Feb. 2013. Song Lai-quan ,Sun Huai-yuan ; Zhou Yu-dong ; Ge Bin ,â€Å"New Design for Electronic Blood Pressure Monitor Based on GSM Module TC35i â€Å",IEEE Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation (ICMTMA), 2014 Sixth International Conference on Jan. 2014.

Whittington Castle :: European Europe History

Whittington Castle When assigned the England project, I wanted to research something having to do with my heritage. My ancestors originate from England. Correspondingly, I chose Whittington Castle. According to an old English legend, one of my family ancestors, Dick Whittington, set out from the castle for London, in search of his fortune. After residing in London for a time, Dick Whittington went on to be "thrice Lord Mayor of London". That piece of history supposedly occurred in 1368, but the first construction of Whittington Castle was in 845 and modeled after the Norman Motte and Bailey castles of the time. Entirely, my information on Whittington Castle came from Internet sources. Because of the unfortunate ruination of ancient castle, it is almost forgotten today. Except for several small web sites, I found little or no information on Whittington castle. One such site was http://www.data-wales.co.uk/whitt.htm. Another site was http://www.btinternet.com/~whittington.castle/. Intriguing was the next site I found: http://www.castlewales.com/whittng.html. Constructing the Whittington castle in 845, the builders designed it after the Motte and Bailey style castles. But it was later remodeled in 1221 replacing the old structure with stone. Originally, the castle was assembled with seven towers, each about 18 meters high, with wall 3.7 meters thick, and a drawbridge over 12 meters long. Now, only the gatehouse remains. Around the castle, extensive marshlands acted as protection in medieval days. The remnants of Whittington castle are situated in the small village of Whittington, a few miles outside of Shrewsbury, England. Originally, the motte castle of Whittington was built by the Welsh Prince Ynyr ap Cadfarch. After being seized by Roger de Montgomery, the castle was given to Sir William Perveril of Peak. Perveril had no male heir; therefore his eldest daughter Mellet inherited the castle. Passing down through marriage to the fitz Warren family, King Henry III granted the fitz Warrens permission to build a stone fortress on the motte foundation. Although friends with King Henry, the fitz Warrens had an interesting love/hate relationship with the English monarchy. Fulk fitz Warren is reputed to have quarreled with Prince John, eventually causing Warren to flee France. He avoided certain death. Subsequent to Fulk's exile and pardon, he was able to return and repossess Whittington castle. Judiciously, the fitz Warren family held the fortress and its grounds until 1420. Interesting is one legend concerning the heirs of Whittington Castle. In the ruins it said that people have seen and heard two children peering out of the twin towers. Whittington Castle :: European Europe History Whittington Castle When assigned the England project, I wanted to research something having to do with my heritage. My ancestors originate from England. Correspondingly, I chose Whittington Castle. According to an old English legend, one of my family ancestors, Dick Whittington, set out from the castle for London, in search of his fortune. After residing in London for a time, Dick Whittington went on to be "thrice Lord Mayor of London". That piece of history supposedly occurred in 1368, but the first construction of Whittington Castle was in 845 and modeled after the Norman Motte and Bailey castles of the time. Entirely, my information on Whittington Castle came from Internet sources. Because of the unfortunate ruination of ancient castle, it is almost forgotten today. Except for several small web sites, I found little or no information on Whittington castle. One such site was http://www.data-wales.co.uk/whitt.htm. Another site was http://www.btinternet.com/~whittington.castle/. Intriguing was the next site I found: http://www.castlewales.com/whittng.html. Constructing the Whittington castle in 845, the builders designed it after the Motte and Bailey style castles. But it was later remodeled in 1221 replacing the old structure with stone. Originally, the castle was assembled with seven towers, each about 18 meters high, with wall 3.7 meters thick, and a drawbridge over 12 meters long. Now, only the gatehouse remains. Around the castle, extensive marshlands acted as protection in medieval days. The remnants of Whittington castle are situated in the small village of Whittington, a few miles outside of Shrewsbury, England. Originally, the motte castle of Whittington was built by the Welsh Prince Ynyr ap Cadfarch. After being seized by Roger de Montgomery, the castle was given to Sir William Perveril of Peak. Perveril had no male heir; therefore his eldest daughter Mellet inherited the castle. Passing down through marriage to the fitz Warren family, King Henry III granted the fitz Warrens permission to build a stone fortress on the motte foundation. Although friends with King Henry, the fitz Warrens had an interesting love/hate relationship with the English monarchy. Fulk fitz Warren is reputed to have quarreled with Prince John, eventually causing Warren to flee France. He avoided certain death. Subsequent to Fulk's exile and pardon, he was able to return and repossess Whittington castle. Judiciously, the fitz Warren family held the fortress and its grounds until 1420. Interesting is one legend concerning the heirs of Whittington Castle. In the ruins it said that people have seen and heard two children peering out of the twin towers.

Free Essays On Shakespeares Sonnet 55 :: Sonnet essays

Analysis of Sonnet 55 Not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme; But you shall shine more bright in these contents Than unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time. When wasteful war shall statues overturn, And broils root out the work of masonry, Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory. 'Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room Even in the eyes of all posterity That wear this world out to the ending doom. So, till the judgment that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lover's eyes. [Line 2]* - The poet could be referring to his own sonnet specifically, or to poetry in general. [Line 4]* - "'stone' (1) gravestone set in the church pavement on which the memorial inscription is rendered illegible by accumulated dust and the footsteps of the congregation; (2) uncared-for upright tomb or monument (the prey of dust and passing time)" (G. Blakemore Evans, Shakespeare's Sonnets, 163). [Line 7]* - Mars is the Roman god of war, often portrayed as a warrior in full battle armor, including a sword and shield. In Greek mythology Mars is known as Ares. [Line 12]* - 'that' refers to 'posterity', not to 'eyes'. [Line 14]* - Some scholars believe that Shakespeare is saying that his friend will be a source of inspiration for lovers everywhere (ie. 'dwell in the eyes of lovers everywhere'). But it most likely means that the poet's friend will dwell in the eyes of people who grow to love the friend through the poet's verse. Sonnet 55 is one of Shakespeare's most famous works and a noticeable deviation from other sonnets in which he appears insecure about his relationships and his own self-worth. Here we find an impassioned burst of confidence as the poet claims to have the power to keep his friend's memory alive evermore. Some critics argue that Shakespeare's sudden swell of pride in his poetry was strictly artificial - a blatant attempt to mimic the style of the classical poets. "It is difficult on any other hypothesis to reconcile the inflated egotism of such a one as 55 with the unassuming dedications to the Venus and Lucrece, 1593 and 1594, or with the expressions of humility found in the sonnets themselves, e.