Retailer Relationships Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Retailer Relationships - Research Paper Example The British American Tobacco is a leading retailer within the region. They have established retailers to help ensure that their consumers can access their products in an effective way. The retailers ensure that the supply of goods is reliable, and therefore this enables consumers to buy what they need, wherever they are and whenever the need arises at quality prices. Proper relations between the retailer and consumer ensure that one pays reasonable prices for the commodities they buy (Newman & Cullen, 2002). The British American Tobacco targets a certain range of consumers in the market, and therefore to make it to their target goals, there are ways of marketing their products. They create adverts or conduct consumer awareness campaigns to help the consumer understand what goods are in the market and thus choose the best suitable for their needs. These retailers take into consideration the need to maintain their environments clean and the need to release user-friendly products in the market. Therefore, they usually pack their products in environment friendly packages, and in case of dangerous emissions, they treat them before releasing to the human environment. To ensure that the youth do not smoke, they have put restrictions to the sellers and suppliers on who the products should be sold to. Their commodities are under restriction for individuals below the age of 19. To ensure that sellers stick by the policy, they put adverts in televisions, signboards, and even campaigns against underage smoking. The BAT Company want to ensure that they fill every gap in the market; they even conduct research to identify whether they serve the needs of their customers. This helps access the type of services provided. They compare their products to those of their competitors, and therefore strive to improve the quality of goods offered. The quality may vary due to the distribution of their commodities; failure to engage customer opinions in their activities or even the overal l quality of products may be poor (Jones et al, 2002). However, research conducted recently showed that the British American Tobacco is one among the best retailer marketing institutions. Competitors have released substitute products to the markets that are of low quality and that cause more harm to the human body. The British American tobacco should put all the necessary efforts to ensure that consumers have the knowledge on the need to consume legitimate products. These contrabands only aim at making profits and do not care about consumer safety (Madaan, 2009). Since these illicit products cannot be altogether kicked out of the market, they need to establish their authentication to at least ensure that consumers are not at serious risks. With the changing times, British American Tobacco has managed to enhance its supply in different continents. Through this, it is easier to achieve growth because access to new markets increases sales, and later on, increasing the profits attained. With more branches, it is more likely to expand the company’s profile, and therefore this even creates more jobs for people all over the world, and more suppliers enabling distribution of commodities are able to earn themselves incomes and enhance interactions between consumers and retailers at grass roots level. Diversity in markets explored increases connections, but this is only possible using effective managerial personnel and creating

Is Democracy a Better form of Government Essay Example for Free

Is Democracy a Better form of Government Essay Democracy is the best form of government simply because no other form of government is known to work well. Democracy may have its flaws but all in all it works very fluidly. Socialism, for example, does not even come close to the best form of government. One can easily see this in Greeces current state. Democracy has never led to complete government disorder like one can see Socialism does. Democracy allows us the freedom to choose. The majority of our country is allowed to choose what they feel is best for them. It is not just one person deciding what they think is best for everyone else. Democracy will always win out over other forms of government. This process can happen through voting. Right to vote is a human right of every citizen. Political Rights form a distinct category of Human Rights. Right to vote, right to contest at elections and the right to hold public office are considered important political rights. A democracy seems to be the most stable form of government yet. No one person has power. No one ideology is deemed better than another. In a democracy, if something doesnt work, it can and should be changed by the populace. Theocracies, monarchies and socialism all have their downsides. Democracy isnt perfect, but that form of government seems to be the most peaceful, especially in America. â€Å"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy? † ? Mahatma Gandhi Peoples democracy is the lifeblood of socialism. As an important part of the overall reform, political restructuring must be constantly deepened along with economic and social development to adapt to the growing enthusiasm of the people for participation in political affairs.

Strategy direction

Strategy direction â€Å"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term: which achieves advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a challenging business environment to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectation†. Executive Summary: In the business industry, it is very difficult to seem companies are reach to the success. One day they have to be faced, other face of business, which is called ‘losses or ‘decline. Todays business environment going very critical because of recession, makes business down, Thats reason we can see that established companies are going down and out of business environment, they cant started on against environment. This challenging business environment pushing Supermarket to back of form market but some Supermarket and company still they are fighting and achieved succeed. Tesco, which is one of the successful supermarket because of they are applying strategy is entirely proved in business environment. Tesco is successful in environment because of applying analytical tools e.g. PESTEL, Porters 5 Forces, SWOT Analysis, on the basis of these analysis and they have proven to be success is this challenging business environment. Introduction: Johnson and Scholes have described that statement, which is said strategy is goal like path of business success. Where mention successful way and goal of long term of maturity level in business environment. Wheres through of using organisation resources achieved benefits and advantages of success in business. Perhaps full fill stakeholder needs and expectation of business and constantly make successful place in challenging Environment. It is argued that UK supermarkets are delivering a quite different offering to the marketplace from a simple ‘basket of goods with a specific price and quality. The issues of product range, innovation potential, and associated convenience factor are all part of the package. This leads to a consideration of the questions of what is competing with what? And who is competing with whom? The issue of comparing like with like. From there we arrive at the question of how competitions policy in this field needs to consider long-term innovation potential as well as short-term price issues. (Supply chain management: An International potential 2000) Why it is importance to understand business environment Todays very important to learn business environment, which proved to be become successful in the markets, they promote and help you to increase business profitability and protect you, form competitors. Because they are successful in the market, they understood the Business environment trends. Whos invested in business and make profits and constantly is a successful in the markets. What do we understand by business environment In a business organisation, peoples are investing input whichs consider e.g. Labour, material, Capital and place etc. These inputs are converting in output like Goods and services that is customer willing to buy. Difficult Evaluation strategy changes of business environment Tesco is using different strategy to become successful in the critical environment and proved that they achieved success in the challenging environment. Supermarket competitors; are always trying to be a best but couldnt succeed. Tesco is always understood business strategies and be a leader in Markets. Tesco is using one strategies called as PESTEL Analysis. Microenvironment would include competitors, suppliers, customers, intermediaries, financial community, local community, pressure groups and government. Customers: are important person for any business, for instance in a completive environment, no business grows without customers. Organisations should use an information gathering systems in order to update with changing needs and requirements of the customers and able to predict even the future on what the customers want next. Suppliers: are providers to an organisation of goods and services that the organisation transforms into value added product to customers, also when demand of a product increases suppliers are crucial to the success of an organisation to make available to them due to increase in demand, thus better relationship with suppliers increases the growth of businesses. Competitors: survival of organisation in todays recession in dealing with competition is extremely important, hence an organisation must keep a close look on its competitors on how they are changing towards the need of the customers, and example of competition would be mobile phones and soft drinks. Intermediaries: are people who provide a link between the organisation and its customers, large companies use intermediaries as they find it difficult to deal direct to their customers. Financial communities: are institutions they may currently support or support the organisation in the future. Share holders both private and institutional are important to the business as they reassure that the business will achieve it objectives. Expansions of many markets have failed because the companies did not consider the needs and expectations of potential investors. Local community: it is for organisation to enhance their image towards the society, through charitable contribution, sponsorship of local events and also been seen as a support to the local environment. (Fifth edition by Adrian Palmer and Bob Harley) PESTEL Analysis Tool uses on Tesco supermarkets 1.1) Political factors: Tesco makes strong infrastructure in globe, now they are operating six countries in Europe in additions in the UK. Tesco have high demand by UK, including the European Union (EU). Tesco follow employee govt. Legislation to provide variety in job, flexibility of jobs, lower paid higher paid, variety of demand, requirement of position like for student, under 18 ages, senior citizen. Tesco are implemented position for different requirement for full fill their needs and makes them constantly growth, thats why on the basis of needs. They recruiting people as part time, full time, contract, temporary, seasonable, get job done in limited period of time. http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/p/inc/TalkingTesco.pdf 1.2) Economical Factors: Economically we are in recession time but all supermarkets as well as same in problem. Tesco is faced difficult time this year but they made strategies thats result recession will not critical y overcome on Tesco. So simply we can say that competition like Sainsbury, Asda economically they are strong, but Tesco are selling product for different categories customer some time using offer like free parking and Tesco reward cards, offers etc. Thats reason Tesco always one step ahead of competitors. http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/response/?page=article9 1.3) Social / cultural factors: Tesco are always applying PESTEL strategies in business. That why they always consider on different factor like social life, which belong to the people. Economic changes are changing people living trends, now people like to live single family, which is differences in single person, aged citizen, competition of job, people like gives preference time consuming, it is means peoples dont want spend time to make food. Tesco is understood people demand and introduce micro able food in the market. This is gives to the Tesco customer more time saving, easy to full fill their daily needs. On the chaining environment, supermarkets must be alert and do research on changes of cultural and social. http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/p/inc/TalkingTesco.pdf 1.4) Technological Factors: Technological factor are makes great effort on environment, which gives great impact of Tesco business environment. Tesco recently started new technology like ‘Online Shopping which is makes people life easier and peace, they are also saying dont need to come to us just order from home by online and you will get your delivery on your door step ahead. Tesco has also made investment in Pollution control, that is support to the carbon reduction and also encourage customer to use and buy low carbon product. It gives clean natural atmosphere to the human beings. Tesco is promoting to use carrier bags again and again and they also giving Tesco points on it. Which is clearly says to the customer make city clean and also urge for environment friendliness. This all activity makes good reputation in between people minds. Ø How existing products can be made cheaper and better quality by introducing new technology Ø How distribution of goods to consumers have changed e.g. how new books can be purchased via the internet Ø How consumers are offered more innovative products and services e.g. new anti cancer drugs, internet banking. Ø How new technology has enhanced organisation to communicate to their consumers e.g. customer relationship management, mobile internet services 1.5) Environment Factor: When Tescos using strategies in business, they also considerate about wrong impact on Business Environment and thats why they are always trying to avoid those impact. Tesco says ‘Make your staffs happy and they will make your customer happy. Tescos always trying to keep their staff Happier and which is good result on customer relation and build strong relation between customer and Staff. 1.6) Legislation Factor: Tescos always facing bargaining problem between them and competitors because of legislation create difficult environment like recession. It is means Price and Quality ‘War between supermarkets competitors; which means loss in business. Legislation understanding is very important in business, thats makes easy way to achieve their target in the market. In order to implement political correct pricing policies, Tesco offered to customer price reduction on food purchase based on the how many times customer spent money on groceries at their stores. It is gives competent stability in the Business environment. http://www.tesco.com/climatechange/speech.asp http://www.modelanswer.co.uk/business/help/pestle/tescos.php In the Business Environment How Tesco apply SWOT analysis to state internal and external Factors. A) Strength (Internal factor): 1) Tesco have had achieve 30.08% highest share of the UK market; Tesco is growing faster and faster in their future carrier and to allow to drive a high share in Non-Food industry. 1) Tesco Online services spreading all over the world and operating 270 stores around the globe. In which Tesco cover 96% market in the UK and other millions of store having online services. Then we can simply say that Currently Tesco got strong platform to develop their profitability in the market. 2) Recently advertised in UKs newspaper, Tesco have 71% Sales larger than Sainsbury; and they are leading UKs Supermarket business. B) WEAK (Internal Factor): 1) Tesco still need more effort to reach world market and makes stability in the world. 2) Tesco have already invested in different industry like Tesco Bank, New stores, Investment companies; if recession is continue like that, business environment will go bust and Tesco will have to face big loss in the business 3) Traditional small business like local butcher, local deli shop, local bakery etc. they are situated in resident areas which is very near for customer and traditionally customer got used to with their services. In this situation its very difficult to attract customer and make relation. C) Opportunity (External Factor): 1) Now Tesco is giving ‘Online Shopping facility to the customer. Its give opportunity to the customer, they can buy their product from their home and will get delivery on their door step. This is save customers Time, money and energy etc. 2) Tesco is going to open some new shop, Tesco Bank, and Tesco Investment company etc. In current status Tesco got highest share in market; its show Tesco great service and loyalty about customer, they already capture customer trust. On behalf of Tesco got opportunities to expand their business in world wide level and achieve success. 3) Tescos almost shops are providing 24Hrs service to the customer, its really great opportunities to get customer trust. D) Threats (External): 1) Now days Business environment giving tough challenge to the Supermarkets, economics value is going down, which means no jobs and no money. This is reason other supermarkets have already reduced their product price by 6%. Tesco and Sainsbury got leadership in the business market; simply they have to be decreasing their price rate, hence other wise they are out of market. Tesco got threats about loss of business because they have to reduce their cost lowest than their competitors. 2) Some time its very complicated to decide what to do? Or not? Because of some other supermarkets are buying their product from abroad; where economy is very low and thats they are selling their good very low cost. Some supermarket are taking advantage about it and buying standard product in cheap price from abroad and selling them on low price. For Tesco there is threat about stealing customer from them. 3) In UKs supermarket competition Tesco got success and they achieved leadership. Now Tesco going expand their business all over the world but still some countries like E.g. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc. They are traditionally buying their goods from their traditional shops and they got used to with their services. So When Tesco start their business in these countries might be there is threat about loss and decline of business. http://www.ivoryresearch.com/sample5.php http://www.321books.co.uk/catalog/tesco/porters-five-forces.htm Porter 5 Forces Analysis: How Tesco state their strategies and success on their competitors by using Porter 5 forces Analysis. 1) Bargaining power of Suppliers: This statement is practically proved by supermarkets competitors, where large supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury, and Asda etc are suffering by business environment crises called ‘Recession. Its result people they dont have enough money to buy their groceries form supermarket and that why they are always bargaining with supermarket price. For that reason large supermarkets are also forcing their suppliers to make very low cost on their selling product; which is result its very difficult for suppliers in low profit margin they can manage, their expenses. UKs based supermarkets are facing these problems but in hence other abroad based supermarkets are buying their goods in cheaper deal from abroad. These competitors are competing with large supermarkets and encouraging price war between supermarkets. 2) Bargaining power of Customers: In our business environment area we can see that great changes in markets like now peoples are demanding more supermarkets, who can gives them different facility, that could makes their life easier. Tesco has also started some schemes like loyalty customer card, club card and they also going to give some different facility E.g. Bank, Pharmacies etc. these all business environment changes are only happening by customer demand. It is increased supermarkets counts in the markets and their competition. 3) Bargaining power of competitors: In challenging business environment customer demands and expectation are high from supermarket; to full fill their needs we can see that every day entering new competitors in the market and challenging Supermarkets. So now these condition UKs supermarkets have had to keep maintain their leadership in the market and innovative to build market share. Tesco is always updating their Price and value scan between competitors success and on behalf of have given excellent service to the customer. 4) Threat of New Entrants: In the UKs large supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA etc. they are capturing large space of business, there is no space for other because of they are rapidly spreading all local areas and draining out business from market. Mostly some small tradition shops are affected and they are start disappearing from market like Butcher, bakery, dairy shop etc. So it very difficult for those new entrants companies to stand in grocery market and also they are facing some problem like not enough capital and resources for product compare to other Supermarkets. 5) Threat of Substitutes: In this changing business environment is able to reduce demand for a specific product, as threat is of consumers switching to the other supermarkets. Tesco have started new business trend in the markets like opening shop Tesco express, metro in local towns and city. Whilst help to protect Tesco, about stealing customer by small supermarkets. Recommendation: In business environment Tesco always tries to understand changes of business environment and on the basis of situation applying their unique strategies E.g. PESEL, Porter 5 forces, SWOT analysis etc and got succeed in the market. It gave leadership in between competitors. This strategies are practically proved thats why these are very effective source to full fill Tescos stakeholder expectation and providing excellent service to the customer. Changing business environment, Tesco innovate some different Technology changes, which gives to the customer easy and simple approach for the life. One of the technology changes is effective in the business like online shopping. On the basis of ‘Online shopping Tesco says to the customer, you dont need to come to us, instant we will come to you. In hence Tesco have to understand changes in business environment which relate with competitors. It is necessary to scan competitors success activity and makes good decision on it and implements Tesco key success. Tesco have to also consider on their behaviour of business which is help to them to understand, how they are reacting on implement of trends and strategy changes. These strategies changes are makes final decision to Tesco can use their analytical strategies in the competitive business environment, which gives Tesco successful stage in the market. Conclusion: In the Challenging business environment Tescos success strategy is proved and applied on the practical life that why there is no change of error; thats reason Tescos giving excellent service to the customer and understanding their need and full fill their need on their demand. For better technology can save cost, money and energy and it is important for that organisation should regularly have scans on their competitors to achieve success within the challenging business environment.

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston Essay -- essays resea

The book, Farewell to Manzanar was the story of a young Japanese girl coming of age in the interment camp located in Owens Valley, California. Less than two months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed an Executive Order, which stated that the War Department had the right to declare which people were a threat to the country, and move them wherever they so pleased. Since the West Coast had a large number of Japanese immigrants at the time, the Executive Order was basically an act that authorized the government to remove Japanese residing on the West Coast away from their homes and put them in these interment camps. As harsh as it may sound, the interment camps were nothing like the infamous Nazi interment camps of World War II. Manzanar residents enjoyed relatively comfortable living conditions, and lived fairly comfortable lives as compared to those of German interment camps. However, it was still rough, as many families were separated and emotional scar s lingered long after the experience. Farewell to Manzanar is the story of one girl making the difficult transition to womanhood, at a difficult time, and at a difficult location. Two of the main life lessons that Jeannie learned during her stay at Manzanar dealt with the issues of her identity as an American against her Japanese heritage, and also with her treatment in school. During her time at Manzanar, Jeannie was surrounded by almost exclusively Japanese people, and did not have much exposure to Caucasians, or people of other races. Therefore, she did not know what to truly expect when she went out into the â€Å"school world† outside of Manzanar. She had received some schooling while in Manzanar; however, the American schools were drastically different from the schools inside of Manzanar. While inside Manzanar, Jeannie learned more skills in the fine arts, such as baton twirling, and ballet. Though â€Å"hard† subjects were taught, Jeannie didn’t mention them as much as she did about the baton twirling, ballet, and Catechesis. The schools at Manzanar were not much until the second year. The first year, volunteers taught the schools, and resources were pretty scarce. However, in the second year, teachers were hired, and the number of available supplies increased. One key thing that Jeannie remembers about her Manzanar schooling was her participation in the yearbook, and also with the ... ...he fact that she was pretending to be of a culture which she did not belong to. She was dressed as an American, acting as an American, even though she was of Japanese descent. Under Papa’s orders, she signed up for odori class, however, she performed terribly and was basically kicked out of class by the instructor. Jeannie Wakatsuki lived a very diverse life, as she was subjected to both life inside of an interment camp and American high school. Attending American high school was a character shaping experience, and even more so for someone of a minority race or gender. The experience lets them know where their race stands among others, and if they will be completely accepted in the â€Å"outside world†. Unfortunately for Jeannie, she was not totally accepted by others throughout her life, and that left psychological scars on her. However, she came out of these experiences a better and more well rounded person, so they were not totally negative for her. A note of interest is that she ended up marrying a non-Japanese person, possibly due to her growing up and maturing around non-Japanese. The book Farewell to Manzanar fully illustrates her thoughts and feelings throughout this process.

Questions on The Storm by Kate Chopin

The short story was first published in The Complete Works of. You can read about finding themes in Kate Chopin's stories and novels on the Themes page of this site. The Storm was written by Kate Chopin on July 19, 1898. The theme of Kate Chopin's short story, The Storm, is based on adultery. The Storm by Kate Chopin Study Guide Summary and Themes in Chopin's Short Story The Storm – What is the theme of â€Å"The Storm† by Kate Chopin? â€Å"The Storm† themes. Therese Lafirme in At Fault; at Calixta in â€Å"The Storm,† Louise Mallard in â€Å"The Story. How does Kate Chopin reveal character in â€Å"The Storm†. Scholars and critics have been writing about Kate Chopin's subjects and themes for. In the short story â€Å"The Storm† by Kate Chopin the setting supports the theme; just because you are married to someone it does not mean that you continue to love them. Set in the early 1900's with two main characters, Calixta, and Alcee. What types of conflict (physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional) do you see in this story. Chopin uses the theme of forbidden love to tell a story that is. Socratic Seminar Questions Through her stories, Kate Chopin wrote her own autobiography. In Kate Chopin's story â€Å"The Storm,† sex is a crucial part of the story. Books By Genre, Theme & The best The Theme of love in â€Å"the Storm† – Kate Chopin Degree Essay & Coursework help including documents Marked by Lecturers and Peers. An examination of the primary themes in the famous work of fiction, The Storm by Kate Chopin. You can read about finding themes in Kate Chopin's stories and novels on the Themes page of this site. Set in the early 1900's with two main characters, Calixta, and Alcee. In Kate Chopin's story â€Å"The Storm,† sex is a crucial part of the story. Chopin uses the theme of forbidden love to tell a story that is. The Storm by Kate Chopin Study Guide Summary and Themes in Chopin's Short Story The Storm – What is the theme of â€Å"The Storm† by Kate Chopin? â€Å"At the ‘Cadian Ball† (prequel to â€Å"The Storm†). Kate Chopin The theme of Kate Chopin's short story, The Storm, is based on adultery. Sex theme analysis by Ph. D. and Masters students from. Scholars and critics have been writing about Kate Chopin's subjects and themes for over fifty years. The Storm? , Chopin not only creates the perfect setting but also. The Storm – What is the theme of â€Å"The Storm,† by Kate Chopin. Kate Chopin, â€Å"At the ‘Cadian Ball,† implied throughout. Kate Chopin JenniP on John Updike? s A & P: Analysis & Theme; Anya on The Lymphatic System. Sex theme analysis by Ph. D. and Masters students from. The Storm Study Guide > The Storm Questions > What is the theme of â€Å"The Storm,† by Kate Chopin. The Storm† time and place The story is set in the late nineteenth century at Friedheimer's store in Louisiana, and at the nearby house of Calixta and Bobinot. â€Å"The Storm† themes Unlike most of Kate Chopin's short stories and both her novels, this story was not published until the 1960s, many years after it was written. Apparently Chopin did not submit it to magazines because she understood that no editor at the time would publish a work as sexually explicit as this one. Per Seyersted, a Chopin biographer, writes that â€Å"sex in this story is a force as strong, inevitable, and natural as the Louisiana storm which ignites it. The conclusion of the story, Seyersted adds, is ambiguous, because Chopin â€Å"covers only one day and one storm and does not exclude the possibility of later misery. The emphasis is on the momentary joy of the amoral cosmic force. † In this story, Seyersted says, Kate Chopin â€Å"was not interested in the immoral in itself, but in life as it comes, in what she saw as natural–or certainly inevitable–expressions of universal Eros, inside or outside of marriage. She focuses here on sexuality as such, and to her, it is neither frantic nor base, but as ‘healthy' and beautiful as life itself. Other readers, scholars, and critics have found a host of themes, ideas, and subjects to write about in this story. There are further details in some of the questions and answers below. You can check our lists of books, articles, and dissertations about Chopin at other places on this site. And you can read about finding themes in Kate Chopin's stories and novels on our Themes page. When Kate Chopin's â€Å"The Storm† was written and published The story was composed on July 19, 1898. It was first published in The Complete Works of Kate Chopin in 1969. You can find complete composition dates and publication dates for Chopin's works on pages 1003 to 1032 of The Complete Works of Kate Chopin, edited by Per Seyersted (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969, 2006). Questions and answers about â€Å"The Storm† Q: The story's title says it is â€Å"A Sequel to ‘The ‘Cadian Ball. ‘ † Does â€Å"The Storm† stand by itself or does it need to be read with the earlier story? A: It stands by itself, but some scholars have argued that Chopin obviously intended for â€Å"The Storm† to be read with â€Å"At the ‘Cadian Ball† and that resonance is lost when they are separated (see one of the questions below). The earlier story describes how Calixta came to marry Bobinot and how Alcee came to marry his wife. Some anthologies print â€Å"The Storm† alone. Many print the two stories together. Q: Isn't the phrasing of â€Å"The Storm† sexually explicit for something written in the 1890s? A: Yes, the phrasing is way beyond what any respectable American magazine, even a comparatively advanced magazine like Vogue (in which Kate Chopin published nineteen stories), would have printed at the time. From everything we can tell, Chopin did not try to send â€Å"The Storm† out to editors. The story was not published until 1969, sixty-five years after Chopin's death. Q: So readers at the time were uptight about explicit sex in short stories? A: By the standards of most twenty-first-century American or European magazine readers, yes. But unlike today's countless magazines often selling to small, closely-focused segments of the population, American national magazines in the late nineteenth century usually appealed to broader, more heterogeneous audiences. Many, if not most, magazines of the time were viewed by children as well as adults, so editors needed to keep in mind the tastes and preferences of the people who bought their publications and, perhaps, shared them with their families. Q: What kind of relationship exists between Calixta and Alcee? What can you infer from their past? A: Much depends on whether you think of the two as characters who exist only in â€Å"The Storm† or if you see them as characters who exist also in â€Å"At The ‘Cadian Ball. Assuming you are looking at both stories: as we explain on the page for the earlier story, Alcee and his wife Clarisse are Creoles, descendants of French settlers in Louisiana. Calixta and her husband Bobinot are Acadians, descendants of French-American exiles from Acadia, Nova Scotia, who were driven from their homes by the British in 1755. Most of the Creoles in Kate Chopin's stories are comparatively wealthy, usually landowners or merchants. Most of the Acadians (or ‘Cajuns) in the stories are much poorer, living off the land, farming or fishing or working for the Creoles. So on the basis of the two stories together, you could describe Calixta as coming from a different social class than Alcee, and you could say that it's in good part because of that difference in class that Calixta and Alcee are married to other people. And you could add that, unlike anyone else in either story, Calixta comes in part also from a Spanish-speaking cultural background (her mother is Cuban) and so, as Kate Chopin presents her, she has different ways of behaving, more sensual ways of expressing her sexuality–which is partly why she is so attractive for both Alcee and Bobinot. As everyone in the earlier story understands, she's not like the other Acadian girls. In brief, Calixta is an Acadian influenced by Cuban culture who had been attracted to Alcee–and he to her–long before either of them was married (they had some passionate moments together one summer in Assumption Parish, moments that apparently scandalized some people). Calixta married Bobinot, the earlier story suggests, because Alcee was not available as a marriage partner–at least partly because his Creole family, and certainly Clarisse, think of him as coming from a comparatively higher social class. Lisa A Kirby discusses this subject at length in Kate Chopin in the Twenty-First Century. Q: I've read an article about â€Å"The Storm† that suggests Calixta has some African-American blood. Is that right? A: No. Her mother is Cuban. Everyone in the community thinks of her as Acadian with some Spanish blood. As the prequel to this story phrases it, â€Å"Any one who is white may go to a ‘Cadian ball, but he must pay for his lemonade, his coffee and chicken gumbo. And he must behave himself like a ‘Cadian. † Q: Would you describe what looks to me like an odd sort of connection between Chopin's short story â€Å"A Shameful Affair† and her stories â€Å"At The ‘Cadian Ball† and â€Å"The Storm†? A: Perhaps it's not so odd a connection. â€Å"A Shameful Affair† is an earlier Chopin story, is set in Missouri rather than in Louisiana, and does not involve Creole or Acadian society. But in some ways it's similar to Chopin's two more famous works in its focus on a man and woman attracted to each other but restrained by the sexual norms of the times. Mildred and Fred are wealthy, educated people who, because of late nineteenth-century norms, keep their sexual feelings towards others, especially others of their own class, under very tight control. It was, however, common for an upper-class man to have a â€Å"fling,† as Chopin calls it in â€Å"At the ‘Cadian Ball,† with a woman of a lower social class. An upper-class woman would not likely have a fling with a lower-class man. But Chopin in this story reverses those male/female roles. Until Mildred gets the letter from her friend (after she and Fred kiss) she does not realize that Fred is from her own class. But he's a handsome, sexually powerful guy, and it's nice–and, she thinks, safe–for her to flirt a little with him. Fred understands who Mildred is (it's not clear if he realizes that she does not know who he is), but he's on the farm precisely to get away from the norms of his class. He likes being a working-class guy at times, and he avoids contact with Mildred. But when she seeks him out him at the river, he passionately kisses her. Then, remembering himself, he flees, like Alcee Laballiere flees from Calixta in Assumption.

Words in Context Key SAT Reading and Writing Strategies

Words in Context Key SAT Reading and Writing Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are no more sentence completion questions on the SAT, so your vocabulary knowledge will be tested with questions that fall under the umbrella of the Words in Context subscore. In this article, I'll give you the inside scoop on what these questions are, what forms they might take in both the Reading and Writing sections, and which strategies work best for solving them accurately. What Are SAT Words in Context Questions? Words in Context is a subscore category on the new SAT that includes questions in both the Reading and Writing sections of the test.Your Words in Context subscore is calculated by adding up the points you earn from answering all the questions in this category.There are 18 of these questions per test (ten in the Reading section and eight in the Writing section), so your raw score will range from one to 18. This raw score is converted to a subscore out of 15. The SAT has seven subscores spanning the different sections of the test that are all converted to scaled scores out of 15. These scores can help identify each student's specific strengths and weaknesses.Here’s a raw score to subscore conversion chart to show what I mean: Since there are no more Sentence Completion questions on the new SAT, all vocabulary questions on the new SAT fall into the Words in Context subscore category.Words in Context questions focus on understanding the different meanings of common words and choosing words that are most appropriate for the given circumstances. They won't test your knowledge of advanced vocabulary that you would rarely (if ever) use in daily life like the old SAT did. On the Reading section, these types of questions will ask you to: Use context clues to decide which meaning of a word or phrase is being used in a specific instance (vocabulary in context) Decide how the author’s word choice affects meaning, style, and tone in the passage (purpose of words in context) On the Writing section, they will ask you to: Alter word choice to convey the appropriate style or tone (improving word choice) Improve syntax of the passage (combining sentences) Improve word choice to make the sentence more precise (fill in the blank) Words in Context questions are important to master because they make up nearly 20 percent the Reading and Writing sections.To give you an idea of exactly what to expect, I’ll provide examples of two Reading questions and three Writing questions that represent all the different types of Words in Context questions you might see on the test. What Do Words in Context SAT Questions Look Like? This section includes examples ofthe various types of words in context questions that you'll come across in both the Reading and Writing sections. Reading Section Example #1: Vocabulary in Context These are the most common types of Words in Context questions on the Reading section.If you’ve ever taken the ACT, you may notice that these are very similar to the vocabulary questions on ACT Reading.They will ask you to choose the best synonym for a given word in the passage based on its context. Here’s an example: In this sentence, we can see that â€Å"credit† means something like â€Å"trust† because the demographers are the ones giving us data to suggest that the public transportation is on the upswing.If we trust them, the trend is real. Now that it's clear what we are looking for, it's time to go through the choices. Choice A is incorrect because â€Å"endow† means to equip or furnish someone with something, which isn’t a good replacement for the form of â€Å"credit† being used here. Choice B is also incorrect because â€Å"attribute† would mean â€Å"cite,† which makes a little bit of sense, but still doesn’t match up with what the original sentence is saying. Choice C seems to fit pretty well. If we â€Å"believe† the demographers, the growing popularity of public transportation is a reality. Choice D is wrong because â€Å"honor" isn't a synonym for â€Å"trust,† and taking the demographers at their word is not the same as actively â€Å"honoring† them. Final Answer: C Example #2: Analyzing Word Choice Rhetorically You’ll also see questions that ask why certain words are used.Here’s an example along with the section of the passage it references: Rather than choosing the correct definition of a word, you must determine why the author uses certain words and how they affect the reader’s perception of the passage. The three words mentioned in the question all indicate hopeful uncertainty, so that's something we should look for in the description of the tone. Also, upon rereading the paragraph, it's clear that this is a very dry, scientific reporting of facts. This clinical quality combined with the words listed seems to indicate that they're used as a means of stating aspects of the authors' hypothesis while clarifying that their beliefs are not yet scientifically confirmed. Ok, time to look at the choices. Based on the unemotional writing style of the paragraph, Choice A doesn’t fit. There is no descriptive language to suggest either an optimistic (or pessimistic) tone. It simply states the central tenets of the authors' hypothesis along with several supporting facts. Choice B can also be eliminated because there is nothing to indicate a "dubious" or doubtful tone. Again, the authors are stating their hypothesis in scientific terms without giving us any clear insight into their deeper feelings about it. Choice C is the most promising so far. It reflects the measured, scientific tone of the paragraph. The authors believe in their hypothesis to a certain extent, but they can’t state their beliefs as facts because they haven’t conducted any experiments to test them. Finally, Choice D is definitely out. The elaboration in the second part of the sentence is overly specific, and once again, the passage doesn’t have strong enough language to establish a critical tone. Final Answer: C We need to keep the bees healthy so we can put their sweet puke in our tea. Writing Section Example #3: Choose the Best Word These questions are similar to vocabulary in context Reading questions, but they ask you to think in a slightly different way. You have to choose the word that fits best in the passage rather than just determining what the word in the passage means.Here’s an example: Let's look at what the sentence is trying to say. The officials recently ordered six original paintings of cats from an artist. If the museum privately hired someone to paint the cats, it wouldn't be necessary for any sort of public announcement or "decree" to be issued. Based on this understanding of the sentence, choice A, "NO CHANGE", doesn’t quite work. We're looking for a word that means the same as "ordered" in the sense of "the officials ordered Chinese food" but in a more formal, artistic context. Choice B is a very promising answer. If you're familiar at all with the art world, you'll know that people and institutions often "commission" works from artists. This is just a fancier way of describing the process of submitting an order for a specific painting that you would like an artist to create. Makes sense considering what we know so far, so we'll keep it in the mix. Choice C, â€Å"forced,† indicates that there was resistance to the creation of the paintings, and there’s no evidence for that.This answer can be crossed out. Choice D, â€Å"licensed,† implies that the paintings already existed and the museum went through a legal process to make them official. This doesn't jive with our understanding of the sentence at all; any licensing, if applicable, would be done after the paintings were completed. Final Answer: B Example #4: Improving Word Choice In some Writing questions that fall under the Words in Context category, you have to choose the word that makes the most sense given the tone of the passage.Here’s an example: What type of word are we looking for? Let's examine the context. Well, the food was described as being of "terrible quality" earlier in the passage, so we want a synonym for unpalatable or gross. The passage is also a formal historical account, so we're looking for a word that matches with the serious tone. Choice A can be ruled out because â€Å"sinister† isn’t an appropriate word choice based on what the sentence is describing.â€Å"Sinister† means ominous or foreboding.It would be weird to describe train food as â€Å"sinister† because this word is reserved for things that are subtly unsettling, not outwardly gross. Choice B, â€Å"surly,† is an adjective that describes a person’s behavior. It can’t be applied to an inanimate object like food, so this choice should be eliminated as well. Choice C, â€Å"abysmal,† seems like a promising choice.Abysmal is a direct synonym for terrible, and it'sformal enough to fit with the tone of the passage. Keep this one. Choice D is incorrect for different reasons than the other answers we eliminated. While "icky" makes sense as a synonym for unpalatable or gross, it doesn't set the right tone. It's way too informal to work with the rest of the passage. Final Answer: C Example #5: Combining Sentences This is another type of question that the SAT puts in the words in context category, though it is a bit different from the other types that I've gone through. In these questions, you just have to decide the best way to combine two sentences that are separate in the original passage. It's still categorized as a Words in Context question because you're asked to modify the phrasing of the sentences so they fit together seamlessly in the context of the paragraph. It requires you to understand how to use language effectively.Here’s an example: First, let's make sure we understand the content of the original two sentences. The passage has already established that artificial lights lower worker productivity. The purpose of these two sentences is to add another reason to dislike artificial lights: their excessive cost. We're looking for a combination of the two sentences that preserves this purpose and maintains its grammatical integrity. Choice A looks pretty good. It avoids misplaced modifiers and maintains focus on the costliness of the lights. We can keep this one. Choice B is incorrect because it indicates that the cost of artificial light sources lowers worker productivity. This is an inaccurate statement because we know from the rest of the passage that the quality of the light source used in the office impacts productivity, not its cost. Choice C is wrong because it is worded awkwardly and doesn’t emphasize the central point of the two sentences. It gives equal attention to the two negative attributes of artificial light sources when cost is the main focus of this paragraph. Choice D is wrong because, like choice C, it misses the point of the original sentences.It emphasizes a supporting detail about the lights' energy use while only briefly touching on the subject of their costliness. Natural lighting makes for a cheerier and less expensive office. Fluorescent lights will steal your soul if you work under them for long enough. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! 4 Tips for Words in Context SAT Questions Tip #1: Read the Whole Paragraph These questions are about words (and sentence structure) IN CONTEXT, which means you shouldn’t focus solely on the sentence in which the word appears.This is especially true for questions that ask you to choose the word that fits the tone of the entire paragraph or passage.Always read the surrounding paragraph so that you don’t get an inaccurate impression of the meaning of the word or the author’s intentions. Tip #2: Predict the Answer One strategy I would recommend for vocabulary in context questions is to formulate your own idea of what the word means in context before looking at the answer choices.Sometimes looking at the choices can make things more confusing.If you already have an idea in your head of what the answer should be, your thought process is less likely to be disrupted. Tip #3: Plug It In A good method for testing out answer choices on Words in Context questions is plugging each of your options back into the sentence.This tip applies to vocabulary in context questions and improving word choice questions.It’s much easier to see the flaws in answer choices if you read the sentence over again using the proposed replacement word.If you plug in the word and it doesn’t feel right, you should reconsider your choice. Tip #4: Reading, Not Flashcards Finally, as you're preparing for the SAT, the best thing you can do to improve your performance on these types of questions is to practice your overall reading comprehension. The more you read, the easier it will be for you to discern the various meanings of words based on their contexts. You're far more likely to have seen the word used that way before if you've been reading a lot. See this article for some greatways to develop better reading comprehension in conjunction with studying for words in context questions. The more you challenge your brain with advanced reading materials, the simpler the passages and vocabulary words on the SAT will seem to you. Conclusion Words in Context is a subscore category on the SAT that encompasses all questions related to vocabulary knowledge and appropriate word choice. On the Reading section, these questions will ask you to use context clues to choose the correct synonym for a word or to identify the purposes of certain words.On the Writing section, Words in Context questions ask you to improve word choice and combine sentences smoothly. The strategies I would recommend for solving these types of questions include: Reading the whole paragraph containing the word(s) in the question Predicting the answer before reading the choices Plugging in the answer choices to test them out Practicing reading comprehension, not vocab memorization Unlike the old sentence completion SAT questions, words in context questions don’t require knowledge of advanced vocabulary.If you take a thoughtful, analytical approach to these questions, you should be able to answer them correctly without spending hours studying flashcards. What's Next? Struggling with SAT Reading? Here are six strategies that will help you increase your scores to a more competitive level. You can also check out these five tips to excel on the Writing section if you're more concerned about that part of the test. If you're looking for some review books to help you out with your studying, check out our reviews of the best books for each section of the SAT. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial: