The Effects Of Music Therapy On Different Stages Of...

Abstract: Individuals who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease suffer from a loss of memories due to the deterioration of the brain’s wiring. Music therapy, although only deeply researched and experimented on during the past decade or so, has ignited new possibilities for treating agitation and anxiety in moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. This essay investigates how effects of music therapy of different cultures help alleviate different stages of Alzheimer’s disease through autobiographical memory renewal. By reducing stress and enhancing cognitive function, music therapy enhances memory capacities for autobiographical and episodic memory. Because of the safe methods of musical intervention, individualistic countries such as the United States, Iceland, and France and collectivistic cultures such as Japan all devoted extensive efforts to experiment through case studies. Findings suggested that music therapy is effective in that familiar songs are ex cellent stimuli for reminiscence of the past that lead to cognitive rejuvenation or re-stimulation. Data from all the case studies of musical interventions demonstrate that reminiscence and stress can be reduced to elevate mood and happiness, a means of rediscovering life’s meaning. However, music therapy’s effects in the long-term has yet to be determined—whether it permanently enhances or not. However, music therapy’s existing capabilities can also be potentially useful to treat depression, Parkinson’s disease andShow MoreRelatedA Research Study On Alzheimer s Disease1339 Words   |  6 Pagesare a couple types of dementia. This research paper is about Alzheimer s Disease (AD) which is a specific type of dementia that is closely related to aging. AD accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases. AD usually affects people 65 and older, but it can start in rare cases around 40 to 50. 5.3 million people in America have been diagnosed with AD, and almost two thirds of the population that has been diagnosed are women (Alzheimer s Association, 2015). Learning about AD can help people understandRead MoreIs Music Therapy A Effective Therapy?3299 Words   |  14 Pages Abstract Music could be referred to as a universal language, for instance it has more purposeful values than just for listening and people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy interaction with it every day worldwide. Throughout this research project music will be shown to work as an effective therapy and demonstrate how interaction with it can improve quality of life in Alzheimer s sufferers. Alzheimer s disease is only one of many forms of dementia which causes irreversible decline of the brainRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease2254 Words   |  10 Pagescommon is that they’re aware of who they are and what they want to accomplish, well for the most part that is. There are many people living in this world with a disease called Alzheimer’s, which is a very deadly and mysterious disease. Alzheimer’s is a type of Dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. This disease is a progressive cognitive disorder that deteriorates brain cells e ventually to the point of destroying them. This kind of deterioration leads to memory loss asRead MoreAlzheimer s And The Most Relevant Cause Of Dementia1496 Words   |  6 Pages Alzheimer’s, the most relevant cause of Dementia, is a disease that affects as many as 4.5 million Americans per year (WebMD 2005-2014). Alzheimer’s is a disease that is an irremediable, continuous brain neuron degenerative disease that can be asymptomatic at first and then overtime becomes symptomatic. Alzheimer’s is a gradual disease that advances in three phases: mild, then moderate, and, finally, severe (1). Symptoms appear after the age of 60 and include: the slow destruction of memory andRead MoreMusic And How It Can Heal People1632 Words   |  7 PagesMusic and how it can heal people is becoming a widely global trend. This is due to experts in music that have devoted their time and effort in developing new ways to use their expertise. One of the ways that they have discovered is the use of music as a therapy. Nowadays, Music Therapists have been added as a profession and are now breaking down the walls of silence and affliction of depression anxiety, autism, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson s disease. Music therapy can be define as music performanceRead MoreThe Healing Power Of Music1612 Words   |  7 PagesThe Healing Power of Music The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, defines Alzheimer’s as being the most common form of dementia, occurring in 60% to 80% of people suffering from symptoms of dementia (Clair Tomaino, 2016). The foundation also states that it is an irreversible disease that progresses over time, destroying cognitive functions such as: memory, learning, and language skills. Furthermore it may alter behaviors and mood, cause disorientation, as well as agitation (Clair TomainoRead MoreMusic Therapy Is Effective Or Not?925 Words   |  4 Pagesor do anything without listening to music. From elevator music, to exercise in the gym, to background music in restaurants, to the radio in the car, we cannot escape music. It is such an overlooked yet essential part of our daily lives, but what is unknown by many is that music is also used very deliberately in the lives of others. Many hospitals use music therapy to help treat their stroke patients, premature infants, those diagnosed w ith Alzheimer s disease, etc. One might wonder why physiciansRead MoreSenior Project Paper: Music Therapy used on Alzheimers Patients2826 Words   |  12 Pagesï » ¿Courtney Everette Ms. Askue August 26, 2014 English IV Music Therapy Introduction: Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve observed people playing music around me. My family is musically inclined, which I believe is the reason I’ve been drawn to it. In 2006, I began taking guitar lessons but I never had much interest in playing. Things changed in 2009, and I wished to be different. I wanted to be good at something so I began to teach myself guitar and have stuck with the guitar until now. In 2010Read MoreThe Studies Of Music And How It May Not Help The Alzheimer s Disease1675 Words   |  7 PagesIn order to understand how the studies of music and how it may or may not help the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) one would need the background of it. AD is a progressive neurological disease that leads to deterioration in cognitive abilities. People with AD encounter a progressive decline in their neurological capabilities, which manifest in language deficits, among other cognitive difficulties. The main failures in speech include naming difficulties, verb al fluency deficit, comprehension problemsRead MoreNeurological Disorders2518 Words   |  11 PagesGuides section of the Center for Writing Excellence. Thank you for using WritePoint. Running Head: NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS [Unless a trade name, an acronym, or in the running head, do not use all capitals in academic writing] Neurological Disorders: Effects on the Brain and Behavior Quintina Brown Dr. Ariel Gonzalez University of Phoenix July 26, 2010 Neurological disorders are disorders of the nervous system. The disorders are said to result from infections in the brain or spinal cord that lead

Canadian Literature American Literature - 1548 Words

Before Canada gained its own independence and was known specifically as â€Å"Canada†, it was a land that was ripe for explorers. This large piece of land was largely undiscovered to the Europeans and these European adventurers saw it as their mission to chart these new territories (Sugars and Moss, 110). However, as time went on, the focus and appeal shifted away from exploring an unknown land and instead, the focus shifted to inhabiting that land instead. Colonies were growing in numbers and so was the settler population. However, there was still concerns about immigrating into Canada due to its status as a new country and its undeveloped culture. It was still a daunting new land with too many unforeseeable risks for any outsiders and it would be considered a large gamble for one to leave their home country. As a result, during this time period before the Confederation (suitably named the â€Å"pre-Confederation period†), much of the literature that is considered Cana dian literature were written for outside audiences. Writers began to write about their experiences living in Canada and were enticing readers to emigrate as well. The methods that were used to attract these readers, although, ranged vastly for each writer and vastly differed in how effective they were. One such writer for example, Mary Ann Shadd, wrote â€Å"A Plea for Emigration† as a pamphlet that was filled with overly positive virtues of Canada; while another writer, Susanna Moodie, wrote â€Å"Roughing It in the Bush† as aShow MoreRelatedEssay Studying Literature754 Words   |  4 Pagesprovinces, those in Ontario should study only Canadian literature in grade twelve English courses. Although there are many existing writers in different cultures, it is important for Ontario students to first become familiar with Canadian literature before moving on. It is believed that students should focus on their Canadian culture - despite being surrounded by other cultures- p romote and establish their own writers, and encourage younger Canadian authors. Pupils currently enrolled in EnglishRead MoreGrade 12 Ontario Students Studying Canadian Literature(U1A6)662 Words   |  3 PagesGrade 12 Ontario Students Studying Canadian Literature This essay proves that graduating students in Ontario should only study literature in a Grade 12 English course. While good writers exist in all cultures, Ontario students should only study literature written by Canadian writers. This is because all Ontario students should become familiar with literature from our province. Three reasons for this are; the need to focus on our own Canadian culture and despite being surrounded by many other culturesRead MoreCanadian Literature in Grade 12 978 Words   |  4 PagesOntario students should be exposed to new literature, particularly Canadian literature. Students need this exposure to Canadian literature to become more familiar with the literature of their country; through literature, we are able to focus on our Canadian culture while being surrounded by other cultures, we promote new, younger authors, and we become aware of the mosaic that is Canadian culture. Exposing high school students in Ontario to more Canadian literature would allow them to develop a deeperRead More Children’s Literature through an Americanized Scope1232 Words   |  5 Pages‘Other’ Places in Children’s Literature.† Stewart claims that multicultural texts are significant, and that diverse perspectives in conjunction with western existence and beliefs are poignant to a young student’s education. But multicultural literature is dismal, in regards to works about other places and experiences by non-westerners with a lack of the â€Å"other† and its representations in the western canon. Stewart presents asymmetrical arguments on the two North American authors and their texts asRead MoreLiterature Review : Canadian Prevention Plan768 Words   |  4 PagesReview of the Literature The literature on the military soldiers in association with PTSD, TBI, depression, and substance abuse is extensive. Yet, there are less conclusive studies with the topics shown above and AD. Also, a majority of the literary research with military personnel are mostly on U.S. soldiers. There are only a few studies showing Canadian statistics of AD and mental health disorders. Fortunately, the Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia association has a section of research on the militaryRead MoreThe European Union ( Eu ) And North American Free Trade Agreement1086 Words   |  5 PagesThe European Union (EU) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) both consists of twenty-seven countries that makes it the largest trading bloc in the world. Based on the 2008 figure, the value of the exports of goods/services from European Union to NAFTA was 639. One billion Canadian dollars while the import of goods/services to the European Union from the NAFTA was amounted to 513.9 billion Cana dian dollars. Two trade blocs are also highly interdependent by the means of FDI. In 2007, theRead MoreMilitary Sexual Trauma ( Mst )1269 Words   |  6 Pages Since 2000 over 134 complaints of sexual assault per year have been reported to Canadian military police (Mercier Castonguay, 2014). This data was attained through the Access to Information Act but its accuracy remains to be determined. Military sexual trauma (MST) is defined as, sexual harassment, pressured into sexual activities, having been unable to give consent, or any variation of unwanted verbal or physical sexual acts experienced during military service (U.S. Department of Veteran AffairsRead MoreThe Sea is My Brother by Jack Kerouack Essay552 Words   |  3 Pagesavailable options. These were the forms of war literatures that soldiers used to express and share their feelings with their loved ones at home, as well as record the horrors of war in subjective portrayal of events. Military personnaels felt the most con nected and close ot home, through readiging about it in letters. Today, many of these letters, poems and stories are shared and amoung history. More than history books are able to do, war literature captures the essence of wars and transmits emotionalRead MoreThe Effects Of Physical Inactivity On College Students920 Words   |  4 Pagesphysical inactivity is one of the main contributors to the increased risk of weight gain and prevalence of overweight and obese individuals in this population. Also approximately 66% of Americans are overweight or obese (Ebben Brudzynski, 2008). These high percentage rates may be due to the fact that 85% of Americans do not participate in regular vigorous exercise. Furthermore, physical activity levels decline throughout the life cycle with the largest rate of decline in young adulthood periods (GreeneRead MoreThere Are Multiple Barriers That Prevent Recent Immigrants1543 Words   |  7 Pagesby Canadian authors. There were twenty-three results, of which two articles were selected for analysis. 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Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 8~9 Free Essays

string(49) " gig in choppers is flying oil rigs in the Gulf\." 8 The Humiliation of the Pilot As a Passenger Once on the plane, Tucker unfolded the letter from the mysterious doctor and read it again. Dear Mr. Case: I have become aware of your recent difficulties and I believe I have a proposition that will be of great benefit to us both. We will write a custom essay sample on Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 8~9 or any similar topic only for you Order Now My wife and I are missionaries on Alualu, a rather remote atoll at the north-western tip of the Micronesian crescent. Since we are out of the normal shipping lanes and we are the sole medical provider for the people of the island, we maintain our own aircraft for the transport of medical supplies. We have recently procured a Lear 45 for this purpose, but our former pilot has been called to the mainland on personal business for an indefinite time. In short, Mr. Case, given your experience flying small jets and our unique requirements, we feel that this would be a perfect opportunity for us both. We are not concerned with the status of your license, only that you can perform in the pilot’s seat and fulfill a need that can only be described as dire. If you are willing to honor a long-term contract, we will provide you with room and board on the island, pay you $2,000 a week, as well as a generous bonus upon completion of the contract. As a gesture of our sincerity, I am enclosing an open airline ticket and a cashier’s check for $3,000 for traveling expenses. Contact us by e-mail with your arrival time in Truk and my wife will meet you there to discuss the conditions of your employment and pro vide transportation to Alualu. You’ll find a room reserved for you at the Paradise Inn. Sincerely, Sebastian Curtis, M.D. [email protected] Why me? Tuck wondered. He’d crashed a jet, lost his job and probably his sex life, was charged with multiple crimes, then a letter and a check arrived from nowhere to bail him out, but only if he was willing to abandon everything and move to a Pacific island. It could turn out to be a good job, but if it had been his decision, he’d still be lingering over it in a motel room with Dusty Lemon. It was as if some combination of ironic luck and Jake Skye had been sent along to make the decision for him. Not so strange, he thought. The same combination had put him in the pilot’s seat in the first place. Tuck had grown up in Elsinore, California, northeast of San Diego, the only son of the owner of the Denmark Silverware Corporation. He had an unremarkable childhood, was a mediocre athlete, and spent most of his adolescence surfing in San Diego and chasing girls, one of whom he finally caught. Zoophilia Gold was the daughter of his father’s lawyer, a lovely girl made shy by a cruel first name. Tuck and Zoo enjoyed a brief romance, which was put on hold when Tuck’s father sent him off to college in Texas so he could learn to make decisions and someday take over the family business. His motivation excised by the job guarantee, Tuck made passing grades until his college career was cut short by an emergency call from his mother. â€Å"Come home. Your father’s dead.† Tuck made the drive in two days, stopping only for gas, to use the bathroom, and to call Zoophilia, who informed him that his mother had married his father’s brother and his uncle had taken over Denmark Silver-ware. Tuck screeched into Elsinore in a blind rage and ran over Zoophilia’s father as he was leaving Tuck’s mother’s house. The death was declared an accident, but during the investigation a policeman informed Tuck that although he had no proof, he suspected that the riding accident that killed Tuck’s father might not have been an accident, especially since Tuck’s father had been allergic to horses. Tuck was sure that his uncle had set the whole thing up, but he couldn’t bring himself to confront his mother or her new husband. In the meantime, Zoophilia, stricken with grief over her father’s death, overdosed on Prozac and drowned in her hot tub, and her brother, who had been away at college also, returned promising to kill Tucker or at least sue him into oblivion for the deaths of his father and sister. While trying to come to a decision on a course of action, Tucker met a brace of Texas brunettes in a Pacific Beach bar who insisted he ride back with them to the Lone Star state. Disinherited, depressed, and clueless, Tucker took the ride as far as a small suburban airport outside of Houston, where the girls asked him if he’d ever been nude skydiving. At that point, not really caring if he lived or died, he crawled into the back of a Beechcraft with them. They left him scraped, bruised, and stranded on the tarmac in a jockstrap and a parachute harness, shivering with adrenaline. Jake Skye found him wandering around the hangars wearing the parachute canopy as a toga. It had been a tough year. â€Å"Let me guess,† Jake said. â€Å"Margie and Randy Sue?† â€Å"Yeah,† Tucker said. â€Å"How’d you know?† â€Å"They do it all the time. Daddies with money – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Petroleum. Hope you didn’t cut up that canopy. You can get a grand for it used.† â€Å"They’re gone, then?† â€Å"An hour ago. Said something about going to London. Where are your clothes?† â€Å"In their car.† â€Å"Come with me.† Jake gave Tucker a job washing airplanes, then taught him to fly a Cessna 172 and enrolled him in flight school. Tucker got his twin-engine hours in six months, helping Jake ferry Texas businessmen around the state in a leased Beech Duke. Jake turned the flying over to Tuck as soon as he passed his 135 commercial certification. â€Å"I can fly anything,† Jake said, â€Å"but unless it’s helicopters, I’d rather wrench. Only steady gig in choppers is flying oil rigs in the Gulf. You read "Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 8~9" in category "Essay examples" Had too many friends tip off into the drink. You fly, I’ll do the maintenance, we split the cash.† Another six months and Jake was offered a job by the Mary Jean Cosmetics Corporation. Jake took the job on the condition that Tucker could copilot until he had his Lear hours (he described Tuck as a â€Å"little lost lamb† and the makeup magnate relented). Mary Jean did her own flying, but once Tucker was qualified, she turned the controls over to him full-time. â€Å"Some members of the board have pointed out that my time would be better spent taking care of business instead of flying. Besides, it’s not ladylike. How’d you like a job?† Luck. The training he’d received would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he’d gotten most of it for free. He had become a new person, and it had all started with a bizarre streak of bad luck followed by an op-portunity and Jake Skye’s intervention. Maybe it would work out for the better this time too. At least this time no one had been killed. 9 Cult of the Autopilot: A History Lesson The pilot said, â€Å"The local time is 9:00 A.M. The temperature is 90 degrees. Thank you for flying Continental and enjoy your stay in Truk.† Then he laughed menacingly. Tuck stepped out of the plane and felt the palpable weight of the air in his lungs. It smelled green, fecund, as if vegetation was growing, dying, rotting, and giving off a gas too thick to breathe. He followed a line of passengers to the terminal, a long, low, cinderblock building – nothing more really than a tin roof on pillars – teeming with brown people; short, stoutly built people, men in jeans or old dress slacks and T-shirts, women in long floral cotton dresses with puff shoulders, their hair held in buns atop their heads by tortoiseshell combs. Tuck waited, sweating, at one end of the terminal while young men shoved the baggage through a curtain onto a plywood ramp. Natives re-trieved their baggage, mainly coolers wrapped with packing tape, and walked by the customs officer’s counter without pausing. He looked for a tourist, to see how they were treated, but there were none. The customs officer glared at him. Tucker hoped there was nothing illegal in his pack. The airport here looked like a weigh station for a death camp; he didn’t want to see the jail. He fingered the roll of bills in his pocket, thinking, Bribe. The pack came sliding through the curtain. Tucker moved through the pall of islanders and pulled the pack onto his shoulders, then walked to the customs counter and plopped it down in front of the officer. â€Å"Passport,† the officer said. He was fat and wore a brass button uniform with dime store flip-flops on his feet. Tuck handed him his passport. â€Å"How long will you be staying?† â€Å"Not long. I’m not sure. A day maybe.† â€Å"No flights for three days.† The officer stamped the passport and handed it back to Tucker. â€Å"There’s a ten-dollar departure fee.† â€Å"That’s it?† Tucker was amazed. No inspection, no bribe. Luck again. â€Å"Take your bag.† â€Å"Right.† Tucker scooped up the pack and headed for an exit sign, hand-painted on plywood. He walked out of the airport and was blinded by the sun. â€Å"Hey, you dive?† A man’s voice. Tuck squinted and a thin, leathery islander in a Bruins hockey jersey stood in front of him. He had six teeth, two of them gold. â€Å"No,† Tucker said. â€Å"Why you come if you no dive?† â€Å"I’m here on business.† Tucker dropped his pack and tried to breathe. He was soaked with sweat. Ten seconds in this sun and he wanted to dive into the shade like a roach under a stove. â€Å"Where you stay?† This guy looked criminal, just an eye patch short of a pirate. Tucker didn’t want to tell him anything. â€Å"How do I get to the Paradise Inn?† The pirate called to a teenager who was sitting in the shade watching a score of beat-up Japanese cars with blackened windows jockeying for position in the dirt street. â€Å"Rindi! Paradise.† The younger man, dressed like a Compton rapper – oversized shorts, football jersey, baseball cap reversed over a blue bandanna – came over and grabbed Tucker’s pack. Tuck kept one hand on an arm strap and fought the kid for control. â€Å"You go with him,† the pirate said. â€Å"He take you Paradise.† â€Å"Come on, Holmes,† the kid said. â€Å"My car air-conditioned. Tucker let go of the pack and the kid whisked it away through the jostle of cars to an old Honda Civic with a cellophane back window and bailing wire holding the passenger door shut. Tuck follow him, stepping quickly between the cars, each one lurching forward as if to hit him as he passed. He looked for the driver’s expressions, but the windshields were all blacked out with plastic film. The kid threw Tuck’s pack in the hatchback, then unwired the door and held it open. Tucker climbed in, feeling, once again, com pletely at the mercy of Lady Luck. Now I get to see the place where they rob and kill the white guys, he thought. As they drove, Tuck looked out on the lagoon. Even through the tinted window the blue of the lagoon shone as if illuminated from below. Island women in scuba masks waded shoulder deep; their floral dresses flowing around them made them look like multicolored jellyfish. Each carried a short steel spear slung from a piece of surgical tubing. Large plastic buckets floated on the surface in which the women were depositing their catch. â€Å"What are they hunting?† Tuck asked the driver. â€Å"Octopus, urchin, small fish. Mostly octopus. Hey, where you from in United States?† â€Å"I grew up in California.† The kid lit up. â€Å"California! You have Crips there, right?† â€Å"Yeah, there’s gangs.† â€Å"I’m a Crip,† the kid said, pointing to his blue bandanna with pride. â€Å"Me and my homies find any Bloods here, we gonna pop a nine on ’em.† Tucker was amazed. On the side of the road a beautiful little girl in a flowered dress was drinking from a green coconut. Here in the car there was a gang war going on. He said, â€Å"Where are the Bloods?† Rindi shook his head sadly. â€Å"Nobody want to be Bloods. Only Crips on Truk. But if we see one, we gonna bust a cap on ’em.† He pulled back a towel on the seat to reveal a beat-up Daisy air pistol. Tuck made a mental note not to wear a red bandanna and accidentally fill the Blood shortage. He had no desire to be killed or wounded over a glorified game of cowboys and Indians. â€Å"How far to the hotel?† â€Å"This it,† Rindi said, wrenching the Honda across the road into a dusty parking lot. The Paradise Inn was a two-story, crumbling stucco building with a crown of rusting rebar beckoning skyward for a third floor that would never be built. Tuck let the boy, Rindi, carry his pack to an upstairs room: mint green cinder block over brown linoleum, a beat-up metal desk, smoke-stained floral curtains, a twin bed with a torn 1950s bedspread, the smell of mildew and insecticide. Rindi put the pack in the doorless closet and cranked the little window air conditioner to high. â€Å"Too late for shower. Water come on again four to six.† Tuck glanced into the bathroom. Mistake. An exotic-looking or ange thing was growing on the shower curtain. He said, â€Å"Where can I get a beer?† Rindi grinned. â€Å"We have lounge. Budweiser, ‘king of beers.’ MTV on satellite.† He cocked his wrists and performed a gangsta rap move that looked as if he’d contracted a rhythmic cerebral palsy. â€Å"Yo, G, we chill with the phattest jams? Snoop, Ice, Public Enemy.† â€Å"Oh, good,† Tuck said. â€Å"We can do a drive-by later. How do I get to the lounge?† â€Å"Down steps, outside, go right.† He paused, looking concerned. â€Å"We have to shoot out driver’s side. Other window not go down.† â€Å"We’ll manage.† Tuck flipped the kid a dollar and left the room, proud to be an American. An unconscious island man marked the entrance to the lounge. Tuck stepped over him and pushed his way through the black glass door into a cool, dark, smoke-hazed room lit by a silent television tuned to nothing and a flickering neon BUDWEISER sign. A shadow stood behind the bar; two more sat in front of it. Tuck could see eyes in the dark – maybe people sitting at tables, maybe nocturnal vermin. A voice: â€Å"A fellow American here to buy a beer for his countryman.† The voice had come from one of the shadows at the bar. Tuck squinted into the dark and saw a large white man, about fifty, in a sweat-stained dress shirt. He was smiling, a jowly yellow smile under drink-dulled eyes. Tuck smiled back. Anyone that didn’t speak broken English was, at this point, his friend. â€Å"What are you drinkin’, pardner?† Tuck always went Texan when he was being friendly. â€Å"What you drink here.† He held up two fingers to the bartender, then held his hand out to shake. â€Å"Jefferson Pardee, editor in chief of the Truk Star.† â€Å"Tucker Case.† Tuck sat down on the stool next to the big man. The bartender placed two sweating Budweiser cans in front of them and waited. â€Å"Run a tab,† Pardee said. Then to Tuck: â€Å"I assume you’re a diver?† â€Å"Why would you assume that?† â€Å"It’s the only reason Americans come here, other than Peace Corps or Navy CAT team members. And if you don’t mind my saying, you don’t look idealistic enough to be Peace Corps or stupid enough to be Navy.† â€Å"I’m a pilot.† It felt good saying it. He’d always liked saying it. He didn’t realize how terrified he’d been that he’d never be able to say it again. â€Å"I’m supposed to meet someone from another island about a job.† â€Å"Not a missionary air outfit, I hope.† â€Å"It’s for a missionary doctor. Why?† â€Å"Son, those people do a great job, but you can only get so much out of those old planes they fly. Fifty-year-old Beech 18s and DC3s. Sooner or later you’re going into the drink. But I suppose if you’re flying for God†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I’ll be flying a new Learjet.† Pardee almost dropped his beer. â€Å"Bullshit.† Tuck was tempted to pull out the letter and slam it on the bar, but thought better of it. â€Å"That’s what they said.† Pardee put a big hairy forearm on the bar and leaned into Tuck. He smelled like a hangover. â€Å"What island and what church?† â€Å"Alualu,† Tuck said. â€Å"A Dr. Curtis.† Pardee nodded and sat back on his stool. â€Å"No-man’s Island.† â€Å"What’s that mean?† â€Å"It doesn’t belong to anyone. Do you know anything about Micronesia?† â€Å"Just that you have gangs but no regular indoor plumbing.† â€Å"Well, depending on how you look at it, Truk can be a hellhole. That’s what happens when you give Coke cans to a coconut culture. But it’s not all that way. There are two thousand islands in the Micronesian crescent, running almost all the way from Hawaii to New Guinea. Magellan landed here first, on his first voyage around the world. The Spanish claimed them, then the Germans, then the Japanese. We took them from the Japanese during the war. There are seventy sunken Japanese ships in Truk’s lagoon alone. That’s why the divers come.† â€Å"So what’s this have to do with where I’m going?† â€Å"I’m getting to that. Until fifteen years ago, Micronesia was a U.S. protectorate, except for Alualu. Because it’s at the westernmost tip of the crescent, we left it out of the surrender agreement with the Japanese. It kind of got lost in the shuffle. So Alualu was never an American territory, and when the Federated States of Micronesia declared independence, they didn’t include Alualu.† â€Å"So what’s that mean?† Tuck was getting impatient. This was the longest lecture he’d endured since flight school. â€Å"In short, no mother government, no foreign aid, no nothing. Alualu belongs to whoever lives on it. It’s off the shipping lanes, and it’s a raised atoll, only one small island, not a group of islands around a lagoon, so there’s not enough copra to make it worth the trip for the collector boats. Since the war, when there was an airstrip there, no one goes there.† â€Å"Maybe that’s why they need the jet?† â€Å"Son, I came here in ’66 with the Peace Corps and I’ve never left. I’ve seen a lot of missionaries throw a lot of money at a lot of problems, but I’ve never seen a church that was willing to spring for a Learjet.† Tuck wanted to beat his head on the bar just to feel his tiny brain rattle. Of course it was too good to be true. He’d known that instinctively. He should have known that as soon as he’d seen the money they were offering him – him, Tucker Case, the biggest fuckup in the world. Tuck drained his beer and signaled for two more. â€Å"So what do you know about this Curtis?† â€Å"I’ve heard of him. There’s not much news out here and he made some about twenty years back. He went batshit at the airport in Yap after he couldn’t get anyone to evacuate a sick kid off the island. Frankly, I’m sur-prised he’s still out there. I heard the church pulled out on him. Cargo cults give Christians the willies.† Tuck knew he was being lured in. He’d met guys like Pardee in airport hotel bars all over the U.S.: lonely businessmen, usually salesmen, who would talk to anyone about anything just for the company. They learned how to make you ask questions that required long windy answers. He’d felt sympathetic toward them ever since he’d played Willie Loman in Miss Patterson’s third-grade class production of Death of a Salesman. Pardee just needed to talk. â€Å"What’s a cargo cult?† Tuck asked. Pardee smiled. â€Å"They’ve been in the islands since the Spanish landed in the 1500s and traded steel tools and beads to the natives for food and water. They’re still around.† Pardee took a long pull on his beer, set it down, and resumed. â€Å"These islands were all populated by people from somewhere else. The stories of the heroic ancestors coming across the sea in canoes are part of their reli-gions. The ancestors brought everything they need from across the sea. All of a sudden, guys show up with new cool stuff. Instant ancestors, instant gods from across the sea, bearing gifts. They incorporated the newcomers into their religions. Sometimes it might be fifty years before another ship showed up, but every time they used a machete, they thought about the return of the gods bearing cargo.† â€Å"So there are still people waiting for the Spanish to return with steel tools.† Pardee laughed. â€Å"No. Except for missionaries, these islands didn’t get much attention from the modern world until World War II. All of a sudden, Allied forces are coming in and building airstrips and bribing the islanders with things so they would resist the Japanese. Manna from the heavens. American flyers brought in all sorts of good stuff. Then the war ended and the good stuff stopped coming. â€Å"Years later anthropologists and missionaries are finding little altars built to airplanes. The islanders are still waiting for the ships from the sky to return and save them. Myths get built around single pilots who are supposed to bring great armies to the islands to chase out the French, or the British, or whatever imperial government holds the island. The British outlawed the cargo cults on some Melanesian islands and jailed the leaders. Bad idea, of course. They were instant martyrs. The missionaries railed against the new religions, trying to use reason to kill faith, so some islanders started claiming their pilots were Jesus. Drove the missionaries nuts. Natives putting little propellers on their crucifixes, drawing pictures of Christ in a flight helmet. Bottom line is the cargo cults are still around, and I hear that one of the strongest is on Alualu.† â€Å"Are the natives dangerous?† Tuck asked. â€Å"Not because of their religion, no.† â€Å"What’s that mean?† â€Å"These people are warriors, Mr. Case. They forget that most of the time, but sometimes when they’re drinking, a thousand years of warrior tradition can rear its head, even on the more modernized islands like Truk. And there are people in these islands who still remember the taste of human flesh – if you get my meaning. Tastes like Spam, I hear. The natives love Spam.† â€Å"Spam? You’re kidding.† â€Å"Nope. That’s what Spam stands for: Shaped Protein Approximating Man.† Tucker smiled, realizing he’d been had. Pardee let loose an explosive laugh and slapped Tuck on the shoulder. â€Å"Look, my friend, I’ve got to get to the office. A paper to put out, you know. But watch yourself. And don’t be surprised if your Learjet is actually a beat-up Cessna.† â€Å"Thanks,† Tucker said, shaking the big man’s hand. â€Å"You going to be around for few days?† Pardee asked. â€Å"I’m not sure.† â€Å"Well, just a word of advice† – Pardee lowered his voice and leaned into Tucker conspiratorially – â€Å"don’t go out at night by yourself. Nothing you’re going to see is worth your life.† â€Å"I can take care of myself, but thanks.† â€Å"Just so,† Pardee said. He turned and lumbered out of the bar. Tuck paid the bartender and headed out into the heat and to his room, where he stripped naked and lay on the tattered bedspread, letting the air conditioner blow over him with a welcome chill. Maybe this won’t be so bad, he thought. He was going to end up on an island where God was a pilot. What a great way to get babes! Then he looked down at his withered member, stitched and scarred as if it had been patched from the Frankenstein monster. A wave of anxiety passed through him, bringing sweat to his skin even in the electric chill. He realized that he had really never done anything in his adult life that had not – even at some subconscious level – been part of a strategy to im-press women. He would have never worked so hard to become a pilot if it hadn’t been for Jake’s insistence that â€Å"Chicks dig pilots.† Why fly? Why get out of bed in the morning? Why do anything? He rolled over to bury his face in the pillow and pinned a live cockroach to the spread with his cheek. How to cite Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 8~9, Essay examples

Corporate Strategy Sab Miller free essay sample

These three generic strategies are defined along two dimensions: strategic scope and strategic strength. Strategic scope is a demand-side dimension (Michael E. Porter specialized in this strategy) and it looks at the size and composition of the market you intend to target. Strategic strength is a supply-side dimension and looks at the strength or core competency of the firm. In particular he identified two competencies that he felt were most important: product differentiation and product cost (efficiency).In his 1980 classic Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, Porter simplifies the scheme by reducing it down to the three best strategies. They are cost leadership, differentiation, and market segmentation (or focus). Market segmentation is narrow in scope while both cost leadership and differentiation are relatively broad in market scope. Empirical research on the profit impact of marketing strategy indicated that firms with a high market share were often quite profitable, but so were many firms with low market share. We will write a custom essay sample on Corporate Strategy Sab Miller or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The least profitable firms were those with moderate market share. This was sometimes referred to as the hole in the middle problem. Porter’s explanation of this is that firms with high market share were successful because they pursued a cost leadership strategy and firms with low market share were successful because they used market segmentation to focus on a small but profitable market niche. Firms in the middle were less profitable because they did not have a viable generic strategy. Porter suggested combining multiple strategies is successful in only one case.Combining a market segmentation strategy with a product differentiation strategy was seen as an effective way of matching a firm’s product strategy (supply side) to the characteristics of your target market segments (demand side). But combinations like cost leadership with product differentiation were seen as hard (but not impossible) to implement due to the potential for conflict between cost minimization and the additional cost of value-added differentiation, Porter (1980). Differentiate Strategy Differentiate the products in some way in order to compete successfully.Examples of the successful use of a differentiation strategy are Hero Honda, Asian Paints, HLL, Nike athletic shoes, Perstorp Bio Products, Apple Computer, and Mercedes-Benz automobiles, Porter (2008). A differentiation strategy is appropriate where the target customer segment is not price-sensitive, the market is competitive or saturated, customers have very specific needs which are possibly under-served, and the firm has unique resources and capabilities which enable it to satisfy these needs in ways that are difficult to copy.These could include patents or other Intellectual Property (IP), unique technical expertise (e. g. Apples design skil ls or Pixars animation prowess), talented personnel (e. g. a sports teams star players or a brokerage firms star traders), or innovative processes. Successful brand management also results in perceived uniqueness even when the physical product is the same as competitors. This way, Chiquita was able to brand bananas, Starbucks could brand coffee, and Nike could brand sneakers. Fashion brands rely heavily on this form of image differentiation, Porter (2008).Variants on the Differentiation Strategy The shareholder value model holds that the timing of the use of specialized knowledge can create a differentiation advantage as long as the knowledge remains unique. This model suggests that customers buy products or services from an organization to have access to its unique knowledge. The advantage is static, rather than dynamic, because the purchase is a one-time event, Porter (2008). The unlimited resources model utilizes a large base of resources that allows an organization to outlast competitors by practicing a differentiation strategy.An organization with greater resources can manage risk and sustain profits more easily than one with fewer resources. This deep-pocket strategy provides a short-term advantage only. If a firm lacks the capacity for continual innovation, it will not sustain its competitive position over time, Porter (2008). The Toyota Prius It is unquestionable that alternative fuel vehicles are the future of global motoring. The urgency to protect our planet and its non renewable fuels grows and it is even more pressing; consumers are recognising the need to conserve what is left of our precious resources.