Monday, December 30, 2019

Differing Versions of William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay

Differing Versions of William Shakespeares Hamlet TNT Britain’s Theatrical version and Ethan Hawke’s movie version of the play ‘Hamlet’ were vastly different in virtually all aspects. From the portrayal of characters in performances, the sets, paraphernalia and especially the fact that one is based in our modern world, (New York, 2000) both differ to large extents. Hamlet in the TNT’s version does not dwell on about his Father’s death in contrast to the Hamlet played by Ethan Hawke, who is constantly watching videos to reminisce about times he had with his Father. The two actors portray Hamlet, the main character, in a different way. In the play version, he is very vocal and blunt. Hamlet’s†¦show more content†¦Even with its setting, a Shakespearean play in the year 2000, the movie was monotonous and conventional. The best evidence of this would be the final scene, with a predictable fencing showdown between Hamlet and Laertes. Thus, it made it very hard for me to be able to read the expressions on Hamlet’s face, and sometimes it was impossible to tell whether he was angry, happy or sad. If I were the director, I would try to be more creative and maybe have a more contemporary climax, even possibly a digital 3D showdown (since it was supposed to be a big money company) where say, for the ‘poisoning’ of the blade could be interpreted as an electrocution of Hamlet during a short circuit in the 3D digital suit. The acting and portrayal of the characters in the movie version I felt was superficial and the characters were not profound. Contrast that to TNT’s version, which at least exhibited a smattering of delight in Ophelia (the singing and playing with Laertes). I felt that to a large extent, the play by TNT Britain was exhilarating and innovative and expressed their characters very distinctively. The movie version on the flipside, I felt was dreary and insipid. It was also very disappointing as I anticipated relating the version set in our modern world better. Ethan Hawke as hamlet is more subdued and would frequently converse in whispers, even before the discovery of the ghost. BothShow MoreRelatedHamlet Journal Assignments3822 Words   |  16 PagesHamlet by William Shakespeare AP English Literature Journal Assignments The following are journal entries for our reading of Hamlet. Each entry should be completed after we have finished reading and/or viewing that scene in class. The purpose is to prepare you for class discussion; therefore, you should have something written for each entry before we discuss it in class (even if it’s only a question). See Ms. M with questions ahead of time – don’t expect to be given answers in class! Be sureRead MoreStudy Guide Literary Terms7657 Words   |  31 Pagesits thematic content 31. climax- The decisive moment in a drama, the climax is the turning point of the play to which the rising action leads. This is the crucial part of the drama, the part which determines the outcome of the conflict. In Shakespeares Julius Caesar the climax occurs at the end of Marc Antonys speech to the Roman public. In the climax to the film Star Wars, the empires death star is ready to destroy the rebel base. Luke Skywalker and rebel pilots attack the base, and after

Sunday, December 22, 2019

To What Extent Was The More Successful Than Somerset Of...

To what extent was Northumberland more successful than Somerset in ruling England during the reign of Edward VI? During the reign of Edward VI, Northumberland and Somerset attempted to rule England. They dealt with several issues, including foreign policy, finance, social and economic affairs, working as political operators and dealing with with rebellions. Northumberland proved to be successful in many of these aspects, particularly in social and economic affairs as well as finance. This is because he was able to effectively correct the faults Somerset had made such as introducing certain taxes and causing debt as well as debasement. This essay will talk about the extent of how successful Northumberland was in comparison to Somerset when it came to ruling England. It could be argued that Northumberland was far more successful than Somerset in ruling England due to Somerset’s failure in foreign policy. For example, Somerset thought that Scotland was the centre of his interests. His aim was for the scots to surrender the Scottish daughter, their queen to marry Henry’s son. He tried implementing this through the treaty of Greenwich in order to unite England and Scotland, but failed to meet his aim. Although he did gain an achievement when the Scottish army were destroyed at the the Battle of Pinkie, his plans to wear down Scotland with forts and Garrisons failed. It was expensive because garrisons needed to be established in Southern Scotland. As well as this, the forts thatShow MoreRelatedIn the context of the years 1485 to 1603 to what extent was the government of England dysfunctional in the mid-Tudor period?3559 Words   |  15 PagesIn the context of the years 1485 to 1603 to what extent was the government of England dysfuncti onal in the mid-Tudor period? During the Tudor Dynasty it is easily thought that the years between 1547 and 1558 were ones of crisis. With the succession of a child and the first woman within England, people have assumed that the years between Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were an unproductive interlude. The mid Tudor period is seen as negative years within the Tudor Dynasty. It is regarded that Henry VIIIRead MoreElizabeth I Than Any Other Of The Tudor Monarchs1695 Words   |  7 PagesHistorians have dedicated more biographies to Elizabeth I than any other of the Tudor monarchs. Elizabeth was the only daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Books relating to aspects of Queen Elizabeth I s life currently run into the hundreds. The time that a certain biography was written is an important factor to bear in mind when reading about this historical figure. Despite that historical facts are unchanging, the historian s perspectives and interpretations, as well as theirRead MoreThe War of the Roses3308 W ords   |  14 Pagesin which England lost practically all its lands in France, ended in 1453, but there was no peace in the country. The feudal struggle had broken out and the atmosphere in this country was instable and uncertain leading to the civil war in the fifteenth century. The War of the Roses was a series of dynastic civil war for the throne of England between supporters of two rival branches of the royal house Plantagenet: the house of Lancaster (whose badge was red rose) and York (whose badge was white house)

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Lanier Corporation Operates on a Calendar Free Essays

Lanier Corporation operates on a calendar-year basis. It begins the annual budgeting process in late August when the president establishes targets for the total dollar sales and net income before taxes for the next year. The sales target is given first to the marketing department. We will write a custom essay sample on Lanier Corporation Operates on a Calendar or any similar topic only for you Order Now The marketing manager formulates a sales budget by product line in both units and dollars. From this budget, sales quotas by product line in units and dollars are established for each of the corporation’s sales districts. The marketing manager also estimates the cost of the marketing activities to support the target sales volume and prepares a tentative marketing expense budget. The executive vice president uses the sales and profit targets, the sales budget by product line, and the tentative marketing expense budget to determine the dollar amounts that can be devoted to manufacturing and corporate office expense. The executive vice president prepares the budget for corporate expenses. She then forwards to the production department the product-line sales budget in units and the total dollar amount that can be devoted to manufacturing. The production manager meets with the factory managers to develop a manufacturing plan that will produce the required units when needed within the cost constraints set by the executive vice president. The budgeting process usually comes to a halt at this point because the production department does not consider the financial resources allocated to be adequate. When this standstill occurs, the vice president to finance, the executive vice president, the marketing manager, and the production manager meet together to determine the final budget for each of the areas.This normally results in a modest increase in the total amount available for manufacturing costs and cuts in the marketing expense and corporate office expense budgets. The total sales and net income figures proposed by the president are seldom changed. Although the participants are seldom pleased with the compromise, these budgets are final. Each executive then develops a new detailed budget for the operations in his or her area. None of the areas has achieved its budget in recent years. Sales often run below the target. When budgeted sales are not achieved, each area is expected to cut costs so that the president’s profit target can be met. However, the profit target is seldom met because costs are not cut enough. In fact, costs often run above the original budget in all functional areas (marketing, production, and corporate office). The president is disturbed that Lanier has not been able to meet the sales and profit targets. He hired a consultant with considerable experience with companies in Lanier’s industry. The consultant reviewed the budgets for the past 4 years. He concluded that the product line sales budgets were reasonable and that the cost and expense budgets were adequate for the budgeted sales and production levels. How to cite Lanier Corporation Operates on a Calendar, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Lonrho Plc free essay sample

An evaluation of Lonrho’s corporate strategy should start from the two main key issues: in what businesses the firm should compete and how corporate headquarter should manage those businesses. Lonrho’s profile in 1996 included Agriculture, Sugar, General Trade, Hotels, Manufacturing, MiningRefining and MotorEquipment. The level of diversification was clearly high and the firm was pursuing a unrelated strategy, with less than 70% of revenues that came from the dominant business (Mining ) and without common links between businesses. The corporation was divided into country groups or related business lines and each division had a top manager whose responsibilities were similar to those of a group CEO. So the headquarter control of these groups was not very formal and all important decisions were in the hands of Rowland, that used to follow his strategies without consulting the board. Tiny Rowland wasn’t a pure manager but an entrepreneur interested in doing deals, so he made no efforts to share activities or to transfer core competences between different areas. The main interest was to find undervalued assets and try to make them profitable. Hence we can easily analyse the operational relatedness, since the firm didn’t share either primary or support activities. Corporate relatedness needs a deeper analysis. All these businesses seem to be related by Rowland’s huge experience in conducting affairs and by his effective skill in building relationships with African leaders, pursuing the policy of â€Å"investment in people†. But no more corporate-level competences were transferred among Lonrho’s assets, maybe because businesses were too different and Tiny did not want to move key people into new management positions. So from these evaluations, the natural conclusion is that Lonrho’s corporate strategy is an unrelated diversification. In my opinion the corporate level strategy in itself was good (exhibit 1 and 2: high revenues until 1991), but the way in which Rowland managed it was totally wrong. The main strength in its extreme diversification, was the reduction of the risk among the firm’s businesses. However, this is not enough to make the evaluation positive because there were also several negative aspects. Starting with corporate governance, the first big problem was the lack of power by board’s members: Tiny surrounded himself with â€Å"yes-men† and he, not the board, decided what to do in case of critical issues. So the entire conglomerate was managed by a man who used to define himself as an entrepreneur and not a manager. Besides the level of control was low, if we consider that Lonrho was a big and really complex company. Moreover, and here we have the second big problem, among Tiny’s investments, several ones defected in economic rationality. For instance, he became interested in trophy investments, only to gain prestige (that the company couldn’t exploit properly because corporate relatedness was low) although they may have been loss making. Finally, the firm was facing huge cash flow problems, due to large headquarters’ payroll, an inefficient dividend policy and Rowland’s excessive lifestyle. All these issues contributed to destroy the level of revenues and profits over the years and conducted to the only practicable way: an internal restructuring of assets. What future direction(s) should Lonrho take in terms of its corporate-level strategy? The two main options that Lonrho has for come out to the crisis are move in the direction of focusing the business, or continue as a conglomerate. Most important, the company must immediately start a corporate restructuring strategy. The main purpose should be the limitation of losses, instead of the value and profitability creation. Lonrho could pursue this restructuring strategy both in related business lines and in country groups. For related business lines, hotel and general trade segments were cyclical, capital intensive and they were performing below average, so the firm should try to sell its remaining assets to other companies. Regarding country groups, exhibit 2 shows that in United Kingdom, Europe and America, Lonrho was not doing well, so the board should find a way to leave these areas. With this easier structure, now the firm has to take a definite position. i) A business focusing means that Lonrho will concentrate only on one of the three businesses left. Sugar represented 6% of Lonrho revenues and 18% of operating profit in 1996, and despite low production costs and an access to a favourable mix of markets, this seems the most suitable for being abandoned, just because is the smallest asset in the company’s portfolio. Lonrho Africa is diversified both geographically and in business lines. With an operating profit of ? 52 millions, is a valuable segment, but with Tiny no longer in the picture, Lonrho do not have a real Africa specialist. Finally the mining segment is the most important asset for the firm, because represented 22% of 1996 revenue and 41% of operating profit. In my opinion, if the company has to make a choice, this could be the right market to sustain. Some investments are required for Ashanti Goldfields in Ghana and to improve the export capacity of Duiker mining subsidiary in South Africa. However, if Lonrho will be focused only on this business I think that it will have the types and levels of resources and capabilities needed. Nevertheless I do not think that this corporate strategy is the best. This strategy is mainly concerned with making choices among the last two alternatives. So the corporation would be constrained to relinquish the enormous promise of African continent, or the 41% of mining profit if it chooses to focus in Lonrho Africa. ii) The firm can continue as a conglomerate but for the reason said above, also in this case Lonrho should leave the sugar market. Now we have two businesses left and I would like to make a comparison with the Boston Consulting Group chart. With this corporate strategy, the firm could use mining as a â€Å"cash cow† market, trying to exploit the high percentage of the revenues that comes from the asset. Than it can use this cash flow in Lonrho Africa, a proper â€Å"star† market, with its enormous promise but also with a lot of investments needed. So with its management expertise, technical skills and a respected name, mixed with new financial resources, Lonrho could undertake some projects in Africa that few other firms could. I think that these are the right actions that the firm should take in term of corporate strategy.