Biography of John Milton, Author of Paradise Lost

John Milton (December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674) was an English poet and intellectual who wrote during a period of political and religious turmoil. He’s best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost, which depicts the fall of Lucifer and the temptation of mankind. Fast Facts: John Milton Full Name:  John MiltonKnown For: In addition to his epic poem Paradise Lost, Milton produced a considerable amount of poetry, as well as major prose works defending republican virtues and some degree of religious tolerance during the English Civil War.Occupation: Poet and authorBorn: December 9, 1608  in London, EnglandDied: November 8, 1674 in London, EnglandParents: John and Sarah MiltonSpouses:  Mary Powell (m. 1642-1652), Katherine Woodcock (m. 1656-1658), Elizabeth Mynshull (m. 1663-1674)Children: Anne, Mary, John, Deborah, and Katherine MiltonEducation: Christs College, Cambridge Early Life Milton was born in London, the eldest son of John Milton, a skillful composer and professional scrivener (a professional who wrote and copied out documents, as literacy was not widespread), and his wife Sarah. Milton’s father was estranged from his own father, since the older generation was Catholic and Milton Sr. had become a Protestant. As a boy, Milton was privately tutored by Thomas Young, a well-educated Presbyterian whose influence was likely the beginning of Milton’s radical religious views. After leaving private tutoring behind, Milton attended St. Paul’s, where he studied classical Latin and Greek, and eventually Christ’s College, Cambridge. His first known compositions are a pair of psalms written when he was only fifteen years old. Although he had a reputation for being especially studious, he came into conflict with his tutor, Bishop William Chappel. The extent of their conflict is disputed; Milton did leave the college for a time—either as punishment or because of widespread illness—and when he returned, he had a new tutor. Portrait of John Milton at age 21, circa 1731.   Vertue/Getty Images In 1629, Milton graduated with honors, ranking fourth in his class. He intended to become a priest in the Anglican church, so he stayed at Cambridge to get his master’s degree. Despite spending several years at the university, Milton expressed a fair bit of disdain for university life—its strict, Latin-based curriculum, the behavior of his peers—but did make a few friends, including the poet Edward King and the dissident theologian Roger Williams, better known as the founder of Rhode Island. He spent some of his time writing poetry, including his first published short poem, Epitaph on the admirable Dramaticke Poet, W. Shakespeare.† Private Study and European Travel After acquiring his M.A., Milton spent the next six years in self-guided study and, eventually, travel. He read extensively, both modern and ancient texts, studying literature, theology, philosophy, rhetoric, science, and more, mastering several languages (both ancient and modern) as well. During this time, he continued to write poetry, including two masques commissioned for wealthy patrons, Arcades and Comus. In May 1638, Milton began traveling through continental Europe. He traveled through France, including a stop in Paris, before moving on to Italy. In July 1683, he arrived in Florence, where he found welcome among the intellectuals and artists of the city. Thanks to his connections and reputation from Florence, he was also welcomed when he arrived in Rome months later. He intended to continue on to Sicily and Greece, but in the summer of 1639, he instead returned to England after the death of a friend and increased tensions. Engraving of John Milton, circa 1887. 221A/Getty Images Upon returning to England, where religious conflicts were brewing, Milton began writing tracts against episcopacy, a religious hierarchy that places local control in the hands of authorities called bishops. He supported himself as a schoolmaster and wrote tracts advocating for the reform of the university system. In 1642, he married Mary Powell, who, at sixteen, was nineteen years his junior. The marriage was unhappy and she left him for three years; his response was to publish pamphlets arguing for the legality and morality of divorce, which brought him some major criticism. Ultimately, she did return, and they had four children together. Their son died in infancy, but all three daughters lived to adulthood. Political Posting and Pamphleteer During the English Civil War, Milton was a pro-republican writer and defended the regicide of Charles I, the right of citizens to hold a monarchy accountable, and the principles of the Commonwealth in multiple books. He was hired by the government as Secretary for Foreign Tongues, ostensibly to compose government correspondence in Latin, but also to act as a propagandist and even a censor. In 1652, Milton’s defense of the English people, Defensio pro Populo Anglicano, was published in Latin. Two years later, he published a pro-Oliver Cromwell follow-up as a rebuttal to a royalist text that also attacked Milton personally. Although he had published a collection of poems in 1645, his poetry was largely overshadowed at the time by his political and religious tracts. An engraving depicts Milton playing piano for Oliver Cromwell and his family. Stock Montage/Getty Images That same year, however, Milton became almost entirely blind, mostly likely due to bilateral retinal detachment or glaucoma. He continued to produce both prose and poetry by dictating his words to assistants. He produced one of his most famous sonnets, â€Å"When I Consider How My Life Is Spent,† during this era, musing on his loss of sight. In 1656, he married Katherine Woodcock. She died in 1658, months after giving birth to their daughter, who also died. The Restoration and Final Years In 1658, Oliver Cromwell died and the English Republic fell into a mess of warring factions. Milton stubbornly defended his ideals of republicanism even as the country shifted back towards a monarchy, denouncing the concept of a church dominated by the government and the very concept of monarchy. With the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Milton was forced into hiding, with a warrant out for his arrest and orders for all his writings to be burned. Eventually, he was pardoned and was able to live out his final years without fear of imprisonment. He remarried once more, to 24-year-old Elizabeth Mynshull, who had a strained relationship with his daughters. A cover page for the first edition of Paradise Lost, published in 1667. Heritage Images/Getty Images During this final period of his life, Milton continued writing prose and poetry. The majority was not overtly political, save for a few publications arguing for religious toleration (but only between Protestant denominations, excluding Catholics and non-Christians) and anti-absolute monarchy. Most crucially, he finished Paradise Lost, an epic poem in blank verse narrating the fall of Lucifer and of mankind, in 1664. The poem, considered his magnum opus and one of the masterpieces of the English language, demonstrates his Christian/humanist philosophy and is famous—and, occasionally, controversial—for portraying Lucifer as three-dimensional and even sympathetic. Milton died of kidney failure on November 8, 1674. He was buried in the church of St Giles-without-Cripplegate in London, after a funeral attended by all of his friends from intellectual circles. His legacy lives on, influencing generations of writers who came after (especially, but not solely, due to Paradise Lost). His poetry is as revered as his prose tracts, and he is often considered, alongside writers such as Shakespeare, to be up for the title of the greatest English writer in history. Sources Campbell, Gordon and Corns, Thomas. John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.â€Å"John Milton.† Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-milton.Lewalski, Barbara K. The Life of John Milton. Oxford: Blackwells Publishers, 2003.

Corythosaurus - Facts and Figures

Name: Corythosaurus (Greek for Corinthian-helmet lizard); pronounced core-ITH-oh-SORE-usHabitat: Forests and plains of North AmericaHistorical Period: Late Cretaceous (75 million years ago)Size and Weight: About 30 feet long and five tonsDiet: PlantsDistinguishing Characteristics: Large, bony crest on head; ground-hugging, quadrupedal posture About Corythosaurus As you can guess from its name, the most distinctive feature of the hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) Corythosaurus was the prominent crest on its head, which looked a bit like the helmet worn by the ancient Greek soldiers of the city-state of Corinth. Unlike the case with distantly related bone-headed dinosaurs like Pachycephalosaurus, however, this crest probably evolved less to establish dominance in the herd, or the right to mate with females by head-butting other male dinosaurs, but rather for display and communication purposes. Corythosaurus wasnt native to Greece, but to the plains and woodlands of late Cretaceous North America, about 75 million years ago. In a spectacular bit of applied paleontology, researchers have created three-dimensional models of Corythosaurus hollow head crest and discovered that these structures create booming sounds when funneled with blasts of air. Its clear that this large, gentle dinosaur used its crest to signal (extremely loudly) to others of its kind--though we may never know whether these sounds were meant to broadcast sexual availability, keep the herd in check during migrations, or warn about the presence of hungry predators like Gorgosaurus. Most likely, communication was also the function of the even more ornate head crests of related hadrosaurs like Parasaurolophus and Charonosaurus. The type fossils of many dinosaurs (most notably the north African meat-eater Spinosaurus) were destroyed during World War II by Allied bombing raids on Germany; Corythosaurus is unique in that two of its fossils went belly-up during World War I. In 1916, an England-bound ship carrying various fossil remains excavated from Canadas Dinosaur Provincial Park was sunk by a German raider; to date, no one has attempted to salvage the wreckage.

The meaning of the suffering of Meursault from the angle...

Existentialism tends to focus on the question of human existence — the feeling that there is no purpose, indeed nothing, at the core of existence. The term itself suggests one major theme: the stress on concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice. Sartre did not believe in God, so there was no place for the essence of humanity to be before human existence. For Existentialists like Sartre, the absence of God has a much larger significance than the metaphysics of creation. Without God there is no purpose, no value, and no meaning in the world. Existentialism posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them.†¦show more content†¦From the opening of The Outsider, Meursault reveals himself to be indifferent toward emotion and interaction with others. Instead of grieving at the news of his mother’s death, he remains cold, detached, and indifferent. When he receives the telegram, his primary concern is figuring out on which day his mother died. He has no emotional reaction at the death of his mother because he believes that his mother’s death is nothing exceptional but very much inevitable so it is meaningless for him to mourn for her death. Meursault confesses: â€Å"I probably loved mother quite a lot, but that didn’t mean anything. To a certain extent all normal people sometimes wished their loved ones were dead.† Throughout the whole book his mothers death had absolutely no meaning to him but when he is put in the same situation, facing death, he finally realizes what death must have been like for her and for the first time in the whole story thinks about her feelings: â€Å"I felt that I understood why at the end of her life she’d taken a ‘fiancà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and why she’d pretended to start again†¦So close to death, mother must have felt liberated and ready to live her life again. No one, no one at all had any right to cry over her,† Existentialism emphasizes the freedom to choose and the choices one makes should be made without the assistance of another person or standard. Existentialist crisis is that as Sartre says, â€Å"The individual is

Research On Single Sex Education - 5097 Words

Michal Adler Ju;y 12, 2015 Education reform is a widely debated topic nowadays in the United States due to the various immediate needs of improvement in the American public school system. These ideas include a common curriculum, higher academic standards and gender equity in schools. These different ideas are discussed to give parents more choices in their child’s education. One fundamental reform idea that is most commonly discussed is coeducation vs single sex education. This paper will explore the research behind single sex education versus coeducation, and how Jewish values relate to this research. The idea of educational reform is not a new concept in America. In the years following World War Two, the citizens of the United States were not strangers to poverty and low-levels of education as well as gender and racial discrimination in schools. One of the main focuses of the US legislative branch was to provide federal aid to resolve these major issues. In response to these concerns, the US governmen t decided to pass several laws to begin to equalize educational opportunities for all students no matter what their background was. (Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.. 1969 37 pp. (ED033459). In 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) which he believed would allow â€Å"full educational opportunities† to all students. The ESEA offered government aid in forms of scholarships to schools to help low-income studentsShow MoreRelatedResearch On Single Sex Education5889 Words   |  24 Pages2015 July 12, 2015 Education reform is a commonly debated topic nowadays in the United States due to the various immediate needs of improvement in the American public school system. These ideas include a common curriculum, higher academic standards and gender equity in schools. These different ideas are discussed to give parents more choices in their child’s education. Two fundamental reform ideas that are most commonly discussed are coeducation versus single sex education. This paper will exploreRead MoreSingle Sex Education Research Paper721 Words   |  3 PagesDenisse Franco Mrs. Kirkpatrick English 4, Period 6 18, April 2017 Single-sex Education Research Paper Many Americans go back and forth about whether an all boys (girls) school is a good idea to enroll their kids in. Therefore, many people are not well informed of the benefits or disadvantage in this type of education system (single-sex). This type of education includes the children that attend single sex schools are often brighter than those who attend regular schools with both sexes. Also theyRead MoreSingle Sex Classes Should Not Be Incorporated Into Schools Essay1523 Words   |  7 PagesSingle-sex education consists of separating male and female students and teaching them in different schools or classes. Although controversial and often looked as antiquated, more Americans have been considering single-sex schools as a viable option since the early 2000’s. The reason? With various problems public school education faces, many parents have been looking at single-sex education as a potential solution to some of those problems. In addition, with the very convincing gender rhe toric thoseRead MoreThe Issue Of Public Single Sex Education Essay1407 Words   |  6 Pagespublic single-sex education has increased in the recent years as schools are piled with more pressure to increase their grades and keep teaching method fresh. It’s an old approach to the education but its gaining momentum in public schools as it has been the method in most private schools. According to the report by National Association for Single Sex Education, over two hundred public schools across the United States offer single-sex classrooms. Most public schools are venturing into single-sex educationRead MoreInfanticide And Single Sex Education1284 Words   |  6 PagesCoeducation and single-sex education are both extensively used around the world. By the 1980s, more and more schools which only severed male or female became coed. Even though, many parents still send their kids to only men school or only women school now days. Then why would some people choose a only men or only women school? Is it against the â€Å"gender equality†? In the early civilizations, education was informally and it was primarily households. As time passed, people began to get educated moreRead MoreSingle Sex Education Essay964 Words   |  4 Pages Single-sex classrooms and schools are used in education all around the world. As a student who has never attended a single-sex school or classroom, I have always been curious to know how beneficial it really is. The controversy over single-sex classrooms and/or schools is an ongoing battle between educators, school systems, and the community. Those who support the idea of single-sex education argue that the separation of boys and girls due to biological differences can improve academic achievementRead Moresingle sex schools838 Words   |  4 Pages Single-Sex Schools: More Beneficial than a Parent May Think Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, is the practice of conducting education where male and females students attend separate classes or in separate buildings or schools. It has been a topic of debate especially for parents who have to think about where to send their children to school. There are many reasons and evidence to suggest that single sex schools are more beneficial. They provide studentsRead MoreSingle Sex Education Is Beneficial For Females Than Males Essay897 Words   |  4 Pagesschools so switching to single-sex education was rather different for me. Four years at Academy of the Holy Names prepared me to be successful in my future endeavors and also to be confident in who I am. Although research shows that single-sex education is beneficial for both sexes, it indicates that single-sex education is more advantageous for females than males. Research and statistics explain that there is a male dominance in co-education schools, and t hat single-sex education provides girls a betterRead MoreDania Jaser. Educational Psychology 2242. Kristen Kwasny.1734 Words   |  7 PagesEducational Psychology 2242 Kristen Kwasny 3 March 2017 Are Single-sex schools better? Recently single-sex schools have made a comeback, and this has raised the question of whether they are better than coeducational schools. In single-sex educational systems, male and female students are separated and taught in different school buildings or classrooms. In a historical point of view, only boys were given the opportunity to pursue formal education in the United States. Schools for women began to spreadRead MoreSingle Sex Education Is Overall More Effective For Most People1274 Words   |  6 PagesSingle sex education is overall more effective for most people. It helps with multiple aspects of a person s personality. This specific education helps students gain confidence, feel comfortable, and lets students be themselves. It’s no surprise that boys and girls were educated separately in the colonial times (Kennedy). During the 1960s and the 1970s, the number of single sex schools began to decrease. The main reason for this decrease was out of respect for women s rights and equality

A Parent Of A Child Diagnosed With Down Syndrome - 1270 Words

Becoming a parent for the first time is often frightening, no parent wants his or her child to be sick, disabled, or harmed in any way. It is not an experience anyone expects to have, it is a journey that is unplanned. Heather is the mother of a child diagnosed with Down syndrome. Heather shared her story, along with the everyday struggles she faces, in a personal interview about her child’s diagnosis of Down syndrome. Though she may face many struggles, she has found hope throughout different therapeutic interventions. Occupational therapy has played a key role in Kaleb’s everyday performance. As a first time mother, Heather was offered an alpha-fetoprotein blood test during her second trimester of pregnancy which screens for different types of issues the unborn baby may have. She chose to take the test and received alarming news that there was a 1:80 chance of her child having Down syndrome. According to Dictionary.com, Down syndrome is defined as a â€Å"congenit al disorder arising from a chromosome defect, causing intellectual impairment and physical abnormalities including short stature and a broad facial profile. It arises from a defect involving chromosome 21, usually an extra copy (Dictionary. Reference, 2016).† Down syndrome is a lifelong condition and is accompanied with distinctive physical features. Each case varies and has different effects, however, distinctive physical features and some degree of cognitive disabilities are often some of the most commonShow MoreRelatedDown Syndrome : A Congenital Chromosomal Disorder1371 Words   |  6 PagesDown syndrome is a congenital chromosomal disorder during maternal meiosis. This is one of the most common chromosomal disease that has been confirmed (Epstein, 2013). Down syndrome causes some symptoms in children’s physical and mental aspects, which have significant differences with other people. 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Ruling Many Sectors of the Urban Community

Question: Discuss about theRuling Many Sectors of the Urban Community. Answer: Introduction Today, in the twenty first century, technology seems to have taken the lead ruling many sectors of the urban community. Many business entities are using the advancing technology to replace their existing works and in the process, they change the relationships between the business and the clients, the structure of the company and the business processes. In the process, also the office space and in other cases the existence of these offices had to be reconsidered. There are certain points that can prove the evolution of technology with its relation to the impacts experienced on the social and political characteristics of the urban places as discussed by Peggy Keall. Peggy Keall Argued that: In the modules, it is evident that Peggy had to take a look at the relationships and the connection between the introduction of technology in the business entities in the urban places and in the process of urbanization. According to him, people are living in a world of cities where the social, cultural, political and the economic lives revolves around the urban areas. Further, he argues that it is important for people to come out to learn and understand their world so they can have a clear view on the effects the revolving technology has on the world and the way the world is undergoing a digital revolution affecting peoples lives. He feels that the use of the internet through the World Wide Web has led to many changes in the communication systems through the urban cities. Also, considering the privacy and the protection of identity, Peggy implies that the use of the internet as a result of the changes in the technology has introduced the urban cities to a lot of risks where crimes ca n be committed through the internet as where people have to understand their current communities and find ways to protect their community. The Key Points in the Modules Among the key points in the modules by Peggy Keall include; World wide web, Online communities and social networking, Changing nature of work, Flexible work options, and Privacy and protection of identity. The World Wide Web Keall suggests that the evolution of the internet bringing about the interface of the World Wide Web has come around with a variety of changes more so in the economic systems where most of the components involved in the process have been automated. In my opinion, it is true that the internet has brought a lot of developments in the urban communities. The experienced changes that have been experienced from the ancient time and in the current day where technology has advanced through the internet are vast and well noticeable (Rosenfeld Morville, 2008). Through the World Wide Web that is acting as an interface between the internet and the users, there has been many advanced economic cases like in the banking sector where the is the use of the automated bank machines where banking systems connect from remote placed connected through the internet. The diversification of technology through the web has been seen to transform from the ancient skills and machinery to the current advanced com plex systems that have made the use of the internet easy and interesting (Wolfe, 2001). The web has been the mother of most of the changes that are being seen in the current world where computers and other advanced digital gadgets are the elements ruling the day. Online Communities and Social Networking The modules by Keall have insights on how the communication in communities has changed through the revolution of technology. In a community, there is a need of interaction and communication. The form of communication used in the prior days were mostly face to face and that has come to change with the influence of technology and the internet where people can now be able to communicate online and through social networks (Howard, 2010). The elements in the communication that have been seen to have changes include the scope, speed, method and the comment of the information (Funk, 2011). The current scope of information appears to be different from the past where people used tablets, Fargo and others like letters. Today, the scope used includes email communication, blogs, tweets and blogs among a vast of them. The current scope is a huge influence to the to the social network of people where people interact today easily, fast and cheaply as compare to the ancient communication before the technology started to advance (Lazakidou, 2012). Changing Nature of Work In the modules, Peggy has mentioned about the revolution that is taking place in the industrial section as a result of the advancing technology. In as much as one may want to prove the logistics in the argument, it is quite obvious and open that the nature of work today has changed a lot under the influence of technology. It is evident in many sectors like in agriculture where the farmers are now not involved in the harvesting of grains (Restivo, 2005). There are advanced machines that were developed specifically for the purpose of harvesting the grains from the farms taking up the works of the farmers. In most offices today, the computers have digitized many departments reducing the amount of manpower that is needed (Hammond, 2003). The work that could be done by a dozen of people can now be taken up by a single computer that automates most of the works in the offices. Today, revolution in the information and communications sector has taken up that job leaving the messengers either jobless or shift to other professions. For information transfer, people now use the email services from the internet and the Skype and web cameras for live communications. There is also the use of mobile phones where people from different departments of organizations can communicate with each other away from the offices without depending on the office landlines or the fax as it were in the past (Bell, 2010). Flexible Work Options Many businesses and companies are today enjoying the mobile work options as initiated by the introduction of technology in their entities. It is though evident today that work has become flexible considering that in many places today, people can choose to carry their workloads to their homes and complete their target while at home (Stredwick Ellis, 2005). That is work away from office. Also, people tend to see that they are not going to meet their deadlines and thus, they decide to work from home during weekends and holidays and this can be counted as part of the flexible hours of work. There is also the case of telecommunicating and teleworking where people can engage in community communication and communal work from remote areas through the use of Skype and webcams for communication and online office portals and company websites for teleworking. In such cases, team building, decision making and communication can be done by many people at the same time through the implementation of information technology in industries as part of the industrial revolution (Eddy, 2012). Privacy and Protection of Identity In as much as people may find that the technology may have come with positive impacts on the urban communities, there is a prevailing issue of privacy and identity. There are people prone to hacking into other peoples online accounts and websites (Smith Kutais, 2007). In the process of interacting through the internet there are other people whose main agenda is hacking into accounts and posting weird information onto their accounts. Others venture into hacking into banking systems and other online money transfer services and redirecting the payments into their personal accounts (Claypoole Payton, 2012). This calls for surveillance of people interacting through the internet and there have been progress in the process and information and technology experts have been to the fore fronts to fight the unethical acts. In the work place technology have been seen to have negative influences to the workers forcing the employers to track and monitor their employees computers to have a records of what each and every computer is engaging in at all times (Sullivan,. 2004). In his capacity, the points highlighted in the modules are some meant to create the awareness of the impacts of the rapid development in technology in the industrial urban communities. Similarly, points discussed in this study are seen to come with both negative and positive insights on the impacts of technology. One can as well conclude that Peggy was so dedicated to educate and make people aware of the changes that are taking place in their urban community in relation to the use of the internet. In my view, these key points can be very helpful to every person especially in the industrial revolution. Many companies could make use of the information in the modules to know when and where to use the internet and in what cases. I find the modules important not only to the companies but to individuals who use the internet and those who find pleasure in taking part in the technology services. Individuals could know and assess their part to know when they might be at risk while using the i nternet (Khosrow-Pour, 2009). Many links and the inter-relationships can be spotted between the key points Peggy highlights in the modules. All the key points in the modules share the same origin and that is the internet. Without the internet, there would be no technology changes in the urban communities and in the industrial sector. Taking time with the modules, it is easier to understand the impacts of technology on the urban places and urbanization (Spence, Annez, Buckley, 2009). First, one could realize what it takes to develop a better urban community. The social and economic boundaries could benefit more from the rapidly advancing technology. In the social context, people have been able to network through the internet making interactions easier. Economically, businesses have benefit from using technology where most manpower have been replaces with a single computer taking up the roles that could be played by many people on a single entity. Communication can as well be done globally at a click through the u se of computers with the aid of the internet. Conclusion Today, in the twenty first century, technology seems to have taken the lead ruling many sectors of the urban community. People are living in a world of cities where the social, cultural, political and the economic lives revolves around the urban areas. Through the World Wide Web that is acting as an interface between the internet and the users, there has been many advanced economic cases like in the banking sector where the is the use of the automated bank machines where banking systems connect from remote placed connected through the internet. Many businesses and companies are today enjoying the mobile work options as initiated by the introduction of technology in their entities. References Bell, A. (2010).Re-imagining the office: The new workplace challenge. Farnham: Gower Claypoole, T., Payton, T. (2012).Protecting your internet identity: Are you naked online?. Lanham, Md: Rowman Littlefield Publishers. Eddy N. (2012).Managing the new workforce: International perspectives on the millennial generation. (Managing the new workforce.) Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Funk, T. (2011).Social media playbook for business: Reaching your online community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger. Howard, T. W. (2010).Design to thrive: Creating social networks and online communities that last. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. Khosrow-Pour, M. (2009).Encyclopedia of information science and technology. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Lazakidou, A. A. (2012).Virtual communities, social networks and collaboration. New York: Springer. Restivo, S. (2005).Science, technology, and society. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press. Rosenfeld, L., Morville, P. (2008).Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites. Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Stredwick, J., Ellis, S., Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2005).Flexible working. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Smith, M. S., Kutais, B. G. (2007).Spam and internet privacy. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Spence, M., Annez, P. C., Buckley, R. M. (2009).Urbanization and growth. Washington, DC: Commission on Growth and Development. Venkatesh, V., Wallin, J. J., Castro, J. C., Lewis, J. E. (2014).Educational, psychological, and behavioral considerations in niche online communities. Wolfe, C. R. (2001).Learning and teaching on the World Wide Web. San Diego, Calif: Academic Press.

TUI travels free essay sample

TUI Travels Plc is one of the world’s leading leisure travel companies with over 250 of the best loved and market leading travel brands in 180 countries and more than 30 million customers. Question 1 Value Chain Value chain analysis is the process in which a firm identifies its primary as well as secondary activities that add value to the final products or service. Primary activities. Inbound logistics – TUI Travels Plc has a global supply chain which helps it by providing packaged or all inclusive and preplanned holidays for the customers. Usually these suppliers are the hotels that provide services such as for accommodations and meals, as well as airlines that provide transport to and from destinations. TUI will choose the most affordable from its chain of suppliers. Customers prefer using travel agencies since they attract very good prices compared to a do-it-yourself holiday. Operations – This is the process of turning the inputs into the outputs. This stage will involve TUI travels taking up the services and agreeing terms with the suppliers in order to put forward their offers for the customers. The standard package would usually consist of air transportation, both outbound and inbound, hotel accommodations, transfers from airport to hotels and back and other items such as insurance, meals and excursions. Outbound logistics – This is the process which involves provide the holiday packages to the customers. TUI travels does this with the help of travel agents. TUI acquired and merged with First Choice, the 5th biggest tour operator. This helped TUI travels win more customers. Marketing and sales – this is a stage in which TUI Travels Plc makes its customers aware of the services it provides and avail it to them. This is basically done through advertising. TUI travels offers online distribution of its services which improves the proportion of direct distribution and hence understanding the customers better. It aims at being an online provider and make it easy for its customers and reach a larger number to increase its sales Services – TUI provides services such as transportations back home from holiday destinations to its customers and maintain the purpose of being qualitative. TUI travels was also Europe’s largest holiday hotelier providing accommodation to its customers as well as meals. Secondary Activities. Procurement – TUI travels maintains supplier relationships by Co-operative working and ensures high standards of health and safety are attained not forgetting the quality. Technology TUI travels plc provide websites which includes all the information about the company, it also allows for services such as online booking which makes it easy for its customers. It also uses the innovative new split scimitar winglet system on their aircraft which reduces fuel burns and emissions. Customers are provided with new digital tools and services to make it easier to book activities, access information and for contact purposes during their vacations. TUI also introduce the first airline in which you travel paperless by providing boarding passes and tickets digitally, which makes boarding and check-in easier for the customers. Human Resource Management – this stage is concerned with the recruiting, managing, training, developing and reward people within the firm. The group currently employs 50,000 members as its staff. Firm Infrastructure – this is basically the structure of the organization. TUI travels plc is organized and managed through four main business sectors which are accommodations and destinations, specialist activities, mainstream and emerging markets. Question 1. 2 VRIO Analysis. The VRIO analysis is carried out to determine the competitive potential of an organization’s resources and capabilities. This acronym stands for; Value, Rarity, Inimitability and Organization. To gain sustainable advantage TUI has to provide services that have Value, are rare, costly to imitate and the organization is flexed in a way to exploit these resources in the most effective way. Value – This refers to the capabilities of the organization that yield out acceptable levels of return which in turn help the organization to maintain a competitive advantage. For TUI travels, the brands (Nouelles Frontieres 1-2 Fly, Gebeco, Robinson, and Thomson) Offer essential value to the customers which offer it a great competitive advantage in the market against its rivals.. TUI travels plc also owns fixed assets worth of $11 billion as well as 50,000 employees which indicates great value of the organization in terms of financial stability and skilled labour force. TUI also provides low cost services such as the low coast airline services (Hapag Lloyd Express) to its customers which are affordable and also offer great value. This is because as tour operators, TUI is able to get very good prices for the vacationer compared to the customers doing it by themselves. Rarity – these are capabilities that are unique and which meet the customer needs. TUI travels posses such a rare capability in the form of Cruise line services. No other tour operator meanwhile provides this type of service to its customers. The brand names it offers also provide it with a competitive advantage since no other tour operator offers such brands. Inimitability – these refers to those capabilities that competitors find difficult or impossible to obtain. TUI travels plc’s brands attain such capabilities since they are difficult to imitate, this may be due to the patent rights. The managers and the CEO may also be the inimitable capability of TUI Travels plc since they have their own knowledge that is used to run the organization which other competitors cannot obtain. Organization – this refers to the internal structure of the firm. In order to gain competitive advantage, TUI Travels plc needs to share the knowledge effectively. Question 1. 3 – Partial SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is carried out to determine the weaknesses and threats of the organization and turning them into strengths and opportunities. This essay carries out the partial SWOT analysis to determine strengths and weaknesses of TUI travels plc. Strengths – TUI’s main strength is that it is the largest tour operator in Europe, which also indicated that it generates a hire market share compared to its rivals. TUI offered security and good value for the vacationer as a tour operators are able to get very good prices compared to a do it yourself holiday. TUI has 30 million satisfied customers. TUI has a turnover of more than 16 billion Euros per year. The company employs more than 54,000 qualified staff with a low staff turnover and owns fixed assets worth $11 bn. In 2008, TUI was the market leader in the tourism industry in Europe. Operated in various countries to penetrate different markets and gain more customers due to its merger and acquisitions strategy. It owned about 4000 travel agencies in 20 different countries with very strong presence in Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and Belgium. Its brand names such as Nouelles Frontieres 1-2 Fly, Gebeco, Robinson, and Thomson were not only selling full packaged deals but also individual components. It also owned aircrafts controlling various airlines Its huge supplier chain enables it to gain deals for its customers at the best possible prices. TUI adapts all innovative technologies and offers the same technologies to better the customer experience in transacting with TUI Weaknesses – The airlines departed and returned on the fixed dates which might not be flexible for customers planning to travel for less or more days than the fixed duration of stay. Indirect competition faced through online channels and suppliers who provide both accommodations and transportation. TUI needs to keep up to date with the everyday changing technology in order to be competitive against the online agencies. Question 2 The Strategic Clock The strategic clock is a tool used to determine the competitive advantage an organization gains by considering two main factors, which is price of the product and the perceived product/service benefit. According to TUI Travels Plc, the strategy undertaken is â€Å"differentiation†, which is the fourth level in the Bowman’s Strategic Clock. Differentiation refers to offering customers distinctive and unique services which are of high value and cost effective with the aim of increase market share for the company. This is because, TUI travels Plc strives to provide services which offer high value and are also affordable. Some of the services they provide include; affordable all inclusive holiday packages, transportation to and from destinations. Question 2 – how the internal resources match the strategy persuade. The internal resources of an organization are made up of the unique resources and core competences. TUI travels plc has been able to maintain competitive advantage by the help of its internal resources. This also helps it maintain its market position in the different market segments that it operates in. Some of the resources are: Over 54,000 employees who provide skill and co-ordination. The vast amount of assets 4000 travel agencies over 20 countries Cruise liner services and chains of hotels.