The Code Of Silence Essays - 996 Words

The Code of Silence Some argue that corrupt police officers are simply the product of a corrupt culture of the agency they work for. These officers are socially introduced to a number of informal rules when they begin employment. This process and these rules serve two main purposes. First, this process is designed to minimize the chances of external or internal controls being mobilized to address the behaviors and, secondly, to keep corrupt activities at a level that is acceptable and likely undetectable. The rule most often referred to in this connection, is the â€Å"Code of Silence.† Officers are socialized into not cooperating with investigations regarding fellow officers. Whether or not the officer participates in corrupt activities for financial gain, an officer’s adherence to the â€Å"Code of Silence† places them squarely amongst the corrupt of the profession (Price, 1972). Some officers feel that discussing police transgressions regarding behavior or expressing worries about corruption makes them appear ‘‘weak’’ or ‘‘soft’’. Some officers are uncertain whether certain gifts, such as flowers from a citizen saying ‘‘thank you’’ to an officer, are appropriate to accept (Westmarland, 2005). This uncertainty on the part of officers contributes to the â€Å"Code of Silence† that at times appears to be present in law enforcement. The â€Å"Code of Silence† is not simply something which applies only to the patrol officer or the officer that does not hold rank within the department. TheShow MoreRelated Charlestowns Code of Silence Essays1571 Words   |  7 PagesCharlestowns Code of Silence Driving through Charlestown will take you just three minutes. The kids on street corners will stare at your car, while adults will yell out your name and wave. The friendly atmosphere can make you feel welcome if you are a part of the neighborhood. But it vanishes if you are an outsider or a local victim of a crime. â€Å"Charlestown is the nicest town you would ever want to live in. There are people there that would help you rebuild your house if it ever burnt downRead MoreThe Unwritten Code1350 Words   |  6 PagesThe Unwritten Code The Police â€Å"Code of Silence† is an unspoken rule among many police agencies in the country. It is a code of â€Å"honor† in the police brotherhood where giving information about another police officers wrongdoings is considered an act of betrayal. Other terms for the code include: â€Å"The Thin Blue Line,† and â€Å"The Wall of Silence.† Police academies across the nation are close-knit communities of law enforcement. From the first day on the job to the last, every officer is supposed to countRead MoreBlack Women As Sexual Objects1662 Words   |  7 Pagesage within slavery. If you were an African American woman, you were considered property. This assertion of law left Black women slaves, young and old, no argument to deny their owners access to sexually utilize their bodies. Harmony Turnbull in her essay, Cannot Destroy My Spirit: Punishments Suffered by Slave Woman, state s, â€Å"Scarce clothing because of poverty, bending over to work or lifti ng one’s dress to keep it clean†¦were seen by the slave holder in sexual terms.† In other words, slave ownersRead MoreThe Walking Embodiment Of Stress In School1064 Words   |  5 Pagesthings, an easy A and plenty of time to chat with teachers. Teaching has always been a dream of Heber’s, though today’s conversations have been rather dull, Mr. Martin, Heber’s teacher this nine weeks has yet to even looked up from the mounds of redo essays, at least nothing more than a quick nod of welcome. The room is fairly well managed, seeing as how most Seniors are actually passing and no real work gets done the last few weeks so there is nothing for Heber to sort through or help organize. TheRead MoreUsing The Four Resource Model Developed By Luke And Freebody1302 Words   |  6 Pagesstudents are more culturally and linguistically diverse, many have English as a second language (ESL). This Critical- reflective essay will explore using the four resourc e model developed by Luke and Freebody, focusing on; how young children learn to read, the four roles within the resources model are Code breaker, text user, text participant and text analyst. This essay will also articulate the understanding of the three phases of reading and writing development. Phase one, experimental reading andRead More A Guard on Religious Freedom Essay765 Words   |  4 Pages Persuasive Essay #1 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;A Guard on Religious Freedom In the eyes of our founding fathers, few things seemed as important as the separation of church and state. The first amendment grants all Americans the freedom to subscribe to any religion they wish and promises that the government will not promote any religion above any other. Although the separation of church and state and the freedom of religion are firmlyRead MoreNo Name Woman, The Issue of Community Control Essay1350 Words   |  6 Pages Each community often develops a system of control to maintain social order. Some communities instill this order by legal codes, and other communities use moral or social codes to keep their communities in check. In the autobiographical essay No Name Woman, by Maxine Kingston, Kingstons aunt disrupts her tight knit community by having an illegitimate child as a result of an affair. Her traditional Chinese community ran by superstition finds it necessary to punish her and brand her a namelessRead MoreKimmel s Bros Before Hos : Displaying The Male Social Facade1391 Words   |  6 PagesC4C Eric Wiggins 1st Lt Gabrick English 111 – Essay 1 September 24, 2014 1390 Kimmel’s Guy Code: Exhibiting the Male Social Facade Kimmel’s Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code investigates the complicated social environment in which young males are anticipated to prepare for manhood based upon considerable sociological inquiries conducted from Kimmel himself. His main argument institutes what was formerly a comparatively definite and direct transition for males to experience boyhood to manhood has becomeRead MoreBiography Of Cherrie Moraga s Loving, The War Years 1567 Words   |  7 Pagesher existence as a Chicana and a lesbian in American society. She uses variety of literary forms that include short stories, poems, personal reminiscences, and essays. The confusion and personal struggle Moraga recounts speak to the readers as one by the usage of Moraga’s words. Moraga evident usages of her poetries and autographical essays force the reader to understand that her lifestyle has numerous background, and she is not subject to one. Moraga progresses to a level where she is able to joinRead MoreLiving w ith Strangers by Siri Hustvedt934 Words   |  4 PagesLiving with strangers In the text â€Å"Living with strangers† Siri Hustvedt discusses the lack of solidarity and the social rules, one may meet in a big city, like New York City. Siri Hustvedt starts the essay by describing, the big difference she felt, when moving from rural Minnesota to New York City. She begins by briefly describing to the reader, how one was expected to behave, where she grew up. Whenever you encountered someone on the road, whether you knew them or not, you should always

A Dynamic Greek Epic Poem Iliad - 1354 Words

Ancient Greek History is very well known as fascinating due to its many civilization and great heroic people surrounding their history. A dynamic Greek epic poem Iliad portrays the siege of Troy, attributed to Homer. Adventurous and braveness with god-like qualities describe an ancient classic Greek hero in this poem. Iliad is known now as one of the oldest in two surviving ancient Greek epic poems relating the events near the end of Trojan War. Hero’s are known as important figures in ancient Greek history and some of their qualities included; having one immortal parent, born into royalty, having an unusual birth, being favored by the gods, marrying a princess, becoming a subject of a prophecy, and dying an ignoble or unpardonable death. The heroes’ in the Iliad poem can attest for many of these attributes. Emphasis on Iliad depicted how the ancient Greeks celebrate wars. Realities of the war were never ignored; their men died ferociously whiles their women became slav es or courtesan. Heroes in Iliad also chose soldierly exaltation or honor over the life of their families. Hector and Achilles who were the classic hero characters in the test valued their braveness, nobleness, fame and integrity and made a voluntarily sacrifice to be in war rather than to live with their families and those they love. The author’s detailing imagery in the Iliad gave emphasis on how â€Å"arà ªte† meaning the pursuit of excellence or moral goodness was focused on sense ofShow MoreRelatedThe Epic Poem Of Troy1356 Words   |  6 Pages The Ancient Greek History is famous for its many fascinating civilization and great heroic people surrounding the history. Iliad portrays the siege of a dynamic ancient Greek epic poem of Troy, which is attributed to Homer. Adventurous and braveness with god-like qualities is used to describe the ancient classic Greek heroes in this poem. Iliad is now known as one of the aged surviving ancient Greek epic poems, w hich directly relates to the events near the end of Trojan War. HeroicRead MoreThe Aeneid Essay1069 Words   |  5 PagesAeneid was later completed by two of Virgil’s friends, that fixed the minor grammatical errors and published the poem. This decision affected the track of literary history and the development of western culture. In fact, the Bible and the Aeneid were probably the two most consistently read books in Western Europe for hundreds of years. (â€Å"Virgil and the Moderns†) The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem that was written in the late first century. It tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled toRead MoreThe Iliad Of All Time Essay1441 Words   |  6 Pagesgreatest epics of all time. Clearly, Homer’s original poem, the Iliad, influenced Virgil’s Aeneid to a large degree not only in plot setting and characters, but the similarities manifest at the literary level, for instance devices such as the same heroic meter, illustrious similes, allegory, ekriphas, division into books, even though way that the Greeks and Trojans are portrayed amongst many others are features of both works. However, there are striking differences between the two, while the Iliad reliesRead MoreThe Involvement By The Gods888 Words   |  4 Pagesreluctance, Zeus speaks to a Dream: Go, deadly Dream, along the Greek ships Until you come to the hut of Agamemnon, And deliver this message to him exactly: Order him to arm his long-haired Greeks. Now is his time to capture Troy. The Olympian gods are no longer divided; Hera has bent them all to her will And targeted the Trojans for pain (Lombardo 2.12-19). The role of Thetis in the Iliad, is mostly untold. However, the power of Thetis is dynamic as she takes on the role of the protector and is shaped byRead More Comparing The Iliad and The Bible Essay2167 Words   |  9 PagesComparing The Iliad and The Bible  Ã‚      Throughout recorded history, man has sought explanations for the various phenomena that occur in every facet of nature, and when no obvious answer is forthcoming, still a theory is often proposed.   These explanatory theories, often taking the form of stories or chronicles, are usually linked to some sort of mysticism or divine intervention.   By ascribing that which he does not understand to the gods’ will at work, man avoids facing up to his own lackRead MoreEssay on Gender in the Odyssey1002 Words   |  5 PagesOdysseus values and character traits serve as a paradigm of the ideal Homeric Greek man. The god-like Odysseus is crafty, valiant, wise, and eloquent. He gains much of his knowledge through travel, the meeting of different cultures and peoples and learns from suffering and mistakes. He is an aristocrat and a warrior of all warriors. We first learn of many of these traits in Homers Iliad. Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek army always calls on Odysseus f or assignments that required someone cunningRead More The Role of Men and Women in Homers The Odyssey 1173 Words   |  5 PagesWho is the ideal Greek man? It can be argued that through the illustration Homer weaves throughout the Odyssey, Odysseuss character traits cast a lens as a prime example of a man in ancient Greek society. He appears to be brave, intelligent, well-spoken, and clever. Much of his knowledge is discovered by his travels, absorbing the local culture around him and using it as a guide. Aristocratic and a warrior. Perhaps the best warrior of all time. It is the Iliad which presents these attributes initiallyRead MoreIliad Father Son Relationship1562 Words   |  7 PagesIn The Iliad, Homer offers incredible insights into the themes of human interactions. While the epic narrative moves forward, these dynamics are kept intertwined with the devastating battlefield. One of the prominent themes is the father-son relationship and this Iliadic father-son dynamic is foc used mostly between Priam and Hector. Looking at scenes featuring both characters, their interactions feature mutual feelings of love, concern, and, most importantly, interdependency. Priam cares for HectorRead MoreAn Ideal Hero: Greek vs. Roman Essay1527 Words   |  7 Pagescivilizations (Attached) 3. Ages of early Greek mythology to Ovid ( Poet of Metamorphoses) a. Origin of humans: sacred clay (wise and rulers) blood of titans (murderous and criminals), and stones(endurance) b. 4 ages as decline: Golden (peace), Silver (seasons farming), Bronze (war), Iron (mining, deforestation, crime). 4. Dominant and alternate cultural themes in the Iliad Audience: upper-class men Purpose: cultural propaganda. Greek Heros= models of courage skill to men (whatRead MoreComparing The Epic The Iliad Against The Bible s First Book Genesis Essay1877 Words   |  8 PagesUpon initial consideration, comparing similarities in the Homeric epic The Iliad against the Bible’s first book Genesis would seem outlandish. The comparisons between the two tales may not be abundantly clear. The parables of the Bible serve as religious cornerstones for society, while Greek tragedies serve as the moral lessons on which our culture is predicated. Fate in both narratives is understood to be a governing body, with a prominence being placed on remaining on the course with that which

Sunshine Chapter 10 Free Essays

string(19) " to tell us about\." My jackknife seemed to be trying to burn a hole through its cotton pocket to my leg. I wrapped my hand around it. The heat was presumably illusory, which perhaps explained why the sense of being fried felt so comforting. We will write a custom essay sample on Sunshine Chapter 10 or any similar topic only for you Order Now I set off through the trees without looking behind me. They’d follow, and I had to get myself moving before I thought much about it or I wouldn’t do it at all. I didn’t bother trying to figure out where the bad spot ended. I went down to the shore of the lake and turned right. Walking on the shore, while awkward, all shingle and teetery stones and water-tossed rubbish, wasn’t so bad as walking through the trees. I was in sunlight out here, and the memories were under the trees. I hadn’t walked on the shore before. It was the right bad spot. I came to the house much too soon. I could half-convince myself I was enjoying walking by the lake. I like walking by water in the sunshine. I’d often enjoyed walking by this lake. Before. I stopped, feeling suddenly sick, and waited for the other two to catch up with me. â€Å"I’m not sure I can do this,† I said, and my voice had started to go funny again, as it had last night, when I told them you don’t hear vampires coming. â€Å"It’s daylight, and we’re with you,† said Jesse, not unsympathetically. I said abruptly, â€Å"What if we get back to the car and it won’t start? We’d never get out of these woods before dark.† â€Å"It’ll start,† said Pat. â€Å"You’re okay. Hold on. We’re going to walk up the hill toward the house real slow. You just keep breathing. I’m walking up on your left and Jesse is walking up on your right. We’ll go as slow as you want. Hey, Jesse, how’s your nephew doing with that puppy he talked your folks into buying him?† It was well done. Puppy stories got me to the stairs. By that time Pat had me by the elbow because I was gasping like a puffer demon, except they always breathe like that, but having a hand on my elbow was too much like having been frog-marched up those stairs the last time I’d been here. â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"Thanks, but let me go. Last time, you know, I had help.† The porch steps creaked under my weight. Like last time. Unlike last time, the steps also creaked under the weight of my companions. Almost dreamily I went through the still-ajar front door and left across the huge hall toward the ballroom. It was daylight, now, so I could look up, and see where the curl of grand staircase became an upstairs corridor lined by what had once been an equally grand balustrade, but some of the posts were cracked or missing. There were still glints of gold paint in the hollows of the carving. In the dark I hadn’t known the railings were anything but smooth. I wouldn’t have cared. The ballroom was smaller than I remembered. It was still a big room, much bigger than anything but a ballroom, but in my memory it had become about the size of a small country, and in fact it was only a room. As ballrooms go it probably wasn’t even a big one. The chandelier, very shabby in daylight, still had candle stubs in it, and there was a lot of dripped wax on the floor underneath. There was my corner, and the windows on either wall that had bounded my world for two long nights and a day in between†¦ I shuddered. â€Å"Steady, Sunshine,† said Pat. I had been worrying about the shackles in the walls. I was going to have to revert to not remembering, when Pat and Jesse asked me about the second shackle, the one with the ward signs on it. There were no shackles. Just holes in the walls. I almost laughed. Thanks, Bo, I said silently. You’ve done me a favor. Pat and Jesse were examining the holes, Pat still half keeping an eye on me. The holes looked like they’d been torn – as if the shackles had been ripped out of the walls by someone in a rage. By some vampire: no human could’ve done it. But I guessed the rage part was accurate. A frustrated – possibly frightened – rage, or on orders? On orders, I thought. I doubted Bo’s gang did anything that Bo hadn’t told them to do first. But however it had happened, I didn’t have to explain a shackle with ward signs on it. They did, of course, want to know about the second set of holes. â€Å"This is where I was,† I said, pointing to the holes nearer the corner. â€Å"And this?† said Jesse, kneeling in front of the other holes. â€Å"I don’t remember,† I said automatically. There was a silence. â€Å"Can we have an agreement, maybe,† said Pat. â€Å"That you stop saying ‘I don’t remember’ and do us the kindness of telling the truth, which is that you’re not going to say what you remember.† There was a longer silence. Pat was looking at me. I met his eyes. He had held his breath till he turned blue last night. He’d already made up his mind to trust me, even knowing that I was lying about what had happened. That made me feel pretty bad until it occurred to me that there was another angle on last night’s demonstration: not only that Pat and Jesse and Theo were willing to trust me, but that they understood sometimes you had to lie. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"So,† said Jesse. â€Å"This second set of holes.† I took a deep breath. â€Å"I’m not going to tell you.† â€Å"Okay,† said Jesse. â€Å"I think these holes are from another shackle. If it had been empty while you were here, Rae, you wouldn’t mind telling us that. So, there must have been another prisoner, and it’s this other prisoner you aren’t going to tell us about. You read "Sunshine Chapter 10" in category "Essay examples"† I didn’t say anything. â€Å"Interesting,† said Jesse. Pat stared out one of the windows, frowning. â€Å"Shackles in a ballroom aren’t standard equipment, so the suckers will have put them in special. The thing is, the space cleared around this house has been done recently too. You have to assume they did that as well. Why?† I could keep silent on this one a little more easily. It seemed pretty weird if you didn’t know. And this one they couldn’t guess. I hoped. They went off to look at the rest of the house. I stayed in the ballroom. I sat on the windowsill nearest my shackle, the one on the long wall – the window I’d peed out of. The window I’d knelt in front of when I’d changed my knife to a key. The lake looked a lot like it had the day I’d been here: another blue, clear day. It was hotter today though, summer rather than spring. I leaned back against the side of the window and thought about cinnamon rolls and muffins and brownies and the cherry tarts I’d started experimenting with since Charlie had ordered an electric cherry pitter out of a catalog and gave it to me hopefully. Charlie’s idea of post-traumatic shock therapy: a new kitchen gadget. I thought about the pleasure of sitting in bright sunlight. With two humans in easy call. I might have opened my collar and let the sun shine there, but I had the gash taped up and I wasn’t going to risk Pat or Jesse seeing it. I thought about the fact that Mel, easygoing, laid-back, mind-your-own-business Mel, kept nagging me to look for a doctor who could do something about it, and found my refusal inexplicable and dumb. Jesse and Pat came back into the ballroom and hunkered down on the floor in front of me in my window. There was a silence. I didn’t like this. I wanted to leave. I wanted to get away from the lake, from what had happened here, from being reminded of what had happened here. I’d done what they’d asked, I’d found them the house. I didn’t want to talk about this stuff any more. I wanted to go back to the car and make sure it was going to start, and get us out of here before sundown. I wanted to sit in the sun somewhere other than beside the lake. â€Å"So, last night,† said Jesse. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"I don’t – † I said. Pat looked at me and I smiled faintly. â€Å"I wasn’t going to say I don’t remember. I was going to say I don’t know. It was – it was like instinctive, except who has that kind of instinct? If it was an instinct, it was a really stupid instinct.† â€Å"Except that it worked,† Pat said dryly. â€Å"So, you didn’t think, ah ha, there’s a sucker a couple of streets over, I think I’ll go stake the bastard? Never mind that I don’t know how I know it’s there or that I’m going to stake it with a goddam table knife?† â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"I didn’t think at all. I didn’t think from the time I – I stood up from where I was sitting at the counter to when – when Jesse had hold of me and was yelling that it was all over.† â€Å"So why did you stand up – and pick up a table knife – and take off at a speed that wouldn’t have shamed an Olympic sprinter?† â€Å"Um,† I said. â€Å"Well, I heard him. Um. And I didn’t like having him†¦on my ground. I was, um, angry. I guess.† â€Å"Heard him. Heard him what? Nobody else heard anything.† â€Å"Heard him, um, giggle.† Silence. â€Å"Was this by any chance a sucker from two months ago?† Pat said gently. â€Å"From what happened here?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Can you tell us any more?† He’s the one that made this mark on me, I thought. This slice in my flesh that won’t close. You could say I had a score to settle. That doesn’t explain why I managed to settle it though. â€Å"He was – he was the other one that had hold of me, coming here. I don’t know how many of them there were altogether – a dozen maybe.† I thought of the second evening, the twelve of them fanning out around me and the prisoner of the other shackle, coming closer. Slowly coming closer. How I’d been pressing myself against the wall so hard my spine hurt. â€Å"Most of them didn’t say anything. The one I think was the Breather – he seemed to be giving the orders. I thought of him as – as the lieutenant of the raiding party. He talked. And he held one of my arms, bringing me here. This – the one from last night, he held my other arm. He talked. He was the one with the†¦sense of humor.† Her feet are already bleeding. If you like feet. â€Å"The lieutenant of the raiding party,† said Jesse thoughtfully. â€Å"That sounds like there was a colonel back at headquarters.† â€Å"You’d expect that, a setup as elaborate as this one,† said Pat. â€Å"This is a gang run by a master vampire.† They both looked at me. â€Å"Do you know anything about the master?† said Jesse. I could have said, I’m not going to tell you. I said, â€Å"No.† There was another silence. I tried not to squirm. This should be when the SOFs revert to type and start yelling at me for withholding important information and so on. â€Å"We have a problem, you see, Sunshine,† said Pat at last. â€Å"Okay, we know you’re not telling us everything. But†¦well, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but that happens oftener than you might think, people not telling SOF everything. Hell, SOF not telling SOF everything. I mean aside from the nomad blood of guys like Jesse and me. We could probably live with that if that was all it was. We wouldn’t like it, maybe, but we’ve had a lot of practice not being told everything, and if you get too pissed off at people then they really won’t talk to you. â€Å"But you’ve done something pretty well unprecedented. Twice. You got away from a bunch of vampires – alone, and out in the middle of nowhere. It happens occasionally that a sucker gang gets a little carried away, teasing some kid from a human gang that has been jiving in the wrong place, hoping to see vampires. The kid gets a little cut up, but we take him to the hospital and they stitch him up and give him his shots, and he goes home good as new if a little more prone to nightmares than he used to be. It doesn’t happen that a young woman alone in a wilderness gets away from a sucker gang so determined to keep her they have her chained to the wall. So far as I know it hasn’t ever happened before.† I wished he would stop saying â€Å"alone.† He hadn’t forgotten the second set of holes in the wall any more than I had. Thank the gods at least the telltale shackle itself was gone. â€Å"And that’s only the first thing. The second thing is that you sauntered up to a sucker last night that in the first place you had no way of knowing was there, in the second place he stood there while you staked him without any warning or any backup, and in the third place staked him with a stainless steel table knife. People have staked suckers without backup, but they’ve never done it by running up to one in full sight and they sure as suckers hate daylight don’t do it with a goddam table knife. I pulled the research on it that proves it can’t be done, last night. Stainless steel is a no-hoper even if you’ve had the best wardcrafters and charm cutters in the business do their number on it first. â€Å"I told you I don’t need much sleep. I spent the rest of last night going through the files for anything about sucker escapees and unusual stakings. There isn’t much. And nothing at all like you, Sunshine. â€Å"We ought to put all this in our report, and pass it on up the line, and then you’d get a horde of SOF experts down on you like nothing you’ve ever imagined, and, speaking of shackles, you’d probably spend the rest of your life chained to the goddess of pain’s desk. She’d love you. â€Å"But we don’t want to. Because we need you. We need you in the field. Dear frigging gods and angels, do we ever need you in the field. We need anything we can get because, frankly, we’re losing. You didn’t know that, did you? At the moment we still got the news nailed shut. But it isn’t going to stay nailed shut. Another hundred years, tops, and the suckers are going to be running our show. The Wars were just a distraction. We think we won. Well, maybe we did, but we skegged our future doing it. It blows, but it’s the way it is. So little grubby guys like me and Jesse feel we need you in the field a hell of a lot more than we need you disappeared into some study program while they try to figure out how you’ve done what you’ve done and how they could make a lot of other people do it too. Which they wouldn’t be able to because it’s gonna turn out not to work that way. And we guess you don’t want to be disappear ed either?† I shook my head on a suddenly stiff neck. â€Å"Yeah. So, anyway, if you can off suckers with common household utensils, we want you out there doing it. We’ll even lie to the goddess of pain about you to keep you to ourselves, and babe, that takes balls.† Would they still want me out there doing what I could do if they knew what else I could do? If they knew the truth about the second shackle? Were the vampires really going to win within the next hundred years? When we got back to the car it started the first time. There wasn’t much conversation. We were most of the way back to town when Pat said, â€Å"Hey, Sunshine, talk to us. What are you thinking?† â€Å"I’m trying not to think. I’m – † I stopped. I didn’t know if I could say it aloud, even to make my point. â€Å"I’m trying not to think about those stains on the walls in the alley, last night.† There was a pause. â€Å"I’m sorry,† said Jesse. â€Å"We do have some idea what we’re asking you. Don’t let Pat’s pleasure in his own rhetoric get to you.† â€Å"Hey,† said Pat. â€Å"I haven’t been your age in a long time,† Jesse went on, â€Å"and I grew up wanting to join SOF. I knew it was going to be bad, what I was going to be doing, if I stayed a field agent, which I wanted to be. And it is bad, a lot of it, a lot of the time. You get used to it because you have to. And SOF doesn’t throw you in like you’ve been thrown in. Last night was rough even for a grizzled old vet like me. â€Å"Rae, we aren’t asking you to make a decision to save the world tomorrow. But please think about what Pat said. Think about the fact that we really, really need you. And think, for what it’s worth, that we’ll back you up to the last gasp, if you want us there. If last-gasp stuff turns out to be necessary.† â€Å"And just by the way, kiddo,† said Pat in his mildest voice, â€Å"I’m not accusing you of anything, okay? But it must be fifty miles from here back to where you live with that weird siddhartha type. I ain’t saying it’s not possible, Sunshine, but that’s a hell of a hike for anyone, let alone someone who’s spent two days chained to a wall expecting to die. I’m thinking your last gasp is pretty worth having.† I stared out the window, thinking about the second shackle. I got through dessert shift that night on autopilot. Nobody asked me how my afternoon had gone and I didn’t volunteer anything. The atmosphere of Repressed Anxiety was thick enough to cut chunks out of and fry, however. I wondered what you’d have on the side with a plate of Deep Fried Anxiety. Pickles? Cole slaw? Potato-strychnine mash? Things were so fraught that Kenny came into the bakery long enough to say â€Å"Hey big sis† and give me a hug. He hadn’t called me Big Sis since the time he was eight and I was eighteen and I’d caught him spying on my then-boyfriend Raoul and me and he went around the house yelling Big Sissy Kissy Kissy and I sent Raoul home and went into my brothers’ room and destroyed the backup discs to every one of their combox games that I could find. Which was a lot. You might think this was overreacting (Mom, Charlie, and Billy did), but I was lucky he’d only caught us kissing, and I wanted to be sure I’d been discouraging enough about this sort of fraternal behavior. Anyway neither Kenny nor Billy spoke to me at all for about six months, by which time I’d graduated, the Big Sis era was over, and shortly after that I’d moved into my own apartment. Mary took her break in the bakery again, and told me the latest Mr. Cagney story, but her heart wasn’t in it. â€Å"I’m okay,† I said. â€Å"Really.† â€Å"I know you are,† she said, but she hugged me anyway, and got streaks of flour and cinnamon all down her front. I was due to stay till closing but they packed me off an hour early. I didn’t argue. I fetched the Wreck and drove home slowly. I was so tired – bone tired, marrow tired, what comes after that? Life tired? That’s the kind of tired I was. It wasn’t just lack of sleep tired, though I did have a few fuzzy cobwebs at the corners of my vision. I could hear some of Mom’s charms moving around in the glove compartment. Once a charm has been given someone’s name, if that someone doesn’t snap it and let it go live, it may pop itself, and try to come after you. When I opened the glove compartment to put a new one in now, half a dozen of the old ones tried to climb up my arm. They were probably all totally cracked from driving around in a car though. It had been dark for two hours. The moon was rising. I thought about trying to talk Charlie into keeping the coffeehouse open twentyfour hours, drive those inferior Prime Time brownies right out of town. Then I could never leave the coffeehouse again, for the rest of my life. Pat and Jesse would be disappointed, of course, and we’d have to gear hard after the insomniac market, to keep the customer flow up, all night long, since you can’t ward a restaurant. But these were mere practical problems. The thing that really bothered me was that I’d have to tell everyone why. That there was a vampire – a master vampire, and his gang – after me. Specifically the ones I’d got away from two months ago, and it turns out suckers are poor losers. And persistent bastards. That maybe I was the first bad-magic wuss in history. The lab-coat brigade would probably want to do exhaustive research on my mother’s child-rearing techniques as well as on my blood chemistry. Academic prunes would write papers. If they knew. If I lost it and they found out. There was a light on in Yolande’s part of the house, spilling across the porch and toward the drive. I still went up my own stairs in the dark; there was a hall light, but electric light in that narrow window-less way made me feel claustrophobic. When I got upstairs, and bolted the door behind me, I still didn’t turn the light on. I had another cup of chamomile tea on the dark balcony. Moonlight was beginning to glimmer through the trees at the edge of the garden. And I turned off thinking. I sat there, listening to the almost-silence. There were tiny rustling noises, the hoot of an owl, the soft stirring of the wind through leaves. External leaves. Internal leaves. A tree? It shouldn’t be a tree. My immaterial mentor should be one of those things in one of my brothers’ combox games that you zapped on sight, all teeth and turpitude. And nothing at all like you, Sunshine†¦we need you. I was so tired. At least tonight I had the option to go to bed early. I put my cup in the sink, put my nightgown on. Like last night, I was out as soon as I lay down. But I woke again only a few hours later, knowing he was there. I lay curled up, facing the wall; the window, and the rest of the room, were behind me. I didn’t hear him, of course. But I knew he was there. I turned over. There was a bright rectangle of moonlight on the floor, and a dark shape sitting motionless in the chair beyond it. He raised his head a little, in acknowledgment, I think, of my waking. He’d been watching me. I thought about being in the same room with a vampire. I thought about the fact that he’d come in, however he’d come in, through some charmed and warded door (or window). I thought about the fact that I had, of course, invited him in, when he had brought me home, two months ago. I hadn’t thought about inviting him in, but I’d been beyond that kind of thinking then anyway, and he’d been doing me the small service of saving my life at the time. I shouldn’t now object to the idea that once I’d invited him over my threshold the welcome was, apparently, permanent. You can kind of feel the barrier your wards are making for you, feel if there are any big drafts flowing through any big holes. There weren’t any drafts. None of my wards were reacting to his presence. I assumed the invitation was particular to him. That I hadn’t thrown the way open for vampires in general. Not a nice thought. Maybe I’d invited him over my threshold a second time when I stood on the edge of the darkness two nights ago and said, What do I do now? There were things I’d forgotten. I’d forgotten the wrongness. What was new was the fact that, despite my heart doing its fight-or-flight, help-we’re-prey-and-HEY-STUPID-THAT’S-A-VAMPIRE number, I was glad to see him. Ridiculous but true. Scary but true. The one person – creature – whatever of my acquaintance who wouldn’t be in any danger if I snapped. Even a criminally deranged almost-human berserker is no match for a vampire. The one whatever of my acquaintance who probably would still make me look virtuous and morally upstanding if I did snap. I didn’t find this very comforting. â€Å"You came,† I said. â€Å"I was here last night,† he said. â€Å"But you slept deeply, and I did not wish to disturb you.† I’d also forgotten how uncanny his voice was. Sinister. Not human. â€Å"That was nice of you,† I said, listening to myself and thinking you pathetic numbskull. â€Å"I had three hours of sleep last night and it – it’s been a long couple of days.† â€Å"Yes,† he said. How to cite Sunshine Chapter 10, Essay examples

International Management & Global Strategy-Samples for Students

Questions: 1.Provide a Comprehensive yet concise written analysis of how Banyan can make use of OR develop its Dynamic Capabilities given the Industry-based Considerations 2.Explain the advantages and disadvantages of your recommended strategy as a way of Banyans strategic efforts to manage differences in its global or International Markets such as India. Answers: 1.Founded in the year 1994 by travel enthusiast and former journalist Ho Kwon Ping and his wife Claire Chiang, Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd (BTHR) have made its name and place in the luxury hotel industry in Asia as well as all over the world. Over the years, even with minimal advertising this chain of luxury hotels and resorts have been able to make a mark in the industry with the help of their global marketing strategies and public reactions (banyantree.com 2017). To be able to understand and analyse dynamic capabilities it is important to first understand business environments properly (Schilke 2014). The factors which directly or indirectly effect the day-to-day operation of an organization can be roughly put in the business environment sector. The development and the success of a business are dependent upon how the organisation is being able to adapt to the changes in its environment. There are two types of business environment, internal and external (Boons and Ldeke-Freund 2013). The main difference between the two is the control of the organisation over the factors. Internal environments are variables that are under the direct control of the management, while the external factors are the ones which are not under the control of the organisation, but these factors are very relevant in the business and the success of the business. For example: competition, customers, government policies, societal factors, political agendas, legal do and dont s and technological factors etc. Some of these have direct effect on the operations of the business while there are others who have indirect effect (Hamilton and Webster 2015). Internal environmental factors Skilled and trained professional: In the hospitality sector there is always a demand for skilled and trained professional who understand and know the industrys every nuance. These people are the main asset of the industry. As this market is heavily dependent on the one on one interaction with the customers, it is important for the hotel business to employ people who are motivated and are social. In India hospitality industry is booming as people now understand the perks and the value of premium quality food and lodging, people are also willing to spend more so that they receive best of the best form the hospitality sector. There are several foreign tourists who are attracted towards luxury hotels and resorts in India (Paill et al. 2014). Development and growth of assets: The Company has recently launched new brands and subsidiaries including resorts, spas, residences, destination club memberships, retail outlets, and even museum shops as a part of their growth strategy. Along with the brand extension the organisation has also been involved in rapid growth in the global front to capture the market in the America, Caribbean, Europe as well as the Middle East. Expansion in India has begun with the first banyan tree resort in the state of Kerala. It is a first of its kind, premium-luxury boutique resort, which is an all-pool villa retreat. It has a luxurious private island in the backwaters of Kerala which offers a unique sense of calmness and retreat for the villa guests. There are 59 villas in the resorts and each and every villa offer a different yet one of a kind view of the rich heritage of the backwaters and canals (Franks et al. 2014). Brand Image: While other luxury hotel brands develop the image of the hotel in accordance with the location that it is situated in. Banyan Tree hotels and resorts have been very strong in maintaining their Asian background and theme of the hotels even if they were setting up a property in the heart of Europe. For India it is an easy set up as the company do not have to invest a lot in the creating a faux Asia-like environment. The location choice of Kerala is perfect as the state of Kerala offers almost everything the Brand already stands for (Baranenko et al. 2014). Unique selling proposition of the brand: Banyan tree offers private villas along with private pool, Jacuzzi and a spa. All these amenities are within a gap of price which is deluxe but not that one has to be a multi-millionaire to be able to stay at the banyan tree. The image of the Brand is also one of its USPs as the architecture, furnishing along with the services provided by the hotels are all in sync with the rich Asian cultural and heritage. This offerings work perfectly in the Indian setting as people who come to visit India from other countries are also majorly looking for Asian set up with a private space for retreat (Grant 2016). External environmental factors To access the external environmental factors of banyan tree hotels and resorts, it is important to go through the Pestel analysis. Pestel refers to political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors which influence the operations of an industry in a particular country. In this case the country is India and the following is the Pestel analysis (Khan and Quaddus 2015): Political factor: The tourism sector is one of the major sources of income of the government and hence any political policy that has been adopted by the government has a direct effect on the hospitality sector. It is important to attract international tourist in order to keep the business running. In India, the state government policies are also important as it its directly responsible for the development of the industry in the State (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2015). Economic factor: As banyan Tree is a foreign investor in the Indian market, the taxation policy, inflation rates, economic growth, interest rates and exchange rates of the market is important factor to grow and develop in a foreign nation state. With the inclusion of the new GST policy by the Indian Government the consumption of luxury hospitality has become more expensive (Wetherly and Otter 2014). Social Factors: As the image of the brand is in sync with the Asian culture and heritage, it will not be a problem for the brand to be able to get accepted by the localities of the place and also by the international tourist who are looking for the Asian charm. As the brand offers luxury villas, instead of rooms it is easily accepted by the societal norms as well. Technological Factors: India has its fair share of luxury hotels form a very long time. The Taj or The Oberoi has created a base for the hospitality sector in the country. The encouragement of international tourism has also led to development of the several relevant technologies and modern advancement in the ICT sector for the hospitality industry. Logistically there are no problems in India for the expansion of a brand like Banyan Tree. Environmental factor: The factors which mostly affect the hospitality industry are availability of the raw material for food and diverse weather conditions. As discussed the theme of the Banyan Tree hotels are in sync with the Asian Cultural hence it is easy to find or import relevant raw materials for the food items served at the resorts. In case of other environmental hazards, storms; earthquakes etc have a direct impact on the sales of the hotel business. Legal factors: There are several international luxury hotels in India. The law regarding setting up a property, and owning of a set up by a foreigner has certain rules and regulations like any other country. But these rules are favorable as India as a country entertains the international business and tourists. Flexible legal amenities are also a favorable factor as to why it is easy for a company like banyan Tree to further expand in the Indian Subcontinent (Eva et al. 2014). 2.As the Indian government entertains and encourages international tourism and one of the governments main sources of income in tourism, hence there is a wide range of competitors for Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts. One of the main advantages of the organization is that the theme of the hotel is in sync with the cultural heritage of India (businessworld.in 2017). Porter's generic strategies are the ways of evaluating means for achieving an upper hand over the competitors, in other words, creating ways and means to develop an edge against the competitors. The position of an organization in the relative industry is mostly determined by the profit of the average of the industry. The basis of any organization to maintain a profit margin above the average in the long run is by gaining sustainable competitive advantage (Wicker et al. 2015). Low cost or differentiation is the two basic types of competitive advantages that a company can have. The focus strategies of activities are of two types, cost focus and differentiation focus. Figure: Porters Generic Strategy Source: Authors Creation Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts should follow the Differentiation strategy in India. The differentiation strategy is what best fits the luxury hotel and hospitality industry in this case the firm seeks to offer unique and premium services in the industry along some values that are widely appreciated by consumers of the market. It selects one or more attributes that many buyers in an industry perceive as important, and uniquely positions it to meet those needs. It is rewarded for its uniqueness with a premium price (Rothaermel, F.T., 2015). The chain of hotels and resorts is an ultra-luxurious retreat for its guests and hence they look forward to the best of the best in terms of quality and quantity. Good quality with less investment is something every investor is looking forward to. In India, the quality and the image that the company has is very easy to find and is in sync with the Asian cultural heritage. There are a lot of skilled professionals who are ready to be trained as professional at a lower price. The spa facilities that the villas of the Banyan tree offers to its customers need to have an array of skilled professionals, who are able to carry out the tasks. Apart from that there are several high standard hospitality management institutes in India that produce managers and professional of high standards who are able to keep up with the luxury and uniqueness of the brand. One of the greatest advantages of such luxury hospitality brands in India is that the Government strategies and tax implementations by the government are in sync and are favorable for foreign investors. As a large amount of income of the government is based out of tourism it is important that the policies are in favor of these companies. The greatest competitor of the Banyan Tree is the Starwood hotels Le Meridien which is located in the same state as the banyan tree. Some of the unique selling point of this hotel is similar to that of the banyan tree. Both these companies have a broad market of international tourists in India. One of the main drawbacks of the Banyan tree is that it has a limited number of Villas as supposed to the Starwood hotel which offers luxury rooms. Hence they can accommodate more number of people at the same time. The factors which give banyan tree an upper hand over its competitors is that it provides an Asian theme. Tourists who come to visit indie, one of their main focuses is to enjoy the Asian cultural and heritage which the hotel provides them. Not only that Kerela is famous for its spa retreats and oil messages each of these villas have a separate and very private spa segment which the guests can enjoy at their will. Above all, Banyan tree offers its customers the luxury of utmost priv acy and recluse. Since Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd (BTHR) is a multinational luxury hotel and resort brand they have the scope of developing a skimming price strategy via membership cards and loyalty programs which not only help in customer retention, but also help in the management of customer loyalty and further assist the company in advocating their goodwill. The competitors also may have this facility but the customers who are already aware of the quality of service available in the Banyan Tree will want to come back to the same place as it also offers a sense of security and assurance (economictimes.indiatimes.com 2017). (Words: 2018) Reference List: banyantree.com. 2017.Brand Story. [online] Available at: https://www.banyantree.com/en/the-banyan-tree-stories [Accessed 6 Aug. 2017]. Baranenko, S.P., Dudin, M.N., Lyasnikov, N.V. and Busygin, K.D., 2014. Use of environmental approach to innovation-oriented development of industrial enterprises. Boons, F. and Ldeke-Freund, F., 2013. Business models for sustainable innovation: state-of-the-art and steps towards a research agenda.Journal of Cleaner Production,45, pp.9-19. businessworld.in. 2017.Hospitality Industry. [online] Available at: https://businessworld.in/article/Hospitality-Industry-In-India-A-Big-Contributor-To-Economy-s-Growth-/16-05-2017-118291/ [Accessed 6 Aug. 2017]. economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2017.Indian Hotel Industry. [online] Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Indian-hotel-industry [Accessed 6 Aug. 2017]. Eva, M., Hindle, K., Paul, D., Rollaston, C. and Tudor, D., 2014. Business analysis. BCS. Fleisher, C.S. and Bensoussan, B.E., 2015.Business and competitive analysis: effective application of new and classic methods. FT Press. Franks, D.M., Davis, R., Bebbington, A.J., Ali, S.H., Kemp, D. and Scurrah, M., 2014. Conflict translates environmental and social risk into business costs.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,111(21), pp.7576-7581. Grant, R.M., 2016.Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2015.The international business environment. Oxford University Press, USA. Khan, E.A. and Quaddus, M., 2015. Examining the influence of business environment on socio-economic performance of informal microenterprises: content analysis and partial least square approach.International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy,35(3/4), pp.273-288. Paill, P., Chen, Y., Boiral, O. and Jin, J., 2014. The impact of human resource management on environmental performance: An employee-level study.Journal of Business Ethics,121(3), pp.451-466. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education. Schilke, O., 2014. On the contingent value of dynamic capabilities for competitive advantage: The nonlinear moderating effect of environmental dynamism.Strategic Management Journal,35(2), pp.179-203. Wetherly, P. and Otter, D. eds., 2014.The business environment: themes and issues in a globalizing world. Oxford University Press. Wicker, P., Soebbing, B.P., Feiler, S. and Breuer, C., 2015. The effect of Porters generic strategies on organisational problems of non-profit sports clubs.European Journal for Sport and Society,12(3), pp.281-307.