Sketchers Advertising :: Business and Management Studies

Sketchers Advertising Advertising is used to inform people about products for sale and to encourage people to buy them. It is a way of telling people about different products that companies are selling. Things are advertised differently depending on whether they are in the newspaper, on television, on the radio or in magazines. The purpose of advertising is to encourage people to buy that particular product rather than another product. There are different forms of advertising. These are: industry and commerce, to sell goods and services and to give information about a certain product. Organizer of event, this is to promote events such as the cinema, theatre, and charity events. Political party, this is to win support on votes, to lobby government. Educational establishments. Which are to advertise colleges and universities. There are also other forms of advertising such as: charity, media, government and private individual. There are also many pros and cons of advertising. The pros are that the advertisements bring the prices down because it encourages competition and increases sales. It gives people information about goods and services. The cons are that it persuades people to spend money on things they don’t really want or need, and they interrupt television programmes, and fill up page after page of magazines. I have looked at the ‘sketchers’ footwear advertisement that I found in a J-17 magazine. The ‘Sketchers’ advertisement is on a plain blue background and takes up a whole double page spread. They have used Britney Spears to advertise the footwear so that people are encouraged to buy them because they think that Britney wears them and they want to be like her. On the first half of the advert there are two pictures of Britney Spears, the ‘Sketchers’ logo, the website address and the words ‘Sketchers USA Footwear’. The website was put on the advert to make people go onto the site and look at more of their shoes. They include these pictures of Britney spears to make the trainers more appealing to the audience to make people try and buy their shoes. On the other half of the advertisement there are two more pictures of Britney Spears. The product is ‘Sketchers’ footwear, the brand name and company is ‘Sketchers’ and there is no slogan. The logo is the letter ‘S’ in a oval shape. The outline of the logo is white, the inside is red and the letter ‘S’ is white. The target audience is teenage girls and women up to the age of about thirty, possibly a bit older. The purpose of this advert is to encourage people to choose their product of

Financial Analysis of Oracle Corp Essay -- essays papers

Financial Analysis of Oracle Corp INTRODUCTION Background and History Oracle Corporation is a technology company that supplies software for the use of information management. They develop, manufacture, market and distribute computer software that helps other corporations manage their data so they can better grow and prosper. In 1977, Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates founded System Development Laboratories. After being inspired by a research paper written in 1970 by an IBM researcher titled â€Å"A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks† they decided to build a new type of database called a relational database system. The original project on the relational database system was for the government (Central Intelligence Agency) and was dubbed ‘Oracle.’ They thought this would be appropriate because the meaning of Oracle is source of wisdom. In 1978, Software Development laboratories moved from their offices in Santa Clara to ones in Menlo Park, the heart of the Silicon Valley. To better explain what they did, they changed their name to Relational Software Inc., or RSI. In 1979, RSI developed and distributed its first commercial SQL database V2, there was no version 1. In 1982, RSI changed its name to Oracle Systems Corporation, which later changed again to Oracle Corporation. They reasoning behind this was that they thought by naming the company after the product it would help the company obtain more recognition. In 1983, Oracle decided to make the Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) portable. They then introduce V3, the first portable database to run on Personal Computers, minicomputers and mainframes. In 1984, Oracle Corporation’s revenues reach $12.7 million and they move into a new eighty-four thousand square foot building in Belmont, CA. They also went international by working with companies in Canada, Netherlands, and a limited portion in the United Kingdom. In 1985 they hit $23 million in revenues and expanded to Austria, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and Switzerland. Their Initial Public Offering was on March 12, 1986, the same year their revenues reached $55 million. The stock opened at a price of $15 and closed at $20.75. Oracle Corporation expanded to Australia, Finland, France, Hong Kong (limited), Norway, and Spain. In 1987, Oracle’s revenues were $131 million, as ... ...rs, setting a good trend for the corporation. They also have a very low debt-to-equity ratio, indicating that they have enough equity to easily pay off any funds acquired from creditors. As a creditor I would feel safe in lending them funds for any future projects or endeavors. Bibliography: WORKS CITED Oracle Corporation 2000a. Investor Relation – Corporate History. 20 July. Internet: http://www.oracle.com/corporate/. Oracle Corporation 2000b. Investor Relations – Financials. 21 July. Internet: http://ww.oracle.com/corporate/. Oracle Corporation 2000c. 1999 Annual Report – Introduction. 21 July. Internet: http://www.oracle.com/corporate/annual_report/99/index.html. Oracle Corporation 2000d. Financial Highlights. 22 July. Internet: http://www.oracle.com/corporate/annual_report/99/financial/index.html?finhgh99.html. Moyer, Charles R., and McGuigan, James R., and Kretlow, William J. 1998. Contemporary Financial Management. South-Western College Publishing: Cincinnati, Ohio, 64-106. America Online, Inc. 2000. Personal Finance – Investment Research. 30 July. http://research.web.aol.com/index.adp?T1=orcl&item=4.

The Jungle Descriptive

The Jungle As the sun rose over the horizon it awoke the jungle slowly and efficiently. Soon I could hear the morning birds chirp with all their heart and that triggered joy and excitement in my soul. A morning breeze toured the jungle making the flowers and leaves tango with rhythm and finesse as though they were experts. The lush evergreen trees stood so firm as if the roots were clinging for their very life, in the distance there was a Crystal River and a waterfall as its source.I could hear the rampaging rapids after the dip of the waterfall which slowly converted into a swift river forcefully turning at every bank. The river cut through the middle of the jungle and diverted into another as a tributary. Finally, the lions, the big boys of the jungle roared to announce their presence after their pleasant peaceful slumber after gnawing on a flavorsome gazelle the night before. The leopards however, refused to announce their presence not only because they are a conventionally shy sp ecies but to also stay under the radar so they could catch their morning meal more easily.I slowly knelt down and let my hands explore the terrain beneath me although it looked rough and sandy it was cool and comforting and after a few moments my body was persuading me not to let go, as I listened to my body trying to induce me, more and more I felt the urge not to let go I wanted to kneel there the whole day and let the sand satisfy my dry hands, but I did not let it manipulate me and slowly I started to get up. As I was getting up a chameleon caught my eye even though it was skillfully disguised, I bent down again then reached out to touch it.I could see the centre of the neck throbbing faster as I was getting closer, it was hesitating possibly thinking I was a new addition to the jungle and wanted to feed on it. It, however, did not move, as I reached its airspace I touched its skin with my bare finger tips, it felt rough and scaly. The throbbing on its neck soon slowed down as i t realized I had no interest in eating it, I slowly backed out of its airspace and stood hurriedly and once again I was mesmerized by the extraordinary view.As I observed the jungle I noticed a grape tree not too far from where I was, so I quickly dashed next to it and took a look at its beauty which put me in a day dream for about five seconds before I regained my senses. I spotted a ripe grape screaming â€Å"eat me†! I reached for the grape with all my soul, as my mouth began to water, I snatched it violently eager to please my taste buds and quickly placed it in my mouth. I let the grape roll underneath my tongue and back on top where I balanced it as my body prepared for godliness.As my mouth began to flood with saliva signaling it can’t wait any longer, I crushed the grape with my first molars and the flavor exploded as if I had set of a bomb. I could feel, taste and analyze all the different flavors and dyes as if I was a living chromatogram, my taste buds eased with satisfaction as the appetizing juice ran down my throat followed by the violet exterior. I stood there with my eyes closed, captivated by what I had just experienced and convinced that this was truly the work of God.The aroma of the vegetation of the whole jungle mixed all together and formed a smell that engulfed the air around me creating heavenly humid atmosphere. I took a deep breath in not wanting to exhale and wishing that it could be a replacement for oxygen, I could feel little drops on the tip of my nose that were tickling me. As I basked in this atmosphere it felt like I was in another dimension, and that I had escaped from this planet to paradise. As evening approached I laid back on the comforting sand witnessing the sunset which said â€Å"goodnight† to the whole jungle.The more the sun went down the quieter it became and the nocturnals would be saying â€Å"good morning† to each other and they would start preparing to catch their breakfast. The bird s were slowly returning to their nests, the lazy lions were already asleep, the lurking leopards had returned to their resting place and the sneaky serpents had swiveled their way home. Soon the sun had completely descended and the full moon appeared bright with is stars that were constantly winking at me. The whole jungle was pin drop silent; it had fallen asleep, as did I.

Rhetorical Analysis of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of â€Å"Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass† by Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass wrote many autobiographies, editorials, and speeches. His greatest piece is probably the book Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. In this book he talks about his life as a slave and he makes numerous arguments against slavery. Upon a closer reading, Douglass, by metaphors and personal anecdotes, appeals to the three rhetorical appeals Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Later in the first chapter Douglass talks about his aunt Hester. Hester disobeyed their owner and he started to punish her. †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ He led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose†¦ † (Douglass pg4) Made her get on top of the stool tied her to the hook and â€Å"†¦he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin and soon the warm, red blood came dripping to the floor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 5) â€Å"I was so terrified and horror-stricken at the sight, that I hid myself in a closet and dared not to venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over. (Douglass pg 5)With this quote he is subtly saying â€Å"If you want to know about slavery I can tell you about slavery because I was there, I lived it. † For the fact that he was there and witnessed this event gives him ethos. Around the middle of the second chapter Douglass talks about an overseer named Mr. Severe. Mr. Severe was the overseer of Colonel Lloyd’s, who was Douglass’ owner, plantation. â€Å"Mr. Severe was ri ghtly named: he was a cruel man. I have seen him whip a woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at a time; and this, too, in the midst of her crying children, pleading for their mother’s release. † (Douglass pg 7) Again this same situation where he is telling the audience that he knows what he is talking about because he witnessed and lived it so therefore he has enough credibility to talk about it. This quote shows that he knows exactly what he is talking about so he has the ethos to tell the audience what a slave’s life was like. In the middle of chapter two Douglass talks about how the slaves were not given beds. He said â€Å"†¦They found less difficulty from the want of beds, than from the want of time to sleep†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 6) â€Å"†¦Very many of their sleeping hours are consumed in preparing the field for the coming day; and when this is done, old and young, male and female, married and single, drop down side by side, on one common bed,-the cold, damp floor,- each covering himself of herself with their miserable blankets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 6) He says this to evoke emotion into the audience the phrase â€Å"the cold, damp floor,† and the parallel structure â€Å"old and young, male and female, married and single† evokes emotion. This is a strong appeal to pathos in his argument. In the beginning of chapter eight Douglass talks about when he went to live in Baltimore. He talks about His old master’s youngest son dying and then three years later his old master died. So his property was valued and he was sent for to be valued with the other property. â€Å"†¦Here again my feelings rose up in detestation of slavery. I had now a new conception of my degraded condition†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦I left Baltimore with a young heart overborne with sadness, and a soul full of apprehension. (Douglass pg 27) He says this and these lines evoke so much emotion. With the phrase â€Å"a young heart overborne with sadness† and the use of other emotional words and phrases get the audience going. So this is also an example of a strong appeal to pathos. Around the middle of chapter six Douglass talks about going to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Mrs. Auld started to teach him the A, B, Cs. After he learned that he was lear ning to spell words of three or four letters. At that point Mr. Auld found out and told Mrs. Auld not to instruct him further. He said Mr. Auld said â€Å"’†¦ if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable and of no value to his master †¦It would only make him discontented and unhappy. ’ These words sank deep into my heart†¦ I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty-to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. †(Douglass pg 20) This is his epiphany or his allegory of the cave moment when he realizes what is actually going on. He thought logically for a long time and he finally found what he was looking for. This quote is an appeal to logos. Early on in chapter nine Douglass talks about his Master Thomas Auld. He says he always got enough to eat everywhere else he went but not with Master Thomas. â€Å"I have said Master Thomas was a mean man †¦ Not to give a slave enough to eat, is regarded as the most aggravated development of meanness even among slaveholders. The rule is, no matter how coarse the food, only let there be enough of it†¦ Master Thomas gave us enough of neither coarse nor fine food. (Douglass pg 31) This is a syllogism he is saying Mean slave owners don’t give their slaves enough to eat, Master Thomas doesn’t give his slaves enough to eat therefore Master Thomas is a mean man. A syllogism appeals to logos so this quote appeals to logos. To conclude, Frederick Douglass uses metaphors and personal anecdotes to appeal to the three rhetorical appeals Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. His book Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass is filled with examples of these appeals. Personal anecdotes give him Ethos, Parallel structure appeals to Pathos, and logical thinking appeals to Logos.

Mask Analysis

Lucy Grealy’s Masks Analysis In the story â€Å"Masks† Lucy Grealy is battling a lethal form of cancer but her struggle through the story is her self-confidence concerning her looks. As Lucy is growing up, the teasing and her self-consciousness about her physical appearance keep increasing. People’s physical beauty is somewhat important to how they see themselves because it affects their confidence. Sometimes when people are nicely dressed, do their hairs or makeup, they feel more confident about themselves than they do if they didn’t.In our culture we almost see a lack of physical beauty or a physical deformity as a disability that prevents you from being like other people. We allow our confidence and self-esteem influence our abilities. The more confidence a person has the less limitation they put on themselves. A person with a physical disability or deformity might feel less free or confident about themselves because how society might perceive them. For example, the first time Lucy is wearing her mask when she is celebrating Halloween she says, â€Å"I felt such freedom: I waltzed up to people effortlessly and boldly. When she wore the mask for the first time she realized how self-conscious she was about her appearance and how that affected her confidence. Some people would probably feel the same way Lucy did if they had faced what Lucy had through her life. Although she was a brave and strong person for fighting her disease, the thing that affected her confidence the most was her looks. Our culture judges a book by its cover. People usually will judge other people by their physical appearance when they first meet someone.That first impression is how we think a person is whether it been smart, successful, confident, or the opposite. People make it so important to be looked as â€Å"normal† that they will behave and look a certain way just to be perceived as normal by the people around them. A person’s physical appea rance will also influence the way people interact with each other. We see with Lucy the way her harassment about her looks influences her. When the teasing comes from a smaller group when Lucy was younger she would retaliate by retorting things back at the boys bothering her.As Lucy got to junior high and the group was larger and she knew less people, she became more isolated. Lucy stated that when she was teased in the hallways of the schools she would â€Å"simply looked down at the floor and walked more quickly. † The teasing got to such a point that she would completely isolate herself during lunch by eating with her guidance counselor. As she got older she, â€Å"viewed other people both critically and sympathetically. She tried to figure out why people would act the way they did with her and in general, as a way to cope with her situation. Some people have the attitude that they are better than someone with a physical deformity or physical disability because they donâ €™t look â€Å"normal,† which they almost see as a handicap. It would help in our culture to break that perception by knowing more stories like Lucy’s in which you can see how strong a person you have to be to have gone through the struggles she had.

Compare Two Theories of First/Second Language Acquisition

A3 Compare two theories of first/second language acquisition. The process by which humans acquire the capacity to distinguish properly as well as produce and use words to understand and communicate with others is known as first language acquisition. It focuses mainly on how infants pick up their native language, including syntax and some extensive vocabulary items, having so little input. We can distinguish many theoretical approaches towards the first language learning process.Behaviourists, for instance, whose main motto is ‘Say what I say’ claim that learning of the language is the result of habit formation, imitation practice and feedback on success. Children naturally imitate what they hear in their environment, then if they receive positive reinforcement, they are able to form ‘habits’ of proper language use. On the other hand, a linguist Noam Chomsky holds that language development may be compared to the most basic biological functions such as an abil ity to walk as â€Å"every child will learn to walk as long as adequate nourishment and reasonable freedom of movement are provided† (Lightbown and Spada 1999:15).Both theories emphasize the importance of the environment which plays a crucial role when stimulating child’s language development. Hence, in order to pick up the language in a proper way the child must be exposed to the language given. However, contradictory to the behaviourist theory, Chomsky claims that the language is, to some degree, confusing and the provided information is not sufficient for a child to learn the language only by imitating particular words and phrases.That is to say, the environment fails to provide all necessary information which the child needs. To sum up, the greatest difference between behaviourism and innatism is the opinion about child’s mind. Behaviourists claim that child should be, in some way, programmed by the environment, meaning child’s mind is a blank slate t hat has to be filled. However, Chomsky is of the opinion that every child comes to this world with a special ability to discover all language rules by itself. Bibliography: Lightbown, P. and Spada, N. 1999. How Languages are Learned. Oxford: OUP.

Causes And Effects Of Earthquakes Engineering Essay

Causes And Effects Of Earthquakes Engineering Essay Earthquakes are one of the most destructive mother-nature disasters in the world. An earthquake is defined as quake or tremor which there will be a slipping or movement of earth`s crust as a result of a sudden release of energy, accompanied and followed by a series of vibration on the ground that causing damages. The series of vibrations is known as seismic waves and can be measured using seismometer, a device which also records the seismic waves known as seismograph. This disaster may happen naturally or caused by human activities and very difficult to predict (Wikipedia, 2009). Earthquake can be grouped into three categories based on the depth of their foci that are shallow focus (300 km) Geological faults, volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts and nuclear experiments will caused an earthquake. Strong earthquakes can cause severe damages and great loss of life in several ways, including fault rupture, tremors flood caused by tsunami and landslides. Earthquakes are generated b y either tectonic activity, the movement of large rock plates which underlay the earth’s surface, or volcanic activity (GEO.101-02, 2006). The areas that experienced the most active seismic are related with the plate tectonics that located on the ground. When the plate tectonics tend to moved, there will be faults that may be detectable on the ground surface, but they are often out of sight below layers of soil deposits. There is about 90 percent of the earthquakes case worldwide which occur at faults along the boundaries of earth`s major crustal plates. Deformation will occurred which resulted from the movement of tectonic plate. The type of deformation that takes place during earthquake generally occurs along zones where rocks fracture to produce faults that cause tremors (Stephen A.N, 2010). The faults will cause a stresses that form a movements of adjacent plates therefore energy will released. Within the earth rocks are constantly subjected to forces that end to bend, tw ist, or to fracture them. When rocks bend, twist or fracture they said to be deformed or strain. This deformations are the energy that been released from the fracture. The energy released in the form of ground shaking will result of tremors and trembling of the ground (NAHB Research Center, 1994). Figure 2.1 shows the location of earthquakes with different magnitude and depth. Figure 2.1 Locations of Earthquakes 2.2 Causes of Earthquake Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy along faults plane. The strain that builds up in the rock will ruptures when the elastic limit of the rock is exceeded thus released the elastic energy as seismic waves. The greater released energy, the greater strain that stored in the rock. A sort of the energy that released by and earthquake will travels through the earth`s crust which caused damages to life and structures. The earthquakes can be even smaller and even larger (W.Spence, S.A.Sipkin, & George L. C, 1989). Earthquakes are three di mensional events which the waves will move outwards, horizontal and vertical plains. This condition produces three different types of waves which can be defined through its distinct behavior and some of this wave only travel through certain stratums within the earth. The three forms of these shockwaves that cause an earthquake are (Geography Sites, 2006):