Thursday, November 28, 2019

The kite runner free essay sample

Leesh bear Friendship with a Kite The desire for friendship comes quickly. Friendship does not. Aristotle In The Kite Runner, the theme of friendship is probably one on the most obvious themes to spot. The book is centered around the friendships made, and how the friendships will test their true loyalty and sometimes even their lives. According to Mark Vernon friendship is a complex thing. He says this; A heavy burden is placed on friendship. We turn to friends for our happiness. Some say they trust friends more than family. And there are those who want to marry their best friend a very novel idea. Then, in the networked age, we believe, or hope, that friendship is elastic enough to connect us across the web of complex lives, and strong enough not to snap. But is it? For whilst friendship offers much, few ask about its perils and limitations, as well as its promise. We will write a custom essay sample on The kite runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This relates to The Kite Runner almost perfectly. As it would tor any book dealing with the hardships and tests ot friendship, but somehow this one seems to fit best with this novel. one of the characters who reflects a lot on friendship Is Amir. Amir not focusing so much on his friendship, but the question of friendship completely, how two people of ifferent races, one accepted by society and the other outcast can be friends. But In none of his stories did Baba ever refer to All as his friend. The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense anyhow Because history isnt easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shia and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. When Hassan talks about friendship or more so reflects on it, he comes from more of a third party outsider point of view. He never really goes into detail, but the author ets us know he is caring and forgiving. Hassan writes letters to Amir filled with warmth and nostalgia for their time in Kabul. Somehow, Hassan never thinks to hold a grudge against Amir. Its unthinkable its simply not part of the makeup of this character. (shmoop. com) Even th ough they come trom different back rounds the tact that they are Ilke brothers Is really nice to see. Though the time they live In their friendship Is considered bad, they pursue It anyways. Many trials their friendship faced, yet they continued to keep eachother close. Then, when Amir attempts to fit Into society he leaves Hassan behind. Someone who he was so close to for so long. Too late we learn, a man must hold his friend unjudged, accepted, trusted to the end Oohn Boyle OReilly). Hassan was the one who helped Amir choose the path of his future career. Amir had taken advantage of the friendship between Hassan and him. He made fun of him whenever he had the chance, but Hassan never took it to heart and still perceived Amir as his best friend. One day while he read to Hassan, Amir made up the ending of the story and Hassan loved it. He said, That was the best story youVe read me in a 1 OF2 Hassan was both physically and mentally stronger than Amir. According to Baba, Amirs father, there was something wrong with Amir since his birth. Amir never stood up for himself and he was different for the fact that he liked poetry, something that Baba believed was not normal for a young boy. One day while Hassan and Amir were walking towards their tree, they came upon Assef and his friends. Assef was the son of one of Babas friends, an airline pilot. He was known for his brass knuckles and wanted to start an argument with Hassan and Amir. Right before he was going to hurt them, Hassan grabbed his slingshot and aimed it right at Assefs left eye. He let the boys go but said he was going to get revenge. This part of the story foreshadowed an event that occurred later in the story in which Amir and Hassans lives were changed forever. The Kite Runner free essay sample Kahled Hosseinis novel, The Kite Runner, serves as a story of redemption and metamorphosis of child into man, through the eyes of a young Afghan boy born into a family of recognition and prosperity. Amir, son of businessman Baba, narrates his outlook on the struggles he faced from his troubled childhood, including jealousy, neglect, and the manifestation of his own insecurities. Amir thrives for redemption in hopes of relieving self-condemnation, due to pain inflicted on his best friend Hassan out of jealousy and cowardice.Transforming from a guilt-ridden boy to a supportive, independent man, protagonist Amir in Kahled Hosseini’s novel â€Å"The Kite Runner,† travels through life and uses his experiences and hardships to transition from boyhood into adulthood. Growing up with a successful father, Baba, Amir is constantly reminded of his failure to live up to his family expectations and is blamed for his mothers death. To separate from his troubles, Amir chooses to preoccupy his time with writing poetry instead of participating in violent sports. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Baba accuses Amir for not being a true man because of his preferred activities, and continues to harass his son, making Amir feel unappreciated and unloved. Amir especially feels such neglect when Baba presents Hassan, Amirs best friend and servants son, with a life-changing surgery to fix his cleft lip. This gesture stimulates Amirs animosity for Hassan, as he feels that Hassan does not have to work for Babas affection. Feeling unappreciated, neglected, and jealous, Amirs hostility builds both inward, toward himself and outward, toward his surrounding peers.With the seed of malice and insecurity previously planted, Amir takes out his animosity on his friend Hassan, which provides ammunition for his growth into adulthood. Leaving his childish concerns and entering the world of boyhood, Amir makes many mistakes affecting not only himself, but also others around him. One day as Amir stumbles upon Hassan being raped by bully Assef, he fails to defend his friend, partially due to his seeding animosity and also to his cowardice.Through this experience, Amir proves his lack in ability of strength and self-assertion to confront the troubles he encounters as a boy. Shadowing the traumatizing experience, Amir encounters a personal-war as he brims with guilt, yet avoids confession of the situ ation. Amir then proves his cowardice again by ridding of Hassan instead of submitting to his own guilt and taking responsibility. In doing so, Amir frames Hassan as a thief to his father Baba to ensure that Hassan and Ali will move away.Racked by his own emotions, Amirs boyhood encompasses the shame, guilt, and cowardice that result from his significant mistakes. Through his mistakes and experiences in Afghanistan, Amir finally undergoes his last transformation from boyhood into manhood by sacrificing his entitlement and learning to support himself and his family. During his adaptation to the U. S. , Amir is forced to work for money instead of life being served to him on a silver-platter. Eventually, Amir is able to drop his haughty and presumptuous attitude and establish a profitable and successful career. Once he reaches a point of stability, Amir falls in love with his beautiful Soraya while also taking on the responsibility in nursing his ill, aged-father. In doing so, Amir proves his newly achieved independence and support he provides for his family. Shortly after, Amir again proves his loyalty and selflessness when he agrees to rescue Hassans son, Sohrab, from an orphanage in Kabul.In saving Sohrab, Amir realizes that the Taliban officer is Assef and sacrifices himself, proving his gained courage and loyalty. In his confrontation, Amir finally gains redemption from all his guilt and is able to live his life in contentment. Resulting from these life-changing experiences, Amir gains redemption and in doing so undergoes metamorphosis starting as a neglected child, selfish boy, and finally into the selfless man that he always strived to be. In his final transition from child, to boy, to man, Amir proves his success, independence, support, and loyalty. The Kite Runner free essay sample The narrative The KiteRunner written in the first person point of view by Khaled Hosseini revolves around Amir and the three stages in his life. His childhood which was based in the early 1970’s was the most influential part of his life which is why Amir can bee seen as a coward and a selfish character. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although he does possess these traits his is not entirely to blame for them. Baba, his father can be seen as the character which influences Amir the most. His expectations are far to big for Amir to fulfill. Amir is also seen as a selfish character especially when he cant seem to get any attention from his father. The moment which shapes up the rest of the book is caused by Amir and his utter cowardliness. Watching his best friend get raped haunts Amir throughout the rest of the novel. Baba didnt give much attention or time for Amir which could be a cause as to why he is such a selfish character. Amir felt like he could not live up to his fathers expectations, he lacked approval and love which made him jealous and selfish. This is evident in the way Baba talks about Amir to Rahim Kahn, labeling Amir as a disappointment and also by the way Amir strives for his fathers approval by sacrificing Hassan in order to attain it. Evidence of Amir’s selfishness and cowardice can be seen throughout the text although his fathers influence is also a heavy contributor to his many flaws. Amir himself sees this â€Å"I realised how much of who i was ,what i was, had been defined by Baba† Although all these indecent acts Amir makes in his life, they are not solely to blame for his flaws. The lack of attention and love Amir receives from his father Baba, twists him to become selfish. Amirs only thinks about how he will benefit from his actions rather then the effect is causes to other characters. His jealousy he has of the attention Hassan receives from his father is a factor as to why is becomes so selfish. Amir frames Hassan and Ali which forces them out of the house. The self centered act of hiding a watch and money under Hassan’s mattress shows how powerful Baba is in his life. Amir believes his father favoured Hassan so with him out of the picture Amir sees this as an opportunity to become closer to his father and continues to struggle for acceptance. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb i had to slay to win Baba† This selfish acts only creates more havoc in his emotional battle to overcome his guilty conscious. Amir accepts that he will always be seen in Baba’s eyes as a let down and a burden. Even though Amir tried to be the ideal son for Baba he failed, but as he tried he dragged down other people with him, which Hosseini successfully portrays Amir as the selfish character, he only has himself to blame for. At the heart of the story is an act of cowardice in the face of abuse, a choice of self preservation over a stand to protect the vulnerable. Amir cowardly watched on as his best friend Hassan was raped by a group of boys. This act of betrayal destroys the boys friendship because Amir cannot forgive himself. This act of cowardliness is what made him who he was. â€Å"I became what i am today at the age of twelve† He struggles for redemption after this. Amir has the opportunity to stand up for Hassan or to run. In his own words, he says In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. Amir attempts to rationalize his decision with the dehumanising thought that Hassan was just a Hazara. Ultimately Amirs cowardliness has a large flow on affect which haunts him throughout the rest of the text. Amirs actions are selfish and cowardly but he is not entirely to blame for his flaws. Baba can be seen as an influence of his selfishness, Amir only wanting his fathers acceptance leads him to selfish acts against friend Hassan. When in comes to being brave all his strength seems to go when he needs it the most, watching his frie nd get raped was the defining point in the text. Amir can only be seen at fault here because there is no other influence to make him the coward he is. The Kite Runner free essay sample The relationship between Baba and Amir is a complex one as Baba reveals his role as a father, friend, and foe. Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner explores this rollercoaster between Baba and his son Amir. As the novel unfolds, the lives of the characters unravel –as do their relationships and their sense of identity. Baba serves as an important link that connects each of the characters and also bridges the uncertain with the certain, lie with truth, pain with pleasure, servant with master, dark with light and then ultimately death with life. Each of these connections triggers strong emotions in Amir about feelings towards his father and how he feels about himself. This mixture of negative and positive feelings towards his father causes him much pain, but it also brings him closer to discovering him self and how in many ways he is truly his father’s son. Amir’s relationship with his father Baba starts off at a very rocky stage. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Amir felt as though his father resented him since the day that he was born when his mother died while giving birth to him. Amir constantly felt as though he had to make up for killing the love of his father’s life, Sofia Akrami. However, this became a problem since there wasn’t much that Amir could do to impress Baba as they did not have much in common; the two had very different interests. Baba was more athletic, brave, and adventurous whereas Amir is the opposite. The contrast between the two was so large that Baba even said, â€Å"If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d not believe he’s my son. † (pg. 23). Amir overheard this scarring quote and became more determined than ever to win his father’s love and affection. Amir began trying so hard to impress his father that Amir even started sports. It was evident however, that it wasn’t one of his strengths. Baba’s lack of affection drove Amir into an imaginary competition between Hassan-his Hazara servant- and himself. Amir felt as though Baba was more affectionate to Hassan and he began to envy him. This led Amir to have a secret resentment towards Hassan, though he knew how much Hassan loved him. This bitterness played out in a terrible way on the day after the kite tournament. Amir witnessed Hassan get raped by the town bully Aseff- and he did nothing to help. He abandoned him in his most desperate moment. All Amir thought about was going home with the kite that Hassan had in his hand. The kite that Amir believed would make Baba love him even more now that he had won the kite tournament. That is why Amir said, â€Å"Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. † (Pg. 77). Even though he got the kite he wanted, Amir’s abandonment of Hassan in this tragic moment was a secret torment he had to live with for many years. Though Amir’s guilt meant living a life with a heavy weight on his shoulder, his life seemed to be looking up, since his relationship with his father Baba seemed to be improving. Ever since Amir won the kite tournament, Baba had been putting more of an effort into his relationship with Amir. Instead of ignoring Amir and not sharing any moments with him, Baba and Amir begun going out more. Baba agreed to do everything that Amir wanted to do and to Amir’s surprise, he even initiated some of their plans. The two did have their few bumps in the road however. For instance, when Amir was unable to deal with the guilt of seeing Hassan every day, he asked his father if he ever considered getting new servants. This made Baba furious. He told Amir, â€Å"I’ve never laid a hand on you Amir, but you every say that again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Pg. 90). This is the moment, that the reader first gets sense that the connection between Baba and Hassan and his father Ali was much more than loyalty of years spent together. We learn that Baba grew up with Ali like a brother. The reader gets a deeper insight into their relationship later on in the novel. The reader finds out that Baba’s emotional response to Amir’s request is because Hassan is actually his son. From there on the relationship between Baba and Amir changed and went downhill. Amir realized that discussing that idea with Baba was a big mistake; however his desire to get rid of Hassan did not diminish. Amir took a decision to engage in a masterful act of deception and framed Hassan for stealing his watch and birthday money. This of course led to a confrontation between Baba, Amir, Hassan, and Ali. Hassan confessed to stealing the watch even though he didn’t and Baba instantly forgave him. Despite Baba’s act of forgiveness, the shame or perhaps the suspicion changed things in the household. Ali informed Baba that he and Hassan were leaving and would no longer be working for him. This was the first time that Amir saw Baba cry. Hassan was a good boy and Baba knew him well. He must have known in his heart that Hassan would not steal and that this predicament was all Amir’s doing. Of course this would put an even stronger strain on Baba and Amir’s relationship, but this wasn’t able to be expressed since Afghanistan soon underwent immense changes after Hassan and Ali’s leaving. After Hassan and Ali left Baba’s house in Kabul, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Baba and Amir fled Kabul and headed towards Pakistan; later on the moved to America. These traumatic events that occurred strengthened the complex relationship between Baba and Amir. When the two began life in America, their relationship was stronger than ever. Baba and Amir really started bonding and connected as father and son should. Baba began taking an interest in Amir’s studies, supported him as he pursued his dreams to become a writer. They often joked with one another and Amir began helping out Baba a lot with everything and even took care of Baba while he was ill,. When it was time for marriage, Baba got permission for Amir to marry Soraya- an Afghan he met in America- and he paid for the entire wedding. The relationship was at a very good place when Amir witnessed his father die a happy, proud man. When Amir first found out that Baba was ill and was dying, Baba told Amir, â€Å"What’s going to happen to you, you say? All those years, that’s what I was trying to teach you, how to never have to ask that question. † (Pg. 157). Here Baba reveals to Amir that his poor parenting skills actually had good intentions. What Amir saw as poor fatherly skills were in fact Baba’s way of instilling in Amir a sense of independence and manhood. It was upon reflecting upon these conversations, that Amir realized just how many sacrifices Baba truly made for him and finally concluded that Baba did in fact love him. Baba went to America purely for Amir’s education and future, and even though he hated it, Baba refused to leave. Baba was forced to take manual work and therefore degraded himself to earn money in a gas station to support Amir and his life in America. Most of Baba’s savings went to Amir’s wedding. These are ways in which Baba demonstrated his love and care for Amir. However, though Baba was dead, Amir and Baba’s rollercoaster was not yet over; there was one last hiccup in their relationship. This came about when Baba’s darkest secret was revealed by Rahim Khan. The secret was that Baba had slept with Ali’s wife Sanaubar and impregnated her, making Hassan his child. Amir went through a series of mixed emotions at this revelation. Initially the news made Amir furious. He thought of his father as a hypocrite due to all of the lessons he had thought him in his past. Baba once told Amir, ‘There is only one sin – ‘and that is theft†¦ When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. (Pg. 225) Due to this lesson, Amir couldn’t help but think that Baba’s theft was the worst kind of stealing, since â€Å"the things he’d stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor. † (Pg. 225). As Amir reflected on his father’s deception and betrayal, he started to see himself in a similar way. Amir realized that his father was more like him than he ever knew and this is when their relationship made the final shift. He saw how much they were one and the same. His feelings towards his father finally changed. â€Å"Baba and I were more alike than I’d ever known. We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us. †(Pg. 226). Amir finally realizes that Baba was a man who also made mistakes and lived with regret. He recognized that the negative behaviors he had witnessed from his father, came from the struggles he had while trying to deal with the guilt and failures of the past. In the same way Amir had also suffered from the terrible things he had done. The big difference is at the end of the day Baba was a better man than Amir was, but Amir knew he had time to change this. From here on, Amir took on the task of redeeming both his and Baba’s mistakes. He agreed to go on the search for Hassan’s orphaned son Sohrab and to take care of him and raise him like he was his own. Amir is at last reconciled to his father. Although he was already dead, he is able to get some closure through Rahim Khan’s sharing with him. The conflicts and contradictions are also erased. His pain eases, he is sorry for his abandonment of Hassan and he forgives his father. Baba’s life of secrecy had broken with Muslim tradition in many ways and his behaviours had caused a chain of events that had the effect of both breaking and hurting relationships. He spends the rest of life making up for his failings. His example leads his own son Amir to see himself in a new way. He recognizes his weaknesses and forgives himself. He creates a relationship as a fatherly figure to his half brother’s son Sohrab and turns his life around. His outlook is now positive. There is no longer the darkness of secrecy and shame. Instead there is truth and there is love. Amir’s feelings of resentment turn to love and truth. The Kite Runner free essay sample People must sometimes defy the laws of society to overcome challenges in their path. In the novel, The Kite Runner authored by Khaled Hosseini, some characters face a lot of difficulties against the society in general. Hassan being a Hazara has constant opposition throughout his life. Baba finds a great change in his stature when he comes to America. Amir spends 26 years of his life keeping a secret that leads him to discovering many more secrets. Hassan faced a lot of challenges because he came from a social class that was considered inferior to the Pashtuns. Firstly, Hassan was always taunted by the society they lived in in Afghanistan. During a particular incident, a soldier calls to Hassan rudely, â€Å"You! The Hazara! Look at me when I’m talking to you! ,† and insults him (Hosseini 7). Here Hassan is referred to simply as the Hazara and Hassan was often reminded of his social status. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Secondly, Hassan’s friendship with Amir was not taken well by the people in the upper class who thought that their relationship should be nothing more than that of a master and servant. This is shown in Assef’s response, â€Å"Someday you’ll wake up from your little fantasy and learn just how good of a friend he is,† where Assef tells Hassan that he is only a servant and does not share any special relationship with Amir (Hosseini 77). This shows that it was difficult for Hassan to show the society that his relationship with Amir was more than that of a servant to master. Thirdly, Hassan sacrifices himself and suffers for Amir on countless occasions. For example, after the Kite Flying tournament, Hassan preferred to get raped than handing over the blue kite that was so dear to Amir. Hassan is shown to be extremely loyal to Amir on these instances. From the above mentioned points, it is proved that Hassan led a life of suffering and faced a lot of obstacles in challenging the rules of society. Another character who interestingly also faces a lot of obstacles although they are not very apparent is Baba. Baba confronted a lot of challenges during his life in both Afghanistan and America. Firstly, Baba was never able to openly show his affection for Hassan although he was his illegitimate son. He however does try to treat him like a son. In the quote, †Do you want to ask Hassan to come along to Jalalabad? ,† Baba is shown to be doing exactly that (Hosseini 86). Baba has had to live his entire life knowing that Hassan was his son but never directly showed it in any way. Secondly, unlike most people in Afghanistan, Baba was not a great believer in God. This is shown in the quote, â€Å"If there is a God out there, then I would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch or eating pork,† where Baba clearly does not put his trust in God (Hosseini 20). Despite the teachings by the Mullahs, Baba does not believe them at all whereas the rest of Afghanistan is shown to be extremely religious. Baba was originally a merchant in Kabul. In fact, he was one of the most prosperous of them. After coming to America, Baba worked at a petrol station. He was quite hard hit by this change in lifestyle. At one instance, Baba gets angry at the fact that Mr. Nguyen asks Baba for a piece of ID. His irritation is clearly shown when Baba says, â€Å"What kind of a country is this? No one trusts anybody! † (Hosseini 135). Baba faces this change in his lifestyle and is unable to quickly adapt to it. Baba clearly faces a lot of obstacles in challenging the norms of society. In the following paragraph, Amir is proved to have faced a lot of obstacles in challenging the rules of society. Amir faces a lot of challenges in going against society during his lifetime in The Kite Runner. Firstly, Amir must go against the defined rules of society if he wants to accept Hassan as a friend in public. After he realises that he is brother he openly confronts the truth and is no longer attempting to hide it. He is shown confronting it in this quote, â€Å"He’s my nephew. That’s what you tell people when they ask. ,† where ‘he’ is Sohrab (Hosseini 380). Here he wants the world to now know that Hassan was his half-brother although this is against the rules of society. Secondly, when he returns to Afghanistan to get Sohrab back he can’t believe the condition Afghanistan is in. He goes against the Taliban who have become part of Afghan culture there and heavily influence the lifestyles of people there. A specific example is when the beard patrol comes and Amir looks right at them. This shows that Amir is ignorant towards the new leadership and does not completely accept them. Thirdly, Amir is shown to have tried to redeem himself so that he may feel better. He brings back Sohrab from Afghanistan even though he is a Hazara and knows that questions will be raised about him because Sohrab comes from a socially lower class even though he is Amir’s nephew. This shows that although Amir was brave enough to face the world even though what e had done could have serious consequences on his reputation. All the points above show that Amir had to go against society a number of times due to which he faced many obstacles in his path. In conclusion, any person must go through many hurdles in asserting the rules of society. Khaled Hosseini in his novel The Kite Runner has shown that these characters must surpass these hurdles to challenge the norms of society. As is proved by the three arguments stated above, Hassan, Baba and Amir were characters that braved these hurdles.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Foreign Language Classes Should Not Be Mandatory in Colleges Essay Example

Foreign Language Classes Should Not Be Mandatory in Colleges Essay Example Foreign Language Classes Should Not Be Mandatory in Colleges Essay Foreign Language Classes Should Not Be Mandatory in Colleges Essay Essay Topic: College How to Learn Foreign Language Effectively? Researchers posit that teaching foreign languages should not be mandatory and scrapping off of the same would help in reducing unnecessary burden of education on student and help college students to focus on the more important aspects of education (Lariscy, Hummer Hayward, 2015). One of the negative effects of learning foreign languages in college is that it causes students to undergo unnecessary suffering as almost negligible numbers of student achieve the required degree of fluency in the second languages. It means that despite the various strategies that colleges put to encourage students to learn second languages, the goals are never reached thereby making such aims futile (Jespersen, 2013). The effect of foreign languages in colleges is almost negligible making it unnecessary to learn such Statistics conducted on 4000, a total of 25.7 percent admitted to have knowledge of foreign language apart from English, 41.5 percent of those admitted to have the ability to speak the langua ge very well, and 7 percent of the sub-sub-sample claim to have learned the knowledge in school (Kulkarni Hu, 2014). In this manner, the results show that show has the least impact in encouraging students to learn foreign languages, and it is therefore a waste of time and effort of students to learn new languages. Such is because of the total number of students taught foreign languages in school, only 0.7 percent achieve the self-assessed fluency meaning that in 100 students taught foreign languages, only one becomes fluent proving it a waste of time and effort. (Ghanem, 2015). One of the negative effects of learning foreign languages in colleges is that it leads to the increase in costs of education but it is not beneficial to the education. Although learning of foreign languages sounds as a noble course, it is not worth the cost as evident in the higher cost of the plan such as the introduction of new curriculums, hiring of new teachers, building of new classrooms (Lariscy, Hummer Hayward, 2015). Such expenses lead to increase in the cost of education which proves to be a burden to parents and guardian without adding much to the children. In this manner, the cost of learning foreign languages dwarfs the benefits proving need to disown such initiatives and focus more on the learning activities that are most beneficial to the students (Jespersen, 2013). The return of learning foreign languages in colleges also proves to be having low return from the same in terms of improvement of knowledge the quality standards of education. : Finally, learning of foreign languages apart from English does not add value to the students. It is apparent that English fluency enables college students to land good jobs, enjoy culture, and meet interesting people but learning other languages does not add value to college students once they get out of the college. Learning foreign languages rarely helps students to get good jobs, meet interesting people or enjoy culture thereby proving it worthless to learn other languages (Kulkarni Hu, 2014). Moreover, the abundance and diversity that Americans enjoy in terms of social, economic and culture manifestations, Americans can easily travel other parts of the globe without having to learn foreign languages. Conclusion Statistics and the studies conducted by researchers prove that it is needless for American citizens to learn foreign languages because the aims of such initiatives are never reached, it leads to increase in the cost of education, wastes learning time of students, and does not add value to students once they get out of college. Such proves the need for the society to disown plans of introducing learning of foreign languages in colleges in America. References Ghanem, C. (2015). Teaching in the foreign language classroom: How being a native or non-native speaker of German influences culture teaching. Language Teaching Research, 19(2), 169-186. Jespersen, O. (2013). How to teach a foreign language (Vol. 2). Routledge. Kulkarni, V. S., Hu, X. (2014). English language proficiency among the foreign born in the United States, 19802007: Duration, age, cohort effects. International Migration Review, 48(3), 762-800. Lariscy, J. T., Hummer, R. A., Hayward, M. D. (2015). Hispanic older adult mortality in the United States: New estimates and an assessment of factors shaping the Hispanic paradox. Demography, 52(1), 1-14.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Impact of current economic downturn on Startegic human resource Essay

Impact of current economic downturn on Startegic human resource development - Essay Example e strategic human resource development can involve any of the following types of development such as short term or long term development, individual or group orientation, low participation or high participation techniques, spontaneous or systemic development and so on (Schuler and Jackson, 1987). But the dependence of these types of development techniques is based on certain pillars. These are as discussed by Garavan (2007) global environment, corporate strategy and culture, value and exclusivity of jobs and lastly employee expectation and careers. This essay will examine the importance of the contexts in the strategic human resource development while assessing the impact of the recent economic turmoil on these contexts in relation to human resource development. Furthermore, new steps initiated by organizations in response to the impacts will also be discussed. A swiftly changing economic environment illustrated by events such as globalization, deregulation of global markets, changing demands of customer and supplier, rapidly increasing competition in product-market and so on has become a change standard for organizations. Organizations in order to remain competitive, find ways to reduce costs, innovate products and processes and bring about changes in human resource management and development. Researches have addressed the concept of human resource as one that contributes to the accomplishment of organization’s operating and strategic goals. As the human resource strategies are built to accomplish the goals of the firms, certain objectives or framework also lies behind the development and objectives of strategic human resource. According to Garavan (2007) four levels of context are important in shaping organizations strategic human resource development: a) the global environment; b) the organization’s strategy, structure, culture, and leadership; c) the value and uniqueness that the firm attaches to particular jobs; and d) individual expectations,

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Assignment 4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

4 - Assignment Example Deltek Systems Inc. decided to go public in 1997 by offering its shares in the market. Every organization has to ensure that it makes the final decision of going ahead with initial public offerings (IPO) after evaluating all vital factors properly. In case of Deltek, the company decided to offer its shares to the general public for numerous reasons. The foremost factor that led the company’s management to go public was to avail the opportunity of accumulating funds for the purpose of expansion. One of the expansion strategies is to allow the organization to go public so that shares can be bought by the shareholders and, accordingly, the amount can be used for expansion. This trend was common during that time period as the software companies that were incurring losses were going public to utilize the chance of earning a good amount of revenue. According to the case, Deltek decided to go public because it allowed the probability of acquiring additional funds for financing its gr owth along with enhanced visibility. When a company is listed in the stock market, its awareness is increased and it has an advantage of enhancing its prestige among its valuable customers. Gaining awareness amongst mass consumers is another positive point of allowing the organization to be listed on the stock exchange. The central driving force that led to the decision of going public was that the employees of the company should be given the opportunity of reaping benefits for having the stock options. Since the company was a private venture, there was no market for selling the company’s stocks. Considering the scenario of the company, it wanted to offer its employees a platform to utilize the avenue of earning additional income. Since the technological firms were able to make further revenue from the stock market as a result of inflationary prices, it was a logical decision to exploit this proposal for improving the company’s performance and financial viability of th e employees. Human resources are an important asset for the organization and their financial stability in the firm should be one of the utmost concerns for the management to ensure productive services by the employees. Question 2 What advantages did Deltek find in going public once it became a public company? What disadvantages did it face? Answer 2 When Deltek Systems Inc. became a public company in 1997, it was proficient in earning an excessive amount of profit because its stock prices were growing at an accelerating pace. The biggest advantage to the company for going public was the ability of making use of its strong position in the technology market along with the stock market. It had a robust performance initially but, like all other companies, it had to face various turbulences as the stock market has the feature of intense fluctuations throughout the year. In late February 1997, the company sold about 2.9 million shares on the stock market for $11 each. During the following summer, the sales of the company grew at an exponential rate that was evident from its reported strong earnings in the stock market. By August, the earnings doubled, and this trend continued until the next year. However, afterwards, the company saw huge variations in the stock price of its shares as it oscillated in between $15 per share to $24.50 per share. This fluctuating behavior of the

Monday, November 18, 2019

Medicine and the Law Coursework 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Medicine and the Law Coursework 2 - Essay Example aby M case, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health observed that the judgment was in accordance with the guidelines it had set out in 2004 in consultation with parents, patient groups and representatives of different religious groups.(BBC News Report, 2006). It expressed the opinion that each case was to be treated individually and rigid rules could not be imposed that would apply in every case. But as discussed below, the precedents established by the Courts have shown that in general, the guiding principle is one of favouring life although each case is considered on its own merit. The Charlotte Wyatt case1 concerned a prematurely born baby that was suffering from a number of life threatening conditions. The Court also held in this instance that life sustaining treatment to the child could not be withdrawn. The Children Act of 1989 requires that the welfare of the child be accorded top priority and this is the guiding principle in all decisions that are made in reference to children. This is also the basis whereby the Crown can intervene in order to ensure that the interests of children are protected, because they are in effect disabled to the extent that they cannot look out for their own interests. As a result, decisions to be made about their treatment may also be taken by courts, especially when a patient has entered a persistent vegetative state (PVS). The decision of the House of Lords in Airedale NHS trust v Bland2 also held that when a patient has entered the PVS stage, then it may be lawful for the Courts to order the withdrawal of life sustaining tre atment because this would be in the best interests of the patient. It would also be lawful to withhold treatment in such cases because it would be in the patient’s best interests to be allowed to die with dignity3. Where adults are concerned, the question of how far a Court can step in to make decisions about the treatment options or welfare of an incapacitated or disabled person were at

Friday, November 15, 2019

Wheelchair Interfaces for Paralyzed Persons

Wheelchair Interfaces for Paralyzed Persons New method suggest some improvements regarding muscles to drive a wheelchair. People with disabilities such as Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis or tetraplegia experience problems while using traditional wheelchair-integrated joystick due to deformities of their limbs, amputees, tremor or because the are paralyzed below the neck. For them, different methods to use wheelchair have been invented. Among them, the most popular are voice command, brain command, eye tracking, face tracking and tongue tracking. In this project, the main emphasis is put on interfaces based on eye-tracking, head gestures and users habits. The eye methods are effective, but distracts patients view. The physiological background of Electro-Oculography is well understood among different eye movement research methods. Therefore, the report regarding this project is chosen to be described. voice command is too sensitive for the background noise, but has works quite fast. Tongue tracking is inconvenient, but less than eye tracking. Face tracking is sensitive for skin color, but quite efficient. Brain command is very successful, but difficult to adjust. 2.1. Eye-computer interfaces The authors of [1] present an electrooculography (EOG) based wheelchair interface. Beyond simple path guiding, this device has three other features: path re-routing, obstacle sensing and avoidance, and tilt detection. It is also worth nothing that the microcontroller is used in the wheelchair system instead of a laptop computer. Electrooculography is a bio-medical technique used for eye movements observations. It measures the resting potential of the retina. This potential comes from the fact that eye acts a dipole: it has a positive charge on the cornea (the front part of the eye) and a negative charge on the retina (the rear part of the eye). The measurements are conducted with electrodes applied onto the face skin. More important is the location of the electrodes which depends on the eye movements. If the patients gaze is in the horizontal direction, the electrodes have to be placed near the lateral canthi of both eyes. On the other hand, if eye movements are expected to vary in a vertical direction, then the electrodes have to be placed above and below the eye. Figure 2.1Electro-Oculography method It is particularly interesting that the constructors applied additional ultrasonic sensors into the wheelchair. These sensors, placed on the wheelchair body, send signal to detect obstacle and then receive the reflected wave. This back signal helps the microcontroller to choose the best path. The researchers designed the interface in that way that gaze directions like left, right, forward or back correspond with internationally understood directions like north, west, east and south. No pulse means centre. The microcontroller of so called User Instructions Processor (UIP) encodes upcoming signals in order drive to in a certain direction or to avoid collision with an obstacle. Finally, the tilt detection algorithm is realized by the gyroscope applied to Drive Control Module. It informs UIP about possible danger associated with breaking safe tilt limit, predefined for wheelchair. In this case, corrective measures is done by the user or the alert to the patients doctor/nurse is sent. 2.2. Head Gesture Recognition This method, described in [2], allows to obtain images of humans head in order to process them for certain commands. The equipment used for this application is called Gesture Cam. It is a Smart Camera which was modified with embedding a processing unit. This modification allows the device to process images at the high resolution. Moreover, due to this condition, the only mage feature that has to be processed, is the output of the camera. GestureCam is based on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) which is supposed to process data from intensive video faster in real time than a traditional Personal Computer. Firstly, the authors took the video of the user. After that, they used Viola-Jones method in order to detect users faces. Figure 2.2 Viola-Jones method used for detecting nose. Figure 2.3Viola-Jones method used for detecting eyes 2.3. Anticipative Shared Control The researchers and at the same time the authors of presented a wheelchair navigation interface which enables the user to move from one room to another into an indoor place. The control over this interface is shared between the user and the computer. Therefore, it is called Anticipative Shared Control and the system POMDP (stands for Partially Observable Markov Decision Process). The main impact of the computer is that it uses data based on human habits, visited paths, time of the day etc. On the other hand, user can decide whether he/she wants to choose particular path, suggested by the interface or change settings. The main purpose of these operations is to complete users intentions and expectations as full as possible without increasing effort while operating the wheelchair. Tha advantage of that solution is that the wheelchair can take the user for longer trip without requiring more gestures. The authors notice that using interactive interfaces like eye-tracking or Electromyography (EMG) may be tiring for the human. The proposed design of the wheelchair interface is to use make fusion of head gestures and eye-tracking and to add more functions like winking, baring teeth, raising eyebrows or In this report various wheelchair interfaces were presented. The aim of their design is to improve life of persons who suffer from diseases causing. As far as eye-tracking is considered, many papers regarding eye-tracking systems were published. Generally, the advantage of eye-tracking over voice command is that eye can send accurate visible signal, for example, by gazing in certain direction. It is worth noting that eye-tracking method, described in , is very reliable. Moreover, it is simple to use in various applications. Because of the straightforward gaze detection, it is very reliable, accurate and, based on previous research, quite economic. The use of microcontroller reduces time of complex calculations, provides enough high level of intelligence and unweights the wheelchair because of replacing a laptop computer. The head gesture interface is quite effective and economic. However, it faces different ambiance conditions (such as changes in illumination or various objects in the background) as well as users appearance (face complexion, or glasses). [1] R. T. Bankar and Dr. S. S. Salankar, Head Gesture Recognition System Using Gesture Cam, in Fifth International Conference on Communication Systems and Network Technologies, Gwalior, India, 2015. [2] P. Pinheiro, E. Cardozo and C. Pinheiro, Anticipative Shared Control for Robotic Wheelchairs Used by People with Disabilities, in IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions, Vila Real, Portugal, 2015. [3] T. R. Pingali, S. Dubey, A. Shivaprasad, A. Varshney, S. Ravishankar, G. R. Pingali, N. K. Polisetty, N. Manjunath and Dr. K. V. Padmaja, Eye-Gesture Controlled Intelligent Wheelchair using Electro-Oculography, in IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), Melbourne, Australia, 2014.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Segregation in The Color Purple Essay -- The Color Purple Essays

In the film â€Å"The Color Purple†, segregation plays an important role and the differences between black people and white people are shown through race and life. The Color Purple focuses on the lives of several African American women who are faced with abuse, violence, and cruelty. The fim is set in Macon County Georgia and there are two main characters’ Celie and her sister Nettie. Celie is the character the movie is centered around and she is also the film’s narrator. The story is based on Celie’s life and the many different issues along the way that she has encountered such as being raped by her father over and over again, abused by her father and forced into marriage at fourteen to another abusive man (Albert) who didn’t even want to marry her but w...

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Ford Motor Company: Organizational Agility Essay

Ford Motor Company has recently experienced a problem with regard to a fraudulent e-mail which notifies consumers that the company has chosen them as the winner of a Ford Edge Jeep and that they can claim their prize after they have deposited a certain amount in a bank account. The company immediately issued a statement within a few days saying that the notifications are not from the company and that the e-mails are scams designed to acquire personal information from unwary individuals, especially from the consumers of Ford Motors. Moreover, the company released a public statement claiming that the company is not in any way connected with the e-mails circulating over the internet inasmuch as the company has not granted either authority or permission to use the name of the company, its trademark and its intellectual properties in order to engage in such a scam. The company noted that the e-mails may be a form of â€Å"phishing† activity, and advised the consumers to simply delete the message and avoid replying. In terms of demonstrating environmental responsiveness, the Ford Motor Company has formulated a way in order to reduce greenhouse gases used in painting vehicles by as much as 15 percent. The new paint technology is not only â€Å"environmentally sound† but also efficient in terms of cost such that painted automobiles are more durable and look more beautiful than before. The technology used is a combination of â€Å"advanced chemical formulation of high-solids† with a â€Å"three-wet application process† which uses paint shop that is more earth-friendly as compared to traditional vehicle paints. Apart from the reduction in CO2 emissions from the painting of vehicles, the new paint technology also boasts the benefit of a decrease in VOCs or volatile organic compounds by as much as 10 percent. The company states that it can save money in the production of the vehicles and lessen the completion of painting an automobile by a fifth of the total time previously estimated. More importantly, there is also a great reduction in the amount of conventional paint used in the painting process. Even if the Ford Motor Company has already used the new painting technology, the company is still gathering data for wider application. The monitoring of the automobiles over the next year will give the company more data which will enable them to gather â€Å"long-term rollout plans† for the pioneering paint technology that they have developed. In fact, the company has already won international acclaim in France for the new paint technology. The concepts of Total Quality Management apply to the Ford Motor Company in terms of how it handles the current environmental requirements in the industry. Instead of abandoning or taking a step back from the automobile industry, the company opted to stay ahead of the rest by developing tools which will meet the environmental demands of the time. The ability to manage the company efficiently and effectively in such a pressing circumstance is equally significant to the ability to enact the company visions and progress on them through time. The company acts by not resorting to isolated departments in handling the issue at hand. Rather, the company makes the full use of its structured departments in order to arrive at a better approach in providing the suitable method to address the environmental issues typically attributed to automobile companies. That is, Ford Motor Company’s efforts to develop the new paint technology incorporated the input coming from the production department to the conception department. Post-production departments also share a role in assessing the actual impacts of the new paint technology which allows for the acquisition and accumulation of new data which can be used as basis for great improvements in the future.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Noble Experiment - 1920 - Prohibition Essays - Free Essays

The Noble Experiment - 1920 - Prohibition Essays - Free Essays The Noble Experiment - 1920 - Prohibition In 1920 congress began what was called The Noble Experiment. This experiment began with the signing of the eighteenth amendment of the constitution into law. It was titled by society as Prohibition. Websters dictionary defines prohibition as: A prohibiting, the forbidding by law of the manufacture or sale of alcoholic liquors. Prohibition can extend to mean the foreboding of any number of substances. I define it as a social injustice to the human race as we know it. Prohibition was designed to rid the country of businesses that manufactured, sold, and or distributed alcoholic beverages. The eighteenth amendment made it a violation of the constitution to do and of the before mentioned. This was a crime punishable up to the Supreme Court. The original idea was that Americans as a whole were unhealthy, there was too much crime and corruption, and that people were being burdened by excess taxes that poorhouses and prisons were creating. What happened? The cheap alcohol being illegally produced killed more Americans, crime and corruption went up, taxes were raised to fund the law enforcement needed to enforce prohibition, and the prisons became overcrowded. Some would have you believe that crime decreased during prohibition. Well, it did. Crime decreased, as a whole, by 37.7% during prohibition. However violent crime and other serious crimes were up. Theft of property was up 13.2%, homicide was up m16.1%, and robbery was up 83.3%. Minor crimes had decreased though- by 50%. Crimes such as malicious mischief, public swearing, vagrancy, etc. (Dr. Fairbu rn pg 75-80) The prohibition movement did have its fair share of supporters however. The most active in the movement was the Womens Christian Temperance Union. They worked hard in campaigning towards this amendment and gathered, what is now believed today, as to be biased statistics. For example one area that the WCTU attacked was the saloons and in particular the sale of distilled spirits, hard alcohol. The WCTU claimed drinking during prohibition was down 30% as opposed to pre-prohibition. However as a percentage to total alcohol sales the consumption of distilled spirits was up from 50% (pre-prohibition) to an astonishing 89% during prohibition. Most estimates place the potency of prohibition-era products at 150+ percent of the potency of products produced either before or after prohibition (qtd. In Henry Lee 202) Prohibition did not succeed at all. In order for prohibition to achieve what it was set to do it had to meet four specific guidelines. It needs to have a significant decrease in the consumption of alcohol. This did not occur. Secondly after the initial drop, it needed to maintain that low. What did happen was that after the initial drop alcohol consumption rose steadily. Next, the

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The eNotes Blog Your Major Isnt All thatMajor

Your Major Isnt All thatMajor Yippee! You’re going to COLLEGE! You’re probably getting hours and hours of sleep because you don’t spend any time at all mulling over all the new, unknown, big, scary things that come bundled up in that word ‘college.’ No, you haven’t started thinking about your future or your career or what all that means for your next four years. You haven’t started thinking about leaving home (if you are), either, or leaving your friends. You’re dandy. You’re just great. You are so excited. Genuinely amped. Ready to go. You feel like you just want to give everyone high fives. Except, that’s not true at all. That’s actually laughable. I know, you know, we all know that you are also (and I am definitely understating this): scared out of your wits. You’ve got the heebie-jeebies- those annoying willies. Your stomach is essentially a butterfly conservatory. You spend a lot of your free time exclaiming things like: â€Å"WHAT IS GOING ON?† Or†¦ â€Å"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WHEN I GROW UP?† But mostly†¦ â€Å"AHHHHHH.† Yep. Guess what? You’re normal. This is normal. College is a huge adjustment. Somehow, though, all of us college-goers come out alive, smiling, and never wanting to leave. So be soothed. This will be the best time of your life. Now, I know my words of wisdom won’t actually be heeded at the moment, so I won’t keep spouting nostalgic, reflective, awesome statements about college. What I will do is give you some tips on how to gain appropriate perspective on your undergraduate education. We’re going to talk about (dun dun dunnnn†¦): YOUR MAJOR. Hear me when I say: YOU WANT TO READ THIS. It’s okay to change it. Multiple times. Some of you know exactly what you want to study, maybe what career path you want to go down. You’re pretty sure you’ve got it all figured out. If you’re nodding your head right now, this piece of wisdom is for you: you may be surprised. Some of you will keep on that initial path. You’ll start taking classes in your particular major, you’ll enjoy it, you’ll sit in the front row, hang out with your professors in office hours, and you’ll just keep on keepin’ on until you graduate. Some of you, though, will find that you don’t actually like what you thought you would. You’re bored, you’re confused, you’re sleeping (and snoring) in class, and you just aren’t that into it. For you guys, and for those who start off college undeclared, I implore you to feel comfortable and at ease trying new things until something fits. You do it when you shop, you can do it when you study. You wouldn’t buy an extremely expensive outfit without trying it on first, would you? So why buy an education (which is, you know, sort of pricey) without trying some stuff out first? Think about it. Some of you might be worried about what â€Å"other people† will think. I want to tell you that no one will judge you if you change it up a bit. They will actually praise you for caring about the education you are getting (who’s the cool kid on campus now?). As long as you monitor your units, requirements, etc. throughout your college career, you should have no problem. Have no fear, you are not alone! Counselors can help you with this process, too! It doesn’t define your career. Oh my goodness, what did she just say? THAT IS BLASPHEMOUS! I have a lot of friends who want to be doctors. They’ve taken their pre-requisites for medical school, sure, but do you know how many of them are actually majoring in things like physiological sciences, biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, etc.? Practically none. Many have picked majors like history and English. The same goes for some of my friends who chose to go to law school. Your major matters because hopefully it reflects your interests. Hopefully, you are studying something you really want to be studying. That may or may not lead to a career in that field. You may even (like my aspiring-doctor-buds) get the chance to study two subjects (Wow!). I changed my major three times (almost four†¦no shame), am currently studying psychology, and don’t intend to be a psychologist. Nuts, right? Your options are endless. The main point is†¦ Don’t let yourself be scared by the constricting appearance of a word like ‘major.’ It’s not going to constrict you unless you want it to and you let it. With enough determination you can always pull strings here and there and maneuver stealthily through your undergraduate experience to create whatever experience you want. Honestly. Just look at college as a time to figure out what really makes you tick- what you really want to spend time learning about. Maybe you will be inspired to continue that study later on in life, and maybe you won’t. There’s nothing wrong with either of these situations. So take the leap, step into the unknown, jump into the ocean, let your spirit fly! (That got excessive fairly quickly†¦my bad.) Point is: try new things, explore a little bit. You’ll be better than fine. I promise. Okay, okay†¦ I pinky promise.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Fight Club Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fight Club - Movie Review Example Tyler Durden expresses the belief that previous generations were defined by the battles they fought, whether those battles were on the battlefields in Germany and Japan, or the battlefields on college campuses in the 1960s. Man--the male--especially has been defined through violence, and the lack of either a "proper, respectable" American war between Vietnam between the Gulf War or any social cause around which the youth rallied stripped that immediate definition away from a couple of generations. The result was unquestioning acceptance of consumerist mentality and the idea that you could define yourself by what you own instead of what you believed in and fought for. This failing led to a true existential moment that is dramatized perfectly in this film. At the beginning of the film the character of Jack is living in fat city in his prefabricated "essence." But as Sartre says, "man chooses his own self" (279) and the movie follows Jack's existential journey as he does that very thing. What makes this film so terrific, however, and what makes it stand out from similar films is that the fight for Jack's identity is presented not as an existential struggle between a man and his own soul, but rather as a struggle between two different men. Enter Tyler Durden, who forces Ja

Friday, November 1, 2019

Energy drink case Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Energy drink case - Research Paper Example It is, therefore, feasible to posit that market positioning of alternative beverages is largely dependent on product differentiation. Just like in production of carbonated drinks, principal sellers in alternative soft drinks industry are globally renowned beverage manufacturers like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola (Barr & Hajela, 2013). This is ascribable to the fact that the two companies already had strong brands in the beverage industry before venturing into the provision of alternative beverages. Nonetheless, other beverage manufacturers like Hansen Natural Corporation, which produces Monster Energy and Red Bull GmbH, have succeeded in building recognized brands, while gaining a considerable share of the potent alternative beverage industry. Even though the latter industry was projected to sustain the steady growth observed previously, it suffered a setback following the 2008 financial recession. Unfavorable economic conditions impeded consumers’ buying capacity thus resulting in a significant decline in sales, particularly those of highly-priced alternative beverages. All the same, industry analysts foresee improvement in sales of alternative soft drinks with time, as carbonated drinks consumers progressively shift their preference towards the relatively new beverage category. Competing companies in this industry can only increase their chances of success depending on their readiness to match volatility of consumer trends, capacity to build brand loyalty, willingness to adopt innovation, and ability to increase distribution and marketing channels, among other distinctive strategies. Global beverage organizations like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are focusing on reversing the major decline of carbonated by venturing into production of alternative beverages. These organizations have expanded their market presence by introducing vitamin drinks, sports drinks, and energy drinks in the international market (Esterl, 2013). Additionally,