Starbucks Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Starbucks - Case Study Example The first Starbucks store was established in the 1971 in Seattle by three friends Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl. These three individuals were high school teachers of English and History. They got their inspiration to open their own coffee shop from a Dutch business man named Alfred Peet (Coffee, 2014). The Starbucks as we know today is quite different from what it was during the time of its inception. At first the store only sold raw coffee beans and coffee machines and equipments, which changed over a decade as the company also started to sell coffee drinks. A decade later the company appointed Howard Schultz as the head of retail operations. He was overwhelmed by the idea of espresso bars in Italy and asked the owners to apply the concept of coffee house in Seattle. This experiment was quite successful and it marked the beginning of the famous Starbucks coffee beverages. Howard found a company named Il Giornale, which later on acquired Starbucks (Starbucks, 2011). The acquisition of Starbuck was financially supported by a lot of local investors and the name of the company was officially changed to Starbuck Corporation. The company decided to make geographical diversification and opened up stores in Vancouver and Chicago. By 1987, the total number of Starbucks outlet was 17, which increased to 55 by 1989 and 84 in the next year. In the year 1992, the company went public and it was able to expand its business from the $27 million gathered from the stock prices (Grant, 2013).

Organizational Situations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organizational Situations - Case Study Example The first way to deal with low morale is finding out the root causes of morale. The top managerial team are aware of the insurmountable events leading to the situation at hand. The executive need to reveal to the employees that they are the backbone of the organization success, and without them it is deemed to drown into absolute failure. Secondly, it is vital to come up with a strategic plan, so that every employee can be aware of what is expected of them in his area of jurisdiction. Effective and honest communication will elate constructive ideologies. Employees should be allowed to provide feedback to all the issues they are facing, as well as involve them in decision making and policy formulation. Most significantly, inauguration of a recognition and reward scheme will be the foundation to success since each employee will strive to remain the best, hence an escalation in productivity. It is a win-win situation for both employees and the company. A conflicts resolution committee should handle any arising issue earliest possible, so that it may not bring divisions. All these activities, on adoption, will increase the moral of the staff, which will in turn heighten their productivity. The firm will regain more profits, and occurrences of layoffs will be past

Commercialization And Profit Making Incentive In Healthcare Economics Essay

Commercialization And Profit Making Incentive In Healthcare Economics Essay Commercialization and the profit making motive in healthcare has been an issue for heated debate in recent times. Should the healthcare industry be regarded as a for profit enterprise or retain the philosophical approach intended which should be to treat sick patients at the barest minimum available price? I will with this essay present an argument against commercialization or a profit making incentive by looking at it from the perspective of the physician, the economy, the patient and all other stakeholders in the sector. As far back as ancient China, a member of a family was expected to be proficient in the art of medicine in other to meet the health demands of his kin. This has eventually evolved into receiving a financial reward for this expertise and hence the emergence of the medical profession as we have known it to be. A doctor sees a patient and receives a fee for treatment offered. This is in itself not a bad thing as quite agreeably, a service has been offered and like most services, should involve remuneration. Only problem with this is that unlike most other types of services, healthcare is quite a peculiar form of service as it doesnt follow the normal laws of economics. For example, a hotelier can decide not to accommodate an individual without the financial capacity to pay for a room but it screams out against all the medical profession has stood for in all these years to turn an individual (who for the sake of strengthening this argument, needs a minimal intervention to prevent a life threatening catastrophe) without the financial capacity away from the hospital. Needless it is to mention that the medical profession is one that has been governed by ethics and rules, the very foundations that make the profession a noble one. A profit making motive serves to do a whole lot more damage than good. Basic definitions Before resuming this essay, it will be important to understand the basic definitions of to concepts which will be the sole foundations of this argument. Profession: As Hodson and Sullivan explain, a profession is a knowledge-based occupation with high status that has four principal characteristics: specialized knowledge, autonomy, and authority over other subordinate occupational groups, and a degree of altruism (Hodson and Sullivan, 2002). These four characteristics can be said to serve as the basic ideologies which define a profession. Commercialized healthcare: Provision of healthcare services through market relationships to those who can afford it; investments in and production of services and of inputs to them, for cash income to profit, including private contracting and supply to publicly financed health services; and healthcare finance by individual payment and private insurance. (UNRISD, 2005) COMMERCIALIZATION AND THE PATIENT It has been effectively argued that putting a price on health will reduce number of patients who seek unnecessary procedures or surgeries such as in the case of cosmetic surgery, or even more positively make people more health conscious for example people will avoid being morbidly obese as they know that the cost of a gastric by-pass surgery will be overwhelming, and will do all they can to get into shape, eat healthier and live a relatively healthier life than if it wasnt expensive. However, the relationship between a physician and the patient is one of trust, where the patient subjects him/herself to the judgement of the physician, judging that the physicians decision about his/her health will be solely guided by the patients best interest at heart, a vulnerable position, very open to abuse and can encourage to promote profit producing drugs, unnecessary surgeries, tests and treatment. In this situation, the possibilities for manipulation and abuse of the trust are limitless. Studies have shown reduced trustworthiness amongst for-profit institutions (Schlesinger et al., 2005). There have been cases heard of doctors keeping patients on dialysis earlier than they should be so that more money can be made, or refusing/not suggesting a kidney transplant which can stop the dialysis altogether. In particular, the relationship between the provider and consumer in this case cannot be compared to what gives under normal economic market forces. This is because the healthc are consumer is not sovereign and lacks the medical know about their condition and what they exactly require. Besides the sick or frightened patients do not regard their physicians as they would normal purveyors of goods and services nor do they regard the hospital as a department store. This is all without mentioning the economic impact it will have on the patient, who might be made to pay for what is relatively cheaper, or even totally unnecessary and that might not be beneficial to the patients health at all. In a for-profit enterprise, treatments and procedures lacking an opening for profit, however effective and cost saving will be disregarded to make way for newer and sometimes even unreliable but far more profitable procedures and treatment. One of the most pressing issues in this is the health inequality gap this creates especially amongst socio-economic groups. Richer individuals who are able to afford the large sums required for their treatment will ultimately survive longer than those who are less privileged. Even the UK health system, which commenced a comprehensive free healthcare system by the mid twentieth century funded by tax revenue, still faces issues with health inequality, how much more a system where healthcare is out of pocket service and with the possibility of profit making motive. COMMERCIALIZATION AND THE DOCTOR The medical doctor is one who has gone through gruelling training to acquire medical skill a supporter of commercialization can easily argue. The cost of training a doctor varies in different countries but arguably tops the list in these countries nonetheless as the training takes longer than a regular undergraduate programme, and of all professions, it is the one that requires constant reading and updating, after all, we are dealing with human lives here. And so, it has been said that well paid professionals, who have no need to worry about their daily needs, and/or catering for their families tend to be the most effective. It is argued that they will be able to concentrate on their jobs fully and perform most efficiently. While comfort cannot be ignored as comfort brings happiness and happiness leads to efficiency, this has never been the backbone of the medical profession. I believe the healthcare provider should be adequately compensated, but not like businessmen, or else the consumer will be perceived as a commodity and no longer as a sick patient in need. For example a healthcare deliverer who is driven for profit, will be biased in the provision of his services, where he/she will have more zeal and attention to a profitable case than he would in a non-profitable one. The physicians oath, which with its third line declares that I will practise my profession with conscience and dignity; the health of my patient will be my first consideration, must always be at the back of his/her mind. Commercialization will lead to leaving certain values and morals that are necessary to a community, such as caring, compassion, charity. The idea of altruism should be perpetuated by all healthcare providers and their primary concern has to be the alleviation of human suffering and the restoration of health. Society must not allow such important and fragile virtues to be extinguished by the self-interest that drives for-profit enterprise. Furthermore, as a marketing scheme, multinational drug companies spend more and more on education in medical schools, and also on doctors with the aim of eventually influencing the physicians decision making, tilting to favour the companies sometimes at the expense of the patient. COMMERCIALIZATION AND THE ECONOMY Health is one of the main priorities of a country and the provision of affordable healthcare and a good welfare system should not be a privilege to any member of a large society. Unfortunately, this will not be seen in a profit oriented health setting. Solicitors of for-profit health institutions will argue that with the advent of managed care, less and less will be spent on healthcare. This is by introducing policies of insurance into healthcare because the more people subscribed to the system, the cost for healthcare will be spread over all of them. Physicians under this programme will be advised to use less expensive treatment and sometimes at the expense of the patient. The cost to the workforce of sick patients who are unable to carry out normal daily activities will be very obvious. Also, when the financially capable are the ones who are more likely to get medical attention and the ones who cannot are left out to dry, it further increases the upper-lower class margin creating a terrible inequality that should not be accepted. COMMERCIALIZATION OF HEALTH AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS One of the major driving forces of commercialization of healthcare is the introduction of investor owned institutions. Now everybody wants a dip of this now largely rewarding enterprise ranging from bankers to insurance managers, stockbrokers, economists and so on. This has only done nothing but to undermine the authority of the health care provider as he/she is now subject to higher authority; the authority of investors. This will not allow him/her make the best decisions in favour of the patient as his decisions will become profit oriented. There is also the issue of unfair competition for non profit health institutions. When for profit institutions agree to take only the wealthier clients and those who are able to pay, this indirectly shifts all those who are unable to pay to the non profit health care providers causing an undue and unfair burden on them. In some cases it can also turn non-profit institutions into for profit ones, and cycle continues gradually phasing the non-profit institutions out of existence. The medical establishment works closely with the drug multinationals whose main objective is profits, and whose worst nightmare would be an epidemic of good health. Lots of drugs must be sold. In order to achieve this, anything goes: lies, fraud, and kickbacks. Doctors are the principal salespeople of the drug companies. They are rewarded with research grants, gifts, and lavish perks. The principal buyers are the public from infants to the elderly who must be thoroughly medicated and vaccinatedat any cost! Why do the authorities forbid alternative medicine? Because they are serving the industry, and the industry cannot make money with herbs, vitamins, and homeopathy. They cannot patent natural remedies. That is why they push synthetics. They control medicine, and that is why they are able to tell medical schools what they can and cannot teach. They have their own sets of laws, and they force people into them. The healthcare industry has become so reliant on the big multinational co mpanies that these funders exert authority over the healthcare providers, and cause them to violate precepts of medical ethics (Grouse, 2008). Misplaced attention driven by profit making incentive is another issue. Multinational pharmaceutical companies focus their research and development on high profile, profit-making drugs like Viagra instead of developing cures for life threatening diseases in poorer countries.   COMPARISON OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE UNITED STATES HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS The UK as earlier mentioned started a comprehensive free medical coverage for its citizens by 1948. The system is sponsored by tax revenue from its citizens. And as such, healthcare is fully monitored by the government through one body; the NHS which is Englands public health service provider, leading to the provision of free healthcare to its citizens. There are private health institutions for those who will want to pay for services but this is said to be patronized by just about 8% of the total population. Some of the disadvantages of this healthcare system are longer waiting lists as everyone has equal access to healthcare, questionable quality of service as the healthcare providers might sometimes forget that the patient has paid for the service required already through taxes. However, this system has the advantage of free healthcare and nothing beats that. The United State in comparison is largely owned and operated by the private sector. Healthcare insurance is provided largely by the private sector as well except for some health programmes such as the medicare, Medicaid, tricare, the childrens health insurance programme and the veterans health administration which in all are unable to cater for an appreciable percentage of the total population. This kind of healthcare system that is largely dominated by the private sector allows for the profit making incentive to be a common trend. Both systems their strengths and weaknesses Commercialisation of healthcare is something that has been thoroughly scorned on by members of the profession itself. Various medical associations have risen up to fight this threat to the profession. CONCLUSION It is true that a lot of investment goes into the training of a doctor or any healthcare specialist at that and that they need to be well remunerated for their services, however this should not be a primary focus of the service provider because as this essay has shown, the health market differs from all other markets and that the patient doctor relationship is one built solely on trust; trust that the right, best intervention is given to the patient. Perhaps most importantly, professionals must have an ideology that assigns a higher priority to doing useful and needed work than to economic rewards, an ideology that focuses more on the quality and social benefits of work than its profitability. This ideology is one that should be preserved for the sake of the profession. The younger generation of health care providers should also be considered so nobody should go into this profession with the aim of amassing wealth, so that the altruistic nature of the profession, which stands as one of its core values, will be preserved. Healthcare is a right and not a privilege and it goes without saying that every society is morally obliged to provide healthcare to its members. An increase in for-profit health care provision however, will only exacerbate the growing problem of accessibility to healthcare.

Racism Speech by Charles R. Lawrence -- Papers Analysis Race Essays

Racism Speech by Charles R. Lawrence In the following essay, Charles R. Lawrence encompasses a number of reasons that racist speech should not be protected by the First Amendment. In this document, he exhibits his views on the subject and what he feels the society should confront these problems. In this well- written article, he provides strong evidence to prove his point and to allow the reader to see all aspects of the issue. On Racist Speech Charles Lawrence has been active in his use of the First Amendment rights since he was a young boy. When confronted with the issue of racist speech, he feels that it needs to be diminished by society as a unit, because this discrimination does not just effect one person, but society as a whole. There are many reasons that this issue disturbs Lawrence. The first being the fact that the use of racist speech on college and university campuses has greatly risen since the past. Another reason he is troubled is the fact that there are actual people being victimized and being perceived as a minority because of race, sex, class ...

Christopher Pawling Popular Fiction Ideology or Utopia

Introduction: Popular Fition: Ideology or Utopia? Christopher Pawling Popular Fiction and Literary criticism Despite the growth of interest in popular fiction, it has been difficult to introduce courses on them in college and university syllabi because it is still not considered as mainstream literature, just a minor or peripheral genre. The self-definition of English literature depends heavily on what is absent from its field- its significant other- popular literature or paraliterature whose absence from the syllabus enables us to define the dominant literary culture.Paraliterature is a sort of ‘taboo’ against which the ‘self’ of literature proper is fashioned. Darko Suvin says that a discipline which does not take into account 90% of its domain seems to have a distorted vision in the small zone it focuses on. i. e. high literature. In the last few years, there has been an attempt to initiate interdisciplinary courses. The prejudice against popular literature has gone down because it garners the widest readership. It is also more inextricably linked to ‘other’ aesthetic modes of communication like film and TV. Pop fic has been included in the curriculum since the 1960s.This is not a ‘soft option’ but has generated a serious corpus of criticism predicated on theory. So reading pop fic is not as much of a peripheral preoccupation as was assumed earlier. Much of the secondary work on pop lit has been untheorised and eclectic. The prospective student has been faced with a) production, marketing and consumption of popular fiction which elude meanings embodied in the text themselves and b) Analyses using the tools of lit criticism to give an ‘internal’ account of the themes embodied within the text or genre, but are unable to make connexions between the literary artefact and the social context.In such situations, the socio-historical context is seen as something external. Sociologists have dealt with texts of popular culture as direct bearers of ideology. Popular fiction reflects social meanings/ mores and intervene in the life of society by organising and interpreting experiences which have previously only been subject to partial reflection. Pop fic, like all other cultural creations, interprets human experience. Genre Analysis Popular novels are not simple repositories of sociological data. They generate norms/ expectations on which the reader’s acceptance/ rejection of the text depends. See quotation from James: â€Å"Genres are essentially†¦ contracts. † The narrative of the thriller offers a form of pleasure (uncertainty between security and adventure) that is different from that of women’s romance. The ‘relative autonomy’ of the narrative helps to define boundaries of different genres. These genres do not exist in a vacuum but they circulate in specific social, cultural and historical contexts. We must acknowledge that our popular genres differ from those of other societies so they cannot be seen within umbrella terms like universal ‘archetypal structures. ’ Narrative and Ideology: Macherey and Goldman A breakthrough in cultural readings has been that the mediations between text and society are present in the text itself. Levi Strauss- Ideology is present in both the form and content of the myth as text and the narrative itself provides the crucial link between the ‘external’ reality of social experience and the ‘internal’ meaning which is derived therefrom. Frederic Jameson- narrative is a form of reasoning about experience and society. Pierre Macherey starts with an analysis of the internal logic or problematic of the text before going on to reconstruct the ideological field which lies behind the narrative.The author tests out certain ideological propositions which form the basis of the literary discourse. The narrative may thus reveal any contradictions inherent in those assumptions and then suppresses them through magical resolutions. The narrative may get flawed if the author refuses this escape route and pursues the contradiction till they destabilize the text. Jules Verne’s story, The Mysterious Island begins with a supposedly straightforward celebration of ‘bourgeois’ science.It is subverted by Captain Nemo who epitomizes a scientific spirit of enquiry untainted by social relations. This ‘ideal’ image of science is finally rejected by Verne and Nemo rejected as an anachronistic figure whose illusions destroy him and his island. It helps to undermine the effect of an all-conquering science. Verne’s story does not offer a conscious interrogation of the bourgeois image of science. Macherey’s reading reveals a flaw in the narrative which allows us to gain access to the repressed meanings of ‘political unconscious’ (Frederic Jameson) of the narrative. Martin Jordin’s analysis of 1950s novel Wolfbane shows that the narrative of Wolfbane just does not re produce given ideological assumptions about the role of science in society but that it also puts that ideology to work ‘ testing, defining and reconstructing it in the process of interpreting the changing content of†¦ historical experience. ’ Wolfbane reverses the science fiction formula by implying that science must first be liberated from its service to an irrational social order before it can become an instrument of human progress or produce a more free and equal society.During this period, the readership of SF (the scientific middle class) had to be subordinated to the needs of the corporate economy. The text became a site of ideological struggle and not just a reflection of external social processes. The narrative ‘constructs’ rather than reflects an ideological position. Jordin’s analysis of Wolfbane emphasizes the disillusionment with science as part of a creative interrogation of ideology within the text. Mellor concentrates on the way i n which science fiction expresses the ‘world vision’ of its readership, on its relative autonomy, rather than treating it as a relatively independent entity.The flight from science reflects a process of fragmentation which is already detectable outside the text, in the developing ‘world vision’ of the ‘educated middle class. ’ Mellor constructs an overall picture of SF as a genre, whereas Jordin concentrates on the narrative mechanics of one moment of change and therefore is bound to privilege the more ‘autonomous’ features of the text. But the authors share the same philosophy. The Popular/ Elite Dichotomy: Lowenthal and Cawelti Macherey breaks with’ established’ literary criticism in his refusal to divide the sphere of literature between ‘elite’ literature (an autonomous realm which is somehow free from ideology), and ‘popular’ or ‘mass’ literature (supposedly a direct reflecti on of ideology and therefore not amenable to the sophisticated analysis given to ‘canonic’ texts). Macherey says a text is literary because it is recognized as such, at a certain moment, under certain conditions. It may not have been recognized as such before or after. Macherey’s highlights the relativity of literary value and he need to problematize categories such as ‘popular’ and ‘high’ literature. Verne has been added to the curriculum since Macherey, so we can conclude that the ‘canon’ is a historical construct, rather than a fixed entity, and that is open to revision. He challenged that a science fiction work by a minor author is not a literary text and has been proved right in a subsequent era. There are no separate mode of analysis for the study of popular fiction and real literature. This dichotomy leads to a reductionist approach.According to Tony Bennett, â€Å"non-canonized texts are necessarily collapsed back i nto the conditions of production from which they derive. † Popular fiction is often limited to an account of marketing strategies employed in promoting bestsellers. Or ‘mass’ fiction is studied as a component of ‘the culture industry. ’ Leo Lowenthal’s book Literature, Popular Culture and Society says that since the division of literature into ‘art’ and ‘commodity’ in the eighteenth century, the popular literary products can make no claim to insight and truth.The emergence of a market economy has profound implications for the relationship between author and reader. Yet even ‘high’ art or ‘serious’ literature is not so impervious to markets, consumption patterns and economic profit as to warrant assessment only in terms of what Pierre Bordieux calls ‘symbolic profit. ’ (See Randal Johnson’s discussion of Bordieux’s argument about economic vs. symbolic profit in Ã¢â‚¬Ë œPierre Bourdieux on Art, Literature and Culture’- Editor’s Introduction to Pierre Bourdieux, The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993, p. 15. ) John Cawelti’s Adventure, Mystery and Romance argues that popular fiction is intrinsically more ideological than its ‘elite’ counterpart. For Cawelti, ‘formulaic’ fiction has the function of reproducing cultural consensus, in contrast to ‘mimetic’ (elite) fiction which confronts us with the problematic and contrasting reality of the world. Mimetic literature represents life as we know it while the formulaic reflects the construction of an ideal world without the disorder, ambiguity, uncertainty and limitations of the world of our experience. Formulaic literature is an ‘artistry of escape’ which makes it popular. The tensions, ambiguities and frustrations†¦. mystery† (p. 9) This model attempts to defend pop ular fiction by assigning it to the realms of escape and distraction. There is no place in Cawelti’s scheme for ‘a literature of genuine innovation, or for one of informal ‘underground’ education. That is confined to the domain of mimetic literature. If popular fiction is ‘conventional’ in an artistically conservative sense, all literature is concerned with the manipulation of narrative expectations in some way, and even the most sophisticated literary subversion inevitably sets up generic patterns after a while.Even an arch modernist such as Theodore Adorno has recognised that formulae (which he terms as ‘stereotypes’) are an essential element in the organisation and anticipation of experience. It would be wiser to ask under what conditions specific literary genres become rigid and lose their creative potential while acknowledging that this is a question which applies to both popular and elite fiction. Cawelti privileges the conse nsual role of popular culture. Formulaic lit, he says, assimilates new interests into ‘conventional imaginative structures. The black-oriented action stories of the early 70s use a traditional formula- the ‘hard boiled thriller- but fill it with new content. The conventional forms of fantasy they use are not very different from the adventure stories that have been enjoyed by American audiences for several decades. Cawelti’s ‘functionalist’ theory has its origins in mainstream American sociology. American culture, he believes, embodies a set of ‘core’ values which gradually spread outwards to the periphery of society and eventually embrace ‘marginal’ groups such as the black minorities.But this model takes certain values for granted and assumes that culture is a homogenous entity rather than seeing it as a site of struggle which is marked by contradictions. But while the black action stories tend to make the black man an initi ator of action , they also glorify a ‘machismo’ image with the result that the cultural ‘integration’ of the male section of the community takes place at the cost of the woman, who experiences a double subordination. While Lowenthal condemns pop fic as a purveyor of ‘false consciousness, Cawelti tends to extol this function in a rather uncritical a manner. Cawelti highlights the harmonising, normative function of formulaic narrative whereas when we look at the ideological conflict within each text, it becomes clear that it is also potentially subversive of that consensus. Popular Fiction and ‘Common Sense’: the Influence of Gramsci Even the most banal narratives illuminate the material reality which lies behind the ostensibly unified, conflict-free world of ideology.Rosalind Brunt’s chapter on Barbara Cartland’s romance stories highlights a contradiction in the narrative, between the intended message which focuses on the rol e of woman as a transcendent, spiritual being, and the actual process of narration which concentrates on the more mundane reality of ‘love and marriage’- historical necessities lead women to pursue men and to turn love into an ‘economically rational career. ’ Therefore virginity is seen a s a commodity which secures the heroine an economic place in the world through a ‘good’ marriage.Cartland’s novels show women’s involvement in a patriarchal commodity market that is incongruous with her romantic idealism. The ‘spiritual union’ of marriage is always celebrated at the end of the novel but the impulse of the narrative is towards a materialist account of gender relations. Brunt focuses on the contradictions in the text. Her feminist reading shows that the author’s intentions are partially subverted at an unconscious level by a material reality that cannot be wished away by the ‘magical resolutions’ at the end of the text.Cartland’s novels can be interpreted in a way that renders them potentially subversive of the author’s own intentions, They do not generate an ‘alternative view of female identity. In fact, they endorse values opposite to those of the women’s movement and Cartland undoubtedly opposes any move towards greater social and cultural equality for her sex. Gramsci terms the Cartlandian approach to her readers as ‘common sense’ (the space between hegemonic ideology and material reality).Women are naturally subordinate to men and they know it. They have to operate in a different manner if they are to succeed as women. Women, therefore, are socialised into existing gender relations. Everything is enclosed within a circular narrative. The heroine has to decide between marrying for love or money. The choice has to be based on common sense, and there is no suggestion that there is a third choice- that of not marrying at all. Her depend ence on marriage as a route to economic security is acknowledged unquestionably. There are contradictions in the world of ‘lived ideology’- stone age elements combine with principles of a more advanced science, prejudices from all past phases of history and intuitions of a future philosophy. ’ Here Gramsci highlights the dialectic between ideology and utopia which is so crucial in the making of popular fiction. A Stone Age element in Cartland’s fiction is, for example, is the fascination with the aristocracy. The intuitions of a utopian future are free from contradictions. Most formulaic fiction in normal times, says Gramsci, have a predominance of Stone Age elements.At times of intensified political and cultural struggle, common sense adopts a more utopian outlook. At those times, there is an active popular demand for literature which embodies alternative values. Popular Fiction: Ideology or Utopia? What is the relationship between popular fiction and cul tural politics at certain key moments in the post-war period? The seesawing dialectics between ideology and utopia has to be seen in this context. In the late 50s, British society was moving towards ‘the morality of affluence. The fear was that an old world of authentic value, associated with the pre-war working class, was on the verge of extinction. In Stuart Laing’s Room at the Top, the vision of a romantic haven based on an ‘alternative reality’- the relationship between the hero and the heroine- amidst the ‘rat race’ collapses with the heroine’s death. At the end, there is a cynical acceptance of the present and the inevitable values of affluence. In the 60s, there was a counter-culture which highlighted the need to reframe relationships within the frame of the perquisites of political change. Middle class pressure groups at the time attempted to make society live up to its stated ideals, rather than movements with a concrete vision of the ‘just society. ’ The counter culture was hardly a mass movement in the classic sense of the word because it was largely confined to the middle class. But it did have a populist outlook, rejecting cultural divisions and celebrating popular art as an arena of cultural struggle. Chapter by David Glover- concentrates on that ‘moment’ in the 1960s when certain writers of fantasy- Tolkein, Peake, Burroughs and Moorecock, acquired a cult status among the counter-culture.Each of these authors reached maximum exposure and circulation through the medium of mass market paperbacks. Fantasy gave expression to the search for utopian alternatives. The taste for anti-realist texts among the among the counter-culture can be seen as a kind of literary equiavlent to the alteration of consciousness’, suggesting new ways of perceiving one’s relationship with others, society in general and the natural world. The content of these utopian tales offered the vis ion of a ‘human’ proportions, an organic society based on the small collective and the needs of the individual.Glover concludes that the ‘enclosed world’ of utopia/ fantasy ‘provided a touchstone for a critique of existing social structures and the construction of alternatives, social models prefigured in the achievements of literary technique. ’ ‘Counter culture’ was a spent force by the early 70s. Popular fantasy developed instead in a cult of the sword and sorcery. The world vision of the counter culture had been inspired by the past, a need to recover a world which had disappeared with industrialism. There was a strong plea for traditional political values, not a mere revival of pastoralism.Adams’ novel signalled that return to tried and tested conservative values. That was to prove an important component of political rhetoric in the 1970s. This book does not offer a comprehensive introduction to the study of popular fic tion. There is an emphasis in Pawling’s book on studies which concentrate on the meanings which form around texts, genres or authors, rather than analyses which might examine the way in which those meanings have been understood by particular groups of readers. The concentration on the point of production rather than consumption is the outcome of a moment in cultural studies.The process of ‘reception’ has been highlighted in determining the meaning generated by individual texts. Texts can have different meanings for different groups of readers. A work cannot merely be collapsed into its various moments of reception. It is necessary to focus on the text as a source of meaning creation. This allows the student to test his/ her reading of popular fiction against the various approaches on offer here. The function of a book like this should be to encourage others to embark on their own analyses.

Paragraph Writing Essay

When writing an assignment for my class, I would use what I learned from class. In other words, I will take the tips and strategies that I have learned from the reading and videos in class as the steps to take when writing an assignment. The first step I take when writing for an assignment is to find a topic that interests me. After finding a topic, I will research my topic to get a better understanding of what I am writing. Then I will start my Pre-writing, by organizing my thoughts in an outline form, to help identify my topic sentence, important facts, ideas and a conclusion for my essay. When I have my outline complete, I can start a rough draft from my thoughts and ideas I used to create my outline. With this step, I can construct my rough draft to form an essay that is informative and interesting to my readers. From there, I will begin revising my rough draft. I will do this by going back over my draft to find to see if my ideas supports my thesis statement and that my paper makes sense. The last step in my writing process is editing. Editing gives me the opportunity to look over what I have written, re-read, and I check for spelling and grammar issues. Taking the above steps in writing helps me to finish my final draft and help improve my academic and professional writing in the future.