Special Educational Needs Comparative Models free essay sample

There have been a number of models of disability that have impacted and shaped attitudes about the term disability, which have then had an effect upon the intervention and support offered to young children with SEN. This essay will identify the different models of disability since and second world war and discuss how attitudes to disability might have affected the intervention and support offered. The medial model The first disability model that have been identified in the literature is the medical model, which was the main approach to understanding disability post second world war( Johnston, 1944). . The main components of the medial model focused on the individual childs difficulties as the problem ( Skidmore, 1996) and that they were identified through medical terminology only. Which echoed the mindset that the child needed fixing as they were faulty and that the childs disability was a tragedy, focusing on the pathology of difference (Clough and Corbett, 2000). We will write a custom essay sample on Special Educational Needs Comparative Models or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Society would often refer to the children who had disabilities as mis-fits within society(Barlett and Burton, 2007). As a result of this harsh medical recognition and identification of the children with disabilities they were institutionalised and placed within asylum as they were not seen to be capable of any input within the society. Furthering this, the negative outlook and segregation of a child who had a disability continued into schooling whereby many charities; often ran by the church, would be widely used to hide away the disabled child (Clough and Garner, 2003). It becomes apparent at this point that there is no surprise for the embarrassment and segregation of children who had disabilities within society, as the only identification of the child was based around negative language. Moreover, the industrial age was not creating an opportunity for a disabled child to fit in; as there was no societal exploration of adaption that was implemented in the main work force mind- set that see disabled children as beneficial to economy In 1944 the Butler Education Act was introduced within the schooling system which stated that all local educational authorities must give special educational provision (Barlett and Burton, 2007). However, what may seem like a positive outlook for children with disabilities and an attempt to change the attitudes that have been previously embedded in society it reinforced a more negative language surrounding childrens abilities and identified them within 11 categories of handicap; it is all based upon medical diagnosis. This could be seen to give society specific reason to label children who have a disability further and give even more reason to exclude them with the us and them impact. However, the 1960-1980s became the era of change for children who have disabilities whereby the child defect model became challenged and the 1970 Education Act symbolised a new attitude that all children are educable (Bartlett and Burton, 2007). The focus was about integration and moved away from the harsh identification of the medical model and the focus became on the education to fit all and deploying an enabling environment; creating the new model of disability known as the social model. The social model The social model of disability focuses on society attitudes and the environments that the child is within that create the barriers for inclusion and learning from happening ( Skidmore, 1996). The social model of disability has been know as the big idea (Hasler, 1993), which creates an illusion of great change in all area of disability and societies perception. Johnstone (2001) further states that it is the attitudes, values and beliefs operating in society that cause disability, not medical impairments, it is society that needs to be treated and cured. Within the social model of disability it is argued that disability only exists in so far as it is socially constructed ( Hutchinson, 1995). The main difference between the medical model and the social model is that it take disability away from the individual with the disability as the problem, and places the responsibility on society and a de-emphasis upon the individual. Hall (1995) studies indentified that the people with physical disabilities pointed out that they felt more disadvantaged by the attitude in society more than by heir loss of function. Hogan (2010) identifies a possible explanation for societies input into disadvantaging disabled people through the constant obsession that society has regarding the concepts of normality. This therefore, begs the question as to where society obsession with a child being normal comes from? A possible connection could be suggested that societies view of the concepts of normality derived from the historical perspective of disability as pr eviously stated. There has been some critism of the social model which has been identifies within Hutchinson (1995) studies that practitioners within the clinical profession have viewed that the social model as a denial of the truth about the persons ability. Brofenbrenner (1989) offers a possible extension of the latter, according to a process-person-context model that emphasises that the person at any given point within their life are joint function of the characteristic of the person and the environment that the person is within. Therefore, it the disabled child is within a social environment that is physically, emotionally and mentally challenging for them then they will be characterised by the barriers and to be seen as weaker person in comparison. The most influential component of this particular movement and vision for children who had disabilities was that of the Warnock report (1978). The report emphasised the importance of prioritising a childs educational need rather that their individual learning disability or impairment . Also, the previously harsh categorising of disability introduced by the 1944 Butler Education Act was replaced by a continuum of special needs and that the concept of SEN in the following areas of , behaviour, speech and language difficulties, learning difficulties should be introduced . The report further identified the need for a multi-disciplinary team to collectively input in the diagnosis of the children disability and educational need, rather that the pervious medical diagnosis. This became an important attitude shift for children with SEN regarding the support and provision that was providing to them, as it brought about the idea that all children are capable as long as they have the right support and intervention within the educational system. In response to the recommendations of the Warnock report (1978,) the 1981 Education Act produced the first legal document that focused more of integration and identification of the SEN through statementing (Barlett ad Burton, 2007). The key difference from the identification which was integrated within the education of a children who has SEN, was that it could be seen as a more positive outlook as it did not merely medically diagnosis the child ,it also assed the barriers that the environment created within the schooling environment. Another important aspect that the 1996 Education Act introduced is the definition of the term SEN, A child has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him and her, a disability which prevents or hinders then from making use of education facilities (Education Act 1996) . However, even though this gave a definition and classification of the term SEN the requirement that meant that educational provision was given, was left up to interpretation of the teacher, school and Local educational authority. Which lead to a lot of anxieties that seem to be echoed about the Local authority funding inequalities and anomalies, (Alexander, 2010. Evans 2007) which seemed to be directly linked to inconsistencies of educational provision given and the interpretation of the greater need. Which therefore, creates a attitude in which society looks at SEN children as needy and measurable within this need, rather than just as children. Criticism of the Social model came from the principle that there was not enough political dimension and framework which gave relevance to the voices and discrimination of the disabled people. Therefore, further the dimension of the social model cam the Right- based model (Johnston, 2001) Rights based model The rights Based model of disability recognised the existence of structural discrimination against disable people within society. Both the social model and rights-based model generated the idea of inclusion of SEN children within the mainstream setting and society , moving away from the term segregation which the medical model was creating (Hodkinson and Vickerman, 2009). Both of these strategies have been influence by the disability discrimination Act and the Human right Act (1998), which has lead to some criticism of inclusion and that it has only been developed due to basic human right policies, showing no direct evidence rationale (Arthur and Cremin, T. , 2010). This can be disputed through evidence-based reports conducted by OFSTED (2003) which highlights inclusion in mainstream schools having a adverse affect on pupils who have special educational needs (SEN). However, the conclusions based around this report suggests that there is a diverse response to levels of teaching, methods used and the lack knowledge and understanding that teachers have of groups of SEN pupils. Consequently, this has led to teachers lacking in confidence when teaching and relating to SEN pupils due to lack of clear guideline specific to groups of SEN children and the right support and provision that they need. In responds to the need for teachers to feel more confidence when given support and the right educational provision Removing barriers to Achievement (2004) outlined groups of SEN pupils which needed clearer guidelines and improvements to their educational provision which lead to the Inclusion Development Programme'(IDP (2009)). Many literature has suggested that there is a lot of inconsistency with educational policy and it has not been specific enough regarding educational provision ( Evans, 2007. Alexander, 2010)This therefore means that with clearer guideline specific to groups of SEN; which the IDP provides that this will create better consistent educational provision and support for individual children. Moreover, having better policy foundations will mean that the attitudes that surround teaching and including children with SEN will see a more positive attitude towards them. In addition to the reported negative attitude surrounding including SEN children, outlined the specific amount of time was associated by teachers when that having a child who has SEN , much in which related to the amount of paper work that was involved. This is something in which Alexander (2010) agreed with stating that .. much of what we currently di in SEN is driven by the need to attract and retain resources. The emphasis is on paperwork, on proving to others what the school has done for a particular child, and demonstrating that a child is still failing to make sufficient progress ( p. 34). This means that the school is not looking necessarily to educate the child to progress but to assess the child in terms of failure and not progressing, in order to get more funding or to be able to maintain the amount of founding that the individual child is receiving. A connection can be made by the educational policy and process of statementing the childs needs which is installing this negative attitudes towards including a child with SEN within the mainstream setting, due to the amount of paperwork that id entailed within inclusion, and the way in which inclusion is under resourced ( Alexander, 2010) and that the only way in which schools perceive to maintain or get funding would be to assess the SEN child in terms of what they cannot do. A Changing outlook The support and aspirations consultation green paper(2011) proposes and a case for change on working towards improvement within the educational process and provision provided for a children who have SEN. The main vision that the Green paper states is to give more control and empowerment to the children and their family in their input into effective practice with a holistic orientation. This particular vision can be seen to successfully integrate the two models: medical and social, but with of a focus of the social model. Furthering this, the main breakthrough that the paper proposed was that of the relevance of the child themselves in it vision of effective practice . For the first time within policies for inclusion the emphasised vision is on was of the child to have a voice and to importantly make education relevant towards the children and the additional needs that they may have to then gain the transferable skills to have an independent and a role within society itself in preparation for adulthood. This can be seen to be an important proposal as the child themselves is being valued and recognised as a person who is capable and seen as more of a able person that can make an input into their education and future. Which therefore, moves away from the attitude which was fixed into the medical model that the disability defines the child. In addition the green paper also makes OFSTED schools and their teachers accountable for re-assessing the current over identification of SEN for the benefit of performance tables. Instead to re-evaluate the assessment process and allows for more of a realistic view of lower attainment levels and the areas encompassed within this level to be seen for a child of lower ability to be making more progressed within this stage. This again, reflect elements of the social model with a focus on the current schooling environment and critea is disabling the child and that the vision is to break down the barriers to learning that pupil who are seen to e SEN currently face. This therefore, will in theory filter through to teachers and parents of all children of the changing vision for SEN pupils deployed into the mainstream environment. Which in turn, will help to change the current view of SEN pupils within society and impact upon the current young generation too carry an inclusion mindset into the future for change, which brings a more positive outlook for shaping attitudes. However, even though the green paper outlines a potential change for SEN pupils and there parents this is only a vision and it becomes apparent that this may not even make much of an impact within schools as Evans (2007)states that LEAs make decisions about assessment and provision in light of their own policies, budgets and local circumstances. Evans (2007) reports that one of the difficulties with provision made for special educational needs children is that the Local Educational Authorities for the different counties, is that they each have different perspectives on provision and treatment provided to the varying needs of the children. Moreover, each LEA has the same amount of funding given to themselves from the government but different areas have higher percentage of children with special educational needs than others and have to stretch the funding further. Which can mean that some children will not receive sufficient enough educational and personal provision needed. Evan (2007) also identifies a predicament with the current holistic process, that is that after the effects of a multi-disciplinary team of professions which comply the statement for a children who have special educational needs, the parents of the child can over-ride the decision made. Nutbrown and Clough (2006) states that one of the reason for parent wanting to over-rule the decision made for their children is through the idea that parents dont like to hear that their child may be different or display different behaviour than that of other children and that for this reason that parent should be kept out of meetings regarding their children, as they may not be able to see the affects being positive rather than negative. This therefore, means that despite the policies and legislations that are seen to reflect a more positive attitude found in the social model, there are still elements of a negative outlook that is shaping parents having a child who has SEN, which goes back to the medical model associated attitudes. This is something in which Evans (2007) considers, suggesting that the inconsistency of the vocabulary and descriptions found in legislations and policies regarding SEN means that this is automatically distinguishing SEN children to be different from other children; creating the us and them scenario. Consequently, this then means that as long as children who have SEN as seen as special and then others this will always be at the ful-front of parents thinking and perception of not identifying their children with additionally needs. Conclusion From my literature review is a definite movement towards a more positive attitude towards SEN children within society and schools, and the support and provision that is now been given to them. This has been mainly through the current policies and legislations that have legalised the extra support and provision in terms of funding that is giver towards school by the local educational Authority. However, it also becomes clear that the policies and legislations appear to look more positive in what they say and the language in which is used now within them, but it appears that this is also its down-fall in many ways. The first way is that whether there vision that has been places for SEN children can be realistically put into practise due to the vivid lack and inequalities given to the local educational authority, which is resulting in schools assessing the greater needs with SEN. The second is that even though policies have specially identified groups of SEN children and the support and provision that should be providing towards them, the amount of identification and paperwork that surround this process is creating a negative outlook and burden towards schools. And finally, the idea of identifying the SEN child as special and the language which promotes a lot of indifference between other children and SEN children is creating a us and them attitude for parents, teachers and the children themselves. In which is creating a negative outlook within society still and could be potentially stopping parents from wanting the education provision that their child needs in order to flourish within a mainstream setting. Reference Alexander, R. (eds). (2010) Children, their world, their education. Cambridge Primary Review. London: Routlege. 26-142 Clough, P. And Garner, G. (2003) Special Educational Needs and Inclusive Education: Origins and current issues. In S. Bartlett and Burton, D. (eds) Education Studies: Essential Issues. London : Sage Bartlett, S and Burton, D. (eds) Education Studies: Essential Issues. London: Sage Hall, D(1995) Commentary, Archieves of Disease in Childhood. P 91-99 Hasler, F. (1993). Developments in the disabled peoples movemen t. In Shakespeare, T. And Watson, N. (2001). The social model of disability: A outdated Idealogy. Research in Social Science and Disability.

For Gun Control Legislation

For Gun Control Legislation Free Online Research Papers Discussing gun control in America Fear is in the eyes of every American citizen. Never knowing what this world can throw at you. Every citizen lives his or her own life thinking they are protected from by local law enforcement . With the numbers of them decreasing, do to the lack of funding and slow economy, crime is on the rise and where do you look for protection? Many would say owning a gun would protect his or her own family from every danger that comes there way, but with the locals laws and the ever going debate of gun control is trying to give up these rights to the average blue collard hard working Americans that work for every hard earn penny they own. Ever since this great nation was founded by are founding fathers The Right to Bare Arms has been a right given and granted to every American citizen. With the times changing rapidly and sick human beings taking advantage of this right to own and operate guns, they believe we need to enforce more strike guns laws. Which is completely understandable. Yes, they need to be out of the hands of citizens who are convicted with crimes and already lost their privilege to bare arms. But changing the whole system and making it harder for citizens who obey by the laws to bare arms is outrageous. Many stories from time to time explain owning a gun is better then not having a gun at all. If you never use it, you know it is always there. Many cases have shown your everyday average citizen saving a life by taking there own action to stop a criminal from harming others citizens do to the fact, if they stopped what they were doing and didnt act on the situation and called 911 for law enforcement to get on the scene. That person would already to dead by the time they got there. I mean statics have shown that there is 1 police officer for every 23,000 people in this country. Now how can that 1 police officer protect me. If a criminal is wanting to get his hand on a gun, there is not a doubt in my mind he will get his hand on one. Either somewhere on the streets or friend of a friend. They are sick and will do whatever it takes. The problem I see is that, state by state laws are different. If a criminal cant purchase and gun without consenting to a background check in Ohio, but can go to Indiana and get one no problem, what does that solve. The laws for criminals should be forced upon to every state. I do say with many other hard working blue collard citizens that a gun would protect my family and I from any immediate danger. But if your going to make laws that is going to make it harder for a non criminal citizen who has never broken his or her right to bare arms to get a hold of a gun is just not right. Enforce if harder for the people who lost there right, and push harder to get all the illegal guns off the streets so they will be out of the hands of criminals and in the hands of people who clearly know what is right and what is wrong. Research Papers on For Gun Control LegislationThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Hockey GameWhere Wild and West MeetQuebec and CanadaHip-Hop is ArtThe Spring and Autumn

Rode and Road

Rode and Road Rode and Road Rode and Road By Maeve Maddox An article on the sports page of my morning paper quoted the owner of the winning horse praising the jockey: Victor road him really well. The reporter was reaching for the past tense of the verb ride: Victor rode him really well. The error is embarrassing, but etymologically speaking, the words ride and road are related. Note: If you’re interested in the scholarly details, explore the entries for ride, road, and raid in the OED. I’m just giving a short version. The verb ride derives from a word that had the following meanings: to sit on and direct a horse or other animal to travel on horseback to travel in a vehicle to transport goods by vehicle to direct the movement of a vehicle (of a ship) to lie or float at anchor; later (12th century) to float on the water All of these meanings still attach in modern English, for example: Having been reared in the West, Cooper knew how to ride horses and was able to get a job as an extra in a frontier film, The Thundering Herd (1925). The captain of a smaller craft might throw out an anchor if the ship needed to ride out a storm. The most common use of the noun road in modern English is to refer to a wide cleared pathway with a specially prepared surface along which motorized vehicles travel. In coastal place names, the plural Roads refers to a sheltered section of water where vessels may lie at anchor in safety: Hampton Roads  is the name of both a body of water and a metropolitan region in Southeastern Virginia, United States.   The ship  anchored in the Savona  Roads  and was reported to the Custom House on the same day. The Tuscarora left Southampton Water on the 30th of January,  but  anchored in  Yarmouth  Roads, and remained there until the 1st of February, when she proceeded as far westward as Portland. Related or not, rode and road are different words and careful spellers keep them separate. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 101Round vs. AroundNeither... or?

The Cost of Computers Over 10 Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Cost of Computers Over 10 Years - Essay Example (Moore, 1965). Simply put, computers have been getting exponentially more powerful since their invention. How is this important to an economic analysis of computer costs? For many years this has been a simple formula for predicting the future cost and efficiency of computers. If we compare the specifications of a computer to what consumers require in order to complete tasks, run software, surf the Internet, and much more, we can see that the advancement of integrated circuits is much faster than the requirement of users. For example, if a student required a computer 10 years ago research, write papers, surf the internet, and communicate, a standard pc of that era would be perfectly suitable. The same student today would require a computer able to perform very similar tasks to the computer of 10 years ago, ignoring the need for graphical gaming and media. Therefore, a computer with the same specifications today and one 10 years ago, or even 1 year ago, can be created with less transis tors, meaning the cost of production is less too. The second law that applies to our analysis is Metcalfe's Law. Robert Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet, stated that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of that particular system. (Metcalfe, 1993). Originally talking about telecommunications networks, this law can be applied in general to the Internet – a huge, if not the biggest, driving force of the computer. Simply put, it means that every one new user added to a particular network adds more value to that network. A common example of this is the fax machine comparison. â€Å"The first person to buy a fax machine was a fool.† (Metcalfe, 1993) A user would find it quite pointless to send themselves a fax and having no recipient,... This paper approves that the last factor regarding supply and demand is the substitution effect and alternative effect. Although each good is unique, it has substitutes – there are always other goods that can be used in place of it. Twenty years ago, it was very common to write one's letters manually and type script on a typewriter. Ten years ago, the computer was certainly very popular, although many alternatives were considered over owning a personal computer. Typewriters were still in use, Internet cafes were popular, and sharing computers was considered quite acceptable. Today, we can observe that the demand for typewriters has decreased, as it is an inferior substitute. Furthermore, the supply of typewriters is also reduced, as it is comparatively more expensive to produce than computers. In the same way, personal computers are affordable, resulting in a reduction in Internet cafes and computer sharing. Cost plays a vital role in determining which products a buyer will su bstitute in order to maintain viability. This report makes a conclusion that we can observe the many forces that have attributed to the success of the personal computer and laptop. We can perhaps look to our formula, laws, and economic models to predict the cost of the computer, or technological equivalent, in the future. Although, if in this short span of time computers have become such a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, we can only wonder as to the extent of influence it will have on us in the next 10 years.

What role does Lex Mercatoria Play in international commercial Essay

What role does Lex Mercatoria Play in international commercial contracts - Essay Example XX century was marked by the rapid surge in international economic relations, which led to an increase of the world trade volume and accelerated the trade turnover between partners from different countries. But amid the dynamic changes of relations in the international commercial turnover, the legal regulation of these relations did not undergo a radical transformation. Such means as collision and substantive rules of national legislation of parties in dispute or the provisions of international contracts were traditionally used. However, in recent years the existence of a certain group of relations, which regulation goes beyond the specified levels, manifested itself. These are relations developing in the process of international trade implementation. Trade has always been a key element in international relations. Due to trade, the exchange of knowledge, customs and traditions among different peoples occurred. Trade also encouraged the development of other economic activities (e.g., banking, insurance and so on.) Any actively developing phenomena require adequate regulation; otherwise, it is impossible to achieve the objectives, pursued by members of the international commercial trade. In this case, the mechanism of regulation must meet, on the one hand, the interests of the market, and, on the other - the needs of the participants of trade relations (Selden, 1995). Objective reality of today is the inability of national legislations to fully resolve the whole range of problems, arising in the process of international commercial

The History Of Strategic Marketing Management Marketing Essay

The History Of Strategic Marketing Management Marketing Essay In order to pursue an effective strategic marketing management in organisation, it is necessary to grasp all of the internal and external areas and domains that may lead to successful implementation of the marketing initiatives. Realising the fact that strategic marketing management is quite a broader field, todays marketing professionals have to consider a number of those critical factors and aspects that turn the organisation into huge success, or an absolute failure. The word strategic is, itself, suggests scrupulous planning and policymaking, because these are the overall effects of strategic marketing management that play a major role in long-term growth of an organisation. Section 1 Strategic marketing plays a fundamental role in any organisation. Strategic marketing mainly helps in devising positioning strategies in relation to the market being targeted, but beyond all that, strategic marketing, primarily, helps in analysing the targeted market segments in view of the market competition with all well-established, mature and even immature products and services. After segmenting the market, a strategic marketer meticulously devises relationship strategies with those of the consumers or customers being aimed at. Strategic marketing, then, creates effective and the most relevant distribution and pricing strategies, followed by formation of exclusive strategies for advertising and promotional plans and strategies. Moreover, a strategic marketer, also, formulates business development and research strategies in a way that, ultimately, fosters long-term organisational growth and business sustainability. This is, again, the role of strategic marketing to pursue a set of strategies for marketing research too. Cosse and Swan (1983) found one major problem in marketing planning was that US product managers lacked the strategic orientation required by strategic planning. (Piercy, Morgan, 1990, 128) Usually there are three fundamental processes involved in strategic marketing, wherein planning is the leading and most significant process, followed by the implementation and control accordingly. Each of these elements is important not only for desired success of entire marketing strategies, but for an all-inclusive organisational growth. Exclusively for the planning process, organisation needs to perform a SWOT analysis first keeping view both internal and external factors. A marketing audit can help identify target markets for your firm. A marketing audit evaluates various internal and external components. (Caragher, 2008, 59) Objective and goal setting is also its main part, as it helps determine the market and consumer segmentation, as well as the role of strategic marketing management. Implementation is the process that brings the planning into action, and the control phase helps organisations in evaluating the planning process. As per their functions, strategic marketing and corporate strategies are interlinked with each other, and organisation can never achieve their role by dealing with these elements separately. According to Tom Connora (2007), a corporate strategy is more than marketing alone. (Connora, 2007, 369) A marketing strategy needs to be aligned with the corporate strategy of the organisations, while corporate strategies remain ineffective if its managers take the process of strategic marketing for granted. Corporate strategies mainly determine the direction of the organisations, where marketing is supposed to follow the same direction. Although marketing must be the principal channel of market knowledge this must be combined with and balanced by knowledge provided by the other business functions of the organisation. Thus a transcendent organisational view emerges which, it is suggested, is the true basis for corporate strategy. (Connora, 2007, 369) This is necessary to craft a comprehensive corporate strategy for the organisational success, but this cannot be completed without creating a strategic marketing plan. Knowing the fact that marketing has a lions share in entire business development of an organisation, effective corporate strategy entails a flexible structure enabling marketing strategies to freely perform in the market. The same goes for the marketing gurus in any organisation, as they can never achieve their goals and objectives if their strategies are not aligned with those of the features clarified in their main corporate strategies. Both of these factors go alongside each other. Section 2 Utilised in strategic marketing planning, various models offer numerous benefits and advantages to organisations. The first benefit of using models is that it enables strategic marketers to find out substitutes and alternatives, during strategic marketing planning. Consequently, utilisation of these models enhances the decision making capabilities for strategic marketers, helping in making due decisions without unnecessary delays. Through these models, organisations get timely information as well, thus making them capable to perform market forecasting more accurately. This well-timed information appears to be an asset in strategic marketing planning, as this information is, always, accessible and far-reaching. By using these models, organisations derive benefit from flexibility in framing the control reports as well. There is a strong link between employing strategic marketing and strategic positioning. Theoretically, strategic positioning helps in product placement in a way that makes the product easily available in the target market. In a word, strategic positioning stands for the strategic convenience in strategic marketing management, because strategic marketing revolves around positioning. Marketing strategies should respond to the distinctive characteristics and desires of its target market. Strategic positioning differentiates a business from its competitors by uniquely serving its target market. A strategic marketing plan should position a business so that its target market perceives that the business serves them and them alone. (Kruger, 2011) This is also the strategic positioning which helps in formulation of segmentation targeting. Strategic positioning also helps in multiplying the returns on existing marketing plans and strategies. Entire marketing strategies will bring no positive results if the crucial aspect of strategic positioning remains avoided. This is because strategic positioning plays a significant role in promoting the ratio of customer loyalty and profitability as well. Merits of strategic positioning with respect to strategic marketing development are includable. First and foremost, it helps determine the target audiences according to the demographics of the target market. It helps in determining the way an organisation wants to place its products or services in the market after meticulous categorisation and classifications. The employment of positioning strategies that leads to creating a position in the marketplace is undertaken over time through deployment of marketing practices including advertising, public relations, promotion, sales inducing efforts, publicity, etc., brand management, firm image and reputation, product development, and cost controls.(Blankson et. al., 2008, 2) Accurate projection of the sales can never be achieved by skipping the inevitable element of strategic positioning. As organisations are never supposed to please all and sundry under the sun, there must be a smart positioning that may your products to customers found in a predefined market. Product positioning has emerged as a separate field in the world of strategic marketing management. Despite offering a highly enriched product to consumers, this is the meticulous positioning of the product which will decide its acceptability and penetration into the market. There are various examples corroborating the significance of strategic positioning of any brand or service e.g. Coca Cola, Nestle, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and FedEx, and GE (General Electric), and many more. Strategic positioning, also, depicts the in-depth market knowledge of organisation, as positioning is, usually, done with the help of market research, market intelligence and data gathering. Section 3 To ascertain growth opportunities in a market to the maximum, I would utilise a set of appropriate marketing techniques that includes branding, offerings, packaging and labelling, value additions, and environmental scanning. In details, I would, first, utilise the branding technique in order to differentiate the product than those of the products being offered by the competitors in the same market. Then here comes the phase of packaging and labelling that focuses on attractive presentation of the products through catchy designs and colour schemes etc., which is, further, supplemented by the labelling tool. Successful marketing strategies have always been based on unique insights into consumer behaviour, generalizations of successful tactics, brilliant advertising ideas, and technical innovations as well as market segmentation research. (Gibson, 2001, 1) The tool of offering will be, also, utilised to find out the best solution addressing the customers problems and concerns in comparison with other products available. Being a strategic marketing manager, I will, also, concentrate on value addition so as to multiply the demand and recall of the product in the real market by the targeted consumers and customers. Additionally, I will perform an essential environmental scanning by collecting the data in way that brings us exceptional growth via strategic marketing. In any market, an effective utilisation of market strategy options is taken as the fundamental and crucial phase in entire strategic marketing management. As the battle for the wallet of the emerging-market consumer shifts into higher gear, companies that think about growth opportunities at a more granular level have a better chance of winning. (Atsmon, Kertesz Vittal, 2011, 60) Being a strategic manager, I will use the same in accordance with the four Ps model which entails 1-Product, 2-Price, 3-Placement, ad 4-Promotion. This will be, accordingly, done in consideration of organisational strategies and its accessible resources so that it helps in maintaining the ratio of profitability. The same, also, fortifies the products being sold in the market, thus facilitating standardisation to a large scale. Most of the time, companies and organisation find it difficult to standardise their own marketing and positioning standards and values. Particularly on the consumer side, this standardisation is necessary, as this builds up the confidence of the target customers, and increases the customer loyal to a large extent. Standardisation is an on-going journey, where organisations need to perform the similar way to retain their existing customer base. The most important factors is that this is, also, inevitable to standardise their marketing and positioning efforts, as not all companies can maintain their level of standardisation being offered to their customers. For a defined market, creation of appropriate strategic marketing objectives is considered as a daunting task for the marketers. In fact, strategic marketing objectives are formed in a way that creates a constant need of the particular product in the market, and this objective can never be achieved with flawless standardisation. Section 4 A marketing strategy is always dependent upon various environmental factors. Starting from the political situation of the country to its sluggish economic trends, these environmental factors help in devising a win-win marketing strategy that may successfully address all of these external environmental factors all at once. The function of marketing strategy deals with determining the nature, strength, direction, and interaction between marketing mix elements and the environmental factors in a particular situation. (Akinyele, Samuel Taiwo 2010, 24) Other than law and order situations, absence of competitor in the market affects the sales of a particular product, as well as existing purchasing power of the customer, also, determines the products penetration in the concerned market. Organisations also need to keep up with those of the technology changes and up-gradations occurring in the outside word. I, being a marketing manager, will conduct an internal analysis in order to identify current strengths and weaknesses in a marketing strategy, and this will be done by evaluating the strengths and weakness of the market strategy. Strength of a market strategy is determined by evaluating the effectiveness of the promotional mix. This is, further, followed by knowing the current positing of product placement in the market, mostly relying upon quality of the products, effective branding, packaging and labelling, as well as variety of offerings made for the target consumers and customers. The most important components related to niche marketing include: Firm profile (Organisation charts, billing rates, financial statements); Partner profile (partners personal and professional objectives, firms specialties, age and tenure with the firm); and SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). (Caragher, 2008, 59) This is, also, fundamental to knowing the weakness of the marketing strategies being implemented, and this is done by analysing various factors critically and neutrally. This may pertain to the lack of innovation, ineffective or irregular communication, and wrong selection of marketing and advertising channels, along with imperfect or untimely distribution of the products etc. The penetration and popularity of the digital media is one of the emerging themes in the world of marketing. As per my response to this rapidly emerging marketing theme, I propose the strategic and well-planned utilisation of the social and digital media after thorough research and investigation. This response will be tinged with usage of latest technological tools and methods, as innovative marketing enables companies to churn out maximum results in form of overall business development and profitability.

Animal Farm by George Orwell Essay

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before the Second World War. Orwell, a democratic socialist,[1] was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, especially after his experiences with the NKVD and the Spanish Civil War.[2] In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as his novel â€Å"contre Stalin†.[3] The original title was Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, but the subtitle was dropped by U.S. publishers for its 1946 publication and subsequently all but one of the translations during Orwell’s lifetime omitted the addition. Other variations in the title include: A Satire and A Contemporary Satire.[3] Orwell suggested the title Union des rà ©publiques socialistes animales for the French translation, which recalled the French name of the Soviet Union, Union des rà ©publiques socialistes sovià ©tiques, and which abbreviates to URSA, the Latin for â€Å"bear†, a symbol of Russia.[3] Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005);[4] it also places at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996 and is also included in the Great Books of the Western World. The novel addresses not only the corruption of the revolution by its leaders but also how wickedness, indifference, ignorance, greed and myopia corrupt the revolution. It portrays corrupt leadership as the flaw in revolution, rather than the act of revolution itself. It also shows how potential ignorance and indifference to problems within a revolution could allow horrors to happen if a smooth transition to a people’s government is not achieved. Plot summary Snowball’s revolution Old Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm, calls the animals on the farm for a meeting, where he compares the humans to parasites and teaches  the animals a revolutionary song, ‘Beasts of England’. When Major dies two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and turn his dream into a philosophy. The animals revolt and drive the drunken and irresponsible Mr Jones from the farm, renaming it â€Å"Animal Farm†. They adopt Seven Commandments of Animal-ism, the most important of which is, â€Å"All animals are equal†. Snowball attempts to teach the animals reading and writing; food is plentiful, and the farm runs smoothly. The pigs elevate themselves to positions of leadership and set aside special food items, ostensibly for their personal health. Napoleon takes the pups from the farm dogs and trains them privately. When Mr Jones tries to retake the farm, the animals defeat him at what they call the â€Å"Battle of the Cowshed†. Napoleon and Snowball struggle for leadership. When Snowball announces his idea for a windmill, Napoleon has his dogs chase Snowball away and declares himself leader. Napoleon’s rule Napoleon enacts changes to the governance structure of the farm, replacing meetings with a committee of pigs, who will run the farm. Using a young pig named Squealer as a â€Å"mouthpiece†, Napoleon announces that Snowball stole the idea for the windmill from him. The animals work harder with the promise of easier lives with the windmill. After a violent storm, the animals find the windmill annihilated. Napoleon and Squealer convince the animals that Snowball destroyed the windmill, although the scorn of the neighbouring farmers suggests that the windmill’s walls were too thin. Once Snowball becomes a scapegoat, Napoleon begins purging the farm with his dogs, killing animals he accuses of consorting with Snowball. He and the pigs abuse their power, imposing more control while reserving privileges for themselves and rewriting history, villainising Snowball and glorifying Napoleon. Squealer justifies every statement Napoleon makes, even the pigs’ alteration of the Seven Commandments of Animalism. â€Å"No animal shall sleep in beds† is changed to â€Å"No animal shall sleep in beds with sheets† when the pigs are discovered to have been sleeping in the old  farmhouse. â€Å"No animal shall drink alcohol† is changed to â€Å"No animal shall drink alcohol to excess† when the pigs discover the farmer’s whiskey. ‘Beasts of England’ is replaced by an anthem glorifying Napoleon, who appears to be adopting the lifestyle of a man. The animals, though cold, starving and overworked, remain convinced that they are better off than they were when under Mr Jones. Squealer abuses the animals’ poor memories and invents numbers to show their improvement. Mr Frederick, one of the neighbouring farmers, swindles Napoleon by buying old wood with forged money, and then attacks the farm, using blasting powder to blow up the restored windmill. Though the animals win the battle, they do so at great cost, as many, including Boxer, are wounded. Despite his injuries, Boxer continues working harder and harder, until he collapses while working on the windmill. Napoleon sends for a van to take Boxer to the veterinary surgeon’s, explaining that better care can be given there. Benjamin the donkey, who â€Å"could read as well as any pig†,[5] notices that the van belongs to â€Å"Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler† (a knacker), and attempts to mount a rescue; but the animals’ attempts are futile. Squealer reports that the van was purchased by the hospital and the writing from the previous owner had not been repainted. He recounts a tale of Boxer’s death in the hands of the best medical care. Shortly after Boxer’s death, it is revealed that the pigs have purchased more whiskey. Humanisation Years pass, and the pigs learn to walk upright, carry whips and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are reduced to a single phrase: â€Å"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others†. Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs and the humans of the area, who congratulate Napoleon on having the hardest-working but least fed animals in the country. Napoleon announces an alliance with the humans, against the labouring classes of both â€Å"worlds†. He abolishes practices and traditions related to the Revolution, and changes the name of the farm to â€Å"The Manor Farm†. The animals, overhearing the conversation, notice that the faces of the  pigs have begun changing. During a poker match, an argument breaks out between Napoleon and Mr Pilkington when they both play the Ace of Spades, and the animals realise that the faces of the pigs look like the faces of humans, and no one can tell the difference between them. Animalism â€Å"Seven Commandments† redirects here. For the Noahide code, see Seven Laws of Noah.: The seven laws listed by the Tosefta and the Talmud are[7] 1. Prohibition of Idolatry 2. Prohibition of Murder 3. Prohibition of Theft 4. Prohibition of Sexual immorality 5. Prohibition of Blasphemy 6. Prohibition of eating flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive 7. Establishment of courts of law The pigs Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer adapt Old Major’s ideas into an actual philosophy, which they formally name Animalism. Soon after, Napoleon and Squealer indulge in the vices of humans (drinking alcohol, sleeping in beds, trading). Squealer is employed to alter the Seven Commandments to account for this humanisation, an allusion to the Soviet government’s revising of history in order to exercise control of the people’s beliefs about themselves and their society.[6] The original commandments are: 1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3. No animal shall wear clothes. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol. 6. No animal shall kill any other animal. 7. All animals are equal. Later, Napoleon and his pigs secretly revise some commandments to clear them of accusations of law-breaking (such as â€Å"No animal shall drink alcohol† having â€Å"to excess† appended to it and â€Å"No animal shall sleep in a bed† with â€Å"with sheets† added to it). The changed commandments are as follows, with the changes bolded: 1. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. 2. No animal shall drink alcohol to excess. 3. No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. Eventually these are replaced with the maxims, â€Å"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others†, and â€Å"Four legs good, two legs better!† as the pigs become more human. This is an ironic twist to the original purpose of the Seven Commandments, which were supposed to keep order within Animal Farm by uniting the animals together against the humans, and by prevent animals from following the humans’ evil habits. Through the revision of the commandments, Orwell demonstrates how simply political dogma can be turned into malleable propaganda.[7] Characters Pigs Old Major – An aged prize Middle White boar provides the inspiration  that fuels the Rebellion in the book. He is an allegory of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, the founders of communism, in that he draws up the principles of the revolution. His skull being put on revered public display also recalls Lenin, whose embalmed body was put on display.[8][9] Napoleon – â€Å"A large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way†,[10] An allegory ofJoseph Stalin,[8] Napoleon is the main villain of Animal Farm. In the first French version of Animal Farm, Napoleon is called Cà ©sar, the French form of Caesar,[3] although another translation has him as Napolà ©on.[11] Snowball – Napoleon’s rival and original head of the farm after Jones’ overthrow. He is mainly based on Leon Trotsky,[8] but also combines elements from Vladimir Lenin.[9] Squealer – A small white fat porker who serves as Napoleon’s right hand pig and minister of propaganda, holding a position similar to that of Molotov.[8] Minimus – A poetic pig who writes the second and third national anthems of Animal Farm after the singing of â€Å"Beasts of England† is banned. The Piglets – Hinted to be the children of Napoleon (albeit not explicitly stated) and are the first generation of animals actually subjugated to his idea of animal inequality. The young pigs – Four pigs who complain about Napoleon’s takeover of the farm but are quickly silenced and later executed. Pinkeye – A minor pig who is mentioned only once; he is the pig that tastes Napoleon’s food to make sure it is not poisoned, in response to rumours about an assassination attempt on Napoleon. Humans Mr Jones – The former owner of the farm, Jones is a very heavy drinker. The animals revolt against him after he drinks so much that he does not feed or take care of them. Mr Frederick – The tough owner of Pinchfield, a well-kept neighbouring farm, who briefly enters into an â€Å"alliance† with Napoleon, represents Germany. Mr Pilkington – The easy-going but crafty owner of Foxwood, a neighbouring farm overgrown with weeds, represents Britain. Mr Whymper – A man hired by Napoleon for the public relations of Animal Farm to human society, who is eventually used to procure luxuries like alcohol for the pigs. Equines Boxer – Boxer is a loyal, kind, dedicated, and respectable horse, although quite dim-witted. Clover – Boxer’s companion, constantly caring for him; she also acts as a matriarch of sorts for the other horses and the other animals in general. Mollie – Mollie is a self-centred, self-indulgent and vain young white mare who quickly leaves for another farm after the revolution. Benjamin – Benjamin, a donkey, is one of the oldest animals. He has the worst temper, but is also one of the wisest animals on the farm, and is one of the few who can actually read. He is skeptical and pessimistic, his most-often-made statement being â€Å"Life will go on as it has always gone on – that is, badly.†[12] Other animals Muriel – A wise old goat who is friends with all of the animals on the farm. She, like Benjamin and Snowball, is one of the few animals on the farm who can read. The Puppies – Offspring of Jessie and Bluebell, taken away from them by Napoleon at birth and reared by Napoleon to be his security force. Moses – An old raven who occasionally visits the farm, regaling its denizens with tales of a wondrous place beyond the clouds called Sugarcandy Mountain, where he avers that all animals go when they die—but only if they work hard. He is interpreted as symbolising the Russian Orthodox Church, with Sugarcandy Mountain an allusion to Heaven for the animals.[13] The Sheep – They show limited understanding of the situations but nonetheless blindly support Napoleon’s ideals. The Hens – The hens are among the first to rebel against Napoleon. The Cows – Their milk is stolen by the pigs, who learn to milk them, and is stirred into the pigs’ mash every day while the other animals are denied such luxuries. The Cat – Never seen to carry out any work, the cat is absent for long periods, and is forgiven because her excuses are so convincing and she â€Å"purred so affectionately that is was impossible not to believe in her good intentions†.[14] She has no interest in the politics of the farm, and the only time she is recorded as having participated in an election, she is found to have actually â€Å"voted on both sides†.[14] Glossary of Terms Coccidiosis: a parasitic infection that causes bloody diarrhea and sudden death in animals Communism: a theory or system of social organization based on the  holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state; in practice, communism is often a totalitarian system of government Comrade: a fellow member of a political party; a member of the Communist party Disinter: to exhume; to unearth that which is buried Proletariat: in Marxism, the class of workers, especially industrial wage earners, who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to survive Propaganda: information, ideas, or rumors disseminated to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, or other entity Regime: a mode or system of rule or government; such a system when in power Socialism: a theory or system of social organization that advocates vesting the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, and other assets in the community as a whole Totalitarianism: absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution Tushes: small, short tusks such as those belonging to a boar. Major Themes The Soviet Union under Stalinism Animal Farm is a satire of totalitarian governments in their many guises. But Orwell composed the book for a more specific purpose: to serve as a cautionary tale about Stalinism. It was for this reason that he faced  such difficulty in getting the book published; by the time Animal Farm was ready to meet its readers, the Allies were cooperating with the Soviet Union. The allegorical characters of the novel represent specific historical figures and different factions of Imperial Russian and Soviet society. These include Karl Marx (Major), Vladimir Lenin (Major), Leon Trotsky (Snowball), Joseph Stalin (Napoleon), Adolf Hitler (Frederick), the Allies (Pilkington), the peasants (Boxer), the elite (Mollie), and the church (Moses). The resemblance of some of the novel’s events to events in Soviet history is indubitable. For example, Snowball’s and Napoleon’s power struggle is a direct allegory of Trotsky’s and Stalin’s. Frederick’s trade agreement with Napoleon, and his subsequent breaking of the agreement, represents the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact that preceded World War II. The following Battle of the Windmill represents World War II itself. Despite his fairy-tale clarity in satirizing some historical events, Orwell is less specific about others. For example, the executions in Chapter VII conflate the Red Terror with the Great Purge. The executions themselves bear resemblance to both events, although their details connect them more to the Moscow Trials than to the Red Terror. Squealer’s subsequent announcement that the executions have ended the Rebellion connects them to the period of the Red Terror, however. Orwell leaves some ambiguity in the identities of the Rebellion and the Battle of the Cowshed. These ambiguities help the reader focus on the overall satire of Stalinism and the broader warning about the evils of totalitarian government. The Inevitability of Totalitarianism Orwell held the pessimistic belief that totalitarianism was inevitable, even in the West. According to Russell Baker, who wrote the preface to Animal Farm’s 1996 Signet Classics version, Orwell’s pessimism stemmed from his having grown up in an age of dictatorship. Witnessing Hitler’s and Stalin’s movements from afar, as well as fighting totalitarianism in the Spanish Civil War, Orwell came to believe in the rise of a new species of autocrat, worse even than the tyrants of old. This cynicism is reflected in  both of his highly successful novels, Animal Farm and 1984. Orwell emphasizes the insidiousness of totalitarianism early in the novel, when the pigs take the fresh milk and apples. The pigs justify their actions on the basis of their superiority; they are smart and need more nutrition than the other animals to fuel their brainpower. There is no scientific basis for the pigs’ claim—in fact, if anyone needs more food to fuel their labor, it is the manual laborers—but they can count on the animals’ being too ignorant to realize that. In this way, Orwell makes the point that totalitarianism need not be blatant in order to be operating. It can hide under the guise of the â€Å"greater good† as it did in the Soviet Union before the totalitarianism became obvious. Orwell uses a cyclical structure in Animal Farm, which helps advance the idea of totalitarianism’s predictability. The novel begins with Jones as autocratic tyrant and ends with Napoleon not only in Jones’s position, but in his clothes as well. Over the course of the novel, Napoleon essentially becomes Jones just as Stalin becomes an autocrat after pretending to espouse equality and freedom. Orwell cements this idea in the book’s final scene, where he writes, â€Å"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which† (139). The circularity of Orwell’s story prevents the reader from imagining a better future for Animal Farm. After all, even if another Rebellion were to take place, its leaders would eventually come to emulate Napoleon. According to Baker, technology turned out to be the force freeing people from Orwell’s age of dictators. But â€Å"technology† can be just another banner under which to rally the people. While Orwell does portray technology as a source of progress in Animal Farm, he points out that it is useless unless it is in the people’s hands. Most notably, even when the windmill is finished it is used for milling corn instead of its original purpose of supplying the animals with electricity in their stalls. Intelligence and Education as Tools of Oppression From the very beginning of the novel, we become aware of education’s role in stratifying Animal Farm’s population. Following Major’s death, the pigs are the ones that take on the task of organizing and mobilizing the other animals because they are â€Å"generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals† (35). At first, the pigs are loyal to their fellow animals and to the revolutionary cause. They translate Major’s vision of the future faithfully into the Seven Commandments of Animalism. However, it is not long before the pigs’ intelligence and education turn from tools of enlightenment to implements of oppression. The moment the pigs are faced with something material that they want—the fresh milk—they abandon their morals and use their superior intellect and knowledge to deceive the other animals. The pigs also limit the other animals’ opportunities to gain intelligence and education early on. They teach themselves to read and write from a children’s book but destroy it before the other animals can have the same chance. Indeed, most of the animals never learn more than a few letters of the alphabet. Once the pigs cement their status as the educated elite, they use their mental advantage to manipulate the other animals. For example, knowing that the other animals cannot read the Seven Commandments, they revise them whenever they like. The pigs also use their literacy to learn trades from manuals, giving them an opportunity for economic specialization and advancement. Content in the role of the intelligentsia, the pigs forgo manual labor in favor of bookkeeping and organizing. This shows that the pigs have not only the advantage of opportunity, but also the opportunity to reject whatever opportunities they like. The pigs’ intelligence and education allow them to bring the other animals into submission through the use of propaganda and revisionism. At the book’s end, we witness Napoleon’s preparations to educate a new generation of pigs and indoctrinate them into the code of oppression. Propaganda and Duplicity Working as a propagandist during World War II, Orwell experienced firsthand both the immense power and the dishonesty of propaganda. Many  types of governments make use of propaganda, not only totalitarian ones. Consider, for instance, the arguments that led many United States citizens to go along with the idea of invading Iraq after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Propaganda serves the positive task of uniting the people, sometimes at the cost of misleading them. Orwell takes a firm stance on the harmfulness of propaganda in Animal Farm while acknowledging its value for rallying a mistreated and disillusioned populace. In Chapter IX, Orwell demonstrates the positive value of propaganda. By this point, the animals are so downtrodden that they are desperate for something in which to believe. (Note the irony, though: it is Napoleon who has robbed them of their belief in the original version of Animalism.) The falsely optimistic statistics, the songs, and especially the Spontaneous Demonstrations give the animals something to live for. This chapter is an exception in terms of portraying propaganda in a positive light. For the majority ofAnimal Farm, Orwell skewers propaganda and exposes its nature as deception. Squealer represents a totalitarian government’s propaganda machine. Eloquent to a fault, he can make the animals believe almost anything. This fact is especially clear in Squealer’s interactions with Clover and Muriel. Each time Clover suspects that the Seven Commandments have been changed, Squealer manages to convince her that she is wrong. After the executions, Napoleon abolishes the singing of â€Å"Beasts of England† in favor of a new anthem, the lyrics of which contain a promise never to harm Animal Farm. In this propagandist manoeuvre, Napoleon replaces the revolutionary spirit of â€Å"Beasts of England† with the exact opposite, a promise not to rebel. In addition to being a source of manipulation, propaganda is an agent of fear and terror. Orwell demonstrates this quite clearly with Napoleon’s vilification of Snowball and his assurances that Snowball could attack the animals at any minute. He uses similar fear tactics regarding Frederick and Pilkington. The most egregious example of propaganda in the novel is the maxim that replaces the Seven Commandments: â€Å"All animals are equal / But some animals are more equal than others.† The idea of â€Å"more equal† is mathematically improbable and a nonsensical manipulation of language, but by  this time, the animals are too brainwashed to notice. Violence and Terror as Means of Control In Animal Farm, Orwell criticizes the ways that dictators use violence and terror to frighten their populaces into submission. Violence is one of the yokes from which the animals wish to free themselves when they prepare for the Rebellion. Not only does Jones overwork the animals and steal the products of their labor, but he can whip or slaughter them at his discretion. Once the pigs gain control of the animals, they, like Jones, discover how useful violence and terror can be. They use this knowledge to their full advantage. The foremost example of violence and terror in the novel is the pattern of public executions. The executions can be said to represent both the Red Terror and the Great Purge, but they stand more broadly for the abuse of power. For example, they are also similar to the Taliban’s public executions in Kabul’s soccer stadium in modern Afghanistan. Capital punishment for criminals is a hotly debated issue. Killing suspected criminals, as Napoleon does, is quite another issue. The executions perhaps best symbolize the Moscow Trials, which were show trials that Stalin arranged to instill fear in the Soviet people. To witnesses at the time, the accused traitors’ confessions seemed to be given freely. In fact, they were coerced. Napoleon likely coerces confessions from many of the animals that he executes. Orwell’s use of the allegory genre serves him well in the execution scene. Execution with weapons is a violent and horrifying act, but many people have become desensitized to it. Orwell’s allegorical executioners, the dogs that kill cruelly, portray the bloody and inescapably animalistic side of execution. Terror comes also in threats and propaganda. Each time the animals dare to question an aspect of Napoleon’s regime, Squealer threatens them with Jones’s return. This is doubly threatening to the animals because it would mean another battle that, if lost, would result in a return to their former lifestyle of submission. Jones’s return is such a serious threat that it quashes the animals’ curiosity without fail. The other major example of fear  tactics in the novel is the threat of Snowball and his collaborators. Napoleon is able to vilify Snowball in the latter’s absence and to make the animals believe that his return, like Jones’s, is imminent. Snowball is a worse threat than Jones, because Jones is at least safely out of Animal Farm. Snowball is â€Å"proved† to be not only lurking along Animal Farm’s borders but infiltrating the farm. Napoleon’s public investigation of Snowball’s whereabouts cements the animals’ fear of Snowball’s influence. In modern language, Snowball is pegged as the terrorist responsible for the infringements on the rights and liberties instigated by the pigs. Exploitation and the Need for Human Rights Exploitation is the issue around which the animals unite. Initially, the animals do not realize Jones is exploiting them. For this reason, Old Major’s speech is a revelation of momentous proportions. Major explains to the animals that they are enslaved and exploited and that Man is to blame. He teaches them not only what exploitation means, but also the fact that it is not inevitable. Orwell suggests that exploitation is, in fact, bound to happen when one class of society has an advantage over another. The opposite of exploitation, according to Major, is the state of being â€Å"rich and free.† Major’s ideas about animal rights symbolize the importance—and scarcity—of human rights in an oppressive regime. Gaining freedom does not necessarily lead people also to become rich, but it is better to be poor and free than poor and exploited. All the animals on Animal Farm are exploited under Napoleon’s control, save the pigs. Even the dogs, which work closely with the pigs, are exploited. The dogs face perhaps even a worse form of exploitation than the other animals, because they are made into agents of intimidation and death. Whereas Napoleon exploits the other animals’ physical strength and their ignorance, he exploits the dogs’ viciousness and turns them into villains against their parents’ wishes. Boxer’s life is a particularly sad example of exploitation because he exploits himself, believing wholeheartedly in Napoleon’s goodness. In the  end, Napoleon turns the tables and exploits Boxer, having him slaughtered for profit. By the end of the novel, we see clearly how the animals participate in their own exploitation. They are beginning to build a schoolhouse for the thirty-one young pigs Napoleon has fathered (perhaps an oblique reference to the â€Å"Thirty Tyrants† of ancient Greece). That schoolhouse will never benefit the animals that build it; rather, it will be used to educate the pigs and indoctrinate them into the cycle of exploiting others. Throughout the novel, Orwell shows us how the lack of human rights results in total helplessness. However, though it underscores the need for human rights, the novel does not suggest how to achieve them. After all, once the animals expel Jones and gain rights for themselves, the pigs take those rights away and the cycle of exploitation continues with new players. Apathy and Acceptance In the beginning of Animal Farm, the idea of freedom rouses the animals as if from a long slumber. Immediately following Major’s death, the animals begin preparing themselves for the Rebellion; just the idea of revolution is enough to motivate them, since they do not expect it to happen in their lifetimes. By the book’s end, the animals have become as apathetic as Benjamin always was. Despite the many hardships and injustices they face, the animals’ pride as well as Napoleon’s propaganda keep them invested in the â€Å"greater good† and the illusion of freedom. If Benjamin is the harbinger of apathy, Boxer is its antithesis. Strong not only in body but also in spirit, Boxer will make any sacrifice for the benefit of Animal Farm. With Boxer’s eventual betrayal by the leaders he served so unconditionally, Orwell lays bare another type of apathy—theirs. Far from truly considering Boxer a loyal comrade, the pigs treat him as apathetically as they would a mere object. Symbolically, they even make a profit by having him turned into literal objects—glue and bone meal. Boxer’s enthusiasm does not give him an advantage, but the other animals’ eventual apathy gives them a defense mechanism against the painful reality of their lives. It is no coincidence that Animal Farm’s most apathetic and cynical animal, Benjamin, is one of those that survives the  longest. Benjamin’s emotional detachment from situations, whether they are good or bad, keeps him from being disappointed. In his apathy and cynicism, Benjamin represents the stereotypical â€Å"gloomy† Russian and also the perennially pessimistic Orwell himself. Summary and analysis of Chapter I Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, stumbles drunkenly up to bed as the farm animals wait in still silence. The moment he is out of sight, they begin to bustle around, preparing themselves for the big meeting that is to take place that night. Old Major has called the meeting to discuss a strange dream he had the previous night. He is waiting for his fellow animals in the big barn.