The Significant Level of Success of Marks and Spencer Stores Research Paper

The Significant Level of Success of Marks and Spencer Stores - Research Paper Example In viewing the resources of the company, it is important to determine the assets that Marks and Spencer have at present. Although the data only provides consolidated assets, it is sufficient to define the capacity of the company to improve its performance. Overall, the assets of the company are higher than the total liabilities. The net assets of the company have increased from 2005 to 2006. This shows that the company continues to acquire resources that are vital for the company. The figures may its entirety, but the impact in the food retail sector is expected to be felt (Marks and Spencer, 2006). One significant observation that can be made is that the company has a wide range of quality food sources. This is in references to the responsible food sourcing that the company adopts. The supplies of the company are considered as one of its valuable resources. Because of its outstanding food production materials, the quality of the finished products has improved. Boosting the food with the finest inputs allow the company to effectively satisfy the needs of the consumers. Subsequently, quality sources also make the company more cost-effective. Another important resource of the company is its identity. This is established through the brand name of Marks and Spencer. Despite some criticisms, the brand has gained the distinction of being the most trusted retailer in the UK. Over the years, the brand name has been embraced in different areas of the world. The credibility of the company is one of its intangible resources that deserved to be recognised.

The Traditional Tok Diagram Essay Example for Free

The Traditional Tok Diagram Essay The traditional TOK diagram indicates four ways of knowing. Propose the inclusion of a fifth way of knowing selected from intuition, memory or imagination, and explore the knowledge issues it may raise in two areas of knowledge. Our whole life is a continuous process of gaining information. This information is our basic knowledge about the world. It is coming in different forms, from different sources. And it is vitally important to store this information, in order to understand your own present. That is why I think people have a memory. My personal interpretation of memory is similar to a log-book. My experience is the notes I am writing in my life journey. Like memories, many of notes will eventually vanish, other will stay forever. But, is it possible for memory to function as a way of knowing (WOK)? Can I use my memory to gain knowledge about something? In TOK, I used to think that we cannot gain knowledge through memory, as it depended on WOKs as a source of knowledge. Memory is interpreted as storage for the gained knowledge and experience. However, is possible for WOKs themselves be depended on memory? My life, views and tastes are result of my past experience. So, it can be said that our reasoning is coming from analysis of previous experience and memory. In this essay, I will exploit reliability of memory as way of knowing and issues it may rise in areas of knowledge (AOK). We are living in building up our memory. It changes and vanishes like paintings. My first issues about memory were consisted in area of art. I thought how I our knowledge of the past influencing view on art? In the past, Shakespeare wasn’t famous in England. Only after decades his name became known to whole England, and now, he is standing among the greatest writers of all time. Same thing with me, I remember how I read Shakespeare poem once and I didn’t know who he was. It meant I didn’t have knowledge about him, so when I read it I didn’t like it that much. I thought it was too simple. However, when I studied about his past, his works and poems in school, my opinion about him changed. I updated my memory, thus knowledge about him and it changed my perspectives about his writing. Now when I see one of his poems, I automatically make a reason about this poem as a good piece of work before actually reading poem itself. So, can it be considered that memory is central WOK in art? What kind of connection between WOKs and memory? For example perception, e.g. seeing by itself is nothing than just lighting is interacting with eye. Use of memory helps to verify these â€Å"pictures† and classify them. Thus, our experience of the past helping us to understand the present. But, can we use memory as source of knowledge? For example, sculpture or drawing in art. Painter should have some information about an object that he wants to draw, as for making sculpture you need to memorize body forms. From all WOKs, reason is mostly depended on memory, as we can’t make decisions without using our past memory. Here is another issue arising. How somebody can propose knowledge claims without using a memory? Can I make a logically correct reason without using previous information that already stored in my head? This is a tricky part about memory being a WOK. It is assumed that memory is depended on other WOKs and knowledge stored in memory gained by traditional WOKs, e.g. perception. However, use of these four WOKs imply help of memory, we always use our previous experience in understanding present. Memory is connecting new knowledge to information from our past experience, so items are stored in relation to each other and their meaning coming from the knowledge which they are associated with. This is why for instance thinking about ocean, fish, danger and blood automatically pops shark into my conscious mind. Better example for that claim will be Gestalt Theory. It is based on pictures of different shapes which are forming different elements or things. Whole process is depended on point of your personal view, mainly memory that will trigger from seeing those forms. Famous example of this theory will picture of young lady and old woman. Both of images are correct, but knowledge we get from these shapes are different. It shows significance of using of memory. We see different relations to our memory, thus different pictures. Brain is not interested in storing exact copies, it interested in storing information and it distils and organizes this information for future use. We continually update information in circles. But, sometimes it creates bags in our brain. Example for that will be testimony; there is a lot of evidence of false decisions in courts. Memory influenced by our eyewitness and WOKs is giving us incorrect information. By now, I assumed memory as a depended element of gaining knowledge. But, can role of memory be considered as independent source of knowledge, while other WOKs are depending on it? Consider this knowledge claim. Good example for that can be shown in Human science area. Specifically in performance of football player on TV program called â€Å"Tested to the limit†. This player was tested in four categories: body strength, mental ability, technique and skill. In mental ability category, the coach was asked to give a corner kick to the player. However, as soon as the coach’s foot touched the ball, the lights went out. Player had to stroke in darkness. So, in TOK terms it meant that football player should use only his experience in order to make a reason of the ball flight and succeed. His basic sources of knowledge like perception and language were eliminated. Thus, his memory played a key factor. However, I questioned myself â€Å"How football player can use his memory to reason without any precondition for using his past experience?† Memory wasn’t his initial source of knowledge. In the beginning, perception was used e.g. he saw how ball was kicked. Reading the body language and subconscious analyze of the ball flight is a result of memory which was triggered by perception. It shows how closely WOKs are interacting with memory. Although, it wasn’t initial knowledge, memory took role of basic source of knowledge. Reason was fully depended on memory experience, and produced as result of memory process. Football player succeeded, his subconscious ability has come from thousands of practice hours which filled his mind with so many permutations of game to tap in to. It is a same as you studying another subject, like learning a new language. You are basically building up experience, learning basic rules of grammar and vocabulary. Thus as you become more fluent in a language, you don’t think about it as much. Same with football player, his vast experience gives him inability to intuitively read the game. I could say memory and experience his main weapons in football. To conclude my essay, it is important to evaluate position of memory in theory of knowledge. As I said before, memory is very tricky concept, it is hard to tell, are the WOKs depended on memory or reverse. In my opinion memory is not a WOK. However it is already included in each of traditional WOKs, as it is playing role of connecting bridge between them. Memory is overlaid on top of each other. So, things you learnt make past information you remembered look little bit different. Our memory explains knowledge we gain and relates it to our experience. Role of memory is vital, but its power stored in its ability to be storage of our knowledge and experience, because these elements are base of our life.

Fallacies of Internet Censorship Essay -- science

Fallacies of Internet Censorship Laws, enforcements, and censorship have been developed since the beginning of civilization. With freedom, comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes common sense. In a society or nation of few, laws and restriction tend to be smaller, and less complex. This is contributed by the fact that in small groups, their will be less diversity amongst them. In larger society ranging in millions to billions, the need for a more complex, organized government begins to form. No human is in fact alike, each person possess their own form of will, and much their own point-of-view. In a large mass society, it becomes tedious, and complex to try and rule by anarchy. The need for a common law amongst this civilization is usually formed. One of the most critical needs of a civilization is communication. In the past, communication was presented by means of both oral and written forms. Unfortunately, this form of communication is slowly beginning to fade with the invention of the Internet. The internet in its whole is nothing more then a mass networked form of wires that send information throughout the entire world. With this invention, the gaps and boundaries of nations or civilization of our entire planet begin to crumble. Internet, or at least the computers that are connected to it, have a common language known as Binary, a mass complex language read in series of on and off signals. All computers read the same language, and since this is a true form of communication, it allows for cultures, nations and society to communicate with each other, whereas before a simple oral or written communication could not be understood commonly from all nations. What reasons or needs would there be to censor the internet? As with written or oral language, all of its information is created in fact by a human, which can lead towards being corrupted, destructive or mis-interupted by another. Since the internet is a world wide access of information that is available by all nations having the resources for it, rules and laws in one country are not the same in another. Another commonly known use of the internet is for commerce. It allows a person to sell goods from any country to another. This in return could be things such as illegal weapons, plants, and even pictorial art, to that neighboring or distant country or nation that might be prohibited... ... meeting in one location at a given time is an expensive endeavor, not to mention the cost of having to police or enforce the laws decided. Also, the cost of software programming, vast libraries of stored data, and teaching un-educated computer users in all countries around the world, but be an expansive process. Their would have to be a massive form of data collection of what type of IP address, certain types of words, and certain type of ports to block. This would not just make the cost of internet access massive incremental raise; it would also slow the speed of the entire network around the world down but a horrible mass decrease. In short, I believe the internet is the new revolution in communication, but the fact of its mass-connections that span the entire world; it would be like trying to run a government of trillions of people, with thousands of languages, and millions of different cultures to boot. In order to truly censor the internet, the only fool-proof, absolute solution would be to destroy it, which would deny the very tool and breakthrough in technology that has allowed the entire world to for once communicate, if not agree, on a universally accepted level.

Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of the opening scene Essay

Concentrating on the presentation of character, setting and sound, analyse review and comment on what seems to you to be significant features of Baz Luhrmann’s style as a film director, with particular reference to â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† Baz Luhrmann’s recreation of Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, as a film text, has been a great success in today’s modern world. Baz Luhrmann’s intentions, in making this film, were to take a classic Shakespearean play (something that not that many ‘young’ people appreciate any more in this modern age) and to modernise it. To translate the image of what would have been an exciting source of entertainment in the 17th century into a fun filled action/romantic movie suitable for the demanding eyes of the modern world’s youth . Baz Luhrmann had ask himself the question: if Shakespeare were alive today, how would he of made the movie. The expression he uses is ‘putting Shakespeare on a billboard in ‘Time Square’. The film opens with a picture of a television screen switched off then, with no sound, clicks one with a few credits on the screen as if someone is changing the channel to find something that would interest them then clicks onto this channel with a newsreader reading out what sounds like news but is the prologue of â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†. While the newsreader is reading out this in the background in a box, where you would see a picture of a broken wedding band, which symbolises the broken love between Romeo and Juliet. Then uses a series of camera styles like rapid zoom and whooshing noise as it goes into the image of the newsreader, followed by dramatic music. The images then start ‘whooshing’ onto other similar images of Verona and with this the prologue is repeated by the priest, with a more stern and authentic voice. Then it shows pictures of the cast with information about them. This is the introduction to Baz Luhrmann’s film and with this he catches the viewers attention. He achieves this by giving the viewers a taste of the excitement to come by showing a few short clips of some if the film. This makes them hungry for more. In the first scene of this recreational play we start off with 3 men from the house of Montague, the ‘Montague Boys’, which we see at the start of the film accompanied with a big title saying: ‘THE MONTAGUE BOYS’ and a rap style song repeating the words: â€Å"the boys, the boys†. They are achieving what Shakespeare wanted them to do originally – going around being boisterous and rowdy – but in a modern days style. In the original play the 2 men are just going around a market place showing off Baz Luhrmann pretty much goes along the same line of what happened in the original play but with cars, tall extravagant buildings, helicopters, sirens etc. Baz Luhrmann puts the Montague’s in a petrol station where they meat up with there rivals the Capulet’s and recreates the confrontations with guns, which just so happen have the brand name of swords, rapiers etc. It’s all very clever if you’ve seen the original play. Even though that Baz Luhrmann has changed the visuals and made the film more modern he hasn’t changed the script he has still kept it in that same Shakespearean tong: â€Å"thus, thou hast, knowest, thow etc. He did this for 2 reasons: 1 because if he didn’t keep the script it would virtually be the same as ‘East side story’ (another recreation of Romeo and Juliet) and 2 to bring a piece of the 17th century and stick it in the film to show people, of the modern world, how Shakespeare made his play. Baz Luhrmann kept the original scripture of the film; he did this so that he still kept the true nature of the play pure. In doing this he had to make the visuals far more stunning, majestic and exaggerated so as to make it so the audience could understand it through the visual image of the film. The characters in Luhrmann’s films are very exaggerated so by looking at the way they act and speak you can instantly tell what kind of person they are in the film: ‘The bad guy’, ‘the funny guy’, ‘the romantic guy’ etc. For example the two Montague boys are all rough and tough when they are talking behind the Capulets back but when they are face to face with the Capulets they are very jumpy and scared and also very comical at the same time. But the Capulet boys are much more mean and bullish. Abra a big scary looking character who strikes fear into the Montagues he also loses his temper and Tybalt. Tybalt being the main big bad guy of the film is very harsh and cruel he looks like a big gun slinger. He has a very stylised character – his movement his whole style gives him a great sense of character even by the way that he speaks you know he is the bad guy. The complexity of the sound involved in Baz Luhrmann’s creations is quite fascinating. At any one point in the film there are a lot of sounds being played for all the different types of things, which you can here, even in the simplest scenes. Many of the sounds are synthesized this means the sounds are created by a computer, this allows the editor to add in and take out sound with ease. You’ll see an image on the screen and will be listening to a complex layering of sounds, which will all be playing at once. For example: footsteps, gunshots, whooshing and cars in the background, dialogue and much more. The music will change to the emotion of the person or the film. If you were to listen to all the sounds individually and added together you would be able to hear how the affects are achieved and see how complicated it actually is. All the sounds are stored on a sound deck and are then arranged and played at the times required. The film even has its own sound track, which was released into the charts and went number one at one stage or another. People listened to this and were deeply encouraged to go and watch the film because of what they heard from the soundtrack. Sound is used to enhance emotion and interest: the rap style music at the start of the film when the Montague boys are in their car, a ‘cougar roar’ sound is emitted when the car revs its engine (this is used to give a sense of danger) Silence is also used to increase tension. Exaggerated sounds on small objects are also used for this purpose. Choreography is the word, which means ‘style of the character’ and the movement of the character i. e. the style of the movement given out gives a sense of character. Tybalt’s style is very intriguing in the way that he moves almost like he’s dancing. Tybalt’s movement is meant to be a sort of flamenco dance; he moves very fluently and gives a sense that he is an experienced gun fighter. The part when every thing goes silent and Tybalt comes onto the scene and all you see is boots which then crush on a dropped match and emits that horrible grinding sound. The way in which Tybalt moves embellishes his character. The Montague boys are very jumpy and scared and react with great movement this is called ‘Pantomimic exaggeration’. In the first scene 170 shots were used. The techniques used in the film were very much the same as the ones used in western films. The film was meant to be in a western genre, a spaghetti western. A spaghetti western is a sought of love story/ western. The camera techniques used in the film are very good at delivering different emotions or to increase/decrease tension. Big wide shots are less dramatic than the suspension given out by a close up shot. In the first scene there is a large variety of camera styles used, such as when Abra is confronting the Montague boys and the camera suddenly zooms in on his teeth with the word S I N inscribed on them, with camera is looking up at him, this terrifies the Montagues and then causes one of the Montague boys falls back into the car and the camera is looking down on him. When a camera is looking up at a character it is much more scarier than when a camera is looking down upon someone. Computer aided technology was used to help design the costumes for the characters in the film a photo’s was taken of the actor and the designs where then put on to the computer software to be mapped out and used so they could try samples on the actors to see how it looked and see if they liked it or not, in that context. The Montagues wore bright Hawaiian styled open t-shirts while the Capulets wore flat jackets and darker clothing in a more Latino style. They have also spent a lot of time designing the guns for the films, which symbolize the swords in the original play (that’s why the gun brand is called swords). You see in the film the two buildings of both Montague and Capulet, this represents the focus on religious iconography shows that religion (the 2 families are both religious families and respect there religious beliefs) and the law are not able to maintain the battle, the confrontation, and the feud between these to households. Miami was used to shoot the film because of its Latino genre and its religious environment hot country- hot blooded. The gas station was used in the film to symbolize modern city life and to keep the scene similar to that of the original play: market square and gas station both places of common publicity.

Boys don’t cry versus the teena brandon story Essay

I have chosen to write about the difference between fact and fiction between a documentary and a docudrama. Between how important getting information out to the public and what sells to the viewing public for entertainment. I would like to state that I feel quite fortunate that I watched the documentary, â€Å"The Teena Brandon Story†, first then I watched the movie, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry†. I had viewed the movie years ago; I had heard that this movie was a true story based on fact from the documentary. In my second viewing from an analytical standpoint, let me just say I was quite floored about how could they call, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry† a docudrama when there were so many important facts that were excluded from this film. Both film and documentary did receive Academy Awards. â€Å"The Teena Brandon Story,† is a documentary about Brandon Teena (aka Teena Ray Brandon), a transgendered person, who was murdered along with Lisa Lambert and Phillip Devine in 1993 in Falls City, Nebraska. The story is told through interviews with the people who loved and hated Brandon for his difference. Recorded interrogation and trial transcripts, all of which showed that Brandon’s girlfriends thought he was a male. All talked about how he was the best boyfriend and so in tune with their feelings and so giving. Brandon Teena’s police tape, photographs, and file film footage. â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry†, is a film based on actual events. Brandon Teena is the popular new guy in a tiny Nebraska town called Falls City. He hangs out with the guys, drinking, cussing, bumper surfing, and becomes quite the ladies’ man in town. He has been warned by his cousin that â€Å"they† do not play like that down there. Brandon ignores the warning and becomes one of the guys and dating the local hometown beauty. He has forgotten to mention that he is wanted in his hometown of Lincoln for forgery, grand theft auto, stealing and most importantly that Brandon Teena was actually a born a woman named Teena Ray Brandon. When his friends find out they feel betrayed and lash out violently with murder. Trauma is the focus of â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry† and community is the focus of â€Å"The Teena Brandon Story†. The differences stems from narrative and documentary. Narrative creates a story around a character while a documentary creates an argument around a historical incident. Both films use the same material and they were released a year apart, although the character portrayal is negative in both films the narrative was sued for slander. The documentary displayed Lana Tisdel as white trash and in the film she was portrayed as white trash. The family sued the filmmakers and I believe why is because the documentary showed the actual Lisa Tisdel in her interviews and the filmmakers were sued because they captured her likeness maybe because it showed her as a druggie and alcoholic. â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry† and â€Å"The Teena Brandon Story† made sure to refer to Teena Brandon as Brandon and to call her â€Å"him† they did not follow the wishes of his mother and call him â€Å"she†. The suspicion that they were lesbians was not okay in the documentary and the film; it seems that they were more okay with her having a sexual identity crisis. Both pieces expose a core of homophobia among not only the killers but Brandon himself he insist that he is not a â€Å"dyke†. There was an attitude that she is going to get a sex change operation and that was â€Å"okay,† for some reason. One of â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry† biggest copycat moments of the documentary is the opening scene of the movie begins with the start of a long dark and lonesome road and flashing lights with a single line going down the pavement and â€Å"The Teena Brandon Story† begins the same way. Brandon Teena was murdered by John Lotter and Tom Nissen. When they found out that Brandon was actually a girl passing as a boy and dating their good friend Lana Tisdel the men became and enraged and killed her. The documentary tells the events of Brandon Teena leaving Lincoln, Nebraska and going to Falls City, Nebraska since people did not know him there. Too many people in his hometown started finding out that he was a girl and problems were arising more frequently. The documentary gave you a reason and a time frame of why and when Brandon left Lincoln and went to Falls City. The movie did this weird transition and maybe the only reason why I noticed it was because it was all so fresh in my mind and I was looking for differences but, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry† did the transition of when Brandon went to Humboldt by showing him, I guess in the bar where Candace, also known as Lisa Lambert worked as a bartender. A barroom brawl breaks out and in to help him fight is John Lotter and that is how the friendship of him along with Tom Nissen began. They showed Brandon ending up in Falls City because John Lotter suggested they go to a party which Candace points out is seventy miles away. This is where he meets Lana Tisdel, the love of his life. The movie gave you the impression that Brandon was going to return to Lincoln until everyone in Falls City, Nebraska was accepting of him and did not know his secret. The movie gave off a feeling of a love story in a sense with certain circumstances gone bad, kind of like a Romeo and Juliet spin off rather than about someone passing for a man and getting into trouble all the time back home for passing as a man. In â€Å"The Teena Brandon Story†, all of the real names were used in the documentary and the parents gave permission and also gave testimony as well. In â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry†, the names were all used except for the female victim Lisa Lambert and her son. Their names were changed to Candace and Tanner, which poses the question of rights in the docudrama. This crime was actually a triple homicide not a double as they so blatantly portrayed in the movie. The people that were murdered were Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert and Phillip Devine. Phillip Devine was a young black guy that was visiting Lisa Lambert at the time. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In my opinion, they did not see the relevance of mentioning the third murdered victim in this horrific incident. I feel that it was a cheap rip off in my eyes.

Free Essays on Edger Allen Poe

EDGAR ALLAN POE Best known for his poems and short fiction. Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous American poets. He deserves most credit for short suspenseful mysteries and he perfected the area of horror stories. He wrote many famous poems like "The Raven" and "The Bells". Poe was a genius and very meticulous in his stories every clue had to fit and that’s why he didn't make a lot of short stories but a small collection of great short stories. He was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. Both of his parents were touring actors; both died before Poe even reached three years old. A rich merchant named Mr. Allan in Richmond, Virginia took Poe in. His childhood was uneventful although he attended the University of Virginia in 1826 for only a year. Even thought he was a good student he ran up a large gambling dept that Allan refused to pay. This prevented his return to the university and broke-off his engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart. Having no way to support himself he enlisted in the army. He had already written and printed (at his own expense) his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827). Allan secured Poe's release from the army and his appointment to West Point but refused to give him money. After six months Poe apparently got kicked out of West Point for disobedience. His friends, however, gave money to him for the publication of Poems by Edgar A. Poe ...Second Edition (1831), actually a third editionafter Tamerlane and Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems (1829). This book contained the famous "To Helen" and "Israfel," poems that show the restraint and the calculated musical effects of language that was characterizing his poetry. Poe next lived in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction as a way to support himself. In 1832 the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five of his stories all comic or satiric. In 1833, "MS. Foun... Free Essays on Edger Allen Poe Free Essays on Edger Allen Poe EDGAR ALLAN POE Best known for his poems and short fiction. Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous American poets. He deserves most credit for short suspenseful mysteries and he perfected the area of horror stories. He wrote many famous poems like "The Raven" and "The Bells". Poe was a genius and very meticulous in his stories every clue had to fit and that’s why he didn't make a lot of short stories but a small collection of great short stories. He was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. Both of his parents were touring actors; both died before Poe even reached three years old. A rich merchant named Mr. Allan in Richmond, Virginia took Poe in. His childhood was uneventful although he attended the University of Virginia in 1826 for only a year. Even thought he was a good student he ran up a large gambling dept that Allan refused to pay. This prevented his return to the university and broke-off his engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart. Having no way to support himself he enlisted in the army. He had already written and printed (at his own expense) his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827). Allan secured Poe's release from the army and his appointment to West Point but refused to give him money. After six months Poe apparently got kicked out of West Point for disobedience. His friends, however, gave money to him for the publication of Poems by Edgar A. Poe ...Second Edition (1831), actually a third editionafter Tamerlane and Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems (1829). This book contained the famous "To Helen" and "Israfel," poems that show the restraint and the calculated musical effects of language that was characterizing his poetry. Poe next lived in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction as a way to support himself. In 1832 the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five of his stories all comic or satiric. In 1833, "MS. Foun...

Self Reliance By Emerson Essays - Philosophy, Politics, Free Essays

Self Reliance By Emerson Essays - Philosophy, Politics, Free Essays Self Reliance By Emerson Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson The quote that most provoked thought and emotion from within me comes from the essay Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. To be great is to be misunderstood was used by Emerson to explain the lagging growth of the conception of ideas and thoughts of his generation. Original and novel ideas were scorned by conservatives who believed the best method for learning was by repetition and memorization of proven classics written by previous generations. The continuing timelessness of his quote is still in effect today as the scientific community has evolved to accept unaccustomed theories, yet encounters difficulty when relating to the public new and extreme ideas that rebut the system.In history, the results of individualism has been spread world wide. Important leaders, thinkers, and philosophers with radical ideas in virgin areas of research were making significant finds rapidly. Yet progress was slowed by short-sighted men who failed to see greatness.Aberham Lincoln was a revolutionary in his time with his views on slavery and forgiveness of the South. Yet his death was the result of one man's refusal to accept what was once a proud and rich land reduced to tatters- left to ruin because of her failure to accept civil reform. Herman Melville's work in Moby Dick was considered a classic, yet Melville died a figure with lost prestige, poor and unaccepted. When he was laid to rest in 1891, he was remembered only as the author of entertaining novels of the South Seas. It was not until 1920s when his place in America's foremost writers was assured. His works are now great masterpieces of emotion that were misunderstood while he was still alive.Another important example is democracy. In medieval times, monarchies and kingdoms ruled the land. Today, the monarch is merely a figurehead behind the power of democracy. At the birth of the democratic rise of the United States of America, the colonists were thought of as upstart fools- dreamers believing the impossible. English royalists were aghast at the indignation of the colonies to separate from England and form their own country. In present day, the United States is the sole world power, a great country born out of dreams.Self-Reliance expressed the need for creative thinking. Society during Emerson's era resisted reform and scorned the reformer. Emerson saw individualism in direct conflict with society. The effect of society, he thought, was not to strengthen the individual, but to breed conformity and fear. Although he often criticized society, he stressed more importantly the openness of the individual through the soul. The quote To be great is to be misunderstood reflected upon the lack of acceptance of new thought and theory during his time. Bibliography Emersons Self reliance