Article talks about hospital business offices Essays

Article talks about hospital business offices Essays Article talks about hospital business offices Paper Article talks about hospital business offices Paper Essay Topic: Talk This article talks about hospital business offices and the need for them to think like loan management teams of local banks and credit unions especially when collecting revenues from patients. This strategy will then aid hospitals to increase their cash collections as well as improve the financial experiences of the patients. This is significantly important today as the number of patients who shoulder their own medical expenses are on the rise. In fact, sixteen percent of patients who are insured have outstanding balances that are greater than 500 dollars. According to research, less than 2% of the total patients’ balances are collected before or upon discharge and of the balances that are 500 dollars and above, less than 8% are paid in full and this accounts for about 66% of business office patient collections. There is a need, therefore, to focus on two actions namely: prioritizing actions according to the expected cash potential and to think of the return on investment (ROI). An account with a larger balance does not equate to it being a valuable account. Accounts with greater expected cash value, therefore, necessitate a more intensive collection effort. As such, the author lists 3 operating priorities for business office preparations namely: (1) use healthcare specific predictive models as this will enable management to focus on the most valuable accounts in the most efficient manner, (2) employ multiple collection processes depending on the account cash value and the return on investment and (3) implement new reporting Theme The general theme of the article is to provide new information to improve the processes of the hospital business office. Point of View The point of view is factual and the author’s points are credible and convincing. Furthermore, the author provides a clear and understandable way of presenting data. He illustrates his arguments explicitly and gives specific examples on each point. However, the author cited several researches to base his points in, of which the sources were not named. Issue Analysis: Actions should be prioritized depending on the account’s cash potential. In a research, less than 1/3 of patient accounts generate 80% of the cash collections meaning that these accounts do not have a high value. Furthermore, an account with a large balance does not equate to its cash value. A healthcare specific predictive model should be utilized in order to successfully identify accounts that are of higher value. By utilizing this type of model, the process of cash collections will be improved and at the same time, will minimize the operating expenses. In addition, the collection experiences of patients are improved. By prioritizing those that have the most cash value, the likelihood of the collection team pressuring people with accounts of limited cash value is considerably reduced. A focus on cash value is important as this is the issue that the business office team needs to answer. In a situation outside the area of healthcare, a product or service may be stopped or denied anytime. In the field of healthcare however, it is not usually possible to deny or stop the service immediately and the bill can take several weeks before being sent out to the consumer. The collection strategy utilized by hospitals should be in accordance with the cash value of the patient’s account. Consumers who possess the account with the highest cash value should be devoted with special measures of communication such as extra letters and outbound calls. The hospital may be wasting its time and money by trying to pursue a customer who has a large balance but may not be likely to pay while endlessly pursuing consumers who have more chances of paying their balance. A collection report that measures success against the potential cash value should be implemented. The significant measurement is the cash potential as this is what should be collected by the team. The report should calculate the cash potential accurately for each account to avoid becoming ambiguity and confusion. A clear report can also depict appropriate trade-offs that are made and show that a maximization of the net cash is achieved. In addition, bad debt can be clearly traced which leads to improvements in patient access routines.

GeographyHomeworkMissLombard 2 Essay

GeographyHomeworkMissLombard 2 Essay GeographyHomeworkMissLombard 2 Essay Andrea Jaendrasingh Practice Questions June 2013: a. Comment on how the three strategies shown could contribute to urban re ­imaging. (10 Marks) Strategy 1 would contribute to re ­imaging an urban area as it aims to attract many different visitor groups. The components of a place influence the perception people have of that place. An example of this is Stratford. Before the 2012 Olympics was hosted there, it was mainly an industrial state and therefore was not a popular place to visit. It was run down and the ponds and rivers were polluted. Once it began to be developed for the Olympics to be hosted there, more interesting architecture, public parks and natural landscapes were created. This gave Stratford a new image. Through the creation of new attractions, wider groups of people would be attracted to a place to visit. This could include bird watchers, naturists, photographers and new business investors. Although this strategy would contribute to re ­imaging a place such as Stratford, it could result in potential conflict for land use. Strategy 2 (Events and services)could contribute to urban re ­imaging due to the fact that if a place is a social hub for festivals and other events as well as shopping and tours, it is re ­imaged to be vibrant and entertaining with lots of activities. This could re ­image a place to then be considered affordable, beautiful and family ­oriented Strategy 3 would help to re ­image an area due to the fact that the image that people see and the reputation that they hear is better. This strategy aims to improve the looks rather than the actual experience. It can be seen to be the most expensive strategy out of all three and it would require the aesthetics of an urban area to be changed which is quite costly. b. Using examples, explain the roles of different players involved in helping to rebrand rural areas. (10 Marks) An example of a previously rural area that has now been rebranded is Cornwall. This has mainly been done through the Eden project as it helped re ­image Cornwall. Key players involved in helping to rebrands rural areas such as Cornwall do so mainly to increase the total revenue made so it can be used for improving different facilities. One key player involved in this rebranding may have been Environmental groups. Whilst wanting to rebrand, they would intend to do sustainably. While this is obviously beneficial for the environment, it is also beneficial in aiding places such as Cornwall or Stratford to re ­image as an environmentally friendly place. Another player involved in aiding to rebrand would be the Local and Regional Government. For example, in Cornwall for the Eden ­project, the local government had control over transport and also had influence on planning decisions. Finally, another player involved in rural rebranding would be business interests. They would be involved in the rebranding of areas such as Stratford for the Olympics due to the fact that they are aware of the benefits that rebranding these places will bring in the future even after these events have occurred. This could include in most cases small business investors or in other cases larger scale investors. Normally, when rebrandi ng a rural areas, there are larger scale business investors wanting to invest in the surrounding environment of the place that is being rebranded. This is due to the fact that they will help the economy of these rural areas more than small businesses would. These players were involved in helping to rebrand rural areas such as Cornwall due to them weighing out the advantages and disadvantages and deciding if it is beneficial for a specific rural place. January 2013: a. Comment on the usefulness of the three fieldwork approaches to investigate rural rebranding. (10 Marks) Questionnaires are a useful fieldwork approach when investigating rural rebranding as they allow certain individuals to collect both quantitative and

The Orion Shield Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Orion Shield Project - Essay Example This also shows how getting appointed for an unsuitable position can lead to disputes and confusions both for the employee and for the organization as a whole. From the ethical point of view Gary was correct on his part but if we consider the case from the business viewpoint then it can be said that on certain aspects Gary was wrong. The case focuses on a number of aspects of an organization and exhibits the outcomes providing the reader a food for thought towards finding out paths to better results. In the following sections we will discuss about the various aspects related to the case. Technical aspect Henry Larsen, the director of engineering at SEC appointed one of his most trusted employees, Gary Allison, as the project manager for the Orion Shield project. Soon Gary realized that the design prepared by their firm was unable to meet the technical specifications. He informed Larsen that the customers are looking for a design that would operate successfully and normally within -65 degree F to 145 degree F. He tried and tested several other approaches but failed. Then he suggested that the customers should be informed about this issue. ... He thought it would be unethical to conceal the fact from the customers which can possibly give rise to mistrust and dissatisfaction among the customers later on. But he was rebuked for this ethical thought. Larsen clearly told him that if he wished to move on with this project with an ethical viewpoint then he would have easily selected some ethical manager and not Gary. Since he needed someone who can tactfully handle such situations without getting ethically influenced therefore he chose Gary for this project and he wants Gary to act as per his instructions. Also Gary stated in the financial report about the progress of the project and the cost allocated. He represented all the facts truthfully. However his endeavor was totally discouraged by Elliot Grey who informed him that his truthfulness has caused a huge loss to the company as Grey had asked for $3, 00,000 additional amounts from the headquarters by some manipulation so that Gary could get rescued from the complex situation. Now this amount would be restricted to only $ 150,000. Legal aspect Gary got informed by Larsen that a new material JXB3 has proved to be suitable for satisfying all the specifications mentioned in the contract. This material had been tested for the past two weeks by Larsen and Paula and now they have come to the conclusion that it is the perfect one. Larsen also told that all these testing had been done with the money paid for the deal and it is against the contract to use the amount for some other purpose and the revelation of this fact might lead to cancellation of the contract. Also it was illegal on SEC’s part to develop a new material and introduce it within the

Media and communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media and communication - Essay Example In this case, today people are experiencing technoculture rather than technocracy since the practices and skills accompanying computer technology today barely resemble the technocratic nature experienced in the 1984 according to Handler, Carolyn (45). In the technoculture era, technology is used in ways which have eroded privacy unlike the technocracy era in which individual privacy was highly respected. Big brother (technocracy) opposes publicity of information not only due to privacy but also for secrecy purposes. Contemporary Global Mediated Communication The forwards march of the internet into every day living was aided and supported by the exceptional demand for smart phones after the introduction of the first iphone in 2007.This has led to a new world order in the technology, telecommunication and media industry. In such a case, face book, Google, Microsoft and apple (contemporary global mediated communications) are moving towards the top of this world order pushing aside other mediated communication which existed in the twentieth century. These forms of media are essentially changing consumers’ performance and dismantling longstanding media, technology and telecoms in twentieth centuries. This contemporary global mediated communications have brought a lot of changes in contrast to the twentieth century media. ... On the same note, the contemporary media has become major channel for software functions music, games and other digital substances which have led to the rewriting of media rules. However, the increasing advantage of the contemporary media as opposed to the twentieth century media is due to lack of pressure from shareholders unlike the case other old media. The Eiffel Tower and the Opera Garnier The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the French revolt referred to as centennial Exposition Universelle. It was meant to be a short-term exhibit of architectural engineering expertise but emerged as the world’s tallest tower up to 1930 according to Spang (34).This makes the building significant to the history of urban space. Opera Garnier has been of great importance in history. This is because its museums and companies have made the city of Paris a popular tourist destination globally receiving more than 30 million tourists per annum. The city was initially the site the French revolt a nd rich cultural setting with wealthy patrons who provided an intellectual atmosphere which invited scholars and artists. The flourish of such people led to the transformation of the city making it the world’s top trade and cultural centre. Worries about Media Change A variety of developments in the Greek community led to the practice of writing. The first writers were the Hippocratic writers who wrote to make medicine a complete participant during the famous Revolution of Wisdom in late fifth century. The invention of writing was the biggest worry for them as now they were to see with their minds what they could not see with their eyes. However writing of poetry preceded the written prose discourse. The likes of face book and Google have

Medecine Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Medecine - Personal Statement Example I exuberantly thought I would be showing my companions a wonderful sight of fireworks and they will be thankful they were with me. Nevertheless, my enthusiasm turned into a nightmare when our eyes started to burn. We bawled our eyes out because of the dreadful event and as a result of the tear gas fired by the army. I quickly turned back, pulling my brother and cousin who were already shrieking. As the older person among us, I strove to have my wits intact. I took my brother and cousin home. I went out again with a purpose in mind. On my way out, I saw several women, children and elderly people crying and screaming by the roadside as policemen scoured the area, striking civilians who fought. There were fear and cries of anguish all around and the sight was just unbearable. Covering my eyes with a cloth, I went to the nearest vegetable shack. I once read that onion bulbs can be used as protection against tear gas and so I bought as many as I can carry. I cut the onions in half and handed them to my family and some people who were suffering, crying for help outside our home. I instructed them to squeeze the onion s near their eyes so that the gas released from the onions will irritate their eyes and help get rid of the tear gas. When I was sure that my family members were safe in our house, I went out to see how things were going outside. There was chaos everywhere. Policemen were checking every person’s belongings as they tried to go home safely, vehicles were stopped for hours for the policemen to complete their inspections and those who fought against them were hurt. Masked, uniformed men were scattered around the area. They had shields to protect themselves from people who protested against such inhumane actions. Behind them were tanks where tear gases were expelled from. The army was in stark contrast with the unarmed civilians who wanted nothing but to stop the bloodshed and live peacefully. Bloody victims, destroyed cars, suffering and angry people, women

Samsung Analysis: Porters Five, SWOT and PESTEL

Samsung Analysis: Porters Five, SWOT and PESTEL INTRODUCTION Samsung electronics Industry Corporation was created in 1969 as a division of Samsung group, and the name of corporation was changed to the current name which Samsung electronics in 1984. Mainly it manufacture and exported electronics products, which include color TV, electronic calculator, electronic watch, electronic cash registers, as well as electronic home appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, an also telecommunication devices. Especially, it recorded the outstanding number of manufacturing black and white TVs which was going up above 10 million and took top of the world in terms of export of black and white TVs. It succeeded to develop super mini VTR (8mm) in 1983, started to export VTR in 1985, and merged Samsung semiconductors and telecommunication cooperation in 1988. Since then Samsung electronics has dramatically grown as one of the worlds leading electronic giant with branches all over the world. Now millions of Samsung electronic products are being manufactured and sold every day and its product is seen in almost every house around the world. Samsung electronics has one of the best inventory management systems, supply and distribution chain in the world and its products are unique and durable with dedicated, efficient work force. Also, its research and development department is second to none in the electronic industry hence we decided to carry out this in-depth analysis to access the various strategies they have being applying since their existence and to advise them on the possible strategic options available to them now and in the future. ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Industry Analysis Porters Five Forces Analysis (http://www.masslearning.com/) Michael Porter stated that for any business entity there are 5 forces in action, these forces can have a great influence on the current affairs and strategy of the business. These forces consist of the following factors. Buyers power Buyers are the driving force of any industry including the automotive sector. Buyer behaviour is an essential part of marketing strategy and in-depth studies and research have been conducted to try to understand buyer behaviour. Typical question to ask when considering buyer behaviour are, who are our buyers? How do they buy? When do they buy? Where do they buy? Why do they buy? For Samsung electronics the brand strength allows them to make radical changes as they have a large base of loyal customers (due to an long history of building quality electronics), this has been evident with the radical exterior design changes to the Samsung product line up. Thus Samsung can be considered as a trend setter in their respective markets. This is a powerful position as it allows for some control of the direction of the future markets and trends. But strong competition from their rivals ensures that the changes arent too radical as they may lose customers to their opposition. Suppliers power Suppliers are the foundations of any industry they can supply raw materials, labour components and other supplies. Therefore it is important that a business has a good healthy relationship with its suppliers to ensure that it can operate smoothly and efficiently in cohesion with its suppliers. The power of suppliers varies depending on certain factors, for example if the product is standardised then the supplier will be weak, an example of this in the electronics industry would be silicon manufacturers. There are many to choose from and product diversity is relatively low thus suppliers are weak in this market. Suppliers are more powerful when they provide a more specialised product. Samsung has a technologically advanced component with existing patents, so in this case the supplier has more power in the relationship then in the case with silicon. Threat of Substitute products A substitute product is a product in another market which poses a threat because it is potentially a substitute to your product. A substitute (product) can negatively affect the ‘price elasticity of your product since more substitutes become available the demand becomes more elastic as customers have more alternatives a close substitute product constrains the ability of firms in an industry to raise prices. In the electronics industry substitute products will include other similar products from other manufactures. The threat of substitutes in the electronics sector is increasing since the consumer are being motivated by both social responsibility and legislation to find alternative manufacture that meets their criteria to reduce the affect of global warming energy consumption . Legislation in the UK such as high charging for energy bill also promotes substitutes in to electronic industry so it is a growing threat in this sector. Degree of rivalry Perhaps this is one of the most important of Porters 5 forces, since competition is what tends drives innovation changes in the market since firms strive for a competitive advantage. The intensity of rivalry amongst firms varies across markets. In a market that is saturated rivalry can become fierce as firms compete for the same customers, but in a growing market firms dont need to compete as fiercely as there may have their own growing customer base to which they can cater their product. When considering direct rivals to Samsung such as Motorola and Dell they are all long established in the industry so it is likely that they have coexisted by having disciplined competition and also having a ‘code of conduct between themselves. This is evidence of ‘friendly competition within the automotive sector. Barriers to entry This relates to how easy it is to enter the market place, this force has only negative implications on current market competitors since the easier entry into a market is the more competitors there potentially is. But usually there are legal requirements that must be overcome before the market place can be entered for example a product must pass minimum quality and safety standards and licences are usually required for trading. When considering the electronics industrial sector entry into the market is extremely difficult, since a large initial investment is required, and competition is fierce. In the current economic climate entry in this sector will be almost impossible unless an innovative unique selling point is achieved. Currently the easiest entry into the electronics sector is through excellent design reliability, durability and cost effectiveness of electronics being the most obvious. Electronics Industry Life Cycle Stage According the theory of industry life cycle, Samsung Electronics already got the Maturity stage. Because growth is no longer the main focus,market share andcash flow become theprimary goals of the companies left in the space. Samsungs products like TV, audio, video, mobile phones, camera, camcorder, PC, peripherals, Printers, home appliances and memory cards all have good reputation and occupy important place in market. PESTEL Analysis This section serves as a business environmental scan. Here a PESTLE analysis is applied of the external macro environment in which SAMSUNG operates. The pestle analysis is applied to SAMSUNG looking at its market i.e. no specific product. The diagram below highlights the main issues within each factor. All the factors have a high level of influence on our business and our future strategy. Portfolio Analysis SWOT Analysis Porters Generic Competitive Strategy Analysis STRATEGIES CHOICE GE Matrix Analysis Mobile phone industry attractiveness and business strength assessment of Samsung phones Industry attractiveness Business strength assessment Depending on the analysis of the mobile phone market and industry attractive terms, the current score of attractiveness of the mobile phone industry is 3.68 points; the attractiveness of the industry is relatively high. Through the analysis of financial statements of Samsung, Samsungs business strength total score of 3.19 points in the industry belongs to a high level, in the matrix belongs to GE leader-type to business, this score indicates Samsung mobile phones has a good market share in current market. TV industry attractiveness and business strength assessment of Samsung TV Industry attractiveness Business strength assessment From the table, we can see that on the all TV market analysis, financial statements and marketing analysis of Samsung TV and Samsung in the GE matrix effort to business, the TV industry has a strong attractiveness, but Samsung in the TV business strength only belongs to middle level, which need considerable investment of resources, through the efforts of Samsung could be a leader-type business, or it will be difficult to fierce competition in the market to survive. Washing-machine industry attractiveness and business strength assessment of Samsung washing-machine Industry attractiveness Business strength assessment Through the washing-machine industry analysis and a brief Samsung washing-machine business development analysis show that the attractiveness of the washing-machine industry for Samsung is very strong, but Samsung washing-machine for production in terms of business strength is weak and the question mark in the GE matrix operations, the attractiveness of the industry itself is very easy to attract new entrants into the market and existing enterprise competition, but the washing-machine industry because of the competition is fierce, national brands in the market want a share of the domestic and international well-known brands have already endless which want to improve their competitiveness in this industry. Samsung is in a very difficult situation in the washing-machine industry. According to the industry attractiveness and business strength matrix of Samsung mobile phones, TVs, washing-machines, we mapped the GE matrix of Samsung: B: mobile phone, F: TV .H: washing-machine. (http://www.showppt.com/ppt_79.html) The GE matrix is displayed by Samsung, Samsungs mobile phones plays a leader place in the market and it must keep go on. TV business in the maintenance of regional (between effort and regulator), business attraction and business position in the industry do not have the advantage of both the absence of the formation of a unique segment had to compete with many rivals, enterprise by supporting these businesses strive to improve the businesss market share, and strive to develop into a leading-type business. Samsung washing-machine business is a question mark position difficult for enterprises to compete with the market the original members, requiring substantial investment of resources, currently giving up their own production of washing-machine is an inevitable choice. Boston Matrix Analysis Samsung electronics was build up in 1969, it cost 40 years developed from a small company which only 36 people worked in it to a worldwide company. Now there are nearly 20 kinds of products in Samsung which got a good reputation all over the globe. Take Samsung electronics as an example, it got lots of awards in the Industrial Design Excellence Awards in America. It is the company which got the most awards in several consecutive years, which can prove the design ability of Samsung reach the world-class level. It will be analysis with Boston Matrix. The television and mobile phone can be looked as the cash cow product, because the market growth rates are relatively low and the relative market share are so high. (http://www.masslearning.com/) Samsung electronics started the business of liquid crystal display from 1995, when it get to 2005, the total amount of sales volume is more than one hundred million and it is more than 2 hundred million in 2007, 3 hundred million in 2008, in last month, the total sales volume is more than 5 hundred million. The reason of why Samsung electronics can get the outstanding achievement is the extended market of the LED TV panel and the powerful sell of the big size LCD TV. In 2010, Samsung is going to sell 10 million LCD televisions with LED and 22 million all kinds of LCD TVs. In the sales amount aspect, Samsungs market share got to 23.6% all over the globe in the fourth quarter in 2009. The high sells amount and market share of Samsung is because of the high shipments of television market in the world, the integrity layout of the product size and the leader status of the advanced technology. Samsung got the double champion of the shipment and the sales amount on television in continue 13 seasons. So they looked as the cash cow product. The market share and the market growth rate of five TV brand in 2009 (http://finance.baidu.com/2010-02-23/122741032.html) Samsung is the second biggest mobile phone producer in the world. In 2009, it paid more attention on the fashion style which attracted a great deal of young person and the shipments got to 235 million, the market share got to 19.5%. Compared with 2008, it has a big improvement, because the shipment and market share is only 199 million and 16.3% respectively. The successful of Samsung electronics is come from the swift and agility, but lack of innovativeness may lead to the loss of probability. Nowadays Samsung pay more attention on the Smartphone, the Bada system is a good example. Bada system is a platform of the new smart phone which developed by Samsung company, the interface of it is more fashion in colour and style. So it can be looked as the cash cow product because the market growth rate is low but the market share is very high, the characteristic of which is the sale volume is high but the rate of liability is low, it can provide fund for the company and the product do not ne ed improve the invests. So it can be the supporter for recover the funds for the company, support the other product. The market is becoming mature, the company do not need to invest huge capital for enlarge the market and as a leader in the mobile phone area, it bring lots of profit for the whole company. (http://article.pchome.net/scripts/art_content.php?article_id=447146) In 1997, Samsung produce a series of double door fridge named ‘ZIPEL, in these 10 years, it was export to more than 130 countries and the market share got to the peak over about 50 countries. After sell the fridge to America for 7 years, the market share of Samsung became the highest one. In 2007, the French fridge started to sell in America, the market share was only 5.6% at that year, but after one year, it rocket to 16%. In 2009, the total sales of bridge take account of 28.6% and the sales volume take account of 27.2% in America, rank the first place. So the fridge should also be looked as the cash cow products, a company should have several kinds of cash cow products, if there is something wrong with the other dogs products, it balance the funds of the whole company. From 2007, Samsung produce a series of camera, such as blue, WB, PL, ES and ST series. Especially Blue series which was made the advertisement by Dongjian Zhang, leave a good impression for Chinese customer, so attract lots of customers attention. But in the whole area, Canon, Sony and Nikon still the first three brands, Samsung cannot catch up with them. Although it developed harder on the camera area, the market share still cannot as high as the other area. So the camera area can looked as the question marks product in the Boston Matrix analysis. Most products of Samsung electronics have a good reputation and sell very well, but there are some exceptions. Take air c The Man of the Crowd | Literary Analysis The Man of the Crowd | Literary Analysis Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone, declares the opening line of Edgar Allan Poes Man of the Crowd. Surrounded by a city full of people, the narrator is indeed not alone in that sense. Alone, though, may be viewed in another light: to be unique, to stand alone against the chaos and homogeneity of the crowd. The relationships the narrator has with and the observations he makes about the people of London give insight regarding the nature of urban relationships generally. Though the narrator does not in reality have any direct communication with the people in this story, he observes and reports on each of them, and these observations substitute for his lacking personal relationships. It is his observations of the city of London itself, of the crowd, and of the old man that reveal Poes distaste for the isolation and loss of individuality that city life fosters. The city is mostly only described at night, and we see almost nothing of the daylight hours. The audience, therefore, is left with a dark and gloomy image of the city. By providing this sole nighttime portrait of the city through the narrator, Poe automatically creates a depressing outlook on city life that pervades the story and provides the backdrop for the entire commentary. To reinforce the depressing outlook, Poe has the narrator enumerate the features of the verge of the city in more detail than any other part of London (220). He states that this place [wears] the worst impress of the most deplorable poverty, and of the most desperate crime (220). The poverty and crime reveals that people do not care about each other, in that no one helps the poorest of the poor and the criminals have no regard for their fellow city dwellers. People are isolated from, and apathetic towards, their fellow city dwellers. To give a further impression of the impoverishment and apathetic nature of the city, he describes the beggars, poor girls returning from their demanding work, and sick people wandering about the streets. From the descriptions of these people it is evident that the city is a cold, uncaring, and unforgiving place: the sick were in search of some chance consolation and the young girls had to return to careless homes (217). The lack of concern for others in the city highlights Poes notions that the urban environment creates isolation amongst its inhabitants. While describing the crowd, the narrator is seated behind a window, separated from the people. Putting him behind the glass isolates him from those whom he is so meticulously observing. One would think that after being sick and inside for months on end, the narrator would want some kind of personal, human relation, yet he is perfectly content to sit alone indoors and ponder the pedestrians from afar. His willingness to be alone further contributes to the sense that people are truly isolated in the city. This isolation is also seen in the pedestrians, who [talk] and [gesticulate] to themselves, as if feeling in solitude on account of the very denseness of the company around (216). Here the narrator explains that because there are so many people around and since no one knows each other, these people feel like they are alone. Poe suggests, through the narrators observations, that while one may be in extreme proximity to others in the city, he is not truly connected with any of them, except in the sense that he may share some general attributes with a large group of others that causes him to be seen as part of the whole. The narrator states that he at first looks at the people in their aggregate relations but then moves into observing the details of which there were innumerable varieties (216). Herein lies a contradiction: he points out there are innumerable varieties, yet he does exactly the opposite by enumerating the types of people that he sees and placing each person into a specific category. The narrator treats each person within each of his classifications as the same as the whole: though he calls them individuals, he immediately places them into a larger group. Poe here is trying to say that while you may think that you are a distinct person in the city, you have already lost your individuality by being part of the crowd. The narrator tells himself that everyone is different, but in pointing out their differences, he makes sweeping generalizations, thus making many people the same as one another. Furthermore, when the narrator classifies and describes the crowd, he does so in a very scientific manner, looking at each of them through their figure, dress, air, gait, visage, and expression of countenance (216). While these traits should make each person different at least in some way from another, they are all treated as exactly the same within each group. The classification of the people in the crowd makes them lose their individuality by generalizing and putting each person into a pre-labeled group. When a person comes along, the man of the crowd, that cannot be classified, the narrator is startled (218): he doesnt know how to think about this man since he cannot put him in a well-defined category. He is so intrigued by this man that he leaves the coffee shop where he has been meticulously scouring the people of the crowd. He purposefully hides among the pedestrians so as not to be seen and, in doing so, loses his individuality and becomes just another undistinguishable face amid a sea of others, suggesting that his quest to classify this man is futile. If the narrator himself is indistinguishable, how is he able to individualize and ascribe specific attributes to someone else? Also, the way in which he describes the passages that the old man takes causes him to become intertwined with the old mans identity: the narrator says that he hurried into the street [] until we emerged (220). He has to do exactly as the old man does in order to stay close and observe him. Again, this mixing of identities emphasizes the loss of individuality in the city that Poe wishes to point out. A person starts to lose his identity when he starts behaving like other people. The narrator eventually abandons his pursuit, saying that this man does not permit [himself] to be read (215). He points out that he can learn nothing else about him. The narrator here seems to just ignore someone that does not fit into he predetermined classifications. This eventual disregard for the peculiarity of the old man again shows that there is no true individuality in the city. If other people like this man cannot be classified, they are probably simply ignored; in effect they do not exist. So, in essence there are no individuals. The tale opens by saying that it is a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone. The narrator in Man of the Crowd is surrounded by a city full of people, unable to be alone, though is truly isolated from them. Through the observations made by this narrator, it is evident that the same isolation applies to every other member of society in London; no one knows anyone else and, in that sense, everyone is isolated. Though, these people are not alone in that none of them are distinguishable from a larger group. Each person is defined as being part of a group within the crowd and as a part of the crowd generally. It is this loss of individuality that gives meaning to the vagueness title The Man in the Crowd.

House Of The Seven Gables :: essays research papers fc

The House of the Seven Gables   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"[The] sympathy or magnetism among human beings is more subtle and universal than we think; it exists, indeed, among different classes of organized life, and vibrates from one to another† (Hawthorne 178). Loosely based on the events of Hawthorne’s own life, The House of the Seven Gables attempts to show the suffering of descendants forced to repent for the sins of their â€Å"father†, while they are unknowingly renewing the curse by nurturing the ancestral greed that has passed through the generations (O’ Connor 6) . Thus the various themes of the novel reflect the central idea of continued sin through the greed and guilt of a declining family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each generation struggles to escape the sins of the past, only to be thrust forcefully back to face the offenses of their forefathers. The House of the Seven Gables is a tale of loneliness and greed caused by the sin of preceding generations. The opening of the novel is set in puritan times during the Salem witch hunts. The villainous Colonel Pyncheon wrongly accused the innocent Matthew Maule of witchcraft so that the Maule land would fall into the Pyncheon family’s hands. Upon his death, Maule â€Å"addressed [Colonel Pyncheon] from the scaffold, and uttered a prophecy...God will give him blood to drink† (Hawthorne 4-5) . The physical wrongdoing of Colonel Pyncheon against Matthew Maule was avenged at the former’s death, with the curse being fulfilled. However, the essence of the crime lived on through the generations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By chapter two, the focus of the novel has shifted to the modern generations of the Pyncheon family. The family has severely declined since the Colonel’s time, yet the curse of greed is as strong as ever. The remains of the family consist of a decrepit spinster named Hepzibah, now the caretaker of the house of the seven gables; her insane brother Clifford, who was just recently released from prison; their devilish cousin Judge Jaffrey, a man fixated upon his own greed; and their distant cousin Phoebe, the sunny country girl that will be their redemption. Also, the last surviving descendant of the Maule lineage, the handsome Holgrave Maule, resides at the house.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a compilation by F.O. Matthiessen, it is stated that the â€Å"main theme was not the original curse on the house, but the curse that the Pyncheons have continued to bring upon themselves†. It is not Maule’s death which needs avenging, but the anguish caused by the Pyncheon family’s greed. â€Å"Lust for wealth has held the Pyncheon’ in its inflexible