Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee - 1799 Words

While not all people possess gallantry and bravery, there are also many figures of society that demonstrate various acts of courage. In the Pulitzer prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, multiple characters in Maycomb demonstrate acts of firmness and integrity that are both big and small. The story revolves around the citizens of Maycomb, and the events that surround the trial of a negroe man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, citizens from all social classes and backgrounds conduct themselves in a courageous manner in particular situations. Mrs. Dubose shows immense bravery while fighting a difficult personal battle with addiction, while Scout, a young girl, must be gallant at such a young age when she is told†¦show more content†¦Instead, she acts immaturely and is uncooperative, despite the fact that she has less at stake than Tom Robinson. Mayella Ewell witnesses the crime take place and then later testifies in front of the courtroom. Atticus i s attempting to question Mayella, but she is not being very cooperative and it is visible that she is hiding things from the jury. Atticus repeatedly questions her and asks, â€Å" ‘Do you love your father, Miss Mayella?’ was his next. ‘ Love him, whatcha mean?’ ‘ I mean, is he good to you, is he easy to get along with?’ ‘ He does tollable, ‘cept when-’ ‘ Except when?’ Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up straight and waited for her to answer. ‘ Except when nothin’,’ said Mayella. ‘ I said he does tollable.’ Mr. Ewell leaned back again† (245). It is clear to the jury, along with everyone else in the courtroom, that Mayella is very tense and cannot answer the questions honestly, due to the fact that she is afraid to answer something wrong. Further into the testimony, Mayella ultimately refuses to answer any inqui ries of Atticus. He questions, â€Å" ‘Then why didn’t the other children hear you? Where were they? At the dump?’ No answer. ‘ Why didn’t your screams make them come running? The dump’s closer than the woods, isn’t it?’ No answer†¦. ‘ Did you scream first at your father instead of at Tom Robinson? Was that it?’ No answer. ‘ Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?’ No answer† (251). Her

Oedipus, A Tragic Hero - 1832 Words

Literature and theatre arts throughout the ages have created many memorable tales and many unforgettable characters that withstand the test of time, while many others will likely fade away. Oedipus Rex is a tragic tale set in Ancient Greece. Greek thinker, Aristotle, said there were certain elements that would make a person qualified as a â€Å"tragic hero.† (Adade-Ywboah, Ahenkora Amankwah, 2012). We think of heroes being larger than life, possessing impeccable honor, integrity, strong leadership and having the higher moral ground. However, tragic heroes are different; they are imperfect and will inevitably face a tragic downfall. Per Aristotle, there are several different specific attributes necessary in a tragic hero, including noble status, tragic flaw, extreme awareness or self-knowledge, punishments that do not fit their crime, the plight of the hero evokes emotions and there is an element of free choice that send the character down the wrong path; the tragic path. Afte r reviewing the relevant material and the analysis of the title character, Oedipus, is essentially a perfect example of the traits identified by Aristotle as indicative of a tragic hero in Ancient Greek literature and theatre. DISCUSSION Great heroes are a mainstay and are huge part of any culture heritage, their folklore and mythos. Whether one recalls King Arthur, Beowulf, or in the modern heroes, Luke Skywalker or any superhero, like Superman,Show MoreRelatedOedipus As A Tragic Hero1506 Words   |  7 PagesA true hero does not merely wear a cape, but this individual possesses admirable characteristics. A hero inspires the people around him and he is honorable. Heroes influential individuals from fairytale stories and myths of a real-life hero. Yet, none of these influential people are perfect. The tragic hero is clearly defined by Aristotle as being a person of admirable character, yet completely human with noticeable flaws. Moreover, this individual is not exempt from suffering. In Sophocles’ tragicRead MoreOedipus-a Tragic Hero706 Words   |  3 PagesRunning head: Oedipus-A Tragic Hero Research Paper ENGL 102: Literature and Composition) Fall 2015 Melinda Meeds L26683811 APA Outline Thesis: In Sophocles’ â€Å"Oedipus†, Oedipus is exemplified as a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition because his story appeals to the reader’s humanity in the way he maintains his strengths after inadvertently causing his own downfall. I. Oedipus A. The noble birth. B. Describe Oedipus’ character. II. Tragedy A. DescribeRead MoreIs Oedipus A Tragic Hero?1167 Words   |  5 Pages2014 Is Oedipus a tragic hero? Aristotle, Ancient Greek philosopher whom did a lot of philosophizing, he believed in a logical reality. Aristotle’s objective was to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every imaginable thing about reality. The initial process involved describing objects based on their characteristics, states of being and actions. Aristotle once said A man doesn t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall†. Oedipus was a mythicalRead MoreOedipus the Tragic Hero1390 Words   |  6 PagesOedipus; The Tragic Hero In the Fourth Century BC, a famous philosopher named Aristotle wrote about the qualities that a tragic hero must possess. Ever since that time, there have been many examples of tragic heroes in literature. None of those characters, however, display the tragic hero traits quite as well as Oedipus, the main character from the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Oedipus is, without a doubt, the absolute quintessence of a tragic hero. His example shines as clear as a sunny summerRead MoreOedipus As A Tragic Hero1724 Words   |  7 Pagesstory of Oedipus, Oedipus is considered a â€Å"Tragic Hero† because of the tragic fate and effect that he had upon his life. My definition of a tragedy is a great loss that has a unhappy ending to which concluded me to state that Oedipus falls under that category. Throughout the book, Oedipus is leading himself to his own destruction when trying to find the killer of the late King Laios. So when a journal article I found published by The John Hopk ins University Press stated that a â€Å"tragic hero is a manRead MoreOedipus, A Tragic Hero1648 Words   |  7 Pages Oedipus, a Tragic Hero Bob Livingston Liberty University â€Æ' Sophocles presented the world with Oedipus around 2500 years ago. Never-the-less, the story remains among the most riveting of all time. He was, in fact, a man that was driven by a very high internal moral standard. It was that internal moral standard that ultimately entwined him in a sequence of events and circumstances that placed him in the spousal relationship with his mother. Oedipus, in fact, can truly be regarded as a tragic heroRead MoreOedipus a Tragic Hero1516 Words   |  7 PagesOedipus A Tragic Hero English 102 Literature and Composition Summer B 2011 Terry Garofolo 22816762 APA Sophocles presented the world with Oedipus around 2500 years ago. Never-the-less, the story remains among the most riveting of all time. Unfortunately, today when we hear the mention of the name Oedipus we place negative connotations around it. Oedipus, after all, had an unnatural sexual relationship with his own mother! In actuality, however, this relationship emerged entirely innocentlyRead MoreOedipus As A Tragic Hero1094 Words   |  5 PagesIn the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus struggles to accept the truth and lets his temper over power him. He can be displayed as a tragic hero. His refusal to accept the truth led to Oedipus’ down fall. A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, â€Å"is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.† Sophocles’ Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. In the play, Oedipus unknowingly has cursed the entire town of Thebes. He was cursedRead MoreOedipus, a Tragic Hero?2158 Words   |  9 PagesOedipus, a Tragic Hero? Elizabeth Howell English 102- B33 Professor Katie Robinson Liberty University October 12, 2012 Oedipus, a Tragic Hero? Thesis: Using Aristotle’s five different descriptions of a tragic hero, we will show that Oedipus in Oedipus the King is in fact a tragic hero and how his decisions led to his downfall. Outline: I. Introduction and Thesis Statement II. Is the character of noble birth? A. King of Thebes B. Real father was king III. Though the tragic heroRead MoreOedipus As A Tragic Hero1445 Words   |  6 PagesAlthough not all who wander or deviate from the path are lost, some clearly are. When Oedipus, the eponymous character of Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex, first learns that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother, he abandons his home intent on never returning in order to avoid meeting his fate. Unbeknownst to the tragic hero, before the curtain’s rise, the prophecy has already been fulfilled. Consequently, due to the underlying corruption in Thebes, the people are perishing of a plague

Portrait of the Artist as Filipino Scene I Free Essays

So far, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino has been a story about the lives of the Marasigan sisters, Candida and Paula, and their father Don Lorenzo, a well known painter. The story is centered around Don Lorenzo’s latest creation, a rather disturbing painting of Aeneas carrying Anchises on his back as they flee from the sacked and burning city of Troy. The painting is a self portrait of Don Lorenzo’s younger self carrying his present self, and seems to leave everyone who has gazed upon it a touch unsettled, including the two sisters, who blame the painting for their misfortunes and for their impoverished state. We will write a custom essay sample on Portrait of the Artist as Filipino Scene I or any similar topic only for you Order Now In spite of the fact that the sisters are in need of money for the up keep of themselves and the house, they refuse to sell it for two thousand dollars and dont seem to want to get rid of it for any price at all or even to have it placed on a gallery for display. They have thus far in the story refused to be parted from it, even though they look to it with contempt. The fact that they do not wish to sell it under their current situation perplexes me. Why not just get rid of it for the substantial amount of money offered by Tony’s employer who is willing to pay two thousand dollars for it? If they really are indeed so desperately poor, that they waste their time looking through news paper articles for jobs, taking in strange men to live with them for fifteen pesos a month, and coming up with strange ideas. They could have gotten the money, kicked that Tony character out and lived in a state of dignity once again for a little while before they all died in Intramuros. In the first scene Candida even says something like â€Å"What’s the use in having a talent when you cant make any money out of it? † Well, there you go, Don Lorenzo produced something worth two grand, why not make money out of that? Pair of crazy dames indeed. The fact that the painting brings out different reactions in people is very interesting. Others would be ready to throw it in the trash, and for the rest, it’s worth a fortune. Some are afraid of it, and it takes people back to their past. Most of the reactions seem to be on a negative side, which is interesting. What is it about the double self portrait of Don Lorenzo that seems to unsettle everyone so much, and why is it called A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino? There’s apparently nothing Filipino about it, except for Don Lorenzo, who in the painting is portraying himself as characters from Greek and Roman epics. I can’t help but guess at the meaning of his terrible creation, and think that the painting is about a great burden, the burden being Don Lorenzo himself. He paints those eyes with such mastery that everyone in the room, and even beyond it feels the weight of its silent glare. How to cite Portrait of the Artist as Filipino Scene I, Papers

Professions of Women free essay sample

Throughout the history of women we have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. In earlier centuries wifehood and motherhood was regarded to be the womens most significant profession. Women prided themselves on how well they worked around there house and who was able to make sure there husbands were content with the work they did at home. Finding a voice somewhere along the way women have made quite a reputation for themselves. Since the 20th century, however, women in most nations have gained the right to vote, increased their opportunities to excel in better jobs, and have received an enhanced education. Women have reevaluated the traditional views of their role in society today. Virginia Woolf could not explain the profession of a women any better than what she did. How have the women from nations around the world developed their roles in today’s society? Are women more accepting to jobs that are â€Å"made† for them or do they try to excel and achieve more than expected to? I have seen many women have different actions toward their situations and each one have had different outcomes. Although each of their situations and outcomes were different women have made a difference in the growth of our individualism and I believe it will continue to grow. I feel that Woolf’s writing could be very influential to women all over to never back down from a challenge. Virginia Woolf was an English novelist, feminist, and a writer of short stories. Woolf began writing professionally during the year 1900. She was educated at home by her father. After his death in 1904, she, her sister, and her brothers moved to Bloomsbury. As her writing career took off, Woolf’s writing explored the concepts of time, memory, and peoples inner consciousness. Her writing was recognized for its humanity and depth of perception. Woolf was interested in defining qualities that were specific to the female’s mind. She saw female sensibility as intuitive, and wanted to liberate the masculine intellect from what she viewed as its enslavement to abstract concepts. In 1912 she married Leonard Woolf, a critic and writer on economics and politics. In 1931 Virginia wrote an essay called â€Å"profession of women†, and became the narrative of women progress of feminism. Virginia Woolf died on 28 March 1941 when she drowned herself in the River Ouse near their home in Sussex, by putting rocks in her coat pockets. Woolf identified with an experience that stood out to me the most. The angel in the house was most interesting to me because of how she viewed women and how they should act towards men. On page 883 the angel in the house said, â€Å"You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic: be tender; flatter; deceive; and use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure. Are women supposed to hold themselves superior to men? First and foremost I do not feel women should yield their rights to anyone in this world. Giving praise to people is fine, but lying about it to preserve someone else’s feelings is useless for the simple fact that the society we live in today will not yield to our feelings. When we falsely praise someone’s work what good could come from it? All I see is bad because what you lie about and say is good, the â€Å"real world† will bluntly say this is crap and not good enough. Woolf looked at telling lies in her reviews, being the only way she could succeed and be successful. Back then women did not have rights to speak out against men, it was morally incorrect. Now women have the ability to write and say what they feel. When women yield their rights to men, a man will take advantage of you because he knows he has that kind of control over you. I also feel once you give constant praise to any man he will become boastful. If a man knows how smart or talented he is then he will be cocky and an ass to everyone. From the early nineteenth century there were three waves of feminism to give women equal rights that white men have obtained from earlier years, which are still presently happening today. In the United States we have worked hard to get rights just to have a voice in the government. So simply reverting back to our old ways and catering to men’s needs would be slapping the women that fought to make our future brighter. After fighting for many years I do not feel or believe we should yield our rights, only to satisfy a man’s ego. Although The Yellow Wallpaper is a fiction reading, the woman ignored her needs to make her husband feel like his diagnosis was the right thing for her. By not speaking up it eventually drove her insane. I think all women should be independent and speak their mind. God gave us a brain so why not use it to benefit our well being. Going back in history women were not allowed to educate themselves in any aspect of school. We did not have the capabilities to diagnose problems that were wrong with the human body. Although women did not have the knowledge to do so, I am pretty sure women would know what was wrong with them mentally and physically. This goes for everyone, no doctor, no individual being, can tell you what disorder you have. I think if you know what you need to cure what ever you are going through then do so. Doctor’s are there just to make sure you are on the right path and could possibly give direction of a better understand of how the body works. No one knows you more than yourself. There is a saying that states, â€Å"Behind every great man there is a great women. † My father is indeed a great man, but he wouldn’t be where he was today if it was not for my mother. My mom was not always sympathetic to my father, nor was she catering to my father’s every need. My father is a successful business man with the help of my mother. Eleanor Roosevelt was the first lady of house for a 12 year span. While Franklin Roosevelt was out dealing with the depression crisis in the United States, Mrs. Roosevelt dealt with minor civil issues like segregation and women’s rights. Mrs. Roosevelt used her weight in the media as a way to connect with women who found themselves in domestic isolation. With this in mind, Eleanor used three mediums to keep in touch with her female followers. She used the press conference, a daily newspaper column, and magazine articles. These three means opened up the communication into a two-way channel. Although her purpose was to initially speak to the women of the United States, her concerns favored humanitarian, but she did stay true to the women issues. There are many more women who do great things that are overlooked because their husband’s carry such high statuses, but their voices do not go unheard. I am sure FDR had his disagreements with his wife, but she never sugarcoated her beliefs because he was politically at a higher standard. Just like the angel in the house Eleanor embraced his politics and let him know what women would want, and he listened to her. Just know no man of any kind will sugar coat how he feels about you, so why should women? Women who have not accepted their role as a housewife have paved pathways for many women to come. Oprah Winfrey not only had the obstacle of being a woman in the business world, but being of the African American descent as well. According to most people she is recognized as the most influential woman in the world. In 1974 Oprah could have made a living once she reached a co-anchoring position at a local radio broadcasting show, but that was not enough. 976 she excelled to be the youngest and first black women to become a news anchor in Nashville, Tennessee on WLAC-TV. By 1983 Oprah had taken over a low rated TV show that aired in Chicago to a nationally viewed talk show renamed after her. Now in 2010 Oprah has the highest rated talk show in history of the world, she has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, and the greatest black philanthropist of America. Settling for what is giving is not enough. Women have to give more of them just to be considered half as good as men. Not only Oprah but many other women have opened doors to better jobs. Politically, Hillary Clinton has excelled to clenching a job in President Obama’s cabinet. She has given hope to young women of America that the president’s position could be held by both men and women. Amelia Earhart opened the field of aviation for women in 1928. Many of other women have added themselves to the history of women by simply accomplishing things men have done too. No job should be limited to only males. I feel women could do any job a male can do if not better, but that is based on opinion. I think every woman has the Angel in the house. Many women today still play their traditional role from the early 1900’s. It is not that they are not strong enough to kill the Angel; it is just something they feel is what women should fulfill. Many women have grown out of the stereo typical view of what a women’s role should be and have excelled to do great things. We are all individuals that have brains and should use them to the best of our ability. We are given educational advantages to go to school and learn for free. â€Å"Use the talents you posses, for the forest would be silent if the only bird that sings was the best.

Andrew Sexton Essays - NervaAntonine Dynasty, Aurelii, Films

Andrew Sexton Core-100 Yandell 2-9-2017 Hero's Journey Analysis Maximus: The Journey of a True Hero Often in movies, novels and other stories, there are tales of a hero and all his adventures. This common use of story-telling is known as the hero's journey. The hero's journey was first created by a man named Christopher Vogler, who condensed the journey into twelve simple stages. In the movie Gladiator, the main character, Maximus, portrays this hero's journey and the twelve stages as he starts off as a general for the Roman Legion. However, not all tales completely follow the hero's journey exactly. The director of Gladiator, Ridley Scott, uses creative twists in the hero's journey to create a unique and different type of hero's journey. To summarize the film, Maximus is a general for the Roman Legion under the rule of Caesar Marcus Aurelias. The legion is faced by a long-standing war with Germania rebels. The legion quickly take care of the rebels and achieve victory. The caesar however, knows that will die soon, so he requests that Maximus be the next caser once he passes, but Maximus respectfully declines. Angered, because he was not loved by his father, Aurelia's' son Commodus, vengefully kills his father so that he would be named the next Caesar. Commodus asks Maximus for his allegiance, but once again, Maximus declines. Angered once again, Commodus sentences Maximus to be executed, as well as his family back home. Maximus escapes his sentence and flees back home, only to see his wife and son murdered, crisped, and hung. Maximus stays at his home, where later a slave caravan takes him in to test him out to be a gladiator. His owner, Proximal throws him into the gladiator ring, where Maximus and his comrades are victorious on multiple accounts. While Maximus continues to fight, the new Caesar, Commodus tries to make Rome great again, and he introduces games back into Rome. With Maximus' and his gladiator comrades' previous victories, Proximal takes them to Rome where they will fight in the big stage as gladiators. Ultimately, Proximal knows that Maximus is great fighter, and that with his help, he may be able to earn his freedom from fighting. In the gladiator's first fight in Rome, the warriors achieve victory in what was supposed to be certain death. Impressed, Commodus visits the winners, and is surprised to see Maximus as one of the warriors. Maximus then declares revenge on Commodus, but he cannot kill Maximus because the crowd loves the warrior and it would be considered political suicide. In the ring, Maximus continues to win fights, which angers Commodus greatly. Maximus also continues to plan his revenge, where he will escape from the gladiator keeps and kill Commodus, so that ther e may be proper reign in Rome again. With the help of Proximal and the rest of the fighters, Maximus escapes, but is shortly captured by the guards since Commodus had knowledge of his plans. Maximus is taken back in and is forced to have one last fight, but this time against Commodus. In his last fight in the ring, Commodus greets Maximus and tells him that he himself will fight Maximus, but in an unjust way. Commodus wounds Maximus shortly before their fight so that he could have the advantage. Maximus and Commodus fight to the death, where Maximus ends up killing Commodus, but also ends up dying due to his wounds. Once dead, Maximus ends up in the afterlife with his wife and son, his true home. Per Vogler, there are three different acts that the hero's journey partakes on. The first part of act one is the ordinary world. Per Vogler, the purpose of the ordinary world is to "take the hero out of the ordinary, mundane world and into a special world." This is not the case for the gladiator Maximus. To the common viewer, the ordinary world for Maximus is the real world, where Maximus is a general for the Roman Legion. However, after analysis of the movie, the viewer can conclude that the ordinary world to Maximus is not reality. This is the most important aspect to where Scott adds his own little twist to the hero's journey. Everything Maximus does in the

The eNotes Blog Summer Reading That DoesntSuck

Summer Reading That DoesntSuck Ah, summer time, the perfect opportunity to pick up a new book and enter a brand new or vaguely familiar world. Pool-side or park-side, a new book is a great way to fill your brightly lit evenings. Check out our thoughtfully curated suggestions below for some truly gratifying reads. For a Good Laugh:   Consider picking up any of David Sedaris’s books. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls is his latest, and in many respects, his most mature book to date. With just enough snark to have his readers laughing out loud, Sedaris strikes a pleasant balance between pensive and perverse. His essay about taxidermy owls had us spraying coffee out of our noses. This book is guaranteed to produce both nostalgia and clarity when examining your own past. For the World Traveler: Summer is the perfect time to travel, but when you’re on a tight budget, sometimes an expensive trip to an exotic location just isnt in the cards. Instead of experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out), brush up on your geography of the world with DK’s World Atlas. With extensive information on every continent, and over 100,000 locations noted, you’ll be in the know by the time your next jet-set trip is here. For the Philosopher: Jack Kerouac’s classic On the Road is undeniably complex in nature. It seeks to be active rather than passive, and to participate in the world rather than merely observe  it. His off-beat narrative style and thought-provoking content brings the reader along for the journey of a lifetime. Provocative  and amusing, this book acts as an excellent segue into some of the more obscure teachings of the beatnik era. Do take this novel with a grain of salt though, there are many who have attempted to read On the Road with a feminist perspective who have been enormously disappointed. If you choose to take Kerouacs writing for what it is, an example of literature in a truly transitional point in American history, youll be deeply satisfied with his story. For the (Hopeless) Romantic: Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lolita has oft been called the greatest love story ever told, and, it would seem, with good reason. The controversial novel embarks on a journey into the complex nature of love and empathy. Vladimir Nabokov marries gorgeous prose and disturbing characters in an effort to speak to the humanity in each of us. It would seem that Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert is both manipulative and manipulated, making him a difficult character to interpret. Readers are asked to identify with this murderer and pedophile in ways that are both surprising and effective. This novel is not for the faint of heart, but if you feel up to the task, it’ll be worth your time. For the Athlete: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall incorporates science, inspiration, and amazing athletic achievements into a truly astounding book that speaks to the heart of any exercise enthusiast. With an impressive synthesis of narration and cutting-edge science, this book offers a fresh perspective on ultra-athletes and the cultures that produce them. McDougall describes in great detail his experiences with the Tarahumara tribe, a legendary group of people who have perfected the art of running, allowing for the reader to have their understanding of the modern athlete transformed in unexpected ways. For the Science-Fiction Lover: 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson offers his readers a truly magnificent peek into a not-so distant future where planets and asteroids have been colonized. Robinson paints a profound picture of the impact of climate change on our world and discusses  issues surrounding artificial intelligence that leave readers more perplexed about the ethics of new technology than ever before. 2312 is an impressive piece of fiction that successfully evokes a sense of oneness within our universe- truly a joy to read and reflect on. Have you read any of these books? Would you be interested in writing your own review? If yes, leave a comment or shoot us an email. Happy reading!

Wikis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wikis - Assignment Example can observe how the business offers its services and products by reading other people’s comments, therefore, getting attracted to the business if it has good ratings. This would bring new customers to the business. Thirdly, potential customers seek to work with companies that they can trust. A business that has a wiki creates an atmosphere of trust by showing that it accepts criticism if a service is rendered poorly. Therefore, many businesses that develop wikis are thought to deliver quality services, therefore, attracting new customers (Wagner and Majchrzak 17). The wiki can be critical to the employees as it would offer a platform where they can communicate with the customers, thus making them understand what the business is all about. It also ensures that the employees are treated well in the business to ensure that their comments are in the company’s favor. Partners can view the company’s progress through the wiki by reading the comments and assessing them to see if quality services and products are offered (Wagner and Majchrzak 21). Wikis bear ethical and security concerns in that any individual can add content, which may be offensive or not be relevant to the topics. Secondly, people assume that the wikis can be edited or written in favor of a particular issue, thus reducing credibility. Thirdly, wikis can be tampered with using malware applications or viruses (Cummings 6). The company can address these issues by ensuring that the users are registered before gaining access to the wiki. This helps to detected changes and identifies users’ presence. Antivirus programs can be used to detect malware programs that could be harmful to the computers (Wagner and Majchrzak 37). Cummings, Robert E.. Wiki Writing Collaborative Learning in the College Classroom. Ann Arbor: Digital Culture Books, an imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the University of Michigan Library, 2008.

Principles of Marketing for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Principles of Marketing for Business - Essay Example One such theory is the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs proposed by Abraham Maslow. Their motivational theory is largely based on a hierarchy of needs. These hierarchical levels can be defined into lower to higher levels as shown in the figure below: Figure 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Source: Phinney & Halstead, 2003, p.15) Marketers can use this theory in conducting market research about consumer behaviour of a target market audience. It is a well known fact that a successful product is largely one that can satisfy the needs and wants of the customers. Hence marketers spend considerable time and resources towards trying to figure out the demands of the customers. The model of hierarchy shows that only when the needs in the lower part of the pyramid are fulfilled the individuals are motivated to fulfil the next level. Marketers can therefore use this model to predict the needs and wants and also use surveys to find out the level of the needs that are being satisfied by t he present product offering. Adequate motivation can be provided in the form of innovative advertising strategies so as to motivate individuals to move to the next level of hierarchy. An example in this regard is the computers. Initially computers were desktop based devices and thus fulfilled the basic needs of computing, however as the basic needs of individuals got fulfilled they wanted more value from the products. The arrival of laptops and now tablets is a classic example of how this motivational theory can be used by marketers to gain competitive advantage. Question 2 Choose a product and explain how the market for that product could be segmented. One of the most useful and highly innovative products is the tablet PC. The tablet PC is actually a modification of the laptop and is much smaller in size but has advanced functions and can be very well used as a mobile computing device. The market for tablet PC can be segmented on the basis of price as well as quality. In the curren t situation a tablet PC would be designed that would have optimal functions and same looks but would be priced on a lower level. The market for tablet PC’s can be segmented on the basis of income levels and age. The low cost tablet would be specifically targeted for the student segment. The product features of the product would be such that it would tend to satisfy all the needs of students with regards to using such devices in their educational needs. It will not carry advanced features like 3G or other high end graphics that are essentially not required for students in their educational activities. The product would come at a very low price tag of only 40 US dollars. The above stated segmentation strategy can largely be stated to be price and need based segmentation of the market. In the case highlighted above the product is segmented for lower income group individuals with a specific need. In this case students perfectly fall into this segment. Other than this there are st atistical techniques and tools like cluster analysis and factor analysis that can be used by marketers as a marketing research tool. Gathering real and live data from the market can help generate even better analysis and results and help generate competitive advantage in the market. Part 2 The environment The market environment is perhaps a very important area for marketers. Any organization is largely

Essay On the Lynch Speech ( Full Text Provided )

On the Lynch Speech ( Full Text Provided ) - Essay Example (1). The alleged speech focuses on solving the problem that slave owners of Virginia in maintaining control over their slaves, through the methods that William Lynch had refined through their use on slaves in his plantations in the West Indies. (2). In essence the advice given to the slave owners of Virginia to maintain control over their slaves is based on the divide and rule policy used successfully by the Romans in the past, and the British in more recent times, to maintain control over their much larger colonies. The basis of the divide and rule policy lies in enlarging the differences within the targeted set of people to such an extent that they act as divisive forces to rend the people apart such that they hate those that are marginally different through color, caste, or religion and look more favorably on those subjugating them. This is the advice found in the text of the alleged William Lynch speech â€Å"I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves: and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes†. (2). The advice given in the speech is not restricted to just the masters of the houses of the white slave owners, but also for the women and children, such that there is no area among the white slave owners from where respite is offered on this strategy. The speech contains the self-belief that indoctrinating the black slaves to look upon even the slight variances among themselves including color, age, and sex with â€Å"fear, distrust and envy† or social reengineering as the cure all for retaining control and dominating the black slaves, not just in the immediate times, but extending for hundreds of years. (2). The alleged speech reflects the manner in which the black slaves were subjugated into slavery. Following the advice was supposed to keep the blacks enslaved for centuries, but in about

Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions

Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions This study will emphasise on the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The case study will be held in Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. This study will be using the quantitative methods to further study the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. Background In the search for lower cost housing, working families often locate far from their place of work and this will resulting in the increasing of their transportation costs and commute times. However, for many such families, the transportation costs exceed their housing costs. According to Bernstein (2001), affordability has never been just about housing cost, it is actually the interaction between housing and transportation cost that provide more meaningful measure of affordability. Hence, choosing a location-efficient neighbourhood near transit, services and jobs, families can reduce monthly household expenses. This study will emphasise on the model of land use and prices formulated by Von Thunen in 1826, a German economist. The theory concentrates on difference in relative transport costs in different types of agricultural production. According to J. Harvey (1997), he made assumptions that a boundless flat and featureless plain over which natural resources and climate are distributed uniformly and there is a central market for the area. Furthermore, he also assumed that the farmer used uniform horse and cart transport facilities to this central market, and different foods can be grown, but since these differ in bulk, the cost of transporting them to the market also differs. For each type of product, transport cost varies directly and proportionately with distance from the central market. However, the receipts from cultivation of one hectare of land are the same for all types of product. Given by these assumptions, it pictures the rent-paying capacity as a function of transport cost and the distance from the market. As distance from the market increases the total costs are raised by the increased cost of transport of the cultivation product. However, this study will relates this theory with the decision of housing location of the case study in Bandar Saujana. It will examine whether the theory match the pattern of the housing location in regards with the transport cost. Bandar Saujana Putra is a new self-contained township located in Sepang Selangor. The township launched the first phase of the development in 2004, has an easy access to the town centre using ELITE Highway. Its easy access to the town made Bandar Saujana Putra an ideal for the case study as the resident able to travel to the respective location of their needs. Statement of Problems: The township of Bandar Saujana Putra is located approximately 20km from the centre of Kuala Lumpur and the residents enjoy an easy access via ELITE Highway. However, how the transportation cost is plays a role in determining the decision to reside in Bandar Saujana Putra? Furthermore, does the Von Thunen theory explain the pattern of location theory in the case of Bandar Saujana Putra? Objectives of Study: The main objective of the study is to examine the effects of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The second objective of the study is to examine whether Von Thunen theory match the pattern of location theory in Bandar Saujana Putra. Scope of Study: The study is confined to the areas of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor since it is located approximately 20 km away from city centre and easily accessible. The respondent of the questionnaire are limited to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra and analysis as well as findings from the rental and property price will be used to accomplish the objectives mentioned above. The difficulty and limitation for the study arise when distributing the sample questionnaire and to get the feedback from the respondents. There will be situation where the respondents that have been approached will not or hesitate to give cooperation to the sample questionnaire. Research Methodology: The study would be done in an analytic manner. The information that is needed to examine the issue will be obtained from primary and secondary data. Primary Data: Primary data refers to the first-hand data, which required data collection. For this study, it will mainly involve in the distribution of questionnaire to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra. The analysis will also be done according to the study areas in order to examine the transport cost of the residents. The question will be in objective manner administered to arrive to the objectives of the study. Secondary Data: The second method is secondary data which will mostly comprise of data collection through references of such as relevant books, journal, conference paper, newspaper and magazine articles and also online references. The data will also obtain from the economic text book which further explained the theory related to the study. Significant of Study: It is hoped that the anticipated outcome of this study can benefit the government especially the Town Planners in determining the structure of local city plan. While planning for housing development and also commercial hub, the developer and town planners have to consider the factors of distance and transportation as these two related closely to the affordability factor of a household. Secondly, this study will also benefit the house buyer in determining the location of the house as the distance and transportation cost is concern. The study will enlighten as how the location factors of property affects the daily budget of a household. The study also points to the importance of infill development that expands the supply of affordable housing in inner city and older suburban neighbourhoods that have good access to traditional job centres; the development of more affordable housing near transportation hubs and suburban employment centres. Lastly, the study intends to benefit the students as it will open up more discussion regarding the issue. Further research can be done to improve the findings of this study and hopefully it will beneficial towards the knowledge of the students. Organisation of Study: This study will consist of five chapters where the first chapter provides a brief concept and overview of Von Thunen theory that will be discussed further in the Literature Review. The first chapter consist of the introduction of the study and also statement problem that initiates the study. The first chapter also explained on the limitation faced on doing the study and the significance of this study. Meanwhile, the second chapter will discuss on literature review related to the study. It will mainly focus on the concept of the dynamic of Von Thunen theory in relation of the property market. The next part of the chapter will look further on the theory of urban economic and the formulation of the theory towards the locational decision. It will further strengthen the understanding of the theory based on the literature reviewed. Chapter three will discuss further on the methodology used in obtaining the information for the study. The quantitative methods of distributing questionnaire will be discussed further as well as the qualitative research methods used in the study. The qualitative research of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data is by observing the current market trend. This chapter will further emphasise on the case study chosen which is Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. The fourth chapter of the study will shows the analysis of the data collected previously. Information and data that is obtained from the survey of the market rental will be further detailed in this chapter using the appropriate graphs and diagrams. The analysis of the findings is further discussed in relation to the patterns of economic rent in the market. The last chapter will conclude the analysis of the findings and draws the recommendation of the further study to compliment this research. It will also determine the confirmation of the objectives of this study as well as the holistic achievement of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction: This chapter will explain further on the previous literature and writing in regards of the urban land use in general and Von Thunen theory of locational decision. Other than that, this chapter will also discuss on the limitation of the theory as well as the formulation of the theory. Background: Urban land use comprises two elements; the nature of land use which relates to which activities are taking place, and the level of spatial accumulation which indicates their intensity and concentration. Central areas compared to peripheral area have a high level of spatial accumulation and corresponding land uses such as retail while peripheral areas, on the other hand have lower levels of accumulation. In addition most economic as suggested by Gordon (2005), social or cultural activities imply a multitude of functions, such as production, consumption and distribution. These functions take place only at specific locations and are part of an activity system. Therefore activities have a spatial imprint whereby some are routine activities as they occur regularly and are thus predictable, such as commuting and shopping. Others are institutional activities that tend to be irregular, and are shaped by lifestyle for example sports and leisure, by special needs for example healthcare. Still others are production activities that are related to manufacturing and distribution, whose linkages may be local, regional or global. In short, the behavioural patterns of individuals, institutions and firms have an imprint on land use and the representation of this imprint requires a typology of land use, which can be formal or functional: Formal land use: The representations are concerned with qualitative attributes of space such as its form, pattern and aspect and are descriptive in nature. Functional land use: The representations are concerned with the economic nature of activities such as production, consumption, residence, and transport, and are mainly a socioeconomic description of space. Residential accommodation: The stock of residential accommodation varies from multi-storey flat near the city centre, through back-to-back terrace houses and then semi-detached, to detached houses often standing in spacious ground. This stock of residential accommodation reflects decisions taken at some time in the past because of the building costs rule out the choice of new construction for a substantial part of the population. If the residence is to compete land away from other uses then sites would have to be developed to higher densities in or near the position of greatest accessibility than elsewhere, because sites in that area provide optimum location for higher order uses such as offices and retailing. According to Smith (1997), there is a relationship between a persons income, his place of residence and his place of work, although the correlation is not fixed, for individuals differ in the proportion of their incomes they choose to spend on accommodation. An individual, according to Cunningham (1999), seeking to maximise utility, must weigh his desire for access to his place of work against various possible combinations of commuting costs and accommodation prices and his other desires for urban contacts and amenities. Incomes will determine how far a households residence preference can be indulged. With differing preference consumers in the same group of income may demand different type of accommodation. On the other hand, those desiring contacts furnished by near central locations have the advantage of lower transport cost but frequently have to sacrifice certain site amenities. Where persons of unlike incomes lives at distances where they incur the same commuting costs then the person with the highest income will occupy the best accommodation, and so on. Urban Land Use: Commercial land use according to Faraday (1997) and supported by Lean (2001) involves relationships with its supplier and customers as it support the claim that land use in both formal and functional representations implies a set of relationships with other land uses. A level of accessibility to both systems of circulation must be present because relationships with suppliers will dominantly be related with movements of freight; relationships with customers would include movements of people. Since each type of land use has its own specific mobility requirements, transportation is one of the factors of activity location and is therefore associated intimately with land use. Within the urban system each activity occupies a suitable, but not necessarily optimal location, from which it derives rent. Transportation and land use interactions mostly consider the retroactive relationships between activities, which are land use related, and accessibility, which is transportation related. These relationships often have been described as a chicken-and-egg problem since it is difficult to identify the triggering cause of change; do transportation changes precede land use changes or vice-versa? Urban transportation aims at supporting transport demands generated by the diversity of urban activities in a diversity of urban contexts. A key for understanding urban entities thus lies in the analysis of patterns and processes of the transport / land use system. This system is highly complex and involves several relationships between the transport system, spatial interactions and land use: Transport system: It will consider the set of transport infrastructures and modes that are supporting urban movements of passengers and freight. It generally expresses the level of accessibility. Spatial interactions: It will consider the nature, extent, origins and destinations of the urban movements of passengers and freight. They take into consideration the attributes of the transport system as well as the land use factors that are generating and attracting movements. Land use: It will consider the level of spatial accumulation of activities and their associated levels of mobility requirements. Land use is commonly linked with demographic and economic attributes. Accessibility: Accessibility evaluates the net economic costs of moving persons and goods between one place and another place. It is, therefore, not only concerned with the distance to be travelled between two places but, more important, with the time taken to travel that distance, i.e., with all the factor costs in any journey (Lean , 2001). However, accessibility does not affect solely the real costs incurred by movement but also the real benefits derived. The residential demand for urban land also depends upon accessibility but the capital sum a residential user pays to obtain a site represents a money evaluation of the satisfaction to be derived from that site. According to Goddall (2001) residential demand depends upon utility or satisfaction and the residential user seeks that the site which allows him to maximise his utility. Thus, for the residential user travelling, whether to work, to shops, or for pleasure, represent a disutility and each person wishes to minimise these disutilities such as the time and money costs of travelling. Disutilities would be minimised if a residential user located himself on a site with a high degree of accessibility, so residential use would compete with business uses for accessible site. However, for a residential there are certain amenities considerations involved in the choice of site which confer satisfaction/utility upon the user. The amenity value of a site depends upon factors not readily assessable in financial terms such as space, quiet, fresh air, etc. According to Wardour (1997) the choice of a residential site is, in many cases, a compromise because the desire to minimise travelling disutilities demands a relatively accessible, therefore central site, whereas the quest for amenity leads towards less accessible sites some way from the city centre. Greater amenity can usually be achieved by accepting additional travelling disutility. Urban Land Use Model: Von Thunen Ring Model: The relationships between transportation and land use are rich in theoretical representations that have contributed much too geographical sciences. Several descriptive and analytical models of urban land use have been developed over time, with increased levels of complexity where all of them involve some consideration of transport in the explanations of urban land use structures according to Carter (1995). However, this study will emphasise on the oldest land use theory by Johann Heinrich Von Thunen. According to Rodrigue (2000) modern location economics began with Von Thunen (1826). Being the first to develop a basic analytical model of the relationships between markets, production, and distance he too looked upon the agricultural landscape as the purpose in this study. The relative costs of transporting different agricultural commodities to the central market determined the agricultural land use around a city. The most productive activities will thus compete for the closest land to the market and less productive activities will be located further away. The model has a set of basic assumptions which reflects agricultural conditions around a city in the early 19th century: Isolation: There is one isolated market in an isolated state having no interactions (trade) with the outside. Ubiquitous land characteristics: The land surrounding the market is entirely flat and its fertility uniform. Transportation: It is assumed there are no transport infrastructures such as roads or rivers and that farmers are transporting their production to the market using horses and carts. Transportation costs are dependent of the type of commodity being transported to the market as well as the distance involved. Comparison of the relationships between production cost, the market price and the transport cost of an agricultural commodity is explained thoroughly as follows: R = Y(p-c) Yfm R = Rent per unit of land. Y = Yield per unit of land. p = market price per unit of yield. c = Average production costs per unit of yield. m = Distance from market (in kilometers or miles). f = Freight rate per unit of yield and unit of distance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carter (1995) further explained that all agricultural land uses are maximizing their productivity (rent) whereby in this case it is dependent upon their location from the market (Central City). Discourse community of farmer play significant role as they are to maximize his profit which is simply the market price minus the transport and production costs. The most productive activities such as gardening or milk production or activities which cost higher in transportation (firewood) are located near to the market. The above figure provides an overview of Von Thunens agricultural land use model with the basic assumptions being applied such as isolation, ubiquity, and transportation. It can be divided into two parts: The pure isolated state over an isotropic plain (left). In this case, the model takes a shape of perfect concentric circles. The potential impacts of modified transport costs (a navigable river) and the presence of a competing center (right). The relationships between agricultural land use and market distance are very difficult to establish in the contemporary context. Von Thunen primary objective was to determine the relationship between the intensities and type of agricultural production and the available markets. The physical and cultural complexities however, led him to disregard the variations in a large number of environmental and social conditions. Instead, he made seven basic assumptions, which formed the core of the theory. The ideal site consisted of completely rational (optimising) economic behaviour, an isolated state, a single central city, settlement in village far away from the city centre, and a racially homogeneous population, uniform topography, uniform climate and soil fertility, and a relatively uniform and primitive transportation cost according to Griffin (1968) and later supported by Rodrigue (2001). Sinclair (1966) however noted that Von Thunen primary concern was to discover and examine the laws which governed the pattern of agricultural land use existing in his time and within his experience. His dominant recognition was the land use pattern depended upon competition between various types of agriculture for the use of particular piece of land. The controlling factor in this competition was Economic Rent as defined here the return of investment in the land. Later it is sopported briefly by Rodrigue (2001) that form of land providing the greatest Economic Rent would make the highest bid for the land and displaced all others. The facts that transport cost increased with distance and they imparted a spatial variation to Economic Rent become an eye opener to Von Thunen whom later comes to realise that transportation costs were a primary factors determining Economic Rent. Hence, Economic Rent from any one land use can be expressed as a function of a distance from the market. Limitation of the Theory: In constructing the model complicating factors were assumed away, providing a laboratory in which the interplay between a small number of essential causal influences and their relations with certain effect could be studied. In particular this model provided a mechanism in which changing technical and economic inputs could be linked with evolving geographical patterns of production according to Samuelson (1983) and Linehan (2003). The attraction was thus, that the theory simplified the world by concentrating on the effects of one primary variable, transportation costs, on the location of agricultural production. Von Thunen himself accomplished this by creating the idea of the economic margin. In his view, land use areas were bounded by margins where one use became more cost-effective than another. Given von Thunens thesis, Peet, (1987) could attempt to explain how these factors may have changed historically and explain changes in the location of production. The uses of Von Thunen model, or derivatives of it, continue to this day among quantitative geographers for example, Wang and Guldmann (1997); Hill and Smith (1994); Linehan (2003). Even in 1966, however, the limitations of the model were accepted. Gaston (1997) followed by Linehan (2003) for instance admits Von Thunens analysis is basically descriptive rather than normative and does not explain changes over time or the possible effects of economies of scale. Despite this, Smith (2000) promotes the model because it made marginal economics geographical. In the years since these limitations in particular the fact that Von Thunen ignored changes over time have often been mentioned, but the model survives in importance in the minds of geographers and is a main subject of beginning economic geography courses. The most likely reason for this is that Von Thunen rings actually appear to exist in many cases. For instance, cities are often surrounded by a dairy ring. Von Thunen rings are one of the few very easily understandable models in geography that truly appear to explain a pattern in the world, even if the model is primarily descriptive and does not give much idea a bout how exactly this pattern came to be or what might happen to it in the future. Harvey made this argument in Social Justice and the City (1997), arguing that social scientists are attracted to models such as the Isolated State because they appear to be empirically relevant. Barnes (1998), following Haraway (1997). Latour (1987) and Linehan (2003), comments on the manner in which von Thunens model, in particular the concentric zone diagram showing agricultural land use rings of decreasing intensity with distance from the city, has been fetishized within economic geography. Barnes (1998) argues, based on the work of Barnbrock (1997) and Harvey (1997) that Von Thunens concept of the frontier wage, the just reward for work done that, if paid, would ensure worker harmony, leads to a more complete understanding of Von Thunens work. This sense of harmony was also Von Thunens vision of the isolated state in general, constructed not just an isolated state, but an ideal one. The rings were less a description of how the world is, but how it should be once social harmony was realized. The idea that the isolated state was not just descriptive but also prescriptive is emphasized by Barnbrock (1997), who writes that for von Thunen the Isolated State is the true representation of the final end mankind should strive for. He further quotes von Thunen, who states in the Isolated State we have in mind only the final goal. Harvey points out, however, that this was an essentially conservative goal. Through the imposition of the frontier wage and a more harmonious land use pattern, class conflict and social polarization would be minimized within German society. The lesson learned by neo-classical economists, Harvey argues, was that economic science could seek and spell out principles of social harmony without appeal to the political economy of the spatial fix. The use of Von Thunens ideas within geography highlights the conflicts within a discipline that strives both to find regularity in the world and to explain the patterns seen in specific places. The Isolated State theory is attractive because it one of the few easily understood location theories for which empirical examples can be easily drawn. Of course, these examples are never absolutely correct and often seem overly simplistic. Barnes (1998) analysis of Von Thunen and the social construction of Von Thunens theory within economic geography particularly help understand the use of Von Thunen within agricultural economics supported by Watson (2005). The idea that Von Thunens theories were not just descriptive but also prescriptive more closely parallels the attitudes of the agricultural economists, who were searching not just to describe land use but often also to restrict it in order to build a more harmonious dairy economy. Formulation of the Theory towards Locational Decision: In an attempt to test the hypothesis that market forces largely allocate the supply of sites among the alternatives uses within the urban area, Von Thunens agriculture land use model is adapted. The rising transportation costs explain the differentials rent among homogenous site as stated in the theory explained by Moss (2001). Understood the accessibility within an urban market will be at maximum at the city centre; the assumptions of a competitive market and a homogenous site will be given. As far as transport and commuting cost is concern the accessibility tend to decrease when distance from the market centre increases. Moss (2001) concluded that firms and households have no intentions to change location and ceteris paribus because profits and other objectives are maximised. Next output is optimal and the maximum efficiency of the city as a productive unit is realised. In fact, the resulting structure of land uses reflect institutional arrangement such as zoning ordinance, transportation system and policies of financial institutional as well as the competitive ranking of the city, i.e. its economic base. The location of firms and households within this structure depends heavily upon competitive bidding for specific sites since rent differentials result market forces require from each site that rent resulting from maximum utilisation or highest and best use. Maximum economic rent occurs at the market centre because the supply of sites and average transportation and commuting costs for the local market are least according to Seyfried (1963).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seyfried (1963), followed by Linehan (2003) also suggested that the wages and interest are among production costs and they are assumed to be independent of location, but transportation costs rise as distance increases which later cause the rent, the surplus of gross revenue over production costs, decline proportionately. The supply of sites, i.e., more and larger land unit, increases with the distance from centre. Therefore competing user of sites will locate relative to their economic rent potential so that a structure of site values relative to location results from market forces. This structure of urban land market can be visualised as a rent or value surface; the market centre is the apex which is the point or area of highest site value. In the other word, rent decline with distance so do the value and land uses too change. If sites of equal value are related, the iso-value lines or contours are a function of site rent o r value. Thus the spatial structure of land uses or the urban land market at a moment of time can be shown by the rent or value function or gradient. Conclusion:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chapter on literature has discussed the concept of urban land use, the linkage between urban land use and the Von Thune theory, limitation on the theory as well as formulation of Von Thunen theory. The following chapter will discuss on the methodology of the study used in gathering all the information needed. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction: This chapter discusses in details the research methodology, which ensured that the objectives of the study can be achieved in a proper way. An appropriate research methodology application may avoid deviation against the objectives and gives clearer understanding on how the study is to be carried out. Validity of the research data and reliability of measurement will affect the practical research and accuracy of the result. Thus, the research methodology is directly connected to objective and problem statement of research. The second part of this chapter will go into details of the case study of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. According to Yin (2003) a case study design should be considered when: the focus of the study is to answer how and why questions; you cannot manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; you want to cover contextual conditions because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study; or the boundaries are not clear between the phenomenon and context. Research Design: Research design can be classified into exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research design is mostly in qualitative nature while conclusive research design is in quantitative nature. It is more focus on the collecting data from primary or secondary data. It also involves in many qualitative data collection techniques such as focus groups and depth interview (Shukla, 2008). Qualitative data collection will provide a lot of information, however it also hard to interpret from the data collection. Meanwhile, qualitative case study is an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions This study will emphasise on the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The case study will be held in Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. This study will be using the quantitative methods to further study the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. Background In the search for lower cost housing, working families often locate far from their place of work and this will resulting in the increasing of their transportation costs and commute times. However, for many such families, the transportation costs exceed their housing costs. According to Bernstein (2001), affordability has never been just about housing cost, it is actually the interaction between housing and transportation cost that provide more meaningful measure of affordability. Hence, choosing a location-efficient neighbourhood near transit, services and jobs, families can reduce monthly household expenses. This study will emphasise on the model of land use and prices formulated by Von Thunen in 1826, a German economist. The theory concentrates on difference in relative transport costs in different types of agricultural production. According to J. Harvey (1997), he made assumptions that a boundless flat and featureless plain over which natural resources and climate are distributed uniformly and there is a central market for the area. Furthermore, he also assumed that the farmer used uniform horse and cart transport facilities to this central market, and different foods can be grown, but since these differ in bulk, the cost of transporting them to the market also differs. For each type of product, transport cost varies directly and proportionately with distance from the central market. However, the receipts from cultivation of one hectare of land are the same for all types of product. Given by these assumptions, it pictures the rent-paying capacity as a function of transport cost and the distance from the market. As distance from the market increases the total costs are raised by the increased cost of transport of the cultivation product. However, this study will relates this theory with the decision of housing location of the case study in Bandar Saujana. It will examine whether the theory match the pattern of the housing location in regards with the transport cost. Bandar Saujana Putra is a new self-contained township located in Sepang Selangor. The township launched the first phase of the development in 2004, has an easy access to the town centre using ELITE Highway. Its easy access to the town made Bandar Saujana Putra an ideal for the case study as the resident able to travel to the respective location of their needs. Statement of Problems: The township of Bandar Saujana Putra is located approximately 20km from the centre of Kuala Lumpur and the residents enjoy an easy access via ELITE Highway. However, how the transportation cost is plays a role in determining the decision to reside in Bandar Saujana Putra? Furthermore, does the Von Thunen theory explain the pattern of location theory in the case of Bandar Saujana Putra? Objectives of Study: The main objective of the study is to examine the effects of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The second objective of the study is to examine whether Von Thunen theory match the pattern of location theory in Bandar Saujana Putra. Scope of Study: The study is confined to the areas of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor since it is located approximately 20 km away from city centre and easily accessible. The respondent of the questionnaire are limited to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra and analysis as well as findings from the rental and property price will be used to accomplish the objectives mentioned above. The difficulty and limitation for the study arise when distributing the sample questionnaire and to get the feedback from the respondents. There will be situation where the respondents that have been approached will not or hesitate to give cooperation to the sample questionnaire. Research Methodology: The study would be done in an analytic manner. The information that is needed to examine the issue will be obtained from primary and secondary data. Primary Data: Primary data refers to the first-hand data, which required data collection. For this study, it will mainly involve in the distribution of questionnaire to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra. The analysis will also be done according to the study areas in order to examine the transport cost of the residents. The question will be in objective manner administered to arrive to the objectives of the study. Secondary Data: The second method is secondary data which will mostly comprise of data collection through references of such as relevant books, journal, conference paper, newspaper and magazine articles and also online references. The data will also obtain from the economic text book which further explained the theory related to the study. Significant of Study: It is hoped that the anticipated outcome of this study can benefit the government especially the Town Planners in determining the structure of local city plan. While planning for housing development and also commercial hub, the developer and town planners have to consider the factors of distance and transportation as these two related closely to the affordability factor of a household. Secondly, this study will also benefit the house buyer in determining the location of the house as the distance and transportation cost is concern. The study will enlighten as how the location factors of property affects the daily budget of a household. The study also points to the importance of infill development that expands the supply of affordable housing in inner city and older suburban neighbourhoods that have good access to traditional job centres; the development of more affordable housing near transportation hubs and suburban employment centres. Lastly, the study intends to benefit the students as it will open up more discussion regarding the issue. Further research can be done to improve the findings of this study and hopefully it will beneficial towards the knowledge of the students. Organisation of Study: This study will consist of five chapters where the first chapter provides a brief concept and overview of Von Thunen theory that will be discussed further in the Literature Review. The first chapter consist of the introduction of the study and also statement problem that initiates the study. The first chapter also explained on the limitation faced on doing the study and the significance of this study. Meanwhile, the second chapter will discuss on literature review related to the study. It will mainly focus on the concept of the dynamic of Von Thunen theory in relation of the property market. The next part of the chapter will look further on the theory of urban economic and the formulation of the theory towards the locational decision. It will further strengthen the understanding of the theory based on the literature reviewed. Chapter three will discuss further on the methodology used in obtaining the information for the study. The quantitative methods of distributing questionnaire will be discussed further as well as the qualitative research methods used in the study. The qualitative research of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data is by observing the current market trend. This chapter will further emphasise on the case study chosen which is Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. The fourth chapter of the study will shows the analysis of the data collected previously. Information and data that is obtained from the survey of the market rental will be further detailed in this chapter using the appropriate graphs and diagrams. The analysis of the findings is further discussed in relation to the patterns of economic rent in the market. The last chapter will conclude the analysis of the findings and draws the recommendation of the further study to compliment this research. It will also determine the confirmation of the objectives of this study as well as the holistic achievement of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction: This chapter will explain further on the previous literature and writing in regards of the urban land use in general and Von Thunen theory of locational decision. Other than that, this chapter will also discuss on the limitation of the theory as well as the formulation of the theory. Background: Urban land use comprises two elements; the nature of land use which relates to which activities are taking place, and the level of spatial accumulation which indicates their intensity and concentration. Central areas compared to peripheral area have a high level of spatial accumulation and corresponding land uses such as retail while peripheral areas, on the other hand have lower levels of accumulation. In addition most economic as suggested by Gordon (2005), social or cultural activities imply a multitude of functions, such as production, consumption and distribution. These functions take place only at specific locations and are part of an activity system. Therefore activities have a spatial imprint whereby some are routine activities as they occur regularly and are thus predictable, such as commuting and shopping. Others are institutional activities that tend to be irregular, and are shaped by lifestyle for example sports and leisure, by special needs for example healthcare. Still others are production activities that are related to manufacturing and distribution, whose linkages may be local, regional or global. In short, the behavioural patterns of individuals, institutions and firms have an imprint on land use and the representation of this imprint requires a typology of land use, which can be formal or functional: Formal land use: The representations are concerned with qualitative attributes of space such as its form, pattern and aspect and are descriptive in nature. Functional land use: The representations are concerned with the economic nature of activities such as production, consumption, residence, and transport, and are mainly a socioeconomic description of space. Residential accommodation: The stock of residential accommodation varies from multi-storey flat near the city centre, through back-to-back terrace houses and then semi-detached, to detached houses often standing in spacious ground. This stock of residential accommodation reflects decisions taken at some time in the past because of the building costs rule out the choice of new construction for a substantial part of the population. If the residence is to compete land away from other uses then sites would have to be developed to higher densities in or near the position of greatest accessibility than elsewhere, because sites in that area provide optimum location for higher order uses such as offices and retailing. According to Smith (1997), there is a relationship between a persons income, his place of residence and his place of work, although the correlation is not fixed, for individuals differ in the proportion of their incomes they choose to spend on accommodation. An individual, according to Cunningham (1999), seeking to maximise utility, must weigh his desire for access to his place of work against various possible combinations of commuting costs and accommodation prices and his other desires for urban contacts and amenities. Incomes will determine how far a households residence preference can be indulged. With differing preference consumers in the same group of income may demand different type of accommodation. On the other hand, those desiring contacts furnished by near central locations have the advantage of lower transport cost but frequently have to sacrifice certain site amenities. Where persons of unlike incomes lives at distances where they incur the same commuting costs then the person with the highest income will occupy the best accommodation, and so on. Urban Land Use: Commercial land use according to Faraday (1997) and supported by Lean (2001) involves relationships with its supplier and customers as it support the claim that land use in both formal and functional representations implies a set of relationships with other land uses. A level of accessibility to both systems of circulation must be present because relationships with suppliers will dominantly be related with movements of freight; relationships with customers would include movements of people. Since each type of land use has its own specific mobility requirements, transportation is one of the factors of activity location and is therefore associated intimately with land use. Within the urban system each activity occupies a suitable, but not necessarily optimal location, from which it derives rent. Transportation and land use interactions mostly consider the retroactive relationships between activities, which are land use related, and accessibility, which is transportation related. These relationships often have been described as a chicken-and-egg problem since it is difficult to identify the triggering cause of change; do transportation changes precede land use changes or vice-versa? Urban transportation aims at supporting transport demands generated by the diversity of urban activities in a diversity of urban contexts. A key for understanding urban entities thus lies in the analysis of patterns and processes of the transport / land use system. This system is highly complex and involves several relationships between the transport system, spatial interactions and land use: Transport system: It will consider the set of transport infrastructures and modes that are supporting urban movements of passengers and freight. It generally expresses the level of accessibility. Spatial interactions: It will consider the nature, extent, origins and destinations of the urban movements of passengers and freight. They take into consideration the attributes of the transport system as well as the land use factors that are generating and attracting movements. Land use: It will consider the level of spatial accumulation of activities and their associated levels of mobility requirements. Land use is commonly linked with demographic and economic attributes. Accessibility: Accessibility evaluates the net economic costs of moving persons and goods between one place and another place. It is, therefore, not only concerned with the distance to be travelled between two places but, more important, with the time taken to travel that distance, i.e., with all the factor costs in any journey (Lean , 2001). However, accessibility does not affect solely the real costs incurred by movement but also the real benefits derived. The residential demand for urban land also depends upon accessibility but the capital sum a residential user pays to obtain a site represents a money evaluation of the satisfaction to be derived from that site. According to Goddall (2001) residential demand depends upon utility or satisfaction and the residential user seeks that the site which allows him to maximise his utility. Thus, for the residential user travelling, whether to work, to shops, or for pleasure, represent a disutility and each person wishes to minimise these disutilities such as the time and money costs of travelling. Disutilities would be minimised if a residential user located himself on a site with a high degree of accessibility, so residential use would compete with business uses for accessible site. However, for a residential there are certain amenities considerations involved in the choice of site which confer satisfaction/utility upon the user. The amenity value of a site depends upon factors not readily assessable in financial terms such as space, quiet, fresh air, etc. According to Wardour (1997) the choice of a residential site is, in many cases, a compromise because the desire to minimise travelling disutilities demands a relatively accessible, therefore central site, whereas the quest for amenity leads towards less accessible sites some way from the city centre. Greater amenity can usually be achieved by accepting additional travelling disutility. Urban Land Use Model: Von Thunen Ring Model: The relationships between transportation and land use are rich in theoretical representations that have contributed much too geographical sciences. Several descriptive and analytical models of urban land use have been developed over time, with increased levels of complexity where all of them involve some consideration of transport in the explanations of urban land use structures according to Carter (1995). However, this study will emphasise on the oldest land use theory by Johann Heinrich Von Thunen. According to Rodrigue (2000) modern location economics began with Von Thunen (1826). Being the first to develop a basic analytical model of the relationships between markets, production, and distance he too looked upon the agricultural landscape as the purpose in this study. The relative costs of transporting different agricultural commodities to the central market determined the agricultural land use around a city. The most productive activities will thus compete for the closest land to the market and less productive activities will be located further away. The model has a set of basic assumptions which reflects agricultural conditions around a city in the early 19th century: Isolation: There is one isolated market in an isolated state having no interactions (trade) with the outside. Ubiquitous land characteristics: The land surrounding the market is entirely flat and its fertility uniform. Transportation: It is assumed there are no transport infrastructures such as roads or rivers and that farmers are transporting their production to the market using horses and carts. Transportation costs are dependent of the type of commodity being transported to the market as well as the distance involved. Comparison of the relationships between production cost, the market price and the transport cost of an agricultural commodity is explained thoroughly as follows: R = Y(p-c) Yfm R = Rent per unit of land. Y = Yield per unit of land. p = market price per unit of yield. c = Average production costs per unit of yield. m = Distance from market (in kilometers or miles). f = Freight rate per unit of yield and unit of distance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carter (1995) further explained that all agricultural land uses are maximizing their productivity (rent) whereby in this case it is dependent upon their location from the market (Central City). Discourse community of farmer play significant role as they are to maximize his profit which is simply the market price minus the transport and production costs. The most productive activities such as gardening or milk production or activities which cost higher in transportation (firewood) are located near to the market. The above figure provides an overview of Von Thunens agricultural land use model with the basic assumptions being applied such as isolation, ubiquity, and transportation. It can be divided into two parts: The pure isolated state over an isotropic plain (left). In this case, the model takes a shape of perfect concentric circles. The potential impacts of modified transport costs (a navigable river) and the presence of a competing center (right). The relationships between agricultural land use and market distance are very difficult to establish in the contemporary context. Von Thunen primary objective was to determine the relationship between the intensities and type of agricultural production and the available markets. The physical and cultural complexities however, led him to disregard the variations in a large number of environmental and social conditions. Instead, he made seven basic assumptions, which formed the core of the theory. The ideal site consisted of completely rational (optimising) economic behaviour, an isolated state, a single central city, settlement in village far away from the city centre, and a racially homogeneous population, uniform topography, uniform climate and soil fertility, and a relatively uniform and primitive transportation cost according to Griffin (1968) and later supported by Rodrigue (2001). Sinclair (1966) however noted that Von Thunen primary concern was to discover and examine the laws which governed the pattern of agricultural land use existing in his time and within his experience. His dominant recognition was the land use pattern depended upon competition between various types of agriculture for the use of particular piece of land. The controlling factor in this competition was Economic Rent as defined here the return of investment in the land. Later it is sopported briefly by Rodrigue (2001) that form of land providing the greatest Economic Rent would make the highest bid for the land and displaced all others. The facts that transport cost increased with distance and they imparted a spatial variation to Economic Rent become an eye opener to Von Thunen whom later comes to realise that transportation costs were a primary factors determining Economic Rent. Hence, Economic Rent from any one land use can be expressed as a function of a distance from the market. Limitation of the Theory: In constructing the model complicating factors were assumed away, providing a laboratory in which the interplay between a small number of essential causal influences and their relations with certain effect could be studied. In particular this model provided a mechanism in which changing technical and economic inputs could be linked with evolving geographical patterns of production according to Samuelson (1983) and Linehan (2003). The attraction was thus, that the theory simplified the world by concentrating on the effects of one primary variable, transportation costs, on the location of agricultural production. Von Thunen himself accomplished this by creating the idea of the economic margin. In his view, land use areas were bounded by margins where one use became more cost-effective than another. Given von Thunens thesis, Peet, (1987) could attempt to explain how these factors may have changed historically and explain changes in the location of production. The uses of Von Thunen model, or derivatives of it, continue to this day among quantitative geographers for example, Wang and Guldmann (1997); Hill and Smith (1994); Linehan (2003). Even in 1966, however, the limitations of the model were accepted. Gaston (1997) followed by Linehan (2003) for instance admits Von Thunens analysis is basically descriptive rather than normative and does not explain changes over time or the possible effects of economies of scale. Despite this, Smith (2000) promotes the model because it made marginal economics geographical. In the years since these limitations in particular the fact that Von Thunen ignored changes over time have often been mentioned, but the model survives in importance in the minds of geographers and is a main subject of beginning economic geography courses. The most likely reason for this is that Von Thunen rings actually appear to exist in many cases. For instance, cities are often surrounded by a dairy ring. Von Thunen rings are one of the few very easily understandable models in geography that truly appear to explain a pattern in the world, even if the model is primarily descriptive and does not give much idea a bout how exactly this pattern came to be or what might happen to it in the future. Harvey made this argument in Social Justice and the City (1997), arguing that social scientists are attracted to models such as the Isolated State because they appear to be empirically relevant. Barnes (1998), following Haraway (1997). Latour (1987) and Linehan (2003), comments on the manner in which von Thunens model, in particular the concentric zone diagram showing agricultural land use rings of decreasing intensity with distance from the city, has been fetishized within economic geography. Barnes (1998) argues, based on the work of Barnbrock (1997) and Harvey (1997) that Von Thunens concept of the frontier wage, the just reward for work done that, if paid, would ensure worker harmony, leads to a more complete understanding of Von Thunens work. This sense of harmony was also Von Thunens vision of the isolated state in general, constructed not just an isolated state, but an ideal one. The rings were less a description of how the world is, but how it should be once social harmony was realized. The idea that the isolated state was not just descriptive but also prescriptive is emphasized by Barnbrock (1997), who writes that for von Thunen the Isolated State is the true representation of the final end mankind should strive for. He further quotes von Thunen, who states in the Isolated State we have in mind only the final goal. Harvey points out, however, that this was an essentially conservative goal. Through the imposition of the frontier wage and a more harmonious land use pattern, class conflict and social polarization would be minimized within German society. The lesson learned by neo-classical economists, Harvey argues, was that economic science could seek and spell out principles of social harmony without appeal to the political economy of the spatial fix. The use of Von Thunens ideas within geography highlights the conflicts within a discipline that strives both to find regularity in the world and to explain the patterns seen in specific places. The Isolated State theory is attractive because it one of the few easily understood location theories for which empirical examples can be easily drawn. Of course, these examples are never absolutely correct and often seem overly simplistic. Barnes (1998) analysis of Von Thunen and the social construction of Von Thunens theory within economic geography particularly help understand the use of Von Thunen within agricultural economics supported by Watson (2005). The idea that Von Thunens theories were not just descriptive but also prescriptive more closely parallels the attitudes of the agricultural economists, who were searching not just to describe land use but often also to restrict it in order to build a more harmonious dairy economy. Formulation of the Theory towards Locational Decision: In an attempt to test the hypothesis that market forces largely allocate the supply of sites among the alternatives uses within the urban area, Von Thunens agriculture land use model is adapted. The rising transportation costs explain the differentials rent among homogenous site as stated in the theory explained by Moss (2001). Understood the accessibility within an urban market will be at maximum at the city centre; the assumptions of a competitive market and a homogenous site will be given. As far as transport and commuting cost is concern the accessibility tend to decrease when distance from the market centre increases. Moss (2001) concluded that firms and households have no intentions to change location and ceteris paribus because profits and other objectives are maximised. Next output is optimal and the maximum efficiency of the city as a productive unit is realised. In fact, the resulting structure of land uses reflect institutional arrangement such as zoning ordinance, transportation system and policies of financial institutional as well as the competitive ranking of the city, i.e. its economic base. The location of firms and households within this structure depends heavily upon competitive bidding for specific sites since rent differentials result market forces require from each site that rent resulting from maximum utilisation or highest and best use. Maximum economic rent occurs at the market centre because the supply of sites and average transportation and commuting costs for the local market are least according to Seyfried (1963).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seyfried (1963), followed by Linehan (2003) also suggested that the wages and interest are among production costs and they are assumed to be independent of location, but transportation costs rise as distance increases which later cause the rent, the surplus of gross revenue over production costs, decline proportionately. The supply of sites, i.e., more and larger land unit, increases with the distance from centre. Therefore competing user of sites will locate relative to their economic rent potential so that a structure of site values relative to location results from market forces. This structure of urban land market can be visualised as a rent or value surface; the market centre is the apex which is the point or area of highest site value. In the other word, rent decline with distance so do the value and land uses too change. If sites of equal value are related, the iso-value lines or contours are a function of site rent o r value. Thus the spatial structure of land uses or the urban land market at a moment of time can be shown by the rent or value function or gradient. Conclusion:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chapter on literature has discussed the concept of urban land use, the linkage between urban land use and the Von Thune theory, limitation on the theory as well as formulation of Von Thunen theory. The following chapter will discuss on the methodology of the study used in gathering all the information needed. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction: This chapter discusses in details the research methodology, which ensured that the objectives of the study can be achieved in a proper way. An appropriate research methodology application may avoid deviation against the objectives and gives clearer understanding on how the study is to be carried out. Validity of the research data and reliability of measurement will affect the practical research and accuracy of the result. Thus, the research methodology is directly connected to objective and problem statement of research. The second part of this chapter will go into details of the case study of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. According to Yin (2003) a case study design should be considered when: the focus of the study is to answer how and why questions; you cannot manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; you want to cover contextual conditions because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study; or the boundaries are not clear between the phenomenon and context. Research Design: Research design can be classified into exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research design is mostly in qualitative nature while conclusive research design is in quantitative nature. It is more focus on the collecting data from primary or secondary data. It also involves in many qualitative data collection techniques such as focus groups and depth interview (Shukla, 2008). Qualitative data collection will provide a lot of information, however it also hard to interpret from the data collection. Meanwhile, qualitative case study is an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of