Gothic Culture And Modern Fashions Cultural Studies Essay

Gothic Culture And Modern Fashions Cultural Studies Essay Towards the end of the seventies there emerged a new youth subculture that stemmed from the fragmenting Punk scene commonly referred to as Goth. Goth appeared to assume the trappings of Gothic literature and film which was primarily based on Baroque art. As such, members of the Goth subculture converted the characteristic features of this literature as well as film wherein they transformed them into a form of resistance to suburban Britain. Subsequently, this resistance by the Goth migrated to other regions including America as well as Australia which were presumably perceived not only to be small minded but also dull. The link between the Goth subculture and Gothic literature is not clear. This is because the translation of literature into street style has often been approached with bemusement or simply overlooked by a significant number of scholars. However, the two subjects draw a strong relation through the medium of fashion. In these respect, the designer Gareth Pugh has emerged out as one of the most interesting as well as unique figures in the world of fashion from London. Pughs style entrenched in Goth subculture quite clearly depends on a spectacular style or sets of styles from which the artist invents his identity. This primarily represents another characteristic feature of Gothics preoccupation with clothes and as such fashion. It is the presumption of this paper that the Goth sub-culture has had tremendous influence on fashion that has changed the way in which clothing is represented in Gothic discourses. Goth History A significant chunk of the Goth subculture and the resurgence of interest in this way of life emphasizes on the mutation of Goth into an autonomous youth subculture towards the close of the seventies. This explains the relatively young age of proponents such as Gareth Pugh who further the ideal of the Goth sub-culture through fashion. During the seventies, the Goth culture was led by post punk groups including the Birthday Party, The Sisters of Mercy, Bauhus, Siouxsie and the Banshees (Spooner and Spooner, 2004). The groups led other Goth adherents to the Goth style that combined the graveyard exorcism of 19th century mourning costume and perverse sexuality of fetish with the nihilism of Punk to create a macabre aesthetic. The garments that the adherents adorned were predominantly black. However, according to Spooner and Spooner, (2004)these were accessorised with memento mori motifs and vampire makeup as fig. 1 illustrates. Fig. 1 Gothic Fashion Although the main period of the popularity of the Goth Spanned in the eighties, the culture has proved to be remarkably long living as it has persisted both in the 1990s and ultimately into the twenty first century. In the mid eighties towards the late 1990s, there however emerged cultural figures that began heralding the revival of the Gothic culture by pointing out the increased number of bands that were largely influenced by the Goth subculture including Garbage, Marilyn Manson together with their black dressed acolytes (Spooner and Spooner, 2004). Commentators also often cited the resurgence of the Goth sub-cultural influence in haute couture, film, literary fiction, as well as fine art and other derived genres of music including hip-hop and techno. Toward the end of the twentieth century, critical discourses that surrounded the Goth subculture illustrated a significant shift away from psychoanalytical methods towards historicism. In this regard, this discourse exhibited an increased level of self-consciousness in relation to the processes of textual and fashion production. Baldwick and Minghall, (2000) pointed out a trend in which 20th century theorisations of the Goth subculture focused on the irrational, the spiritual as well as the subversive at the expense of accurate historical analysis. Such a strategy frequently constitutes a kind of idealisation whereby Gothic subculture is privileged with whatever contravening roles generally associated with the critic. Arguably, such a process of canonical rehabilitation as well as critical appropriation has recorded an increase with the advent of millennium celebrations (Stevens, 2000). Gothic art has developed a trend in which it resurfaces at the fin de sià ¨cle whereby as the fin to end all siecles approaches swiftly, the fervour of the subculture reaches a peculiar climax (Spooner and Spooner, 2004). This aspect was captured well by Grunenberg, (1997) who postulated that the modern society exists in a particularly dire time. This period according to Grunenberg constitutes the Gothic period of fear, moral disintegration, horror as well as the perverse indulgence in extreme pleasures. Gothic fashion as such, has evolved to be a quid pro quo for disturbing and sombre moods, events and places as well as cultural by products of the contemporary society in America (Steele and Park, 2008). Despite the fact that a low number of individuals carried with them the expectation of the world ending at the turn of the 21st century, a true fin-de sià ¨cle feeling wrought with elements of cultural pessimism as well as spiritual malaise permeated society at the time. This spirit persists in modern day societys fashion. The Goth Culture One problem that arises when discussing the Goth subculture is that it draws a profound connection to punk and also emphasizes on dramatic visual style (Spoooner and Spooner, 2004; Polhemus, 1995). Ultimately, this has resulted into the Goth subculture being regarded as a spectacular culture despite it being a fan culture as well. Fan communities have to a significant degree been regarded in relation to media texts for instance, the Star Trek series. However, there exist various similarities between communities described by Jenkins, (1992) and common practices usually associated with the Goth sub-culture. Fan communities actively develop their own ways of life from fragments and scrap that are usually scavenged from the media. Jenkins, (1992) describes this process of creative appropriation as textual poaching. Much in the same light, Goth fashion as an element of Goth subculture is particularly focused on consumption. This consumption does not only constitute clothing, but also incl udes cinematic and literary narratives, sub-cultural commodities and music. Much in the same way that television series fans like Doctor Who or Star Trek develop their identities through their love for the aforementioned series, Goth such as Pugh suture their identity from a complicated system of cinematic and literary affiliations through integrating several archetypes and characters they meet during their fantasy lives, ultimately realizing them through costume or fashion. While some Goths may come across as more literate compared to others in the overall tradition of Gothic representation, all have to either a lesser or greater extent constructed their identities, Frankenstein like, from the fragments and scraps of that way of life. This process of developing identity is demonstrated by Tim Burtons early short film by the name Vincent. In this production, Vincent Molloy, a seven year old boy imagined himself as taking the identity of another person, Vincent Price whereby he condu cted himself as Price would. This fan tribute to the oeuvre of Price does not draw any contradictions in relation to attitude and the kind of fan fiction produced around fantasy series and science fiction. However, this does not imply that Goth is a fan culture in any straight-forward way. This is because it is possible for an individual to be a fan of horror films or Gothic novels without necessary being a Goth. On the contrary, Goth is a combination of the elements of spectacular culture and fan culture ultimately creating a monstrous hybrid between the two ways of life. The resulting culture is one in which symbolic resistance is not only enacted through fashion or spectacular style but also embraces narratives that are generally perceived to be dangerous and as such, falling out of general societal conventions. The development of Gothic as an anti-canonical marginalised subgenre as such, propels the cultures sense of resistance to a cultural hegemony of the bland (Hannaham, 1997). Such acts of self-definition constitute the concurrent definition of a mainstream that has been developed as the other by its respective subculture. According to Thornton, (2008) this fantasised mainstrea m may or may not bear any link to what is real. However, it is the product of the subculture out of a desire for difference. Thornton contends that vague opposition can be outwardly stated to be that questioning the number of members of youth subcultures characterising their own activities. Significant to note is the fact that youthful discourses can not be taken literally. This is because these discourses are not mere transparent windows that reflect on the world. A significant number of cultural critics have been insufficiently critical of sub cultural ideologies. This trend is firstly attributed to the fact that they were diverted by the task of contesting and puncturing dominant ideologies and secondly owing to the fact that their biases have tended to agree with the anti mass society discourses of the youth sub-cultural groups they study. This is to say, while the formulations of power in given subcultures are potentially fertile topics for research, investing in subcultures that have been known for their transgression as well as subversion has often proved to be problematic. This is because research in addition to leading to a better understanding of the phenomenon under study, also highlights such phenomenon from obscurity. This implies that aspects that were overlooked in the past owing to the low degree of societal subscription to such doctrines have the potential of becoming famous. This new-born fame is often attributed to researchers. Due to the fact that society loathes aspects of subversive and transgressing elements, researchers have the tendency to steer away from such elements and cultures including Goth. Holmes, (1997) illustrates this element in Gothic culture in his essay coming out of the coffin. He contends that punk and Goth cultures in contrast to exhibiting stability as many would like them to, exi st by way of suturing both the anti-canonical and the canonical as well as the high and low, the romantic and cynical in addition to the straight and the queer. Embracing these aspects in most circumstances is through the Gothic tradition in general as well as through one of the cultures prominent figures, the vampire (Fig 2) (Auerbach, 1995; Goddzu, 2007). In many ways, this is an accurate evocation of Goth, capturing the complexity of its several poses. Fig 2. Barnabas Collins, Vampire: Jonathan Frid in the television series Dark Shadows Costume Gothic fashion is a form of clothing that is usually associated with members of the Goth subculture. It is a dark form of art which sometimes tends to be highly insensitive and morbid with some quarters terming it as an eroticised form of fashion or style of dress. In its typical form, Gothic fashion is characterised with black hips, dyed black hair, and black clothes (Grunenberg, 1997). Additionally, both male and female members of the Goths subculture wear dark fingernails as well as dark eyeliners. The function of clothes within Goth subculture is largely dependent on who is wearing them (Spooner and Spooner, 2004). It was custom for the 1980s middle class individuals to enact rebellion only through implicit and stereotyped ridiculous dress codes while the avant-garde classless individual of the modern day fashion like Gareth Pugh is stylishly subversive of convention. Gareth Pugh as a new generation figure is both glamorous and confident. Pugh is constructed as an individual that is always aiming for the top and forward as opposed to relying on the past to provide him with a referral page for his design. In fact, his world of design is framed in a way that it conforms to utopian principles where both intellectual and irrational forces intermingle in the creation of form. When Gareth Pughs work is perceived under a lens with such an understanding, it takes on a new significance for the designers fans. The implication here is that other designers subscribe to conventional lines of thought and as such, design. An individual that adorns Pughs design on the contrary is stylish and belongs to the new variety. In other words, wearing Pughs design has the capability of transforming an individual from a conventional person to a Gaultier Goth (Spooner and Spooner, 2004). Design in itself is an artistic impression integrated with certain tastes that the artist fancies as ideal (Gardner, Kleiner and Mamiya, 2005). These impressions as expressed in garments draw from a wide history in the long established tradition of art. As such, artists such as Pugh have the tendency to look back at elements that were embraced in the past to which they base their form of art. Subsequently, art and design integrate, ultimately combining inflatable garments, black and white colours as well as geometric shapes in addition to materials such as PVC and plastics (Fargis, 1998). These forms are characteristic of classical Gothic and baroque art. Fig. 3 Conclusion In conclusion, the complexity of Gareth Pughs images is accompanied by an increasing sense of Gothicism in the design themselves. The designer has deliberately courted the Gothic in his work frequently returning to themes of automata, prosthesis and automata (Spooner and Spooner, 2004). While garments that were featured in earlier images in the 90s would be reasonably wearable by most of consumers in the mainstream, most of Pughs are increasingly perverse and esoteric Fig. 3. These later images however particularly resonate Gothic themes. These are not only limited to the characteristic features of imprisonment, vampirism and torture but upon a closer scrutiny also resonate with the kind of structural conventions Eve Sedgwick identifies as characteristic features of Gothic literature (Spooner and Spooner, 2004). Vampirism as portrayed in these images is ostentatiously a surface effect implying no illusion of realism. By conflating the penetrating gaze with the penetrating fangs, Pugh s designs seem to have undergone what Sedgwick referred to as contagion or the manner Gothic literature contends that aspects of a given element are transferred to another. List of figures Fig. 1. Gothic Fashion., Otherclothing.co.uk, online Fig. 2 Barnabas Collins, Vampire: Jonathan Frid in the television series Dark Shadows by William Patrick Day (2002), p.37 Fig.3. Vogue.com (2008) Wicked with a capital W by Gareth Pugh in Vogue Magazine Autumn/Winter 2008-9, online

A Game of Thrones Chapter Forty-six

Daenerys The heart was steaming in the cool evening air when Khal Drogo set it before her, raw and bloody. His arms were red to the elbow. Behind him, his bloodriders knelt on the sand beside the corpse of the wild stallion, stone knives in their hands. The stallion's blood looked black in the flickering orange glare of the torches that ringed the high chalk walls of the pit. Dany touched the soft swell of her belly. Sweat beaded her skin and trickled down her brow. She could feel the old women watching her, the ancient crones of Vaes Dothrak, with eyes that shone dark as polished flint in their wrinkled faces. She must not flinch or look afraid. I am the blood of the dragon, she told herself as she took the stallion's heart in both hands, lifted it to her mouth, and plunged her teeth into the tough, stringy flesh. Warm blood filled her mouth and ran down over her chin. The taste threatened to gag her, but she made herself chew and swallow. The heart of a stallion would make her son strong and swift and fearless, or so the Dothraki believed, but only if the mother could eat it all. If she choked on the blood or retched up the flesh, the omens were less favorable; the child might be stillborn, or come forth weak, deformed, or female. Her handmaids had helped her ready herself for the ceremony. Despite the tender mother's stomach that had afflicted her these past two moons, Dany had dined on bowls of half-clotted blood to accustom herself to the taste, and Irri made her chew strips of dried horseflesh until her jaws were aching. She had starved herself for a day and a night before the ceremony in the hopes that hunger would help her keep down the raw meat. The wild stallion's heart was all muscle, and Dany had to worry it with her teeth and chew each mouthful a long time. No steel was permitted within the sacred confines of Vaes Dothrak, beneath the shadow of the Mother of Mountains; she had to rip the heart apart with teeth and nails. Her stomach roiled and heaved, yet she kept on, her face smeared with the heartsblood that sometimes seemed to explode against her lips. Khal Drogo stood over her as she ate, his face as hard as a bronze shield. His long black braid was shiny with oil. He wore gold rings in his mustache, gold bells in his braid, and a heavy belt of solid gold medallions around his waist, but his chest was bare. She looked at him whenever she felt her strength failing; looked at him, and chewed and swallowed, chewed and swallowed, chewed and swallowed. Toward the end, Dany thought she glimpsed a fierce pride in his dark, almond-shaped eyes, but she could not be sure. The khal's face did not often betray the thoughts within. And finally it was done. Her cheeks and fingers were sticky as she forced down the last of it. Only then did she turn her eyes back to the old women, the crones of the dosh khaleen. â€Å"Khalakka dothrae mr'anha!† she proclaimed in her best Dothraki. A prince rides inside me! She had practiced the phrase for days with her handmaid Jhiqui. The oldest of the crones, a bent and shriveled stick of a woman with a single black eye, raised her arms on high. â€Å"Khalakka dothrae!† she shrieked. The prince is riding! â€Å"He is riding!† the other women answered. â€Å"Rakh! Rakh! Rakh haj!† they proclaimed. A boy, a boy, a strong boy. Bells rang, a sudden clangor of bronze birds. A deep-throated warhorn sounded its long low note. The old women began to chant. Underneath their painted leather vests, their withered dugs swayed back and forth, shiny with oil and sweat. The eunuchs who served them threw bundles of dried grasses into a great bronze brazier, and clouds of fragrant smoke rose up toward the moon and the stars. The Dothraki believed the stars were horses made of fire, a great herd that galloped across the sky by night. As the smoke ascended, the chanting died away and the ancient crone closed her single eye, the better to peer into the future. The silence that fell was complete. Dany could hear the distant call of night birds, the hiss and crackle of the torches, the gentle lapping of water from the lake. The Dothraki stared at her with eyes of night, waiting. Khal Drogo laid his hand on Dany's arm. She could feel the tension in his fingers. Even a khal as mighty as Drogo could know fear when the dosh khaleen peered into smoke of the future. At her back, her handmaids fluttered anxiously. Finally the crone opened her eye and lifted her arms. â€Å"I have seen his face, and heard the thunder of his hooves,† she proclaimed in a thin, wavery voice. â€Å"The thunder of his hooves!† the others chorused. â€Å"As swift as the wind he rides, and behind him his khalasar covers the earth, men without number, with arakhs shining in their hands like blades of razor grass. Fierce as a storm this prince will be. His enemies will tremble before him, and their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief. The bells in his hair will sing his coming, and the milk men in the stone tents will fear his name.† The old woman trembled and looked at Dany almost as if she were afraid. â€Å"The prince is riding, and he shall be the stallion who mounts the world.† â€Å"The stallion who mounts the world!† the onlookers cried in echo, until the night rang to the sound of their voices. The one-eyed crone peered at Dany. â€Å"What shall he be called, the stallion who mounts the world?† She stood to answer. â€Å"He shall be called Rhaego,† she said, using the words that Jhiqui had taught her. Her hands touched the swell beneath her breasts protectively as a roar went up from the Dothraki. â€Å"Rhaego,† they screamed. â€Å"Rhaego, Rhaego, Rhaego!† The name was still ringing in her ears as Khal Drogo led her from the pit. His bloodriders fell in behind them. A procession followed them out onto the godsway, the broad grassy road that ran through the heart of Vaes Dothrak, from the horse gate to the Mother of Mountains. The crones of the dosh khaleen came first, with their eunuchs and slaves. Some supported themselves with tall carved staffs as they struggled along on ancient, shaking legs, while others walked as proud as any horselord. Each of the old women had been a khaleesi once. When their lord husbands died and a new khal took his place at the front of his riders, with a new khaleesi mounted beside him, they were sent here, to reign over the vast Dothraki nation. Even the mightiest of khals bowed to the wisdom and authority of the dosh khaleen. Still, it gave Dany the shivers to think that one day she might be sent to join them, whether she willed it or no. Behind the wise women came the others; Khal Ogo and his son, the khalakka Fogo, Khal Jommo and his wives, the chief men of Drogo's khalasar, Dany's handmaids, the khal's servants and slaves, and more. Bells rang and drums beat a stately cadence as they marched along the godsway. Stolen heroes and the gods of dead peoples brooded in the darkness beyond the road. Alongside the procession, slaves ran lightly through the grass with torches in their hands, and the flickering flames made the great monuments seem almost alive. â€Å"What is meaning, name Rhaego?† Khal Drogo asked as they walked, using the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms. She had been teaching him a few words when she could. Drogo was quick to learn when he put his mind to it, though his accent was so thick and barbarous that neither Ser Jorah nor Viserys could understand a word he said. â€Å"My brother Rhaegar was a fierce warrior, my sun-and-stars,† she told him. â€Å"He died before I was born. Ser Jorah says that he was the last of the dragons.† Khal Drogo looked down at her. His face was a copper mask, yet under the long black mustache, drooping beneath the weight of its gold rings, she thought she glimpsed the shadow of a smile. â€Å"Is good name, Dan Ares wife, moon of my life,† he said. They rode to the lake the Dothraki called the Womb of the World, surrounded by a fringe of reeds, its water still and calm. A thousand thousand years ago, Jhiqui told her, the first man had emerged from its depths, riding upon the back of the first horse. The procession waited on the grassy shore as Dany stripped and let her soiled clothing fall to the ground. Naked, she stepped gingerly into the water. Irri said the lake had no bottom, but Dany felt soft mud squishing between her toes as she pushed through the tall reeds. The moon floated on the still black waters, shattering and re-forming as her ripples washed over it. Goose pimples rose on her pale skin as the coldness crept up her thighs and kissed her lower lips. The stallion's blood had dried on her hands and around her mouth. Dany cupped her fingers and lifted the sacred waters over her head, cleansing herself and the child inside her while the khal and the others looked on. She heard the old women of the dosh khaleen muttering to each other as they watched, and wondered what they were saying. When she emerged from the lake, shivering and dripping, her handmaid Doreah hurried to her with a robe of painted sandsilk, but Khal Drogo waved her away. He was looking on her swollen breasts and the curve of her belly with approval, and Dany could see the shape of his manhood pressing through his horsehide trousers, below the heavy gold medallions of his belt. She went to him and helped him unlace. Then her huge khal took her by the hips and lifted her into the air, as he might lift a child. The bells in his hair rang softly. Dany wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her face against his neck as he thrust himself inside her. Three quick strokes and it was done. â€Å"The stallion who mounts the world,† Drogo whispered hoarsely. His hands still smelled of horse blood. He bit at her throat, hard, in the moment of his pleasure, and when he lifted her off, his seed filled her and trickled down the inside of her thighs. Only then was Doreah permitted to drape her in the scented sandsilk, and Irri to fit soft slippers to her feet. Khal Drogo laced himself up and spoke a command, and horses were brought to the lakeshore. Cohollo had the honor of helping the khaleesi onto her silver. Drogo spurred his stallion, and set off down the godsway beneath the moon and stars. On her silver, Dany easily kept pace. The silk tenting that roofed Khal Drogo's hall had been rolled up tonight, and the moon followed them inside. Flames leapt ten feet in the air from three huge stone-lined firepits. The air was thick with the smells of roasting meat and curdled, fermented mare's milk. The hall was crowded and noisy when they entered, the cushions packed with those whose rank and name were not sufficient to allow them at the ceremony. As Dany rode beneath the arched entry and up the center aisle, every eye was on her. The Dothraki screamed out comments on her belly and her breasts, hailing the life within her. She could not understand all they shouted, but one phrase came clear. â€Å"The stallion that mounts the world,† she heard, bellowed in a thousand voices. The sounds of drums and horns swirled up into the night. Half-clothed women spun and danced on the low tables, amid joints of meat and platters piled high with plums and dates and pomegranates. Many of the men were drunk on clotted mare's milk, yet Dany knew no arakhs would clash tonight, not here in the sacred city, where blades and bloodshed were forbidden. Khal Drogo dismounted and took his place on the high bench. Khal Jommo and Khal Ogo, who had been in Vaes Dothrak with their khalasars when they arrived, were given seats of high honor to Drogo's right and left. The bloodriders of the three khals sat below them, and farther down Khal Jommo's four wives. Dany climbed off her silver and gave the reins to one of the slaves. As Doreah and Irri arranged her cushions, she searched for her brother. Even across the length of the crowded hall, Viserys should have been conspicuous with his pale skin, silvery hair, and beggar's rags, but she did not see him anywhere. Her glance roamed the crowded tables near the walls, where men whose braids were even shorter than their manhoods sat on frayed rugs and flat cushions around the low tables, but all the faces she saw had black eyes and copper skin. She spied Ser Jorah Mormont near the center of the hall, close to the middle firepit. It was a place of respect, if not high honor; the Dothraki esteemed the knight's prowess with a sword. Dany sent Jhiqui to bring him to her table. Mormont came at once, and went to one knee before her. â€Å"Khaleesi,† he said, â€Å"I am yours to command.† She patted the stuffed horsehide cushion beside her. â€Å"Sit and talk with me.† â€Å"You honor me.† The knight seated himself cross-legged on the cushion. A slave knelt before him, offering a wooden platter full of ripe figs. Ser Jorah took one and bit it in half. â€Å"Where is my brother?† Dany asked. â€Å"He ought to have come by now, for the feast.† â€Å"I saw His Grace this morning,† he told her. â€Å"He told me he was going to the Western Market, in search of wine.† â€Å"Wine?† Dany said doubtfully. Viserys could not abide the taste of the fermented mare's milk the Dothraki drank, she knew that, and he was oft at the bazaars these days, drinking with the traders who came in the great caravans from east and west. He seemed to find their company more congenial than hers. â€Å"Wine,† Ser Jorah confirmed, â€Å"and he has some thought to recruit men for his army from the sellswords who guard the caravans.† A serving girl laid a blood pie in front of him, and he attacked it with both hands. â€Å"Is that wise?† she asked. â€Å"He has no gold to pay soldiers. What if he's betrayed?† Caravan guards were seldom troubled much by thoughts of honor, and the Usurper in King's Landing would pay well for her brother's head. â€Å"You ought to have gone with him, to keep him safe. You are his sworn sword.† â€Å"We are in Vaes Dothrak,† he reminded her. â€Å"No one may carry a blade here or shed a man's blood.† â€Å"Yet men die,† she said. â€Å"Jhogo told me. Some of the traders have eunuchs with them, huge men who strangle thieves with wisps of silk. That way no blood is shed and the gods are not angered.† â€Å"Then let us hope your brother will be wise enough not to steal anything.† Ser Jorah wiped the grease off his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned close over the table. â€Å"He had planned to take your dragon's eggs, until I warned him that I'd cut off his hand if he so much as touched them.† For a moment Dany was so shocked she had no words. â€Å"My eggs . . . but they're mine, Magister Illyrio gave them to me, a bride gift, why would Viserys want . . . they're only stones . . . â€Å" â€Å"The same could be said of rubies and diamonds and fire opals, Princess . . . and dragon's eggs are rarer by far. Those traders he's been drinking with would sell their own manhoods for even one of those stones, and with all three Viserys could buy as many sellswords as he might need.† Dany had not known, had not even suspected. â€Å"Then . . . he should have them. He does not need to steal them. He had only to ask. He is my brother . . . and my true king.† â€Å"He is your brother,† Ser Jorah acknowledged. â€Å"You do not understand, ser,† she said. â€Å"My mother died giving me birth, and my father and my brother Rhaegar even before that. I would never have known so much as their names if Viserys had not been there to tell me. He was the only one left. The only one. He is all I have.† â€Å"Once,† said Ser Jorah. â€Å"No longer, Khaleesi. You belong to the Dothraki now. In your womb rides the stallion who mounts the world.† He held out his cup, and a slave filled it with fermented mare's milk, sour-smelling and thick with clots. Dany waved her away. Even the smell of it made her feel ill, and she would take no chances of bringing up the horse heart she had forced herself to eat. â€Å"What does it mean?† she asked. â€Å"What is this stallion? Everyone was shouting it at me, but I don't understand.† â€Å"The stallion is the khal of khals promised in ancient prophecy, child. He will unite the Dothraki into a single khalasar and ride to the ends of the earth, or so it was promised. All the people of the world will be his herd.† â€Å"Oh,† Dany said in a small voice. Her hand smoothed her robe down over the swell of her stomach. â€Å"I named him Rhaego.† â€Å"A name to make the Usurper's blood run cold.† Suddenly Doreah was tugging at her elbow. â€Å"My lady, † the handmaid whispered urgently, â€Å"your brother . . . â€Å" Dany looked down the length of the long, roofless hall and there he was, striding toward her. From the lurch in his step, she could tell at once that Viserys had found his wine . . . and something that passed for courage. He was wearing his scarlet silks, soiled and travel-stained. His cloak and gloves were black velvet, faded from the sun. His boots were dry and cracked, his silver-blond hair matted and tangled. A longsword swung from his belt in a leather scabbard. The Dothraki eyed the sword as he passed; Dany heard curses and threats and angry muttering rising all around her, like a tide. The music died away in a nervous stammering of drums. A sense of dread closed around her heart. â€Å"Go to him,† she commanded Ser Jorah. â€Å"Stop him. Bring him here. Tell him he can have the dragon's eggs if that is what he wants.† The knight rose swiftly to his feet. â€Å"Where is my sister?† Viserys shouted, his voice thick with wine. â€Å"I've come for her feast. How dare you presume to eat without me? No one eats before the king. Where is she? The whore can't hide from the dragon.† He stopped beside the largest of the three firepits, peering around at the faces of the Dothraki. There were five thousand men in the hall, but only a handful who knew the Common Tongue. Yet even if his words were incomprehensible, you had only to look at him to know that he was drunk. Ser Jorah went to him swiftly, whispered something in his ear, and took him by the arm, but Viserys wrenched free. â€Å"Keep your hands off me! No one touches the dragon without leave.† Dany glanced anxiously up at the high bench. Khal Drogo was saying something to the other khals beside him. Khal Jommo grinned, and Khal Ogo began to guffaw loudly. The sound of laughter made Viserys lift his eyes. â€Å"Khal Drogo,† he said thickly, his voice almost polite. â€Å"I'm here for the feast.† He staggered away from Ser Jorah, making to join the three khals on the high bench. Khal Drogo rose, spat out a dozen words in Dothraki, faster than Dany could understand, and pointed. â€Å"Khal Drogo says your place is not on the high bench,† Ser Jorah translated for her brother. â€Å"Khal Drogo says your place is there.† Viserys glanced where the khal was pointing. At the back of the long hall, in a corner by the wall, deep in shadow so better men would not need to look on them, sat the lowest of the low; raw unblooded boys, old men with clouded eyes and stiff joints, the dim-witted and the maimed. Far from the meat, and farther from honor. â€Å"That is no place for a king,† her brother declared. â€Å"Is place,† Khal Drogo answered, in the Common Tongue that Dany had taught him, â€Å"for Sorefoot King.† He clapped his hands together. â€Å"A cart! Bring cart for Khal Rhaggat!† Five thousand Dothraki began to laugh and shout. Ser Jorah was standing beside Viserys, screaming in his ear, but the roar in the hall was so thunderous that Dany could not hear what he was saying. Her brother shouted back and the two men grappled, until Mormont knocked Viserys bodily to the floor. Her brother drew his sword. The bared steel shone a fearful red in the glare from the firepits. â€Å"Keep away from me!† Viserys hissed. Ser Jorah backed off a step, and her brother climbed unsteadily to his feet. He waved the sword over his head, the borrowed blade that Magister Illyrio had given him to make him seem more kingly. Dothraki were shrieking at him from all sides, screaming vile curses. Dany gave a wordless cry of terror. She knew what a drawn sword meant here, even if her brother did not. Her voice made Viserys turn his head, and he saw her for the first time. â€Å"There she is,† he said, smiling. He stalked toward her, slashing at the air as if to cut a path through a wall of enemies, though no one tried to bar his way. â€Å"The blade . . . you must not,† she begged him. â€Å"Please, Viserys. It is forbidden. Put down the sword and come share my cushions. There's drink, food . . . is it the dragon's eggs you want? You can have them, only throw away the sword.† â€Å"Do as she tells you, fool,† Ser Jorah shouted, â€Å"before you get us all killed.† Viserys laughed. â€Å"They can't kill us. They can't shed blood here in the sacred city . . . but I can.† He laid the point of his sword between Daenerys's breasts and slid it downward, over the curve of her belly. â€Å"I want what I came for,† he told her. â€Å"I want the crown he promised me. He bought you, but he never paid for you. Tell him I want what I bargained for, or I'm taking you back. You and the eggs both. He can keep his bloody foal. I'll cut the bastard out and leave it for him.† The sword point pushed through her silks and pricked at her navel. Viserys was weeping, she saw; weeping and laughing, both at the same time, this man who had once been her brother. Distantly, as from far away, Dany heard her handmaid Jhiqui sobbing in fear, pleading that she dared not translate, that the khal would bind her and drag her behind his horse all the way up the Mother of Mountains. She put her arm around the girl. â€Å"Don't be afraid,† she said. â€Å"I shall tell him.† She did not know if she had enough words, yet when she was done Khal Drogo spoke a few brusque sentences in Dothraki, and she knew he understood. The sun of her life stepped down from the high bench. â€Å"What did he say?† the man who had been her brother asked her, flinching. It had grown so silent in the hall that she could hear the bells in Khal Drogo's hair, chiming softly with each step he took. His bloodriders followed him, like three copper shadows. Daenerys had gone cold all over. â€Å"He says you shall have a splendid golden crown that men shall tremble to behold.† Viserys smiled and lowered his sword. That was the saddest thing, the thing that tore at her afterward . . . the way he smiled. â€Å"That was all I wanted,† he said. â€Å"What was promised.† When the sun of her life reached her, Dany slid an arm around his waist. The khal said a word, and his bloodriders leapt forward. Qotho seized the man who had been her brother by the arms. Haggo shattered his wrist with a single, sharp twist of his huge hands. Cohollo pulled the sword from his limp fingers. Even now Viserys did not understand. â€Å"No,† he shouted, â€Å"you cannot touch me, I am the dragon, the dragon, and I will be crowned!† Khal Drogo unfastened his belt. The medallions were pure gold, massive and ornate, each one as large as a man's hand. He shouted a command. Cook slaves pulled a heavy iron stew pot from the firepit, dumped the stew onto the ground, and returned the pot to the flames. Drogo tossed in the belt and watched without expression as the medallions turned red and began to lose their shape. She could see fires dancing in the onyx of his eyes. A slave handed him a pair of thick horsehair mittens, and he pulled them on, never so much as looking at the man. Viserys began to scream the high, wordless scream of the coward facing death. He kicked and twisted, whimpered like a dog and wept like a child, but the Dothraki held him tight between them. Ser Jorah had made his way to Dany's side. He put a hand on her shoulder. â€Å"Turn away, my princess, I beg you.† â€Å"No.† She folded her arms across the swell of her belly, protectively. At the last, Viserys looked at her. â€Å"Sister, please . . . Dany, tell them . . . make them . . . sweet sister . . . â€Å" When the gold was half-melted and starting to run, Drogo reached into the flames, snatched out the pot. â€Å"Crown!† he roared. â€Å"Here. A crown for Cart King!† And upended the pot over the head of the man who had been her brother. The sound Viserys Targaryen made when that hideous iron helmet covered his face was like nothing human. His feet hammered a frantic beat against the dirt floor, slowed, stopped. Thick globs of molten gold dripped down onto his chest, setting the scarlet silk to smoldering . . . yet no drop of blood was spilled. He was no dragon, Dany thought, curiously calm. Fire cannot kill a dragon.

How Your Personal Learning Style Enhanced Your Learning

When my University grade class began in September I had really few of the accomplishments necessary to finish it successfully. In the November of that twelvemonth an initial assignment was completed which outlined the strengths and failings present at the clip, and suggested a program for developing those which were missing. It is now March and the terminal of the first twelvemonth is fast nearing. So looking back, how have I improved? Have I managed to derive any new accomplishments, or polish my older accomplishments? This assignment focuses on those inquiries. However, it must be pointed out that in order to reply these inquiries fundamental alterations to my apprehension of the construct of survey accomplishments had to alter. As a consequence, farther development to my thought manners, larning environment, ability to debate and concise clip direction besides occurred. Using these freshly refined accomplishments I will travel back and analyze my first twelvemonth at university and determine whether or non the program I created to heighten my acquisition was effectual. As is widely reputed â€Å" all accomplishments improve through pattern, feedback and monitoring † ( Cottrell, 1999:30 ) . I hope to demo how I have capitalised on this construct, foregrounding how this twelvemonth has made me more cognizant of my preferable learning manner and what I need to make to better further still. Becoming a more effectual scholar is non something I was able to sit down and larn by reading a book on survey accomplishments, I had to larn to read my work objectively and be able to knock constructively. I will besides explicate subsequently on in this assignment why depicting a personal acquisition manner utilizing merely those theoretical accounts presently available is non ever good to a scholar. That alternatively, cognition should be used to make a individualized and adaptative model which you are in control of ; enabling you to â€Å" aˆÂ ¦learn about yourself and how you perform to your possible under any circumstancesaˆÂ ¦ † ( Cott rell, 1999:44 ) . By composing this assignment chronologically I hope to demo that development has both taken topographic point since September, and is still taking topographic point now. This assignment will get down with a brief reappraisal of the survey accomplishments already present at the start of the class, upon which an initial assignment was completed. The work of Stella Cottrell proved to be an priceless plus while researching for that assignment. Trusting chiefly upon her Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats ( SWOT ) analysis to assist with the designation of my survey accomplishments, it has since become apparent that this showed a deficiency of ability to be able to objectively analyze myself. The personal strengths her analysis brought to visible radiation included puting mini-goals, believing logically, debating with a friend, and organizing a physical workspace. Since so, nevertheless, it has become clear that these were non skills in themselves, but instead subskills. Thes e are all properties that a individual learns to develop in order to heighten a chief survey accomplishment ; such as assignment authorship, or general apprehension of a subject. I shall return to analyze these findings, and the importance they played in my hereafter development subsequently on in this assignment. Having reviewed the accomplishments present at the start of the class, this subdivision of the assignment will concentrate on those which have been developed since. Using the programs I created to attach to the initial assignment three key survey accomplishments have now been enhanced. These include reading ability, administration and the ability to debate. As mentioned earlier, accomplishments are made up of subskills, and it is the subskills which are developed to heighten the survey accomplishment. Reading ability and thought manners are frequently found manus in manus as a combined survey accomplishment. Last semester I lacked the ability to expeditiously pick out the salient points in a text, due in portion to my inflexibleness when reading. The program designed to keep fluidness and flexibleness when researching and reading helped heighten this accomplishment ( Appendix One ) . In bend, this helped to develop the next subskills of concentration, its lastingness and attending ; every bit good as memory capacity. However, the ability to debate a subject with a broader circle of people was non enhanced straight by utilizing either of the programs proposed last semester. Alternatively, this accomplishment came as an indirect consequence of an improved concentration, and wider reading and believing abilities. Attending regular categories and seminars, every bit good as take parting in group work, has seen the circle of people with whom I am able to debate class content addition. In bend, nevertheless, heightening the accomplishment of debating has encouraged farther development in all the survey skills antecedently mentioned ; there are now extra grounds to read widely and understand what I am larning. Finally, when heightening the survey accomplishment of administration, changeless appraisal of how my clip could be best spent was needed, turn outing Cottrell ‘s diagrammatic representation of a twenty-four hours, divided by activity, to be important ( Appendix Two ) . Every clip I referred back to it I reminded myself of merely how much clip I could potentially blow, and how much clip I could liberate up if I merely re-prioritised my day-to-day undertakings. By default this helped to develop the subskills of maintaining an organized physical workspace ; invariably puting come-at-able mini-goals ; and, when combined with the program to keep fluidness, my concentration. The importance of these survey accomplishments, every bit good as an account of how they have led me to look at other more advanced accomplishments, will be discussed in more item in a ulterior subdivision of this assignment. Having identified the accomplishments with which I began this class and contrasted them against those accomplishments which I have since learned, it is logical to turn to next the controversial topic of acquisition manners. For the intent of this assignment, I narrowed the available acquisition typologies down to the three most popular among instructors and pupils: the Gregorc Style Delineator ( GSD ) ; the Dunn ‘s Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic theoretical account ( VAK ) ; and the Honey and Mumford Scale. Upon finishing the GSD, of the four classs available, I placed myself most strongly into the ‘Abstract Sequential ‘ group. The given standards for this group is the understanding that such a scholar is at their optimal if they can â€Å" analyze a state of affairs before doing a determination † , but that they would happen it hard to follow â€Å" specific regulations and ordinances † and to be â€Å" sentimental † in idea. It is apparent from such stiff classification that this peculiar acquisition theoretical account Acts of the Apostless against developing accomplishments and more in favor of placing accomplishments. Sing each strength and failing in bend, it became clear that I really span all four of Gregorc ‘s classs. A categorization which he suggests is non healthy for a scholar to hold ; this averment straight opposes the political orientation of the Honey and Mumford Scale. When sing the VAK theoretical account it transpired that I am non a strong scholar in any one class ; being every bit able to larn in all Fieldss they propose. Again, they would propose that a scholar in such a place would endure troubles as it is non favorable to cross multiple classs. While this agrees with the GSD in its political orientation, it has a much heavier focal point on practical acquisition. Learning can take topographic point outside of the context of a book or other likewise formatted text, information learned through drama or music, for illustration, is besides valid. Finally, of the three theoretical accounts evaluated, it was the Honey and Mumford Scale that was most broad in its attack and actively encouraged a spanning of classs. Although this is the most clip devouring theoretical account to finish, it is more thorough for being so. I pulled in front strongly in two of the four classs, with a 3rd non far behind. Their advice upon such a categorization is to work to better the classs which score most ill. This last typology, as I have stated, seems the most utile to any scholar in detecting failings and strengths in larning and taking to develop those failings. The theories underlying the political orientation of the Honey and Mumford theoretical account will be explained in more item within a farther subdivision of this assignment, alongside which will be my ain ideas on how the acquisition typologies presently available can be combined to make a more personal acquisition manner. To analyze in more item the first subdivision of this assignment, in which the accomplishments present at the clip of composing the initial assignment are reviewed, the construct of soul-searching will be farther discussed. Although it can be said now that the trust upon Cottrell ‘s SWOT analysis showed an inability to objectively analyze myself, it must besides be pointed out that my apprehension of what a survey accomplishment is has besides changed. In the initial assignment such strengths as ‘setting mini-goals ‘ were identified without associating them to the overall accomplishments they helped to heighten. Following this illustration, the subskill of puting mini-goals improves administration, as does holding a designated physical workspace. Given that the initial assignment focused to a great extent on all the subskills linked to administration I will seek and broaden the focal point with this assignment. While it is true to state that my administration has im proved over the last twelvemonth, it is no longer a subject that requires such an extended analysis. Herne, Jessel and Griffiths ( 2000 ) explain that presuming active control of larning ensures that mental constructions will develop to help apprehension. Over the continuance of the last two semesters I have managed to develop one of their suggested productive survey schemes based on doing connexions: the construct map, or head map. This has proved to be utile in organizing non merely my ideas, but besides my essays and instance surveies. Deriving a better criterion of administration has helped me see that there were other countries of my personality that needed to better in order to profit more successfully from a university class. Once the significance of ‘study accomplishments ‘ had been adjusted and applied objectively, I was able to expeditiously utilize the programs developed with the initial assignment to develop those accomplishments which were missing. An inability to be flexible when reading – to merely pick out the salient points – was identified as a failing. In trying to heighten this accomplishment the program to keep fluidness and flexibleness was the more effectual of the two programs created. As Dominic Wyse ( 2006 ) , among others, has said â€Å" The individual most of import thing you can make to better the opportunities of success on your class is to read widely † . This cognition made it even more important to be able to utilize any clip exhausted reading more efficaciously. I followed the practical advice written by Herne, Jessel and Griffiths ( 2000 ) to enable me to read with purpose. They advise that text should be scanned foremost, paying peculiar atten ding to any headers every bit good as looking for familiar constructs. This plays on the theory that â€Å" understanding can be helped if relevant constructions are ‘activated ‘ by anterior cognition † ( Herne, Jessel, Griffiths, 2000:4 ) . I have besides increased the sum of H2O I drink during a twenty-four hours as Cottrell ( 1990 ) suggested that this may assist my organic structure relax ; when relaxed I will hold better reading comprehension. Reading widely is besides a subskill that helps to heighten other survey accomplishments, such as the ability to take part in argument ; a accomplishment I said was of most importance to me to be able to get the hang in the initial assignment. When reading both widely and on a regular basis a larger vocabulary is established, as written text uses a different signifier of the linguistic communication to talk text. To be able to expeditiously utilize a deeply larger cognition base when connection in treatments besides requires the ability to follow different values and individualities ( californium. Baynham and Maybin, 1996 ) . As is a common characteristic when working hand in glove, the sharing of such values and cognition is increased as each individual contributes a alone position to a treatment ( after Cottrell, 1999 ) . In bend, this development enhances the survey accomplishment of critical thought, something Edward Glaser defined as â€Å" aˆÂ ¦a relentless attempt to ana lyze any belief or supposed signifier of cognition in the visible radiation of the grounds that supports it and the farther decisions to which it tends † ( Cottrell, 1999:221 ) . Whilst it has already explained why this assignment will non concentrate intently on the survey accomplishment of administration, it is necessary to explicate whether the program created last semester to assist prioritize how I spend my clip was of any usage. Rather than follow the representation of my most efficient twenty-four hours ( Appendix Two ) as if it were a regulation, I was able to understand the political orientation behind it. This meant I invariably assessed my twenty-four hours and the undertakings I had to finish to see if I could do better usage of the clip available. It is as a consequence of these appraisals that I now feel confident to non hold to pay excessively much attending to how I spend my clip. Associating all these subskills and freshly enhanced survey accomplishments together is the metacognitive attack of changeless self-reflection and rating, for which â€Å" aˆÂ ¦you need some apprehension of the procedures of survey † ( Northedge, 1990:17 ) . This is an attack which I have taken chiefly from this faculty, hence a natural patterned advance from self-evaluation and contemplation would be to see the ‘habitual ‘ . Can I acquire to the phase, where at the terminal of my 2nd twelvemonth, I do non hold to measure myself so consciously, but instead that it becomes a wont? To be able to develop any survey accomplishment to the degree of ‘habit ‘ will necessitate a enormous sum of difficult work and dedication, it will besides demand a natural boundary ; my personal acquisition manner. Once I have an thought about how I learn, and in what conditions I learn best I will hold, in consequence, produced a model in which to concentrate the farther development of my survey accomplishments. Since the innovation of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging ( MRI ) machine in the 1980s the Fieldss of neuroscience and psychological science have progressively overlapped. In the last 20 old ages many scientists and psychologists have combined the consequences of MRI scans with psychological development theories to bring forth learning manners. In one study over 71 such typologies were identified ( Revell, 2005 ) . However controversial the outward visual aspect of a learning manner may be, there seems to be a common consensus that a individual develops best when their acquisition is structured and everyday. The dissensions begin over merely what the best modus operandi is, and how to learn within its model. Earlier in this assignment three typologies were focused on ; the Gregorc Style Delineator ( GSD ) ; the Dunn ‘s Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic theoretical account ( VAK ) ; and the Honey and Mumford Scale. Each of these theoretical accounts returned rather different consequences about my personal learning strengths and failings. Upon reading legion independent studies on these larning typologies it has been highlighted that they still require a monolithic sum of independent rating, and that without more conclusive grounds, they should non be entirely embraced and utilized. In one such study, my ain ideas about the GSD theoretical account were supported by statements like: â€Å" aˆÂ ¦the GSD is flawed in its constructionaˆÂ ¦ [ and ] does non hold equal psychometric belongingss for usage in single assessmentaˆÂ ¦ † or in mention to the VAK theoretical account an even more damnatory statement: â€Å" aˆÂ ¦this instrument is a psychometric disaster aˆÂ ¦ † ( Learning Skills and Development Agency, 2004 ) . However, despite the discouraging studies on both of these theoretical accounts, the Honey and Mumford Scale seems to follow with traditionally accepted and trusted educational teaching methods. The theory of constructivist larning developed from knowledge theory, and it describes larning as a construct which can be continuously built upon and developed ( Herne, Jessel and Griffiths, 2000 ) . There besides seems to be a close nexus between larning in this manner and utilizing both left and right hemispheres of the encephalon, the logical and Gestalt facets ( californium. Cottrell, 2000 ) , in unison to supply the scholar with the best opportunity at their topic. It has been suggested that if anterior cognition of a capable exists, so the scholar will make better in understanding it. Likewise, the more adept the leaner at utilizing both sides of the encephalon, the more memory pathways they have available to them when accessing a subject ( after Herne, Jessel and Griffiths, 2000 ) . T herefore, a much more effectual usage of the current acquisition typologies would be to utilize their political orientation as a usher, to detect which accomplishments and subskills I can develop and heighten to assist me go capable of both wide and balanced acquisition. This is something I will take to hold achieved by the terminal of my grade. To reason so, this assignment has shown the patterned advance I have made throughout the first academic twelvemonth. It opened with an analysis of the accomplishments present at the start of the class discoursing how, six months subsequently on, they had helped to develop more advanced survey accomplishments. This assignment so offered a brief account of how learning typologies can impact the development of survey accomplishments ; they define how a individual understands a subject and besides define the position the scholar has of himself, a position which is non ever good when trying to better survey accomplishments. By mixing the findings of all the typologies available I have been able to nail farther failings that can be worked on throughout my future old ages at University. I have greatly enjoyed the chance to return to reflect on my personal acquisition manner within the parametric quantity of a pronounced faculty. It has become clear to me, through the reading I have undertaken as portion of this class and the unfavorable judgment I have had returned through this faculty, that I have now become more cognizant of myself and how I express what I have learned to others. It has besides given me the opportunity to reflect upon a acquisition and development scheme which was imposed instead hurriedly in the first few months of a class ; when I was still comparatively diffident as to what was expected of me. Mike Metcalfe ( 2006 ) summarises this whole procedure neatly when he explains how: Philosophers, research workers and experient direction theoreticians seem to hold noticed that worlds, when faced with a job, leap to a probationary solution and so take to move to rationalize that speculation utilizing more critical thought such as observation, concluding and experimentation. ( Pg123 ) If this construct is applied to the attack I used to turn to this faculty it would explicate how the initial program proposed in November was adopted over the two semesters. The initial assignment was designed to enable me to develop and heighten failings in survey accomplishments. However, without giving much idea to my existent apprehension of how such failings related to my acquisition, it has non been until this contemplation, some six months subsequently, that I have been able to to the full understand the importance of how I learn and integrate a stronger nucleus of advantageous survey accomplishments. I am now confident that any future development of survey accomplishments will organize a lasting foundation for acquisition. Appendix One Appendix Two

Wal-mart, ING Group NV and ExxonMobil SWOT analysis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3129 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Did you like this example? Wal-mart, ING Group NV and ExxonMobil Introduction In this document the author carries out a SWOT analysis for three organizations. The three organizations are Wal-mart Stores, ING Group NV and ExxonMobil. The author has written a short case study for each organization, giving an introduction to each organization, their current activities and the threats and issues that they are faced with at present. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Wal-mart, ING Group NV and ExxonMobil: SWOT analysis" essay for you Create order Wal-mart Stores Wal-mart was founded in 1962 and since that date has been a household name and has continued to grow from strength to strength through the last four and a half decades. Today the name Wal-mart is not common only in the households throughout the United States of America but also throughout the world. Today there is hardly any part of the world that the store has not penetrated. From the North to South and East to West, Wal-mart is known throughout every nook and cranny of the world. The organization has been able to penetrate every continent throughout the world and is in existence in India, China, Vietnam, Korea and many South American countries that have contributed to its success in many different ways. Wal-mart has been known for its bargain pricing of the products and services that it sells. Further it has also been known for a selling and giving access to a wide range of products and services to the consumers from clothing and accessories to household and g arden equipment; some of the services provided by the organization are pharmacy services and even photography services. In this manner the organization has been able to put down solid roots in many different countries, cities, towns, villages and communities and become a household name. Further its motto throughout the years has been to save money for the consumer and help the consumer to lead a cheaper but better and higher living standard. These are the reasons that the organization has seen phenomenal growth in the last few years. Wal-mart, throughout the last few years has made immense use of the comparative advantage and moved its manufacturing plants and even its supplierà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s manufacturing plants to the east and countries where it could ensure lower production costs. Today most of the products that are sold in the Wal-mart store around the world are from China, a country that has an almost unlimited supply of cheap labour that gives the organization the advan tage of lower costs, that results in lower pricing. Another success factor of Wal-mart has been its ability to buy in bulk, sell huge volumes and survive on very low or reduced profit margins. This has enabled the organization to pass on the cost benefit to the consumer and give the consumer more value for money, which has been an important element of its success in this highly competitive business era. However the organization has been facing much litigation in the past few years in the United States, due to some of its inefficient handling of human resources related issues. In the recent years the organization has been accused of unfair treatment of its female workforce à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" while the litigation is now well behind the organization it has cast a cloud on the employment prospects of employees with the organization and could thus cause a detrimental effect on the organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to attract, recruit and retain talented and high potential employ ees in the future. The only manner the organization will be able to avoid such a threat is to manage its communication with the public and to clean up its image as a potential employer. Strengths Established name brand that is identified with reasonable to cheap pricing and bargain pricing. Wal-mart is a store that most individuals when they are on a low budget and still want to buy what they set out to buy visit. Wide network of stores and therefore it is accessible to all types of individuals whether they are of wealthy means or not. The organization is able to buy in bulk and gain huge bulk discounts that are not available to other organizations and is able to pass on the discounts and pricing benefits to the customers thus further solidifying its reputation as a bargain store The organization deals in all types of goods from clothes to electrical items, from jeweler to garden equipment and therefore caters to a wide range of individuals and needs. Weaknesses In the last few years the organization has faced much litigation from employees accusing it of unfair employment activities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" especially from its female workforce that has given the organization a bad reputation as an employer. The organization has also earned much negative publicity for its strong arming tactics and squeezing suppliers of profit margins by threatening to take its business elsewhere. The goods that are sold by Wal-mart from its Chinese suppliers in the past year have been marred by many different cases of health and safety hazards. The Chinese branches of Wal-mart have had difficulties in establishing themselves in the economy. The organization has been challenged in court over its strong-arm tactics of trying to suppress the unionization of its American workforce. The organization has to allow its Chinese workforce to unionize and the government-backed workersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ federations control the unions. Opportunities The current economic crisis has decreased the disposable income of many individuals and thus has caused many individuals and households to lower their expectations and to shop for bargains, thus Wal-mart stands to gain in such a situation. The inflation in the economy is on the decline and the economy is on the brink of deflation thus it may mean that Wal-mart is able to provide its customers with increased bargains. Many retail organizations are going out of business due to the reduction in disposable incomes. This can help Wal-mart by increasing its customer base due to the bargains that it can provide its customers. Due to the cheap rate that the organization is able to buy its products from suppliers, it is able to provide customers with even bigger bargains to encourage them to shop at Wal-mart. Threats The big name retailers such as MS are giving having huge sales such as 50% off sales; this is difficult for Wal-mart to compete with, as its profit margins are not that great on each unit. The reduction in disposable income of customers and the looming recession and fears of job losses have caused individuals to curtail their shopping and this is a huge threat to Wal-mart, which relies on consumer spending. ING Group NV Before 1991 ING had been in existence and operating throughout the Netherlands behind many different very strong and well known banks and insurance companies. However it was only in the year 1991 that through the merger of National Netherlanden and NMB Post Bank that ING as it is known today came into existence. Therefore as ING the organization has been in existence for less than two decades, however it has been one of the biggest success stories of the banking and financial industry. This success has not come at the expense of the strength of the bank or through the bank taking unwarranted risks but rather through the most appropriate and most prudent steps to become a well recognized brand worldwide. The name ING is synonymous with innovation and Internet banking. It was this that gave the organization its unprecedented growth prospects throughout the years. The ING group was the first ever, financial services provider to use the worldwide web for its banking activities. The organization came up with the innovative strategy to create a bank that is accessible online and that has no bank branches or front line staff, just a call centre and one branch that would be used for those activities that make face to face contact absolutely necessary such as signing mortgage documents and lending documents etc. By cutting down on the brick and mortar operations the organization was able to cut down on the overhead costs that all banks have to absorb and thus was able to pass on the benefit of these savings to the final consumer the bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s customers in the form of zero bank charges, lower lending rates and higher saving interest rates. Further with the ability to access ones finances online came the reduced time spent standing in lines, savings in terms of time spent getting to and fro from the bank thus making banking a very pleasant and time saving exercise. This uplifted the profile of the bank in the eyes of the consumer and con tributed to its development and growth as one of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ten largest banks. Another factor that contributed to the success of the organization has been its ability to customize its services to suit the different parts of the world that it is located in. For instance the organization is well known for its micro lending facilities in India to uplift cottage industries and empower women in the villages and small communities. Likewise it is very well known for the ING foundation a charity that it operates in different parts of the world. Through the foundation the organization has chosen different charities that it would support and also encourages its staff to participate in ING foundation activities and other voluntary services that has not only helped the organization to climb the ranks as a desirable employer but also as a good corporate citizen. The biggest threat that the organization currently faces is the current economic crisis that has sent most of the large economies in Europe, the United States and the emerging economies into recession. While the organization maybe on firm footing in a financial sense right now, this may change if there is a prolonged global recession. Further as the bank has not been in existence when such occurrences took place in the past, this would prove to be the acid test for the organization. Strengths ING is a long established brand and is known for solidity and has been named in the Interbrand list. The organization has diversified into different financial services, such as banking, investments and insurance thus making it a well-known name and a big player in the financial industry worldwide. ING is well known for its innovative Internet banking activities in the last decade of the 20th century. This helped the bank to be synonymous with being an innovative bank that was on the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s side. The bank was known for charging no bank charges and providing customers with high rates of interest and lower lending rates. Further the organization is well known with its innovative products such as the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ING unmortgageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . ING has been in existence in many different countries for many years, either as ING or operating under other established names thus increasing confidence in its name. The organization has grown through mergers and acquisitions as well as through organic growth, thus making it a very strong business entity. The organization is able to cross sell its products and services as it has diversified into so many different areas of the financial services industry. Weaknesses The organization in some parts of the world like Britain and in North America does not have strong presence when compared with banks such as RBS and BoA. Many individuals have the wrong notion that the organization has no brick and mortar branches and is a virtual bank only à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" thus denying it of the older and senior citizens market as a customer group. The organization has been growing through mergers and acquisitions more than through organic growth, which in certain aspects can be considered as a weakness rather than a strength. ING had to request for help from the Dutch government in the last month or so, thus projecting an image of weakness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" even though in reality this is not the case and the organization is still very strong à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" it has given it some negative publicity. Opportunities The current economic crisis has not adversely effected the organization, thus proving that the organization can be trusted with the customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ money. The collapse of many different banks and insurance companies has given the organization the opportunity to acquire stakes in these banks and grow and expand even further. Further the collapse of such big names in the banking industry has enabled ING to increase its reputation and even climb in rankings when compared to other banks. The organization has taken over the operations of a failed Icelandic bank in the United Kingdom thus increasing its goodwill with the British public and will be able to cash in on this good will at a future date. Threats If the mortgage crisis and the looming recession should continue for a pro-longed period of time the organization is not going to be able to come out of unscathed as it has done in the past during previous recessions. ExxonMobil ExxonMobil has been in existence for over a hundred years and is the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s largest company that is publicly traded and operates in the integrated petroleum and natural gas industry. The organization operates facilities around the world and explores for oil and natural gas in all six continents around the world. The organization leads the industry in every aspect of energy and petrochemicals. Further it has taken an active role in exploring for new sources of energy to help meet the increased demand for energy in the past few years. ExxonMobil is a leader in the research and development of new energy sources and technologies in response to the needs of the depleting resources, climate change, environment concerns and rising energy costs that have plagued the industry in the past few years. There are many different factors that have contributed to the success of the organization in the last century that it has been in operations. The first has been that the organization has been able to expand its operations throughout the other globe thus increasing its customer base and its markets. Further the organization has spent much on research and development throughout the years, which has helped the organization to be the leader in the industry for so many year and this expenditure in research and development will continue to help the organization to be a leader in the industry. Further the organization has grown through mergers and acquisitions and has been able to penetrate markets that were out of reach to it like the ones in the emerging markets of India and China. The diversification of the business operations into different areas of the energy supply, the increased investment in technology and again the investment in research and development to discover new methods of energy exploration, energy refinement and energy efficiency have contributed to a great extent to the success of the organization. While the organization is no doubt the leader in the industry and is known to be very strong in its makeup, its market potential and its ability to remain profitable in the future there are many different threats that are looming in the immediate future of the organization. The biggest threat that the organization is currently faced with is the decline in energy prices in the past few weeks to levels not seen over a year ago. While this boards well for the reduction of inflation in the economy, it does not board well for the organization and has reduced its projected profits for the coming year. Further it should be stated that the decline in the growth prospects of emerging economies like China and India has caused a reduction in the demand for energy that is indeed a serious threat for the long-term survival and profitability of the organization. Another threat for the organization is the increased concern for the environment and the depletion of natural resources that is making consumers more conscious of energy consumption and results in a reduction of energy consumption, thus reducing the profitability of the organization even further. Strengths A long established name that has been in existence for over one hundred years. This gives the customers a sense of security when dealing with the organization. The organization has diversified into many different areas of the energy industry and has many strong brands under its main umbrella group. The organization in the past has been able to survive without much damage to its reputation even after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. This is partly due to a few reasons, the good corporate citizenship of the organization, the correct and appropriate crisis management and crisis communication management strategy. The organization has been innovative in the past and continues to be very innovative currently too by spending a lot on research and development to come up with more efficient and effective ways to manage the energy resources and reduce the negative impact to the environment. The organization has a global presence and thus has access to a wider customer base and a larger market than other energy companies. The organization has a very strong presence in both India and China, the emerging markets that have been known to increase their energy demands exponentially thus the organization has been profiting from this at a higher rate than most other organizations. Weaknesses The organization has been accused of not doing enough to go green and conserve the environment, rather that it is polluting and destroying the environment. There has been much negative publicity generated from the Exxon Valdez spill and also the human rights or rather the employee rights records of the organization has been under a cloud, which is a significant weakness of the organization. Inappropriate handling of the environmental interest groups is a very big weakness of the organization and can be detrimental to it in the future. Further the organization has been known for exorbitant profits in the last few years as energy prices were increasing, which gave it quite a lot of negative publicity that the organization did not handle very well and has cost it the good will of its consumers, who consider the organization to be becoming rich at the expense of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“poor consumerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Opportunities The biggest opportunities that are available to the organization currently is the increased demand of energy by developing economies in the South Asian and South East Asian regions likes Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam. Threats The emerging economies of China and India that have been the biggest demanders of energy in the past few years are being hit by the recession in the developed economies and thus have reduced their rates of energy consumption that has caused the organization to loose out on projected levels of profit. The increased attention to the conservation of the environment has resulted in the reduction of the use of energy and energy savings and in the future this will only increase thus reducing the profitability of the organization.