Hotel project management

Hotel project management SUMMARY Kerrison Park Hotel in London, is a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author will explain here how a project management approach will help the hotel to make changes to turn the loss making situation around. The Author has explained to the management of Kerrison Park Hotel the meaning of Project Management, the process involved in it, the tools and techniques used in it and the benefits of using a Project management approach in developing of the improvement opportunities. The Author has identified all the improvement opportunities of Kerrison Park Hotel, London, and done a detailed SWOT analysis which has given an insight to the problem and improvement areas along with the companys strengths and weaknesses. According to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or a service. The act of managing, controlling, coordinating, directing, etc is called management. Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholders needs and expectations from a project. Projects need to be performed and delivered under certain constraints. Traditionally these constraints have been listed as ‘scope, ‘time and ‘cost (Burke, 2003). PROCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Agree precise specification for the project. Plan the project time, team, activities, resources, and financials. Communicate the project plan to your project team. Agree and delegate project actions. Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, enable the project team. Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others. Complete project; review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. After explaining all this the author has given recommendations as to how to develop those improvement opportunities identified in SWOT. INTRODUCTION Case Study Background: This case study refers to Kerrison Park Hotel in London, a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased this hotel as a part of a financial package that also involved the takeover of three aircrafts and routes serving Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Oslo. The hotel is situated 25km from Heathrow Airport and is well connected by public bus and Underground. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author has been given the role of a project manager to use his project management skills and investigate the hotels SWOT analysis and make a proper project plan to retain business and turn this loss making situation around. Aims and Objectives: Define the benefits of the Kerrison Park Hotel, London of adopting a Project Management approach towards the development of the improvement opportunities. Identifying these improvement opportunities within the hotel, recommend a project plan that should be tackled within the next 18 months. Research Methodology: The author has used a lot of secondary resources to research and collect data related to case material like books, websites, etc.. Initially all about Project Management is explained along with some techniques and their importance. Then a detailed SWOT analysis is done for the Kerrison Park Hotel, London. On the basis of this SWOT analysis a Project Plan is prepares and recommendations are given. There is no primary research undertaken for this report. MAIN BODY Kerrison Park Hotel in London, is a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased this hotel as a part of a financial package that also involved the takeover of three aircrafts and routes serving Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris and Oslo. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author will explain here how a project management approach will help the hotel to make changes to turn the loss making situation around. According to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or a service. The act of managing, controlling, coordinating, directing, etc is called management. Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholders needs and expectations from a project (Burke, 2001). Projects are executed and achieved under scope, time and cost constraints. These constraints when combined together form the Project Management Triangle. As these constraints are linked together therefore, the triangle would be affected if either of the constraints is changed. The advanced enhancement of scope, time and cost produces a fourth constraint called Quality. ‘Scope describes what must be done to produce the end result of the project, ‘Time constraint specifies the available time to meet the project and ‘Cost refers to the total amount available for the project completion. The main purpose of Project Management is to offer the appropriate tools and techniques that initiate the team to work towards the achievement of these constraints. Time The time required can be estimated through Work Breakdown Structure where each task is separately broken down into the time required to complete each task contributing to the completion of each component. Cost The cost constraint is estimated on variables like resource costs, labour rates, material rates, risk management, Earned value management, plant, equipment, cost escalation, indirect costs, and profit. Scope Scope describes the actual project to be accomplished and the end result. Quality of the actual output product is one of the major components of scope. The quality of the project is determined on the actual amount inputted towards the individual tasks. (URL: http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/rh/62/The-traditional-triple-constraints.html) PROJECT LIFE CYCLE: Project Management Life Cycle comprises four phases Initiation involves starting up the project, by documenting a business case, feasibility study, terms of reference, appointing the team and setting up a Project Office. Planning involves setting out the roadmap for the project by creating the following plans: project plan, resource plan, financial plan, quality plan, acceptance plan and communications plan. Execution involves building the deliverables and controlling the project delivery, scope, costs, quality, risks and issues. Closure involves winding-down the project by releasing staff, handing over deliverables to the customer and completing a post implementation review (URL: http://www.mpmm.com/project-management-methodology.php). PROCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Agree precise specification for the project: Often called the project terms of reference, the project specification should be an accurate description of what the project aims to achieve, and the criteria and flexibilities involved, its parameters, scope, range, outputs, sources, participants, budgets and timescales Plan the project time, team, activities, resources, financials: Plan the various stages and activities of the project. A useful tip is to work backwards from the end aim, identifying all the things that need to be put in place and done, in reverse order. Communicate the project plan to your project team: This serves two purposes: it informs people whats happening, and it obtains essential support, agreement and commitment. If your project is complex and involves a team, then you should involve the team in the planning process to maximise buy-in, ownership, and thereby accountability. Agree and delegate project actions: Activities need to be very clearly described, including all relevant parameters, timescales, costs, and deliverables in a plan. This plan will then be published to all team members and the tasks will be issued to all on the basis of their capability of their own forward planning Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, and enable the project team: Manage the team and activities by meeting, communicating, supporting, and helping with decisions. Your role here is to enable and translate. Face to face meetings, when you can bring team members together, are generally the best way to avoid issues and relationships becoming personalised and emotional. Communicate progress and successes regularly to everyone. Give the people in your team the plaudits. Conversely you must take the blame for anything that goes wrong never dump on anyone in your team Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others: Check the progress of activities against the plan. Review performance regularly and at the stipulated review points, and confirm the validity and relevance of the remainder of the plan. Adjust the plan if necessary in light of performance, changing circumstances, and new information, but remain on track and within the original terms of reference. Complete project; review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team: At the end of your successful project hold a review with the team. Ensure you understand what happened and why. Reflect on any failures and mistakes positively, objectively, and without allocating personal blame. Reflect on successes gratefully and realistically. TOOLS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: PERT: The Program Evaluation and Review Technique is a model for project management designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project. A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e, precedence network) relationships between activities. A work breakdown structure or WBS is a tree structure, that permits summing of subordinate costs for tasks, materials, etc., into their successively higher level â€Å"parent† tasks, materials, etc. It is a fundamental tool commonly used in project management The Critical Path Method, abbreviated CPM, or critical path analysis, is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. It is an important tool for effective project management. A Run chart, also known as a run-sequence plot is a graph that displays observed data in a time sequence. Often, the data displayed represent some aspect of the output or performance of a manufacturing or other business process. IMPORTANCE AND BENEFIT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH TO KERRISON PARK HOTEL, LONDON: Develops Exponential Effectiveness: In most organizations, people work on cross-functional teams to complete projects. When people from different departments know and understand a common Project Management process to get their work done, they can start to work together without having to design how they are going to do it. Empowers Individuals and Team Leaders: When there is a common, simple approach for Project Management and the correct tools are available throughout the enterprise, people are empowered to reach their goals, together and individually. Creates Institutional Memory: Industry standard Project Management practices require a critical project closeout phase that collects lessons learned and gives your organization powerful historical knowledge from across the enterprise. Realizes Return on Innovation: An easy-to-use Project Management methodology gives organizations a framework that makes it achievable for people to move from vision to action with a comprehensive project plan that supports their objectives. Turns Information into Insight: You capture best practices and know what is and isnt working in your organization, giving you a competitive advantage by turning information into insight. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving that objective. Here we need to do the SWOT analysis of the Kerrison Park Hotel, London which will help us further to make a Project Plan to make recommendations as to what changes are required by this Hotel to run successfully. Strengths: The Hotel has a very good location as it is just 25 Km from Heathrow and is well connected by Bus and Underground. Hotel owns a large reception area out of which a part can be used for other purposes. A large full functioning kitchen builds up the backbone of the hotel Hotel has 150 rooms. All rooms have ensuite facilities, tea and coffee facilities, satellite TV, Air-conditioner and mini-bar which shows it provides all the facilities which a normal 4star hotel should have. The double rooms have adjoining lounges. The hotel provides an elaborate English and Continental Breakfast which is considered to be the main meal of the day. Hotel owns a Big Conference and a banqueting suite with a separate bar and four syndicate rooms. The Hotel gets a regular business from the parent companys aircrew and passengers. The Hotel also possesses a successful In-house Laundry which also has a contract for companys airline uniforms which ensures fixed revenue. Weaknesses: The hotel is suffering from a low occupancy rate of 45% as compared to other hotels in the city with 65% on a typical day. It has an inappropriate and a weak marketing strategy as the hotel principally relied on tour operators who use the hotel seasonally and local corporate business, gained through minimal advertising. The computer systems on the front of the house have become obsolete and needs to be upgraded to be in sync with the parent companys airline reservation system. Many of the Hotels facilities were not marketed successfully because of poor coordination and irregularity within sales and marketing departments. Lack of security of cleaning stores and linen on floors and their distribution. Lack of regular preventive maintenance of rooms and corridors. Internal painting, re-grouting of tiles, etc. needs attention. Restaurant is not big enough with 90 covers to handle major rush hours during peak season. Lunch time business is poor. Garden side of the restaurant which can be used a n additional room in quite weekends was not publicised properly. The staff seems to be lacking the sales and service orientation. The department heads are given the responsibility for recruiting and training of staff members rather than a proper Human Resource Management system which leads to inconsistencies in approach and quality. Gymnasium is not well equipped and there is no swimming pool facility provided by the hotel. There is no health bar either where a guest could refresh himself after a workout. Opportunities: Since the Hotel has a good location, it can easily pull up the chartered tourism. Students and Backpackers use London as a base for visiting other parts of the country who can be wooed by attractive discounts and offers. Large reception area gives the opportunity to use a part of it for some other purposes for eg. Extending Coffee Shop. Laundry Business can be improved by recruiting more skilled staff and sign up more contracts on revised prices with airlines. Hiring more experienced staff and training the existing one will help in upselling in all FB areas. Coffee Shop is more popular than the restaurant and the bar and is also doing well, so the covers can be increased and it can be livened up for young clientele. There is a good opportunity to start a new buffet style menu in the restaurant after convincing the Head Chef of its advantages. Hiring more efficient and professional Sales and Marketing Team will help the Hotel to boost up its sales volume. The Human Resource Department have a lot of knowledge and experience of working in different cultures which makes it easy for the hotel to understand its staff better and provide them efficient training through proper communication and practice. Threats: The airlines are in doubt as to continue with the laundry contract with the hotel due to the high prices offered as compared to other competitor laundries. The FB staffs have a low skill level; and therefore it leaves the guest into a bad impression of staff lacking service orientation and hotels poor standards. Inappropriate Security systems might lead to loss by theft. Storage of food is disorganized and sometimes no stock rotation is done which can be very dangerous and also lead to wastage. Competition in terms of prices and facility given by other hotels is leading to lower occupancy rate which is not good at all for the hotel. There is no Job satisfaction due to which motivation is lacking in staff. RECOMMENDATIONS After completing this detailed SWOT analysis the author is clear about Hotels situation inside out. Now the author would like to give recommendations for how to overcome the problems and weak areas of the hotel in a Project Management approach. Following are the areas and the changes that need to be done in them: Reception: Since the front of the house systems are obsolete and 12 years old, they require an upgrading to cope up with the expected increase in the business and interface with the parent companys airline reservation system which will create ease of work and efficiency for the reception staff. Changing the system will also require hardcore training to the staff who are habitual of using the old system. This whole process will take about 3 months to come into existence. Accommodation Operations: Author would suggest to turn 20 twin rooms into double rooms which will help the reception to give out more options to the customers. Secondly 10 suites should replace either of the rooms for fulfilling special needs of the guests like honeymoon couples. This operation will take around 4-6 months. In House Laundry: The Laundry has shown a return on investment recently and is running successfully. It is suggested to add up more storage space and recruit more efficient staff. The hotel also needs to take into consideration the prices of the laundry as they are too high compared to competitors due to which it might lose its present contracts. Prices needs to be lowered down. This will take about 2 months. Housekeeping and maintenance: To Control the security of the cleaning stores and linen, the author suggests to put up security alarms and CCTV Cameras in all important areas where undesignated staff isnt allowed. The storage areas should be moved away from back door entry to avoid loss. The rooms need to undergo minor maintenance like internal painting, re-grouting of tiling, replacing shower curtains, etc. Carpeting on first and second floor corridor will be replaced and reinstated as soon as possible. This will take approximately 6-8 months to complete. Food and Beverage: The covers in the restaurant should be increased to at least 120 to cope up with busy hours. The idea of introducing buffet style of menu is very appropriate. The FB manager must convince the head chef about the advantages of buffet style menu for eg, it will save labour force and the guest would get a choice of wider variety of food. Various schemes like ‘Sunday English Roast Lunch or ‘Happy Hours should be introduced which will attract local clientele and families. This operation will take around 1 month to come into existence as there are no major physical changes taking place here. Since the Coffee Shop is very popular and generally remains busy it is suggested to liven and pep it up in sync with the young and modern customers with some exciting decor, video games, darts, etc.. which will attract more people. We have the advantage of having coffee shop next to the large reception area. So it can be extended using a part of the reception area and covers will be increased from 50 to 70. Professional English speaking and permanent staff must be hired for the coffee shop as it will lead to good service and better guest satisfaction. The Coffee Shop menu should be renewed. This will take around 3 months to complete. Bar staff needs to be trained to be multi-skilled so that they can help in other areas when busy. A fool-proof method of controlling and counting sales should be introduced. A versatile drink list should be developed. Night porter facility should be provided to fulfil the needs of late night residents. This will again take around 1 month to come into existence. Gymnasium: It is suggested to install modern and state of the art machinery in the gym. At least 2 trainers should be employed. A proper changing room with modular fittings should be constructed with sauna, spa and a small swimming pool should be built up. Swimming pool will be a great attraction for the in house guests and local residents. The gym kitchen should be refurbished and spruced up and used as a sports bar offering health food and beverages.the Gymnasium and swimming pool will take a long time say around 12 months so should be started well in advance. Goods Delivery and Storage: Food storage in the main cold room must be organised using the FIFO (first in first out) system and keeping HACCP (hazard and critical control points) into consideration. Delegation of responsibility to the heads of the departments and supervisors is of utmost importance for all the storage areas as to keep a control on food storage, rotation, inventory keeping, etc.. The responsibility of the keys should also be delegated to either Head chef or FB manager. A proper inventory management system must be installed to analyse the sales level appropriately. This process will take 2 months. Management and staffing: a lot of emphasis needs to be put on the training and development of the staff as most of the staff is unskilled and unprofessional. A detailed training and development programme needs to be developed. The recruitment responsibility needs to be taken solely by the HR department in coordination with the Heads of the Departments to select only eligible staff. All the lousy and unskilled staff must be replaced by the professional ones. Work incentives and motivational schemes needs to be introduced to ensure job satisfaction and improved performance. Training and Development is an ongoing process so time cannot be calculated here. Replacing staff will not take more than 1 month. Sales and Marketing: First of all a strong, experienced and highly skilled marketing team needs to be hired as the previous one could not prove itself. Then coordination between Sales and Marketing needs to be built up by proper communication and regular meetings. All the facilities of the hotel must be advertised on websites, buses, trains, etc., showing attractive pictures of the hotel rooms, coffee shop, and gymnasium and highlighting the new facilities added. Promotion should be done at trade fares. Hotel must tie up with major tour operators. To increase the sales volume the hotel needs to revise its rack rate in accordance to competitors and give more discounts and attractive offers. Students and Backpackers can be wooed by good discounted rates and offers if they make the bookings in advance which will help hotel to increase its occupancy rate. The marketing team should also promote the in house laundry and get more orders from airlines to make additional revenue. Time Management: There are a lot of tasks to be done here. If we calculate the total time it will be more than 18 months, whereas we only have 18 months to get things done. So we need to manage our tasks in a timely order where two or more tasks can be done in a particular time side by side. The next important thing which we need to consider is that in what sequence the tasks will be accomplished. The activities should be put in such an order that they do not become a hindrance for one another and the hotels routine operations. The time that will be saved will indirectly save our costs as well. CONCLUSION The purpose of the report was to define to the hotel the benefits of adopting a project management approach towards development of improvement opportunities. Then these improvement opportunities were to be identified within the hotel and recommendations were to be given that prioritise and justify the projects that should be tackled within 18 months. The author would like to conclude that these purposes were solved by explaining in detail about the Project management, its process, tools and techniques. A detailed SWOT analysis is done to justify all the changes and improvement to be done in the hotel. Then the author has given recommendations for all that is to be done to retain the business and make profits. This will help the Kerrison Park Hotel to become a successful running Hotel in the city. BIBLIOGRAPHY A quick and comprehensive introduction to Project Management and its advantages Building the Buzz on Project Management (Available from URL: http://www.pmhut.com/a-quick-and-comprehensive-introduction-to-project-management-and-its-advantages-building-the-buzz-on-project-management) (Accessed on 11th March 2010) Burke, R. (2003) Project management planning control techniques (4th edition), England, Wiley Lock, D. (2000) Project Management (7th edition), England, Gower House Project Management Process, Techniques, tools, tips and training (Available from URL: http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm) (Accessed on 10th March 2010) Project Management Methodology: Project Life Cycle (Available from URL: http://www.mpmm.com/project-management-methodology.php) (Accessed on 10th March 2010) The Traditional triple constraints (Available from URL: http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/rh/62/The-traditional-triple-constraints.html) (Accessed on 11th March 2010) Wiest, J.D. and Levy, F.K. (1994), Management Guide To PERT/CPM (2nd edition), New Delhi, Prentice hall of India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management, accessed on 19th October 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis, accessed on 19th October, 2008.

Gwen Harwood Essay

Poetry creatively captures human experience, emotion and nature. Gwen Harwood employs a range of literary and poetic techniques such as imagery, religious allusions and personification to demonstrate the universality of concepts such as loss, death, memory and childhood. Through this, Harwood’s poetry to creates clear and strong perceptions of the continuity of experience and provide permanence to these transient elements of humanity. In ‘Triste, Triste’, Harwood explores the core themes of post coital sadness and the contradictory nature of the physical and spiritual realms that are created by the human body. These aspects all pertain to the human experience and growth of oneself. That is, the physicality of the skeleton, or frame, and the intellectual and creative importance of the brain as a muscle. The meaning of the word â€Å"Triste† is sad and mournful hence the repetition of this word in the title is indicative of Harwood’s reflection on the loss of inspiration. In the first stanza, a yearning and apparent need for ongoing physical passion in the continuous â€Å"space between love and sleep† presents the notion of sleep and its ironically nurturing qualities for the mind and the body despite the idleness of the body during this time of restoration. The phrase furthermore provokes the reader to reflect on such moments in their own life, and to reflect on â€Å"space† with renewed significance and how important it is for the brain and the self. Harwood describes this process as a â€Å"prison†, â€Å"eyes against shoulder keep their blood black curtains tight†¦ body rolls back like a stone.† Parallels are drawn between the ideal that the imagination is a separate entity and the separation between the physical skull and its place for the brain to reside, the brain resembles the imagination or factory of creativity. The poem makes specific and clear biblical references to the Resurrection through imagery furthermore providing to the creative self, as it is aligned with the Christ, walking â€Å"to Easter light†. The necessity of the escapism and discovery of spiritual intensity is strongly reinforced. In addition to the biblical references, divine imagery is implied through the ‘Angelic lightà ¢â‚¬â„¢. The continuing use of personification and imagery encourages the reader to value the indistinct moments of passionate afterglow as opportunity to liberate the imagination. Harwood creates distinctiveness between the divine light present in the second stanza along with the â€Å"darkness† of tangible â€Å"sleep and love† through her use of enjambment and repetition which draws attention to the ending of imaginative inspiration. In the last stanza, Harwood recombines the spirit with the corporal self which ultimately conveys the necessity of intimacy physically and the evanescence of imaginative passion. Additionally, the physical self along with the emotional self, are brought together as one entity which cannot exist without the other thus they possess equal importance and value, despite having separate functions. Throughout the poem Gwen Harwood reinforces the paradox that implies that extreme pleasure must coincide with extreme pain. In addition to her references to loss and sadness, Gwen Harwood amalgamates various elements of human experience through the reflection of memory as a primary theme. The importance of memory is expressed through harmonizing various layers of an individual’s life and their shared experiences to create a wholeness that reconciles one with the finality of death. This concept is expressed through common themes of childhood, friendship and loss allowing her ideas to rest strongly with the reader. ‘At Mornington’ is a reflection on mortality, and the value of memory in terms of appreciating life. The thematic concerns of loss and grief unravel through the first stanza. The persona describes her relationship with her father and establishes him as a protective figure through her pondering of childhood memories. This motif of water is representative of serenity, peace and reflection which is furthermore established through the personification of the â€Å"wave† which was â€Å"caught† and â€Å"rolled†. Harwood distinguishes the finality and formality of death, which is conveyed in the poem through the dull imagery, the durability of â€Å"marble and granite† gravestones with the fragility of memory, â€Å"fugitive as light† to convey the gravitational stance of human life as opposed to the perceptions of experience that we choose to retain in our memory. A connection is made between memory and loss as they are both products of the past and Harwood uses this to reflect on the significance of valuing the present. This is furthered through the â€Å"the wholeness of this day† shared between two friends. The poem is established through Harwood’s memory of her early childhood when she â€Å"leapt† from her father’s arms into the sea. She views her childish persistence, evidently through the repetition of â€Å"the next wave†. This concept is again reinforced through the blue brain referencing water and the sea with an underlying commentary on the qualities of water and childhood alike. This concept of childhood memory is later referenced in Harwood’s image of pumpkins â€Å"rising†¦in airy defiance of nature†, a metaphor for her constant trials against the inevitability of death and emergence in â€Å"the fastness of light†. The tone of the poem becomes reflective as the persona and her friend ‘stand in silence amongst the avenues of the dead’, which creates a need for solace and comfort. The silence of a dead human being is furthermore referenced through the image of the skull as it resembles the result of death. Reflection is regarded highly throughout ‘At Mornington’ hence the ongoing reference to silence is important as relfection requires silence and tranquillity. The innocent belief that defying gravity ‘was only a matter of balance’ is reflected in the persona’s present longing to transcend the gravity of death ‘in airy defiance of nature’. The idea of memory is furthered through the use of a dream whereby the persona begins to reconcile transient life with death. The raw and accentuated emotion of the poem turns sober reflection where the persona ‘thinks of death no more’ but is able to confront death through the experience of ‘dreams, pain, memories, love and grief’. From dwelling on mortality emerges a serenity and acceptance inspired by unifying the inescapability of death with an acceptance of human nature and an appreciation of memory and friendship. Likewise, in her poem â€Å"The Violets†, Harwood blends the emotion of grief with a reflection on memory in order to achieve a state of reconciliation. The first stanza depicts a â€Å"melancholy† setting where â€Å"frail† violets excite the persona’s recollection of a poignant childhood experience. Harwood’s adult grief is mirrored by her juvenile outrage at the time which had been â€Å"stolen† from her, and like death, the loss of time is irreplaceable. However the child is ultimately â€Å"reconciled† by the â€Å"sweetness† of the persona’s parents, depicted through Harwood’s use of domestic, homely imagery of the â€Å"long hair† and â€Å"wood stove†. There is a conviction in â€Å"years cannot move† that conveys a sudden awareness that memory’s â€Å"lamplit presences† can in times of despair, be as real to individuals as the present, and so a source of solace. The idea of there being consolation in loss is one that will resonate with readers searching for relief, and the lingering â€Å"scent of violets† shows the longevity of memory and conveys it as eternal, continuing the presence of those physically lost. Gwen Harwood explores and delves into the themes of time, death, childhood and loss which are all intrinsic to human experience. She effectively employs a range of poetic and literary techniques to explore transience, finality and the imperative role of memory.

How does your chosen text attract its audience ? Essay

Soap operas attract its audiences in many different ways and use a lot of tactics to keep their viewing going up. Audiences are so important to media because without them, there would be no media. So this is why many different types of media use specialist ways to keep their audiences engaged to help media progress. One of the soaps that has being focused on is Eastenders. Eastenders Is a soap that is shown four times a week on bbc1. It is based in London’s east end. It included a wide range of characters and storylines. One of the soaps intentions is to deal with controversial social issues and Eastenders likes to see itself and as pursuing ‘documentary realism’. It does not have a naturalistic mode and can shift from melodramatic or to sitcom. Eastenders uses a lot of realism within its story lines so that the audience can relate back to the story lines. But it is misleading to see Eastenders as ‘representing real life’ as it does include unrealistic things i. e. characters coming back to life from death. This piece will look at the different way Eastenders attracts it audience on a regular basis. Eastenders doesn’t have just one target audience it has a mass audience which means any gender, race , age, religion and class can watch it as it has many diverse characters with in the soap and different types of target story lines. These story lines can be seen as some audiences maybe relate to the story line and others can be educated by them. Audiences can identify with Eastenders characters in a self image as they include many different image groups such as Goths, suited characters, casual etc†¦ It also includes different ages and storylines to go along with these ages groups like starting school, going to university, retiring so audience that match these storylines can relate to this. Different classes are also used as characters, from grade A (upper class) to grade E ( lowest class) as within the soap its has doctors, lawyers etc†¦ and among that it has unemployed people, students. So it isn’t specifically for one class grade. Families are used as well as usually in soap operas they have 3 or 4 families and in Eastenders most of the characters are part of a family and the family live on the square. Families are a good way to attract as they seem relatively real life as the storylines include arguments, death, wills, new born’s, divorce etc.. and can relate to these storylines and/or help them come to terms with there own family issues. Different classes are also used as characters, from grade A (upper classes) to grade E ( lowest class) as with in the soap its has doctors, lawyers etc†¦ And among that it has unemployed people, students. So it isn’t specifically for one class grade. Many cultures and nationalist are included within the characters so it isn’t just aimed at one certain group of people. The codes and conventions of Eastenders is very important and it keeps the audiences hocked. It is a serialised drama that is on four times a week and runs week-in, week-out, all year round. It features continuous narratives dealing with domestic themes and personal or family relationships and will have Three, four or even five storylines and they will progress during any one episode, with the action switching between them. As one narrative is resolved, another completely different one with different characters will already be underway.. Eastenders also has a well-known theme tune and intro sequence which rarely changes throughout the history of the soap which over the years audiences become more familiar with ( it has been rumoured that pets are even familiar with it! ). There is a limit to the number of characters available at any one time on screen but this allows the soap to focus on a smaller number of characters which then allows more time to be spent on each character, so that the audience knows them better and the storylines can be more detailed and involved, as well as being more numerous over time. The plots are open-ended and usually has a multiplicity of which interlinked in an episode ( metanarrative). The storylines in these cases run parallel. But episode will undoubtedly end with a ‘cliff-hanger’, which is a tense and suspenseful, un concluded piece of dialogue or action when But with the ending, it will come to some kind of conclusion as well as a cliff-hanger such as ‘ Billy’s dead’ which concludes that the character is dead but still raises up questions of’ why, when, where etc.. ’. The location of Eastenders is set around a small, central area ‘Trafalgar square’. And somehow the characters are all connected through either, relationships, arguments or history such as Phill Mitchell used to bully Ian Beal as school over 20 years ago and now you still see his subliminal control over Ian. Eastenders often have special episodes for events in the real world such as Christmas or the Millennium and even just an round up to a storyline such as ‘ who killed Archie (( an hour long special)). Such episodes are often referred to as ‘soap bubbles’. Eastenders and largely British soaps most often feature common, ordinary, working class characters, in contrast to American soaps, which tend to deal with richer, flashier, more fantasy-inspired characters, reflecting the preferences of their respective target audiences. As Eastenders has such a broad range of characters, it has a broad range of representations.

Geography, Economy, and Modern History of China

China is the third-largest country in the world in terms of area but it is the worlds largest based on population. The country is a developing nation with a capitalist economy that is controlled politically by communist leadership. Chinese civilization began more than 5,000 years ago and the nation has played a crucial role in world history and is continuing to do so today. Fast Facts: China Official Name: Peoples Republic of ChinaCapital: BeijingPopulation: 1,384,688,986 (2018)Official Language: Standard Chinese or Mandarin  Currency: Renminbi yuan (RMB)Form of Government: Communist Party-led stateClimate: Extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in northTotal Area: 3,705,390 square miles (9,596,960 square kilometers)Highest Point: Mount Everest at 29,029 feet (8,848 meters)  Lowest Point: Turpan Pendi at -505 feet (-154 meters) Chinas Modern History Chinese civilization originated in the North China Plain in about 1700 BCE with the Shang Dynasty. However, because Chinese history  dates so far back, it is too long to include in its entirety in this overview. This article focuses on modern Chinese history beginning in the 1900s. Modern Chinese history began in 1912 after the last Chinese emperor abdicated the throne and the country became a republic. After 1912, political and military instability was common in China and it was initially fought over by different warlords. Shortly thereafter, two political parties or movements began as a solution to the countrys problems. These were the Kuomintang, also called the Chinese National Party and the Communist Party. Problems later began for China in 1931 when Japan seized Manchuria—an act that eventually began a war between the two nations in 1937. During the war, the Communist Party and the Kuomintang cooperated with each other to defeat Japan but later in 1945, a civil war between the Kuomintang and the communists broke out. This civil war killed more than 12 million people. Three years later, the civil war ended with a win by the Communist Party and leader Mao Zedong, which then led to the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in October 1949. During the early years of communist rule in China and the Peoples Republic of China, mass starvation, malnutrition, and disease were common. In addition, there was an idea for a highly planned economy at this time and the rural population was divided into 50,000 communes, each of which was responsible for farming and running different industries and schools. In an effort to further jump-start Chinas industrialization and political change Chairman Mao began the Great Leap Forward initiative in 1958. The initiative failed, however, and between 1959 and 1961, famine and disease again spread throughout the country. Shortly thereafter in 1966, Chairman Mao began the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution which put local authorities on trial and attempted to change historic customs to give the Communist Party more power. In 1976, Chairman Mao died and Deng Xiaoping became Chinas leader. This led to economic liberalization but also a policy of government-controlled capitalism and a still strict political regime. Today, China remains much the same, as every aspect of the country is heavily controlled by its government. Government of China Chinas government is a communist state with a unicameral legislative branch called the National Peoples Congress that is made up of 2,987 members from the municipal, regional, and provincial levels. There is also a judicial branch comprised of the Supreme Peoples Court, Local Peoples Courts, and Special Peoples Courts. China is divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities. National suffrage is 18 years of age and the main political party in China is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There are also smaller political parties in China, but all are controlled by the CCP. Economics and Industry in China Chinas economy has changed rapidly in recent decades. In the past, it was focused around a highly planned economic system with specialized communes and was closed to international trade and foreign relations. In the 1970s however, this began to change and today China is more economically tied to the worlds countries. In 2008, China was the worlds second-largest economy. Today, Chinas economy is 43% agriculture, 25% industrial, and 32% service-related. Agriculture consists mainly of items like rice, wheat, potatoes, and tea. Industry is focused on raw mineral processing and the manufacturing of a wide variety of items. Geography and Climate of China China is located in Eastern Asia with its borders along several countries and the East China Sea, Korea Bay, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea. China is divided into three geographic regions: the mountains to the west, the various deserts and basins in the northeast, and the low lying valleys and plains in the east. Most of China, however, consists of mountains and plateaus such as the Tibetan Plateau, which leads into the Himalayan Mountains and Mount Everest. Because of its area and variations in topography, Chinas climate is also varied. In the south, it is tropical, while the east is temperate and the Tibetan Plateau is cold and arid. The northern deserts are also arid and the northeast is cold temperate. More Facts about China China instituted a One Child Policy in 1979 to control its growing populationThe majority of Chinese are non-denominational in religion, but 10% are BuddhistChinas population is expected to peak in 2026 at 1.4 billion. India will surpass China as the worlds most populous country in 2025. Sources Central Intelligence Agency. CIA - The World Factbook -- China.Infoplease.com. .China: History, Geography, Government, and Culture - Infoplease.comUnited States Department of State. China.