McDonalds Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

McDonalds Marketing Plan Essay I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY McDonald’s Philippines is a subsidiary of the Filipino-owned Golden Arches Development Corporation. The first Filipino McDonald’s to open for business was in the Morayta university districts in Manila during 1981. These days McDonald’s is operating over 150 restaurants throughout the islands of the Philippines. Being a 100% Filipino-owned franchise allows McDonald’s Philippines to be more agile and take quicker actions, making them an even more competitive force in the Filipino fast-food market. It is one of the leading fast-food chains internationally as well as in the Philippines, with a rapidly developing consumer brand and growing customer base. . It is a place for family togetherness organized around a common love of the traditional food. Its operating system is characterized by focusing on uniformity for consistent quality, the formation of partner relationship with its franchises and supplier to improve operating system innovatively and last but not least the introduction of new products. With its steady drive for improvement and consistently high quality, McDonald’s revolutionized the entire supply chain. Instead of regimenting its supplier and franchisees, McDonald’s expected commitment from them in terms of adherence and experimentation. The implemented, smooth operating chain of suppliers, McDonald’s corporate management and franchisees balances each other, creates an entrepreneurial spirit that added value, innovation, economics of scale, the bargaining power for advertising and purchasing, as well as new product and process ideas to the company. Additionally, all involved parties maintained a collective emphasis on disciplined quality standards. As years passed by, McDonald’s needed to adapt to industry changes by accomplishing some process design innovations in fruitful collaboration with its suppliers and franchisees. In this context, McDonald’s improved the chain’s chicken and fries’ quality and consistency by switching from raw to frozen delivered fries as well as the productivity of employee. Another major process enhancement was the introduction of the breakfast at McDonald’s. In this way, the corporation expanded its operating hours since it had to pay for rent, utilities and insurance 24 hours a day, anyways. The generation of a totally new business came along with the nice side effect that it again distinguishes itself from its competitors. This marketing plan is used in outlining the product, pricing, and distribution and promotion strategies to be implemented and executed during this time. It proposes a revitalization of the McDonald’s philosophy so as to focus on the quality of products and services for customer’s value and a healthy lifestyle, healthy eating habits, smart choices and education. The plan also outlines the structural issues that may arise during its implementation and execution, tactical initiatives to turn strategy into action. II. CHALLENGE Problem: Before, the company use grilled direct system. Which becomes the problem of the company because the customer always complaining about the quality of the product like chicken mcdo, when it is served to the customers it is not crispy because it stays longer in the warming bin, and also the patty of the burger, it is not juicy because it is not hot. The access of McDelivery to the call center is another problem of McDonalds because some times the information about on the location of the customer is wrong. Solution: Now a day the McDonald’s uses the Made for You (MFY) system. †¢ Food is made or prepared to actual customer demand, providing each and every burger only when it is needed just in time (JIT). †¢ It standardizes assembly of all sandwiches to one or two at a time. †¢ Requires minimal Human Decisions Making. †¢ It requires Behavioral change ⠝â€" Quality ⠝â€" Complete waste ⠝â€" Equipment ⠝â€" Standard procedure III. SITUATION ANALYSIS Company Analysis †¢ Goals – Develop a solution to improve kitchen layouts, people positioning and operational procedures for a better guest experience. In simple terms: our goal is to have a happy and satisfied customer. †¢ Focus – the company should focus on products and services. McDonald’s is a customer-oriented company that strives to offer Filipinos a combination of great tasting, quality food productions at value prices with excellent service. †¢ Values – Customer – driven, Malasakit, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellent. †¢ Strengths ⠝â€" Quality of the product, services and cleanliness of the store. ⠝â€" The service of the company is fast and accurate, and we believe that taking good care of our customers is the first vital step toward effective sales building. ⠝â€" Patents and Trademark ⠝â€" Branding such as through the use of logos, colours, slogan and other images. A key part of the McDonald’s brand is its ‘M’ logo otherwise known as ‘The Golden Arches’. †¢ Weaknesses ⠝â€" The competitors like Jollibee, Mang Inasal, Burger King etc. ⠝â€" Lack of cooperation between the management and in the crews. †¢ Market Shares – McDonald’s has captured more than 40% share of the hamburger market in the Philippines. Customer Analysis †¢ Number – 30% is ages 60 and above, 20% is ages 1-15, 50% is ages 16 and above. This is the percentage of customer who are eating at the McDonald’s everyday especially during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. †¢ Type – Class B C †¢ Value Drivers – a part from our product and services. McDonald’s gives back to the community through the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). RMHC supports children’s development and well being through Bahay Bulilit and Bright Minds Read (BMR). Every happy meal purchase gives 50 centavos to RMHC. †¢ Decision process – The customer have a lot of decision making it is base of what they needs and wants, also the customer decide to buy a discounted product like in coupon and the mcsaver meals. Competitor Analysis †¢ Market Position No. 1 (Jollibee) No. 2 (McDonald’s) †¢ Strengths Lasang Pinoy Raw materials are environment friendly †¢ Weaknesses Jollibee has a poor service †¢ Market shares – Jollibee has captured more than 52% share of the hamburger market in the Philippines. SWOT ANALYSIS Strength †¢ Risk diversity †¢ Large market share †¢ Strong supply chain †¢ Promoting ethical conduct †¢ Competitive fast-food chain †¢ Attentive and friendly staff/crew’s †¢ Rigorous food safety standards †¢ Good reputation among customer †¢ Decentralized yet connected system †¢ Strong brand name, image and reputation †¢ Strong financial and performance and position †¢ Affordable prices and high quality products †¢ Nutritional information available on packaging †¢ Strong global presence and performance in the global marketplace †¢ Specialized training for managers known as the Hamburger University †¢ McDonalds Plan to Win focuses on people, product, place, price and promotion Weaknesses †¢ Unhealthy food image †¢ High staff turnover including top management †¢ Customer losses due to fierce competition †¢ Lack of access to the best natural resources †¢ Lack of access to key distribution channel Opportunities †¢ Growing health trends among consumers †¢ Joint ventures with retailers †¢ Consolidation of retailers likely, so better locations for franchisees †¢ Respond to social changes by innovation with in healthier lifestyle foods †¢ Strengthen its value proposition and offering, to encourage customers who visit coffee shops into McDonalds †¢ The new â€Å"formats†, Mccafe, having wi-fi internet links should help in attracting segments. Also installing children’s play-parks and its focus on educating consumers about health, fitness. †¢ International expansion into emerging market’s of other country †¢ Growth of the fast-food industry †¢ Low cost menu that will attract the customers †¢ Providing many promotional activities Threats †¢ Health professionals and consumer activists accuse McDonald’s of contributing to the country health issue of high cholesterol, heart attacks, diabetes, and obesity †¢ McDonalds competitors threatened market share of the company both internationally and domestically †¢ Global recession and fluctuating foreign currencies †¢ Affordability of the competitors products †¢ Similar flavors and products of the competitors †¢ Competitors endorsers are much popular when it compares to McDonalds IV.Market Segmentation Market Segmentation is the process of splitting customer in to different groups, or segment within the customers with similar characteristics have similar needs. Geographical Segmentation Mcdonalds offered their services based on certain country basic food. Like Philippines McDonalds realized that Filipino basic food is rice which with fried chicken as its local basic food. Demographic/Psychographic Segmentation Demographic segmentation divided the market into groups based on variables like gender, age, nationality, religion; family life cycle and family size McDonald offered their services by segmented their customer base on age, religion and family life cycle. To offer the best service McDonalds still concern about variations due to differing tastes and cultural issues for their customer over the world. Behavioral Segmentation Behavioral segmentation focuses on dividing consumer based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses, benefit sought, or responses to company’s product. One of the best forms of segmentation is to divide buyers according to the different benefits that they want to get by purchasing the product. Usually people who look for in their product class or look for each benefit. For example, McDonald provide McDelivery for 24 hours, this is the only one delivery service that not stop even once in a while a day by just call it and order, after that within a minute it comes to your place with the food that still hot and fresh. V. Alternative Marketing Strategies McDonalds has seen recent success through a careful implementation of its â€Å"Plan to Win† strategy, which focuses on several key aspects of the business, namely increasing traffic to restaurants, providing everyday value to customers, innovating the company through the creation of new menu items, re-imaging the company’s look, as well as its marketing campaigns. McDonald’s Plan to Win is based on a core set of four main goals: †¢ Acquire more customers †¢ Get these customers to eat at McDonalds more often †¢ Develop more brand loyalty for the McDonalds brand †¢ Ultimately become more profitable Increasing restaurant visits Current market condition help the appearance of McDonalds as a low cost alternative to eating at more expensive restaurants in the minds of customers, which has consequently led to an increase in foot traffic at McDonalds franchises. McDonalds has addressed these conditions through an increase in advertising, specially displaying the company’s attention toward a diversified menu of low cost items. Such advertising serves to satisfy all four of goals of Plan to win program, drawing customer interest through a short display of the plethora of new menu options recently added, while also helping to change the look and feel of McDonalds in the minds of customers. Providing everyday value In order to create an overall feeling of value for customers to experience, McDonalds has released a modular value meal, where customers have the benefit of both low prices coupled with increased freedom when deciding on a meal. While traditional menu options emphasize a trade-off between ordering freedom and price, the McDonalds value menu provides customers with both all at once, helping customers associate the brand with good value. Innovating new menu items At the same time as their menu choices have become modular and less expensive, McDonalds is also creating value for customers by providing a diverse menu with many more ordering options. Customers can now expect an increase in health-conscious options by adding some vegetables in the burger and also they provide some dessert like apple pie or pineapple pie. McDonalds also provide a mccafe like ice mocha, ice latte, and cappuccino, Americano to provide some different variety of coffee to satisfy the customer. Marketing campaigns As well as considering the important of keeping customers informed of the continuing changes to the company through advertising media and social media dialogues, McDonalds also recognizes the value of maintaining an ongoing support system and training structure for each of its franchise operators. As mentioned above, McDonalds uses well defined, and measurable milestones to help their constituents meet company goals with as few inconsistencies as possible. McDonalds’ training programs have been continuously recognized for their excellence, and with the continuing changes being carried out throughout the company, this attention to the value of training is a terrific asset to the company. Re-imaging the restaurant Directly benefiting the company’s goals of brand development for the company, McDonalds is reenergizing their brand through an understanding of â€Å"brand power†, which is built on the cultivation of four key areas of the brand, brand identity, familiarity, specialness, and authority. Brand identity is defined as the set of characteristics that customers recognize your brand by; in McDonalds’ case these are speed, consistency, value, and variety. Brand identity works with brand familiarity, helping to expand the message that symbols of the company, or even the overall impact of advertisements themselves in reinforcing the identity of the brand in the minds of customers. If carefully managed, McDonalds can use their brand identity to make their investments in advertising go much further. Beyond this, brand specialness and authority continue the process, representing the perceptions of McDonalds as the company appears to customers. Ideally, McDonalds should leverage brand specialness and authority to clearly stand out as a distinct and trustworthy source of value, allowing customers to increase the value of the McDonalds brand through their positive interactions with the company. McDonald’s adopts different strategies to attract customers of different age groups, but still the main target remains to be children. So in order to attract them, McDonald’s use a key tool: the Happy Meals, which seem to fascinate children due to the toys included in the menu. In addition to this, they have a tie up with The Walt Disney Company for the Disney characters included in the menu, in order to make sure that they offer the kids a wide range of toy options. Moreover, McDonald’s provides the children with a special facility, unique for food venues and fast-food restaurants: a playground. This strategy is aimed at making McDonald’s a pleasant and fun environment for both kids and parents. Even the exterior of every restaurant is also strategically designed using bright colors to invite in the customer, especially kids who can easily be influenced by these aspects. So not only that the children like it, it is a chance for the parents to spend some â€Å"quality time† with their kids. Another aspect of their marketing strategy is the fact that every McDonald’s restaurant provides Wi–Fi facilities, a detail that adds to the attractive qualities and is aimed at teenage customers. In addition to this, what is representative for this chain is their clown mascot, Ronald McDonald, who is essential for creating the bond with children and entertaining them. They can even have private birthday parties in the facilities, again part of McDonald’s aim to induce happy memories in children’s minds, and to make them associate the McDonald’s brand and logo with happy moments. VI. Selected Marketing Strategy Product Suppliers are dedicated to providing McDonald’s with top quality material that is continually monitored for freshness and safety. McDonald’s uses regional suppliers to ensure that the freshness is delivered to customers in every product they buy. Food quality is keys at McDonald’s. They seek out fresh lettuce and tomatoes, onions and pickles, quality buns and potatoes, pure ground beef, select poultry and fish and wholesome dairy products. All of the beef, chicken and pork that are used are purchased from federally inspected facilities to ensure freshness, wholesomeness and peak quality when served to customers. Non-Vegetarian Ingredients Chicken The chicken products are made from high quality boned rib and leg meat and are covered in a specially seasoned, lightly battered coating. They are shaped in uniform sizes to ensure consistency in weight and value. Fish The fish products in McDonald’s Filet –O- Fish are 100% pure whole white fillets that are lightly breaded. Their exacting quality standards for fish surpass federal requirements. The ocean-fresh quality of Filet-O-Fish is a result of the process and ability to freeze the fish at sea to maintain freshness. Vegetarian Ingredients Vegetables McDonald’s use freshly shredded lettuce, onions, pickles and tomatoes in their restaurants. All their vegetable products are processed from high quality graded vegetables in a 100% dedicated vegetarian plant. Potatoes McDonald’s French fries are famous around the world. To make French fries, McDonald’s uses only the best potatoes available from their own potato farms. Their potato suppliers make many of the same nationally recognized brands of potato products to make customers feel that they are with their family at home. These potatoes are cut, blanched and processed on state-of-the-art processing lines to ensure maximum retention of nutrients. Their French fries and Potato Wedges are cooked at the plant in 100% vegetables cooking oil. Other Ingredients Cheese and other Dairy Products All dairy products like cheese, McShakes and Soft Serves are made from fresh dairy milk. All dairy products including cheese have a role to play in balanced diet because they contain a wide variety of essential nutrients such as protein, calcium, fat solubles, phosphorus, etc. McDonald’s uses a special blend of pasteurized American cheese to complement the flavor of their sandwiches. Buns McDonald’s uses buns made from locally grown wheat flour. They are baked locally and delivered fresh, several times each week to McDonald’s restaurants. Cooking Oil Food preparations are done in 100% refined vegetable oils at the restaurants plants. They use liquid oil and not hydrogenated oil. This means there are no TFAs or Trans Fatty Acids in the French Fries or any other products. Additionally, these vegetable oils contain some essential fatty acids necessary for growth. Quality Food quality is the crucial element at McDonald’s. Despite extensive and meticulous quality test at the suppliers end, all products are once again carefully scrutinized at the restaurant. Immaculate of quality allow for nothing but the best to reach customer’s tray. Their products are sourced from the highest quality ingredients, prepared hygienically and treated to regular quality checks such as the McDonald’s Inspection Program (QIP). Scope of Product Line Distribution (Place) Place, as an element of the marketing mix, is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. It encompasses the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. McDonald’s outlets are very evenly spread throughout the cities making them very accessible. Drive in and drive through options make McDonald’s products further convenient to the consumers. Intensive Distribution Distribution arrangements tend to be long term in nature. Because of this time horizon, channel decisions are usually classed as strategic, rather than tactical or operational ones. Many of McDonalds restaurants are open 24 hours per day which satisfies the customers needs and wants, especially for exists their hunger. This kind of distribution strategy is called intensive distribution, means marking the product available for sale through all possible channels of distribution. Intensive distribution is stocking the product in as many outlets as possible.† Promotion The promotions aspect of the marketing mix covers all types of marketing communications One of the methods employed is advertising, Advertising is conducted on TV, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and in the press for example in newspapers and magazines. Other promotional methods include sales promotions, point of sale display, merchandising, direct mail, loyalty schemes, door drops, etc. The skill in marketing communications is to develop a campaign which uses several of these methods in a way that provides the most effective results. For example, TV advertising makes people aware of a food item and press advertising provides more detail. This may be supported by in-store promotions to get people to try the product and a collectable promotional device to encourage them to keep on buying the item. At McDonalds the prime focus is on targeting children. In happy meals too which are targeted at children small toys are given along with the meal. Apart from this, various schemes for winning prices by way of lucky draws and also scratch cards are given when an order is placed on the various mean combos. VII. Conclusion Since the problem of McDonalds is about the customer that keeps on complaining for the quality and freshness of the products that is being served. Therefore I conclude that the company should use the MFY (Made for You) system, so that the food is made or prepared for the customer just in time with a good quality for a reasonable cost. The company should also provide a large number of riders to avoid late delivery.

Pipe Surge and Water Hammer Experiment

Pipe Surge and Water Hammer Experiment The objective of the work undertaken was consisted two separate experiments, pipe surge and water hammer. These are both caused by a reduction in the flow rate within a pipe. They are two alternative dissipations of the kinetic energy of the fluid into another form of energy pressure in the case of the water hammer, and potential energy in the case of the surge shaft. The surge shaft is a device used as a way of avoiding pressure surges which accompany the water hammer effect, by allowing the fluid up a shaft near the valve, thus absorbing the pressure exerted by the fluid on the valve and the pipe. The aim of these two experiments was to compare the results with the theory derived from Newtons Second Law of Motion. Introduction Pipe Surge Water pipelines and distribution systems are subjected to surges almost daily, which over time can cause damage to equipment and the pipeline itself. Surges are caused by sudden changes in flow velocity that result from common causes such as rapid valve closure, pump starts and stops, and improper filling practices. Pipelines often see their first surge during filling when the air being expelled from a pipeline rapidly escapes through a manual vent or a throttled valve followed by the water. Being many times denser than air, water follows the air to the outlet at a high velocity, but its velocity is restricted by the outlet thereby causing a surge. It is imperative that the filling flow rate be carefully controlled and the air vented through properly sized automatic air valves. Similarly, line valves must be closed and opened slowly to prevent rapid changes in flow rate. The operation of pumps and sudden stoppage of pumps due to power failures probably have the most frequent impact o n the system and the greatest potential to cause significant surges. If the pumping system is not controlled or protected, contamination and damage to equipment and the pipeline itself can be serious. The effects of surges can be as minor as loosening of pipe joints to as severe as damage to pumps, valves, and concrete structures. Damaged pipe joints and vacuum conditions can cause contamination to the system from ground water and backflow situations. Uncontrolled surges can be catastrophic as well. Line breaks can cause flooding and line shifting can cause damage to supports and even concrete piers and vaults. Losses can be in the millions of dollars so it is essential that surges be understood and controlled with the proper equipment. Water Hammer Water hammer is the formation of pressure waves as the result of a sudden change in liquid velocity in a piping system. Water hammer usually occurs when a fluid flow start or stops quickly or is forced to make a rapid change in direction. Quick closing of valves and stoppage of pump can create water hammer. Valve closing in 1.5s or less depending upon the valve size and system conditions causes an abrupt stoppage of the slow. Since liquid is not compressible, any energy that is applied to is instantly transmitted. The pressure waves created at rapid valve closure can reach five times the systems working pressure. If not considered for, this pressure pulse will rapidly accelerate to the speed of sound in liquid, which can exceed 1200 m/s, causing burst of the pipeline and pump causing as well as fracture in the pipe fittings. For this reason, it is essential to understand under what conditions these pressure waves are produced and reduce the pressure rise as much as possible in a pipi ng system. Risk assessment In experimental work there are always some risks to everyone in the lab, hence a health and safety briefing before commencing the labs. These will aware people to the potential risks and the appropriate steps to reduce the likelihood of accidents. Therefore it is crucial to follow the advice of the staff supervising at all times and use the protection equipment provided. There are different hazard around in the lab, identifying them is important. There are people doing other experiments at the same time in the lab, make sure what the worst situation can happen with it. Therefore knowing where is the closest fire exit is important, or the short route to get out the build. Making sure there are not wire on the floor, incase people fell over it. Make sure that all the equipments going to be used are safe. Connecting the equipments correctly to prevent short circuit. Make sure that the load is not too heavy to left. When loading the equipment, be careful it might fell on to someones toe. Be aware of anything caught into the equipment When leaving the lab make sure things are placed back to the original place, and all equipments are switched off. There are ways to prevent it happen. Make sure you know the risk of the experiment. Ask others to help to set up, if not sure what the equipment does. Do not leave anything unattended. Not lift anything heavy alone or with equipments help. Wear PPE Methodology Pipe Surge The equipment is set up as shown Figure 4 1, where the head loss can be measured. The static head (hs) is recorded through the level on the surge shaft when there is no flow, this will be the datum level throughout the experiment. Then adjusting the gate valve and supply control valve, so that there is a steady of water flowing into the sump tank, where the new reading in the surge shaft is the velocity head (hv). Then the gate valve is close and wait for the oscillations to stop, once it is stopped the lever is opened to operated gate valve and the water level should drop back to the same value for the velocity head. The value of hs and hv are used to calculate the head loss due to friction which is hs hv = hf. The flow rate will be needed by closing the dump tank to find the quantity of water in the tank in 60 seconds. More reading should be taken for better accuracy. The flow rate should not be changed for the rest of the experiment. The maximum and minimum surge heights are measure by the oscillations and the time between the gate valves is quickly closed. The same procedure is repeated but the time taken between the surges passing the datum point is measured. Water Hammer: Follow the Appendix 8 -1 to set the equipment up. Where the water hammer flow control valve should be fully open and the surge shaft valve is fully closed, then the measurement of the volumetric flow rate will be taken and thus calculate the flow velocity. The volumetric flow rate can be measure using the same procedure as Pipe Surge. Then the fast acting valve is release to stop the flow of water instantaneously causing a pressure pulse to travel up and down the pipe. This is instantaneous closures which mean closure less than 2L/c, i.e. the valve is closed before a reflected wave reaches the valve again, as this will give us the same pressure rise as an instantaneous closure. These pulses are captured on the oscilloscope where we record the average amplitude, time base and the duration of the pulse. The time lags between the two pressure transducers are also recorded. For the second half of this experiment, the oscilloscope setting is changed so that the time base setting is increased to 25ms/div. Once it is set up, the same procedure will be repeated as before. The fast acting valve is release and records the average amplitude value and duration of the pulse for the traces that are on the oscilloscope. Discussion When comparing the values gained experimentally to the values predicted from the equations, tabulated in table 6 -1, it can be observed that the predicted flow rates and the period of oscillation are both quite similar with their experimental values. The reason for the slight difference in flow rates is partly due to the fact that the equation that we needed to use to find the flow rate had two unknown values in it, Q and hf. The equation that we used was: The experimental value of frictional head loss is used so that the predicted flow rate can be calculated. The experimental value of Q is used for calculating the theoretical value for frictional head loss by substituting this value in to the equation However this value would have accumulated more errors and therefore the value would be further away from the experimental value. From Figure 6 1 the time period is about 8 seconds can be observed, whereas the predicted value is 7.5705 seconds. The discrepancy between the two numbers is most likely to be as a result of human error, when timing the points of max and min surge and also when the surge crosses the datum a time factor needs to be taken into consideration for the time taken between the person saying when to stop the timer and the other person actually pressing the button. This time delay could easily explain the half second difference between the two values. When comparing the difference between the experimental and predicted values for maximum surge height, the first predicted value is hugely different to the actual value achieved. The reason for this is because the equation gives the max surge from the static head assuming that there are no losses due to friction, therefore the equation will need to be adjust to take into consideration of the effects of friction. This acts as a correction factor. The reason why it need to be use, because the initial head loss which is due to friction, this is the difference between the static head and the velocity head which is much lower than the static head therefore the initial max amplitude should be taken away. Throughout the effects of friction is important as dealing with a small bore system whereas in reality surge shafts have diameters in meters. The effects of friction can be assumed negligible, as long as the initial head at the valve is assume the same as at the reservoir. However in the flow frictional losses are relatively large, this can be seen in the fact that there is a large difference between the static head and velocity head. This is partly due to the small diameter of the pipe, as the friction occurs at the walls and if the diameter of the pipe is small then the area in which the fluid is unaffected by the friction is going to be smaller. In order to take the effects of friction in to account, the equation of the max amplitude must start from the velocity head therefore the head loss due to friction can also be taken into consideration. Water Hammer From observing Figure 5 -1 the single pressure wave, it varies slightly to the symmetrical smooth square shown as in the Fluid Mechanics Lab Manual. The pulse shown on the oscilloscope showed an unsymmetrical, rough rectangle. This irregularity of the line is as a result of not all the kinetic energy being transferred into potential energy, which is the pressure pulse, and the remaining energy being lost in the form of heat, sound and strain. The strain loss is where the compression of the water tries to expand the pipe, i.e. constant volume therefore change the cross sectional area. The reason of that assumption is the irregular graph as when deriving the equations as assumed that the kinetic energy lost is equal to the energy gained in the form of the pressure pulse, this does not take into consideration the effects of energy losses like heat noise and deformation. In another part of the experiment, the pressure transducer set up halfway along the pipe. i.e. 1.5meters away from the valve; this meant there is a time lag between the first wave and the second wave giving the opportunity to measure the speed of sound in water. Firstly the time lag need to be calculated, using 0.75 per division. In the first set up the time axis for the oscilloscope to 2.5milliseconds per division, therefore the time lag is 1.5 milliseconds. The time lag should roughly be a quarter of the time period, so it is as expected the time lag is 1.5625 milliseconds, which is very close to what experimentally gained therefore suggesting that the value has a slight error but not as significant error that the value cant be used to work out Ce. As a result the value of the time lag in the equation can be used An experimental value was given for the speed of sound in the water/pipe system which is 960m/s. This value is used to calculate the time it takes a single pressure pulse to travel a complete circuit of the pipe, in this case 6 meters, and the value is 4.523 milliseconds compared to 6.25 milliseconds from the sketch. The difference between these two values could be due to not reading the number of divisions accurately enough and also where the measure of the period from, both of which could have made the result closer to the result calculated. However the discrepancy might also be due to pulse travelling further than it is assumed. For the calculations, assumption is made that it is just travelling the length of the pipe, however the pulse might travel some distance into the header tank instead of being reflected back at the edge. This would then account for why the measured time period is longer, as it could be travelling further than the 6 meters as assumed. When looking at the table 6 -2 for the water hammer experiment, the predicted and experimental values for the speed of sound in water can be compared, peak pressure and also the duration of the first pulse. There is not much difference the experimental and predicted values of speed of sound in the water/pipe system, this indicates that the experiment went well and that the calculations and therefore the equations used are correct. However there is a significant difference between the peak pressure and also the duration of the pulse, it is quite likely that measured the duration of the pulse inaccurately as determined a rough value for how many divisions the period was, likewise with the amplitude of the pulse. Furthermore when calculating the experimental velocity of sound in water the time lag was used as the time in the equation and the time lag again was measured by reading how many divisions it took up and as a consequence was open to human error in reading it. From Figure 5 1 can be observe several reflected pressure waves. When the pulse is reflected as a low pressure wave, the pulse is going lower than the original start point. The pressure wave is actually reaching the vapour pressure of water and as a consequence the water is boiling and evaporating creating bubbles, this causes a vacuum to be created thus slowing down the pulse. The energy created from the boiling water soon dissipates and when there are not enough bubbles to slow down the pulse then a second pulse starts and the whole process repeats itself. The fact that the pulse is slowed down in the pressure trough by the vacuum and bubbles means that the pulses are not symmetrical. Studying the Figure 5 1 more closely, on the second pulse wave there is a small spike half way between the first pulse and the second pulse can be observe, this could be due to a number of reasons but the most likely is that it is the pulse that has been reflected back from the back of the Header tank. Ideally the experiment would be set up such that the header tank has a big enough change in volume and pressure compared to the pipe that it would act as a discontinuity and reflect the pulse back straight away. However in this case some of the pulse could be being reflected from the back wall of the header tank. This would also explain why there is a difference between some of our experimental and predicted results for the speed of sound in water, as we could be assuming that the distance travelled by the pulse is slightly shorter than it travelled in reality, thus having different values when calculating C. The reason why the amplitudes of the pulse wave are not symmetrical is partl y due to the vaporisation of the water and also as a consequence of friction, as the flow is slowed the frictional head loss also reduces and so the head at the valve increases to the equilibrium position of the static head, that is why the amplitudes converges towards the static equilibrium can be observe. Conclusions In conclusion, the results between theoretical and experimental were similar and close to each other. However, the slight discrepancies might due to human error, e.g. not recording the time as accurately and also the effects of friction will need to be taken in consideration. Therefore if the experiment is repeated to get better accuracy for the result can be more reliable to use. References Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Manual Level 1 and 2 notes on unsteady flow Douglas JF, Gasiorek JM and Swaffield JA, Fluid Mechanics, 4th ed, Prentice Hall, 2001. (ISBN 0582414768) Massey, B, Mechanics of Fluids, 8th ed, Taylor Francis, 2006 (ISBN 0-415-36206) http://www.valmatic.com/pdfs/SurgeControlPumpingSystems.pdf http://ksbpak.com/pdfs/waterhammer.pdf

In The Heart Of The Sea |Book Analysis

In The Heart Of The Sea |Book Analysis In the early nineteenth century it was very common for communities to rely upon specialized products as a source of income. This book, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, is a story of a whaleship that was attacked by a giant bull sperm whale in the heart, or middle of the Pacific Ocean while on a voyage to acquire whale oil, Nantuckets prime commodity. The author, Nathanial Philbrick, describes the effects that this tragedy had on the city of Nantucket, the hardships that came along with being a sailor in the whaling industry, and the gruesome battle for survival that it placed upon the crew of the Essex. The early 1800s was a great and prosperous time for Nantucket. This community was extremely functional in the fact that it had a flourishing economy, little to no crime due to the harmony of the people and dominant Quaker religion, and well played roles of both men and women. As mentioned before, Nantucket heavily relied on whale oil as a source of revenue. At this time the price of whale oil was rapidly rising, thus stimulating their economy. Though it seems as if this town had it made, the act of obtaining whale oil was quite dangerous and often deadly. It was typical for men to be gone for years at a time out at sea and for women to lose their husbands and other male loved ones to the risky whaling business. Women as well had a very crucial role in keeping the town running smoothly. In addition to having to attend to normal everyday tasks of taking care of the children and household duties, they had to run a majority of the islands businesses. The women struggled with these tasks and because of the loneliness brought on by the absence of their spouses many began to fall in to the addictive traps of opium. It was tough to say the least but this was all necessary for the existence of this town. The Essex was a whaling ship used by the town of Nantucket in the nineteenth century. It, along with two companion ships, set sail in August 1819 from Nantucket Island in search of the one thing that was vital to the community, whales. Within the first few days of being out at sea the Essex experienced a great storm that almost killed everyone on board. Not only was the ship almost flipped over but the sails that they used to guide the ship across the ocean were torn. One of their three ships was swept out to see, leaving them with only two. Having no other choice the crew made stops along the coast of South America to restock the ship with various supplies and equipment necessary for the voyage. After embarking once again the crew eventually came upon two whales, which they killed. This was about half of the amount that the crew had set out to capture before returning back to Nantucket. Around mid-November 1820, nearly fifteen months after they had originally set sail, the crew came upon a group of whales needed to complete their journey. While trying to kill the whales, a giant sperm whale severely damaged the side of the ship making it unable to be fixed. It was at this point in which their nightmare started to begin. They were forced to abandon the Essex and take shelter on a nearby island. The crew brought a majority of their supplies with them because they feared that the rumors they had heard might in fact be true. It was said that there were cannibals on a close island towards the west. Capitan Pollard along with the other men decided to sail back to South America on their one and only ship. It ended up being over a month until they reached any land. Eventually they ended up at Henderson Island where they discovered that there was not a plentiful amount of anything, including fresh drinking water. Pollard decided to get back on the ship leaving three men behind who we hoping that they would eventually come back to help them. It wasnt long before the cre w on the ship started to become starved and dehydrated. After months of malnourishment they started dying off just one after another. At first they would throw their bodies overboard and bury them at sea but it came to a point in which they began to run extremely low on supplies. What the ironic part is about this story is that the men were faced with the tough choice of becoming cannibals and feasting off of their old crew members deceased body, giving them some hope for survival, or hoping for the best and reaching land soon. It is ironic in the sense that they were tremendously frightened by the tales that there were cannibals in close proximity to them, which is why they ended up not staying, but cannibalism actually ended up saving some of their lives. Only a few crew members from the original twenty survived, they included Thomas Nickerson, Owen Chase, Charles Ramsdell, Benjamin Lawrence, and Capital George Pollard. The tragedy of the Essex will greatly affect the community of Nantucket because they rely so heavily upon the whale oil for survival. When the Essex sank so did the whale oil, leaving the town with nothing recovered from that journey. Not only does it affect them economically it affects them socially as well. Many men lost their lives during this expedition, leaving numerous wives without husbands and children without fathers. As for the sailors who actually survived the harsh time out at sea it was hard on them after their return. Gossip went around the town talking about how the men became cannibals. The community was respectful towards the sailors though, they kept quiet about the topic for the most part. But, townspeople continued to whisper about the Essex well into the twentieth century, it was not a topic a Nantucketer openly discussed (Philbrick 217). The disaster made it extremely difficult to survive in this community, and eventually led to the collapse of it. This led to t he falling down of the whaling industry in Nantucket. The industry moved to other various locations along the New England coast, usually with deeper ports than that of Nantucket. Shortly after this a major catastrophe happened to the town of Nantucket. Fire raged across the town leaving many homeless, jobless, and with nothing. Philbrick describes the event saying à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦more than a third of the town and almost all the commercial district was charred wasteland (222). After this accident many people took off to the west to California to start a new and having hopes of finding gold, leaving the town nearly empty. You would think that an event as serious that this would have a big negative effect on the nation no matter how small the incident, but it didnt at all. By looking at the time period in which this took place, other issues that were a concern of America, and the sheer size of the nation you can tell why it had such a minor effect on the country and received almost no attention or interest. Whaling was not a concern of the entire nation because it only benefitted a certain region. Also, we were getting over wars that had been going on for awhile. When looking back at the series of events that took place over this entire story you can start to see where crucial errors in decision making in which determined the fate of the voyage. As I had mentioned earlier the Essex went through a major storm that tore up the sails and made the ship nearly inoperable. Capitan Pollard, with his years of experience in commanding ships, suggested that the crew turn the ships around and head back for repairs so that they could travel more safely down the road ahead. Two of his less experienced mates disputed that there were extra ships available at a close port, and that they should just keep moving along so that they would not waste time. Philbrick writes that, Pollards behavior, after both the knockdown and the whale attack, indicated that he lacked the resolve to overrule his two younger and less experienced officers (101).

Free Candide Essays: The Search for Truth :: Candide essays

The Search for Truth in Candide Voltaire's Candide is a novel which contains conceptual ideas and at the same time is also exaggerated. Voltaire offers sad themes disguised by jokes and witticism, and the story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life. The crucial contrast in the story deals with irrational ideas as taught to Candide about being optimistic, versus reality as viewed by the rest of the world. The main theme which is presented throughout the novel is optimism. Out of every unfortunate situation in the story, Candide, the main character, has been advised by his philosopher-teacher that everything in the world happens for the better, because "Private misfortunes contribute to the general good, so that the more private misfortunes there are, the more we find that all is well" (Voltaire, p. 31). Pangloss, the philosopher, tries to defend his theories by determining the positive from the negative situations and by showing that misfortunes bring some privileges. As Candide grows up, whenever something unfortunate happens, Pangloss would turn the situation around, bringing out the good in it. Candide learns that optimism is "The passion for maintaining that all is right when all goes wrong " (Voltaire, p.86). According to Rene Pomeau, "Voltaire-Candide...have made him [Candide] acquainted with the bad and the good side of human existence. The moral of Candide is born out of its style; it is the art of extracting happiness from the desolate hopping-about of the human insect" (Adams; Pomeau p.137). Pomeau explains that Candide shows both sides of humanity; how both great and terrible events are standard in a human life. Also according to Pomeau, the whole point of the story is to debate between good and bad; for example, as Candide becomes more independent, he starts to doubt that only good comes out of life. Pangloss is a very hopeful character in the story because he refuses to accept bad. He is also somewhat naive and believes that he could make the world a better place by spreading his theories on optimism. When Candide had met up with Pangloss after a long period of time, Pangloss said that he was almost hanged, then dissected, then beaten. Candide asked the philosopher if he still thought that everything was for the better, and Pangloss replied that he still held his original views. No matter how little Pangloss believed in the fact that somehow everything would turn out well, he still maintained his original views.

Characterization of Scully in Tim Winton’s The Riders Essay -- Tim Win

The Characterization of Scully in Tim Winton’s The Riders  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most endearing aspects of The Riders is the clever characterization. This allows the reader to relate to the typical national stereotypes and yet very extravagant personalities portrayed in the novel. The characterization, together with Winton’s considerable skill at using the characters’ view to evoke a sense of place, are two of the strengths of The Riders. The character of Fred Scully, the ‘hero’ of The Riders, is one of the most wonderfully written characters to have come out of Winton’s writing so far. Scully’s character encompasses all the traditional traits of the Australian: his use of vernacular, appearance, humor, as well as the outlook and many more. Winton has the reader accompany Scully in his desperate struggle through Europe and it is Scully’s personality that the reader finds themselves enjoying more than the sightseeing trip. "...Scully [is] one of the most memorable characters in Australian fiction." Scully is memorable because his traits could be found in someone known by the reader; he could easily be the ‘man next door’. The beauty of Scully is that Winton has allowed for the character to evolve, and he has adapted along with his character. At the beginning of the novel Scully is the "...big friendly shambles of a man who followed them like an ugly hound, loyal and indestructible..." yet not long after Scully is seen as "...sheepish like a lamb unto the slaughter...". These changes which occur in the character of Scully fit into the structure and plot of The Riders. Before the disappearance of Jennifer, Scully was a ruggedly handsome optimist, content to wait out the bad times, yet after the trauma of loss and heartache, ... ... is based around the idea that Scully is an emotional person, one who considers the needs of others. Scully follows Jennifer because of the baby. Yet he does not pursue Connor Keneally, because he understands that it would not be right, no matter how much he feels that he wants to. Tim Winton’s Scully is a very memorable Australian character. His connection with the reader enables them to enjoy his individual humour, vernacular and his generally unsinkable optimism. Winton’s writing skills allow the reader to be drawn to Scully by the character’s particular outlook on situations. Scully once said "What you see is what you get". Within The Riders this is not necessarily so, Winton gives Scully much more than what is printed on the page and it is up to the reader’s discretion of how much they perceive. Work Cited Winton, Tim. The Riders Prentice Hall 1996. Characterization of Scully in Tim Winton’s The Riders Essay -- Tim Win The Characterization of Scully in Tim Winton’s The Riders  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most endearing aspects of The Riders is the clever characterization. This allows the reader to relate to the typical national stereotypes and yet very extravagant personalities portrayed in the novel. The characterization, together with Winton’s considerable skill at using the characters’ view to evoke a sense of place, are two of the strengths of The Riders. The character of Fred Scully, the ‘hero’ of The Riders, is one of the most wonderfully written characters to have come out of Winton’s writing so far. Scully’s character encompasses all the traditional traits of the Australian: his use of vernacular, appearance, humor, as well as the outlook and many more. Winton has the reader accompany Scully in his desperate struggle through Europe and it is Scully’s personality that the reader finds themselves enjoying more than the sightseeing trip. "...Scully [is] one of the most memorable characters in Australian fiction." Scully is memorable because his traits could be found in someone known by the reader; he could easily be the ‘man next door’. The beauty of Scully is that Winton has allowed for the character to evolve, and he has adapted along with his character. At the beginning of the novel Scully is the "...big friendly shambles of a man who followed them like an ugly hound, loyal and indestructible..." yet not long after Scully is seen as "...sheepish like a lamb unto the slaughter...". These changes which occur in the character of Scully fit into the structure and plot of The Riders. Before the disappearance of Jennifer, Scully was a ruggedly handsome optimist, content to wait out the bad times, yet after the trauma of loss and heartache, ... ... is based around the idea that Scully is an emotional person, one who considers the needs of others. Scully follows Jennifer because of the baby. Yet he does not pursue Connor Keneally, because he understands that it would not be right, no matter how much he feels that he wants to. Tim Winton’s Scully is a very memorable Australian character. His connection with the reader enables them to enjoy his individual humour, vernacular and his generally unsinkable optimism. Winton’s writing skills allow the reader to be drawn to Scully by the character’s particular outlook on situations. Scully once said "What you see is what you get". Within The Riders this is not necessarily so, Winton gives Scully much more than what is printed on the page and it is up to the reader’s discretion of how much they perceive. Work Cited Winton, Tim. The Riders Prentice Hall 1996.

Jean Piaget Essay

Jean Piaget is often quoted to have pioneered research in cognitive development (Hayes, 1998). The constructivist theory is a subset of the cognitivist theories. It is based on the learner –centred theories that emphases on the need to provide learners with responsibility for directing their own learning experiences. Schemata, assimilation and accommodation are some of the primary concepts in understanding the Constructivist theory of cognitive development. The other central features apart from three principles are the notions of equilibration and disequilibrium. This essay will briefly define the principles of schemata, assimilation and accommodation. It will also explain the importance of equilibration and disequilibrium in cognitive development. Schemata according to Dembo (1991) are cognitive structures that are formed through the obstruction of one’s earlier experience. It is stated that children are born with very f few innate schemata and that they keep on creating new ones as they interact with the environment. Hayes (1998) adds that schemata should be understood as â€Å"a theoretical construct which is generally understood as the being an internalized representation of the world, or at least some part of the world. † p. 473. Schemata therefore relate to specific bit of activity, and summarises the stored knowledge and experiences related to such an activity. All human thinking is centred on schemata that develop throughout an individual’s life through the process of adaptation. Adaptation involves organisms responding to the changes in their respective surroundings and situations. In essence, adaptation is achieved through assimilation and accommodation. The principle of assimilation refers to a process of making sense of the experiences and perceptions by fitting them into previously established cognitive structures. In other words, what is perceived by a person is altered so that it fits present cognitive schemata (Gage, 1998). Assimilation is said to have occurred when a person perceives a new event or object in terms of an n existing schemas. That is to say, person applies any mental structure that is available to assimilate a new object or event and actively seek to utilize this newly acquired mental structure. On the other hand, the theory of accommodation simply refers to the process of changing internal schemata to provide consistency with external reality. It happens when existing schemas are modified or new ones are created to account for a new experience. According to Borick and Tombari (1995) if a person succeeds in changing the existing schemata in order to understand a new event, object, information or experience is said to have undergone the process of accommodation. From it can therefore be inferred that accommodation influences assimilation in a certain way and vice versa. As a reality is assimilated, structures are accommodated. Cognitive development is a lifelong process that involves the creation and/or the development of schemata through the operation of principles explained above. The term that explains the operation of assimilation and accommodation, which can occur concurrently is called the process of Equilibration. Equilibration is defined as â€Å"the biological drive to produce an optimal state of equilibrium between people’s cognitive structures and their environment† (Duncan, 1995 as cited on http://www. coe. uga. edu/epiltt/pigeat. htm ) . It is an attempt to bring about a state of equilibrium between the other three factors and is very vital for cognitive development. It involves assimilation and accommodation (Russell, Jarvis &Gorman, 2004). This process is very significant because it is through equilibration that people develop their cognitive structures. This occurs as people conduct themselves in logical internal mental structures that allow them to make sense of the various phenomena in their surrounding environment. When the external reality does not match with the logical internal schemas or say when disequilibrium occurs, equilibration is there to come forth so as an effort to bring balance between assimilation and accommodation. In this way, organisms develop sophisticated schemas. McLeod (2009) as cited on http://www. simplypsychology. org/piaget. html points out disequilibrium connotes an unpleasant state when new information cannot be fitted in the existing schemata. O’Donnel (2006) states that the theory of equilibration is important to the learning process. It suggests the need to stimulate conceptual change in someone by challenging students existing concepts in an effort to create cognitive disequilibrium. Students in turn strive to restore equilibrium there by acquiring new knowledge and skills for understanding the world or subject matter in a lesson. Teachers should be able to engage students into unfamiliar areas in order to for them to learn. It suggests that students do not require studying things that they already know but that they can also accommodate new information (Dembo, 1991). However teacher need not to let learners over assimilate because it turns out boring. They should also not over accommodate students beyond their cognitive growth. In this ca se, it can be understood that equilibration is vital to the development of a child’s cognition as well as to the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, the notion of equilibration is important because it indicates that learners are active thinkers who can understand the world on their own. Therefore teacher need to involve students in the learning processes and only act as facilitators in constructing knowledge. The understanding of the constructivist theory with the understanding of how equilibration works has led to emergence of teaching methods such as discovery methods. Teachers can create deliberate disequilibrium in students by asking questions about some illogical statements made by the Lerner. As the learner reconciles his or her disequilibrium, their cognitive capacity develops. In conclusion, this paper has defined schemata as cognitive or mental structures that relate s to specific bit of an activity such as schemata for an object like a tree or more abstract notion like democracy. Jean Piaget contended that all thinking is centred on schemata (Hayes, 1998) and the number of a person schema continues to be constructed throughout a person’s life through the principles of assimilation and accommodation. It has also been noted that the operation 0f these two principles constitutes the notion of equilibration. Equilibration is very important because it is the impetus for cognitive development that makes individuals acquires higher order thinking skills to adapt to the ever changing surrounding. It is through equilibration that people explore the environment and make mental representation of reality. This is so because equilibration improves the sophistication of schemas to create a mental representation of reality.

A doll house Essay

Henrik Ibsen play â€Å"A Doll House,† written in 1879, focuses on a story of a disparaging role of women in Victorian society through his doll motif, played out in Nora’s sudden distaste for her home. Throughout the play there are many examples of Nora’s husband Torvald treating Nora in an insulting manner because she’s a woman. Torvald calls her little pet names, and states that she’s frail. Nora does things according to what Torvald wants. Everything is done by his standards. He also doesn’t allow her to have much freedom. He doesn’t let decisions to be made by Nora. Torvald makes comments that suggest Nora could never understand anything, just because she is a woman. These examples show that feminism is a theme throughout the story. Torvald treats Nora almost like a child. He never actually talks to her like an adult. Almost as if Torvald thought that Nora wasn’t intelligent, or mature enough to have a conversation that had to deal with serious matters. He also has a lot of pet names for Nora. Whenever Torvald speaks to   Nora he usually calls her â€Å"my little squirrel†, and â€Å"little lark† as you would call a child. Torvald   also calls her a spendthrift whenever she asks for money. He never really calls her Nora, unless it is when he is serious, however any other time, he will call her by one of his pet names. Torvald also never speaks to Nora about anything important. He only talks to her about spending money, and about things of leisure, like the ball. Nora, in Ibsen’s â€Å"A Doll’s House†, is a modern woman limited by a traditional society which denies women power and autonomy. The central mystery and challenge of â€Å"A Doll’s House† is obviously the character of Nora. The story starts on Christmas Eve. Nora makes preparation for Christmas. While she eats macaroons, Dr. Rank and Mrs. Linde enters. Rank goes to speak with Torvald while Linde speaks with Nora. Linde explains that her husband has died and that she needs to find a job. Nora agrees to ask her husband to give Linde a job at the bank. Nora tells her about borrowing money to pay for the trip they took to Italy. She explains that Torvald doesn’t know that she paid for it. Rank leaves the study and begins to speak with Nora and Linde. He complains about the moral corruption in society. Krogstad arrives and goes to the study to talk to Torvald about keeping his job. A few minutes later, he leaves and Rank comments that Krogstad is one of the most morally corrupt people in the world. Rank and Linde leave, and Krogstad re-enters. He tells Nora to ask her husband to keep Krogstad at the bank, or else. If she doesn’t, he will reveal Nora’s crime of forgery to him. Krogstad leaves and when Torvald re-enters, Nora asks him not to fire Krogstad. Torvald says that he must fire him because of his dishonesty and because he gave Krogstad’s job to Linde. The nurse, Anne-Marie, enters and gives Nora her ball gown. Anne-Marie explains that she had to leave her children to take the job taking care of Nora. Linde returns and begins to help Nora with stitching up her dress. They talk for a while about Dr. Rank. Torvald enters and Linde leaves to the nursery. Nora asks Torvald again not to fire Krogstad and he refuses. He gives Krogstad’s pink slip to the maid to be mailed to Krogstad. Rank re-enters and tells Nora about his worsening illness. They talk and flirt for a while. Rank tells Nora that he loves her. Nora said that she never loved Rank and only had fun with him. Rank leaves to the study and Krogstad enters. He is angry about his dismissal and leaves a letter to Torvald explaining Nora’s entire crime in the letter box. Nora is frightened, and tells Linde about the matter and Linde assures her that she will talk to Krogstad and set things straight. Linde leaves after Krogstad and Rank and Torvald enters form the study. They help Nora practice the tarantella. After practice, Rank and Torvald exits and Linde enters and tells Nora that Krogstad left town, but she left a note for him. Nora tells her that she’s waiting for a miracle to happen. That night, during the dance, Linde talks to Krogstad in Helmer’s apartment. She explains to him that she left him for money, but that she still loves him. They get back together and Krogstad decides to forget about the matter of Nora borrowing money. However, Linde asks Krogstad not to ask for his letter back since she thinks Torvald needs to know of it. Both leave and Torvald and Nora enter from the dance. Torvald checks his letter box and finds some letters and two business cards form Dr. Rank with black crosses on them. Nora explains that they meant that Rank is announcing his death. After the bad news, Torvald enters his study and Nora prepares to leave. However, before she can get out the door, she is stopped by Torvald who read Krogstad’s letter. He is angry and disavows his love for Nora. The maid comes with a letter, Torvald reads the letter that is from Krogstad. It says that he forgives Nora of her crime and will not reveal it. Torvald burns the letter along with the IOU that came with it. He is happy and tells Nora that everything will return to normal. Nora changes and returns, she tells him that they don’t understand each other and she leaves him. Joan Templeton wrote a critical piece of â€Å"The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen.† Templeton states â€Å"Whatever propaganda feminists may have made of A Doll House, Ibsen, it is argued, never meant to write a play about the highly topical subject of women’s rights; Nora’s conflict represents something other than, or something more than, woman’s. In an article commemorating the half century of Ibsen’s death, R. M. Adams explains, â€Å"A Doll House represents a woman imbued with the idea of becoming a person, but it proposes nothing categorical about women becoming people; in fact, its real theme has nothing to do with the sexes† (416). Over twenty years later, after feminism had resurfaced as an international movement, Einar Haugen, the doyen of American Scandinavian studies, insisted that â€Å"Ibsen’s Nora is not just a woman arguing for female liberation; she is much more. She embodies the comedy as well as the tragedy of modern life.†Ã¢â‚¬  (28). Joan Templeton had cited â€Å"All female, or no woman at all, Nora loses either way. Frivolous, deceitful, or unwomanly, she qualifies neither as a heroine nor as a spokeswoman for feminism. Her famous exit embodies only â€Å"the latest and shallowest notion of emancipated womanhood, abandoning her family to go out into the world in search of ‘her true identity;† (Freedman 4)† (30). Nora Helmer makes the right decision to free herself form the social and traditional commitments and obligations of the Victorian Era and becomes an independent individual. She lived in a world of pre-determined social and societal constraints that made her deprived of her own freedom and happiness. The society in which she lived wanted people to live according to the rigidly set norms and standards of the Victorian Society. Subjugation and oppression was the theme of the Victorian Society. Men and women were supposed to play the role that was assigned to them. Nora found herself in such a world of suppression. She was supposed to live a quiet life in a world that was dominated by her husband Torvald and the alike. She was however, totally dissatisfied with the life of subjugation. She could no longer surrender to the constraints of the society. The made her brake from the captivity and enters a new world of freedom. Nora Makes the right decision to free herself from the social and traditional commitments and obligations and become an independent individual. Nora is indeed a classical hero during her time of Victorian Society. She was hiding her character and personality throughout the play under the pretense of the ideal 19th century wife who completely abides to her husband. The character of Nora is quite tough to interpret, as she is made out of a combination of different traits, childish, and even selfish. Even though she is found to be playful and silly, she appears different in other places being practical and astute. She is indeed a hero as she was successful in showing that she is a supporting wife, and mother. Nora was expected to be content with the life she had, though it wasn’t in any way fair or equal. When she expresses her hope that Torvald would have taken the blame for her crime upon himself, Torvald says that â€Å"there’s no one who give up honor for love.† (875) and Nora replies that â€Å"millions of women have done just that.†(875). When Nora shut the door behind her, she wasn’t just a woman leaving her family. She was a woman seeking independence from the strictures of society and the rule of men which was placed upon her because of gender. A Doll House Essay Reflective Statement In Ibsen’s A Doll House, the setting is a critical part of understanding the issues presented in the piece. If it had not been set in 19th century Norway, many of the references would not have been possible. The setting of each of the acts the house changes, showing an allusion of a perfect doll house in the first act that is slowly diminishing threw out the last two. As a external way of showing the cultural and emotional conflicts with in the house. Plus, the significance of the cultural statement, about the unfairness of women’s roles, would have been lost. From this, we can conclude that it was relatively easy to understand Ibsen’s view on the social and cultural issues regarding women- a blatant inequality between the genders, both at home and in society. Regarding Mrs.Linde who comes into the play as a woman who has seen the outside world and worked for her living, Ibsen at the end shows her beginning a relationship with Krogstad to sho w even when a woman trails away from the protection of a man they always come back to their original place. It is difficult to understand the solution to these cultural issues, unless all women are supposed to walk out of their lives. If that were the case that would create more and if not equal cultural struggles and issues. This is similar to today, in that we are still trying to work on the inequality in society through efforts like affirmative action, with questionable success. That is why Ibsen’s use of techniques like setting and characterization are so important; these techniques are what Ibsen uses to convey his message to the audience. To show the struggle of each individual relationship in this work whether it be between Nora and Torvald Helmer, Mrs.Linde and Krogstad, or Dr. Rank and his undying love for Nora. A Doll House Essay Marriage, as an institution, facilitates the union of man and woman enabling them to raise a family. The wellbeing and happiness of the family depends equally on the man and the woman. But this equality is imperceptible in married relations, even in the modern society. The woman always compromises for the sake of her family and abandons her freedom. The play â€Å"A Doll House† by Henrik Ibsen depicts the situation of a married woman, Nora Helmer who has to repress her desires and behave according to the wish of her husband, Torvald. But as the play progresses conflicts began to arise between Nora and Torvald, owing to the changing nature of Torvald’s love for Nora. Throughout the play, Nora aims to act and behave in a manner which pleases her husband but at the end of the play, Nora decides to leave Torvald and lead her life in accordance to her wishes. The end of the play depicts a fit resolution to the main conflict in the play. End of the Play Nora is a skilled and wise woman but her husband regards her to be an asinine and childish woman. When Torvald was ill, Nora was the one who saved his life with the aid of money borrowed from Krogstad. But she refrained from revealing about the borrowed money to her husband so that his pride is not hurt. She also worked secretly to repay the debt. But she presents herself before her husband in a manner which pleases him. Her husband thinks that Nora is a silly woman and Nora continues to act like a one before him. Nora lives in her house like a doll whose strings are in the hands of her husband. But in the final scene of the play, Nora goes on to become an independent woman from a doll whose actions were controlled by her husband. Owing to Krogstad’s letters which reveal the details of the bond that Nora has signed while borrowing money from Krogstad and the forging of her father’s signature by Nora on that bond, Torvald suspects Nora’s loyalty towards her family. Torvald even goes to the extent of saying that their marriage has ended. He also prohibits Nora from raising her own children. Ibsen (2002) writes, â€Å"But I shall not allow you to bring up the children; I dare not trust them to you. † (pg 135). But when Torvald receives another letter from Krogstad, consisting of the bond, he is thrilled to be liberated from the bond. Now he praises Nora for her dedication and love that she had for her family, and also mentions that he has forgiven her for her mistakes Nora realizes that Torvald’s love for her is so conditional that it is easily influenced by the situations around them. Torvald is so concerned about his honor that he never thinks about the feelings of Nora. He fails to live up to the role of a husband who is responsible for protecting his wife’s honor. Nora expresses her discontent at Torvald’s self-centered behavior and decides to leave the house. Instead of being just a wife and mother, Nora desires to become a sensible human being. Ibsen (2002) writes, â€Å"I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being. Just as you are—or, at all events, that I must try and become one. † (pg. 145). Torvald tries to convince Nora to stay with him but Nora refuses to listen to him. She leaves the house and goes in pursuit of an independent life where she can live according to her own desires and wishes. The end of the play serves as an appropriate resolution to Nora’s conflict with Torvald. Nora refuses to lead a doll-like life in order to save her marriage from breaking up. By leaving the house, Nora removes herself from the hold of her husband who treated her like a doll. An independent and determined Nora emerges in the final scene of the play. References Ibsen, H. (2001). A Doll’s House. Plain Label Books. 2002.