England Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

England - Assignment Example Players in the industry had to put forward drastic measures by the engagement of massive discounts so as to support the relatively threatened customer base especially due to the global economic meltdown which had its effects in the UK by the end of 2009.It has been reported that the global shipments of the products have been growing by 4% annually supported majorly by the imports from the US ,Japan and South Africa .The Japanese market has been stabilizing currently making ripple effects in the local market and enabling the increasing stability of the UK market an achievable phenomenon. By January the import of our company stood at 7% and the shipments to foreign branches stood at 3.1 %.The projected sales of champagne in the year 2012 is expected to be 35.5M. Sales is one of the most important components of a business ,however it has to promote responsibility to avoid the long term effects on their brand and to avoid the crumbling of the business. The size of the industry has been growing over the previous years, however it received a major slow down due to the impacts of the global economic recession. Despite the economic troubles facing the globe presently, the sales are stable and relatively high during the festive seasons plus there are new emerging markets within the country offering the champagne business new avenues for major sales. The ports that are used by our company for the importation of our facilities and majorly for our products have to meet the criterion for efficiency and have to be secure .the port has to be versatile ,have diversity of traffic and the charges have to be competitive and realistic for the business venture of our type to avoid extra input into the system. The company has been using the Bristol port for a very long time for its shipping duties since it is meeting the standards put by the management and the stakeholders in the company. Our

Debate Speech Essay Example for Free

Debate Speech Essay A pleasant afternoon to one and all, standing in front of you is Alliah Dominique M. Sta. Ana, 3rd affirmative speaker, opposing the proposition of Mr. Despi that â€Å"Republic Act No. 10354 also known as Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012† should be legalize here in the Philippines. Let us all be open minded as I begin. First and Foremost, let me give you brief information about RH Bill. It guarantees the universal access to methods of contraceptions, fertility control, maternal care and sex education.   There are many reasons why I stand before my proposition because implementing RH Bill is unconstitutional. Why? It seeks to regulate or legislate morality. It criminalizes the practice of faith and religion as well as other cts that are not inherently evil or against public policy. It is socially and economically unjust and destructive. The law justifies the imposition of new taxes and higher tax rates, government borrowing, price controls, distortions, massive regulations, that will affect not just the entire economy but also people’s rights. It will also benefit certain bussinesses and industries in a monopoly or crony system. Where will they buy contraceptives, preganancy kits, RH products and equipments, employer’s fee for their time and service? There are already dozens of RH Laws or RH related laws enacted in the past. It seems all of them didn’t work. Did they? Because the only solution to this problem would be having self control and discipline. I firmly believe that an ordinary person is capable to be good so it does mean that everyone, catholic or not, can be disciplined. The main purpose of sex is to procreate not to satisfy our senses or needs. So if you will have sex, bear in mind that its main purpose is to reproduce which is God’s will. Now, if you are to have sex with contraceptives, then that is not called procreation. It is called sense gratification or lust which is a strong desire for someone, that way doing sex is purposeless. If you are to have sex without contraceptives, without thinking the consenquences, without family planning, make sure you are ready to face such big responsibility that will change your life. Life is created and is the will of the Lord. How it begins and how it ends is His thing – Not ours. When God allowed the process of sex which at the same time is the free will of woman and man which will put that child in a woman’s womb, whether the mother or father is sick, that is His will. And now if you are a follower of God which the RH supporters also claim, and you are spiritually realized, then you must know that you do not have the right to hinder such event or manifestation by killing what is forming or what is inside you. Therefore, I strongly believe that RH bill should not be implented for this will not be created if we just control ourselves. This methods will offend the Church and the Catholics, this methods are just expenses, RH Bill will only change the clearer vision of life. It will be such a bad impact to the country. Bear in mind that we are in a religious country. Besides, Natural Family Planning helps the married partners to strengthen their communication. A baby made with conjugal love is the result of natural family planning that’s why I prefer natural family planning to be the only method to decrease our population rate. That’s all, thank you and Good Afternoon!

Total Quality Management Within The UK Service Industry Management Essay

Total Quality Management Within The UK Service Industry Management Essay Total Quality Management is an approach that has been used over the years to improve quality and customer satisfaction. The implementation of TQM involves each member of an organisation from the top management to the entire workforce. The approach was first implemented in the manufacturing industry but it was later embraced in the service industry. The UK service industry which contributes greatly to the countrys economy is among the different industries that have been using TQM to improve its performance. Sectors such as banking, transport and communication, hotel and tourism are among some of the sectors that have implemented the approach in every transaction, process and service delivered to customers. However a critical analysis of the approach used within the UK service industry portrays the inadequacy of most companies to effectively implement the approach to gain maximally from its benefits. The concept of quality in project management has been in existence for a long time though its meaning has been evolving over time. In the early part of the 20th century, quality management was viewed as the inspection of products to ascertain that they met certain standards (Reid Sanders, 2005). Later in the 1960s quality was viewed to involve the entire organisation. All functions started being held responsible for the quality of the products and services. In the 1970s competition quality came to be with companies focusing on improving quality in order for them to be competitive. Companies that were not able to meet the quality standards set did not survive the competition. The concept of total quality management was later developed and it has led companies to build on quality of their products and processes. The efforts of the members within these organisations help improve the processes, culture, products and services in order to attain the quality standards expected. The concept was first developed in the manufacturing industry but it has spread to other industries such as the services sector (Pandian, 2007). In this sector total quality management focuses more on customer services and improving their satisfaction as they are considered to be very important in the sector. Companies that are considered to be in the service industry include hospitality and tourism companies, banking, insurance and financial companies, as well as telecommunication companies among others. Satisfying the customer is the main aim of these companies. The major challenge that these companies face while trying to attain this objective is the inability to establish smooth relations between them and the customers in order to retain them for future business. The total quality management approach helps these businesses to connect with their customers at every stage of the business process and in every transaction undertaken (Pandian, 2007). This paper undertakes a study of the total quality management approach that is used in the UK services sector and provides a critical analysis of the appropriateness of the approach in comparison to the academic models. The UK Services Industry The UK services sector is comprised of trades both wholesale and retail, restaurants and hotels, the financial services, transport and communication, real estate, government services, computing and IT among other business activities and services. The industry currently dominates the UK economy and remains a vital component of the economy. In the year 2000, the industry accounted for over 70% of the gross domestic product with the private part of the industry accounting for 50% (Skipper, 2000). The industry draws a lot of attention both locally and internationally in a bid to strengthen it and develop it further. During the year 2010, the industry experienced high growth and helped to improve the recovery process of the UK economy. According to BBC News (2010) the growth of the industry helped reduce job losses and grow the economy by 0.3%. The improved performance of the industry gave most companies confidence to increase their output in order to offset some of the challenges that the industry was facing such as the high fuel prices and VAT charges. The UK government has been putting pressure on most of the industries to improve on quality to enhance performance. Some of the industries have taken this up very seriously such as the service and manufacturing industries. In the service industry the health services, financial, hotel and tourism are among some of the sectors that have embraced the TQM approach. The concepts of quality, high standards and professionalism to improve customer satisfaction have been emphasised in these sectors to enhance competition. In the early 1980s the management of the UK financial services sector focussed mainly on administrative practises and personnel control rather than focussing on the customers (Hopwood Chapman, 2008 ). However with the deregulation of the banks the sector became similar to other industries such as manufacturing. The front office and back office services were formed and these led to the management now focussing on consultant services and pure administrative functions. Various techniques and approaches of management started being introduced and implemented such as the TQM, business process reengineering and activity based costing. Increased competition and lower interest rates started to define the banks as they engaged in marketing financial products to remain profitable (Hopwood Chapman, 2008 ). Interest in non financial performance measures engaged the banks in activities and processes that increased customer satisfaction, product quality, employee morale and job satisfaction, efficiency and productivity in order to improve market share. The management has now been focussing on the front line personnel who deal directly with the customers and influenced the service quality and delivery. They rely on the customer satisfaction and loyalty to maintain their market share and profitability. The banking industry which is the largest sector in the service industry in the UK benefits a lot from the TQM approach (Domingo, 2006). However the main issue that hinders the implementation of the approach is the lack of training in customer service. Most of the people in this sector are financial people who have little or no training on how to deal with customers. The TQM approach puts the customers at the centre and focuses on improving quality in order to satisfy them. A lot of planning and management is undertaken to ensure that the service quality is continually improved. All the people in the organisation need to be involved in the TQM approach for it to succeed and quality to be improved. Bankers and other employees in the financial sectors tend to concentrate more on the money issues and neglect the customers and quality (Frick, 1997). For this reason, the organisations in the financial sectors are not able to learn and apply the valuable lessons in customer service and people management to produce world class quality services. Presently the financial sector is ranked in terms of the financial resources and other quantitative measures such as asset base, number of transactions, depositors, loans released and other performance measures (Domingo, 2006). A lot of managerial focus is put on asset management, financial ratio analysis, cash flow and spread management among others. Most of the institutions use these measures to create satisfied customers. They ensure that their objectives, measurements and systems achieve this in order to improve the satisfaction levels of their customers. Empowerment of the workers in the service industry is one of the decisions that affect the implementation of the TQM approach. Workers need to be empowered for them to make decisions that regard quality of products and services and the satisfaction of customers. Employees also need to be involved and good communication channels set up for the approach to work. In this way each and every person in the organisation is involved in the total quality management programme and they improve in the way that they undertake their jobs in order to meet the objectives set. In most of the service industries in the UK, quality tends to be measured in terms of quantitative measures rather than qualitative. Companies simply use the approach that is used by the manufacturing companies which involve quantitative measures to determine the quality standards and the levels of customer satisfaction. However in the service industry, though it is difficult to quantify the customer satisfaction levels through their smiles and reviews, companies still continue to rely on quantitative measures. They focus on how quickly the customer got the service rather than focussing on whether the service that was delivered was good and in accordance to standards set. In order to gauge their quality standards and customer satisfaction, companies in the service industry focus on the customer complaints to provide a way of reviewing themselves (Hollins Shinkins, 2006). In the UK however studies have shown that most of the customers tend to accept the poor services offered and do not complain. They however move on to look for better services elsewhere. As part of the TQM approach noting and handling complaints is considered as a starting point of dealing with poor quality standards. Management should instead be more engaged in moving on to seeking the issues that lead to the complaints and handling them before the complaints are heard from the customers (Hollins Shinkins, 2006). This will help improve the image of the organisation since the UK dissatisfied customers who do not complain tend to tell others of their dissatisfaction with the services offered. The TQM approach used by the service providers should also focus on performing beyond the customers expectations. They should go a little further and attempt to satisfy the customers in more ways. The use of mystery shoppers has been used in the UK service sectors by companies like London Underground who used mystery shoppers to determine their quality performance (Hollins Shinkins, 2006). The shoppers were given booklets which had questions which required qualitative and quantitative answers. The quantitative questions required the mystery shoppers to give scores on standards such as cleanliness while the qualitative questions required the mystery shoppers to provide their own judgement. In order for the shoppers to provide some consistency in their answers to the qualitative questions, they were provided with some training on standards to that they could make sound judgements. In the UK transport sector, the government introduced contracts which allowed the local authorities and private bus operators to form partnerships that would help improve quality (House of Commons, 2006). This arrangement allows the bus operators to engage in high quality services, improve staff training and other facilities in order to improve customer satisfaction. Efforts have also been made by the operators to improve passenger information including how the buses are run to enhance service quality. The UK domestic and international tourism markets which are worth over  £17 billion every year have been attracting visitors from all over the world (Kandampully, Mok, Sparks, 2001). The service providers have been using the TQM approach to attract and retain most of these visitors for them to compete and increase their market share globally. They have been continuously improving their services and processes as per the TQM approach while also remaining efficient and effective. One of the principles that are commonly used by these companies is the establishment of plans and targets to improve the quality of the services they offer. Innovation and service delivery is also emphasised and encouraged. The standards that the customers demand are used as objectives in the plans set as a way of improving customer satisfaction. In the sport and leisure services, a quality management initiative was established in 1996 that brought together the private and public sector professionals (Kandampully, Mok, Sparks, 2001). The initiative was formed to enhance quality improvement, share knowledge and the best practises that can be used in these services. Managers were encouraged to involve the views of the customers in their operations. To improve service performance, self evaluations and assessments were introduced as part of the initiative to allow the companies to compare themselves with the industry standards. Customer relations, facility operations, staffing, service development and reviews were improved and encouraged as part of the management issues that can help improve customer satisfaction and service quality. Total Quality Management Total Quality Management has been defined by the International Standard ISO 9000 as the management approach that is focussed on quality through the participation of all the members of an organisation (Ramasamy, 2005). The approach aims for long term success and customer satisfaction as well as additional benefits to all members of an organisation and the society at large. The approach seeks to continually improve the quality standards and process by making sure that each and every member of the organisation understands and practises their role in a way that leads to the attainment of the goals set under the approach. The benefits of this approach are numerous and include higher profits, increased customer and employee satisfaction, more business and increased amounts of goodwill from the society towards the organisations (Ramasamy, 2005). The managerial and leadership styles are also made stronger and persistent among the top level management. Training of all employees helps in developing their skills and abilities and increases their morale. The organisations also become more efficient and effective with their material and human resources as they attain their objectives. Several concepts are used in this quality management approach. The major concept involves the focus on the customer (Naidu, Babu, Rajendra, 2006). Every task, decision and process is carried out with the customer in mind. According to the approach a company needs to continually check on the attitudes of the customers. It is also part of the approach for the management and employees to do everything right at the first time in order to reduce the complaints and levels of defective work. Continuous improvement is also emphasised to allow the company to get better. Under this approach management is advised to continually improve each and every part of the organisation rather than improving all sectors by 100% at once. The workforce should also be involved in the approach through transforming the culture of the organisation to embrace quality (Chapman Hall, 1994). This will help change the attitude of everyone in the organisation and enhance excellence rather than mediocrity. Training and frequently communicating with the workforce is also encouraged in this quality management approach. Enlarging the skills of the employees allows them to handle different tasks and also do them better (Pereira, 1994). Performance measurement is emphasised in the TQM approach as it helps the company to make decisions based on the results and maintain standards as well as keeping the processes at a certain standard. Top management need to be involved in the entire process for the approach to be successful. Employees can also be given the power to make some of the decisions that are needed on the spot to improve quality and customer satisfactions. Teamwork between the management and the employees can help reduce some of the issues, conflicts and provide a balanced working environment, improve employee morale as well as reduce the roles and responsibilities between the management and the employees (Ramasamy, 2005). Analysis The total quality management approach that is used in the UK service industry has helped improve the standards of quality and customer satisfaction within the various sectors. Some of the sectors have gained profits and larger market shares with the implementation of the approach in their processes and service delivery. However most of the sectors need to implement the approach further in all of their activities while involving the employees for the successful implementation and improvement of the benefits to be attained. Companies in the service industry need to undertake proper training of their workforce and improve communication channels in order to involve each and every member of the organisation in the delivery of services and improved quality standards. The top management need to frequently interact with the customers to listen to their views and opinions which should be integrated within the company. These views should help improve the decision making process and the objectives and goals to be achieved. The welfare of the employees also needs to be looked into for the approach to work. The needs of the employees need be taken care of and their issues addressed for them to be in a position to improve their attitudes towards quality and offer their best services to the customers and to the company. Empowering the employees can also boost their morale and confidence in undertaking their roles and responsibilities. Some of the decision making should be left on the employees to improve efficiency and make the employees feel like they are part of the organisation and improve their responsibilities. The companies in the service industry should shift from quantitative performance measurement techniques and instead use qualitative measures to determine their overall performance levels. The use of customer complaints should be avoided as it is a reactive measure. The companies should focus on proactive measures to determine their performance levels and improve their services and quality standards. With these techniques the service sector in the UK will perform much better than it is doing currently and continue dominating the economy. Conclusion The service industry in the UK has been dominating the economy of the country and providing a huge GDP. The government has been emphasising on the need for the industry to improve the quality of the services in order to allow the industry to compete effectively in the international market. Some of the sectors have adopted the TQM approach in their activities and process to help them improve their quality levels as well as improve customer satisfactions. The TQM approach has brought in different benefits for the companies in the sector. However a careful analysis of the approach used in these companies highlights the hindrances that have affected the implementation of the approach. The management of these companies need to embrace this approach fully in the service industry in order to gain maximally from the benefits of TQM. Bibliography BBC News. (2010, March 3). Service Sector Growth Hits Three-Year High. Retrieved January 6, 2011, from BBC News: Chapman, Hall. (1994). Total Quality Management: the key to business improvement. London: Springer. Domingo, R. T. (2006, March 4). TQM in Banking. Retrieved January 6, 2011, from RTD Online: Edraw Max. (n.d). TQM Diagram Software. Retrieved January 08, 2011, from Edraw Max: Frick, R. A. (1997). The Application of Total Quality Management on Service Quality in Banking. The Journal of Bank Cost Management Accounting , 10. Hollins, B., Shinkins, S. (2006). Managing Service Operations: Design and Implementation. London: SAGE Publications. Hopwood, A. G., Chapman, C. S. (2008 ). Handbook of Management Accounting Research. Oxford: Elsevier. House of Commons. (2006). Bus Service Accross the UK. London: The Stationery Office. Kandampully, J., Mok, C., Sparks, B. A. (2001). Service Quality Management in Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure. London: Routledge. Naidu, N., Babu, K. M., Rajendra, G. (2006). Total Quality Management. New Delhi: New Age International. Pandian, T. K. (2007, June 26). Importance of TQM for Services Sector. Retrieved January 6, 2011, from The Hindu Business Line: Pereira, J. (1994, October). Total Quality Continous Improvement. Management Services , 38. Ramasamy, S. (2005). Total Quality Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Reid, R. D., Sanders, R. N. (2005). Total Quality Management. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Skipper, H. (2000, December). The UK Service Sector. Retrieved January 6, 2011, from Office for National Statistics:

Francisco de Goyas Painting, The Third of May Essay -- Art Painting P

Francisco de Goya's Painting, The Third of May Goya's painting has historical significance, as well as a social message that he wanted to send to generations to come. The painting The Third of May, by Francisco de Goya, was done in 1814 to commemorate the events of that took place during the Napoleonic Wars in Madrid, Spain on May 2 and 3 1808. The painting sets the scene of a man about to be killed by a firing squad. The bodies of those who have already been killed are scattered around him, and those that wait to be killed stand in line behind him. The ground is covered in blood from those who have already been executed. The sky in the background is black, with the outline of a convent on the horizon. Through my religious upbringing, as well as my background in art history, I am able to recognize the symbolism and tools that Goya used to make his statement that war of any kind produces no good. During the Napoleonic Wars, which took place in the early part of the nineteenth century, Spain was invaded in 1807. Napoleon forced King Ferdinand to abdicate the throne, which he gave to his brother Joseph Bonaparte. Many Spanish citizens welcomed the presence of the French in Spain because of the liberal reforms that they made, including a new liberal constitution. But with the rumor that the last member of the royal family was going to be removed from Madrid, the citizens of Madrid gathered in public squares on the night of May 2. At nine o'clock on the morning of the third, an uprising began. The citizens were armed with whatever they could find: scissors, knives, spoons, and a few firearms. The mob temporarily prevented the cart with the remaining members of the royal family from leaving. By mid-afternoon the revolt was... ...m able to recognize them as certain tools used by the painter. It is very possible that if I had not been raised with a religious background or had not taken my art history class, my perspective towards the painting would be very different. I might look at the painting and simply see a man about to be killed. I might not see the sacrificial element of it. My understanding of art and the language of art would be lacking. Without the knowledge of these things I would probably see a more general picture, and I might have missed the aspects of Goya's masterpiece that make the painting so moving to me. Works Cited Tone, John Lawrence. The Fatal Knot: The Guerilla War in Navarre and the Defeat of Napoleon in Spain. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. 1994. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York: Prentice Hall Inc. and Harry N. Abrams Inc. 1995.

Drama Coursework: Absurdism Freeze Frames We used freeze frames in drama :: Drama

Drama Coursework: Absurdism Freeze Frames We used freeze frames in drama to create many absurd scenarios Drama Coursework: Absurdism =========================== Freeze Frames ------------- We used freeze frames in drama to create many absurd scenarios. We co-ordinated our bodies with other people to create a scene and we held our positions for about 10 seconds. We usually did this whilst we were warming up our bodies; it also helped to see if as a group we could listen to other people and develop their ideas. We had to use our facial expressions to create an atmosphere and sometimes tension. We have used the technique of freezing at a specific point many times in drama this year. In groups, we have often created sketches and frozen our positions. We had to pretend that we were on a train and we had stopped at a platform. Sheldon walked on the train and was bringing his pet elephant on a trip. Sheldon held a leash and was patting the pet on the back. I played one of four passengers; I cringed when they got on the train; as if the elephant smelt. The others did mostly the same but were moving out of the way for the elephant whilst holding their noses. My group for this sketch was: Stephen, Sheldon, Helen and myself. It was a very strange image to comprehend, but that is what abusrdism is all about. The use of freeze frames in general helps me to appreciate that every scene counts. Every aspect of the play is important, not just the important ones. It helps me to just have a little pause in time and think about what we are doing. Sometimes with freeze frames you can use thought tracking. This is a pause in time and helps the audience keep track of what goes on inside the actor’s/actresses head. When it is used in absurdism, it helps me to stop and look around me. I’m thinking, â€Å"This is very weird† and â€Å"what’s happening here†. Freeze frames help to create an atmosphere. It creates tension and other emotions. Mime: There are two types of mime:  · Acting without dialogue or sound. But relying on action, facial expressions and body expressions.  · Acting with sound and dialogue but without the use of props. We used mime with no sound to a rhythm. We did every day chores, like putting your books in your bag or looking for your house key to four different actions or positions. Just like this:  · Picture 1: I bent down and with both hands push the draw closed. I showed that the draw was stiff by clenching my teeth as I pushed.

The Chocolate War :: essays research papers

1. Robert Cormier wrote The Chocolate War. The copyright of the book is 1974. 2. In the exposition of The Chocolate War, Jerry Renault, the freshman quarterback, was receiving constant blows from opposing players. Jerry was trying to get the ball to his receiver, the Goober, but not having any luck. In The Chocolate War, the rising action was the majority of the story. At Trinity High School, the school that Jerry attends, there is a group of "elite" students called the Vigils. The Vigils give out "assignments" to random students at Trinity. Archie, the head, told the Goober that his assignment was to unscrew every screw in Room nineteen. The Goober spent several hours doing his assignment, and eventually finished with the assistance of a few Vigil members. As the story goes on, the reader learns that every year at Trinity, there is a chocolate sale run by the assistant head master, Brother Leon. The last major detail in the rising action was when Archie informed Jerry of his assignment, Jerry’s assignment was not to sell chocolates for the first ten days of the annual chocolate sale. The climax of the novel was on the eleventh day of the chocolate sale when Jerry was supposed to start selling the chocolates but he didn’t. As a result of Jerry not selling any chocolates, the other students’ sales began to plummet during the falling action of the story. Brother Leon began to feel nervous and had to go to Archie and the Vigils for help. Incredibly, the Vigils turned the whole school against Jerry and made selling chocolates the "cool" thing. Students began to look down upon Jerry for not conforming to the chocolate sale tradition. Someone even vandalized Jerry’s locker and cut up his gym sneakers. A group of boys, including Emile Janza, one of the biggest bullies at Trinity, jumped Jerry after football practice and abused Jerry’s body with their fists and football cleats. The Chocolate War didn’t have a happy ending, but there was a resolution in the story. Archie set up a boxing match, of all things, between Jerry Renault and Emile Janza. Emile ended up beating Jerry to a bloody pulp in a matter of minutes, while Jerry landed only three punches the entire match. As a result Jerry finally learned that he couldn’t beat the system, and that he’d be better off doing what his authorities instructed him to do.

Behind the Myth of Sisyphus Essay

The philosophical essay of â€Å"The Myth of Sisyphus† by Albert Camus was written in France, in 1942. Obviously during a very historical time of war in which had a lot of people on the edge. The piece of work written was motivated by what Camus thought about the situation during the time; such as suicide, absurdity and happiness. The meaning of life was defined in many different ways, and with that being said Camus had seen so much that he had different values and searched for the truth about life and its purpose, plus what motivated a modest philosopher. Society took this essay as something very absurd and really didn’t know how to react to it but wonder how meaningful is life and what is to be valued and what shouldn’t be. People were on the edge just thinking about these kind of things. Especially during this time people didn’t know what to believe or what to have faith on as well because of the war. Which is why society looked at this as dark comedy and could’ve also been an eye-opener to others as well. Just something to keep their minds off the situation that was occurring. The World War II was happening at the moment and it was a historical disaster for many. When the Germans invaded France, Camus joined the French Resistance. He was in it for four long years and also wrote for a paper so he had to know a lot of information about the war. I am most certain that from the experience having gone through the war made him realize many things about the values of life. â€Å"It was during this period that Camus formalized his philosophy that human life was sacred, no matter how inexplicable existence of life might be.† (Bree). Seeing the death toll from the war any one can see how sacred life is. That is when he gradually started looking into life’s philosophy and he came up with the conclusion that life was absurd. â€Å"[m]isunderstood as a philosophy of hopelessness. Camus did hold  that life was absurd — defying logical explanation, and ultimately irrational. However, Camus considered life valuable and worth defending.† (Bree ). Basically, if you had an explanation and reason to what you were doing in life and if you considered it meaningful, then it was meaningful. Other than that, according to Camus’s philosophy it was absurd. While Camus was arranging and discovering new thoughts about philosophy, he happened to write â€Å"The Myth of Sisyphus†. It was a Greek myth about a man named Sisyphus who was punished to repeat a meaningless task of pushing a rock up a mountain and seeing it roll back down once it reached the top. Why push a rock if it is going to go down again. However, it can be meaningless but only if it was interpreted that way. This essay was written when he came to seek about the meaningless and the absurdity of life. When Camus came to the conclusion whether to find the meaning of life was suicide in a way it contradicted himself. â€Å"Without man the absurd cannot exist.† (Camus). Suicide is way to see how life is valuable but obviously impossible to tell and demonstrated it to others philosophically. â€Å"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.† (Camus). Therefore, suicide is just really an absurd thing to do and impossible to prove the point. That it when Camus came up with the idea that happiness and absurdity are similar. In â€Å"The Myth of Sisyphus†, Sisyphus goes through a struggle pushing the rock but once he reaches the top he is, I believe, happy for having accomplished it. He accomplished pushing it up after such a struggle. â€Å"The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.† (Camus). Even though he was in a bad situation he saw the bright side of it. Either you were happy and realizing there are worst things than pushing a rock up a mountain, or sad because of the good things other people have that you didn’t. However, even though Sisyphus was happy for a moment, Camus thought it was absurd to be happy because Sisyphus knew his fate when he would reach the bottom of the mountain. Camus compared this to real life and it is the same awareness that an absurd man has in his life. The war strongly influenced Camus’s thoughts. â€Å"Historical revolt, rooted in metaphysical revolt, leads to revolutions seeking to eliminate absurdity by using murder as their central tool to take total control over the world.† (Knopf). Philosophically, in the war murdering was eliminating absurdity and thinking that it would get that answer whether life is meaningful or not. Today society believes life is meaningful, however, there are a few who don’t think so and therefore, they come down to committing suicide. That lead to Camus searching to see whether life is meaningful or not. When you discovery that life is meaningless, you can’t unrealized the truth about your life. You can’t go back and live life while ignoring yourself that there is no purpose. Which again leads to suicide, who wouldn’t want if knowing there is nothing for one in life at all. All you can have is hope for another day but even Camus argues that hope is not always a good thing it can also disappoint your expectations. I know it may seem confusing but as Camus believes that even the absurd can’t be understood at times. So even if life is meaningless it is precious! However, one cannot simply judge their own life and assume it is meaningless if you have not experienced everything. You cannot judge whether all you done was good or bad or if that was it in your life. Camus and Nietzsche are both similar in their own ways the only difference is that Nietzsche pursued for the truth about life and that life is meaningful. â€Å"Nietzsche’s point was that be wholly alive means being aware of the negative as of the positive, feeling pain, not shunning any experience, and embracing ‘even in its strangest and hardest problems’.† (Arson). Then that is when Camus seems quite confused because at first he declares that life is meaningless and when he reaches the end he is pretty much concluding â€Å"[t]hat life is to clearly by judged to be better than others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Arson). Life is purely what we make of it and even Camus states at the very end of â€Å"The Myth of Sisyphus† that â€Å"One must imagine Sisyphus happy.† (Camus). That is why I conclude that Camus was absurd and essentially everyone was too. In all it was an absurd contradiction. The main theme shared thoughtout the course that can relate back and forth is truth and the good and evil. â€Å"Camus mirrors Nietzsche’s own morality when he interrogates God as a moral instance. Both authors seem to start from a  fairly humanistic viewpoint: God is the constructed being, a named abstraction and an uplifted instance to distribute what is morally right and morally wrong.† (Svenja) With that said how are we to judge ourselves to know what is wrong and right and from there on serve a purpose in life? If we judge ourselves to having done something evil we usually feel bad and sometimes do the absurd and commit suicide. But even committing suicide is bad because you will never find out if there was meaning behind the a person’s life. So you can’t even eliminate all the evil from the world.   And if so, you cannot judge a person by their actions but philosophically judged on their intentions. â€Å"[t]hese figures try to re-feel themselves but they can only do so when they accept their fate as their own and not made by society.† (Svenja) In order to actually live life you must accept life and what becomes of it, meaningless or not, life will always be precious! Correspondingly, Camus must face his truth. â€Å"Like Sisyphus, we are our fate, and our frustration is our very life: we can never escape it.† (Satre) As a society that’s why we all must accept the truth in life and that is our fate as well. No matter if it has value, you must continue living, committing suicide is not the answer and by doing so you will prove to others that there can be meaningless lives. You can’t escape it and you can’t be absurd in Camus’s philosophy either. Camus even detects a level of absurdity in Nietzsche’s philosophy as well. Truth is that Camus is absurd, maybe he is searching for meaning of life so much that it becomes irrational. Which in that case leads to him believing about suicide but knew he was never even going to find meaning that way at all. He would be never be able to tell how valuable life is. Therefore, Camus must be happy about life and its meaning so he can actually live life as it is. The only problem philosophers have is that they can never admit that absurdity in their thoughts, so they make a reason and figure out a way out of it. That’s the only way you can actually live life in happiness and still have fate even though you believe there is no meaning behind life. If you search for your meaning in life you will just dedicate all your time doing so, and never actually living life. One must value life day by day. However, in a way I do agree with Camus because if you have fate about the next day being better and then being disappointed about it, it is really saddening. So why have fate when you can just enjoy life as it goes and actually grab a value out of it. Just as  Sisyphus did, when he actually became happy even though his fate was struggling all over again. He valued that he was doing better than other people who were suffering at the same time. I believe that’s how people should be in life, you should always seek out the good in bad situations no matter what. It is the only way people can live in true happiness. Works Cited Arson, Ronald, â€Å"Albert Camus† The Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Spring 2012 Ed. Edward N. Zalta. ed. 2012. Print Brà ©e, Germaine; Camus, (New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1959, 1961) Camus, Albert. Myth of Sisyphus. 1942. Print Knopf, A. Alfred. The Rebel: An Essay on Man In Revolt, New York. 1954. Print. Svenja, Schrahe. â€Å"Albert Camus and Friedrich Nietzsche† Albert Camus Society. 2011. Print.