Tuesday, November 26, 2019

A Dual-Criticism Look at The Birthmark Essay Essay Example

A Dual A Dual-Criticism Look at The Birthmark Essay Essay A Dual-Criticism Look at The Birthmark Essay Essay Essay Topic: The Birth Mark Literature is many things: provoking. heartwarming. emotional. traumatic. poetic. possibly even life-changing. Literature can besides be improbably equivocal. While literature can be â€Å"simply read† . when one takes a measure back and looks at a piece through specific lenses. the work can take on an improbably different. deeper significance. Taking the lead of unfavorable judgments such as formalist. psychoanalytical. biological. womens rightist. Marxist. etc. . one can delve deeper into a text and detect new significances and ethical motives from it. Not merely can this confirm obvious written significances. it can besides take a apparently black and white construct and make full it in with sunglassess of Grey. supplying new possibilities and readings that might conflict. support. or heighten an initial reading. For the intents of diging deeper into multiple possible readings. looking at a piece through the lenses of multiple different unfavorable judgments can be improbably helpful. Not merely can this give you alternate ways of looking at things. it might besides be able to explicate nuances or behaviour through a much more concrete apprehension. This construct is particularly the instance with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark. From an initial reading. The Birthmark seems to be instead clear. There are many elements in drama. and all of them have something improbably of import to state. Like most literature. nevertheless. the absolute significance of the narrative is problematic. There can be many different readings of the narrative: is it propaganda against the progresss of scientific discipline? Is it comparing the power of scientific discipline with the power or nature? Is it reflecting on the fatal defect of world? Is it a comparing of earth/body versus spirituality/soul? There is no set reply. However. looking at even merely one transition from the points of position from two different types of unfavorable judgments. we can happen multiple different significances and ethical motives laved through the action of the narrative. The Birthmark follows a superb but perchance huffy scientist. Aylmer. and his beautiful but cosmetically scarred married woman Georgiana. Georgiana is described as being perfect in every manner – save for a horrid nevus in the form of a manus that mars her otherwise flawless cheek. Aylmer becomes obsessed with this nevus. being both repulsed by its sight and intrigued as to whether it is curable. Aylmer sets out on a mission to bring around his married woman of her nevus. and turns to his scientific discipline and chemistry to carry through this undertaking. Georgiana. who neer saw much mistake with her nevus before get marrieding Aylmer. goes along with the program after seeing how abhorred he was with her nevus. Hawthorne spends equal clip puting up the importance of this nevus. Near the beginning of the narrative. he writes: Had she been less beautiful. – if Envy’s ego could hold found aught else to sneer at. – he might hold felt his fondness heightened by the cuteness of this mimic manus. now mistily portrayed. now lost. now stealing Forth once more and gleaming to and fro with every pulsation of emotion that throbbed within her bosom ; but seeing her otherwise so perfect. he found this one defect turn more and more unbearable with every minute of their united lives. It was the fatal defect of humanity which Nature. in one form or another. casts ineffaceably on all her productions. either to connote that they are impermanent and finite. or that their flawlessness much be wrought by labor and hurting. The red manus expressed the ineludible kick in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly cast. degrading them into kindred with the lowest. and even with the really brutes. like whom their seeable frames return to dust. In this mode. choosing it as the symbol of his wife’s liability to transgress. sorrow. decay. and decease. Aylmer’s drab imaginativeness was non long in rendering the nevus a atrocious object. doing him more problem and horror than of all time Georgiana’s beauty. whether of psyche or sense. had given him delight. From an initial reading. this transition seems slightly cut and dry. Georgiana has nevus. Aylmer hatreds said nevus. and therefore Georgiana’s overall beauty is lost on Aylmer. Is at that place more to this. though? What subtleties might potentially be written into this descriptive transition? What unfavorable judgment theories can we use to this transition to heighten our critical thought? One of the most popular unfavorable judgments used with this piece is that of Feminist Criticism. Feminist Criticism takes literature and underscores it with tones of female repression and maltreatment. largely from males. and the general victimization of adult females versus the overbearing. barbarous laterality of work forces. Evenfrom a first glimpse at this transition. one can see that this transition could easy be attacked by feminist critics. Aylmer is evidently in the function of â€Å"master† in this narrative. While he may love Georgiana. his word is jurisprudence. and what he wants for her is what he executes. In this transition particularly. there is a focal point on Georgiana necessitating to make an impossibly high criterion of flawlessness to even be considered delicious. It did non affair that she was beautiful. It did non affair that she was sort. compassionate. loving. and loyal. The effects of these positive traits paled in comparing to the negative feelings that even merely one bantam blemish brought on. Aylmer can non concentrate on anything except Georgiana’s nevus. even though she is purportedly the prototype of female beauty. All of this doesn’t affair because she fails on merely one simple degree. This degree of outlook is a flower for feminist unfavorable judgment. To be held to such high outlooks can be considered both commanding and opprobrious. For anyone to keep anyone to such high outlooks is unreasonable. In this case. nevertheless. Georgiana is being held to an improbably gender stereotyped outlook – that of stainless beauty and absolute feminine flawlessness – which can easy be defined as a adult male lording power and control over a adult female. Another manner that one can near this transition is from a psychoanalytical point of view. Psychoanalytical unfavorable judgment focuses to a great extent on Freudian psychological science. saying that characters – and sometimes even the writer – project their ain insecurities and defects onto other people or state of affairss. With these lenses on. an reading can be made that possibly Aylmer is projecting his ain insecurities refering his ain failures onto his bride. Aylmer claims to be a great alchemist. but when we see Aylmer really execute an experiment. something goes dreadfully incorrect. Aylmer strives for flawlessness and glorification. but falls short. If he can’t be perfect – why should anyone else acquire to be? From a psychoanalytical unfavorable judgment point of view. Aylmer’s compulsion with Georgiana’s â€Å"flaw† . and his dedication to purging it. could be seen as Aylmer seeking to sublimate his ain failures by projecting them onto Georgiana through her nevus. If he can take her defect. socertainly he could take his ain imperfectnesss. These two point of views approach the same block of text really otherwise. From a feminist point of view. Aylmer can be seen as a commanding. opprobrious hubby who holds laughably high criterions for his married woman. criterions of flawlessness that she could non perchance hope to of all time make. This kind of reading leads us to experience sorry for Georgiana and her predicament. and to detest Aylmer with a firing passion. In contrast. the psychoanalytical attack sees a much more human side of Aylmer. a side that is uncomfortable in his ain insecurities so he undertakings them on others. He has problem get bying with his ain failures. so he alternatively obsesses over the â€Å"failures† of others. This attack of reading helps one feel more commiseration for Aylmer. and to possibly link with him more on a human degree. By taking merely two different signifiers of unfavorable judgment. we can see two wholly different sides of the same character. Should we experience regretful for Georgiana or Aylmer? Is Aylmer’s behavior abusive or abused? From even merely these two positions. the narrative and its characters take on a whole new significance and supply readers with a universe full of trade name new possibilities. Plants Cited Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandel. Literature – Reading. Reacting. Writing. Boston: Wadsworth Publishers. 2004. Hawthorne. Nathaniel. The Birthmark. 1843

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Skyscraper Architect William Le Baron Jenney

Skyscraper Architect William Le Baron Jenney Famous for his large commercial buildings, William LeBaron Jenney helped launch the Chicago School of architecture and pioneered skyscraper design. Background: Born: September 25, 1832 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts Died: June 15, 1907 Education: Studied engineering at Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University1853-1856: Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Paris, France Important Projects: 1868: Col James H. Bowen House, Hyde Park, Illinois1871: West Park System, Chicago1871: Riverside Water Tower, Riverside Community, Illinois1879: Leiter Building (First), Chicago (Demolished in 1972)1885: Home Insurance Building, Chicago (Demolished in 1931)1891: Second Leiter Building (Sears, Roebuck Building), Chicago1891: Ludington Building, Chicago1891: Manhattan Building, Chicago1893: Horticultural Building, Worlds Columbian Exposition, Chicago Related People: Note that except for Olmsted, Jenney (1832-1907) was about 15 to 20 years older than these other influential architects and planners. Part of Jenneys importance in architectural history- an element of every architects legacy- is his mentorship of others. Louis Sullivan (1856-1924)Daniel H. Burnham (1846-1912)William Holabird (1854-1923)Cass Gilbert (1859-1934)Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) Jenneys Early Years: Born into a family of New England ship owners, William Le Baron Jenney grew up to become a teacher,   engineer, landscape planner, and pioneer of building technologies. During the Civil War he and fellow New Englander Frederick Law Olmsted helped engineer better sanitary conditions for the Northern troops, an experience that would shape most all of his future work. By 1868, Jenney was a practicing architect designing private homes and Chicago parks. One of his first commissions was interconnected parks- known today as Humboldt, Garfield, and Douglas parks- designed in the manner of what his friend Olmsted was doing. Working in Chicago, Jenney designed West Parks, where tree-lined boulevards connect an extensive system of connecting parks. Jenneys residential architecture was similarly designed, as a series of interconnected rooms within an open floor plan- free, roaming, and connected like the West Park System. The Swiss Chalet style Bowen house is a good example of this type of ar chitecture, which was later popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). In addition to his building designs, Jenney made a name for himself as a town planner. With Olmsted and Vaux, he helped create the plan for Riverside, Illinois. Jenneys Most Important Contributions: Jenneys greatest fame came from his large commercial buildings. His 1879 Leiter building was an experiment in engineering, using the popular cast iron and masonry to support large exterior openings filled with glass. Again, natural light was as important an element in Jenneys tall buildings as it was in his designs of park systems. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago was one of the first buildings to use a new metal, steel, as a   skeleton for support. It became the standard for American skyscraper design. Jenneys skeleton-frame Manhattan Building was the first to achieve a height of 16 stories. His Horticultural Building was the largest botanical conservatory ever built. Student draftsmen who learned from Jenney included Daniel H. Burnham, Louis Sullivan, and William Holabird. For this reason, Jenney is considered the founder of the Chicago School of architecture, and perhaps the father of the American skyscraper. Learn More: Chicago Skyscrapers, 1871-1934 by Thomas Leslie, University of Illinois Press, 2013The Chicago School of Architecture by Carl W. Condit, University of Chicago Press, 1998 Sources: William Le Baron Jenney by Theodore Turak, Master Builders, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Wiley, 1985, pp. 98-99; The City in a Garden, Chicago Park District at www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/history/city-in-a-garden/west-park-system/ [accessed May 12, 2016]

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Business law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business law - Research Paper Example The policies formulated must be taken into consideration for implementation purposes. Due to dispute that may arise either from the residents of United Arab Emirates or investors from other countries, ADNOC is a company which is committed to ensuring that sustainable development or equal share between individuals and the earth is achieved. Due to this fact, it has made the company to be competitive and thus it has substantial business transactions by either transporting, shipping oil to other countries, marketing oil and distributing. The demand of oil from non producing countries has made United Arab Emirates to expand and develop other gas fields. Due to this expansion Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has 14 companies for distributing oil, gas and other crude oil. This paper seeks to discuss and examine the means of dispute resolution used by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in United Arab Emirates. United Arab Emirates is a country that is known for foreign investments and thus the country does not have domestic laws which protect those individual who invest in the country. Treaties are normally used in United Arab Emirates though there is need to come up with investment protection and legal means which are used when there is an investment opportunity. The Great Britain was the one which granted emirates free from protectorate laws in 1939 to 1953. During this entire period the law to govern the Emirates of Abu Dhabi was not documented and thus no legislative or administrative means could be used to cancel any business operation that was being carried by the investors. In 1960s agreements between Abu Dhabi and other international oil companies were written requiring the applicable law to be used while carrying business transactions either abroad or locally. The agreements which were signed out contained force of law and thus incase of breaking it then one was answerable to the law. The

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Can It Be Contained Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Can It Be Contained - Essay Example the long association that has been noted between Japanese Zen Buddhism and the prowess and aggression of the military†¦ has argued that the Buddhist kingdom in the South East Asia were due to military self-seeking and military aggressive experiences (Wilkinson and Teague, 46). In an example is a description that was given by Walpola Rahula states that the war that was on national independence in Sri Lanka in the second century BC was conducted was conducted with no consideration of the kingdoms but with consideration and in the name of Buddhism. In another instance after there was replacement of Meiji with restoration feudalism with a state that was dedicated to the oversea expansion and the establishment of Zen, there was a new role that came about which involved nurturing absolute obedience to it and supporting the wars that were of conquest. Zen masters in the 1930s was mainly involved in giving military men Zen training. This was intended at increasing the knowledge that they had on war (Wilkinson and Teague, 79). Buddhist scholars say that there is no justification that the teachings of the religion are associated to war yet there has not been separation of the religion and war. The religion has the traditions associated to violence. There has also been linking the religion to the practices of torture, suicides and also other forms of wars. In the teachings of the religion, there is undertaking the training to abstain from killing but on the other hand, there are also trainings that are given on wars (Wilkinson and Teague, 109). Buddhism in states such as Japan and United States has seen the emergence of giving training for corporate employees that are designed to suppress the problems that are caused by the religion. This shows the degree in which the countries have been involved in covering the bad practices that Buddhism has got into rather than tackling the problem and reducing the wars that

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Gothic literature Essay Example for Free

Gothic literature Essay In response to the question â€Å"is gothic literature purely escapist? † considering Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Walpole’s novel The Castle of Ontranto, which is recognized as pretty much establishing the genre, the answer is yes. Castle of Ontranto Brief Plot summary The plot of Castle begins full tilt as Conrad, son of Manfred of house Otranto, is crushed by a giant helmet on his wedding day, also his birthday. Because of the marriages political connections, Manfred decides to divorce his wife, Hippolita, and marry Conrads betrothed, Isabella. Amid speculations about an ancient prophecy claiming That the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it, Manfreds second union is disrupted by a series of supernatural events involving many oversized limbs, ghosts, mysterious blood, and a true prince (Wikipedia). Castle of Ontranto represents the quintessential Gothic story. It created the genre. Key examples of this can be seen as follows: 1 Note: that Gothic literature is escapist through the use of contrasting specific elements to create conflict and draw the attention of the reader. (the main themes most common in these two novels are: horror vs romance, good vs evil, and the element of mystery basically the known vs the unknown. ) The Castle of Ontranto opens with the line â€Å"Manfred, Prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter: the latter, a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called Matilda (chp1). † This is a very fantastic scenario from the main character being a Prince to the daughter being a beautiful eighteen year old virgin in an era when many women in prestigious families were married off by the age of 14. The author goes on to point out how the son Conrad three years younger than Matilda is ugly sickly frail and pale. The act of immediately contrasting Conrad’s ugly sickliness with Matilda’s beauty and pure virginity, significantly defines the gothic genre, which is literally defined as â€Å"an important genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. † -Another important contrast other than horror and romance is good and evil. This can be seen in Walpole’s novel through the differences in the characters. The Castle of Otranto revolves around a curse that has been placed upon the family of Manfred, ruler of the principality of Otranto. The curse is slightly ill defined, but apparently threatens the end of Manfreds rule and destruction of his family. Manfred is a greedy man who plots and schemes to outwit this curse. He is clearly the villain of the novel and contrasts strongly with the three leading women, Hippolita his wife, Matilda his daughter and Isabella the intended wife of his son. These women represent the forces of good throughout the novel. NOTE: Heroines in gothic books as well as in contemporary horror is a common theme a major example of this being emphasized in Northanger abbey can be seen when Austen says, â€Å"Chapter 1 But from fifteen to seventeen she was in training for a heroine; she read all such works as heroines must read to supply their memories with those quotations which are so serviceable and so soothing in the vicissitudes of their eventfuly lives. † (page 9) NOTE: examples of Romance as a theme in Northanger Abbey â€Å"Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love. † Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey â€Å"In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes. â€Å" Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, 1818

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Flaw of Hamlets Antic Disposition Essay -- essays research papers

Hamlet's antic disposition of pretending to become crazy so that he can take revenge of his father's death was a bad plan. The situations in the play that prove that Hamlet's antic disposition was a bad plan are the death of his friend Ophelia, his fighting with his mother, trying to fool the King and Polonius, his own downfall and finally his death. All this situations illustrate why Hamlet?s antic disposition was a bad plan. Hamlet?s antic disposition was the main reason why Ophelia committed suicide and why Hamlet fought with his mother. Hamlet believed that if he showed no more feelings for Ophelia and showed hatred and cruelty for his mother, people and particularly the King and Polonius would believe that he has truly gone crazy. He shows that he has no feelings for Ophelia when he says to her "You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.? At the time of Ophelia?s burial, Hamlet jumps in Ophelia?s grave saying, "I loved Ophelia. For thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love Make ...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Foreshadowing and irony in “Story of an Hour” Essay

Throughout the story â€Å"Story of an Hour† there are a few subtle instances of foreshadowing and irony. These instances explain the some of the scenes throughout the story. The opening sentence foreshadows Mrs. Mallard’s death at the end of the story as it explains how serious Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble really was, as great care was taken to break the news of her husband’s death. The irony that is of Mrs. Mallard’s death upon finding out her husband did not die in the train wreck, and when she sees him the shock kills her. Richards was so careful to break the news of Mr. Mallard’s death it’s ironic that Mrs. Mallard ended up dieing when she learned he was still alive and not of his supposed tragic death. The detail where â€Å"her bosom rose and fell tumultuously† is more than just a feeling. That sentence leads the reader to a better understanding of why Mrs. Mallard’s died so suddenly after she sets her eyes on her husband. The line explains how Mrs. Mallard is becoming more and more agitated with overwhelming feelings of sadness for her husband but at the same time freedom for herself. This, getting her troubled heart going, she feels the possibility of death approaching and tries to fight back with her will. The Mood inside the her room is confusion, as Mrs. Mallard is both upset of the death of her husband but at the same time excited with the possibilities of being a widow finally being able to gain some control over her life. As Mrs. Mallard looks out the window she sees the tree tops, blue skies she hears the birds singing and the noise of the street below. All of these things open her eyes to the freedom her husband’s death has giver her. The confusion inside disappears as she looks out the window into a potentially happy life awaiting her. Richness is added to the story by all the hints, clues and suggestions show how Mrs. Mallard spends an hour of rollercoaster emotions from sadness, happiness, freedom, relief and finally shock. Which in the end takes her life after feeling the highs and lows of her emotions in such a short period of time, her troubled heart just can’t take it.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Goals and Aspirations Essay

When I grow up and go off to college I would like to pursue a career in electrical engineering. One important answer to this question is more opportunity. A college education is very important to me. High school graduates today are unable to obtain the number of high-paying jobs that were once available. It serves as the gateway to better options and more opportunity. The importance of a college education is also emphasized because of the opportunity to gain valuable resources during your time. The more connections you make from professors or friends are made during your college career, the more options you will have when you begin your job search. This scholarship will certainly strengthen my opportunity to pay for my books, fees and programs which I may not be able to pay for. The scholarship can help me further my professional training and certification goals that I have set for myself and will in turn help me start a true career in electrical engineering. â€Å"A man who has nev er gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.† -Theodore Roosevelt

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on Beowolf

â€Å"Grendel vs. Beowulf† In the epic poem Beowulf, a battle occurs between two characters: Grendel and Beowulf. Grendel portrays the evil character that is believed to be the descendant of Cain, the first murderer of the Bible. Beowulf is the hero of the story, who fights to protect his people. Both Grendel and Beowulf were courageous. Grendel was courageous for the fact that he had the audacity to even enter Herot and kill all those people. He never one showed fear for any human being, not even Beowulf. Although, he wasn’t courageous in the method he went about in murdering. He murdered while the people were in their sweet slumber. This was such a cowardly act because the people were never presented the opportunity to defend themselves, which of course wouldn’t have served much purpose after seeing Grendel’s incredible strength and brawn. Beowulf was courageous because he stood up to such a monster even though he was just a mere human being himself, Although, he did acquire brute strength that defeated Grendel. He defended his people when there was no one else to rely on. But Beowulf courage stops at a certain point. In one way, he wasn’t courageous because he could have dealt with Grendel another way other than killing him. There may have been other methods in banishing Grendel. Regardless, Beowulf was still a hero to the Geats. Grendel and Beowulf both sought fame even if they weren’t aware of this themselves. Grendel was famous for his reputation for being this horrible creature that preyed on helpless humans. He never intentionally pursued this persona, but it came about after taking so many lives. Therefore it led to the intimidation of the people towards Grendel. They all feared for their lives. Beowulf was known as the savior of the people. He overpowered Grendel, whom the people thought could not be destroyed. He also defeated any of the others that followed Grendel, such as his mother and the dragon. Nob... Free Essays on Beowolf Free Essays on Beowolf â€Å"Grendel vs. Beowulf† In the epic poem Beowulf, a battle occurs between two characters: Grendel and Beowulf. Grendel portrays the evil character that is believed to be the descendant of Cain, the first murderer of the Bible. Beowulf is the hero of the story, who fights to protect his people. Both Grendel and Beowulf were courageous. Grendel was courageous for the fact that he had the audacity to even enter Herot and kill all those people. He never one showed fear for any human being, not even Beowulf. Although, he wasn’t courageous in the method he went about in murdering. He murdered while the people were in their sweet slumber. This was such a cowardly act because the people were never presented the opportunity to defend themselves, which of course wouldn’t have served much purpose after seeing Grendel’s incredible strength and brawn. Beowulf was courageous because he stood up to such a monster even though he was just a mere human being himself, Although, he did acquire brute strength that defeated Grendel. He defended his people when there was no one else to rely on. But Beowulf courage stops at a certain point. In one way, he wasn’t courageous because he could have dealt with Grendel another way other than killing him. There may have been other methods in banishing Grendel. Regardless, Beowulf was still a hero to the Geats. Grendel and Beowulf both sought fame even if they weren’t aware of this themselves. Grendel was famous for his reputation for being this horrible creature that preyed on helpless humans. He never intentionally pursued this persona, but it came about after taking so many lives. Therefore it led to the intimidation of the people towards Grendel. They all feared for their lives. Beowulf was known as the savior of the people. He overpowered Grendel, whom the people thought could not be destroyed. He also defeated any of the others that followed Grendel, such as his mother and the dragon. Nob...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Your Ultimate Content Marketers Guide to Keyword Research

Your Ultimate Content Marketers Guide to Keyword Research I am sure youve heard of the term keyword research before. Everyone is talking about it, yet its often misunderstood. Keyword research is the process of finding words and phrases that best represent what your site does. Keyword research is heavily based on searching behavior: We research keywords that people tend to type in the search box. The main goal of keyword research is to get your pages rank for keywords we optimize them for. This guide will take you through the process of selecting, organizing and placing the keywords in order to help you brainstorm article ideas and create content that achieves higher search rankings. Is Keyword Research Dead (Or Dying)? Its been in attention baiting headlines many times: Many of those claim both SEO and keyword research on deathbed and its been nothing new for as long as SEO exists. The truth is, neither keyword research nor SEO are going anywhere. They are evolving and maturing, yes, but not dying for sure. Neither keyword research nor SEO are going anywhere.There are more tools and trends emerging making keyword research more interesting and insightful. While it was merely finding terms with lower competition and high volume a few years ago, its more than that today. Get Your Free Keyword Research Template Bundle Do better keyword research with these three free downloadable resources: A Keyword Research List Template to store your keyword ideas (and never lose them). A Latent Semantic Indexing infographic to better understand how infusing content with secondary keywords impacts SEO. An on-page SEO checklist to fully optimize each piece of content you create.Your Ultimate Content Marketer's Guide to Keyword ResearchKeyword Research: Where to Start Keyword research starts with defining the core terms  (or seed terms or head terms). These are the most essential terms that your industry revolves around. Further into keyword research your task will be to expand the list of your core terms with various keyword modifiers. That being said, you may come across slightly different ways to explain the keyword structure, but I prefer to stick to the most simple one. A keyword consists of: Core term: Your most important word or phrase that defines your site. In the ideal world, you want to rank #1 for this term but too many sites share this desire. Keyword modifiers: Words that come with your core terms making up longer phrases that are usually easier to rank for (because not as many sites want to compete with you for those rankings). Your core term can be as broad and as generic as the nature of your business dictates. In most cases, you are the best (and maybe the only one) to tell which words define your business best. For example, if you are running a restaurant, your core term isn't really [restaurant] because you don't want to rank #1 when people simply type [restaurant]. The real word you want to rank for is whatever city you are in plus restaurant: That's what will drive customers your way. So in this simplistic scenario, your core term is something like [Austin restaurant]. On top of that, your other core terms may be: [restaurants in Austin] [restaurant in Austin] It may be really hard to rank well for [Austin restaurant], so depending on the nature of your restaurant, your keyword modifiers may be: [downtown  Austin restaurants] [vegan  restaurant in Austin] [Italian  restaurant in Austin] More generic keyword modifiers that may help you get some targeted visits may be: [Best  restaurants in Austin] [Top  restaurants in Austin] [Best-rated  restaurants in Austin], and so on Now, enough with restaurants. I understand that this article is primarily for content creators but I needed a very concrete example to illustrate the concept better. Let's say you are creating an in-depth content marketing course, then: The basic and traditional goal of keyword research is to expand your core term using all kinds of modifiers and assess which of those phrases will give you more chances to rank as high as top 5 Google search results. So let's talk about distinguishing your core terms first. Recommended Reading: How to Boost Traffic with 34 Important SEO Tips You Need To Know (+Free Kit) So How to Find Those Core Terms? Like I said, in most cases those will come from your common knowledge. If you've been in the industry at least for some time, you'll know which words flow around. However there are tools to help, of course.  Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool  is perhaps the most useful one to start with. Type the first word that comes to mind and it will suggest more terms and phrases. For example, for [chocolate] top suggestions are: dark chocolate chocolate truffles chocolate gifts These are all solid core terms to start your research with. Another solid idea to start your keyword research with, especially if you are somewhat new to a niche, is to look for industry thesauruses and glossaries to go through most common terms and definitions. This will give you a few more ideas of core terms to start with. Even generic thesauruses will help. For example,  Thesaurus.com  is always a good start. Here are its suggestions for chocolate terms: Searching Google for [chocolate terms] will give you lots of more words to play with. Here's what I found: Tip: Create a list of your core terms that best describe your site and what you are going to cover. This list should be quite short though: Don't list more than 10 terms. How to Find Valuable Keywords? Simply expanding your list with longer phrases isn't enough. The actual goal is to find valuable keywords. Simply put, a valuable keyword is the one that has a high demand and a low competition. This means that enough people type this phrase in a search engine for you to go into trouble to create content for it while not too many publishers have already created content targeting that exact word for you to have a chance to rank high. As you can imagine, it's not really easy to find keywords like this because web publishers and marketers have been searching for them for many years now. Luckily, there are tools to help. I have explained a quick  keyword research exercise here. In short, using the tool like  Serpstat, you need to find keyword phrases with high search volume (i.e. high demand) and low competition (i.e. low offer) If chocolate is your major topic, here would be your lower-competition phrases that offer pretty exciting content ideas: Mind that any of the above can be expanded further: Just click any phrase and the tool will suggest even more ideas: These are all great content ideas and you can estimate the demand (search volume) and offer (competition) at a glance too. However, take the competition number with a grain of salt. It is based on the aforementioned Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool competition metric, however it doesn't reflect the organic search competition: It shows how many advertisers want to pay to show their ads for that term, so it is not always the competition you are looking for. For example, Google will label competition for the word [chocolate] as "low", however it's almost impossible to actually rank for that word in Google, because it's too common and too many powerful publishers already rank for it... Tip: Expand your core terms using keyword research tools based on competition and search volume metrics. Use your best judgment when assessing competition because some terms may have low competition but can be actually impossible to rank for. So How to Better Estimate Competition? When you finally have the list of the keywords you want to base your content around, make sure you actually search Google  and scroll through top 10 results. Here are a few flags I am using: Are there articles ranking high or rather home pages?  It will be harder to compete with home pages because they usually accumulate lots of positive signals. Home pages are the most powerful pages of pretty much any website. How many really huge websites rank on top?  For example, Wikipedia links are almost impossible to outrank. But there are other huge publishers that dominate every other niche, like imbd.com, popsugar.com, buzzfeed.com and others. If top positions in search results are dominated by huge brands, that will be hard to beat. You can go even geekier and search for [allintitle:keyword]. This will show how many web pages have that term in the page title (i.e. headline). This is exactly how many web pages you are competing with. Another thing to always check in Google is the presence of blended results, i.e. other types of search results Google may show on top of their generic blue-and-white results. These can be: Image search results, Shopping search results News search results. This is an example of shopping search results: Serpstat  shows whether these blended search results appear if you search for any keyword in their list: These may indicate that a particular keyword is not worth too much effort because there will be too much of something else all around search results for users to find your article: Tip: Actually search Google for each phrase you select and see whether you have a chance to rank in top 5 there. Apart from signaling of a potential cluttered search results page, these "blended" search results often signal of two important things: Usually they appear for more popular (more competitive) terms They may signal of keyword intent which is something we'll talk more about next. Recommended Reading: How to Make an SEO Content Strategy that Will Improve Your #1-3 Results by 248% What Is Keyword Intent? Keyword intent represents what the searcher may be willing to do when searching for a particular phrase.  Keyword intent is the most important concept when it comes to keyword research. It determines how well you can satisfy the user who comes to your site from search results. There are three major types of keyword intent: Informational: A user is looking to find answers to their questions. For example, [chocolate history] signals of informational intent. Trasactional: A user is looking to buy something. For example, when a user is searching for [personalized chocolate], they are most likely to buy some. Another example with the definitive transactional intent is [order chocolates online] Navigational: A user wants to find a specific brand, for example [hershey chocolate] Content marketers also distinguish "commercial intent", that is when a user researches something before buying one. Taking our chocolate example above, if a user searches for [chocolate gifts], they are most likely to be interested in buying some gifts but they may also be interested in reading your article listing most unique chocolate gift ideas together with suggestions where to find them. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Keyword Research with Latent Semantic Indexing How to Organize Those Keywords? So you go through lists and lists of keywords... how to make use of them to turn into a long-lasting content marketing plan? Here are a few ways to organize your keywords: Organize by Intent The first step is to organize keywords by intent: Keywords with informational intent. Those are outright content ideas to add to your content editorial calendar. Keywords with transactional intent. These are seldom content ideas. You'd better hand those off to your product development team. Keywords with commercial intent. Those are keywords that require some more brainstorming: You need to actually have the products in mind in order to create content around these keywords because your readers will ultimately be interested in making an action (i.e. buying). If you have a product to sell, think which type of content would be best to direct those visitors into your sales funnel. Maybe that could be a downloadable guide or a list article. If you monetize your site through ads and affiliate programs, think which ones would be good to list in content here. Keywords with navigational intent may become part of your reputation management strategy or competitive research. Organize by Action Some keywords may be good ideas for future content Some keywords may be used to optimize or update old content Organize by Content Type Depending on your site, different keywords may become different content forms: FAQ pages Blog posts Indepth articles (Maybe with pdf downloads available) On-site glossaries Product reviews Various types of cornerstone content Finally, not all keywords need to represent a separate content piece. Lots of keywords will become sections of broader articles which is something we'll talk about in more detail. Excel or Google Sheets are by far the best way to play with your keywords and organize them using multiple labels: Tip: Carefully go through your keyword lists and organize them by intent, action to take with the keyword and the type of content you plan to create. How Do Keywords Structure Your Content? As I mentioned above, not all keywords will necessarily become a separate piece of content idea. Some of them will become subtopics of articles. When doing keyword research, I usually create "tree-like structure" for sets of phrases that would make separate articles. For example, if you decide to write an article on [coffee quotes], a separate article idea would be [morning coffee quotes]. monday coffee quotes sunday coffee quotes tuesday coffee quotes wednesday coffee quotes saturday coffee quotes All those were taken from the actual Serpstat export: You'll save lots of time writing future article creating these trees while still doing your keyword research. They will direct your writing helping you create more in-depth content. These will also make up your article subheadings (those H2 or H3 headers you see in most articles here). If you get even geekier, you can generate the clickable table of contents using those subheadings. This way there will be even more visible instances of the keyword in the page: Use  this plugin  to generate a clickable table of contents for each of your articles. Tip: When organizing your words, think which words are going to become separate content pieces and which one will be used inside broader articles as subtopics. If you prefer to write long-form content, those tree-like notes will help you expand your article using different angles. You can also move each tree to a different file or tabs. To avoid spreadsheet overload I do two things: I always make sure I use labels in my Google Spreadsheets to easier organize my article ideas I collect them all through a separate dashboard in  Cyfe. You can iFrame as many Google Docs there as you want and have them all in front of your eyes whenever you are ready to work on your editorial calendar: Recommended Reading: How to Write Like a Journalist to Be a Better Marketing Storyteller Where to Put Those Keywords? This is another highly misunderstood area. It used to be as simple as making sure your keyword is placed often enough in the text and that every page of your site targets one specific keyword. A few years ago you would have been advised to create two separate pages, one target [Austin restaurants] and another targeting [restaurants in Austin]. Things have changed dramatically since then. For one, search engines have become much smarter and you cannot trick them into thinking your page is worth ranking simply because it has a high "keyword density". Besides, in-depth content covering many sets of different keywords is a preferred optimization model these days. So where to put those keywords? For good keyword prominence, I suggest making sure your keyword is included into: Your article headline (And thus the page title). That's what Google usually picks as the clickable link in their search results too! Your URL slug First paragraph of the article Article subheadings Of course, you'll end up with more keyword instances throughout the article (because you'll actually write about the topic) but the above placements will ensure your keywords are easy to notice and associate with your content. Recommended Reading: This is the HTML Cheat Sheet and Tutorial Every Content Marketer Needs Going Beyond Keyword Strings: Synonyms, Entities, and Context Google is going  beyond exact strings  of words that make up phrases. It is now looking for signals of quality content, mentions of known concepts, related terms, synonyms. All of these will tell Google that the author has done your research and tackle different aspects of the topic. That being said, keyword research is not enough to create high-quality high-ranking content. You need to research the topic, and then research some more, making the lists of notable brands, events, places, etc. (these are all entities) and thinking which of those should be covered in your content.  Here's a good guide on content research process  for your further reading. Make sure you are well versed with industry terminology, that you know different ways to explain those niche-specific terms, that you use lots of synonyms and that your writing is rich in references and visual explanations. Those are all  signals of high-quality content  but not just that. The more effort you put into your content research, the more backlinks and social media shares it will generate, driving long-lasting traffic to your website.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Integrated Marketing Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Integrated Marketing Communications - Essay Example The increased demand supply dynamics has also helped in increasing the prices of the products which has boosted the bottom line profitability of the participants of the timber industry. This also represents a challenge as higher price of products may lead to instances where the customers would switch over to the alternate products. The benchmark index of the timber industry namely the Softwood Wood Fiber Price Index (SFPI) and the Hardwood Fiber Price Index (HFPI) showing increase of 16.5 percent and 17.7 percent respectively in the year 2010. The increase in prices was uniform across all the regions of the world with the exception being Southern United States. USA, Sweden, Brazil and Spain were among the regions where the margins or price rise were the highest. The financial crisis had its negative impact on the products and profitability of the timber industry. ... Certain formidable challenges for the timber industry include repositioning of the image of the industry. In addition to these certain other issues include handling issues of climate change and carbon footprint. The nature of the industry makes it prone to criticisms with regards to environmental issues. Deforestation and greenhouse effect which are directly linked to deforestation lead to severe challenges for the participants of the industry with regards to compliance with the environmental laws and other legislations (Urtubey, n.d.). A report by the United Nations states that approximately 13 million hectares of the land in forests were being deforested and used for other purposes (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2011). The challenge for market players emerges as to devise strategies that would help in convincing the suppliers as to maintain compliance with legislations and to generate profitability and sustainability. Another formidable and important iss ue is the threat from substitute products. The advent of electronic communication and internet has eroded the attractiveness and the usefulness of the participants of the timber industry. Moreover with widespread campaigning against use of paper has again emerged as a formidable challenge to the market players. It remains a challenge for the market players to ensure product modifications and formulation of strategies that would help in projecting the image of the product as an eco friendly and un-substituted product. Diversifying into areas like packaging can help the organizations gain new market opportunities and generation of long term