How to Write the Brown University Essays 2015-2016

Brown University is often called the happiest school in the country, mostly due to its peaceful student body and reportedly less competitive environment. The university is located in the heart of Providence, Rhode Island, a mid-sized but extremely safe and friendly city in the Northeast. However, Brown’s top-notch academics, social environment, and location have made it an extremely desirable school to apply and thus an extremely competitive one. Like many schools, Brown’s core supplement consists of three short essay prompts, however because they have a word limit of just 150 words (200 in the case of Why Brown), it is almost impossible to write a well fleshed out and multi-faceted essay. This doesn’t mean that our standard advice about using short essay prompts in concert with each other to create a portfolio of essays doesn’t apply. Rather it means that each essay must be highly specific, and that using vehicles and unconventional formats (like detailed anecdotes) is more difficult, though certainly not impossible. Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated in our Member Section, earlier in this application? If you are â€Å"undecided† or not sure which Brown concentrations match your interests, consider describing more generally the academic topics or modes of thought that engage you currently. (150 word limit) While a â€Å"Why Major† essay would normally require you to specifically address the reasons you chose the major, the qualifications you possess for that major, and the reasons you like Brown’s program of study for that major, because you only have 150 words, you should pick just one of these aspects to highlight. Specific details about Brown are only required if you plan on addressing why Brown’s (for example Mathematics) program appeals to you. Otherwise, you should focus on more intrinsic factors such as why you want to study math (ideally more than just for career reasons), why you enjoy doing math, or why you’re qualified to study math at Brown. For example, you could point to your favorite type of math, and briefly analyze why it appeals to you. Alternatively, you could discuss an extracurricular activity (such as Math League) that introduced you to the joys of competitive math. If by some chance you can’t come up with a specific major to dis cuss, then your essay should focus on the opportunities that Brown offers you. In particular, you should look to highlight Brown’s liberal arts curriculum, as well as the academic flexibility it offers to students.   â€Å"Why Brown† is a similar prompt to most other â€Å"Why School† essays, however with just 100 words to work with, the essay is in the awkward position of being too short to develop a fully fleshed out essay with some sort of vehicle, but too long to be a short consideration of one specific characteristic of the school. Things that you definitely want to highlight in your essay include Brown’s emphasis on learning (versus output, i.e. grades), the collaborative spirit of the student body, and the school’s academic flexibility. However, if you highlight these factors during a general response to the major prompt, then you should do some research on the school to find other things to highlight. Tell us where you have lived – and for how long – since you were born; whether you’ve always lived in the same place, or perhaps in a variety of places. (100 word limit) Regardless of whether  you’ve moved around a lot or stayed in the same town your entire life, this question allows you to reveal some key  insights  about yourself. If your family moves often,  you can use take this prompt  as an opportunity to explain  your adaptive personality and how you deal with  unfamiliar situations.  Or, instead of  focusing on the experience of  changing between  locations, you can  also discuss the  impact of each individual place on  you — how has each location contributed to who you are today? For example, maybe your disparate experiences with living in rural China and then metropolitan New York have played a large role in shaping your unique outlook on life. If you’ve always lived in the same place, then fear not — there’s an opportunity to shine here as well. You can discuss the impact on your life of the location that you currently reside in. People are often products of their environments — how has your environment made you who you are today?  Be careful not to overlap  your  answer with the next essay’s, though. Since the  next question asks about a community that you come from,  if you are not careful you might end up discussing similar concepts, resulting in a â€Å"waste† of an  answer  opportunity. One unique  angle to  approach this question is to  interpret the phrase  Ã¢â‚¬Å"where you have lived† in a different way. Most students will assume that Brown is asking about the times that your family has moved to a new location, a la moving trucks and new apartments/houses; however, you can also interpret it to mean the different spaces that you have occupied. For example, maybe  you’ve shared a bedroom with your older brother for as long as you can remember, but one day you moved into a  new room by yourself  Ã¢â‚¬â€ you could potentially use this situation  as a launching pad for discussing the importance you place on  independence. Or maybe you’ve always considered yourself to have multiple homes away from home. Especially if  you possess  a very strong extracurricular passion to back this  interpretation up, you might want to talk about how you considered yourself to â€Å"live† in the local community center, the museum,  o r the art studio. Again, if you find yourself writing answers  unable to write answers that don’t  overlap with the next prompt, then thinking outside of the box  might help here. We all exist within communities or groups of various sizes, origins, and purposes; pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you. (150 word limit) This prompt is very similar to the background one for the Common App, and you should highlight a different community/group that you belong to if you chose that prompt for the Common App. While you may be tempted to discuss your ethnicity or nationality in response to this prompt, it is difficult to do so without drawing on clichà ©d themes because of the 150 word limit. Instead, you should probably draw on an extracurricular activity, friend group, or family. When you consider this group, the focus should be primarily on explaining the group’s impact on you. You should only spend one or two sentences explaining the group – the remainder of the essay should talk about interactions with the group and analyze them. In choosing to apply for the Brown-RISD A.B./B.F.A. dual degree program, your interests and future plans will be influenced and enhanced by the courses offered by both colleges. We are curious as to why you have chosen to apply for this specific dual degree program; please tell us your reasons for selecting it, and what you envision as its impact on your education and career. (500 word limit) The Brown – RISD program is designed to give students an opportunity to blend a Brown undergraduate education with the artistic majors and options available at the Rhode Island School of Design. You should have a very clear interdisciplinary artistic academic or career goal in mind with this essay—just describing a general interest in art and another subject is not specific enough for the program. Since one of the short essay prompts asks you about your choice of major already, your primary focus should be on the artistic field you plan to study at RISD and the interdisciplinary application therein. While the prompt simply asks for your reasons for selection, the admissions committees also want to know about your qualifications for the program, and with that in mind, you should include some reference to relevant experience (whether extracurricular or in school) that will simultaneously serve as a reason and qualification for your application. The Program in Liberal Medical Education (Both questions are required; please limit your response to each question to 500 words.) Most high school seniors are unsure about eventual career choices. What experiences have led you to consider medicine as your future profession? Please describe specifically why you have chosen to apply to the Program in Liberal Medical Education in pursuit of your career in medicine. Also, be sure to indicate your rationale on how the PLME is a â€Å"good fit† for your personal, academic, and future professional goals. (Please limit your response to this question to 500 words.) This is a pretty standard â€Å"why medicine† prompt which means that you should use many of the same tactics as you would for that type of essay (see our guide to 7-year med programs here ). But to provide a brief rehash, in order to convey why a guaranteed admissions program is a good â€Å"fit† for your goals, there are few different things you need to discuss. First, you need to discuss why you are qualified for medicine; namely what sort of extracurricular activities did you do in high school that were related to medicine, whether tangentially or directly. More specifically, you want to convey your abilities in two key areas: the scientific side of medicine (i.e. the ability to understand and cure diseases), and the humanistic side of medicine (the ability to connect with patients and care for them). Patient care experience is a big plus for this part of the essay, and experiences such as volunteering at a nursing home or shadowing a physician are great enhancers. In the process of outlining your qualifications, be sure to discuss why you enjoy each of those two facets of medicine. The final thing you want to address is why specifically an accelerated program. Simply saying that you want to save time (the real reason for many applicants) can backfire. Instead, if you have an application with lots of medical and science extracurricular activities, you can speak about why those activities solidified your desire to do medicine. Otherwise, if your resume is more balanced, you can resort to saying that you are committed to medicine because you already spent high school exploring other fields. Since the Program in Liberal Medical Education espouses a broad-based liberal education, please describe your fields of interest in both the sciences and the liberal arts. Be specific about what courses and aspects of the program will be woven into a potential educational plan. (Please limit your response to this question to 500 words.) Brown’s PLME is unique in that it is one of few guaranteed admission medical programs that offers students the opportunity to blend liberal arts with the science heavy curriculum of most medical programs. Accordingly, they want to see that you have some significant connection with and interest in liberal arts fields while applying to the program. You should definitely do some research on the specifics of Brown’s PLME. Be sure to highlight specific research or academic opportunities in your essay, and even drill down into specific courses if you can find ones that meet your needs. Beyond the academics of the program, you should also highlight some sort of humanistic question or skill you are trying to develop. In particular, given the complexity of modern medicine, outlining a desire to learn about fields like medical economics or medical ethics could be extremely beneficial.

Scope for exploiting Big Data and Big Data Analytics in the local Essay

Scope for exploiting Big Data and Big Data Analytics in the local transport industry - Essay Example With great developments in information and communication technology, most of the data produced every day is generated by people all over the world through social networks; however other types of important data are collected using cameras, GPS equipment, satellites and other devices for many uses. Over the last decade, business strategy has become increasingly dependent on information about potential customers and their characteristics. This data is obtained from the huge collection of data referred to as Big Data through processes like data mining and analyzed to help in business strategy. Analytics is the other method of collecting vital consumer information and it involves real time tracking of consumer characteristics. This paper examines how Big data analytics can be used in the transportation industry to improve quality of service, add value to services and develop applications that will enhance service provision in the industry and reduce loss of time and money. The study has d efined Big data and some of the theories that enable its application as well as examined the benefits and challenges provided by big data analytics in the transportation industry locally and globally. 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background More data is currently being generated worldwide than at any other point historically. Over the last five years, the volume of data generated globally is estimated to have increased by a factor of six to over 1000 exabytes (Dumbill, 2012). The ‘digital’ universe is expected to reach 8 zettabytes by the year 2015. In general the data explosion is projected to increase with time especially with new data types being developed and increased access to networked devices all over the world including smart phones and geo-positioning devices (Woo et al., 2011). The data being accumulated comes from a wide range of sources. However, the data growth is driven by two main sources working together with decreasing storage costs. The first source for data is the â€Å"internet of things†. A number of sensors collate information on our activities and environment on a daily basis. These connected devices contribute substantially to the amount of information accumulated daily and they are projected to rise from about 4.5 billion devices in 2010 to over 50 billion in 2020 (Dumbill, 2012). The second greatest source of data is the social web of networks where information about human activities is shared on a daily basis. This includes data about human preferences, interests, and locations. On addition to the two major sources of data highlighted above, there are a number of other private sources including hospital records, phone communications, financial transactions, information captured on CCTV and many others. The McKinsey Global Institute has termed big data as the next frontier for competition, innovation, and global productivity (Manyika, 2011). The analysis of masses of unstructured and semi-structured data which some time a go would have been considered prohibitive in terms of time and money is now considered the next step towards business advantage. One of the reasons why this data has turned out to be very important is that great insight can be gained from the data by monitoring the patterns of human interaction. One of the areas in which big data displays great potential is the transportation industry. This is an industry which increasingly showing great requirement for an industrial big data platform. With increasing urbanization and expansion of many cities across the world, traffic management and related challenges are getting bigger by the day. In some of the largest and more congested cities in the

12 YEARS A SLAVE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

12 YEARS A SLAVE - Essay Example Additionally, the movie talks about the life of an enslaved educated Black man called Northup who later in life turned to abolish slavery in Louisiana. It is a fact that, many Black people have been killed and many have fought back against discrimination and sexual exploitation and these were the martyr’s who should be remembered according to Copleand. In the author’s eye, solidarity and unity is still a big issue for black people as they are mostly struggling to gain respect and acceptance within the white community. The book and film both tells us that, if one looks at history, many black people had taken the courage to fight for their rights and their effort should be taken as guidance by our community. In fact, black people are as valuable as white person from a religious perspective. In her book (Copeland,2010,pg.113) â€Å"Copeland’s theological anthropology assiduously reveals a carefully developed understanding of historic black bodies in relation to the body of Christ† The author in her book recommends that the history of martyr’s should lead the people to fight for solidarity and peace among each other. In the same way, the movie â€Å"Twelve Years of Slave† is a powerful one which communicates to the audience the life of a black slave. The movie is based on the book written by Solomon Northup where the experience of him as a slave is recounted. He was an educated man and stood firm against racial bias of white men in those times. This man can be taken as a role model as he was an educated and free man till his adult times but later turned in to freedom fighter for the slave community in Louisiana. His life was unusual as he was black person who got kidnapped and sold into slavery where he spent twelve long years in pain. Northup can be seen as a martyr as explained by Copeland and should be followed by new generation to find peace and solidarity in their

Alpha Lipoic Acid what is it, and how does it improve (help) Essay

Alpha Lipoic Acid what is it, and how does it improve (help) peripheral neuropathy and insulin resistance - Essay Example The metabolic dysregulation associated with DM causes secondary pathophysiologic changes in multiple organ systems that impose a tremendous burden on the individual with diabetes and on the health care system. The two broad categories of DM are designated type 1 and type 2. ALA has been shown to be useful in type 2 diabetes mellitus, and in order to understand the mechanism of action of ALA in control of DM and DM-associated complicating conditions, such as, neuropathy, it is important to understand the pathophysiologic and biochemical mechanism of these conditions (Boulton, 2005). A prominent biochemical feature of type 2 DM is insulin resistance. This group of disorders is characterised by a pathogenic process that leads to hyperglycemia through variable degrees of insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and increased glucose production. Type 2 DM is characterized by three pathophysiologic abnormalities: impaired insulin secretion, increasing peripheral insulin resistance, and excessive hepatic glucose production. Obesity, particularly visceral or central as evidenced by the hip-waist ratio, is very common in type 2 DM. Adipocytes secrete a number of biologic products, namely, leptin, TFN-alpha, free fatty acids, resistin, and adiponectin that modulate insulin secretion, insulin action, and body weight and may contribute to the insulin resistance. As expected, in the early stage of the disease, glucose tolerance remains normal despite insulin resistance since the pancreatic beta cells compensate by increasing the output of insulin. As insulin resista nce and compensatory hyperinsulinemia progress, the pancreatic islets in certain individuals are unable to sustain the hyperinsulinemic state (Huebschmann et al., 2006). Diabetic Neuropathy Diabetic neuropathy occurs in approximately 50% of individuals with long-standing type 1 and type 2 DM. It may manifest as polyneuropathy, mononeuropathy, and/or autonomic neuropathy. As with other complications of DM, the development of neuropathy correlates with the duration of diabetes and glycemic control; both myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers are lost. Because the clinical features of diabetic neuropathy are similar to those of other neuropathies, the diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy should be made only after other possible etiologies are excluded (Boulton et al., 2004). The most common form of diabetic neuropathy is distal symmetric polyneuropathy. It most frequently presents with distal sensory loss. Hyperesthesia, paresthesia, and dysesthesia also occur. Any combination of these symptoms may develop as neuropathy progresses. Symptoms include a sensation of numbness, tingling, sharpness, or burning that begins in the feet and spreads proximally. Neuropathic pain develops in some of these individuals, occasionally preceded by improvement in their glycemic control. Pain typically involves the lower extremities, is usually present at rest, and worsens at night. Both an acute and a chronic form of painful diabetic neuropathy have been described. As diabetic neuropathy progresses, the pain subsides and eventually disappears, but a sensory deficit in the lower extremities persists. Physical examination reveals sensory loss,

Influence of Magazines on Beauty | Cross-Cultural Analysis

Influence of Magazines on Beauty | Cross-Cultural Analysis INTRODUCTION Beauty is not concrete and may vary from culture to culture changing over time and shifting according to location. Beauty is an image which has been created by society to which woman and men have had to subject themselves to be real. The ideology of beauty or what is accepted as being the right appearance has been created by society and largely propagated by media. For United States of the 1950s Marilyn Monroe was the pinnacle of beauty which soon changed to Twiggy in the 1960s. While porcelain skin is valued in China, scarification of the skin and decorating it with tattoos is considered as a status symbol in Africa. Thus the physical attributes and ideas attached to beauty vary across cultures. Womens magazine industry is understood as a monolithic meaning producer, circulating magazines that contain messages and signs about the nature of femininity that serve to promote and legitimate dominant interests. (Anna Gough- Yates). A majority of feminist critics argue that media is responsible for establishing and promoting gender differences and inequalities in society. In respect media persons are considered responsible for reinforcing capitalism and patriarchy; manipulating society to attain increased circulation figures. Magazines are a great source, to study the society. Recording changes, from the purely fashion magazine couture age of 1920s, to lifestyle and home of the 1940s when domestic help was rare and woman to a personal interest in their homes. To New woman of the 1980s when woman began to work alongside men in almost every field to do it yourself of the 20th century with soaring costs and economic downturn. Magazines reflect revolutions in society and influenced the opinion of women across nations. Given the increase in trade to Asia and the spread of the beauty industry across nations, there is limited study available on how people are depicted internationally in the fashion magazines. Previous research has established that womans magazines can act as agents of publicizing gender stereotypes and beauty ideals like size zero and institutionalizing conventions like photographic poses. (Rudman and Verdi, 1993; Griffin, Viswanath, Schwartz, 1994). Yet little research has been done on the differences in representation of women internationally and locally. POWER OF IMAGES One must establish what people are looking at before one can hope to understand why under the conditions peculiar to them, they see what they see Rudolf Arnhein (Arnhein 1977:4) An image is that stimulus or representation that compels us to cognition, interpretation and personal preference. If we understand that the market is image based than we also begin to understand the importance of vision in understanding management in the information society. Images are where visual communication starts. Jonathan E. Schroeder confirms in his study of media that visual consumption is critically important for understanding contemporary consumers. Today marketing professionals are sensitive towards global customers and realise that they are enthusiastic consumers of images. Brand image, corporate image and self image are significant economic and consumer values and that global market culture is largely the construction of symbolic environments. (S. E. Jonathan, 2002) This is of great importance especially in the 21st century as the importance of marketing management and consumer research in this century may shift from problem solving to problem recognition from productio n of goods to the production of images (S. E. Jonathan, 2002) Through time marketers have learnt that markets are global which should translate into local approach. But when companies globalise they become more production driven wanting to sell more thus having common promotional strategies across cultures, sticking to one single image, hardly realising that there may be global products, but there are no global people. There may be global brands but there are no common global motivators to buy those brands. (M. De Mooij, 2009). Many brands have with the help of technology and communication tried to globalise nations. But technology has not brought a global village in which consumers all behave the same. GLOBAL MEDIA Globalisation is best defined as the crystallization of the entire world as a single place (Robertson, Ronald. 1990. Mapping the Global Condition: Globalization as the Central Concept. Theory, Culture and Society 7) Due to the success of global brands writers have predicted an unavoidable colonization of world culture by internationalised brands that would most definitely lead to demise of local cultures. However there is also evidence that suggests social relationships and values in local culture are resistant to the negative effects of globalization. On one hand globalisation is expected to destroy local cultures and bring about homogeneity while on the other hand it is also the reason for the revival of local cultural identities from various parts of the world. Today the expansion of western cultures values and ideas has reached the far corners of the world, right to Asian countries like India and China which have been dominant till the 21st century. Now that these countries have become important players in the world market, counter expansion of values and culture can also be seen. Over the past few decades there has been a rapid expansion of global brands in the media sector more than ever in the area of womans fashion magazines. Local editions of Elle, Harpers Baazar and Vogue are now being published in Asia. The internationalization of a magazine is not a new phenomenon although until quite recently the most popular womans magazines have been published locally. Harpers Bazaar, a U.S magazine launched itself in U.K. in 1929 (Anna Gough-Yates, 1993), Elle a European magazine began publishing its first edition in Japan in 1960s while Vogue a U.S magazine entered the Indian market in the 21st century. However the establishment of an integrated global media market only began in earnest in the late 1980s and did not reach its full potential until the 1990s. (Herman and Mc Chesney ,1997, p10) The latest NRS (National Readership Survey) figures suggest that the total readership market in U.K. for the months of July and December 2008 has risen by 10% since last year, while the total market for womens lifestyle and fashion magazines has grown by 7 %. (IPC Advertising) A similar trend was observed in USA where magazine subscription reached a ten year high in 2008 and with the total number of magazines published reaching 20,590 the total percentage of subscriptions also increased by 1.4% (MPA Magazine Publishers of America, ABC) Comparatively in Asia according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers the Asia/Pacific magazine market excluding Japan is projected to grow by 7.2% annually, reaching $20.7 billion by 2010, Advertising is also expected to rise by 5% annually to $8.1 billion in 2010. This means theres plenty of potential for countries in South Asia, where advertising spending is just about 0.34% of GDP. Until now foreign brands were allowed only 26% ownership when venturing into Asian countries. But in 2005 most of the Asian countries levelled the field for non news publications allowing 100% foreign direct investment. (D. Ruth, 2007, Forbes) In an age looking towards the internet for all information and goods there is a risk that print media and magazine subscriptions may fall contrary to predictions. A recent research conducted by PPA marketing suggests that the internet does not have any harmful effect on peoples desire to read offline, in fact in some cases reading websites encourages them to read magazines. Out of 1500 adults between the age of 18- 34 surveyed online revealed that peoples expectations and goals from each medium depends on the subject matter and for the subject of beauty and fashion print magazines are an obvious choice. Also the idea of owning a piece of fashion history through the beautifully photographed and styled images in fashion magazines makes print media a lucrative choice. With fashion going cross cultures, print media being the apparent choice of the masses to keep them in trend and the governments giving publication houses the clear there is nothing stopping international fashion magazines going local. Like all the other global media, magazines use many different strategies to cross the borders. The main reasons for crossing borders are saturation of home markets and to generate revenue by providing international consumer brands with advertising vehicles that reach into the expanding foreign markets'(Dr. Katherine Frith, 2006,pg4-5). For example Condà © Nast which has a portfolio of 127 magazines in 23 countries had to close down Mademoiselle in November 2001 due to competition, flagging sales and saturation of magazine houses. Markets with rising economic rates like Asia and Middle East, as a result have become a target for westerns producers of beauty and fashion magazines. FASHION MAGAZINES AND THEIR IMPACT Many women across cultures are influenced by general trends in fashion and follow although at a distance the fashion industry. The relationship between consumers and trends is complex but it is mediated by fashion magazines. The difference between international fashion magazines and their local versions is that the international issues tend to carry a predominance of images for multinational products. (Shaw, 1999). Such magazines are growing in popularity in Asia and this popularity has bought about a change in perspective regarding the depiction of woman and products in local magazines. Griffin, Viswanath, and Schwartz(1994) found in a study comparing images in weekly U.S. news magazines (Time and Life) to weekly Indian magazines (India Today and Illustrated weekly of India), that many of the western advertising principles and poses for women were being conveyed across nations. They confirmed that female models in India were taking on poses that related closely to gender portrayals of the advanced western nations. A recent analysis of magazines international and local in China by Frith, Cheng and Shaw (2004) suggests that Caucasian models are more frequently shown in seductive dresses than Asian models. Feminist critiques like Kates, Shaw and Garlock (1999) would argue that western magazines are cultural institutions that represent women in a problematic and often unacceptable way although attractive female bodies and sexual content have for long been used in the west to draw consumers to a product and generate interest. Comparing this to the representation of woman across cultures with reference to the few studies conducted on the topic; Griffin, Viswanath and Schwartz (1994) concluded that the use of Sexual pursuit as a theme was used three times more often in American magazines than magazines in India. In conservative Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia only Caucasian women were used in Lingerie advertisements (Frith and Mueller, 2003). Any magazine wanting to be resonant with its target audience needs to represent the social norms and cultural values of the given society. International magazines like Vogue and Elle although have publishing houses in Asian countries most often train their employees in the west. The result being that the forms of representation and especially that of woman can take on a globalized look. As Kyung-Ja Lee,(2000, pg 86) has rightly said for thirty years, media have been taken to task for reproducing and reinforcing stereotyped images of woman. Yet unfair representation of woman in media still prevails worldwide. Sex stereotyping has been so deeply ingrained, even glorified, that the woman themselves have become desensitised to their own inferior portrayal. The prospects appear even gloomier as the globalisation of media progresses Previous researchers have noted that the images of models used in magazines have been extensively retouched to represent the ideal of beauty that is unattainable for all but a very few people.(Greer,1999). By showing models that are uniformly thin, flawless and perfectly proportioned the media may contribute towards low self esteem and unhappiness among woman and give rise to problems like eating disorders.( Gauntlett, 2002) Media is also considered a large contributor to the global increase in plastic surgery to change physical appearance among young girls (Lee, 2007). With most models used in international magazines being white the publications are rarefying the ethnic beauty ideals. In fact the obsession with whitening products may be a result of this overuse of White models in Asian publications. Finally as global media takes readers away from local publications and changing Asian beauty ideals it is important to study the impact of international beauty ideal on local consumers. The Asian society has predominantly been a conservative society yet with the onset of westernisation this society is changing and adapting itself. But as Marieke de Mooij states, product usage or acceptance does not change overnight, as peoples behaviour is stable . A new idea or concept is only accepted when it is consistent to a change in society and does not imply a fundamental change in culture. Essay 2: THE VOGUE IMPACT This essay will discuss Vogue magazines cover page and its relationship with its brand identity. Can the brand successfully globalised by altering its cover page image, based on cultural and social variants in each of its markets? Would standardisation of the brands cover page images and visual identity help to avoid criticism on its entry into a new market? VOGUE BEGINING Started in 1982 Vogue magazine is predominantly an American cultural phenomenon. It began as a social weekly periodical and nurtured into a professional and confident monthly publication under the leadership of Condà © Nast which took over vogue in 1909. Primarily as a lifestyle magazine catering to both men and woman Vogue has come a long way to be at the pinnacle as the fashion magazine for woman in vogue (David, A., 2006). In an age where French fashion was considered the ultimate Vogue managed to put American Couture on the map. Under the Condà © Nast umbrella the magazine not only managed to become a brand name in its own country but also exported fashion ideas to the world. Today Condà © Nast which has a portfolio of 127 magazines in 23 countries believes Vogue to be its cash cow. At present there are a million fashion and beauty magazines such as In Style, Elle and Cosmopolitan circulated around the globe, but in times of crises citizens all over turn to Vogue to confirm the latest fashion news. With readership and subscription levels of about 220,000 a month for the British Vogues, 133,000 a month for the French Vogue and American Vogue, at 1.2 million a month Vogue is the leading magazine in the business of fashion. (IPC Advertising reports) The once small publication eventually became an international phenomenon with issues being published in more than 12 countries. YEAR OF LAUNCH COUNTRY /EDITION 1916 British Vogue 1918 Spanish Vogue 1920 French Vogue 1924-1926 Argentinean Vogue 1928 German Vogue 1964 Italian Vogue 1975 Brazilian Vogue 1994 Singapore Vogue 1996 Korean Vogue 1996 Taiwanese Vogue 1999 Japanese Vogue 1999 Latin American Vogue 2000 Greek Vogue 2005 Chinese Vogue 2007 Indian Vogue Since its birth the magazine has strived to serve the society by portraying an example of proper etiquette, beauty, composure and fashion. The magazine not only plays a role in setting latest trends but also records the changes in cultural thinking, actions and clothing through its images. Looking at Vogue through the ages it can be clearly seen that it is also a documentation of the changing roles of woman, and the influences of cultural ideas and politics over time. The power the Vogue magazine has over generations of women has inspired many new magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour; all interested in its market share. In spite of this great quantity of magazines circulating around the globe, considering circulation figures and media impact no other publication has managed to accomplish the lasting power and success of Vogue. (David, R., 2007) VOGUE IMAGE Self definition has always been crucial to vogue. (David, A., 2006). Throughout its first 30 years vogue editors and illustrators made use of the French meaning of vogue, defined in the first dictionary of the Acadà ©mie Franà §aise (1694) as the impulsion or movement of a galley or other ship by the force of rowing. It was only in the 18th century that vogue and fashion were listed as synonyms (Fà ©raud 1787–8). Since its first issue Vogue magazine has been personified as a youthful young woman. The magazines first cover presented itself in the disguise of a debutante, a young socialite. When Condà © Nast bought the magazine in 1909 he brought it into line with other successful publishing ventures and in just over a decade, circulation went from 14,000 to 150,000 while advertising revenue soared from $76,111 to two million dollars (Robinson 1923: 170). He modernised the magazine not just the content but also the cover. He replaced the black and white drawings of the front cover with commissioned, lavish, stylised and signed illustrations. This change helped to attract attention to the magazine and increase circulations. As an advertising man, he understood the value of having a visual brand or logo and Nast revived the original Vogue trademark, a distinguished little sketch which immediately became known as the Vogue girl (David, A., 2006). This first Vogue girl was just an illustration cla d in a fancy dress with the than fashionable leg-o-mutton sleeves. Her unnatural ivory white skin, snow white wig, tiny waist and voluptuous bosom, was directed at the fantasies of the magazines readers (David, A., 2006).The Vogue girl represented the heritage of those Americans who wished to be different from the New World Americans and was constantly seen as wearing historical costumes and heirlooms. Than too the new world American woman aspired to look like her. All this changed in the 1920s when the Vogue girl was changed to an illustration by Georges Lepape. This new image was more streamlined and represented the woman at the heights of fashion in the 1920s. Vogue had gone from importing fashion to exporting it. As times changed so did the magazine cover from illustrations to photographs, making models like Cindy Crawford and celebrities like Madonna a household name. This change in its image was a response to the internationalisation of the magazine. Today the vogue cover girls are the most glamorous, exotic, unusual and popular persons of the moment. The trend being more towards actresses than models dressed in the heights of fashion, styled by the best stylist and clicked by A-list photographers they are every girls aspiration and every boys fantasy. Like its cover girls the magazines is considered to be glamorous, glossy and trendy. (Alexandra Shulman, Vogue U.K. editor). Despite of having these factors common among them, the vogue covers are dissimilar in many aspects depending upon its country of publication. CULTURE AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Anglo –Saxon psychological research states that the concept of self and personality are the basis of Western consumer behaviour. The words identity or personality have no fixed meaning in the Asian culture. A global brand needs to consider the cultural differences to truly succeed in the world field. A number of research experts and cultural studies suggest that a brand should think global, act local. This is based upon the theory that the way people think and perceive any brand or image is guided by the framework of their own culture (Mooij, M, 2009). The observation of Japanese individuality as a sign of westernisation of the country is a misconception of many global brands. For more than a decade international magazines have been accused of standardising a beauty ideal across the globe with disregard to the individual cultural and beauty ideals of the host country. For a short duration the values and attributes of a foreign or global personality might have a strong attraction, but ultimately people return to their own local values and culture. For a Brazilian woman the emphasis is on her bottom, um corpo de violà £o which literally means a guitar shaped body is most desirable. No matter how many international magazines showcase buxom beauties, the Brazilian woman would ultimately want a bigger bottom as the point of attraction is the sweet swing of the hips. The illustration of a desirable Japanese woman in The memoirs of a Gesha suggest, that the Japanese appreciate soft delicate feminine features, small feet and long hair cut in layers. A slim slender graceful body is more desirable than a curvaceous one. In Islamic countries the body is considered a n obstacle in viewing ones true beauty. Any bodily decorations or changes are considered a veil over the inner beauty and the Hijab is another veil to conceal these changes so that the womans only public identity would be her inner self. For the Greek it has been symmetry in structure and features, based on Platos ideas that, beauty is that which irradiates symmetry rather than symmetry itself. The Nuba tribe in Sudan like dark skin and hairlessness. On studying traditional Indian paintings it can be concluded that the Indian ideals of beauty in a woman is voluptuousness, with the belly and hips being of prominence.( Ei, 2008) The image and identity associated with woman of different geographical locations are deep rooted in their respective cultures. The beauty ideals and a womans self image in any culture can be understood by studying its paintings, sculpture and artistic representations. Today the artistic or idealistic representations of women are magazine covers, images and pho to spreads. These covers are also considered a mode of advertisement for the magazine within that culture. As Steve Taylor has rightly put in his book 100 years of magazine covers it is hard to identify another cultural artefact which embodies an advertisement for itself in such a powerful way. Magazine covers can be breathtaking, beautiful, confrontational, resonant, heartbreaking, stimulating, irritating and uplifting. At their best they come together as a kind of spontaneous street level exhibition, publicly displaying the work of some of our best creative talent, featuring what is most admirable and dismissible about the modern world, communicating the people and events that shape our culture. Apart from a mode of advertisement of todays culture a magazine cover plays a dual function of advertising the magazine brand itself. An impressive cover encourages people to flip through the magazine and buy it. (Alexandra Shulman, British Vogue editor). Getting the magazine cover right is not only ethically important but also financially important to the magazine in order to develop brand loyalty and increased circulations. Thus making it important to study magazine covers as a mode of advertisement and part of the marketing mix, for a magazine publication. MAGAZINE COVERS AS BRAND VISUAL IDENTITY It is a common assumption that an advertisement would be effective if the viewer decodes the advertisement successfully, if there is a significant transfer of attributes. (Mooij, M., 2009). Thus while developing one idea for a global brand or one single motivator for different cultures, one should not assume that the responses would be alike too. An idea being interpreted accurately by the consumers would only happen if the senders and receivers share one culture. If they do not share the same cultural values it may result in misunderstandings and demeaning of brand value within that culture. For example consider the inaugural Vogue covers of India and China. The Indian Vogue cover was styled by the magazines British fashion director while the Chinese vogue was styled by French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld (China economic net and Fashion week daily dispatch). The covers were not rightly decoded by the consumers and received much criticism. Whereas the covers for the preceding months styled by Anaita Shroff Adajania the fashion director for Vogue India was highly appreciated.(Fashion week daily dispatch) The essence of a brand is that it is a name in the memory of consumers. It is a perceptual map of positive and negative associations, a symbolic language, and a network of associations. (Mooij, M.,2009). Vogue with its launch in many Asian countries received much negative associations with its local issues. The local Asian issues of Vogue are considered small ripples in the big pond of Fashion magazines (Armstrong ,L, 2009) and they could never manage to create the impact that American vogue or Italian Vogue have managed to create world over. Vogue India or Vogue China might be sold worldwide but it is not necessary that consumers in all countries consider them global brands. One theory suggests that a global brand is a brand that is strongly associated with its country of origin (Mooij, M., 2009) and for Vogue its been America. This can be considered positive if the country of origin has a stable global identity. With American values becoming ambiguous and Vogue bifurcating into mul tiple countries over time its core identity may be threatened. The idea of incorporating local aesthetics with their global image might dilute the brands global image. STANDARDISATION A multinational companys personality and identity are the biggest factors influencing consumer (Eales, 1990 as cited in Melewar,T.C, Saunders, J., 1998). Unrestricted global trade, a competitive marketplace and the fast technological developments have created a situation where consumers dont just buy the product they also buy the company that produces it. The brands character, its identity, its image and the confidence it inspires in them help in making the choice between two almost similar product offerings in the market. At the centre of any business and its projected image is its corporate visual identity system. The elements of this system are: name, symbol, and/or logo, typography, colour and slogan (Dowling, 1994). These elements help to sell the company to consumers and its stakeholders. Corporate identity programs have risen due to globalisation (Ind, 1992). The changing business tactics, geographical locations, variations in cultures and changing markets have all encouraged companies to change their corporate identity. As companies begin to operate on an international basis, the image that they acquired as national producers often becomes inappropriate (Mills, 1988 as cited in Melewar,T.C, Saunders, J., 1998). Some international companies adopt a unified brand image in spite of government and consumer displeasure. The degree of de-standardisation of any company depends upon the strength of the host countries culture, government policies and target market. (Mooij, M., 2009). The decision to standardise a brand image also depends upon the competitive edge derived in either keeping activities central or decentralizing them. However a brand like Vogue that has a truly global orientation needs to express consistent brand values wherever it chooses to compete. Thus making its worldwide image more recognisable for its homogeneity than not. A major component of a corporate identity is the corporate structure. (Strong, 1987) According to Ind (1992) there exist two corporate identities, one that is the organisational structure and the other that is the visual structure. The Visual structure is concerned with the branding of the product, and how it appears to the consumers. (Gray Smeltzer, 1985 as cited in Melewar, T.C., Saunders, J., 1998). The basic concern with the visual structure is the degree of centralisation and decentralisation. Thus the basic problem faced by Vogue is whether to sell an identical product image to all its consumers or to make modifications as per the local differences. A global brand can be a mass brand satisfying a common product need in all the countries or it can be a brand catering to a common niche in all the countries. Vogue magazine has two options, being a global brand it could standardize the brand and the brand image across the globe so that the Indian woman reading the Indian Vogue would feel equal to the French or American woman reading their respective Vogues. The other option it has is to go local, differentiate between its offerings and treat each market as an individual and not a global product while standardising its visual image, giving the impression of a common brand. Researchers argue that standardisation of a brand helps the company to achieve a uniform image internationally which in turn increases sales.(Buzzell, 1968, Hovells Walters, 1972 as cited in Melewar, T.C., Saunders, J., 1998) . Others were of the opinion that standardisation makes consumers familiar with the product, its services, business diversities and competitive distinction thus helping to establish a uniform corporate image.(Peebles et al ,1977 as cited in Melewar, T.C., Saunders, J., 1998). Cosmopolitan for example is known around the globe to address personal and sex related issues as it does not change its editorials and articles depending on culture. The band logo/ font type, position or style does not differ according to geographical locations. The brand has achieved a sense of standardisation by not having a distinct country name printed on its cover unlike Vogue. The research on global corporate visual identity systems by T.C. Melewar and John Saunders (1998) proved that firms with highly standardised corporate visual identity systems (CVIS) saw themselves reaping more reward from their CVIS than did those with low CVIS standardisation. All custom

Book Review Of Star Wars: X-wing Rogue Squardron :: essays research papers

Book Review of Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squardron Dan Boughen 9A The title of the novel is Star Wars : X-Wing Rogue Squadron. The author's name is Michael A. Stackpole. The type of book is fantasy / adventure. Main Characters A) Corran Horn : Corran is a pilot in training for the Alliance or the Rebellion. He is the best rookie pilot on the Rogue Squadron. He is a silent person who does not like the social life but does like the spotlight once in a while. He was a CorSec security officer on the planet Correlia in his late teens'. B) Kirtan Loor : Kirtan is a cold, isolated man that lives on the planet of Churba. He is a high ranked officer for the Imperial Army. He later gets promoted to a commanding officer and sits on the right side of the head leader of intelligence for the Emperor. Setting : The setting first takes place in the Rebel's secret base. The setting then moves to a swamp planet by the name of Imdaar. The setting then moves to Imperial headquarters on the planet of Coruscant. Plot Summary : Corran and his new partners are given a limited amount of training time and are sent out on a mission in just weeks of forming the new Rogue Squadron X-wing fighter group. This book switches the first-person perspective between Corran and Kirtan Loor. While Corran and the Rogue Squadron are off fighting TIE fighters and Star Destroyers, Kirtan is hunting down information on the squadron and it's pilots. Personal Reaction : I found this book a little hard to read because of the long complicated sentences and the complex words Michael Stackpole chose for his book. I would say the reading level would probably be around grade 11 or 12 because of the intricate words and long sentences. I liked this book because it not only was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat, but because of the easy to

Hitler’s foreign policy successes between 1936 and 1939 Essay

â€Å"Hitler’s foreign policy successes between 1936 and 1939 rested on his remarkable tactical skills and ability to exploit his opponent’s weaknesses?† Discuss this view. Many of Hitler’s foreign policy aims had been recorded since the publication of â€Å"Mein Kampf†, but none of his plans had any time scale to them. His only concept of time appeared to be that he wanted war by 1942, in fear of an arms race with the likes of Britain and France, resulting in Germany no longer holding the upper hand – also, he was under the impression that he would face his own death close to this time. It appears that, despite his aims having been set in stone for many years, Hitler was quite an opportunist, grabbing at fortunate circumstances rather than planning. Very little tactical skill or exploitation appeared to go into any of his actions (with minor exceptions); he just appeared to assume that most things would work out to his expectations regardless. Luckily for Hitler, this often appeared to be this case – but rarely via the means which he intended. A long running aim of Hitler’s was to overturn the Treaty of Versailles, of which the first step was made towards by the reoccupation and militarisation of the Rhineland. The Rhineland was France’s greatest barrier between itself and the German threat, and so it would be fair to assume that they would be far more than just keen to retain its demilitarised state. However, when France signed the Franco-Soviet pact, Hitler deemed that it had broken the Locarno treaty, and so used this as reasoning to reoccupy the Rhineland. The reoccupation in itself was a huge gamble – the German army was still notably weak at this point, and any opposition from France would result in them having to withdraw immediately. Nonetheless, Hitler disregarded the opinion of his generals (all of whom were opposed to the move), and ordered German forces into the Rhineland on 7th March, 1936, to be met by no opposition whatsoever. There was a small amount of protest from Britain and France, but as Hitler had presumed, they were unwilling to take any real action against him. France was war weary; Britain was suffering economically and concerned with the defence of their empire in the east. Hitler had further reason for believing this move would be a successful one. Little action had been taken by the League of Nations at Manchuria in 1931, and they were unlikely to taken any at this point either; also, Germany now benefited from friendly relations with Italy, following Hitler’s support for the invasion of Abyssinia. Appeasement on Britain’s part had also played a roll in convincing Hitler his actions were achievable. The 1935 Anglo-German naval agreement had effectively broken the Stresa front, showing him that he could successfully push boundaries. Although all these moves came down to being a series of fortunate circumstances (except good relations with Italy – something Hitler had long strived for), a small amount of skill went into this move. Hitler aimed to isolate France (namely by deny it of its allies) to make many of his aims simpler, and started to do so by achieving the German-Polish non aggression pact. This broke the little entente, and began to drive a wedge into Europe. This aside however, the reoccupation of the Rhineland was a minimally planned gamble, and by no means a show of neither skill nor exploitation. On 5th November 1937, a secret meeting took place at the Reichstag chancellery in Berlin, the minutes of which would come to be known as the Hossbach Memorandum. It was here that Hitler outlined his more drastic future foreign policy aims (including plans for expansion into Eastern Europe), and the strategies by which he would achieve them. It stated his desire to annex Austria and to crush Czechoslovakia, and the need for war within the next six years, to avoid an arms race with two â€Å"hate inspired antagonists† – Britain and France. His strategy for moving into east Europe was via a series of small wars to benefit the German economy – which, in it’s strive for autarky, was overheating and struggling. It was a radical move at the time – Hitler’s previous actions had been hidden under a veil of nationalism, and were never outwardly â€Å"Nazi†. However, there was no real plan. There may well have been a strategy – that being, the series of small wars – but no real time scale or method. It would appear that Hitler, as with the reoccupation of the Rhineland, was intending to grab at opportunities as they arose, rather than tactically planning his actions. Hitler’s next territorial move was to achieve the annexation of Austria. This had already been once attempted in 1934, but failed and left bad relations with Italy, and Hitler had denied all involvement. Regardless, the second attempt of Anschluss was barely planned, and its success was owed greatly to the improvisations offered by Herman Goering. Due to the disruption being caused by Austrian Nazis, Chancellor Schuschnigg requested a meeting with Hitler. Seizing the opportunity before him, Hitler took the chance to bully Schuschnigg, who emerged from the meeting with more Nazis being allowed into to parliament, the freedom of Nazi prisoners and Seyss-Inquart as interior minister – quite the opposite to what he had intended to achieve. It would seem that Hitler, rather than exploiting a weakness, had instead created one in his opponent. At this point, it appeared to Hitler that Germany may well be able to hold dominance over Austria without even the need for an official annexation. However, to his anger, Schuschnigg called for a referendum upon his return to Austria, in which he asked the people to â€Å"affirm their support for Austrian impendence†. Allowing this referendum to take place could have spelt bad news for the possibility of Anschluss – a negative result on Hitler’s part would make it far more difficult to achieve the union. As the referendum was so unexpected, there was no plan from this point onwards. Hitler began to exert pressure through right-wing Austrian parliament members, demanding that the referendum be cancelled and that Seyss-Inquart replace Schuschnigg as Chancellor. From here on however, Herman Goering became the â€Å"man of the hour†. He threatened President Miklas with German invasion unless Schuschnigg was allowed to resign (which, under pressure, he did), and also dictated a telegram from Seyss-Inquart, inviting the German army to enter Austria to â€Å"preserve law and order†. Consequently, German troops entered Austria on 12th March 1938. Evidently, little skill was played by Hitler here – had it not been for Goering’s intervention, Hitler and his lack of plan may have been faced with another failed Anschluss. Hitler merely assumed no action would be taken against him by the western allies, for much the same reasons with the Rhineland, and it would be fair to assume that he had expected Schuschnigg to simply give in to his demands. In this situation, Goering was the one displaying tactical skill, and not Hitler. Following the fortunate success of Anschluss, Hitler was encouraged to push forwards to Czechoslovakia. His first aim was the predominately German speaking Sudetenland, which he hoped to seize by means of a small war. He was to be faced by Neville Chamberlain and his policy of appeasement however, with whom he met on 15th September 1938, at Berteschgaden. Here, Hitler demanded the swift takeover of the Sudetenland, with threat of military action. No visible plan from Hitler here – it appears that he hoped to gain what he desired by threats and pressure. Following discussions between Britain and France, it was agreed that areas of over 50% German population within the Sudetenland would be handed over to Hitler, without so much as the formality of a plebiscite. Seeing that he had the upper hand, and knowing that Britain and France were reluctant to go to war (particularly over Czechoslovakia), Hitler rejected this agreement at his second meeting with Chamberlain on 22nd September 1938, on the grounds that it â€Å"would take too long to implement†. Instead, he demanded that the German army be able to occupy the Sudetenland within 2 days (claiming that the Czechs were slaughtering Sudeten Germans), and that the Czechs met the territorial demands of Poland and Hungary. Benes rejected these demands, and rebelled against Anglo-French pressure, ordering military mobilisation. On 26th September, Hitler gave the Czechs 24 hours to agree to hand over the Sudetenland before 1st October. The situation at this point looked as though war was on the horizon. Although this was what Hitler had wanted, he had only wanted a local war with Czechoslovakia – not a continental one. Still set on avoiding war, Chamberlain asked Mussolini to arrange another meeting with Hitler. The meeting was held at Munich, between Hitler, Daladier, Chamberlain and Mussolini, where it was agreed that Germany military occupation of the Sudetenland would be phased over 1st-10th October. The Czechs were told to accept these agreements or fight alone. It would seem Hitler had a lot of thanks to give to Chamberlain and his policy of appeasement. Had he not been faced with this, Hitler would have sent German forces into the Sudetenland with minimal planning or direction. France had military ties with Czechoslovakia, as did Russia (which came into effect only if the French honoured their commitments); although the likelihood of France taking any action was unlikely, it was not impossible, and Hitler may well have been faced countless other forms of opposition. Besides, Chamberlain had handed him exactly what he desired on a silver platter anyway – and in turn, left open a gateway to the rest of a somewhat defenceless Czechoslovakia. Although this was a great foreign policy success for Hitler, there was practically no means for him to exert neither tactical skill nor exploitation anyway. As ever, he gained exactly what he had set out for; just through unexpected means. Despite a weak agreement made at Munich to respect the territorial integrity of what was left of Czechoslovakia, Hitler made military plans for an attack on its remains within days of the agreement. He encouraged Poland, Hungary and Romania to demand territory from Czechoslovakia, and the Slovaks to demand autonomy. In February 1939, Hitler met with the Slovak leader Bela Tuka, telling him to demand complete separation from Czechoslovakia. President Hacha responded by declaring martial war to try to prevent the break-up, but Hitler retaliated with demands that Slovakia declare it’s independence, or it would be taken over by Hungary. The Slovak government complied and, in desperation, Hacha visited Hitler seeking help to retain the remnants of a broken Czechoslovakia. Wasting no opportunity, Hitler demanded for Czechoslovakia be split; a number of hours later, Hacha gave into the demands. On 15th March, German troops marched on Prague, and Bohemia-Moravia became a German protectorate. The following day, Slovakia asked for German protection, leading to it becoming a satellite state. Although a situation which was somewhat handed to him as a result of the Munich agreement, some degree of tactical skill was evidently used in bringing down the rest of Czechoslovakia. As a country of various nationalities, Hitler could see an opportunity to create a great divide amongst them, and used this to his advantage. Knowing Hacha wanted to preserve what of Czechoslovakia he could, Hitler exploited him by offering him only the options of German attack or to hand over Bohemia-Moravia. In addition to this, Slovakia was left in such a state of disruption anyway that it became under heavily German influence. For once, Hitler had used his own skill to gain territory, and did so without a single shot being fired and barely any opposition. Poland was next on Hitler’s territorial hit list, but it was unlikely to come as easily as his previous gains. Following the fall of Prague, there had been a change in mood from the west towards Hitler – he could no longer be trusted. No longer would his desires be handed to him; tactical skill was needed if Poland were to be successfully claimed. Ribbentrop had already attempted to negotiate a deal with the Poles by offering them guarantees of their borders and the possibility of gains in the Soviet Ukraine if they were to give up Danzig; however, fearful of Soviet response, the Polish government did not want to become involved in such a deal with Germany. In January 1939, Hitler met with Beck, the Polish foreign minister, where he added a demand for a German road/rail link across the Polish Corridor. To Hitler’s surprise, the Poles refused the demand, as they were unwilling to become a German satellite state – British and French guarantees of support had made the Poles less inclined give in to German pressure at the expense of their independence. Around spring of 1939 however, it was becoming clear to Hitler that defensive action against Poland needed to be taken. Diplomatic bridges were formed with Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia, whilst non-aggression pacts were signed with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. This was Hitler’s means of preparing for war with Poland, which was extended by the surprising Nazi-Soviet pact, of 23rd August 1939, forged by Ribbentrop. As ideological enemies, it was an unlikely move, but one that Hitler saw advantage to. Both countries had lost lands to Poland following WW1, and uniting would provide a huge threat to Poland on both fronts, and, in Hitler’s eyes, it isolated Poland from her allies (as he assumed Britain and France would not commit to their guarantees). The pact itself agreed that for the next 10 years, they would remain neutral if the other attacked a third party, and also contained a secret protocol, providing for the partition of Poland and creating Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence in eastern Europe. To Hitler, this had all been a great success – not only was he in a great for the invasion of Poland, but also for the invasion of Russia later on. German troops entered Poland on 1st September 1939, and to Hitler’s dismay, Britain and France declared war on 3rd September. The road leading up to the invasion of Poland shows that Hitler could put tactical skill and exploitation to good use when required. Forging relations with the Baltic republics and small east European nations left Poland with little to no German opposition surrounding it, but Ribbentrops Nazi-Soviet pact was by far the most effective tactic against Poland. It allowed both a great offensive against Poland, and a pathway to the invasion of Russia in the future. As with the Anschluss of 1938, this was a great success in foreign policy – but not, for the most part, thanks to himself. It is clear to see that Hitler’s foreign policy success rarely laid thanks to his own skill, exploitation or tactful planning, particularly prior to the fall of Prague. Although these feats would unlikely have been achievable without any display of skill, Hitler was very fortunate that the situations around him played well into his hands, such as Britain’s insistence on appeasement concerning the Sudeten crisis. Hitler also owed a lot of thanks to the likes of Ribbentrop and Goering, each who stepped in and allowed some of the successes to happen. The success of Hitler’s foreign policies between 1936 and 1939 did not rest on him at all – they merely benefited from his actions, the aid of those around him, and the situations which created them.