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the following discussion will focus on Popul Voh narrative for the purpose of explaining whether it qualifies to be a myth
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It has been found that people do not respond to facts as much as they do to the belief systems provided by their cultural backgrounds. Every society has a way of explaining the cause of various social phenomena including the stories of origin of mankind. However, such statements can not be substantiated by facts and they remain biased and subjective in nature. The society’s way of explaining things is marred with a lot of social prejudice and stereotyping which fails to give the true nature of life. For that reason, the following discussion will focus on Popul Voh narrative for the purpose of explaining whether it qualifies to be a myth.
A myth can be said to be any piece of information which can is not objective, meaning that it can not present any facts to support the claims. This does not however imply that every information must be pass the science test for it to accurate, valid and sound. On the contrary, qualitative information should also have a way of proving the authenticity of the information for the purpose of convincing the audience. A myth is in many occasions trying to explain the origin of various social occurrences in a way that can be understood by the society. Therefore, the measure of whether a given piece of information is a myth or a reality is the sound proves that can be attached to it. For that reason, I am confident that the narrative in question qualifies to be a myth as it is going to be explained shortly.
Popul Vuh is one of the most ancient narratives that was written in local language but has been translated in several others including and not limited to English. It is said to address many social issues that range from stories of creation, ancestry and history. For instance, in the story of creation, it is said that the world was initially formless. There was nothing apart from water and total darkness. No noise could be heard since there was no life present.
It is said that there were three supernatural beings who were discussing on how they could bring life to the earth (Goetz 81-84). They included Tepeu, Gucumatz, and the Forefathers all whose origin is not explained. They can be said to be without the beginning but since we no longer hear about them today, then we can conclude that they had an end. The first two are said to have ordered for the existence of the light so that there could be the presence food and it was done.
In the creation of living things, we are told that the animals were created first and later on followed by human beings. “This, the Forefathers did, Tepeu and Gucumatz, as they were called. After that they began to talk about the creation and the making of our first mother and father…” (Goetz 85-89). However, the first group of human beings made of mud and it is said that they perished because the material soaked in the water and dissolved. This made the two gods to reason together again on how best they can make a man. They settled on wood, and made the second group of humans. However, it would later emerge that this group of people had no souls or mind which meant that they could not reason and they appeared more of animals. It is stated that the reason why the man was created is to offer the praises to the gods who made them.
The above story of creation qualifies to be a myth for a number of reasons. First of all it contradicts with the conventional beliefs of creation especially from the religious point of view. The religious groups believe that the world was created by God who has neither beginning nor the end. The existence of the elders in this story poses a question of where they came from as it is not explained. The other reason is the fact that if the first man was created of mud and was indeed in that state before he perished, how did his body systems, such as blood circulation take place? We are not told what the man fed on and the kind of the picture we get causes doubts of whether they were real beings. The story therefore becomes hard to believe as it has a lot of questions.
The other fact is that the origin of light is not explained. The gods are only said to have given a command, “let there be light,’ (Goetz 76-80) and there it was. Such an act is not convincing especially to those who rely much on truth from the fact gathered from the scientific experiments.
The other reason why this story qualifies to become a myth is the fact that it lacks its own originality. When one reads the story, you can not miss to get the reflection of the account of creation provided in the book of Genesis. The creation of man in genesis was done after all other things were made just as in Popol Vul. The purpose of the creation of man in both accounts was to offer worship to the creator.
In conclusion, the above narrative qualifies to be a myth due to lack of authenticity and the facts to support all the claims there in.
The following discussion will focus on developing a strategic business plan.
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Every businessman in the world today is looking for the best alternative strategies for the purpose of remaining relevant in the field. This is owing to the fact that the business environment is becoming very competitive. For that reason, there is need for better planning to win the favor from the consumers while making revenue at the same time. The following discussion will focus on developing a strategic business plan.
A good business plan will only be developed after conducting feasibility study in the area it will be located (Eric, 1999). This will help in knowing whether such a business will perform in those environments. Feasibility study assists the management to appreciate the current status of a similar existing business, know the objectives that one will want for the business and finally, have a clue of the strategies to be employed. A sound business plan should begin by stating its vision, mission, objectives and goals. A vision should be a picture of what a potential business man wants to see in the next few months or years in his business in terms of expansion, customer care services and quantity and quality of goods produced. A vision acts as an incentive to hard work as one aims at achieving that kind of dream.
A mission on the other hand should indicate the purpose for which the business exists. Every business has bits role in the community and this should be well indicated as it will act as a guiding principle to avert any chances of venturing in other areas which were not part of the business plan (Patrick, 1997). For instance, the business could exist for simple reason of supplying raw materials for manufacturing companies. The objectives on the other hand are defined as the results to be achieved either in the long or short- run. One of the objectives would for instance be ‘to be the leading business in matters concerning customer care services.’ Objectives are important as from time to time they are referred by the management to see whether there is any progress as far as performance is concerned.
Business plan should also have goals to be achieved. Goals are differentiated from visions and missions in that the former are quantifiable while the last two are qualitative in nature (Stephen, 2004). Goals give a stipulated period of time by which the mission, vision and the objectives of the business are to be achieved. For instance, a goal could state that in the next two years, a certain business will have diversified in terms of services offered. However, all the above are not enough for a successful business plan. There is the need to develop creative business strategies. It is through such strategies that the business will realize the mission, vision and the objectives. For instance, in the SWOT analysis, the business strategies should be in a way that it builds on strengths, seeks solution to all the weaknesses, exploits the opportunities available and by all means avoids threats.
In conclusion, a good business plan should be guided by the findings of a feasibility study, the missions, vision, objectives, goals and business strategies. All the factors should be balanced and monitored from time to time for the purpose of knowing the progress of the business. The goals of the business should be as realistic as possible.
Reference
Eric S. (1999), ‘The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide’ (New York: John Wiley and Sons) HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0471578266” ISBN 0471578266
Patrick L. (1997). Successful Strategic Planning: A Guide for Nonprofit Agencies and Organizations. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
Stephen, J.(2004). ABCs of strategic management : an executive briefing and plan-to-plan day on strategic management in the 21st century.
Preliminary Summary Statement
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The holocaust comes as one of the most fundamental occurrences in the history of mankind, at least in the contemporary times. It marks a time when the epitome of animalistic tendencies in human beings became evident. Indeed, the term “Holocaust” was used to underline the bureaucratic, state-sponsored and systematic murder and persecution of about six million Jews in Germany by the Nazi regime alongside its collaborators. This persecution started when the Nazis took over power in Germany in January 1933. Unfortunately, they held the belief that the Germans were essentially “racially superior”, while the Jews who were seen as an inferior race were seen as an alien threat to the German racial community.
While stories will continue to be read and written about this dark moment of human history, immense knowledge about the same can be learnt from the survivors. One of the most popular Jewish victims of the holocaust remains to be Anne Frank. The frank family had immigrated to Amsterdam from Germany in 1933, the same year that the Nazis took over power. Anne Frank’s family went into hiding at a building where her father used to work. Unfortunately, Anne and her sister Maggot, were betrayed and captured, upon which they were captured and kept in concentration camps. Eventually, Anne and her sister died in 1945 of typhus in the concentration camps. However, her story of courage and resilience was captured in her diary, which was published posthumously giving her immense popularity. Indeed, her story remains one of courage, hope, resilience and determination in the face of adversity.
This paper will essentially trace the story of the young girl since her birth throughout her life journey up to her death in the concentration camp, as well as the legacy that has not only cemented her place in the history of mankind but also given hope to millions.