Project Management- MGMT412 - 1304B - 01 unit 2 Essay

Project Management- MGMT412 - 1304B - 01 unit 2 - Essay Example Product scope description: Winsome Company is under the management of a sister company known as Winsome’s sister company. The products and raw materials used by the company are purchased from different manufactures. They brand the products, educate the sales representatives and market them to the targeted audiences. In addition, the team will be required to attend the quarterly branch manager sales events to present the new kind of product they will be offering in the market to their respective audiences. The results the project will produce will entail all these sales deliverables required for the launching of the new products through research into different departments and consultation with various department heads (Harrington & McNellis, 2006). Acceptance criteria: The acceptance criteria for the introduction of the new product into the market will entails creating product specifications, producing photographs of the product in question, producing their pricing structures f or the new products and highlight the sources of their marketing materials. Stages will be involved in the acceptance criteria as goals for the Winsome Company and the new product will be reviewed by the different departments and government bodies concerned. ... The new product will be passed through the review to confirm the manufacturing process and the test the new product to be released into the market. Lastly, the product will be passed through exit criteria for reviews which will involve changes, signatures and putting the deliverables under the configuration management system. Deliverables: The project deliverables for the business will involve set quantitative objectives for the team. Secondly, the composite sales objectives will be reconciled. Lastly, to create an efficient marketing plan that will involve adjusting the qualitative of composite objectives into marketing plan objectives (Hougham & Association for Project Management, 2004). Project Exclusions: The project will not produce other deliverables that are not concerned with the sales and marketing on the new product that will be produced by the company. Its major emphasis will only be centered to focus on the sales and marketing activities conducted by the company. Constrai nts: However, in writing for the company the scope statement, there are unforeseen barriers that might hinder my process and result to poor sales and marketing strategy for the product to be produced by the company. Lack of funds might affect the process because it will hinder the research process thus interfere with the formulation of the deliverables required for the sales of the new product into the market. Time might also be a barrier to the process because the project duration might not be sufficient enough to allow for a thorough research of the sales deliverables required by the company. Assumptions: Reconciling the sales objectives may however lead to a waste of the company resources or poor management decisions for the company and the entire sales

Evidence Based Essay Example for Free

Evidence Based Essay Teaching in the twenty first century has become a major challenge for everyone involved with education. Not only do teachers have to worry about test scores and how to handle the multitude of differences when it comes to students. But, also making sure they have adequate documentation to support all the differences and education they are supplying. When adding the documentation and strategies to special education students it becomes even more difficult. However, using strategies that align with Common Core can easily engage and participate those that are special education students and have them become successful. Now that our country has moved more and more towards Common Core instruction it is important that teachers do not lose those that are struggling to learn. Adding the toughness and rigor of Common Core easily complicates this situation. As teachers we need to learn to adapt to the changing curriculum and engage our students in a way that they can still learn through the Common Core instruction. One way to do this is through using a variety of assessments. Variety of assessments allows teachers free range how to assess their children based on their learning styles. This can be done by using either formative or informative assessments. Formative assessments is a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students achievement of intended instructional outcomes (Dodge,2012). When we use formative assessments it is allowing us to see exactly the areas of need/improvement, as well as the areas of strengt h. This is wonderful because it allows teachers the opportunity to then re-teach students based off their areas of need. When we are teaching math it is important that we try to keep the lessons as actively engaging as possible. Math tends to be a  big struggle for many special education students. The more Common Core is pushed on students the more they feel as though they might not have the ability to learn. Therefore, using an inquiry and student learning model can benefit those who struggle with math. The inquiry and student learning model is where the teaching is put back on the students in the role of hands-on inquiry (Hertz, 2013). The teacher does the modeling and the students then do the work with each other and explain the process. This really allows the teacher ample time to observe and go work with students and grab data that might not be possible. While this is happening, the children are actually having fun and they are learning! Another way to engage children with Common Core is during reading and language arts instruction. Teaching children to read is the foundation for educational success. In order to get kids engaged in learning we need to make it fun and have the students take value in what they are doing. Reading is a wonderful subject, when done correctly, the teacher can really make it fun. Having students go through a topic or core for the day and then focusing differentiated hands-on centers will really allow the students to use what they are learning more effectively. Instead of students reading in a group and then doing worksheets, they are actually putting letters together using letter cubes or play –doh. Taking the concept they just learned about and making it into their own writing story. These are activities that children love and remain engaged in and what classrooms should be doing. Another way to ensure learning is taking place for all students is making sure that the space is free of any safety concerns for those who have physical or health limitations. Physically handicapped students are aware of the fact that they are physically different that most others and that there are certain things they cannot do (Watson 2011). Therefore, it is up to the teachers to set a positive image from the beginning. This will limit the amount of talking and self-esteem crushing that can take place in the classroom. It is also important for the teacher to set up the room before any children come in, so the environment is already positively set. Making sure that the room and areas are de-cluttered, and there is a defined area for a wheelchair to get through can make a big difference in how a physically challenged student feels. It is also important to let all involved with the disabled student, what the plans are in case of emergencies, such as; fire drills or a lock-down  situation. Teachers need to do their jobs to ensure the safety of all students disabled or not. Students that enter a classroom and are physically disabled, usually have some fine or gross motor skill issues. These issues can be worked on through an occupational therapist, but also need to be reinforced when the occupational therapist is not in the room. When it comes to cutting or using a scissors the teacher should find out if the student benefits from a hand over hand assist or the use of a specialized scissors to complete the task. Knowing how severely the student’s handwriting is effected is also a very important thing to note. If the student has extremely poor motor skills and writing is not an option, then the teacher needs to look into getting a communication device that will do the typing and written work for the student. It is also beneficial to know how much self-help the child needs. Does the child need help going to the bathroom and washing their hands, or zipping up a coat? These are all questions that can decline the amount of frustration on a teacher before the student is even in the classroom. Using all of these strategies can really help and cut down on any behavioral issues that can arise when a student becomes frustrated and overwhelmed by the amount they are not able to do. Since physically handicapped children have many issues to sort out, it might become overwhelming for them and they might not be able to socialize correctly or discuss how they are feeling. When this happens they need the support and strategies to help them work through their feelings. Teachers might have the students engage in a social skills group with only four or five other students. The one leading the group can focus on different social issues; such as; embarrassment, bullying, feeling left out. Even if the disabled child is unable to talk, they can bring their assistive technology to help them participate. Role-playing can also be a huge positive for everyone. Many times children do not know and understand what it is like to be physically handicapped and not have the ability to run and play soccer. So, when the shoe is on the other foot in a role-playing mode the students can then begin to see how much the disabled child is affected. Social skill interventions start with accurate diagnosis and continue by allowing students to practice positive social interactions in a step-by-step, decision-by-decision fashion (Beelmann, Pfingsten, Losel, 1994). Teaching children is an art form. It is something that cannot be explained and truly  understood until others have walked in those shoes. All teachers can do is hope that we are using strategies effectively and communicating accurately to reach the needs of all the students, whether they are disabled or not. By using strategies and accommodations we are opening the door of possibilities and one that will benefit all that are involved not just the ones who qualify for those strategies and accommo dations. References Beelmann, A., Pfingsten, U., Losel, F. (1994). Effects of training social competence in children: A meta-analysis of recent evaluation studies. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 23(3), 260-271. Dodge, J (2012). Tips for using formative assessments to help you differentiate instruction and improve student achievement. Retrieved fromhttp://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/what-are-formative-assessments-and-why-should-we-use-them Hertz, M (2013). Common Core Standard: Third Grade Math Strategies. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ccss-3rd-grade-math-strategies-mary-beth-hertz Watson, S (2011). Physically Handicapped Students. Retrieved from http://specialed.about.com/od/physicaldisabilities/a/physical.htm

Product analysis of sprite

Product analysis of sprite This paper writes on a product of coca cola sprite, and seeks to address the concepts of product, price , promotion and place and its effect on the survival,competitive advantage over like products , preferrence by customers and its place in the beaverage drinks market place in the Malaysian community. Introduction In 1886 Dr. John Stith Pemberton first introduces Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. The pharmacist concocted caramel-colored syrup in a three-legged brass kettle in his backyard. He first distributes Coca-Cola by carrying it in a jug down the street to Jacobs Pharmacy. For five cents, consumers can enjoy a glass of Coca-Cola at the soda fountain. Now almost over 120 years old and selling in more than 200 countries, the brand is regarded as the biggest in the world and has come top of an Interbrand poll of all global brands for the fourth time in a row. It is now estimated that Coca-Colas brand is worth a whopping $67.5bn (Â £39bn). The Coca cola company in Malaysia sets as the production ground for almost all the products of Coca cola for the consumption of her customers in the Malaysian community. Coca Cola Products The Coca cola company products ranges from coke, fanta, fanta soda, krest, sprite With a portfolio of more than 3,300 beverages, from diet and regular sparkling beverages to still beverages such as 100 percent fruit juices and fruit drinks, waters, sports and energy drinks, teas and coffees, and milk-and soy-based beverages, our variety spans the globe. Brand name and Logo Coca-Cola possesses one of the most recognised brand designs in history. Its not only the trademark design of that white typeface on that particular shade of red that makes it so iconic, but also the equally famous bottle. The Product SPRITE Sprite is a favorite drink to many coca cola customers in Malaysia. Customer values are a very important attribute to organizations today. It is perceived as the worth of benefits customers received by owning and using a product in exchange for the total cost needed to obtain the product, after taking into consideration of available competitive offerings and pricings (Kotler et al., 2007). (Kinnear Bernhardt 1984) relates on the concept of product as every want -satisfying attribute a consumer receives in making an exchange, including psychological as well as physical. The concept of Product has the characteristics of solving particular needs and is categorized into physical or tangible and services or intangible The competitor of Sprite is of 7up. Sprite is a lemon lime flavor carbonated drink that also taste sweet and bubbly. However, the content of Sprite is crystal clear. Sprite is best enjoying cold especially on a hot day. The glass bottle of Sprite is colored in dark green which perhaps is a representation of lime or lemon. The sprite is packaged in plastic bottles and disposable cans with its smart sparling design which makes it appealing to customers and creates beauty for the product. Price The price of a bottle of sprite in the Malaysian market sits at RM 2.00 i.e ($0.63) which is considered very cheap and affordable. Price is defined as the way a person acquires something by giving out something in return (Kotler et al., 2007). In other word, the process of exchange is actually the process of substituting a product with another product (Exchange, 2009). The price of the sprite is influenced by the availability of raw materials, cost of production and government taxes. This cheap price tag despite is high quality and satisfaction ,makes it very much in demand by customers .The price of sprite in the market gives a good and reasonable perceived value from the customers point of view. Price is value based and with such a low price tag for the sprite, customers prefer it to its main competitor 7 up, which sits at the same price in the market but considered by many to be of a lower quality. Competitors are the market challengers to a company that will seek to attack the company in an aggressive bid to increase their own market share (Kotler et al., 2007). Place Place refers to the distribution or all the activities the Coca cola company Malaysia undertakes to get the Sprite to the customers at the right location and at the right time. Malaysia has a humid temperature that stands between 30 degrees and 35 degrees centigrade , thus the customers are always at all times in demand for chilled drinks and Sprite with her sparkling lemon lime flavor is preferred by many. The company uses middlemen, physical distribution with company trucks and Lorries, wholesalers and retailers like Giant, Carrefour, KK, 7 eleven and shops and outlets across the different localities in Malaysia to make the product available to their customers. The distribution channel of sprite in Malaysia is vast and strong making it impossible to walk into any shop or stall throughout the country without spotting a bottle of sprite on display for sale. Furthermore, the company sets up its own retail shops around different locations in the country as well as where houses for whole sales to traders. Promotion The coca cola company in Malaysia has taken to sponsoring advertisements on sprite on the local television stations, Astro and the local radio FM station to inform, persuade and influence the consumers buying decision to buy the sprite. The company creates awareness, educate on the features of sprite and its benefits to the consumer, thereby creating interest in the consumer to buy the sprite. The tools of promotion used by the Coca cola Company in Malaysia along with advertisement include sales promotion, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing of the sprite. The Sprite is also promoted by the sponsorship given to local hockey teams and football clubs within the Malaysian environment. Conclusion On writing on the core aspects of product, price, place and promotion as it affects the survival of sprite in the competitive market, the writer simply portrays on the fact of the basic tools of marketing the Coca cola Sprite in the Malaysian community. The paper delves on the best of the Coca cola Company in Malaysias ability in the performance of their specific marketing of sprite in consonance with the vital aspects of understanding, collaboration ,create, anticipate, influence and the implementation to realize the basic goals in marketing the product sprite which takes to the aspect of making profit and satisfying the customer.

The Merchant Of Venice :: Free Merchant of Venice Essays

What They Cannot See In this world, there are many aspects of blindness whether it is mentally or physically. Either way, each blindness brings out the disability in each person. Such portrayal was shown throughout the play The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare presents more than one form of blindness, which complicates the social order of the society, and I feel that the blindness, being their imperfection, creates tension between characters, which is weakened by blindness. When the characters are being blind, they are corrupted by their actions and somehow they do not care who they are hurting as long as they know they are getting the best out of something. Whether it being valuables, love, power, or respect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physical and mental blindness are seen throughout this play. They play a part in each character's daily lives and are the obstacle that prevents happiness. Old Gobbo, who is Launcelot's blind and feeble father, expresses physical and mental blindness when he approaches Launcelot and surprisingly asks him, 'Master young man, you, I pray you, which is the way to Master Jew's?'; (Pg. 21, lines 29-30) for he was looking for his son, Launcelot. Surprisingly Old Gobbo did not know that he was speaking to his son. Old Gobbo is nearly blind, which is the physical part of the blindness, which was one of the reasons why he unable to recognize Launcelot's features. He is also mentally blind because a father should recognize his own son's voice. Launcelot briefly jokes with his father before confessing '[he is] Launcelot – [his] boy that was, [his] son that is, [his] child that shall be,'; (Pg. 22, lines 78-79) but Old Gobbo still 'cannot think [he is his] son'; (Pg. 22 , line 80). Launcelot convinces himself that 'if [his father] had [his] eyes, [he] might fail of knowing [him]'; because 'it is a wise father that knows his own child'; (Pg. 22, lines 70-71). It is a shame that a father cannot recognize his own flesh and blood. This blindness concerns the relationship of a father and their child. Another blindness that concerns the relationship between a father and the child would have been between Portia and her dead father. Portia, the heroine of The Merchant of Venice, is forced to marry the suitor who chooses the correct casket left by her deceased father. When the Prince of Morocco, one of Portia's suitors, comes to Belmont to woo Portia, he daringly takes the test of choosing the correct casket.

Madness and Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Essays on Shakesp

Hamlet - A Question of Madness      Ã‚   Hamlet's public persona is a facade he has created to carry out his ulterior motives. The outside world's perception of him as being mad is of his own design. Hamlet is deciding what he wants others to think about him. Polonius, a close confidant of the King, is the leading person responsible for the public's knowledge of Hamlet's madness. The idea that Hamlet is mad centers around the fact that he talks to the ghost of his dead father. He communicates with his dead father's ghost twice, in the presence of his friends and again in the presence of his mother. By being in public when talking to the ghost, the rumor of his madness is given substance.       Polonius decides to go to Hamlet's mother, the Queen, in Act II to tell her that her "noble son is mad" (105). Aware of what has been going on with Hamlet, the Queen questions Polonius. In his response, Polonius continues to proclaim "That he's mad, 'tis true. 'Tis true, 'tis pity, / And pity 'tis 'tis true - a foolish figure" (105). Although not believing it in her heart, the Queen later admits that Hamlet may be mad. After their conversation, Hamlet enters and has his own conversation with Polonius. During this conversation, Hamlet falsely labels Plonius as a fishmonger. Hamlet knows that Polonius will tell others of the mistaken identity; specifically, he knows Polonius will report it to the King. Polonius believes Hamlet's insanity is related to sex; therefore, he is concerned with Hamlet's relationship with his daughter, Ophelia.       Hamlet's relationship and actions towards Ophelia are not exempt from his dual personalities. In private, he is deeply devoted to her; but in public, he humiliates and belittles her... ... are dead at the end of the play. If Hamlet had not chosen to pretend to be mad, the outcome of the events would probably of been different. Hamlet's quest of destroying the King is selfish, in that it affects the innocent as well as the guilty. Hamlet's false madness finally brings about true madness at the end of the play that is inescapable.    Works Cited and Consulted: http://shakespeare.about.com/library/blhamlet_2_2.htm Bloom, Harold. Introduction. Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996.   

Human senses Essay

Our human senses are the major and needed parts to help with Thinking or any bodily activity in general. No matter if we Disagree that our senses are accurate or weak we still use and need Them on a daily basis. Our sense of sight, hearing, touch, smell And Taste helps us guide ourselves to our thought destinations. If Human beings weren’t developed with any senses at all we would Not be able to experience a lot of many wonderful aspects through Our lives. The sense of taste makes sure we get the accurate and Adequate amount of nutrition needed to digest our daily meals or Anything that we consume. All of our senses provide accurate Information for the situations we are faced within our daily living. Some of our senses are very weak mainly when it pertains to the Thought process. We mainly forget to think before we speak on Certain occasions. In the heat of the moment we tend to react on Temporary with some permanent decisions. Some permanent Decision we conclude with are later on regretted later on in our Lives. If a study was performed on a number of correctional Facilities throughout the United States or any other country I guarantee many of the individuals that are a part of the Correctional system truly regret the choice’s they chose to Make during the height of the moment. At any given moment There are 1,000 thought, feelings and emotions that travel through Our brain when we are excited and anxious. When we as enter These type of situations it is best that we sit, pause and think about What we are being faced with. Going through every day in life Requires a lot of thought and reaction whether it’s a good or bad Reaction. We must realize that no matter what we go through, we Have to use one of our senses we are blessed with to maintain and Menevour our thoughts. Our minds are some truly unique vessels That are designed and separated to work uniquely with our entire Body to function as a whole. We must accurately rely on our Senses to successfully succeed in life.

Gender, Authority and Dissent in English Mystical Writers Essay

The Book of Margery Kempe certainly provoked an intense amount of controversy, not least in the present but in her own time as well; a debate that centred on her position as a mystic. This position entailed having true knowledge of God, to work towards a union with him where they would essentially become one. Margery Kempe, at the very least views herself to be one of God’s vessels through which He can allow her to experience spiritual visions and feelings. It is in her book that Kempe conveys through words what she considered to be the most significant of these experiences, in order that those who read them would derive ‘great comfort and solace’. It is Kempe’s ‘individual and brilliant adaptation of what was originally a discipline for cloistered elites’1 that draws attention to her. Yet it is this individual voice, the style she uses, and her firm relationship with the market world that questions her experiences of higher contemplation. Certainly Kempe does not conform to the solitary life of a conventional mystic, much like Richard Rolle’s statement of ‘running off’ into the woods, and at one point she is even â€Å"sorrowful and grieving† because she has no company. Yet she uses many of her interactions with others to confirm her position as a mystic. She visits the revered mystic Julian of Norwich to seek advice as to whether her visions were genuine or not (Chapter 18), and receives confirmation from Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. Essentially what it has been suggested that Kempe experiences is a higher level of contemplation – positive mysticism. This was the search for God through human imagery, which ‘insists on the physical as a legitimate means of access to the spiritual’.2 Certainly one of the standard patterns in mystical experience were the feelings of love between the mystic and God which is often described as fire, hence Rolle’s ‘Incendium Amoris’. Kempe notes that there was an ‘unquenchable fire of love which burnt full sore in her soul’, and that Christ had set her soul ‘all on fire with love’. Thus the intensity of her visions can not be brought into question as ‘she certainly shares with [the tradition] a mystical sense of God at work in human experiences’.3 These human experiences included her own body, as she suffers illness and indulgences in self-mutilation, wearing a haircloth, fasting and even biting her hand so violently that she has to be tied down. However, the visions that Kempe experiences, as mystics viewed them as gifts, are not a product of studious praying and meditating. In most ways what she conveys is an imitation of what many female European mystics experienced, like Bridget of Sweden and Dorothy of Montou or Catherine of Siena. She seeks justification for her mystical standing by linking herself closely to others and, though illiterate receives much of her inspiration from such mystical texts as ‘Incendium Amoris’, ‘Stimulus Amoris’, and Walter Hilton’s ‘Scale of Perfection’. However, as Glasscoe has pointed out, her spiritual experiences were not an easy thing for Kempe to meditate on. Whereas Hilton focused on inner spiritual growth, Kempe can only explain her transcende nce through what was familiar to her – the body.4 She even says that ‘sometimes, what she understood physically was to be understood spiritually’. Thus, whereas her visions may at many points seem extreme and even distasteful it does not necessarily mean that she was experiencing anything less than what is considered mystical. What also inspires Kempe, whilst also bringing into question her status as a mystic is the fact that she was a woman who was firmly placed in the world. David Aers describes her as an independent businesswoman, who before her initial vision was active in the market economy, investing money, organising public work and employing men.5 Mysticism was overwhelmingly contemplative, and there was not much spoke about the ‘active life’, with the exception of Walter Hilton’s positive description of the ‘mixed life’. However instead of accepting that she is â€Å"too busy with worldly occupations that must be attended to’6, like Hilton proposed, Kempe integrates the economic world into her mysticism. Shelia Delany proposed that in her work ‘one is constantly aware of the cash nexus’. 7 This is true in the sense that Kempe even strikes a deal with Jesus, in the sense that he becomes the mediator between Kempe’s social responsibilities as a wife and her desire to lead the spiritual life. Through Christ’s help she can lead the chaste life by buying off her husband, hence paying off all his debts (Chapter 11. p.60). Atkinson, commented that what Kempe creates is a ‘God, who controlled the economy of salvation, [and] functioned as a great banker of a merchant prince†.8 Also Kempe’s drive for ‘more’ is also indicative of her market drive values, in the same sense that she sees that by giving charity to her fellow Christians she will receive in heaven ‘double reward’. This unusual market driven line of thought is not the only factor that distinguishes her from her predecessors. Her style of writing is different and her visions are certainly unique. She actively takes part in many of the experiences, using speech, as Carol Coulson has suggested to inject herself into the holy narrative,9 even at one point acting as the handmaiden to God, and as a replacement to the biblical figure – Mary Magdalene. Her first vision is also very personal, and in some ways domesticated. Jesus is said to have appeared ‘in the likeness of a man†¦clad in a mantle of purple silk, sitting upon her bedside’. The Incarnation is taken to the extreme, where her visions sometimes sit outside the historical moments of the Bible and become part of her own world. Despite distancing herself by calling herself the ‘creature’ throughout the text many have accused her work of being self-absorbed – ‘I have told you before that you are a singular lover of God, and therefore you shall have a singular love in heaven, a singular reward and a singular honour’. Certainly her relations with God are very personal, and in many ways conveyed in sexual terms, as when Christ says to her ‘Daughter, you greatly desire to see me, and you may boldly, when you are in bed, take me to you as your wedded husband’. However, again this ‘great pomp and pride’, is said to emerge from her experience as a female within an urban class which fostered within her a strong sense of class identity and self-value.10 A self-value that she never really agrees to give up, thus because she refuses to traditionally quieten the self, Kempe does not sit comfortably as a mystic. Similarly she never really abandons her desire for worldly goods. She even admits in the first chapters that after her initial vision she refused to give up her worldly leisure’s, and still took delight in earthly things. This earthiness continues throughout the book. At one point she explains that she was embarrassed ‘because she was not dressed as she would have liked to have been for lack of money, and wishing to go about unrecognised until she could arrange a loan she held a handkerchief in front of her face’. This embarrassment does not hold well with the lower stage of mysticism in which the visionary is to dispel themselves of all earthly matters so that their soul is open to heaven. Her mysticism is driven to accumulate. She refuses to ‘be content with the goods that God has sent her’, whilst ‘ever [desiring] more and more’. From God she can attain spiritual status, whilst through her (father’s) social position she maintains earthly standing, thus she is caught between two (masculine) worlds. As David Aers has noted the market world never really receives rebuke in her mystical world, in fact it remains a natural part of it.11 Yet to see her as the victim of a capitalist society is, as Glasscoe maintains, to ignore her avowed purpose.12 Yet it is hard to ignore the element of hysteria in her work. She certainly experiences the traditional mystical dilemma that her visions will never be truly conveyed to those who stand outside it, that ‘herself could never tell the grace that she felt, it was so heavenly, so high above her reason and her bodily wits†¦that she might never express it within her world like she felt it in her soul’. However her Gift of Tears, in which she cries ‘abundantly and violently’, break quite brutally this silence of contemplation. It may be however that her loud screams and cries convey her devotion and justify her higher state. Certainly tradition showed that mystics ‘thought of themselves as vehicles for suffering and their broken voices and lacerated bodies reflected the stress under which they laboured’.13 Her crying brought attention to her being, even in her own time when crowds flocked to see her, becoming somewhat of a spectacle. These tears are almost a sign of her fertility in her contemplative life, and also justified in the Bible – Psalm cxxvi, 5-6 says that ‘they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Her tears therefore, although extreme and lead many throughout her work to rebuke her, are essentially a sign of grace demonstrating that the Incarnation for Kempe was an ever-present reality.14 Ursula Peters suggested that female mystics, through mysticism â€Å"turned inward and [discovered] ways to describe their own experiences†.15 In fact the role Kempe plays as a woman is very important to her whole mystical experience, and in some ways may even bring it into question. In her experiences with God she plays the wife, the mother, the sister and the daughter. When her husbands exclaims that she is ‘no good wife’ it again demonstrates that Kempe struggled between two worlds, that of the spiritual and that of her family commitments. St Bernard once proclaimed that natural human feeling doesn’t have to be suppressed but channelled into God, and in some ways this is exactly what Kempe achieves. By using the idea that she is a holy vessel she is able to assert herself as a woman in the highly competitive world quite drastically. She refuses to abandon her personality and quite forcefully, hence her adamant desire to be chaste, asserts who she is. The Church even attempted to denounce her as a Lollard, which shows that she was a threatening (female) voice and the only way to quieten her was to denounce her as a heretic. Rather than being a mystical treatise, The Book of Margery Kempe is a narrative account, almost a story, or even an autobiography as many have stated it to be, in which she attempts to adopt the contemplative ideal of piety.16 In fact it is more than mysticism, it is the experiences of a woman trying to find her voice in a masculine social world, and the only way that she can achieve this is through having spiritual authority. Certainly her devotion can not be questioned, and she can’t even predict herself when the intensity of Christ’s Passion will overwhelm her, be it ‘sometime in the church, sometime in the street, sometime in the chamber, sometime in the field’. Yet her extreme metaphors and use of language certainly bring into doubt her status as a mystic. As Susan Dickman has suggested prayers and visions certainly occupy the text, yet they are embedded in a larger structure17, namely how she was ‘painfully drawn and steered, [her pilgrimage acting as a metaphor for her mystical journey] to enter the way of perfection’. Certainly ‘painfully’ is an apt description, leading many to criticise her as a charlatan, a ‘terrible hysteric’ and even one who was possessed by the devil. Yet this account is from a very independent and highly spirited woman, who although struggled with her identity and sought the higher state to explore that larger structure of herself through God, was deeply devoted to her faith. In the end her piety was very ordinary, it is her style of conveyance however, the lack of the abstract vocabulary of Julian of Norwich, Rolle and the Cloud author18 that brings her status as a mystic int o controversy. Bibliography Aers, David., Community Gender and Individual Identity in English Writing, 1360-1430 (London, 1988) Bancroft, A., The Luminous Vision: Six Medieval Mystics and their Teachings (London, 1982). Evans, Ruth and Johnson, Lesley (eds.)., Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature: The Wife of Bath and All Her Sect (London, 1994) Klapisch-Zuber, C (ed.)., Silences of the Middle-Ages (London 1992),447 Glasscoe, Marion (ed.)., The Medieval Mystical Tradition (Exeter, 1980) http://www.anamchara.com/mystics/kempe.htm http://www.ccel.org/h/hilton/ladder/ladder-PART_I.html http://www.sterling.holycross.edu/departments/visarts/projects/kempe/index.html Knowles, D., The English Mystical Tradition London (London, 1961) Meale, Carol. M., (ed.)., Women and Literature in Britain 1150-1500 (Cambridge, 1993) 1 C. Klapisch-Zuber, Silences of the Middle Ages (London 1992),160 2 J.Long., ‘Mysticism and hysteria: the histories of Margery Kempe and Anna O’, in Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature, ed. R.Evans et al. (London, 1994),100 3 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993),268. 4 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 268. 5 D. Aers, Community, Gender and Individual Identity – English Writing 1360-1430 (London, 1988), 112. 6 http://www.ccel.org/h/hilton/ladder/ladder-PART_I.html 7 J.Long., ‘Mysticism and hysteria: the histories of Margery Kempe and Anna O’, in Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature, ed. R.Evans et al. (London, 1994), 87-111 8 D. Aers, Community, Gender and Individual Identity – English Writing 1360-1430 (London, 1988), 106 9 http://www.anamchara.com/mystics/kempe.html 10 D. Aers, Community, Gender and Individual Identity – English Writing 1360-1430 (London, 1988),115. 11 Ibid. 12 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 275. 13 C. Klapisch-Zuber, Silences of the Middle Ages (London 1992),446 14 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 276. 15 C. Klapisch-Zuber, Silences of the Middle Ages (London 1992),447 16 http://www.anamchara.com/mystics/kempe.htm 17 S. Dickman., ‘Margery Kempe and The English Devotional Tradition’, in The Medieval Mystical Tradition, ed. M. Glasscoe (Exeter, 1980), 156-172 18 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 272.