Sherlock Holmes :: English Literature

Sherlock Holmes What qualities are there in Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories which have sustained their popularity for so many years? Conan Doyle was among the first writers of detective stories and novels in England. The first novel recognised as a detective story was written in 1868, by Wilkie Collins entitled "The Moonstone". Later in 1870, the popular novelist Charles Dickens also tried his hand at writing a detective novel called "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". These early detective stories have not become as famous as Doyle's creation for a number of reasons, one of which is that when Doyle began writing his novels there was a greater demand in general for stories, as more people were becoming educated and were taught how to read. Consequently, when the stories about Holmes were published, there was a growing readership in England, greater than there had been in Dickens' and Collins' time. Furthermore, the fact that dialect was rarely used in any of the Sherlock Holmes stories, unlike other works of the time, made it easier for people to read and understand the content, particularly those who had only recently acquired the basic skill of reading. In addition, as the stories were originally published in the "Strand" magazine, this made them fairly accessible, and therefore they enjoyed a wider social readership. The stories were often shorter than those of other writers, and thus avoided unnecessary detail. Generally, the stories have a distinct and succinct plot structure and were supported by illustrations, which I suggest, played a part in the general success. Because the popularity of his detective stories increased rapidly, yet at the same time Doyle was becoming more and more uncomfortable with his character. He wanted, out of personal preference to devote greater time to other forms of writing. He decided that the best way to do this was to end the life of Sherlock Holmes with a dramatic story involving Holmes' worst enemy, Professor Moriarty. Doyle sent his famous detective and his enemy plunging to their deaths at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. Doyle, however, had underestimated the popularity of his character, because when his followers read "The Adventure of the Final Problem" there was a public outcry over his action. He received many letters from infuriated readers and some men actually marched through London, wearing black crepe bands around their hats, indicating their remorse for the death of their favourite detective. It has been suggested that it was the popularity of Sherlock Holmes, which kept the "The Strand" magazine in business, and when Doyle's stories did not appear in it, there were fewer copies sold, showing the tremendous popularity of the detective.

Religion, Politics and Economy

Through the analysis of archaeological evidence and sources, historians are now able to gain insight into how society functioned in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Though several factors made up these societies, this essay will only examine three; religion local politics and economy to create a picture of how society was. The citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum were very religious and believed everything in their lives was controlled by the gods. We can see the importance placed on religion from the ten temples in the area, some of which are the Temple Of Jupiter (Capitolium) and the Temple of Apollo.To be a ‘good Roman' pietas, reverence of the gods was required and was an integral part of the persona of any respected Roman. They worshipped many gods, primarily Graeco-Roman deities such as Mars (Aries) and Venus (Aphrodite). The temples had two functions – to house images and objects associated with the god and to be a place where rituals were carried out by priests to honour the gods. They were simply built and contained a statue of the deity which stood before an alter where an offering could be made.The Temple of Apollo on the left and the Temple of Jupiter on the right Gods were orshipped both in public and in the home. Cicero states ‘The most sacred, the most hallowed place on earth is the home of each and every citizen. There are his sacred hearth and his household gods, there the very centre of his worship, religion and domestic ritual. ‘ Most houses had small shrines called Lararia with small statues or painted images of the Lares (household gods who protect the home and family) or other household gods such as Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and Panates, guardian of the pantry.Some houses had images of a genius who was the spirit of the paterfamilias (master of the house). Lararium in the House of the Vetti, showing the Genius between two Lares Statuettes of Lares in House of the Golden Cupid With the spread of the Roman Empire came new foreign religions and cults which were generally tolerated. The Egyptian cult of Isis became popular and appealed especially to the poor and oppressed thanks to the promise of immortality and rebirth. After the earthquake of 62 A.D, the temple of Isis was rebuilt the most elaborately showing how much she was valued. Images of Isis and other Egyptian deities could also be found in homes. Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility and divine intoxication, was worshipped under the ame of Bacchus. A fresco found in the Villa of the Mysteries depicts him initiating members into his secret society. The worship of Mithras that originated is Persia was also common. The Temple of Isis The imperial cult transcended all other cults and the emperor offered every citizen the opportunity of worshipping him.Worship of the emperor was the most important as we can see through the Temple of Vespasian, the temple of Fortuna Augusta which housed a statue of Augustus and the forum which celebrated the imp erial glory through triumphal arches and statues. Altar at the temple of Vespasian ocal politics is shown by the number of political buildings in the forum including the Comitium (voting hall), Basilica, which was originally a law court but morphed into a meeting place for businessmen and politicians, and the three government offices.The electorate consisted of two Duumviri elected each year who has potestas (official power) and the responsibility to oversee revenues and taxation, preside over the town council and perform Judicial roles in court, two Aediles elected each year who were responsible for the care of temples, streets and public buildings and the olding of games, two Duumviri Quinqennales were chosen every five years which performed the same tasks as the Duumviri in addition to revising the citizenship and council roles, and a Prafectus lure Dicundo, who only had power in an emergency.There were various roles that were not accompanied by official political power but were still important. Being a member of the town council (curia), which consisted of eighty to one hundred members, was one such role. The members had influence within the community and needed dignitas and respect from other members before being appointed. A Roman with political ambitions would need to be a free, wealthy man who was driven, had a reputable family or made a good name for himself, have significant dignitas and auctoritas and have connections with those in higher ranking positions.Patrons assisted clients who sought political advancement in return for support in the election campaign. Women did not have the right to vote and weren't allowed to run for any of the political positions but despite these restrictions women could still have a large influence in society as they had â€Å"borrowed† auctoritas from the men in their family. Studies conducted by Frances Bernstein of the University of Maryland revealed that at least seventeen of the electoral notices show women who, with their husbands, were clients of candidates for office.On the wall of a Pompeian house, one Lollia, With her people', most probably her family, urged the election of Gaius Julius Polybius as duumvir, one of the chief magistrates. Most of the evidence for politics comes from inscriptions, graffiti and painted notices. Two thousand of these in Pompeii have been classified as electoral notices announcing support for a candidate and calling on the reader to vote for him. An example of this is â€Å"If upright living is considered any recommendation, Lucretius Fronto is well worthy of office† and Note for Lucious Popidius Sabinus; his grandmother worked hard for his last election†.The Amphitheatre at Pompeii is inscribed with a plaque stating the duumviri paid for it as a gift to the citizens and the statue of Marcus Balbus and memorial alter in the baths at Herculaneum suggest he funded the baths. The economies of Pompeii and Herculaneum were small and local, yet d iverse and successful due to their prime location on the sea and as Strabo recounted surrounded by the fertile volcanic soils of Mount Vesuvius. † A mosaic discovered in the House of Scaurus with the words ‘Profit is my Joy shows that they had enthusiasm for money making.The economies functioned by the circulation of money through businesses such as pistrina (bakeries), cauponae/taberna (inns/taverns), thermopolia (hot food bars) and fullonica (laundries). Jongman stated that â€Å"agricultural production was the largest contribution to the economy. † Trade was vital to create an income and to help the diverse economy flourish. Most of Pompeian imports and exports are deciphered through pottery. The analysis of these sources show that they imported Egypt and furniture from Naples. Evidence of exports comes from garum Jars found in France and wine amphorae in France, Spain, Germany and Africa.Jongman (2009) argues that fullonicas weren't a significant industry but contradictory to this Seneca indicates that 600 sheep died in the earthquake and 18 fullonicas were discovered including the House of the Wooden Partician in Herculaneum where a clothes press was found and the Guild of fullers in the Eumachia building. The fulleries were the clothes makers and cleaners of society and they performed multiple tasks including he processing of wool and the washing, cleaning, rinsing, dying and brushing of cloth. The Pompeian workshop sign of M.Vecilus Verecundus showed the process involved which included the washing of the wool in a combination of what was called fullers earth which consisted of earth, potash, carbonate of soda and urine, which was then trodden on by slaves and hung out to dry. One of the largest fullonicas found was the famous Fullery of Stephanus which was installed in a dwelling on the Via dell'Abbondanza. At the entrance was a machine for pressing tunics, a basin in the atrium and a previous peristyle now containing more basins for the dying rocess.Pots were placed outside the fullonicas and on street corners to collect urine from passer byes as the preferred camel urine was a luxury and costly item. In Pompeii and Herculaneum clothing represented status and keeping clothes clean was necessary to be presentable and maintain that status. Over thirty bakeries have been identified in Pompeii with ovens heated with vine branches. Bread was popular because most homes didn't have ovens and it wasn't expensive. Bakeries grinded grain on lava stone mills which would press it into flour. The flour was then mixed with water and set on tables for kneading.A mule or onkey turned the mill as we can see from donkey skeletons found in the mills of Herculaneum. Bread was usually sent to be sold in shops but not always as some bakeries had connecting shops and sold their own bread. An example of this is N. Popidius Priscus, who used his freedmen to run the Bakery of Modestus in which 81 loaves of bread were found from the day of the eruption. This bakery shows the economic connections between ex-slaves and the upper classes. Twenty five different pans were discovered at Sextus Patulcus Felix's shop in Herculaneum which provides evidence that a variety of cakes and breads were on offer.

Critical Review for the Article Essay

The electronic journal entitled: ‘The Long-Term Performance of Horizontal Acquisition’, by Laurence Capron of the Institut Europeen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD), published in 1999 by the Wiley and Sons publishing, has studied the creation of â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. In Capron’s paper, he dated his studies from mid-1980’s to early 1990’s financing strategies of firms in divesting and liquidating its assets which he referred as the â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. Capron has cited about 253 firms in Europe and America that patterns the financing strategies. According to Capron (1999), examination reveals divestment of assets and capital infusion (re-financing of liquidated assets) makes effective to â€Å"acquisition performance†, but could have potentially detrimental impact. As what Capron emphasized on the performance of acquisition based on â€Å"divestment and redeployment (re-acquisition) of resources†, his study examines the defects and compliments on effective means in â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. Key points and rationale As reviewed from the journal, the â€Å"horizontal acquisitions† may be exemplified as a means and strategy in establishing the resource-divestment scheme, in which by doing so, it â€Å"optimizes or exploits the values of cost-based and revenue-based synergies† (Capron 1999: p. 988). As explained, it may be perceived that the â€Å"synergy† patterns the continuing acquirement of business values, as a result of divestment wherein merging of the newly diversified firm or business values acquires more assets and capital budget. According to Capron (1999), the cost efficiency theory emphasizes on the significance of cost-based synergies that occur when assets have been divested resulting the integration of cost-saving measures. Thus, the firm performs effectively in enhancing its revenues that synergizes with the redistribution of the capital towards an enhanced capability. It may be analyzed from the findings of Capron that the 1980’s and 1990’s rapid growth of industries brought about by globalization have emerged more investments in the supply chain. One of which is the positioning of developed and high-end industries within raw material sources. Like, for example, diversification process has been developed in Asian countries wherein more investment in cheap raw materials and labor are available and can be acquired easily. The â€Å"horizontal acquisition† could be drawn from establishing partnership, subsidiary in operation, joint ventures and inter-dependency in export and import schemes. Hence, for example â€Å"Company A† has divested in establishing â€Å"Company B† to engage in tire manufacturing that source out the cheapest raw materials. In which case, a diversified industrial firm could venture out into â€Å"versatile† business values that optimize capital investments for a larger revenue generation translated into cost effectiveness that means substantial profitability. In Capron’s finding, the so-called â€Å"economy of scale† became the bases of diversification process that paved the way to a â€Å"large-scale† industrialization. The 20th century practice of the economy of scale has favored more industries to capture the â€Å"investment areas†, specifically in poor countries. The â€Å"dispensation of merging† through open-ended stockholding in small-medium-large enterprises units has put significant relevance in acquiring industrial partnership, wherein capital investment has a critical role in merging companies. As cited from Capron’s findings, the logical economic explanation is capturing revenue-based synergies which are commonly identified as allocating and complementing resources by providing â€Å"core competencies† or â€Å"mobilizing invisible assets† (Penrose 1959; in Capron 1999: p. 989). As cited, Capron also pointed out in his â€Å"theoretical model† of post-acquisition and target redeployment (Capron 1999: pp. 990-995). According to Capron, the theory describes the diversification process as focusing on (1) asset divestiture, (2) cost-saving, (3) resource redeployment, and (4) revenue-enhancing capabilities as an effective means of â€Å"acquisition performance† (Capron 1999: p. 992). The theoretical model refers to and explains the â€Å"basic economic behavior† as outlined in the acquisition performance. Capron further theorized that capabilities in a divested firm are being distributed as an organizational undertaking. Meaning, it can be explained that the system of corporate governance and human resources are distributed or being shared that composes the acquisition performance. However, key â€Å"organic elements† were emphasized to have been integrated in the divestment process, in which the re-deployment (or deployment) of the organizational â€Å"system or setting† are acquired. Conclusion Capron’s examination on the horizontal acquisition and projection of model in strategic post-acquisition and redeployment could be understood as a fundamental undertaking in diversification process. It may be true that most of merging firms in their acquired assets or business are mainly distributing their in-placed â€Å"organizational or corporate system†. However, the merging firms could likewise optimize or â€Å"streamline the existing organizational set-up, which is the common occurrence in most firms that undertaken a â€Å"buy-out†. It may be perceived that the revenue-generation could be largely acquired into options by streamlining the existing organizational set-up or re-organizing both human and capital resources. Capron’s findings have emphasized more on the performance capability on the theory of â€Å"horizontal acquisition† referring only to capital budget, as implied on the capital resources or fixed assets of the firms. The human resource aspect [as a critical unit] of the post-acquisition process may have not been well emphasized. What has been generally discussed in the study is the transformative business value in divestment schemes referring to capital investments and fixed asset liquidation. It could be reflected that the capital investment and fixed asset liquidation are the critical factors in the divestment schemes as the primary resource of merging stakeholder. It could be suggested that the â€Å"potentially detrimental impact† [as also pointed out by Capron] could be referred to the human resources or labor force in a diversified industry. The merging stakeholder in Capron’s findings were much given relevance on how they could effectively perform in targeting their post-acquisition and redeployment, in which the study itself envisions to complement the performance capabilities of the stakeholders. At this point, we may re-examine Capron’s â€Å"theoretical model† as giving more â€Å"weight† to the envisioning of transnational and multi-national enterprises in furtherance of globalization, in which the continuing divestment scheme competes in the large scale economy of labor market and capital build-up. We may then conclude that Capron’s findings could be re-examined with further studies relating to human resources re-deployment or deployment on its horizontal development complementing the diversification of industries, in which the parallelism envisions both human and capital divestment. Section B Morrison’s bid to Safeway The electronic magazine of the Financial Times on its December 8th 2003 issue at the www. ft. com web site has published the news article of Richard Milne entitled: ‘Countdown Starts for Morrison’s Bid for Safeway’. According to the news article, the Morrison Supermarket bided 21 days from its competitors, such as Tesco, J. Sainsbury and Asda-WalMart, following the UK government’s offer to sell the Safeway supermarket. The UK Department of Trade and Industry disclosed that â€Å"Morrison was willing to sell its 53 stores if acquisition of Safeway is successful† (Richard Milne 2003; in Ft. com 2008). Morrison’s negotiation was favored by the UK Competition Commission that disqualified the three major competitors from the bidding and upheld Morrison to takeover Safeway with a share of 219-1/2 from the 279-1/2, in which Safeway acknowledged the buy out. In a follow up report in 2004, after a year of the buy out, the Safeway has gained 40% of sales growth. Financial analysts claimed that Safeway has â€Å"migrated customers† to Morrison supermarket, as it cited that â€Å"quality of sales has gone better because Morrison has stopped the Safeway policy of rolling deep discounts† (Martin Dickson 2004; in Ft. com 2008). Perception of the issue Morrison’s takeover of Safeway supermarket has gauged the situation of significant financial divestment venture. The business potentials of Safeway [being an established supermarket that solely competes with Tesco, J. Sainsbury and Asda-WalMart] were the â€Å"strong intent† of financial divestment of Morrison to even offer the sell of its 53 stores. The financial divestment of Morrison could be relating Capron’s findings on the â€Å"horizontal acquisition† of merging stakeholders by way of capital investments through diversified assets. In which case, the Safeway supermarket has found by Morrison as a â€Å"potential divestiture† that shall absorb the vulnerability from tough competitors. The merging of stakeholder through a buy-out or takeover of an established investment [like Safeway] may have validated Capron’s theory of â€Å"post-acquisition and redeployment†, in which Morrison has able to â€Å"contain† the migratory customers and could further develop the acquisition performance of divesting financial investments. The divestment process of Morrison’s takeover to Safeway has likewise described Capron’s finding on merging firms that engages in the economy of scale. One that Morrison has learned from the Safeway’s enterprise approach on rolling deep discounts, wherein it found to be defeating the â€Å"selling schemes†. Thus, managing the risks in â€Å"horizontal acquisition† has gained Morrison’s capability to undertake strategic competition that transformed the â€Å"old Morrison business† through the new outfit of Safeway supermarket. It may be then generally perceived that Capron’s theory on â€Å"horizontal acquisition† has transformative business value in enhancing the financial investment and liquidating a frozen asset [like Morrison’s 53 stores that are non-performing], of which a â€Å"unilateral† financial divestment scheme in managing risk investment, that is vulnerable to tightened competition, gains flexibility upon acquiring an established business venture. However, this assumption is perceptive of a challenge to the continuing financial divestment of core industries in the global market. List of References Capron, L. (1999) ‘The Long-Term Performance of Horizontal Acquisition’. Strategic Management Journal, pp. 987-1018, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. , CCC 0143– 2095/99/110987–32. Dickson, M. (2004). ‘Companies UK: Safeway Sale’. The Financial Times (2008). [online] available from