Issues Addressed in A Raisin in The Sun Essay -- Lorraine Hansberry

Black and White In the words of Jim Cocola and Ross Douthat, Hansberry wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun to mimic how she grew up in the 1930s. Her purpose was to tell how life was for a black family living during the pre-civil rights era when segregation was still legal (spark notes). Hansberry introduces us to the Youngers’, a black family living in Chicago’s Southside during the 1950s pre-civil rights movement. The Younger family consists of Mama, who is the head of the household, Walter and Beneatha, who are Mama’s children, Ruth, who is Walter’s wife, and Travis, who is Walter and Ruth’s son. Throughout the play the Youngers’ address poverty, discrimination, marital problems, and abortion. Mama is waiting on a check from the insurance company because of the recent passing of her husband. Throughout the play Walter tries to convince Mama to let him invest the money in a liquor store. Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor while embracing her African her itage, and Ruth just found out that she is pregnant and is struggling to keep her marriage going. The Youngers’ live in a very small apartment that is falling apart because of the wear and tear that the place has endured over the years. Mama dreams of having her own house and ends up using part of the insurance money for a down payment on a house in an up-scale neighborhood. The Youngers’ meet Mr. Lindner, who is the head of the welcoming committee. Mr. Lindner voices the community’s concerns of the Youngers’ moving into their neighborhood. Is the play A Raisin in the Sun focused on racial or universal issues? Some say that this play is racial in that the family is black, and what the family is going through could only happen to people of that race. One prominent racial is... ... have a garden. This play is more universal in that the majority of the issues the characters face are easily related to people of all races. Most people want to be able to provide for their family, own a home, and find out where they come from. Most couples argue and bicker about money or children and not being able to provide for them. Everyone has dreams, big and small, no matter what race, and there is something that anyone can relate to. A Raisin in the Sun is universal because the play communicates problems in the play and conveys them in a way that everyone can relate. â€Æ' Works Cited Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Norton. Ninth. Ed. Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, Kelly J. Mays. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. 1942-2002. Cocola, Jim and Douthat, Ross. SparkNote on A Raisin in the Sun, 16 Sep. 2008. .

Barclay Card

The use of Credit cards started during the first half of the 20th century. The cards were initially used to make the process of identification less complex and for confirmation of costumers when authorization was required by tellers for account purchases in retail stores. The process developed, and in the 1940’s, some banks in the united states allowed customers to buy goods and services, and have these charged to against their monthly bank charge account, rather than to a store account Development of competition Early contenders to Barclaycard emerged from their closest competitors.In 1966, prompted by the success of the bank americard network, members of the competing franchises formed the interbank card association (ICA), which was later to become known as MasterCard international. The ICA differed from bank americard in being an organization controlled by member banks which took responsibility for promoting the MasterCard brand and for setting standards for security, autho rization, clearing and settlement systems between members. ICA went international in 1968 with an association with banamex.Barclaycards strategy in the market has been associated with three continuing elements. The fist was the continued growth of the credit card market shown in exhibit 4. over the period 1989-9 the volume of credit card transaction grew at 7. 5 per cent, while debit cards grew at 40 percent. The number of credit cards in use increased by 5 percent by annum and the value of a transaction by 5. 5 percent p. a. The second factor was the relative success of visa, whose UK franchise was exclusively, enjoyed Barclaycard in the early years.Over the years, visa secured a position as the world’s most wildly used card, by 1998 accounting for $ 1. 4 trillion dollars of purchase or 55 percent of the global market. Although the competition between visa and MasterCard was less clear cut in the UK Barclaycard’s visa had international acceptability with 16million mer chants worldwide. Exhibit 5 suggests that although Barclaycard lost market share somewhat faster than the other major banks, the strength of visa’s international position to some extent offset Barclay’s premium pricing.Profitability of Barclaycard Even though Barclaycard was the first and for a considerable amount of time, the only issuer of credit cards in the UK, Barclaycard made some losses during the first decade of its operations, as the company built up its card and merchant volumes. In 1995, Barclaycard acquired 90,000 gold customers, and that launch increased Barclaycard’s market share of newly issued credit cards to more than 30 percent. Processing of Barclaycard transactions Transaction from paper to electronics introduced large economies of scale in processing.This innovation however was characterized by relatively high level, one off investments. Alternative strategic directions open to Barclaycard in its future development Barclaycard should team up more with other companies. For example, the co-operation with Sainsbury, gasoline marketer BP, and department store chain Debenhams in launching new loyalty programs. With every Barclaycard purchase, shoppers should be able to collect points that can be exchanged for gifts like restaurant meals, consumer goods, grocery shopping, flights, and cinema tickets.Barclaycard should also capitalize on the company’s strong customer base by relationship marketing alliances, with leading organizations in other service industries like celnet, BT and Marks and Spencer. Evaluation of alternatives Suitability: On the basis of suitability, the best alternatives available to Barclaycard are to ensure the continued ATM usage of Barclaycard, and to ensure automation through a fully computerized transaction system. This is because cash withdrawal through ATMs is a major customer use of credit cards.The company should also endeavor to eliminate most of the paper work in order speed up the author ization process, and provide narrative statements for card holders. Acceptability: Barclaycard’s ability to monitor and measure credit risk is very crucial to its acceptability. In 2000, the volume of Barclaycard transactions rose by 12 percent, while charges for doubtful and bad debts increased by 34 percent. Financial performance thus suggested that the company’s managers have the responsibility to find customers who were in need of rollover credit, and who were less likely to default on payments.Feasibility: Barclaycard once proposed to charge non-customers heavily for using its machines, a proposal that had to be withdrawn at that time due to heavy persecution from the press. This is not a very good strategy, and should be avoided. Recommended alternatives Barclaycard strategy in the credit card industry has been associated with the continuous growth of the credit card market, its ability to avoid price competition by branding, and also, the relative success of Vis a.Barclaycard should strive to avoid price competition by branding and by using technological developments within the card networks. This is because the intensity of the competition in the credit card business tends to lead to the best credit worthy customers gaining access to credit far more cheaply. Thus it is quite difficult for credit card transaction volumes to increase quickly without inflicting bad and doubtful debts to credit card users.

Modern 20th Century Residential Architecture