Essay on Identity in Song of Solomon -- Song Solomon essays

Searching for Identity in Song of Solomon      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abstract: Whether Africans really fly or just escape a monumental burden, perhaps only through death, is a decision Toni Morrison has apparently left to her readers. Never the less, no matter what you believe, within Song of Solomon, the suggestion is, that in order to "fly" you must go back to the beginning, back to your roots. You must learn the "art" from the old messages.    O Sugarman done fly away Sugarman done gone Sugarman cut across the sky Sugarman gone home... (6)1    Milkman was born to fly. Perhaps not! Maybe, he was just doomed to a life of flight. Toni Morrison seemingly presents her readers a choice. Milkman is born under a paradoxical cloud. His life seems to be destined for controversy. Toni Morrison eventually leaves the reader with a "choose your own ending" configuration. As in Beloved, Morrison's unique style of ending a novel with no finalization, only enhances the content and tickles the imagination. Evidence of the influence of Zora Neale Hurston is sprinkled liberally throughout the story. In addition to folklore and mythology, Song of Solomon is also rife with the cold, hard facts of reality. Did Milkman actually become airborne or was he merely a man, consistently trying to escape reality?    Toni Morrison's, Song of Solomon, was inspired in part, by All God's Chillun Had Wings (Andrews et al 103). According to this folk tale, at one time all Africans could fly. Through transgressions, they lost the ability of flight. On occasion, someone would shake off the weight of their burdens and be able to fly. Only a select few held onto remnants of the memory of flight. According to a legend in Hurston, the transgression, ... ...to converge in the distance. Soon they begin to twine and twist together. At the core, is a solid rope, with each strand braided neatly with the others to form a tightly woven story. With its many parts, but only one beginning, Song of Solomon is absolutely, the "perfect soft-boiled egg" (40).    Works Cited Andrews, William L., et al. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1997. 103 Barnhart, C.L., et al. The American College Dictionary. New York: Random House, 1970. 919 Heinze, Denise. The Dilemma of "Double-Consciousness": Toni Morrison's Novels. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1993. 14 Hurston, Zora Neale. Hurston: Folklore, Memoirs, & other Writings. Ed. Cheryl A. Wall. New York: Penguin Books,1995. 315, 581, 597, 618 Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Penguin Books, 1977.

The Clifford Ball :: essays research papers

The Clifford Ball The Ball, the ball, the ball. The Clifford Ball 1996, the greatest musical performance I've ever witnessed, a time I'll never forget. "Where the fuck is Plattsburg, New York?" That was the main concern on a warm summer afternoon, as we began to pack up the car for a trip that will remain crisp in my mind better then vacation I've ever been on. It was Tom, Tim, Joe, Beau, Tom' brother Steve, Alex who flew in from Wisconsin, Tim's brother Sean and myself Tony. The weather couldn't been better, the mood...excitement, joy, and a little nervousness. After all it was my first Phish show, and Tom was the only other one out of us all who had seen a Phish show. I had always liked phish, but I was always reluctant to get tix for a show, I figured I could wait till they came to Giant Stadium, or The Meadowlands. One day I decided â€Å" What the hell!!† Plattsburg was a good 6 hours up I-87 from quiet River Vale, New Jersey. So we spent most of the afternoon at Shop-rite, Campmor, and Ramsey outdoor. We had sleeping bags, coolers of beer, soda, food, and more beer, tents, stoves, lanterns, bug torches, and clothes. At around 12 midnite Friday morning we hit the road and embarked, on what would be a scared trip. Tom drove the van with his brother and myself. Tim in his red Festiva with Joe and Sean, and Beau in his blue Festiva with Alex. Stopping only to piss and re-fuel, we busted up to Plattsburg, arriving around 6am. It was amazing to see all the VW Westvalias up I-87 with Steal you Face, and dancing bear stickers. Once arriving, we picked a spot to set camp (out of the Wetlands of course) We followed the lead of crickets bouncing gently round room to a nice spot. Close to the potable water, yet far enough from the rank smell of port-a-jons. Then we got some needed sleep. We woke up around 1pm and I opened my eyes to my suprise...100,000 other people arrived while we were asleep!!! Didn't bother me, the more the merry. It was really strange. Once I stepped out of the tent, I think I left something behind. I didn't have a care in the world. I forgot about my job, my house, my life back home. I WAS AT A PHISH SHOW, that's all that mattered. Yeah, in an ordinary situation, the crickets would have bothered me. I liked um. The real freaky people that lived off acid and trying to get that one miracle would

The Person I Dislike

The Person I dislike Hate is a very strong word. So it feels a little awkward to say that I hate a particular person. But there are certain types of people who are easy to be disliked. There are lots of people I met in my life, it is not necessary that I like all of them. I categorize the people in three types. One that I like most, second one I don’t like and the third one who has no impression at all in my life. It is a natural phenomenon that we can’t be friendly or alien to all people to whom we met.Of course here are always some good reasons behind as why we like or dislike someone. For me, such people include hypocrites, people who abuse women and children, people who gossip and backbite, and people who are greedy. In my personal opinion, it is very awkward to hate person solely on the basis of their physical appearance or on such things at which they have no control for example their face, color, height, race or religion etc. However, there are many other good re asons that you can hate a person or group of person that is their character or deeds.I dislike Mr. Tindu more than anything in the world. He is related to my father and is forty years old. Tindu is a mean, contemptible fellow. Tindu is an educated person but behaves like an illiterate person. He is dead to all sense of shame and very talkative. I saw Tindu arguing with Majid it looks that some fight is going on. Tindu often talks tall and freely indulges in self-praise. He talks ill of others behind their back and very selfish. Tindu told me uncle Baber likes to gamble and drink whisky and then he met uncle in front of me saying uncle never drinks.Tindu enjoys nobody's confidence. To feel superior to others is in his nature. Tindu does not give respect his parents. Tindu has a habit of cursing and yelling. I saw him to cursing them out for no reason and openly defy them. Tindu has no respect for woman and never think that a woman gave him birth. He is a man of loose morals and have no ethics. Tindu has no love for his motherland. He is not an American by birth but act like that. He is migrated from Pakistan and belongs to a middle class family. Tindu lacks of civic sense.He is very quarrelsome and fought with my brother in law in a marriage ceremony. Tindu does not extend a helping hand even to his relatives and friends in trouble. He laughs at the miseries and troubles of others. Tindu have bad credit. Two years ago he borrowed money from my father never give back. He makes fun of everybody, even the beggars on the street. Tindu loves to smoke marijuana and drink whisky. He cannot be calm always speak loudly to enforce his ideas. Thus he brought a slur to his family.He never does anything worthy of a gentleman. He is seldom fair and square in his dealings with others. Because of his greediness, Tindu makes money by foul means. He is working as inspector in hosiery. He deliberately rejects the stuff and sales that stuff in open market. Hypocrite can easily be disliked. Because of uncle Baber I knew that Tindu talks ill of others behind their back. Although hate is difficult to express in words, to dislike someone is natural. One must avoid that rogue. I dislike Tindu because he is a jerk!

The Hazard of Internet, Cell Phone, and Television Addiction

I am a technology addict. When I have my computer connected to the internet, I can forget the time. I am very busy to search any informations through the internet. Beside internet, I also use my cell phone to chat with my friends all day long. One more activity that can make me addicted is spending my time to watch my favorite TV programs. Yeah, those three kinds of technology are very enjoyable. But, I want people to know the potential risk of over using internet, cell phone, and television in the daily life.First of all, those three kinds of technology make us lazy. Take a look when we are too enjoy watching our favorite TV programs, we will postpone our assignments. We will delay them in 5 minutes later, then 5 minute later again, and again, and finally we don't finish them. Moreover, our time for studying are reduce. We are more interested watching television, browsing through internet, or chatting by phone than study the lesson. When we get assignments from lecturers, we just co py and paste from internet.Once we are too over using those technologies, we will be very wasteful person. for example, If we chat with friends all day long, we will spend so much money to pay phone bills. If we are blogging through the internet, we also have to pay the bandwidth bills. Or maybe, sometimes we don't turn off the computer or the television until we are fall asleep, so the electric claim will increase. Thus, our monthly expense will uncontrolable.Some studies find that over use of those technologies can create diseaseses. A simple example is if we are sitting in front of the screen for a long time without rest, absolutely we will get stomachache, headache, and back pain. The radiation of television or computer screen are also dangerous for our eyes. Just take a look to me, who has been suffered myopic since I become television addict. Another case is when we are using cell phone, actually, we are potentially get the brain cancer.According to Vini Khurana, one of Britai n's top neurosurgeons, using cell phones for more than 10 years can effectively double risk of developing the cancer, such as Vestibular schwannoma (accoustic neuroma) and Astrocytoma (Karachi, 2008). How terrible they are, aren't they? No doubt that those three kinds of technology bring big impact in our life. They give us pleasure and happines. So we can very addict of them. But, they will be very dangerous for us, if we can not manage the time to use them. Thus, cosidering the potential risk of them are very important. (an23)

My Gesellschaft Society Essay

Many young people in this day and age are tying to look act, and overall seem older. I deal with these struggles everyday in my life. Kids face many dilemmas in their trek to adulthood yet, they still try to obtain adulthood earlier by going through the â€Å"proper† rites of passage. These things create dilemmas, which can help or hinder lifetime goals. Two of the dilemmas that young people face today are peer pressure, and adult pressure. Kids today in the modern society encounter things such as smoking, drinking, and violence. In a Gemeinschaft society peer pressure is not going to be a really big issue in a teens life. All of the people in that society are probably going think and have the same ideal as everybody else in their community. Although in a Gesellschaft society, teens are going to struggle with different issues because no one thinks the same or follows the same ideas or trends. I know in my life it is very hard to stick to what I believe in. There is always going to be someone out there to tell you a different side of a situation. In some ways seeing two different views of a problem is good. It helps to weigh out the good and the bad. I live in a Gesellschaft society. The friends I hang around with have many different beliefs about everything. There is no way that we can all believe or follow the same ideas. Peer pressure is a very major dilemma when friends or peers try to get a person to do what they, the majority, like and not what the individual likes, or does not want to do. Peers create some of the so-called rites, when one follows, more start to follow, then it becomes the scenario of follow the leader. For example, some teens think that drinking is a passage into adulthood because the law states you must be 21 to drink. The logic of some teens indicates that if you drink you are considered an adult. Therefore if one teen tries it he/she is supposedly accepted as a more mature person, so more people will follow. Many adolescents fear their peers because of the fact that the peer group may  have set certain ideals, yet the individual may or may not have the resources to obtain the ideals. If there is a lack of resources then the individual may have a very low level of self-esteem. Many individuals do not care for the ideals yet they allow themselves to be converted to the majority and this can also create a problem with ones self-esteem. Peer pressure is not a bad thing. We all are influenced by our peers, both negatively and positively. It helps define who we are and how we feel about subjects in our lives. It is how we chose to react to peer pressure that defines who we are as an individual. Are we a leader or a follower? Both types of people are needed to make the world go round. Basically, the difference between negative and positive peer pressure is the outcome. The reverse of the situation above is negative peer pressure. The situation itself is positive peer pressure. For example, a teen really doesn’t like sports, but pushes himself to do it to please his friends or to be accepted. Therefore, he probably doesn’t do too well at it, and gets only criticism, which lowers his self-esteem from the very friends he is trying so hard to impress. That is a form of negative peer pressure. Another kind of pressure is adult pressure, adults create many dilemmas in a teens life. Adults tell teens what and what not to do. They make things harder by the fact that adults pressure teens into colleges, jobs, careers, and life over all. Adults also create self-esteem problems in teens by not respecting choices or decisions made by teens. For example, children are taught by their parents to supposedly know what is right or wrong. The child may not like their parents’ answer to a question or situation, and in some cases get furious at the decision and go and do the wrong thing. In a way this is a case of peer pressure because the child wants to do what his/her friends are doing which could be the wrong thing and the child gets mad at the parents because they say no. Adults pressure teens into not doing things also. Drugs, sex, and alcohol are some of the many things peers and adults disagree upon. The style of clothes one wears is also a big disagreement between the two groups. In a way adult pressure is worse than peer pressure. Adults control teens lives until they are eighteen years old or older. Adults may force a son or daughter to go to a certain college that the teen does not want to attend, or obtain a career that the teen does not want. Peer pressure is a normal aspect in a teen’s life. For example, if a parent doesn’t like the current teen fashion does not mean that a parent should have to fight it. When everyone at school is wearing jeans that are five times too big for them, and a teen wants to also, you can cut them some slack. But, if everyone is wearing these jeans down around their knees, you should have a battle. In conclusion the two pressures of peers, and adults are often conflicting. Sometimes neither is good, and other times both are good. Adult pressure is by far the worst creating many problems with youths today. Peer pressure may also create problems yet they are easier to deal with. The best thing to do is to respect one’s own decision for one’s self and no one else’s.

Food Essay Paper (in-N-Out vs Mcdonalds

In-N-Out Burger VS McDonald’s Within today’s modern society we like to have everything when we want and have it at any given time. Growing with that trend, modern fast food places like McDonald’s and In-N-Out Burger have giving their consumers that very thing. Even though In and out and McDonald’s have been around for years, both vary their menus and the way they appeal to their consumers with the change of time. On the west coast, In-N-Out is favored more than it is on the east coast.While McDonald’s is a worldwide company, with restaurants open in France, China, Iraq, and also America. Who is the better franchise; it is time to find out. The American hamburger is an American classic and the most recognizable menu item in the fast food industry. Even though there are many different takes on the types of meats, toppings, and dressings used, the hamburger has been a restaurant regular and historical favorite of both children and adults. The hamburger can even bridge cultural and religious divides.It can unite the masses, and with that being said many people agree that all burgers are not created equal. While McDonald’s is synonymous with happy childhoods and those long bumpy road trips, In-N-Out caters to the majority of young adults past the age of fourteen desires a more sophisticated burger. McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with cheese is the most popular hamburger at the famous fast food restaurant. Before people try In-N-Out, the Quarter pounder brings as much joy to people as any burger could.The half pound of beef drenched in cheese, stuffed between a sesame seed bun, garnished with thick cut onions, and a squirt of ketchup are a stunning combination for any occasion. Unfortunately, it is also usually waiting for customers before they even have a chance to order it. On an off day the bread can be stiff, the meat is dry and the cheese is slick. The dehydrated shredded lettuce is poured from plastic bags daily. Cus tomers found a way around this by masterminding a creative way to receive fresh food from McDonald’s, special order.By requesting a hamburger with extra ketchup, a Filet O’ Fish with extra tartar sauce, and French fries with easy salt, consumers have ultimately forced the king of burgers into making fresh food. While this is a tried and true technique, unfortunately it doesn’t work one hundred percent of the time. The alternative to gambling with pre-cooked burgers is In-N-Out. With an uncomplicated, no frills menu, In-N-Out Burger specializes in burgers, fires, and their famous shakes. Their one and only focus is burgers-not chicken, fish, or salads; it is a carnivore’s dream.All of the ingredients are made fresh every single burger is made to order. Their signature gristle-free beef is never frozen, the hand leafed lettuce is crisp and fresh, the tomato slices are plentiful, and the buns are always soft and lightly grilled on the inside of the bun. The end result is a multi-ingredient masterpiece called a â€Å"Double Double† that contains two juicy beef patties smothered with two pieces of cheese, Thousand Island dressing, crisp lettuce, and plump tomato rings stuffed inside of a fluffy bun.Although In-N-Out burgers are pure perfection as is, consumers have been prone to order something that is off the menu (but well–known) called â€Å"Animal Style† (extra dressing, grilled onions, and pickles). Quite frankly, more than half of their most popular items are off the menu, shrouded in secrecy and urban legend. On occasion customers have ordered another secret item called the â€Å"Protein burger†, which is a carb-free â€Å"Double Double† wrapped in a full lettuce leaf.Even more secret burgers can be found by simply asking about the â€Å"Three by Three† or â€Å"Four by Four† that contains three or four patties and the same amount of cheese on either. The Flying Dutchman is simply t wo meat patties and two slices of cheese; it includes no bun, vegetable, or spread. Other secret items include: grilled cheese sandwiches, meatless burgers, root beer floats and chilies. Comparing McDonald’s and In-N-Out’s fries, there is one clear victor. In-N-Out fries are peeled and sliced right in the restaurant for your viewing pleasure; they are meatier and fresher than their competitor’s infamous fries.The signature burger, fries, and real ice cream shakes cause traffic jams to the point where a cashier equipped with a PDA-style device greets you before you even pull into the drive-thru to head off the onslaught of eager customers. Ironically, both restaurants are competitively priced, but the quality of In-N-Out far surpasses McDonald’s famous menus. From a practical standpoint, cleanliness is an important part of the fast food industry, not only in the restaurant image, but also health safety of the customer.If customers received a dollar every t ime they ate or entered a McDonald’s, they could probably buy a franchise themselves. Sadly, most McDonald’s restaurants from Los Angeles to New York look the same, somber and bleak. In stark contrast, In-N-Out Burger painted sterile white inside and out, makes their restaurants look refreshingly clean and bright. In-N-Out’s fire engine red sign catches customer’s eyes as they drive along side of the famous restaurant. The employees are super friendly and accommodating at all times during the dining experience.McDonald’s serves its purpose in the middle of nowhere because of its familiar brand name, but it’s not usually a true hamburger aficionado’s first choice. Customers have driven over ten or fifteen miles, passing several McDonald’s in order to get to that little piece of ecstasy nestled in a piece of wrapping paper and a white envelope. Just the smell of a freshly grilled burger permeates your nose, and drowns your senses . If In-N-Out Burger’s are tried just once, there will be no doubt that the consumer will be a couple of times a week. Lee, R. (2007). McDonalds and In-N-Out. Yahoo Voices. Retrieved from http://www. yahoovoices. com

Feasibility Marketing Plan – Lumber Business

MARKETING PLAN OF MADERA SAN JOSE Marketing Tools Madera San Jose, from the name itself, will offer wood products specifically hardwoods or lumber that would be further used for production of different products such as wood furniture, residential or commercial structures, and etc. Madera is the Spanish word for â€Å"wood†. Madera San Jose’s hardwood products will be expounded on in the next part of the study – the marketing plan of the proposed business. This part of the feasibility study determines the different types marketing programs prevalent in the lumber industry that can help the Madera.Given that the proposed business is a medium-scale lumber business in the province of Pampanga, the province of Muebles San Jose and also the proposed province for the location of Madera San Jose, the group gathered few and simple but still effective marketing programs that are implemented by owners there to make their business known. They can also be considered as more of marketing tools. Firstly, the bu sinesses give free merchandise such as calendars, face towels and shirts. These materials bear the logo or name of the business as well as its location.Mostly the merchandise is given to both potential and loyal patrons for them to maintain and spread awareness of the business. This practice has been done not just in Pampanga but in other places, too, and not just by lumber business owners but by other business owners, too. Except for the calendars, that are given just once a year, other merchandises are given depending on the owners disposal or whenever the owners want to, and how frequently they want to. It is proven effective because most businesses that have done it are the long-running ones compared to others that have not.The costs associated with these merchandises are as follows: Merchandise| Price & Quantity| Calendars| Php 10. 00 per 1 pc. for 30 pcs. (in a bulk)| Face towel| Php 15. 00 per 1 pc. for pcs. (in a bulk)| Shirts| Php 80. 00 per 1 pc. for 100 pcs. (in a bulk)| Secondly, businesses in Pampanga sponsor basketball teams in town leagues. Lumber businesses there have done it, too. In exchange, their logos are seen on the basketball players’ jerseys. Basketball leagues are held more than once annually, sometimes at very frequent intervals. In these events, usually many people come to watch.Aside from basketball jerseys, there are also banners portraying the businesses’ logos and locations. These are seen by owners as opportunities for the business to be recognized so they sponsor. Lumber businesses in Pampanga have done so, too. In Pampanga, the total cost for sponsoring a team is Php 10,000. 00. Following is the breakdown of said amount that will be paid in case Madera sponsors a basketball team. Expenses| Price| Basketball jerseys| Php7,200. 00 (Php 600. 00 x 12 jersey sets)| Banners or Posters| Php 2,000. 00 | Miscellaneous| Php 800. 00|The third and the last marketing tool used by most business owners in the area as well as gi ving one peso discounts. This practice has long been used by business owners – from large department stores to local lumber business owners. The practice gives customers the mentality that they get to save more while at the same time, not affecting much the costs of incurred by the business for that certain item – considering that there were mark-ups added. Marketing Mix (4 Ps) The marketing plan mainly elaborates on the 4 Ps of a business: the Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.These 4 Ps are also considered the â€Å"marketing mix† of the business that determine what the business has to offer and what are the channels for this offer to reach the consumers. In this part of the study, the said principles are expounded on in the context of Madera San Jose. Product Usually, the first principle of the 4 Ps tackled in marketing plans is the Product. Madera San Jose will offer lumber – to be specific, hardwood products. In the simplest sense, lumber is †Å"wood in any stage from the time it is cut from a tree through its use in construction or paper,† (What is Lumber Homepage, 2013).Lumber is cut from a tree through a process called felling. After it is cut and shipped, it is supplied either â€Å"rough† or â€Å"finished†. Finished lumber is primarily used in the construction industry. Most finished lumber is cut from softwood trees such as pine, fir, or cedar. Some rough lumber includes hardwoods for use in high-grade wood floors (What is Lumber Homepage, 2013). Rough lumber is raw and uncut to standardized measurements. It is used for furniture or specialty manufacturing where custom cutting and shaping is required.Given that Muebles San Jose concentrates on furniture making – custom-made or otherwise – Madera San Jose will mainly sell rough lumber in the form of hardwoods. The hardwood lumber products to be offered by Madera are: Lauan, Yakal, Teak, Gmelina, Malabuaya, Narra, Mahogany, Apitong, and Antipolo. Like the competitors, Top Lumber and Angeles LCM Construction Supply, Madera San Jose will get most of its woods from the suppliers in Tarlac. Below are the illustrations of the different hardwood products to be sold by Madera San Jose. Lauan YakalTeak Gmelina MalabuayaNarraMahoganyApitongAntipolo These lumber products, as mentioned, are to be processed further for production of more products such as trimmings for structures and more especially, furniture. Place The second P stands for Place. Madera San Jose’s wood warehouse and store itself is to be established in Angeles City, Pampanga. Pampanga is the home of Muebles San Jose. However, be that as it is, Muebles is in Mabalacat, not Angeles City. Angeles City was chosen due to its close proximity to Mabalacat – Mabalacat borders Angeles City in the latter’s northern part.Secondly, it is considered as a first-class highly urbanized city in the country, with its numerous residential areas as well a s commercial ones such as restaturants, malls, universities and even tourist spots such as ancestral mansions and houses. These structures require a lot of wood – both for the building itself as well as the furniture. Since the site is a highly industrial part of Pampanga, it is accessible to its suppliers from both Tarlac and Manila; MARSSE Timber Suppliers, Tarlac and Mango and Timber Plantation, Manila – the latter’s office is located in Taguig.Each supplier supplies 3,000 board feet of wood monthly. The exact location of Madera San Jose in Angeles City will be in Brgy. Pandan. The proposed business will actually be located at Pandan Road, Brgy. Pandan, Angeles City, Pampanga. There are about nine puroks situated in Barangay Pandan. These are: Old Pandan, Land Tenure, San Ignacio Subdivision, Springside Subdivision, Citicenter A, Citicenter B, Magalang Avenue Extension, Jaovil Compound, and Saint Ignatius Subdivision.There are also several establishments â₠¬â€œ furniture shops, schools (public and private), barangay hall (of Pandan and of other nearby barangays) – that are relevant to the business. The exact location where the proposed business will be launched is noticeably located on a main road and is situated in a commercial-residential area. This is intended such that the business will be highly accessible to the chance buyers and to the greater market, specifically businesses within the vicinity and residents living in the area, who may have probably become the clients of Madera San Jose.The lot measures 300sq. m. and the lumber business is expected to occupy 280sq. m. Originally, the location was a bare land. It was acquired it years before by Mr. Manabat for the purpose of expanding his first business. Price The price for the lumber of Madera San Jose was also gathered from the standard prices of woods per board foot in Pampanga. Following are the prices: Hardwood| Price Per Board Foot| Lauan| Php30. 00| Yakal| Php40. 0 0| Teak| Php60. 00| Gmelina| Php26. 00| Malabuaya| Php30. 00| Narra| Php85. 00|Mahogany| Php30. 00| Apitong| Php30. 00| Antipolo| Php35. 00| One will notice that these prices are also the same as those of the competitors’. This is because of the fact that the owners want to use competition-based pricing. Competition-based pricing is the strategy used when a firm uses the competitor’s prices as benchmarks. In Madera’s case, since there are only two (2) competitors nearby that also offer hardwood lumber; Top Lumber and Angeles LCM Construction Supply, and both have the same prices, Madera used their prices.Same prices are used to get more people from the competitors’ pool of patrons, and no decreases are made either, so that Madera an establish stability since the business is new and so that there will be allowance for possible future discounts. Also, other lumber dealers sell at the same prices and the customers are used to the standard. Since Madera San J ose will be a new addition, the business will also use the same prices to establish its place in the market. Promotion Promotional tools used by lumber businesses in Pampanga have been mentioned already in the first part of this portion of the study.Going back, the three tools are: 1) giving of printed merchandise, 2) sponsorship of basketball leagues, and 3) one-peso discounts. `The group recommends Madera San Jose to use the first and second tools – printed merchandise and basketball league sponsorships. Giving printed merchandise such as calendars, face towel, and shirts is not something new in the small to medium industries but they are helpful in spreading knowledge of the business. For instance, buildings – whether private of public, large or small – that display the calendars will help in making the new business known.It is also an ideal way because calendars are displayed and looked at all year round. As for shirts and towels, people who wear or use them are mostly people from the manual labor sector. These people tend to move and work a lot in the local community. Without spreading information on the business verbally, these people â€Å"display† the business just by moving around. It will help that the printed information not just contains the business logo and name but the business address as well. The second tool is the team sponsorship in basketball leagues.As mentioned, basketball leagues are hugely-crowded events. Some people from other towns even visit to watch. In the basketball leagues, aside from banners that can be displayed around the court, Madera can gain exposure through basketball jerseys with the business logo printed on them. Aside from having huge crowds to whom Madera can be exposed to, basketball leagues are held more than once a year – even more frequently if the area has many playing teams. Madera will have more exposure time. One might wonder why the third tool was not applied.This tool is the one-peso discount strategy. It would be good for the business. However, it is also deemed ideal if this strategy will not be applied in at present – when the business is still new in the industry. Customers should be accustomed first with the actual prices before being given the discounts. Marketing Plan Conclusion In sum, unlike other industries, the lumber businesses in Pampanga do not highly focus on marketing. If one will notice in this study, this marketing part does not comprise much information compared to other aspects such as the operational plan and financials.This is so because first and foremost, the lumber industry in Pampanga mainly relies on word-of-mouth as the major marketing agenda. Owners, aside from giving free merchandise and some basketball leagues do not use famous media such as the television, radios and magazines. Some even do not have a marketing strategy at all, or if they do, they do not practice it for the long run. They just rely on word-of-mout h. In short, the most reliable and fool-proof way of gaining more customers for Madera San Jose is based on its products and how these will make the customers satisfied enough to spread information about them.