Three Rivers Optical Essay Example

Three Rivers Optical Paper Executive Summary Three Rivers Optical is a company located in Pittsburgh which supplies lenses to the ophthalmic community. Steve Siebert, CEO and head of marketing faces different challenges on deciding if he should keep trade shows he has been doing as sales have not been proficient enough, and whether he should invest in new trade show to grow TRO’s market share. Steve’s plan is to invest into different states such as California and Michigan in the next five years. As TRO is moving towards the west, it needs to invest in trade shows International Vision Expo West and Midwest Vision Conference Expo. Trade shows are a very important investment in the eyes of TRO since they generate sales, and more importantly attract new accounts. Trade shows have to be used for brand recognition, and as a channel between the company, and its customers. Marketing trade shows through direct mail, mails, and advertising is very important to reach customers that do not know TRO’s product, and to reach actual customers for new product introductions. To follow up with trade shows, TRO needs to outsource its salespeople, and reduce its budget on SECO, and International Vision Expo east Today, marketing is â€Å"the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large† (AMA. ) Three Rivers Optical has been trying to grow its business through trade shows. Three Rivers Optical is a family-owned business located in Pittsburgh and was created in 1969. TRO is a lab supplying lenses for opticians, optometrists, and ophthalmologists and has been ranked among the 25 leading manufacturer of optical laboratories in the country. We will write a custom essay sample on Three Rivers Optical specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Three Rivers Optical specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Three Rivers Optical specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Steve Siebert, CEO and head of marketing, is facing a problem which many companies are facing today which is how to grab more shares in the market a company is in. Based on the geographical distribution of optical good stores, do Steve’s plans for growth make sense? In the next five years, Steve’s plans for growth are to be in western Ohio, Indiana, and south and central Michigan. When TRO has enough accounts to be profitable in those geographical areas, Steve wants to move to Denver, and end in California. Using data from the case, it shows that California, Michigan, and Ohio are ranked top 10 in sales for optical goods stores. The advantage TRO has on his competitors are it is recognized leader in the industry, and has been selected Transition Lab of the Year and honored by the Optical Lab Association as one of the top 25 labs in the country. Based on geographical distribution of optical good stores, Steve’s plans for growth do make sense. He is aiming growth in profitable states. On the other hand, Steve’s plans should include states that are actually closer to him, and that are, as well, ranked in the top 10 in sales such as New-York, and Illinois. Are trade shows a viable option to generate sales, sales leads, and new customer accounts? If so, in which shows should he invest? Trade shows are a viable option to generate sales as it is an excellent way to find new accounts to help TRO grow. According to a study conducted by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), â€Å"86% of show attendees were the decision-maker or influenced buying decisions, and 85% had not been called on by a salesperson before the show† (Entrepreneur. com. ) Dwyer, F. Robert, Tanner, John, F. ,Trade say that â€Å"shows are ranked second to advertising in terms of the marketing communication budget. Also, trade shows are great opportunities for TRO to converse, and create relationship with customers which will lead those to be potential buyers. TRO should invest in International Vision Expo West, and Midwest Vision Conference Expo because both of them are attended by the ophthalmic community, and they are located in the two regions TRO wants to expend its business to. Finally, if TRO wants to grow its business in the Midwes t, and in the west, he has to attend both trade shows to grab potential buyers,, and more importantly to make his brand known, and create relationship with new customers. For the shows TRO already does, what should the strategic plan be? What tactics should be included? TRO has to use different channels to engage current and potential customers. First, TRO has to understand which customer it wants to sell to, define its goals (sales, new accounts, etc.. ), and inform customers months before by the use of phone calls, direct mail, email or written invitations to invite, introduce, and attract current and new customers to come and visit TRO’s booth. Another way to engage new customers is by advertising in trade publication and newspapers about new product introduction, and for brand recognition. Very important strategic plan is to follow-up with the customer after the trade show. TRO might consider an alternative for its salespeople as it seems to be too expensive, and maybe look into outsourcing it. TRO needs more salespeople to follow-up, attract, and look for customers. Another recommendation might be to lower the budget for SECO and International Vision Expo East trade shows as they might have reached their full potential of sales, and keep the trade shows to maintain the brand image, inform and introduce new products, grab potential shares from competitors and keep the relationship with their actual customers. WORK CITED Dwyer, F. Robert, and John F. Tanner. Business marketing: connecting strategy, relationships, and learning. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2009. Print. Definition of Marketing American Marketing Association. Marketing Power American Marketing Association. Web. 02 Dec. 2011. http://www. marketingpower. com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing. aspx. Trade Shows Definition | Small Business Encyclopedia | Entrepreneur. com. Business Small Business | News, Advice, Strategy | Entrepreneur. com. Web. 02 Dec. 2011. http://www. entrepreneur. com/encyclopedia/term/82542. html.

Tata Motors Essays

Tata Motors Essays Tata Motors Paper Tata Motors Paper Tata Motors were inspired to build the Tata Nano by seeing a father driving his families around with scooter. From the text, Tata was speaking at the unveiling ceremony at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi, He states that â€Å"I observed families riding on two-wheelers, the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seat behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family† he knew that he could come up with something and help them. There was a need of inexpensive car in India because the consuming of cars in India was half of the population and the rest are motorcycles and scooters so he wanted to replace them to Tata Nano. According to the text, â€Å"the car is aimed at keeping the families of India’s growing middle class from having to travel with as many as four people on a scooter†. Tata Motors did a research on the customer by studying and trying to understand them. Understanding the customer’s values and what they need was the key concept to Tata and how the Nano car will be built and function. The engineers worked to do more with less. Tata has could cut down the price by asking his engineers and suppliers to redesign the many components to cut costs. For example, speedometer was placed the center of the dashboard over the air events, not behind the steering wheel, which the dashboard can be built with fewer parts. Tata and his engineer did their best to cut costs and meet the target of $2,500 for the price of the car. I think low price means poor quality because the main purpose of producing Tata Nano is to attract the middle class who couldn’t afford expensive car which lead cost-cutting ideas such as, eliminate actuators in the headlights, the levelers that adjust the angle of the beam depending on how the car was loaded. Nano is much lighter than comparable models because they reduce the amount of steel in the car including the use of aluminum engine and the use of lightweight steel as possible. Tata motors had originally planned to manufacture Nano in Singur, West Bengal, India. However, the problem arose immediately after the purchased of the land from West Bengal government. Because the government did not actually own the land, but acquired it from local farmers by imposing the force of eminent domain. The protests hinged upon allegations that Tata forced farmers from their land and handed out payments that were a portion of the land’s value. The dispute went to the peak, over thirty thousand activities and farmers were overwhelmed in Singur, West Bengal state, to march against the plant. The highway leading to Singur was blocked and Tata Motors was force to evacuate employees from the plant site. Employees failed to show up to work after a threats from protestors. Finally, Tata Motors was putting detailed plan together for the relocation of the plant and machinery, but ended up in Tata’s existing factory in Pantnagar in Uttarakhand. The important features of the Indian economic environment were land, because most was issued for agriculture. Local farmers living related to land. Therefore, doing business in India has to consider about the land and local farmers.

Mexican Muralism and the Argentinian Avant-Garde Essay

Mexican Muralism and the Argentinian Avant-Garde - Essay Example Mexican Muralism originated in 1910 in resistance to the authoritarianism of Porfirio DÃ ­az, grew into a vicious social rebellion. It continued all through the following period, captivating the lives of nearly a million Mexican individuals. Beginning nearly instantaneously in 1920 and then in the eras that followed, statesmen, philosophers, and musicians joined powers not only to get well from the financial and public wreckage of the hostilities, but besides to redefine Mexico’s state personality. Through setting up of new institutes, reading rooms, and exhibition halls, the provision for widely held commemorations and civilizations, and the benefaction of large-scale open art, they struggled to unite supporters of various social programs under distinctively Mexican beliefs. While several scholars and comedians portrayed Mexico’s native philosophies and past for encouragement, the movement of renaissance to speak about these uncomfortable tries assisted a social reviv al proposes a dependence on the Italian Rebirth as an ancient classic. Contrasting to the Italian Rebirth, nevertheless, the ethnical rebirth was narrowly knotted to a politically aware rebirth. All through the Spanish majestic period, painting urbanized mainly as a spiritual art in cathedrals, the Argentinian Avant-Garde Movement was kown to Christianize native inhabitants. Spiritual painting was frequently done by enforced indigenous entertainers and African slaves under guidance of spiritual leaders. Numerous foreign performers visited Argentina.

The Challenges Faced By Organizations When Managing Information Essay

The Challenges Faced By Organizations When Managing Information Technology in a Global Business Environment - Essay Example This paper illustrates that organizations often formulate business strategies to gain competitive benefits and information technology helps in gaining competitive edge and advantage in the long run. However, managing information technology is also considered as a challenge by a number of academicians and researchers. It is often believed that with a number of benefits; there are a series of challenges in the form of managing technologies, using them efficiently, and enhancing the acceptance rate. There is no doubt that with competition as the biggest challenge; forms often try to get more benefitted and ahead of others by making effective and efficient use of technologies. The impact of information technology is hard to analyze considering the fact that it requires the thorough analysis of the firms’ productivity and value creation in last few years. Thus, the discussion revolves around analyzing the views and opinions of other researchers in a critical manner to assess the ov erall impact in last few years. For this purpose, a number of academic papers, journals, and articles have been critically analyzed to form the general and later specific conclusion. Carr stated that information technology plays an important and decisive role in transforming business strategies through innovative applications and technologies. Carr further added that few companies attain advantages from specialized applications that may not offer the strong economic incentive for replication but there is no dearth of organizations using IT for business enhancing business processes and activities. Chen, et al stated that not many organizations are successful in delivering value from the IT investment and only handful of them become successful in terms of delivering value and business benefits.

Managing Human Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing Human Resources - Essay Example The purpose of any team work is to work toward a valued and common goal of an organization. The most important aspect of effective work teams is communication between members of a team in an efficient manner. It involves the ability of each member to understand what the other member is thinking and to determine his/her intentions in an effective manner. There are numerous team development theories and this concept is not new in the modern world. These theories create an effective framework by which the contribution of each member of a team to the team’s performance and development can be evaluated and analyzed. Belbin’s theory in this regard can be considered as an important theory in the development of work teams (Napier and Gershenfeld, 1999, p. 79). Belbin suggests that there is existence of nine team attitudes that are considered as important to success. The nine team attitudes are divided into three major categories by Belbin such as thought oriented roles, people oriented roles, and action oriented roles. Action oriented roles comprise shaper, implementer, and finisher. The shaper refers to an individual who is considered to be a highly motivated leader and possesses sound capabilities in handling pressure (Parker, 1994, pp. 33-37). He is considered to have high competence with regard to handling obstacles and c hallenges. His dynamism plays a huge role in encouraging others to accomplish their tasks. The Shaper is considered to display a high level of aggression which may at times hurt the feelings of others. It is necessary that work teams have a shaper for achieving the desired results but the existence of more than one shaper may be detrimental to the interest of the team as it can lead to face offs between the two shapers. Implementer refers to those individuals who are reliable, disciplined, and works very hard to fulfil the obligations of the team (Robbins and Finley, 2000, p. 65). They are

The Great Gatsby: An Analysis

The Great Gatsby: An Analysis In the 1920s many Americans began using credit, and buying and becoming very materialistic, and losing their spirit and identity. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby the characters are all engulfed in the world of materialism, and believe that that is what makes them happy. Materialism is defined as the devotion to material wealth and possessions at the cost of spiritual or intellectual principles. Spirituality is sensitivity or attachment to religious values. And identity is the set of characteristics that somebody recognizes as belonging uniquely to himself or herself and constituting his or her individual personality for life. Three characters that exemplify these traits are Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby. In this novel, materialism, spirituality, and identity changes or reinforces these three characters. Daisy Buchanan is an example of materialism vs. spirituality because of what we know about her from her younger days. She was a young lady that was in love with Gatsby, but didnt marry him because â€Å"‘†¦I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me† (137). Materialism affected Daisy and when she married Tom she wanted only the best things, but realized that she wasnt happy because money cant buy you happiness. After seeing Gatsby for the first time in over five years, it seems like Daisy has become that young lady she was before she met and married Tom. For a second she forgot all of her materialistic things and was looking up into the sky and GOD, saying â€Å"‘†¦Id like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around.†(99). Now we see her spiritual side and see that Gatsby could have possible reinforced her identity. Tom Buchanan is a character that shows a strong bond with materialism. He is an example of old money, and because he is so wealthy he decides that he can break all the rules and do whatever he pleases, like cheating on his wife. â€Å"‘Why - she said hesitantly, ‘Toms got some woman in New York.† (19). Materialism has gotten to Toms head and he believes just because he has so much wealth he can buy happiness with anything that he pleases. The last character, Gatsby, shows both materialism and spirituality. Gatsby is an example of materialism because of Daisy. All his wealth and status was only for Daisy, because he hoped that one day he would see her and amaze her. His house is an example of this dream because its a synthetic place and was only built for Daisy. â€Å"‘My house looks well doesnt it? he demanded. ‘See how the whole front of it catches the light.† (95) He realizes that Daisy didnt wait to marry him because he was poor, and he made it his life goal to become wealthy and maybe someday impress Daisy. In conclusion, these three characters in the novel show materialism, spirituality, and identity and how they changed or reinforced. Oroonoko Novel by Aphra Behn | Analysis Oroonoko Novel by Aphra Behn | Analysis In the theater things are always seen from somewhere. Here we have the geometrical foundation of representation: a fetishist subject is required to cut out the tableau. Aphra Behn, born on July 10, 1640 and died on April 16, 1689, was one of the main playwrights, poets, and fictionists of Restoration era. She was, as inserted in The Age of Milton, The first recognized professional woman writer in English, Behn was popular during her career, and her plays and poems represented the Restoration ideals of political expediency and sexual frankness (25). Behn was a well-educated person and access to high-ranking officials in the court of Charles II, may access a higher-class status, and is one of pioneer women who earn her live through authorship and her works were under a great influence of William Shakespeare. Her first play was a successful tragicomedy in the name of The Forced Marriage (1670), following with The Dutch Lover (1673) which was not received well; Abdelazar (1676) and The Rover (1677) was the other appreciated plays by Behn, which were performed before Charles II. A poem on Several Occasions (1684) was a poem by her that investigates the s exual relationship between men and women in pastoral setting. Her later works were Oroonoko (1688) and The Widow Ranter (1689) which emphasized on political pragmatism. Behn depicts the correlation between racial and gender oppression, female subjectivity, and female political and sexual agency in her writings and her consideration of gender and frank expression of sexuality made her as a target for male authors critiques. In her book A Room of Ones Own, Virginia Woolf praises her and says All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. The reading of Oroonoko that follows concentrates on white female narrator (author-narrator). This novel is produces at the end of Behns life as a short realistic fiction which is a story of a noble prince, Oroonoko, who had been enslave, brought to Britain, revolted against British and prefered to die rather than bear the name of slave and his fatal horrible death. Written by a white female author and using a white female narrative voice, Oroonoko can be a story based on Behns experience as a young woman living in Surinam. What is different, most interestingly, in Oroonoko, is the narrative position. All descriptions on Oroonoko land, appearance, feelings, thoughts, events in his life, both in his native land and in Britain, and his revolution is narrated through a female word and world, the female author. Behn is considered to had a travel to Surinam between 1663-1664 with her family and as Alan Hager mentions in his book The Age of Milton Her presence in the West Indies and her espionage in Antwerp for the Crown have been documented. When Lord Willoughby was granted royal permission to explore Surinam in 1663, Behn may have traveled there with her father, the Lieutenant-General of the islands. Apparently he died on the voyage, but Behn stayed in the colony.( Hager,56) Therefore, as documented her traveling to West Indies, there is a possibility that whatever she, the author-narrator, explains and depicts in Oroonoko, especially her detailed knowledge of Surinam, is her own experience while abroad and should be considered as truth. Behn establishes her authenticity within the opening of the story and reminds her readers her position as a narrator as she wrote herself in Oroonoko that I was myself an eye-witness to a great part of what you will find here set down(2). Since this story is a memoire of Behns travelling to Surinam in past, probably she forgot some eaters and her memoir mixed with true events in Surinam so how much of this novel is fact and how much is true remains in shadow. No longer does the novel originate from a first-person recounting of the self, but, as Ferdous Azim said in his book The Colonial Rise of The Novel, from a first-person account of someone elses life(35-36). According to Elin Diamonds statements in the book Unmaking Mimesis that In the Western theater (Gr. theatron or seeing place), pleasure is never far from the market and its mystifications. The spectator sees what is not there- an illusion, a sign of an absent original-and fails to see what is there-a constructed series of images so polished and coherent that the ideological and human labor of their making is hidden from view.(Diamon, 56) Pursuant to Diamonds words, theater is not supposed to perform reality on the stage but an allusion, showing the presence of absent to its audiences. This paper intends to see whether the narrator is a reliable and authentic narrator and analysis to what extent this female white narrator can be reliable and considered her words as truth in this story; and examine if an author is contaminated by its dominated ideology of power in society or can be remain out of her white powerful world. Furthermore, it has a purpose to see what is shown in this story is real or only an illusion like theater as Diamond said. It should be kept in mind that the narrator is a woman, white, Britain, and author; a white female Britain author. This story presents in a mixture of first-person and third-person narrators which can be regarded as the memoires of a traveler narrative; narrated by an English white woman who travelled to colony in Surinam in past. At the opening of the story, first-person narrator, a female British colony, gives us a detailed account of Surinam, the native land of the prince Oroonoko and its peoples way of life as a prelapsarian world The beads they weave into aprons about a quarter of an ell long, and of the same breadth; working them very prettily in flowers of several colors; which apron they wear just before em, as Adam and Eve did the fig-leaves; the men wearing a long stripe of linen, which they deal with us for. This adornment, with their long black hair, and the face painted in little specks or flowers here and there, makes em a wonderful figure to behold. Some of the beauties, which indeed are finely shaped, as almost all are, and who have pretty features, are charming and novel; for they have all that is called beauty,'(Behn, 1-2) and then the narrator shifts to the third-person narrator and shows us the local life of Oroonoko who is enslaves and carries to Britain colony of Surinam and once more the first-person narrator appears when she meets Oroonoko. Narrator is a feminine, Alpha Behn, who sometimes observes Oroonoko passionately, explain him as an ideal man. When the narrator is describing the prince Oroonokos appearance for reader, It seems that her gender defines her description and Oroonoko is pictured by a woman as an ideal man; an ideal man from a womans perspective. The gender of this female narrator limits her fair depiction of Oroonoko since this man is beyond all report I found of him and maybe her fascination toward the appearance and manner of the prince Oroonoko makes an obstacle and prevents her from seeing the true character of him; anything in this man is as perfect as a Greeks gods. But though I had heard so much of him, I was as greatly surprised when I saw him as if I had heard nothing of him; so beyond all report I found him. He came into the room, and addressed himself to me and some other women with the best grace in the world. He was pretty tall, but of a shape the most exact that can be fancied: the most famous statuary could not form the figure of a man more admirably turned from head to foot. His face was not of that brown rusty black which most of that nation are, but of perfect ebony, or polished jet. . there could be nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable, and handsome. There was no one grace wanting that bears the standard of true beauty.Nor did the perfections of his mind come short of those of his person.This prince, such as I have described him, whose soul and body were so admirably adorned, as capable of love as twas possible for a brave and gallant man to be; and in saying that, I have named the highest degree of love: for sure great souls are most capable of that passion.(Behn, 6-7) The first-person narrator seems to see her ideal man in prince Oroonoko and elevate her with white man. He is the man who addresses women in the best grace and no statuary can made a man as admirable as Oronnoko is; even she describes her face not as dark brown as other negroes, he is something special in their land. Firdous Azim wrote, It is in this context that Oroonoko is introduced. Seventeen years old and grandson of the King, he is at once simultaneously differentiated and brought on centre-stage. Immediately, Oroonokos physical beauty is described in great detail (48). On the other hand, her explanation of Imoinda only emphasis on her outward beauty and he presence is never shown in the story. Imoinda is pictured through old conventions of a woman as This old dead hero had one only daughter left of his race, a beauty, that to describe her truly, one need say only, she was female to the noble male; the beautiful black Venus to our young Mars; I have seen a hundred white men sighing after her, and making a thousand vows at her feet, all in vain (Behn, 7). Even when Oroonoko suggest her to be killed by him because of being in dangerous of the whites savagery in his absent, she accepts it immediately without any objection at least for her child and she scarifies both herself and her unborn child for him. She is an example of a complete respect woman for her husband; the ideal woman for a husband. Seemingly, the author-narrator, first-person narrator, intends to make a god and goddess out of Oroonoko and Imoinda and maybe she, herself, fall in love with him since in the other part, she said that she is the great mistress of the narrator as wrote in her book So that obliging him to love us very well, we had all the liberty of speech with him, especially myself, whom he called his Great Mistress; and indeed my word would go a great way with him(34). None of these characters have voices through the story and whatever is understood passed through narrators lenses and interpretation. the man is under the purview of the narrative gaze, according to Ferdous Azim in his book The Colonial Rise of The Novel, is being objectified and rendered visible through the machinations of the dominant European females voice, and being brought under the gaze of a European audience ( 49). All the portray of Oroonoko, as a black character, is in conflict with white European. It is obvious that she, as a woman, draws this prince through a constructed series of images which are so polished and coherent according to her wishes; as her ideal man. As Elin Diamond said, what she shows her readers about the Oroonoko does not exist in reality but is an illusion. Regarding the female narrator as a English settler of Surinam, she is the teller of a true history and should be unbiased and authentic in telling the truth on history of these black natives since I was myself an eye-witness to a great part of what you will find here set down(2). Although the female narrator told the prince Oroonoko that she will save him and will not let anyone torture him or behaves as a slave , she could not help him at all and Oroonoko die in a horribly way. Although she maintains her authority to save Oroonoko, she is unable to do so since there is a contradiction between the narrators assumed social position and her actual powerless as a character within the framework of power. At first, she resists against the British world but later on she failed to save him because it is revealed that she herself is a victim of ideological power of white world and takes their side. She is absent when the white are torturing and dismembering Oroonoko and like other whites the female narrator is afraid that Oroonoko cut her throat one day so she behaves like others toward the Oroonoko, which she once described as the best and graceful man in the world, and agrees with what they do in silent. Ferdous Azim continues that Aphra Behn, or the authorial voice, is unable to follow Oroonoko in his rebellion, and the text can only portray the disintegration and dismemberment of the Black subject, instead of examining the causes of his rebellion( 44), the narrator resistance fails and she does not follow the destination of prince Oroonoko and later on support what she once rejected; she submits to her inside world and narrates according to the dominant world of whites. This female perspective tried to stay out of white boundaries, saves the Oroonoko, and lets him live like a prince not a slave but she cannot perform what she wanted to do totally. As Joel Pfister declared in his essay Hawthorne as Cultural Theorist that the authors themselves are not only a part of discourse but also a way of performance of power through them so this female narrator cannot escape this discourse of power. This resistant narrator, according to Michel Foucault, is a part of power and this resistance is never in a position of exteriority in relation to power. She has to narrate her world of story within the omnipresent power, there is no way to move away from it, and she finally behaves toward the prince Oroonoko as the others. Author is the representation of the discourse of power. Narrator is surrounded by the dominant world of hers and can not steps out of this territory and whatever she did to keep the prince Oroonoko alive was in vain since she was controlled by the world oh the white she lives in. Although she can be titled as a traveler narrator and she is supposed to tell the reality of native land and reports her readers the true history of this land, she is incapable of performing what she is presumed because she herself is a prison of white world and their dominant superiority over black people. Her dominant world shadows on her thoughts, felling, and words and she has to live within this world and all narrator says is what is dictated to her unconsciously and she cannot stop it.

Comparing Letters from an American Farmer and Thoreaus Various Essays

Comparing Crà ¨vecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer and Thoreau's Various Essays  Ã‚   St. Jean De Crà ¨vecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer and Henry David Thoreau's various essays and journal entries present opposing views of what it means to be an American. To somewhat simplify, both writers agree that there are two kinds of Americans: those who are farmers and those who are not. Crà ¨vecoeur views farmers as the true Americans, and those who are not farmers, such as frontier men, as lawless, idle, inebriated wretches (266). Sixty years later, Thoreau believes the opposite: farmers are doomed and bound to their land, and free men who own nothing posses the only true liberty (9). Both Crà ¨vecoeur and Thoreau judge men and their professions on industry, use of nature, freedom, and lawfulness. As America grew during these six decades, industrialization and higher education created more compact communities unable to economically provide the land needs of farmers. In Crà ¨vecoeur's America, "some few towns excepted, we are all tillers of the earth"(263). In 1850, Thoreau's Concord was among the many towns allowing people to leave their farms for a more urban setting to house their law practices, shoe stores, or surveying businesses. The separation of farmers from the rest of society leads to intellectualizations of the profession by thinkers like Thoreau. Removed from the simple, hard labor of farming, it is easy for urbanized society to forget the farmer's purpose and importance in Western civilization. Crà ¨vecoeur states that "industry, which to me who am but a farmer, is the criterion of everything"(264). Indeed, a lack of industry in any vocation eventually leads to failure. Thoreau, however, sees little value in indu... ...d as Thoreau was from self-supporting agriculture, modern America is light years away. Thoreau's ideal lifestyle is now an impossibility. Many Americans would settle for an unadorned life on a small farm, and a clean, dry home. Possibly the day will come when [the land] will be partitioned off into so-called pleasure-grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and exclusive pleasure only-when fences shall be multiplied, and man-traps and other engines invented to confine men to the public road, and walking over the surface of God's earth shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman's grounds. ... Let us improve our opportunities, then, before the evil days come. (Thoreau 667) Works Cited: Crà ¨vecoeur, J. Hector St. John de. Letters from an American Farmer and Sketches of Eighteenth-Century America. Ed. Albert E. Stone. New York: Penguin, 1981.