Journal - wk 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal - wk 4 - Essay Example Student learning is positively impacted by the detailed feedback. A responsive teacher uses a significant and crucial way for the determination of assessment objectives along with decisions. There are multiple and varied sources for the information of assessment based on the formative, benchmark and summative drawn from students’ experience both in formal and informal ways. Prozesky (2001) called the summative that was done at the end of the learning period. Feedback is influential as it exists in the several forms of received information. This information is experienced from interaction in a classroom to the standard and formal assessments. Effectiveness of feedback is also determined by these types of assessments. The feedback needs objective and a neutral outlook for the analysis of the students’ assessments. Assessment improves equally the performance of teachers to student learning (Olah, Lawrence and Riggen, 2010). Comments after the tests are also good source of feedback (Middle States Commission,

Operations Management at Walmart

Operations Management at Walmart The companys originator was Sam Walton. He was born in 1918 at Oklahoma. In 1940, he worked for the prominent retailer, J C Penney. Walton gave up the job and settled on to set up his own retail store. He acquired a store franchise in Arkansas. Offering momentous markdowns on prices, he became triumphant and attained a second store in 3 years. By 1969, Walton had instituted 18 Wal-Mart stores. By late 1970s, the retail chain had ascertained a pharmacy and an auto service center. In 1980s, Wal-Mart sustained to nurture due to colossal customer stipulates in small towns. Wal-Mart was offering low prices, customer contentment assurance, and hours that were pragmatic for the way people wanted to shop. Wal-Mart endured a setback in 1992, when Walton died. But it prolonged its augmentation in the 1990s, focusing on out of the country stores. This unparalleled growth of Wal-Mart is featured to its continued hub on customer necessitates and reducing cost through proficient supply chain manag ement practices. In the early 1970s, Wal-Mart became one of the first retailing companies in the world to integrate its distribution system, ground-breaking the retail hub-and-spoke system. Under the system, goods were centrally arranged, assembled at a gigantic warehouse, known as allocation center (hub), from where they were transmitted to the individual stores (spoke). The hub and spoke system facilitated Wal-Mart to accomplish momentous cost advantages by the centralized purchasing of goods in titanic quantities. Wal-Mart underlined the need to trim down purchasing costs and offer the unsurpassed price to the customer. The company directly acquired from manufacturers, by passing all intermediaries. Supply chain management (SCM) of Wal-Mart is an expanded managing focus that mulls over the amalgamated impression of all the companies engrossed in the fabrication of goods and services, from suppliers to manufacturers to wholesalers to retailers to decisive consumers and afar to dumping and reprocessing. This approach to managing assembly and logistics systems presupposes all companies engaged in the progression of delivering goods to consumers are part of an arrangement, conduit, or supply chain. It includes everything necessitated to gratify customers and includes shaping which products they will purchase, how to create them, and how to transport them. The supply chain philosophy makes certain that customers obtain the precise products at the correct time at a satisfactory price and at the preferred location (Bethany, 2009) Mounting antagonism, intricacy, and geographical extent in the business world have led to this widened reach and continuing up gradations in the capabilities of the personal computer have made the optimization of supply chain performance probable. Electronic mail and the Internet have transfigured interaction and data exchange, facilitating the vital flow of information between the companies in the supply chain. Wal-Mart announced increases in catalog turns, decreases in out-of-stock happenings, and a replacement cycle that has moved from weeks to days to hours. A rudimentary assumption of Wal-Marts supply chain management is to view the system of facilities, progressions, and people that acquire raw materials, renovate them into products, and ultimately assign them to the customer as a chain, rather than a cluster of separates, but somewhat unified tasks. The significance of this incorporation cannot be exaggerated because the links of the chain are the means to achieving the objective. Every company has a supply chain, but not every company administers their supply chain as Wal-Mart for tactical advantage (Charles, 2006) In the midst of Wal-Marts supply chain management, information systems, procedures, attempts, and suggestions are assimilated across all functions of the intact supply chain. Supply chains befall more multifaceted as goods flow from more than one supplier to more than one industrialized and distribution site. The likelihood of outside sources for purposes like gathering and packaging are also alternatives in the chain. The fundamental tasks of Wal-Mart do not modify, regardless of whether or not it observes supply chain management. Suppliers are still entailed to supply material, manufacturing still creates, distribution still delivers, and customers still acquire. All of the customary functions of a company still take place. The definitive difference in a company that administers its supply chain is their focus shifts from what goes on within each of the links, to include the associations between the links. Any disruption to the supply chain connections affects the complete chain. The snowballing supply chain effect of improbability can be seen in this example. Suppose a producer of integrated circuit boards receives a consignment of poor condition silicon. Because the producer is reliant on its supplier for timely consignments, the deprived quality lot results in a shipment impediment to one of its customers. The computer producer is forced to shut down its line because constituent circuit boards are not accessible. As a consequence, computer shipments to Wal-Mart are late. Finally, the customer goes to Wal-Mart to acquire a new computer but is incapable to find the desired brand. Aggravated, the customer settles to buy the product of a opponent. Contemplate too, the timing involved in this procedure. Because of fabrication and hauling lead times, the authentic acknowledgement of the poor quality silicon possibly occurred some months before the customer made a computer possession (Nels on, 2010) An extensive diversity of events occurs in the Wal-Marts supply chain that essentially fickle. Suppliers can make premature or tardy deliveries. Customers can amplify, dwindle, or even call off orders. New-fangled customers can place substantial orders. Apparatus or means of transportation can collapse. Employees can get unwell, go on walkout, and renounce Supplier consignments or manufactured products can have value problems. Earlier, Wal-Mart practiced for insecurity and perked up their levels of customer satisfaction by permitting inventory levels to augment. This is no longer a suitable solution. High inventories interpret to increased carrying costs and jeopardizes of obsolescence that can limit a Wal-Marts suppleness. During the supply chain, array is customarily generated and held at many locations. Any time a segment of that inventory can be trimmed down or eradicated; Wal-Mart lessens costs and enhances productivity. Curbing the length of time it takes to shift a product from one link of the chain to the next also abbreviates the cycle time of the whole chain and thereby increases competitiveness and customer contentment. Low cost stratagem is centered on the capacity of Wal-Mart to manufacture and distribute merchandise of cutthroat quality at inferior costs. Cost leadership strategy is much more than cost reduction initiatives that get lot of eminence in strategic planning and evaluate session of any company as a means to perk up the bottom line of a company by improving its competence. Wal-Mart uses their proficient cost structures to shield their market from the competitors by reacting to competitors move of making in-roads in the market space by plummeting prices. Such imprudent response may make Wal-Mart principally inward spotlighted. Improved way to tactically situation Wal-Mart on the pro of cost is to boost market share by converting from lowest cost producer to lowest cost supplier of products. This way Wal-Mart decodes its cost advantage into price gain for its consumers and thereby advances the market share. The panorama of escalating the market share endows with a huge prospect for the company to influence the economies of scale paired with the hardnosed cost cutting gauges it sketches to accomplish. More the aggressive space it occupies which also connotes that more competitors eradicated more effectual are economies of scale and as a consequence the costs are driven still lesser. When Wal-Mart is able to convert the endeavors of cost reduction into cost advantage for customers the company can be said to be lucratively pursuing low cost leadership strategy. Wal-Mart is one company that incessantly struggles to cut costs and in the market place it has got the representation of supplier of products at the buck prices. This is how Wal-Mart incarcerates the markets and purges the competitors and progresses revenues and market share. Economies of scale and competence form the nucleus around which Wal-Mart implements its strategy. Wal-Mart pursuing cost leadership evaluates each and every commotion along their value chain with competitors and is committed to outshine them. Innovation in Wal-Mart is focused on process augmentations (both incremental and quantum) rather than on artifacts (new product development). In fact companies pursuing cost leadership strategy aim mass markets with established products. The cost leaders today by and large miss out on one imperative aspect. They classically muse on conveying a product of bloodthirsty quality at the lowly cost and pass on part of the cutbacks to customers. They are so fixated with costs and pricing that seldom do they dismember the customer value proposition. This is a forthcoming area that may supply yet another cost reduction prospect and at the same time magnetize prospective customers from an alcove segment. Wal-Mart when it evaluates the value proposition that it proffers adjacent to the characteristics that customers really give significance, novel insights and opportunities may inaugurate. Such a study may disclose some features on which the company may be sustaining ample disbursement and yet the customers do not care about the fastidious facet or facility. Cutting on such frills may be of assistance in improving the bottom line. But cuts on frills accompanied by plunge on factors where companys offering is less than the customers anticipations provides an exceptional prospect for financial prudence and serving augmented value to the customers, which may represent customers from exterior to the current marketplace space, just on the periphery of niche segments. Most admired no frills strategy is followed by Wal-Mart which based its stratagem on clear indulging of the segment of customers it satisfies. All sources consent the underlying focus of supply chain management begins by accepting the customer, their worth, and obligations. This includes internal customers of Wal-Mart and the ultimate customer as well. Wal-Mart must hunt to know accurately what the customer anticipates from the product or service and must then hub their endeavors on summiting these expectations. The procedure of suppliers must be paralleled with the buying progression of the customer. Even functioning measurements must be customer driven, because the conduct of the final customer eventually controls the actions of the intact supply chain (Al Norman, 2004) Another prerequisite is improved information flow. Wal-Mart must spend in the technology that will grant access to better amounts of appropriate information. Information makes it probable to move to more immediate merchandise replacement and permit all parties in the chain to react swiftly to all changes. Information assists the decisions of the supply chain such as assessment and examination of options. Information flow is solution to the visibility of the product as it streams through the supply chain. The elasticity and modification required is often complex for Wal-Mart and their employees. It is however, the capacity to clinch essential changes that will position a company to take benefit of supply chain management. Because the supply chain is a vigorous entity, Wal-Mart is advised to systemize for change. They must foresee confrontation and be prepared to deal with it. Preparing the concepts of supply chain management will assist in this attempt. Furthermore, as with any organization change, the new ideas must be sustained and held by all levels of management of Wal-Mart (John Dicker, 2005) Self checkout machines offer a mechanism for customers to pay for procurements from a retailer without unswerving input to the method by the retailers staff. They are a substitute to the conventional cashier-staffed checkout. . The advantage to the customer is in the lessened checkout time because stores are frequently able to competently run two to six self checkout units where it normally would have had one cashier. Some customers welcome the skill not to have to deal with anyone. Self checkout may create a delusion of confidentiality and anonymity, when in fact the self checkout attendant can follow the progress of customers on all machines via a separate workstation known as a RAP (Remote Attendant Post). The customer pays and dispatches with a receipt at the checkout kiosk. The reliability of the system is preserved through the use of random inspections or RFID. Theft on these services is reduced by a mixture of a high blockade to entry, and infrequent audits of customers shoppi ng, where customers chosen at arbitrary are taken to a specialized till and have their shopping scanned in the customary way

Moral Development in Huckleberry Finn and The Great Gatsby Essay exampl

Moral Development in Huckleberry Finn and The Great Gatsby      Ã‚   Moral Development, according to the Webster's dictionary means an improvement or progressive procedure taken to be a more ethical person, and to distinctly differentiate between right and wrong.   The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Great Gatsby, both pose as pieces of literature that vividly portray moral development through the narrator's point of view.      Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, wants the reader to see and focus on the search for freedom.   As on the other hand, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, author of Great Gatsby, wants you to see the American Dream, which is a freedom as well, a socio-economic freedom. These authors have chosen their narrators well, as we see a significant number of action that have brought them to be ethically developed.   Narration in a story is important, and is usually told by a main character.   These narrators face a world of confusion, a world of fear, a world of adventure, and most of all, a world of opportunity.   By these things I mean that Nick Caraway, and Huckleberry Finn have a chance to mature as time progresses though the novel, and then make a remarkable move to end up as a hero. The narrators of The Great Gatsby and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn develop morally as the relate the story that reflects each one's position in society.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Great Gatsby, by Fitzgerald, is narrated by Nick Caraway.   Nick is a sophisticated observer of character, who starts out as an amoral person.   His character is a very peculiar one, because he is somewhat neutral though this whole st... ... The Great Gatsby. Ed. Ernest Lockridge. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. 37-53. Crowley, Donald J., ed. One Hundred Years of Huckleberry Finn: The Boy, His Book, and American Culture. Columbia: U of Missouri, 1985. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Penguin Books, 1990. Harris, Susan K. "Huck Finn." Huck Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1990. Johnson, Claudia Durst. Understanding Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood P, 1996. Poirier, Richard, Huck Finn and the Metaphors of Society. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Simpson, Claude M., ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1968. Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (1884) Secaucus: Castle, 1987.      

Pestle analysis of UK mobile industry

The United Kingdom plays a very important role in the European mobile market as it accounts for a total of 12.9% market value (Datamonitor 2008). By the end of 2011 the United Kingdom mobile phone market value is estimated to gain a raise of 29.1% since 2006 valuing around $4.4 billion (Datamonitor 2008). The industry boundary could be around the manufacturing and giving the service to the mobile phone as these two complement with each other. MOBILE PHONE SERVICE PROVIDING MANUFACTURING With the increase in the technology there is always a better phone in the market with newer specifications, and because of the attractiveness of the deals the consumers are going for a better mobile all the time even if they don't use all the integrated applications. On the other hand this market is nearing its maturity which is a superior threat for all the service providers and mobile manufacturers as they need to invest in more and more for research and development. The recent data shows that just in the U.K there are 69.7 million active subscribers for the mobile phones in 2006 which are 9.7 million more than the total U.K population (Mintel 2007). This states the popularity of the mobile phones and the usage. Key Determinants of Success: For any industry to be successful there will be some key determinants of success which helps its growth, and when these determinants come together it could a successful one. And these determinants for the mobile phone manufacturing and service industry could be the Technological, Economical and Social factors. These could be the three main determinants of this industry mainly because all of these complement each other, as the better the technology in a mobile phone the higher the price will be. Even at a high price consumers would tend to buy these phones as for they are getting the latest technology in their hands and thereby they can show off their status. Technology: In this 21st century the technology is booming and all the companies in any kind of industry would like to use the cutting edge technology for their products or services. As the more technology used in any firm would determine its market capture, its consumers, mainly the price of their products or services. In the mobile phone manufacturing the technology is rapidly increasing. It's equally important for the manufacturer to produce high quality for the consumer as in the past mobile phones are only used to talk to the other person, now with the growth in the technology consumers can send and receive text messages, they can check their e-mails, take pictures with integrated camera of up to 8 mega pixels, and most wonderfully consumers can video chat. All of these explain the technological growth and consumers do pay higher prices to enjoy and experience this kind of technology in their palms. The manufacturers on the other hand are not just providing mobile phones which can do only these things; they are also incorporating other things such as touch screen, Bluetooth and infrared connectivity, wireless local area network (WLAN) which the consumers can use for wireless connectivity (internet), watching live TV, mp3 player, and for all these the consumer thinks it is worth paying the price either set by the manufacturer or the service provider. Economy: The U.K mobile phone industry plays a rather very important role in the economy of the country. The U.K mobile market has generated a total revenue of $3.4 billion in 2006 (Datamonitor 2008) As its been forecasted that the U.K economy to grow between 2.4% to 2.6% between 2007 and 2011 (Key note 2007), but over this very small percentage raise over 5 year period, the consumers are going to lose confidence in the economy but at the same time as the mobile phones are a very essential part of their day to day lives it tends to survive. The mobile penetration rate is also so high that few consumers have more than one phone, or more than one contract or connections and thereby increasing their expenditure. At the same time the mobile phone industry contributes to the economy by importing a lot of raw materials to be used in the production or manufacturing and also exporting the end products. It also contributes to the economy by increasing the employment rate, the more outlets or offices it opens by creating a series of distributors and retailers the more the more the employment rate will be. If the mobile industry has to go into recession, it has been estimated in 2004 that the total revenue the government could lose could add up to a total of around à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½9,864 million (O2 2004). And if we take the rate of technology growth from then to now and the price factor into consideration it could have definitely gone higher by now. Social: Social factors have a very large impact on the industry. The demand levels of the products and the sales are continuously affected by the attitudes and beliefs of the consumers. In addition people have mobile phones not just for communication it also adds peace of mind for the people who care, a lot of people have them as to organise their lives either in a social context or a business context there by making most of their time, and a majority of consumers carry for personal safety. People would like to have mobile phones as they carry them any where they want. It also provides more convenient access to other services like banking, working etc. It also improves social networking as we tend to communicate more by talking rather than just sending e-mails. Usefulness of External Environment Analysis: Any firm within the industry can increase its chances of competitiveness by doing an external environmental analysis. The managers need to use the information gained by the external environmental analysis for future planning, strategy formulation by making the environment ready for any positive changes and thereby keeping away from the negative ones and better decision making as the external environment is changing continuously. By doing this kind of analysis there is every opportunity for the firm to get its resources ready for the kind of strategy they want to develop. Managers need to keep examining the external environment as it is very dynamic as market conditions change day to day, technology is growing, and there is a prospect for them to know who their competitors are. Appendix For external environment analysis the tool which any kind of industry or firm to use is PESTEL analysis which we can be elaborated as follows: Political and Legal, Environmental, Ecological, Social and Technology. Political and Legal factors: * Any kind of industry or firm need to sick to some rules and regulations. * Trade restrictions and changes in the tax structure will affect the industry. * OFCOM- Office of Communications is an independent regulatory body for the Communications Industry. It checks that all the firms within the industry adhere to the regulations. * All firms need to stick to the guideline levels of the radiation to which anyone can be exposed, which is set by The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). Thereby they need to set up more base stations (which send and receive signals to connect to mobile phones). * From 2003 the Road Safety act does not permit any driver to handle the hands free set to either call, send or receive text, or access internet. If anyone opposes the law there is a fine of up to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½30. In February 2007, they increased the penalty from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½30 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½60 as they need to be tougher and to make driving safer. This decreases the usage of the mobile phones. * The consumer protection act * European Regulators Group (ERG) is the body appointed to investigate into the prices the service providers are charging for mobile phone usage while abroad. It tends to bring these prices lower in favour to the consumers. Economical factors: * The growth or fall of the economy can impact on the industry, as if the economy falls there won't be any new consumers willing to take contracts. * At the same time the growth of the industry contributes a lot to the economy: o It provides a lot of employment o It generates revenue for the economy thereby contributing to the GDP. o It contributes to the export and import of raw materials and end products respectively. * The other important factors which affect the industry are exchange rates, rise or fall in the inflation, and minimum wages. Environmental factors: * There is no conclusive proof that the usage of mobile phones affects the health of the consumers. * The use of mobile phones in cars can cause accidents. * At the same time there are issues still concerning that even if using mobile phones does not affect the health in a short term, it might in a long term. * There are claims that it affects the brain cells, human DNA, immune system, and might even develop cancer due to the radiations. * National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) suggested that there is no evidence of the health problems concerning the usage of mobile phones. But it did warn that we need some precautionary measures due to the high usage of the mobile phones in the near future. Social factors: * The society is very much concerned with the mobile usage by under 18s. * It feels that they can be contacted by unknown persons who can be threat to them. * At the same time it's like an advantage as the kids can or can be contacted by their elders. * Career attitudes, social behaviour, and life style of consumers affect the industry. * Society is also concerned about the adult content on the mobile phones and violent games. It's good they have the technology but at the same time it should not lead them in a wrong path. Technological factors: * Technology has rapidly increased in context to mobile phone industry. * At the beginning the phones are only used for conversation now they are being used for send and receive text messages, multi media messages, voice mails, and even video calling. * The raise of 3g connectivity has been a great leap for mobile phone industry, as it's the very new and latest of it. * 3g mobile phones will increase the sales revenue of the firm. * Bluetooth technology is another great achievement in regards to the exchange of the information as it can be done wireless anytime anywhere.

Far From The Madding Crowd Essay

This inconsiderate act lead Boldwood to believe that Bathsheba wanted marriage with him. As we found out Boldwood is very ignorant to love and because he is a very sensitive character falls into a false sense of security because of Bathsheba’s prank. In chapter 23 it looked as if marriage was inevitable because Bathsheba promises to marry Boldwood when he returns. â€Å"I shall be able to promise to be your wife† Boldwood is delighted that he has the opportunity to enter into a marriage with Bathsheba. â€Å"It is enough; I don’t ask more. I can wait on those dear words†. The level of attraction is neither physical, physiological nor emotional, the only level of attraction is Bellwood’s intellect and social status. In chapter 53 Boldwood proves his love and obsession when Troy returns to the scene. Boldwood is fully aware of the threat Troy will impose and therefore shoots him. From the beginning we can tell that nothing will ever amount between their relationship as the emotion felt by Boldwood isn’t reciprocated. Boldwood feels for Bathsheba on all five levels of attraction physical, intellectual, social, psychological and emotional. Within the Bathsheba Boldwood relationship Hardy is trying to promote the fact that for a relationship to be a success there must be an equal level of attraction. Hardy believes that it is great to be in love but it is a lot better to be loved. The second mistake, probably Bathsheba’s biggest mistake was Sgt. Frank Troy. He is the charming soldier who meets Bathsheba in a romantic twilight on the plantation. Hardy doesn’t let us live in this dream world for long because he reveals the true identity of Troy. Troy impresses men, lies to women and misuses his intelligence and power in flirtation and deceit. We are also made aware of one of Troy’s previous relationships with one Fanny Robin. Troy and Fanny had much like the relationship as Bathsheba and troy because she is wooed at first by his charm then finds out what he is truly like. Troy ignores Fanny as she becomes ill and is very poor because of what he had done. However in the Chapter appropriately named ‘Fanny’s revenge’ they examine the dead body and Fanny Robin and it is revealed she was pregnant with Troy’s baby. Troy is devastated and kisses the corpse in front of Bathsheba. Troy’s true love was Fanny not Bathsheba. Bathsheba is attracted to Troy almost straight away even when she finds out what he is really like. However she turns a blind eye to this because she has already fallen in love with him. With this ideal Hardy is trying to promote the idea that love is blind. In the early stages of their relationship troy comes across as a very loving and caring husband who treats Bathsheba like a queen however as a reader we know this is far from the truth. The pinnacle of his ‘boyish charm’ is within chapter 28, in this chapter Troy exhilarates Bathsheba as he does a sword practise from now on in Troy dominates the relationship and this is where the deceit begins. â€Å"But how could you chop off a curl of my hair with a sword that has no edge? † â€Å"No edge! This sword will shave like a razor. Look here† The scene is very symbolic because Bathsheba is led to believe the sword is blunt although Troy knows it is extremely sharp. The symbolism is that troy is the sword and Bathsheba is nai ve to see that Troy is a sharp edge himself and can do a lot of harm. Bathsheba’s love increases for Troy as the novel progresses until the very last point where Troy is shot and Oak and Bathsheba marry. The relationship begins to diminish as Troy begins to gamble and treat Bathsheba inadequately however she persists to take it. Hardy is trying to promote and empathise with hundreds upon thousands of men and women who become confused and distraught in love and that it takes ‘two to tango’. Troy possesses many of the levels of attraction however due to his nature and mannerisms they hinder him. We are told he is handsome, we discover he is intelligent however uses it to his own advantage, he is also well known and more importantly respected in Weatherbury, he charms women and then he manipulates them once he has won them over emotionally and he will also say one thing and for it to have another meaning this shows he is very conniving. I believe Hardy has incorporated a character like Troy to try and prove than some mistakes are greater than others and in love there is a tendency for it to go wrong more than once and that there, as there are for a attraction, different levels of love and sometimes it can be perceived wrongly. Gabriel Oak, probably the most complex character in the novel when it comes down to love because of his simplistic character in all other aspects of the novel. The name has a biblical reference to God our father’s most trusted angel Gabriel. The angel the Gabriel had the very important to tell the Virgin Mary that she was to bare the Son of God. There is also an association with the natural world with the link with the Oak tree, strong, sturdy and reliable. Oak is a very modest and courageous man at times risking his life to help his sheep and risking his heart to be loved. This in my opinion is Hardy showing that you must risk many things for love to prevail. Oak is the third love of Bathsheba and her final husband. Gabriel’s relationship begins at full pace when in the early chapters of the book when he comes to her with a lamb and a marriage proposal. The lamb is a symbol of new beginnings and such to show the first stages of Oak and Bathsheba’s relationship and eventually the lamb will bloom into a full grown and happy sheep reflecting on the outcome of Oak and Bathsheba’s relationship.