Abstract
This paper shows that Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea have been identified as the five best performing Asian economies, having grown twice as fast as other East Asian economies since the 1960's - 1980's. This essay identifies and discusses a range of reasons for the rapid economic growth rates of the economies of these countries. Arguments are supported by statements by different economists and statistical tables.

From the Paper
"At the end of World War II, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore were war-shattered, largely resource-poor areas with rapidly growing populations and very low living standards. By the 1980s, Japan had become one of the world's richest countries and the others had achieved or were approaching income levels of developed nations (FCJ Editors, 1998). South Korea has jumped from being a developing nation to the status of advanced industrial nation. South Korea and Taiwan have recently made the leap to democracy. Hong Kong, probably the most freewheeling economic region in the world, was incorporated into the People's Republic of China on July 1, 1997. Singapore is an economic leader of all of South East Asia."

Tags:gdp, macroeconomic, recession

Abstract
This paper discusses international marketing strategy and several shortcomings of current strategies. Particularly, standardized approaches to global marketing across markets are examined as being rife with potential cultural hazards. A segmented marketing strategy is offered as an alternative because it focuses on depth rather than breadth. Nike is utilized as an example of an MNC that is victim of a standardized marketing approach.

From the Paper
"When moving from a national to an international market, one of the primary issues in developing a marketing plan and a strategy to execute on the plan is the ability to integrate the cultural characteristics of the target market into the plan. While the need for such consideration might seem self-evident there is still a significant percentage of the business community that enters foreign markets without proper due diligence and the results can prove catastrophic at worst and embarrassing at best. Some debate exists whether market research deserves its own separate business emphasis in marketing strategy: "the topic of business communication requires an independent research agenda about intercultural interaction. Indeed, research has paid little attention to the quality of persuasive documents used in international business..."(Hoeken et al, 2003, para.2). "

Tags:nike, marketing, strategy

Abstract
This paper discusses the foreign-language film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," directed by Ang Lee. The paper attempts to provide insight into the impact on Western viewers regarding views on Chinese culture by discussing the themes in this film. It describes some of the positive and negative reviews of the film. The paper concludes that the main concern about the movie "Crouching Tiger," especially by the Chinese viewers and critics, is that it does not portray China's culture and values, but rather the intercultural viewpoint of the director, Lee.

From the Paper
"The differences by the students shows, says Zhu (2002) that someone's tacit knowledge of cultural values can persist and be influential in character judgment. The Western culture highly values individualism and the pursuit of happiness, the Chinese instead values collectivism and morality over individualism. It is considered morally inappropriate for a person's pursuit of happiness to occur at the expense of others. While all subjects praised the women's qualities of independence, strength, and strong will, they have different views of Jen. Most American subjects perceived Jen as a free individual, but most of the Chinese audiences criticized her as overly cunning and morally corrupt from a Confucian point of view. However, most Americans found the character Sulian lackluster, since she hesitates to pursue personal happiness, but most Chinese subjects saw her as a well-rounded character who, unlike Jen, is mature and noble enough to control her feelings."

Tags:intercultural, representation, Orient

Abstract
This paper critiques and notes the failings in film theory in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." According to the paper, this work caused various critics to lament its inauthentic and Americanized nature.the paper further explains that actually, several features and flaws of the film make it a quite authentic Hong Kong-style film, in its plot, format, various errors, glaring shortcuts involving language and dialect.

From the Paper
"Globalization's cultural exchange is regarded by some in terms of cultural dilution and a misfortunate abridgement of culture. (Wang & Yue 2005) However, hybridization, cultural appropriation and related terms can over-emphasize decay, due to a failure to take a long enough view, examining what the history of a place or culture has been, as in a Hong Kong film making industry that must be understood in keeping with the longer history of Hong Kong, not China, as a fused culture of unique culture. This paper's discussion of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon..."

Tags:crouching tiger, theory, crit, hk genre

Abstract
This paper explains that the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" means hiding one's strength from others, a skill mastered by most of the major characters. The author points out that both warriors and bandits were tied to their lifestyles as the very essence of their existence. The paper relates that the movie showed what it was like to live in China in the Qing Dynasty conveying the rich culture and personal conflicts of people in that era.

From the Paper
"Jiao Long aspired to learn more than what her master could teach her and hid her skills from her master. Not the way a disciple should act. She reacted to the attack by the bandits by chasing the head bandit Dark Cloud. This is not the way a young noblewoman should act. She later became his lover. Another action unbecoming of a noblewoman. She disdained marriage to another aristocrat and left her groom hanging by taking off. She resisted authority till the end, ending her life by jumping from Wudan Mountain, because it seemed like she was forever searching for more. A conformist, Jiao Long is definitely not."

Tags:strength, noblewoman, culture, lifestyles, qing

Abstract
The paper shows that in Chinese author Chen Yuan-tsung's novel "The Dragon's Village", land reform was hardly welcomed with open arms by the Chinese peasantry. Rather than acceptance, the individuals who took to the fields and rice paddies of China to spread the doctrine of communism, found a peasantry largely hostile to the ideology they espoused. The paper analyzes the heroine of the book, Guan Ling-ling and the conflicting emotions she has towards the ideologies of Communism.

From the Paper
"This initial image of her early life sets up a clear portrait of the China Guan later hopes to change by going to the countryside. This China is patriarchal, as the women sit, waiting quietly to hear a man speak in the removed language of poetry. This China is hierarchical, as members of the urban class dine comfortably upon fine food. This is the food that the heroine of the book will later dream about as she starves in rural areas. (Chen, 1980, 280) Clearly, change is necessary in such an environment, and the protagonist's rejection of the trappings of such a life at first seems independent and admirable. However, the change created by land reform is no less absurd than the portrait of life in ostensibly communist Shanghai, in all of its near-aristocratic excesses."

Tags:peasantry, Shanghai, Marxist

Abstract
The paper states that symbolism can be a reason to criticize the film or a reason to recognize it as a masterpiece. The authors demonstrates that the major events of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" are symbolic and believes that this is effective in creating a film with beauty, depth and meaning. The author continues that, because of the extent of the symbolism in the film, the viewers do not have a clear meaning handed to them but instead are challenged to determine their own meaning.

From the Paper
"The symbolism as inherent to the film can be a reason to criticize the film or a reason to recognize it as a masterpiece. The film's very nature is symbolic, with the meaning attached not to the events, but to a greater meaning the events represent. The events and the plot of the movie are a surface feature, below this surface the film operates on many levels. This can be a reason to criticize the film, with the audience sometimes being lost to the meaning and confused at what is happening. In some ways, this can make the film seem poorly plotted and the characters poorly defined. However, on another level, it is these same characteristics that make it so powerful. The film is an epic and everything is on a grand, yet unrealistic scale."

Tags:chinese, yin, yang, love, spiritual, fight, sword, audience, struggle

Abstract
This paper examines the claims that sea vessels have been recorded missing in Japan's Dragon Triangle for more than 3000 years and how a series of unexplainable events, which are beyond the powers of us mere mortals to create, has led to the development of sensational theories, some of which have even found their way into the folk lore of the Japanese people. The paper then uses the formula presented in Theodre Schick and Lewis Vaughn's book, "How to Think about Weird Things", to try to shed some light on this phenomena. The paper claims that by using the tool provided by Schick and Vaughn, we might derive some logical conclusions and help clear the myths relating to such mysteries.

Outline:
State the Claim
Examine the Evidence for the Claim
Consider Alternative Hypothesis
Rate, According to the Criteria of Adequacy, Each Hypothesis

From the Paper
"Stating the claim is inevitable, as without stating any claim it would be impossible to examine its relevance and credibility. So it is absolutely necessary to state the claim clearly and specifically. Claims which are vague tend to mislead people and draw them away from the real purpose. In our case, of the dragon triangle, it is claimed that: Ships/ Sea vessels have been recorded missing in the triangle for more than 3000 years, huge unexpected waves, seaquakes, whirlpools and sudden change in climate, malfunction of navigational equipments such as compass deviation, non-function of radios and loss of control of vessels so on and so forth."

Tags:myth, seaquakes, demons

Abstract
This paper analyzes the popular and generic status of the "Eyes of the Dragon" by Stephen King. The author of the paper justifies why she believes this text is an example of popular fiction. The paper analyzes the book's genre, cover and its content, with emphasis on the various drawings and the novel's historical context.

From the Paper
"Stephen King wrote this book largely for his daughter Naomi as she, to quote King, ?made it clear that she loves me, but has very little interest in my vampires, ghoulies, and slushy crawling things.? According to King Naomi loved the end result and thought that the "only thing wrong with it was that she didn't want it to end" . His daughter Naomi was even represented in one of the characters, appropriately called Naomi. The fact that he wrote the book for his 13-year-old daughter who had no interest in horror might explain why the novel has so many resemblances to a fairy tale. The book talks about kings, princes, dragons and other characters that are usually used in fairy tales."

Tags:fantasy, horror, literature, Delain

Abstract
During the 1960s, one of the revolutionary developments that changed the landscape of American culture and history was the establishment of the Hippie Movement. The paper shows that besides rock music, traditional folk music came into being once again, only this time, a mixture of rock influence was infused with traditional folk music. This type of music was played by bands such 'Peter, Paul and Mary' which received acclaim and popularity because of the liberal ideas they incorporated into their songs. This paper analyzes one of the band's songs, the famous children's rhyme entitled, "Puff (the Magic Dragon)." The paper looks at how the song can be interpreted in two ways - the loss of innocence of children as they embark into the real world and the issue of drug addiction.

From the Paper
"Symbolism is used to connote the themes of lost childhood and drug addiction in the song. The dragon symbolizes the child/ drug addict, while Little Jackie Paper represents the lost childhood/ drug addiction of the "dragon" in the song. Also, Honah Lee is said to represent more than the land where magic and fantasy becomes a reality; what the place really stood for is symbolic of Hanalei, a Hawaiian village wherein marijuana plants are dominantly cultivated (Mikkelson 2001). Rhyming is utilized to create the childish tone and theme that the song assumes, while the audience the song aims at is the adult audience."

Tags:Yarrow, Stookey, Travers, Leonard, Lipton