Business Plan Phases (2)

Investment Environment Analysis

If you wanna invest in a new place, you should understand the natural conditions and social customs of the region.

1. History

Summarize the history of the investment region.

2. Geography

Introduce the geographic position, territory area, neighbors, etc..

3. Climate

Climate is important to an agricultural or industrial enterprise. It also influences consuming.

4. Culture

Knowing well in local culture is good for making good relations with local residents and government. It is also beneficial to marketing well.

5. Politics

Politics influences the stability of society and policies. It is very important to a businessman.

6. Safety

Good social safety is essential condition of investment. No safety, no business.

7. Resources

Resources usually include natural resources and human resources. Resources influence the choosing of business line and the cost of business.

8. Macro-economics

Macro economics influences the present and future market scale and financial safety.

9. Special Production

Special production is a part of natural resources. International trade in special production usually makes money easily.

10. Industrial Level

Industrial level influences integrity of production chain and supply of material.

11. Service Line

The development of service line influences the ability of consuming and market policy.

12. Strategic Development Plan

Knowing the strategic development plan of the investment country is beneficial to business development.

13. Market Scale

The market scale here means macro market, and includes living costs of local people, price level, etc..

14. Infrastructure

Infrastructure includes the situation of transportation (road, railway, air transport, water transport, etc.), communication (telephone, internet, post, etc.), energy (electricity, oil, gas, coal, etc.), etc..

15. Trade Relations

Includes trade policy, trade companion, main trade data, trade agreements, trade organization

member, protective tariff and preferential tariff, etc..

16. Financial Environment

Includes legal currency, exchangeable currency, exchange rate, foreign exchange policy, banks, loan conditions, credit situation, securities market, etc..

17. Business Cost

Includes prices level, such as the cost of water, electricity, gas, communication, rent, materials, salary, etc..

18. Authorized Department

Usually includes commercial department, investment department, tax department, environment protection department, register department, customs, and other relative departments of the local government.

19. Relative Laws

Knowing the relative laws and decrees is very important to enter into a new market.

第二篇：A Brief Analysis of Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea

A Brief Analysis of Symbolism in

The Old Man and the Sea

1. Introduction

A man is not only a man; a sea is not only a sea; an animal is not only an animal. As for it, I totally agree to it via reading The Old Man and the Sea. In this book, we could find that the man is a symbol, the sea is a symbol, and the animal is also a symbol. As is known to all, The Old Man and the Sea was written by Ernest Hemingway, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest American writers of his age.

Hemingway is considered as the spokesman of the “Lost Generation”. In 1899, he was born in Oak Park, Illinois. His father was a highly respected doctor andhis mother was not only a singer but also a music teacher, a lover of high culture. In his childhood, influenced by his parents，he loved music, hunting, fishing, boxing. These hobbies shaped his resolute character and affected his life. In his sixty-two years, he had lived in or traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa. He had witnessed or participated in World Wars I and II, the Spanish Civil War, the Greco-Turkish War, and the Sino-Japanese War. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations.

The Old Man and the Sea, which was published in 1952, is Hemingway’s the most important novel. This book is not only a story about the old man and the sea, but also a good reflection which implies the fight between the man and the nature. There are many hidden meanings in it and each element represents different things as what I said at the beginning of this essay. It highlights the theme that a man can bedestroyed but not defeated. Just as Hemingway said, he tried to make a real old man, areal boy, a real sea, a real fish and a real shark, if he can make themperfect and true, they will mean more. Therefore, in this novel, Hemingway used a lot of symbols and imageswhich make the novel have vivid and complicated plots,and also enrich the themes of the article.

This paper aims to analyze symbolism used in The Old Man and the Sea. There are a lot of symbols of concrete objects. The author will introduce symbolism and mainly analyze the symbolic meanings of the sea and the old man in this essay. What do the sea and the old man stand for?

2. Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea

2.1 Symbolism

Symbolism is an artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images. In literature, it is a writing style of using something to stand for something else by reasoning of relationship, association, accident resemblance, or a visible sign of something invisible. The application of symbolism has a strong and deep influence on literature. With the use of symbolism，the simple plots move more smoothly; the theme is better presented and the novel possesses more artistic charm.

It is obvious that symbolism is an essential literary device used by Ernest Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway used a number of forms of symbolism. The Sea, the old man, the boy and the sharks all have their deep symbolic meanings respectively. The following part will deeply expound above two elements’ symbolic meanings.

2.2 The symbol of the sea

Sea is a very important image in a novel. In literature, sea has a lot of symbolic meanings, most of which imply a kind of masculine power. But in The Old Man and the Sea, sea is regarded as a lady.

He always thought of the sea la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her. Sometimes those who love her say bad things of her but they are always said as though she were a woman. Some of the younger fisherman, those who used buoys as float for their lines and had motorboats, bought when the shark livers had brought much money, spoke of her as el mar which is masculine. They spoke of her as a contestant or a place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favour. (Hemingway 20)

Then you can find that the sea is boundless, beneficent and beautiful. We know that it is she who gives the old man a big fish. But the sea is also cruel, savage and insidious, where there are full of various marlins and sharks, full of raging waves and hidden reef. But because of the sharks, in order to purse and arrest the big fish, the old man really pays great hard work to obtain it from the sea. At the beginning of the novel, it is clear that it is exactly difficult for the old man to catch a fish. “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eight-four days now without taking a fish.” (Hemingway 1) I think, this description of the old man is not to tell readers that the old man is not an excellent fishman. It should

prepare for the development of the next plot. Nevertheless, the old man does not hate the sea for his failure to catch a fish, he thinks “and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them.” (Hemingway 20) He is really optimistic.

As for the symbol of the sea, in my eyes, on the basis of this novel, the sea has two meanings. On the surface, it is related to the old man’s living. In the whole story, the old man is fishingon the sea and his goal is to catch a big fish to prove his abilityand dignity. Actually, the sea has prepared an enormous big fish andprovided a place for the old man to realize his dream. In the oldman’s opinion, the sea is cold-blooded but he pays no attentionto the sea and is sympathetic to the weak birds. In the nature, thesea represents American political system at that time when peopledid not have democratic freedom and were oppressed deeply by theAmerican government.

2.3 The symbol of the old man

The old man is the most import character in the novel. Herepresents a stage, which is the ultimate development of natureof human beings and symbolizes a highly philosophy of humanspirit, an eternal existence beyond time and space. Through thedescription of the struggle among the old man, the marlin andthe shark, Hemingway showedreaders the human being great spirit inthe face of adversity.Hemingway spoke highly of the courage of human being and the spirit toovercome various difficulties when one is in an unpleasant situation.

For example, he looks weak, as a result of old age, fatigue, lonely, having left muscle spasm, and even facing death at anytime, but he does not show any fear. He encouraged himself: “The dentuso is cruel and able and strong and intelligent. ButI was more intelligent than he was.” (Hemingway 89) When fighting with the shark, he always persist in. “Sometimes he lost the scent. But he would pick it up again, or have just a trace of it, and he swam as fast as the fastest fish in the sea and everything about him was beautiful except his jaw. (Hemingway 86) He never reconciles himself to his defeat, as he said “But man is not made for defeat, a man can be destroyed but not defeated.”(Hemingway 89)

Through the narration and description of the old man, Hemingway praised the spirit of man who does not succumb to failure. Hemingway put the old man into the novel, who has an unyielding characteristic, and raised the old man to a higher role, giving the whole work an eternal life. At this moment, the old man is not just a person. Most importantly, he is as an inspired character to encourage people not to be afraid

just to bravely face any difficulties.

3. Conclusion

All in all, there are still other symbols in The Old Man and the Sea.In this novel, the use of symbolism has played an important role. As clarified above, the old man is the best representative of unyieldingcharacter and optimism; the sea represents the environment that the old man lives in. Besides, actually, shark, lion, eagle, tuna all have symbolic meaningsrespectively. The shark means the destructive force of the society and the world. Through the description of the shark and fighting with the shark, readers could learn a lot from the old man when he was struggling to protect his big fish and to survive. By using symbolism, Hemingway succeeded in reachinghis goal to convey the theme of the novel—the spirit of optimism. Inother words, a man can be destroyed but cannot be defeated.

The Old Man and the Sea is highly praised by the readers andcritics for the successful use of symbolism. The studying of the useof symbolism not only reveals the theme of the spirit of optimism,but also expresses the idea—we must believe in ourselves and fight for ourselves forever, for there is hope forever in this world.

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernet. The Old Man and the Sea. Chinese Books Press, 2007

王艳姿. 一部积极存在主义作品—浅析《老人与海》的象征意义[J]. 辽宁大学学报，1998，(4)

赵雨恒. 《老人与海》中的象征意义浅析[J]. 中国校外教育，2012(24).