Walt Disney, a Brief Biography Essay - 1203 Words

Walt Disney once said, â€Å"All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.† One man’s dream changed the world. Walt Disney is known worldwide for his ingenuity and creativity. He is also recognized for one of the biggest corporations worldwide. So what has made him stand out? All through Walt’s life, he worked hard to rise above his circumstances, determined never to give up, and above all to never stop dreaming. Walt Disney is among the top most successful businessmen of his time because of the ventures he made, the work he established, and his legacy that lives on. â€Å"Walter Elias Disney was born December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, to Elias and Flora Disney†¦Walt’s parents †¦decided to move closer to family on a†¦show more content†¦On May 23, 1922, he incorporated laugh-O-gram Films with $15,000 from local investors who contributed.† (Thomas 62) In the above stated book, we see that this gained him some popularity and he began to become confident with his animation skills. Sadly, sooner than later, his Laugh-O-gram business went bankrupt. (Thomas 66) Through this, we see that Walt did not become wildly successful immediately, but that he went through large discouraging times. Most people would have quit and decide to find a steady job, but not Walt. He went through many hard times before he hit his big break. â€Å"In August of 1923, Walt Disney left Kansas City for Hollywood with nothing but a few drawing materials, $40 in his pocket and a completed animated and live action film.† (D23) To leave the security of his home and try for such a competitive place as Hollywood required a lot of ambition. For someone as unfortunate as he was, he didn’t let giving up on his dream an option. â€Å"Walt’s brother Roy O. Disney was already in California, with an immense amount of sympathy and encouragement, and $250. Pooling their resources, they borrowed an additional $500 and constructed a camera stand in their uncle’s garage. Soon, they received an order from New York for the first â€Å"Alice Comedy† short, and the brothers began their production operation in the rear of a Hollywood real estate office two blocks away.† (D23) This was the true beginning of Walt’sShow MoreRelatedA Brief Biography of Walt Disney890 Words   |  4 PagesWalt Disney was born in Chicago on December 5, 1901. Because of the violence in Chicago and because it was hard to make money, in 1906 his father Elias Disney purchased forty-eight acres of farmland in Marceline, Missouri. It was northeast of Kansas city. Every single family member was expected to do chores on the farm. Walt was amazed by the ducks, pigs, and hens his dad raised and thought of them as personal friends. The memories of these animals greatly influenced how they were portrayed withRead MoreA Brief Biography of Walt Disney921 Words   |  4 PagesDonald Duck, or Pluto? The man behind all of these characters is Walt Disney. Walt was one of the greatest influences to American entertainment. His childhood abuse and home life led him to pursue a standard of perfection to animation as well as create one of the most well known amusement parks in the world. Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, IL. His interest in art started early on in his life. Disney doodled animals and nature as a child and also sold these sketchesRead MoreA Brief Biography of Walt Disney702 Words   |  3 Pages ​Walt Disney was more than just the creator of the Disney Company. Walt Disney made theme parks, animations, screenplays, and other businesses. He was a very influential icon in the 1900’s for his works that impacted all walks of life. He had a 64 year life full of glory but eventually he died from chain smoking complications. (He was never seen smoking in public though.) Walt Disney was one of the most influential entertainers in the 1900’s for his numerous awards, his work in popularizing animationRead MoreWalt Disney And The World Of Animation Essay1043 Words   |  5 Pagesmagical wonders continue to brighten up the new creations of the world of animation. Walt Disney started off just like any other dreamer. We all know Walt Disney as the creator of the famous Disney Corporation and his animation contributions, like Mickey Mouse and Cinderella. Very few people take the time to actually learn who Walt was as an individual or how his life played out. As a youn g entrepreneur, Walt Disney influenced many creators, created a successful company, changes the eyes of the peopleRead MoreWalt Disney’s New World of Mass Media Essay2940 Words   |  12 Pageslying around every corner. Walt Disney World, other wise known as â€Å"the happiest place on earth†, or the place â€Å"where dreams come true†, was founded by a man with a dream of creating a place where children and parents could spend time together while making amazing memories. However, this extravagant amusement park is only one of the major accomplishments of Walt Disney. Walt Disney’s greatest achievement is the impact he made on America’s mass media industry. Disney took his talent for art andRead MoreThe Corporate World And The Walt Disney Company2024 Words   |  9 Pagespaper is Disney. Fortune 100 companies are the business tycoons in America’s corporate world and The Walt Disney Company is one of them. Walt Disney is an American company in the field of media and entertainment. The Walt Disney Company is an enterprise of five business segments: Media Network, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, consumer product, and interactive media (The Walt Disney Company). It has been eminent in the field of entertainment for more than 9 decades. Walt Disney has succeededRead MoreWalt Disney Company: Corporate Profile3357 Words   |  14 PagesCorporate Profile: The Walt Disney Company Chelsea Blackwell University of Evansville September 10, 2012 Like many entertainers, Walt Disney arrived in California with nothing more than talent and a dream. While still in Kansas City, Disney created a cartoon entitled Alice’s Wonderland. It did not take much time at all for Disney to successfully sell his series, â€Å"The Alice Comedies,† to M.J. Winkler, a distributor from New York. October 16, 1923 was the official start date of Disney’s companyRead MoreKeith Haring: Communicating Through Cartoons Essay951 Words   |  4 PagesAs children we find entertainment in cartoons. Such simple shapes and figures provide hours of amusement watching them do trivial tasks like drive cars and go to work. What if they represented more than just a Sunday morning or brief entertainment? What was Disney really trying to say? For artists like Keith Haring, cartoons become his way of communicating with people about what he thought was important and needed to be heard. Haring used cartoon figures in a powerful way within his wo rk. KeithRead MoreDisney Case Study Marketing4482 Words   |  18 Pages------------------------------------------------- Febrero 27, 2013 FIRST PARTIAL EXAM Disney: The happiest brand on earth Case Analysis 1. Background: During the second half of the 1980s and 1990s, the Disney Studio experienced a significant growth, and the division had a golden age with annual box office hits with such regularity that even their creative structure started to be known as the Disney formula.. In 1991, hotels, home video distribution, and Disney merchandising became 28 percent of total company revenuesRead MoreA Brief History of Early Animation 1890 -19502061 Words   |  9 PagesA Brief history of early animation 1890 - 1950 While experiments in creating moving images can be traced back to 180BCE it wasn’t until the late 1800’s that animation was truly realised through the advance of technology and creativity of the early pioneers such as J. Stuart Blackton and Emile Cohl. Driven by a desire to capture motion, many artists tried their hand at animation once the technology arrived, and up until the 1940s new and improved techniques for animation were being created every

Steroids The Corruption Of Baseball - 1287 Words

Steroids: The Corruption of Baseball Steroids changed the game of baseball for an era by transforming the game from defensively oriented mindsets to who could offensively â€Å"out-slug† one another. Steroids have changed the game of baseball due to the fact that it makes you stronger and the players that use it can hit the ball a lot further than others. Steroids are performance enhancing drugs most commonly used by athletes or bodybuilders so that they can gain more muscle quickly and easily to have an advantage on their opponents. It gives them a huge advantage over the rest of the players that don t take it because the walls are immobile so as they are getting stronger than the rest, the walls or the home run fence still stay the same†¦show more content†¦Androgenic effects all the male traits (Doping†¦). Most athletes take just testosterone boosters which is the anabolic steroid to help their performance is synthetic modifications of testosterones (Doping†¦). This form of anabolic steroid has been approved for medical issues but obviously taking them for athletic ability is not one of them. This hormone is taken through pills, injections, and topical treatments. Other than gaining more muscles, athletes take these steroids to help them recover from workouts quicker and reduces muscle damage after a workout. Without overtraining this drug enables the athlete to workout more often and make the workouts harder (Doping†¦). Some athletes even like the aggressive feeling the drug gives them while taking the steroid. Designer steroids are another type of anabolic drug which is the most dangerous steroid out there but some athletes still take it because of one reason. This synthetic steroid has been illicitly made to be undetected by the current drug tests given by professional sports (Doping†¦). This steroid has not been medically approved for use and has not been approved nor tested by the Food and Drug Administration since this it is a health threat to athletes (Doping†¦). Many athletes take way too much doses of steroids than what even doctors prescribe which is a health threat to the athletes. For researchers to construct a study the large effects of dosesShow MoreRelatedDeciding Between Olympics or Baseball for My Reasearch Paper567 Words   |  3 Pagesnarrowed my choices down to the Olympic Games or Major League Baseball, as I have a strong interest in sports, especially baseball. While researching the Olympics, I was able to find plenty of information. When I first started my Google search, I simply typed in â€Å"Olympics,† which gave me over 200 million results. From there, I narrowed down my Google searches into much more specific categories, such as the history of the Olympics, steroids in the Olympics and Special Olympics. Narrowing down my topicRead MoreImpact of Gambling on Athletes and Coaches905 Words   |  4 Pagesentire team, league, or whole sport. Ensuring an honest and uncorrupted game has been one of the biggest challenges facing sport, (Finley, Finley Fountain, n.d., p. 41). Baseball in particular has been plagued by gambling scandals. However, other professional sports have also revealed the prevalence of widespread corruption. Finley, Finley Fountain (n.d.) also note that gambling on college sports has been a problem since the CCNY point-shaving scandal of the 1950s. Point shaving proved lucrativeRead MoreEssay on The Ethics of P erformance Enhancing Drug Use in Baseball2368 Words   |  10 PagesAs Approached from Virtue Ethics and Utilitarian Perspectives Since the 1990’s, Major League Baseball has been tainted by the â€Å"steroid era,† with over 127 players admitting to or being charged for performance-enhancing drug usage. As records have been shattered, books have been published, and players have confessed to their exploits, these drugs have made society question the legitimacy of America’s favorite pastime. One of the game’s greatest, Hank Aaron, set the all time homerun record in 1974Read MoreBlack Sox Scandal and Its Effect on America2032 Words   |  9 PagesScandals in Baseball and Its Effect on America Baseball has always been considered as American as apple pie. If that is true than cheating should be just as American. Ever since the creation of America’s favorite pastime, baseball, cheating has been a major part of the game. Each era of baseball has showed more complex ways of cheating the game. Although, cheating in baseball has been around since the introduction of the game, only few scandals have really made history. Some of the most famousRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald3313 Words   |  14 PagesIsland. Savy is a star basketball player who tries out for a team consisting of elite athletes all of which are older than her. One afternoon during a big tournament, steroid pills were found in Savy’s bag in the locker room. She was brought out for questioning about the pills and she would be suspended from basketball if she is using steroids. The pills in her bag actually â€Å"look like vitamins or extra strength ibuprofen†(Mackel 168). T he pills are then tested and after testing the pills they are confirmedRead MoreBaseball: the American Pastime in the Dominican Republic1926 Words   |  8 PagesBaseball: The American Pastime in the Dominican Republic One hundred and forty years after American-influenced Cubans fled their home island during the Ten Years’ War and brought baseball to the Dominican Republic (D.R.), the sport is thriving in the impoverished nation. In the sport’s top professional league, Major League Baseball (MLB), more current players were born in the Dominican Republic than any other country besides the United States, where 29 of the 30 MLB teams are based (Gregory 2010)Read MoreThe Importance Of Cheating In My Life1519 Words   |  7 Pagesworld is: by any means necessary. The rewards for cheating and getting away with it are often fame and fortune which outweigh the penalties for getting caught because it is becoming more tolerated. Popular stories from the news show steroid use by a famous baseball player, deflating a ball by a famous quarterback, doping by a world-class runner or a top seeded tennis player, are all water under the bridge. By the time the scandal is revealed, the financial and social benefits are already securedRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pages[1991]: 99–102) classiï ¬ ed noncontact sports injuries by sport, resulting in the following table: Sport Number of Sport Injuries Fame and celebrity Money Attract women Bold exercises answered in back 94 56 29 Touch football Soccer Basketball Baseball/softball Jogging/running Bicycling Volleyball Other 38 24 19 11 11 11 17 47 ââ€"  Data set available online but not required ââ€" ¼ Video solution available 26 C h a p t e r 1 ââ€"   The Role of Statistics and the Data Analysis Process Calculate

Diesel and Gasoline Engines free essay sample

Both being internal combustion type diesel and gasoline engines can be considered as similar. Simply, both engines converts chemical energy into mechanical one by burning fuel. In combustion engines the combustion (explosion of fuel) occurs at combustion chamber with , generally, help of oxidizer (air, another fluid, etc. ). The output, high heat and pressure of the burning process is transfered to other components of the engines which expose pressure as a mechanical energy. Some of these parts can be examplified as turbines, nozzles, pistons (Britannica, 2012). These two types of engines basically differs in the way of burning the fuel and production of chemical energy. First, gasoline engines will be introduced in general aspects. 2. 1. Gasoline Engines Both of the engines oxides fuel and burns it in a chamber. The obtained pressure, and therefore, force is used to reveal dynamic action. In a ordinary gasoline engine carburetor, is the first member that mixes air (oxidizer) and fuel in a required proportion. In gasoline engine mixture is injected in to chamber by fuel injector. Nowadays these electronic devices determines the amount and proportion of the mixture due to some parameters like; machine speed, outdoor temperature, etc. In conventional gasoline engine fuel was injected from multipile gaps into cylinder port, consequently a decrease might occur in the effectiveness of explosion. But in modern ones, the fuel is injected directly into cylinder combustion chamber. This type of gasoline engines called as â€Å"Gasoline Direct Injection Engines†. Inside the chamber (cylinder) spark plug ignites the mixture. The revealed pressure pushes the piston toward crankshaft which alters lineer oscillation of piston into the rotary motion. 2. 2. Diesel Engines The working principle of diesel engine is same with gasoline one. The production of mechanical energy relies on same idea that includes burning of fuel and producing force to push pistons. However, the burning process is the key term that differs for each engine types. In diesel engine the explosion is not triggered by sparks but it is made with the help of compressed-hot air. On the otherhand, a mixture of fuel and oil is not injected into chamber. The oil is put into chamber after hot-high tempered air had prepared. Therefore, a relation between air and oil can be formed in a moleculer or a little higher size particle level. Hewing (2010) defines modern diesel engines that they usually consist a turbocharger which improves the efficiency of the machine and consequently increases the power output. The major differentiation in the structure and working scheme of diesel and gasoline engines is their fuel usage style. As mentioned previously, Gasoline engines prepare an air-oil mixture and ignites it with spark plugs to produce power. On the other hand, diesel engine uses hot and presurrized air to start burning therefore, injection of both air and oil into the chamber are made seperately. The mixing is expected to happen during burning process. Diesel engine is always louder due to the uneven (it is a routine) mixture of oil and air moreover, due to the usage of hot air to ignite fuel. Due to this system a longer period of burning process which produces higher noises occurs. On the other hand, during cold seasons the vibration and noise made by diesel engines increases. Generally, gasoline engines do not use all of the fuel (incomplete combustion) that taken into chamber. Therefore, noxious substance and smoke accumulation is much more common for gasoline engine compared to diesel engine. 3. 1 Efficiency In diesel engines the produced heat is much higher after burning of oil. Mainly, higher compression ratio inside the cylinder causes high heating therefore both of higher pressurre and temperature rates make diesel much more effective than gasoline engine. Moreover, direct fuel injection causes a more appropriate mixing in the cylinder camber therefore, the contact rate between fuel and hot air is increased. 3. 2Fuel Economy and Costs Why diesel maintenance cost have less parts than gasoline will be fully explained. The diesel engine has a more simplistic scheme because it has much more simple burning system therefore the engine part cost much more cheap to be repared or cleaned. Furthermore, the density of fuel is much higher in diesel compared to gasoline, hence the fuel economy in the level of 20 30% is reached by the usage of diesel oinstead of gasoline (S. This means that it takes more gasoline to equal the power output of diesel. 3. 3Power and Torque In diesel engines the amount of heat produced is much more higher but the force and presurre obtained from the gasoline-air mixture is comparetively higher, gasoline engines forms much more higher amounts of horse power. However, the piston oscillation of diesel engines are higher therefore, more torque can be produced by diesel engines. The torque difference of diesels is perfectly suited for pulling heavy loads up steep grades. Then, gasoline engines will be discussed about how preferable to truck and transport. Gasoline engine produces much more horsepower which gives vechiles ability to accelerate in higher values. Higher torque means working of machine in higher frequencies which means least deformation and longer duration. Therefore, diesel engines work in higher frequencies but has higher endurance. On the other hand, higher torque production capacity makes diesel engines valid for large vechiles that also works in steep iclinations. For public transportation diesel torque is also required.

Mulroney Essays - Brian Mulroney, Universit Laval Alumni

Mulroney Mulroney became the 18th prime minister of Canada on September 17, 1984, after his party, the Progressive Conservatives won the greatest parliamentary victory ever in Canadian history. Mulroney was born in 1939, the son of an electrician, in the paper mill town of Baie Comeau, Quebec. Mulroney attended a very strict military type all boys' school until the age of 16 when he entered Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. There he earned an honor degree in political science. While at St. FX he was active in on campus politics. During his first year he became a member of the youth wing of the P.C. Party of Nova Scotia. Before he graduated he was to become the Prime Minister of St. FX's famous mock Parliament, a position that had been held for years by Liberal students. After graduation he studied law at Dalhousie in Halifax and later at Laval University in Quebec, from which he graduated in 1962. It was during these years in Quebec that Mulroney became known as the life of the party. He frequented most Montreal nightclubs and was quite a lady's man. Mulroney also became a slightly more than social drinker. After becoming a lawyer in 1965 he joined a prestigious law firm known as Cate Ogilvy, later becoming a partner in that firm. In May 1973 at the age of 34 he married a beautiful 20 year old Mila Pivnicki, daughter of Yugoslav immigrants. The Mulroneys would go on to have three children. Mulroney worked energetically for the Progressive Conservative Party as a young lawyer, serving on the party's finance and policy committees and on its 1968 and 1972 campaign committees. He first came into the public eye in 1974 as a member of the Cliche Royal Commission, which investigated corruption and violence in the Quebec construction industry. Also involved in this commission was Mulroney's friend and future Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard. Although Mulroney had not yet held public office, he ran for election as Conservative leader at the party's 1976 national convention. He waged a vigorous and expensive campaign but lost to Joe Clark after being critisized as the Cadillac Cantidate for spending so much money. Following this failure, Mulroney became very depressed and bitter. This was a very bleak time in his life. His drinking and his tongue often got him in trouble. During this period he would often attend social events, get very drunk, and make an ass of himself. He took the Leadership loss very personally and it almost ruined him. A few years after taking the job of President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada in 1977 he decided that he would clean himself up. He went to special Alcoholics Anonomous meetings for famous people who didn't want the world to know they had a problem. After this time in his life he almost never had a drink and never repeated his drunken outbursts at any social functions. During his years as a corporate executive, Mulroney remained active in politics, taking every occasion to increase his visibility among the public and to gain support from within the party for his upcoming leadership bid. In 1982, because of an economic depression, the Iron Ore Company of Canada was forced to close one of its mining and milling towns in Quebec. At first this appeared to be a disastrous political setback for Mulroney. However, he turned it into a public relations triumph by making the people of the town in question believe that there were other alternatives when there were none and by negotiating generous settlements for the workers who had lost their jobs. This earned him respect and won him general support and his reputation as an expert labor lawyer and industrial relations specialist was enhanced. After the election most of his promises were shown to be false hopes but by that time the people had already decided. In mid-1983 Clark's leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party was being questioned, forcing him to call a national party convention and leadership review. Brian Mulroney was again a candidate, and he campaigned more shrewdly than he had done seven years before. He actually had been paying people to ruin Clarks chances of getting the nomination again. He had suffered through one dark period in his life he resolved there would be no more. He was elected party leader on June 11, 1983, after attracting broad support from among the many factions of the party, especially from representatives of his native Quebec. After a by-election in the riding of

Intelligent Design Versus Evolution

Intelligent Design Versus Evolution Teaching intelligent design or creationism in public schools has been acontroversial subject for the past century in the United States. Many people believe thatonly the evolution theory should be taught. Intelligent design should not be taught inpublic schools because it is not based on evidence. Learning creationism in school willbreak the law, harm science and harm students learning about science.Teaching intelligent design in public schools will break the law. The firstamendment states that Congress is prohibited to make any law respecting anestablishment of religion; therefore, you cannot teach creationism in schools. There havebeen many cases of schools breaking laws in order to teach creationism; if the schoolsdon't want to break the law then they shouldn't teach intelligent design to their students.Intelligent shouldn't be taught in public schools because it is religious and is notpractical for daily life. Intelligent design is the belief that a supernatural intelligence hascr eated the universe and humankind. The definition of evolution is that a developmentalprocess in which an organ or organism becomes more and more complex bydifferentiation of its parts. Evidence has shown that an animal that has stronger genes tosurvive in their environment can live longer than other animals that don't have the genes.After a while, the animals that lived on will sometimes develop certain characteristics ontheir bodies, which could make it easier and better for fitting to their environment.Intelligent design is only a belief that the world today was created for a reason andeverything that we see was designed for a purpose. Most schools today only teach theevolution theory which makes it more practical for daily life. Most people also believethe evolution theory. The US News and World Report has made a...The ligne is still used by French and Swiss watchm...

Edgar Allan Poe The Master Of Imagery English Literature Essay Essay Example

Edgar Allan Poe The Master Of Imagery English Literature Essay Essay Example Edgar Allan Poe The Master Of Imagery English Literature Essay Essay Edgar Allan Poe The Master Of Imagery English Literature Essay Essay Essay Topic: Eva Luna The Fall of the House Of Usher Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, over many a quaint and funny volume of disregarded traditional knowledge, while I nodded, about napping, all of a sudden there came a tapping, as of person gently knaping, knaping at my chamber door. T is some visitant, I muttered, tapping at my chamber door merely this, and nil more. ( Poe, The Raven, 1845 ) It is with this stanza that Edgar Allan Poe opens his heroic poem verse form The Raven ; and it is with this descriptive gap that the reader is thrown into a universe unbeknown to anything conceivable, the universe of Edgar Allan Poe the maestro of horror and imagination. Edgar Allen Poe was born January, 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts to Parents David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. Edgar had a younger sister Rosalie Poe and an older brother William Henry Leonard Poe. When Edgar Poe was merely 1 twelvemonth old his male parent David Poe Jr. left Elizabeth to fight to care for Edgar and his siblings. It was in the clip following the going of his male parent that Edgar s female parent Elizabeth came down will tuberculosis. Being hapless Elizabeth had no pick but to cleaving to life at a embarkation house, all the piece immature Edgar watched impotently as his female parent easy sank into craze until eventually go throughing. Following the decease of his female parent Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe, Edgar and his siblings were scattered to three different Foster places throughout Richmond, Virginia. Edgar was eventfully cared for by John Allan, a affluent baccy merchandiser, who cared for Edgar as if he was his ain kid and welcomed Edgar in to his household with unfastened weaponries. ( Biography: Edgar Allen Poe, 1994 ) ( Who Is Edgar Allan Poe? ) It was during his younger old ages that Mrs. Allen would lavish Edgar with fondness, and at for Edgar things were good, but much like Edgar s early life things would non stay, much like Elizabeth Poe, Edgar s Foster female parent stricken with TB. During this clip a rift between Edgar and Mr. Allen grew. It was following this clip that Mr. Allen sent Edgar to go to the University of Virginia. It was during this clip that Edgar Allan Poe developed great chancing debt. During that clip debitors prison did be. Fearing being sent to prison, Edgar joined the United States ground forces in 1827 under an false name Edgar a Perry. After two twelvemonth in the ground forces Edgar Allan Poe was discharged in1829 following the decease of his Foster female parent Frances Allan on February 28, 1829 The Death of Frances Allan affected Edgar immensely and much like the decease of his female parent Edgar would transport her decease throughout life frequently idolizing itself in Poe s Hagiographas. ( Biography: Edgar Allen Poe, 1994 ) ( Who Is Edgar Allan Poe? ) After the decease of Frances Allan, Poe moved to Baltimore where he would finally get married his first cousin, 13 twelvemonth old Virginia Clemm. Their matrimony was a happy 1. That was until 1942 when his married woman Virginia devolved TB. The following five old ages were as Edgar was already accustomed to a life snake pit. Edgar would care for Virginia, up until her decease in 1847. During the clip after his married woman Virginia s decease Edgar Allan Poe would travel through great torture. He would imbibe to inebriation frequently and travel through periods of insanity. It was nt until 1849 that Edgar Allan Poe would eventually be relieved of the devils he found in his life. On October 7th 1949 Edgar Allan Poe died of unknown causes at the age of 40. ( Biography: Edgar Allen Poe, 1994 ) ( Who Is Edgar Allan Poe? ) Edgar Allan Poe was a antic author who would utilize assorted manners and elements to make every item nowadays in his work. Edgar Allan Poe would frequently take events that occurred in his life and transcribe them into his work. Such pieces of work as the ruddy decease and even the Corvus corax depict chilling devils found in the life of Edgar Allan Poe. ( Biography: Edgar Allen Poe, 1994 ) ( Who Is Edgar Allan Poe? ) One technique that he frequently used to portray a since of imagination is the integrity of consequence. The integrity of consequence is merely the entire amount of every item in the narrative combined to make the stoping. Edgar Allan Poe would utilize his characters, the scene, the temper, and assorted other facets to pull the reader into his narrative, and it was this integrity of consequence that universe finally lead the reader to experience a portion of the narrative and upon decision make the reader experience the general temper that Edgar Allan Poe wanted for his stoping. ( Poe, The Philosophy of Composition ) The integrity of consequence can be found in most of Edgar Allan Poe s authorship but none predominately as in The Fall of the House of Usher. To pull the reader into a dark universe where lamias exist, and where the effects of Roderick Ussher burying his sister Madeline Usher thrust Roderick into a province neer seen before, one of sorrow, enigma, and panic, Edgar Allan Poe used both imagination and the integrity of consequence. ( Poe, The Philosophy of Composition ) Edgar Allan Poe opens his short narrative The Fall of the House of Usher utilizing the integrity of consequence ; He does this by supplying the reader with a chilling word picture of the scene outside the house of Ussher. A dull, dark, and silent twenty-four hours in the fall of the twelvemonth, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the celestial spheres, I had been go throughing entirely, on horseback, through a singularly drab piece of land of state ( Poe, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, p. 738 ) . This gap sets the tone for the full narrative as you jump into the function of the Narrator a boyhood friend of Roderick ride ahorse thought a dark and glooming state side to assist Roderick in his clip of demand. Edgar Allan Poe farther uses the integrity of consequence in his description of the house of Ussher. ` With the first glance of the edifice, a sense of impossible somberness pervaded my spirit. I say impossible ; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the head normally receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or awful. I looked upon the scene before me upon the mere house, and the simple landscape characteristics of the sphere upon the bleak walls upon the vacant eye-like Windowss upon a few rank sedges and upon a few white short pantss of decayed trees with an arrant depression of psyche which I can compare to no earthly esthesis more decently than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium the acrimonious oversight into mundane life the horrid dropping off of the head covering. There was chill, a sinking, a sickening of the bosom an cursed boringness of idea which no prod of the imaginativeness could torment into nothing of the sublime. ( Poe, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, p. 738 ) This description of the house of usher creates a feeling of horror which casts down the readers spine and lies in the cavity of one s tummy, for as a reader I can now state that nil good remainders in the house of Ussher. Edgar Allan Poe besides uses the integrity of consequence in his description of the characters. I gazed upon him with a feeling half of commiseration, half of awe. Surely, adult male had neer earlier so awfully altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher! It was with trouble that I could convey myself to acknowledge the individuality of the wide area network being before me with the comrade of my early boyhood. Yet the character of his face had been at all times singular. A cadaverousness of skin color ; an oculus big, liquid, and aglow beyond comparing ; lips slightly thin and really pale, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve ; a olfactory organ of a delicate Hebrew theoretical account, but with a comprehensiveness of nostril unusual in similar formations ; a finely moulded mentum, speech production, in its privation of prominence, of a privation of moral energy ; hair of a more than web-like softness and thinness ; these characteristics, with an excessive enlargement above the parts of the temple, made up wholly a visage non easy to be forgotten. And now in the mer e hyperbole of the prevalent character of these characteristics, and of the look they were wont to convey, put so much of alteration that I doubted to whom I spoke. ( Poe, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, pp. 740-741 ) Edgar Allan Poe s description of Roderick Ussher helps the reader understand and experience what horrors Roderick has seen and what awaits the reader in his stay at the house of Ussher. Edgar Allan Poe uses the integrity of consequence in other manners such as the reading of the Mad Trist where you ( The storyteller ) and Roderick read the narrative merely to hear the noise emanating from outside your chamber door. It is in this portion of the narrative that the terminal of draws near, but non merely that of the narrative but perchance of you. It is in the terminal where Edgar Allan Poe completes his integrity of consequence and succeeds in coaction every facet of the narrative into one feeling at the terminal, that of panic. There did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the grounds of some acrimonious battle upon every part of her bony frame. For a minute she remained trembling and staggering to and fro upon the threshold so, with a low moaning call, fell to a great extent inward upon the individual of her brother, and in her violent and now concluding death-agonies, bore him to the floor a cadaver, and a victim to the panics he had anticipated ( Poe, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, p. 750 ) Edgar Allan Poe s short narrative The Fall of the House of Usher uses the integrity of consequence in great lengths to assist the reader honkytonk into the function of the storyteller and genuinely experience the panic in which he felt. Edgar Allan Poe archives this through utilizing assorted descriptive techniques thought the narrative to associate every facet in some manner to the stoping. It is through that ; that Edgar Allan Poe archives his integrity of consequence in the short narrative The Fall of the House of Usher. Edgar Allan Poe used imagination in every one of his Hagiographas to let the reader to wholly plunge themselves into his Hagiographas. In reading any of Edgar Allan Poe s work it becomes obvious that Edgar Allan Poe is in many ways a maestro of imagination. His composing manner differs greatly from any other manner I have of all time seen. Edgar Allan Poe allows the reader to presume to take in each and every one of his plants. One such piece of work is the Corvus corax. In the verse form the Corvus corax, Edgar Allan Poe uses great imagination to portray a felling of horror, of heartache and of lunacy, lunacy brought on by the loss of a love, Lenore. The verse form the Corvus corax Tells of a adult male, a immature poet who is forenoon the loss of his love Lenore. When all of a sudden there was a knock on his door when he goes to inspect it, he shortly finds that there is nil at that place. This goes on repeatedly until the entryway of a Corvus corax, which utters but one word never again . It is with both the Corvus corax and his uttering of nevermore that the poet drives himself into insanity hardening, and pleading with the Corvus corax, that he believes is a courier from the hereafter. In the Corvus corax Edgar Allan Poe uses imagination to let the reader to come in the universe of the immature poet, to delight in the lunacy found within. It is in the 2nd and 3rd stanzas that Edgar Allan Poe uses imagination to portray both the scene and the first tone of horror found in the Corvus corax. Ah, clearly I remember it was in the black December, and each separate deceasing ember wrought its shade upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow ; in vain I had sought to borrow From my books cessation of sorrow sorrow for the lost Lenore For the rare and beaming maiden whom the angels named Lenore Nameless here for evermore. And the satiny sad unsure rustling of each purple drape Thrilled me filled me with antic panics neer felt before ; So that now, to still the whipping of my bosom, I stood reiterating `Tis some visitant biding entryway at my chamber door Some late visitant biding entryway at my chamber door ; This it is, and nil more, ( Poe, The Raven, 1845 ) In these stanzas Edgar Allan Poe begins to depict the scene, the descriptive nature in Edgar Allan Poe s the Corvus corax icinesss my castanetss. In the Corvus corax Edgar Allan Poe used assorted symbols and intimations to take the reader to make an image in their caput and let them to go the poet. One such symbol is the verse form being set in December. December is a cold month, its darkness and its cold, breaths decease. The iciness of the winter dark allows the reader to conceive of a dark cold windy dark, the coals of the fire gently glowing on the floor ; the purple curtains fliting in the air current, each symbol bring you further into the universe of the Corvus corax. This is what Edgar Allan Poe does best ; he used great imagination to portray his overall tone. In the raven each and every line brings the reader deeper and deeper into lunacy. Edgar Allan Poe non merely uses imagination to let the reader to come in a physical image in their head but to besides let the reader to come in an emotional image every bit good. One such illustration is in Edgar Allan Poe s verse form Annabel Lee. In this verse form Edgar Allan Poe describes his love for Virginia dubbed Annabel Lee and the bosom aching brought approximately from her ill-timed decease. It was many and many a twelvemonth ago, In a land by the sea, That a maiden at that place lived whom you may cognize By the name of ANNABEL LEE ; And this inaugural she lived with no other idea Than to love and be loved by me. ( Poe, Annabel Lee, 1849 ) Lines 1-6 ) The Opening stanza in Annabel Lee creates a feeling of love. The repeat of the line In a land by the sea creates a felling of solidarity of importance, that the love between you and Annabel Lee is all that affairs and the love you two portion is in its ain manner a land by the sea, that your love creates a universe a land your land by the sea. The angels, non half so happy in Eden, Went envying her and me- Yes! that was the ground ( as all work forces know, In this land by the sea ) That the air current came out of the cloud by dark, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. ( Poe, Annabel Lee, 1849 ) ( Lines 21-26 ) This stanza in Annabel Lee creates the image of a conflict between the celestial spheres and your Annabel Lee. This stanza let the reader to conceive of angels looking down from heaven at your Annabel Lee looking with such hatred, so envy, that they had no other pick but to kill her taking your Annabel Lee. Another thing that this stanza portrays the overall compulsion Edgar Allan Poe had with Virginia ( Annabel Lee ) . To Justify Annabel Lee s decease by saying that the angels envy your love for each other so in bend they took Annabel Lee s life. It is in the verse form Annabel Lee that Edgar Allan Poe allows the reader to place themselves with Poe himself. It is with Annabel Lee that Poe creates a vision within himself one that portrays his life with Virginia and how even in decease Virginia and he will be together. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we- Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in Eden above, Nor the devils down under the sea, Can of all time divide my psyche from the psyche Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the Moon neer beams without conveying me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee ; And the stars neer rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee ; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the burial chamber at that place by the sea, In her grave by the sounding sea. ( Poe, Annabel Lee, 1849 ) ( Lines 27- 42 ) From looking at Edgar Allan Poe s life and from analysing Annabel Lee I can clearly see how Edgar Allan Poe uses imagination to make a feeling of an ageless love. It can besides be said that Annabel Lee creates an image of Poe that is all but blandishing, one that portrays Poe and an over obsessional hubby. Who even through decease will both love and be with Annabel Lee. From analysing his life and lifes one can state that Edgar Allan Poe was frantically in love with Virginia, and in composing Annabel Lee, Edgar Allan Poe clearly depicts both his love and compulsion for Virginia. There are many lines in Annabel Lee that show this. Edgar Allan Poe lived a life unlike any other. His life was that of decease and sorrow, of grief and wretchedness. Edgar Allan Poe uses his tragic life as a Muse in all of his pieces of work. The Red Mask of Death, The Raven, Annabel Lee, The Fall of the house of Usher, Etc all of these pieces of work represent a tragic event in Edgar Allan Poe s life. It is in utilizing this Muse that Edgar Allan Poe can make an image so strong that the reader forgets what is existent and what fiction is. It is in making this feeling that Edgar Allan Poe genuinely earns his rubric as a maestro if imagination. So in decision Edgar Allan Poe uses great description, imagination and the integrity of consequence to make a universe for the reader. A universe of horror, of sorrow, of long lost long, that in which none could of all time conceive of a universe of Edgar Allan Poe.

My abilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My abilities - Essay Example With reference to our previous conversation, I am very much for the idea of launching F&F's products in the international market. I have analyzed this, and found it to be an extremely viable idea. The international market is much bigger than the local one and the potential for sales and profits is great. Growth rate in many foreign markets can surpass domestic markets and can help in keeping the company's competitive local competitive advantage. Of course, as with any business venture, there are real risks involved, but I believe that with the proper execution and the right marketing strategy, the benefits would far outweigh the risks. Since F&F has already established itself in the local shoe market, I believe that extending this success internationally is but a natural and logical step. A product's domestic success is a good indicator of its chances in the overseas market, especially if similar conditions and needs are present. But what works here may be different in other countries, so each market should be treated individually, screening it for entry options for marketing as well as being sensitive of its cultural implications. I understand your apprehension about making foreign investments (building overseas factories, etc.) so I suggest exporting. This strategy would optimize the capabilities of local factories, and your plan of expanding the operations in Florida will be helpful in this matter. In addition to that, the excess local production capacities can be sold to other markets. My long-term objective is to make F&F the brand synonymous with high-demand, high-quality, luxury sporting goods. F&F is already known for making high-quality products without competition, and this could be our key to success. We must pursue an aggressive marketing campaign to build our brand image since this would maintain our considerable competitive advantage. Upscale markets in the sporting industry is very lucrative. My strategy is to fill untapped markets that desire high-end, high-quality shoes; to know what this market wants and fulfill its needs. Potential buyers are willing to spend more on products if it builds their image and makes them look good. F&F products, being of high quality and fashion would undoubtedly fill the niche for this market. Having no direct competitors makes this goal much easier. The possibility of counterfeit goods is a problem that could not be totally eradicated. However, I believe any potential competition from, say, Chinese imitations will not be great, as the competition is based on quality rather than price. Also, the target market is comprised of discriminating customers and will realize the inherent value of owning the real thing. Good planning should not be overlooked. Formulating a good export strategy by proper market assessment and knowing the right information will ensure that the company makes the best choices and that resources are optimally used. I am aware that taking you up on this kind offer is no easy task. But armed with the proper understanding of international markets and thorough planning, I am confident that we can pull this off. I am enthusiastically looking forward to the opportunity of working for F&F. I look forward to hearing from you soon

New York v. Burger Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

New York v. Burger - Research Paper Example The respondent in this case is the owner of a junkyard and his business includes dismantling of automobiles and selling the parts. The junk yard is an open lot without buildings and is surrounded by a metal fence. On the day the search was conducted police officers from the Auto Crimes division entered the respondents junk yard and conducted an inspection pursuant to Section 415-a5 of the New York vehicle and Traffic law. The officers from the division conduct similar searches on 5 to 10 vehicle dismantlers on a given day. When the officers entered the respondent’s yard, they asked to see his license and a police book he was required to keep. The respondent told the officers that he didn’t have either the license or the police book and the officers declared their intentions to conduct a search under section 415-a5. The respondent did not object and the officers took some Vehicle Identification Numbers from the parts in the yard and compared them against the police compu ter. Upon comparison of the VIN the officers determined that some of the parts were stolen and consequently arrested the respondent for being in possession of stolen items and operating a vehicle dismantling business without the required license (Bierman, 1995). The respondent sought to suppress the evidence obtained from the inspection on the ground that section 415-a5, which authorized the search was unconstitutional. The court in denying the motion to suppress the evidence observed that motor vehicle dismantling business is a pervasively regulated business and warrantless administrative inspection was appropriate. Additionally, the court observed that the statute was appropriately limited in time, place and scoop and that where the officers had a reasonable reason to believe that some of the parts in the yard were stolen, they could arrest the respondent and seize the property without the need of a warrant. The appellate Division also

Pharos Restaurant Essay Example for Free

Pharos Restaurant Essay At Pharos Restaurant, the appellants worked as waitresses. The facts are set out in the fall of 1982. Platy Enterprises Ltd. is the owner of Pharos Restaurant and also manages the same. The manager of the Pharos Restaurant was the President of Platy Enterprises Ltd. During the course of her employment, J witnessed sexual advances and undesirable encounters by another employee. Her efforts of trying to stop the same were in vain. The offender was, in fact, a cook and had no direct authority over the waitress. However, it was made to appear by the manager and the offending employee, that the latter could give instructions to the waitress J. Such conduct of alleged sexual harassment persisted for more than 30 days. Thereafter, J made a formal objection to such conduct by her co-employee. Post J’s making of such an objection, the aforesaid sexual advances and harassment stopped. However, this was replaced by excessively rude and uncooperative behavior. There was a case of excessive verbal abuse and reprimand without reason. Thereafter, a complaint was made by J to the manager regarding the same. However, the manager didn’t take any steps to prevent it or mitigate it. Such conduct on part of the offending employee continued. Finally, after some time J was dismissed by the manager. G, another employee in the same restaurant, soon thereafter also found herself at the receiving end of the same problems. She, too, complained to the manager after which although the sexual advances and harassment stopped, there was a continued spate of verbal abuses and non-cooperation at work along with unjustified reprimand. She was finally terminated by the manager. Subsequently, the present appellants approached the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and filed a complaint against Pharos Restaurant and Platy Enterprises Ltd. along with its owners, agents and servants. It was found that the appellants had indeed been subject to sexual harassment at work place as per to s.  6(1) of the Human Rights Act.  Therefore, exemplary damages and those for loss of wages were awarded. This decision was appealed before the Court of Queens Bench. The Bench upheld the adjudicator’s decision except as regards the amount of damages, and held that the harassment in the instant case was not based on discrimination based on sex, and therefore the employer could not be held liable. The present appellants are challenging this order of the Court of Queens Bench before the Supreme Court of Canada. ISSUES/QUESTIONS OF LAW The following are the issues that are raised by the appellants in the instant appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada   I. Whether the type of sexual harassment to which the appellants were subjected to is discrimination on the basis of sex? II. Whether the employer can be held liable for the acts, specifically sexual harassment by its manager? III. Whether the Court of Appeal erred in reducing the quantum of damages awarded to the appellants by the adjudicator? IV. Whether the Court of Appeal was correct in ordering costs against the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in regard to the adjudicatory proceedings before it? DECISION OF THE COURT On the aforesaid issues, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled as follows   I. The type of sexual harassment to which the appellants were subjected to is discrimination on the basis of sex, and this is not changed by the fact that only some women faced such harassment. II. The employer should be held jointly and severally liable for the acts, specifically sexual harassment, of its manager. III. The Court of Appeal erred in reducing the quantum of damages awarded to the appellants by the adjudicator as this case falls under the gamut of sexual harassment and in light of the nature of the complaints, the quantum should not have been reduced. IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Court of Appeal was wrong in ordering costs against the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in regard to the adjudicatory proceedings before it. JUDICIAL REASONING Sexual harassment is prohibited by law as it affects the efficiency of an employee at the work place.[1] Further, it is a direct attack against the dignity of an individual, and cannot be tolerated in the modern society. The instant act of harassment was indeed one based on sexual discrimination as only women were at potential risk of such harassment which included sexual advances by a heterosexual male.[2] Male colleagues were not at the risk of such harassment. The employer should be held liable as when complaints were made to it by the appellants, he failed to take any steps whatsoever to improve the situation and correct the problem. This would go on to show that the employer was also conniving with the offender employee and therefore the employer’s liability would be joint and several.[4] The Court of Appeal should not have reduced the quantum of compensation as this was a classic case of sexual harassment at the work place based on sexual discrimination. RELEVANCE/IMPACT This decision of the Supreme Court sends out a strong message to the civil society at large that sexual harassment at work place shall not be tolerated. Further, sexual harassment based on sexual discrimination is an even more serious offence, and invites a higher quantum of fine. Further, all employers should make sure that no sexual harassment is taking place at their respective workplaces, failing which, they would also have to share the liability of any such offence jointly and severally.

Forgetting to Remember :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Forgetting to Remember: The Source of your Symptoms? Imagine going about your daily business when, for some reason or another, you find yourself immersed in an intense, disturbing flashback of a traumatic event that you never knew you experienced? This bizarre scenario is more commonplace than might be supposed and is opening up all sorts of legal and therapeutic controversy. Repression is one of the most haunting concepts in psychology. The rationale is that some shocking occurrence is pushed back into an inaccessible corner of the unconscious only to be retrieved later by a most confounded consciousness (1). Is the memory really real? If it is, why was it lost in the first place and what triggered its return? And how is it to be dealt with? Perhaps a better term for repression is dissociation. "Dissociation refers to those discontinuities of the brain, the disconnections of mind that we all harbor without awareness" (2). Dissociation lets us step aside, split off from our own knowledge, behavior, emotions, and body sensations, our self-control, identity, and memory. This splitting of mind and pigeon holding of experience is a natural adaptation to the complex demands of daily life. One demonstration of this phenomenon involves a knee injury patient named Anastasia. Facing emergency surgery with a poor prognosis, she chose a spinal anesthetic with no sedative, so she could stay awake and observe the operation. She remembers the clinician administering the spinal injection, but that's all. Her next consecutive memory of the ordeal was simply "waking up" in the recovery room, disappointed that she had "fallen asleep and missed the surgery." She was further perplexed when the surgeon walked in and thanked her for "a great d iscussion." Anastasia eventually realized that she had carried on a technical discourse for nearly two hours, a conversation she, to this day, has absolutely no recollection of (2). An even more dramatic illustration of dissociation (without, however, repression) is depicted in Donald Wyman's horrifying experience. In the summer of 1993, while working in a remote Pennsylvania area clearing timber, Wyman suffered a terrible accident. A huge tree fell on him, pinning his left leg. He knew he would die before anybody found him if he did not take matters into his own hands. So he made a tourniquet from a rawhide bootlace and used his chainsaw wrench to tighten it. He then went about methodically cutting off his left leg with his pocket knife.

Case study sap establishing a research center over china Essay

Recommendations Content Competitors SAP overview Benchmarks Products and Services China’s software industry Porter‘s â€Å"diamond modelâ€Å" explains how firms can gain competitive advantage on international markets and thus become exporters of their goods and services Demand Conditions Government policies 1972 1978 SAP Founded from IBM employees in Germany SAP turns 10 providing service to 250 companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland 1982 Opens international subsidiaries in Denmark, Sweden, Italy, and the US Customer milestone: Dow Chemicals becomes SAP’s 1,000th customer SAP International Expansion into Switzerland 1984 1988 1989 SAP (International) AG in Switzerland controls 12 international subsidiaries in Canada, Singapore, Australia, and other countries. 33% of its revenue is spent for R&D SAP is named â€Å"Company of the Year† Marketing in the Chinese market with presentations in Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. The IBM corporation, a longstanding SAP partner, is now using SAP R/3 to manage its global business processes. New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Q3 World’s leading provider of e-business software solutions Third-largest independent software vendor on the planet Company supports its customers with special programs designed to help them emerge from the 2009 economic crisis. Cutbacks, SAP is able to improve its operating margin despite the difficult circumstances. Double-digit growth shows that more and more customers are turning to SAP’s software innovations. FUTURE INVESTMENTS SAP announces its plans for growth in emerging market economies such as Brazil, India, Russia, and especially China= EUR 2 Billion World leader in enterprise applications in terms of software and software-related service revenue World’s third largest independent software manufacturer A 40-year history of innovation and growth. More than 183,000 customers in 130+ countries. More than 55,765 employees in 130+ countries. Annual revenue (IFRS) of â‚ ¬ 14,23 billion = $18,66 billion US dollars (2011) 1994 1998 2000 2003 Early History 1979 Goes public SAP AG Fast Track SAP in Shanghai ninth opening of a development location 2005 2007 2010 2011 The SAP HANA platform, enabling them to analyze data in seconds SAP announces its EUR 2.5 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors, the leading provider of cloud applications. SAP’s Financial The SAP R/3 system is released for Windows Workforce = 24,000 employees in over 50 countries Revenues â‚ ¬6.3 billion 23% increase SAP decision to construct SAP Labs Shanghai Pudong Software Park. 2006 Along with SAP Germany, SAP Austria, SAP Chile, SAP Andina y del Caribe, SAP Mexico, and SAP Region Sur win SAP Labs India receives the distinction â€Å"Recruiting and Staffing Best in Class† Software revenue of EUR 1.5 billion best quarter in SAP’s history. SAP branches out to clients in Austria and France Wave of the Future Opens subsidiaries China South Africa, Malaysia, Japan, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Mexico 1992 1996 Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry Related & Supporting Industries Factor Endowments SAP offered competitive salary, participation in local high-potential programs, foreign visits, the opportunity to work with global counterparts, and for long-term senior staff, a subsidized car policy. SAP set up programs to build relationships with China’s top 10 universities in computer science. Staff traveled to local universities to develop and maintain contact with their professors. SAP Human Resources set up a number of programs to help promote PhD internships at SAP Research. Stanford University three-month summer internship positions an incentive for top Chinese interns Finding talent difficult = 1% of master and PHD graduates with same qualifications as in US or Europe Difficult recruiting managers from abroad to China Compensation Wars for local talent Expatriates recruited also very expensive Difficult to retain staff due to high opportunities =problem for project that require 3-7 years Annual raises were common up to 15% or more Top graduates expected a high level of personal engagement Recruiting Challenges Solutions Key decision making for SAP Labs in China Recommendations Support of long-term investment in technology and R&D Tax incentives Reduced 15% corporate income tax 150% deduction for R&D expenditures if R&D spending has increased by 10% from the prior year Access to cheap land Establishing facilities in China eases market access premise to sell products Government allows easier access to clients Relationship building is very important Political stability supports long-term investments Some Facts 1.5 million employees CAGR: 29% over past three years 20,719 firms in software industry High market potential only 45% of companies had adapted ERP systems Demanding customers due to specifications of Chinese market Rapidly changing and developing market Market of the future: trends can be identified here Strong development of general Chinese economy Limited competition, mostly smaller companies with focus on SMEs SAP is market leader in large enterprise segment Focus of strategy is to deliver high quality software as a standardized solution with constant improvements and innovation SAP‘s structure: Geocentric firm sets the basis for successful operations in China Homogenous company culture Collective decision making „all pulling on one stringâ€Å": interdependent subsidiaries Partners are available, yet underutilized: Huawei became SAP‘s first Chinese partner in July 2012 Supporting industry is not as important as in other industries business outcomes are knowledge based only little up- and downstream activities Infrastructure Capital Resources Knowledge Resources Factor Endowments Physical Resources Human Resources Availability of skilled, hard-working, striving, aspiring workers: appr. 2.4 million graduates Workforce is comparatively cheap: 5000 – 9000 RMB per programmer 20,000 – 30,000 RMB per SAP consultant Competition for skilled university graduates is rough Access to information available, however on a limited basis due to restrictions imposed by the government (such as controlling the internet), Internal knowledge can be built up through exchange with other SAP sites High availability, large inflow of FDI, especially in high technology sector Capital is relatively cheap Different sources of financing available Cheap availability of land and office spaces, especially in software parks Other physical resources do not play a big role Software parks support the exchange of knowledge, lead to innovation, low communication costs Modern internet connections allow for highspeed communication with sites throughout the world Threats Wage levels rise in China companies already start moving to ASEAN countries Loss of IP due to violations and copyright infringements Intercultural problems might become an issue Hofstede: cultural distance between China and Western countries is very high Language barriers Time zone barriers General Threats Unfamiliarity Hazard Incorrect market assessment: Do Chinese firms really want to have standardized software Inadequate knowledge of country’s norms, values, culture, business conduct Lack of embeddedness in local networks (suppliers, customers, governments†¦) Relational Hazards Costs within the organization caused by geographic distance and limited flow of information Discrimination Hazards: Differential treatment of SAP by government, customers, employees Liability of Foreignness Transnationality Index Why Shanghai? Why SAP Labs in China? Why locate in a Software Park? Recruiting Decisions SAP Labs China SAP chose the Integrated R&D Network Approach to manage its worldwide R&D sites successfully R&D networks should follow two principles: Subsidiarity: whatever can be managed by a decentralized unit should not be taken care of in the center Moving centers of gravity: decentralized units take over projects if they are better in doing them than others Create a good working atmosphere Care for employees‘ families Assign interesting & challenging projects Give responsibilities to researchers Conduct intercultural trainings Offer attractive compensation packages Allow researchers to focus on research ïÆ'   – administrative work should be minimized Offer trainings and exchange with other R&D institutions Attract top talented and highly skilled graduates and experienced researchers Maintain tight contacts to local universities Provide support for workers who move to R&D site Choose renowned local researcher with international experiences as a lab leader: â€Å"technological gatekeeper† Include local managers with multicultural experiences to act as cultural mediators Facilitate integration through mentors One of the key success factors is managing humans – hiring and retaining talents accounts largely for the success Experienced managers and experts have to be transferred to new R&D site to share process knowledge, routines and culture which will improve the quality of the work and will make the R&D site an attractive place to work at. Attracting talented employees sets the cornerstone for successful R&D outcomes – contacts to universities are extremely valuable Recruitment Retention By holding turnover rates low, knowledge will be kept in the company and has the potential to multiply Each R&D site is on the same level R&D sites are closely interconnected by means of flexible and varied coordination mechanisms Each R&D site specializes in a particular field of research ïÆ'   development of â€Å"competence centers† Multi-dimensional coordination & information is necessary + Coupling of specialization and synergy effects + Global before local efficiency + Organizational learning across many locations + Exploitation and refining of local strengths – High coordination costs – Complex institutional rules & decision processes Key Characteristics 1 Long-term strategic vision for R&D site should be set Clear assignment of tasks and responsibilities for site Outlook for development ïÆ'   growth plan Quick first successes to strengthen respect and reputation for research work Determine appropriate size of R&D site for each development stage Closeness to business units Cooperation with universities and local research institutes to get fast access to new knowledge and developments Attracting new employees by close ties with universities Getting access to informal networks to gain insight information and knowledge Searching contact to companies to be close to the market/customers Regular visits by top managers should underline importance of new R&D site Promote research outcomes New site should be considered to be equal among other R&D locations Positioning as high-end research organization, which increases motivation and attractiveness for new employees Top management support is crucial to success of R&D site Appropriate resource allocation in terms of money, time, and people needs to be guaranteed Senior management has to be an advocate of new R&D site Incentives for managers should include components based on success of R&D site Besides managing employees, several other key areas including attention for R&D site and sponsorship have to be tackled Top management team commitment, support and involvement Steering committee: representation of relevant parties Led by managers with technical expertise and in-depth organizational knowledge Guidance and monitoring of R&D sites Virtual teams are the key success factor for successful team work Establish processes & infrastructure for efficient communication Allow for visits by granting travel budgets Create a strong corporate culture Encourage taking responsibility, initiative and self-leadership 360-degree feedback Transfer of experts & managers who spread routines, culture and processes Cooperation & exchange between competence centers Know-how and technologies need to be transferred and easily accessible throughout the organization Cross-functional and cross-dimensional communication has to be ensured over different channels, such as Visits, personal meetings, conferences, employee exchanges & trainings ïÆ'   set budget for traveling & exchange Intranet ïÆ'   To prevent the „not-invented-here syndromeâ€Å" Central staff department should support decentralized units Alignment of corporate strategy and R&D strategy Clear allocation of research focus to prevent duplication ïÆ'   competence centers should have a clear focus, should set research agendas Processes & Organization Leadership & Collaboration Strategy To successfully manage the integrated R&D network, SAP has to set the right course Attention for R&D site Strategy Cooperation Sponsorship The measures serve to increase identification, internal transfer and absorptive potentials Location matters Firms need to seek resources (esp. advanced)   

Sociology: Notes on Social Dimensions of Crime

SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF CRIME 1. AGE 2. SEX 3. ETHNICITY 4. SOCIAL CLASS Since the recession of the 1980s, employment rates for adolescents increase yearly and have an impact on the diminishment of youth crime The younger you are, the more prone you are to be a victim of victimization The older you get, the more you are prone for property crimes and less for physical crimes SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF CRIME 1. AGE 2. SEX 3. ETHNICITY 4. SOCIAL CLASS MALES: Offenders are most likely to be male. They account for 80% of all criminal offences. 90% of all homicides, sexual assaults, and robbery crimes.And 78% of all property crimes (breaking & entering, theft). Since the 1960’s, we see an increase in female criminality. However, the specific crimes they engage in are different than the ones males engage in. (Credit card fraud, shoplifting) The feminization of poverty: we are seeing the high rise of poor, single mothers Men & Women have equal tendencies to be victimized by crimes†¦ the d ifference between the two is that they are more likely to be victimized by different crimes. They are not equally victimized to the same crimes. MEN: Assault, theftWOMEN: Sexual Assault SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF CRIME 1. AGE 2. SEX 3. ETHNICITY 4. SOCIAL CLASS Big over presentation of aboriginal peoples in federal & provincial prisons. In general, aboriginals only make up 3% of Canada’s population, but 16% of Canada’s inmates. Howard Sapers noted that aboriginal people are mistreated (receive harsher treatment) by workers, prison guards, psychologists, and are more likely to be denied parole. They are also more likely to be sent to maximum security prisons. SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF CRIME 1. AGE 2. SEX 3. ETHNICITY 4. SOCIAL CLASSToday’s social class, it doesn’t matter if youre rich or poor, all have equal tendencies to commit crimes. The difference is the type of crimes that the poor commit and the rich commit. Rich commit more sophisticated/organized crimes Poor commit more survival crimes (theft, If you make less than 15 thousand dollars a year, research shows that you’re more likely to be a target of a violent crime because youre probably living in the ghetto If you make more than 60 thousand dollars a year, research shows that youre more likely to get robbed, because you have more to rob.

Clothing Fashion Essay Example

Clothing Fashion Essay Example Clothing Fashion Essay Clothing Fashion Essay Essay Topic: House Of Mirth Clothing Fashion Topic:Discuss (compare and contrast) the role of clothing fashion in two of the novels we have read this far. The role of clothing and fashion is something that has hunted our society for a very long time. With time fashion is more than just the style in which something is done, its no longer a pattern, its also a manor of doing something even a custom, or appearance. The clothing or the fashion we wear marks our ?statues? as well as our personality among those individuals that surround us. The novels we have read thus far, ?The House of Mirth as well as Bread Givers? illustrates these ideas. The House of Mirth written by Edith Wharton illustrates how clothing as well as fashion is a big part of society and how it ties the individual to fashion, clothing, very, something, society, time, statues, social, role, read, novels, mirth, lily, keep, illustrates, house, finding, fashionable, dress, brat, appearance, youth, yorks, written, works, wharton, wear, wealthy, ways, upper, unfortunately, two, turn, topicdiscuss, ties, thus, through, survives, surround, style, stay, single, seen, rich, pinnacle, phenomenon, personality, peers, pattern, participating

Marilyn Monroe Sings Happy Birthday to JFK

Marilyn Monroe Sings Happy Birthday to JFK On May 19, 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe sang â€Å"Happy Birthday† to U.S. President John F. Kennedy during an event celebrating JFK’s 45th birthday at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Monroe, wearing a skin-tight dress covered in rhinestones, sang the ordinary birthday song in such a sultry, provocative manner that it made headlines and became an iconic moment of the 20th century. Marilyn Monroe Is â€Å"Late† Marilyn Monroe had been working on the movie Something’s Got to Give in Hollywood when she took a plane to New York to participate in President John F. Kennedy’s birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Things had not been going well on the set, mostly because Monroe had been frequently absent. Despite her recent illnesses and trouble with alcohol, Monroe was determined to make a grand performance for JFK. The birthday event was a Democratic Party fundraiser and included many famous names of the time, including Ella Fitzgerald, Jack Benny, and Peggy Lee. Rat Pack member (and JFK’s brother in law) Peter Lawford was the master of ceremonies and he made Monroe’s famous lateness a running joke throughout the event. Several times, Lawford would introduce Monroe and the spotlight would search the back of the stage for her, but Monroe would not step out. This had been planned, for Monroe was to be the finale. Finally, the end of the show was near and still, Lawford was making jokes about Monroe not appearing on time. Lawford stated, â€Å"On the occasion of your birthday, the lovely lady who is not only pulchritudinous [breathtakingly beautiful] but punctual. Mr. President, Marilyn Monroe!† Still no Monroe. Lawford pretended to stall, continuing, â€Å"Ahem. A woman about whom, it truly may be said, she needs no introduction. Let me just say†¦here she is!† Again, no Monroe. This time, Lawford offered what seemed to be an impromptu introduction, â€Å"But I’ll give her an introduction anyway. Mr. President, because in the history of show business, perhaps there has been no one female who has meant so much, who has done more†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mid-introduction, the spotlight had found Monroe at the back of the stage, walking up some steps. The audience cheered and Lawford turned around. In her skin-tight dress, it was hard for Monroe to walk, so she scampered across the stage on her tiptoes. When she reaches the podium, she rearranges her white mink jacket, pulling it close to her chest. Lawford put his arm around her and offered one last joke, â€Å"Mr. President, the late Marilyn Monroe.† Monroe Sings â€Å"Happy Birthday† Before exiting the stage, Lawford helped Monroe remove her jacket and the audience was given their first full glimpse of Monroe in her nude-colored, skin-tight, sparkly dress. The huge crowd, stunned but excited, cheered loudly. Monroe waited for the cheering to die down, then placed one hand on the microphone stand and started singing. Happy birthday to youHappy birthday to youHappy birthday, Mr. PresidentHappy birthday to you By all accounts, the usually somewhat boring â€Å"Happy Birthday† song had been sung in a very provocative way. The whole rendition seemed even more intimate because there had been rumors that Monroe and JFK had been having an affair. Plus the fact that Jackie Kennedy was not present at the event made the song seem even more suggestive. Then She Sang Another Song What many people don’t realize is that Monroe then continued with another song. She sang, Thanks, Mr. PresidentFor all the things you’ve done,The battles that you’ve wonThe way you deal with U.S. SteelAnd our problems by the tonWe thank you so much Then she threw her arms open and yelled, â€Å"Everybody! Happy birthday!† Monroe then jumped up and down, the orchestra began playing the â€Å"Happy Birthday† song, and a huge, lighted cake was brought out from the back, carried on poles by two men. President Kennedy then came up onto the stage and stood behind the podium. He waited for the massive cheering to die down and then began his remarks with, â€Å"I can now retire from politics after having had ‘Happy Birthday’ sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way.† (Watch the full video on YouTube.) The whole event had been memorable and proved to be one of the last public appearances of Marilyn Monroe – she died of an apparent overdose less than three months later. The movie she had been working on would never be finished. JFK would be shot and killed 18 months later. The Dress Marilyn Monroe’s dress that night has become nearly as famous as her rendition of â€Å"Happy Birthday.† Monroe had wanted a very special dress for this occasion and so had asked one of the finest costume designers of Hollywood, Jean Louis, to make her a dress. Louis designed something so glamorous and so suggestive that people are still talking about it. Costing $12,000, the dress was made of a thin, flesh-colored souffle gauze and covered in 2,500 rhinestones. The dress was so tight that it had to be literally sewn onto Monroe’s naked body. In 1999, this iconic dress went up for auction and sold for a shocking $1.26 million. As of this writing (2015), it remains the most expensive piece of clothing ever sold at auction.

Unfolding the Secrets to Successful Management Assignment

Unfolding the Secrets to Successful Management - Assignment Example Big problems can result and the blame would obviously be laid on me in the end. So, I made it my responsibility almost from the starting period to create the right kind of environment at my store in order to manage a culturally diverse workforce. Creating the right kind of atmosphere means enabling the workers to understand and respect different cultures and consider all opinions in a manner free of cultural prejudices and biases. Things which might be acceptable in one culture might appear to be truly inappropriate for working coming from a different cultural background. So making the workers realize the subtle and sensitive differences between different cultures by providing them with increased means of intercommunication can help a manager immensely in handling a culturally diverse workforce. 2. What tools do you employ to handle the workplace conflicts which can be disastrous for the work environment? You might have noticed that many times conflicts originate due to every worker appearing to be involved in his/her own world, presenting ideas that antagonize ideas introduced by other workers, and refusing to genuinely collaborate with others. Therefore, for one thing, I try handling workplace conflicts by laying stress on the importance of teamwork and mutual collaboration which is all teamwork actually is about. Conflicts also arise between employers and employees when a low level of creativity is consistently maintained by employees. So I have taken it upon myself to encourage my workers to be innovative and creative in whatever job they do here. I happened to be quite authoritative in my initial days which led to a low level of creativity and less production which is why I changed my management style and became more involved to avoid conflicts. 3. What strategies do you follow to address the confusions and prejudices which result due to less communication between managers and employees? I understand that less communication between managers and employees i s a grave issue and raises serious concern for the organizations. As I mentioned before, many changes came in this store I work as a manager at during the authoritarian management days like workplace-related stress, conflicts due to cultural diversity handled in the wrong way, less communication, and myriad confusions. I could not realize these bad and harmful changes until I became involved with my workers and began to take interest in what issue they were facing and how they could be solved. When there is less communication, workers begin to feel confused about certain orders as they are not explained in a more enhanced way by the managers and certain jobs are left undone consequently.  

Examine critically the nature and lasting impacts for domestic Essay

Examine critically the nature and lasting impacts for domestic business environment of the global financial crisis of 2007 - Essay Example Johnson et al (2008, p.55) identify the PESTEL framework as a means of analysing the environment. Following the corporate scandals of Enron and WorldCom, several commentators have added ethics to the list of analytical factors and it is this approach that will be used to analyse the macro-environment of the UK following the global financial crisis of 2007. The STEEPLE framework considers the Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal and Ethical factors that affect business and over which business has no control. An analysis of the current environment is as follows: Figure 1: Macro Environmental Analysis Although this analysis is brief, it provides insight into potential problems facing the UK in the short- and medium-term in different areas. Some of these will be evaluated in more detail. Socio-Cultural Factors Factors within this area tend to be long-term trends, such as the changing pattern of work and women’s participation in the labour market . Following the UK general election in 2010 and the change of government, there has been a significant shift in the approach to the public sector and state support for the country’s population. ... The OECD are reported as stating that the cuts â€Å"risked derailing economic recovery† (ibid), with the IMF highlighting that unemployment levels will increase dramatically, leaving many people facing a significant reduction in their â€Å"livelihood, security and dignity† (ibid). They also highlight that following job losses, people suffer from health problems. Children of parents without work do worse in school and overall â€Å"faith in public institutions and democracy† (ibid) is reduced. The previous year, the OECD has predicted a â€Å"full-blown social crisis† following the expected rise in global unemployment (Seager, 2009). The OECD secretary general was reported to have said that: â€Å"restoring global growth is an economic and political priority but also an ethical, moral, social and human imperative. And employment and social policies are an essential component of a successful strategy to bring .... countries back on a growth track† ( Seager 2009) This demonstrates that the different elements within the macro-environment are interrelated and cannot really be separated as this analysis suggests. The over-riding fear in the social domain is an increasingly polarised society with the haves doing much better and the have-nots being pushed into poverty as unemployment increases and welfare benefits are cut (Armour 2010). Technological Factors Technology includes not only information technology but the processes by which manufacturers and service providers create and deliver their products. Although the biggest impact in the technology area has been the increasing power and availability of computing power, the impact for manufacturing should not be forgotten. Most homes in the UK now have access to a personal computer and the internet, allowing them

Standard costing and the relationship it may have with other Essay

Standard costing and the relationship it may have with other management accounting development - Essay Example Standard costs are pre-determined or forecast estimates of cost to manufacture a single unit, or a number of units of a product, during a specific immediate future period. They are usually the planned costs of the products under current and anticipated conditions, but sometimes they are the costs under normal or ideal conditions of efficiency, based on an assumed given output, and having regard to current conditions. They are revised to conform to super-normal or sub-normal conditions, but ore practically to allow for persisting alterations in the prices of material and labour. Therefore, a standard cost can be defined as â€Å"A pre-determined cost calculated with respect to a prescribed set of working conditions, correlating technical specifications and scientific measurements of materials and labour to the price and wage rates expected to apply during the period to which the standard cost is expected to relate, with an addition of an appropriate share of budgeted overhead. Its main objective is to provide bases of control through variance accounting for the valuation of stocks and work-in-progress and in exceptional cases for fixing selling prices.† The use of standards facilitates many business functions. Standards are very useful in the monitoring and controlling of business activities in general. The need for standard costs arises as a result of the benefits it provides for a business, such as Cost control does not merely refer to minimization of costs. Cost control means identifying costs with their benefits and ensuring that the costs are justified, given the benefits that are derived. Standard costs provide a very useful framework for cost control. The great value of standards in cost control is that they provide the ability to compare actual costs with desired costs on a timely basis. Timely reporting of difference i.e. monthly, weekly, daily or for each work shift etc, between actual and standard costs allows managers to take

Anita Desai Essay Example for Free

Anita Desai Essay The main characters who struck me the most are Uma and her brother Arun; to them are dedicated the two parts of the novel. Personally I think they have a lot of things in common and I’m not only considering the fact that they belong to the same close-knit family: they are somehow subjected to a reality from which they both want to escape. Uma is the plainest character of the novel, I think: she always obeys her parents and makes everything they want her to do. This is not completely a negative point but, reading the first pages of the book, I admit that I would like to react for her to the commandments of her MamaPapa, as they are often mentioned†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Go to the cook†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Prepare the packet for your brother†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Write a letter†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦but how can she manage to do all these things together?! In my opinion Uma is also naà ¯ve, she seems to be somehow tied by a sense of duty to her parents, especially after the failure of her two arranged marriages, and what about the dowry she has squandered?! as her father reminds her. The only â€Å"pause† of her life is given by the visits of Mira-masi, a particular woman who deeply fascinates Uma for the stories she tells her: she represents a ray of hope into the life of the girl, although her parents don’t approve the complicity created between them. Arun, whose birth was really longed for, is sent to the USA where he attends the college: being the only son of the family he has the honour of receiving a good education and he has also the possibility to live far from the oppressing reality of his homeland. But his life remains very unhappy: also the family to which he lives while in America is a sort of weight for him. The second part of the novel seems to me a long digression about food, I think that the food itself is the only reason for a link between Arun and the new family, Mrs Patton in particular. I think both brother and sister are oppressed voices who want to live in peace and to escape from the world they live in, although they aren’t able to rebel against it. For this very reason I would like them to write to each other, what does not happen in the novel. Dear Arun, Maybe for the first time in my life I admit that I’m very sad but what troubles me the most is the fact that I’m not able to find a way out†¦ Our cousin Anamika is dead. Everybody here is trying to give an explanation but†¦what for, she won’t ever come back and there are no acceptable explanations for her death†¦ I absolutely can’t imagine that the urn in front of me contains her ashes†¦she is dead†¦ but I’m dead too. Her awe for the family led her towards death, but what about me? I will stay forever with MamaPapa, I can’t abandon them, they are†¦my life! When mama grips my hand I know, I feel that there is something strong between us and I can’t, I can’t leave†¦ MamaPapa is calling me†¦I have to go. I don’t know if I will ever send this letter to you: perhaps I will burn it. Uma Dear Uma, A new semester at the college is beginning and my stay with the Pattons is over. I’m happy because I can leave this strange family: it wasn’t my place, I didn’t feel comfortable with them, I felt oppressed and obliged to be part of it, maybe only because I felt sorry for Mrs Patton and I didn’t want to disappoint her. This is the reason why I gave her the presents you sent me (but please don’t reveal anything to MamaPapa!): I didn’t want her to be worried about me when I silently walked out of her life. Arun Alice Bravin 5 H Liceo Scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Pordenone Anita Desai â€Å"FASTING, FEASTING† The novel by Anita Desai appeared insipid to my eyes. If I were asked to collect all the emotions that the book has stirred in my heart, I would find myself in anguishing troubles, for I’m quite numb to it as well I am frustrated by each work of art dominated by a sense of heaviness. The characters are imbued with, or even better, they are emblems of this heaviness which reveals itself mainly in the temperament of Uma, who is the best-built character of the novel. Anita Desai succeeded in the enterprise of creating a character without personality, a woman deprived of her soul. She is the designated victim who is doomed to endure the burden of life, symbolized first of all by her parents. Uma doesn’t strike my sensibility: I don’t feel pity for her, nor would I establish a sort of sympathetic relationship with her; her ineptitude doesn’t arouse my anger, nor would I shake her out of the status of torpor she experiences. I am quite interested in one of the psychological aspects of Uma, that of repression. Uma is not free to be what she wants to be, to do what she wants to do, so she is utterly repressed in her passions, in her feelings, in her personality; this last dimension is completely neglected to her. These inner forces run inside her veins and arteries, like water permeating through the cracks of a rock and when temperatures gets colder, it becomes ice and causes the explosion of the rock. The same happens inside Uma and the implosion is disguised as a sort of disease. Convulsions, nausea which leads to vomit, suffered cries, these moments are the most involving – and at the same time disturbing – moments and situations of the novel. I would have appreciated if Anita Desai had developed this edge of the prism of Uma. Sigmund Freud stated that mental patients are like diamonds, whose structure is based on its corners. In these lines the diamond would break in case it fell on the ground. Uma is like that. Her body seems possessed by a demoniac spirit, her limbs, her bowels are rocked by the unique act of rebellion which is allowed to her. I wonder why the writer has snobbed this issue, which probably assumes a religious and philosophical value and is strictly connected to Indian culture. The heaviness that haunts the book is expressed even by the settings. Concerning this point I would like to recall the image of Uma and her aunt who leave together on a spiritual trip. The bus they catch is incredibly crowded: this episode evokes the image of mingled noises and smells within the dusty and sandy air of India. The writer enables us to appreciate each aspect of the setting – thanks to her detailed language – so that the reader manages to broaden his sensorial perceptions and is caught by the use of synaesthesia. ( The description of the believers bathing in the Gange becomes meaningful in this sense ). Before starting reading the book I thought it would be quite precious for me in order to learn more about the Indian world, even appreciating it by means of the parallel Anita Desai draws with Northern America. But I was wrong: â€Å"Fasting, feasting † doesn’t seem so representative of India: the impression I get is that of a character – Uma – who might be possibly Irish or even Italian. Westerners share the same common imagery about India and this common imagery is banal and dominated by prejudices. The book is ambiguous, in the sense that neither supports this statement, nor deny it. The same ambiguity lies in the second part of the novel – that dedicated to Arun – which takes place in the United Stated of America. Anita Desai gives us tenets and traits of the American Society coming in the story of an American family. Here there aren’t crowded busses or temples, but televisions, junk food, couches, barbecues, baseball matches and people who enjoy all these objects and events. The same dusty air is breathed by Arun when he goes back home walking on the boundaries of the street. The same atmosphere of heaviness which degenerates into disease. For these very reasons I state that Uma and her story are not so â€Å"Indian†. Moreover, I have some perplexities about the last chapter – really shorter than the first one – which doesn’t find a proper literary justification. It is a sort of appendix, even if only almost at the end of the book there’s the precise reference to the tile â€Å"Fasting, feasting† and is embodied by the bulimic girl. Alessandra Crimi 5 H Liceo Scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Pordenone Anita Desai – Fasting, Feasting Fasting, Feasting is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Thanks to the brilliant descriptions and the elegant narration the reader has the opportunity to create an imaginary but precise setting were characters develop during the story. I think that this novel is like a mirror because it gives the opportunity to reflect, in both meanings of the word. We can reflect ourselves in the protagonists (mirror-like effect) and we can reflect, think, about the different values and importance that people from different societies give to ideals they believe in. In my opinion the rhythm of the narration is sometimes too slow, but I can understand that it is due to the fact that, once again, it mirrors the context where the story takes place. In India, in fact, there is no frenetic life, no stress, no anxiety of living and for this very reason people can pay attention to little events that we probably ignore. When the father asks for his drink, it seems to me that everyone in the family has to stop and be there for this event; when a guest arrives unexpectedly, all the attention is directed to him; even the choice of one kind of food rather than another seems to be one of the most important problems of the day. . The character of Mumdad is what emotionally touched me most, maybe because to a certain extent I can detect in them some traits my parents have. The image of Mumdad on the swing describes their indissoluble bond. Mumdad are a unique person/entity made up of two different souls. These two souls are always at unison, they never take opposite decisions, they argue but they always find a compromise, they are, in a word, complementary. I always admired this ability to build little by little a life together even if, for a child, sometimes it’s not so easy to accept their decision, or rather, their impositions. Uma is my favourite character. In some parts of the novel I felt really involved in her problems, in her thoughts and desires. She loves school even if she isn’t able to get good marks; she loves learning, she wants to try again, to spend another year at school, she’s sure she will improve. She suffers when Mumdad decide she should give up her studies. She suffers when she understands she is not as beautiful, intelligent as her sister Aruna, and so she is considered a lesser woman. Uma suffers silently, she accepts her condition of inferiority, yet she is always looking for a moment of glory that, unfortunately, never comes. She is like the most humble flower that grows up silently, that is trampled from the gardener that gave her birth, because a rose is blooming next to the humble flower and he must be there to praise the perfection and beauty of the rose. I’m not saying that I reflect myself in Uma , absolutely not, on the contrary, I’m saying that all my life I have been an Aruna, and I didn’t know about it. I’m an only child, there is no Uma in my family, but thanks to the juxtaposition of the two characters I have understood that I have always been loved and pampered and nursed and highly considered and I don’t really know if I deserve all this. This book has really been a great opportunity for me, it has made me reflect on my values and on the meaning of my â€Å"little† life: too often we don’t realise what is around us. But now I want stop talking about me. I would love to write a few lines about arranged marriages. In our Western society, marriage is generally viewed as a value strongly linked with the concept of freedom, the freedom to choose the person with whom we would like to spend all our life. We have this great opportunity and we often waste it. We are free to love a person for his peculiarities and not for his money and often people choose the partner for his richness, we get married and then we divorce and kids are treated as merchandise, we often get married for reasons that sometimes are far away from love and we claim to judge a society where parents choose a spouse for their children. I think that Western people are more contradictory than what they want to admit and perhaps less happy. Perhaps it is this very feeling that leads plenty of us to judge other cultures. DA PIEVE LUCIA 5 H Liceo scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Anita Desai â€Å"Fasting,Feasting† This is the first book by Anita Desai I have ever read. Her observations are astute whether they are on living conditions in India or USA. Anita Desai uses her words perfectly to convey exactly what she feels,but even if it could seem a contradiction,I think that the problem with the book is its dry, clinical approach in chronicling the lives of the characters, the book lacks passion. I was always on the outside, looking into the lives of people. The book offers few chances of getting involved with the characters ,in fact while reading the book I didn’t feel the compulsion of finishing it quickly. The part I liked better is the first half of the book that deals with life in a small, slow town in India, with rigid parents and well-drafted routines. The †Indian half† is more detailed than the other half which deals with the rule-less† life in suburban USA. In the first half there is a partly successful, proud father, who goes through life, with set patterns and no passion. A mother who goes along with her husband, doing what is supposedly right and expected of her, curbing and killing all her innate desires. Three children. The eldest, Uma, clumsy . The middle daughter Aruna, pretty, ambitious and smart, but eventually also a victim of her choices. The last, a son, Arun, on whom the parents put all their dreams and energies. All of them, along with members of their extended family, go through some form of deprivation (of will, of fun, of passion and of love). I think that a merit of this book is the way it highlights the Indian traditions, cultures and mostly the place of a woman in an Indian family. I liked the character of Uma in the book because she is both willing to take a chance with life and at the same time dedicated to her family.She takes whatever happens to her life with such grace that she does not give me a chance to cry for her. I like her inner strength. The story in itself is told from the perspective of the protagonist, Uma, who starts out as a wideeyed child at a convent who shows an enthusiasm for education but with the birth of her brother Arun, Uma takes on the role of nanny. Here, one encounters the distinct preference parents have for the male child. Desai next explores the conventional belief that ties a womans worth to her physical appearance. A woman who lacks beauty is often rushed into the first marital offer she receives, only to pay a heavy price later on. Desai shows the challenges a single woman faces regardless of how successful she is. By contrast, Umas cousin is portrayed as the ultimate success because she is able to marry well thanks to her looks. She makes the reader wonder how happy she truly is, when she eventually takes her own life. Uma is the main character in the first half of the novel. She is a clumsy, uncoordinated woman who finds it difficult to succeed in almost everything she does she fails in school, cant cook, spills food and drink and cant find anyone worthwhile to get married to. Her father feels that Uma is incapable of fending for herself, as she is too clumsy, uncoordinated and proves a failure in almost everything she does.Uma fails in school, in the kitchen and she even fails to find anyone worthwhile to get married to. The father asks Uma to interrupt her studies in the Christian convent when he find out she not doing very well at school. He feels that it was a waste of time and money to provide Uma an education ;he has other plans for her.She will look after her baby brother Arun and take care of the household while her mother rests after giving birth. Uma’s life is constantly planned by her father.Uma cannot resist her father’s oppressive patriarchal ideology, as she is afraid of the consequences that would befall her if she angered the colonial characteristics of her father. Uma’s entertainment comes in the form of her cousin, Ramu. When Ramu is around, Uma feels at ease. But the father feels that Ramu is a bad influence on Uma. He does not want Uma to be influenced by other men who are capable of brainwashing her to resist the demands of his patriarchal nature.