Saturday, May 23, 2020

Essay Chang-rae Lees novel A Gesture Life - 1117 Words

Chang-rae lee, in A Gesture Life, pictures a Japanese immigrant named Franklin Hata. Hata have been seeking assimilation into the American society. To become part of the society, Hata tries to become the perfect citizen in the society, a mascot who everyone knows and respects. To further his assimilation, he tries to complete the picture of a whole and healthy family as many ideal Americans. Through adapting Sunny, Hata wants to assimilate through a parental figure. Through parental figure that is caring, a good parent and good heritage, supremely suggesting that a parent that is successful in all is a parent that is successful in society. But Sunny plays a different character in his life, a character that alters Hatas idea as she is a†¦show more content†¦Sunny cant be the innocent symbol of benevolence and discipline related as Hata wanted. Almost a year after Sunny left Hatas home and moved to the city to live with her boyfriend, Lincoln Evans, Sunny contacts Hata because she is pregnant and she needs help. This difficulty is another instance of Hatas desperate wish to gain control of his own life by policing the bodies of women. Sunny is not only pregnant, but near full-term and Hata finds himself taken back by the broad, curving shape of her. Although anyone else would have thought that she was too long with the child, that it was much too late, that there was nothing left to do(p.339), Hata not only arranges an illegal abortion for Sunny but also assists the physician, whose nurse would likely not agree to assist such a procedure(p.343). What Hata wishes to prevent in this instance is to breed miscegenation and keep his reputation. For Sunny wants to ensure the success of Hatas assimilation, the racial makeup of her future children is essential to his success. Hata

Monday, May 18, 2020

The Creation Of A Cosmopolitan Society Essay - 2030 Words

The idea of a unified society, living peacefully with all the differences in the world stems from Kwame Appiah’s book Cosmopolitanism (2006). Thus, the idea of cosmopolitanism is that everyone is a â€Å"citizen of the world† (Appiah 14), which means, no matter the cultural differences everyone is to live within the same standards and guidelines of coexistence. When evaluating the plausibility of a cosmopolitan society, one should think of the coexistence of different cultures and ways of living. In considering this idea, there is a mass amount of culture clashes, or culture wars, throughout history; however, there are is an extreme amount in historical societies. Furthermore, the issues are found in both different cultures and in different moral codes, or moral judgment. With that said, the ideology of moral judgments throughout history, in order to predict the present and future, shroud the idea of a cosmopolitan world. The example of the creation of the monster in Fr ankenstein (1818) and plays a major role in proving this idea with philosophies from Luther the Reformer (1986), Cosmopolitanism (2006), and It’s Complicated (2014). In Appiah’s initial thoughts, language is the gateway to any society and community. When there are different languages, the people begin to wonder what exactly is being said. In looking at languages in different societies, Kwame Appiah believes that â€Å"vocabulary of evaluation is enormously multifarious† (46). When there is a multitude of differentShow MoreRelatedThe Continent Of Africa, By Thomas Getz s Cosmopolitan Africa1454 Words   |  6 Pagescan fully comprehend just how much the colonization of Africa changed it forever, both for the better and the worse. The many reasons as to the â€Å"how and why† Africa was shaped into what it has become today can be seen within Thomas Getz’s book, Cosmopolitan Africa. Specifically, it is through the examination of the themes of the globalization of Africa in the oceanic era, the practice and belief of religions, and the significance of the Industrial Revolution, that the specific ways Africa was shapedRe ad MoreThe Skeptic Theory of Morality in International Relations Essay1398 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: Nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, not answering the call for help in Rwanda, allowing Germany to take over Czechoslovakia, supporting the creation of the state of Israel, giving out loans (with interest) to developing countries, and the creation of the United Nations are all forms of international interference and cooperation amongst states. When looking at these examples and many more, it begs the question, does morality play a role in international affairs of a state?Read MoreThe International System And Contemporary International Law Essay1458 Words   |  6 Pagesinternational criminal justice implies the creation of a world government, both being formed to punish those that violate a commonly held morality. Delsol points out that â€Å"today’s international criminal justice only punishes certain criminals† leading to its’ illegitimacy because it doesn’t â€Å"apply to all individuals on the planet.† Delsol views this inability to p unish all and establish a just system as inevitably leading to the formation of a world government. Cosmopolitan Justice Delsol points out thatRead MoreCosmopolitanism Essay900 Words   |  4 PagesCosmopolitan†¦ Not the Drink! The word cosmopolitanism, derived from Greek, means that humans are part of a global civilization. â€Å"Cosmos† signifies the earth, and â€Å"polis† means city or state. The Enlightenment philosophers Emmanuel Kant and Baron de Montesquieu interpreted the idea slightly differently but fundamentally agreed that it entails the communication and exchange of varied cultures, especially through commerce. Cosmopolitism is not to be confused with legal pluralism, discussed by LaurenRead MoreMuslim World Cosmopolitanism1699 Words   |  7 Pagesdeities, and affirms the divinity of the only one true God, Allah---all in one breath. It is truly the most exclusive and iconoclastic claim that rejects the notion of anyone being divine except Allah. The American Heritage Dictionary defines ‘cosmopolitan’ as something that is â€Å"common to the whole world,† or a person who is â€Å"at home in all parts of the earth or in many spheres of interest† (1978, 301). Now, how, on Allah’s earth, can we talk about â€Å"Muslim† world cosmopolitanism? That is justRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Toward Perpetual Peace Other Writings On Politics, Peace And History1151 Words   |  5 Pagespurpose in a life that seems to lack purpose. By not presupposing individual purposiveness among humans, Kant discovers a natural purpose among â€Å"all† humanity. Through this fundamental idea, we can see that Kant discovers a universal history from a Cosmopolitan point of view. Cosmopolitanism centers around the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single community and is based on a mutual universal morality (among rational individuals). This essay will focus mainly on the arguments for purposivenessRead MoreWomen s Magazines Are Littered With Beauty Advertisements870 Words   |  4 PagesFemale.† which indicates that it is geared towards an audience of women that is young and old, multi-racial, thick or thin. The contents of Cosmo indicate otherwise as predominately thin white women percolate the magazine. This month’s issue of Cosmopolitan featured two-hundred-twenty-four pages of articles and advertisements. There were 28 Black models, 6 Latina models, 5 East Asian models, 5 East Indian models, and 105 White models. It’s safe to say that there is an unbalance of diversity, whichRead MoreMarie Moreau And Alain Delon Star Persona1510 Words   |  7 Pagesindividual. These challenges were particularly gendered, through their perpetuation of new ideals and images of gender in French society. In the case of Jeanne Moreau, her star image came to represent a new image of the French woman. Moreau’s image represented an idea of femininity that was a radical departure from traditional conceptions of the French female in traditional society and cinema. The same is true of Delon, who also represented a particular aspect of French masculinity that was unique and modernRead MorePublic V. Private In A Cosmopolitan Society1849 Words   |  8 PagesPublic v. Private in a Cosmopolitan Society Throughout different readings written by influential philosophers, many have found a cosmopolitan society to be associated with the idea of public and private spheres. The relationship between public and private in a community is arguably essential to maintaining political order and international peace. Through the lens of Diogenes’ bibliography and Immanuel Kant’s work, they demonstrate the notion of cosmopolitan through different public and private spheresRead MoreDisney Land Shanghai - a Case Study1181 Words   |  5 Pagesunderstanding the cultural differences. Finally, we can say that the Americans used cultural imperialism. It refers to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between civilizations favoring the more powerful civilization. Therefore, it can be defined as the practice of promoting and imposing a culture, usually of politically powerful nations over less potent societies. Nevertheless, they tried to calm everyone in France by organizin g charity events such as birthday parties for sick children

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

William Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing - 768 Words

Theatre has changed in over the years. Back then plays catered to the audience and to please the king. However, nowadays, plays are produced for money and audiences. In Shakespeare’s time, a lot of plays were written to center around politics and retelling of historical England and Europe. Shakespeare’s plays are written in prose. Shakespeare’s plays were also performed at playhouses around England. Today’s theatre shares many similarities with the production from Shakespeare’s time, however they markedly differ. There are indeed many differences, for example, language, gender roles, and venue. These differences would change the retelling of Much Ado About Nothing in Shakespeare times because of its modern production. First, language absolutely would have played a vital role in Shakespeare’s time. Today Shakespeare’s words have massively changed and lost its meaning in modern retelling theatre. The pronunciation, familiar and formal, and verb endings have lost its meaning. In the play, some characters like Claudio, Dan Pedro, and Beatrice indeed simply slip on â€Å"you† and â€Å"thou†. For example, in the modern retelling film, Claudio slips on thou, and Benedick on the other reflects on â€Å"you†. Claudio as well uses the formal you when Don Pedro joins him and Benedick. The formal â€Å"you† and â€Å"thou† was frequently used throughout the film. In Shakespeare’s time, â€Å"thee†, â€Å"thou†, â€Å"thy†, â€Å"thine† would have been used to form jokes. In the film, the scene about Benedick and BeatriceShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing1204 Words   |  5 PagesI will be consider ing the role of the villain in Much Ado About Nothing, and will conduct rhetorical analyses that will proceed to view the perspective of the villain and his or her intentions. Much Ado About Nothing written by William Shakespeare intending this play to be a comedy. Although it is hard to comprehend the comedy within the play. The characters within this play are all linked together by having a relationship that looks like a telephone wire game. The characters dilemma develops anRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing2083 Words   |  9 Pagesin the end, there are millions of ways that each individual defines love according to their experiences. One individual in particular is Shakespeare, who is widely known for expressing the significance of love in various plays of his, as he portrays several branches of love such as friendship, parental love, and romantic love. In Much Ado about Nothing, Shakespeare demonstrates the ways in which Claudio and Hero’s love shows the triumph of imagination over intelligence compared to Benedick and Beatrice’sRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing898 Words   |  4 PagesBeatrice, Benedick, and Love in Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is set in thirteenth century Italy. The plot of the play can be categorized as comedy or tragicomedy . Villainy and scheming combine with humor and sparkling wordplay in Shakespeare s comedy of manners. Claudio is deceived into believing that Hero, is unfaithful. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice have a kind of merry war between them, matching wits in repartee. This paper will attempt toRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing1317 Words   |  6 PagesMuch to Do About Noting Deceit is the act of concealing or misrepresenting the truth. Deceit plays an important role in the plot of Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing. It also has a large influence on the relationships of the play. Much Ado about Nothing is a play written by William Shakespeare who is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time. William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. From roughly 1594 onward he was an important memberRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing3289 Words   |  14 PagesSection One Title Analysis: As an author, William Shakespeare had titles ranging from the light at heart and ethereal to the rigid and formal. The title, Much Ado About Nothing, is one such title that fits very neatly into his light at heart category. However this doesn t mean that the title doesn t reflect the story as in Shakespeare s other plays. His light at heart stories have titles that are just as reflective as his more serious titles. The title is an obvious indicator of the story thatRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing1516 Words   |  7 Pages Danielle Silfies An Issue of Deception and Morality In William Shakespeare s play Much Ado About Nothing, many characters lack moral values and use deception as a tool to get a conclusion that they desire. Deceit is a concept that most of the characters experience in some form throughout the play. It is used to get Benedick and Beatrice to realize their feeling of love and admiration for each other. It is also used to pull characters like Claudio and Hero apart multiple times. Deceit is usedRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing And Hamlet1503 Words   |  7 Pagesthoughts, well-being, actions, and interactions with the other set roles. William Shakespeare’s plays included dissimilar characters and different methods of characterization. The two plays that will be compared and contrasted are William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet. As for the characters from each play, Beatrice, Benedict, Don John, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Hero will be assessed from Much Ado About Nothing and from Haml et, Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Laertes, and OpheliaRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing3544 Words   |  15 PagesWhen examining the plays written by Shakespeare there are many instances where the common theme of marriage is shows. In the times of the 1600’s the ceremony of marriage was very common and done in a very orderly and strict fashion. In those time there was no aspects of a genuine love and heart felt marriage but instead they were seen as an agreement between the two parties. In many of the works of Shakespeare many characters deal with the issue of marriage and you begin to see the toll if had onRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing1784 Words   |  8 Pagesis a witty, talkative character in Much Ado about Nothing. She is cousin to Hero, and also a close friend, however, she and Hero are very much dissimilar, as Hero is a gentle and quiet young woman. She has a very sarcastic and joking nature. We can tell a lot from h er first line. She says, ‘I pray you, is Signor Montanto returned from the wars or no?’ The pun used tells us that she has a wit and a joking manner. Also, we soon find out that she is talking about Benedick, therefore, giving us a hintRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing Essay1971 Words   |  8 PagesTransition in Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, a comedy filled with differences between genders, witty banter between memorable characters Benedick and Beatrice, a plot of revenge that involves one character faking her death and let’s not forget the masquerade marriage that comes to readers at the end. Much Ado About Nothing, court politics while still maintain a profound amount of humor and wit. However, it is the honor and shame that is prominent in Much Ado About Nothing

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Importance Of Self-Adving Practices Of Dementia

The positive results of the study did however suggest that providing education and problem-solving strategies was beneficial for promoting self-efficacy in the experimental group whereas there was no change in the control group. Even though caregivers rated burden as higher closer to their loved one’s death, they felt better prepared for coping with the situation with the CARE intervention implemented, similar to the results of the TAILORED study by Sulmasy, et al., (2017) regarding decision making at the end of life. The researchers encouraged further randomized studies within more diagnostic groups to promote â€Å"self-efficacy†, or one’s beliefs in his/her ability to achieve a goal, to reduce stressors and perceived burdens as a caregiver†¦show more content†¦It is hypothesized that COPE would have the potential to improve outcomes for patients with dementia and their caregivers, related to health concerns, while maintaining cost effectiveness. Th e program would involve ten in-home visits with an Occupational Therapist (OT) and one in-home, plus one telephone contact (conversation) between the primary caregiver and an advanced practice nurse. The program would last approximately four months followed by questionnaire style interviews and rating forms as well as functional assessments of the patients. Because both functional disability and physical and emotional strain from caregivers predict higher nursing home admissions, the researchers suggest that the COPE program would defer or at least delay nursing home placement of dementia patients given added support and training for caregivers in the home environment. Per the 2016 article, this specific experiment has not been completed with the intended population as of yet, though the pilot study was hopeful. Researchers encourage the continued proposal to be followed through with hopes that functional interventions for managing patients with dementia and their caregivers stre ss will become an evidence based practice to be applied to the growing population of the cognitively impaired. The New York University Caregiver Intervention program (NYUCI), developed

Urban Utopia Free Essays

Matt Torres Dr. Cay Hehner Modern New York November 1, 2012 Research Paper The history of the urban utopia arose when theorists and city planners decided that a radical reconstruction of their cities (Venturi 4) was needed. There are problems that arose in cities of every generation and these problems have sparked the minds of the greatest thinkers, planner, architects, and theorists of the 19th century. We will write a custom essay sample on Urban Utopia or any similar topic only for you Order Now These were the first attempts at correcting the problems that we deal with today. Problems such as dealing with growth, dealing with nature, and dealing with civilization. Throughout the history of the city, it seems as though some of these basic principles have been forgotten. However, we can look towards the work of Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier, who were some of the most dominant architectural thinkers who advanced the field of urban-conceptual thought into places it had never been before. The radical thinker, known as Sir Ebenezer Howard, is widely regarded by many to be one of the most influential urban planners of the 19th century. His work with the English Garden City Movement led to a worldwide response about how cities will deal with a rapid increase of people. His goal was to provide comfortable cities, which had an abundance of affordable housing; arranged in ways that would incorporate nature to its fullest. His work, unlike that of Robert Moses (another influential urban planner), Frank Lloyd Wright, or Le Corbusier, focused on the people and their ability to live in cities, without sacrificing their valuable green space. Howard was born on Fore Street, in the city of London on January 29th, 1850. He was the son of a shopkeeper and was sent away to school at a young age. He was schooled in Suffolk, then Cheshunt in Hertforshire, and finally completed his education at the age of 15 at Stoke Hall, Ipswich (Letchworth, para. 2). Working odd jobs out of school, he was eventually persuaded to go to the US at the age of 21. Around the time he came to America, he witnessed the American re-growth and recovery from the Great Fire of 1871†¦a fire which destroyed most of the central business district (Letchworth para. 5). His views with how America planned to rebuild in this small city of Chicago led him to constantly be fascinated with this aspect of growth in the city. Ebenezer Howard had specific ideas of how future cities could deal with growth, and a rapid influx of people. He came up with The Garden City under the belief that it will be revolutionary in itself, like the early locomotive, capable of great improvement (Venturi 27). His Garden City grew out of the belief that centralization was the answer; a society where poverty and unemployment are unknown †¦ where) everyone receives an equal salary (Venturi 33). These ideas came to fruition when Howard read the bestseller Looking Backward, by Edward Bellamy, about a man who slept from 1887 to 1900 – only to wake up and find himself in a new society where industry regrouped into a cooperative trust †¦ (and) competition is replaced by centralized planning. Later, Howard published his Garden Cities of Tomorrow, where he outlined hi s idea of the ideal utopian society. This Garden City was to be an ideal urban society of Three Magnets. It was created as a means of superseding capitalism and creating a civilization based on cooperation (Venturi 24). It represented a synthesis of town (city) and country, (two of the Magnets) where the town offered excitement, high wages, and employment, but also high prices and poor living conditions; the country †¦ offers physical space, but is also backward and â€Å"no fun†. It was a middle ground between two extremes and had the qualities of being compact, efficient, healthful, and beautiful all at the same time. The city wasn’t without its flaws though. The third Magnet seemed the hardest to come by. It was the pinnacle of all of his work; that Garden City, whose promise of a better life would be the basis and reason why people would be drawn away from the urban centers and into a new civilization (Venturi 39). Also, Howard doubted the practicality of extreme centralization (Venturi 35); and even if it did work, he denied its desirability (Venturi 35). Howard questioned the inevitability of centralization, but continued to work out his own justification of what he learned from reading Looking Backward. The rest of his life was allocated to his stenography work, which offered him free time from which he could go about patiently designing that Third Magnet (Venturi 39) – despite having no formal architectural training. Frank Lloyd Wright was similar to Howard, in the sense that they both despised and wanted to change the urban fabric of the city. Wright argued that the dense utopian atmosphere of the modern city offered no room for individuality. Therefore, he developed Broadacres, which took decentralization beyond the small community to the individual family home (Venturi 9). This individualism came to its height when Wright introduced his theory about Broadacres. He stated that â€Å"individuality must be founded on individual ownership† (Venturi 9). This materialized into his plan to make the city disappear, and replace it with thousands of parcels of land (similar to the Homestead Act of 1862). A minimum of an acre a person allowed for most people to work part-time in the small factories, offices, or shops that are nestled among the farms (Venturi 9). Since this was around the time that the car was being mass-produced, Wright introduced the idea of superhighways, which connected the scattered parcels of land in ways that weren’t possible before, similar to the vision of Robert Moses. Decentralization would make it possible for everyone to live his chosen lifestyle on his own land (9), essentially giving the people their own identity and allowing them to reconcile man with nature (Venturi 164). Now for the polar opposite. Le Corbusier, or Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, â€Å"the Parisian leader of the revolution in modern architecture† (Venturi 9), was a Frenchman who had entirely different ideas of what the future for the city held. He placed a corresponding faith in organization (Venturi 9), and argued that cities just weren’t dense enough. His idea of the Radiant City could be seen as the modern thought of the city today. He proposed that geometrically arrayed skyscrapers of glass and steel would rise out of parks, gardens, and superhighways (Venturi 10). The elite lived in luxurious high-rise apartments, while their subordinates lived in the outskirts (suburbia). It all sounds oddly familiar to the city that we are familiar with today. Whilst the idea of the city not being dense enough can be argued by most people, the concept of organization makes this one of the most ideal structures to imposing cities of the future. All three of these planners came to their own conclusions by studying previous cities and how they came to development. The ancient Greeks had their own ideas of the city through the polis (Lecture 3). The polis was compromised of the acropolis, the enclosing city wall, the agora, residential districts, leisure and cultural areas, religious precinct, a harbor, a port, and an industrial district (Lecture 3). All of these became important parts of the cities that followed, but possibly the most important piece would be the public programs of the city. Greek rulers noticed that to keep the people under control, they had to devise ways to entertain them. This entertainment was given either in the form of shows, plays, battles, concerts, or in general outdoor gathering space (Stadium). This is why green space is the number one concern when it comes to city planning. There must be points where we can allow a break in the urban fabric of our cities and place public zones where people can entertain themselves and others. Industrialization that took place in the 19th century created various problems for the modern day utopia. An increase in population, increase in goods and services, redistribution of population, development of media, greater mobility, and the rise of ideology (lecture 6) spurred the thought of developing a change in shopping, domestic life, entertainment, leisure, circulation, and street life. It was a turning point since new technology was being introduced, and new techniques concerning how to manufacture materials and distribute them. Today, there are criticisms regarding the path that future cities are headed towards. Since the 1960’s, there has been skepticism towards the utopian aspirations of the early 20th century. Some say that the utopian cities are growing larger, denser, and becoming more disconnected than ever before. Superstudio poses a solution to this. By instituting a global monument, called The Continuous Monument, Superstudio sought out to create architecture all equally emerging from a single continuous environment (Lang 122). The disconnect associated with modern architecture today is a direct result of the Industrial Revolution and the benefits we gained from it. It made lose our direct correlation between man and nature. Superstudio tries to address that issue in the Continuous Monument by going back to the basics of city design, the square block. It is a testimonial that architecture is the centre of the relationships of technology, sacredness, utilitarianism (Lang 122). The Continuous Monument allows us to have a better understanding of the earth around us, which we seem to have lost. Rem Koolhaas offered up another approach with his studies into the city of Lagos. Lagos is the fastest growing city in Nigeria. It’s estimated that they gain roughly 21 inhabitants per hour and the population is expected to explode to 24 million people by the year 2020. In Lagos, they’ve decided to ditch the urban fabric of the west and go along with an entirely new idea of utopian design. For example, Koolhaas has seen how Americans grumble about traffic and instinctively put the radio up and tune out the congestion – however, in Lagos, when the traffic comes to a halt, that’s when the trading marketplace begins. This is the new direction of the city according to Koolhaas. A city that reinvigorates the things that are wrong with it, while simultaneously turning them into overwhelming positives. It’s an entirely customizable city, run and built by the inhabitants. If there is ever a need for more space in a house, the citizens simply build more rooms on top of their houses. This touches all the aspects of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ebenezer Howard – with their emphasis on decentralized systems and influence on the individualism associated with architecture of the future. In the words of Koolhaas, â€Å"Lagos is not catching up with us. Rather, we may be catching up with Lagos. † The urban utopia is an idea that is constantly in a state of change. As needs grow and develop, there are things that need to be reformed, re-thought, and redesigned. The ideals of Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier were once pristine candidates with functions of cities; however, with new work by Rem Koolhaas and Superstudio, we can begin to see a change in modern utopian design, and how these modern designs deal with growth that cities will be having in the next century. Who knows, maybe we’ll even begin to see something similar to the city of Lagos, applied in a westernized urban fabric such as New York City, or Chicago – cities in desperate need of a change Bibliography Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown, Steve Izenour. Learning from Las Vegas, Rev. ed. Cambridge; MIT P, 1996 Rem Koolhaas, et. Al. Harvard Project on the City. Mutations. Actar, 2001. Peter Lang, William Menking, Superstudio: Life Without Objects, Skira, 2003 Unknown. Ebenezer Howard , Biography and the Beginnings of the Garden City, 21 Apr. 2007. Web. 07 Nov. 2012 . How to cite Urban Utopia, Papers

The Flowers by Alice Walker free essay sample

â€Å"The Flowers† by Alice Walker is a short story written in the 1970’s. The story focuses on Myop, a ten year old African American girl who loves to explore the land in which she lives. Carefree and naive, Myop decides to travel further away from her ‘Sharecropper cabin’ and travels deep inside the woods to unfamiliar land where she discovers the decomposed body of an African American man. It is then Myop quickly grows up and suddenly becomes aware of the world in which she lives. The story relies on setting and symbolism to convey the theme of departing innocence. Firstly the author wants to create an astonishing and radient world in which Myop lives in with beautiful sceery and picturesque skies. To do this her descriptions of the setting is strong and detailed, for example, â€Å"skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to smokehouse†. This highlights that Myop lives on a fairly big bit of land perhaps a farm which is filled with different kinds of animals, also the quote â€Å"the days had never been as beautiful as these† portrays that this is one of the best days of the year so far and it leaves the reader thinking, could anything go wrong to change that? Walker also tells the reader what time of year it is by describing what Myop does everyday, â€Å"The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash, made everyday a golden surprise†. The word â€Å"harvesting† shows that it is around the end of summer beginning of autumn and the phrase â€Å"golden surprise† reminds us that Myop is still a young girl and gets excited very easily, the world is a magical place for her. In paragraph two, Alice Walker reminds us again how young, naive and carefree Myop is, â€Å"She struck out at random chickens she liked, and worked out the beat of a song on the fence† and the quote â€Å"she was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song†. This conveys that Myop does not have a care in the world, the only thing on her mind right now is â€Å"her song† and it is as if Myop is in her own little dream world. The author then goes back to describing the scenery, â€Å"She felt light and good in the warm sun†. This tells the reader that it is still early in the morning as the sun is still bright and high in the sky. Walker still continues to illustrate the setting throughout paragraph three where she says â€Å"silver ferns and wildflowers grew†. Again this tells the reader that Myop’s surroundings are beautiful, tranquil and peaceful. Alice then goes on to tell us that Myop lives in a â€Å"sharecropper cabin† which gives across a strong sense of safety as it is familiar and family orientated. Added to this, the writer’s use of symbolism strengthens this idea of attractiveness and inexperience, Myop’s name being the main symbol. Myop is short for Myopia. The name given to short-sightedness. This is used as a metaphor as Myop’s naivety, then as the story goes on Myop opens her eyes to see what the real world is like and the author mentions her name less. Another symbol used in paragraph 2 is the â€Å"warm sun†. This symbolises the light and life of the world. It is a time when people are supposed to be awake and no body should be sleeping but this is later contrasted further on in the story. All the setting and scenery described gives an image of the Garden of Eden- paradise – a place everyone wants to be, where nothing bad can happen up until one critical moment when Eve eats the apple and everything forever changes. This gives the reader an insight in to the rest of the story but still leaves them wondering what could happen next. However the atmosphere begins to change halfway through the story. The setting becomes like the Garden of Eden, after the fall- â€Å"an armful of strange blue flowers†. This shows that the atmosphere is starting to change the further away from home she is. It is unfamiliar territory and being far from home means that nobody is around to guide her on her way, â€Å"Today she made her own path, bouncing this way and that way†. This portrays that Myop does not know where she is going, she is starting to make her own way in life and does not need an adult to guide her. It also shows that Myop is again, moving further away from home and the safety of her usual environment and it is leading to a darker and abnormal place in which Myops world, does not exist. Again, Alice Waler describes the setting to build up to a climactic event,† By twelve o’clock†. This mirrors Myop’s progress- at midday the sun is at its warmest yet Myop is walking towards a dark place where no light is shining through. Walker continues to build he climactic event when she says â€Å"she was a mile or more from home†. This leaves the reader asking themselves ‘Is this too far for a ten year old? ’ Also the quote â€Å"The air was damp† illustrates that the surroundings were unpleasant and frightening and to emphisise this, the quote â€Å"the silence was close and deep† creates tention and gives a sense that it is a well hidden environment that is extremely quiet and deserted. Again symbolism is linked with setting in conveying the idea that innocence and beauty are threatened, â€Å"vaguely keeping an eye out for snakes†. This reminds us of the Garden of Eden when the devil disguised himself as a snake. The snake is a representative of evil and it tells you something bad is about to happen and creates a sense of fear and curiousity. Towards the end of the story there is a dramatic twist where Myop’s angelic ways are exposed and are at risk of existing no more, â€Å"she stepped smack into his eyes†. Myop at this point does not know what she has found and reacts naturally as she â€Å"reached down quickly, unafraid, to free herself†. Myop’s innocence is –to a degree- still under threat at this point, â€Å"It was only when she saw his naked grin that she gave a little yelp†. The words â€Å"naked grin† hint at something more sinister and serious. Myop has just found out that her world is not as she had thought it was for all these years and she is more curious than before. In paragraph 7 Alice Walker describes the corpse in detail and Myop’s innocence disappears altogether, â€Å"His head lay beside him† tells the reader that the man’s head is decapitated. Added to this the quote â€Å"all of them cracked or broken† conveys that this man had taken a real beating before his death and that may have been the cause of his death. As the story goes into paragraph 8, Myop then discovers the real cause of death and is aware of how evil the world can be, â€Å"rotted remains of a noose†. This portrays that the man had been hung and gradually Myop understands what has happened and realises the truth about racism. The final part of the story is full of symbolism being a sign of evil and death,she pushed back the leaves and layers of earth and debris†. Myop is brushing away her own innocence, all the layers of lies to expose the truth and finds the body, which is a symbol of injustice and evil. However amongst the symbols of darkness there is a hint of beauty. For example â€Å"wild pink rose†. A rose is a symbol of beauty and love, its attractive therefore it’s prettiness interreges Myop and she goes to investigate. As Myop gets closer to the rose she finds that â€Å"rotted remains of a noose† is wrapped around the rose. This is symbolic for killing beauty. It tells us that no matter what race you are, you are beautiful but sadly not everyone thinks so, which is what the thorns on the rose represent. Another symbolic item is the flowers that Myop has been collection on her journey, â€Å"Myop laid down her flowers†. This is a symbol of remorse, a sign of respect for the man as this is where Myop’s inheritance has come from and as she puts down the flowers and as paragraph nine says, â€Å"And the summer was over† Myop walks away she is leaving her innocence behind. To conclude, setting and symbolism are enormously important techniques in â€Å"The Flowers† and Alice Walker has portrayed these extremely well all throughout the story. The character Myop gives insight into another life that nobody would normally experience so it is a good read and I enjoyed analysing it. â€Å"The Flowers† By Alice Walker Megan McPhail x

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Ea Games Swot free essay sample

EA Games Company Mission Statement: We are an association of electronic artists who share a common goal. We want to fulfill the potential of personal computing [1]. Company Strategy: Fewer and bigger brands, more digital content and consumer outreach, a larger free-to-play business, and more new IPs [2]. Company History [3] SWOT Analysis [4]: Strengths * Ability to Change * Example: when they realized that sales only increased by 4. 7% they decided they needed to restructure the way they were doing business. By narrowing the company to four major divisions, they believe they will increase the speed of developing products and increase sales * Focus on research and development * the company invested about $1,041 million in research and development for fiscal years ended March 2007, much more than other competitors * Popularity of Games * Example:  Madden NFL 07  alone sold over 5 million copies last year, which puts the total tally of  Madden  games sold to just over 60 million Weaknesses Dependence on consoles * Just because a new and amazing console is created, that doesn’t mean that people will run out to buy it (Playstation 3) * Niche Market * For the 2007 fiscal year over 70% of the company’s revenues from the US were derived from seven key customers * Weak Global Sales * In order to remain globally competitive, EA must increase sales worldwide and in the valuable Asian market Opportunities * Mobile Gaming With recent acquisitions, like that of JAMDAT, and also announcements of creating games for iPods, it is clear that EA will be focusing on this ever increasing market * Increase of Online Gaming * They have increased the Pogo. We will write a custom essay sample on Ea Games Swot or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page com division to international arenas like the UK and also are set to acquire Mythic Entertainment, a creator if multiplayer online role-playing games * Change in Target Consumer * Part of EA Casual Entertainment’s role is to focus on courting to non-traditional gamers, that is to say women and adults. Threats Issues with Consoles * The industry fluctuates along with rise and fall of the hardware systems (again the PlayStation 3 issue) * Increased Software Piracy * As the ability to pirate software becomes easier and cheaper the number of pirated copies continues to increase. * Game release times * Not only are the releases timed for the Christmas season but also for specific sporting seasons and major sporting events. The delay of a game so that it doesn’t coincide with these specific time restrictions, could be devastating to sales.