Really Stupid Poetry Essay example

Really Stupid Poetry Essay example Really Stupid Poetry Essay example Hoang 1 Bach Hoang Professor Donato Martinez English 102 08 April 2015 Marital Struggles Adrienne Rich’s poem, â€Å"Novella,† is about a conflict between a husband and wife. It is a routine for them, after a fight, one going out, the other staying home, and later they get back to each other. Written by Sharon Olds, â€Å"I Go Back to May 1937† tells a story of a broken relationship between a mother and a father from a child’s preexistent vantage point. Both poems are about conflicts in a family, between a husband and wife, possibly due to lack of love and understanding. Rich tells the story, an everyday fight, with a simplicity in language but hidden within are contradiction as well as a metaphor, whereas Olds uses imagistic language, metaphors and anaphora to describe her parents, how they are unsuitable for each other. In â€Å"Novella,† Rich approaches directly with simple word choices, focusing on a marital argument to illustrate the problem in a marriage. The poem begins: Two people in a room, speaking harshly. O ne gets up, goes out to walk. (That is the man.) The other goes into the next room and washes the dishes, cracking one. (That is the woman.) (1-6). In these first lines, one can see that Rich only uses simple words to establish a situation of a troubled marriage. She shows that the husband and wife take out their aggressions towards one another on the house – the husband leaves the house and the wife breaks a dish. Although the parallel views of husband and wife given at the beginning of the poem seem to say that they are both at fault for the marriage’s problem, Rich portrays the woman as much more of a victim when she says later in the poem: â€Å"She has no blood left in her heart.†(9), as though the husband Hoang 2 is a vampire who has victimized his wife. Contradiction is another eminent element in â€Å"Novella†, appeared in line 10, 12 and 13. After the fight, â€Å"The man comes back to a dark house† (10), revealing the husband’s view about his own house. The house is described as a random house with the use of article â€Å"a† and as an dark abandoned house despite the fact that his wife and children are all inside. To the man, the house is no longer his home that he feels comfortable to return. In front of the house, the husband realizes that â€Å"He has forgotten his key / He rings at his own door† (12-13). The fact that the husband forgets the key shows that he probably does not want to return with his family. As a result, he now has to â€Å"rings at his own door† like a stranger who does not belong to the family. Even though the husband returns home in the last lines of the poem, Rich asserts that the husband and wife are ultimately separate, using the stars as a metaphor: Outside, separate as minds the stars too come alight. (17-18). The stars, as a metaphor, represent the husband and wife after the fight. Outside, like their minds separated to each other, the stars, scattered in the sky, begins to blink one by one. Inside, like the star, the husband and wife live under the same â€Å"sky† but do not really understand each other. In â€Å"I Go Back to May 1937,† one can easily see how Old’s poetic style contrasts with Rich’s prosaic, less imagery one. Throughout most of the first half of Old’s poem, she is intensely descriptive, which also adds to the tone of her poem. â€Å"I see my father strolling out under the ochre sandstone arch, the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood behind his head† (line 2-5). She sees her father as a confident young man, as sturdy and stubborn as the stone arch he is walking under. On the other hand, she sees her mother with â€Å"a few light books at her hip† and â€Å"standing at the pillar made of tiny bricks†. This visual description of her mother makes her seem like an easygoing woman who would carry lightweight books around her. It also makes her look as fine, fragile and delicate as the fine. However, words like â€Å"bent† and â€Å"blood† hold mutual

Anyone and Everyone Are Welcome

Anyone and Everyone Are Welcome Anyone and Everyone Are Welcome Anyone and Everyone Are Welcome By Maeve Maddox A reader asks for clarification regarding the use of the phrase â€Å"anyone and everyone† in such sentences as these: Everyone knows they love to talk on the phone to anyone and everyone. Anyone and everyone is [sic] to speak to you on the phone. You will speak to anyone and everyone who might listen. Anyone means â€Å"an individual person†: I will give a free book to anyone in the audience who can solve this problem. - Only one person or a selected few (depending upon how the problem is presented) will win the book. Everyone means â€Å"every person in a group†: Everyone in the audience received a video recorder. - All of the audience members received a free recording device. The combination â€Å"anyone and everyone† is used in the context of a welcome or invitation as a way to emphasize inclusivity, as in these examples from the Web: Anyone and Everyone are invited  to join the server after we open, which is very soon.   Anyone and everyone are  invited to Roundtable.   Anyone and everyone are  welcome  to come  hack on things. Sometimes the phrase is used in the sense of â€Å"people in general† or â€Å"people of no specific qualifications: Today anyone and everyone  can set up an online business.    Amazon also maintains a flourishing side enterprise in  self-publishing, where  anyone and everyone  can write an e-book. And sometimes, especially when preceded by just, â€Å"anyone and everyone† occurs in the context of exclusion: If  just anyone and everyone are  too easily included, we are saying in effect that anything goes.   We dont want just anyone and everyone, just a select few. We will  not  sign on  just anyone and everyone. We demand the  best. We dont work for  just anyone and everyone. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant NamesTelling a Good Poem from a Bad One3 Types of Essays Are Models for Professional Writing Forms

Comparison and Contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparison and Contrast - Essay Example These animals are similar in terms of origin, physical features and uses. Donkeys and horses both came from the same descendants: scientific genus Equus. Although they are not perfectly identical genetically, they both indulge in no different activities. Because of their similarity in terms of genes and physical features, it is plausible for them to mate and interbreed. In fact, the offspring of this unique breeding is called a mule. In addition, donkeys and horses have very similar habits. They are both highly active physically with horses considered to be just a little more vigorous and faster than donkeys. From the outside, both animals look considerably alike. Both stand with four legs and possess an extended hairy tail on its back, tresses along their necks, and elongated ears. Although they vary [Student’s Last Name] 2 in size in general, horses and donkeys both possess bulky body built, which make them perfect for pack chores and absolutely not well suited to live indoo rs. And yet another similarity is their use by humans. Since the time of Jesus Christ or even long before that, donkeys and horses are already used for transportation purposes. They are extensively used for distant travel and in carrying heavy loads that humans could not normally carry. And because of their heavy built, many pheasants use them for farming reasons. Donkeys and horses are wonderful creatures. It does not really matter whether they are similar in terms of origin, physical feature, or uses; both animals should be treated with care and respect just like what most humans relish. Even though both make for excellent pack animals because of their built, it should not be the only reason for them to walk this earth. II Love and hatred are like oil and water, they don’t mingle. But the motivation that lulls behind each of them leads someone to either lofty triumphs or a dead end. In movies like Rush Hour and Fighting Club, something has to be learned: a person can decide how he would discern things and how he would respond. He may choose to merge with love or to usher hatred. In the movie Fighting Club, the Narrator emphasized, though subtly, the importance of unity – not just unity with others but unity with one’s self. If we love ourselves, we learn to love others. Why love? Love begets every wonderful thing in the world. With love, one learns to respect not just his own self but also others. With love, one learns to value health, soundness of mind, rest, and Divine connection. The absence of love could be a focal point of disaster. [Student’s Last Name] 3 On the other hand, in the movie Rush Hour, an array of unwarranted slaughters is detailed. People are stuck in a rut of hatred and passion for revenge. The movie showed the consequences of abhorrence. In the realm of darkness and animosity, one can only hope to change but in there, good things are never to be seen. The beginning of hatred is the beginning of a downfall. The re must be nothing like choosing between love and hatred. If someone can choose to give love, why choose hatred. In a context of marriage and family, the one that binds the family together is respect, understanding, and care but above everything else is love. III Dogs and snakes are wonderful creatures. Their existence did not come as a supplement or a mere embellishment to the world. They aid in sustaining balance in our ecosystem: dogs are naturally borne

How does an individuals learning style preference influence the extent Essay

How does an individuals learning style preference influence the extent to which e-learning can be an effective learning tool - Essay Example The acquisition of learning techniques and styles by students depends on the personal characteristics of the student, the subject of study, and the students level of understanding of the subject (Major, 2015, p.47). Different people prefer different approaches to learning. No one approach or strategy of e-learning is optimal for all students. The methods and technologies used for e-learning involve the use of web-based education techniques, podcasting, internet video conferencing, social networking software, and computer-assisted instructions, among others. The styles of e-learning are especially gaining popularity in the higher education sector where most of the students are distant learners. This paper discusses how the learning preferences of an individual influence the extent to which e-learning can be a useful learning tool (Canavan, 2004, p.21). E-learning allows the adoption of the education content to suit the learning styles of individual students. It may entail the incorporation of digital media, digitized materials, graphics, web-based interactions, interactive videos, among others. The adoption of different learning styles and methods greatly affects the effectiveness of e-learning in the higher education sector. E-learning allows for the adjustment of educational content to suit the learning needs of the students. However, a lot of emphasis has been made on use of standard conventional learning styles in the e-learning systems (Brown, Zoghi, Williams, Jaberzadeh, Roller, Palermo, & Holt, 2009, p.4). This includes a tutorial, lecture, problem-based learning, and written text. The relationship between the styles of e-learning and the effectiveness of the e-learning system, as well as the attitude of students towards e-learning, is also important. The performance of students in the e-learning system is primarily tied to their learning style preferences. The learning style preferences in

Nature versus nurture Essay Example for Free

Nature versus nurture Essay Every person in this world has their own distinctive personality and behavior. People may wonder why an individual may act the way they do. Thus psychologists had put this into a study of whether an individual’s behaviors are caused by hereditary or the environment. This study is known as the nature-nurture debate. This essay will discuss the difference between nature vs nurture, which one applies to me, and how it influenced me in my life. This controversial debate has existed since 1869, when the phrase Nature Versus Nurture was coined by the English polymath, Francis Galton. Throughout different time periods, this controversy continued with two contrasting scientists leading the debate. During the Greek Classical period, Plato, who favored nature meaning the genetic influence on the individual’s behavior that relies mostly on traits that you inherit. While Aristotle, who favored nurture meaning the effect the environment has on that individual which relies mostly on time spent improving a skill set, for example influence of parents or friends. The purpose of the nature-nurture debate is to explain the effect of genetic influence and the environment on the development of human trait and behavior. As far as nature goes there are many traits that I have inherited naturally through genetics from my mom and dad. From my dad I can tell I have inherited his height as well as his eating habits. I can tell that my work ethic has been inherited from my dad because he is a very hard worker and can never sit still, I also strive to achieve my personal best. My dad is also a very controlling and demanding person in which I see myself doing also. While from my mom I have inherited her good looks, sensitivity, and concerned for other people’s feelings. I have also inherited my mom’s super mathematical skills and my dad’s artistic abilities. I can also tell that I have inherited a good sense of wellbeing from my mom. Alongside that came nurture that are behaviors that I have developed from the environment I grew up in. I have learned to respect all people from being influenced at school and in the home. I have also learned to be responsible of things such as going to school or work on a daily basis, and doing the right thing. I learned that if I am not responsible and do not do my work, then I must pay the consequences. I have also learned from experiences that if I do what I am supposed to do, I may be rewarded greatly for it. I have been influenced to do something that will benefit myself and be rewarded for good things done. My environment has influenced me in many ways to act upon certain things automatically. Things like looking both ways before crossing the street, or other things that appear to be common sense are learned from nurture. When I say which one of these phrases â€Å"nature vs nurture† has more influence on me in my life, I would have to say nurture, because my past experiences is what made me the woman I am today. In most instances, the aspect of nurture tends to apply to children who live with their parents. The way I was brought up affected me now that I am an adult. This is because nurture is a product of a person’s childhood upbringing. There tends to be various external influences relating to nurture that affected my behavioral as a person. These include environmental factors such as the parental upbringing, the peer groups, the socioeconomic status, and other factors in the outside world.

Richard Wrights The Man Who Was Almost a Man Essay -- Richard Wright

Richard Wright's The Man Who Was Almost a Man The Man Who Was Almost a Man is a fictitious short story about an uneducated black boy's quest to become a man. Growing up in the early 1900's was a very hard task for most black people. The lack of education was one of the hardest hills they had to overcome to make it in a world dominated by whites. The story centers upon one 17-year boy who has very low self-esteem caused by his peers. He believes that owning a gun will gain him respect with others and thus make him a man. The title of this short story has several different ways of being interpreted because the time and atmosphere in which it was written. The short story was written in first person narrative, which gives a graphic account of the personality of the character Dave. The short story is also written in a dialect of an uneducated black boy which gives the reader the feel of what is was like to be that young man back in the early 1900's. The stories title The Man Who Was Almost a Man holds many different meanings to how Dave must have felt back in those times. Dave's struggle was man versus society in an era where his skin color meant more than his actions. He was unable to interact with the white society and was outcast by his peers because of his age. He believed at this time in his life that being a man was the more important than life itself. Buying a gun and learning to shoot was his solution to becoming a man. This was not the case though. The first time he fired the gun it numbed his hands and fell to the ground. He also shot Mr. Hawkin's mule, which he was unable to cover up. Now everyone would know what he had done which would give his peers a bad impression of him. He would not gain their respect, nor... ... a man. Life was hard back then and being accepted played a big role in all blacks searching for that one thing that would make them accepted within their society. Works Cited Blau, Eleanor. "The Works of Richard Wright, This Time Published as Written." The New York Times 28 Aug. 1991, final ed., sec. B: 1-2. Brignano, Russell Carl. An Introduction to the Man and His Works. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1970. Fabre, Michel. The World of Richard Wright. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1985. Hannon, Charles. "Teaching the conflicts as a temporary Instructor." College Literature 6 (1997): 126-141. Joyce, Joyce Ann. Richard Wright's Art of Tragedy. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1986. Walker, Margaret. Richard Wright, Daemonic Genius: A Portrait of the Man, a Critical Look at His Work. New York: Warner Books, 1988.

The Booker Prize

The Booker Prize award is considered to be one of the most prestigious recognition of the literary world and it represents one of the most important international rewards for any writer, ne it a famous or a little known one. As any award of its king, it stands as a full acknowledgement of the efforts and endeavors of writers from different periods of time. Despite the fact that it does not have the same international impact as the Nobel Prize for literature, it is viewed as a major asset in the writing career of its winners.However, it can be argued that the contribution of the award is two folded, as there are both advantages and disadvantages for winning the prize. Still, it is rather hard to determine the extent to which one of these two elements prevails. It may be that in the career of an already famous writer the role such a prize plays be rather limited as most often this award is solely a different acknowledgement of the literary merits in a series of awards. On the other han d, for emerging new literary talents or for little known fiction authors, it plays a significant role.This is why, in order to have a better comprehension of the influence the Booker Prize has and the power of the award in itself, first and foremost it is important to take into account the history of the Prize and the tendencies it followed. Secondly, the actual advantages and disadvantages of the prize cannot be determined in general terms, but must be focused on particular examples. In this sense, the present paper aims at discussing â€Å"Vernon God Little† and â€Å"The Inheritance of Loss†, two of the novels which captured this award in 2003 and 2006 respectively.In this context, a coherent analysis can be made in relation to their state prior to winning the award and afterwards. Finally, some conclusions can be drawn which may shed some light on the possible advantages and disadvantages of awarding little known authors the Prize, through the experience of the two writers. History and tendencies of the Booker Prize The Booker Prize or the Man Booker Prize at it is known since 2002 was fist established in 1968 and â€Å"aims to reward the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland† (The Booker Prize Foundation, 2008).Through a process of astute selection, authors in the English speaking world are rewarded for their literary efforts in the area of fictional work and are given the possibility to claim worldwide recognition. The Prize was established by the Booker Company â€Å"but administered since 1971 by the charitable concern the Book Trust (formerly the National Book League), the Prize, first awarded to P. H. Newby (Something to Answer For) in 1969, soon grew into one of Britain's most recognizable cultural institutions† (Huggan, 2001, 107).From this point of view, the prize in itself is therefore viewed as one of the most important literary acclaims of the world. The early star t of the award was directly related to the historical evolutions taking place especially in the Commonwealth but also throughout the world. The end of the 1960s represented not only a time of an increased literary activity but also a time of great political turmoil. In this sense, the decolonization proves was an important factor in outlining not only the national relations inside the former colonies, but also in determining the future contacts with the former colonial powers.The issue of colonialism was raised quite often throughout the history of the Prize, taking into account the fact that the company which organizes and sponsors the yearly event was well known for its sugar plantations in areas such as the West Indies. In this sense, there were certain controversies which arose throughout the years in relation to this matter. In one occasion, in 1972 the winner of the Prize, John Berger, declared that he would support the black extremist movement, the â€Å"Black Panther† in defiance of what he labeled as being a colonial rule on the territory (The Book Prize Foundation, 2007).Therefore, it was important especially for Great Britain to undergo all sorts of programs that would allow it to maintain a good and strong relation with its former colonies. In this sense, the Prize represented a connection between the artistic environments of different countries from the Commonwealth, Ireland, or South Africa. It was yet another element that placed these countries together and defined their common cultural heritage from the past.Therefore, it can be argued that, aside from its literary value, the Prize played a particular role in forging and rewarding the essence of culture and literature in particular from the Commonwealth countries. Despite constant controversy and discussions over the merits and awards given along the years, there have been some important names which have claimed the award, and at the same time, there were impressive newcomers which burst on the literary scene after winning the award. The first winner of the prize was in 1969 P H Newby for â€Å"Something to answer for†.Taking into account the fact that it was the first edition of the awards, it raised without a doubt certain controversies. This was largely due to the fact that the winner was known beforehand and it was considered that a free competition and fairness had not yet been set in place. Still, the author remains in the annals of the Booker Prize as the first winner of the award. There are resounding names which have claimed this literary recognition. Among them, William Golding in 1980 for Rites of Passage, in 1982 Thomas Keneally for Schindler’s Ark, or 1989’s Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day.All these authors and many more considered the prize as being an important asset in their literary careers and remain to this day reference points of the English speaking literature. However, there are little known writers who claimed the pri ze and soon after, emerged as rising stars of the literary world. Some of the names include 1985 winner Keri Hulme with The Bone People. The winner was on his first novel which, following the prize, came to experience incredible success (The Booker Foundation, 2007).Throughout the history of the prize, there has been a lot of controversy regarding the system of awarding the prize, and even the ceremony in itself. However, as the years went by, the format of the prizes, including the actual event in which the prize was given would adapt to the rigors of an emerging global entertainment society. More precisely, if in the beginning the event did not enjoy the spotlight in the literary and television society, in 1976, â€Å"Melvyn Bragg presented the first ever TV broadcast of the Booker Prize, live on BBC2† (The Booker Foundation, 2007).This came to be an acknowledgement of the importance the prize came to have in the literary world and in the English society as well. At the sam e time however, due to the fact that the artistic part of the awarding ceremony became more and more important for the audience and the media coverage the event started to receive, the controversies surrounding the event took an ascending trend. In this sense, â€Å"many have accused the prize committee of catering to either the needs of otherwise unknown authors in the right place at the right time or to the same few authors each year.Political agendas and profit motives have also received much attention in recent years, further fuelling the controversy surrounding the prize† (Jacobson, 1997). From this point of view, one can argue that the controversies surrounding the prize have in most occasions shifted the focus from the literary event it was meant to be in the beginning to a marketing occasion it is now considered to be. The tendency nowadays is rather hard to determine due to the different points of view shared by analysts.In this sense, while the organizers and part o f the media considers it to be â€Å"the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and even publishers† (The Booker Prize Foundation, 2007), others view it as â€Å"an enormously successful marketing vehicle for nominated authors and their publishers alike† (Jacobson, 1997). Yet, for some of the winners, these two perspectives can find a worthy combination which can acknowledge the quality of their work and promote the sale of their books at the same time. The Booker Prize: young writers and first time novelistsOne of the most important aspects of the Booker Prize is given by the possible impact it has on the actual winners. While there is little discussion on the advantages well known authors draw from winning the prestigious prize, a more relevant discussion would be on the effects it has on first time novelists who are awarded the prize. In this context, the effects can be seen more in the careers of first time nove lists due to the fact that it represents the first recognition of their work and therefore its impact can be better assessed. Indeed, the biggest impact the prize has is on the author who actually wins the award.In this sense, D B C Pierre won the award in 2003 with â€Å"Vernon God Little†. His won of the prize is considered to be one of the most interesting surprises of the event. According to the most reviews at the time, the writer was considered to be an underdog in comparison to his rivals, as â€Å"It beat a shortlist including the first novel by Monica Ali, Brick Lane, which was the bookmakers' favorite and has been the biggest seller in the shops, and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, the only established author to make it to the final round of judging† (Jury, 2003).From this first perspective, it can be seen the fact that in the judging process the focus of the jury tried to be on first time novelists as well as on established ones. This approach tends to gi ve certain equilibrium to the awarding process and to take into account a wide variety of literary submissions. The choice of the jury at the time was unanimous; therefore there was little doubt on the potential winner. The unity of the choice was considered to be justified due to the important message the text tried to convey.The story of a young teenager from Texas whose life evolves as he tries to face up the challenges of poverty, violence, and family misery was impressive for the panel of the judges who claimed that the book is a â€Å"coruscating black comedy reflecting our alarm but also our fascination with modern America† (Jury, 2003). Indeed the emotional touch on the novel came from the author’s own personal experience as a drug addict in search for his own identity and individual recognition of the self.There are certain objective elements which drew the attention on the novel itself. Firstly, there was indeed the personal affection of the author which tran sformed the book into an impressionable work. Secondly, there was the subject which dealt with a serious issue affecting America at the time. High school shootings and violence among teenagers were considered, and still are viewed as being an essential challenge facing the society due to the questions it actually raises on the values driving the society forward.In this sense, critics considered that â€Å"†the storyline for this book is one that you would as much see played out today on the six o'clock news as read in a novel and has for this reason struck a chord with book lovers† (Jury, 2003). Therefore, the actuality of the story combined with the drama of the personal history of the author made the novel receive the most acclaimed British literary award. The reviews were however split following the award ceremony as not everybody considered such a literary work to be worthy of the prestige of this prize.In this sense, â€Å"picking up on Finlay's notorious past, Th e Daily Telegraph described his win as â€Å"highly embarrassing† for the prize's organizers and sponsor, the Man group. The Guardian called him the â€Å"oddest and most controversial character† to have won the award, while The Independent's literary editor, Boyd Tonkin, said he was a â€Å"novelist whose background makes the antics of most young writers look tame in the extreme† (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2003). Therefore, the cutting edge of the novel was not fully appreciated by traditional literary reviews who considered it to be a choice too daring for the conservatory nature of the award.However, despite the criticism that surfaced after the award ceremony, another element was introduced in the justification for rewarding Finlay’s artistic effort with the prize. Therefore, it was considered that taking into account such a novel and the fact that the winner was in fact a debutant on the literary scene, the focus of the Booker Prize may have shifted from the well acclaimed authors to the ones that have not been top of the selling lists. In this way, the Booker Prize Foundation would engage itself in an endeavor meant at promoting the new talents and at reintroducing young literature to the public.Another important presence on the list of the winners of the Booker Prize is the 2006 jury’s choice in the person of Kiran Desai and her novel â€Å"The Inheritance of Loss†. At 35, she was the youngest female writer to receive the award and this element, along with the quality of her work, attracted the attention of both the jury and the public worldwide. She contested the prize with other five writers, including her mother who had been nominated before for the award, yet never won it (BBC, 2006).Among the other writers from the short list, there were authors with more experience and with more public consideration such as Sarah Waters or Kate Greenville. Still, she became the youngest winner of the award. This was due i n part to the new attempt of the Booker Prize Foundation to try to promote new talents and in part to the emotional story Desai’s novel portrayed, a story of â€Å"globalisation, multiculturalism, inequality and the different forms of love† (Pryor, 2006).From the perspective of Finlay’s experience with the Booker Prize as well as Kiran Desai’s, it can be said that there are both advantages and disadvantages in winning the award. Firstly, one of the most important advantages of the award is the financial aspect. On being awarded the prize, the winner receives ? 50,000 and the tacit commitment of the Foundation to continuously promote the novel. In the case of Finlay’s personal history, in the conditions in which he lived a life of poverty following the loss of his family fortune, the financial aspect can be seen as being of considerable importance (Greer, 2003).Secondly, another advantage of young or debutant writers receiving this prestigious award is the wide recognitions they receive following the ceremony. Before the award, Finlay was far from being an award winning character. His life of drugs, alcohol, and misery would not have presented himself as a possible valuable mind for the literary world. Even more, his past has often been invoked as being unworthy of a Booker Prize winner. Yet, after the recognition he received from the Booker Foundation, many of his critics turned to admit his literary merits in presenting a new face of everyday life in America.In this way, aside from the fact that he managed to draw the attention on the misery and distress affecting local societies in America, he also succeeded in underlining the effects of an abuse led life. Similarly, in Desai’s situation, the award represented both a personal recognition of her young talent, as well as a proof of the the attention the issues addressed by her book received following the award. In this sense, â€Å"the judges hailed â€Å"The Inherit ance of Loss† as a magnificent novel of humane breadth and wisdom, comic tenderness and powerful political acuteness† (BBC, 2006).Thus, another advantage of the award received by a young talent is the fact that by recognizing the value of the book, the jury also acknowledges both the new perspective given to certain elements such as cross culture issues and, at the same time, underlines the importance of the issues under discussion for the contemporary society. Probably one of the most important advantages young winners and first time novelists benefit from is the increase in sales of their books. Most winners received not only wide acclaim from the critics, but also from the public.For instance, â€Å"the 1978 winner, Iris Murdoch's ‘The Sea, The Sea’ (†¦) has a rate of continuing popularity which almost all of today's authors would give their eye teeth to equal† (Ezard, 2004). Therefore, most authors du find fame and fortune following the award winner status. Kiran Desai ensured the Penguin fiction division a rise in sales of two percent immediately after winning the Booker Prize award. Thus, the success of her book was also viewed in the choice of the readers. Still, one of the most important elements which drew the attention of the public was precisely the label of Booker Prize winner.Similarly, Fanley’s story was proposed for a film adaptation as a result of the critics’ acclaim (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2004). Hence, each in his or hers own way managed to reach success as a result of the Booker Prize. Aside from the various, especially financial advantages, there are also considerable disadvantages of the Prize being given to young or first time novelists. One of the most important however is the eventual commercialization of the literary content in an attempt to win the prestigious prize.In this sense, â€Å"because of the marketing potential and the industry-renowned judges, the Booker Prize now is a very high stakes award. Authors, in turn, have more reason to tailor their work to the expectations of the Booker arbiters† (Jacobson, 1997). As a result, the quality of the works may decrease in the attempt to write attractive novels for the judges in the panel rather for the public. Hence, the prize has come to be a goal in itself, rather than an actual recognition. Young artists and first time novelists tend to fall in this trap most often due to the lack of experience and a limited identification of their own personal style.Moreover, due to the increased media attention on the prize, the entire process becomes more focused on the financial aspect, rather than on the artistic value of the recognition in itself. It is considered thus that â€Å"all in all, there can be little doubt that the Booker, more than any other literary prize in recent history, has blazed a trail in the commercialization of English-language literature† (Huggan, 2001). Overall, it can be said that the Booker Prize has had an important influence on its winners, but also on the new tendencies it rewards through the acknowledgement of certain artists.However, another true element is the fact that the commercialization of the entire process has led to the dilution of the value of such a prize. This is why it is important that the Booker Prize award new talents or even little known artists, without regard to their personal or ethnical background because it would prove that the most important element the Booker Prize takes into account is talent and literary achievement, rather than fame and public notoriety. Bibliography BBC. â€Å"Kiran Desai claims Booker title†. BBC News. 2006. 6 January 2008 Desai,Kiran.The Inheritance of Loss. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005. Ezard, John. â€Å"Booker prize's long-term fame lottery†. The Guardian. 2004. 6 January 2008 Greer, W. R. Book Review – Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. 2003. 6 January 2008 Huggan, G raham. The Postcolonial Exotic: Marketing the Margins. Routledge. : New York, 2001. Jacobson, Warren. The Booker Prize. 1997. 6 January 2008 Jury, Louise. â€Å"Debut novelist defies odds to win Booker prize†.The Independent. 2003. 6 January 2008 Pierre, D. B. C. Vernon God Little. London: Faber and Faber, 2005. Pryor, Fiona. â€Å"Review: The Inheritance of Loss†. BBC News. 2006. 6 January 2008 The Booker Prize Foundation. About the prize. 2007. 6 January 2008 The Booker Prize Foundation. Hitting the headlines. 2007. 6 January 2008 The Booker Prize Foundation. The Booker Prize. 2008. 6 January 2008

Stealing within an organization Essay

Cons of Stealing Introduction Business Ethics            One of the issues that have raised concerns in business nowadays is stealing within an organization. Stealing is taking an organization’s asset without the consent of the owners, and using it for your own personal benefit. There are many cases of missing items and money within most organization especially where there are many people working. Stealing is the most common immorality in most organization since it runs across all levels of management. Both the senior and junior employees in organizations have been accused of stealing, but it is always very difficult to determine who the actual person responsible in the theft is. Stealing is one of the most difficult problems which are very difficult to control or prevent. Most organizations have incurred many losses due to this problem. There are many mechanisms that have been put in place to help prevent the vice, but it is all in vain. The methods of stealing are evolving day after day and, therefore, so diffic ult to prevent.            Stealing reduces the productivity of an organization. Most of the items stolen from an organization are valuable things, which are used on a daily basis in organization’s activities. There are very many things which are stolen from most organizations, and this will greatly affect the organizations’ operations. There is a lot of financing that is used in replacing the stolen items, and this increases the organization’s expenditure, thus reducing the profit(Singer, 1994, p.11).Stealing leads to poor relationships amongst the employees. When there are many employees in an organization, it is very difficult to know the person responsible for stealing anything in the organization. The employees will always speculate about the potential person who is responsible for the act. This has brought a lot of hatred amongst the employees since it ruins the reputation of the accused person. It is very difficult for the organization to know the exact person who is responsible in stealing. The organization should, therefore, come up with clear procedure of conducting their investigation so as not to ruin the relationships of the employees (Bonhoeffer, 1955, p.21).            Stealing affects the relationship between the organization and the employees. In most organization, stealing is considered a security problem instead of a moral problem. The organizations have invested a lot to protect the property of the organization from theft by the employees. Most of the items of an institution are marked, and security personnel employed to ensure that the employees do not steal any of the company’s. When the organization does not trust its employees, it portrays a bad picture against the employees, and this will influence the employees to act in bad faith towards the organization. The organization must create a good relation amongst all the employees so as to minimize stealing. The business should give the employees to use most of the company’s items without limit. When employees are limited to access certain things in an organization, there is some negative feeling which influences them to steal. The organization should also sen sitize all the employees of the negative impact of stealing in the organization. Stealing is a moral problem and employees should get guidance and counseling session which help them not engage in such activities.            Stealing lowers the credibility of an organization. In some organizations, there have been many cases of stealing by the employees, and this greatly ruined the reputation of the organization. In most cases where an organization has experienced a series of theft which are inside-job organized, investors and other stakeholders reduce their association with that organization. There have been some situations where stakeholders have withdrawn their funding fro an organization because they feel that their money may be stolen.            Stealing increases an organization’s expenditure due to high security costs. An organization spends a lot of money to prevent stealing of its properties. There are many security personnel who are employed. There is also expenditure for security items such as cameras. These expenditures are so high and affect the net profit of an organization (Singer, 1994, p.14).It leads to closure of some organization. There are some organizations which have been closed due to continuous stealing of key assets. Most organizations, which handle bulky cash, are the most affected. When employees steal a lot of money from an organization, the organization will no manage to fund all its debt and will be declared bankrupt (Bonhoeffer, 1955, p.25).In conclusion, stealing has had very negative impact on the organization. The employees should take care of the properties of the organization and should not steal because it is their source of income. The organization on the other shoul d compensate the employees well, and introduce guidance and counseling seminars so that the employees do not steal anything from the organization. When stealing is eradicated in an organization, there will be good performance and the welfare of all the stakeholders will improve. References Bonhoeffer, D. (1955). Ethics. New York: Macmillan. Singer, P. (1994). Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Source document

Crystal Science Fair Project Tips and Ideas

Crystal Science Fair Project Tips and Ideas Crystals can make interesting and fun science fair projects. The type of project depends on your educational level. Here are some examples of crystal science fair projects and ideas to help launch your own creativity in choosing your own project. Make a Collection Younger investigators may want to make a collection of crystals and work out their own method for grouping the crystals into categories.  Common crystals include salt, sugar, snowflakes, and quartz. What other crystals can you find? What are the similarities and differences between these crystals? What materials look like crystals, but really arent? (Hint: Glass doesnt have an ordered internal structure, so it isnt crystal.) Make a Model You can build models of crystal lattices. You can show how lattice subunits can grow into some of the crystal shapes taken by natural minerals. Prevent Crystal Growth Your project can involve ways you might prevent crystals from forming. For example, can you think of a way to keep crystals from forming in ice cream? Does the temperature of the ice cream matter? What happens as a result of freezing and thawing cycles? What effect do different ingredients have on the size and number of crystals that form? Grow Crystals Growing crystals is a fun way to explore your interest in chemistry and geology. In addition to growing crystals from kits, there are lots of types of crystals that can be grown from common household substances, such as sugar (sucrose), salt (sodium chloride), Epsom salts, borax, and alum. Sometimes its interesting to mix different materials to see what types of crystals result. For example, salt crystals look different when they are grown with vinegar. Can you figure out why? If you want a good science fair project, it would be better if you tested some aspect of growing crystals rather than simply growing pretty crystals and explaining the process. Here are some ideas for ways to turn a fun project into a great science fair or research project: How does the rate of evaporation of the crystal-growing medium affect the final size of the crystals? You can change the rate of evaporation by sealing the container (no evaporation at all if there is no air space) or by blowing a fan over the liquid or enclosing the jar of medium with a desiccant. Different places and seasons will have different humidities. The crystals grown in a desert may be different from those grown in a ​rainforest.You will usually heat water or another liquid to dissolve a solid to grow your crystals. Does the rate at which this liquid is cooled affect the way the crystals grow? You can compare crystals allowed to cool at room temperature to those formed from cooling the liquid in a refrigerator.What effect do additives have on the crystals? You could add food coloring, flavorings, or other impurities. How do crystals grown from non-iodized salt compare with those grown from iodized salt?What steps can you take to maximize crystal size? Developing a pr ocedure is a form of experimental science. You can affect parameters such as vibration, humidity, temperature, the rate of evaporation, purity of your growth medium, and time allowed for crystal growth. The type of container used to grow your crystals may make a difference, as could the type of string used to suspend a seed crystal (or other method used to grow a crystal). Are you changing containers when crystals start to grow that could compete with your seed crystal? There are lots of things to think about! Some may have a major effect on crystal growth and others may be negligible. Does light/dark effect growth? Probably not for a salt crystal, but it could for a substance that is degraded by visible radiation. If you are up for a challenge, you can make predictions about the shapes of crystals before you grow them, based on their molecular structures and molecular geometry.

Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging

Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging By Michael Ali recently gave us five reasons why blogging improves your writing, and I dont disagree with any of them. What ruined my writing ability (temporarily, I hope) was not the chance to write regularly or to get instant feedback. So what ruined it? Did I get worse the more I practiced? Can that even happen? Sports coaches and music teachers will tell you that it can if you practice doing it wrong instead of doing it right. If you repeatedly practice bad habits, they will become ingrained habits. Email and instant messaging may have taught people how to type better, but I dont think its teaching them to write better. What ruined my writing ability was placing money and productivity higher than integrity and honor. I told myself, This assignment pays half of what I need to earn per hour; therefore, I will only spend half an hour on it. In retrospect, I realized that I was gaining income, but losing self-respect. I was quickly lowering my standards to meet my financial goals, but found that I couldnt raise them back again so easily. In essence, I was training myself to write sloppily. Disclaimer: Daily Writing Tips is a good example of a blog that attracts lovers of writing and pays them well. Ive done some of my best work here. Perhaps Ive done even better writing on my personal blog for which I receive no money at all. There is an economic aspect to writing professionally, of course, but I found that it also involves economics that are not monetary. The British economist E.F. Schumacher called this meta-economics. A job working with hazardous chemicals may earn you a higher salary, but may cost you in quality of life. Writing only for the money, even when my heart wasnt in it, paid most of the bills. But meeting a word count without meeting my personal standards, in effect, lowered my personal standards. I almost forgot what they were. I found out what had happened to me when I was offered a secure job in the marketing department at a local university. I took it and put my freelance writing career on hold. My freelance writing experience was one reason why I was hired. Yet when I began writing documentation for my new boss, he was unenthusiastic about using it. The problem wasnt my style or grammar or punctuation. He only told me, Ive found that when you really understand something, you can explain it clearly. Professional blogging, for low pay and not for love, hadnt taught me to explain things clearly. We expect bloggers to entertain us more than to inform us. When we expect them to inform us, we dont expect complete information. Theres nothing wrong with that. Ive found, however, that you advance by exceeding peoples expectations, not simply meeting them. And you wont advance as a writer when you dont meet your own expectations, especially when you tell yourself that you dont need to. To be fair, I was not a typical blogger. I was a professional blogger, trying to support my family and pay a mortgage in the US economy. When I complained mildly to one of my editors about my low pay scale, he wisely pointed out that my rate was typical for the industry. Even more wisely, he told me that most of my fellow writers were blogging because they loved their subject, not because they were depending on an extra few dollars to pay the mortgage. The danger Im warning against is not confined to the world of professional blogging. Everyone who writes for the money but doesnt get much of it is tempted to cut corners. Writing keyword-rich SEO copy is perhaps even more dangerous for aspiring writers. At least blogs have to appeal to human beings. That isnt a requirement for SEO copy. Every time you tell yourself, I can dash off this post; I dont need to devote any time or thought to it, you make it easier to do it the next time and the next time. Its quite easy to lose your critical ear and lower your standards if you deliberately do it over and over. Youre never writing only for others. Youre always writing for yourself too. Youre never dealing only with money. Youre also dealing with your ability and integrity. Your writing skills are like the assets of a bank account. You can add to your assets by doing your best work, all the time, and always raising the bar. You can lose assets as a writer when you dont. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid15 Words for Household Rooms, and Their SynonymsSit vs. Set

The Effect of Price Elasticity of Toyota on Consumer Consumption Essay

The Effect of Price Elasticity of Toyota on Consumer Consumption - Essay Example 5 contains results, discussion, and conclusion but these three documents are still subject to major modifications depending on document 2 and level of analysis required. Background to Research Problem The automotive industry is among the most competitive industries in the world. Consumer decisions to purchase vehicles are often influenced by a wide array of factors that impact the industry. These include, safety, comfort, fuel efficiency, and price (Jeihani and Sibdari, 2010:1). Though factors such as fuel efficiency are certainly critical in consumers buying decisions in the current economic environment where gas prices frequently fluctuate, research shows that though the demand for gas efficient cars such as the hybrid cars have been high, sales have not picked up as expected (Read, 2012; Tuttle, 2012). This is mainly attributed to the high prices at which these vehicles are purchased, and therefore implies that price is a core contributor to demand and consumer purchase decisions when it comes to purchasing a car. Understanding how price changes alter the quantity demanded is crucial to decision makers as they can be able to understand how responsive consumers would be to certain price changes (Jazayeri and Jazayeri, 2011: 102; Rossi, 1995: 17; Bernstein Research, 2007). Price elasticity is an important element when introducing products in a competitive market (Hauser, 1998). As quoted from the book Principles of Economics by Alfred Marshall (1920), â€Å"the elasticity (or receptiveness) of demand in a market is significant according as the amount demanded increases much or little for a given fall in price, and diminishes much or little for a given rise in price" (pp. 15). Parkin, Powell, and Matthews (2002) noted that the following affect the elasticity of price for... This research will begin with the statement that the automotive industry is among the most competitive industries in the world. Consumer decisions to purchase vehicles are often influenced by a wide array of factors that impact the industry. These include, safety, comfort, fuel efficiency, and price. Though factors such as fuel efficiency are certainly critical in consumers buying decisions in the current economic environment where gas prices frequently fluctuate, research shows that though the demand for gas efficient cars such as the hybrid cars have been high, sales have not picked up as expected. This is mainly attributed to the high prices at which these vehicles are purchased, and therefore implies that price is a core contributor to demand and consumer purchase decisions when it comes to purchasing a car. Understanding how price changes alter the quantity demanded is crucial to decision makers as they can be able to understand how responsive consumers would be to certain price changes. Price elasticity is an important element when introducing products in a competitive market. As quoted from the book Principles of Economics by Alfred Marshall, â€Å"the elasticity of demand in a market is significant according as the amount demanded increases much or little for a given fall in price, and diminishes much or little for a given rise in price". Parkin, Powell, and Matthews noted that the following affect the elasticity of price for a certain commodity: availability of substitute goods; percentage of income; necessity; duration; brand loyalty; and who pays.