Analysis of Our Day Out

Analysis of Our Day Out Willie Russells Our Day Out is a play which uses humour which covers some serious issues including some serious messages. The play is set in Liverpool; where the author was originally from. The story is about a school trip for a progress class visiting an old castle wreck in Wales however, the progress visits more than the old ruins. The central plot is that Mrs. Kay; the class teacher to give the progress class an opportunity to have fun but this opportunity for the kids tells us of the dissimilarities between the teaching styles of Mrs. Kay and Mr. Briggs. Russell uses this chance to tell us that staff sometimes hides their real feelings but show them when they are enjoying themselves show a completely different side of themselves. This play has several different themes, one of the main themes of the play is: what does the government do for underprivileged children who do not really have a chance to reach the levels. This theme is shows what Willie Russell really thought of the way education was dealt with during 1977. I think Mrs. Kay is the kind of person which is quite calm and collected, Mrs Kay stares at him. She could blow up but she doesnt. This undoubtedly tells you that she can contain herself when angry. She is also very much like an activist as given away by this quote, Ah well well just have to deal with him the best way we can. This precisely portrays her sense of cheerfulness in an attitude which gives of the sense that shes telling you to make the best of what you got. A clear attribute of Mrs Kay is her mother-like care for the pupils as shown by, She always reminds me of a mother hen rather than a teacher. This plainly displays that she wouldnt care if her pupils didnt have education as long as they were happy and safe. Kevin Bryant come here, this quote effectively presents the fact that she knows how to be discipline her pupils. She also gets involved in their games and activities showing that she does more than care for her pupils, that is strongly illustrated by, A game of foot ball is in progress. Mrs Kay is in goal. The quote do you could educate these kids my remedial kids, correctly expresses her belief that there isnt any hope for her pupils to do well in their future life. I believe the reason why Mrs Kay is concerned a lot for her pupils for the reason that she feels that they have no possibility of achievement in their life and other than giving them an education she wants to give them a better chance at being happy by making sure they enjoy themselves before what she believes is the inevitably despondent years that lie ahead. I believe Mr Briggs is someone who provides different attitude to Mrs Kay during the play. Mr Briggs is also intimidating because of, (leaning in close, threatening) Now listen here young lady I dont like your attitude one bit! This powerfully portrays his threatening position and selection of words. He can also get pretty grouchy, (begrudgingly) Morning, He can be very insulting to other people behind their backs which is visibly shown in, Weve got a right head case of a driver. The quote, Youve got some real bright sparks here, suggests a sarcastic way of speech which is to be expected a frequent part of his personality. Dont you mean try and find her, this quote cunningly displays the idea that he has an unenthusiastic view on the world but a logical one, so he always anticipates the worst but not without any proper reasons. I felt Mr Briggs finds it effortful to show care or affection for his pupils for a long-lasting stage of time and considers that education and presenting th e children little affection that will give them the best chance of success in later life, which is the opposite to Mrs. Kays view. Mrs Kay is a open-minded teacher who wishes her pupils to have fun, at the expense of learning, I get the impression she sees education as one long game. She also gives the pupils full control in other word full freedom, In another part of the castle the kids are rushing about playing medieval cowboys and Indians. Mrs Kay sits in a bench overlooking the scene. She may be a pleasant teacher to have for the reason that she puts the happiness of the pupils before their education. She lectures that primarily a pupil must have fun and be shown love and affection before education is even declared. The inconvenience in being taught by Mrs Kay is that the pupils childhood life will be much happier and endurable; by the time they depart from school they will not really have any education and it inevitable that their futures will be unwelcoming and wretched. Mr Briggs teaches in a usual style which engages in not presenting the pupils love and sympathy by enforcing discipline and educating th em properly, It might look like love and kindness but if you ask me I dont think it does the kids a scrap of good,. These two statements, Sit down! We dont wander up and down the aisle. We talk quietly to our neighbour, not shout at our mates, and, Briggs with a group of ordered school children, the customary teaching concept of rules, militaristic discipline and control. Mr Briggs may not be pleasurable as a teacher because of his belief of not allowing the pupils to take pleasure in themselves which will lead to leaving school as educated, regimented and as sensible people. He might be more advantageous as a teacher because you would get taught properly which could immensely enhance the likelihood that you would get an excellent career and a clear future because of that.

An Analysis Of The Company Virgin Marketing Essay

An Analysis Of The Company Virgin Marketing Essay Virgin Atlantic, the UKs second largest long haul airline, operates a fleet of 38 aircraft to 30 destinations in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Indian Ocean, North America, the Caribbean and Australia. In a deal which was finalized in 2000, Branson sold 49% stake of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines for  £600.25 million to form a unique global partnership. Richard Branson is still the controlling authority as he retains 51% stake in the airline. This essay analyses the chief internal and external factors that contribute to the success of the organisation as well as provide a critical assessment on the effectiveness of the strategies employed. It further discusses a couple of strategic options that are available to the Virgin group for the next five years with reference to appropriate academic models and concepts.   (Source: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/tridion/images/studentinformationkitmarch2009_tcm4-622791.pdf)   Internal Analysis Of Virgin Atlantic In order to understand the strategies, it is important to analyse the internal environment of the organisation. Internal analysis is done by means of the value chain of the Virgin Atlantic. Value Chain Analysis Porters (1990) Value chain framework is an interdependent model that helps to analyse specific activities through which an organisation can create value and gain competitive advantage. (Pathania-Jain, 2001). To conduct the value chain analysis, the company is split into primary activities (those that are related with production) and support activities (those that provide the background necessary for effectiveness and efficiency of the firm like human resources management) (Porter, 1985). These activates are discussed below: Primary activities 1. Inbound and Outbound logistics: In Inbound logistics, the key activities are those associated receiving the raw materials from suppliers and managing them within the firm. These activities includes Stock Control (storing and managing fuel, snacks, food and drinks.), passenger service system, facilities planning etc (Fig. 1.1). It provides ample of facilities to its customers, it gives choice of three entrees with main meal, free drinks, an amenity kit for outbound journey, complimentary newspaper of passengers choice. The facilities keeps on increasing if you move from economy to upper class. The upper-class passenger gets limo service to travel to airport where check in formalities are already completed before they check in hotel style lobby area and through a dedicated security area exclusively for virgin airline customers. The upper-class UK passengers gets a complimentary airport transfer in chauffeur driven Volvo or Virgin Limo Bike which makes there outbound logistics quiet impressing to customers. (Source: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/tridion/images/studentinformationkitmarch2009_tcm4-622791.pdf; http://www.virginatlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourstory/forstudents.jsp#operation) Operations: Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long haul airline in the UK and the third largest European carrier over the North Atlantic. It operates to many of the top destinations around the world including destinations in the Caribbean, US, India, Far east and Africa. It has won many awards almost in most categories that travel industry offers. 3. Marketing and Sales: Virgin Atlantic uses a wide range of marketing techniques. Advertising activity includes magazines, TV, taxi sides press, outdoor posters and direct mail. Also promotional schemes plays vital role during traditionally low seasons. To encourage loyalty, Virgin Atlantic offers flying club membership where in members gets free miles that can be exchanged for free flights and other rewards. In addition, Virgin Atlantic also advertises through travel agents and runs wide range of promotional schemes, offers trade incentive, organises trips and social/educational events. The website (www.virgin.com/atlantic) also plays vital role as it offers full electronic booking, give information on destination, informs mileage balance to members and different promotional schemes. (Source: http://www.virginatlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourstory/forstudents.jsp#operation) 3.Service: Virgin Atlantic has won numerous awards for its service and claims to set up new standards of service by pioneering range of innovations. For example, with respect to comfort during journey, its upper-class suite has longest and most comfortable flat bed and seat in airline industry for which alone it won twelve awards. For travelling from airport, virgin Atlantic offers limousine service and Bike service to its customers. Support activities: Firm Infrastructure: It includes planning and control systems, such as corporate strategy, accounting and finance. (Lynch, 2003). Virgin Atlantic expends heavily on technological solutions and infrastructure. The Finance department analyse the expenses due and financial condition of the group and accordingly plans the expenses necessary for growth of organisation. 2. Human Resource Management: Virgin Atlantic recruit people by means of newspaper advertisements and through its website. Existing staff can also recommend and earn incentive through the same. Virgin Atlantic gives world-class training to its employees and develops their employees from time to time by organising educational events. Also they recruit and train people with sign language skill to facilitate to disable passengers 3.Technology Development: Virgin Atlantic not only considers technological developments as vital for growth but also spends a lot on it. It has award winning in-flight entertainment system, travel seats and beds designed to give extra comfort. Also it is continuously working on innovative aircraft design and technological solution to reduce carbon emission 4. Procurement: Virgin Atlantic has an efficient procurement department, which obtains quality goods and services at lowest price so that the passengers can avail these world-class facilities at competitive prices. The department takes benefit of large operations of and thus achieve economies of scale. The department also interacts with a number of organisations that provide handling services at airports, Including baggage handling, refuelling, maintenance, cleaner services and security. These services are offered by a number of companies and can help in reducing costs. (Source: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/tridion/images/studentinformationkitmarch2009_tcm4-622791.pdf; http://www.virginatlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourstory/forstudents.jsp#operation) External analysis of Virgin Atlantic To have a grasp of the existing market as well as consumer and stakeholder perception, an awareness of external factors is essential. This section will highlight the position that Virgin Atlantic holds with respect to competitors, social perception, etc. PESTEL Analysis An organisations business environment is invariably governed by external factors which can be broadly analysed as Political, Economical, Social and Technological factors. To gain an advantage in the present and future market the organisation needs to reduce inefficiency and retain cost effectiveness (Grant, 2005). As Virgin Atlantic operates within Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, these factors differ to a certain degree and the manner in which competitors, political bodies and social groups react and respond to the brand has to be anticipated with some care. Political and Legal factors As Virgin Atlantic operates across the globe, it has to adapt its practices to suite national and international laws as well as domestic aviation rules and regulations. The manner in which competitors react to new market shares may also involve political influences. When the United Kingdom opened Heathrow Airport to Virgin, thereby abolishing the London Air Traffic Distribution Rules, angered the chairman of British Airways and lead to BAA donations to the Conservative Party being halted. Virgin also incurred the wrath of Lord King when two unused slots held by BAA at Tokyo Narita International Airport were awarded to the airlines (BAA, 2009). Economic factors It must be stated that the brief financial crisis of the early 1990s forced the then Conservative British government to open Heathrow to Virgin despite opposition from BAA. This shows how external economic conditions can sometimes be favourable to a rising organisation in grabbing a hitherto inaccessible monopolised market. One of the main economic factors that affect the airline industry in general is the fuel hike. Conrady (2009) notes that the low cost fuel prices provided to the UK airline industry has greatly assisted in it escaping the fate of many of its European counterparts. Social factors The social perception and acceptance of a brand is of vital importance to any organisation and Virgin Atlantic has managed to do that in a relatively short period. Virgin Atlantic has been vying for the position to instil in the British public the brand image of a national and international organisation. When British Airways announced in 1997 that it will remove the Union Flag from its tailfins in favour of more international images, Virgin was quick to introduce the Union flag prominently in its winglets and noses with the tagline Britains Flag Carrier thereby challenging BAs traditional role as UKs Flag Carrier. The training of its staff is also a major issue and is vital in gaining stakeholders and achieving stakeholder targets (Nadal, 2009). The service staff need to have proper training to meet the high standards of service which is expected of it by the consumers as a hallmark of the airline industry. Technological factors As an industry that heavily relies on technology, the technological factor is the most essential factor in improving efficiency in the longer term. Virgin has managed to introduce more than 700 next generation aeroplanes, which provides a marking contrast to most of its competitors. According to Briggs and Burke (2009) this also minimises maintenance and training costs in the long run. Virgins initiative to focus on providing online service will also have a marked benefit as more and more consumers are being introduced into the World Wide Web on a daily basis. Consumers are thereby allowed to get up-to-date information regarding flight schedules and compare airline prices. Environmental factors Environmental concerns have also been a frequent issue as the airline industry is notorious as a major polluter. Many campaigns have tried to befriend or at least calm the environmental lobbies but more effort must be put into projecting the image of an organisation that is doing its bit for the environment. Virgin has focused on informing consumers about the CO2 pollution before each flight. The duty free bags are now composed of a significant proportion of recyclable material in compliance with the Ministry of Agriculture (Wheeler and Elkington, 2001). Critical assessment of the virgin Atlantics strategies The above-defined analysis conforms the strategy of Virgin Atlantic as being excellent service provider, it makes its path by providing distinct service. The corporate strategy of the organisation is to provide world-class service at a competitive price. The companys strategy is well supported by statement of Porter (1996), which says that executing the same activities in a different way than that of traditional competitors helps in achieving better position in sustainable manner. The company enters oligopoly market where customer usually receives poor deal and there is a scope of acquiring market by giving better services. To raise awareness of their products and services and new routes, Virgin Atlantic advertises through TV, press, magazines etc. Another strategy that organisation use is to make customers loyal by making them member of there flying club . The flying club offers numerous world-class facilities which will not only help in satisfying the customer but also gaining customer loyalty. The more customers travel through them, the more miles they get which can be exchanged with free flight and other rewards. They also get special support service and clubhouse access. Also during traditional low seasons, tactical promotions and price advertising are done to a large extent to maximize the aircraft capacity. In addition to all these, Virgin Atlantic also market through travel agents by offering them familiarisation trips, trade incentives. (Source: https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/frequentflyer/index.jsp; http://www.virginatlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourstory/forstudents.jsp) Effectiveness of strategies chosen SWOT Analysis According to Johnson (2005) SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is a useful tool to examine financial accounts and developing healthy work environment of a company. It is a major step towards any strategic planning in a business. It is considered to be very important source of information for judging and understanding any sort of situations in the organisation. Given below is the SWOT analysis for Virgin Atlantic. Strengths Virgin Atlantic is headquartered in country where competition is enhanced and tolerated due to deregulation The virgin Atlantic has the head office in the country where the contest is heightened and tolerated due to the deregulation, which means the business is managed without the aid of following government restriction. The important feature of the Virgin Atlantic is the collaboration with Singapore airlines that made them one of the best airlines in the world. This has proven to be advantageous for virgin in many ways like huge market access, restructuring, converging technology to develop new one, gaining knowledge and extending supply etc. The strength of the Virgin group perhaps, is its importance to best customer service and innovation combined with brand name gives a big advantage to Virgin Atlantic. Virgin believes in creativity, adding its importance to customer service and innovation with the brand name virgin proves out to be the biggest strength of Virgin Atlantic. Its has introduced many firsts in the business like first to launch entertainment systems, onboard bars which increased social activities in-flight, providing complimentary limousines services, beauty treatments in-flight. It further introduced business economy cabin. It also has a website that dedicated to what a customer can expect from the airline and all other conclusive details of interest. Virgin has a powerful e-business structure that makes communications simpler and easier with the customers. They continually measure the performance delivered by each crewmember on flights. An additional feather to their cap is the exceptional service tin providing assistance to disabled/visually-impaired passengers. It not only helped in earning good reputation but also winning EASE award consecutive four years. (Source:http://www.virgin-Atlantic.com/en/gb/whatsonboard/index.jsp;http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourstory/history.jsp) Weaknesses The major drawback Virgin Atlantic faces is limited market reach as unlike other major international airlines. It operates in limited countries only like UK, Caribbean, South Africa, India, Australia, and US The companies reach in code sharing is limited hence it is not able to enjoy the benefits of code sharing which the members of leading Global alliance are able to do such as lack of transferable priority status, lack of seamless travel, lack of enhanced frequent-flier program benefits, limited extended lounge access and lack of greater network access. This is because Virgin Atlantic is not part of any leading global alliances. (Source: http://www.virginatlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourstory/forstudents.jsp)   Opportunities Virgin Atlantic is one of the few airline companies operating successfully in African countries, gradual liberalisation in UK/south African market leading to 53% rise in flights and 62% increase in passengers. The business has increased incredibly. There are few more cities, which can be considered for hospitality service based on the smooth record of the airline. Some of the very well known and large airlines have experienced bankruptcy in recent times providing them a great opportunity. Also the European Union is on their side providing to a be great support. Going forward, Virgin still have a great scope to grow in African market as only the British and African airways in dominating the continent and virgin comes at third position. It should focus on increasing the market share in Africa. Another opportunity available with Virgin Atlantic is attracting customers by aggressively promoting the clubhouse facilities and introduction of its latest Heathrow clubhouse. The number of tourist coming to UK is increasing day by day which is an opportunities available to them but in competitive environment, its quiet tough but strategic and aggressive marketing can make it possible.      Threats The current situation all over the world has lead to increase in competition so there is high possibility of threat due to competitiveness in the market which in turn creates pressure to maintain continuous profit. This would in turn lead to forceful alliances, mergers and acquisitions which might not be in the interest of the company. Other issue of concern is accommodation of passengers on the aircraft. Other threat may be the legislations i.e. changing policies and rules by government in the country where Virgin Atlantic operates. This may slowdown the operations and business of the company. Another major threat is emergence of new airlines, which can increase competition. Also if new airlines or existing competitors adopt Virgin Atlantics concept and structure, it will be a major threat to the company Strategic options for Virgin media: Ansoff Matrix: The Ansoff matrix (Ansoff, 1957) invented by Igor Ansoff who is also known as father of Strategic Management and was first published in Harvard business review in 1957. It presents the product and market choices available to an organization. In this markets may be defined as customers and products as items sold to customers (Lynch, 2003). Main aspects of Ansoff Analysis The Ansoff matrix provides the basis for an organizations objective setting process and sets the foundation of directional policy for its future (Bennett, 1994). The four strategies entailed in the matrix are elaborated below. Ansoff Product-Market Growth Matrix: (Ansoff, 1957) Market Penetration: It occurs when an organisation accesses a market with its recent services products. The market penetration strategy begins with the existing customers of the organization. This strategy is often use by companies in order to increase sales without wandering from the original strategy of product-market. (Ansoff, 1957). Product Development: Firm develops new products catering to the same market. This strategy refers to the significant new development of products not just minor changes to the existing products (Lynch, 2003). Market development In this particular strategy, a company moves beyond its existing customer base in search of new customers for its existing products and services. This strategy involves searching of new segment of a market, searching of new area to attract new customers, different/new use of products and services. (Lynch, 2003). Another good strategy that comes under market development is selling existing products in new international markets. (for example British firms can consider of selling there products in complete European markets). Diversification Levitt (1983) rightly whispered that world these days is becoming common market and people no matter where they live are demanding similar product and lifestyle. There has been a massive raise in international trade because of globalisation and liberalization. Diversification strategy essentially involves movement of current products and services in new markets (Lynch, 2003; Macmillan et al, 2000). All four strategic options defined above in the Ansoffs model bears risk element with them. Although Market penetration is often considered as a low risk strategy but diversification is considered as a high-risk growth strategy as it involves huge investment that increases due to simultaneously movement into new products and new markets. When applied to Virgin Atlantic, this model results in to two vital strategic options available. Product development strategy and the Market development strategy, to become the most successful organization Virgin Atlantic should follow both of them. The product development strategy suggested through Ansoffs matrix can be a very good strategy for Virgin Atlantic because of the type of customer base, the company possess. The company has good customer base of upper class families and corporate tycoons. If the company introduce new products or sub products, they can market it to these existing customers. The company should focus on strengthening the relationship with existing clients often known as Relationship marketing. One of the ways to achieve it is being in contact with them, giving them special offers, and at times offering them concession. If they are given special facilities and excellent services then it will develop brand loyalty in them. Another option available with Virgin Atlantic is market development strategy which involves search of additional geographical regions and additional market segment. If we compare the flights/services offered by Virgin Atlantic with British airlines, there is a large gap. Although Virgin Atlantic is UKs second largest airline but it operates flights to only 26 major destinations whereas against BA has flights to more than 150 odd destinations. Virgin Atlantic should increase the number of destinations, which can be done after carefully analysing the facts and figures about the population, operations, flights of competitors etc. Also Virgin Atlantic group should focus on developing country (Asia Pacific Region) as the growth prospects ate higher than developed countries. China and India are two developing countries with highest population and expected compounded growth rate in this region in 2007-2012 will be 5.2%. The manufacturing cost is comparatively low in these countries making them attractive destination for business. Also it will be a sound decision to outsource operational work to these countries. Virgin Atlantic is famous for luxurious flights as it offers world-class facilities to their passengers but in this competitive environment they are not offering anything price conscious economy class passengers. They should introduce no frills flight with the objective of earning profits on economy of scales. With this strategy they will not only diversify their risk but can potentially capture a new segment using their brand name and service. Conclusion: To conclude, after analysing internal and external factors of the Virgin Atlantic, it has been observed that Virgin group has grown massively and became world-class brand following the path of virgin group but it is still in path as there is a massive scope of growth which can be realised by combination of two strategies. They are product development and market development and market development. If used appropriately, they can help Virgin Atlantic to

Uncertified Teachers in Prince George’s County Schools :: essays papers

Uncertified Teachers in Prince George’s County Schools Prince George’s County has been the largest school district in Maryland for the past more than twenty years. However, as a result of under funding, compared to other Maryland public school districts, Prince George’s County sustains the second highest percentage of uncertified teachers in the state. The lack of certified teachers has left lasting negative effects on the Prince George’s county school system. This problem goes much deeper than Prince George’s County, uncertified teacher are being allowed into the classroom all over the country and have been for the last couple of decades, mainly due to teacher shortages. By definition "a qualified teacher is expected to have a broad background of general education as well as professional preparation."(Teacher) it has never been considered satisfactory for a student to complete on 60% of material taught, why should it be different for teachers? In the early 1980s during a teacher shortage graduates of teacher education programs had lower levels of academic achievement than most college graduates and were still allowed to teach. In 1991-92, 16,000 teachers nationwide were uncertified. Currently, 37 of 39 states employ waivers, which allow failing teachers into classrooms. Past attempts at solutions were Teachers for America, Experimental Certification of Ethnic Colleagues for Elementary Schools, provisional certification, and emergency certification. Teachers for America is a very easy, "six week crash course in teacher survival skills taught primarily by teachers from their troubled placement sites."(Roth, 220) These teachers are said to bring "enthusiasm and intellect" to the classroom. In inner city and urban school systems, where most of the student body is poor and in the greatest need of good teachers, the TFA teachers are installed. While TFA is a good idea and puts teachers in classrooms, some say that the children who are being used as guinea pigs for this experimental teacher training are suffering. However, after receiving praise from some major cities, its training program was approved in 1995 and it "received $2 million from AmeriCorps, President Clinton’s national service initiative."(Mosle, 3) Experimental Certification of Ethnic Colleagues for Elementary Schools (E3) was an effort to "increase the representation of males and people of color on teaching staffs of elementary schools,"(Shade, 261) in response to teacher shortages. This solution was implemented for three years and was very successful. Provisional certification is given to a person who has been certified in another state and has passed the Praxis II, "but who needs one or two courses Maryland requires for teachers.

Biological Terrorism: Our City Streets as the New Battlefield Essay

Biological Terrorism: Our City Streets as the New Battlefield The last 60-70 years of the twentieth century might be called the modern era of biological warfare. During this period, nation states developed biological weapons to be used on a far-away â€Å"European battlefield†. Even after ratification of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972, the most impressive BW program in the history of mankind continued for 20 years, effectively cloaked in secrecy. Yet between 1970 and 1990, little thought was given to the possibility of a biological warfare or biological terrorist attack on US cities. Funding for biological defense in the US was minimal and most of the federal government was oblivious about the threat. In fiscal year 2000, the US government has committed more than $1.5 billion to military biodefense and another $1 billion to domestic preparedness for biological attack. What happened? In 1991, the US decisively engaged the Iraqi force, demonstrating vast conventional technical superiority while the world watched on CNN. Shortly thereafter, with economic implosion in the Former Soviet Union, our concern turned to the fate of tens of thousands of Russian scientists and engineers who had developed an impressive programÃâ€"which may never be surpassed in scale or offensive capability. We feared that lesser nations might turn to now jobless Russian bioweaponeers for help in building their â€Å"great equalizer.† All this occurred with a backdrop of increasing evidence that the dual-use nature of bioweapons programs might make treaties unverifiable. Here at home, the equally dual-use biotechnological revolution screamed forward while novels imprinted the horror of bioterrorism on our minds and experts proclaimed that â€Å"there are no... ...se who would use these breakthroughs for evil---taking away their freedom through effective intelligence programs and law enforcement---we will be more likely to stay steps ahead as we use the technologies for good, and provide an additional deterrent to the threat. Bioterrorism presents a daunting problem to our free society, especially at the unique intersection of politics and biotechnology that occurred during the last decade of the 20th century. We may have been lulled by our prosperity and strategic isolation from major conflict into a sense of invulnerability. However, we are vulnerable todayÃâ€"and there is no reason to believe that will change in the near future. We must carefully evaluate the real threat, make the hard cost-benefit decisions and continue to build a fully integrated defense against the distortion of biology by those who would do us harm.

The Awakening Essay -- essays research papers

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, tells one woman’s story of her attempt to awaken to her true wants and desires for her life. When Edna Pontellier spends the summer on Grand Isle, she begins to think beyond the role of wife and mother that she has played so far. She begins to think of herself as a separate person with independent thoughts and feelings. Her transformation is difficult and she has great trouble deciding what she really wants in life. Edna attempts to discard all of the traditional values of her life to find her independence. Confused by the new feelings these experiences bring, Edna’s awakening is a failure because she does not have the necessary skills to become independent. Despite her attempts to change and embrace a new life, Edna is defeated because of her weaknesses that are symbolized in her art, the water, and her relationships with men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the first ways that Edna begins to find her inner self is through her painting. She definitely shows some talent as an artist and throws herself into this new self expression. She spends time painting rather than spending time with her husband, children and acquaintances from the past. Even as her artistic talents develop, art becomes a symbol of failure for Edna. Edna does learn to express herself and assert her self through her art. Even though Edna learns to live through her paintings, Madame Reize sees becoming an artist as a test. She believes that becoming an artist is a test of...

Total Poor Middle Rich

Discuss with the help of examples the four key levels of measurement. What mathematical operations/statistical techniques are and are not permissible on data from each type of scale? [Meaning of Measurement scales Types of Measurement scales with examples Mathematical operations/statistical techniques] 4. Processing of data involves editing, coding, classifying and tabulating. Explain each of these steps by taking an appropriate example. [Explanation 5. Distinguish between the following: a. Null hypothesis and Alternative hypothesis b. One tailed and two tailed tests .Type I and Type II error d. One way and two way analysis of variance e. Descriptive and inferential analysis of data [Differences] 6. A. What is Chi-square test of goodness of fit? What precautions are necessary while applying this test? Point out its role in business decision making. B. Two research workers classified some people in income groups on the basis of sampling studies. Their results are as follow: Investigat ors Income groups Total Poor Middle Rich 160 10 200 140 120 300 150 50 Show that the sampling technique of tallest one research worker is defective. [Meaning PrecautionsRole Formula/Solution/Interpretation to the problem] MEMBER-Legal Aspects of Business 1 . Explain the performance of contracts [Definition Offer of performance Onus of performance] 2. Elaborate the rights of surety. [Rights against the creditor Rights against the principal debtor Rights against co-sureties] 3. Discuss the termination of bailsmen. [Explanation] 4. Explain the performance of a contract of sale of goods. Explanation] 5. Discuss the law related to the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements. 6. Explain the need and types of meetings. [Need for meeting Statutory meetingsAnnual General Meetings Extraordinary meetings Class meetings] INFORM – SECURITY ANALYSIS AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT 1. Financial markets bring the providers and users in direct contact without any intermediary. Financial markets p ermits the businesses and governments to raise the funds needed by sale of securities. Describe the money market/capital market – features and its composition. [Money market- features and composition Capital market-features and composition] 2. Risk is the likelihood that your investment will either earn money or lose money. Explain the factors that affect risk. Mr.. Rural invests in equity shares of Wiper.Its anticipated returns and associated probabilities are given below: Return -10 5 15 20 probability 0. 05 0. 10 0. 15 0. 25 0. 30 0. 10 0. 05 You are required to calculate the expected ROR and risk in terms of standard deviation. [Explanation of all the 4 factors that affect risk Calculation of expected ROR and risk in terms of standard deviation] 3. Explain the business cycle and leading coincidental & lagging indicators. Analyses the issues in fundamental analysis. [Explanation of business cycle-leading coincidental and lagging indicators Analysis ND explanation of the is sues in fundamental analysis all the four points] 4.Discuss the implications of MME for security analysis and portfolio management. [Implications for active and passive investment Implications for investors and companies] 5. Explain about the interest rate risk and the two components in it. An investor is considering the purchase of a share of EX. Ltd. If his required rate of return is 10%, the year-end expected dividend is RSI. 5 and year-end price is expected to be RSI. 24, Compute the value of the share. [Introduction of interest rate risk Explanation of two components of interest rate risk Calculation of value of the share] 6.Elucidate the risk and returns of foreign investing. Analyses international listing. [Explanation of all the points in risks and returns from foreign investing Introduction of international listing] MAFIOSI – MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 1 . Give the meaning of advantages and disadvantages of mergers and acquisitions. Explain the types of Mergers and Acqui sitions. [Advantages and disadvantages of mergers and acquisitions Explanation of types of mergers and acquisitions] 2. Write a note on the five-stage model of mergers and acquisitions. [Explanation on vive stage model of mergers and acquisitions] 3.What do you understand by creating synergy? Give the prerequisites for the creation of synergy. Describe the important forces contributing to mergers and acquisitions. [Introduction of creating synergy Pre requisites for the creation of synergy Important forces contributing to mergers and acquisitions] 4. Demurrer results in the transfer by a company of one or more of its undertakings to another company. Give the meaning of demurrer. What are the characteristics of demurrer? Explain the structure of demurrer with an example. [Introduction of demurrer Characteristics of demurrer Structure of demurrer with example] 5.Explain Employee Stock Ownership Plans (SOP). Write down the rules of SOP and types of SOP. [Introduction of SOP Rules of SO P Types of SOP] 6. Explain the factors in Post-merger Integration. Write down the five rules of Integration Process. [Factors in Post-merger Integration Five rules of Integration Process] MUMMIFY – TAXATION MANAGEMENT 1 . Explain the concept of tax planning and the factors to be considered in tax planning. Give the difference between tax planning and tax evasion. [Concept of tax planning Factors in tax planning Differences between tax planning and tax evasion] 2.Explain the process of tax payment. [Explanation of whole process of tax payment through: Individuals Partnerships Companies] 3. Write short notes on: Capital gain Cost of acquisition Cost of improvement Expenditure on transfer Transfer [Each short note carries 2 marks each-(5*2= 10 marks)] 4. Explain the computations of Tax in two aspects given below: Tax provision for Computation of Total income of firms Computation of partnership firms' book profit. [Steps to be explained for the computation of total income of firm s Steps for amputation of partnership firms] 5.

American Literature

Edwin Arlington Robinson- father/mother/ 2 brothers died. Love of life married brother. Never Married. Wanted to be poet since age 11 and chose to live In poverty. Wrote traditional poems. Old-fashioned but deals with modern problems. Philosophy: Behind â€Å"the peaceful and genteel communities of small-town America† lies a substrata of failure, â€Å"loneliness, and terror. † Conflict with light and dark with the individual. Major Works; The Children of the Night, The Man Against the Sky, and The Man Who Died Twice. Quotes; I finally realized I was doomed, or elected, or sentenced to life, to the writing of poetry†¦Major Works; A Boys Will, North of Boston, West-Running Brook. Quotes; â€Å"l am not a teacher but an awakener. † ; Education is the ability to listen† ; â€Å"Poets are eke baseball pitchers. † ; â€Å"In three words I can sum up everything† ; A poem begins In delight and ends in wisdom† ; â€Å"The world Is full of willing people† ; â€Å"And where an epitaph to be my story I'd have a short one ready for my own. † Mending Wall, Home Burial, The Road Not Taken, Birches, Fire and ice, Stopping by Woods, Desert Places, Design, Nothing Gold Can Stay, Out Out, Departmental. T. S. Eliot; The Hollow Men, The Love Song of J. Alfred Frock.William Carols Williams- pediatrician. Images, suggest rather than offer, present concrete Images, strive for Pictures from Brushes, Paterson, The Farmer's Daughter and Other Stories. Quotes: â€Å"If you can bring nothing to this place† ; â€Å"The better work men do is always† ; â€Å"When they ask me, as of late† ; â€Å"If they give you lined paper, write the other way. † ; â€Å"It is difficult to get the news from poems† ; â€Å"Poets are damned but they are not blind† ; â€Å"One thing I am convinced more and more is true and that is this† ; Tract, The Great Figure, The Red Wheelbarrow, This Is Just to Say, A Sort of Song.E. E. Cummings- 3 months in French prison, Harvard. Unorthodox punctuation, compressed spacing, literary cubism. (Grasshopper) Images: avoid click ©s, create new rhythms, use common speech. Philosophy; spontaneous, rebellion against conformity, authority, exploitation of life, romantic and sexual love. Major Works; Tulips and Chimneys, XSL Poems, ViVa, No Thanks, 1 * 1, Agape: Seventy-One Poems, The Enormous Room. Quotes; â€Å"The most wasted of all days is one w/o laughter. ; â€Å"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing† ; â€Å"A political is an erase upon which† ; â€Å"The poems to come are for you and me† In Just, My Sweet Old Etcetera, I sing of Loaf glad and big, If There are any heavens, Plato Told, I thank you God, she being brand-new, Jimmies got a soil, Old age sticks, Pity this busty monster unkind, L(a), Next to of course God America l, look at this, who are you, little l, Maggie and mills and molly and may, I carry your heart with me, I like your body when it is with your. Longboats Hughes- Lawrence, Topeka.Black writer. Rhythms of Jazz and blues. Oral tradition of black culture. Philosophy: direct engagement with people, pride of heritage, promotion of racial Justice. Major Works; The Dream Keeper, Montage of a dream deferred, Not Without Laughter. Quotes; â€Å"A dream deferred is a dream denied. † ; â€Å"l have discovered in life that there are ways† ; â€Å"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it. ; â€Å"Like a welcome summer rain† ; â€Å"l swear to the Lord† ; â€Å"l will not take but for an answer. † ; â€Å"Well I like to eat sleep drink and be in love. ; â€Å"Oh god of dust and rainbows† ; â€Å"7 * 7 + Love = † The Energy Speaks of Rivers, The Weary Blues, Song for a Dark Girl, Trumpet Player, Motto, Harlem, Dream Variations, I too sing America, theme for English B. F. Scott Fitzgerald- named af ter cousin who wrote star spangled banner. Wife was Zelda. Heavy drinker. Zelda became mentally ill. Clear lyrical prose. The American Dream. Philosophy: The lost generation, all gods dead, all wars, fought, all faiths hake. Major Works; The Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby, Tales of the Jazz Age, Tender is the Night, The Last Tycoon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.Quotes; â€Å"In a real dark night† ; The test of a first-rate† ; â€Å"Sometimes it is harder† ; â€Å"First you take a drink† ; â€Å"Either you think or else others have you think for you† ; â€Å"Family quarrels are bitter things† ; â€Å"I'm a romantic† ; â€Å"It is in the thirties† ; â€Å"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. † ; â€Å"The world as a rule† ; â€Å"The faces of most American women† ; â€Å"Show me a hero and I will write you a ragged. † ; â€Å"There are no second ac ts in American Lives. † Babylon Revisited allegory, gothic romance. Philosophy; southern memory, reality, myth.Major Works; Sartorial, As I lay dying, light in august, Abyssal, the unvanquished, go down Moses, intruder in the dust, the sound and the fury. Quotes; â€Å"Given the choice† ; â€Å"The young man or woman writing today' ; â€Å"Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do† ; â€Å"If I were reincarnated† ; â€Å"A mule will labor 10 years† ; â€Å"Loving all of it even while he had to hate some of it† ; â€Å"I believe that man will not merely endure. He will prevail. A Rose for Emily Ernest Hemingway; mother dressed him as a girl until he was 6. Suffered from malaria, skin cancer, anemia, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure.Etc. Survived 2 plane crashes in 2 days. Athletic prose, iceberg theory writing style. Major Works: The Sun also rises, in our time, men w/o women, a farewell to arms, death in the afternoon, the snows of Kilimanjaro, for whom the bell tolls, the old man and the sea. Quotes; â€Å"Always do sober† ; â€Å"But man is not made for defeat. † ; â€Å"Courage is grace under pressure. † ; â€Å"Every mans life ends the same way.. † ; â€Å"Madame all stories if intended far enough end in death† ; â€Å"Never think that war no matter how necessary' ; â€Å"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places. The Hemingway Hero; suffered traumatic experience and lives.. Code Hero Big Two-Hearted River John Steinbeck; Journalistic, lyrical, biblical rhythms. Philosophy; fight against poverty/ social injustice, combo of realism, romanticism, and naturalism. Major Works; Tortilla Flat, The long valley, the red pony, of mice and men, the grapes of wrath, the pearl, the log from the sea of Cortez, cannery row, east of Eden, the winter of our discontent, travels with charley. Valued privacy. Wrote screenplay for Lifeboat . American Literature ?American literature is any written work of art that is created in the United States. American literature is like all literature, it has literary experiences and contextual history of America. It depicts how America has changed is still changing today. American literature has changed over time just like most canons of literary works. The uniqueness of American literature is that America from its beginning had a special philosophy of life and freedom. The special philosophy of life and freedom that made American literature so unique was reflected in its writings.Americans believed and had faith that God was and is the given of all our rights and freedom. We as Americans had faith in ourselves that we could succeed in anything that we try doing. The literature that we Americans wrote made life worth living because it was displayed for the world to read and understand that life was what we made it. Also by Americans having the ability to spring back from diversity made life worth living and George Washington was a perfect example of this. Literary canon is basically a suggested list of readings that belongs to a country or a certain period in time.Literary canon contains literary works that is mainly by authors who are accepted as an authority in their field and their writings constituting a serious body of literature in any given language. The works that are collected that is included in a literary canon is approved largely by cultural and academic institutions and is observed as literature of that language. Literary work’s popularity is not based only on the quality, but on the relevance of what matters to the context historically, socially, and artistically.Literary canon relate very well to what is going on in society because of what is most important at that time work is being written. The context of the society, whether it is historical, social, or artistic, that is basically the topic. Ethnic writers express the special challenges of realism, natural ism, and regionalism within the American literary experiences. Realism labels a movement in English, European, and American literature that gathered force from the 1930s to the end of the century.Realism attempted to record life as it was lived rather than life as it ought to be lived or had been lived in times past. William Dean Howells stated that realism â€Å"is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material. † Present-day literary theorists are probably more aware of what may be called â€Å"the crisis of representation†-the difference between representation and the thing represented-than were these realists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.Naturalism is understood by some as an extension or intensification of realism. It introduces characters from the fringes and depths of society whose fates are determined by degenerate heredity, a sordid environment, and/or a good deal of bad luck. Regionalism writing, another expression of the realist impulse, resulted from the desire both to preserve a record of distinctive ways of life before industrialization dispersed or homogenized them and to come to terms with the harsh realities that seemed to be replacing these early and allegedly happier times.By the end of the twentieth century, every region of the country had a â€Å"local colorist† to immortalize its natural, social, and linguistic features. Ethnic writers define literature as literature that is written by people of a different culture, language, religion, or race. It differs from the canon of traditional American literature because literary canon is a list of work from American instead of from a different race or religion. The historical, socio-political, and cultural topics that might be covered by ethnic writers would be slavery and how the slaves were treated during that time.Slavery is a topic that can be covered under all three. Government issues are a topic that could be covered under so cio-political. The debate against government issues such as health care and taxes could be something that ethnic writers could write about. It does not differ from the canon of traditional American literature because the writings have to be by authors who are accepted as an authority in their field and their writings of literature in any given language. American Literature A . Some of the best names that come into mind when one speaks of modern English literature and fantasies are Editha, and Kate Chopin. Their works stand tall in the golden pages of modern literature, influencing most people of this generation and many more to follow. They have painted and breathed life into each character of the novel, The Awakening, with great magical artistic skills. Such is the greatness and purity of the artists that they are believed to have given birth to a completely new form of writing that the modern Literature is so proud of.Hence they are considered premodern. There are some more writers such as Tolkien who have contributed immensely towards this. â€Å"I believe, Mr. Tolkien has succeeded more completely than any previous writer in this genre in using the traditional properties of the Quest, the heroic journey, the Numinous Object, the conflict between Good and Evil while at the same time satisfying our sense of historical and social reality† (W. H . Auden, 1956). The greater the power, the more dangerous is the abuse. The truth in the statement is well proved in Tolkien’s The Hobbit.The author makes his political report in this twentieth-century fable that could be relished as an elating and exhilarating story. He, very well comments upon the abuse of political power and how the poor and down trodden fall prey to the diplomacy of sly rulers. In the midst of haziness between an imagination and reality this twentieth-century fable portrays the evil in Middle-Earth as totalitarian evil and that war is an immense ingredient of this malevolence. Many premodern authors have flourished on the fantasy genre. Age cannot wither their novels nor custom stale their infinite variety.The best, modern novels seem inexhaustible. They are a permanent source of inspiration for humanity. Fantasy literature generally encompasses unreal, nonhuman creatures, unusual powers, created mythologies and imaginary settings. Frost, who can also be termed as a premodern poet remains faithful to the spoken language of his time. His language, in the poem, is a mixture of playfulness and seriousness. He portrays regionalism with its rich stock of images, situation and anecdotes. This in turn provides an abundant source for metaphors and symbols.The conversational tone and the dramatic situation in the poem strike the readers. The picture at the core of â€Å"Mending Wall† is striking. Two men convene on terms of good manners and sociability to put up a barricade between them. The wall is erected out of convention, out of tradition. Nevertheless the very ground works against them as well as makes their task thorny. The two neighbors thrust stones, back on top of the wall; however as a result of hunters or elves, or the chill of nature’s imperceptible hand, the boulders topple downward yet again.The informal fashion and lack of rhyme masquerade the ploy in Petit the Poet. Some of his most praised and entertaining work s involve Petit the Poet and Seth Compton, marvelous creations of Edgar Lee, best reveal his blending of wit with humor. His personal and conversational style makes the reader involved in his tone and mood. He takes the reader into confidence through his easy and delightful pace. Furthermore it appears quite realistic with some witty descriptions.The tone is very somber and the reader cannot help but a distinct hopelessness, of the plight of human beings not being able to choose what they remember, and also that the memories cherished today, will be much different than the memories cherished tomorrow. C. Mending Wall Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, U. S. A, in 1874. Disenchanted with the lofty subjects of many American poets, Frost opted to write about country life with which he was most familiar. In the poem, â€Å"Mending Wall† shows sound posturing, a form of writing based on the tones of everyday speech.In his collection, North of Boston (1914), Frost began to exp eriment with poems of monologue and dialogue, which critics have called his dramatic poems. The present poem, â€Å"Mending Wall† too reflects his interest in dramatic and natural speech. The stanzas of the poem â€Å"Mending Wall† are straightforward also sound more akin to an extraordinary human frame of mind than a fuming portrayal of the poet’s neighbor. A breakdown of the rhyme scheme sends the reader into a mesmerizing situation and the words is comparatively free from portentous and dark imagery. Robert Frost’s poetry is well known for its intensely personal and touching theme.A great deal of Frost's verse is confessional and reveals his life experiences through metaphor or explicitly. â€Å"Mending Wall† asserts his abhorrence for a wall or a barrier between human beings. This Frost does through the exercise of powerful imagery articulated through language, structure, and tone. A wall divides the poet's land from his neighbor's. They get to gether to saunter to the wall and mutually mend it, when it is spring time. â€Å"Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun,And makes gaps even two can pass abreast†. (Lines 1-4) The speaker sees no reason for the wall to be kept–there are no cows to be contained, just apple and pine trees. He does not believe in walls for the sake of walls. The neighbor chooses to stick to his father’s words: â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors. † The poet remains skeptical and impishly forces the neighbor down to come across the outdated interpretation. However his neighbor will not be persuaded. The poet visualizes his neighbor as a leftover from a reasonably obsolete time. He is an existing paradigm of an old orthodox.Nevertheless the neighbor merely goes back over the saying. Frost retains five stressed syllables designed for each line; however he shows a discrepancy in the fee t widely to maintain the usual dialogue in the rhyme. The dearth of radiance, gloom and unhappiness, have been brought into play. Perceptibly the wall is thought of as a vengeance for transparency, light and security. The turnaround of proceedings in the poem reiterates the dismay of hostilities and the futile misfortunes that could have been evaded if those drawn in would have scrutinized the dealings they were caught up with.Even though the reader of the poem gets the notion of the neighbor portrayed in the poem by Frost, he does not subsist outside of descriptions of men from the past or historical pictures. The poet’s neighbor is, in many senses, of a weak temperament rather undeserving of examination because there is nothing that detaches him an ordinary human being. There is realization that hostilities are but a ploy to gain power and supremacy over the feelings of people. A sense of guilt revolves around the entire novel and expresses that wars are unfortunate and onl y a gamble where the leaders resort to exploit the poor, down trodden masses.â€Å"Mending Wall† is a lingering recollection of life events and dreams that have spiraled out of control due to hostilities. The hopes and dreams that once seemed so right and so justifiable become shattered because of the wall that inflicts the very core of the poet’s soul. Frost remains faithful to the spoken language of his time. His language, in the poem, is a mixture of playfulness and seriousness. He portrays regionalism with its rich stock of images, situation and anecdotes. This in turn provides an abundant source for metaphors and symbols. The conversational tone and the dramatic situation in the poem strike the readers.The picture at the core of â€Å"Mending Wall† is striking. Two men convene on terms of good manners and sociability to put up a barricade between them. The wall is erected out of convention, out of tradition. Nevertheless the very ground works against them a s well as makes their task thorny. The two neighbors thrust stones, back on top of the wall; however as a result of hunters or elves, or the chill of nature’s imperceptible hand, the boulders topple downward yet again. â€Å"The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone,But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,†(lines 5-8) Even then, the neighbors carry on with their work of mending the wall. The poem, consequently, looks as if it contemplates typically on themes like, human construction of blockades, separation, and hostility. What sets in motion in unsophisticated candor ends in intricate symbolism. This wall-building work appears primeval, as it is portrayed in formal, conventional terms. It engrosses â€Å"spells† to work against the â€Å"elves,† and the neighbor comes into view as a Stone-Age savage at the same time as he lifts and carries a boulder. â€Å"We have to u se a spell to make them balance:‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned! ‘ We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of out-door game,†(lines 18-21) Frost’s treatment of objects of nature shows that he does not idealize or glorify them. His attitude towards the stone wall is not actually that of a realist, nor so much of a romantist. Frost’s poems on natural objects are not dealt with as the starting point for the mystical meditation. Like other poems, â€Å"Mending Wall† carries a moral but the moral is indirectly presented either as a dramatic situation. Frost’s poems are profoundly philosophical in spite of their homely diction.In â€Å"Mending Wall†, he uses symbolism to communicate a deep rooted principle. The symbolism in the poem comes out as an indirect method of communication. The poem has a surface meaning but it also shows a deeper significance, which is understood only through a closer scrutiny of the poem. D. Edgar Lee Masters is acclaimed as one of the leading humorous poets of the world. He has produced some of the best works of his time. His readers have long appreciated him for his classical interpretation of human nature and several critical thematic concerns of society but yet in a most humorous, easy and light hearted representation.One of the simplest and easy flowing poems of Edgar Lee is Petit the Poet. The informal fashion and lack of rhyme masquerade the ploy in Petit the Poet. Some of his most praised and entertaining works involve Petit the Poet and Seth Compton, marvelous creations of Edgar Lee, best reveal his blending of wit with humor. His personal and conversational style makes the reader involved in his tone and mood. He takes the reader into confidence through his easy and delightful pace. Furthermore it appears quite realistic with some witty descriptions.The tone is very somber and the reader cannot help but a distinct hopelessness, of the plight of human beings not being able to choose what they remember, and also that the memories cherished today, will be much different than the memories cherished tomorrow. The poem is composed to 18 lines. The concluding verse shows an analogous allusion. â€Å"Seeds in a dry pod, tick, tick, tick, Tick, tick, tick, what little iambics, While Homer and Whitman roared in the pines? † The concluding part of the poem brings us backwards in time, which allows the reader to view true accounts and suffering that people have to endure in a village.Thus Petit the poet, no doubt is thought to appall us yet again but with a twist. Thus the irony in, Petit the poet, comes through as we read it. The analytical issue of Seth Compton is beautifully depicted with a humorous disposition. The poet describes human behavior through the process of loving and forgetting. The poet tactfully and with an aroma of humor, describes the social and moral matters of the modern times from the perspective of a clean hearted human being. He craftily incorporates humor to the arena and at the same time, trying to bring into light the disgrace of corruption.For this kind of his writing, he has been also long criticized for his more moderate representation of the extents of social illness of the time. The Poet is distressed to see the state of the people after death. The circulating library that he constructed was son disposed off. â€Å"When I died, the circulating library Which I built up for Spoon River, And managed for the good of inquiring minds, Was sold at auction on the public square† The poem gives a feeling that Seth Compton has been keeping a note of all the happenings after his death.During the period when the poem was written, although seemingly flowing in a positive direction, human relations were beginning to withstand new strains, trapped now in a cleverer and more civilized society. These relations were more official and formal than social and personal. This new form of the society was less institutionalized but at the same time was more difficult to resolve or combat. This new tactic, intoxicated with the velvety diplomacies of pity, care and tolerance, made things even worse. Very ironically and rightly, the Poet criticizes the aspects of morality in terms of critical social concerns. American Literature Mark Twain's celebrated novel Tom Sawyer (1876) has generally been considered by literary critics to slightly less accomplished on a technical and thematic level than its purported sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, (1885).Although many reasons for this discrepancy in the level of critical reception of the two works may be reliably cited, one of the contributing factors to the critical reception of Tom Sawyer both on its initial publication in the nineteenth century and during its present status in critical estimation is the function of literary realism. In short, because Tom Sawyer represents to most literary critics a â€Å"less sophisticated† execution of Twain's literary technique, it also functions a less developed example of Twain's expression by way of literary realism.Important, also, is that fact that Twain was and is viewed by critics as one of America's foremost realist writers and Twain's realism is regarded as having had a liberating influence on American literature as a whole: â€Å"It led him to make use of the vernacular and ultimately to develop popular speech, as an instrument for character portrayal and effective narrative, to near perfection,† (Long 102) which, in turn, led to the first authentically American idiom in fiction.However, as in Huckleberry Finn, the aspects of realism (or verisimilitude) which permeate Tom Sawyer, also function as â€Å"scaffolding† for mythic ideas and iconographic expression which directly contradicts the purpose and function of literary realism itself. In essence, by regarding realism in Tom Sawyer not a governing principle of Twain's aesthetic, but rather as a tool or a literary device which is used to convey a deeper theme or aesthetic — namely romanticism — can be identified.In Twain's case, the romantic or idealized strains of his theme in Tom Sawyer relate directly to the myth of American expansion and prosperity which were as prevalent cultural fascinations in nineteenth century America as they are in twenty-first century America.Before Tom Sawyer itself can be examined in light of its use of realism as a literary device, it is important to restate what the (critical) understanding of literary modernism is really all about and what literary modernism meant to the writers who comprised the movement in its earliest stages and what literary realism means to contemporary literary critics, and specifically those critics who have turned their energies to explicating Tom Sawyer.It should also be pointed out that Twain presents special problems even for the most studious and energetic of critics because his work is founded, first adn foremost upon humor, which is a very difficult literary premise to quantify and define in critical terms. Despite the fact that â€Å"criticism is notoriously helpless in the presence of writing that is really funny† (Smith 1), specific aesthetic principles and influences can be rooted out and separated to so me extent from the over-riding satirical vision in Twain's work.Any attempted critical understanding would be greatly aided in first accepting Twain as a literary realist as this designation is the most expedient as to opening a â€Å"clear window† into the purported purpose and themes of Twain's writings. Literary realism comprised an artistic response to the changing social conditions beginning in the 19th century which saw a dominant rise of industry, science, and rationality in western culture. Realism attempted to develop a literary idiom which was able to convincingly portray the actual events and circumstances of life.The movement toward realism can be seen as an artistic mode of grappling with changing and frightening circumstances of western culture. In addition to seeking out themes of social significance, writers such as Zola, Dos Passos, Eliot and Flaubert — advanced a narrative technique which â€Å"jettisoned rhetoric–a stylized language of elevat ed expression designed to demonstrate that the writer had mastered the tradition of polite letters–for everyday speech, (Borus 22) so that highly-stylized narratives still evoked the realism of everyday speech and everyday life.Part of the technique of literary realism involved the use of dialect, sometimes extensively, to create the sense of verisimilitude which was essential to the realist aesthetic. The combination of real-world dialect and the studies technique of the realist writers resulted in a unique blend of linguistic styles which resulted in a generating a set of readers who considered themselves â€Å"cultivated readers of dialect, † (Barrish 37). because realist writers sought to evoke in extensive detail, the living settings of their works, many realist writers were committed to regionalism — that is, they wrote about the world they experienced directly.Examples of this are Faulkner who wrote extensively about a fictional Southern county which was based on counties which actually existed. Realist writers desired to create fiction that felt and read as close to real life as possible in order to allow readers to â€Å"see† and experience aspects of life which would otherwise have remained unknowable to them. With this bit of critical history in mind, one further aspect remains quite important relative to Twain and that is the fact that â€Å"realism as a guiding principle of criticism† (Smith 5) has been rigidly and thoroughly applied to Twain's work with the resulting conclusion that â€Å"shortcomings [†¦] have led to its gradual abandonment during the last quarter of a century on both sides of the Atlantic. † (Smith 5). What are these shortcomings, specifically? The answer to that question is complex and lies in the seemingly comprehensive nature of Twain's realism. The fact that Twain's realism is distinct from naturalism or purely journalistic writing is his sophisticated employment of realism as a device, rather than as a guiding principle of theme or overall technical approach.In other words, because â€Å"Mark Twain's realism does not stop at externals† (Smith 29) that same realism must by necessity engage emotional, psychological, and â€Å"spiritual† (or mythic) concepts and identities which are by definition elusive of any â€Å"realistic† depiction. By delving deeper than â€Å"externals† Twain must, by necessity, abandon verisimilitude as a guiding aesthetic principle and instead accept it as a device, like a single color on a painter's pallette.In order to illustrate this somewhat elusive point, it must be emphasized that Twain's external realism is devastatingly powerful adn accurate, almost â€Å"photo-realistically† so. Twain is obviously quite capable of conveying â€Å"the special atmosphere of each characteristic environment† (Smith 29) and from this mastery of description of the external world, the reader is led to â €Å"trust† that Twain's excursions into the â€Å"inner† world will be just as faithfully rendered and just as obviously based on â€Å"reality.† However, a clear, if subtle, distinction separates Twain from â€Å"photorealistic† artists. A key aspect to Twain's particular use of realism is that â€Å"His purpose is not to say everything, nor even to present everything in an objective way† (Smith 30) but render the impression that what is described, whether it be a river, or a young boy's stream-of-consciousness inner-monologue, is a faithful representation of the actual world.By rendering the impression of realism rather than a rote â€Å"copy† of nature, â€Å"Twain allows himself to pursue his inquiries into reality with varying intensity, to support his observations with a wider or a narrower range of evidence† (Smith 30) and, by doing so, achieves an acumen which is capable of â€Å"misleading† he reader into mistaking wha t is actually a mythic or romantic impression as a realistic observation.To demonstrate this concretely, a single mythic aspect of Tom Sawyer can be isolated and compared with Twain's realistic prose-style to indicate the duality of his narrative idiom, where realism generally indicates, if at an oblique angel, a mythic undertone. For example, the â€Å"treasure-hunt' sub-plot of Tom Sawyer conveys the uniquely American myth of â€Å"striking it rich† through pure luck adn adventure.This is in fact a very durable American myth, the myth that anyone despite his or her stature in life can â€Å"hit pay-dirt quickly, blindly, almost accidentally† (Coulombe 16) and like Huck and Tom become â€Å"rich entirely by good luck† (Coulombe 16). Such a myth was used by Twain not only in Tom Sawyer and in his other of his fictional works, but also as an attribute of his own author-persona.Twain cultivated a deliberate distortion of his biography by attempting to further the notion that his accomplishments were â€Å"effortless and intuitive—a rustic genius rising naturally to the top† (Coulombe 16). In this case, literary biography plays a contributing role to thematic explication because Twain's true experience belied the myth he inserted into Tom Sawyer regarding wealth adn the pursuit of adventure. In reality, Twain was a careerist â€Å"who worked diligently, even desperately, to earn success and money† (Coulombe 17).The aforementioned biographical detail is mentioned merely to illustrate that Twain,had he been truly interested in being a literary realist and depicting the authentic world he had experienced would have obviously dismissed any mythical ‘treasure hunt† ending in blind, wild fortune as being over-the-top romantic, and perhaps even foolish. At this point, it is useful to examine the manner by which Twain attempts to insert verisimilitude into what is essentially a mythic fantasy.he does so retrospective ly by describing what appears to be a very convincing description of the rection of the little town of St. Petersburg to the boys' discovery of treasure: THE reader may rest satisfied that Tom's and Huck's windfall made a mighty stir in the poor little village of St. Petersburg. So vast a sum, all in actual cash, seemed next to incredible. It was talked about, gloated over, glorified, until the reason of many of the citizens tottered under the strain of the unhealthy excitement.Every â€Å"haunted† house in St. Petersburg and the neighboring villages was dissected, plank by plank, and its foundations dug up and ransacked for hidden treasure–and not by boys, but men–pretty grave, unromantic men, too, some of them. (Twain 285) This attempt to balance a romantic myth with a deliberately anti-romantic description of the aftermath of the discovery is thorough right down to Twain's choice of diction.The word â€Å"unromantic† is specifically clever and powerful in forwarding a sense that Twain's treasure hunt is grounded in reality and not in a boyish, culturally incited fantasy. Every detail seems to have been accounted for right down to the observation that â€Å"The village paper published biographical sketches of the boys† (Twain 285) which made them celebrities. Here it is interesting to note that Twain's romantic urge and his urge to restrain his story in verisimilitude are operating at equal strength and simultaneously.If Twain is capable of obscuring what are essentially romantic myths beneath a veneer of realism as was demonstrated by the preceding description of his expression of the â€Å"rags to riches† myth of America, what other myths might be discovered under the narrative surface of Tom Sawyer? Obviously, because Twain embraces the presence of violence in American as a part of his role as a realist writer, depictions of violence and of death in Twain deserve special attention in regard to the myths they may o r may not express beneath the highly detailed and unusually accurate level of narrative description employed by Twain.While it is true that — for Twain â€Å"The sight of a pistol blazing or knife flashing, followed by the red blood gushing from a death wound, was actuality † (Long 99) it is also conspicuously true that Twain's depiction of violence in Tom Sawyer is â€Å"not prevailing, and as in the realism of Howells,† and that in Twain â€Å"happiness, not sorrow, was the general rule† (Long 99) despite the actuality of violence and death in human experience.One might rightly ask: how is such a proposition: that violence and death do not preclude human happiness based in realism? Plainly, one does not require an observational adn descriptive acumen that is equal to Twain's to readily perceive that violence and death in the real world often do preclude human happiness. Clearly, Twain's depiction of violence, like his depiction of material ambition and the attainment of wealth, partakes of a mythic rather then realistic expression.This mythic appraisal of violence and human mortality allows Twain to establish the entire framework of Tom Sawyer on the mythic scaffolding of death and rebirth. In fact, † The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is constructed on a loose framework whose major elements include games of death and games of resurrection† (Aspiz) and these â€Å"games† are purely mythic rather than realistic both in conception and execution.Because it is mythic violence and mythic death that Tom interacts with in the novel, he and the other characters depicted in the novel seem to â€Å"exist on the manic edge beyond which lurks the menace of destruction and the unknown† (Aspiz) but the teetering over and falling â€Å"over the edge† which is repeatedly depicted by Twain in Tom Sawyer results in â€Å"the illusion that all experience is ultimately reducible to entertainment† (Aspiz).Imagination is stronger than the mere presence of death and its associated pains in Twain's fictional world, which is propelled in part by startlingly realistic descriptions and observational details. The result is paradoxical: Murder, grave-robbing, the withholding of life-saving evidence, impulses to suicide, simulated disasters, numerous close brushes with death, the violation of sanguinary oaths, wrenching fear and guilt, and numberless suppressions of the truth and miscarriages of justice are all transformed, through masterful orchestration and narrative control, into entertainment.(Aspiz, 108) Of course it is the power and depth of Twain's â€Å"masterful orchestration and narrative control† which drives the perception on the reader's behalf that Twain's mythic expressions of pain, death, and sorrow are as meticulously accurate as his objective descriptions of rivers, school-houses, and grave-yards. The paradox is born out of the divergence of the mythic and realist strains of Twai n's own consciousness and his narrative expression. The character of Tom Sawyer is, himself, an expression of this paradox and duality.Tom is ultimately portrayed as heroic, but also realistically, so that his flaws can be easily spotted and used to increase the ironic impact of the novel. In fact, careful study of Tom's behavior throughout the novel reveals that â€Å"Tom was neither noble nor pure. Rather, he was often vindictive, violent, and obscure—much like the natural world to which he was linked† (Coulombe 129) and — ironically — it is within this construction of nature, as a character, that Twain achieves a more dour and realistic expression.Twain's impulse to romanticize even human bigotry is evident in his depiction of Injun Joe and Muff Potter, during the trial-scene when Muff fallaciously confesses to murdering the Doctor. Historical reality dictates that it was white men who cam and tricked the native American tribes out of their lands and d estroyed their culture, a fact readily available to anyone, even in Twain';s time, who cared to exert minimal energy doing research.However, rather than seizing on this massive historical reality, Twain opts to facilitate the extant prejudice against racial types that existed in his time, and continue to exist, by positing a mythic â€Å"half-breed,† Injun Joe, who is more cunning and diabolical than the white society he despises. During the trial scene, Muff Potter is confronted with his knife which was used by Injun Joe to slay the Doctor in the cemetery.Potter's reaction is pitiful â€Å"Potter lifted his face and looked around him with a pathetic hopelessness in his eyes. He saw Injun Joe, and exclaimed: â€Å"Oh, Injun Joe, you promised me you'd never– † (Twain 100) and then, slowly, Potter realizes that he must confess to his crime. The reversal of historical reality is chilling. In reality, Native Americans were often controlled and victimized with liquo r and in Twain's depiction, the half-breed, Injun Joe, has turned these realities on their head.It is the Indian who is dastardly and manipulative; and it is the white man, Muff Potter, who is drunkenly victimized and falsely sentenced to death. Such reversals under the fluent realism of Twain's technique can only be considered, rightly, as propaganda. By no stretch of the imagination can propaganda ever be regarded as realistic or objective, so it is obvious that on at least three major themes: materialism, mortality, and racial prejudice, Twain embraces a mythic, rather than realistic, mode of expression in Tom Sawyer.Again, as in the treasure-hunt scenario, Twain attempts to balance his mythically driven conceptualization of race with what appears to be a cogent adn realistic description of the court-room itself and the boys' reaction to Potter's confession: â€Å"Then Huckleberry and Tom stood dumb and staring, and heard the stony-hearted liar reel off his serene statement, the y expecting every moment that the clear sky would deliver God's lightnings upon his head,† (Twain 100).This passage, in fact, only strengthens the essentially culturally chauvinistic impulse of the courtroom scene by positing the half-breed no only as a notorious murderer but as an enemy of the white man's God. Twain's romanticism may be rightly regarded as determinant in the thematic expression of Tom Sawyer. In every case, it is mythic impulse rather than natural or historical realism that drives both the conceptualization and execution of the scenes in Tom Sawyer and the associated themes which these scenes express.Rather than solidifying the aesthetic ideas of literary realism, Twain's use of the idiom in Tom Sawyer is sublimated to his interest in forwarding culturally resonant, American myths which would ostensibly engage and entertain his audience. It is quite possible that Twain's own material ambitions, as previously mentioned, drove, at least in part, his decision to make a literary concession throughout Tom Sawyer to romantic myths, a concession which completely eradicated any claim that might be made on Twain's behalf that the novel embodied literary realism.Works Cited Aspiz, Harold. â€Å"Tom Sawyer's Games of Death. † Studies in the Novel 27. 2 (1995): 141+. Barrish, Phillip. American Literary Realism, Critical Theory, and Intellectual Prestige, 1880- 1995. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Borus, Daniel H. Writing Realism: Howells, James, and Norris in the Mass Market. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.Coulombe, Joseph L. Mark Twain and the American West. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2003. Long, E. Hudson. Mark Twain Handbook. New York: Hendricks House, 1957. Smith, Henry Nash, ed. Mark Twain: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: P. F. Collier & Sons, 1920. American Literature If I was teaching a course in American Literature since 1865, the texts that I would choose to teach would be â€Å"Tulips† by Sylvia Plath, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Sula by Toni Morrison, Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Daisy Miller by Henry James, and Drown by Junot Diaz.I feel that it is important to chronologically span the 150 or so years of literature in this time period, to choose a diversity of authors in terms of gender, race and sexuality, to represent the nation regionally as well as possible, to include texts that focus on important issues in the nation including immigration, gender equality and race relations, and to focus on texts that are relatively accessible and reflect the time period in which they are written. With these texts, I feel that this is accompl ished.Chronologically, this list is relatively complete – there are texts that represent the period of reconstruction (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) and that are from around ten years ago (Drown). Indeed, different aspects of this list speak to the Industrial Revolution and ever-changing face of America through technological advancement, and others discuss the ways that race and gender exist in the time period in which they are written (â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and Sula, for example).Further, not only do these texts represent a breadth of time periods, but they also show different regions of the United States, including the South (Wise Blood) and the West (Housekeeping), with the typical representation of the Northeast and many texts that are not necessarily central to any specific region.Through providing a diversity of chronological and regional representation, I feel that students, especially in a nation that is not as familiar with the United States as we are, would be able to get a better feel of how the United States changed over the past 150 years and how the different regions of the United States face different challenges. Just as it’s important to represent different literal aspects of the United States, it’s just as important to represent the diversity of people that make the nation up.By providing works from authors like Toni Morrison and Junot Diaz, students would get a perspective on the African American and immigrant experience in the United States, respectively. Indeed, America exists differently for the immigrant characters in this collection of Diaz short stories than it does for the characters seeking the American Dream in The Great Gatsby, and it’s important for students to explore these differences among communities in the U. S.Indeed, this collection of texts also reflects issues that are of the utmost importance in the United States – â€Å"Tulips† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaperâ €  discuss what it means to be a woman and how motherhood or marriage can trap women, for example. Wise Blood explores the intricacies of religion, and more specifically Christianity, in the South, and Sula thoroughly discusses how black Americans live in the â€Å"Bottom† while whites live at the top long after the conclusion of the Civil War.Students reading my list of texts would be exposed to a breadth of issues, while also reading canonical literature that explores natures such as Leaves of Grass and the work of Henry James and his take on relationships and people. All of the works that are included in this list cover so many different aspects of American Literature, and together they paint a picture that represents the time period and nation as well as any ten-piece collection can.Regionally, canonically and chronologically, the list covers all of the essential points present in American literature, and it also touches on multiple issues of diversity within the texts as well as issues central to American culture in these different time periods. These poems, short stories, novellas and novels are an excellent window into American Literature as well as the ever-ubiquitous American culture, and I would be excited to teach these texts to any classroom. 2nd Essay: Southern Literature is fraught with guilt, struggle and a resistance to dominant American cultural norms.Three of the most important authors in Southern Lit, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor, are all incredibly attentive to issues important to all Southern people, but they each discuss Southern life in a different form. While all three deal with the integral issues of race relations in the South, the constant struggle with the separation of the North from the South, and what exactly it means to have a Southern identity, each of these authors does this in a very different manner.Hurston focuses on African American dialect and unique experiences within those communities, Faulkner traditionally discusses close-knit small town communities in a stream of consciousness and highly narrative manner, and O’Connor takes a highly moralistic tone, with a focus on religion and community in the South. Hurston’s â€Å"Sweat† is similar to her most famous Their Eyes Were Watching God in that gender struggles and dialect within African American communities are showcased. Indeed, one of the central conflicts in â€Å"Sweat† is the struggle for dominance within the relationship between Delia and Sykes Jones.Even though aspects of Southern femininity and masculinity are inherent to this struggle, femininity is the focus as this is typical of Hurston and the protagonist, and thereby where the reader’s sympathies more dominantly lie, is with Delia Jones. The work focuses on how African American communities exist, with a focus on Delia’s humming and the music that’s present, thereby demonstrating a focus on a n oral tradition that doesn’t necessarily exist within Faulkner and O’Connor’s work.Further, the end of the short story demonstrates how women are able to obtain dominance in relationships, if they ever are able to do so, through Sykes’ horrifying death. Indeed, this story demonstrates many of Hurston’s focuses, and it shows typical struggles within Southern African American communities in terms of gender relations and oral traditions versus dominant narratives. Faulkner’s â€Å"Barn Burning† is different from this in that its focus is on a father and son, and also on the town in which the characters live.Indeed, the story begins in â€Å"The store in which the justice of the Peace's court was sitting† and continues to focus on the actual location and Southern-ness of the setting. Like Hurston, the dialogue of â€Å"Barn Burning† is uniquely Southern, with the characters saying the word â€Å"it† as â€Å"hit,â⠂¬  thereby demonstrating Southern dialect and accents in a way that separates it from any Northern dialogue. Also like Hurston’s work, the story discusses race relations in the South, though necessarily from a white perspective instead of a black perspective.Because of this, the community at the center of the story is a white community instead of a black community, and it thereby emphasizes race relations and oppressive institutions within Southern society instead of exploring the ways in which African American communities form themselves. While there are no explicit O’Connor works on the syllabus, it would be remiss to discuss Southern writing without using O’Connor as an example.In her â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† for example, the explicit focus of the narrative is on what it means to be a good person, and how a criminal is not necessarily a more evil and corrupt person than a grandmother without good intentions. While the criminal who murders t he family who are at the center of the story is clearly not a â€Å"good man,† neither is the matriarchal grandmother who is central to the story: indeed, she would have been good if â€Å"it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.† O’Connor discusses Southern society in terms of morality and religion throughout her novels and short stories, and within this discussion also exists issues of race relations, Southern society and dialect, and other things. Indeed, O’Connor, Faulkner and Hurston all recognize the differences between the South and other regions in the United States, the unique moral and community systems that exist there, and demonstrate these aspects differently. 3rd Essay: William Carlos Williams’ â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† and e.e. cumming’s [my sweet old etcetera] both rely on unconventional, modernist poetic form and use this form to convey separate messages. Williams’ poem uses its form t o put emphasis on a dependence on the smallest things – indeed, the form and subject of â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† hinge on the wheelbarrow itself, and demonstrate how form and subject are both integral to a poem’s ultimate message. Similarly, cummings’ unconventional form is different from almost any other poet and uses multiple definitions of etcetera.Both poems show how form is as essential to function as subject and literal messages are, and both use this form to reiterate the meaning of the poem. Williams’ â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† is from a time period in which poets were able to play with form and think more consciously about how a poem can be unconventional in form and still convey a message. Indeed, this poem more or less relies on form to convey that message. What is so interesting about this poem is that there is no terribly clear message in the poem; in fact, it initially seems to not say much of anything and instead to toy arou nd with words.However, the way the poem is structured, the seemingly insignificant nouns are placed at the forefront. As the poem reads, â€Å"so much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow† (lines 1-4). Here, the poem does in fact depend on the â€Å"barrow† – every couplet in â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† hinges upon a second one-word line that consists of a relatively common and insignificant noun. The nouns continue to locate the poem. The red wheelbarrow is â€Å"glazed with rain / water / beside the white / chickens† (lines 5-8), showing that while each couplet is grounded by the final one-worded line, the entire poem is grounded by the wheelbarrow.Indeed, all of the lines refer back to it: it is the thing that is glazed with rainwater, and it is the thing that is beside the white chickens. The first couplet itself makes it increasingly clear that the wheelbarrow is at the center of this poem in multiple ways: everything in the poem depends on it literally, as is stated in the first two lines, but it is also structurally at the center of the poem. William Carlos Williams is able to use this unconventional form to make a statement about what is important – after all, how can so much depend on a wheelbarrow unless Williams demonstrates it in this unconventional way?Similarly, e. e. cummings poem [my sweet old etcetera] challenges ideas of what the â€Å"etcetera† of the poem is by introducing it in a form that allows multiple interpretations. Indeed, the poem begins with â€Å"my sweet old etcetera / aunt lucy† (lines 1-2), and also includes references to it as â€Å"not to / mention shirts fleaproof earwarmers / etcetera wristers etcetera† (lines 11-13), â€Å"my / mother hoped that / I would die etcetera† (lines 13-15), â€Å"my / self etcetera lay quietly† (lines 19-20), and â€Å"dreaming, / et / cetera, of / Your smile / eyes knees and of your Etcetera† (lines 23-27).All o f these uses of etcetera are different and challenge what exactly the word means: indeed, the word literally refers to a continuing list of things, but here sometimes it’s used in an apathetic sense, sometimes as a euphemism, and other times as its definition connotes. Like â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow,† this poem hinges on the definition of one word, and because of seemingly spontaneous line breaks and capitalization, that word carries entirely different meanings at different places in the text.Interestingly, in the last parenthetical notation, etcetera refers to both the never-ending list of actions of the speaker and also, presumably, the body of the woman who is being described, thereby showing the many definitions of the word. Both â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† and [my sweet old etcetera] use relatively unconventional form to challenge traditional notions of established words and concepts. By relying on a different method of poetry and description, both writers a re able to disrupt these ideas that are so closely tied to the words, and also to redefine both the words and the poetic form that they are using to describe them.4th Essay: If I could choose any two authors to explore more fully, I would pick Zora Neale Hurston and Henry James to look at further. Not only are these two authors very different in terms of their writing styles, but they also are from different time periods and different literary perspectives, with Hurston generally describing communities and concrete people more fully while James writes conceptually and canonically in a way that focuses on narrative and other literary forms.Both authors speak to different audiences, both of which I at least partially identify with, and I look forward to reading more by each author. In this course, we read â€Å"Sweat† by Hurston, which I wrote about for one of my other essays. I really enjoy this work not only because I enjoy Southern literature, but also because it focuses on a different aspect of identity than many of the authors that we’ve read in this course.Indeed, Hurston focused on African American oral narratives, and was actually often involved in sociological work and gathering African American folktales to preserve in writing instead of simply within an oral tradition. Because her life was not always spent in looking at writing through a strict literary lens, I think that she has a unique perspective in representing life as it truly exists within communities that are not typically discussed in popular fiction.She herself grew up in an African American town, and is particularly knowledgeable and gifted and representing these types of communities. I would love to read Their Eyes Were Watching God if only because it is similar to â€Å"Sweat† but, as a novel instead of a short story, allows more time to delve into a character’s mindset and to develop a sense of what it means to live within an African American community. Furthe r, I think that Hurston has a unique and powerful style that explores language in a way that many authors simply don’t.She is able to write using heavy symbolism and metaphors throughout her prose, but she’s also able to interesting, intelligently and authentically portray the language that exists within black southern communities, something that most authors would not even think about discussing. Indeed, because of her early life in a unique community that most canonical authors do not understand, her sociological work on oral narratives within black communities, her interesting view on language and style, and her emphasis on women’s issues and gender equality, I would love to look more closely at Zora Neale Hurston’s body of literature.Henry James is also an incredibly important figure in American Literature, but for very different reasons than Hurston. Indeed, James style is not as accessible or engaging as Hurston’s often is, and he is much mor e cerebral in the issues that he chooses to tackle. As Daisy Miller demonstrates, though, James has a terrific understanding of how to manipulate narrative to show multiple dimensions of characters, and his other work demonstrates this even further.The novel which I would most like to read by him is The Turn of the Screw, primarily because it is both a frame narrative (similar to the Canterbury Tales), which provides many unique and interesting insights into narrative, and also because it is a unique version of a ghost story that is much more literary in style than most of what gets represented in popular culture today. Because James is so able to take on narrative, I enjoyed Daisy Miller thoroughly: not only were the characters deep, complex, round and interesting, but the timeline was also challenging.I really enjoy reading Henry James because he is, in many ways, timeless – while his work is obviously dated in certain ways in terms of subject and the setting, the human con dition is so central to everything that he writes that it can be understood outside of this context. Because of his narrative abilities, interest in the human psyche and innate human struggles, challenging prose that pushes different ideas of symbolism and identity, and the innovative subjects that he chooses to write about, I would also very much enjoy looking at what else Henry James has written.