Wednesday, July 31, 2019

A Diamond Personality – Oscar Rodriguez

Ask Oscar Rodriguez about the dot-com burst and he may grin at you as if to say, â€Å"What burst?† Rodriguez, a 38- years-old entrepreneur, owns an Internet business that sells loose diamond to various buyers. Business is booming for Rodriguez, In 2004, he has sales of $2.06 million-a 140 percent increase from 2003. Rodriguez’s database of almost 60000 diamonds is one of the largest and is valued, according to Rodriguez, at over $350 million. Needless to say, Oscar Rodriguez is optimistic about his business venture. The future wasn’t always so bright for Rodriguez, however. In 1985, Rodriguez moved from his country, Puerto Rico, to Gainesville, Florida, with little ability to speak English. There, he attended community college and worked at the local mall to support himself. After graduation, his roommate’s girlfriend suggested that he work at a local jeweler. â€Å"I thought she was crazy. I didn’t know anything about jewelry,† says Rodriguez, who took her advice. Though he worked hard and received his Diamonds and Diamonds Grading certification from the Gemological institute of America, he wasn’t satisfied with this progress. â€Å"I quickly realized that working there; I was just going to get a salary with a raise here and there. I would never become anything. That drove me to explore other business ventures. I also came to really know diamonds-their pricing and their quality.† In 1997, tired of working for someone else, Rodriguez decided to open his own jewelry store. However, business didn’t boom. â€Å"Some of my customers were telling me they could find diamonds for less on the Internet. It blew my mind.† Rodriguez recognized an opportunity and began contacting well-known diamond dealers to see if they would be interested in selling their gems online. Roriguez recalls one conversation with a prominent dealer who told him, â€Å"You cannot sell diamonds on the Internet. You will not survive.† Discouraged, Rodriguez then says that he made a mistake. â€Å"I stopped working on it. If you have a dream, you have to keep working harder at it.† A year later, Rodriguez did work harder at his dream and found a dealer who agreed to provide him with some diamonds. Says Rodriguez, â€Å"Once I had one, I could approach others. Business started to build. The first three months I sold $200,000 worth of diamonds right off the bat. And that was just me. I started to add employees and eventually closed the jewelry store and got out of retail.†Although Rodriquez does have some diamonds in inventory, he primarily acts as a connection point between buyers and suppliers, giving his customers an extraordinary selection from which to choose. Rodriguez is now a savvy entrepreneur, and his company, Abazias.com, went public in October 2003. Why is Rodriguez successful? Just ask two people who have known Rodriguez over the years. Gary Schneider, a realtor who helped build Rodriguez’s building, says, â€Å"Oscar is a very ambitious young man. I am not surprised at all how successful he is. He is an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word.† One of Rodriguez’s former real-estate instructors, Howard Freeman, concurs. â€Å"I am not surprised at all at his success,† says Freeman. â€Å"Oscar has always been an extremely motivated individual with a lot of resources. He has a wonderful personality and pays close attention to detail. He also has an ability to stick to things. You could tell from beginning that he was going to persevere, and I am proud of him.† Rodriguez is keeping his success in perspective, but he also realizes his business’ potential: â€Å"I take a very small salary, and our overhead is $250,000 a year. I am not in debt, and the business is breaking even. I care about the company. I want to keep everything even until we take off, and then it may be another ball game.†

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

how Far Do You Sympathize With Heathcliff?

Wuthering Heights was written in 1847 by Emily Jane Bronte a year before her death. It is a love story between a poor, savage, gipsy called Heathcliff and a wealthy respectable woman called Catherine Earnshaw, set on the Yorkshire moors. Hindley, who is cruel, jealous and power-seeking, is the master of the Heights after Mr Earnshaw dies. He treats Heathcliff like a slave. As Cathy and Heathcliff grow up together their friendship develops into a passionate relationship. However Cathy betrays Heathcliff by marrying Edgar Linton from a neighbouring house named Thrushcross Grange, which is a very large house whose owners, the Linton's, are very wealthy. In spite Heathcliff marries Isabella Linton, to gain money and respectability. The second volume of the novel is the sons and daughters of the first generation almost repeating history, and it ends in Master Heathcliff owning both houses. Heathcliff entered the story as he was brought to Wuthering Heights by old Mr Earnshaw. He was a starving orphan from the streets of Liverpool. Bronte portrays him as a mysterious character, very cold, stubborn, heroic and extremely emotional. When he arrived Heathcliff was referred to as â€Å"the gipsy brat,† and â€Å"it†, by Hindley and Nelly Dean, the housekeeper. This made Heathcliff very angry, which is understandable. Old Mr Earnshaw's fondness for Heathcliff fuelled the jealousy of his son, Hindley, and the compassion of his daughter, Cathy. Hindley treated Heathcliff very badly, almost like a slave and inferior. â€Å"Heathcliff you may come forward' cried Hindley.† He added: â€Å"You may come and wish Miss Catherine welcome, like the other servants.† Heathcliff was denied education. This made Heathcliff extremely rebellious and because he and Cathy had become good friends they used to escape from the Heights and enjoy freedom on the moors. This gave Heathcliff a respite from his mental torture at Wuthering Heights. One night out on the moors Heathcliff and Cathy visited Thrushcross Grange. Seeing Edgar Linton and Isabella Linton fighting, Heathcliff and Cathy were seen and thinking they were robbers, Edgar set the dog on them. Cathy was very badly hurt and had to stay at the Grange for some time. With Cathy gone, Heathcliff had lost his only friend, and his life became one of total slavery and misery at the hands of Hindley. He realised how much his friendship with Cathy meant to him. When Cathy came back from the Grange, recovered, she was clean, well dressed and turned into a proper lady â€Å"with fine clothes and flattery.† When she met Heathcliff again she was extremely happy and Heathcliff was glad that things were back to normal again, â€Å"Cathy, catching a glimpse of her friend in his concealment, flew to embrace him; she bestowed seven or eight kisses on his cheek within the second.† But when Cathy stopped, and burst into a laugh because he was very dirty Heathcliff was very insulted and confused by the change in Cathy. Cathy's return created a huge surge of confidence in the new master of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff was patronised at every opportunity, â€Å"make haste Heathcliff, the Kitchen is so comfortable.† And when the Linton's are asked to dinner, Heathcliff tries to smarten himself up to please Cathy but is just humiliated. The final straw for Heathcliff is over hearing a conversation between Cathy and Nelly Dean. â€Å"It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff,† he heard Cathy say. He ran off and didn't return for three years, because he felt that everyone at the Heights and the Grange was against him. After this time Heathcliff comes back from being abroad and he has become richer and more civilised and his appearance has smartened up, only to find that Cathy has married Edgar Linton. However this wasn't a shock to Heathcliff because there were talks of this happening before Heathcliff went away, but he still blames Cathy for this betrayal later on in the novel. Heathcliff went to the Grange, where Cathy was now staying and asked to see her. When they met he â€Å"bestowed more kisses than ever he gave in his life before.† After five minutes of seeing Cathy, Heathcliff broke down and showed some soft emotion, for the first time in the novel; â€Å"Oh, Cathy! Oh, my life! How can I bear it?† I think that Heathcliff didn't want to go away if he felt this strongly about Cathy but he was forced to. The story continues with Heathcliff marrying Isabella Linton but treating her very badly as his true love is Cathy. Isabella realises this and knows their marriage is doomed: â€Å"She slipped the gold ring from her third finger, and threw it on the floor. ‘I'll smash it!' she continued, striking with childish spite. ‘And then I'll burn it!' And she took and dropped the misused article among the coals.† This results in a character change, because up until this point I have felt sympathy towards Heathcliff. From here on Heathcliff becomes darker, more cynical, and frustrated. Catherine Earnshaw died in child birth. Heathcliff was outside when Nelly Dean came out to tell him about Cathy. At first he tried to keep his cold, hard image but once he asked about how Cathy died he broke down into â€Å"a cry of humiliation.† â€Å"And – and did she ever mention me?† After asking this question and finding that Catherine didn't recognise anyone before her death, Heathcliff became very angry: â€Å"May she wake in torment!' he cried, with frightful vehemence.† â€Å"Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest, as long as I am living! You said I killed you – haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers.† Heathcliff couldn't bear living without Cathy. Cathy was the only person that Heathcliff could really talk to, and he loved her immensely: â€Å"Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!† Heathcliff had lost his one true love. This left him angry and incredibly sad which explains why he wanted Cathy to haunt him and never rest. Some could see this as a sign of madness but I feel sympathy for Heathcliff because Cathy was is only friend and true love but she has died without Heathcliff fulfilling his true feelings for Cathy. After Cathy's death Heathcliff becomes very cold, hard and vicious. He returned to the Heights to find that Hindley wanted to kill him. But the fight ended in Hindley's death. This led to the question did Heathcliff murder Hindley? After the fight Hindley drank a vast amount of alcohol, but I am not sure that a young man can drink himself to death in a night, so maybe there is a possibility that Heathcliff had something to do with the death of Hindley. This is very serious, and could a bad childhood be the cause or an excuse for this? Heathcliff has had an awful upbringing being patronised, treated as a slave and denied education. But what Heathcliff does in his latter life with the other generation of Linton's and Earnshaw's could be inexcusable: Isabella leaves him with a baby called little Linton. He is very weak and Heathcliff doesn't accept Linton because he isn't like him. Hareton grew up to be a savage, dirty boy just like Heathcliff when he was younger because like Hindley, Heathcliff denied education to Hareton. As old Edgar Linton was dying Heathcliff made young Cathy marry Linton by locking Cathy up in the Heights whilst her father was dying at the Grange. Heathcliff was doing this because he wanted Thrushcross Grange and all the wealth from the Linton family. Finally Cathy and Linton were married, Cathy was free to go to be with her father and shortly after they were married Linton died. Heathcliff wrote Linton's will and in it stated that Linton left the Grange to Heathcliff. During this whole episode Heathcliff was cruel to Hareton for two reasons: Hareton was very fond of Cathy but Cathy treated him like an inferior because he couldn't read or write, and because Hareton was the son of Hindley who had tormented Heathcliff from the day he set foot in Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff felt a lot of schadenfreude towards Hareton for this. It is clear that Heathcliff's personality changed after Cathy died but can his awful upbringing be to blame for his actions in his later life? We are told little by the author of his early childhood treatment before he came to Wuthering Heights. We can only expect that his life before was one of rough street living and neglect. In this case I do feel sympathy for Heathcliff because he wasn't accepted by his new found family and all the people who were nice to him died, namely old Mr Earnshaw and Cathy. Heathcliff has been denied happiness and true love and is in a state of desperation when he wants Cathy to haunt him because he will accept love at any cost and in any form. I can only feel sympathy for someone who has had a life long experience of bullying and exclusion: â€Å"He would stand Hindley's blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in a breath, and open his eyes as if he had hurt himself by accident.† A quote from Nelly Dean who I think deep down sympathizes with Heathcliff because she was there when Heathcliff was getting brutally beaten by his master Hindley. When she was the narrator Nelly portrayed Heathcliff as the ‘ugly duckling.' She realised what his up-bringing had caused and passes her knowledge on to the reader. Isabella Linton feels the exact opposite towards sympathizing with Heathcliff. Isabella doesn't know what Heathcliff has been through and because she has been brought up by the Linton family who disliked Heathcliff. She is biased and thinks bad things about Heathcliff. Nelly Dean tries to portray an un-biased view on Heathcliff. She understands what he has been through but at times cant help hating Heathcliff and as readers because Nelly is the ‘neutral' character in the whole novel then Heathcliff can be felt sympathy for. Heathcliff's character is far too enigmatic to simplify. Bronte portrays Heathcliff as a violent person. He regularly beat his wife Isabella: â€Å"a white face scratched and bruised,† and he threw a kitchen knife at her head which struck beneath her ear. He beat young Cathy whilst she was trying to escape to visit her dying father and Nelly Dean in the same incident. He has no compassion and feelings for anyone in the novel except for his rescuer, Mr Earnshaw, and his true love, Cathy. It is easy to feel hatred for him at his treatment of: Hareton, little Linton, Isabella and Edgar, whom he taunted and humiliated openly. The greatest insight to Heathcliff's character is found early in the novel in chapter four where he blackmails Hindley into giving him Hindley's colt after his own went lame: â€Å"You must exchange horses with me; I don't like mine and if you won't I shall tell your father of the three thrashings you've given me this week, and show him my arm, which is black to the shoulder.† Heathcliff taunts Hindley further knowing he can manipulate his temper and the tussle ends with Hindley punching Heathcliff and shouting: â€Å"Take my colt, gipsy, then! And I pray that he may break your neck; take him and be damned you beggarly interloper! and wheedle my father out of all he has.† And this is exactly the out come of the novel as Heathcliff orchestrates the inheritance of both houses. One through Hindley's debt, and the other through tricking little Linton in to altering his will. Maybe the reason for Hindley's mistreatment towards Heathcliff is because he saw the side that no-one else saw. The vindictive, manipulative, and the dark side of Heathcliff which he recognised while they were both still young boys. As I conclude my analysis of Heathcliff's character I find my sympathy does not lie with him, but I wonder what Heathcliff would turn out like if Mr Earnshaw would have lived longer and if Cathy had married him.

Monday, July 29, 2019

MGMT499 1 DB Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGMT499 1 DB - Research Paper Example Jeff Bezos is also another aspiring leader. The leader is the chief executive officer of Amazon. The CEO is achieving significant transaction deals. The director bought The Washington Post, and Amazon is yielding billions of returns. The leader also stated that Apple is testing drones that will be useful in making delivering products to the customers within thirty minutes. The chief executive of Apple, Tim Cook, is an uninspiring person according to the Business Insider and the Benzinga journals. The CEO is the reason the Apple Company is experiencing too many employee departures. The other leader, who is uninspiring, is the Cuban president Raul Castro. The reason is underlying the statements that the leader is said to be reluctant and appears to be ruling in an incompetent way. The reference also leads to many people questioning his ability to govern. The person who appointed the leader, Mr. Fidel, is the one who pointed out that Raul is poor in delivering any speech. The president also is incapable of delivering real messages to reporters especially those who are from foreign countries (Latell, January 21,

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Accidents & Catastrophes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Accidents & Catastrophes - Essay Example s a hazard to passers by and similarly noxious substances also pose risks to people but it is the degree of the outcome of each of these hazards that actually varies. An accident would result if somebody falls if he does not observe the stone or an accident can also result if a group of people get exposed to toxic substances. Hence an accident can actually be described as an untoward incident which is not expected and does not bring about good results. Accidents are not done with deliberate reasons by the people who are affected by it (Kovach & McGuire 2003). According to Paul Craythorne who is a health, safety and environmental advisor, an accident is defined as â€Å"an unplanned and uncontrolled event that led to or could have led to injury to persons, property/plant/equipment, and impairment to the environment or some other loss to the company.† Uncontrollable events can also be given the name of accidents. Depending upon the condition an accident can be avoidable or unavoidable. Certain accidents can be foreseen and hence they can be prevented from occurring by taking the proper measures. Accidents are led to by certain human errors. To consider this is we can take example of aircraft accidents. Air crashes are seen in cases when the aeroplane is not checked before the flight takes off or some defect in it goes unnoticed. This can lead to an accident resulting in several deaths. Thus an error in checking can be a cause of this accident. Accidents can be avoided sometimes if appropriate methods are employed. In the same example if the aircraft would have been checked properly this untoward incident could have been avoidable. But this is not always the case. For example if a flight takes off under perfect conditions. But after take off the weather suddenly becomes really bad and the flight crashes into a mountain, this is ag ain an accident. But this accident becomes unavoidable and it is not due to human error. An accident is classified on the basis of its

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The American Dream Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The American Dream - Research Paper Example The core fabric of the American dream is the fact any individual is capable of attaining the level of success desirable depending on their ability and achievements. Essentially, the American dream envisions an environment where thrift and hard work are the defining factors of the success of an individual. The issues of race and background do not in any obstruct a person in their pursuit for a better and fulfilling life. In the modern times, the definition of the American Dream has significantly changed to reflect the changing times. Some people hold the belief that the American Dream means the pursuit of money. The ability to purchase a big house, own an expensive car and afford exotic holidays seems the motivation of a number of American citizens. Yet to some, the basic freedom to live in a society free from fear literally defines their American Dream. Both ways, the quest for material wealth and freedom still remain the central themes of the modern definition of the American Dream. According Adams (1931), the American dream is not merely a pursuit of cars and high wages, rather a dream of social order creating a society whereby every individual is able to attain the peak of achievement which they are created capable of. Further, each individual deserves the right to be recognized irrespective of their position or the unchangeable circumstances of birth. He further points out that the pursuit of this dream should not sideline other individuals in the pursuit of their goals. The shifts in the modern society have made it almost impossible for every individual to have equal footing; it is hard to ignore the bitter truth that the circumstances where each individual grows in have a tremendous impact on their ability to attain prosperity in the future. Of course the classic story of rags to riches still reverberates throughout the nation. But in reality, sometimes the odds are so great that in surmounting them to attain prosperity, one may have opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their prosperity. Indeed, the parody of our times is people working long hours to buy nice cars and big homes yet they spend over two thirds of their time tied in their work place. It is also necessary to note that it is easier for people coming from a prosperous background to achieve success than those that come from poor backgrounds. Comparing two people of equal capability and with equal opportunity, the differentiating factor will be the initial background. As Mathew (2008) puts it, in the pursuit of wealth you can never run faster than your shadow however hard you may try. The truth is that inequalities in the society serve as impediments in the pursuit of self fulfillment. Growing disparities in class and social stratification make it difficult for the individuals from humble backgrounds to pursue the American Dream. In his article â€Å"Changing Concepts of The American Dream†, Mathew (2008) points out that many Americans no longer entertain the vision fo r future success through hard work and sweat. Rather, most individuals covet a short cut to wealth. This partly explains the recent obsession with get-rich-schemes throughout the nation. Large prize television game shows have also become immensely popular who call in during the shows2. The CNN Memorial2 list a one Charles Henry Karczewski who was a benefits consultant at AON Group. In a tribute for him, his wife says that he loved that â€Å"stupid trade center†

Friday, July 26, 2019

Higher National Diploma in Business, Managing Financial Resources and Assignment

Higher National Diploma in Business, Managing Financial Resources and Decisions - Assignment Example The funding of a company’s operations through the use of debentures has become a commonly followed practice in the United Kingdom. Therefore, Excellence Solution Plc. can access debentures as a mode of funding. Share capital is a main form of external financing for a private limited company. Since Excellence Solution Plc. is listed in a premium stock exchange like London Stock Exchange, it would be comparatively easy for the company to sell its shares in the capital market to raise the required finances. Bank loans are usually considered as easily accessible sources of financing. The company may take a term loan which would be repayable at equal monthly instalments and which would carry a predefined interest rate. A bank loan is tax deductible and is feasible for the company because it would help to meet the goal of the company to pay back the loan in a year’s time. The bank loans would be easily accessible by Excellence Solution Plc. This is because, the company is an established company and banks and other types of financial institutions are much interested to extend financing to an established public limited company as compared to the small business entities. Taking loans from the bank would ensure that the company does not experience any dilution of control because the banks do not have any say in the decisions and management of the company. The interests paid on bank loans are tax deductible which would be highly advantageous for a company with high scale operations. But, in case of bankruptcy, the loan would act as a major burden because it is obligatory for the company to pay back the loan irrespective of its financial position. For an established public limited company like the case company, it would be very easy to access share capital. Not only are the shares capable of generating high amounts in the capital markets but also, they are likely to be bought by the shareholders in

Engineering Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Engineering Ethics - Essay Example The chapter discusses the moral complexity in engineering, its ethics and the importance of studying it. Deborah would not agree with Plant Manager Edgar Owens that the excess should be regarded as a merely technically. Meanwhile, would examine them about their moral values. Moral values in engineering projects are not considered as external burdens, but as standards of excellence. Combining the design constraints and goals, engineering projects involves multiple moral values connected to those constraints and goals (Martin and Roland 12). For example, efficiency, safety and respect to people and environment. Technical skills are most importance in solving ethical issues and making moral decisions. Engineers consider macro and micro issues when pursuing their projects. Micro issues are the ones concerning an individual or a company while macro issues are the ones concerning the whole world. Engineering ethics is the rights and responsibilities of engineers and personal commitments and desirable ideals in engineering. Ethic is also a study of morality. After studying engineering one bec omes a profession or a professional in public good, self-regulation or advanced experts. The local parents of the children who swim in the lake would not agree that the excess is merely technicality. Instead, they would wish the lake not to be polluted. Ethical dilemmas would be created among Marvin and Plant Manager Edgar Owens whether to control the pollution or not. Moral dilemmas are comprised of moral reasoning and choices. The chapter discusses how moral choices are useful in technological development, aspects in resolving moral dilemmas and extra roles of professional codes of ethics (Martin and Roland 27). Moral values results to decision making of engineers and their managers who make purely technical and economic decisions. Economic and technical decisions have moral dimensions in four directions, which include environmental protection,

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Kodak and Fujifilm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Kodak and Fujifilm - Essay Example In 1965, Fujifilm descended into the US, establishing its quarters in New York, in 1966 it set itself up in Dusseldorf to manage business in Europe, in 1987 it introduced itself to Germany, and so on until it had its industries scattered across the globe, from Japan, to the Middle East, to North America (Fujifilm Global, Corporate History). According to Shigetaka Komori and Shegehiro Nakajima, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer respectively, of Fujifilm, "Once, our overwhelming core business was photographic film, but we have now evolved into a company which is continually growing in a number of new strong business fields." These "new" fields that Fujifilm is expanding into include studying the "fine chemistry which controls elaborate chemical reactions, mechatronics, optics, electronics, software and a wide array of manufacturing technologies." Fujifilm is not just a photofilm industry that deals with only camera related products, rather, as Komori and Nakajima cont end, Fujifilm even caters to producing "highly functional materials such as LCD materials; medical/life sciences such as pharmaceuticals, functional skin care cosmetics and nutritional supplements; graphic arts such as printing materials and equipment; optical devices such as camera phone lens units; digital imaging such as digital cameras, digital printing, and Photobook." For Fujifilm, the ultimate goal is to "make a broad contribution to society through products and services using our leading-edge, proprietary technologies," and "aim to be a company which can respond to any changes with corporate excellence on a global scale," (Fujifilm Global, Message from the Chairman and President). Moving onto Kodak, American inventor George Eastman founded his photofilm company in Rochester, New York in 1982 (Sparkes, Kodak: 130 years of history). In 1900, Kodak launched its Brownie camera, bringing the camera into the hands of the masses of society, and in 1969, the Appollo 11 mission even made use of Kodak film. Sparkes also mentions that in 1975, Kodak was the first to build a digital camera and in 2005 it was "the largest seller of digital cameras in the US, with revenue reaching $5.7bn." Kodak's plan was to "make photography as convenient as the pencil," and the official US Kodak website further states that Kodak is "known not only for photography, but also for images used in a variety of leisure, commercial, entertainment and scientific applications. Its reach increasingly involves the use of technology to combine images and information--creating the potential to profoundly change how people and businesses communicate." Rupert Neate in his "Kodak falls in the 'creative destruction of the digital age," makes a very poignat statement that now "it is the end of the "Kodak moment." Michael Krigsman in his piece on "Goodbye Kodak, Hello Fujifilm," also makes a similar comment that "After 131 years great American photographic icon, Eastman Kodak, filed for bankruptcy w hile Japanese FujiFilm rises toward greatness." Clearly, there has been a sharp decline in the success of Kodak despite

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing Plan - Assignment Example This paper is bringing a report on how marketing solutions assist a brand for its productive and sustainable growth in the market. The report will imply marketing models of analysis and the frameworks that could help launch a selected product in a feasibly selected market. The product selected is â€Å"solar energy systems† which are proposed to be launched in the demanding UAE. The aim here is to apply marketing concepts in order to enable the successful launch of the selected product. The first section of the report will bring the constructive UAE market analysis and the second will imply marketing strategies for enabling successful establishment of the product. The objective is to build the prospect for the brand and its product, by applying all possible successful marketing schemes. With the 2020 scenario, UAE is looking out to revive its business industry. There is a multiple level of governmental plans to make the place a hub for business establishers. The trend of industrial and business growth is massive and at the great numbers as quoted by modern day researchers in UAE. This is showing a rise of demand in the power sector where there are thoughts circulating to bring alternate energy solutions, which are efficient, economic and to the most environmental safety. The need of the market is extensive as the bulk number of offices, production facilities, and factory warehouses are currently operational in UAE. They are requiring efficient power generating systems, systems that could cut the cost, meet the demand and ensure environmental safety. Initiatives are already there to find the most workable alternate energy systems. This to cut dependency on natural gas power generation, that is expensive and much effort taking. Apart from all, it has been assessed that electricity consumption in UAE is far much at the greater rates than in Europe, North America or Asia. In this alarming state, the most workable

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Nurse Reinvestment Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Nurse Reinvestment Act - Essay Example 2008). "Patients who have common surgeries in hospitals with the worst nurse staffing levels have an up to 31% increased chance of dying. More nurses at the bedside could save thousands of patient lives each year, as reported today in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The Penn researchers found that every additional patient in an average hospital nurse's workload increased the risk of death in surgical patients by 7%. Patients with life-threatening complications were also less likely to be rescued in hospitals where nurses' patient loads were heavier. The findings impact the national legislative agenda. More than 20 states have enacted or are considering nurse-staffing legislation." (Mcintyre, J. 2002, Oct 23/30) The House of Representatives and Senate Of United States has passed on Dec 20 passed separate versions of legislation which is done in favor of nurses by increasing their number, student community and nursing school faculty over the coming five years. The Senate's bill, named as The Nurse Reinvestment Act (NRA) (S.1864), had programs for lending scholarships and loan repayment programs for nursing students and nurses pursuing additional clinical training or graduate degree. The Bill also provides funding for national, state, and local advertising campaigns that encourage careers in nursing. The Senate's bill, The Nurse Reinvestment Act (NRA), would create scholarships, stipends, and loan repayment programs for nursing students and nurses pursuing additional clinical training or graduate degrees. Upon graduation, some of these programs would require an individual to work (for a specified length of time) in an area or facility with a nursing shortage. The Senate bill would also author ize funding for national, state, and local advertising campaigns that encourage careers in nursing. "The goal for this issue is to strengthen AORN's relationship with other specialty nursing organizations as well as highlight perioperative RN objectives through increased visibility in the nursing community and by supporting the Nurse Reinvestment Act. Support of the Nurse Reinvestment Act was added to AORN's legislative priorities in August 2002, just as the bill was passed by wide margins in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate and before it was signed by President Bush." (Beu, B. 2004, April) There are provisions for granting of nursing schools, health care facilities, community based joint venture to support continuing education programs, internships and specialty training for new as well as experienced nurses in S. 1864. A 2 year grant is intended to be given to nursing schools to identify "best practices" and develop innovative retention strategies and the awards would be based on a facility's size, with large hospitals with over 400 beds with an amount up to $600,00 in support. A "National Commission on the Recruitment and Retention of Nurses" is to be created as a two year program. "Sens. Mikulski and Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark. had introduced an earlier nursing bill in April 2001: The Nursing Employment and

Monday, July 22, 2019

Theories in phsychology of business Essay Example for Free

Theories in phsychology of business Essay Television advert and website are the devices of promoting that have an extensive variety of achieve and they have been overlooked to a greater degree. Individuals have an idea that TV adverts are for those rich individuals and website advert are for who have a machine or the individuals who oftentimes have sufficient energy to visit a digital or can get to machine. In no time, advancing and progressions on the World Wide Web are essentially conventional. Associations are making Web pages now and again just to show exceptional. Using the Web for publicizing requires certain supplies and authority, including getting a machine, getting an Internet organization supplier, acquiring (for the most part renting) a Website name, arranging and presenting the Website delineations and diverse limits as needed (for example, an online store for e-exchange), propelling the Website (through distinctive web hunt apparatuses, inventories, et cetera.) and keeping up the Website. Various people dont much consider TV advancements because of the inclination that the commercials are greatly extravagant. They are more extravagant than an extensive share of noteworthy sorts of publicizing. In any case, with the extending number of telecom organizations and stations, associations may find incredible game plans for setting attachments or diverse sorts of plugs. Television notices regularly are assessed with near considerations to radio advancements, that is, the amount of advancements, the length of advancements and when they are placed reporting progressively. Television types of publicizing can be utilized to reach numerous gathering of people at once and regardless of where demographic the crowd fall, there is a system airing fitting projects together with advertisements. Website ad have an extensive variety of achieve and they are not confined to topographical obstructions and regardless of where the group of onlookers is in any piece of the world and have admittance to web joined machine they can get the advert. Maslow`s theory                  Maslows pecking order of requirements is a hypothesis in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943. It is referred as hypothesis of human inspiration. Maslow broadened his thought in including his perception of humans inherent interest Maslows chain of importance of necessities is regularly depicted fit as a fiddle of a pyramid with the biggest, most key levels of requirements at the base and the requirement for self- completion at the top. Maslows hypothesis recommends that the most fundamental level of requirements must be met before the individual will firmly want the auxiliary or more elevated amount needs. Maslows hypothesis is utilized in both TV advert and site in that when advert is continuously made the most imperative things are highlighted initially emulated by the needs that need self-completion. In site the needs that the business needs to promote are sorted from the most essential to the paramount ones and they are posted on the organiza tions site or any partner showcasing. Hertzberg’s theory                  Two- factor theory essentials otherwise called HERTZBERGS theory has mentality and their association with modern mental wellbeing are identified with Abraham Maslows hypothesis of inspiration. As per Herzberg, people are not content with the fulfillment of lower-request needs at work; for instance, those needs connected with least pay levels or sheltered and average working conditions. Rather, people search for the delight of more elevated amount mental needs needing to do with accomplishment, distinguishment, obligation, progression, and the way of the work itself. Herzberg added another measurement to this hypothesis by proposing a two-component model of inspiration, in view of the thought that the vicinity of one set of employment qualities or motivators prompts specialist fulfillment at work, while an alternate and separate set of occupation attributes prompts disappointment at work. Subsequently, fulfillment and disappointment are not on a continuum with one expanding as alternate lessens, yet are free phenomena. This hypothesis recommends that to enhance work disposition and benefit, heads must perceive and go to both sets of attributes and not accept that an increment in fulfillment prompts diminish in unpleasable disappointment. Two –factor hypothesis basics is not utilized in either the TV advert and website since this hypothesis is essentially planned for workers and not clients. Vroom expectancy theory                  It accepts that conduct results from cognizant decisions among plan B whose reason it is to expand delight and minimize torment. Together with Edward Lawler and Lyman Porter, Victor Vroom proposed that the relationship between individuals conduct at work and their objectives was not as basic as was initially envisioned by different researchers. Vroom understood that a workers execution is focused around people components, for example, identity, aptitudes, information, experience and capacities. Vroom anticipation hypothesis is based to look the certainty of the workers, feelings and view of the organization. This hypothesis is not utilized in TV commercial and the web ad. Freudian theory                  As per Freud psychoanalytic hypothesis, all psychic vitality is created by the drive. Freud additionally accepted that much of human conduct was roused by two driving senses: the life impulses and the passing impulses. The life impulses are those that identify with a fundamental requirement for survival, propagation and joy. They incorporate such things as the requirement for nourishment, haven, love and sex. He additionally proposed that all people have an oblivious wish for death, which he alluded to as the demise impulses. Self-dangerous conduct, he accepted, was one interpretation of the demise drive. In any case, he accepted that these demise senses were to a great extent tempered by the life impulses. This hypothesis is nearly utilized in the television and site advert since the adverts made are regulated to individuals with fixation at specific stages and with obsession at specific purposes of advancement. The organizations needs to comprehend thei r customers’ charisma they are planning to draws in consideration. Behavioral Theory                  Behavior argues that concepts like conflict, anxiety and fixation do not explain behavioral of an individual. Behavior of individual is guided by punishment one receive or rewards given that reinforce the behavior and increase the chances of behavior occurring. Behavioral belief that observable stimuli in the environment causes organisms to act in a particular way. This theory is related to Freudian theory and is basically employed in both form of advertisement in this paper. The anxiety of people is capitalized by most of the TV broadcasting station and when audience are longing to continue with their favorite programme there is a break for adverts to be made. For website it happens when a client visits a certain website and before it opens there are some adverts that pops there. In both cases advertisers capitalizes the behavioral theory in concepts of anxiety. Cognitive theory                  This theories emphasizes mental processes in development such as logic and memory. Piagel proposed that each of us begin life with a small repertoire of sensory and motor scheme such as looking , tasting, touching and hearing we use each scheme becomes better adapted to the world. We possess mental scheme as well and most developed in childhood and adolescence. Mental schemes allows us to use symbols and thinking logically. Cognitive theory is much employed in advertising and much in TV and website advert. Advertisers have to use the logic while advertising in abide to capture the attention of the clients or audience. In cognitive theory, the audience are not passive learners and the audience development has to be taken in to consideration before advert is made as shown by Freudian theory. Comparison                  Both covers extensive variety of group of onlookers over any demographic dissimilar to other type of showcasing like magazines They both covers all race of gathering of people particularly channels like BBC and CNN although their group of onlookers needs to comprehend the dialect utilized as a part of show. Contrast For television adverts there are those one planned for adult individuals and they are brought when certain system is broadcast. For Website anybody can get to the advert despite the fact that they were not expected for that age. My recommendation is that there the installment made to each advert in TV and site ought to be publicized possibly in a week or a month to make individuals have boldness to promote with them. The correspondence commission of each nation ought to meet up and draft the principle to be followed in making adverts that will reach anybody on the globe. References Farmer, W. (2001). 5. In Latent trait theory analysis of changes in item response anchors: Final report (2nd ed., Vol. 2, p. 95). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Aviation Medicine ;. Gardener, L. (1972). Theories in phsychology of business. In Attitude and motivational in languages learning (1st ed., Vol. 1, p. 211). Rowley: Newbury house. Kandoyan, N. (2002). Theories in phsychology of business. In A study of performance efficiency in public and private sector organizations (1st ed., Vol. 2, p. 47). Baltimore: John Hopkin University press. Laban, J. (2003). Phychology of thoughts. In Phsychology of customer in business (1st ed., Vol. 1, p. 37). Newyork: Jameson publisher. Martin, S. (1990). Business and people. In Learned optimism (1st ed., Vol. 1, p. 101). Newyork. Maslow, A., Hoffman, E. (1996). Future visions: The unpublished papers of Abraham Maslow. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Maslow, A. (1999). Maslows theory. In Toward a psychology of being (3rd ed., Vol. 2, p. 120). New York: J. Wiley Sons. Orlando, F., Orlando, F. (1978). Freudian theory. In Toward a Freudian theory of literature: With an analysis of Racines PheÌ€dre (1st ed., Vol. 1, p. 143). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Source document

Olafur Eliasson | Artist Biography

Olafur Eliasson | Artist Biography A general visit to an art gallery consists of being able to view a series of objects hanging from the wall or placed upon a stand. However, Olafur Eliasson takes the role of seeing an object within a gallery space to a whole new level. Eliasson creates what is known to be as installation art. This modern art form is described as an artwork that must be walked through by the viewers to be able to experience it completely. Installation art is set up in a certain area for a short period of time and is preserved only through memory and photographs. Olafur believes that his work is not completed until the visitor may experience his or her subjective perception and mediation. Many of his works use the possessive pronoun your eg: Your Sun Machine (1997, Marc Foxx Gallery), Your Natural Denudation Inverted (1999, Carnegie Museum of Art,), Your Black Horizon and Your space Embracer, (2004, West of Rome). With this, he is implying that the spectator must engage to the piece and make the connec tion as part of the aesthetics of the installation. I see potential in the spectator in the receiver, the reader, the participator, the viewer, the user. Olafur Eliasson. To Eliasson, this is the perfect strategy to have the viewer take part in individual awareness, reflect on the piece and meditate. Olafur Eliasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1967. He is Danish-Icelandic and is known to be one of the most famous contemporary artists of our time. His Icelandic nationality is the mold of his influence. Icelands landscapes and Eliassions works are very similar aesthetically speaking in the sense that they both share the same elements. He uses materials such as wind, light, and water (solid, fog, and ice) that are typical to that of Icelands landscape. Olafurs works have been known to mimic natures unique power. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy and majored in Fine Arts. Eliasson created the Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin in 1995; he used this space for research and development. His early pieces were usually photographs of the Icelandic landscape which he later explains helped him have a financial role to support his future installations. Olafurs artwork mainly consists of geometric forms and analytical lines which enhance the space and light that is being used. Eliass on combines light, movement and color in his exhibitions along with the viewer. His work invites his audience to participate into the public realm where they may find their own moments of self discovery. When I make something, which maybe is a work of art, I want this to be in the world. I want it to be sincerely and honestly and responsibly in the world. I want it to have an impact somehow. Eliasson explains his intentions for his artwork. As every artist should, they should feel like they would make a significant impact with the worlds. However, while doing research, Ive noticed that Eliassons intention as an artist is to make space tangible. He creates playful works that demonstrate time and dimension. An example of this are his infamous New York City waterfalls. In these pieces he proves the time it takes for water to fall by placing such large artificial waterfalls in a large city such as New York. While the waterfalls represent time, ultimately, it is the viewer who can determine this depending on the distance and angle. Olafur creates a bridge to make his audience think about their surroundings, and how some objects and environments we perceive on a daily basis are usually seen to be self-evident. Eliassons work has also been known to mimic and recreate forces of nature and explore human perception. He does this while working with lights, shadows, stone, water, mi st, or fog to create a specific environment. Eliasson feels that all these elements serve a purpose for his installations. For example, the simple use of light can cast a shadow upon a wall for the viewer and can project two-dimensional shapes on a white wall which would create the illusion of a three-dimensional space. His work sometimes consist of horizon lines which not only are an example of mimicking nature, but also make the whole piece three-dimensional and give off a sense of confusion. Eliassion calls this illusory architecture which is when space creates an illusion, even though one is aware of the walls and space surrounding you. Some work that includes a lot of illusory architecture is the piece Take Your Time (2008) which fit the idea very well. The viewer feels as if they would like to inhabit the space for a while. The installation uses monofrequency lights to completely cover the room in shades of yellow and black and intimately involves its inhabitants. Another room, Beauty (1993) consists of a dark room covered in black tiles where a mist falls from the ceiling and creates a rainbow curtain to walk through. Whats so spectacular about this piece is that its different every time and for every person. Upon visiting the installation, what one person sees as yellow, could be seen as vio let for the other person; no matter how close these two people may be, the outcome will always be different. With this piece, one can really say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Another room invites you to completely immerse yourself within the color spectrum, 360ÂÂ ° Room For All Colours (2002). The circular room blankets the audience with a display of light that race around the cylindrical wall. The colors overlap and create an endless amount of shades of color. The installation manages to rearrange your visual senses from being dependant on ones vision until you realize that your other senses take part in enjoying the artwork. This piece covers the viewer with natures color palette, which is referencing to Eliassons photography from the Icelandic landscape. The Weather Project (2003) at Tate Modern Museum in London consists of a giant sun made of over 200 yellow lamps in a semi-circle reflected over mirrors on the ceiling. The mist that covers the museum is made up of water and sugar. The installation itself attracted over two million people whom would behave oddly in front of the ceiling mirrors. Eliasson described this works as seeing yourself seeing. This is one thing Ive noticed about Olafur Eliassons work, is that it evokes feelings and sensation. All art has a way with creating emotions. Within the functions of art, there is always a concept. As a society, most people may appreciate photography or film more because we make connections and find it easier to relate to and were forced to see what the artist sees. This is why I think installation art is probably not recognized as much as photography within society. However, the function for art is solely to be art, otherwise, its just a design. Installations and exhibition art are mea nt to tell a story or evoke emotion, which is what Eliassons work does in such a simple manner. The work of Olafur Eliasson has given people the idea to see double. He creates his installations with the intention of expressing vision through the audiences experience with spatial design. With this, the viewer is usually confused about his or her surroundings which may lead towards reflection on ones life. Olafur Eliassons work is known to be eccentric and has a geometric use of projections of light and mirrors, analytical lines and natural elements to confuse the viewers perception of place and oneself. Eliasson also creates a foreground sense in each of his works. When Eliasson transforms a gallery into a space of nature, he creates a deep connection with space for the viewer that lets his or her think about their own senses and life. His work challenges ones mind and makes you think about what you feel when you see the work at first and what you may already know. This creates a battle with perception and self. His works are known to be thought out works of experiences that make one wonder about what they are seeing, and if what they are seeing is really there. This is why I think Olafur Eliassion stands out the most in the wolrd of environmental installation. He creates installations that make people question about their own spatial awareness, and I think its something a person woul d have to experience first hand to fully understand. Citations http://eliasson.com.au/. Take Your Time.. 2010. http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2int_new=24332. Art Daily .2010. Olafur Eliasson Space Is Process. 2010 Studio Olafur Eliasson: An Encyclopedia Human Rights: Universal or a Western Construct? Human Rights: Universal or a Western Construct? Since the beginning of Human Rights until recent Human Rights issues, the interpretation and concept of Human Rights have been diversified significantly. Western construct have played a big role in the creation of Human Rights and in questioning the meaning of universal rights. The rights one has because one is human is a clear and concise meaning of human rights, which is an appurtenance to an individual, where certain parts are not included, such as benefits. The western ideology of Human Rights have greatly inputted in Human Rights through various concepts that have been introduced to non western societies. These various concepts of western construct have influenced Universal Human Rights, where western politics have greatly altered the concept of Human Rights, also through colonisation which is particularly affected Indigenous communities, and by western cultures and societies. The western construct of Human Rights is eminently viewed in Human Rights, which are present in both we stern and non western societies. Human Rights have gradually been altered and changed to insert western values and political thoughts into non-western states and societies. The western political emphasis for the right to development and to freedom from hunger is predominate in Africa as a rightYet, some of these rights do not correlate within societies in Africa. In result of this, many African leaders repudiated western political emphasis of Human Rights into their societies and designed their own Human Rights Charter, or also known as the African (Banjul) Charter on Human Rights, to suit their society.3 Even though the African Charter was created to suit the African society, western political influence is still clearly evident in the charter. Individual freedoms and rights as values has lost its significance in non western political thought, which is much of a variance, though non western societies have trouble determinating this significance that would be easier in western societies. Political influence is widely viewed in Human Rights and it influences the rights that are also used in non western societies. The western concept was also brought through colonisation and it too affected the Human Rights significantly. It is how the western ideology was introduced in non western societies. Colonialism creates the basis and idea of Human Rights throughout history. The colonisation of certain states that have Indigenous People has influenced the Human Rights that are present in their societies. The fleet that arrived in countries with Indigenous People, particularly Australia, were asserted in the Indigenous Community without their permission, thus resulting in ascendancy in the communities. Bringing civilisation and the religion of Christianity was a priority for the fleet, to introduce them with their style of Human Rights. Though, this occurrence ended in a bloody way by killing and damaging many of the Indigenous People in order to universalise universal moral values. Indigenous People were greatly affected through colonisation all due to insertion of western construct of Human Rights, wh ich resulted in many casualties questioning whether basic Human Rights have been breached just for introducing the western construct of Human Rights. The post colonisation period, many Indigenous people have been ridiculed and degraded in society. Many rights, which are of western construct, are evident in the Indigenous society, where it lacked some rights or in some cases the rights did not fit in. Group rights, which are rights intended for a group of people, created problems in the Indigenous community. Group rights were mainly to do with economy and social class, rather than individual problems such as racism and ethnicity. Some speculate that if the existence of Group Rights was not evident, ethnic integration would not have been as difficult, and an end to ethnic hostility would have been seen.6 Indigenous People are seen to be excluded from the social life and economic opportunity, through practical questions such as why are their health conditions worse? et cetera. Only a handful of governments apologised to the Indigenous People, which brought them closer to the western society and the reconciliation process was starting to take effect.6 Colonisation was seen to affect Indigenous Communities and result in western rights implemented into their societies. Through colonisation, western culture has been introduced and changed, through Human Rights, in non western societies and cultures. It differs greatly from the cultures evident in non western societies. Indigenous Rights, in Latin America, was seen to be the main priority. It focused on the state abusing the Indigenous people and pushing for Indigenous people to have rights to their land and culture The Spanish community and people in Latin America have been introducing western culture into the Indigenous community of Latin America, thus implementing the Human Rights as a western construct. It is evident that in Universal Human Rights, the cultural imperialism is dominant by the west. The argument brought by Fernando Teson is that domination of certain attitudes seen in cultures, are accordingly appropriate and moral. Another point Teson argues is that ethnocentrism that relativists view are not supplying the same basic rights to non western cultures as opposed to the western culture s receiving those rights. Western culture has been a big influence in the non-western cultures and societies, it change the rights significantly in the non western society and adapted the western idea and thought but in the same time the western construct of rights was viewed differently in the non western cultures. The western society has also greatly impacted on the non western society, with the influence of western life and living which altered the Human Rights, and thus impacting it on the non western society. Human Rights, to a certain extent, accepts the idea that they are rights of the human in society. In 1789 the French recognised and stated the fundamentals of Human Rights which are evident in society, suggests that society too is in power to deliberate those rights, stating that western society can change and dismantle any specific right in any society.Edmund Bourke creates one of the most protruding historical criticism of the notion that Universal Human Rights derives from western construct and western societies that are implemented into non western societies. He argues that the French revolution changed the rights of many individuals and groups in society into a western for of rights. Bourkes Reflections on the Revolution in France, states a large argument of traditional communitie s and problems in traditional values, such as religion and loyalty, creates problems, disorder and integrity of western societies, thus the western societies alter many of the rights in order to suit their desires and to comply with the way they live Western society has changed many of the traditional concepts in non western society, thus the western society impacting greatly on non western societies with Human Rights. It is evident that the western construct has greatly impacted and significantly changed and altered the idea of Human Rights. These Human Rights are being implemented into non western societies, and the eastern oriental community are having to follow these concepts and ideas. The ironic title of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is much seen as a western creation of Human Rights. The examples shown in this essay argues the idea of western construct in the universal human rights through various factors such as politics, culture, colonisation and society.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Development of Real Photography

Development of Real Photography Introduction The increasingly mediatised culture we live in today has lead us to be dominated by and dependent upon the production and consumption of images. Notions of objectivity and empiricism in the photographic have long since disappeared, but we still locate our sense of the real in images. This dissertation will use many theories and ideas that discuss the role of photography, postmodernism and the real within todays culture. It will start with a discussion of the reasoning for the initial shift back towards the real. This shift mainly stemmed from postmodernism and the media. Postmodernism dealt with the idea of never ending reference and the fear about postmodern culture was that this never ending reference meant that all grip on reality had disappeared. There was a wish to return to something more stable and basic: the real? Due to advances in technology and developments in photography, the new fast changing everyday image led to our relationships and emotions becoming mediatised. We re -live events and experiences through images, which leads to a loss of the real. We remember the image rather than the event. Photographers started to try and return to the purely descriptive photography from the times before the mass referencing of postmodernism. This dissertation will look at how some of these photographers attempted to represent the real and also at how a few decided to play around with the representation of the real. Ansel Adams, for example, believed in simply trying to create a true representation of the landscape he was photographing. He attempted to show scenery at its most natural and realistic, with no visual manipulation or artifice. Andreas Gursky on the other hand began with this view but soon started changing this representation with digital editing so that it was no longer a true representation. Some photographers began attempting to create purely descriptive photography but could not escape referencing earlier work. Justin Partykas work The East Angli ans, for example cannot be described as anything else but descriptive photography. However, his reference to Robert Franks The Americans in his title, had led him to fall into the postmodernism trap. Can you provide an account without analysis when it comes to photography? This leads onto the main question posed in this dissertation: can we ever (re)find the real? Some would say that even photos that appear to be descriptive cannot escape being subjected to analysis and placed within a context of viewing. Due to postmodernism, we are constantly searching for meaning and analysis in images. Maybe they can never be void of reference and construction? Maybe images can never provide the clear, stable version of reality that we want from them? This constant analysis of images has exhausted our trust and interest in the photograph; there was a need to create images different from the ones we see every day in the media in order to re-find our trust in the image as truth and as art. Older, slower technologies began to re-emerge. The single image produced from these methods of working could bring back the processes of our memory that have been complicated due to the sheer amount of information we get from other technologies. There are a number of strands of pho tography that are concerned with the notion of re-finding the real. What do these methods of photographing have in common? Do any of these strands achieve the stable and basic feeling of certainty that the real exists? Andy Grundbergs phrase the crisis of the real is apt in explaining the context of the real within the photographic; the word crisis inferring both an intense difficulty and a point of departure; a need for immediate change. Defining or attempting to name this period of change is not important, what is important is what it means for photographic practice. Will we continue to be consumed by images, or is there a future beyond the cycle of referencing left by postmodernism?   Can we ever (re)find authenticity, originality and a true form of photography that can direct us to the real? Chapter 1: What caused people to want to return to the real? There are many factors which eventually led to people wanting to return to the real values that were present in art and culture before postmodernism. This chapter will look at what some of these factors are and how they led to the return of the real. It will first deal with postmodernism and how the never ending referencing that was introduced during this time affected photography as an art form, and how the loss of the real that we experienced during the postmodernist era led to a wish to return to something more stable and basic. It will also look at the advances in technology and video that came about at this time, and how these advances changed photographic culture.   It will also explore how our experiences, events, and even our emotions, both on an individual and public scale are heavily mediated, and how as a result of this, it is claimed we have lost any relation to the real. The original shift towards the real came about due to postmodernism. This new form of art focussed on bringing together elements from existing culture, and never making anything new. This new way of working led to photography being used more and more in art. Before, photography had merely been a method of recording and was used mainly in science. Anytime it had been used in art it was considered undeserving and not a true art form.   However, the rise of postmodernism meant that artists were looking for more ways to express themselves. Photography began to be used more and more, and it was becoming a more widely recognised and accepted form of art. As people were using it more and more, new developments in photographic technology were emerging. These new technologies meant that photography became more widely available, and many people who were not considered artists began using it. Photography was now used extensively in art, and in the new postmodern culture. Postmodernism discarded the idea of finding something new and original and instead focussed on recombining elements from existing culture. Nothing new was being created which soon meant that art had become exhausted. The postmodern culture played with signs of never ending reference, where the more you played the less anyone seemed to know what reality it was touching (Bate, 2004a: 31) and we had lost touch with what we thought reality to be (Bate, 2004a: 31). The constant referencing and re-referencing had led to us being absorbed in representation. We no longer knew what reality was, and what it was not. We were lost. The fear about postmodern culture was that there was no longer any anchor to reality at all, and that reality had disappeared into an endless chain of other representations (Bate, 2004a: 31). This never ending reference meant that all grip on reality had disappeared. There was a wish to re turn to something more stable and basic. There was a need for change, for something new to emerge from the endless trail of reference. In this culture, in which reality was discarded in favour of mass intertextual referencing, there was a desire to return to reality. As David Bate says, there was a, wish for a grittier, closer to reality relation through realism (Bate, 2004a: 35). Many people wanted a return to the values of modernism (the straight and pure photograph) to contemporary art photography, this is a return to description, originality and actuality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" precisely all the things that were strongly rejected by postmodernism (Bate, 2004a: 33). There were many developments in technology that caused the downfall of postmodernism, along with the introduction of video. Photography was once the only way of stopping time, whereas now a freeze frame can come from any number of sources. Photographs began to be made by pulling them out of existing images; they were now selected from video and film. What had once been the sole privilege and product of the photograph is now equally likely to be the result of a cinema or video freeze-frame (Bate, 2004b: 34). The development of video was leading to photography becoming redundant.   Photography and video was also now becoming more readily available. Due to new appliances such as DVD players and VCRs, anyone could now create a freeze frame from a video. Even cinematic blockbusters can be stilled on domestic appliance devices like DVD and video machines (Bate, 2004b: 34). Victor Burgin discussed the advances in film and video in his essay Possessive, Pensive and Possessed. The int roduction of VCRs, DVD players, and eventually video editing software on personal computers, meant that the order of narrative could now be routinely countermanded (Burgin, 2007: 198) by the audience whenever they wished. This changed photography, as instead of photographs being of an actual event, they were now selections from the way the event had already been interpreted. Newspapers and news channels were no longer using photographers to capture the perfect picture; they were using video and selecting the image from the video. This enabled the news channels to pick the exact expression or look they required to give a biased representation of the person or thing. They could now create a completely false demonstration and force a public collective opinion. David Bate talks about these freeze-frame images in his article After Thought, Part II. He says, The possibility of choosing the right moment in such instances is still dependent upon   a person knowing when to push the button, but this is now in the hands of someone selecting a still from an already produced moving image. The selected decisive moment is chosen from a film or video stream rather than reality itself. Whereas a photograph was supposed to be a rectangle ripped out of time as John Berger had once dramatically put it, today it is more often via the computer that a print is pulled out of some existing image bank. (Bate, 2004a: 34) Images used to be representations of actual lived events à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" now these images we see in news and the media are much more likely to be representations from the way the event has already been represented. Video had stolen what makes photography special à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the decisive moment. Therefore the specificity and specialness of photography had to find itself in some other attribute of photography. New developments in digital imagery mean that we can now see results instantly; there is no waiting in a lab or until the end of your holiday to see your photographs. Advances in technology, such as mobile phones, email, etc. now allow us to see and share images in a fraction of a second. The person sending these images and the person receiving them can now send and expect results instantly. Yet despite the idea that these mobile technologies bring us all closer to each other, we are caught up in a contradiction, since they increasingly mediatise our relationships to one another (Bate, 2004b: 35).   We no longer talk to each other and see each other face to face; we instead communicate through email, mobile text messaging and social networking sites, where we never actually see the other person we are communicating with. This has lead to a loss of the real. As David Bate said, To look at something it has to be kept at a distance (Bate, 2004b: 35). Because of the loss of the real that we experienced during the postmodernist era there is a wish to return to something more stable and basic. New art is now made up of redundant processes that are often older and slower, which makes this new art form different from the images we see in everyday media culture. If analogue photography is becoming technologically redundant or residual to news and advertising industries, the consequences for art are different. New art is often borne of redundant industrial processes, usually older and slower, by finding a new use and aesthetic within the arts and which comes out of its marking a difference from image uses in everyday media culture. (Bate, 2004b: 40) Artists were leaving these new fast technologies that were used in the media in favour of older slower ones. These old, redundant methods were considered more real. The traditional, slower, apparently simpler methods seemed to be more linked to the real as they are different from the images in the media. Some people have called this change and shift in the way that photographs are being constructed a shift towards the real values that were present in modernism, before the rise of postmodernism. As Susan Sontag says, The cult of the future (of faster and faster seeing) alternates with the wish to return to a more artisanal, purer past à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" when images still had a handmade quality, an aura (Sontag, 1977: 221). But, Hal Foster feels that we have not left postmodernism completely, it has just become normalised. The consequence of this is that we change the way we want reality to be constructed. Hal Foster feels that simply, postmodernism became dÃÆ' ©modÃÆ' ¨ (Foster, 1996: 206). Due to the media, we have become inundated with images and photographs in our everyday life, to the extent that images have become our reality. We no longer separate images from real life, and the two have become blurred. In his book, Comments on the Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord talks about how developments in photography and the proliferation of mass media images have contributed to what Debord called the society of the spectacle. In the spectacular world, images and representations become our reality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" everything exists as and for images. Where images refer to one another endlessly, originality and authenticity are abolished. We become consumed by images and messages. Experience, events, and even our emotions, both on an individual and public scale are heavily mediated. As a result of this, it is claimed we have lost any relation to the real; The spectacle has now spread itself to the point where it now permeates all reality. (Debord, 1990: 9) Our real-life experiences become repressed and events take place in a mediated, pseudo-reality. We can no longer distinguish between real memories, and mediated memories. Victor Burgin explores this in his essay Possessive, Pensive and Possessed. He describes a study done in 1977 where people were interviewed about their past experiences. There were a few people in the study who believed that media events or films were in fact their own memories. People became confused and mixed personal history with scenes from films or media productions. As Burgin says, I saw at the cinema would simply become I saw (Burgin, 2007: 200). Burgin explains how these people were remembering scenes from a film instead of real life, and called these memories screen memories;   A screen memory is one which comes to mind in the place of, and in order to conceal, an associated but repressed memory (Burgin, 2007: 201). People were remembering images and scenes from films and the media that were similar to their real memories, but were less painful as there were not actual lived recollections. People were using these to cover up and replace genuine, traumatic memories. In the past, events happened but people just didnt know about them as there was no media. It rarely went beyond those involved. Now because of media we all know about every event, and add these events to our memories, even though we have not actually physically experienced them. We forget our real experiences and replace them with things from the media. Thomas De Zengotita, in his book, Mediated; How the media shape the world around us, describes how our reaction to big events such as the 9/11 disaster is to experience and re-live them through images. He calls this bubble of mediated representations the blob. In the world of the blob, momentous catastrophes such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks are almost poignant enough to burst the bubble, something like that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" will feel as if it might be sharp enough, as if it might pierce the membrane and slice the pulp (De Zengotita, 2007: 27). However, not surprisingly, our reaction to such events is to experience and re-live it t hrough images, adding it to our bank of mediated events.   In other words, they become part of the spectacle. Chapter 2: Realism in Landscape Photography This chapter is going to explore how photographers attempt to represent the real, and if you can create a purely descriptive photograph. It will discuss photographers that try to represent the real, and also photographers that play around with the representation of the real, to create something completely different. I will specifically be looking at landscape photography, as this is the area of photography were photographers have really attempted to create authentic representations of the real, to show the landscape. It is also the area of photography that I am particularly interested in. To attempt to show the real in landscape photography, you need to show the scenery at its most natural and realistic, with no visual manipulation or artifice. There is also the argument that no message, meaning or reference may be conveyed at all. Considering it is the view of some people that photographs are analysed and given meaning as soon as they are viewed, is this possible? In this chapter, select works of four photographers will be looked at. It will consider how each photographer has attempted to show the real, either as an exact representation, or by manipulating the representation to give it a different meaning, and will discuss whether they have managed this. The photographers that are going to be observed are Ansel Adams, Andreas Gursky, Doug Aitken and Justin Partyka. Ansel Adams is an environmentalist and photographer who makes landscape photographs to essentially document and record the beauty of nature. Adams love of nature began when he was a child, after having problems fitting in at school and eventually being home taught. He would go for hikes through nature, and this is where his fascination with nature was set in motion. Adams began his photographic career by using the Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie his parents had given him to record his travels through the Yosemite Valley. He soon joined the Sierra club, and held his first solo exhibition at the clubs headquarters in 1928. The work created by Adams is done using a large format camera, so as to capture as much detail as possible. The image I will be looking at is called Mt. Clarence King, Pool, Kings Canyon National Park, California (1925). It is a landscape image taken in Kings Canyon National Park in 1925. The image is a black and white image, of a scene, with large mountains in the background and a pool in the foreground. There is a lot of gravelly earth around the pool and some trees and bushes between the mountains and pool. This image is an authentic representation of the landscape, and is not trying to be anything else. Adams wanted to purely represent the landscape, and this is what he has done. Adams began to pursue straight photography, in which the clarity of the lens was emphasized, and the final print gave no appearance of being manipulated in the camera or the darkroom (www.anseladams.com, 2009). Adams only ever tried to create accurate representations of the landscape.   However, you could argue that the fact that he works in black and white indicates that this image is not a true representation, as the world is not in black and white. This non use of colour is therefore a message, rendering the im ages more than pure description. Andreas Gursky is one of the rare photographers who began attempting to create vast, clear representations of the real, but then moved on to openly digitally manipulating his images. I will be looking at some of his work pre 1990s, as this is before he started to digitally manipulate his images. Gursky was trained and influenced by Hilla and Bernd Becher, who are known for their straight, scientific style of systematically cataloguing industrial machinery and architecture. This may be compared to the similar methodical approach that Gursky has to his own work. Gursky generally photographs landscape in large colour format (although a lot of his work is urban landscape, both interior and exterior). The image I will be examining is Fishermen, MÃÆ' ¼lheim a.d. Ruhr, taken in 1989. This is a landscape image of Gurskys taken in 1989. It is of a river running through the city of MÃÆ' ¼lheim. The river is wide and flat, with trees covering both banks. You can just make out a few small groups of fishermen on the banks of the river, and a bridge in the distance. This is before he used any digital manipulation, and was purely trying to represent the real. Gursky has not attempted to conceal or change anything in this image to give it a meaning or a reference. He has named the image what it is, Fishermen, MÃÆ' ¼lheim a.d. Ruhr, which is simply what is it, fishermen on a river in MÃÆ' ¼lheim, so has not tried to imply meaning through the name of the image. This image is meant to be purely descriptive, and a genuine representation of the real. Other photographers and writers have agreed with this, for example David Bate says What Gursky and Evans both share (with different techniques of course) is an awesome description. The effects of these anecdotal descriptions is primarily to evince reality through the photographic instant of here it is and this is how it is. The picture throws at the audience a defiant description where the accumulation of anecdotal detail actually inhibits the communication of a specific message. (Bate, 2004a; pg 33) Bates view is that the vast amount of detail in the image actually inhibits a message being conveyed by the image. He feels Gurskys plan is to be as authentically descriptive as possible à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this is how it is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and not to hide or imply any other meaning or reference. This may have been Gurskys plan, to attempt to create a pure representation of the real, but this does not change how we view images. We still attempt to create a meaning for ourselves, as we no longer feel that sheer description is enough. There must be a referent, a meaning behind the image, and we are constantly looking for it. Gursky was attempting to create a purely descriptive photograph, but we do not see it like that because of the way we now look at and interpret images. Doug Aitken works with a range of material, including photography, sculpture, films, sound, single and multichannel video works and instillations. This essay, however, will just be looking at his photography. Rather than purely representing the real in his images, Aitken plays around with the representation of the image so they are descriptive photographs, but the way they are put together adds a message and reference. Aitken lives and works in Los Angeles, and is one of many new artists to work with the medium of film. Film is Aitkens main medium for his art work although he does work with still images from time to time. The image I am going to be looking at is called New Opposition III. This is an image made up of four different images. Separately, the images could be considered as descriptive attempts at representing the real. However, the way that Aitken puts them together changes this. If viewed on their own, they would be seen as purely descriptive, real images of landscape. But the way they have been put together suggests something else. They become more like a narrative, showing different places at different times, together; I wanted to find a way to blend together different moments in time, different spaces and different locations (Aitken, : 62). Aitken feels that the images would not work on their own and rely on each other to create their meaning. On their own, they would be nothing. He says The photographs do not work as self-sufficient one-off frames but rely on each other for meaning. The optical tricks that the landscape form when placed together give the impression to the viewer that they are either falling into the centre of the earth or are on top of it looking down as if from the apex of a pyramid (Aitken, :62). The way the images are placed together is obviously very important to the meaning that Aitken is trying to provide. Aitken is using real images in his work, but playing around with the representation so that they are no longer considered real. He purposefully adds a meaning and a message to his images, rather than leaving it to the viewers imagination. This is different from somebody like Gursky, who does not give a message, as the image is just supposed to be an authentic representation. Any meaning given to Gurskys images is given by the viewer, in contrast to Aitkens images where the meaning is given for you. Viewers are now so used to images having a meaning, and that meaning being told to them, that they now look for a meaning in everything. Justin Partyka is a photographer whose work explores the importance of place, culture and identity, and the roles that tradition and landscape play in these themes. He is currently working on three long term projects; The East Anglians, The Carnivalesque of CÃÆ' ¡diz, and Saskatchewan. The project I will be concentrating on is The East Anglians. The work, The East Anglians, is a collection of documentary photographs of rural life in East Anglia. Partyka attempts to create real images, in a documentary style. His photographs are often very straight with no messages or signs. The image I am looking at is one from the East Anglians series, but the title is unknown. This image is of an old barn in East Anglia. As the image is untitled, it suggests that Partyka did not want to imply any meaning at all, not even naming the place or image. The barn is quite old and rusty, and appears to be in a state of disrepair. There is a lot of grass in the foreground in front of the barn, and fields behind it. The photograph is an attempt at a real representation of the scene. However, Partyka has called this series of photographs, The East Anglians. This is a quite obvious reference to Robert Franks, The Americans. Although Partyka has created purely descriptive images, he has referenced other work in his title. Partykas work, although essentially descriptive, cannot deny the presence of such referencing. What we have here is an image that is subjective in narrative, with referencing to earlier photography, and yet undoubtedly descriptive. I see photography as very much a descriptive mediumà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but obviously this description is an edited one based on the choices made by the photographer in where they point the camera and when they press the shutter (Partyka, 2009). Partyka has acknowledged that his photographs are descriptive, and that photography is a descriptive medium, but can a photograph ever be a pure representation of the real? As Partyka says, the description of an image is based on the photographers choice of where to point the camera and when to press the shutter, which immediately adds reference to the image. We cant help but look at what a photograph means. Photographs are placed in a context of viewing, and are subjected to analysis and interpretation at the very instance of looking. So, although Partyka has undoubtedly created very descriptive images, the referencing in his title, and the fact that images are analysed as soon as they are placed in a context of viewing, means his photographs are no longer purely descriptive. Can we ever have an account without analysis? It seems that we cannot. Even photographs that are meant to be purely descriptive are analysed and given meaning and reference as soon as they are placed within a context of viewing. This is similar to the Observer Effect popular in current interpretations of Quantum Mechanics.   This theory puts forward the postulate that by merely observing an object, the very nature of the object itself is changed: One of the most bizarre premises of quantum theory, which has long fascinated philosophers and physicists alike, states that by the very act of watching, the observer affects the observed reality (www.sciencedaily.com, 1998). Could it therefore be said that an image may remain purely descriptive as long as it is never viewed, and therefore never interpreted and given meaning? Possibly, but then we also have to discuss whether a photograph is made more than a pure representation when it is taken. When a photographer decides where to po int their camera, when to press the shutter, what to cut out of the image and what to include, it could be said that in that instant the photographer is not making an exact representation of reality, but an edited one. Therefore, it could also be said that we can never provide a purely descriptive representation of the real through photography. Chapter 3: Can we ever get back to the real? This brings us to the question; can we ever get back to the real? Were we even there in the first place?   Does descriptive realism actually exist in photography? This chapter will look at the theories and ideas of many photography theorists, as well as my own, and will attempt to answer these questions, and others. It will use work from various photographers, as well as several essays and books to endeavour to explore the notions of the real in relation to photography and contemporary culture, and to investigate if we can find, or re-find the real. Does descriptive realism exist? We cant help but look at what the photograph signifies and means. Even photographs that appear to be descriptive cannot escape being subjected to analysis and placed within a context of viewing. Everything in an image is symbolic once we begin to interpret it, and this begins at the very instance of looking. This is, as Roland Barthes says, great scorn for the realists who do not see that the photograph is always coded (Barthes, 2000: 88). Photographs can never be void of theoretical underpinnings, and any photographs that do appear to be purely realistic only do so in accord to what we expect a descriptive or realistic image to be like. Debord explains this perfectly in his discussion of theory; what is so droll, however, is that all the books which do analyse this phenomenon, usually to deplore it, cannot but join the spectacle if theyre to get attention (Debord, 1990: 5). Evidently we continue to encounter an endless cycle of referencing, which cannot be traced simply to the accepted beginnings of postmodernism. Photographs are analysed as soon as they are viewed. Perhaps they never were, and never will be void of reference and construction? Maybe they can never provide the clear, stable version of reality that we want from them? Conceptual photography attempts to show the truth by highlighting this dilemma. It attempts to parody the common notions of indexicality and truth in photographic representations, and in doing so, reveals this as the real. In their essay From Presence to Performative: Re-thinking Photographic Indexicality, David Green and Joanna Lowry look at notions of indexicality and truth in photographic representations. They discuss how photographs are indexical not just because light is recorded in an instant on a piece of photosensitive film, but also, because they were taken: the very act of photography, as a kind of performative gesture which points to an event in the world, as a form of designation that draws reality into the image field, is thus itself a form of indexicality. (Green and Lowry, 2003: 48). They discuss how conceptual photography attempts to parody the common notions of indexicality and truth in photographic representations, and in doing so, reveal this as the real: [conceptu al photographs] point to the real while reminding us that photography can never represent it (Green and Lowry, 200

Saturday, July 20, 2019

The Dead Fish Society :: Personal Narrative Essays

The Dead Fish Society It was a dark and stormy day. It the first day of class and Bletchley Boys School - a school rich in tradition, and rich in the traditional sense. I will never forget my first year at that school, for I met a teacher who changed my life forever. His name was John Flounder. He taught poetry - a class that was not exactly the most macho class, but one that was required. I sat in the classroom of Poetry 101 wondering what I was doing there. I looked around at the 30 other pimply faced boys who sat wondering the same thing. We were rich, we would be successful, and nobody ever needed poetry while holding a board meeting. I would soon change my mind. He entered the classroom through the front door, whistling a song vaguely familiar - the theme to "The Andy Griffith Show." I would later learn that its real title was "The Fishing Hole." He strolled through the class and out the back door. As we sat in wonder, he popped his head back in and said "Well, come on, then." We followed him out into the hall. "Men, I want to read something to you, " he said. "I gaze upon the still waters, my hair ruffles in the quiet breeze, the worm in my fingers squirms to be free, he does not like the hook. O worm, how many of those like me, didst thou consume before today ? a long dead fisherman perhaps are you ? to help me with my task." Flounder looked up for a moment and then at us. "What does this mean to you men ?" he asked. After a moment of completely blank stares he continued, "the author is trying to give you a message - 'Carpe Piscus.' Do any of you know what that means ?" Ralph Finkel did. Ralph always knew. "It means 'Seize the Fish!'" "Yes! Seize the Fish! It means that life is too short to spend your time in school. Go fishing, my boy! Look at the faces in these pictures, " he said as he pointed to one of the many pictures in the display case. "these are young men just like you. Can you hear them calling out ? They are saying 'Carpe Piscus - Seize the Fish.

Friday, July 19, 2019

The Contempt and Bitterness of Virginia Woolf Exposed in A Room of One

The Contempt and Bitterness of Virginia Woolf Exposed in A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf refuses the role society prescribes her. She stands up against glass ceilings, separate spheres, and double standards-cultural institutions that create and uphold a weaker sex. In her writing, specifically "A Room of One's Own," she manifests her contempt and bitterness by advocating "it is necessary [for women] to have five hundred [pounds] a year and a lock on the door if you are to write fiction or poetry" (769). However, to break and step above the institutions she criticizes, Woolf knows she cannot simply complain about her brothers' years at Oxford while she stayed home with tutors-that would lead an audience to believe "she has an axe to grind" (quoted in Bartholomae and Petrosky, 750). Rather, she must strive for the calm collectedness of her male academic counterparts. This presents a problem for Woolf: how does she convey the oppression of women-the passion behind her work-through an objective and level voice? She needed a vehicle that could be neutral yet em otional, provocative but wise. Ultimately, Woolf needed a mask: one that mimicked the reserved quality of men, yet allowed her to bare the thoughts of a woman subjected to society's mechanisms. Woolf found her solution in the persona "Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael, or byanynarneyouplease"(751). Mary,Mary,orMary,quitecontrarytoWoolf, is a superb ballerinas prima donna of the highest caliber-she was sent to the front of the class not for punishment, but to set the par. She learned earlier than the other girls to stay quiet for her superiors and to please them, even at the risk of pain Through years of training, conditioning and practice, performing en pointe h... ... the lobby with such a confident air because she knew she was the best-the purse her mother gave her proved that. On a less frequent basis she remembers one girl who was in her class for a short time. This girl-the name Virginia sounds familiar-always had a sloppy bun and leaned to the left in her pirouettes As Mary gets ready for a grand gala (that society has told her to attend) she wonders what ever happened to that girl. Works Cited Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky, eds. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. Rich, Adrienne. "When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision." Ways of Reading. Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 603-620. Woolf, Virginia. "A Room of One's Own." Ways of Reading. Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 750-778,

Free College Essays - Allegory and Symbolism in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown :: Young Goodman Brown YGB

Nathaniel Hawthorne is a nineteenth-century American writer of the Romantic Movement. Hawthorne was born is Salem, Massachusetts, and this is the place he used as the setting for some of his works: such as "The Scarlett Letter", "the Blithedale Romance" and "Young Goodman Brown". In writing, Hawthorne was known for his use of allegory and symbolism, which made his stories a joy for everyone to read. Hawthorne was said to be the first American writer who was conscious of the failure of modern man to realize his full capacity for moral growth. His stories contain much about the life he knew as a child being brought up in a Puritan society. As Hawthorne's writing continued it was filled with the same amount of sin and evil as his first writings. Evil that was revealed through his works. "Young Goodman Brown" was said to be one of the best stories ever written by Hawthorne (Adams70). "The Marble Faun: and "the Scarlett Letter were some of the other stories written by Hawthorne, and they were said to be "Young Goodman Brown" grown older. In this selection there is a question of maturity for Goodman Brown and whether he is good or evil. There is also a transition from childishness to adolescence to maturity. This short story in particular has a feeling of adultery, betrayal, and deception as in some of his other works. It was said by Richard P. Adams that "young Goodman Brown" was a germ for nearly all his best work that followed (Adams 71). The use of symbolism in "young Goodman Brown" shows that evil is everywhere, which becomes evident in the conclusion of this short story. Hawthorne's works are filled with symbolic elements and allegorical elements. "Young Goodman Brown" deals mostly with conventional allegorical elements, such as Young Goodman Brown and Faith. In writing his short stories or novels he based their depiction of sin on the fact that he feels like his father and grandfather committed great sins. There are two main characters in this short story, Fai th and Young Goodman Brown. "Young Goodman Brown is everyman seventeenth-century New England the title as usual giving the clue. He is the son of the Old Adam, and recently wedded to Faith. We must note that every word is significant in the opening sentence: "Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street of Sale, Village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young w2ife.