Willa Cather :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Willa Cather wrote several wonderful stories and novels. After reading or viewing three of them and reading a little about her other works on the Internet, I have noticed that all of them have things in common. I have observed that her works often times involve family situations and how different types of people deal with death. The stories tend to reflect a time in her life I would assume. They are also reflected close to her home in many times. The stories tend to use the same types of dialogue and have similar characters as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the movie, O Pioneers!, the family is torn by death in several ways. The father dies in the beginning of the movie. He makes Alexandra the head of the family because he knows she will keep the land and that she can care for the family the best. In a way, it seemed he knew she would best respect his decisions prior to his death. It is in this way already that death and families are introduced. In an opposing circumstance, the sculptor, Harvey, in â€Å"The Sculptor’s Funeral,† had no family to miss. He was basically thrown out of the family after they realized he didn’t quite fit in where he was born. It didn’t seem like he cared though because he still became successful in Boston. He died and was brought back to his hometown after being an outcast there prior to his success. When he was buried in his hometown he was not talked of brightly. He was basically made an object for the town to ridicule. His only friend who was a lawyer ther e stood up for him at the end of the story showing all of the townspeople how cruel they were to Harvey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I read an article on the Internet about her and as she wrote â€Å"Neighbor Rosicky† her father went through a heart attack and died from it. It almost seems in the writing you can tell the change in the mood after her father’s death. This brings her personal life into her writing and makes it unique while tying in with the story well. I believe it even said that her circumstances were used in her writing for the remainder to the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Willa Cather was raised in rural Kansas. Her writing also reflected a country-life atmosphere. Her stories rarely took place in larger cities because she didn’t know much about them.

Essay --

In Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, a tragic hero must be superior to the average person in some way. They must evoke pity, and do so by being imperfect, and having a tragic flaw. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is portrayed as the tragic hero. It may appear that Proctor’s tragic flaw is lust, due to his affair with Abigail. But lust does not explain John’s refusal to become involved in the trials before his wife was accused when he knew that Abigail was lying. It makes more sense that his flaw would be selfishness. It gives a better explanation for his demise and his lechery. It was not the act of adultery, but his reluctance to admit to it and accuse Abigail of being a fraud that lead to him hanging from the gallows. Proctor knows that the only reason Abigail accuses his wife of witchcraft is because she wants her out of the picture. And even when Elizabeth pleads with John to go and tell the court he refuses because there is â€Å"no proof†. From the start of the play John places a great importance on his reputation and the fact that he cannot live without his name. It is clear that John does not want to accuse Abigail of witchcraft. If he does so he runs some risks; she is considered â€Å"a saint † and accusing her could make him look bad and soil his name, and accusing her could also lead to his lechery being made public, again soiling his name. But his silence means that innocent men and women will hang. This quiet act of supreme selfishness is where the outcome of the play is really decided; John’s fate sealed. While Proctor certainly was a flawed man, the events in The Crucible eventually lead to him recognizing and overcoming his selfishness. The first key example of Proctor acting in a selfless manor is ... ...ide as well. Proctor is the â€Å"good guy†, and is sentenced to death, hung for his crime of defending his wife. In addition to this, Proctor is sent to his death willingly after choosing to die rather than ruin the names of the others that were accused. But the real crime that he is being punished for is giving into his lust and having an affair with Abigail. Everybody makes mistakes and has a moment of weakness now and again. It’s hard to not feel at least a small amount of pity for him even if you dislike him. While Proctor is not always the most likable, he has all the characteristics of a tragic hero. While selfish and undoubtedly not perfect, he is a respected man. His selfishness is his tragic flaw, which leads to his eventual death, but on the way down he realizes his own flaws. In an act of courage, John Proctor goes to the gallows with his good name and honor.

Macbeth: a Dead Butcher

Parker Durham Far From a Dead Butcher â€Å"Producing forth the cruel ministers of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Malcolm spoke these words in the closing lines of the play shortly after Macbeth was killed by Macduff. While it is true that Macbeth could be characterized as a â€Å"dead butcher,† I do not believe those two words do justice in describing the person Macbeth truly is. While Macbeth commits atrocious acts of violence and murder, he did not do so without feeling regret and remorse.In Act II, Scene II, we see how Macbeth regrets slaying his king almost immediately after he pulls his dagger from Duncan’s body. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that so great was his guilt that he could not utter â€Å"amen† when he heard â€Å"God bless us† come from a nearby room. As humans, we all make mistakes. Usually, a single or even multiple mistakes do not define our lives. However, in Macbeth’s case, his mistake was so severe tha t it would ultimately lead to the loss of everything he loved.Killing Duncan would nullify all the good things Macbeth accomplished in his lifetime. Instead of being remembered as the valiant leader he was, he was remembered as a murderous fiend. One committing an act as foul as Macbeth’s would make one’s peers quickly forget about all of that person’s previous accomplishments and honors. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is respected and revered by his fellow officers and countrymen.So great were his accomplishments in the Scottish war against Norway that King Duncan awarded Macbeth the title of the Thane of Cawdor (Act I Scene II). After this appointment, Macbeth held the titles of both Thane of Cawdor and Thane of Glamis. He was the most noble of all the noble, so much that the king himself visited his home. He forfeited all of this due to his moral ambivalence and greed. Ambition is a good character trait to possess. However, Macbeth’s ambition wa s so unbridled that it caused him to lose his peace of mind, his friends, and his honor.Macbeth had everything men envy and was far from a â€Å"dead butcher,† but due to one decision, his whole reputation and character were tarnished. Macbeth himself said it best in Act V, Scene III, when he said, â€Å"Is fall’n into the sear, the yellow leaf; and that which should accompany old age, as honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, which the poor hear would fain deny, and dare not. †

Resume

Developing departmental staff assessments, policy papers, directives, management policies, standards, and procedures involving the NRC protective force programs, protection program planning and Site and Security Plans. Conduct evaluations and inspections to ensure that Department facilities comply with established security standards and to determine the needs for adjustments or upgrades to the level of uniformed protection provided Conduct security inspections and security analyses of facilities involved in special program security test and evaluation programs. Identifies the necessary changes regarding policy, procedures, training and standards from inspections, surveys, and audits of the site.Results: Responsible for the training and instruction with established guidelines, standards in support of the nationally developed training programs regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Serving as one of Facility Security Officers in support of the security education, safeguard and administering self-inspections in support of the NRC Serving as one of the Security Technical Representative on Installation Access Control Systems I ark closely with contractors and other security professionals for security clearance and access within a regulated nuclear facility. Accountable for the continues evaluation of all the protective measures and procedures governed by both the NRC and Industry. I review and evaluate all access control systems and security systems.Work with security senior management, in making recommendations on the modifications and improvements in order to enhance physical security and increase the efficiency with in the nuclear facility. Control multi-disciplinary security training program and provide and train on government and industry standards which includes identifying the need for facility protection along with the development and maintaining the protection. Department of the Army, Fort Believe, Virginia Police Supervisor (Lieutenant) Directory of Emergency Services 1 11201 0 to 04/201 1 Supervised the training, and development of subordinate police officers and other assigned staff.Acts as first responder to all types of emergencies or volatile situations such as terrorist attacks, hostage/barricaded situations, mob threats, vehicle accidents, robberies, hazardous material incidents, and other emergencies. Assisted officers by providing interpretation of departmental policies and procedures. Performed as the leader of the tactical response team and assisted in training newly hired officers. Directed activities of personnel engaged in preparing budget proposals, maintaining police records, and recruiting staff. Results: Took relevant steps to establish new policies and procedures by maintaining and setting new standards.Commended on my abilities to revived proactive measures in ensuring and monitoring the department's budget and spending habits. Awarded for my abilities to maintain a positive relationship with the communit y while enforcing the policies, regulations and law. CSS Army – ASPICS-E (U. S. Army Corrections Facility-Europe)/ Anaheim, Germany. Senior Corrections Supervisor, 08/2006 to 07/2010. Managed operations of a 146-bed, medium custody, joint-SE;CE corrections facility. Supervised facilities operations, physical security, safekeeping, custody and control of confined prisoners and staff of 100. Coordinated Security efforts across the organization, including Information Technology, Human Resources, Communications, Legal and Facilities Management.Developed internal management controls to identify resource requirements related to security, forwarded recommendations, corrected problem areas and conducting annual facility reviews. Maintained facility records and prepared daily reports and correspondence. Provide data entry into the security management system. Provided leadership with tracking all projects daily administrative duties. Oversee and provide a continuity of security for agi lity, personnel, visitor control, document control and equipment for all Special project Security matters. Results: Directed accreditation process with American Correctional Association, receiving overall rating of 98. 9 percent for its operation and physical security of the facility. Earned the USAF-See's highest rating. Was the first of five facilities in the U. S.Army's Corrections Command to receive USAF-See's national and its only CA international accreditation. IIS Army – Co 701 SST Military Police Battalion/ Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Military Police and Corrections Committee Chief/ Instructor/Writer, 08/2001 to 08/2006. Provided administrative, logistical, personnel and training support to staff and students of U. S. Army Military Police School. Maintained use of two buildings, video equipment, communication systems, classrooms, audio-visual equipment and ammunition valued in excess of MM. Prepare correspondence, reports, and documents related to security duties in a arti culate, perceptive, and tactful way.

Effectiveness of National and International Efforts Essay

Discuss the effectiveness of national and international efforts to tackle the problem of global climate change. Since the late nineteenth century, the view that global climate change is directly influenced by human behaviour has become increasingly accepted as scientists have provided better evidence for the relationship between the level of global carbon dioxide concentrations and global temperatures. A large number of natural phenomenon and processes are affected by climate change, and these in turn can have a negative impact on groups of people living around the world; i.e. The melting of the ice-caps is responsible for the decrease in the number of polar bears in the arctic, rising sea levels increase the risk and regularity of floods in low-lying areas like Bangladesh, and the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone failing to reach Niger, Chad and Sudan was responsible for a large prolonged famine in the 1980s. The magnitude of the number of countries affected mean that climate change is not just applicable to one nation; it is of international importance. Therefore, as climate change has increasingly become a global issue in recent years, a number of international organisations have been formed to monitor global climate change and to reduce and possibly reverse global climate change. International efforts incorporate a greater number of people than national efforts, and therefore they can have a much larger impact on trying to tackle climate change. However, tackling climate change is expensive, and for certain less economically developed countries- (LEDC’s), it would be unreasonable to insist that they should prioritise tackling climate change over some of their national problems, such as lowering the infant mortality rate and establishing a good healthcare system. Furthermore, international efforts to tackle climate change also face problems from the disparity of natural resources, which means that different solutions have to be used in different countries. Britain has a large amount of coastline, and can therefore generate s ustainable energy by using tidal barriers; a solution not available to land-locked countries such as Switzerland. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a network of 59 cities ranging from Los Angeles in the U.S.A to Addis Ababa- the capital city of Ethiopia. Despite the aforementioned problems facing international efforts to tackle climate change, cities are ideally placed to influence climate change, as they consume over 2/3rds of the world’s energy and are responsible for around 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The C40 Group was formed in 2005 to give support to mayors hoping to cut greenhouse gas emissions in their own individual cities. The group is extremely effective, as increased discussions and communications between the leaders of a network of cities mean that the best and most effective ways of cutting greenhouse gas emissions can be copied from city to city. The group aims to ‘use collaboration, knowledge sharing and metrics to drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable action’. So far the group have put in place a range of policies such as using more-efficient lighting and building codes, and capturing methane from landfill sites; these should cut 248 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. In addition, as these cities grow and develop, so too does their capacity to tackle climate change, with the New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg claiming that they have the capacity to cut their carbon output by one gigaton (a billion tons) by 2030 in relation to the current predicted levels of carbon output for 2030. The achievements of the C40 group are in stark contrast to the results of international negotiations between countries, the majority of which have failed to reach binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and thus tackling global warming. In addition to the C40 group, a number of other international organisations work with cities to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. EMBARQ (The World Resources Institutes Centre for Sustainable Transport) has worked with Rio de Janeiro (a C40 cities member) to develop a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor. This public transport system will not only reduce pollution, but is also expected to help hundreds of thousands of Rio’s residents, providing them with safer transport and shorter commutes. The first corridor became operational on June the 6th, 2012, servicing around 220,000 people. The buses themselves are energy efficient, and therefore reduce the amount of energy used for public transport, and their emissions are also regulated to ensure that harmful gas emissions are minimized. In addition, the time taken to complete a journey has been cut dramatically through the introduction of bus lanes; this means that traffic congestion in the city has been eased, and the improved buses with their shorter journey times will encourage more of the city’s residents to use public transport, thereby reducing the number of vehicles on the road and further cutting greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. The city has plans for another 3 corridors, to further improve the public transport system, cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy consumption, thus continuing to tackle climate change. The BRT scheme in Rio de Janeiro was a local idea, completely funded by the city council, but it had international advice in how to set up and manage the system. One of the reasons why the scheme was put into place so quickly and effectively was because the international organisation it dealt with was an non-governmental organisation (N.G.O- EMBARQ) which specializes in sustainable transport, and much like the C40 cities group, EMBARQ was able to take ideas which had previously been applied in other countries and reproduce them in Rio de Janeiro. As an international co-operation between two organisations which were reasonably small, (as opposed to two countries), the target set was much more specific- reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption through improving the public transport . However, when a number of countries meet, such as at the RIO+20 conference (the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development), outcomes from discussions are vague, and whilst some ideas may start to be formed, very few actual schemes emerge from such discussions. For example, the primary outcome from the Rio+20 was the document ‘the future we want’, in which the heads of governments attending the conference simply renewed their political commitment to sustainable development. The document re-affirms their commitment to Agenda 21 and other action plans for sustainable development, which were agreed 20 years ago in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. This lack of action and inefficiency compares poorly against the effectiveness of collaboration between EMBARQ and Rio de Janeiro’s city council. The one major exception to this trend is the Kyoto Protocol dating from 2005, when 191 member countries collectively agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% on average for the period 2008-12. Despite what may seem an initially very promising agreement, the Kyoto Protocol does fall short on some aspects; it encourages use of bio-fuels and allows member countries to use land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF activities) in meeting their targets. Whilst bio-fuels do cut greenhouse gas emissions, huge areas of forestry (particularly in Indonesia) are being de-forested in order to make space for the production of crops to be used for bio-fuels. This practice is ultimately unsustainable, but has been encouraged by the Kyoto Protocol. Although the majority of international summits and discussions fail to result in collaboration amongst countries with regards to tackling climate change, a large number of national schemes have been formed due to Agenda 21 and other such documents. An example of this is the ‘carbon action plan’ introduced by the U.K government in December 2011. It has broken down the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions into a number of criteria, as detailed by Agenda 21, such as ‘reducing emissions from business and industry’ and ‘saving energy in homes and communities’. From these the UK government has established steps which will help it achieve the criteria set, and achieving these in turn will then cut greenhouse gas emissions. By breaking down the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions sustainably into achievable stages, the UK government can focus on specific targets which, once achieved, will result in them achieving their end objective. In addition, rather than dramatically changing current systems, or spending lots of money on one way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Carbon Plan takes into account a large range of solutions, which will be implemented gradually. This, like the step by step approach for the Bus Rapid Transit system in Rio de Janeiro, means that progress can constantly be reviewed to make sure that the carbon plan is on track, and that they are going about cutting greenhouse gas emissions the most sustainable way. Furthermore, the research done into preparing the carbon plan has also generated a number of other initia tives, such as the Green Investment Bank (GIB). This is a funding scheme initiated by the U.K government to attract private funds ‘for the financing of the private sector’s investments related to environmental preservation and improvement’. In short, they intend to set up a fund financed by major banks which will make investments in environmental technology, such as off-shore wind farms; this will help the UK government meet its target for reducing carbon emissions, and yet will be funded not by the U.K, but by a collection of banks, who will hope to make a long-term gain in their investment in environmental technology. However, the effectiveness of this scheme has been debated, with the World Development Movement claiming the GIB would be too small to attract the kind of investment needed to generate green jobs and industry in the U.K. In conclusion, the effectiveness of national and international efforts to tackle global climate change strongly depends on whether the solution used is realistic, well planned and appropriate to the context. Where the solution is all of the above, such as the BRT system and the Carbon Plan, they can be extremely effective; tackling global climate change and making other improvements, such as that to infrastructure in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, despite incorporating a larger number of people, international programs tend to be less effective than national efforts, as the latter are normally focused on specific outcomes rather than just the goal of ‘reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% a year’- as set by the Kyoto protocol. Nevertheless, some international co-operation has been shown to produce results, and the international aspect of tackling climate change shows governments and N.G.Os that they are working alongside a larger body of people to achieve the same end goal; therefore providing a framework upon which national schemes are shaped.

In Film Adaptations of Literary Texts, it is not Fidelity that is Essay

In Film Adaptations of Literary Texts, it is not Fidelity that is Important, but Authenticity and a Sense of Aura - Essay Example Film makers rush to purchase new novels that present some possibilities of adaptations. Film making is a risky and expensive business. A film based on a bestselling novel will surely attract a lot of buyers and will be a financial success. However, a close analysis of the existing film adaptations of literary texts prove that in film adaptations of literary texts it is not fidelity that is important, but authenticity and a sense of aura. Fidelity simply refers to the level of faithfulness, loyalty, or how accurate a copy is to its source. In film adaptations, it refers to the level of film’s faithfulness to the original text or to the degree of filmmaker’s faithfulness to the ideas and perceptions of the novel writer. Authenticity refers to devotion to, commitment to, or truthfulness of, origins. Just like in any other artwork, authenticity in film adaptations refers to inherent or original authority, genuineness of expression, sincerity and moral passion of the text wr iter that were conveyed in the film (Dutton 2003). This is called expressive authenticity. Nominal authenticity refers to the rightful identification of the author of a text, how closely the film performance conforms to the intentions of the text author or his or her artistic tradition. Giving a film a sense of aura means giving a story a better illumination or retelling it in an interesting way compared to the way it is originally presented. There are a bunch of reasons that make it worthwhile to focus on authenticity and the achievement of a sense of aura during film adaptations instead of maintaining a strict faithfulness to the original text. One of them is the need to avoid a monotonous repetition of a novel story. The audiences of the film already know the story in the novel very well, and thus there is no need for a complete duplication of everything in the novel. People may not be motivated to buy the film if it merely makes a one-to-one reproduction of the novel. An adaptat ion instead should de-emphasize elements of suspense in the story and concentrate on detail and phrasing. Making some changes during film adaptation is not only practically unavoidable, but also essential as mandated by medium and time constrains. Some film theorists argue that film directors should go ahead and produce a film without being concerned about the source at all. These theorists assert that a film is a film and a novel is a novel, and thus the two art works should be two separate entities. They also argue that the transcription of a literary text into a film is impossible, and trying to stick to the goal of accuracy is, therefore, absurd. Another group of film theorists argue that the role of film adaptation is to change a source to meet certain demands. In this case, a film adapted from a literary text should be accurate to the message, theme or the effect (aesthetical impact) of the source novel. However, the filmmaker must introduce a number of changes where necessary to ensure that the film maximizes faithfulness to the novel along one of the three axes (theme, message, or effect) and meets the demands of time. A filmmaker for, example, cannot make a direct replication of a novel written in the 18th or 19th centuries, because several social, economic, political, and cultural transformations have taken place in virtually all societies since then, so this should be partly reflected in

Case study _ Investemnt management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Case study _ Investemnt management - Essay Example In order to succeed with that thought, she inquired from the small business around her and hoped that the idea would bring in more assets and less loses. The strategy was a good move as it allowed her to have more clients as well as giving back to the society /community by employing more people. With a bigger business, it gives an opening for more opportunities as well as profit maximization to the business. Though it can be more advantageous the strategy can also have negative impacts as it can easily fail bringing loses to the business. To expand a business it requires so much input to the same and it can be overwhelming to the employer and the employee leading to its termination before it gets a good foundation. The strategy however is a good element for a business as it gives clients a variety of things and services to benefit from. Sarah however had other alternatives other than expanding her business. She would have gotten more employees with better marketing skills to ensure that more people were aware of her products and services. This would mean more new clients, more contracts and even more profits to her business. Sarah wo uld also have thought of opening more branches of Beta Management outside Boston suburb. This would have assisted with company’s popularity as well as its brand making. In order to add clients or customers value in her business, she was supposed to do some things that were different from her competitors that were supposed to benefit both her and the clients. She needed to have her clients loyalty to her services and products and to do this she was supposed to prioritize the quality of her business to the quantity of what she was doing. This would defiantly assist her win against the competitors in both short and long run which will ensure steady clients commitment, more clients joining the business as well as more profits over the years. Sarah’s New Year’s resolution