The Rime of the Ancient Mariner free essay sample

A narrative analysis of the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This paper discusses the style of the poem, as well as its intended audience and meaning. Examples from the text are given. Samuel Taylor Coleridges The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a poem that on one level appears to be a simple narrative, but in truth it is more complex because there are two levels of narrative taking place. The first of these is the long story told by the Mariner, but in the present of the poem there is also the fact that the Mariner is telling this story to one of the guests at a wedding. It is apparent from the first that the Mariner has some reason for selecting this particular individual for telling this story, and the effect this story has on the Wedding Guest becomes the means for extending the moral of the tale to a more general audience and to a more general idea of life. We will write a custom essay sample on The Rime of the Ancient Mariner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Up Country essays

Up Country essays In his novel Up Country, Alden R. Carter writes about how hard life is for children in the adolescent era by portraying the actions off Carl Staggers, a teenager surviving his mothers alcoholism and his car radio thief ring gone to disarray. Carl is a tragic hero who rambles through this time period by trying to make things right. He is also accompanied by characters close to him as the novel progresses. Carl is a young man with great hopes and dreams to become an electrical engineer. The problem is that he and his mother are deeply in debt, and Veronica Staggers, Carls mother, is an alcoholic who is brought home by the cops almost every week. Carl has the bright idea to use an opportunity that arose to earn money to go to a good technical college and earn a degree in electrical engineering. In this little opportunity, Carl repairs stolen stereos that he receives from his partner in crime, changes the serial number, and places the stereo into a company box for resale. Although this seems like the perfect crime, something goes terribly wrong with his admirable plan and Carl gets busted for the radios along with all of the other juveniles helping him. Ironically he was busted for the car audio equipment because of his mother who was thrown in a detox center for her alcohol abuse. Therefore, Carl was sent up country to stay with his aunt, uncle, and cousin whom he hasnt seen for a little over eight years. Thats when all of the trouble starts, including a run in with the local redneck bully and his girlfriend. On a good note while staying with his secondary family, he meets a wonderful country girl with whom he ultimately stays with instead of going back to live with his mother, who cleans her self up and moves on with her life. Carl is sentenced to public work and is basically let off easy on the condition that he ...

Analysis of Good Country People by Flannery OConnor

Analysis of Good Country People by Flannery OConnor Good Country People by Flannery OConnor (1925–1964) is a story, in part, about the dangers of mistaking platitudes for original insights. The story, first published in 1955, presents three characters whose lives are governed by the platitudes they embrace or reject: Mrs. Hopewell, who speaks almost exclusively in cheerful clichà ©sHulga (Joy), Mrs. Hopewells daughter, who defines herself solely in opposition to her mothers platitudesA Bible salesman, who turns the clichà ©d beliefs of the unsuspecting mother and daughter against them Mrs. Hopewell Early in the story, OConnor demonstrates that Mrs. Hopewells life is governed by upbeat but empty sayings: Nothing is perfect. This was one of Mrs. Hopewells favorite sayings. Another was: that is life! And still another, the most important, was: well, other people have their opinions too. She would make these statements [†¦] as if no one held them but her [†¦] Her statements are so vague and obvious as to be almost meaningless, except, perhaps, to convey an overall philosophy of resignation. That she fails to recognize these as clichà ©s suggest how little time she spends reflecting on her own beliefs. The character of Mrs. Freeman provides an echo chamber for Mrs. Hopewells statements, thereby emphasizing their lack of substance. OConnor writes: When Mrs. Hopewell said to Mrs. Freeman that life was like that, Mrs. Freeman would say, I always said so myself. Nothing had been arrived at by anyone that had not first been arrived at by her. We are told that Mrs. Hopewell liked to tell people certain things about the Freemans - that the daughters are two of the finest girls she knows and that the family is good country people. The truth is that Mrs. Hopewell hired the Freemans because they were the only applicants for the job. The man who served as their reference openly told Mrs. Hopewell that Mrs. Freeman was the nosiest woman ever to walk the earth. But Mrs. Hopewell continues to call them good country people because she wants to believe they are. She almost seems to think that repeating the phrase will make it true. Just as Mrs. Hopewell seems to want to reshape the Freemans in the image of her favorite platitudes, she also seems to want to reshape her daughter. When she looks at Hulga, she thinks, There was nothing wrong with her face that a pleasant expression wouldnt help. She tells Hulga that a smile never hurt anyone and that people who looked on the bright side of things would be beautiful even if they were not, which could be insulting. Mrs. Hopewell views her daughter entirely in terms of clichà ©s, which seems guaranteed to make her daughter reject them. Hulga-Joy Mrs. Hopewells greatest platitude is perhaps her daughters name, Joy. Joy is grumpy, cynical and utterly joyless. To spite her mother, she legally changes her name to Hulga, partly because she thinks it sounds ugly. But just as Mrs. Hopewell continually repeats other sayings, she insists on calling her daughter Joy even after her name is changed, as if saying it will make it true. Hulga cant stand her mothers platitudes. When the Bible salesman is sitting in their parlor, Hulga tells her mother, Get rid of the salt of the earth [†¦] and lets eat. When her mother instead turns down the heat under the vegetables and returns to the parlor to continue singing the virtues of real genuine folks way out in the country, Hulga can be heard groaning from the kitchen. Hulga makes it clear that if it werent for her heart condition, she would be far from these red hills and good country people. She would be in a university lecturing to people who knew what she was talking about. Yet she rejects one clichà © – good country people – in favor of one that sounds superior but is equally trite – people who knew what she was talking about. Hulga likes to imagine herself as being above her mothers platitudes, but she reacts so systematically against her mothers beliefs that her atheism, her Ph.D. in philosophy and her bitter outlook begin to seem as thoughtless and trite as her mothers sayings. The Bible Salesman Both the mother and the daughter are so convinced of the superiority of their perspectives that they dont recognize theyre being duped by the Bible salesman. Good country people is meant to be flattering, but its a condescending phrase. It implies that the speaker, Mrs. Hopewell, somehow has the authority to judge whether someone is good country people or, to use her word, trash. It also implies that the people being labeled this way are somehow simpler and less sophisticated than Mrs. Hopewell. When the Bible salesman arrives, he is a living example of Mrs. Hopewells sayings. He uses a cheerful voice, makes jokes, and has a pleasant laugh. In short, hes everything Mrs. Hopewell advises Hulga to be. When he sees that hes losing her interest, he says, People like you dont like to fool with country people like me! Hes hit her in her weak spot. Its as if hes accused her of not living up to her own cherished platitudes, and she overcompensates with a flood of clichà ©s and an invitation to dinner. Why! she cried, good country people are the salt of the earth! Besides, we all have different ways of doing, it takes all kinds of make the world go round. Thats life! The salesman reads Hulga as easily as he reads Mrs. Hopewell, and he feeds her the clichà ©s she wants to hear, saying that he likes girls that wear glasses and that Im not like these people that a serious thought dont ever enter their heads. Hulga is as condescending toward the salesman as her mother is. She imagines that she can give him a deeper understanding of life because [t]rue genius [†¦] can get an idea across even to an inferior mind. In the barn, when the salesman demands that she tell him she loves him, Hulga feels pity, calling him poor baby and saying, Its just as well you dont understand. But later, faced with the evil of his actions, she falls back on her mothers clichà ©s. Arent you, she asks him, just good country people? She never valued the good part of country people, but like her mother, she assumed the phrase meant simple. He responds with his own clichà ©d tirade. I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasnt born yesterday and I know where Im going! His certainty mirrors - and therefore calls into question - Mrs. Hopewells and Hulgas.

Reading Log Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Reading Log - Essay Example Pickpockets are individuals who are skilled in stealing other people’s sweat. The actions of these individuals are immoral, since they are not in harmony with the laws of ethics that governs relationship of individuals in the society. They vigorously take what does not belong to them, and considers it as theirs. The protagonist in the film Pickpocket is a young a man named Michael. His perceptions towards crime are that individuals possessing high intellectual capacities should not be held accountable for their doings. He takes this theory into practice by snatching wallets from individuals. In the beginning, Michael encounters difficulty in his pick pocketing tendencies as he is constantly arrested by police officers. Moreover, life is unfair to him because he lacks the knack to live luxuriously. He is ashamed of visiting his sick mother in the hospital. Instead, he resorts to develop a love interests on a woman he clearly knows he can not date. The situation gets worse when even the apartment he resides in depicts his deteriorating financial status (Cunneen, 2004, p.73). However, his continuous practice and intelligence in pick pocketing exalts him to a status where he changes his life style. He develops a sense of fashion in his dressing and becomes mildly mannered. These traits make it impossible for outside individuals, and even neighbors to group him as a pickpocket. Michael’s first encounter as a pickpocket was when he stole money from a lady’s handbag at a Paris racetrack. He was propelled to become a mastermind in pickpocket by his own compulsion. The story ends when Michael is torn between making choices. He is locked up in a cell, and the only person who pays him a visit, is his mother. His freedom of choosing between his mother and his habits are limited in the end because he lacks the freedom of choosing, since he is sentenced to prison (Cunneen, 2004, p.71). L’ Argent (â€Å"Money†)

Case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Case analysis - Essay Example It operates under a decentralized management approach based on the belief that the leaders maintain a close contact with patients and customers by addressing their needs. The company has maintained the values of their customers employing a business performance in providing its services. The strategic move adopted by J&J to reach this position is the operation under a competent diverse board of directors. The corporate strategy of J&J has enabled it expand its markets in America’s competitive health sector. It currently operates 134 manufacturing facilities and 8 innovation centers globally. That enables it to innovate new products and achieve customer satisfaction in service delivery. Synergy has helped J&J manufacture and produce better products and deliver services that satisfy customers’ demands through improved growth and innovation. CEO Weldon formed a corporate office that encouraged J&J’s business units to work with other firms in promoting and identifying opportunities. The cooperation between J&J and H4+ has helped reduce mortality rate in children and reduce pregnancy and birth related complications in women. Weldon employs his persuasive skills in luring firms to work with them and convince Doctors and Hospitals to try their products. Weldon uses his leadership skills to implement synergy at J&J by promoting collaboration and participation within and across cross-functional business units. Weldon has succeeded in drawing the diverse skills of J&J’s business units across the three divisions as a way of promoting innovation. Gorsky needs to maintain good communication with other firms to promote synergy. That consequently expands J&J’s domination in the economic

To Pleasant Or Not To Pleasant :: essays research papers

TO PLEASANT OR NOT TO PLEASANT?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Welcome to the world of drugs, sex, crime, and the worst weather you could ever imagine. Or, if it were a choice would you rather jump into the TV and join all your buddies at the perfect place. Nothing is ever out of order, there are no â€Å"F’s† to worry about, you do everything the same way everyday and if you do anything it’s going to be perfect. The largest problem that would come along would be Mrs. Smith’s cat getting stuck in the tree again. Luckytown you ask? No, it’s Pleasantville. Sounds great doesn’t it. Who wouldn’t want to live there? But, there always has to be someone to corrupt everything.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this story that started out with two siblings that hated each other because of their popularity at school turned into a great movie. The sister was punky and the brother was nerdy, their views on life were very different. When the sister, Reese Witherspoon, plans to have her soon to be boyfriend over to watch the MTV awards her brother, Toby Magurie, has already planned to watch his favorite TV show Pleasantville. As the two fight over the remote control they break it. An old mysterious man shows up claming to be the TV repairman. Both siblings are in wonder why he showed up on their doorstep. They let him in; he ends up testing the brother on Pleasantville. Then he gives the two a big powerful remote that anyone would go crazy over. They are instantly zapped into the TV. When they get to Pleasantville they are both shocked and don’t know what to do. The brother tries to get the sister to play along, but that is not her inner nature. She plays along in f ront of her brother, for a while. She quickly tires of all the sweetness and starts playing with everyone. She shows them bad things and the result of this is color. Everyone starts changing colors and the gray people are revolted by the change, because it’s not what they are used to. As the movie goes through, everything changes. It kind of has the effect of war. One bad thing happens and everyone is effected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sister and the brother have to start getting along to keep everyone sane. The idea of the change was the reason why everyone was changing. The teenagers would have intercourse and turn to color, they would read and turn to color, and even chew gum and turn to color.

Marketing Considerations and Plans Essay

McDonald is one of the most internationally recognizable companies within the hospitality industry. Although I have not worked with McDonald ever, I am quite familiar with it as one of closest friends has been working with the marketing team of this restaurant chain for last four years. He keeps telling me about his company, how it runs its business so that it can maintain its top position within the fast food sector world wide. Apart from listening to my friend about his company, I also do research on McDonald by reading stories relating to McDonald published in various magazines, newspapers and on various websites as I am a fond of McDonald food staffs and love this fast food restaurant chain. McDonald Corporation listed in New York stock exchange has emerged as one of the world’s largest chain of fast food restaurants. It is most popular for its hamburger. Its customer base is so huge that worldwide it sells its products to around 47 million people on daily basis. The menu of McDonalds includes various sorts of burgers like hamburgers, cheese burgers etc. , products made of chicken, different sorts of breakfast items, French fries, various kinds of shakes, desserts and soft drinks. Mcdonald’s, however, quite often gets criticized over the healthiness of its products. These products are considered to be one of the important factors which are taking active part in increasing obesity in the western countries. The company, however, has made some effective measures in response to the rising obesity trend in the western countries and the criticism over the healthiness of its signature products. It has made some modifications to its menu by introducing several healthy food items like different types of salads, wraps and fruits. In spite of getting criticized over the healthiness of its products and having increasing competition within the industry, McDonald has been able to maintain its strong position within the industry it operates in. Its popularity has not decreased. Thus it would be quite interesting to look at the sources of its competitive advantage which have helped it to win the competition. In order to examine the sources of competitive advantage of McDonald, the strengths of the company will be analyzed in detail as strength of any company can be defined as a distinctive competence of the firm that gives it a competitive advantage in the market place. A firm can gain its strength from its financial resources, the image of its brand, leadership quality within the market and buyer-supplier relationships. (Competitive advantage, 2010; Ghosh, et al. n. d) In case of McDonald’s, its biggest strength is its brand image. Since McDonald’s is one of the most known chains of fast food in the world, its brand recognition seems to be its biggest strength. Its marketing campaign always focuses on brand recognition through continuous promotion of the brand name. Through its extensive marketing campaign world wide the company has been able to create an image in the people’s minds and introduce them to the fast food culture. Its customer base ranges from kinds to old generation. It has nearly 30,000 branches in as many as 120 nations across the world. However, 80 percent of its revenues are generated from the market of eight countries including US, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Brazil and Germany. The company has been able to expand its stores on the basis of three core strengths- cleanliness, delivery speed and customer care. McDonald has created a corporate symbol and through its highly successful marketing campaigns all round the world it has been able to develop a brand image and establish its logo in the minds of the people across the world. People are attracted to this logo and brand image and this attraction brings them to the stores. Although a number of competitors have emerged in the fast food industry, its rigorous marketing campaigns which are based on the company’s internal resources, external conditions and its relations with its shareholders have been able to strongly maintain its brand value in the market. (Ghosh, et al. n. d; Vijayarani, n. d. ) The brand name will not work in longer run unless brand value is mixed up with high quality product value. In order to obtain and maintain a strong position in the market, every company needs to use an appropriate marketing mix and product occupies one of the most significant positions within the marketing mix. Product value has been one of the greatest strengths of McDonald’s. When a customer enters into a McDonald’s store he/she know what to expect. The company places huge importance on its human resource and takes appropriate steps to satisfy it customers as well as its employees. As far as the product related issue is concerned, the company is also found to be quite innovative in introducing new products according to changing trends and tastes of the people. Not only that, it also offers different menu to the people living in different countries according to their tastes and the country’s culture. Fro example, in India it offers a menu which is completely different from its international offerings. In the stores situated in India, it has eliminated ham, mutton and beef burgers from the menu. India is found to be the only country where McDonald offers vegetarian menu. Which is more interesting is sauces, cheese etc, are also completely vegetarian in India. In India according to changing taste and preference of the customers, it has introduced Chicken Maharaja Mac. Thus the biggest strength of McDonald lies in the fact that it brings an internationally reputed brand with high class food quality and brilliant customer specific product features. This strength provides the company with huge competitive advantage. Vijayarani, n. d. ; Ghosh, et al. n. d) Till now only the sources of competitive advantages of McDonald have been discussed. But in order to survive amidst strong competition a company has to possess sustainable competitive advantages. Hence, it is now the time to look into sustainable competitive advantages of McDonald’s. For a company, its sustainable competitive advantage can be defined as the advantage which seems to be difficult or unfeasible for other co mpanies to own or infiltrate. The brand value, cost structure, vibrant customer care or its patent can be considered as sustainable competitive advantages for a company. An advantage should be considered as sustainable advantage only if the advantage has a distinct character or it is proprietary in nature. The sources of sustainable competitive advantages for McDonald’s can be as follows: ( Reidenbach and Goeke, 2006; Vijayarani, n. d) – In order to build sustainable competitive advantage there should be a good integration and coordination between the company’s managerial and organizational process. If such integration takes place then there would be created the essential value as everyone will be chasing a common goal. In order to develop sustainable competitive advantage an organization is required to learn and introduce changes according to the need of the time and it should always be flexible towards changes that takes place in the external environment of the company, such as changes in customer’s taste and preferences, changes in government or legal restrictions, and development in the areas of technology. For McDonald’s, one of the principal reason behind surviving within current market competition is that the company is placing its focus on sustainable competitive advantages by making efforts to integrate organizational behavior with managerial expertise. McDonald’s, however, did not recognize the need of building sustainable competitive advantage previously. Earlier McDonald’s used to ignore this advantage as it was more interested in expanding its outlets across the globe than focusing on its core advantages. As a result of it, the company did not experience any massive change in its revenues with opening up of new outlets. In fact, it suffered huge loss unless it recognized the importance of building sustainable competitive advantage. The company was right in detecting the need of the hour and bringing about changes in its management process in order to possess completive edge over its competitors. ( Lamb et al. 2008; Levy and Weitz, 2001) – A company can obtain an excellent position in the market through its financial, structural, and technological assets. All these assets significantly help in building sustainable competitive advantage for an organization. McDonald’s has been able to obtain a strong position in the market by its abundant financial resources along with plentiful structural and technological assets. Since 2003, the company has started to concentrate on identifying and implementing these assets in right direction that would bring improvement to the company. Thus these assets build one of the greatest advantages for the company. (Lamb et al. 2008; Levy and Weitz, 2001) Apart from all these, the vision and mission with which the company started its journey can be considered as one of the biggest competitive advantage fro McDonald’s. McDonald’s ability to sustain its dream over the years has provided it with a huge competitive advantage over its competitors. When a brand revolves around its vision in order to sustain and work in lieu with it, this results in developing significant sustainable competitive advantage for the brand. The McDonald’s started its business in order to help those people who did not have much time to cook or were too busy to go to an appropriate restaurant. The vision of McDonald’s was to offer quick service, and high quality food staffs at cheap rate. Over the years the company has been able to sustain this vision. Lamb et al. 2008; Levy and Weitz, 2001) Thus to sum it up it can be said that McDonald’s has been able to implement its best value based strategy by utilizing all its advantages which are unique to it and can not be copied by any of its competitors and thus it has build its competitive advantages which the company has been able to sustain over the years.