Conflict in The Interior Castle by Jean Stafford Essay -- essays paper

Conflict in The Interior Castle by Jean Stafford The Interior Castle by Jean Stafford is a very disturbing but thought-provoking story of a woman who creates a separate world within her head after being severely injured in a car accident. The conflict of the story is Pansy’s attempted escape from pain. Throughout the story she develops an incredibly intricate world within her own mind. She attempts to run from the pain she feels by retreating into this world in which she has made for herself. After arriving at the hospital with severe facial and cranial injuries due to a car accident, Pansy Vanneman began to lock herself away within her head in silent, unspoken hopes of escaping the terrible pain that surged throughout her body. She spoke mainly to herself within her head and very rarely graced the nurses or attendants with any words at all. She began to wrap her entire existence around what she thought was her one true reason for living: her brain. She did not necessarily worship her mind, but it was the organ itself that intrigued her. In the accident, her brain had been unscathed and she now believed it was some magnificent being that was above anything or anyone that came in contact with her. Throughout the story, Pansy tries to escape any form of pain she feels by retreating deep into her mind, her â€Å"jewel†, as she called it. Even gazing out of the window from her hospital room causes her some form of pain. She sees nothing but death and sadness in the world as she gazes upon the cold, lifelessness of winter. Everything appears cold and dead to her. Her escape is always into her â€Å"sacred brain†, as she thought it should be called. It seemed from time to time, her brain would let her down in one way or another. The bra... ...for by throwing herself around in such ways, she ran back into her mind, hoping to escape any damage that might be done to her. Still, in the end, her brilliant brain, lying in its â€Å"shell-pink satin case†, could not save her from the pain. It couldn’t stop the physical pain of her injuries and it couldn’t block out the reality of the real world. She felt it had failed her by allowing her to be violated by such hurt as the good Dr. Nicholas had inflicted upon her. It could not even shut out the fact that she would one day have to return to the world in which everyone else lived. She lay there, in horrible pain, with what she now referred to as her â€Å"treasureless head†. Pansy believed her brain to be so superior to all things; she thought it could shut out the real world for the rest of her life. When she realized it could not do so, it suddenly lost its worth.

The Origin Of Basketball And I Essay -- essays research papers

Over the years since basketball was invented, its popularity has gotten very big. The game is played all over the world and has made a lot of people rich through its many professional leagues. The National Basketball Association is, by far, the most popular league in the world, but a lot of people like to watch college, high school, and recreational basketball as much. The game of basketball is one of the most popular and exciting games to watch or play on any skill level. In December of 1891, Dr. James Naismith was a teacher at the Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was winter and one of his superiors, Dr. Luther Gulick, asked of Dr. Naismith to come up with a game that could be played during the winter months ("History"). Dr. Naismith had played rugby and he didn't like the roughness of that game. He wanted a team game which would get rid of most physical contact ("Basketball"). The game contained elements from American football, soccer, and hockey ("History"). Dr. Naismith contemplated the way the game should be played and what should be used for a goal. His original idea was to have a vertical goal. When he consulted some of his students, they brought to his attention that people would be able to block an attempt to score by simply raising their hand in front of the ball. He then came up with the idea of a horizontal goal in which the players would have to throw the ball in an arc. This would mean less force would be needed to get the ball in and it also meant that the opposing players wouldn't be able to block a shot so easily (Anderson, 5). He then asked a custodian to hang to boxes from the balcony in the gym. The custodian came back and said that he only had to peach baskets. That would have to do. The first ball used was a soccer ball. Since there was eighteen kids in his class, each team consisted of nine players (Vancil). Since the baskets were placed on the balconies, which happened to be ten feet high, the players needed a ladder to get the ball out after each score. By 1897, the size of teams had reduced to only five players and the ball was replaced with a slightly larger leather ball, very similar to what is used today ("Basketball"). As the popularity grew, more people began to go and watch th... ...it still does. The first great pro team was the Original Celtics of 1915 ("History"). It survived the NBL and dominated the NBA. The Celtics also changed the game into a future. The Celtics proved to be the best team in history. They were the first dynasty. Under some of the best coaches every to coach, they won an average of 57.6 wins out of 80 per season (Vancil, 12). They won eight championships in a row, and have a total of sixteen which is five more than any other team. The other great team throughout the ages was the Lakers. They won five championships in Minneapolis and six more after they moved to Los Angeles, for a total of eleven (Vancil, 26). The turning point for the NBA was the 1966-67 season. The Celtics were dominating and Bill Russell, the center for Boston, made $100,000 for that year (Vancil, 13). The fan interest was at an all-time high. In 1951 the first All-Star Game was held. The east had five of the leagues top nine scorers and beat the west easily. Eight years later, the Basketball Hall of Fame was built in Springfield, MA. It hold the names of great players, referees, coaches, and people of importance to the development of the game of basketball.

Financial Terms and Definitions Essay

1. Finance: Finance is the study of how people and businesses evaluate investments and raise capital to fund them. 2. Efficient market: Efficient market is the concept that all trading opportunities are fairly priced. 3. Primary market: Primary market is a part of the financial market where new security issues are initially bought and sold. 4. Secondary market: Secondary market is the financial market where previously issued securities such as stocks and bonds are bought and sold. 5. Risk: Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). 6. Security: Security is a negotiable instrument that represents a financial claim that has value. Securities are broadly classified as debt securities (bonds) and equity securities (shares of common stock). 7. Stock: Stock is an instrument that signifies an ownership position in a corporation. 8. Bond: Bond is a long-term (10-year or more) promissory note issued by a borrower,  promising to pay the owner of the security a predetermined amount of interest each year. 9. Capital: Capital is the amount of cash and other assets owned by a business. These business assets include accounts receivable, equipment, and land/buildings of the business. Capital can also represent the accumulated wealth of a business, represented by its assets less liabilities. 10. Debt: Debt is money that has been borrowed and must be repaid. This includes such things as bank loans and bonds. 11. Yield: Yield is the income return on an investment. This refers to the interest or dividends received from a security and is usually expressed annually as a percentage based on the investment’s cost, its current market  value or its face value. 12. Rate of return: The gain or loss on an investment over a specified period, expressed as a percentage increase over the initial investment cost. Gains on investments are considered to be any income received from the security plus realized capital gains. 13. Return on investment: A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio. 14. Cash flow: Cash flow is a revenue or expense stream that changes a cash account over a given period. Cash inflows usually arise from one of three activities – financing, operations or investing – although this also occurs as a result of donations or gifts in the case of personal finance. Cash outflows result from expenses or investments. This holds true for both business and personal finance

Bohemian Rhapsody Lyrics Meaning

Wow. I had no idea there were so many interpretations of this song. For me it's always been clear: the song is about an execution. Please bear with me as I construct a detailed argument for this interpretation. Here's the set-up (all of this is proven later): The narrator has committed murder. He might have done this out of malice, or self-defense, or anything in between; we don't know. The fact is that he killed someone, was caught and sentenced, and is now on Death Row. The man is not an important person, so to speak. He is not famous, nor rich, nor anything of the kind.He has no high-priced lawyers and no â€Å"connections† to help him in his plight. The narrator implies that, if he had higher social status, if he had money or fame or whatever, then he would stand a good chance of escaping death. But alas, he is merely a â€Å"poor boy† (aka ordinary person), and has no such power. His family and friends are attending the execution (or have otherwise heard about it), and are very distressed. Conversely, the family and friends of the dead man want revenge and they can't wait to see the narrator executed.The song takes place just prior to the execution, and involves the narrator talking to (or perhaps just thinking about) his mother, just before he dies. If you're still reading, you have my thanks. Here's the line-by-line analysis: *We start with the narrator's thoughts: â€Å"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? † *The narrator is overwhelmed by the idea that he's going to die. He almost wonders whether this is all a nightmare or something. â€Å"Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality† Again, he feels overwhelmed, but he can't really deny that he's about to be killed. Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see,† Looking up to heaven, wondering about life etc. â€Å"I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low† Here he is quoting the common perspective: he's just a poor man (â€Å"boy†), and he doesn't deserve sympathy. Much of the song is about how no one seems to care for the narrator, even though he seems mournful and regretful for his actions. â€Å"Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me† Now that he's going to die, nothing more matters. He has no future, no hopes or dreams or goals.He's going to die within the hour, and there's nothing he can do about it. He feels very hopeless, and from his perspective nothing really matters. â€Å"Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head Pulled my trigger, now he's dead† This part is obvious. He committed murder. I don't he's confessing to his mother here, as surely she would already know by the time of the execution. I think that he's really just sadly reflecting on what he's done, and he mentions this to his mother (or perhaps he's just thinking about her) â€Å"Mama, life had just begunBut now I've gone and thrown it all away† He was a young man, in his 20s perhaps. He had the chance to live a meaningful life, but instead he killed a man, thus causing his own death via execution. The narrator laments, noting that he could have saved his own life by choosing not to murder. But now the deed is done, and the narrator will face justice. â€Å"Mama, ooh, Didn't mean to make you cry If I'm not back again this time tomorrow carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters† Again he's sorry for his actions, and regrets that his mother now weeps for him, as he will soon be killed.The execution will take place within the hour, so if he's not back again this time tomorrow, it will mean that the execution happened on schedule, that he failed to escape it via pardon or other means. The narrator tells his mother that, even if he dies, she should carry on living, almost as if his death didn't matter to her. â€Å"Too late, my time has come† The execution is imminent. â€Å"Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time† These are symptoms of his intense fear. â€Å"Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go† He says a final farewell to his family and friends. Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth† The truth is that he killed a man, and now he faces strict justice. He will die. â€Å"Mama, ooh, I don't want to die I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all† This much is obvious. He doesn't want to be killed, and indeed he wonders if it would have been better never to have been born in the first place. A new voice starts singing; this voice represents his friends and family who are (or have been previously) protesting his execution. â€Å"I see a little silhouetto of a man† The narrator seems so poor and pitiful, â€Å"a shadow of what he once was†, so to speak Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango† Honestly, I don't know what this means â€Å"Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me† Both he and them are afraid that he'll be killed. The â€Å"lighting† part might indicate that he's to be killed with the electric chair, or it might just be symbolic. â€Å"(Galileo. ) Galileo. (Galileo. ) Galileo, Galileo figaro† Galileo was unfairly persecuted by the authorities of his time. Granted, Galileo didn't commit murder, but the narrator's advocates still draw a parallel, insisting that he doesn't deserve the punishment he's receiving. â€Å"Magnifico.I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me† The narrator repeats the common belief. â€Å"He's just a poor boy from a poor family Spare him his life from this monstrosity† His friends and family argue that, because he's a poor boy, he deserves sympathy and compassion, not death. â€Å"Easy come, easy go, will you let me go† Here the narrator pleads for his life. He basically says â€Å"You don't seem to care about me; I'm ‘easy come, easy go'. You don't really care if I live or die. So, if you don't re ally care whether I live or die, can't you just let me live? Can't you grant me a pardon or something? â€Å"Then the opposite group, the friends and family of the dead man (and/or the execution authorities) respond to these pleas. â€Å"Bismillah! No, we will not let you go† The other group wants the narrator to be executed. â€Å"(Let him go! ) Bismillah! We will not let you go (Let him go! ) Bismillah! We will not let you go (Let me go. ) Will not let you go (Let me go. ) Will not let you go. (Let me go. ) Ah No, no, no, no, no, no, no. † The two groups have a spirited argument. â€Å"(Oh mama mia, mama mia. ) Mama mia, let me go† Here the chorus of friends and family says â€Å"let me go†, but I really think they mean â€Å"let him go.Don't kill the narrator† â€Å"Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me† Beelzebub means Satan. The narrator feels (or speculates) that Satan is out to torment him by leading him to such a sa d fate. After all, it was probably a devil that tempted him to commit murder in the first place. Likewise, his family feels Satan is tormenting them as well, by killing the narrator to make them feel sad. Perhaps even the dead man's family joins in on this chorus; they feel that it was Satan who told the narrator to commit murder in the first place, and now they insist that execution is the only holy esponse to such a sin. Throughout this, the narrator has been lethargic and morose. But right before the end, he has a sudden burst of passion. â€Å"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die? Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here! † I'm not sure if he's talking to anyone specific here, or if he's just ranting with passion, screaming at everyone and everything involved. As I imagine it, the narrator throws off his guards and fights to escape from his shackles.In the ensuing musical piece, he struggles with the executioners, knocking the room into disarray. The two families watch closely, but everyone knows it's a useless struggle; there's simply no way for the narrator to escape. And the end of the musical piece, he is beaten down and finally subdued. Once again he become morose and dispirited, and the executioners drag him to his place of death (electric chair, perhaps). In his last few moments before death, the narrator resumes his previous state of mind. Nothing really matters, Anyone can see Nothing really matters Nothing really matters to me† Again, because he's about to die, nothing really matters to him. He has no purpose, no hope, nothing. â€Å"Any way the wind blows†¦ † This is an allusion to the begining of the song, where this image was used along with â€Å"nothing really matters† So†¦ yeah. I think that's a pretty thorough interpretation. Bohemian Rhapsody is about a remorseful murderer as he's about to be ex ecuted. Questions? Comments? Did anybody even read all that?

Organisational Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 2

Organisational Change Management - Essay Example An act that has seen it do quite well in maintaining competitive position in the face of growing competition. However the impact imposed on the company by the recent economic intrigues has made the management to rethink on the strategic planning to keep the company afloat by reducing cost as quickly as possible to enable its survival. It is with this in mind that the management has resolved to stop producing some components in its line of production and concentrate on the production of other components on fewer more promising sites. A decision that the subordinates are yet to know as it is only discussed by a few senior managers of the firm. The new plan as decided by the senior staff will involve the expansion of the company’s main firm at Blois, France. This is because the plant at Blois has the most advanced technological advancements in terms of manufacturing and the factory is not yet working to capacity thus, increase in production at Blois is projected to produce a redu ction is cost. The UK based factory is set for closure because it is considered as having relatively more outdated manufacturing technologies as compared to the other sites. Consequent to these new strategies, the employees and stakeholders in the UK manufacturing facility are bound to be baffled by the news since, according to them; they expected a major boost and development in their plant. Besides, the closure will lead to redundancies and lack of or minimal opportunities for redeployment and access to alternative jobs since only one group of the technicians is encouraged to move to Blois. Other impacts such as the loss of the an international and vital market at Didcot, failure of the development engineers to relocate and a fear of job insecurity among the employees in the other factories based in Spain and France are inevitable once this new strategy has been announced. Definition In the D2 case it is important to note that organizational change is required. This is as seen by the dwindling income from the plants put in place by the firm at various sites. The economic trends and the problems it has brought have been dealt with through application of proper change in the operations and productions. The economic recession that has led to the reduction in the profits and returns that the company was making prior is considered as an environmental pressure that forces the management and leadership to come up with a change plan in a bid to allow the company to survive. As a result of this environmental pressure, which is the major problem facing the firm, it is forced to find a way of reducing the amount spent servicing one branch(UK branch) that does not seem to promise good returns hence high costs yet low returns. Therefore, one great challenge for the firm is to find a way to curb the problem of high cost which is an environmental pressure (Barnes, 2004). The management on its part has decided on closing the UK-based factory due to its inability to produce the required threshold. Another issue notable in the D2 case is the leadership and management. This is a very important aspect of a company that requires proper and careful consideration in the organizational change. The leaders and mangers in the organization are like the drivers of the vehicle and determine where it goes depending on how they choose to deal with the situations that arise and require an action of change within the company

M7A2- Corporate Social Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

M7A2- Corporate Social Final - Essay Example The paper will provide an introduction of the benefits of CSR, the roles played by technology in enhancing CSR and challenges associated with technology in CSR. Finally, the paper will make recommendations for further research. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) entails all voluntary activities that are undertaken by business organizations in order to promote the social welfare of the society (Benn & Bolton, 2011). Companies participate in CSR through conserving the environment and meeting the differing needs of all stakeholders in the organization. Accordingly, CSR promotes business sustainability through ethical practices, making social investments and ensuring transparency in all business activities (Sims, 2003). Modern corporations adhere promote human rights, environmental protection and diversity in order to meet the social expectations of the society. In deed, CSR ensures that businesses acknowledge the negative impact of their operations on the natural environment in order to undertake measures that will conserve the ecological environment and control climate change (Sims, 2003). Modern technology has played numerous roles in facilitating business operations and CSR activities. For instance, sup erior manufacturing technology leads to higher product quality and efficiency in the manufacturing process thus reducing raw materials wastage. Johnson & Brennan (2002) asserts that the emergence of internet and associated communication technologies has enabled the businesses to monitor the changes in stakeholder needs and establish channels of communication that aim at maintaining cordial relations (Crane, 2008). Proponents of CSR assert that technology can be used to improve the ‘triple bottom line’ through financial, environmental and social returns. In this case, the technology will enhance the human resource processes such as recruitment, retention and risk management in order to minimize instances

Freedom Writers and the Economics of Race and Gender Essay - 1

Freedom Writers and the Economics of Race and Gender - Essay Example It also touches upon the economics of race and gender. On a cursory viewing the story looks deceptively simple. But when the storyline, screenplay and other nuances in the film are observed, numerous interpretations are made available. Embedded within it are themes of economics, especially that applying to race and gender. Moreover, what comes through the narrative is the strength of character and commitment shown by Erin Gruwell as she undertakes to set right a challenging group of students. For example, â€Å"She encounters a diverse but segregated community so racially charged, hostile and potentially combustible that she likens it to Nazi Germany. Without the support of her administrators (played by Imelda Staunton and others) and the school system, which views teenagers more as threats than scholars, Miss Gruwell devises her own methods for reaching students. She begins educating them about other young people who've endured wars, like Anne Frank, and simultaneously gives them journals so that they can tell their own stories, thus, giving each person a voice and a sense of value.† (Mayo, 2007, p.43) Another test of character and commitment for Erin was the divisions within the classroom on the basis of race, ethnicity and class. The term 'Economics of Gender and Race' is usually employed by economists to talk about disparities in income and work opportunities among different races and the two genders. In the American context, these disparities are skewered in favor of white Americans, especially the White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) group. The whites generally have a head-start in terms of standard of living they are born into, career opportunities they can avail of, neighborhoods they can inhabit, etc. Also, on average, whites earn more income than other minority groups. A similar disparity exists among the genders, where males are favored for both positions of high office and in the incomes they earn. In the movie Freedom Writers, the classroom under the charge of Erin Gruwell is a representative collage of these realities. There we see white pupils born to well-to-do parent s (who also perform better in exams) contrasted against pupils from minority communities such as blacks and Hispanics, who are projected to be disorganized and less disciplined (indicative of their socio-economic backgrounds). The microcosm of the classroom is a reflection of larger realities in American society. The semblance to reality is all the more so because the movie was based on the real life story of an American teacher of the same name – Erin Gruwell; and the school she works for Wilson High School. (Pimentel, 2010, p.51) Hence only a person of impeccable force of character and commitment could have overcome these many disparities and bring out the creative energies. Any other ordinary teacher in Erin’s place would have utterly failed in uniting and pacifying the group of students. What moves the story forward are a) a racially motivated shoot-out involving members of the class and b) the interception by Erin of a racially-loaded drawing in the classroom boar d. This is a crucial juncture in the movie from where the students will embark on a creative, developmental journey. Instead of indulging themselves in gang-wars and wasting their lives, by recording and exchanging their experiences they would gain insights into other perspectives and viewpoints. Erin struggles to procure necessary stationary for students' writing projects - since the class is largely comprised of minority students, their lower socio-economic background meant that they cannot buy stationary supplies with their own money. Erin’s out-of-the-box thinking helps her to transform the attitude of her pupils. The proof of her