The theme of resistance to social norms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The theme of resistance to social norms - Essay Example By examining how she wrote about the theme of female subjugation behind a male-dominated conception, Charlotte Perkins Gilman demonstrated how the non-conforming female character has no choice but to fail. The woman protagonist, who never provides her name, is instructed to remain isolated in an upper room of a remote country house, which she does although reluctantly. As she confides to the reader, she actually felt that another room might be better for her, but this idea was overruled by her solicitous and educated husband and doctor as he continues to put his own desires first. â€Å"I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! but John would not hear of it. He said there was only one window and not room for two beds, and no near room for him if he took another.† The room she is placed in is thought to have originally been a nursery, with bars on the windows and old faded yellow wallpaper attached to the walls. This association only serves to highlight her helpless position within the house, particularly as she mentions, even very early in the story, â€Å"He [John] is very careful and lo ving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction. I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me.† Through the course of the story, the woman transforms from an individual who adores the outside and green growing things expressing thoughts and feelings of her own to the horrifying and creeping artificial creation of man as he has shaped her. The idea of the perfect woman is reinforced in The Yellow Wallpaper in the characters of Mary and Jenny, who collectively replace the narrator in her own home, indicating the easy interchangeability of women within this society. â€Å"It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby† is the only information we’re given of this ideal of

Major Works Data Sheet Essay Example for Free

Major Works Data Sheet Essay MLA Book Citation: |Biographical information about author: | |Tan, Amy. The Bonesetters Daughter. New York: Putnam, 2001.|(Last Name, First. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, original |publication date. ) |Genre: Point of View: Plot Summary Outline: (Two sentences each) | |Exposition/Background: Initial Conflict: |Rising Action: Crisis/Climax: |Falling Action: Characteristics of the genre: |Historical information about the original period of publication: | | | Characters |Name | | |Role in story | | |Characteristics (3-5 adj. ) | | |â€Å"Quote† that reveals character, (page | | |number). Then an explanation not a | | |translation. Name | | |Role in story | | |Characteristics (3-5 adj. ) | | |â€Å"Quote† that reveals character, (page | | |number). Then an explanation not a | | |translation | | |Name | | |Role in story | | |Characteristics (3-5 adj. ) | | |â€Å"Quote† that reveals character, (page | | |number). Then an explanation not a | | |translation | Name | | |Role in story | | |Characteristics (3-5 adj. ) | | |â€Å"Quote† that reveals character, (page | | |number). Then an explanation not a | | |translation. Memorable Quotes |â€Å"Quotation† (MLA citation). speaker |Significance of this quote Examples of Literary Techniques | |Choose three different techniques and quotes to discuss | |(Imagery, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, irony, foreshadowing, etc. ) : | |â€Å"Quotation† (MLA citation). speaker |State then discuss each technique listed Describe the setting (time and place) |Mood | | |The atmosphere or emotional condition created in the reader by the piece. | | | | |State, then discuss TWO symbols |State, then discuss TWO themes | |A symbol must be something tangible or visible, |A theme is a universal idea behind a novel, or the life lesson you learned from| |while the idea it symbolizes must be something abstract or universal. |the work; it does NOT include plot details, though details should  be discussed | | |in your analysis. ) Significance of opening scene |Significance of closing scene | | | | |Additional /Personal Comments and Analysis: | | | | | |MLA List of References (List where you found information for this assignment): | |ie. Phillips, Brian and Sekaran, Shanti. SparkNotes on The Outsiders. 23 July 2006 . | |ie. Sauder, Diane. MonkeyNotes on The Outsider. 1 August 2006.

Philip Larkin - A Voice of Pain for This Century Essay -- Biography Bi

Philip Larkin - A Voice of Pain for This Century On August 9, 1922, the poet Philip Larkin was born in the town of Coventry in England (Thwaite, Letters xvii). After graduating St. John’s College in Oxford in 1943 with a First Class degree, he worked at both the University College of Leicester and Queen’s College at Belfast before finally settling down at the University of Hull as Librarian in 1955 (Thwaite, Letters xviii). That same year, with the publication of his collection The Less Decieved, he "began to be recognized" (Thwaite, "Introduction" xv). His popularity continued to grow thereafter, and over the next twenty years amongst many awards and honorary doctorates he published two more highly acclaimed books of poetry, The Whitsun Weddings in 1964 and High Windows in 1974 (Thwaite, "Introduction" xvi). In 1984 he was offered the ultimate title of Poet Laureate, which he declined in part because of "shyness" and in part because of the "conviction that his poetry had deserted him" (Motion 510). With the words "I am going to the inevitable," he died a year later on Monday, December 2, 1985 (Motion 521). During his stay at Oxford, Larkin was a member of a group called "the Movement, its revolt being against rhetorical excess or cosmic portentousness" (Ellmann and O’Clair 579). He held disdain for the intricate poetic approach of Eliot and Pound in which "first of all you have to be terribly educated, you have to read everything to know these things, and secondly you’ve got somehow to work them in to show that you are working them in" (Ellmann and O’Clair 579). Larkin instead pursued "a more even-tempered, conversational idiom, more accurate than magniloquent" (Ellmann and O’Clair 579). But this "even-temperament" did n... ... who reside in the twentieth-century and stand as perennial expressions of not only his but of any individual’s mind. While the people of the world poise anxiously on the verge of a new millenium, only poets of his caliber will be remembered as having the sensitivity to capture the emotional need of this generation that will surely pass on to the next. Works Cited Ellmann, Richard, and Robert O’Clair, eds. Modern Poems: A Norton Introduction. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1989. Larkin, Philip. Collected Poems. London: Marvell Press and Faber and Faber Ltd., 1989. Motion, Andrew. A Writer’s Life. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1993. Thwaite, Anthony, ed. Introduction. Collected Poems. By Philip Larkin. London: Marvell Press and Faber and Faber Ltd., 1989. Thwaite, Anthony, ed. Selected Letters of Philip Larkin. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1992.

BMW’s Competitive Edge †A Case Study

Premium car makers operate in a highly dynamic and competitive marketplace. BMW is among the companies that have shown a stronghold on global markets that include Europe, US, Asia, and emerging markets in the Middle East. Its history shows instances when it has come under pressure from market forces, but the European carmaker has proven, time and again, that it can spring back and rejoin the race of top industry players. Recent years have even seen BMW appealing to new-generations users opting for winning design standards and quality. Indeed, BMW’s latest car models boast of enhanced performance and dynamics, making the carmaker one of the strongest luxury car contenders that continues to aggressively battle for consumer attention in the contemporary age. BMW’s Competitive Edge – A Case Study Cutting-edge technology, driving pleasure, comfort and luxury are closely associated with luxury cars like BMW, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, and Audi. For the average car buyer, each of these marques commands a strong presence. On the other end of the spectrum are the discerning clientele, whose fierce loyalty to a car brand or high regard for automaking heritage may account for sales volume uptrends. Indeed, premium carmakers, among them German automaker BMW, continually vie for consumer attention and nurture high hopes of hitting record sales despite rising costs related to materials and new model launches. What BMW has in great measure, though, is a sound business strategy that banks not so much on decades of experience and foresight but more on using a coherent theme or image as â€Å"the ultimate driving machine† to utmost advantage. After many false starts in the twenty years after the war,† (Kay, 1999, para. 8) BMW has clearly made â€Å"the match between the distinctive capabilities of the organization and the market opportunities it faces† (Kay, 1999, para. 8). In recent years, the pressure on BMW has been emanating mainly from the persistent threat of substitute products. Notwithstanding its vast experience and â€Å"ability to develop and use sophisticated technical skills†¦ the source of competitive advantage for so many German companies,† (Kay, 1999, para. ) BMW faces the tough possibility that luxury car buyers may opt for alternative brands in the market vis-a-vis the latter’s price offerings. The perceived level of product differentiation is another thing to contend with in the highly competitive luxury automobile industry. What may strike some customers as a refreshing innovation may be totally revolting for others. In most cases, it all boils down to a brand war. A satisfied BWM owner, as personified by the high-level executive of a fast-expanding conglomerate in Asia, cited brand as the most compelling reason to purchase a BMW. â€Å"It’s a good, reliable car† (J. Lucas, personal communication, July 31, 2008). Yet, as another ranking business executive asserted, â€Å"Mercedes Benz is still the best, while Audi is the rising star† (A. Lagmay, personal communication, July 31, 2008). Indeed, consumer tastes and requirements are evolving, and premium car producers who have made sizable investments in automobile design, quality and performance stand to reap some profit. In BMW’s case, solid growth was realized during the first half of 2008, despite testing economic conditions in certain automobile markets across the world (â€Å"BMW Group increases sales,† 2008, para. ). Today, pressure is mounting with the threat posed by the entry of new competitors. Automobile industry players stepping up price competition had been evident in the first few years of the 21st century, with â€Å"low price or incentives† serving as the â€Å"prevalent means to displace market share from competitors† (Lencioni, 2004, p. 735). To contain the costs, companies like BMW set up production plants in global growth markets. Business cycles fluctuate, though. While the European prestige car maker posted increased sales of its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands by 4. percent from January to June 2008 (â€Å"BMW Group increases sales,† 2008, para. 1), it was â€Å"not entirely able to avoid the difficult economic trends in important individual markets such as the USA and Japan†¦ global sales slipped 2. 8 per cent in the month of June to 146,138 units† (â€Å"BMW Group increases sales,† 2008, para. 2). Under its Chief Executive Helmut Panke, BMW has dramatically expanded its product offerings, setting its sights on market segments of the future. However, â€Å"moving into smaller cars meant earning the lower margins that were typical of those market segments† (Lencioni, 2004, p. 41) as compared to mid-size sedans and luxury limousines. As an analyst pointed out, â€Å"Compared with volume producers, BMW’s manufacturing costs are much higher, its product development cost more costly, and its purchasing costs higher† (Edmondson, Palmeri, Grow, & Tierney, 2003, para. 13). In essence, BMW has had to contend not just with the bargaining power of customers, but also with the bargaining power of suppliers which provide the unique resources to sustain its main sources of competitive advantage: brand quality and reputation of reliability. Nowadays, as the intensity of competitive rivalry heats up, BMW’s burning obsession with performance and brand identity or image has aided the firm in closing the widening gap with other luxury cars. BMW’s research and development teams have been caught in a frenzy to maintain competitive edge. â€Å"Development teams that pore over everything from (such) market feedback to innovations are encouraged to engage in `friendly fighting’ to decide the vital characteristics of a new BMW† (Edmondson, et. al, 2003, para. 24). As it faces countless threats and risks, BMW remains poised to prevail and deliver. Among the critical success factors in the high-end market where BMW competes is its design and brand appeal, which had become the customers’ overriding choice features (Lencioni, 2004, p. 741). Effective branding, likewise, created â€Å"emotional connections between customers on one side and products, salesmen, other users on the other† (Lencioni, 2004, p. 736) although this was true not just for BMW but for other luxury marques as well. One thing that worked to BMW’s advantage had been its â€Å"firm control on the supply chain† (Lencioni, 2004, p. 737). BMW nurtured long-running and dependable supplier relationships. Coupled with a highly talented workforce that operated at â€Å"the most flexible and most productive† factories in Germany (Edmondson, et. al, 2003, para. 20) to churn out vehicles with styling variations, unprecedented performance and safety features and individuality, the German carmaker remains a potent force to reckon with in the international automobile industry.

Wild Swans

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is a memoir of three generations of Chinese women from Imperial China through and beyond the Cultural Revolution. Chang's grandmother was a warlord's concubine. Her gently raised mother struggled with hardships in the early days of Mao's revolution and rose, like her husband, to a prominent position in the Communist Party before being denounced during the Cultural Revolution. Chang herself marched, worked, and breathed for Mao until doubt crept in over the excesses of his policies and purges. Born just a few decades apart, their lives overlap with the end of the warlords' regime and overthrow of the Japanese occupation, violent struggles between the Kuomintang and the Communists to carve up China, and, most poignant for the author, the vicious cycle of purges orchestrated by Chairman Mao that discredited and crushed millions of people, including her parents. Jung Chang has said that her intention in writing Wild Swans was to show how the Chinese people, and in particular the women in her family, â€Å"fought tenaciously and courageously against impossible odds. The book is, indeed, a testimony to the strength and determination of herself, her mother and her grandmother and their resourcefulness in recreating themselves time and again in the face of suffering, humiliation and disillusionment. Personal and historical stories interweave and the stories of these women and their families act as a lens through which we gain further insight into the turbulent history of twentieth century China. One such insight involves the treatment of women in Chinese society through the years. There are no stunning revelations here but there are many horrific reminders. The grandmother's early life reveals a litany of horrors, such as the torture which was the custom of foot binding and the slavery and hardship that was the lot of the concubine. Chang's mother endures a different kind of hardship, one born of her husband's unbending principles and her own loyalty to a warped ideology. At eighteen, and despite the fact that she is pregnant, she is forced to walk a journey of one thousand miles through five mountain passes, while her husband, a senior officer in the communist guerrilla army, rides in a jeep. He insists that she must walk lest he be accused of favouritism. The miscarriage that results does not, however, diminish the fanaticism which induced it, and it is not until his idealism has been totally shattered that he begins to realise the pain endured for its sake. This tragedy of collapsed idealism and disillusionment lies at the heart of Wild Swans. Chang's parents' dogged loyalty is rewarded by punishment and humiliation when the fear, through which control was maintained, infects the movement itself in the form of paranoia and suspicion. Jung Chang herself moves through the stages of allegiance, confusion and eventual disillusionment as the true nature of Maoism begins to reveal itself. Her father, now a victim of his own inflexibility, dies tormented, while Jung Chang and her mother find ways of using their experience to forge new lives for themselves. In fiction, such victory over evil might be considered improbable. In reality, it is nothing short of a miracle. The genre of this novel is autobiography, which is realistically and vividly told. There are some very vivid and warm insights given of human relationships and love. The need for security and family is vividly evoked and subtly rendered. It forms a very faithful record and history of some of the worst atrocities in China, a regime that showed itself to be totally self-destructive at the end. The narrative is brisk and fluid. At times the narrative verges on something similar to a journalists report. The conclusion however is optimistic. Some of the values, which are portrayed in this book, are love, family life, loyalty, courage and a belief in the essential dignity of the human being. this novel written by Jung Chang traces the life of three generations of her family. Set in China it gives us an insight into almost eighty years of the cultural history of that country, beginning in the year 1909 and moving up to the present day. The author a native Chinese now living in London builds the narrative around her own experiences and her family all of whose lives spans different cultural periods in China's history. The ‘Three Daughters' of the title are Chang herself, her mother and her maternal grandmother and the novel chronicles the events of their lives spanning a century of China's stormy history. Chang begins the story by recounting her grandmother's experiences, in the 1920s, as concubine to a powerful warlord and her eventual escape from his household. She continues with the story of her mother's involvement, during the 1940s, 50s and 60s, with the communist movement under Mao Tse Tung and her parents' fall from power and subsequent imprisonment under the same regime. She goes on the recall her own experiences with the brutal Red Guards, her â€Å"re-education† as a farm and factory worker and her eventual departure from China to Great Britain in 1978. Women's Place in Chinese Culture The early part of the novel shows the position of the woman in this culture. Women had no position or point of view on things; they were used as objects, treated as concubines and treated with disdain by society. The development of Communism is treated with realism and evokes the most gruesome aspects of Mao's regime of dictatorship. The reiterated use of physical violence becomes almost excessive at times. The destruction of Chinese culture, its seats of learning, books artistic treasures are not only mindless but also shown to be satanic at times. The death of Mao frees the country somewhat from this state of oppression. Universities are free to function, intellectuals come tot the fore again and people are free to articulate their opposition to the regime. Violence The novel reflects the depths of cruelty and unnatural behaviour, which the human being can descend. Communism All the horrors of life under Mao's regime are depicted in graphic detail, and the underlying corruption, which sparked off the Cultural Revolution, is vividly recorded. As the novel unfolds the profoundly sadistic features of Communism and especially the Cultural Revolution are exposed. Family life is slowly but systematically destroyed by suspicion and lies. Distrust and Deceit are rampant in this society and everyone is used to undermine their neighbour. It is an oppressive and stifling atmosphere sustained by brutal torture and violence, where betrayal and slander are rife. Wild Swans Jung Chang’s 1991 novel, ‘Wild Swans’ gives the reader a significant insight into a period of uncertainty and insecurity in Chinese history. From the novel the viewer is able to identify universal issues which are still prevalent today. Feminism recurs throughout the text as the women fight for respect as their society faces turmoil, using the communist rein of Mao as their opportunity for equality. Wang Yu represents the public as his own values clash with that of the communists. Due to his unswerving loyalty to the party he dismisses his own morals for that of a higher power.Grandfather Wu ‘Er-ya-tous’ attitude is echoed throughout the text as he believed that a women should suppress their emotions and to have no opinion. This is demonstrated as each women of each generation struggles against this outlook and either succumbs or fights against it. Foot binding represents submission to traditional values and conventions, a metaphor for women’s lack of rights. Women constantly modified their bodies to conform to society’s expectations, indicating their lack of dependency and individuality.Power and status is based on a man’s property such as concubines being collected. â€Å"it was good for a man in his position to have as many concubines as possible – they showed a man’s status†. This exhibits this period of Chinese history as emotional attachment is removed and women are treated as a possession which bettered her husband’s prestige. â€Å"swallowed opium to accompany him into death†. This establishes that there was no escape from the obedience which is forced upon the women by society.Women’s lives were dedicated to serving their men as they followed them into death. â€Å"seen as a means of keeping people like her contented† society wanted people such as concubines to be in a constant haze where there was no chance of critical thinking or rebellion. â€Å"T he first my grandmother knew.. † this demonstrates the grandmothers lack of participation in her own affairs. Jung Chang’s emotive writing style aims for sympathy from the reader as she is factual and brunt, hoping for the reader to connect to the situation as they apply their own emotions.The changing roles of women are significant as it demonstrates a time of change in Chinese history. As equality in wealth is fought for under Mao’s rein the women have also fought for equality in genders. The traditional saying, â€Å"Women have long hair and short intelligence† is distinguished as the women are displayed as strong and independent in the generation of De-Hong. These individuals are a contrast to their previous generation who were submissive and obedient.As three generations of women are represented in the novel the audience has a rich understanding of the lives of women in a shifting period of history. Wang Yu (Jung Chang’s father) can be consider ed a representation of the people of China as he gives his unswerving loyalty to communism. Although his personal values and the values of communism clash he continues to stand for communism and bring justice to for the cause. â€Å"Dr Xia could tell that my father was not fully convinced himself, but felt he had to defend the party†.This demonstrates Wang Yu’s uncertainty about the morals of the communism yet indicates his need for equality of the people. This could be due to his youth being surrounded by poverty while many flaunted their wealth around him. Objective language is used throughout the novel in order to shock the audience as they describe brutal events in a factual manner. The reader is able to understand the fear of the public as an example of children being forced to watch the torture of rebels is executed in order to prevent an uprising.This indicates that the people were forced into loyalty by fear. By the voice having such an unsympathetic recount of the story she has actually manipulated the audience as they feel protective over the children. This universal theme of loyalty to your country’s values is exposed in an undesirable manner in the text as many primary characters are negatively affected. De-Hong (Jung Chang’s mother) becomes embittered by her husband as he displays allegiance to the revolution before her. â€Å"One night she could not stand it anymore, and burst into tears for the first time†.This demonstrates Wang Yu’s complete dedication to communism as his strict rules come before his wife. Jung Chang criticises her father’s strict and unswerving loyalty to communism as the hardship he had enforced onto his family can be compared to the suffering caused by the corruption within the party. â€Å"Dong’s conscience was troubled, and that whenever he was due to garrotte someone, he had to get himself drunk beforehand†. The executioner displays his lack of belief in the c ause as he has to be intoxicated before killing a person.This expresses to the audience that he understands that the beliefs of Mao are wrong but due to fear he is forced to continue. Jung Chang has provided the audience of ‘Wild Swans’ a clear insight into Chinese history as major changes developed throughout three significant generations of women. Universal issues are displayed as women begin their fight for equality and the reasons for loyalty are questioned in an uncertain environment. The reader gains comprehension of these matters through Jung Chang’s representation of the events.