Abstract This paper discusses the plant, Melilotus alba. a White Sweet Clover which was introduced to the United States from Eurasia in the seventeenth century. The paper reviews the different climatic conditions in which it thrives, as it's a hardy, adaptable plant, suitable for a wide range of environments, and can reproduce both as an annual and as a biennial. Although it is useful both as a forage crop and as a source of nectar for honeybees, it has become an ecological problem in the States because of its vigorous displacement of native plants.
From the Paper "Melilotus Alba Melilotus alba is also known as White Sweet Clover, White Melilot, or Bokara Clover. It belongs to the Phyllum Magnoliophyta, the Class Magnoliopsida, the Order Fabales, the Family Fabaceae, and the Genus Melilotus, which means literally, "honey plant". A related form of Melilotus is Melilotus officinalis, popularly called Yellow Sweet Clover. Both forms originated in Eurasia, but have become naturalized in North and South America, and Australia (Turkington, Cavers and Rempel, 1978, pp. 523-524). Depending on how favourable its environment is, Melilotus alba can be an annual or biennial. It is quite adaptable to a range of habitats."
Abstract Alba Organics has a unique product offering of high quality, herbal based, cruelty free skincare products. They have been committed to the development of what they deem to be Consciousness Cosmetics for more than a decade. The paper shows that entry into the Portuguese market offers certain benefits, such as the Portuguese people's commitment to high moral standards, which would be conducive to cruelty-free, environmentally responsible products such as Alba Organics. The paper shows, however, that there are also risks that need to be taken into consideration.
Table of Contents:
Abstract
Company Overview and History
Portugal Overview and Culture
The Portuguese Economy
Portugal's Infrastructure
Portuguese Geo-Political Issues
Portuguese Exchange Rate
The Skincare Market Industry in Portugal
Method of Product Entry
Summary
References
From the Paper "In 2001 through 2003, Portugal lost some economic ground. However, it began to see renewed growth in 2004, but still remains to be one of the poorest EU members. This is partially due to moderately high inflation and unemployment rates, as well as the difficulty the country is having in keeping the public debt within the EU limits. Portugal's primary economic challenges lie in the need to modernize their markets, industry, workforce and infrastructure ("Portugal", 2005)."
Abstract This paper conducts a critical review of the work of Nuria Sagarra and Matthew Alba entitled "The Key Is in the Keyword: L2 Vocabulary Learning Methods with Beginning Learners of Spanish" published in the Modern Language Journal in July, 2006. The paper first explains that, in their article, Sagarra and Alba report a study, which investigated three methods of learning vocabulary and their effectiveness among 778 beginning second language (L2) students. After reviewing the article, the paper concludes that the significant finding is that the primary difference between the methods of learning was the result of the type of treatment instead of internal differences in the words used. Based on the article, the paper then applies the findings to the classroom by stating that the most beneficial way for teachers to help their students develop a stable, comprehensive vocabulary is to incorporate keywords into reading, listening and speaking tasks.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Article Review
Cognitive Models and Lexical Processing
Depth Processing
Lexical Processing Enables Deeper Processing at Early Stages
Limitations in Previous Study Findings and Adjustments to Overcome Limitations
Rote Memorization, Semantic Mapping, and Keyword Mnemonics Explained
Associative Models
Comparison of the Three Methods for Vocabulary Learning
Differentiation of Mnemonic and Non-mnemonic Elaboration Techniques
Analysis of Article
From the Paper "Sagarra and Alba present as well as compare the three methods for learning vocabulary that have been stated including rote memorization, the keyword method and a non-mnemonic technique of semantic mapping. It is related that previous studies have attempted variations of the keyword method for the purpose of identifying the most effective application of this method. One group of studies made an examination of the impact of facilitation on keywords that were experimenter-provided versus those that were learner-generated"
Tags: vocabulary memorization, semantic mapping, mnemonics, time constraints
Abstract This paper discusses anti-Fascists female writers during Mussolini's dictatorship in Italy. In particular, the paper focuses on the life and writing of Alba De Cespedes, but also discusses other writers such as Natalia Ginzburg, who was born Natalya Levi. The paper discusses the challenges that these writers faced and describes how they risked their lives through their literature to give other women the opportunities in which they so believed.
From the Paper "The most important part of Fascism in regard to feminism and the feminist movement of female writers in Italy is that this was a time when women were consciously attempting to find their identity. Not only find, but they wanted to renegotiate and extend those parameters of identity - in both a personal way and also a literary way (Panizza, 174). While female writers in other countries - such as Virginia Woolf in England - were searching for a room of their own, it was Italian women who were searching for basic rights - yearning to be heard, yearning to be able to express themselves the way that men were able to. De Cespedes, Ginzburg, and many other Italian writers of this era were heroes who literally risked their lives to give other women the opportunities that they so believed in. Their writings, while risque and controversial at the time, have gone down in history as great works that set women free both in a historical sense and a literary sense."
This paper identifies and analyzes the technical devices used in "A Doll's House" by Henrick Isben and "The House of Bernarda Alba" by Federico Garcia Lorca in order to accentuate themes.
Abstract The paper examines plays by Henrick Isben ("A Doll's House") and Garcia Lorca ("The House of Bernarda Alba") who both wrote very dramatic and risque works which challenged the social standards of the time. The paper shows that in order to dramatize and accentuate the themes of "A Doll's House" and "The House of Bernarda Alba", Isben and Garcia Lorca employed several specialized on-stage technical devices (such as sound and lighting).
From the Paper "Throughout the history of theater, playwrights have used color to emphasize a point, theme, statement, etc. Isben and Garcia Lorca use the color black to introduce the presence of death and disobedience. In A Doll's House, Nora Helmer begins to plan the events of a dreadful evening. She fantasizes that her husband, Torvald, will stand by her side when he is made aware her socially unacceptable actions and that she will then refuse to allow him to ruin his own reputation by publicly announcing herself to blame and committing suicide. While plotting the events Nora becomes uneasy of her planned suicide. Nora says to herself, ?Ah! the icy black water - the unfathomable depths - if only it were over!? (Isben 61). The unrealistic black color of the water Nora plans to drown herself in emphasizes the tragic restrictions placed on society and the consequences resulting in ignoring those restrictions. In The House of Bernarda Alba, Garcia Lorca also uses the color black to show the results of disobeying societal restrictions. Towards the conclusion of the play, shortly before Adela commits suicide, the stage directions call for Adela to wear "a small black scarf" (Garcia Lorca 205). Adela is wearing the black scarf as she walks out to the barn to visit with her engaged lover. The small amount of black adds emphasis to the fact that Adela is driving herself to suicide through her unsuitable actions."
Abstract The paper begins with a review of the plot. Following this, the paper looks at the underlying meaning of the play. The intention of the play to be an image of reality is discussed and the role of women in the play is explored. A detailed synopsis of the build-up to the Spanish Civil War is given and the paper then relates these events to parts of the play. The meaning of the title is analyzed and the symbolism within the play is studied. The social divisions evident in the play are brought up and the theme of illusion versus reality is investigated. The various settings and sounds of the play are also mentioned and the paper concludes with the messages on leadership suggested by the protagonist, Bernarda Alba.
From the Paper "Federico Garcia Lorca's final published play was The House of Bernarda Alba, written in 1936 just before the start of the Spanish Civil War. The play mirrors many of the tensions then besetting Spanish society, and the plot of the play also reflects the situation developing and in some ways foreshadows what is to come. The basic themes of the play relate to universal concepts of life and death, family unity and disintegration, and social conflict, but they have a resonance in this play because they also are connected to events then taking place and a conflict about to become much greater and more damaging than could then be seen."
Abstract An examination of Federico Garcia Lorca's trilogy of plays later dubbed the "rural trilogy", which include "Blood Wedding", "Yerma" and "The House of Bernarda Alba". The paper explains that there plays were written over the span of five years, and stand both as individual works and smaller parts of a larger whole. The paper points out that while there are a number of shared and repeated themes, including the subjugation of women in both past and contemporary Spanish society and the power of men that arises from such subservience, the plays are primarily concerned with frustration and repression. The paper then looks at how in the "rural trilogy", Lorca explores the repression of overpowering instincts and desires by societal norms, the hedging of characters' primordial passions by the conventions that govern their lives.
From the Paper "In Blood Wedding, the first play of the trilogy, the Bride's sexuality and freedom are stifled by a marriage to a socially acceptable but unexciting bridegroom. This is made readily apparent in Act One, Scene Three, where the Bridegroom proposes to the Bride. Throughout the scene, the Bride speaks flatly, dutifully. When her father says "Don't be so solemn," she responds "I'm happy. When I say 'yes', I say it because I mean it," and later, "I know my duty" (Lorca 19). The entire scene is joyless; it's the conclusion of a business arrangement rather than a pronouncement and acceptance of eternal love and togetherness. The Bride is only responsive to her future husband as a duty, a social responsibility (Allen 162)."
Abstract This paper looks at an early part of Irish literature, "The Tain", which is part of Irish literature known as "The Ulster Cycle". The paper explains that "The Tain", as was typical of Irish literature of that period, is an attempt to explain events that occurred around the time it was written. Virtually all of the stories in "The Tain" refer to the strife between Ulster and the Connaught, the rest of the island. The paper discusses the characters and events in the different stories in "The Tain" and explains how they very much relate to how people actually lived their lives at that time and the historical events that actually took place.
From the Paper "One has only to look at the ancient literature of a region to find significant hints about the character and its current condition of that region, as well as its history. A close look at the early literature of the Irish, particularly the stories known as The Ulster Cycle, goes a long way toward explaining the partition of the landmass of Ireland today. Indeed, a look at the stories makes it seem that what is happening now is not only logical from an historical standpoint, but relatively mild compared to the events narrated in the literary history of Ireland. These tales are filled not only with symbols that have become standard in literature, but with the seeds of current events."
Abstract This paper discusses the book, "The House of the Spirits" written by Isabelle Allende. The writer points out that, although the book is a novel and is set in a nameless magical reality of the author's imagination rather than a specific place and time, the heavily symbolic nature of Allende's prose renders the book almost like a philosophical, as opposed to an analytical, critique of Chilean politics and society.
From the Paper "The book tells the story of the coming of age, of the boyhood and manhood of the patriarch of the Trueba family during the political upheaval that cumulates in the rise of a dictatorial era. It also stresses the struggles of the patriarch's wife to come to terms with her own gifts of prognostication and the impact of the sins and hopes of the fathers and mothers of the Trueba family upon their offspring's lives in a larger political context. Ultimately, Estaban Trueba lives in frustration at his inability to control the women in his life or the politics of the world in which he dwells logic and masculine power are futile in the arbitrary world of the novel. The man's first love, his fiance dies. He cannot fully possess his wife Clara on an emotional level, as she becomes involved with a relationship with another woman. His daughter becomes pregnant by a lower class man. His granddaughter is raped."
Abstract This paper explains that Isabel Allende's "The House of the Spirits"
contains a steady conflict within characters as they try to achieve harmony between their inner and outer worlds. The author points out that Clara is a character who is seemingly trapped in her inner world because she cannot escape what is happening within her own mind; however, Blanca and Alba are affected much more by the happenings in the outside world and their lives constantly are torn apart by the actions of other people. The paper relates that, because it is the driving force behind many of the characters' actions, the setting of this novel, which is assumedly Chile during periods of political turmoil, is important.
From the Paper "Esteban Trueba is a character whose main interest is in the outer world, with very little attention paid to the happenings of his inner world. He is a hard-working man who wants to achieve great wealth before his time on Earth is over. His main goal is to become rich because of all the material goods that such status would bring him. He is a short-tempered and violent man as well. He never seems to be happy with anyone in this novel, as there is always something that sets him off. He is more concerned with controlling people and having them do exactly as he pleases than he is with changing the type of person that he is."
Abstract This paper analyzes the way in which women are portrayed in Allende's "The House of Spirits." Specifically the paper examines magic realism and the discussion of female power and autonomy in the lives of the women characters.
From the Paper "Isabel Allende's novel "The House of Spirits" is best known as a journey into a world of magical realism. However, it is important to note Allende's other mission within the narrative, namely a discussion of female power and autonomy in the lives of her characters. In fact the way in which women are portrayed in "The House of Spirits" relates plainly to one of the novel's key themes and allows Allende to articulate an interesting point about the rights of women within a patriarchal society."
Abstract This paper explains that lesbian theory has struggled with definition. The author points out that, by its very nature, lesbian theory addresses the notion of the lesbian as 'an other', an entity marginalized beyond the dominant, patriarchal center of society. The paper stresses that, because the lesbian theory asserts its own ability to independently encompass the lesbian experience, this theory fails to acknowledge the complex and fluid nature of this otherness. The author relates that another more fundamental flaw is that, because it tries to empower the lesbian who finds her words relegated to the darker corners of the literary world, too often the theory tends toward a complete avoidance of exclusivity. The paper applies several existing modes of lesbian theory to Alicia Gaspar de Alba's book "Desert Blood" and to the poems of Emily Dickinson to reveal the extent to which these definitional flaws must be addressed.
From the Paper "In "The Safe Sea of Women", Bonnie Zimmerman discusses the poem "I showed her Heights she never saw" by Emily Dickinson, calling it, "suggestively lesbian". Similarly, in "What is Lesbian Literature?", Lillian Faderman cites the poem "Her sweet Weight on my Heart at Night" as reason to include Dickinson's work in the canon of lesbian fiction even though, "there are no explicit suggestions of lesbian sexual relations in her poems." . Thus, both Zimmerman and Faderman assume the authority to label these poems as lesbian texts based entirely on personal assumptions made about Dickinson."
