Abstract This paper offers a review of John Milton's poem "Paradise Lost," focusing on the theme of good and evil. The paper asserts that these concepts cannot be examined without looking at the characters of Adam and Eve, because they represent the delicate nature of humanity. The struggle between good and evil would lose momentum if there were no humans involved in the tale, the paper claims, because readers can relate to them as flawed, mortal beings. The paper also notes that characterization is a significant tool in representing good and evil because the characters are extreme illustrations. God, the Son, and Satan are the obvious characters that represent good and evil, the paper adds, and their characters are more difficult to grasp because they are not of this world and possess superhuman qualities that we see only in the movies. They are certainly admirable but again, we cannot relate to them in the same way that we can relate to characters that have flaws. The author sees the angels are significant because they appear to be somewhere in between the heavenly and earthly realm. The paper concludes that Milton's poem provides a framework to which we can apply the concepts of good and evil, and gain greater understanding in a world that needs clarity and direction.
From the Paper "Characterization is a significant tool in representing good and evil because the characters are extreme illustrations. The character of God symbolizes good and he is the most commanding character we encounter. This character follows all of the typical beliefs regarding God including omniscience and strength. God is the creator of all and, more than anything, he is benevolent. We can see the depth of his goodness when he describes how he formed Adam and Eve complete with free will:"
Abstract This paper examines the recent trend for Americans to move to the suburbs. It reviews some research that was carried out on this practice, to determine what the responses showed about how suburbanites understood what living in the suburbs did, or should entail. The paper also explains about the growth in gated communities in the US where residents can withdraw in their relative safe zones, secure from the numerous threats, both real and imagined, that await outside their mental and physical walls. The results of the research are shown in the summary.
Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Conclusion
From the Paper "In the United States today, there are suburbs, and then there are suburbs. In an increasing number of instances, American suburbia is being shaped by gated communities where residents can withdraw in their relative safe zones, secure from the numerous threats, both real and imagined, that await outside their mental and physical walls. According to Low (2003), ''Gated communities first appeared in California, Texas, and Arizona, drawing retirees attracted to the weather. Currently, one-third of all new communities in southern California are gated, and the percentage is similar around Phoenix, Arizona, the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and parts of Florida'' (p. 15). Such exclusive residential areas are not restricted to a given region of the country, but are rather the rule rather than the exception in many parts of the U.S. today. For instance, Low also notes that, ''In areas such as Tampa, Florida, gated communities account for four out of five home sales of $300,000 or more. Since the late 1980s, gates have become ubiquitous, and by the 1990s they were common even in the northeastern United States'' (p. 15). This author even mentions ''
Abstract This paper explains how a large number of slave stories were collected for posterity, showing how hard life was as a slave. It particularly focuses on a book by Harriett Jacobs, 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' which helped the anti-slavery cause.
From the Paper "Harriet Jacob's life was quite different from most of the other black women who lived during this time. We lived "together in a comfortable home and, though we were all slaves, I was so fondly shielded that I never dreamed that I was a piece of merchandise," she recalls. After her mother died, she moved into the main home. The mistress of the house taught Harriet how to sew and even how to read. Unfortunately, when Harriett was12 years old, her mistress died and she now had to take direction from Dr. James Norcom. As she grew older, Norcom became obsessed with Harriett sexually and did all he could to make her his mistress. He even said he would build a cottage for her down the road, so his wife would not know about a relationship between them. She stated: he talked of his intention to give me a home of my own, and to make a lady of me. ..... I vowed before my Maker that I would never enter it. I had rather toil on the plantation from dawn till dark; I had rather live and die in jail, than drag on, from day to day, through such a living death. ..... Rather than give in to Norcom's sexual harassment, Harriett did the best thing she could to survive: She married another white man and had two children with him."
Abstract The paper relates that Wal-Mart relies on a complex network of feedback loops in order to help it meet its strategic objectives. The paper focuses on two feedback loops; the Saturday morning meeting, which has also become the model for other, smaller meetings that are conducted with regularity throughout the organization, and the real-time sales statistics that the company generates. The paper explains why the Saturday morning meeting is an essential component of Wal-Mart's success and identifies its short and long term impacts. The paper also shows how real times sales data is used to support many short term tactics and also functions as a long term support mechanism for organizational effectiveness.
From the Paper "Wal-Mart relies on a complex network of feedback loops in order to help it meet its strategic objectives. They form one of the company's most important sources of competitive advantage - the ability to move quickly. When the dominant company in an industry is also one of the most nimble, it shuts down an important source of competitive advantage for smaller firms. Moreover, it allows Wal-Mart to be innovative. Much of Wal-Mart's growth can be attributed to its innovations, both in its product/service offerings and in its operations. The company is able to consistently outperform specifically because of the strength of its feedback loops. The most important of these loops is the Saturday Morning Meeting, which has also become the model for other, smaller meetings that are conducted with regularity throughout the organization. This tradition was initiated by Sam Walton and has continued to be a fixture through the current day. Today's Saturday meetings typically feature regional manager and other executives meeting in Bentonville to discuss the issues of the week."
Abstract The paper examines Wal-Mart's key outputs that are the sales volume including same-store sales, gross and net margins and inventory turnover. The paper explains how these outputs are all related to one another, and to the overall cost leadership strategy, and also shows how these outputs all contribute to another crucial output for Wal-Mart, the profits. The paper aims to demonstrate how Wal-Mart has done an exemplary job of building output congruence.
From the Paper "Wal-Mart produces hundreds of outputs. The company is engaged in a cost leadership strategy, so their systems are designed to deliver low costs, high volumes and high market share. In order to do this profitably, they need to maintain margins. The bulk of the company's workers are unskilled so there is little evidence that employee-related outputs are of significant importance. Wal-Mart's key output instead both support and complement one another. There is little conflict between outputs, since outputs that do not directly support the cost leadership strategy are subordinated in Wal-Mart's organizational culture. Thus, the key outputs of Wal-Mart are all directly related to the strategic goals, resulting in a high degree of congruence."
Abstract This paper looks at how Scott Martelle's book, "Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West" is a book about labor history, unfair labor conditions, and class prejudices and in particular how the book is about the events surrounding the Ludlow massacre, which is considered the bloodiest event in the 1914 Colorado Coal Strike. The paper also discusses how Martelle's main goal in writing this story appears to be to expose the horrific conditions in which coal miners were forced to work and how Martelle's work gives a thorough account of this war, with detailed documentation and photographs from various sources.
From the Paper "The coal mine managers, local law enforcement, and the Colorado National Guard were all called upon to maintain peace during the coal miner strikes, which were organized by the union in an effort to improve the lives of the miners. However, these enforcers primarily sided with the coal companies. Martelle wrote that the events surrounding the Ludlow Massacre were less about 'the romantic notion of the resilience of the union men and women in the face of oppression,' and more about class distinctions, as the coal company managers and law enforcers were all white and upper middle class . "
Abstract This paper analyzes the deeper significance of Irvng's story "Rip Van Winkle" and shows in what ways the story epitomizes the American artistic sensibility, and at the same time anticipates the general character of American literature that was to follow it. The paper also examines Irving's particular blend of neo-classicism and Romanticism, through which he forges a distinctive character for American literature.
From the Paper "The satire falls on politics in general, and we realize that Irving's sympathies lie elsewhere. As a young man Rip had no interest in home life, and he has equally no interest in the partisan politics of the new republic. However, a great change has been effected in the meantime, and we sense that the change is for good. We may not discover the good in the political sphere, but it nevertheless exists. Rip finds peace at last living in the company of his married children and his grandchildren. The means through which he has attained this peace is his trip to the Catskill Mountains. This is where the Romantic element enters the story, and leaves its stamp finally. All the good has come about due to his foray into the mountains, his mingling with the strange forest dwellers, his drinking from the flagon, and his twenty years of sleep under a tree. The episode in the Catskill Mountains is in complete contrast to everything else in the story. "
Abstract This paper explores the deeper significance contained in the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. Though considered as the quintessential Gothic novel, the paper shows in what ways it departs from the genre, and points out the significance of this departure. The paper also explains that, whereas the Gothic is concerned with "undefined horror", Stoker's story turns out to be a morality tale in which evil is very well defined. Finally, the paper shows how Stoker's novel helped to rejuvenate the Gothic genre in the 20th century and that it does this because it identifies repression so unerringly.
From the Paper "A primary function of Gothic literature is to make manifest the repressed elements of the psyche. From this point of view Bram Stoker's Dracula turns out to be quintessentially Gothic, even though in other respects it departs from the norms of the genre. This form of literature first emerged in response to the Enlightenment, which was a cultural force that aimed to sweep away traditional society based on religion and popular mythology, and which were rejected as superstition. The cultivation of the cult of progress represented, therefore, a repression the past, and also of the organic aspects of culture. Gothic literature becomes the spontaneous overcoming of this repression, and was effected through popular modes. Stoker's novel is not quite spontaneous and populist in its tenor. Though it employs the established popular modes, it is also aware of the psychological subtleties of the genre, and employs them in order to reach a sublimation of it. The highest sublimation is achieved through the character of Dracula, who comes to represent evil incarnate."
Abstract This paper argues that Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" represents a distillation of the central theme of American literature, which is the projection of "manifest destiny". The latter is explained to be the idea that the American nation is destined to establish democracy throughout the world, and that this destiny is somehow a divinely conceived one. The paper begins with a short overview of American literature since the revolutionary period and then tries to present the case that Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" represents a culmination of the trend described above. The paper also shows how Whitman is deliberately trying to create a culture of democracy that does not refer to the political institutions, and that he wants his book to be the critical stimulus towards the development of such a culture. Finally, the paper considers the significance of "Leaves of Grass" in the scheme of history as a whole and explains that Whitman's scope is global, and that his theme is humanity itself.
From the Paper "We now come to relate how Leaves of Grass comes to fit into the scheme of American literature as a whole. Published in 1951, Melville's novel was severely ignored at the time, and it wasn't until the mid-20th century that its significance was properly discovered. However the appearance of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 and Moby Dick in 1851 clearly points to the emergence of a definitive American epic. Despite the profundity and scope of these two novels, they were not seen as epics because they were committed in prose. The traditional vehicle of the epic is poetry. According to Sir Philip Sidney, only poetry is able to fill "the mind with desire to be worthy, and inform with counsel how to be worthy," (119) these being the key characteristics of the epic. Also, according to Bakhtin, the epic must find its roots in a national tradition (17). Georg Lukacs adds that the epic must give form to the totality of life (92). "
A look at the argument that global citizenship only makes sense as an appendage to state citizenship, and as involving responsibility towards the well-being of the global community.
Abstract This paper argues that global citizenship is a reality and describes how the American nation is founded on universal principles and how American ideals have triumphed globally. The paper discovers the roots of global citizenship in the ancient Greek ideal of cosmopolitanism and describes how the Enlightenment transformed the ancient ideal into a realizable political apparatus. The paper then goes on to describe how the triumph of globalization overrides the state and argues that citizenship cannot exist in the vacuum of the global marketplace, and that states must continue to exist, if only to encourage the duties of global citizenship. The paper also outlines the nature of such duties as working towards the well-being of the global community.
From the Paper "The triumph of American principles over much of the world has entailed a new order of citizenship that is global in extent. This is the conclusion if we do indeed accept that American principles of citizenship have triumphed everywhere. It also follows from the nature of citizenship in America and what it entails. However, the absence of a global governing body makes the concept of global citizenship problematic. American ideals have been fostered in the context of the American state. The ideals of freedom and equality were established through negotiating the relationship between the state and the individual. If the state is made redundant through the advance of globalization, then it is hard to imagine the focus of citizenship. This essay argues that global citizenship only makes sense as an appendage to state citizenship, and as involving responsibility towards the well-being of the global community. "
