Abstract This paper examines both the life and writings of author Stephen Dixon. It looks at his writing style, the topics he chooses to write about, and the meanings behind his stories. The paper also provides brief summaries of Dixon's more notable stories, takes a look at Dixon's professional history and accomplishments, and provides some biographical information.
From the Paper "Writer extraordinaire, Stephen Dixon of Baltimore was born in 1936. Author of twenty one books of fiction plus a sparkling array of approximately five hundred published short stories which have appeared in magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly, Paris Review and Playboy, he has received two National Endowment for Arts fellowships for Fiction Writing, a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction, and a Literature Award from the American Academy- Institute of Arts and Letters. His short stories have been selected for the coveted O. Henry Prize Stories, the Pushcart Prize and the Paris Review John Train Humor Award, among others. His novel Frog, was nominated for the National Book Award as also for the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1991, and in 1995, Interstate was also nominated for the National Book Award. Since 1976, he has published on average, one book a year, yet Stephen Dixon is among the less known American writers who is beginning to evoke the interest of the reading community both at home and internationally."
Abstract Homer-Dixon's Toronto project, on the links between environmental scarcity and violent conflicts, has produced influential recommendations for the U.S. and developing policy makers. However, this paper argues that his recommendations have Western biases. This essay points out those dubious aspects that may deter a more balanced analysis of the problem. The author gives some recommendations in order to achieve more effective measures in reducing the impact of environmental factors on violent conflicts.
From the Paper "During the 1960s and 1970s, several events have brought the environment into public attention. One that is cited as the public eye-opener is Rachel Carson's book entitled Silent Spring, published in 1962, in which she clearly listed and elaborated on many signs of environmental degradation which until then had not been noticed by others. Exactly ten years later, the United Nations held the first international forum related with the environment, the United Nations Conference on Human Environment, which is referred to as ?the event where international debate on the environment began.?
Abstract "All Gone" vividly demonstrates author Stephen Dixon's idea that fiction is a place where one does not know what he will encounter. The metaphor for fiction is the city, in which the story is set. The paper examines setting, literary techniques and character relations in this story.
From the Paper "There are virtually no relationships between characters in this story. The strongest relationship had been the one between Eliot and Maria, but that is gone. Yet, a story emerges nonetheless. The reader becomes involved in Maria's quest. He begins to wonder what will develop between Maria and Vaughn, who has expressed enough interest in her to make it look like some relationship will develop. When he stops coming to the station, we feel a little disappointed. The turning point of the story is when Maria decides to stop going to the station."
Abstract This paper begins by giving a brief bio of Amis and then describes how he became famous as a novelist through the creation of a humorous but highly critical look at British society, especially in the period following the end of World War II in 1945. It discusses his book "Lucky Jim" in terms of how it fits in with this theme of criticizing society.
From the Paper "Kingsley Amis's 1953 novel Lucky Jim is a book meant to make us laugh at the absurdities of many of the people that we make while at the same time assuring us that there the small and downtrodden can come out ahead. In this novel, he tells a tale that we all want to hear, which is that sometimes the good guys win just because they are the good guys."
Abstract As the Nineteenth Century dawned, the institution of slavery appeared to be on its way out in the new United States. The paper shows, however, that the growing of cotton to sustain the Southern economy proved a problem. The crop required its harvesters to toil under a blistering sun ? hard work that scarcely attracted free labor. Yet, the burgeoning cotton plantation demanded more and more hands to work them. There remained only one answer to this labor shortage ? import more slaves. The paper discusses this dilemma faced by the Southern plantation owners in the wake of the abolishment of slavery in the North of the country. The paper looks at the influence of the Abolitionists, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and how all these issues came to a head with the American Civil War.
From the Paper "Thus, on the eve of the Civil War, the United States was a country very much divided by the issue of slavery. It was largely a matter of economics that had dictated the Peculiar Institution's astounding growth during the course of the early Nineteenth Century. Cotton was an immensely profitable crop that consumed land as it churned out profits. The growth of the Abolitionist Movement raised increasing concerns over the rightness of slavery, provoking many Americans to lobby for limitations on the institution's spread. Yet, Southerners, by and large, saw this attack on slavery as an attack on their very way of life. Struggling to maintain what they saw as their own unique culture against meddling Northerners and Abolitionists, they framed their pro-Slavery arguments around the doctrine of States? Rights, thereby proclaiming the right of each State to decide what was best for its own citizens. It was these two issues ? slavery and States? Rights that would form the basis of the Civil War."
A contemporary review of the contributing research, theory, principles and practices which which underpins organisational learning and the learning organisation.
Abstract This paper surveys the main contributors to the theory and practice of organisational learning. It begins with a brief discussion on the origins of organisational learning and the environmental conditions, which have contributed to the recent rise in popularity in the methods and practices of the learning organisation. The contributions of Senge, (1990), Pedler M, Burgoyne J & Boydell T, (1996), Argyris C & Schon D, (1978, 1996) and Dixon N, (1999) to the organisational learning debate are compared and contrasted in order to gain an overview of the principles and practices involved.
From the Paper "Personal mastery is the cornerstone of the learning organisation as depicted by Senge, (1990). It is seen as the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively. In this sense personal mastery is not about the acquisition of particular sets of skills and knowledge; rather it embodies two underlying processes which facilitate a more fundamental and transferable learning namely clarifying what is important and learning how to see reality more objectively. In practice the application of these processes at an individual level produces a "creative tension" resulting from the juxtaposition of vision (what is important and desirable) and a clear perspective of reality (the current position). Such creative tension produces a force with the energy necessary to bring the two together."
This paper reviews two children's mysteries: "The Shore Road Mystery" from Franklin W. Dixon's Hardy Boys series and "Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog" from Donald J. Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown series.
Abstract This paper explains that the Hardy Boys, in 1964, in ?The Shore Road Mystery" are mere boys who can think like crafty adults, can go out and challenge crooks and thieves, and find a farmhouse to call for help with just old-fashioned land-based phones. The author points out that a young man learns that hard work and perseverance plus brainpower and the use of good instincts lead to success, even for kids. The paper relates that "Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog" leaves the reader wondering how a seemingly normal kid named Encyclopedia Brown could come up with this kind of skullduggery and carry it off.
From the Paper "The irony here is that Chet is on a research mission seeking information about car thieves, a felony crime that any kid could think about, but few could actually follow through. Still, he can"t keep his hands out of the cake Aunt Gertrude gave him to deliver. A reader learns here that young men are always young men in most predictable respects (in this case, Chet is tempted by chocolate cake, and can"t keep his hands off the cake notwithstanding the promise to deliver it); but in other areas, Chet is acting more like being a criminal investigator than a green-behind-the-ears / snot-nosed kid who can?t keep his fingers out of a chocolate cake."
Abstract When French internet service provider Wanadoo offered to acquire Britain's Freeserve for 1.65 billion Euro ($2.4 billion) in stock in 2000, investors looked forward to the French company providing access to Europe's second-largest internet community. They hoped the move would push Wanadoo's share price into the realm of Yahoo's. This report therefore examines the effect of the takeover. From the perspective of the share price of both Freeserve and Wanadoo, it looks at whether any associated wealth for shareholders and investors grew since the take-over. The report explains the trends of the share prices of Dixon, who at the time was the majority share holder of Freeserve, in addition to any effect on France Telecom who held the majority of Wanadoo. The paper includes graphs.
From the Paper "When Wanadoo first made their offer, as expected, Freeserve shares rose sharply. Most experts saw Freeserve as an organization that was cash poor and they were not managing affairs well from an international perspective. Yet, the experts also seemed to believe that the acquisition would be a bad deal for the Freeserve investors. There was a silver lining of course, Wanadoo would provide a badly needed cash infusion and the combined company proved to be cash strong with well over 2 billion ($1.76 billion) which made the long-term investors see green. "It's a great fit, they don't have any overlap and Wanadoo's parent has great assets in Britain, and above all a strategy." (CNN Money, 2000)"
