What Elements Makes Up A Short Story Essays -

What Elements Makes Up A Short Story? What is a short story? What are the criteria necessary for a short story? What makes a good short story? After lengthy debates between many groups weve decided that it can not be decided by consensus, but by what we feel a short story must contain; different people may have different perspectives of this. This essay is devoted to portraying my groups conclusion to what a short story is. With reference to our critical criteria: plot, suspense, object and timeline; I will discuss whether the stories: Mr. Know All, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and By the Rivers of Babylon meets them. The plot is a series of events combined together to form a short story. The events are limited due to the length of a short story. A short story is also viewed as the storyline of the story. Each event occurs according to its order in the storyline. The three stories that I chose to analyze all contain the element of plot. In the story Mr. Know All, Max Kelada, a voyager on the ship traveling from San Francisco annoys all the passengers by entering their conversations uninvitingly. He frequently takes over the discussion due to his vast knowledge. Max was credited to knowing almost everything about anything. No one on the ship could beat him in a debate. One day, he had a bet with another passenger by the name of Ramsay. It was about the authenticity of the pearls that Ramsays wife was wearing. Kelada, after careful inspection, knew that the pearls were real. But, after he saw the expression on Mrs. Ramsays face, he sacrificed his reputation and concluded that the pearls were imitation to save the Ramsays relationship. Plot was also evident in the story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The title itself describes what this story is all about. It was concerning a man by the name of Walter Mitty who frequently experienced daydreams. As fast as his daydreams occur, they disperse just as quickly with assistance from the outside environment (wife, parking attendant, etc.) He first dreams about being the commander of a hydroplane who has to get his crew out of danger from the hurricane. Soon after, he is a doctor who walks into a hospital only to be called upon to help with emergency surgery. A technical glitch occurs in the operating equipment and he repairs it with a regular pen. While walking down the street he jumps into another daydream about being on trial for the murder of Gregory Fitzhurst. He announces that he killed the man with his left hand and brings the courtroom into chaos. Later on in the hotel Mitty dreams about his courageousness, he volunteers to fly a bomber by himself during the Seco nd World War. His last daydream ends with him standing infront of a firing squad. By the Waters of Babylon also contains a plot. It is a story that takes place in the post apocalyptic era. The people now live in tribes and have reverted to a superstitious religion. The elders constantly talk about the land of the Gods and how people are not allowed to journey there. The son of a priest gets curious about this land of the Gods. His soul would not rest unless he made this journey. Understanding that in doing so would mean death, he continues only to satisfy his curiousity. During his travel, he comes across a strange material called metal and finally the city of New York, not the forbidden realm of the Gods. The element of suspense we also concluded was critical in a short story. Suspense is the substance in the story that brings up questions to its readers. It makes the readers imagine what may occur later in the story. It assists the readers in experience what the characters in the story experiences. In the short story Mr. Know-All, suspense was apparent when Max Kelada had a conflict with Ramsay. They were arguing about the authenticity of the pearls Mrs. Ramsay was wearing. This brought up some questions to the readers, is it real? When Kelada discovered that the pearls were genuine, the reader would have expected (suspense) that he would reveal

Free Essays on Napolean Bonaparte

Napoleon was one of the most influential people in our great world’s history. In his lifetime, he managed to conquer over half of Europe. Though he ruled as a dictator, most of the people in his kingdom looked at him as their greatest hero. Even today he is revealed as one of the greatest historical figures in any period of time. He was an intelligent, cunning, and very brave leader. It is not only the French, but also all people, who know of the name Napoleon Bonaparte. Some look at him as a legend, others a peacemaker, while others see Napoleon as a ruthless, terribly hungry, conqueror. He lived at a time when the world was going through a great change. Napoleon gained his great reputation through the military, then, as his reputation was at its greatest, crowned himself emperor and boldly led the French into a new era. Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, Corsica. He was originally given the name Napoleane but in French, it became known as Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the second of eight children.(World Book, 16) His mother was Letiza Ranoliao Bonaparte and his father was Carlo Buonaparte both of Corsican-Italian heritage. No Buonaparte had ever been in the military. His father, Carlo, was a lawyer who had fought for Corsican independence but after France occupied the island he served as prosecutor and judge under the French aristocracy. (Internet) Napoleon was educated, because of his brother’s high power, at the expense of King Louis XVI at Brienne, Ecole Militaire, and Paris. Napoleon graduated in 1785, at the age of sixteen, and joined the artillery as second lieutenant.(Encarta, 2) In 1795, Napoleon met Josephine de Beauharnias. She was born on the island of Martiney and had been married to Alexander de Beauharnias at the age of sixteen and had given birth to two children, Eugene and Hortense. Alexander, a nobleman from Orleans, was excited in 1794. The marriage took place on March 9, 1796. ... Free Essays on Napolean Bonaparte Free Essays on Napolean Bonaparte Napoleon was one of the most influential people in our great world’s history. In his lifetime, he managed to conquer over half of Europe. Though he ruled as a dictator, most of the people in his kingdom looked at him as their greatest hero. Even today he is revealed as one of the greatest historical figures in any period of time. He was an intelligent, cunning, and very brave leader. It is not only the French, but also all people, who know of the name Napoleon Bonaparte. Some look at him as a legend, others a peacemaker, while others see Napoleon as a ruthless, terribly hungry, conqueror. He lived at a time when the world was going through a great change. Napoleon gained his great reputation through the military, then, as his reputation was at its greatest, crowned himself emperor and boldly led the French into a new era. Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, Corsica. He was originally given the name Napoleane but in French, it became known as Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the second of eight children.(World Book, 16) His mother was Letiza Ranoliao Bonaparte and his father was Carlo Buonaparte both of Corsican-Italian heritage. No Buonaparte had ever been in the military. His father, Carlo, was a lawyer who had fought for Corsican independence but after France occupied the island he served as prosecutor and judge under the French aristocracy. (Internet) Napoleon was educated, because of his brother’s high power, at the expense of King Louis XVI at Brienne, Ecole Militaire, and Paris. Napoleon graduated in 1785, at the age of sixteen, and joined the artillery as second lieutenant.(Encarta, 2) In 1795, Napoleon met Josephine de Beauharnias. She was born on the island of Martiney and had been married to Alexander de Beauharnias at the age of sixteen and had given birth to two children, Eugene and Hortense. Alexander, a nobleman from Orleans, was excited in 1794. The marriage took place on March 9, 1796. ...

The Catcher in the Rye Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices

'The Catcher in the Rye' Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is a classic coming-of-age story. Narrated by sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield, the novel paints a portrait of a struggling teenage boy as he attempts to hide his emotional pain behind cynicism and false worldliness. Through the use of symbolism, slang, and an unreliable narrator, Salinger explores themes of innocence vs. phoniness, alienation, and death. Innocence vs. Phoniness If you had to choose one word to represent The Catcher in the Rye, it would be phony, Holden Caufield’s insult of choice and a word he uses to describe most of the people he meets and much of the world he encounters. For Holden, the word implies artifice, a lack of authenticity- pretension. He views phoniness as a sign of growing up, as if adulthood were a disease and phoniness its most obvious symptom. He has moments of faith in younger people, but invariably condemns all the adults as phonies. The flip side of this is the value Holden puts on innocence, on being unspoiled. Innocence is typically assigned to children, and Holden is no exception, regarding his younger siblings as worthy of his affection and respect. His younger sister Phoebe is his ideal- she is intelligent and perceptive, talented and willful, but innocent of the terrible knowledge that Holden himself has gained with his extra six years (most notably concerning sex, which Holden wishes to protect Phoebe from). Holden’s dead brother, Allie, haunts him precisely because Allie will always be this innocent, being deceased. Part of Holden’s torment is his own phoniness. While he does not consciously indict himself, he engages in many phony behaviors that he would abhor if he were to observe them in himself. Ironically, this prevents him from being innocent himself, which explains to some degree Holden’s self-loathing and mental instability. Alienation Holden is isolated and alienated throughout the entire novel. There are hints that he is telling his story from a hospital where he is recovering from his breakdown, and throughout the story his adventures are consistently focused on making some sort of human connection. Holden self-sabotages constantly. He feels lonely and isolated at school, but one of the first things he tells us is that he’s not going to the football game everyone else is attending. He makes arrangements to see people, and then insults them and drives them away. Holden uses alienation to protect himself from mockery and rejection, but his loneliness drives him to keep trying to connect. As a result, Holden’s sense of confusion and alarm grows because he has no true anchor to the world around him. Since the reader is tied to Holden’s point-of-view, that terrifying sense of being completely cut off from everything, of everything in the world not making sense, becomes a visceral part of reading the book. Death Death is the thread that runs through the story. For Holden, death is abstract; he’s not primarily afraid of the physical facts of the end of life, because at 16 he can’t truly understand it. What Holden fears about death is the change that it brings. Holden continuously wishes for things to remain unchanged, and to be able to go back to better times- a time when Allie was alive. For Holden, Allie’s death was a shocking, unwanted change in his life, and he is terrified of more change- more death- especially when it comes to Phoebe. Symbols The Catcher in the Rye. There’s a reason this is the title of the book. The song Holden hears contains the lyric if a body meet a body, coming through the rye that Holden mishears as if a body catch a body. He later tells Phoebe that this is what he wishes to be in life, someone who catches the innocent if they slip and fall. The ultimate irony is that the song is about two people meeting for a sexual encounter, and Holden himself is too innocent to understand that. The Red Hunting Hat. Holden wears a hunting cap that he frankly admits is kind of ridiculous. For Holden it is a sign of his otherness and his uniqueness- his isolation from others. Notably, he removes the hat whenever he is meeting someone he wants to connect with; Holden knows full well the hat is part of his protective coloring. The Carousel. The carousel is the moment in the story when Holden lets go of his sadness and decides he will stop running and grow up. Watching Phoebe ride it, he is happy for the first time in the book, and part of his happiness is imagining Phoebe grabbing for the gold ring- a risky maneuver that could get a kid a prize. Holden’s admission that sometimes you have to let kids take risks like that is his surrender to the inevitability of becoming an adult- and leaving childhood behind. Literary Devices Unreliable Narrator. Holden tells you he is the most terrific liar you ever saw. Holden lies constantly throughout the story, making up identities and masking the fact that he’s been kicked out of school. As a result, the reader can’t necessarily trust Holden’s descriptions. Are the people he calls phonies really bad, or is it just how Holden wants you to see them? Slang. The story’s slang and teenage vernacular are out of date today, but the tone and style were remarkable when it was published for the way Salinger captured the way a teenager sees and thinks about things. The result is a novel that still feels authentic and confessional despite the passage of time. Holden’s style of telling the story also underscores his character- he uses profanities and slang words very self-consciously to shock and to demonstrate his jaded and worldly ways. Salinger also employs the use of filler phrases in Holden’s story, which gives the narrative the feeling of being spoken, as if Holden were actually telling you this story in person.

Cross-cultural communication and negotiation, strategy formulation and Essay

Cross-cultural communication and negotiation, strategy formulation and implementation - Essay Example There are communities that do not take lightly things such as bribes and payments that are questionable. On the other hand, others take this as a good gesture and it is their culture to give bribes or some sort of payments whenever a negotiation is going on. Gifts or monetary payments while negotiating in international business are required in gaining a positive action from officials in different governments. Yet this same move might cost one if applied in communities that do not take it lightly and consider it unacceptable. For instance, FCPA does prohibit a company that is US-based from giving any offering in form of money or in kind to a government official in a foreign country so as to get favors or win contracts. The other issue is how people in different cultures view joint ventures and strategic alliances. Some of the partners to an alliance may have a short term view of doing business for quick gains and benefits to the business. Such a strategy would require that only short- lived agreements are reached. On the other hand, there are people who believe in long-term development of business that has prospects for satisfactory profits in business. The joint venture negotiations end up failing if the two parties have differing views on the life of the business strategy (Sheppard 1-7). Formulation of a consistent and working strategy when facing a negotiation across culture could be quite tasking to a management team. Its implementation is also no easier. Many factors relating to inter-cultural issues do affect the success or failure of a negotiation strategy employed. If not successfully implemented, formulated strategies may fail. Their implementation therefore depends on how effective one applies his or her knowledge of cross-cutting factors among different cultural groups involved in the process. Institutional based relationships are also important when it comes to strategy formulation and implementation. These relate to relationships

International Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

International Financial Management - Essay Example Thirdly, firms aim at broadening their market. Fourthly, companies aim at increasing their returns. In terms of career, International financial management is focused to the students who aim at being involved in investment across the border where they will be involved in making financing decision while working managers, investors or consultants. Four key areas that are covered by International financial management include currencies, multinational financial decision making, institution and finance and cross border valuation. This paper seeks to discuss various issues that came about during the half yearly meeting of International Investments plc from various stakeholders. Being the world’s primary reserve, the dollar is a key aspect that helps US government to keep interest at low level. On their part, foreign countries buy the US treasury debt for two main reasons. First, it is an investment that the countries can use to improve their monetary policies. Secondly, dollar-denominated assets as compared to other currencies are the best way to hold foreign exchange reserves (Brealey and Myers, 1991). As indicated by Catherine Mann, long-term global economic health demands that United States and the trading partners to collect internal imbalances as well as external balances. In order to ensure that the future position of the dollar remains strong there is need for co-dependency between US and the trading partners (Grimwade, 2000). In the case of depreciation of a dollar, there will be an economic problem that will involve global re-balancing. Global re-balancing refers to complementary narrowing of two imbalances across the globe. These include e xpansive dependence of other countries on the net exports of the US as well as the increasing US current account deficit. One of the key roles of global co-dependency is that it prevents the dollar from depreciation while at the same time keeping the current configuration of the world imbalances at the best position

The Imagery of Othello Essay -- Othello essays

The Imagery of Othello Talks  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In the tragedy Othello the Bard of Avon uses imagery to talk between the lines, to set moods, to create a more dramatic impact on the mind of the audience, and for other reasons. Let’s consider imagery in this essay.    A surprising, zoo-like variety of animal injury occur throughout the play. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello,   explains the conversion of Othello through his increased use of animal imagery:    Those who have written on the imagery of the play have shown how the hold Iago has over Othello is illustrated by the language Shakespeare puts into their mouths. Both characters use a great deal of animal imagery, and it is interesting to note its distribution. Iago’s occurs mostly in the first three Acts of the play: he mentions, for example, ass, daws, flies, ram, jennet, guinea-hen, baboon, wild-cat, snipe, goats, monkeys, monster and wolves. Othello, on the other hand, who makes no use of animal imagery in the first two Acts of the play, catches the trick from Iago in Acts III and IV. The fondness of both characters for mentioning repulsive animals and insects is one way by which Shakespeare shows the corruption of the Moor’s mind by his subordinate. (21-22)    Just how strong a force is the imagery in this drama? Is it more powerful than the chorus in ancient Greek tragedy? H. S. Wilson in his book of literary criticism, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, discusses the influence of the imagery of the play:    It has indeed been suggested that the logic of events in the play and of Othello’s relation to them implies Othello’s damnation, and that the implication is pressed home with particular power in the imagery.... ...enhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare: The Pattern in His Carpet. N.p.: n.p., 1970.    Heilman, Robert B. â€Å"Wit and Witchcraft: an Approach to Othello.† Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. Rev. Ed. Rpt. from The Sewanee Review, LXIV, 1 (Winter 1956), 1-4, 8-10; and Arizona Quarterly (Spring 1956), pp.5-16.    Mack, Maynard. Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.    Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.      

Birth of a Nation: Art or Propaganda Essay

Mankind, engaging in war, driven by whatever instincts guide him, seeks to keep the defeats and victories of battle in his memory and on his conscience. To accomplish this men have used paint and canvas, ink and paper, or instrument and song in their effort to communicate the tragedy and glory of war. Never, before the career of D. W. Griffith had anyone attempted to bring the subject to film. The result of his efforts, weaknesses aside, mark a change in attitude towards film as a media. Perhaps audiences previously going to a picture expected emotional manipulation. After all, years before the film Birth of a nation, makers of film employed techniques to evoke pathos from viewers; whether through the use of a sobbing mother, a frightened child or what have you. In this respect the film was not a ground-breaker; However, through its effective use of devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing and allusions, as well as building on and arguably perfecting film techniques such as continuity editing, intercutting and close-ups, he transformed film from mere entertainment to art and propaganda. To present and explore a theme, symbolism is used everywhere in literature. Whether the image is subtle or obvious it is regardless a sign of considerable calculation and effort. In Birth of a nation Griffith places symbols everywhere, in doing this he merges literary devices of written works with his own visual works. For instance, the parched corn symbol in the scene where the southern army is eating symbolizes their desperation in the face of defeat. This imagery proves that Griffith wasn’t just presenting actors and a plot, he intended to dig far deeper than that, into the realm of a clever storyteller. Another example of his unique style is the use of foreshadowing, another literary device now commonly employed in film. The most prominent example of this is the scene where two gentlemen are talking, and as the camera pans down, we see a puppy struggling with a kitten. This is another strong example of symbolism; however, even more importantly it foreshadows the coming war. It is expertly placed to add to the building tension between sides which the audience already knows results in confrontation. Its placement reflects Griffiths desire to advance the complexity and diversity of film beyond entertainment to higher levels in society. To manipulate his audience’s emotions, he first had to draw them into the story and in turn into the stories underlying theme. He accomplished this by using numerous virgin film tools, much as an artist uses his own tools to create a believable painting. Among these tools he uses panoramas to illustrate setting, to paint, if you will – a moving picture. To show the swell of heated gunfire on a crowded battlefield i. e. the scene of the battle of Petersburg, or to bring across image of the delicate beauty of his native southern land to those who had never been there or seen a picture of it. This was the substance that transformed film into a genuine art form. Once he had the attention and anticipation of the audience, as well as their almost guaranteed acceptance of his word, he merely had to feed them a easily grasped, recognizable message to sway their emotions his way. This method of classic propaganda was used to fuel the audience’s already considerable ill-founded hatred of blacks. It comes in the form of a rebel black group who terrorizes the Cameron family, the film’s main characters. By placing blacks in this position it isn’t difficult to imagine the reaction of an average theatre goer. The film spawned riots, fired up racism, built stronger the negative stereotypes of blacks. It portrayed them as lazy, as illustrated in the black parliament, where a man rests his bare feet on a desk, alluding to uselessness in the employment environment. More horrifyingly than that it portrayed them as ultimately evil with the seizing of the Cameron’s home and the attempted rape of one of their daughters. The obvious bias presented, although appalling, demonstrates just how effective Griffith was at utilizing film not with the intention to merely entertain, but to spread propaganda and affect the perceptions of society itself. Griffith exploited his audience, he turned them against minorities and themselves. The film Birth of a nation exemplifies ignorance and hate at its worst. Although it stands for something that today is looked on as morally wrong, it proves by this very reaction that the film is not just mere entertainment, but something with a far more serious purpose. Since Griffith was the first to accomplish something of this nature, Birth of a nation therefore marks the transformation of film from pure entertainment into art and propaganda.