Comparing and Contrasting Country Lovers and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Essay Example for Free

Comparing and Contrasting Country Lovers and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Essay These elements contribute to the short story’s effectiveness as author uses different literary forms and styles to connect the reader to the story. Style has many characteristics that help the author engage the reader such as; punctuation, the use of connotations, and culture. This is what helps the reader’s imagination take over, paint the picture, and get emotionally connected to the author’s story. In comparing and contrasting the two short stories of â€Å"the Secret Life of Walter Mitty† by James Thurber and â€Å"Country Lovers† by Nadine Gordimer you see the differences and similarities in style between the two authors. The culture, which is the common characteristics of a group or a region (Clugston 2010), is very similar in both stories since they are close to real life with the setting in the 1900’s. Both stories revolve around relationships and love. Thurber style is more imaginative then Gordimer which is defined by his use of connotations and punctuation, although both stories are very detailed when it comes to the characters and settings within the stories. In the short story â€Å"Country Lovers† Gordimer does a great job illustrating the setting, which is the time or place in which the action occurs (Clugston 2010). Gordimer provides details about the South African culture that allow the reader to understand the separatism and segregation the characters are living. The reader gets to feel what it’s like to be black in South Africa through the detailed descriptions of the loving conditions and treatment of blacks. The main characters in the story are Paulus and Thebedi. Paulus is the son of a farmer who was raised with the children of the black families that worked on his father’s farm. He falls in love with a black childhood playmate as a teenager but he understands that a relationship with her is forbidden. Thebedi is Paulus black childhood playmate who becomes his lover. The two begin a sexual relationship which results in a child being born. The theme, which is a representation of the idea behind the story (Clu gston 2010), is interracial love or forbidden love. The laws and culture of South Africa forbid interracial couples. Thebedi Paulus are aware of the dangers of being together but choose to get involved anyway. As the story unfolds, Gordimer brings out the imagination of the reader through the use of metaphors, which is an implied comparison between one object and another that is different from it (Clugston 2010). An example of this is when Goridmer writes, â€Å"hidden by the mesh of old, ant–eaten trees held in place by vigorous ones, wild asparagus bushing up between the trunks, and here and there prickly–pear cactus sunken–skinned and bristly, like an old mans face† (Clugston 2010). This allows the reader to visually paint the picture of where Thebedi and Paulus are at and what the scenery is. A common symbolism, which is something that has a literal identity but also stands for something else (Clugston 2010), that is used in â€Å"Country Lovers† is a tree. A tree can be a symbol for life, death, or immortality. This is a good match with the theme and plot of the story. The plot, which is a dynamic element in fiction, a sequence of interrelated, conflicting actions and events that typically build to a climax and bring about a resolution (Clugston 2010), thickens as both Thebedi and Paulus continue their love affair. Thebedi goes on to marry Njabulo, who is also black, and fails to tell Paulus of her marriage. At the same time Thebedi  also finds out she is pregnant with Paulus baby. When Thebedi gives birth to her daughter it’s obvious the baby isn’t Njabulo’s but he accepts her as it was his own. When Paulus finds out about the marriage and the child he becomes upset, why does he get upset, I believe it’s a sign of his love for Thebedi which ties back to the theme of forbidden love. The story takes an interesting twist, although the author never clearly states that Paulus killed the baby, it’s evident he did by the flow of the story. It’s up to the reader to understand the â€Å"why†, why would Pau lus kill the baby? Again, I believe the â€Å"why† ties back to the theme of forbidden love. Paulus has accepted that Thebedi will never be his wife due to society and the racial customs of South Africa. Understanding this he doesn’t want anyone to find out about the baby because interracial relationships are forbidden so he takes the extreme measure of killing the baby. One could also argue that he killed the baby out of jealousy and not wanting another man to raise his child. The story ends with Thebedi refusing to testify against Paulus in the killing of her baby. This shows that Thebedi has accepted her role in society as a black woman giving up any hope if a relationship with Paulus. Throughout the whole story Thebedi character is submissive to Paulus but the ending shows that Thebedi is also submissive to society by giving into social traditions and discriminatory behavior of South Africa. The short story of â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† by James Thurber is written in a third person point of view, which occurs when the speaker is not a participant in the story (Clugston 2010). The form is limited omniscient, which is when the thoughts and feelings of only one of the characters are related through the narrator (Clugston 2010) that character is Walter Mitty. The setting of this story occurs in a city called Waterbury but the state is never mentioned or disclosed, one can assume its Waterbury, Connecticut. The main characters are Walter Mitty and Mrs. Mitty. Walter Mitty is someone who gets bossed around by his wife so he creates a secret life for himself. In his secret life he see’s himself as a powerful man who is admired by all, something he is not in real life. Mrs. Mitty is the bossy, nagging, overbearing wife of Walter Mitty. Thurber does a great job illustrating the relationship between Walter and his wife which many people can relate too, I found it very humorous. That takes me to the theme of the  story, which I believe is marriage. Thurber portrays a marriage where the husband is submissive to his bossy, nagging, and overbearing wife. A second theme could be masculinity since all of Walter’s dreams portray him as a powerful man who’s admired by all. The story is about Walter taking his wife into town to visit her hair dresser. Along the way Walter begins to fantasize to escape the reality of his real like. Thurber does an excellent job of engaging the reader’s imagination through each of Walter’s fantasy’s allowing the reader to vividly picture what Walter is fantasizing about. An example of this is during Walter’s first fantasies where he is commanding a hydroplane through a storm, â€Å"Rev her up to 8500! Were going through! The pounding of the cylinders increased: ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa† (Clugston 2010). The sound of â€Å"ta-packeta-pocketa† is just the cylinders of the car Walter is driving. Each one of Walter’s fantasies is tied to something that is specific to what’s going on in the story. As Walter drives past the hospital he starts to fantasize about being a surgeon. As the newsboy shouts about the Waterbury trial Walters fantasizes about being in a courtroom. The Liberty magazine leads Walter into a fantasy about military dugout. Thurber does a great job of interweaving Walter’s fantasies with the surroundings of the story. The uses of symbolisms in â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† were not used in the traditional literary forms. Instead Thurber ties in the symbolism of control and power in each of Walter’s fantasies by Walter showing bravery, no fear, power, fame, and a man with high ranking titles. Thurber does a great job of connecting and supporting the symbolism with the theme of marriage and masculinity. The use of this symbolism is to show how Walter feels about marriage, since Walter feels powerless throughout the story as his wife talks down to him. There are many differences and similarities in â€Å"Country Lovers† and â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty†. The first and most recognizable difference is â€Å"Country Lovers† is a tragic story with a plot that builds up along with way with romance, physical relationship, racial discrimination, pregnancy,  arranged marriage, murder, deception, secrecy, and acceptance of normalcy. While â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† is a comedy with not much of a plot. Where they are similar, both are written in a third person limited omniscient point of view. Both had themes of love and marriage but were very different in how each played out. â€Å"Country Lovers† was forbidden love and arranged marriage while â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† was love and marriage between a husband and wife. These literary elements contribute to the short story’s effectiveness as author’s uses different literary forms and styles to connect the reader to the story. References: Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Divorce is An American Family Tragedy Essay -- Informative Essays Fami

In America today, one of our main life goals is to marry the person we fall in love with, live happily ever after, and skip gleefully away to live the American dream. In most cases, after marriage then comes children which starts a family. This has been a part of human nature since the beginning. Marriage and family are the backbone of our culture. Families need each other for support, dependence, learning, love, encouragement, and ultimately survival. Parents are the ones that supply these needs, meanwhile supplying their own needs by depending on each other for love and support. Only the two of them can give this support because of what they are to each other, husband and wife. When two people get married, they are obviously in love and feel that they want to spend the rest of their lives with each other. They make the ultimate commitment to love one another and one another only, forsaking all others til death do they part. So if this is such an important part of our culture and we have such high goals to get married, then why do 40% of marriages end in divorce? Why does America have the highest divorce rate in the world? What makes couple who previously had fallen madly in love fall out of love and into divorce? What are the main causes of divorce and what are some of the warning signs that you, if you are married or soon to be married should be award of if you do not want your marriage to fail and become one of the statistics? There are many reasons people divorce and there are always very unique circumstances around certain divorces. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census taken in 1992, younger people are marrying for the first time and only about 50-60% of these couples? marriages are surviving. That... ... of Denver and PREP Inc. Adults and children are at increased risk for mental and physical problems due to marital distress and divorce. Marital problems are associated with decreased work productivity, especially for men. Married men and women in all age groups are less likely to be limited in activity due to illness than single, separated, or divorced individuals (National Center for Health Statistics, 1997). Also children living with a single parent or adult report a higher percentage of activity limitation and higher rates of disability. They are also more likely to be in poorer health than children who do not come from a divorced family. Think about this before you untie the knot. The dangers that financial problems, lack of communication, and failure to work together as a team can impose on your marriage or future marriage can have devastating effects.

Apple: Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Essay

Abstracts For every profit oriented industry to survive in the globalize market; they must employed competition strategies that suit their operations and also keep in mind their competitors and target set to be achieved. This makes every company feel the pressure to be successful and to maintain leading the industry. This pressure plays significant role in the survival of industry in the competitive market. The effect of pressure faced by industries can either positive for the leading industry or negative when overpowered by rivals. Apple has gone into the technological mobile devices industry with a blast and imparted apprehension into contenders inside the same business. In spite of the fact that Apple costs their items/products at a higher offering value, their products are regularly alluded to as first class and worth the additional expense. The expense of Apple’s stock, which was seen as a shortcoming to competitors, has demonstrated to help support in their prosperity Introduction Competition and Mergers As market become globalizes and new companies enter the competitive market, there is always a desire to be one of the leading manufacturers in the field of production for both the entrants and the existing companies. Apple is one of the companies that strive to be excellent in the field of its manufacture products. Being a multi-billion dollar industry in technology that has over 30 years of experience that can teach any new business how to be successful. Moreover, Apple has gained from past missteps like valuing an item too high furthermore constraining the color of a product to one color. Case in point, when the IPod first turned out in the mid 2000’s it was valued at $999.99 one penny shy of one thousand dollars. The IPod was valued as of right now on the grounds that they needed to appear like a select product. The ruin to their new product was that it  just adjusted with Apple PCs confining the adaptability of the select product Apple can show another new entrants organization about globalization, in light of the fact that they are a worldwide business that has made billions of dollars and will keep on making billions. Apple conceives brand new ideas by making their products quicker and with more limit than contenders. Likewise, Apple has a tendency to be the first to make an item before contenders. The IPad was a unique making of Apple that was in front of contenders. After the arrival of the IPad contenders took after with their own particular structure called the tablet. Apple has yet to converge with another organization and ought to never need to do as such. Apple makes the greater part of their items themselves and has ended up being a standout amongst the best organizations in the innovation business. However Apple has purchased a rate of Beats which is organization that creates e arphones for music gadgets. One accepts that Apple purchased a rate of Beats in light of the fact that they needed to differentiate their portfolio Government Policies and Regulations The business electronic gadget industry is convoluted. Concerning matter of laws, regulations, duties, and government regulations, various variables apply. With such a significant industry, different relationship at the neighborhood, state, and even government level collaborate to administer the business. Additionally, impressively more affiliations exist that are secretly run help to control the business. As a rule, when referencing systems and regulations, the Commercial Electronic gadget Industry is subject to different sorts of administrative laws and regulations. These laws may fuse the laws that relate to security. You moreover have a couple of governments that deal with the neighborhood substance, charges and tolls; they may constrain duties or other exchange obstructions too. At the point when there are new institutions or any sorts of changes to existing authorizations it can bring about those in the business electronic gadgets industry needing to take care of an additional expense. Reliably administrators are getting the chance to be stricter with the laws and regulations administering the business electronic gadgets industry. The present and expected government policies and regulations fusing expenses and regulations set up to convey issues related to externalities. By and  large the administration arrangements towards the environment and expenses, has control measures for regulation and enactment. Through your organization, the plans are planned to accomplish more profitable use of the advantages that are made open to the clients. To propel a substitution between the advantages that is present and gives a spark from the organization procedure. While the assembly decreases to present natural evaluations so the present costs are regarding natures with the understanding of the essential issue in setting obligations for the state. â€Å"Our commitment to customer privacy doesn’t stop because of a government information request†(Apple, 2015). Government information requesting is a result of cooperating in the advanced age. Apple has trust in being as clear and straightforward as the law allows about what information is requested from the affiliation. Moreover, Apple has never worked with any governing body office from any country to make a â€Å"roundabout access† in any of their products. Apple has similarly never allowed any administration access to their servers, and communicates that they never will. Global Competition and Management Decisions Apple, Inc.’s change from the organization it was grinding a way’s initiation to the organization it is in the present day is an aftereffect of numerous vital administration choices. These choices help them focus on shopper needs while expanding piece of the pie. As showed by showcasing magazine (2010), â€Å"Apple has built up itself as a family unit name in a business sector where innovation is continually advancing, and customers energetically anticipate the following huge thing† (p. 18). Notwithstanding the expanded rivalry in the versatile correspondence and individualized computing industry, Apple has kept up its position as the business leaders. While Apple keeps on endeavoring to give inventive items to customers, contenders compass to surpass Apple’s achievement in the business. Carare (2013) expressed that mobile phone makers get generally high benefits. Indeed, even under these circumstances, a few business visionaries make utilization of out of line exercises to draw in clients, which brings about benefit. Apple picks to use reasonable exchange practices even while contenders have the capacity to duplicate their items accordingly  lessening Apple’s preference over competition. Apple products are outlined in California, however keeping in mind the end goal to keep up their competitive edge; they lessen generation costs by having their items collected in production lines the world over. While this could open them up to liabilities in regards to uncalled for work rehearses, Apple lives up to expectations nearly with its suppliers to guarantee moral strategies as to remote specialists. Around the world Apple workers are united in bringing correspondence, human rights, and admiration for the earth to the most profound layers of our inventory network†. Preparing projects mean to instruct and engage laborers while trying to energize security of our common assets Jeff Williams, Senior Vice President of Operations at Apple, (2015). Local Competition Apple has a wide range of difficulties in the distinctive competitive markets particularly with their local competition. A major test is the Research and Development which they generally need to remain focused of to appear as something else all through their operation. There will dependably be bugs that they will need to alter yet they must keep focused of it. Another test for Apple is that with a specific end goal to remain focused of their position with Windows Operating System around the globe and being even more extensive spread contrasted with the mackintosh operating system. Windows operating system is on MacBook’s and I-Mac(Desktops) of Apple, they need to move in the direction of across the board accessibility of Macintosh, it is free from infection not at all like Windows where consistently some or alternate infection is found making issues in equipment and programming. Advancements in the Windows platform, incorporating those included in Windows 98 and Windows NT, or those normal to be incorporated in new forms of Windows to be presented later on, have added elements to the Windows stage/platform that make the contrasts between the Mac OS and Microsoft’s Windows operating systems less significant. Mac has and is at present taking and will keep on making moves to react to the focused weights being set on its PC deals as an aftereffect of the late advancements in the Windows operating system. Apple’s future combined working results and monetary condition are all that much reliant on the capacity to continue to create changes to the Macintosh stage to keep up saw utilitarian  preferences over competing stages. As clients become globalized, they constrain companies to consider globalizing their plan of action. A contender like Apple who globalizes promptly can have an extraordinary chance to make financial aspects of scale and scoop and the upper point of preference. The game changers picked up by an early participant into a business sector. With regards to developing markets, Apple does and will represent a danger now and later on inside of the group of their rivals. Conclusion Apple has demonstrated during the time to surpass with meeting all commitments through legitimate maters, exceeding expectations inside their industry, opposing mergers, and emerging to local competition. Macintosh is an effective organization that has stood out with the arrival of items like the IPad, IPod, and IPhones. Apple is by all account not the only organization that exists inside of the versatile innovation industry, yet Apple has made a point to be one of the top contenders inside the business. The fate of Apple is hinting at no easing off in their triumphs References Apple. (2011, Aug 10). Marketing 18. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/887273428?accountid=458 Apple, Inc. (2015). The 2015 Progress Report. Retrieved from: https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/progress-report/ Carare, P. M. (2013). Unfair competition: Samsung versus apple. International Journal of Innovations in Business, 2(3), 293-297. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1438426517?accountid=458

Comparing Jfk and Lincolns Inagural Speeches Essay

Zachary Soliman Freshman Composition Professor Andrew Worthington 11/26/12 Addressing the Nation Throughout the history of the United States of America, there have been many leaders. President Abraham Lincoln and President John F. Kennedy are arguably two of the greatest presidents that this country has had. Whether it was 1865, during the bloodiest war in the history of the US, or 1961, during the most tense international power struggle that we have ever faced, these men were able to do what was needed to get the job done. The one ideal that they shared that made them great leaders was an aspiration to make this country the best in the world. Some differences between these men were their specific goals as leaders. While Lincoln was†¦show more content†¦In a way, Lincoln is defending the fact that he is still fighting, because he knows that if the North didn’t fight, then the Union would be no more. This part of his Inaugural Address, being the main idea, shows how Lincoln is mostly speaking in the past. He is telling the country very speci fically what has happened in the past few years, and why we are fighting that war. President John F. Kennedy, on the other hand, focused his speech more toward the future. He is also much more general about his goals, where Lincoln is much more specific, in only speaking about the war. In his speech, President Kennedy states, â€Å"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.†(Kennedy, 240) It is here where JFK states his main goal for the nation, and that is to protect liberty at home and around the globe. This is a much more general idea than President Lincoln, but both along the same lines. Lincoln was striving to give freedom and rights – liberty – to many people in this country that have been oppressed for many years. President Kennedy wants the same idea to spread, but on a much broader scale. JFK wants to support worldwide human rights and peace, and support allied nations. He is much more focused on the