Comparing A Plea for Gas Lamps and Jekyll and Hyde :: comparison compare contrast essays

A Plea for Gas Lamps and Jekyll and Hyde      Ã‚  Ã‚   In "A Plea for Gas Lamps" Robert Louis Stevenson describes how, with the advent of urban gaslight, "a new age had begun for sociality and corporate pleasure seeking." Referring to the lamps as "domesticated stars," he describes the new lamplit city emerging gracefully as a festive public sphere in which "soft joys prevail" and "people are convoked to pleasure." Wolfgang Schivelbush connects such gaslit pleasure directly to commerce. "Gaslight offered life, warmth and closeness. This was true also of the relationship between light and the shop goods upon which it fell. They were close to each other, indeed, they permeated each other, and each enhanced the effect of the other."(153)    At the same time, however, the industrial uniformity of gas streetlighting made many uneasy. Like the railway, it represented a dehumanizing, centrally regulated urban infrastructure. "With a public gas supply, domestic lighting entered its industrial -- and dependent -- stage. No longer self-sufficiently producing its own heat and light, each house was inextricably tied to an industrial energy producer. . . . To contemporaries it seemed that industries were expanding, sending out tentacles, octopus-like, into every house."(28-29) This dread of uniformity became intensified as incandescent gas lighting, high pressure gas lighting (Robins 142), and finally electric arc-lighting grew more common in urban settings. People became immediately nostalgic for the flicker of gaslight, and the inhuman qualities of street lighting were directly associated with the brightness and uniformity of electric arc-lights. For Stevenson, the immediacy and central control of electric lighting transforms the city into a technological nightmare: "Our tame stars are to come out in future, not one by one, but all in a body and at once. A sedate electrician somewhere in a back office touches a spring -- and behold! . . . the design of the monstrous city flashes into vision -- a glittering hieroglyph many square miles in extent." The monstrosity of the city is defined by this sudden, startling uniformity, which obliterates the its pleasing variety, rendering it a vast, but simple design.

Themes in Catch-22

In Catch-22, Joseph Heller explores the value of life and morality and the absurdity of war through his contrasting characterizations of Milo Minderbinder and Yossarian, the military base setting, and the conflict between Yossarian and Colonel Cathcart. Catch-22 is a satire on the bureaucratic nature of the military during World War II. Throughout Catch-22, Heller explores different character’s reactions to the insane and arbitrary nature of the military bureaucracy. The protagonist, Yossarian, desires above all to preserve his life. However, his life is continually threatened by the increasing number of missions Colonel Cathcart, the principle antagonist of Catch-22, requires him to fly. Heller characterizes Milo Minderbinder through the physiognomy of his last name. Minderbinder combines two of Milo’s characteristics – â€Å"mind† and â€Å"bind†. Milo has the lowly job of mess hall officer when he arrives on the military base in Pianosa. Milo explains to Yossarian that his goal is â€Å"give the men in this squadron the best meals in the whole world† (64). Milo creates an international syndicate that makes money by trading between the companies it owns. Even Yossarian frequently fails to understand how such a system is possible. Milo explains the system behind the syndicate: â€Å"I make a profit of three quarter cents apiece when I sell [the eggs] to me and a profit of two and three quarter cents apiece when I buy them back from me. That’s a total profit of six cents an egg† (230). However, what starts as a brilliant scheme to make money by buying food becomes sidelined when Milo begins selling information to both the Americans and the Germans. Heller explains Milo’s ability to manipulate both sides: â€Å"His planes were able to steal over in a sneak attack without alerting the German antiaircraft gunners; and since Milo knew about the attack, he was able to alert the German anti-aircraft gunners in sufficient time for them to begin firing accurately the moment the planes came into range† (255). Milo convinces the Germans to pay him for every American plane they shoot down, and convinces the Americans to pay him for every target they destroy. Because both sides of the war pay him for their efforts, Milo symbolizes the absurdity and arbitrary nature of the war. While Milo uses the war to make profit, Yossarian does his best to escape the absurdity of the war. Heller characterizes Yossarian through a flashback scene. During the Siege of Avignon, Yossarian’s friend Snowden dies in Yossarian’s arms. While in the hospital, Yossarian reflects on the lesson that incident taught him: â€Å"Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he’ll fall. Set fire to him and he’ll burn. Bury him and he’ll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage† (440). The lesson Yossarian learns about the value of life from his friend dying in his arms characterizes Yossarian and presents the central meaning of Catch-22. Earlier, while introducing Havermeyer, the lead bombardier of Yossarian’s squadron, Heller explains, â€Å"Havermeyer was a lead bombardier who never missed. Yossarian was a lead bombardier who had been demoted because he no longer gave a damn whether he missed or not. He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive† (29). Yossarian’s desire to live epitomizes Heller’s central theme that life is valuable. The bureaucratic culture of the military base in Catch-22 represents blatant disregard of life, and by contrast, the value of life and morality. In the military base, men can be court-marshaled simply because they are disliked by one of their superior officers. Clevinger, one of Yossarian’s friends, who Heller describes as being â€Å"one of those people with lots of intelligence and no brains† (68), is court-marshaled, and, as Heller states, â€Å"the only thing missing was something to charge him with† (71). Clevinger’s trial is ridiculous; Lieutenant Scheisskopf spends so much time correcting the way Clevinger speaks that Clevinger cannot say a word in his defense. Heller goes as far as to say, â€Å"Clevinger was guilty, of course, or he would not have been accused, and since the only way to prove it was to find him guilty, it was their patriotic duty to do so† (81). In such an environment, where men are convicted of crimes simply for the revenge or amusement of their superiors, life becomes absurd. Through contrast with such an environment, Heller presents the actions of characters who try to separate themselves from the meaningless bureaucracy of the military base and live on the basis that life and morality have meaning. The central conflict of Catch-22 is the conflict between the opposing moralities represented by Colonel Cathcart and Yossarian. Colonel Cathcart’s greatest desire is to become a military general. Cathcart pursues promotion in an altogether unscrupulous manner. Heller explains that â€Å"forcing his men to fly more missions than everyone else was the most tangible achievement he had going for him† (214). Cathcart sets his goals ahead of morality. He is willing to force hundreds of soldiers to risk their lives for his promotion. Heller appears to have little respect for Cathcart, â€Å"Colonel Cathcart did not have a chance in hell of becoming a general† (215). Yossarian, on the other hand, is unwilling to make a decision that would benefit him at the expense of the lives of other soldiers. In response to Yossarian’s unwillingness to participate in the war, Colonel Korn offers him the choice to be sent home with an honorable discharge or be court-marshaled. During the process of presenting the plan to Yossarian, Korn establishes the basis of Yossarian’s later refusal of the plan: â€Å"You’d have to be a fool to throw it all away just for a moral principle† (428). Yossarian initially accepts the deal, in what he later describes as a â€Å"moment of weakness† (441). Later, however, Yossarian realizes that the deal is â€Å"best for Cathcart, Korn and me, not for everyone† (442). On moral grounds, Yossarian refuses a contract that presented him with an opportunity to obtain safety and honor. By contrasting Cathcart’s unscrupulous pursuit of promotion with Yossarian’s willingness to jeopardize his life for the sake of morality, Heller demonstrates the importance of life and morality. Catch-22 is an undeniable classic for Heller’s presentation of a man who finds meaning and morality within a setting that promotes absurdity. Heller contrasts the characterization of Milo Minderbinder with Yossarian, sets Catch-22 in a military base, and establishes a conflict of ideals between Colonel Cathcart and Yossarian in order to highlight the meaningful nature of life and morality.

Global Cooperation Essay

Have you heard about global cooperation? Do you know global cooperation is helpful? Nowadays, global cooperation is getting more and more important, they help developing countries a lot. Global cooperation is helpful for poor families, technology trade and tourisms. First, global cooperation gives more job opportunities to the people in developing countries. As we know, some Asian countries have very good human resources, so global cooperation can give the people in developing countries many jobs by working with developed countries. In this situation, poor families can have more chances to get a job and support their children. For example, Children can go to school and learn knowledge, which is very good for developing countries, because knowledge is power. Developing countries need knowledge so they can run their countries better. Secondly, since global cooperation being famous, they can support developing countries by trade high technologies. Developing countries need high technologies, so they need global cooperation and get some high technologies from global cooperation. High-tech can help developing countries a lot. For example, developing countries can save energy and reduce pollution by high-tech. High-tech can protect people’s health who works in high-risk factory. On the other hand, developing countries do not need to worry about pollution and save money from Environmental protection because high-tech can help them a lot. Developing countries need high-tech from global cooperation because global cooperation can help them save energy and save money from Environmental protection. Last but not least, global cooperation works with developing countries can attract more tourists. If tourists caught in some troubles in developing countries, which have connection with global cooperation, tourists will get help much more easier. Because when global cooperation happens, more and more people will learn to speak English and English is very useful nowadays. Tourists can get help from them by communicate in English. For example, if I want to travel to developing countries, I will choose some countries which have global cooperation because I can investigate them first. I will not choose the countries, which do not have global cooperation because it is totally unknown for me and it is very dangerous. Global cooperation can help tourists communicate with local people in a totally unfamiliar country easily. To sum up, global cooperation is good for developing countries. They can help poor families, technologies trade and tourisms. Global cooperation is very useful and helpful, we have to start this process now, and there is no reason to wait any longer.

Emotional Intelligence: Crucial to an Organization’s Success Essay

â€Å"Historically, leaders in most organizations have neglected emotions in the workplace. Today we realize that emotions are very much a part of workplace success. How individuals respond to real situations each and every day and what organizations do to foster productive emotional responses can make the difference between the organization that stumbles and the organization that thrives.† Marcia Hughes, President Collaborative Growth Many companies today are teetering on the edge of disaster. Excessive downsizing has created employees who find themselves overworked, underappreciated and constantly seesawing between exhaustion and fear. Competition in the workplace is fierce and many new recruits feel a need to turn to aggressive tactics to get ahead of their peers or risk falling behind. Business leaders are beginning to realize that such negative emotions among their employees are not healthy for the organization and its prospects for success. Many are seeking ways to turn negative emotions into positive, productive behavior. Research indicates a strong correlation between emotional intelligence and individual job performance. By emphasizing emotional intelligence in hiring and in teambuilding and training programs, senior management and human resources professionals can improve decision making, problem solving and the ability to cope with change among employees. Emotionally intelligent organizations maximize potential for business success and increase productivity because people in these organizations share more powerful connections. Organizations today must strive to become more emotionally intelligent. Their success – indeed their very survival – depends on it. Emotional Intelligence Defined Emotional intelligence, alternatively known as EI or EQ, reflects an individual’s ability to deal with daily environmental challenges and helps predict success in life, both in professional and personal pursuits. EI competencies include empathy, intuition, creativity, flexibility, resilience, stress management, leadership, integrity, happiness and optimism, as well as intrapersonal and interpersonal communication skills. Emotional intelligence is based on a long history of research and theory in personality and social psychology. The three most widely used approaches to emotional intelligence were developed by Reuven BarOn, Daniel Goleman, and Jack Mayer, Peter Salovey and David Caruso. While the theory and practice of EI continues to evolve, the central premise that social and personal competencies are vital for a productive life remains a common theme throughout each model. And research continues to demonstrate EI’s importance to both individuals and organizations. Measurement of Emotional Intelligence The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i ®) is the first scientifically developed and validated measure of emotional intelligence. Reuven Bar-On is an internationally acknowledged expert and pioneer in emotional intelligence and has been instrumental in defining, measuring and applying various aspects of the concept since 1980. He coined the term â€Å"EQ† (â€Å"emotional quotient†) in 1985 to describe his approach to assessing emotional and social competence and created the EQ-i, which was the first test of emotional intelligence to be published by a psychological test publisher (1997). Today EQ-i assessments are the most widely used measure of EI, approaching two million copies distributed worldwide, making it one of the most popular psychological tests. The EQ-i provides information for each individual on five composite scales and 15 subscales: o Intrapersonal Scales: self-regard, emotional self awareness, assertiveness, independence, self-actualization o Interpersonal Scales: empathy, social responsibility, interpersonal relationships o Adaptability Scales: reality testing, flexibility, problem solving o Stress Management Scales: stress tolerance, impulse control o General Mood Scales: optimism, happiness The EQ-i can be used by organizations as part of the recruitment screening process to assist in identifying potentially successful employees. It can also be employed in identifying emotional and social skills for employee training programs, teambuilding and enhancing leadership capabilities in the workplace. In addition, an organization’s return on investment can be measured using this reliable instrument. The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Organizations A growing body of research demonstrates that emotional intelligence is a better predictor of â€Å"success† than traditional measures of cognitive intelligence (IQ). The workplace is an ideal environment for people to develop their social and emotional skills, as individuals are motivated to develop those capabilities in pursuit of success and promotion. The concept is equally important to employers, as their bottom-line productivity rests on the emotional intelligence of the whole organization. When executives and employees work to improve capabilities in areas in which they are weakest, it benefits the entire organization, improving communication and increasing productivity. The EQ-i creates a profile of an individual’s emotional intelligence, showing both areas of strength and weakness. Individuals can use this information to develop areas in need of improvement. Organizations can use these profiles to show whether a potential hire would make a good addition to the team or expose traits in existing employees in need of enhancement through training or incentive programs. An action plan can be developed once an individual or organization has this information, supporting growth in desired areas. â€Å"As the pace of change increases and the world of work makes ever greater demands on a person’s cognitive, emotional, and physical resources, this particular set of abilities will become increasingly important.† Cary Cherniss, Ph.D. Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Rutgers University Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice Scores in each EQ-i category can predict job performance and satisfaction. When an organization evaluates the emotional intelligence of its employees and of its star performers, it gains a strong blueprint for improving individual performance, enhancing the workplace climate and driving productivity. Application of the EQ-i by the U.S. Air Force demonstrates the financial power of this information. The exceptionally high turnover rate of recruits was changed by finding that recruits who scored well in five factors – assertiveness, empathy, happiness, self-awareness and problem solving – were 2.7 times more likely to succeed. By using this instrument to find those who are right for this position, the Air Force increased retention rate by 92%, saving an estimated $2.7 million in less than a year. The consequences for neglect of emotional intelligence in an organization can be devastating to productivity and bottom-line business results. Breakdowns in internal communication that produce confusion, uncertainty, hostility and reduced productivity are just a few of the factors organizations face if they do not actively pursue a strategy of fostering emotional intelligence in the workplace. Successful organizations today strive to reap the benefits of becoming more emotionally intelligent: improving performance of employees and executives, building strong teams and driving productivity. â€Å"The quest to make companies more emotionally intelligent is one more and more organizations are embarking on, whether they use the term or not. An organization’s collective emotional intelligence is no mere soft assessment; it has hard consequences.†

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Management - Essay Example Fourthly, the company works to enhance the quality of the products through offering different cuttings and also renders potential information to the consumers in regards to different product characteristics. Fifthly, the company conducts effective after sales service and, thus, helps the customer’s to contact through phone and mail. Sixthly, the order delivery time is well scheduled and also calls for refund within a period of one month if not satisfied with the quality of the diamond. (b) The company becomes able to render high quality diamonds and fine jewelry at seemingly competitive prices owing to the advantage of its potential supply chain system, the strategy involved in reducing the cost of operations and the mode of technology used. Inventory holding cost is reduced by the company with also the gaining of orders from the suppliers when the customer finally has made the order. This helps in reducing the ordering cost. Technology used in the diamond company is both trad itional and modern, coupled with outsourcing activities conducted. This helps in reducing the cost of operation and, thus, renders low cost diamonds to the customers. (c) The process of educating the consumers on the quality and features of the product helps the company in adequately maintaining effective customer relationship with the people. Thus, through this process the company can work in enhancing the brand awareness in the larger market and in highlighting on the parameters of transparency and trade ethics thereby helping in consumer retention (Thompson and Eastburn, 2010, p.127-130). Question #2 – Google (a) I certainly would have bought the stock of Google for the company reflects an appreciation in its stock level by 18 percent during 2004. The appreciation of its stock level also shows the mass appeal for the initial public offering of the company and gain the different parties to the stock ownership of Google also reflect significant gain in profits. Thus, it woul d not be a wrong decision in moving over to purchase the stocks of Google. (b) Definitely, Google is one of the important and influential companies of the early twenty first century in that the company is continuously innovating on its search engine features by introducing key elements like online books, maps, social networking features like orkut and other blogging sites. This introduction of new elements, thus, attracts large number of visitors to its site also surpassing You Tube by revenues worth $200 million during 2007. The search engine also renders commercial advantages through its Ad-word initiative, thus, covering every aspect of internet usage in the modern world. Again, Google also tends to enter the mobile technological interface through the use of Android technology helping users to use Google via their handsets. (c) The corporate culture of Google reflects a different culture from the other corporate firms operating in the United States. It is found that the work cult ure at Google rests on employee empowerment and an adequate teamwork environment where the people are not measured on the basis of their individual actions. People are encouraged to help in boosting the system of innovation in the company and in spending their time on operations rather than involved in long hour meetings. Dependence on the company on their employees’

Psychology of Language - The Differences between Boys and Girls in Essay

Psychology of Language - The Differences between Boys and Girls in Language Development - Essay Example Their natural born, biological attributes may more important to their acquisition of language than the way they are nurtured. Chomsky believes that children have an innate ability to learn language and that this ability only needs to be triggered by verbal input from their environment. (Chomsky, 1972) Two other prevalent theories on language development in children are Piaget’s idea of cognitive constructivism and Vygotsky’s concept of social constructivism and language. Piaget suggests that language is simply one of the ways children represent the world with which they are familiar. It reflects but does not contribute to the development of thinking. Piaget believed that cognitive development precedes the development of language. (1955) Vygotsky believed that language impacts such that language is a form of social communication that gradually promotes both language itself and cognition. (1978, 1985) In general, these theories recognize that children are co-constructors in their world and that their development of language is a part of their holistic development that emerges from their cognitive, social and emotional interactions. We are now well aware that male and female brains are different. Anatomical and chemical differences begin early in development due to genetic and hormonal events and continue throughout life, but understanding these differences is difficult. We recognize the importance of considering sex differences when designing and interpreting studies, but our understanding of the differences is so unclear that interpreting the results is full of pitfalls. (Becker, J. B. et al. 2005) This is equally as true in studies of gender differences in language acquisition as elsewhere. Although much of the work on gender differences in language acquisition is speculative, some information is known. We realize that there are differences between

I want a wife Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

I want a wife - Essay Example In today’s society, the role of the wife is the most important of the family as the woman is the primary caregiver of the children and the main one who ensures the family stays organized and intact. All of these are pertinent points that this essay has included in its structure. From a modern day mother and wife’s stand point, the article by Brady is totally off the concept of what a wife’s position in the family is in the 20th century. If the type of mentality towards women and wives in general was implied today as it apparently was back in the 70’s, it would leave many women in an utter outrage because a wife/mothers’ role is far more than waiting on a husbands every need, hand and foot. Brady depicted wives as almost slaves in the article, insinuating women had one sole purpose and that was to cater to a man or husband, if you will. There is no equality found in this piece of literature, and for wives today there is no logical association for women of the 20th century to identify with. Times have definitely changed and it’s obvious that they have been progressing for the better, for women, through the decades. From a feminist perspective, the description of wives in the article is inadequate and although it might hold some what of a historical perception of how wives roles use to be considered, it simply is not a viable assumption now. However, when looking back into the mid 1900’s, the wife’s role was basically one in which it was expected that she would be a homemaker and tend to all the areas that had any type of bearing on caring for the children, schedule keeping, keeping the home in order, and paying considerable consideration to her husband and his needs. Beyond that, there was no expectation for the wife to work outside the hoe since it was the common idea that the husband would be the bread winner, and take care of all the more pertinent aspects of