The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism Essay Example

The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism Paper In Kate Chopins short story The Story of an Hour, the narrator portrays issues of love, freedom, and independence on a physical and mental level. This story was written based on the 19th century woman. The time when a woman had minimum rights, and barely had a role in society. Even in a loving relationship, a woman was still unequal to a man; she did not have the freedom she desired. Chopin uses irony, symbolism and reverse theory to express Louise Mallards thoughts as she grieved her husbands death and embraced her newly found freedom. Throughout the text, Chopin uses two types of irony; situational and dramatic. This story is mainly based on ironic issues, meaning that the readers are portrayed one picture and the opposite thats not expected is what eventually happens. When Mrs. Mallard received the news about her husbands death, she faced a series of mixed emotions, which were kind of conflicting. She briefly grieves her husband, and at the same time is bombarded with thoughts of the free life that awaited her with this occurrence. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms alone. She would have no one follow her {paragraph 3}. The dramatic irony comes to play when Josephine, Mrs. We will write a custom essay sample on The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Mallards sister is worried that her sister has locked herself in her room tearing up, when shes really in the room thinking about how wonderful her lifes going to be. Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door†you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heavens sake open the {paragraph 17}. Another instance of dramatic irony is at the end of the story right before Mrs. Mallard dies. The author presents a situation where Louise Mallard dies of being overjoyed at the sight of her husband. In reality the rony is that she dies of the shock and distress in seeing her husband standing before her. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease†of Joy that kills {paragraph 23}. Symbolism the particular idea or quality that is expressed by a symbol (Merriam- Webster). In this story the author uses symbols to represent her ideas in expressing Mrs. Mallards feelings. There are three major uses of symbolism in this story. The first example of symbolism is Louise Mallard being afflicted with heart trouble. The heart trouble signifies her discontent with her marriage and the sadness at her absence of freedom. The second occurrence of symbolism is the opened window. The opened window represents freedom, as Mrs. Mallard lets out the old air in the room and lets go of her old life she welcomes the fresh air and a new life. The new life she is now about to experience now that she is finally free from her unhappy relationship. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air {paragraph 5}. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory {paragraph 20}. Chopin also uses the statement above from paragraph 20 to show symbolism. The symbols in this paragraph are feverish triumph and goddess of victory. This represents Louise triumph and being victorious over her restricted marriage. There would be no powerful will bending to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature {paragraph 14}. The idea of reverse theory is used to bring a little twist into the story. Reverse theory is actually used throughout the story but is not revealed until the end. Throughout the story, the author makes the audience believe that Mr. Mallard died in a tragic railroad accident. At the end of the story it is revealed that Mrs. Mallard was the one that actually died at the shock of seeing her husband. When she saw that her husband did not die, her thoughts and vision of a new life were shattered, and thats when the story became tragic in reality and ended with the passing of Louise Mallard. The theme of Chopins story is very unified, starting and ending the story emphasizing on Mrs. Mallards heart issue, which portrayed a mental and physical significance to her life. Ironically, the last hour of Mrs. Mallards life was victorious for her and she had a chance to envision part of the freedom that she always wanted.

Tips on How to Write a Terrific Literature Review

Tips on How to Write a Terrific Literature Review How to Write a Literature Review When writing a literature review, you are supposed to provide a critical evaluation of the most important sources that were published on your topic of interest. Actually, a literature review can serve different purposes depending on what audience will read it or listen to it. For example, if the audience knows less than you do on the topic, the purpose of the review will be informative. On the contrary, if the audience comprises renowned professors and specialists, you should pursue the purpose of demonstrating familiarity and expertise in the topic. Some writing tips, which you should follow when providing a review of literature: Place your original work within the context of the existing sources; Make sure to interpret the key issues pertaining to your topic of interest; Focus on describing the relationship among chosen literary sources; Come up with new ways of interpretation and point out the gaps in the analyzed sources; Provide solutions to the existing conflicts or controversies among previous studies; Indicate which literature makes a major contribution to your understanding of the topic; Indicate the perspectives of your further research. Constituents of a Literature Review In order to be properly written, a literature review must be well-structured. The ideas should be presented logically and coherently. Besides, it is highly important to provide clear transitions from one idea/point to the other. In your choice of sources, make sure they are relevant to the topic of your research and not outdated. When presenting concepts and terminology, make sure you do it as comprehensively and unbiased as possible. Include the following parts into your review of literature: Brief overview of the topic, main issues/ aspects or theory; Separate review of sources for and against your research topic/position; Provide the background for your research, which was made before; When writing the conclusion, indicate which of the works have made the most significant contribution to the study. Pay attention to the following criteria when deciding which work to include in your review: Credibility: which of the authors ideas are persuasive and why? Qualifications: Does the author have suitable/required credentials to conduct a well-comprehensive research? Worth: do the authors findings add value to your own ones? Neutrality: are the authors perspectives biased or not? You should present your attitide towards the works you review with the help of reporting verbs, which indicate whether you accept a certain viewpoint/stance or not. Reporting verbs indicate the following: Neutral evaluation: comment, cite, address; Positive evaluation: hold, argue, advocate; Critical evaluation: condemn, refute, object, attack; Tentative evaluation: suggest, allude to, hypothesize, believe. All in all, the way of presentation the materials in your literature review should demonstate that you have chosen and quoted the most relevant material to support/refute your argument and that you have provided sense when introducing quotes into your argument development (by clealry interpreting them and linking to the idea you aim to express).

5 Ways to Shake It Up Without Changing Careers

5 Ways to Shake It Up Without Changing Careers Feeling stifled? Desperate for a major change? Want to chase your dream to another continent, or to another career altogether? Feel any or all of those desires, but realize with a pang that you simply can’t just up and totally change your career? There are still ways you can get back in a groove and get excited about your job again without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.Try these five strategies first before decided on changing careers.1.  Start from withinIf things are really stale, you always have two options that aren’t the nuclear one. First, you can change your role within your own industry. Or, you can keep your job but change to another field. Try switching from corporate law to entertainment law. Or from serving and bartending to managing. Or from at-home nursing to ER nursing. These feel like big changes, but they don’t involve scrapping your entire career!2. Try your hand at consultingThis word covers quite a bit of ground. The nutshell of t his strategy is to figure out what you know because of your career so far and figure out who needs that knowledge and skill. Could you teach? Develop textbooks or manuals or training guides? Recruit? This keeps you squarely in your wheelhouse, where you’ve been successful, but doesn’t require you to learn a whole new set of skills.3.  Think about how your role could changeThere’s always the option of sticking with your current company, but changing jobs within it. Have a think about your colleagues- is there anything they do that you think would be more fulfilling to you? Ask questions. Chat with your boss about shifting your responsibilities and taking on new challenges. Figure out what you need to brush up on and prove- if only to yourself- that you can learn new things.4. Find joy in extracurricularsSo maybe you can’t change even your job in a significant way, for whatever reason. You can still do more, and different, things! Try volunteering, or tak e a guest bartending gig, or start a blog, or join forces with friends or colleagues to work for a foundation. Doing a bit of good in the world, or a bit of freelance work, can give you the breath of fresh air you need to put your work in better perspective.5. Keep honoring that little voiceMaybe you’ll follow these strategies and still can’t deny that overwhelming desire to chuck it all and do something totally different with your life. If that voice just won’t go away, no matter what else you do or how you tweak the margins, that might be the sign you need. Check in with yourself from time to time and see how you feel. You’ll know when it’s time to light the match.Five Easier Alternatives to Totally Changing Careers

Cathay Pacific Airways - China or the World Essay

Cathay Pacific Airways - China or the World - Essay Example Currently, Cathay Pacific Airlines is providing services over 90 destinations, carrying 15 million passengers each year. After the acquisition of 100 percent holding in Dragonair, the Hong Kong-based carrier – the biggest airlines serving the mainland China, outside the mainland, Cathay will bring Dragonair also in the fold of Oneworld alliance on meeting the delivery conditions and support of other alliance members. It is a founder member of Oneworld alliance of ten member airlines. The alliance has a combined network of 700 destinations. Cathay Pacific also code-shares with Oneworld partners -- American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia and Qantas. The question before Cathay Pacific is to either opt for strategic alliances that can develop the mainland market or instead of concentrating on mainland market it should serve the global market. After entering into a conditional agreement on 8 June 2006 of Cathay Pacific with Air China, CNAC Limited, CITIC Pacific and SPAC, parties have agreed to restructure holdings in Cathay and Dragonair and Cathay acquisition of additional shares in Air China. According to the agreement becoming unconditional, Dragonair will become a fully owned subsidiary of Cathay, Air China will become a major shareholder of Cathay, and Cathay will increase its holding in Air China. Reasons for the transaction were that Dragonair was not performing well and was not availing the benefits of economies of scale. This investment in one another’s holdings will help in findings means to improve service, offering, network and growth of Chinese aviation industry. The international connectivity of Cathay and mainly, Hong Kong-China network of Dragonair will not only benefit both airlines, it will better Cathay’s network reach, linking it to China and connecting China to the rest of the world. This transaction will further help in developing Beijing Capital International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport, turning into gateways and hub for mainland China and aviation industry of both Hong Kong and China.  Ã‚  

DNA Repair Mechanisms Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DNA Repair Mechanisms - Research Paper Example The optical density of the culture was maintained at 540 nm. The cultures were then exposed to different levels of UV-C, and were subsequently added to prewarmed ST medium. It was then incubated in the dark at 80Â °C with shaking. To determine which cells were viable, irradiated and control samples were grown in GT medium, diluted using the same medium, and plated in the dark on 0.8% (wt/vol) Gelrite (Kelco) GT plates with pH = 3.0. The plates were placed in a humid chamber with a temperature of 80Â °C for approximately 5 days, and colonies were counted. Meanwhile, growth rates were determined by spectrophotometric analysis at 540 nm of at least seven independent cultures grown in liquid, and generation times were calculated using Prizm 4.0 software. To visualize chromosomal damage, 4 x 109 suspended cells (optical density at 540 nm of 0.2 to 0.4) exposed to UV were obtained at 2-4 hours from the culture, and were treated with proteinase K and SfiI. The treated cell solutions were run using pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with a buffer temperature of 14Â °C. with gels made of 1% agarose, 0.5xx TBE (9 mM Tris, 9 mM boric acid, 0.2 mM EDTA), and with running parameters of 24 h at 5.5 V/cm using a 120o included angle with switch times of 60 to 120 s. The gels were stained using ethidium bromide and, chromosome repair was measured using GeneTools quantification software, with the untreated sample designated as 100% repair. Finally, using PCR as well as gene and protein analysis, the sequences of the three strains were compared. Gene expression was then analyzed using RNA isolation, cDNA preparation, and qRT-PCR. The strains react differently to the varying amounts of UV irradiation. Upon the assessment of colony formation on solid medium, at the lowest UV dose (100 mJ/cm2), all three strains demonstrated resistance, with the highest survival rate recorded from strain 98/2 (23%, as compared to P2-A and P2-B, which had 11% and 13%, respectively). On the oth er hand, P2B was the most sensitive to 200 mJ/cm2, displaying 5- to 7-fold-lower survival than the other two strains, while 98/2 was the most sensitive at 300 mJ/cm2. Next, the growth rate after UV exposure was determined. Normally, and at 100 mJ/cm2, 98/2 grew the fastest, although exposure to UV, despite using the lowest dose, resulted to a decreased growth rate for all the strains. On the other hand, both P2A and P2B regrew faster than 98/2 after exposure to 200 and 300 mJ/cm2. Despite differences in growth rates, the growth levels achieved for negative controls achieved the same levels as the UV-exposed set-ups. Upon SfiI digestion and PFGE, inherent differences in the genomic sequences of these three strains were seen. In UV-protected set-ups, P2A, 98/2 and P2B had two, three and four distinct digest fragments, respectively, which means that there are sequence disparities among the strains. After irradiation, double-strand break formation, seen as lower molecular weight smears at the bottom of the gel, was present for all the strains, with most breaks and slowest acute (50%) repair rate observed from P2B. Overall, however, 98/2

What constitutes an outstanding presentation instead of a mediocre one Essay Example for Free

What constitutes an outstanding presentation instead of a mediocre one Essay Presentations, are defined as the simplest collection of ideas that help persuade, inform or motivate people (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3). In the past, presentations were simply concerned with a monotonous display of bullet-point lists, to convey the speaker’s train of thoughts. Today, technology has encouraged a broad variety of presentation mediums: standalone presentations on the Web, loop presentations to show repeatedly at trade show booths, burning of CD’s of a presentation to distribute to a wide audience, adding of sound, animation, and even video to the slides (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3). The purpose of this paper is to outline what marks the difference between an outstanding, and a mediocre presentation, and to analyze the critical factors that go in the making of one. The term â€Å"outstanding† doesn’t really convey the right impression since the overall aim of effort applied in making a presentation, is to achieve some sort of desired result. For this, we shall use the term â€Å"winning† presentation for our remaining discussion. The desired result examples can be as follows (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3): 1) Outlining of timeline and deliverables of the product launch to the manufacturing team. 2) Teaching the sales force about the feature and benefit of the new product so that they can sell better. 3) To make a business case for the potential market for the new product to gain financing from investors. 4) To introduce new products to customers. So, what makes a presentation mediocre? Different communication experts have their own opinions drawn from personal experience. But, for the sake of all-inclusivity, we shall outline the most typical characteristics of mediocre presentations that not only fail to produce results, but are commonly labeled dull, dry and boring- no euphemism required for a situation where the audience is compelled to doze off because the presentation failed to capture their interest. ANR Communication Services at the University of California, have outlined Seven Deadly Sins of PowerPoint presentations (ANR, 2006): 1) Length: It is not necessary to utilize the whole time allotted, in fact the winning presentation should always aim at delivering a message as fast as possible. The common refrain is that some speakers tend to â€Å"warm-up† with a windy introduction that noone bothers to pay attention to. It is always advisable to hit bottom-line directly, and come â€Å"straight to the point†. 2) Bad visuals: Bad visuals come in several categories, but their general definition lies in a sheer ignorance of aesthetics. E. g. using elaborate graphics which have no connection to the subject matter, and were included just in order to cast an impression of technical know-how. Other examples are sandwiching too much information in very little space, and using illegible fonts against an atrocious background. Other sins are: 3) Not sticking to the main point: Too many speakers have a habit of digressing from the subject, and beating around the bush, an exercise that can be really testing on the audience’s patience, and defeat any chances of success with the presentation. 4) Too many numbers: Even technical presentations can do better without an overdose of figures and numbers. It is a common misconception for many people, that a bombardment of numeric data using charts and graphs would illustrate the monumental effort they put in, in order to create the presentation. Charts and graphs, and figures are meant to support some conclusion, but in no way should they be the only reason for the presentation to exist. 5) Technical failure: Too many presentations have been ruined due to glitches such as the Projector not working (that too after spending considerable time in making one presentation). It is always advisable to double-check before final show. 6) Not summarizing: If the presentation fails to summarize the key points discussed, the entire purpose is defeated because audience memory is short. The speaker needs to tell the audience what was the underlying conclusion for them having met. 7) Inadequate rehearsal: This goes with Point no. 1 and 6. Other useful ideas worth mentioning are David People’s recollections from interactions with IBM executives (People, 1992, p. 20): 1) Showing information, and then â€Å"apologizing† in advance – it conveys the impression that the speaker is not confident about the subject matter, and kills the very purpose of presentation. 2) Not explaining any reason why the subject has any value to the audience – such an act can convey a total disregard for audience time. In order to round up our discussion on mediocre presentations, it is important to mention common technical characteristics of such presentations (OneVision UK, 2004): 1) Slide transitions and sound effects; when unnecessary they can become a pain in the neck for they divert the focus of the audience from the central theme. 2) Standard Clip-Art which shows a clear lack of creativity on behalf of the presenter who could have done better by including more relevant graphics. 3) Presentation templates – unless there is no other alternative, these should be best avoided. 4) Reading the presentation – a speaker should have extempore communication skills, otherwise the presentation can be very boring. A winning presentation does not repeat the common fallacies mentioned for mediocre presentations as above. Also, a winning presentation has a persuasive style that impresses with its tone, content, representation and output (People, 1992, p. 45). To tell the difference between the two, Tom Sant from the American Management Association, reviews the scope and utility of a winning presentation, which should take into account the following considerations (Sant, 2004, p.12): 1) It is not a blind price quote. 2) It is not a bill of materials, project plan or scope of work. 3) It is not about the history of a product. The watchword, here is â€Å"influencing† of client (Sant, 2004, p. 17). Each time a presentation is made, the objective is in terms of thinking about the long-term influence that the presentation will have on the client, something that requires a lot of introspection on part of the presenter. Thus, presentations should be looked at as â€Å"tools and opportunities† (Sant, 2004, p. 17) rather than a summary judgment on a particular subject. Having clarified the differences between the two types of presentations, we shall look into the key ingredients of winning presentations. Structurally, a winning presentation comprises of two parts: the formal (one-way) episode followed by a question and answer session (two-way) (Gilchrist Davies, 1996, p. 3). As a bench rule, the presenter must allow at least 3 times the time allotted for one-way communication. This time is utilized for discussions, development of conceptual ideas, generating feedback, and general brainstorming. Also, a competent presenter is able to perform well in three areas of communication (Gilchrist Davies, 1996, p. 5): 1) Non-verbal i. e. body-language. 2) Verbal i. e. fluency of language and intonation. 3) Visual i. e. computer screens, slides and paper-based accompaniments. A competent presenter must have enough behavioral science knowledge so that he is able to control the crowd, in case a heated argument is generated. Contentwise, a winning presentation offers ample room for independent thinking, and allows plenty of flexibility in terms of omissions and adjustments. The objective is, that the presentation must â€Å"flow† in terms of ideas, an exercise that builds continuous credibility for the presenter (Sant, 2004, p. 29). Thomas Leech, at the American Management Association, has identified the following guidelines to delivering a winning presentation, which he calls â€Å"fundamental keys† (Leech, 2004, p. 11): 1) Prior preparation: According to several top-key executives, the biggest blunder a presenter makes when he declares that he didn’t prepare well. 2) Self-belief: It is important to convey â€Å"sincerity and honesty† through the effort made. 3) Knowing one’s purpose – the bottom-line. 4) Having a focused central theme: The audience came with a purpose. It is important to shell out the central theme at the very start of the presentation, so that people are able to develop connections. 5) Knowing your audience and tailoring the presentation according to their needs: A presentation has to be varied depending upon the possible expectations of audience. Also, age-groups have to be taken into account. Other fundamental keys are: 6) Early summarizing for time-pressed audience. 7) Reinforcement of central belief: The central theme should be backed up with substantial evidence, to make the presentation idea seem rock-solid. 8) Visual effects: It is important to ensure that visuals add, and not blur presentations. 9) Consider Murphy’s Law: This is what happens in real-life scenarios. According to Murphy’s First Law, if anything can go wrong, it will! So, it’s always advisable not to take chances with defective areas of presentation. 10) Making the delivery personal and passionate: A competent presenter is always able to connect with the audience. Instead of begging the question, he tries to convince the soundness of his ideas through passionate and compelling discussions, the most successful ingredient of winning presentations. That was presentation, but from a preparation point of view, a successful PowerPoint presentation must undergo a preliminary review, keeping following things in mind (Negrino, 2005, p. 9-107): 1) Writing the presentation: It is always advisable to start with an outline of the entire content, and using features like the Research Pane to make slides. 2) Gathering images and sound files: The graphics and animation part should be done, avoiding the loopholes mentioned in mediocre presentations. 3) Picking a design: It is important to pick a slide design, apply the layouts, and adjust text location for aesthetic appeal. Other attributes are: 4) Working with text: Editing slide text, formatting slide text (font, color, etc. ), aligning slide text (left, center, justified), changing line space (again it depends on aesthetic requirements.), using numbered (bulleted) lists, adding hyperlinks and text-boxes, 5) Illustrating the presentation: This involves adding images, clip art, using the drawing tools, adding relevant diagrams, charts, tables etc. 6) Making it move: This envisages adjustments in slide order, setting slide transitions, adding custom animation and summarize slide effects. 7) Preparation: The presentation should always be reviewed by a colleague, especially if it’s very important. It is useful to make printed notes for the speaker, and slides and handouts to the audience. Summary: On a final note, the weight of a good presentation, apart from key points mentioned in this paper, depend a lot on the individual presenter’s qualities, what are known as â€Å"gestures† (Arrendondo, 1991, p. 73). It is important to state that appropriate gestures and movements add meaning to a message, and mark the difference between a â€Å"winning† and a â€Å"mediocre† presentation. The gestures should convey a positive energy, and enthusiasm in the subject, and be manifested through the presenter’s self-belief.

short story Essay example -- essays research papers

Short Story It was about one-thirty in the morning in the town of Homestead Michigan. The almost florescent light of the moon bouncing off the fresh puddles that covered the ground. The grass and trees were covered in a thin layer of water causing every little beam of light to reflect back up. Anyone who may have been outside at this time would have without double, smelled the mix of fresh dirt and night crawlers. As the moonlight started to fade away through the cloud cover, three buses made there way through the streets and parked in front of HHS, the local high school.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the team started to depart the bus, the numbered shorts and jerseys slowly made there way back to there cars. As Rich opened his door and practically collapsed in his seat he wondered if the game that they had just arrived from was even worth the humiliation that his team suffered by the 110-53 victory by there rival team. Rich slumped the rest of the way into his car buckling up and starting the engine. After a night as bad as this one all he wanted was to get home and finally get to sleep. Rich put his car in drive and slowly made his way to the street in front of the school.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Rich made his way past the barber shop on Vine street he started thinking about when he got home all that he was going to do was to slip into his covers and fall right to sleep and now have to even get up early in the morning. thump thump. Rich snapped his eyes open s...