Homeless Citizens? Essay -- essays research papers

Homeless citizens are often considered a burden, more over, society’s burden. The down-and-out seem, to the average citizen, to be habitually on drugs, or prone to violent behaviour. Should it not be our responsibility to help those who can not help themselves? That is just it, some of the impoverished are living under such appalling conditions that they can not pick themselves up onto their own strength. I have a few questions that I would like the average person to think about regarding the homeless: Why are they on the streets? What can they do about it? Is this society’s dilemma and should society lend a selfless helping hand to clean up the streets? These are just a few questions that I will attempt to give my opinion on and if one does not agree that they may, without prejudice, hear what I have to say. I hope that one would honestly take to heart the value of a human life. People all have a living, breathing soul in need of some sort of ‘fire’ in or der to kick-start their life back together. A man without a home is lost. To wander the streets with no hope is possibly one of the loneliest situations to be in. There are many reasons why a man is homeless. I was chatting with a homeless man once, he told me one of the main reasons he was on the street was due to cocaine use. He lost his family, job and everything he owned due to cocaine. The man did not go into detail about how he became addicted to the drug, or how long he had been on the streets, but just listening to this poor soul talk was depressing. According to him, he hated cocaine, but he could not kick the habit. Selling everything for the next hit is horrible. He never told me his name, but I could see in his eyes a lack of will to live. In his mind, life from that point in time was hopeless. That brief conversation was a totally spontaneous occurrence of a man trying to get some change; I lied and said that I did not have change on me. I could not trust him, I did not want him to use the money for cocaine. That is one reason why this human being and many others are living poorly. The poverty rate is extremely high in the United States: In 2000, 11.3% of the U.S. population, or 31.1 million people, lived in poverty (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001). While the number of poor people has ... ...ty's homeless families. "We have to recognize the costs and failings of our own best intentions," Bloomberg said. "This morning, some 38,000 people -- including 16,000 children -- woke up in city shelters." Bloomberg pledged to reduce the homeless population by two-thirds, and to plow savings back into housing programs. He has earmarked $12 million to seed these programs, but his aides acknowledge the eventual cost will run into tens of millions of dollars. (Powell) This city has the right idea, and even though we ourselves as one person can not do anything of this magnitude, we can always request and support the city when opportunities like this arise. Aside from these large scale efforts, all we have to do is lend a smile or a small helping hand. Our communities would be safer and more pleasant to be in, if only we took the effort to lend a helping hand. If a normal man was in the ratty old shoes of a poor man for just a day, he would expect no less.

Nigerian government Essay

1: Could the alleged payment of bribes to Nigerian government officials by Jeffrey Tesler be considered â€Å"facilitating payments† or â€Å"speed money† under the terms of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? Answer: After this all came out in June 2004, Halliburton promptly fired Jack Stanley and severed its long-standing relationship with Jeffrey Tesler, asking its three partners in the Nigeria consortium to do the same. The United States Justice Department took things further, establishing a grand jury investigation to determine if Halliburton, through its KBR subsidiary, had been in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In November 2004 the Justice Department widened its investigation to include payments in connection with the Nigeria fertilizer plant that Kellogg had been involved with during the 1980s under the leadership of Jack Stanley. In March 2005, the Justice Department also stated that it was looking at whether Jack Stanley had tried to coordinate bidding with rivals and fix prices on certain foreign construction projects. As of mid 2007, the U.S. investigation was still ongoing. 2: Irrespective of the legality of any payments that may have been made by Tesler, do you think it is was reasonable for KBR to hire him as anintermediary? Answer: Tesler’s involvement in the project might have remained unknown were it not for an unrelated event. Georges Krammer, an employee of the French company Technip, which along with KBR was a member of the consortium, was charged by the French government for embezzlement. When Technip refused to defend Krammer, he turned around and aired what he perceived to be Technip’s dirty linen. This included the payments to Tesler to secure the Nigeria LNG contracts. 3. Given the known corruption of the Abacha government in Nigeria, should Kellogg and its successor, KBR, have had a policy in place to deal with bribery and corruption? What might that policy have looked like?Answer: It is not known whether a bribe was actually paid. What is known is that in December 1995, Nigeria awarded the $2 billion contract to the KBR consortium. The LNG plant soon became a success. Nigeria contracted to build a second plant in 1999, two more in 2002, and a sixth in July 2004. KBR rehired Jeffrey Tesler in 1999 and again in 2001 to help secure the new contracts, all of which it won. In total, Tesler was paid some $132.3 million from 1994 through to early 2004 by the KBR consortium. 4. Should Kellogg have walked away from the Nigerian LNG project once it became clear that the payment of bribes might be required to secure the contract? Answer: The KBR consortium was one of two to submit a bid on the initial contract, and its bid was the lower of the two. By early 1995 the KBR consortium was deep in final negotiations on the contract. It was at this point that Nigeria’s oil minister had a falling out with the country’s military dictator, General Abacha, and was replaced by Dan Etete. Etete proved to be far less accommodating to the KBR consortium, and suddenly the entire deal looked to be in jeopardy. According to some observers, Dan Etete was a tough customer who immediately began to use his influence over the LNG project for personal gain. Whether this is true or not, what is known is that the KBR consortium quickly entered into a contract with the British lawyer, Jeffrey Tesler. The contract, signed by a Kellogg executive, called on Tesler to obta in government permits for the LGN project, maintain good relations with government officials, and provide advice on sales strategy. Tesler’s fee for these services was $60 million. 5. There is evidence that Jack Stanley, the former head of M.W. Kellogg and KBR, may have taken kickback payments from Tesler. At least one other former Kellogg employee, Wojciech Chodan, may have taken kickback payments. What does this tell you about the possible nature of the ethical climate at Kellogg and then KBR? Answer: This turn of events led French and Swiss officials to investigate Tesler’s Swiss bank accounts. They discovered that Tesler was â€Å"kicking back† some of the funds he received to executives in the consortium and subcon-tractors. One of the alleged kickbacks was a transfer of $5 million from Tesler’s account to that of Albert J. â€Å"Jack† Stanley, who was head of M.W. Kellogg and then Halliburton’s KBR unit. Tesler also transferred some $2.5 million into Swiss bank accounts held under a false name by the Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete. Other payments included a $1 million transfer into an account controlled by Wojciech Cho dan, the former Kellogg executive whose extensive hand-written notes suggest the payment of a bribe to General Abacha and payment of $5 million to a German subcontractor on the LNG project in exchange for â€Å"information and advice.† 6. Should Halliburton be called into account if it is shown that its KBR unit used bribery to gain business in Nigeria? To what extent should a corporation and its officers be held accountable for ethically suspect activities by the managers in one of its subsidiaries, particularly given that many of those activities were initiated before the subsidiary was owned by Halliburton? Answer: In early 2005, however, Halliburton put KBR up for sale. The sale was seen as an attempt by Halliburton to distance itself from several scandals that had engulfed KBR. One of these concerned allegations that KBR had systematically overcharged the Pentagon for services it provided to the U.S. military in Iraq. Another scandal centered on the Nigerian LNG plants and involved KBR employees, several former officials of the Nigeria government, and a mysterious British lawyer called Jeffrey Tesler. The roots of the Nigerian scandal date back to 1994 when Kellogg and its consortium partners were trying to win an initial contract from the Nigerian government to build two LNG plants. The contract was valued at around $2 billion. Each of the four firms held a 25 percent stake in the consortium, and each had veto power over its decisions. Kellogg employees held many of the top positions at the consortium, and two of the other members, Technip of France and JGC of Japan, have claimed that Kellogg managed the consortium (the fourth member, ENI of Italy, has not made any statement regarding management).

Codified Constitutions Are Not An Essential Element Of...

Introduction It is generally considered that codified constitutions are an essential element of democracy in that by clearly setting out the functions of each branch of government and their relations with each other and their citizens, this prevents an over powerful executive developing and ensures rights of citizens are protected. However, I believe that codified constitutions are not an essential element of democracy as there are examples of robust democracies which have uncodified constitutions and at times codified constitutions are more of a hindrance than a help to the democratic process. Codified Constitutions are often not very democratic A codified constitution is a constitution ‘in which key constitutional provisions are†¦show more content†¦In 2012, ‘Republicans won a majority of seats in the House despite securing only 48 percent of the vote and to win a majority of 218 House seats, the Democratic candidates would need to win ten million more votes than Republicans in 2016.’(Richie,The Nation,2014) This often leads to situations in which the will of the democratic majority are ignored as seen after the Sandy Hook Massacre in 2012, where Bird (Occupy Democrats,2015) argues ‘90% of Americans wanted greater background checks for guns.’ However, the gun reform measures were defeated in the Senate leading an infuriated Obama(2013) to argue ‘how can something that has 90% support not happen?’ Moreover, the codified US constitution does not even provide for a democratic electoral system to elect the President. The electoral college system is not very proportional in the sense that the winner of the electoral college doesn’t necessarily have the majority of popular vote. This has happened a number of times; the most recent being in 2000 with the election of Bush and Gore. Gore won ‘48.38% of the popular vote and received 266 electoral college votes’(Leip,2012), whereas Bush got ‘47.87% of the vote and 271 electoral college votes.’ Leip,2012) The

Is Government Interference Right Essay - 583 Words

Should government have the right to interfere in our private lives? Does being part of a representative democracy mean that we abdicate our freedom to make our own choices in the name of the good of all? Should the government have the right to interfere in our private lives? Democracy guarantees freedom. One might then argue that a government should allow people to act according to their own free will. But there are two sides to every coin. Absolute independence might not lead to anything productive in an interdependent society as ours. There needs to be a basic framework of rules and guidelines to which all participants in that society agree to. According to Hobbes, human nature is such that if there were no rules or a law enforcing†¦show more content†¦Further taking the economic perspective into account, this would even help the nation as a whole by increasing its total production and achieving economic growth. This in turn could lead to greater equality amongst the citizens and the whole theory about levying taxes prospective in nature could be dropped without having any arguments. Government also tries to control our lives and means of sustenance by the affirmative action policies it has adopted. Democracy should ensure people the right to work irrespective of race or ethnicity. Worthy people have lost in this competition of the labor market just because he is not of some particular caste or religion. It sure has some positive sides to it but then again the minorities can be protected and nurtured by following the same policies of encouraging education and training in skills used in this labor market. Thus in my opinion, being a part of the representative democracy does not essentially imply that we renounce our freedom for the good of all. Further I feel that democracy has an in built system by which though people act in a manner such as to benefit themselves, in doing so the nation as a whole moves forward. This then further reduced the need of any more interference in our lives by our governments. The government though should enforce the laws, which ensure us with our rights and freedom to make our own choices. This should beShow MoreRelatedThe Argument Of Money Is A Lack Of Political Freedom888 Words   |  4 PagesCohen’s main argument is that a lack of money is a lack of political freedom. Freedom is a lack of interference. Money provides freedom in the form of taking out interference with access to different services (Cohen, 182). Money is not a way to avoid interference but a way to bypass it. The conclusion to his argument is that money is an implied freedom. Money has no purpose but to overcome interference. It cannot supply actual freedom to everyone, but it holds the potential glimmer of freedom. Read MoreEssay On Employment776 Words   |  4 Pagesfact that there are several Federal, State, and Local laws regarding hiring or firing somebody from a business, I truly believe that without the required interference from the government in this matter, business owners would not only take advantage from their employees, but they will also be able to incur in many violations of their employees’ rights. Furthermore, according to the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, â€Å"Discriminatory treatment based on: race, color, sex, religion, national originRead MoreFreedom From A Good Thing Essay1734 Words   |  7 Pagesis the ability to be in control of one’s own life, free from internal obstacles to living the way one would rationally want to. People normally believe that ‘negative liberty is a good thing’, it is a very important for the state to prevent the interferences for an individual to act. 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Civil liberties are rights that cannot be restricted by government regardless ofRead MorePolitical And Economic Theory Is An Often Contentious Subject1582 Words   |  7 Pagescontentious subject as it relates to how much interference governments should be allowed when it comes to rights and welfare of the public. One of the most debated topics asks the question â€Å"is it a part of the government s role to take wealth away from the rich to give to the poor?† John Rawls and Robert Nozick offer two differing theories about the role of government in distributing wealth. John Rawls argues that a just society must have equal rights for all. He defines a society as an organizationRead MoreGovernment Interference in Our Private Lives Essay1216 Words   |  5 PagesPrivacy Matters in America In the United States today the government tries to interfere in private lives. There should be no more laws made letting the government interfere in the private lives of people and if there are, people should stand up against this invasion in people’s privacy and sat no. Should the government have the right to interfere in people’s private lives? Does being a part of a representative democracy mean that people can give up their freedom to make their own choices to benefitRead MoreEssay On Russian Interference755 Words   |  4 Pageshigh, domestically and globally. One headline in particular has become a permanent fixture in the media: foreign interference, specifically Russian, in the presidential election. Since the conclusion of the election, seventeen intelligence agencies of the US government have stated with confidence that they believe Russian interference took place (Montanaro 2017). This alleged interference took the form of â€Å"hacking† into compute r systems, coordinated propaganda dispersal, and incriminating e-mail â€Å"leaks†

Naked Through The Eddies Of The Sea - 1780 Words

Jacqueline Bitetto Mr. Breig English 11H 9 March 2013 Naked Through the Eddies of the Sea â€Å"I feel ashamed to go naked about the world† (Whitman). Poetry, for many, is a comfort and a pleasure for the senses. But, for Walt Whitman, it was something much more. Poetry was a channel for his most profound emotions and a mass broadcasting of his entire being. In his beautiful words, he was able not only to convey both misery and elation to the masses, but absolute truth. His Leaves of Grass revealed so much about his persona that it served as, perhaps, one of the most beautifully written American autobiographies. It has been said that a true artist must let himself be vulnerable to the world—allowing for critics and skeptics to take him apart like vultures-- and Whitman published his poems and walked amongst his peers naked for all to see. For him to be a homosexual on top of all of this was an even bigger component of his revealed â€Å"shame†, but he revealed it nonetheless. In â€Å"I Sing the Body Electric,† â€Å"The Sleepers,† and â€Å"Song of Myself,† Whitman conveys a personal theme of homosexuality through his imagery of the male physique. Whitman’s homosexuality, considered at the time as a taboo, had to be concealed during his early life given the circumstances of his upbringing. May 31st, 1819 was the day Whitman first came to breathe air on this earth and the day he was named after his father, a carpenter, in West Hills, Long Island (Whitman Archive). A son being named for his fatherShow MoreRelatedSaturn Essay1901 Words   |  8 Pagesplanets known in ancient times. The earliest known observations of Saturn, by the Babylonians, can be reliably dated to the mid-7th century BC, but it was probably noticed much earlier, since Saturn tends to shine brighter than most stars. To the naked eye it appears yellowish. The Greeks named it after Cronus, the original ruler of Olympus, who in Roman is the god Saturn. Saturn is the 6th planet in order distance from the sun. It cannot approach the planet Earth closer than 1,190,000,000 kilometersRead More My Eating Disorder - I Had a Problem with Food Essay2434 Words   |  10 Pagesand toilet, the cool white ceramic tiles reflecting the blonde of my hair, the tears that somehow managed to eke out of the eye ducts were streaming down my hot, mucus slathered face. In the corner behind the toilet, the dog hair swirled in little eddies, and the rim of the toilet had faint speckles of urine, unnoticeable to anyone not at eye level. The shower was on and the fan running as a distraction. Every once in awhile I would knock a bar of soap into the tub with a heavy thud or set a bottleRead MoreDid Wordsworth or Coleridge Have Greater Influence on Modern Criticism?8605 Words   |  35 Pagestalked about this in quite some detail in the last unit.12    Origins of Romanticism So before moving on to Lyrical Ballads, well survey one more thing. There are three competing events for the cause or origin of Romanticism, that well just run-through quickly.    Rousseaus Confessions The  first  possible origin is the publication of Rousseaus Confessions in 1781, with itschampioning of the individual and its radical notion that the personal life and ideas of a single individual, is matter worthRead MoreEssay on The Odyssey21353 Words   |  86 Pagesdaughter of the mighty Proteus. She helps Menelaus to trap her father so that he may hear about the past and future from him. Noemon - an Ithacan. Athene borrows his ship for Telemachus to take to Pylos for finding news of Odysseus. It is through Noemon that the suitors realize Telemachus has left Ithaca and has gone to Pylos. Medon - a herald in Odysseus home at Ithaca. He is loyal to Penelope and often overhears the vicious plans of the suitors and reports them to Penelope. He

Strategic Information System Bad Cloud Management

Question: Describe about the Strategic Information System for Bad Cloud Management. Answer: Introduction Accounting information systems has a key role in determining success for a firm, as it is utilized in various computations(Robinson 2012). Business transactions and deals are recorded on a day-to-day basis by use of accounting software packages. An Australian business makes use of several accounting packages for their computational needs and in order to adhere to International norms submission needs. Australian Accounting Standards Boards (AASB) lays down that every business needs to submit their Books of Accounts and adhere to the principles laid down in the guidelines(Khaneja 2015). The report is a comprehensive literature review on the various accounting software packages that are used in Australia. The most prominent amongst the various packages used that has been analyzed is Xero. The total size of the accounting software packages market in the country and the competitive advantage Xero has over other accounting software packages. Though the Australian market is very promising i n terms of markets for accounting software packages yet certain framework within the packages is hindering the growth for the market itself. The challenges faced by Xero in the markets of Australia have also been highlighted in the study. At the end of the report several recommendations for Xero has been developed that it can apply in order to overcome its current challenges. Literature Review Businesses in Australia were using primarily paper based accounting systems prior to the year 2000. Post introduction of GST made it relevant to use accounting software packages in order to compute data. Increase in number of transactions made it difficult to compute data. Business Activity Statement (BAS) further added to the work load in computing such high volume in data. The prominent accounting software packages that are available in Australia are QuickBooks Online, Reckon, Xero, MYOB, MoneyWork Express and so on. The usage of accounting software packages has greatly reduced computing time, included flexibility and added to speed of computing. The current literature review has been built around Xero software amongst all the alternatives available. Smith (2015) provided a comprehensive outlook on the Xero accounting software package. Xero is primary developed by a New-Zealand based software company in 2006, that develops cloud-based accounting software packages for small and medium sized businesses(Smith 2015). Xero was founded by Rod Drury along with help from his personal accountant. The software was developed to overcome the shortfalls and problems of traditional accounting packages. Rod Drury is the current CEO of the company and Chris Liddell is the Chairman. The companys headquarters is located at Wellington in New Zealand. The product is wholly based on software as a service (SaaS) model. The company has around 1450 employees as of 2016 and its current revenue is NZD $ 207 million(Vasilchenko 2011). The product is sold according to subscription on type and number of company entities, and is actively managed by the subscriber(Drury 2015). Figure 1 : Xero Company Logo Source : (Vasilchenko 2011) Xero was first open for public subscription in the New Zealand Stock Exchange in the year 2007, with an IPO of NZD$15 million. Xero is used in New Zealand, Australia, United States and several other markets in the world. The production is adopted in various business and world markets. The ease of using the products results in its wide spread adoptability. Howard (2012) highlighted that, Xero has been awarded by Forbes as being The Most Innovative Company, in consecutive years of 2014 and 2015. Xero has also received an award for being Overall Partner Solution of the Year for Small Business. Xero received two Webby Awards in 2009 along with Peoples Choice award for Banking/Bill Pay. It is also recipient of Fast Company Innovation by Design Award in the year 2012. The company was named one of Macworlds recommended online business accounting apps. Xero was crowned as the best accounting software in Cloudswave Awards with a score of 83(Howard 2012). Market size for accounting software packages in Australia is huge and growing. The distribution pattern amongst various companies has changed greatly in the past 10 years(AO'Brien 2006). Xero alone occupies 65% market share amongst all companies. Sage 50 has a 10% share and Intuit has a 20% share of the market. Figure 2 : Leading Accounting Software Packages Source : (Cohen 2012) MYOB in Australia is trying to maintain its own giant market share by raising US$831.7 and AUS$833.8 million through their IPO. Xero has also evolved from being a New Zealand start-up to spending AUS$250 million for developing its accounting software. The company currently has more than 400,000 paying customers from 180 countries worldwide with 95 millions invoices(Zhang 2016). US giant Intuit is also trying to establish and build its business base in the Australian markets. Though MYOB continues to be the leader in the market with its unique software package systems and cloud computing facilities. Drury ( 2015) in his article highlighted that the several products offered by Xero renders it competitive advantage. Xero offers automatic bank and credit card feeds, accounts payable, expense claims, invoicing, purchase orders, fixed asset depreciation along with standard business and management reporting. Xero software has inbuilt capability to automatically import bank as well as credit card statements. The package has free API that provides customers with flexibility to use third-party software vendors for integrating external application with Xero. Xero supports over 275 3rd-party vendor software. Xero has the capability to enter and compute multiple tax rates as well as currencies. Xero unique payroll feature provides to compute pay-roll related data for employees. R. Powell ( 2015) diagnosed that Xero users have the advantage to store single unified ledger in cloud storage, which allows users take locational advantage and access data from any place(Powell 2015). Xero has devis ed Xero Touch mobile app for iOS and Android devices that enables users for issuing invoices for on-site clients. King (2015) identifies the current challenges that users of Xero is facing in regards to its computation(King 2015). There is a time lag associated with the Xero accounting software packages in banks and customers. Due to the heavy inflow of data and speed of computing, there is a disruption in cloud computing for the software packages. Users who are facing the trouble needs to wait till such time the software starts working again. In rush hours of banking this has proved to be a major challenge but the customer service associates at Xero are very promt and helpful(Forbes, S.L. and Kennedy, R. n.d.). They provide immediate online help in order to pace by the process and lessen queuing time. Birchall (2013) further analysed that Xero faces cloud computing issues that needs to be sorted out(Birchall 2013). The cloud computing systems at Xero has integrated systems which takes tie to upload causing delays. Once these challenges are sorted out Xero can compete and acquire market place close to its competitors MYOB. Recommendation and Conclusion Australian market has several accounting software packages but the dominant role is played by MYOB due to various issues. Xero and other similar accounting software packages is trying to make their mark in the market by acquiring significant market space but has not been able to due to certain challenges faced. Xero needs to overcome these challenges in order to become the market leader in the accounting software package space. Following are some of the recommendations developed for Xero; Xero needs to adopt a faster cloud up gradation technique for its accounting software packages. As the company renders solutions to banks and credit card companies it becomes imperative to have a fast paced response system. this additional feature will improve performance of its overall software and systems, hence resulting in customer satisfaction. Xero has to design specific systems for specific businesses as banks require a different system compared to credit card companies. Often developing an integrated phase for accounting packages leads to computational errors that is faced by several customers of Xero. Xero has to increase its spending in regards to designing customer suited accounting packages for Australian markets to capture greater market share. Xero is a highly potential and innovative company, with a tremendous growth prospect. The company has the capability to become a leading accounting software package company in the Australian markets. It needs to adopt suitable strategies and techniques in order to overcome the current challenges and meet the future expectations of its customers. Bibliography AO'Brien, J., Marakas, G.M., Hills, T.M.G. and Lalit, M.R., 2006. Management information systems. Birchall, A., 2013. Who's afraid of the big bad cloud?.Management Today, (July 2013), p.34. Business, I Retrieved on 20th August, 2016, 'Accounting Software Package market, Australia', https://www.businessinsider.com.au/charts-the-battle-for-supremacy-in-australias-cloud-accounting-market-2015-4. Cohen, J.R., Holder-Webb, L.L., Nath, L. and Wood, D., 2012. Corporate reporting of nonfinancial leading indicators of economic performance and sustainability.Accounting Horizons,26(1), pp.65-90. Drury, R.K. and Vickers, M.J., Xero Limited, 2015.Systems and methods of access control and system integration. U.S. Patent 9,117,208. Howard, A., 2012. Media release Forbes, S.L. and Kennedy, R., Competitive advantage through direct marketing: A case study of a small New Zealand wine business. Khaneja, S., 2015. E-Accounting in the Current Scenario: Impact of Information Technology.The International Journal of Business Management,3(9), p.290. King, A., 2015. Xero soothes auditors on automation. Powell, R., 2015. Xero founder warns of public growing pains. Robinson, A.E., 2012.Is it You?(Doctoral dissertation, London Metropolitan University) Smith, H., 2015.Xero for dummies. John Wiley Sons. Vasilchenko, E. and Morrish, S., 2011. The role of entrepreneurial networks in the exploration and exploitation of internationalization opportunities by information and communication technology firms.Journal of International Marketing,19(4), pp.88-105. Zhang, Z., Nan, G., Li, M. and Tan, Y., 2016. To Lead or to Follow? Market Entry and Pricing Strategies for Saas Provider.Market Entry and Pricing Strategies for Saas Provider (June 7, 2016). Vancouver

The Writing Style of the Last Leaf free essay sample

He is good at portraying minor characters. The sense of humor is the biggest characteristic of his short stories. He tends to make the end beyond all expectations, and he focus on the minor characters’ living condition. The Last Leaf is one of his most famous short stories, and it best reflects his unique writing style. It is a story about living. It tells an impressive story among three poor and unsuccessful artists. It is a story about living. Old Behrman uses his life to save Johnsy’s life by drawing the last leaf of the ivy in a rain stormy night. During the first ten years after O’Henry’s death, there rose a surge about O’Henry study in America, and his prestige reached the peak. He is called â€Å"the new father of America literature†. Now O’Henry still attracts scholars home and aboard. Liu Wencui’s â€Å"A Study of O’Henry’s Writing Methods in his Short Story ‘The Gift of Magi’† explores O’Henry’s peculiar writing methods used in â€Å"The Gift of Magi† by addressing the distinctive title which combines metaphorical meaning, the living language with proper wording and the reasonable and surprising ending. We will write a custom essay sample on The Writing Style of the Last Leaf or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Liu Wencui, 2001) Then Wen Jiexia contrasts and compares O’Henry with Maupassant in â€Å"A Comparative Study between Maupassant and O’Henry in Short Story Layout†. Both O’Henry and Maupassant are skillful at short story writing and famous for their ingenious and exquisite layouts. Each of them has characteristic and style in plot, ending and narration. By doing so, Wen Jiexia shows the ingenious writing skills of O’Henry which comes from everyday life experiences. O’Henry writes ordinary scenes of life, but he can extract vivid and unique plots from common scenes. O’Henry tells his stories in an ordinary objective tone, with insertions of subjective comments, while Maupassant is objective, real and natural. O’Henry criticizes the social reality by displaying the macroscopic appearance with microscopic reflection. (Wen jiexia, 2002) Moreover, in â€Å"Narrative Analysis of O’Henry’s Writing Technique† Zhang Wenhua explains the theme on human virtues in O’Henry’s works with the binary opposition in the structural theory. The writer comments on the modes of the opening and ending with the theory of narrative modes. The typical surprising ending in O’Henry’s works is analyzed with the technique of defamiliarization. By doing so, Zhang Wenhua presents the unique characteristics of O’Henry’s works with regard to the narrative analysis. (Zhang Wenhua, 2007) O’Henry’s unique writing styles—vivid plots, frequent coincidences, humorous language, unexpected ending and which moveding theme impress readers deeply. In this thesis, the author try to account for O’Henry’s writing style reflected in The Last Leaf. By discussing the language, structure and characterization portrayal, this thesis shows the concise and lifesome language, the ingenious arrangement and lively characters of this short story of O’Henry. II. Language Features. O’Henry’s language has distinctive features: humor, simplicity, unique design, proper choice of words. In The Last Leaf, O’Henry chooses exact, laconic, vivid words and various sentences to describe the background and scene of this short story, to make a psychological portrayal of the characters to be vivid and charming. By doing this, O’Henry wants to make the readers enter the story,story; assumeing that readers share a prior knowledge of the incidents of the story with narrator. We can see these features clearly in his masterpiece The Last Leaf. A. The Accurate Choice of words At the beginning paragraph of The Last Leaf, O’Henry uses accurate words to make the readers know the environment where the story is happening. O’Henry uses â€Å"colony†, just one word, to let the readers realize that people who live there are poor and unsuccessful in their career. This also forms a strong contrast with the end of the story: people live in that place can have masterpiece as well. William Shakespeare has a wisdom, â€Å"Brevity is the soul of wit†, that is to use the least words to express a great amount of information, to use short and common but complex words, to leave out the redundant and vague words. In the sentence, â€Å"Then she swaggered into Johnsy’s room with her drawing board, whistling jazz. †, â€Å"swaggered† is more concise and to the point than â€Å"walk in a self-satisfactory†. And this behavior shows that Sue would not let Johnsy worry. B. The Rhetorical Devices To make the story more vivid and attractive, O’Henry uses a series of rhetorical devices. In November a cold, unseen stranger whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy gingers. Over on the east side this ravager strode boldly, striking his victims by scores, but his feet trod slowly through the maze of the narrow and moss-grown ‘places’. (O’ Henry: 15) O’Henry uses personification in these sentences, and the parts with lineation in the sentences compare exactly and lively. Pneumonia is a ruthless and cruel devil, who deprives of the life of the weak. â€Å"†¦, said Johnsy, closing her eyes and lying white and still as a fallen statue. † In this sentence, O’Henry uses simile. â€Å"a fallen statue† reflects Johnsy’s desperation for her recovery. And O’Henry choices The Last Leaf as the title of this short story to symbolize the end of Behrman’s life as well as to symbolize the regeneration of Johnsy. Thus the title highlights the theme of this short story. All in all, proper wording greatly increases O’Henry’s power of expression. C. The Variety of Sentences From the perspective of rhetoric,sentences not only call for correction in grammar, but also require change in the form, which will help to achieve the diversification of the forms of expression and enhance the effect of expression. To fit the language characteristics of the characters in the work, there are more simple sentences than complex sentences, more phrase than long sentences in The Last Leaf. But to enhance the effect of the expression, the author still manages to achieve the diversity of sentences by arranging sentences with different forms and sentences of varying lengths reasonably and cleverly. Take the second paragraph of this story for example: â€Å"so the artists soon came prowling to quaint old Greenwich Village hunting for north windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics and low rents. Then it becomes a colony. † These sentences are more vivid and smooth and have a sense of rhythm in reading. But if there are all simple sentences, the story may become tedious. In addition, in the sentence â€Å"What was there to count? † the author uses rhetorical interrogative as emphasis to avoid speaking in a dull, flat style. By doing this, O’Henry not only highlights the following parts of the story, but also arouses interests of the readers. This story has four dialogues, in which the phrases are too numerous to mention. It mainly performs as the elliptical sentence: â€Å"Paint? ——bosh! † â€Å"Twelve eleven. † â€Å"Five what, dear? † â€Å"Leaves, on the ivy vine. † These sentences, short and powerful, highlighting key information, simplifying the expression procedures, enhancing the language effects, are shortcut of language communication. Meanwhile, the story has inserted a number of long sentences, including both natural and simple loose sentences, and some periodic sentences which are end-loaded, playing a role of emphasizing. â€Å"As Sue was sketching a pair of elegant riding trousers and a monocle on the figure of the hero, an Idaho cowboy, she heard a low sound, repeated several times. † This long sentence is a periodic sentence. O’Henry places the main part of the sentence at the end, to stress this part and to attract readers to read on. Another example is a passage in which Johnsy says: â€Å"Tell me as soon as you have finished because 1 want to see the last one fall, I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of thinking. I want to turn loose my hold on everything and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor tired leaves. † The first sentence is loose sentence, with a clause to show reasons; the last sentence is also a loose sentence. â€Å"Down†, â€Å"just like leaves† these added modifiers vividly describe Johnsy’s despair. O’Henry inserts short sentences in long sentences skillfully to make the story rhythmic, and full of appeal. Distinctive â€Å"O. Henry technique† is able to touch the hearts of the readers largely because of its unique art of language. O’Henry uses easy understanding, lifesome and concise language to portray characters and develops layouts. It can be said that language is the tool of the â€Å"O. Henry technique† and plays an important role. Structure Features Clever stylistic rules and layout can make the fiction achieve unexpected artistic effect. The fiction has its own unique structure features, and the most basic elements are the background, characters, events and outcomes. O’Henry lets these elements intersperse and completes each other to serve the main plot. In The Last Leaf, O. Henry uses apparent and shade clues: Johnsy’s hopelessness of life is the apparent clue, and Behrman in wet and windy night painting that piece of leaf on the wall is the shade clue. The use of two clues constitute plot blank to make the reader recreate the story plots, and the end of the story has a surprising and unexpected effect. We can see these features clearly in his masterpiece The Last Leaf. A. O’ Henry’s ending The ending is O. Henry’s champion, which shows that O. Henry is the master of artistic skills. The ending holds primary importance in the â€Å"O. Henry technique†, and has become a symbol and a mark. When people mention O. Henry’s stories, their first thought may be the unexpected ending. It can be said that â€Å"O. Henry ending† has become a salient literary phenomenon in the world’s literature and has swept across the literary world. Ancient and modern literary masters all think the ending is important and most of them stress on the function of the ending. Chekhov says whoever invents the new ending, opens up a new era. O. Henry’s ending has a finishing touch function on story, and capable of making the whole works suddenly fly out into the highest level of art. Throughout O’Henry’s works, the attractive plots like mountain spring water, whether it meets stone block, or in the flat, ups and downs, it can all flow freely, surging ahead. When the readers are brought by this spring to the destination, the spring turns rapidly in different direction, changing to a sudden turning, giving the readers an unexpected end. Faced with this unexpected outcome, the readers tend to be puzzled. But after the shock, the readers can immediately realize what has happened and find that this unexpected ending is real and reasonable. The Last Leaf is a typical work and can be serve as a good illustration. At the beginning, when the doctor said Johnsy only has 10% possibility to recover, the readers cannot help hating the disease, while showing sympathy for the poor girl. Later, the readers’ attention may turn to the pieces of falling leaves outside the window. They are holding the hope for Johnsy to live. The readers as well as Johnsy know that the last leaf will be falling, but they all hope it will not fall. But they are surprised by the result. The next morning it is still swaying in the wind, bringing Johnsy hope and giving readers comfort. The dialogue of the last paragraph pushes the story to a climax and the unknown Behrman leaves his first and last famous work. But the pneumonia deprives him of his life. So the readers are happy for Johnsy, and at the same time surprised that why the last leaf stays so long in the wind and cannot help feeling sorry for losing such a great and caring artist. The ending of the story is unexpected yet rational. The author does not give a positive description of the scene of Behrman drawing the ivy leaf with life, only relays through Sue’s mouth at the end of the story. As the mystery is unveiled, the story achieves its climax, but the climax is the end of the story at the same time. The story stops suddenly. The author always tells the story in a flat tone, neither the ups and downs nor twists and turns, and the plots advance slowly and are rational. But the end lets readers wonder. In the above discussion, readers do not see any clues of the old artist painting the last leaf to save Johnsy, but the ending reveals a miracle of life. The potential artistic charm of the work shines out miraculously. The artistic charm of O’Henry ending is just like this. Rereading the whole short story, the old Behrman is the protagonist of the story, the spirit of the whole short story. B. Plot Blank The skill O’Henry uses when he designs his unexpected ending is structure overlapping of apparent and shadow clues. The light clue hides the dark clue, and in progress of the plot some details have always been hidden, and the most important secret is conserved, and this is the use of â€Å"plot blank†. The â€Å"plot blank† is in the process of the continuous plots, purposely skips and it does not show a link and goes into the third event straightly from the first one. The skipping of this plot is the â€Å"plot blank†. The plots of short story are showing materials selected strictly by the author through eliminating the false and retaining the true, deserting the dross and remaining the essence. They shoulder the important mission of expressing the themes and conveying the writer’s emotion, showing the personality and psychology of the characters. Therefore the narrators of the short stories are always careful in plot selection and typical refining, they also apply the most expressive characters act as the plot and make trade-offs. The discarded plots can be unnecessary or insignificant part of the story. But he value situation is to deliberately give up the plots which are closely related to the theme, make plot blank and leave room for the readers to stir up imagination, giving the readers re-creation pleasure and aesthetic enjoyment. O’Henry uses â€Å"plot blank† skillfully in The Last Leaf. He avoids talking anything about Behrman, and only shows that Behrman is an unsuccessful artist in the eyes of other people. This makes a tremendous contrast with the artist who paints a leaf that can be confused as real one in the following part of the short story. Is this artist really as bad as others say? The readers can judge it. The action that Behrman paints the leaf should be the key plot of the work, but the author eliminates the process that old Behrman climbs a ladder to light a hope for the Johnsy in the cold rainy night. Only at the end of the story Sue simply reveals the fact, Behrman died because he painted the vine leaf, making people suddenly realize the fact and at the same time it gets a huge shock on the soul. In the former part of the story, the readers does not see any clues that the old painter would save Johnsy , but at the end of the story it reveals a miracle of life, thus the internal artistic feature of the work shines out miraculously. From the view of receptive esthetics, the readers needs to finish the creation and addition of the plot. When the readers look back the story carefully, it is easy to imagine that in the rainstorm the old painter is dragging his faltering footsteps, strenuously climbing up the ladder and the rain wets his clothes and blurs his eyes, but he paints firmly. Because he knows that this is not an ordinary leaf and this is Johnsy’s only hope of life. He is helping Johnsy as well as realizing his artistic dream. Thus the surface plots of the story gradually are weakened while the internal circumstances are highlighted. The convergence of the surface events turns to the rational development of psychological feelings. The reasonable explanation of the whole work not merely relies on external circumstances, but on the emotional circumstances. Ingenious conception and clever structure is O’Henry’s distinctive features. In The Last Leaf, O’Henry uses two clues of the apparent and shadow alternately, forming â€Å"plot blank† to make the end of the story unexpected. The structure feature is the most dazzling jewel of the â€Å"O. Henry technique†. VI. Conclusion Short stories are wonderful flowers in the garden of the world literature, and O’Henry is one of the most successful gardeners. He has had a vast influence on an entire generation of writers attempting to see the society clearly and write the unexpected ending smartly. He puts his artist’s eyes and ears on the sights and sounds of the American society, and he takes ordinary events and incidents from everyday life, but he designs the plots skillfully. O’Henry is a productive writer and he is known by the world for his â€Å"O’Henry technique†. The Last Leaf tells a moving story which is familiar to lots of readers. And this short story has many similarities with O’Henry’s other stories but it has its special aspects. The present thesis has studied O’Henry’s writing style shown in The Last Leaf. The first part of this thesis probes this short story’s language feature, which is exact, vivid, easy-understanding and changeable. Language is a weapon of O’Henry, useful and helpful to his creation. Chapter two has discussed the structure of The Last Leaf: â€Å"plot blank† and unexpected ending. O’Henry uses â€Å"plot blank† smartly, leaving out some key information, resulting in an unexpected ending. This makes the story attractive, and gives the readers a room to imagine. O’Henry has been one of the most popular and widely read American short story writers and people are familiar with his creations. O’Henry’s stories are storehouse of human wisdom closely related not only to his own time and people but also those of the whole world. In conclusion, O’Henry is a rare creative artist with a unique vision.