Mark Twain :: essays research papers

Mark Twain Mark Twain's works are some of the best I've ever read. I love the way he brings you into the story, especially with the dialogue used, like in Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain is my favorite dead author. Mark Twain was never "Mark Twain" at all. That was only his pen name. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Samuel was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. He accomplished worldwide fame during his lifetime for being a great author, lecturer, satirist, and humorist. Since his death on April 21, 1910, his great literary reputation has further increased. Many writers such as Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner have declared his work-especially Huckleberry Finn- a major influence on 20th-century American fiction. Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, a town on the Mississippi river. After the death of his father in 1847, Twain joined his brother Orion's newspaper, the Hannibal Journal. During this time he became accustomed with much of the frontier humor of the time. From 1853 to 1857, Twain worked in many cities as a printer, and wrote articles for his brother's newspapers under various nicknames. After a visit to New Orleans, he learned how to pilot a steamboat. That became his job until the Civil War closed the Mississippi River, and it set him up for "Old Times on the Mississippi" and "Life on the Mississippi." In 1861, Twain traveled to Carson City, Nevada, with his brother Orion. After attempts for silver and gold mining had failed, he continued to write for newspapers. It was in 1863 when Samuel Clemens adopted the name "Mark Twain", a riverman's term for "two fathoms" deep. In 1884 Twain went to San Francisco and reached national fame with his story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." He then took a trip to Hawaii which started him on a very successful career as a public speaker. His trips to the Mediterranean and the Holy Land were recorded in letters to a San Francisco newspaper, and later formed into The Innocents Abroad, which was popular all over the world. In 1870 Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon. He then abandoned journalism to focus on serious literature. From 1870-1875, Twain produced many novels, including the famous tale, Tom Sawyer. A European vacation in 1878-1879, inspired novels like The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Meanwhile, he established his own firm, Charles L. Webster and Co., and after that, completed his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in 1884. In 1891, Twain was forced to move to Europe because of financial problems. In 1894, because of the failure of his firm and other reasons, he had to declare

Elective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Essay

Edward and Charlotte are a middle-aged couple, happily married, and who live comfortably in a considerable estate in early 19th century Germany. Edward was an only child, and thus was accustomed to getting what he wanted from life. Charlotte was a strong, level-headed woman, who, in spite of being at about the same age as Edward, displayed a character that was far more mature. The characters lived a relaxed, nobleman’s life, and Charlotte spent most of her time arranging and decorating the area around their land. The couple had loved each other in the past in their youth; however they were married to different people to satisfy the wishes of their parents. Both of their spouses died early, and Edward, after traveling abroad, came back and married Charlotte. The two were discussing their great fortune at still having time to cherish the moments they never had in their youth, but Edward had other plans. His best friend, the Captain, wanted a job that would suit his multiple talents, and Edward felt obliged to hire him and have him stay with them. Charlotte opposed the idea at first, but assented afterwards, but revealing to Edward that she felt the same with Ottilie, her niece who was not adjusting very well to school. The Captain was the first to arrive at the estate. In little time he got acquainted with his surroundings, and set about to change them to what he felt was better taste than what Charlotte has done. Charlotte became busy with other things, including correspondence with officials from the school where her daughter, Luciana, and Ottilie were studying. Luciana was a great student and she was always at the top of her class. Ottilie, on the other hand, was a shy and timid student, but the Assistant to the superior saw a potential in Ottilie that nobody else did. Edward, Charlotte and the Captain were enjoying each other’s company, and on one particular discourse they discussed among them the elective affinities, the tendencies of chemical species to combine with certain substances in preference to others. They related the somewhat obscure subject matter to themselves, and whether these affinities apply to human relationships too, unknowingly foreshadowing their ultimate fates. Ottilie arrived at the estate shortly afterwards, and although a timid girl, she was exceedingly beautiful that the company was inspired by her presence. She quickly became efficient at managing the household, which delighted Charlotte, who was spending more and more time with the Captain due to her desire to see the fruits of his plans for the estate. Edward then, found himself spending more time with Ottilie, who he quickly grew fond with. The plans for remodeling the estate were numerous, and the four all contributed plans towards the final end. Ottilie’s suggestion on the placement of a new house was unexpected because she was so timid, but everybody agreed with it. The Captain busied himself with the remodeling, and although he felt an attraction to Charlotte he thought the better of it and tried to stay away from her. However, he resolved to finish the new house’s foundation on Charlotte’s birthday, which he did. The day after Charlotte’s birthday, two visitors arrived at the estate, the Count and the Baroness, who were unmarried lovers as well. In observing their hosts’ situation, the Baroness deduced that Edward and Ottilie were lovers, The Count meanwhile had noticed the Captain’s usefulness, and intended to hire him, much to the hidden despair of Charlotte who was also very much in love with the Captain. With Ottilie still on his mind, Edward nevertheless goes to his wife and spends the night together with her. The day after, Ottilie revealed to Edward that she loved him, something that he was exceedingly happy about since he shared the intense feelings as well. Charlotte and the Captain had an adventure of their own, in which the Captain kissed her and apologizing afterwards. Charlotte recognized that she had an obligation to her husband, and thus cut short the affair with the Captain. Ottilie and Edward estranged themselves from the two others, while their passion grew with letters and secret correspondence with each other. Edward became busy with the preparations for Ottilie’s birthday, as the Captain was making preparations for his departure to the Count. On Ottilie’s birthday, Edward was ecstatic—he prepared an extravagant gift of cloth and made preparations for a big fireworks display. When a certain embankment fell to the water and almost caused the drowning of a party-guest, everybody felt that further festivities were no longer proper, except the now madly-in-love Edward. After the Captain’s departure, Charlotte tried to save their marriage by sending Ottilie away, but she failed when Edward, not knowing what to do, decided to go away himself. Otillie, saddened by the loss of her love, nevertheless kept her faith that he would come back for her. Edward wrote a letter to Charlotte that kept Otillie with her until Edward’s return. Charlotte learned shortly after that her night with Edward during the Count’s visit conceived a child, and through Mittler, her ambassador at the moment, relayed it to Edward, Mittler, a once-minister who thought all marriage is sacred, set to Edward to try to mend their matrimony. Upon learning of the news, Edward is more confused and sets off with a death wish to join the armed forces. By this time, the Architect, a pupil by the Captain, had taken over remodeling of the estate. With an affinity for the arts, Otillie becomes attached to the Architect, albeit only thinking of him as a comfortable brother. In Edward’s absence, Luciana returns from school with a bridegroom, and she magnifies the difference between her and the timid Otillie. After Luciana left, the Assistant comes to see Otillie—he too is in love with her, but Otillie’s heart is unattainable. She becomes attached to Edward and Charlotte’s baby, Otto. After his stint in the army, Edward returns with a clear mind—he is going to take Otillie for himself, and engages his best friend—now a Major—to help him get a separation from Charlotte. An accidental encounter along the lake reunites Edward and Otillie, but afterwards Otillie’s carelessness caused the drowning and death of Otto. When the Major arrives to tell Charlotte about Edward’s proposition, she is still shaken by the death of her son. Otillie, in guilt, resolved to renounce Edward and her love for him after the Major left. Plans were made to return Ottilie to school; however, Edward caught her in a hotel on the way there. Ottilie had renounced Edward, and thus spoke not a word to him, but she went back to the estate. Once back, Edward, the Major and Charlotte tried to make her speak once more, but she did not. In fact, she was starving herself secretly, and she died afterwards. In a short time, Edward, who could not live without Ottilie, found no reason to live either, and followed his love to the grave.

Assess the View That the Nuclear Family Functions

Assess the view that the nuclear family functions for the benefit of the individual and society. A nuclear family is universal and consists of two generations of families: a father, a mother and their children, all living in the same household. In this essay, I will be assessing the views that the nuclear family functions to benefit all its members and society as a whole, from a Functionalist, Feminist and a Marxist perspective.In order to assess these views, it is necessary to first establish the functions that the nuclear family performs and then to assess whether these benefit the individual and the wider society. Sociologists such as George Peter Murdoch (1949) claimed that the family was a ‘universal institution'. This is a functionalist view, however Marxists feminists argues that it online met the needs of capitalists. Functionalists see society as playing a major role in achieving social goals such as proving positive norms and values for the individual and society to r eproduce consensus.They believe that institutions such as the family must have a function which benefits society and its members. They believe that without consensus society will collapse into chaos. Consensus and shared values enables the members of society to cooperate with each other providing unity. Functionalist sees society as an institution from which norms and values are shares providing harmony. Functionalists regard society as a system that depend on each other such as the institution of the family, the education system and the economy.They look at what the nuclear family does for the whole of society, not just for certain individuals. Functionalists consider the nuclear family as essential for society’s smooth running. George Peter Murdoch (1949) claimed that the family was a universal institution. He studied 250 different societies and cultures and found that the family existed in one form or another. This suggests that families are necessary in some way whether i t be for societies to survive, for individual well-being, or both. He believed that the family performed four vital functions.Sexual: where adults can enjoy healthy sex lives with their marital parenters preventing disruption to society and conflicts that could arise from sexual desires such as affairs and also allows children to be raised by their natural parents. Reproductive: the family allows the reproduction of the next generation without doing so, society will cease to exist. Economic: the family ensures the survival of its members by providing food and shelter. Education: the family allows primary socialisation without it there will be no consensus about society’s norms and values.Functionalists have been criticised for ignoring the dark side of family life. Many families are places of disruption and violence from at least one of its members suffering from domestic violence, child abuse and divorce. Murdock’s views have been criticised to be conservative rather than universal. In different society’s people have different methods of child rearing influenced by their religious teachings, class and different psychological approaches to the upbringing of children. Talcott Parsons believed that the family performed two functions.Primary socialisation: children’s personalities are moulded in terms of society’s culture; they learn normal and values from their parents for example expressive roles from the mother and an instrumental role from the father. Stabilisation of adult personalities: marital parents provides each other with emotional support, idea that the man can relieve the stress of being insecure in his workplace by allowing himself to relax by indulging in his childish side. Due to this taking place, it relieves adult family members and strengthens social stability.Parsons views can be criticised as his perceptions of society are outdated. Family diversity now exits. Marxists would criticise of the nuclear family a s they see the role of primary socialisation as exploiting the working class which promotes and maintains class inequality. A Hierarchal structure exists within the Nuclear Family, as the man is considered the breadwinner, the head of the household who has the responsibility to go out and work to earn money for the family’s needs.This structure enables men to accept their perhaps low status at work which stops them from questioning the hierarchal nature of capitalism which only benefits the powerful and rich. Marxists Feminist would criticise the nuclear family as benefitting the capitalists system and therefore the ruling class. Men benefit from the Nuclear family and the capitalist system through the exploitation of women. Women are expected to have children and spend a lot of time to raise them. They would argue that primary socialisation means that males will remain dominant and women will remain inferior even in the future generations.

Michelle Obama Analysis

October 9, 2012 Written Analysis 1) Speech Goal: What is the goal of the speech? What does the speaker want the listener to do? * The overall goal for Michelle Obama’s speech s to inform the audience that her husband, President Barack Obama is for the people. She wants them to realize that he can relate to every class in America. He has struggled with the same problems that America is facing today at some point in his life. The speaker wants the audience to appreciate who they have as a leader and to be confident enough to re-elect him again. 2) Speech Organization: What is the overall organizational structure of the message? Remember Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14) * The overall message was in a motivated sequence with the 5 steps, attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. 3) Speakers Role: What kind of relationship has the speaker established with the audience? Does he or she speak from a position of power? As an equal? How does this role established by the speaker influence the speech’s effectiveness * Mrs. Obama creates a more equal relationship rather than being superior to the audience even though she has a great deal of power on her back.She speaks to them from an eye to eye perspective. The way the speaker shows the audience how much they can actually relate, the audience is prone to find favor in their similar situations and is more likely to gain a liking for him. This speech is very effective because the audience can see that President Obama and his wife feels what they feel and they know what’s it like to have issues. They didn’t grow up rich, without experiencing the downfalls of society; they had to climb that ladder of success as normal American’s. ) Speaker’s Tone: What is the overall tone, or â€Å"feel,† of the message? How does the speaker use supporting material and delivery clues to establish an overall tone of speech? * This speech has a tone of hope and equality. After hearing this speech you can’t help but feel hopeful that things will get better. The first lady helps you see that it’s possible to make it. There is hope for every family that wants to send their children to college just like there is hope for every family who has soldiers serving their country.Not only that, but there is a sense of equality in the speakers tone to help the audience relate to a much further extent. 5) Speakers Techniques: What does the speaker do to establish credibility? Does the speaker use logical arguments, tell effective and interesting stories, use emotional appeals, and use interesting and precise language? * The speaker creates credibility by basically saying she’s been in their footsteps, especially with her father having a disability and with him being a father and sending his children to college even if he did have to take out loans when he fell short.The speaker does use logical arguments, tells effective and interesting stories, use emotional appeals, and use interesting and precise language. The speaker shows her sincerity in everything she says which shows the audience how much passion is behind every word and scenario. 6) Audience: Who is the intended audience? How effectively and appropriate does the speaker connect to the interest, needs and background of the audience? How does the speaker make the connection with the audience? The intended audience is more of the middle class, she states a lot of issues that middle class people go through, even as growing up as a middle class child, and she went through those same issues. She connects with them by being able to say, â€Å"Yes I’ve been there, and Yes I’ve made it through. † 7) What was your favorite aspect of the speech, and why? * My favorite aspect is how she gives the audience that reassurance that even though times may be hard right now that it is not the end.You have to believe in America and hope for the best. No country or President is p erfect. We have to have our President’s back and show we that we have faith in him. 8) Why is this activity relevant? What do you learn from watching speeches? * This activity was very relevant because as young adults, we need to be more in tuned with what’s going on in our society. We see how the speaker comes across to America by noticing several points that we’ve discussed in class. We learn what to do to improve as speakers ourselves.

Interview Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interview Paper - Essay Example She was asked about the degree of knowledge that would be required by an individual who would be venturing into this field and choosing it as a career path. She was also asked what it was that she looked for when hiring new employees. The interview was very effective in getting an idea into the world of real estate. The subject is no doubt a very vastly practiced one, and the services are used by an individual at least once in their life time and yet there are dimensions of this field that are unknown by the common man. The field is very diverse and encompasses a variety of different aspects. Price and value of land will vary regardless of size and shape based on other aspects such as location, commercialization soil quality and other such factors. The market trend keeps changing and is very similar to the stock exchange. Far out locations and various apartment buildings and investments to such housing schemes require a great deal of research n the part of the real estate agent. The displaying and placing of the right priced, with in budget house and/or land with potential buyers is also a very tedious job as all individuals do not belong to the same socio economic statuses. Ms Delores when asked about her assessment of the market trend and potential employees was kind enough to spill the beans.

Organizational Structure Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational Structure Paper - Essay Example In coming up with the right structure, organizations search for the one that is most effective in categorization of departments and relational coordination, which is essential to achieve optimal production levels. Wal-Mart has a three divisional structure for products. Their business categories are composed of Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart Stores, and International Stores. Approximately 20% of Wal-Mart’s business income is from their international segment, which is responsible for stores and restaurants in thirteen countries, including Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Stores. By using a divisional structure, they are at an advantage since every division has the ability to focus on its specific objectives and goals, for example customers, service, and products (MacKenzie, 2008). By narrowing their focus, Wal-Mart is enabled to perform with more efficiency as they can locate particular areas that they should adjust or change as needed. Wal-Mart’s Organizational Structure Wal- Mart, as a major retail corporation, consists of stores that are spread all over the US, as well as the world, making them one of the largest retailers in the world. Because of the complexity that this comes with, it is essential that they have a well thought out and strong organizational structure. ... By having it this way, Wal-Mart was able to create a structure that suited their complex business operations and needs. Because of the many stores that Wal-Mart has all over the world, which are heavily dependent on the organization in order to run efficiently and effectively, this organizational structure allows them to improve their decision-making mechanisms by having managers who can deal with local issues and get the input of the overall executive managers (Brunn, 2012). Wal-Mart is also able to satisfy their customers through this structure since the different managers are able to come up with strategies that suit their local market, rather than overall strategies that may not be compatible. The matrix structure is just one of many diverse structures used by organizations. As mentioned, the organizational structure chosen by a specific company is dependent on the complexities of their business, as well as the requirements of managing their competencies. Apart from the matrix st ructure, there is the divisional organizational structure. This structure has its basis on the customer, products, and geographic location, which is unlike the matrix organizational structure that is based on reporting and who employees report (MacKenzie, 2008). These could be shift managers, general managers, and CEOs. In the divisional structure, the functional areas that compose an organization are divided into various divisions. Each of the divisions has resources that allow it to function independently. One example of a company using a divisional structure is GE, which has divisions like turbine division and microwave division, each with independent finance and marketing teams. Another type of structure is the functional structure, in which the organization groups various

Narrative question Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Narrative question - Coursework Example This raised concern that there was a dark spirit in the sea and people no longer visited the sea. A certain scientist became curious, forgetting that it killed the cat; he wanted to know more about the lonely sea. He started his journey to the Dark Continent, to the abandoned sea. At his arrival, he was surprised at its beauty. There was this pleasant undulating landscape, the sea was quiet and very appealing to look at. The shores were clean and the breeze was cool. He decided to make a tent at the shore, so that he could spend his night there. The surrounding looked safe as everything was as clear as someone slashed the area around the shore to clear all the bushes and the trash. He looked like a King on His throne ruling His subjects when he got out of the tent to again take a look around from his ‘’palace’’. He then went back inside to sleep, and from the beginning, he enjoyed spending a night at the sea shore, in a tent. His dynasty remained peaceful a s he begun to slumber until the unthinkable happened! There was a loud bang, BWAAH! It was like as loud as thunder. The scientist woke up from his slumber and begun to shake like a chameleon on a twig. He woke up fast like lightening and he got shocked. His heart popped that, for a moment, he thought his heart would get off his chest. Looking outside the tent, he could not believe his eyes! ‘What a nightmare!’ he exclaimed. Whatever he could see before him could not exist anywhere in the world. It was so scary to be true. The ‘monster’ was so huge and walked with its salivating, mouth wide open towards the helpless scientist. The wideness of its mouth, made the scientist to remember for a moment where he had heard or read about such wide openness of a mouth. He thought quickly that he once read it from another story book about how wide the gates of hell will be when Jesus comes back. The scientist got paralyzed, he could not move an inch, and all he could w ish of was to wake up and find out it was just a nightmare. For a moment he assumed he was asleep and going through a nightmare. He thought that was the worse mare of all he had ever had before. He wished he never even made the decision to go to the Dark Continent. An ugly looking monster stood before the scientist, a cold chill ran down his spin and his legs could hardly support him. Alas! The ugly thing moved near him, took him by its hands. It was such a giant that the poor scientist felt like an ant; so helpless and defenseless. It was a man eating monster and the poor scientist’s dear life had come to an end. A made the biggest shout like a trumpet. Several people come from around and all witnessed this all. Alas! It was too late for them to help. The misery about the disappearance of people became unraveled and there were witnesses, even though people kept on wondering how what they saw is called. The people then decided to name the sea, ‘The Red Sea’ follo wing the fact that a lot of people had been lost in the same sea mysteriously. The name of the wondrous creature, though, remained unknown till date even though many people saw it. Until today I have never seen or heard about the monster again. May be it still lives in the sea or it