Different Approaches to The Ways That Gender Affects Language Use Essay

Different Approaches to The Ways That Gender Affects Language Use - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Ã' ommunication is a significant in the daily life of an individual. It is important that information is relayed within the shortest time possible and is as precise as possible. However, distortions can often occur, mainly due to differences in culture and gender. The gender difference is a factor that affects communication to a significant degree. It is common knowledge that men and women communicate differently. Whereas men are not so open to their conversation, women are generally talkative and will express their feelings through various ways including crying, laughing or just through various body languages. However, these factors cannot resonate across all populations. Several authors on the topic suggest that factors such as family backgrounds, the schools attended, early childhood life, and exposure can always predispose an individual to communicate or react differently. Today, most people accept the fact that gender affects how people communicate; women and men communicate in different ways. The differences can pose interpersonal interaction challenges, therefore, leading to resentment, intolerance, decreased productivity and stress. Women and men are said to belong to two cultures mainly due to their differences in sex and early childhood tendencies to the group as boys and girls. This tendency is not only critical in the business setting, but in everyday life. It is, therefore, important that the differences are understood so that communication can be as effective as possible, irrespective of gender.

Adaptive Web-site Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adaptive Web-site Design - Essay Example Currently, there are technologies that allow Web programmers to separate the conceptual representation of an application domain from the content of the actual Web-site. One such popular technology is eXtensible Markup Language (XML). XML is a markup language that was designed to transport and store data. It separates the document’s contents from its presentation. This makes it possible to use a single document to contain all the website’s content independent of presentation attributes. Secondly, the XML source document is processed with an eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) file to produce a variety of outputs including HTML pages, rich text formats (RTFs), PDFs and mobile devices. This single source capability decreases errors in content and ensures consistency of format throughout entire Web sites and between formats for multiple devices (Costello et al. 2006). Another technology that promotes adaptive web design is Cascading Style Sheets 3 (CSS3) which supports u se of fluid layouts, flexible media and media queries (Gustafson 2011). CSS is a style sheet language, which like XML, enables the separation of document presentation from document content. CSS3 is the latest standard for Cascading Style Sheets.

The Depiction Of Amores Perros Film Studies Essay

The Depiction Of Amores Perros Film Studies Essay During the twentieth century, Mexico was experiencing an era of economic instability and an obvious division of social classes. In Amores Perros Ià ±Ãƒ ¡rritu, the director brilliantly portrays the distinction in the separation of the classes, and the effect of the economy on society. In Amores Perros, Daniel, Octavio, Susana, and El Chivo represent the three social classes in Mexico, the rich, the poor, and extreme poverty. Octavio and Susana clearly represent the lower class. Ià ±Ãƒ ¡rritu emphasizes the lack of comfort and space through the characters dialogue and setting. Perhaps the timing of release was precise, (Mexico was weeks away from its presidential elections that broke the 70 year term of one-class ruling), but Amores Perros (Gonzalez-Ià ±Ãƒ ¡rritu, 2001) a ground-breaking Mexican film under new Latin American Cinema made record-high box office success within its very first few weeks of showing. Its sheer braveness and boldness at showing reality of life in the city served to shock and reveal to millions of people how modern-day life was in the one of the busiest energy hotspots of the World; of a world brimming with positive and negative energy, that lead people to the brink of despair. The metropolis is presented as exclusively Mexican, yet one that is not dissimilar from other cities in Latin America, whereby violence, self-interest and lust are omnipresent and whereby, as much as they are fundamental to ones survival, are also the very reason for ones downfall. Ià ±arritus interpretation of the DF (Mexico City) is a reflection of society that lives in constant fear, under great pressure, and in complete turmoil, literally and psychologically. He has produced an intimate social study of the people that make up and shape the city into what it is to this day. Without exaggerating the lack of law and order, he demonstrates that for the majority of its city-dwellers, the underworld is the only option if one is to survive. The director hooks us into the diegetic world of the film by condensing into three interconnected stories the images of the general pain of daily life as well as the social, political, and economic inheritance of todays alienated youth and the elder s who have prepared this crushing scenario for them.1 Ià ±arritu decided to reveal the more sinister side of what it is like to be living in the DF, and offered the viewer a subtle criticism of the Mexican political situation that feeds the rich and abandons the poor. In certain aspects his interpretation of the city differs from the way cities are shown in other Latin American and Hollywood films. His DF is as real as real gets; you win some and you lose some, but that is simply the way life goes. An ideal comparison is that with the 2000 Hollywood film by Steven Soldbergh, Traffic, which also combines three distinct stories into one, whereby one of the plots is set in Mexico. Interestingly, the director chose to use a handheld camera for the Mexican scenes only. The Mexican story appears grainy, rough, and hot to go with the rugged Mexican landscape and congested cities (1b). Shot through a sepia lens, it gives Mexico City a feel of a sleepy, developing-world frontier city, as opposed to Ià ±arritus interpretation of a cutting-edge modern metropolis. Soldbergh contrasted the sepia-tinged Mexico with a blue tinged USA,, whilst Ià ±arritu, on the other hand, used skip bleach and tinged the images with blue. Steven Soderbergh chose Hollywood stars namely Catherine Zeta Jones, Michael Douglas and Benicio Del Toro to play the leading roles which gives an unreal sense to the film, keeping the viewers one step away from reality. It demands the viewer to accept certain ludicrous tw ists. What further sets it apart from the viewer is that the plot involves high-profile characters such as the CIA, High Court American judges, and famous drugs cartels. What sets Amores Perros apart from other films that represent the city is that the characters are real, and based on characters one would meet in the street. Most filmmakers living in Mexico City have turned a blind eye to its problems or treat them superficially and hence fail to face reality. Ià ±arritu has not. Instead he has chosen to project a broader segment of society by looking at a trilogy of situations and characters interwoven across the class lines and geographies of contemporary urban Mexican society.'(2) Gonzalez-Ià ±arritu broke the expectation that many people had with regard to their view of the future of Latin American cinema. As he said himself, I am not a Mexican with a moustache and a sombrero and a bottle of tequila () nor am I a corrupt cop or a drug trafficker. There are millions like me. And this is the world I live in and the one I want to show.'(2b) In Amores Perros Ià ±arritu shows the consequences brought on a society from a city that offers nothing but a proliferation of social injustice, political corruption and neo-liberal dogma. However, although Ià ±arritu did to some extent take on serious social and philosophical issues, Amores Perros had a principal objective to entertain. Because the film did not receive any governmental funding, Ià ±Ãƒ £rritu was able to experiment with the social and cinematographic content. Crime and violence are key themes in the film, yet, unlike Hollywood, these events are not sensationalized but instead are presented rather mundanely. The story of Octavio and Susana is the most emotionally tense of the three and involves high levels of violence, self-interest and lust. However, all the stories work together, each with its individual tone and rhythm, in order to create a fuller image of life in the city. Fast editing, such as in the dogfight scenes, forbids the viewer from obtaining a real understanding of what they are seeing, reflecting the confusion and fast-pace of city life. By overloading the film with scenes of physical titillation he manages to create an intensification of our emotions hence reflecting those of the characters on screen. Violence within the film is rife, when even Ramiro is prepared to gun down his dog, danger is constantly a threat lying just around the corner. The cross-editing that occurs when Ramiro is being beaten up and Octavio is having sex with Susana is full of dark connotations of the violence and the phenomenon of family breakdown in Mexico today. Whilst Octavio may appear innocent and peaceful, he is still inflicting pain upon his brother, who in turn will have it thrown back at him when he runs away with Susana with his savings. The violence therefore is cyclical. The scenes draw the viewer in with an over-load of violence, blood, skin and sweat, and a soundtrack of Lucha de Gigantes to emotionally move them. Ià ±arritus grainy choice of resolution and skip-bleach, together with hand-held camera, a blurry vision, artificial lights, and a blue tint, give a sense of film noir, or gangster genre, which reflects perfectly the underworld and under-class that they live in. Violence is not only a result of poverty however, as is seen within the third story, another Cane and Abel-type plot whereby Gustavo Garfias hires a hit-man, El Chivo, to murder his very own brother. A somewhat less tense sequence, El Chivos story reflects that of Octavios in many ways; both opening sequence are in a car, and both follow a Cane and Abel theme. This reoccurring family rupture accentuates the affects city life has on its inhabitants and suggests that Mexican society itself is spiralling down into a vortex of violence. The physical and psychological mutilation, amputation, death, bloodshed, and cold-blooded killers-for-hire are not merely literal images but metaphors for something even more disturbing that holds society together- our animal nature that we try and domesticate,3 and ironically so, it is the human who emerges as the most destructive. This is because they have been envenomed by greed and self-interest, but at the same time have also been made to suffer from the actions of others. The violence presented is on the one hand very believable. Via setting, cinematography, use of unknown actors and even soundtrack, Ià ±arritu has given the viewer a real sense of the violence in Mexico City. The soundtrack is filled with pulsating music, squealing automobile tyres, and alternative whimpering and barking dogs. 3b Domestic family violence, dog-fighting and shop hold-ups are common in every society, and Ramiros secret criminal hold-ups also seem very realistic, as Ià ±arritu has not glamourized them. On the other hand, one could also argue that El Chivos story is slightly too fabled from the viewers point of view. A regular middle-class man, turned Revolutionary, turned hit-man may be slightly too intangible to believe yet El Chivos methods of killing however, are very unglamourized and therefore believable. Gustavos desire to have his brother killed is purely out of self-interest and greed for money, the consequence of a neo-liberalist, capitalist world. Gustavo represents a typical young middle-class man desperately trying to preserve his social and economic status, and being consumed by envy and greed, is willing to go to great lengths in order to do this. His weak character contrasts greatly with the larger-than-life presence of El Chivo who represents the opposite end of the political spectrum, of a schoolteacher turned Revolutionary. El Chivo is the most down-to-earth character in the film, distanced from the ills of society, who has chosen dogs as his sole companions. After all, they obey, they are loyal, and they do not even protest inhumane treatment. They lick the hand of the owner to the very end.4 Dogs contrast hugely with humans in this sense. This story is an interesting insight into the life of a nobody, of a near invisible, who in fact has had the most interesting life ou t of all the characters. His life is not driven by a sense of self-interest, as the only thing he has in his mind is the loss of his daughter, and the money that he acquires from the assassinations he carries out is all for her. He owns no flash belongings, except the watch and ring he found in the dump which he considers treasures. However, at the scene of the crash, he does nothing to help the victims, but steals their money and their dog. He seems to have no patience for human beings, only a great pity and deep love for animals. He laughs when his victims are in the newspapers, but cries when his dogs are killed. This love for his dogs contrasts greatly to the brutality of treatment of the fighter dogs within Octavios story and the dog serves as a link to suggest the world in which he lives, where humans are devoured by self-interest, and where they are made to fight to their deaths. Dogs also serve as a link in which to compare the distinctively different lives of the social classes so apparent in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. Whereas Chivos dogs are pacifist and rugged, (a direct reflection of their owner,) and Octavios is made to fight, Richie, a spoilt, kemp poodle, reflects his owner, the billboard model Valeria. The majority of the principal characters have obsessive temperaments, which in the end will inevitably lead to disappointment. Octavio has little or no family ties but instead lives in a cocoon of instincts and drives which compel him to pursue his brothers wife, who herself falls victim to her own self-interest and enters an intense sexual relationship with him. Valeria is obsessed with her looks, and Gustavo with his social status. Ià ±arritu has purposely highlighted this human flaw of extreme self-interest and contrasted it with a dogs faithfulness. Valeria, whilst herself the cause of another familys break-up, has her hopes shattered with the ruin of her modelling career. When before, she would look out of her penthouse window and see herself on the billboard, she now sees it has been taken down only to be replaced with advertisement for new publicity. Her colleague who tells her to forget the campaign breaks the news with no remorse, and the cycle of self-interest falls back on her. On a film that puts so much importance on every single event running up to the crash, had Daniel never left his wife, then Valeria would never have left the house to buy a welcome gift, and the crash would never have happened. Had he overcome his feelings of self-interest and lust with regard to Valeria, there would be no tragedy in which to tell the tale. Ià ±arritu shows how in every aspect, and on every level of daily living, self-interest is insidious. It is, again, the presence of three correlating stories that helps to portray how real each characters story is whilst the characters acting is also very believable. Amores Perros oozes lust and it is this sin that causes the destruction of the family unit in the case of both Octavio and Daniel. Adultery is a recurring theme in many films, and therefore it does not offer a new vision of life in the city as such, although in a dog-eat-dog world as is that in the DF in Ià ±arritus interpretation, it is not only the good guys who is betrayed. Whilst Ramiro is having illicit sex with the girl from work, little does he know that his very brother is seducing his young wife. The cinematography of the love scene between Octavio and Susana is, as was previously mentioned, sweaty and very passionate, yet it has not been glamourized. They have sex in the laundry room at home, Ramiro with his mistress in the stock cupboard at work, and Luiz Miranda Solares with his woman in a plush motel in the city. This sexual energy so common in Mexican society is psychologically and physically destructive and can only bring about problems. On the other hand, Ià ±arritu suggests that only those who live love intensely can escape the vulgarity of their everyday existence in the city. Therefore no matter which route one takes, they are destined to an unfulfilling existence. It is perhaps because there are multiple human flaws and vices presented in this film that Ià ±arritu does not delve too deeply into the theme of adultery. The pace of the film is too fast and so is that of the city, and the resulting destruction created by adultery plays only a small part in the destruction of Mexico City as a whole. Amores Perros certainly did on the one hand offer a new vision of the city to non-Mexicans. The fact that one of the set designers was foreign herself meant that she had a very rich appreciation of Mexican culture and neither exaggerated nor minimised its presence within every aspect of the film. The city within the film is a purely Mexican phenomenon via even the smallest details, be they mundane cultural activities, style of dress, mode of speaking or behaviour. Amores Perros had no Hollywood influences nor did the Mexican government play any role in the films content. This is important in order to appreciate the balance between message and entertainment value within the film. Perhaps what makes the stories so real is how the director interweaves politics within the everyday lives of the characters, placing their individual despairs within an undeniably political setting, suggesting that there is no escaping from the environment in which one is living in. It is this reality that gives a new vision to life in the city. On the other hand, certain elements within the film do not suggest any new vision of life in the city. The exaggerated circumstances of each character leads the reader to link it with Hollywood films that employ over-dramatized plots, dramatic backing tracks, explosions, and fast editing to name a few stylistic features. Corruption and instability within everyday living are stereotypical of Mexico, and Ià ±arritu has not avoided these stereotypes. However, as they are portrayed within an everyday existence, he has avoided branding these as a Mexican phenomenon. Furthermore, it has to be said that a film with no abnormalities would be unsuccessful, for where is the excitement in this? Ià ±arritu has created an exciting film offering a new vision of the city based on violence, self-interest, and lust. Word Count: 2761 References p.86 Throwing Politics to the Dogs, by Claudia Schaefer 1b. p.87 Throwing Politics to the Dogs by Claudia Schaefer 2. p84 Throwing Politics to the Dogs, by Claudia Schaefer 2b. www.imdb.com/amoresperros p.96 Throwing Politics to the Dogs, by Claudia Schaefer 3b. p85 Throwing Politics to the Dogs, by Claudia Schaefer 4. p96. Throwing Politics to the Dogs, by Claudia Schaefer

Wall Street Crash of October 1929 Essay -- Great Depression Economics

Wall Street Crash of October 1929 The roaring twenties saw a great deal of prosperity in the United States economy. Everything seemed to be going well as stock prices continued to rise at incredible rates and everyone in the market was becoming rich. Two new industries: the automotive industry, and the radio industry were the driving forces of this economic boom. These industries were helping to create a new type of market that no one had ever seen in history. With the market continuously increasing and with no foreseeable end, many individuals were entering the market because they saw the market as a sure fire way to get rich quickly. The rising prices of stocks and the large increases in trading created the speculative market that would eventually crash. On Monday, October 28, 1929, New York seemed to be the primary focus of the entire world. During that week in October, the bottom of the New York stock market fell out, an event that would lead the world into the greatest depression it has ever seen to date . Many individuals including those in the Federal Reserve Board saw the crash as a healthy thing that would bring all speculative trading to an end, and bring stock prices down to â€Å"realistic† levels. Following the crash the Fed followed a contractionary policy, which does not encourage expansion. Although that type of policy did need to be implemented prior to the crash, the decision to implement contractionary policy after the crash at best can be considered a questionable decision. The unstable financial situation of the United States that lead to the great crash can be attributed to the lack of leadership and action of the Federal Reserve in the financial world during the roaring twenties. After the end... ...31 Oct. 1929 9. â€Å"Stocks Up Again on Flood of Buying; Discount Rate Cut Here and in London; Back to Normal, Reserve Board Finds.† The New York Times 1 Nov. 1929 10. â€Å"Brokers See End of Stock Hysteria.† The New York Times 1 Nov. 1929 11. Herbert Hoover, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover (New York: Macmillan, 1952) 12. L. V. Chandler, Benjamin Strong, Central Banker (Washington DC: Brookings Institute, 1958) 13. â€Å"Behind the scenes with the Federal Reserve Board,† World’s Work (June 1929) 14. Excerpts from the Hamlin Diary - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amrlm&fileName=mn02page.db&recNum=0&itemLink=r?ammem/cool:@field(DOCID+@lit(mn023))%23mn02003&linkText=1 15. Appendix 1: can be found at www.duke.edu/~wem3/ click on work stuff then under HST104 16. Appendix 2: can be found at www.duke.edu/~wem3/ click on work stuff then under HST104 Wall Street Crash of October 1929 Essay -- Great Depression Economics Wall Street Crash of October 1929 The roaring twenties saw a great deal of prosperity in the United States economy. Everything seemed to be going well as stock prices continued to rise at incredible rates and everyone in the market was becoming rich. Two new industries: the automotive industry, and the radio industry were the driving forces of this economic boom. These industries were helping to create a new type of market that no one had ever seen in history. With the market continuously increasing and with no foreseeable end, many individuals were entering the market because they saw the market as a sure fire way to get rich quickly. The rising prices of stocks and the large increases in trading created the speculative market that would eventually crash. On Monday, October 28, 1929, New York seemed to be the primary focus of the entire world. During that week in October, the bottom of the New York stock market fell out, an event that would lead the world into the greatest depression it has ever seen to date . Many individuals including those in the Federal Reserve Board saw the crash as a healthy thing that would bring all speculative trading to an end, and bring stock prices down to â€Å"realistic† levels. Following the crash the Fed followed a contractionary policy, which does not encourage expansion. Although that type of policy did need to be implemented prior to the crash, the decision to implement contractionary policy after the crash at best can be considered a questionable decision. The unstable financial situation of the United States that lead to the great crash can be attributed to the lack of leadership and action of the Federal Reserve in the financial world during the roaring twenties. After the end... ...31 Oct. 1929 9. â€Å"Stocks Up Again on Flood of Buying; Discount Rate Cut Here and in London; Back to Normal, Reserve Board Finds.† The New York Times 1 Nov. 1929 10. â€Å"Brokers See End of Stock Hysteria.† The New York Times 1 Nov. 1929 11. Herbert Hoover, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover (New York: Macmillan, 1952) 12. L. V. Chandler, Benjamin Strong, Central Banker (Washington DC: Brookings Institute, 1958) 13. â€Å"Behind the scenes with the Federal Reserve Board,† World’s Work (June 1929) 14. Excerpts from the Hamlin Diary - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amrlm&fileName=mn02page.db&recNum=0&itemLink=r?ammem/cool:@field(DOCID+@lit(mn023))%23mn02003&linkText=1 15. Appendix 1: can be found at www.duke.edu/~wem3/ click on work stuff then under HST104 16. Appendix 2: can be found at www.duke.edu/~wem3/ click on work stuff then under HST104

Case Study for Midsouth Chamber

In continuance of the case of Midsouth Chamber of Commerce, the organization has appointed Sage Niele as a new Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Official of the company. During her initial period, she looked back and contemplated about the decision she had made to accept the positions and her reasons behind it. Alongside with her internal investigation, the backstory of the significant players in the preceding case was told. The organization’s difficulties with finding a system to replace UNITRAK was described in the case.Throughout their search, the company has found DMA’s software as an alternative to UNITRAK. When the new system was implemented, plenty of flaws and glitches were found that caused several difficulties for Midsouth Chamber of Commerce. With MSCC’s signed contract with DMA, they have allowed DMA to take over and handle the installation and support of the new system. The decision made it difficult for MSCC to recover the system by t he end of the case. This left Sage Niele, the new Vice President, tried to find new ways to repair the damage done to an already defective system.Unnoticed Mistakes in Midsouth Chamber of Commerce This review of Midsouth Chamber of Commerce’s history, exposed a number of problems and errors found with the organization’s information systems and as well as its management. First was with the implementation of UNITRAK system. When the UNITRAK’s president, Greg Ginder, was invited to give a short demonstration of the system’s capabilities, Ed Wilson Vice President of Public Affairs of MSCC have agreed with Leon Lassister Vice President of Marketing/Membership to purchase and implement the UNITRAK software without completing the demonstration and testing the UNITRAK system.That quick decision later lead to discovering several problems with the UNITRAK system. The system could not fulfill requests for lists and labels for mailings. The word processing, payment a nd invoicing, data changes, and list management were very difficult during that time. With Kovecki’s frustration with UNITRAK software, he was not cooperative with Lassiter. He does not give him information regarding the conversion of the new system and he was not very helpful with the staff members because he always try to avoid them.Issues with the system remained and later on the UNITRAK experienced financial problems and filed for bankruptcy. With no technical support for the system, MSCC decided to hire an outside consultant, Zen Consulting, to help assist in the maintenance and support of the software. After UNITRAK, came the implementation of Data Management Associate’s (DMA) software. Another decision was made quickly in implementing a new system. Dick Gramen, the new Systems Analyst, failed to read and fully understand the contract provided by DMA, which outlined what DMA were willing to provide and what MSCC must guaranteed.The contract was signed by the pres ident of the company, Jack Wallingford, without being reviewed by any other staff member or the corporate counsel. Troubles have raised with the implementation of DMA software. DMA encountered substantial problems converting the membership database from UNITRAK into the DMA custom software package. MSCC and DMA’s working relationship deteriorated due to many problems not being fixed and the lack of cooperation with DMA.From this research, MSCC’s history was reviewed and specified questions were answered to analyze and gather facts that seems to cause problems to Midsouth Chamber of Commerce. Firstly, the organization’s poor operational decisions for their information systems. There was no opinion or guidance from an experienced information system professional. Secondly, the lack of proper evaluation of the research. Even if a research was performed for the new system, a research that was not reviewed, was not enough to quantify the decision to implement a system .Lastly, the mistake of not checking the content of the business contract. In any organization, it is essential that a contract needs to be reviewed by all the staff members, corporate counsel, and officers before it could be signed and implemented. Based on all the facts gathered from the research, MSCC must work on having a good and effective communication with all the stakeholders. This would avoid poor decision, unevaluated research and contract that later lead to future pitfalls and mistakes. MethodThe case was examined thoroughly to determine the cause of difficulties and errors with the organization’s information system. The history of Midsouth Chamber of Commerce was investigated and reviewed by the author to understand how well the organization manages their information systems. Several questions were gathered and carefully answered to strategically associate the findings and analyze the issues. Results The review of Midsouth Chamber of Commerce’s history and the answers for the specified questions helped gathered facts to analyze what were the real problems and what causes it.The outcome of the study have identified the following problems: organization’s poor operational decisions for their information systems; lack of proper evaluation of the research; and the mistake of not checking the content of the business contract. Discussion As mentioned, having a good and effective communication is very essential in every organization. The purpose of this study was to show what the organization was lacking, that made them experience numbers of difficulties with their information systems. Also, to demonstrate what can be done to resolve it.With the problems identified in this case, the main cause was found and it was the lack of good communication between the stakeholders. The decision to purchase an unreliable systems like UNITRAK and DMA, the research and contract not being reviewed prior to signing and implementation of the systems, al l boils down to MSCC’s poor communication. Why â€Å"lack of good communication† was the important finding of this case? According to ManagementStudyGuide. com: Thus, we can say that â€Å"effective communication is a building block of successful organizations†.In other words, communication acts as organizational blood. The importance of communication in an organization can be summarized as follows: 1. Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is not up to the mark. 2. Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.3. Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e. , a well-informed individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual. Organizatio nal magazines, journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and written communication help in molding employee’s attitudes. 4. Communication also helps in socializing. In today’s life the only presence of another individual fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without communication. If Midsouth Chamber of Commerce would apply this finding to their organization, there would be a possibility to salvage their current and future information systems.

How do writings stand the test of time? Essay

What people write and read depends upon what they are thinking and what they are doing. The literature of the period reflects varieties of interests. One of the offices of literature is to take the reader away from the duties that fill the day. But great literature does more than this: great literature enlarges the reader’s world. The short story must always be literary entertainment: it must be always interesting, attention-compelling, and diverting (Perez 13). But real value of short story lies in its significant statement or question about human beings, the world they live in, the rules and custom that govern their actions. Most of the great short stories of the twentieth century fall outside the category of escape literature. There are stories which studies in personality and character, pictures of diverse social conditions, considerations of the validity of social institutions, and presentation of moral problems – all against a background of ordinary events (Perez 18). This paper takes off from the idea of famous critic Samuel Johnson, that literature can only endure the test of time – if and only if it show and deal with situations and characters that are identifiable, which is somehow a part of us, that individuals to individuals commonly share across boundaries of time and place. This essay will therefore examine the particular works of Washington Irving (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow), O. Henry also known as William Henry Porter (The Third Ingredient) and Edgard Allan Poe (The Cask of Amontillado). To juxtapose the significance of these three essays in literature, all three short essays will be explore from the premise of literary critic Samuel Johnson; its quality to be regard as ‘just representation of general nature vis-a-vis least representation of commonly experience. Washington Irving’s stands out as one of the very first American storytellers and humorists. Customs, manners, traditions and legends are the materials of his works. Washington Irving wrote about people. His famous work such as ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ will carry the reader back where there is no great bridges which spanned the Hudson River, no highways followed the contours of its majestic curves, and no steamboats plied up and down its broad waters. â€Å"From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HALLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout the neighboring country (Delgado 12). † Irving introduce the reader to the early Dutch settlers on the banks of the Hudson, immediate descendants of the people who built the first homes, the first villages, who established the first churches and the first schools, in short, the people who began the transformation of a wilderness into the settled and civilized country we know today. â€Å"His schoolhouse was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs: the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of old copybooks (Delgado 14). † Much of that Irving has written about early life on the Hudson is true: the social life of the wealthy Dutch farmer, the role of the schoolmaster as teacher and local sage, life in the schoolroom – these can be verified by research. Thus Irving’s main interest was not in an accurate representations of the society of time does not detract from the charm and value of his work for modern readers. He represents a halfway point between writers who strove to beguile their American readers with elegant stories laid in Europe and later writers who found in the American scene and the common people of America sufficient beauty and strength for literary material. However, Irving had not entirely escaped from the traditional romanticism of his day is shown by his decorative treatment of Dutch village life on Hudson and his inclusion of the legend of the Headless Horseman. â€Å"Such general purport of this legendary superstition, which has furnished materials for many a wild story in that region of shadows; and the specter is known, at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow (Delgado 13). † On the one hand, ‘The Third Ingredient’ written by O. Henry, who was also one of the most admired short story writers for years and his pattern for short story was imitated by many other writers. Most of his short story is about ordinary American characters doing things that are typical of our ways of life. â€Å"At six o’clock one afternoon Hetty Pepper came back to her third-floor rear $3. 50 room in the Vallambrosa with her nose and chin more sharply pointed that usual. To be discharged from the department store where you have been working four years, and with only fifteen cents in your purse, does have a tendency to make your features appear more finely chiseled (Ramon 46)† The story reveals how a typical individual spends his/her day. It is so cliche that every individual can somehow relate to the story. The pattern of O. Henry story is this: background, characters, time, place and tone – is deftly and vividly sketched. And event occurs that creates a problem. The action that arises from the problem and the background is built up to the climax. The story is concluded with a twist and snaps that is often a surprise – but never a surprise that has not been carefully prepared for in the story. â€Å"After he had tapped at the door and entered. Hetty begun to peel and wash the onion at the sink. She gave a gray look at the gray roofs outside and the smile on her face vanished by little jerks and twitches (Ramon 53). † Edgard Allan Poe is famous for his impressionistic stories of terror and horror. He once said that the end of the story must be in the writer’s mind at the very beginning and that the first paragraph, the first sentence, must be a part of the preparation for the culmination. His impressionistic stories are famous for their predominant mood of terror and horror. â€Å"At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled – but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity (Perez 102). † He wrote horror stories and created the detective story. He is not concerned with moral lesson – the horror stories which he created. Poe created a single effect, of terror or horror; while in his detective stories he presents cold and scientific solutions of crimes, not moral judgment on the criminals. Poe believed that there are three essentials for good short story. First: the story should be short enough to be read at one sitting. Next: plot, characters and setting should contribute to a single impression, oneness of effect. Third: nothing should be included which is not positive value in creating the oneness of effect. When you read the stories that follow notice that only those details which are important to the creating of the single effect are presented. â€Å"A succession of loud and shell screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated – I trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess; but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid of the catacombs and felt satisfied. I re-approached the wall. I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I reechoed – I aided – I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did this, and the clamorer grew still (Perez 104). † I believe that Poe is an effective writer and poet nonetheless, his impressionistic style can somehow affect the quality of the story to be considered as ‘just representation of general nature. ’ However, the typicality of his short story ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ does not necessarily mean it is less effective – the tale conforms to the laws of the three unities: unities of time, place and interest. The story needed a short time to complete the action of the story. And also the way every detail and every word contributed to its general effect. Reference Cited Delgado, Frank. Literature for Philippine High School. Philippines: Punlad Publishing House, 1989. Perez, Salvacion. Literature a Series of Anthologies. Philippines: St. Scholastica, 1995. Ramon, Antonio. Heritage of World Literature. Philippines: Punlad Publishing House, 1992.