Poe In the Fall House of Usher free essay sample

Edgar Allen Poe, key background information is deliberately omitted. Poes signature gothic style and genius are all about the elements of imagery and suspense. Immediately the reader is on its toes waiting and wondering about information that is never revealed, while at the same time, the author unravels a story that makes them forget hey ever wanted or needed background. Reading between the lines of this story, however, reveals necessary details that allow glimpses at background information. For instance, Poe mentions that Roderick and the narrator are boon companions, in other words, best friends from childhood. The narrator does acknowledge that his friend was quite guarded, or reserved while they were young. Even at that, one would assume that the very basics would be known between friends, yet we learn that the narrator has never before been to the House of Usher, nor does he really know a lot about his friend. We will write a custom essay sample on Poe: In the Fall House of Usher or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page How could they have been so close growing up, but not visit one anothers homes; or know that your friend has a sister, let alone that she is a twin? The narrator also mentions an awareness of the strange lineage that makes up the familys ancestry, but seems aloof to the why or how it could be possible. It does not seem evident that the narrator knew of the sister prior to his visit. But upon learning of this and making the connection that incest was necessary to propel the family in the manner in which Poe suggests, parallels are clearly drawn. Assuming the family mansion is alive, one arallel is that the family and the house are feeding off of one another, as are the siblings. A sort of yin and yang effect where one is weak, the other thrives; one cannot exist without the other, perhaps. Poe certainly leaves a lot of interpretation up to the reader in his crafting of this story. Some noticeable ambiguities are: Is the house itself ill? If so, is it ill because of the familys impurities, or vice-versa? Are morality and mortality intertwined? Is the house evil or is it condemning? Do the siblings live in this dilapidated environment by choice, out of duty, by fate or of hame? However Poe intended it, it is clear that the house its inhabitants share the same ill features and whether or not the reader believes the house is possessed, or has powers or is alive, Roderick certainly does. By the end of the story, the narrator appears to believe this as well. The story needs no background because it centers on the current and twisted relationship that exists between the siblings. Behind the scenes, they may have had had an incestuous relationship, which appears to have not produced an heir. This of course is an assumption as it is never openly stated, ut implied when Usher mentions a tenderly beloved sister; his sole companion for long years†his last and only relative on earth. (Norton Anthology p. 692-693). Roderick goes on to imply that he could not bear living without her, should she pass. Even if they, themselves did not participate in such acts, they were presumably born of a long line of the same, which lends wonder to the genetic abnormalities which could possibly occur. While neither seems to have obvious physical deformities, it is question as to how much is inherent and how much is externally influenced. The narrator arrives at Usher House already confused as to why an old friend has suddenly called upon him. Poe allows the reader to experience the story at the same time as the narrator, who is shocked by what he sees in the house. He is also confused as to how someone could live this way and struggles to understand as the friends catch up. The narrator does seems to react as anyone would, trying to reassure his friend that he is imagining certain things and how the notion of fear can contradict reason and rationality. We all experience those types of moments. While eading a poem to Roderick in an attempt to calm him, strange sounds from lower in the house begin. It is at this point that the story turns for the narrator. We are afforded the unique opportunity to see the narrator on the cusp between his prior disbelief and belief. Are the sounds he is now hearing real or imagined? If this were a movie, it would be a good spot for a freeze frame while we listen to the thoughts of the narrator. For the narrator, time seems to stand still for a moment while he absorbs what is happening and tries to make sense of it and this is why he does othing. Both men are paralyzed in fear and perhaps now accepting that the sounds are real (to them). It is a chilling moment and for the reader, one Poe is able to translate well. To sum up why such potentially important matters about human relationships are sidestepped in this tale; what we think are important matters, may not be. There is more than meets the eye and THAT is what is important. Poe gives the reader scant background on an as-needed basis and does so flawlessly. He is able to heighten the initial suspense of the story almost before it begins.

Air Asia Operational Information Management in Strategy and Operations

Air Asia Operational Information Management in Strategy and Operations Operational Information Management in Strategy and Operations: A Case of Air Asia to venture into Regional and International Markets 1.0 Introduction This study was intended to analyze the electronic marketing strategy on a selected budget airline based in Malaysia, Air Asia which aims to identify its potential future market segments. The study also explore on how current information systems strategy adopted by the Air Asia, in which could help the company to strengthen its position as a leading low cost airline and effective new market segment help their mission practically. Therefore, this consulting study would provide a microscopic analysis on the impact of current electronic marketing strategy development process as desired in the following sections. The first part of this analysis would distinguish the information systems development in Air Asia to evaluate the changes of its business conduct and ultimately enable this company to identify the strategic opportunities The second part would blended the value chain SWOT model described the internal and external audit based on the outcomes of value chain levels of the company The third part of this report would apply Porter's five forces to outline the nature of the competitive environment that the organization faces currently.AirAsia Boeing 737-300 (9M-AAO)At last, this report would conclude three strategic focuses (cost leadership, focus and differentiation) in pursuing its global strategies while recommendations were made based on the findings. 2.1 An Evaluation of Development of Electronic Commerce in Air Asia E-Commerce was a general term for the conduct of business with the assistance of telecommunications, and of telecommunications based tools as per illustrated in Figure 2.1 on an E-Commerce model. Undeniable, the airlines industry was among the most active in the adoption and application of Information Technology. Information Technology usage was expanding very fast, especially with incorporation of c omputer technology in reservations...

The End of an Era for The Encyclopaedia Britannica

The End of an Era for The Encyclopaedia Britannica The End of an Era for â€Å"The Encyclopaedia Britannica† The End of an Era for â€Å"The Encyclopaedia Britannica† By Mark Nichol The Encyclopaedia Britannica, for two and a half centuries considered in the public eye the reigning resource for scholarly research, recently announced that it was ceasing publication in print and would henceforth be available only in electronic form. As usual, the doddering dinosaur is behind the curve. The company had had the chance to go high-tech in 1985 with a Microsoft partnership; somewhat understandably, it declined to partner with the then fledgling software company which released its Encarta, its own, successful, encyclopedia on CD-ROM in 1993. The Encyclopedia Britannica company did launch a CD-ROM in 1989, four years before Encarta came along, but it did so under the name of Compton’s, another encyclopedia brand it owned, so as not to tarnish the venerable Britannica brand. That product, which received positive reviews, was nevertheless not the first computer-based encyclopedia; Grolier’s had come out with a DOS version in 1985. Britannica’s print encyclopedia continued to dominate the market even after Grolier’s innovation, of course, because the proportion of prospective encyclopedia customers who desired a high-tech version was very small. However, six years after Britannica’s revenues peaked in 1990, it declared bankruptcy (though it was bought by a Swiss businessman and survives but barely to this day). People, it seems, were just not buying print encyclopedias like they used to. And why bother? The Encyclopaedia Britannica, though a formidable feat of scholarship, had long been overhyped. It was certainly always impressive looking and still is: The final print edition, published in 2010 and still for sale (â€Å"while supplies last!†), consists of forty-four million words packed into thirty-two volumes. It has, however, long been mostly a prestige product, meant to be admired by visitors to one’s home who marvel at the sophistication of parents who would spend four figures to be sure that their children have nothing but the best trove of knowledge at their fingertips. (The 2010 edition retails for about $1,400.) But those fingertips, it seems, rarely touched the meticulously prepared, exhaustively researched encyclopedia; one survey determined that few customers consulted it more than once a year. For many, it was just another feature of home decor, another mark of status. Britannica Online and the DVD version are presumably more well thumbed, and several years ago, Britannica announced plans to develop a content model more along the lines of Wikipedia, in which the public would be able to submit new content to Britannica or revise existing content, although it would be clearly distinguished from content produced by Britannica’s staff and scholarly contributors. (A cursory examination of Britannica’s website shows no reference to such content, however.) What does the epochal end of Britannica’s presence in print mean for writers, editors, and editorial researchers and fact-checkers? You tell me when was the last time you cracked the spine of The Encyclopaedia Britannica? For many years, we have been able to go straight to the (online) source for a great deal of information, checking information against government, business, and organizational websites. And when we want objective information, we consult news sites, and online compendia like Wikipedia. And though I note in this post that Wikipedia is regrettably inferior to The Encyclopaedia Britannica in writing quality, is was found in a study to be essentially just as accurate – that is, highly, but not flawlessly, accurate. Print publications just can’t compete with online sources for immediacy. If you want to know the state of knowledge or attitudes about a particular phenomenon in 1912, certainly, you can hunt for the eleventh edition of The Encyclopaedia Britannica and enlighten yourself. But new editions necessarily take years to produce, whereas websites can be updated on demand. History books, in whatever perhaps unbooklike form they may take in the future, will note this period as a significant turning point in information production, processing, and retrieval. In the meantime, we’re living in the transition; I still read many books, but I read not just research online extensively, too. (And I rarely touch a print magazine or newspaper.) We must be nimble and accept the future with good grace. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Masters Degree or Master's Degree?50 Latin Phrases You Should Know5 Erroneously Constructed â€Å"Not Only . . . But Also† Sentences

Intercultural Communication paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Intercultural Communication paper - Essay Example When Bill uses the term "dear", he is not consciously being condescending, yet Margaret interprets it to have that meaning. Helen, older and more familiar with Bill's style easily accepts the term as a term of gender endearment. This example illustrates how communication changes over time and through generations because of the way we view our culture. In the case study, Helen was an effective communicator. As the receiver of Bill's messages she was able to interpret them and act on them accordingly. She was acting within her cultural context. Margaret was also effective in her communication. Though she misunderstood Bill's intentions, she was able to place the communication in the current cultural context and was direct about her feelings in reference to it. Bill was the least effective communicator. He has assumed the role of dominance and not accounted for cultural change. When he requests a cup of coffee, he is transmitting a message and an image. To Margaret, this was the image of a waitress or a servant. His true intentions, to get a cup of coffee, were masked by his inability to communicate across the culture and understand the differences. The message he transmitted was not a request for coffee, but a statement of "I'm in charge". Men's dominant position in the workplace has been challenged in recent decades. The recent Time magazine article that listed only males as the ten most powerful people in America has been challenged (Samovar, Porter, and Stefani, 51). The request for a cup of coffee and the use of the word "secretary" carry cultural meaning and have been altered in recent years. Asking an administrative assistant to do your shopping places the female in a subservient, or traditional wife, role. This has encountered resistance in the last decade as women have struggled for equality in pay and position. This equality will also have to extend to our understanding on communication. Intercultural Communication is About Change and Challenge The world is a rapidly changing landscape due to globalization, communication, and transportation (Samovar, Porter, and Stefani, 3). The words we use and the images we project will be interpreted based on current cultural trends. World views on pollution will affect the ways in which other cultures view industrial expansion. Within our own culture, the rise in political power of ethnic and minority populations has made many words obsolete or derogatory. It requires constant learning to assure that our speech and the images we project will be received with the message we intended to send. Problems of Being an Effective Intercultural Communicator Communicating with a different culture requires a depth of understanding of the culture that goes beyond the simple history of the people. It requires an understanding of our, "... social relations, concepts of the universe, and views of suffering..." (Samovar, Porter, and Stefani, 16). To communicate effectively we need to understand the cultural values that the people are made of. It also requires an understanding and tolerance for the individual. These requirements mean that there will be no absolute method of communication. It is forever shifting and is tailored to each individual person and event. These make the task ever changing and challenging. Works Cited Samovar,

Netflix Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Netflix Analysis - Case Study Example On the basis of this an overview of analysis tools has been discussed such as the 3C’s, STP and the 4 P’s. The 3 C’s model is used to provide an overview of the company. Based on this overview the market conditions can be assessed which help the managers in forming strategies for the company. Based on this the company can rectify its weaknesses and progress towards success. Company: Netflix is a DVD rental and online streaming business. The services offered by the company are in a combined form and these have attracted the customers. The services of the company are slow but once the videos are acquired then the services and facilities which are offered are unmatchable and incomparable. Customers: For the success of the business, the needs and requirements of the customer are important and therefore they should be assessed. The company has faced losses when a new strategy of separating both the practices was introduced. This also increased the subscription charges of the company. Competitors: The business faces competition from products like Apple iTunes, Amazon video on demand (VOD), Google TV and YouTube and others. All these provide similar services and have benefited highly from the splitting decision of the company (Dau, and Wesley). Segmentation: In this process the company will identify the segment which will be interested most with availing the services of the company. The company has segments its consumers in order to market them in a better way. by segmenting consumers, the company can do well in the market. Targeting: Finding the most appropriate segment and finding the factors which will satisfy these individuals most must be assessed. On the basis of this all the price and the product related strategies are formed. By targeting different segments in a different way, the company can get better results. Positioning: In this segment the appropriate industry is

An Outpost of Progress Analysis

An Outpost of Progress Analysis Joseph Conrad whose original name was JÃ ³zef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, born in Berdichev, Poland (currently Ukraine) on the 3 December, 1857 to a writer and a translator, Apollo Korzeniowski , who encouraged him to read widely in Polish and French. His mother Ewelina Korzeniowska, died of tuberculosis and soon after his father, Apollo leaving him orphaned at the age of eleven. At the age of sixteen he abandoned Poland and for the next four years he enlisted as a sailor in merchant ships, he also joined the British Merchant Navy and received British citizenship in 1886 changing his name to Joseph Conrad. He died in England on 3 August, 1924 of a heart attack. Joseph Conrad is considered one of the greatest novelists in the English literaty history. His life, filled with adventures was the biggest inspiration for the developing of his novels and stories, his political conspiracy works as an inspiration in his novel The Arrow of Gold and his travel to the coast of Venezuela gave him enough material to write Nostromo, considered by most of his critics as a masterpiece. Conrad had the ability to change the perception and the emotions of the reader, reading his works is easy to feel loneliness, fear, mystery and many other things that he cared to preserve in all his works. He can create a universe in which the main character must fight to survive against the dark forces of nature or the evil part of human behavior. These characteristics can describe the literary work of Conrad especially when he refers to the occidental civilization where he tries to show the obscurity of the colonized countries that existed in the mid nineteenth century, like in his novel The Heart of Darkness. Conrad travelled to the Congo Free State as an ambition of his childhood in 1889, filled with illusions and hopes, but instead of that he returned to Europe with an emotional trauma of the atrocities that he witnessed there. These experiences served as inspiration to write Heart of Darkness and An Outpost of Progress. This essay is intended to show the criticism to the idea of progress in the short story An Outpost of Progress in which we can notice the depression, the disappointment and pessimism that Conrad had towards the society in the nineteenth century. The story is about two white men, lazy and incompetents, Kayerts y Carlier who took over a trading station in Central Africa, their job is simple; supervise the collection of ivory in the station. The director of the company, whom was aware of the uselessness of those: Look at those two imbeciles. They must be mad at home to send me such specimens. I told those fellows to plant a vegetable garden, build new storehouses and fences, and construct a landing-stage. I bet nothing will be done! They wont know how to begin. I always thought the station on this river useless, and they just fit the station! Instead of that the director trusted in the will of Makola, a nigger from Sierra Leona who called himself Henry Price who ends up doing all the work. The two white men are unable to do any job, even the simplest task like try to learn the native language and communicate with the others in order to have more people to trust in case of an emergency or explore the surrounding areas. Instead of that they simply stay at the station, doing nothing, just reading the old books that the previous man in charge of the station had, and they convince them to bring to those lands the civilization and progress! To grapple effectually with even purely material problems requires more serenity of mind and more lofty courage than people generally imagine. No two beings could have been more unfitted for such a struggle. Society, not from any tenderness, but because of its strange needs, had taken care of those two men, forbidding them all independent thought, all initiative, all departure from routine; and forbidding it under pain of death. They could only live on condition of being machines. Without creativity, without initiative, without intelligence and with a false set of values there cannot be progress, these two were just the opposite of this, they were a waste of a society that needed to get rid of them in order to progress. This type of people who are not capable to take care themselves without help from others. The days passed by until one day Makola made a trade, he trades the life of the Indians for a big piece of ivory. The lack of moral values and the effects of an African form of capitalism led the white men to a psychological process that ends up tragically. Gabola, the only friend of the white inepts, knowing the situation decided to not to take violent measures, he decided to cut the supply of food, they only source that they had. They, sick, confused and demoralized, drinking a cup o coffee started to argue and started a riot because Kayerts denied to give to Carlier a little sugar to sweeten the coffee. That fight finished with the tragical death of Carlier. After the fight Kayerts in his loneliness start to think about what he had done and decided to kill himself, soon after the managing director arrives and the first thing he sees is the crucified body of Kayerts. They are faulty machines of a society that accustomed their members to not to think, to not fend for themselves, they were taught by a superior to obey orders that they forget the most basic thing of being a human. They lack of human instinct until one of them in a fit of madness and illness decides to kill the other in self defense and then find out that the other was unarmed. The new power of Kayerts started to rise, the new wave of thoughts rushing through his head may woke up a glimmer of intelligence in one way but more incompetent and coward that he already was in the other. But it was too late for him, he started to feel fear, thinking about heaven, the rules and the progress of real society was calling to him: Progress was calling to Kayerts from the river. Progress and civilization and all the virtues. Society was calling to its accomplished child to come, to be taken care of, to be instructed, to be judged, to be condemned; it called him to return to that rubbish heap from which he had wandered away, so that justice could be done. In An Outpost of Progress, Conrad refers with a little of mockery and irony to the idea of progression civilization and the progression through Christianity that is celebrated by the Queen Victoria and through Europe. For example; Conrad uses one of the symbols of Christianity, the cross and points out at the beginning of the story: There was also another dwelling-place some distance away from the buildings. In it, under a tall cross much out of the perpendicular, slept the man who had seen the beginning of all this; who had planned and had watched the construction of this outpost of progress. And when Kayerts commit suicide and the end of the story: He had evidently climbed the grave, which was high and narrow, and after tying the end of the strap to the arm, had swung himself off. His toes were only a couple of inches above the ground; his arms hung stiffly down; he seemed to be standing rigidly at attention, but with one purple cheek playfully posed on the shoulder. And, irreverently, he was putting out a swollen tongue at his Managing Director. Conrads irony is clear, the crooked direction of the cross means that Christianity is useless and irrelevant in a place with different cultures and beliefs, in the hostile African jungle. Also the cross as a symbol of redemption and as a symbol of peace, the opportunity to reborn and eternal life makes Kayerts in his impotence of a though of his own to commit suicide. For Conrad Christianity makes no sense of progress for other civilizations, this is because it is filled with violence, moral failures and economic opportunism as we know the colonization movement in history of mankind, they were filled with bloodshed and unnecessary slaughter of innocent people. Also the political wave of that time with mixed points of view between the socialism and the capitalism as It sees when Makola traded the Indians for a piece of ivory, the material goods as a exchange of human lives. Maybe this is what Conrad saw when he arrived in Congo all his hopes in humankind were lost and that fake sound of progress suddenly appeared when he returned to Europe, seeing the reality of the two faces of the coin, one nation in prosperity and the other paying the price.

Interwest Healthcare Essay

What are the potential sources of the problem? The source of these problems seems to be coming from two areas in Interwest Healthcare. The first area is the miscommunication that the hospital administrators are having with upper management. The hospital administrators and upper management are not only having miscommunication issues but they also do not share the same role expectations with each other which is creating tension. â€Å"The hospital people accused Singh of being a bureaucrat who did not care about patient services. Singh accused the hospital staffs of not understanding the importance of accurate reporting† (Brickley, Smith & Zimmerman 2009 p. 38). The second area is the system or process that is in place for recording and entering data. The current process is clearly not running at an efficient rate which is raising concerns for upper management. Even though hospital administrators do not see to eye to eye with upper management the concerns that they have are valid and can have a very negative impact on Interwest Healthcare if the issue is not resolved. What information would you want to analyze? The first information that would be analyzed is the process that is done to record and enter data for patients. It is important to gain as much information as possible regarding the data entry because that is the root of the whole issue between hospital administrators and upper management. Another area that would be analyzed is the workplace with emphasis on how time is managed and the importance employees put on data entry. It is important to gather and analyze as much information as possible on the source of the problem. By gaining and analyzing the information it would help Interwest Healthcare make progress on the data entry issue which will put them in a better position to succeed. What actions might you recommend to increase the accuracy of the data entry? The first point of action would be streamlining and simplifying the data entry process. By completing those it would not only increase the accuracy of the data entry but it would also decrease the burden on the hospital administrators. But before any changes to the data entry process are made it is important to communicate directly to the hospital administrators. It is important to have the hospital administrators on board with the changes that will be made with the data entry process. By gaining the hospital administrators consent with the changes this will allow a smoother transition for the data entry change and it could provide a positive change to the workplace. As for the changes to the data entry it would most likely be a simple computer process along with small piece of paperwork. It would be best to have some sort or paper record on file that would need to be alphabetized along with a simple computer program. The computer program would help ensure accuracy and would have the patient’s data record on file which will be easy to locate. There would be very little paper work for the process mainly because it takes up space and takes more time to record. The paper work that is part of the process would simply serve as a backup if the computers were down. The key to ensuring accuracy with the data entry is to make the process as simple as possible so it would minimize the errors. How does your view of behavior affect how you might address the consulting assignment? As a consulting assignment I see Interwest Healthcare as a company in distress due to the way the hospital administrators and upper management. The way the two groups have been behaving and treating each other it is a clear sign of stress and miscommunication. One of the first tasks is to mediate the two groups and try to have everyone on the same page. There is a clear disconnect on the expectations of each other’s roles but by bringing them together the roles and expectations can be made by both parties and progress can be accomplished. In order to make progress both parties will need to be able to compromise and be willing to understand each other’s concerns and priorities. Refreneces : Brickley, J.A., Smith, C.W. & Zimmerman J.L. (2009). Managerial economics and organizational architecture (5th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irw