Les Miserables Essays - English-language Films, British Films

Les Miserables LES MISERABLES Les Miserables is a story, a very long story, which has been categorized as a classic. The story is about 1200 pages long. It is an epic saga, which covers about three decades in the early 1800's of France. The film is about the fugitive, Jean Valjean, following his release from jail after doing nineteen years of hard labor for stealing bread. Jean Valjean is chased by the cruel and self-righteous Inspector Javert, in a lifelong struggle to evade capture. The novel, Les Miserables is internationally known. That is because of its universal themes. These themes are: how society treats its outcasts, and how it views its criminals, prejudice, justice, doing what is morally right, and people can become better persons. The theme -how society treats its outcasts- can be seen in how the poor and homeless are are treated, and that is like animals. The rich treat them as though they are inferior and that they have no feelings or any form of intelligence. They are also not given the right to vote, which makes them not citizens of that nation. This theme is universal because every nation in the world has some sort of outcasts in their land. In America, this theme can be related to the blacks. In the beginning of the twentieth century they did not have as much rights and oppurtunities as the whites. Another example of how this theme can be related to America is how a person with a southern accent is perceived as less intelligent, which is a false misconception. The theme -how criminals are viewed by society- can be seen by how Jean Valjean is treated after he is released by prison. Although, he has served a sentence of nineteen years, he is still chased and wanted. In that period of time when a person commited theft it was viewed as a crime against the community and that person should be punished to the most extremes. That theme can be seen in modern America. When a person commits a federal crime he\she cannot hold a public job or teach for the rest of his\her life. Also, when a person commits a crime, that person and that person's career is scarred for life. The theme -doing what is morally right- can be seen in many instances in the novel. One instance is Valjean gives money to free Cozzette. Another instance is Valjean does not kill Javert to save his life. Also, Javert lets Valjean go free. There are also times where people do something that is morally wrong, but lawful. One might be when the students are executed. Another might be the arrest of the prostitute. A present time situation might be soldiers killing other soldiers. It is legal, but is morally wrong. In conclusion, the novel, Les Miserables, is a universal book with themes that many people from many countries can relate to. That is why it is put in the class of classics. It is also popular because it can be related with present time situations and events.

The Second Inaugural Address o essays

The Second Inaugural Address o essays Lincolns Second Inaugural Speech, given before congress on March 4, 1865, was perhaps best noted at the time it was given for its extreme brevity. However, unbeknownst to most of the grand orators of the time who regarded Mr. Lincoln as an uneducated country bumpkin, the presidents speech spoke greater volumes of truth in the few minutes it took to deliver, than any one of them would ever accomplish in as many hours. With the end of the war in sight, Lincoln worked his purpose in the Second Inaugural to fit the needs of a country ravaged by war. Lincoln appealed to his audience to conduct reconstruction of the soon-to-be defeated Confederacy with compassion and forgiveness. By using word economy, simplicity, and avoiding extremes, Lincoln more than accomplished his purpose. He delivered what is now considered one of the greatest speeches in American history. At Gettysburg, Lincoln had demonstrated the virtues of economy in the use of words. Lincoln had aspirations of doing the same thing in his second inaugural speech. This is impressive when we consider the grand scale of nineteenth century oratory, and the fact that most presidents gave very few speeches of any kind (for fear of saying something divisive). Unlike twenty- first century politics, where presidential speeches are delivered to the masses on a regular basis, and every aspect of their speaking style is subject to public scrutiny, presidents of the Civil War era were rarely seen making a public speech. They did not speak on campaign tours. They did not speak to conventions that nominated them. They even didnt give their annual speech to Congress in person. One must conjecture that it was difficult for Lincoln to hold back, for he knew all too well the power of oratory (from the Douglass debates and the Gettysburg Address.) With this in mind, it is all the more impressive that Lincoln held back from saying all that he wanted to say in his s...

Evaluation and comparison of the marketing strategies of the two Essay

Evaluation and comparison of the marketing strategies of the two global companies P&G and Nestle - Essay Example Therefore, these three efficient tools of marketing will help to analyse overall marketing strategies of the two selected companies. Marketing strategy reflects the overall efficiency of a brand in the market in terms of demand of the products in the target market. It is one of the important areas of a business which drives the market demand and brand value of overall brand in the market. Nestle and P&G are two leading multinational FMCG companies which have been developing and implementing effective marketing strategies. Innovative marketing strategies by these brands create a benchmark in the market with their competitors. Through, both of these two companies operate in the same sector but there is substantial difference in main focused areas of business of these two companies. Main business of Nestle is confectionary food business whereas P&G’s focused area is beauty and household products. ... In terms of revenue and market, Nestle is the largest confectionary and notional food company in the world. The company has successfully developed a diversified portfolio of different popular brands. Major categories of products are starting from breakfast cereals, baby food, dairy products, bottled water, coffee confectionary, snacks, ice cream and pet foods. To compete with the regional competitors in foreign markets, the company has established production units in most of the foreign markets. It helps the company to offer competitive market price of its products. Nestle has developed 450 production units in 86 foreign countries. Demand of the Nestle product is so high that $1.1 billion revenue comes from only 29 brands. These brands include Kitkat, Nespresso, Nesquik, Nescafe, Smarties, Magi, Vittel etc. Nestle holds a large stake on world’s largest beauty product brand in terms of revenue and market share i.e. L’Oreal. Nestle has been followed acquisition aggressive strategy for rapid diversification into many foreign markets. The company holds the first position as world’s most profitable company in Fortune Global 500. The company currently has more than $200 billion market share and it helped the company to achieve FT Global 2011 ranking as 13th position. P&G Procter & Gamble is of the largest multinational fast moving consumer goods company in the world. It is a US based company headquartered in Ney York Stock Exchange. The company has successfully developed a large portfolio of diversified brands of different product ranges. Each of the brands holds wide numbers of products, most of that are very much popular in global market. P&G generated $82.6 billion revenue according annual report of 2011. The company ranked fifth position in the list of

Modest proposal , satire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Modest proposal , satire - Essay Example It is needless for them to secure a well-paying job at the dollar store and idle around watching television, munching their snacks, and getting fat. What they do is blend in and struggle to capture their prey. I like the way animals obey the survival of the fittest concept. If an animal is imperfect, it dies; be it of starvation or sickness. If not, it gets consumed by the strong ones, but still, it died because it was not worth living. This is the reason why imperfect animals are a rare species in this kingdom. They get sick, feeble, and when they are unable to be resourceful to find water or food, or can’t just fight it off, they die. Failure to run fast enough to outsmart or outrun their predators, they are simply killed (Simpson vii). Just like the case for animals, there are human beings who are of little benefit to any individual or to anything. How I wish there was a shopping mall, where 30% of all expired people could be disposed off and leave the fresh ones. What if all useless lives who are being wasted are gotten rid of and a world of perfection be created? Life would be so easy. If someone is too weak to fight off a disease, or if he or she can’t provide for the self or worse off, if such a person is simply stupid, he or she ought to be left alone to die or be killed. Both techniques work but I can suggest that they be ignored to death than being killed because it sounds more humane (Vernay 293). What is the point of leaving a street beggar to continue surviving instead of leaving? Just help by sending him or her to where there is a little comfort! I mean sincerely we spend a lot of cash and so much resources comforting and preserving things that should not even be living. It even gets worse when I think of the way more babies continue to be produced annually. It seems like every one is sleeping around with just everyone. I get pissed of more to see a couple

Rhetorical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Rhetorical analysis - Essay Example The author of the tube effectively uses pathos and logos to convince students that they should stop drinking bottled water because it harms their finances, health, and environment. The rhetorical situation concerns the purpose of the video’s author, which is to persuade University of Arizona students that they should stop drinking bottled water because of the belief in bottled water’s numerous bad effects on drinkers and the environment. The author is a student of University of Arizona. He studied the pros and cons of bottled water using legitimate references. He concludes that bottled water’s disadvantages outweigh its advantages. The context includes the bottled-water drinking culture that is popular in developed countries, as well as in the university campus. The exigence is that not many people are aware of the negative impacts of bottled water, especially when clean tap water is available. The author wants to correct this lack of awareness through a YouTube video. The genre is through YouTube because it is easy to use and can reach a large audience. Since target audiences are common YouTube users, the author can access them through this video. The video can also include emotional elements that cannot be easily added to print materials, such as music and changing images. It is a genre that can have a large appeal to students. Furthermore, the author seeks to influence the target audience, who are University of Arizona students, to change their bottled-water drinking habits. Since there are around 40,000 students, the author believes that together, they can make a difference (Zhang). If they stop drinking bottled water every day, they can seriously reduce the effects of bottled water on their health, money, and school community (Zhang). In addition, the relations exist, where consumers have a large impact on the bottled water industry. Individually, they have no power. The bottled water industry is large enough to use advertisements and other marketing promotions to promote the pros of bottled water over tap water, without mentioning the pros of tap water at all. The power of the target audience lies in their number and collective action. Thus, the rhetorical situation relies on the need to resolve the problems of bottled water. The author effectively uses pathos, specifically through music, images, and emotional words, to inform students about the consequences of bottled water and to emphasize their role in stopping it. The music is soothing, as if trying to relax the audience. The aim is to open their minds to the realities of bottled water. The music seeks to emphasize that the beauty of their health and the world rely on their action of drinking tap, not bottled, water. The author also relates statistics to student lives. After computing the cost of drinking bottled water a year, the video says that the expense is equal to a student’s rent payment (Zhang). The result is a strong emotional impact due to t he connection between money spent on bottled water to money spent on rent. Images of students are actively used too to stress student’s participation in bottled water use. The images of happy students at the beginning indicate that they have an active role in ensuring this happiness through not drinking bottled

Personality Theories in Successful Leaders

Personality Theories in Successful Leaders Abstract One question that all good employee thinks is what makes a good leader and how do I become one. It is important to understand what makes a leader and are there certain personality characteristics that make leaders successful. Using the big five personality dimensions which are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience it will be explored what characteristic’s fit with successful leaders today. This study aims to quantify what of the big five personality dimensions are most present in successful and effective leaders today. It will take 4 teams from 100 organizations from fortune 500 companies to non-profit organization. Hypothesis This study intends to demonstrate with evidence that effective leaders have similar personalities traits based on the big five personalities dimensions. Leadership Was Steve Jobs a good leader or George Washington a good leader? What makes a good leader? Before that is answered, it must be understood what defines leadership and what qualifies as a good leader. Many scientific papers and books try to define leadership some define it as â€Å" leadership involves persuading other people to set aside for a period of time their individual concern and to purse a common goal that is important for the responsibilities and welfare of a group (Hogan, G, Hogan, 1994)â€Å" while others believe it stands it for â€Å"†¦inspiring followers to identify with a vision that reaches beyond immediate self-interest (Benoliel Somech, 2014).† Between the two definitions it is clear a leader must inspire a group of people to go above and beyond and do what is beyond what they will want to do. Not everyone can be a leader there are certain traits we expect out of them. In our everyday life we work for, learn from, and follow leaders. These leaders can be CEO’s, managers, teachers, or even the President of the United States. They should be intelligent, likeable, have strong technical skills to relate to their roles. There are many people in the world with these traits but not every one of them makes a good leader. Based on these assumptions there must some additional traits that separate good leaders from average leaders. A leaders personality must have an effect on how the lead and inspire people to go above and beyond. Looking at a leader from the aspect of the big five personality dimensions might shed some light on what makes a strong leader. Big Five Personality Dimensions For centuries people have classified personalities, even Aristotle have established several categories of classification. The current established theory has been created by Tupes and Christal (1961). This taxonomic structure has five personality dimensions which are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. The first factor of the personality dimensions is extraversion. Leaders who possesses high level of extraversion are described of â€Å"sociable, optimistic, expressive, active, and assertive (Benoliel Somech, 2014).† Salespersons often are high-extraversion employees because they enjoy person interaction and thrive in an environment that involves. These employees seek a positive environment to work in because it gives them a sense of security, The second factor of the personality dimensions is agreeableness. Agreeableness can be described as cooperative, trusting and flexible. Employees with a high level of agreeableness tend to be successful in roles that work in groups and require joint efforts between teams. Project managers are a great example of a role someone with agreeableness might hold. Similar to extraversion, agreeableness enjoys the interactions between people but focuses more in the intimacy of relationships between people. The third factor of the personality dimensions is conscientiousness. â€Å"High- conscientiousness individuals tend to be responsible, dependable, hardworking, persistent, and achievement oriented; low-conscientiousness individuals tend to be irresponsible, undependable, and lacking self-discipline (Benoliel Somech, 2014).† High- conscientiousness employees believe they are capable of doing the job and set high achieving goals for themselves. These will employees tent to dive in when the workload gets intensive and will work with others to relief the stress. The fourth factor of the personality dimensions is neuroticism. Neuroticism is a personality dimensions that unlike the other having a high level of is not necessary a good thing. People who have a high level of neuroticism are often described as a worry-ward and insecure. Those with low levels are neuroticism are calm individuals who can handle high amounts of pressure. This is important in a high stakes environment some occupations where one would expect to see people with low levels of neuroticism would be in the medical field such as doctors and nurses or traders on the New York Stock Exchanges floor. The final factor of the personality dimensions is openness to experience. These individuals are creative and the out of the box thinkers. They adjust to change fairly easily and are willing to adjust their behaviors to meet the environment they are in. Method This study aims analysis what big five personality dimensions are most common with effective leaders. An effective leader will add value to any organization and therefore it is important to understand what makes up an effective leader. Additionally it is vital to understand the employees think of this leader. Why is it important to understand an effective leader from one that is not so effective? If we go back throughout history and look at the effect a good leader on the outcome of a situation there is plenty of evidence that shows an effective leader will have a positive impact. To give some examples the explosive growth Steve Jobs had on Apple to in 1997 or George Washington entering the revolutionary war and become the first President. These leaders took a situation that was losing situations and thorough their leadership turns the situation around and makes it extremely successful through hard work and dedication. The first step of this study is to analysis what an effective leader is. To do this the study would work with 100 organizations from fortune 500 companies to non-profit organizations such as universities, charities, and military. From each of the organizations select they study will review 4 teams, within these teams there will be effective leaders and teams and those who are not as effective. By understanding those who have successful leadership compared to those who are not the goal would be see what personality dimensions are prominent. To do these the leaders will take a big five personality test that will quantify how their personality matrix is built. In addition the employees of those leaders will take the test for their leader. This will aim to quantify what dimension of the big five personalities to followers look to the most. This will also help give an unbiased look because leaders might try to skew the results. Once the tests have been completed the study will focus on the effectiveness of those leaders. The study will analysis each team within their organizations to understand their effectiveness. The effectiveness of the team will look at the team’s productivity. The more productive the team the expectation would be the more the effective the leader. Besides the level of productivity the study will also look at the morale of the team. Expected Outcomes Once the data has been collected the results will be analysis to see if there is any positive or negative correlation between the big five personalities dimensions. Among these correlations it would be expect to see that effective leaders will have specific traits in their personalities that make them effective leaders. In the contrary the study will also show the dimensions are negatively affect leadership. Based on expectations I would expect to see the big five dimensions show up in leadership in the following ways. The first personality to analysis would be the extraversion. It would be expected that a leader should have a medium to high level of extraversion. Extraversion involves the socialness of the individual. A leader should be social with the team and keep the optimistic view that will drive the team going forward. The next attribute that is vital to a leader is agreeableness. The expected outcome would be all leaders would have a high level of agreeableness. They will work well with the team and keep everyone on track. There will also make the teams function more effective because leaders do not always have the correct answers and a good interaction between leader and the employees can create a good dialogue that will lead to the best solution. Conscientiousness is one trait that all company want out of their employees have and therefore would be a high expectation of any effective leader. Employee with high levels of conscientiousness are often described as dependable and organized. â€Å"Individuals who are conscientious also tend to preserve, work hard, and enjoy achieving and accomplishing things (BOOK).† Since all conscientious enjoy achieving their goals it is important that leads hold these values. Additionally all leaders should be able to keep their followers organized and focused on the goals ahead. Since cons Neuroticism is the one trait that would be advantageous to have in the lower spectrum. People in the high spectrum are often emotionally unstable. Leaders need to have their emotions in check all the times. The final personality dimensions is openness to experiences which like most of the other dimensions the expectation would be a leader would be on the higher side. Leaders should be open to change and also be a leader of change within an organization. A leader who cannot handle moving parts of everyday business will not be effective. Benefits of research There will be a lot of benefits from the research into what makes an effective leader. If an employee was interesting into taking a leadership role they can take a personality test and see if what areas they are strong in and where they are weak. This can then help them work on improving their skills. For example say an employee is lacking in extraversion assuming it is a primary measure of leadership skills. The employee can be put into situation to help then become more expressive or go to particular training classes to make then more expressive. This will help the organization put in leaders that will lead to change making the teams and organization more effective. Understanding the trains of an effective leader will help human resources as well. Understanding the personalities of employees coming in will help them understand the person potential. Another example is there is an opening for a senior vice president of operation. This department has been suffering for years under the lack of leadership. It will be helpful to know what traits to look for in the new leader. Supporting References The following studies have support this hypothesis and will help provide guidance. Study 1 –Five-Factor mode of personality and transformational leader In this study the authors explore the personality factors of transformational leaders. References Hogan, R., Curphy, G. J., Hogan, J. (1994). What we know about leadership: Effectiveness and personality. American Psychologist, 49(6), 493-504. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.49.6.493 Benoliel Pascale, Somech Anit (2014) The health and performance effects of participative leadership: Exploring the moderating role of the Big Five personality dimensions, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23:2, 277-294, DOI: 10.1080/1359432X.2012.717689

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman :: essays research papers

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† explores the restricted societal roles of both Jane and John. Gilman, a strong supporter of women’s rights, focuses on her account with depression through this story (Hill 150). Traditionally, the man must take care of the woman both financially and emotionally while the woman’s role remains at home. Society tends to trap man and woman and prevent them from developing emotionally and intellectually. Although Gilman focuses on the hardships of the woman, she also examines the role of the man in society. Repression generated by social gender roles hinders men and women from acquiring self-individuation. The repression of Jane ties into her lack of exposure to emotional and intellectual stimulus. Jane’s feminine emotions towards her environment aid in her restraint. Representing the dominance of masculinity over the restrained female, Jane observes the female figure, who looks as if she is behind bars, in the pattern of the wallpaper (1156). The woman who unsuccessfully attempts to climb out of the pattern symbolizes Jane’s frivolity in trying to alter feminine societal roles (1158). Significantly, the maternal instincts of Jane remain enslaved due to her surroundings. The nursery, containing windows â€Å"barred for little children,† represents the suppression of Jane’s motherly duties (1150). Jane is unable to take care of her own baby. The garden which Jane can view through her barred windows, stands for her fertility which she is incapable of obtaining (1149). Intentionally, Jane’s intellectual prowess remains held back. Beginning to â€Å"writ e for a while† in a journal against the wishes of those around her, represents the suppression of Jane’s attempt at creative stimulus (1149). The yellow wallpaper hinders Jane’s recovery in that it confuses her whenever she attempts to decipher its’ meaning (1151). John’s repression results from the absence of his feminine side. Spirituality, a part of the human psyche of which John lacks, accounts for his repression. Jane feels that John â€Å"has no patience with faith,† justifying his stubborn behavior and the detraction of his masculinity (1148). An ideal attribute for one attempting to obtain self-individuation is a concern for faith, which is not present in John (1148). John’s scarcity of feminine emotions accounts for his repression. John shows no understanding of Jane’s need for an intellectual stimulus, signifying his lack of intuition (1150). For John, everything must be â€Å"put down in figures† (1148) in order for him to make sense out of anything, illustrating his stronghold on the stereotypically obstinate man (1155).