Mule Killers Essay

â€Å"Mule Killers†, 2004 by Lydia Peele is the gripping story of love and the difficulties around it. It deals with issues such as fatherhood, friendship and marriage, including the conflicts surrounding these. Lydia Peele presents the story of a father telling his son, who is the narrator, an anecdote from his early life. The anecdote is an unhappy love story of the narrator’s father’s love life, and the relationship to the narrator’s grandfather. In a story with its roots in rural America, a much deeper story appears. This is a story of love, hope and the decisions of life. It is the story of the struggles and difficulties that are a part of life. The story, set in the countryside of the USA, presents a group of interesting characters with strong personalities, that each have their way of participating to the story. It is especially the father and the grandfather that have great significance to the Lydia Peele’s short story. The grandfather is presented as a man who is afraid of letting go of his usual surroundings and habits. This is seen on line 77-78, page 4. The grandfather tells the father: †You’re gonna see a future I can’t even stretch my mind around. Not any of it. I can’t even begin to imagine†. The fact that he has such difficulties imagining the future, points towards the conclusion that he would rather live in the present. He would rather live his old fashioned life and not worry about the future. The grandfather’s way of thinking seems old fashioned and generally conservative. When his son explains how he accidentally impregnated a young woman, without having any intentions of marrying her, the conservatism shines through. The grandfather replies on line 86-87, page 4â€Å"This is wrong†¦You got no choice but to take care of it. This is wrong†. The two different worlds of son and father clash, and the true differences are shown. Even though father and son look upon the world with different points of view, the son still has massive respect for his old man. His father is actually his role model, which is also shown throughout the text: â€Å"My father has his father’s height, and he carries it apologetically†(line 7, page 2). The word â€Å"apolegitacally† points towards the fact that the son is aware of the superiority that his father possesses. The son has difficulties living up to his father and his way of life. He wants to possess his father’s ability to show no emotion and how to be â€Å"a real man†. He hides the feelings that strong men traditionally do not feel: He is trying hard to keep certain things inside his chest: things like fear, sadness, and uncertainty†. (line 7-9, page2). This could very likely be a typical trend of the time and environment that the story takes place in. The final main character in the anecdote is the narrator, who is the son to the young man with love problems in the short story. The son is a first person narrator, so the point of view is limited to him. His main function is to tell the story. An actual presentation of his personality is not included. As stated earlier, the setting has great importance for the personalities of the main characters in the story. The setting is in Nashville, just before industrialization modernized the farming life with tractors. The father in the story carries typical traits of a farmer dedicated to old norms, such as no illegitimate children. A possible explanation of this could be that the state of Tennessee is located in the Bible belt, which is known as a highly religious area. There are also other elements of the setting that point out the religious beliefs that the two main characters have: â€Å"At church she always sits with the same girl† (line 14), page 2. The use of the adverb â€Å"always† proves that the son and father attend church on a regular basis. Whilst reading â€Å"Mule Killers† several obvious themes jump out on the page. The main theme seen in the short story is the generational difference between father and son. As stated earlier, the father tries to hold on to his old norms and principals, whereas the son believes in a modern way of life. The difference is illustrated when the son decides not to marry the girl whom he impregnated. The father regards this as uncaring and irresponsible. The views of the son seem to relate to the modern world of today. It becomes more and more ordinary to have a baby outside of marriage without the intentions of helping the mother nurture the child. A specific example is seen in MTV’s â€Å"Teenage Mom† television program where several teenage girls give birth. The program also shows the way the father typically tends to leave the mother after birth. If this had happened in the time where the â€Å"Mule Killers† takes place or prior to it, it would have had major consequences for the father of the child. One can therefore conclude that the times constantly change and some people will always be â€Å"caught† in the past, which in this case is the father. This could also be a possible message of the story. The message could be that norms change throughout history, but not all people follow the change. Regardless of this, it is still important to respect the people who have a hard time dealing with the future. Lydia Peele manages to take the reader on a journey of love and the relationship between the narrator’s father and grandfather. She also shows the reader the different norms and beliefs that the two generations have, and the clashes than can rise to the surface due to this. She also presents the stereotypical religious middle class farmer at this time. This is done by using a small farmer town located in the Bible belt as a setting. The short story is a touching and mind bobbling tale portraying the relationship between two sets of father and son. It tells the tale of the relationship between the narrator’s father and grandfather. The relationship between the narrator’s father and grandfather is presented as a relationship built on a general respect for the elderly. The narrator’s father respects the grandfather since he listens to what he says, and obeys the rules that the grandfather upholds. It is also the tale of how the setting, which is the farmer community in the US during the industrialization, has a major importance for the outcome of the story. The highly religious setting is represented in the Narrator’s grandfather’s point of view regarding childbirth. All in all the short story shows the difficulties surrounding love and how to deal with it in a sensible matter.

Benefits And Challenges Of Department Stores

Benefits And Challenges Of Department Stores Department stores represent a large retail organization which offers to consumers a large choice of goods and services. Consumers have the opportunity to compare price, quality, and service at different stores at the same time and in a limited place. So the company can profit from individual benefits other sectors. The strategy of F4U is not only to sell quality goods at a reasonable price , but also to offer a unique service .Its prices are neither as cheap as the lower end department store, nor as expensive as the high-end store. F4U will try to bring the immediate attention of consumer through visual effects like layout, displays and colored posters and will place itself directly in front of the shoppers. The company wants, thereby, to entice different target groups and gain those other brands according to the motto† good quality, fashion style, best price†. In addition F4U intend to retain its consumer through a bonus program and to collect their personal data to bui ld an aggregate profile of individual consumers to target them with special offers and appropriate advertisements. Benefits and challenges of Department stores: Department stores offer to the customer the direct experience to touch and feel the product and judge its quality as well as the possibility of living the purchase as experience (Steinmann 2011:27) .The customer can try the clothes and take them immediately. Whereby the number of returns can be decreased. The face-to-face contact is crucial for many consumers especially for old people or people who dislike shopping online. Another advantage is the longer opening hours compared to specialty retail stores especially on Friday and Saturday. Department stores have also many disadvantages such as the existing of a concrete and inflexible location. Consequently, the location is a crucial factor for the shopping place. In this context, many consumers opine that, the fixed opening hours and parking fees are unfavorable. In addition, the time exposure, due to the travelling time, could be also a problem for some consumers (Heinemann 2008:19) Furthermore, department stores emerge several costs for the company such as lease costs and staff costs. Catalog selling Catalog selling as a channel for F4U Catalog selling is one of the most popular strategies used in Fashion game. The approach involves the creation of a printed catalog with a listing of products for sale. Every product is explicitly described and clearly illustrated with a picture to make the shopping experience as real as possible for the consumer. The catalog contains also a size chart to help consumer choosing the appropriate size. F4U tries, across catalog selling, to expand its clientele and above all to attain consumers, who are not familiar with using the internet or who dislike to walk around the stores for buying clothes. The catalog will comprise different ordering informations. The consumer can choose between ordering by telephone and entering the order at the online site.F4u will also offer its consumers various delivery options .They range from shipment directly to the consumer’s address, to delivering the goods to a F4u retail store or simply to a Packstation.

Case study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case study - Research Paper Example As discussed earlier, the main objective of the marketing plan for Vitro and nitron is the acquisition of new customers for this innovative product and generating more revenues from the existing customers. The acquisition of new customers can be done mainly by Advertising and sales promotion strategies whereas generating more revenues from existing customers is possible through generating more returns on investments for its retail customers, implementing proper strategies, reaching out the customers in a way that all the latest news about the new product should reach them at the earliest so that they can gain maximum by buying the product. Apple should maintain its focus on operational efficiency and customer intimacy. As discussed earlier, the target markets for the company would be all the organizations that currently use vitro or some other technology for holding meetings and presentations. As per the demographics, the product will be launched firstly all over the US as a test market to see it response. Based on the response the company can also adjust the price and features of the product suiting to the needs of various demographics. If the product launch becomes a success on US, its next target market would be Asia, specifically countries like India and China as these have high growth potential. Another industry that would be targeted for the promotion of the product apart from the companies is small and big educational organizations. Over the years, the tools and methodologies in the educational industry have transformed and no more manual system of education is followed. Every class has a projector for teaching the students through presentations and live seminar. This would also act as anot her target market for the launch of the product as popularity in the education sector could act as a further gateway to service industry. The company will position its product as a high end

Choose the topic from given list Research Paper

Choose the topic from given list - Research Paper Example There seems to be a growing clamor for school uniforms in the public schools for some matter. One of the reasons presented by those supporting the unforms in public schools has to do with the cost of school clothing. One of the largest expenses that parents face in terms of the day to day needs of their high school aged children has to do with the clothes that they wear to school everyday. The increasing cost of ready to wear clothes and the desire of children to wear unique get-ups to school cost the parents a tidy sum of money every school year. By imposing a mandatory school uniform policy in our schools, the cost of education can be brought down for parents. This paper aims to present three reasons as to why we should support the clamor for uniforms in public schools , including the savings on cost of clothing that can be passed on to the parents, while also presentingsome of the reasons that some parents and students oppose the school uniform policy. One of the reasons that high school students give when asked why the support the school uniform policy is that they find it easier to simply wear the same clothes to school everyday. Although teenagers love to dress up and match their outfits for a day out, having to do that on a daily basis for school clothing becomes a nuisance for them. Thus school uniforms can actually help the kids get to school on time and the parents also get a few extra minutes everyday with which they can do other things in the process. Contrary to public belief, high school students do not enjoy being late for class. They also prefer to not have to think about what they will be wearing the next day to school. The reasoning is simple: It saves them from having to go out and buy clothes because a uniform can be sent to you. Decisions don’t have to be made because you wear the same outfit every day. All kids have to do is grab their uniform and you don’t have to worry if it matches or if it doesn’t match. (Whelan, B rittany â€Å"School Uniforms Save Money, Avoid Problems†) As anybody who ever attended high school knows, these students are judged by their peers at this level primary through first impressions. Those first impressions are first created by the clothes that a student wears to school. This need to dress in what a student believes to be an acceptable manner to his peers then ends up causing the student undue stress. Not everyone can afford to buy the latest trend in clothing and designer duds so in the case of such students, a school uniform will work best. School uniforms are also viewed as the great equalizer in many cases. Since students dress alike on campus, this can actually help to reduce the cases of bullying, intimidation, clothes thefts, and the like. The reason that uniforms work very well in lessening the violence students experience on campus is that when it becomes hard to look unique, the students tend to treat each other fairly. It is said that uniforms are the great equalizer because; â€Å"Schools are for students to learn and not for students to be threatened because of what they wear or are not wearing. Uniforms will help protect each student from crime and violence when at school.† (â€Å"Yes for School Uniforms†). Civilian school clothes that high school students wear to school can cost parents as much as over a thousand dollars in a year due to the constant need to change the clothes with

MHE510, Occupational Health and Safety, Mod 5 SLP Essay

MHE510, Occupational Health and Safety, Mod 5 SLP - Essay Example In addition, nonsmokers that are exposed to second hand smoke increase their risk of heart disease by 25% and their risk of lung cancer by 20% (Zellers, et. a. , 2007). There have been studies indicating the difference in air quality and the side effects of second hand smoke. Air filtering does not work so to have them smoke in a separate room is not helpful as smoking in a part of the restaurant with smokers on the other side of a wall does not work. All of these claims are serious and can lead to long term workmans compensation damages. Allowing smoking and protecting non-smokers is a very expensive policy. The CDC tell us that secondhand smoke has 250 toxic chemicals including 50 that cause cancer. Conventional air cleaning systems do not filter the gases in second hand smoke and current heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems do not stop the exposure and negative pressure smoking rooms do not work either (cdc.gov) The only policy that will work for a work situation is to establish a smoke free workplace. This disallows any smoking on campus. Some states have begun to require that all public places be smoke free. This is a difficult and often unpopular policy and there may be some costs attached but the cost of a suit from a very ill employee because of lung cancer from secondhand smoke could be devastating financially. For those reasons the recommendation must be a smoke free policy. CDC provides full kits to allow companies to become smoke free. They are available at no charge and would help to set this new policy up in such a way as to be successful. There will also need to be a steering committee to put the process together and provide everything needed. A kick-off date will need to be chosen and advertising will need to be done ahead of time so that visitor are aware before they arrive on the doorstep. Then administration must support it. In conclusion, second hand smoke is a killer. It is often more detrimental to the non-smoker

How Did Mobile Phones Change Cameroon Term Paper

How Did Mobile Phones Change Cameroon - Term Paper Example 9 Works Cited 11 1) What Are The Factors Or Forces In Your Selected Country (Cameroon), Which Leads To Rapid Development Of Mobile Phones? If So Why? Why Is It Faster? An important factor or force that has led towards the development of mobile phones in Cameroon has been related with socio-cultural issues. Increase in per-capita income of the probable users can recognize a major socio-cultural factor for increase in mobile phones in Cameroon. The availability of set out legal and regulatory frameworks to install and set up mobile phone towers has also provided significant benefits towards the growth. Highly advanced and appropriate technology is the other factor that must be considered for better development of the mobile phones according to the huge demand of consumers. In recent years in countries such as Cameroon, subscription of mobile phones has enlarged due to availability of mobile phones at lower costs. A large section of populace has started to use mobile phones in Sub-Sahar an Africa such as Cameroon in the period in between 2000 to 2008 can be apparently witnessed from the growth of mobile phone users from 16 million to 376 million. In some African countries mobile phone is generally used for oral communication instead of reading or typing text messages as these countries have a high level of illiteracy. With regards to Cameroon, cost is an important factor and therefore companies provide the facility of internet access in the handsets in much cheaper sets (Aker & Mbiti, â€Å"Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa†). Mobile phone service is highly profitable and is expanding in the emerging markets very rapidly. The growth and the development of the mobile phones have gained a strong position with rise in the population density in Cameroon. The profitability of the mobile phones is related to the demand factors. Apart from this, previously landline connections were being used and it required wires on every road with fewer lines in ea ch for every connection, which turned out to be very expensive. Therefore, mobile phone mechanism evolved that provided a service station within 5-10 kilometers radius which is much cheaper than landlines. Hence, it was found that the use of mobile phones proved to be most effective and gained acceptance among the consumers (Banks & Burge, â€Å"Mobile Phones: An Appropriate Tool for Conservation and Development†). 2) What Is The Status Of Mobile Phones In Cameroon? (Mobile Phone Generation, In Relation With Fixed Phones, Compare With Other Countries, Such As SAR, Bostwana, USA, Korean) The mobile phone revolution is felt across-the-board throughout Cameroon. It has been noted that there has been tremendous rise in the demand for the mobile phone after the liberalization took place in Cameroon by the government in the year 2000. With the invention of liberalized mobile phones administration in Cameroon, there has been rise in the competition among the private companies so tha t customers can be attracted. The figure below shows the mobile phone usage in Cameroon from the year 1996 to the year 2010: Mobile phone is considered as asset in numerous towns and villages of Cameroon. Alike most of the African countries, Cameroonian telecommunication sector has gained huge advantage from the spectacular development since the year 2000 (Zebaze, C. D., â€Å"Impact of Liberalisation of Trade in Services on Africa: Case of

Why has the concept of Persian Gulf Security changed in the War on Essay

Why has the concept of Persian Gulf Security changed in the War on Terror - Essay Example But when they did-as in the case of Kuwait with a pre-oil population of perhaps no more than seventy to one hundred thousand, Qatar with no more than forty thousand, and Abu Dhabi with less than twenty-five thousand-they sometimes struck it very, very rich. These three shaykhdoms literally had money to burn, and did. At the same time, they could not escape changing the government, the society, and the economy†.1 From the years of pre-oil discovery to the present post 9/11 years the security issues concerning the Persian Gulf States have undergone a radical and conceptual change in the geo-political reality of the globe. Traversing temporally the issues of regional conflicts and supremacy to issues concerning partnering on either side of the iron curtain divide to support ideological hegemony and expansion; the Persian Gulf States have now emerged as independent, affluent, modernized nation states that are accountable both for their internal security to their own populations a nd responsible for their alleged and tacit cooperation to varying hues of terror activities globallyy as evidenced by the 9/11 and subsequent events in London Bombings. With the drawing down of the iron curtain and emerging globalized world this accountability has been brought to sharper focus than ever before. This essay examines the emerging shape of the Persian Gulf security amongst these countervailing considerations.This paper would traverse the entire gamut of Persian Gulf security right from British control days to the present post WTC and Iraq War policy initiatives of the US. The now popular and actively sought after phrase war on terrorism had its origin in a spate of bunched and planned terrorist activities the world over with the US as the prime target. Examples of such Muslim extremist actions in civilian arena received negative western press in the world trade center and pentagon episode-where Muslim extremist organizations had strategically planned to put pressure on the