Tale of Two Cities Character Analysis Essay Example for Free

Tale of Two Cities Character Analysis Essay The sacrifice of one’s own life for the person they love is by far the ultimate sacrifice any human being can make. In A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, Sydney Carton, a despondent and inebriate man, did exactly that. Through his sacrifice, he became the most memorable and dynamic character in this book. Sydney Carton was an unmotivated alcoholic who transformed his wasted and useless life by performing a selfless act of heroism. I am a disappointed drudge. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me, (Page 71). That was Sydney Carton’s abridged explanation for his disposition when he meets Charles Darnay. In the beginning, Carton is a lazy, alcoholic attorney who cares about nothing in life. He is self-undermining in that he has no confidence or volition and believes his life is an extreme waste. He is crude, frequently drunk, and melancholy. He feels he is stuck in the disappointed course of his once promising life, and has nothing worth giving anymore. Around the middle of the book, Sydney Carton makes a remarkable transformation into a man of profound merit. He professes his love to Lucie saying, For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you, (page 128). This scene marks a vital transition for Carton and lays the foundation and foreshadows the supreme sacrifice that he makes at the end of the novel. Lucie was the only one who thought there was a good person in Carton, and inadvertently succeeded in transforming him from depressed and dejected into a caring and altruistic man. Sydney Cartons promise to Lucie took him to the guillotine at the end of A Tale of Two Cities. He died for Darnay, which he believes is the greatest thing he could do to make his life significant. His death lets the woman he loves be happy. He quotes a verse from the bible saying, I am the resurrection and then life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall never die; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. This verse becomes almost his theme of the rest of Carton’s changed outlook of life. Sydney Cartons resurrection from his concealed life by his love for Lucie is gained by giving up his life for her happiness. He goes to death with the satisfaction of knowing that his life now has meaning, which is what Carton was searching for throughout the novel. During his life he was unable to act in his own self-interest, but, paradoxically, he’s completely willing to sacrifice his own life so that another man may live to please the one he loves. Sydney Carton sacrificed his life for Lucie, the only person who made him feel his life had meaning—just like he had promised to her. He began as a drunken man with no purpose, but only in the sacrifice of his life did Carton establish his greatest worth. Essentially what makes him the most memorable and dynamic character of A Tale of Two Cities is this predominant resurrection. In that all that was good in him and his love for Lucie lives on in Darnay, and he is now defined not for what he was, but by his single greatest act.

Sherman’s Stab at South Carolina Essay -- Civil War, Trading Ports

â€Å"South Carolina had succeeded! It had left the Union by vote of its convention at Charleston on the twentieth.†(Lewis 137). To many people this was a shock for South Carolina to be the first state to succeed from the union. To General William Sherman he was devastated as Lewis depicts Sherman Pacing the floor as he was saddened by this tragic news, and in pacing until it became almost an omen to his future march (Lewis 138). As The Civil War came close to an end, the union had come up with a brilliant plan to end it all with just one devastating plan. To trek through the southern states burning and destroying everything in sight so to devastate the southern states and make a surrender inevitable. General William Sherman’s march devastated all the southern states, but affected South Carolina more than any other southern state. With the march through the south General Sherman’s troops destroyed everything in sight. The heart break General William Sherman remem bered at the beginning of the war was still fresh to him, because of this he left South Carolina with nothing to hold onto as a state. As reported in Civil War Battle Guide â€Å"Sherman specifically targeted South Carolina, the first state to secede† (Houghton). South Carolina having a striving economies before the war began one of the leading slave trade states and agricultural trade states General Williams Sherman’s march hit the hearts of the South Carolina people all because of the state making a decision to rebel against the union. Not only would South Carolina be effected negatively but would find themselves searching for a new beginning after the war. No other state would find themselves with as much of a loss as the State of South Carolina just because Sherman struck the m... ...Findling. What Happened? : An Encyclopedia Of Events That Changed America Forever. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2011.eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Hughes, Nathaniel Cheairs. Bentonville : The Final Battle Of Sherman And Johnston. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Marszalek, John F. Sherman : A Soldier's Passion For Order. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Wright, John D. The Language Of The Civil War. Westport, Conn: Oryx Press, 2001. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 23 Nov. 2013. Sebesta, Edward H., and James W. Loewen. The Confederate And Neo-Confederate Reader : The 'Great Truth' About The 'Lost Cause'. Jackson, Miss: University Press of Mississippi, 2010.eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

July’s People Essay

July’s People is a story about the drastic change and upheaval of society caused by the ending of apartheid in South Africa. Throughout the story the theme of conflict between blacks and whites is brought up and explored. This theme of conflict is largely played out between Maureen, the white suburban mother of three, and July, her servant and host during this time of upheaval in Johannesburg. While the two engage in conflicts throughout the book it isn’t the type of conflict that is injurious to either party, it is the type which forces both sides to grow and evolve their opinions and outlook on society. Read more:  good people David Foster Wallace essay This change and evolution is seen mainly in Maureen who, over the course of the story, evolves and in the end is essentially reborn into a more enlightened version of herself as a result of the conflict which she goes through with July. At the onset of July’s People, all Maureen Smales has ever known is being a mother and wife. As the story progresses it becomes clear that she will shed this role and step into a version of herself vastly more complex and real than the one she left behind. The longer Maureen is in the village, the less in touch she is with the person she was back in Johannesburg. Along with losing touch with her old self, Maureen begins to discover things about her family that she did not realize in the city, â€Å"He left the smell of his sweaty sleep behind him; she had not known, back there, what his smell was (the sweat of lovemaking is different, and mutual). Showers and baths kept away, for both of them, the possibility of knowing in this kind of way. She had not known herself; the odors that could be secreted by her own body. â€Å"(p. 103). During this passage Maureen is using the stage of not knowing the natural odor of herself and her husband as a metaphor to emphasize that back in the city everything gets covered up by cologne or otherwise, while in the village, where none of this disguise is available, the true smell, or nature of a person becomes clear. As Maureen’s old reality begins to slip away it leaves a gapping hole in its absence. The hole then needs to be filled, and this is where July and the conflict he brings comes into play. What Maureen learns about the dynamics of culture while talking to July is eventually what fills up the hole. From early on in the book, Maureen and July are in conflict with each other, butting heads on numerous topics including control of the Bakkie and Maureen’s role in the village. While this conflict may look counterproductive at first glance, it is actually providing both Maureen and July with valuable insight into each other’s thoughts and feelings of the current situation. As it becomes increasingly clear that Maureen is losing touch with who she was in the city, the reader begins to see Maureen struggling to understand July and the mentality of the people living in the village, † -My, my, my. What can we do. Is terrible, everybody coming very bad, killing†¦ burning†¦ Only God can help us. We can only hope everything will come back all right-â€Å". Maureen then goes on to say, â€Å"-But you don’t mean the way it was, you don’t mean that. Do you? You don’t mean that. -â€Å"(p. 95). Here Maureen is taken aback at the fact that a black person might not want the social change that the end of apartheid would bring with it. This is a prime example of a white suburban woman being faced with a idea that doesn’t fit into her categorization of the world and her struggling to understand this new and strange concept. The more that Maureen has these conflicting moments with July the more she begins to grow and move towards releasing her old ideas and prejudices, while adopting a new view of the world. The closer the story draws to its end the more Maureen is seen letting go of her old self and adopting new ideas in their place. For Maureen, the gun that Bam brought with him is her very last link to her life back in the city, when it is stolen Maureen tries desperately to get July’s help to get it back, pleading with July, †You’ve got to get that gun back. (p. 149). Maureen is clinging to the last link she has to her past self, trying to hold on to the smallest bit of normalcy and having the gun ripped away from her brings all that crashing to the ground. For Maureen, the ultimate moment of letting go occurs just after the gun is stolen following a conversation with July, â€Å"The skin of her body was creeping with and ecstatic fever of relief, splendid and despicable to her. †(p. 153). This passage is Maureen’s way of expressing her release of her old self. The use of the word fever here is a clue to what is going on, the body uses a fever to kill off an illness by overheating it, and now Maureen is having the part of her that is connected with Johannesburg â€Å"killed off†. The despicable yet splendid feeling that this gives her symbolizes how painful and hard it is to let her past go but also how good it feels to be ready to move freely into the future. Once Maureen was ready to move on it just took the right situation and the arrival of the helicopter was just that situation, â€Å"She is running to the river and she hears them, the man’s voice and the voices of children speaking English somewhere to the left. But she makes straight for the ford, and pulling off her shoes balances and jumps from boulder to boulder, and when there are no more boulders does as she has seen done, moves out into the water like some member of a baptismal sect to be born again†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (p. 159). This passage encompasses both Maureen leaving behind her old self as well as her moving forward to be re-born into a new person. This is the moment when Maureen’s journey comes full circle. She was prepared for this moment of rebirth by way of her numerous conflicts with July, through which she grew greatly as a person. As the story evolves and Maureen begins to realize that she and her family are not the same people they were back in Johannesburg, she finds herself in conflict with July and his thinking more and more. These conflicts, which existed in her, were not so much those of racial equality but rather of personal identity. By way of her discussions with July, Maureen is able to sort out the issue of personal identity and transform herself into a â€Å"born again† person by the end of the book. While these discussions often take on the form of a conflict they are conflict which leads to growth, not to destruction. The conflict that she has with July over the course of the story is essential to Maureen becoming the free, reborn version of herself and to discover who she is outside of apartheid.

Logitech Case Essay

1.In a world without trade, what would happen to the costs that American consumers would have to pay for Logitech’s Products? World trade refers to buying and selling across national borders. It would be difficult to predict or estimate the prices of the product of one company like Logitech in one market like America. 2.Explain how trade lowers the costs of making computer peripherals such as mice and keyboards. 1. Components are procured from any part of the world where they can be produced and manufactured at the best cost. (Motorola plant in Malaysia makes the mouse’s chip; Agilent Technologies supplies optical sensors). 2. The intellectual capital going into any product is created at the place where the right talent is available. (Ergonomics design is done in Ireland, software programming is done in Switzerland and Fremont). 3. The actual assembling/manufacturing is done at the place where is can be done most cost effectively. (Assembling is done in Taiwan and China). 4. The products reach the customers the most efficient way by taking the service s of the most efficient logistics company. (Marketing and operations from Fremont). 3.Use the theory of comparative advantage to explain the way in which Logitech has configured its global operation. Why does the company manufacture in China and Taiwan, undertake basic R&D in California and Switzerland, design products in Ireland, and coordinate marketing and operations from California? Comparative advantage, as proposed by Ricardo, says that it is beneficial for nations to involve in trade even when there is absolute advantage for them to produce all the goods. So nations will invest a major portion of their resources to produce what they can produce with advantage. This theory is being applied to the case in the following way 4.Who creates more value for Logitech – the 650 people it employs in California and Switzerland, or the  4,000 employees at its Chinese factory? What are the implications of this observation for the argument that free trade is beneficial? Logitech make $8 for every mouse being sold. Let us assume that $3 of this is spent on R&D and software programming. Free trade is beneficial because, it is the free trade which is allowing Logitech to take advantage of the low cost manpower available in China. If free trade w ere not available, Logitech would be forced to manufacture it’s mice in U.S. at a much higher cost. 5.Why do you think the company decided to shift its corporate headquarters from Switzerland to Fremont? It helps Logitech to stay close to its customers. It can respond to the demands of the customers more promptly. Fremont is also the place where a lot of technological innovations are happening. Logitech being in the high-tech industry, continuous innovation is a key success factor for its business. Fremont is also an important in terms of managerial talent. All these reasons make it convenient for Logitech to move to Fremont. 6. To what extent can Porter’s diamond help explain the choice of Taiwan as a major manufacturing site for Logitech? Porter’s diamond considers four important attributes which will create an environment that helps the domestic industries. The four attributes can be applied to Taiwan becoming a manufacturing hub for electronics goods as shown below:Taiwan has well qualified people for manufacturing electronic goods. It has good infrastructure and transport facility. There is demand throughout the world for electronic products produced in Taiwan. All major global companies source their electronic components from Taiwan. Taiwan has a well-developed supply base for parts and rapidly expanding local computer industry. There is tough competition and rivalry among local companies which help in better efficiency. The government has created Science-based industrial parks through which they encourage companies to invest in Taiwan. Land is given at very subsidized rates in these parks. 7. Why do you think China is now a favored location for so much high-technology manufacturing activity? How will China’s increasing involvement in global trade help that country? How will it help the world’s developed economies? What potential problem are associated with moving to China? All the factors in Porter’s diamond are at play in China very efficiently. It has huge human resources, land, water and other natural resources. It has good infrastructure for transportation, ports and communication. It has created special zones for promoting exports, thus ensuring a good demand for the goods they manufacture. The rivalry among the domestic firms is also very strong. Government supports export oriented firms through funds. The cost of labor is very low. Technical human skills are available. These factors make China a favored location for high-technology manufacturing. China’s increase in global trade will ensure that investment flows into China for manufacturing. Its balance of payment position will become very strong. It can use the trade as a lever for political mileage. As more investment happens it w ill help China to reap the advantages of economics of scale. It can provide better living conditions for its citizens. It will also generate funds for planned investments. The world’s developed economics will be able to take advantage of the low cost manufacturing available in China. The global companies can improve the efficiency of their supply chain by manufacturing in China. The following are the potential problems associated with moving work to China: The political changes, when they happen, can lead to disruption of work. Decision making at the government level is opaque, which can cause problems if unfavorable decisions are taken. When there is trouble in the political relationship between the home country and China. The companies may lose an opportunity to develop an alternate to China as a manufacturing hub.

Ideas for Teaching Life Skills in School

Ideas for Teaching Life Skills in School Functional life skills are skills that we acquire in order to live a better, more fulfilling life. They enable us to exist happily in our families, and in the societies in which we are born. For more typical learners, functional life skills are  often directed at the goal of finding and keeping a job. Examples of typical functional life skills topics for curricula are preparing for job interviews, learning how to dress professionally, and how to determine living expenses. But occupational skills are not the only area of life skills that can be taught in schools. Kinds of Life Skills The three major life skills areas are daily living, personal and social skills, and occupational skills. Daily living skills range from cooking and cleaning to managing a personal budget. They are the skills necessary for supporting a family and running a household. Personal and social skills help nurture the relationships that students will have outside of school: in the workplace, in the community, and the relationships they will have with themselves. Occupational skills, as discussed, are focused on finding and keeping employment. Why Are Life Skills Important? The key element in most of these curricula is a transition, preparing students to eventually become responsible young adults. For the special ed student, transition goals may be more modest, but these students also benefit from a life skills curriculum- perhaps even more so than typical learners. 70-80% of disabled adults are unemployed after graduating from high school when with a head start, many can join the mainstream of society. The list below is intended to provide teachers with great programming ideas to support responsibility and life skills training for all students. In the Classroom Help with taking down or putting up bulletin boards.Care for plants or pets.Organize materials such as pencils, books, crayons, etc.Hand out completed assignments.Distribute newsletters or other materials.Help with checklists for money for trips, food, or permissions forms.Clean chalk- or whiteboards and brushes. In the Gym Help with any setup.Prepare the gym space for assemblies.Help to keep the gyms storage room organized. Throughout the School Pick up and deliver audio/visual equipment to classrooms.Help in the library by returning books to shelves and repairing damaged books.Wipe down computer monitors and shut them down each day.Clean the computer keyboards with slightly damp paintbrushes.Distribute the attendance records back to classes for the morning.Help keep the teachers lounge tidy. Help in the Office Bring mail and newsletters to the staff mailboxes or deliver to each of the classrooms.Help photocopy materials and count them into their piles as per need.Collate photocopied materials.Alphabetize any files that need sorting. Supporting the Custodian Help with regular school maintenance: sweeping, floor polishing, shoveling, window cleaning, dusting, and any outdoor maintenance. For the Teacher Everyone needs life skills for daily, personal functioning. However, some students will require repetition, redundancy, review and regular reinforcement to become successful. Dont take anything for granted.Teach, model, let the student try, support and reinforce the skill.Reinforcing may be required on each new day the child performs the skill required.Be patient, understanding and persevere.

Molly Pitcher (Mary Hays McCauly) Revolutionary Heroine

Molly Pitcher (Mary Hays McCauly) Revolutionary Heroine Molly Pitcher was a fictitious name given to a heroine, revered for taking her husbands place loading a cannon in the Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, during the American Revolution. The identification of Molly Pitcher, earlier known in popular images as Captain Molly, with Mary McCauly, didnt come until the centennial of the American Revolution.  Molly was, at the time of the Revolution, a common nickname for women named Mary. Much of Mary McCaulys story is told from oral histories or court and other legal documents correlating with some parts of the oral tradition. Scholars disagree on many of the details, including what her first husbands name was (the famous husband who collapsed and whom she replaced at the cannon) or even whether she is the Molly Pitcher of history. The Molly Pitcher of legend may be completely folklore or may be a composite. Molly Pitchers Early Life Mary Ludwigs birthdate is given on her cemetery marker as October 13, 1744.  Other sources suggest her birth year was as late as 1754. She grew up on her familys farm. Her father was a butcher. She is unlikely to have had any education and was likely illiterate.  Marys father died in January of 1769, and she went to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to be a  servant to the family of Anna and Dr. William Irvine.   Molly Pitchers Husband A Mary Ludwig married a John Hays on July 24, 1769. This may have been a first husband for the future Molly Pitcher, or it may have been a marriage of her mother, also named Mary Ludwig as a widow. In 1777, the younger Mary married William Hays, a barber, and an artilleryman. Dr. Irvine, for whom Mary was working, had organized a boycott of British goods in response to the British Tea Act in 1774. William Hayes was listed as one helping with the boycott. On December 1, 1775, William Hays enlisted in the First Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillery, in a unit commanded by Dr. Irvine (also called General Irwin in some sources). A year later, January 1777, he joined the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment and was part of the winter camp at Valley Forge. Molly Pitcher at War After her husbands enlistment, Mary Hays first stayed in Carlisle, then joined her parents where she was closer to her husbands regiment. Mary became a camp follower, one of the many women attached to a military camp to take care of support tasks such as laundry, cooking, sewing, and other tasks. Martha Washington was another of the women at Valley Forge. In 1778, William Hays trained as an artilleryman under Baron von Steuben. The camp followers were taught to serve as water girls. William Hays was with the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment when, as part of George Washingtons army, the Battle of Monmouth was fought with British troops on June 28, 1778. William (John) Hays job was to load the cannon, wielding a ramrod. According to the stories told later, Mary Hays was among the women bringing pitchers of water to the soldiers, to cool the soldiers as well as to cool the cannon and soak the rammer rag. On that hot day, carrying water, the story told is that Mary saw her husband collapse - whether from the heat or from being wounded is not clear, though he certainly was not killed - and stepped in to clean the ramrod and load the cannon herself, continuing until the end of the battle that day. In one variation of the story, she helped her husband fire the cannon. According to the oral tradition, Mary was nearly hit by a musket or cannonball that sped between her legs and ripped her dress. She is said to have responded, Well, that could have been worse. Supposedly George Washington had seen her action on the field, and after the British retreated unexpectedly rather than continuing the fight the next day, Washington made Mary Hays a non-commissioned officer in the army for her deed. Mary apparently began calling herself Sergeant Molly from that day forward. After the War Mary and her husband returned to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They had a son, John L. Hayes, in 1780. Mary Hays continued to work as a domestic servant. In 1786, Mary Hays was widowed; later that year, she married John McCauley or John McCauly (various spellings of names was common in a society where many were not literate). This marriage was not successful; John, a stonecutter and a friend of William Hays, was apparently mean and did not adequately support his wife and stepson. Either she left him or he died, or he otherwise disappeared, about 1805. Mary Hays McCauly continued to work around town as a domestic servant, with a reputation for being hard-working, eccentric and coarse. She petitioned for a pension based on her Revolutionary War service, and on February 18, 1822, the Pennsylvania legislature authorized a payment of $40 and subsequent annual payments, also of $40 each, in An act for the relief of Molly MKolly. The first draft of the bill had the phrase widow of a soldier and this was revised to for services rendered. Specifics of those services are not noted in the bill. Mary Ludwig Hays McCauly - who called herself Sergeant Molly - died in 1832. Her grave was unmarked. Her obituaries do not mention military honors or her specific war contributions. The Evolution of Captain Molly and Molly Pitcher Popular images of Captain Molly at a cannon circulated in the popular press, but these were not tied to any specific individual for many years. The name evolved into Molly Pitcher. In 1856, when Marys son John L. Hays died, his obituary included the note that he was a son of the ever-to-be-remembered heroine, the celebrated Molly Pitcher whose deeds of daring are recorded in the annals of the Revolution and over whose remains a monument ought to be erected. Connecting Mary Hays McCauly With Molly Pitcher In 1876, the American Revolution centennial sparked interest in her story and local critics in Carlisle had a statue of Mary McCauley created, with Mary described as the Heroine of Monmouth. In 1916 Carlisle established a three-dimensional representation of Molly Pitcher loading a cannon. In 1928, on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth, pressure on the Postal Service to create a stamp showing Molly Pitcher was only partially successful. Instead, a stamp was issued that was a regular red two cent stamp depicting George Washington, but with a black overprint of the text Molly Pitcher in capital letters. In 1943, a Liberty ship was named SS Molly Pitcher and launched. It was torpedoed that same year. A 1944 wartime poster by C. W. Miller depicted Molly Pitcher with a ramrod at the battle of Monmouth, with the text Americas women have always fought for freedom. Sources John Todd White. The Truth About Molly Pitcher. in The American Revolution: Whose Revolution? edited by James Kirby Martin and Karen R. Stubaus. 1977.John B. Landis. A Short History of Molly Pitcher, the Heroine of Monmouth. 1905. Published by the Patriotic Sons of America.John B. Landis. Investigation into American Tradition of Woman Known as Molly Pitcher. Journal of American History 5 (1911): 83-94.D. W. Thompson and Merri Lou Schaumann. Goodbye Molly Pitcher. Cumberland County History 6 (1989).Carol Klaver. An Introduction into the Legend of Molly Pitcher. Minerva: Quarterly Report on Women and the Military 12 (1994) 52.

Rhetorical Analysis of an Organizational Website Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of an Organizational Website - Essay Example These include latest movies that are produced in Hollywood and videos as well as top stories on top actor lifestyles. The website meets its aim by using a simple and professional design. It uses an artistic design to the name of their website that is well colored to draw the reader’s attention. This is appealing to the eye, and at a glance, one is able to know the website’s name. According to Hunt (2011), a reader is likely to revisit a website if it contains all the information it claims to contain and does not provide or refer to unsolicited information. The Hollywood website has user-friendly navigation; there are clear links to the various sections as described in the initial outline on the homepage. The content is arranged categorically in such a way that whatever one is looking for can be obtained at a glance, hence aiding to achieve its goal. Websites should be created with the viewer in mind, this implies that the time for browsing should be minimal and the content should be simple and easy to interpret and understand by the targeted viewers. Its simplicity in design of the Hollywood website has contributed immensely to its popularity among the young people (OConnell, 1994). For instance, if one is looking for movies, they would go directly and click on the so-named icon, hence getting the desired item. On other websites, there are many popup windows and links to unrelated websites which not only waste the viewer’s time but also contribute to infection of personal computers by internet viruses. Lawrence, & Tavakol, (2007) in their book â€Å"Balanced Website Design: Optimizing Aesthetics, Usability, and Purpose.† Propose that the use of carefully designed graphics on websites makes them more appealing and easier to browse than those with text.