Sure Things

Gangyi Wu Mark Scamahorn Eng 110, March 15, 2012 Desperate to survival How can a big brother who loses his parents in a short period of time survive? How is it possible for him to take care of his little brother at the same time? In A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, the author Dave Eggers describes a long dialogue between him and his brother Toph. In fact, the dialogue is not happening in the real world; instead, it is a â€Å"me and I† dialogue. Dave talks about his long day in the beginning of this dialogue, while â€Å"Toph† extends the conversation to the discussion of Dave’s inner being.Actually Dave is analyzing his behavior with respect to Toph. From the dialogue, we can tell Dave is desperate and is eager to have a normal life with Toph. Dave’s dialogue with â€Å"Toph’ shows Dave is aggressive. Dave is trying to escape the past and use moral authority to condemn other for the purpose of building himself up. Dave is trying to run a way from the past guilt. The guilty feelings make Dave stay away from the past. â€Å"Toph† says, â€Å"You’re completely paralyzed with guilt about relating all this in the first place, especially the stuff earlier on. †(115).The past was horrible for Dave. He suffered a lot, he lost his parents, and more importantly, his family. He is afraid to remember his family, because he is afraid that those painful memories will haunt after him. The guilt, as â€Å"Toph† describes, constrains him. Dave feels guilty for his parents’ death. The â€Å"family† area in his brain is a forbidden zone. He preserves this area carefully in order to avoid the potential harm coming from the heartrending stories. Otherwise, these areas may drive him ballistic. As a result, Dave tries many ways to escape the guilt.At the very beginning of the conversation, Dave and â€Å"Toph† are talking about their long day. Dave argues that â€Å"this is a much pedestri an day than most†, because â€Å"this is just a caricature†¦ the skeleton†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (115) Toph says: â€Å"you’re†¦. doing little tricks, out of frustration. †(115). From this conversation, we can see that Dave is trying to make things look fake; he does not want things to get a hold of him, especially the guilty feelings. Instead of manipulating the old memories into â€Å"skeleton† and â€Å"caricature† he would rather treat them as his own real experience.He is numbing himself out. By discarding all the old things to jump out of the old memories, Dave also wants to have a brand new life with Toph. â€Å"Toph† says, â€Å"you can toss away all the old rules†¦ and for all your bluster you end up maintaining most of their customs. †(116). He is attempting to leave away from the rules in his old family; he wants to dominate his own rule and create a new home rule. He blusters and struggles. He is desperate! No matter how hard Dave tries, he fails, and all the failures gradually lead him to the edge of collapse.Dave becomes an aggressive man, because he is over sensitive about the potential harm may happen to Toph. â€Å"Toph† recounts a scene between Dave and a friend, Marny. Dave is irritated about Toph’s ignorance’s to call, after waiting for Toph to return home. Marny exhorts Dave not to be harsh but Dave wraths immediately, â€Å"you think you have a say in something like that, just because I am young. †(116) Apparently he is harsh to Toph and now he is mean to his best friend. Marny is showing him kindness whereas Dave attacks her simply because she doubts what he is doing.In this moment, Dave already becomes extremely sensitive. He regards himself as Toph’s mother, â€Å"you would never contradict some forty-year-old mother, would you? † (116) He is a forty-year-old â€Å"mother† who is old enough to have authority over Toph; Dave believes h e has the competence to take care of Toph, and at the mean time he is doing a good parenting job. Therefore, no one can challenge his authority. Consequently Dave overly defends the leadership that he has over the new family. No one can judge an old â€Å"mother†. He is as bossy as an old â€Å"mother† holding the decision making power in his mind.Dave describes his attitude to those potential enemies from â€Å"Toph’s† words, â€Å"You’ll picture all manners of murders in my defense. Your visions will be vivid and horrifically violent†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (117) Dave would like to punish his â€Å"enemies† in his own mind with weapons like a baseball bat. Dave values Toph the most in his heart, and anyone who dares to harm Toph should pay a high price. Dave will punish them as fierce as he can. Paragraph indicates that Dave lacks the sense of safety. Inside his imagination, outsiders always want to dig out his family’s scars and judge him a nd Toph.He desires to beat every enemy down before they appear, so that no one could harm them. He tries to condemn others by using his moral authority in order to gain confidence about life. Toph says, â€Å"You finally have the moral authority you’ve carved†¦And now your moral authority is doubled, tripled. And you use it any way you need to. † (118) The moral authority is the weapon Dave uses to intimidate others. For him it is a shield that protects him from being humiliated, since he is morally superior to others. This is exactly what Toph infers about his authority, â€Å"because it increases your leverage with other people. (119) As a result, Dave can judge others without getting criticism back. In the incomplete family, Dave and Toph are weak. However with the moral authority, he can rule over others; no one will have a judgment about his family, or Toph. He even judges his twenty-nine years old girl friend, â€Å"you’ll make this poor woman feel like a leper†¦ you want her to fell like a pariah, like a lower form of life†¦ what your feel anyone tethered to any addiction is. † (118) â€Å"Leper† and â€Å"pariah† are insulting words that a normal person would not use to criticize a smoking woman.By looking down on others and saying those insulting words, Dave is attempting to gain self-esteem. His behaviors make himself look like a superior. Although the people are living better than Dave, he refuses to accept reality. What Dave wants is to create a favorable family environment for Toph, to give him new home. In this family he is a father, a mother, a big brother and an orphan without parents. Dave is attempting pull himself out of the old and painful memories. On the other hand, he is shouldering the responsibilities of Toph.He talks to the imaginary Toph to cure himself with an â€Å"open heart surgery†. Toph is an illusion of real Toph in his heart. There two brothers are having a coun seling session together indirectly. Dave loves Toph. He is playing his role as a protector. He wants to protect Toph from the people outside their house, to keep Toph from other people’s judgments. The only reason Dave becomes a desperate and pretended guardian is to become strong enough to stand up for Toph’s protection. Work Cited Eggers, Dave. A heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, New York. Vintage Books. 2000. 114-120. Print.

Impact of Strike in an Organization Essay

The impact of strike to an organization Article by Rajalakshmi Rahul on June 11, 2012 Discuss now (0) Go to comments An organizational strike not only destroys the power of labor at its source while still professing theoretical support for the right to strike, but also causes many other losses. Labor on the other hand in demanding freedom to use the organizational strike is seeking an instrument fundamental to its rising power. The right to strike restricted in any way is the right shorn of some of its power (International Confederation for Free Trade Unions, 1989). The economic losses of the employer cause by a strike are incapable of precise calculation. The loss of profits is only one item in the total losses that an employer may suffer. The employer’s business may be crippled because of the loss of the market connection beyond the period of strike; goodwill may be lost; and the idle machines may get spoilt. Additional expenditure may have to be incurred on protecting the plant and on strike breaking activities (Howell, 2005). Publicity and propaganda are yet other items adding to its costs. Besides the loss of mental peace, respect and status in the community cannot be calculated in terms of money. The adverse affects of a strike on the workers are the loss of wages, and fringe benefits contracting of debts, personal hardships and loss of employment. It is difficult to assess the wage and production losses on account of a strike. Any calculation of wage losses from pay roll gives only a partial picture. In addition the strike may leave the union weakened and divided to the satisfaction of the employer Thus, strikes involve both economic and non economic costs for the employer and if at the extreme of strike he has to concede the demands of the striker’s additional burdens are imposed. However certain other elements which mitigate the losses also form a part of the economic calculation of the cost of a strike. References †¢Howell C (2005), Trade Unions and the State, Princeton University Press, New Jersey. †¢International Confederation for Free Trade Unions (1989), Employment and structural change in Indian industries, Cengage Learning, USA.

Impacts of Credit Crunch on Ryanair Research Proposal

Impacts of Credit Crunch on Ryanair - Research Proposal Example In February 2008 Reuters reported that global inflation was at historic levels (Reuters 12 02 2008) Ryanair, the first Low Cost Carrier in Europe, it was founded in 1985 (Ryanair.com History 2008). Ryanair began operations with a staff of twenty-five and a single 15-seat airplane flying connecting Waterford and London. In 1986 Ryanair got authorization to begin flying four flights a day on the Dublin-London route. Utilizing the opportunity, they broke the monopoly of British Airways and Aer Lingus with fares that were much lower. Ryanair's strategy (initially) was to offer simple, low-cost fairs and exemplary customer service. During the later part of the 80s Ryanair continued to compete vigorously with British Airways and Aer Lingus while adding additional routes and airplanes (Creaton 2004). In 1990 Ryanair suffered a 20 million loss and was forced to completely restructure. A new CEO - Michael O'Leary - was charged with making the airline profitable. O'Leary visited the USA to study the 'low fares/no frills' model being used by Southwest Airlines. O'Leary promptly determined th at the key to low fares was to implement quick turn-around times for aircraft, "no frills", and no business class, as well as operating a particular model of aircraft (Ryanair About Us n.d.). Regardless of the decline in overall airline traffic, Ryanair made a profit of 293,000 for the year and carried 651,000 passengers. In 2000, they announced the launch of 10 new European routes for the summer and the company launched their new online booking site and in just 3 months the site was taking over 50,000 bookings a week (Ryanair About Us n.d.). After the tragedy of 9/11, the whole air transportation industry suffered a drawback and airline companies had to modify their strategies in order to adapt to the new situation that led to an increase in oil prices and a downturn in traffic (Gloomy Ryanair 2008). Ryanair, instead of cancelling thousands of flights, adapted the opposite strategy (DG TREN - ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN AIR 2001). The company took advantage of empty slots in the airports, which were until the date the biggest constraint in European airports. In 2008 Ryanair is the 3rd largest airline in Europe; it has 31 bases and carries 50.9 million passengers annually (Ryanair Annual Results 2008). The firm's whole story is built on ambitious growth targets.

The Curriculum Descriptive Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Curriculum Descriptive Theory - Essay Example (Marsh 2004, p. 201) The analysis in this paper is focused on the curriculum descriptive theory. The descriptive theory is marked against other theories in several ways. But its main distinction resides on its principle which is to understand the various steps and procedures in curriculum development and the relationships among them. This is achieved by identifying how curriculum development actually takes place, especially in school settings. (Marsh, p. 201) There are scholars who label the descriptive theory as the scientific theory as well. The reason behind is, the methods employed in theorizing the curriculum is clinical and follows the scientific approach. Alfie Kohn (2000), who stressed that descriptive theory is technically aligned with constructivism, cites four of its principles that facilitate learning. According to him, the teacher should It is far more difficult to figure out how to implement descriptive theory than it is to generate it. I am reasonably intelligent, and it took me 14 years of almost full-time effort to figure out how to consistently work just four thinking skills into a detailed and effective curriculum. (Reigeluth 1999, p. 15) Indeed, some degree of support was given by Dwayne Huebner (1999, p. 215) asserting that curricularists must be concerned not only with the descriptive theory but also with prescriptive theory. This statement explained the descriptive theory best and its relationship with the prescriptive theory content-wise in the perspective of most of its critics. That is, he who would talk about curriculum must do more than describe what’s going on; many people want him to issue imperatives about what should be done. We should not forget that it is the scholars themselves who widely believe that theories are generally descriptive in nature. This is because situations like curriculum development can be thought of as dealing with cause-and-effect relationships or with flows of events in

South Florida Economic Policy Recommendation Paper Research

South Florida Economic Policy Recommendation - Research Paper Example While considering the economy of Florida it is important to take into consideration the MSA functions as one of the engines of economic growth with various public, private and nonprofit institutions within the three county MSA and beyond. The economy suffered a slowdown in the later stages of the last decade but currently population is on the rise. The population is highly mobile with a combination of large influx of international migration coupled with large number of domestic migrants. The large and diverse population is an asset for the economy to compete on the global platform. The diverse population offers multi-lingual workforce and diverse culture for business environment. The growth track of the economy will allow the local governments to make significant amount of investments on infrastructure. The Comprehensive Economic Strategy provides the road map for the economy to strength itself. The update for 2012 of the CEDS brings an opportunity to align and coordinate with variou s states through integrated and results oriented approach. The update follows the six pillars of Florida’s future economy. The pillars are supply of talent and education, inventions and development of the economy, infrastructure and growth leadership, competitiveness and suitable climate for business, civic as well as Governance systems and Quality of places and life. The state is following the five year strategic plan based on the above discussed pillars. The recovery of South Florida may be in doubt but the recent months have succeeded to gather some success (Oyola-Yemaiel, 2000, p. 354-357). The improving labor market has produced a gross gain for the economy. The start of this year replicated the conditions with that of 2002. The dials shifted after the improvement of employment statistics. According to the releases of the University of Central Florida even if the economy is in the phase of experiencing sluggish progress but the forecasts surely beats that of recession. T he economy has to cover a long way before it can make any mark of the global scenario. The Economic Problem To analyze the economic problems or the opportunities for the region the most important that comes on the mid of analysts are steady supply of talent and improved educational facilities. There is an emerging talent gap in Florida. There is a crisis in human capital that represents a vast and ever widening gap between the need of available skilled and educated workforce and availability of workforce. The council of Florida of 100s Closing the Talent Gap published the issues and requisite recommendations related to the talent supply chain of Florida which is defined in four zones namely Pre-K, Primary or Secondary, the post Secondary phase and the Development of Workforce. In the coming years new innovative products will be introduced to deal with the challenges of environment, medical as well as transportation. The application of the policies will break through to gain the rewa rds of leadership. Efforts are the call of the time of the time to develop the right skills for the right people and at the right time. The talent Supply chain of the country aims to attract new businesses into the country as well as expand the already existing ones by the promotion of the delivery system, to strike a balance between the supply and demand of talent to met the requirements for the new economy, build a repository of all programs made available for the business opportunities, develop some measures to analyze the development of the talent supply chain over time. According to UCF, the construction sector of the country suffered huge job loss and it is expected that the sector will find the track again in 2031. The rate of

E cmmerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

E cmmerce - Essay Example Infrastructure include providing multiple ways and effective communication network sites, and provision of different ways of protecting and verifying the authenticity of sites among other factors. For example, ‘Individuals’ provide broadband connectivity for internet connections at affordable prices, to increase the proportion of Internet users hence an e-commerce boom. ‘Institutions and governments’ to provide digital certificates and secure infrastructure for information exchange, hence user confidence and adoption of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce is not confined to "buy and sell" via the Internet. It may have profitability goals and different models for selling and buying. However, if there remains partial payment, availability, and ease of use by the owner of the site and the consumer, this would be a catalyst for emergence of a very prosperous e-commerce project. An access to sophisticated system addresses based on the numbering of each facility should be available. A specific home address ensures that delivery is made to the specific address. Physical address system exists in many developed countries, but lacks in many Arab countries, for example Saudi Arabia, which still relies on landmarks in order for a driver reach your home. Finally, Saudi Arabia needs these three aspects to promote e-commerce, although it still lacks a physical address system. Until now, there are a number of attempts by small medium enterprises and entrepreneurs to address this problem. Delivery is a determinant factor in the progression of e commerce in Saudi Arabia. This is because delivery enhances the flow of goods to various destinations in conjunction with the online business directives. The delivery helps in a dancing the obligation pertaining t the business transactions. Delivery of goods forms part of these contractual obligations. According to Buchele (2008,p.71), the delivery factor enables the

Agency Theory and Corporate Governance Problem Essay

Agency Theory and Corporate Governance Problem - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the Agency theory conceptualizes the relationship between the firm managers and shareholders as a â€Å"nexus of contract† that is bound to result to conflict due to the different interests of each group. The proposal of this theory is that firms should have independent board structures and that the equity-based compensation for top executives should be applied to curb the aggressive behavior of the management. While this theory suffers a number of weaknesses by assuming perfect organizational structures, it provides a possible approach to a solution of the corporate governance problem. On this ground, agency theory, to a great extent provides workable solutions that can harmonize the interests of both the managers and company stakeholders. Corporate structures are characterized by a separation between the owners and the management of an organization. The owners of an organization appoint managers who are better versed with manage ment knowledge to run their business for payment. The expectation of the shareholders is that the managers run the organizations to the best interests of the shareholders at all times. However, there is the risk that the management may put their goals first before those of the firm, which would be contradictory to their duties. As expected, the managers are the information bearers and have for the power to influence the firm performance and profit through their strategic initiatives. From a different angle, the shareholders have little information and hence act in good faith expecting that the management will pursue the firm interests. However, it is hard for them to establish whether the management influenced the outcomes of their firms through economic manipulation. Ultimately, the shareholders wish to submit the business risks to the experts with the sole aim of maximizing the share values for their own benefits. Contrary, the manager’s goals may be against the shareholder 's interest as they seek to maximize the benefits they accrue from the organization.