Connection in Forster’s Howards End Essay -- Howards End Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚   The epigraph of E.M. Forster's novel Howards End is just two words: "only connect".   As economical as this gesture seems, critics and interpreters have made much of this succinct epigraph and the theme of connection in Howards End.   Stephen Land, for example, cites a: demand for connection, in the sense of moving freely between the two Forsterian worlds - the two "sides of the hedge", the everyday world of social norms and the arcadian or paradisal world of individual self-realization - has its roots in earlier stories..." [1]  Ã‚   He goes on to say that "each [character] must reconcile or connect for himself the range of conceptual polarities exposed by the story - prose and passion, seen and unseen, masculine and feminine, new and old"   (Land, 165).   Land reads the novel as some sort of compromise between these two worlds - the realm of social justice and the realm of the individual.   Other critics have made similar gestures.   James McConkey, for one, feels that "Margaret will reconcile the human and transcendent realms so that she may live in harmony with the human; the voice senses the connection through its remove from both." [2]  Ã‚   These critics seem to confuse "connection" with "reconciliation", seem to read the novel as a triumph for humanism and social justice.   I feel this is a little bit of . . . fudging.   True, the characters in Howards End experience reconciliation at the close of the novel - but reconciliation occurs only when love passes out of the novel, when the narrative ceases to be a bridge between two worlds.   The meaning of the word "connect" diminishes as the novel progresses, gradually loses its mythic, transcendent meaning.    The "only connect" moment referenced in the epigraph comes wh... ...any remnant of the bridge between the paradisal world and the world of manners and civic duty.   The concept of connection is so degraded as to be unrecognizable.   This is what happens after love fails. The celestial omnibus will not stop at Howards End again.             [1] Stephen Land.   Challenge and Conventionality in the Fiction of E.M. Forster.   New York: AMS Press, 1990 (165).   Hereafter cited parenthetically.   [2] James McConkey.   The Novels of E.M. Forster.   New York: Cornell University Press, 1957 (79). [3] E.M. Forster.   Howards End.   New York: Penguin, 1986 (154).   Hereafter cited parenthetically. [4] E.M. Forster.   "The Celestial Omnibus".   The Collected Tales of E.M. Forster.   New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952 (61).   It seems prudent to note that this story was first published in 1911, one year after Howards End appeared.   

Reitman’s Financial Analysis Essay

Reitmans – Financial Analysis From an analysis of the Company’s ratios over the last three years since 2009, as found in the Appendix: Exhibit _, the quantitative data reveals an unfavourable trend in performance. Liquidity Reitmans has the strongest current ratio when compared to its competitors—The Gap and Le Chateau—at almost double their value. However, the Company’s ratio has been in decline since 2009; at that time, it was at 4. , then fell to 4. 3, and finally, to 4. 1 in 2011. This trend reveals a slight decline in Reitmans’ short-term liquidity; however, even with the decline, the Company has more than enough liquidity to meet their short-term cash requirements. It could even be argued that they are not utilizing their assets to their full potential, as the usual acceptable current ratio is 2:1. Even when inventory is not considered, as with the quick ratio and cash ratio, Reitmans’ ratios are unusually high when compared to their competitors—which adds strength to the argument that they are not utilizing their assets as effectively as they could be if they were to invest their funds instead of leaving them sitting idle within an account. Asset Management As revealed by their inventory turnover of 1. 2, Reitmans sells its inventory more slowly than its competitor, the Gap, does with their ratio of 5. 7 in 2011. However, the Gap may have a higher than normal turnover, as Reitmans is favourable when compared to their other competitor, Le Chateau. The Company’s accounts receivable turnover has remained relatively stable over the past three years, fluctuating slightly but still taking just one day on average to collect from customers. In contrast, Reitmans’ accounts payable turnover has been experiencing an unfavourable decline since 2009; it used to take just 106 days to make payments to suppliers, but now it takes 257 days, over twice the time. Long-term Debt Paying Ability Reitmans’ debt ratio measures the extent of creditor financing and leverage. Their percentage of debt, 22%, is much smaller than their competitors at 63% and 39% and a result, Reitmans’ is much more solvent and more able to maintain their long-run financial viability. Further, when looking at the Company’s times interest earned, we see that Reitmans is considered to be less-risky for lenders as they are able to earn their fixed interest charges ver 3 times per year; this exceeds the general guideline that says creditors are reasonably safe if the company has a times interest earned ratio of two or more times. Profitability Most merchandising companies need sufficient gross profit in order to cover their operating expenses or else they will likely fail. Reitmans, as similar to their competitors, maintains a higher profit ratio of 64% in 2011 and 67% in 2010. Even though the Company’s other measures of profitability are still fa vourable compared with their competitors, Reitmans’ profitability ratios have declined by almost half from 2010 to 2011.

Life is Beautiful: A Summary

In the movie â€Å"Life is Beautiful†, Guido, the Jewish- Italian, is the protagonist of the film. The whole movie spirals around him at all times. In the second part of the movie, Guido and his son were obliged to board the death train that packed likes sardines towards the concentration camp. Guido clearly knew that once they had disembarked from the train, there will be hardly any chance for them to return to where they belonged. Since Guido and his son, Giosue, stepped onto the train, not only they journeyed into the concentration camp they also voyaged into mountains of white lies which lied deep in the wonderful fantasies.In my opinion, I think that Guido made a right decision in lying to his son that the Holocaust events were a just a game. There are many reasons that Guido was right about in concealing the truth over his son’s eyes. One of which is because his son, Giosue, did not have to be exposed to the unfair reality at such young age. The exposure to the cr uel reality would only tarnish his childhood. It will be a heavy encumbrance for Giosue to live through his childhood under the scornful and mocking eyes of the so-called superior Italians knowing that just due to the fact that he is a Jewish people.Like any other parents, Guido was no different in protecting his son from the ruthless and unwanted veracity. It is obvious in the movie that Guido made no effort in showing his love for Giosue while in the concentration camp. From hiding the truth about the Holocaust events to sharing his hard-earned portion of food with his son, Giosue was showered bountifully with paternal loves. Guido kept telling Giosue that they were in a game, a real-life competition which the winner would be rewarded a real tank. Guido managed to keep Giosue in awes because he knew that tank was Giosue’s favourite toy.By creating wonderful fantasies over the hopeless situation, Guido swallowed down every moment of bitterness in exchange of his son’s ecstasy of becoming the winner of the â€Å"game†. This way of concealment revealed that Guido loved his son very much. Even in a harsh and hapless condition, Guido still managed to flash his smile to reassure his son that they were the top contender to earn the reward. Obviously, he never wanted a single bit of cruelty and unfairness to corrupt Giosue’s childhood.In other word, he wanted Giosue to be like other hildren, relishing his childhood with bundles of toys and stacks of joyfulness. Indeed, Guido had to mask the truth for the sake of Giosue’s future. By telling Giosue that the Holocaust events were just a game, Guido gave Giosue the might to survive through the inhuman treatments in the concentration camp. In the meantime, thinking deeply, Guido also instilled discipline and perseverance into Giosue’s little mind. By creating rules for the â€Å"competition†, Guido was actually training Giosue to be disciplined and meticulous in order to w in the â€Å"first prize†.Guido made titanic sacrifices behind all of his lies about the concentration camps. Even with the gun pointing at him from behind, his cheeky antic –marching comforted and lightened up Giosue. Till the end, his walls of white lies and machinations shielded his son from the cruel reality. Guido died with his wondrous fiction without having to fret over the future of Giosue as his life and the lessons he had learned were very real. Is that right for Guido to tell his son that the Holocaust events were just merely a game? I certainly think that Guido was respectable and undoubtedly right in plotting his moves.He moulded his seamless imagination and full-heart-content love into amazing fantasies to shelter his son and protect his son’s future. It is what all great parents will do. In the movie, Guido used his vast imagination to make the best out of the wicked fate of him and his family. Guido was a downright optimistic and creative person. He made good use of the situation and events to show his imagination which often leads into bursts of laughter. Guido created fictitious world for those around him, especially his wife, Dora and his son, Giosue. He always referred Dora as â€Å"princess† and claimed to be a prince himself.When Guido mounted on a horse to rescue Dora, he was in fact entertaining the fantasy of the knight rescuing the damsel in distress. Nevertheless, he was literally saving her from her surroundings and actually was whisking her away on a horse. Although they both knew the truth, they were willing to entertain the fantasy and play the game. In this way, Guido formed a way for him to cope with reality and impregnated it with beauty and wild fantasy. Guido also cultivated several coincidences so that he could appear to have controlled fate and performed trick.He was not delighting in fraud or deception, he actually enjoyed creating another world of wonders for someone else. This accentuates the idea that a person’s perception is essential and fundamental to his manipulations and hence he affects how they handle the rest of the world. Guido’s perfect life was brought to a halt when he and his family were forced to board the one-way train, however his creativity and imagination were never cease to exist. Guido’s imagination not only aided him in winning Dora’s hands over her fiance as well as shielded his son, Giosue from the spears of discriminatory treatments.When Guido told Giosue that everything in the concentration camp was just a game, he was creating a fiction, in other words –lies, to keep Giosue’s spirits up. Although his fiction seemed exaggerated, he aimed to protect his son from the wicked reality. At end of the film, Giosue had survived the concentration camp with perseverance and courage. Eventually, Giosue claimed his first prize, a ride on the real tank. In the movie â€Å"Life is Beautiful†, fantasy is truly believed can become reality.

ESL Essay on Belonging (China Coin and Rabbit Proof Fence) Essay

A sense of belonging or not belonging can emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world. How does this apply to â€Å"The China Coin†? Through a study of the novel â€Å"the China Coin† by Allan Baillie, it can be seen that a sense of belonging or not belonging can emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world. This essay will explore how a sense of belonging or not belonging develops from the main characters’ (Joan and Leah’s) connections with each other and with places, specifically Good Field Village. It will also examine how a character’s connection with the nation of China at large gives rise to their sense of belonging or not belonging. In the novel â€Å"The China Coin†, the author uses various language techniques to illustrate Leah and Joan’s sense of belonging or not belonging, which emerges from their connection with each other. The novel begins with Leah feeling disconnected with Joan even though they are the only two members of their family left. This can be seen by the way Baillie uses metaphor to compare Joan to â€Å"an evil aunt, who flies a broom on full moon†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This conveys Leah’s sense of not belonging to the relationship. A sense of belonging unfolds later in the novel after Leah and Joan both go through much together, hence leaving them with a more intimate connection with each other. After hearing grandfather implying that he wants them to stay so that he can trick them into paying for a ‘Hong Kong house’, Joan and Leah’s strong connection is expressed by their ability to communicate without even using words. Baillie uses polysyndeton to emphasize this in the sentence â€Å"And both mother and daughter stopped and grinned at each other†. As can be seen, both these examples clearly show that Leah and Joan’s sense of not belonging or belonging to each other has emerged from their connection with each other. Apart from that, Allan Baillie has also used language features in the novel to draw attention to the sense of belonging or not belonging that stem from connections with a place, specifically, Go od Field Village in â€Å"The China Coin†. When the main characters first arrive in Good Field village, Joan felt accepted immediately as she spoke Cantonese fluently and quickly formed a connection with Jade. As a result, a sense of belonging was generated in Joan. This is reinforced by the author’s use of simile to describe them as women who â€Å"had been neighbours for years†. Contrastingly, Leah, who was not as fluent in  the language, could not converse with Jade and Joan. As a result, she did not feel a sense of belonging to Good Field village. This is portrayed by Baillie’s use of the third person narrative voice, which tells the audience â€Å"Leah felt suddenly alone†. All this suggests that the concept of belonging or not belonging develops from one’s connection with a place. Lastly, language features used in the novel â€Å"The China Coin† has supported the fact that a sense of belonging or not belonging can emerge from connections with the larger world. This can be seen in the character of the young boy who puts up political posters at the restaurant where Joan and Leah are eating. He does not feel connected with the state as he does not agree with the current political situations and wants democracy instead. This generates a sense of not belonging in the character, which is further reinforced as he uses hyperbole to describe other protesters and himself as â€Å"Enemies of the State†. Similarly, Ke, who is disconnected with the principles of China’s political agendas, feels like he does not belong to China at large. This is evidenced in the use of dialogue where Ke tells Leah about what he wants changed in the political system. He tells her that he wants â€Å"Democracy! No more guanxi! No more influence, no more back-door deals!†. From this, it can be inferred that one’s sense of not belonging can rise up from one’s relationship with the world at large. In conclusion, Leah and Joan’s connection with each other and with places such as Good Field Village give rise to their impression of belonging or not belonging. Similarly, a sense of not belonging can be seen to emerge from connections that other characters have with the larger nation of China.

Cellular Phone Usage While Operating Motor Essay

Cellular Phone Usage While Operating Motor - Essay Example and Tibshirani, R.J. (1997), the current road use regulations on road driving are insufficient to combat the problem. Indeed the current regulation are not sufficient because if some bans only prohibit hand held device while others bans hands free devices for certain types of motorists like teenagers or school bus drivers. This is not enough regulation to reduce accident caused by cellular usage because these drivers whether using a hand free kits on their cellular phone, they loss concentration while driving. Redelmeier, D.A. and Tibshirani, R.J. (1997) research showed that cellular telephone use is more common in urban areas with Tulsa and Oklahoma counties accounting for 60% of cellular telephone in use crashes in 1993 and 51% in 1994 (as cited on the police crash report). Among, the 77 counties in Oklahoma, phone use crashes were reported in 32 counties in both 1993 and 1994. While everyone knows that many accidents are caused by cellular phone usage while driving, finding accurate assessment of its scope has been challenging task. For one, many minor accidents go unreported and there is no proper records kept about the actual cause of the accident. Violanti, J. M., (1997) says that we should address the issue of banning the cell phone usage while driving because drivers are likely to loss concentration, thereby causing an accident. The source is related to other sources I have use since it also points out the issue of banning cell phone usage while operating motor vehicle as they are known to cause road accidents. According Alm, H., and Nilsson, L. (1995), they says that the drivers inattention is the number one cause of road accidents and also states that driving while using cell phone, has the same risk as one driving while drunk. The source is similar to the other sources used in this paper as it highlights the consequences of using cellular phone while driving. It advocates for total ban of using cellular phone while operating a motor vehicle. According to Redelmeier, D.A. & Tibshirani, R.J. (1997), they said that we should have a better understanding of the nature and magnitude of any road safety problem rather than restricting cell phone usage while operating a motor vehicle. Therefore, they recommended that we should make in vehicle information system that would reduce accidents on our roads. For this source they are looking in ways on how we can reduce road accidents on the roads rather than banning their usage which might be just a partial solution. The source is common to the others because it is addressing how not only can we reduce accidents by banning cell phone usage while driving but we can further reduce them by innovating our vehicles with make in information systems. References Alm, H., & Nilsson, L. (1995): The Effects of a Mobile Telephone Task on Driver Behavior in a Car Following Situation. Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 27 (5), pp. 707-715. Brookhuis, K. A., de Vries, G., & de Waard, D. (1991): The effects of mobile telephoning on driving performance. Accident Analysi

To what extent can a states promotion of its culture further its Essay

To what extent can a states promotion of its culture further its national interests and influence on the world stage - Essay Example In this case each country is seeking to prove its cultural heritage as a really valuable for the world’s success or even progress. Following this idea, the measure between the most or less influential countries of the world slowly becomes vague, so to speak. However, if the main features of such a discussion are that it is really the fact to keep in mind. Definitely, as Snow & Taylor (2008, p. x) admit, this kind of â€Å"primacy-of-culture perspective dominates much of our thinking about public diplomacy and calls for a more balanced perspective that takes into account cultural difference but also recognizes and utilizes influence universals.† Hereby, this question still remains to be answered. On the other hand, the truth of cultural diversity seems to be of less concern for powerful countries of the world inclined more and more to impose their cultural peculiarities along with the way of living on other communities. Here comes a mere extent of imitation in a global scope. One of the most apparent examples is the American cultural influence. On the other hand, less people have an idea of cultural life in Jakarta, for instance. Needless to say, such cultural ideals are mostly stereotyped and have much of copyism. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2008, p. 34) pays more attention to the following fact in terms of the cultural aspect: â€Å"Images of foreign countries are in fact part of the culture of the country that holds the perceptions: Japan’s image in China, for example, is part of Chinese culture, and vice versa.† Thus, countries are constantly trying to earn more appreciation from the rest of the world forgetting about some national priorities and, therefore, amplifying the need for the cultural promotion as it is. Everyone desires to look well or even better before the rest. Thereupon, countries urge for better reputation in order to show their status in the world arena. Once such

Introduction to resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Introduction to resource management - Essay Example These can be changed according to the passage of time. It will also occur by the change of environment and by the change of different factors and culture of the society. Technology is a thing that will always change its direction and bring new and innovative things for its users. 6. Industrial and International Relations. For e.g. courts, commissions, government etc. 7. Women Induction in Jobs. Women issues might occur i.e. harassment and discrimination. 8. Career Planning and Development. It is an important step while deciding or developing new business units. A proper and organized, planning and development strategy leads to a great success. 9. Lack of Opportunities. Should notice those opportunities that will give benefit to an organization by observing our competitors. 10. Product Diversification. Product always needs change and diversified strategy to bring improvement and innovation in a product line that will attract customers. Q.2. To what extend does the company need to overhaul the relationship between HRM and its core businesses Relationship between HRM and Business Performance of the Company: According the case study (Financial Times, 22 Dec'1999), Mark and Spencer was facing several problems in their business. They even suffered with great fall and they lost their revenues in a competitive environment of UK. They used the diversified strategy for their company in terms of developing a team of seven people who were responsible for the seven units of Marks and Spencer. As the answer of the question, the company should understand the practices of HRM clearly. They took several wrong decisions that affected their business badly. If they used correct strategies and followed the HRM rules rightly, the problems would not have occurred. Marks and... Team work is very important in human resource management; manager should take along his/her employees and also consult and take their opinions for taking good decisions for their company/organization. The resource management helps managers work together to manage large teams and projects as well. With reference to Pieter.A.Grobler (1996) Strategic HRM issues can occur according to change of environment around business organization. While deciding to create business units we should monitor the following issues: 5. Technological and Environmental Changes. These can be changed according to the passage of time. It will also occur by the change of environment and by the change of different factors and culture of the society. Technology is a thing that will always change its direction and bring new and innovative things for its users. According the case study (Financial Times, 22 Dec'1999), Mark and Spencer was facing several problems in their business. They even suffered with great fall and they lost their revenues in a competitive environment of UK. As the answer of the question, the company should understand the practices of HRM clearly. They took several wrong decisions that affected their business badly. If they used correct strategies and followed the HRM rules rightly, the problems would not have occurred. First of all, the biggest mistake done by Mark and Spencer was that while performing several functions within