Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Essay We know this because Candy says ‘boss gives him hell when he’s angry’ about Crooks. Also, Curley’s wife is called ‘tart’ and ‘jail bait’ purely for being a woman. An air of bitterness hangs throughout the book, majorly from these two minor characters; both brought on by loneliness and lack of communication skills. The difference in these characters is that Curley’s wife is open about her loneliness, out looking for company, however Crooks isn’t so fond of letting people know he is lonely, he’d rather just let it go; this is until he finds that Lennie is actually good company, and it is better to have someone there to talk to. Another form of their bitterness is shown through their own mean comments, for example Curley’s wife is racist to Crooks, making the remark that shows her true feelings towards him and his race. Also, Crooks isn’t so kind to Lennie at the start of part 4, tormenting him about George, telling him he would get locked up if George never came back. Although in some ways Curley’s wife is higher up in society that Crooks, Crooks still has a job which women weren’t allowed, not on a ranch anyway. Though black, Crooks was still allowed to work and get paid, without having to marry just to have income. Curley’s wife is made to seem more of a threat by George: he tells Lennie to stay away from her and calls her vicious, sexist names, ‘tart’ and ‘jailbait’ and ‘trouble’. However he never makes comments about Crooks, or about how Lennie shouldn’t go near him, suggesting that he wouldn’t do as much harm to Lennie, or possibly that he is less important than Curley’s wife. Despite being seen as trouble, Curley’s wife could get Crooks in trouble even if he didn’t do anything, Crooks could not do this to her as she was seen as more important in the eyes of the law. Even not taking the law into consideration, the ranch hands probably viewed Crooks as more important, but being married to Curley, would probably have to treat Curley’s wife with more respect if she made accusations against Crooks. Throughout the book there is a parallel of dreams. This ties in with the American Dream, a dream that nearly everyone in America had, and was wildly advertised as ‘the American Way. ’ These two minor characters both had dreams, just like everyone else. However, unfortunately, they’ve both had their chance, Curley’s wife was offered a shot in Hollywood, and thinks that was it for her as she never got the reply she was hoping for. Crooks believes that he has already lived the dream throughout his childhood, so, just like Curley’s wife, he has no shot at a new dream. Themes play a large part in the structure of this novella, weaving in and out of the storyline the whole way through. Main themes like dreams and loneliness are featured the most; however nature, death and friendship also show. Social hierarchy played a large part in society in the 1930’s, as it still does, however not as prominently as back then. Anyone that wasn’t white was instantly looked down on and given fewer rights. Women were seen as sexual objects. With friendship playing a large part in the novella, loneliness also played a part. In particular, Crooks and Curley’s wife were lonely, Crooks is unable to show this at first whereas Curley’s wife is fully able as she is always looking for company. ‘The American Dream’, the major dream all across America to defeat the Great Depression, and to find a place of your own, earning a sufficient amount of money. It starts off just introducing to us the dream of George and Lennie: their dream, like everyone else’s, to get a place of their own and to ‘live of the fatta the lan’ ‘. This later progressed to having Candy involved. After the shooting of his beloved dog he realised that once he gets too old to work he will too be gotten rid of, not as brutally, but still ‘canned’. This also showed a theme of death, and lack of sentimentality. After Candy, Crooks finds an opening for him to join the dream, however soon backs down as he realises this isn’t the best idea. We also realise the dream of Curley’s wife: to be off somewhere in Hollywood, the opposite of where she is now, with someone she doesn’t even like never mind love. She is also lonely; it probably being her dream to have someone to talk to which she never has on a lonely ranch. ‘Soledad’, ‘solitaire’, ‘Weed’ all show ‘sol’- lonely, or ‘Weed’ being the place that George and Lennie lived, and a weed is a plant that no one wants. Bad language curses the novella, giving a real sense of the harsh reality of the 1930’s. ‘Nigger,’ ‘Son-of-a-bitch,’ ‘bastard’ are all words used throughout the book to describe characters in vulgar, often racist ways. Also ‘tart’, ‘jailbait,’ and ‘trouble’ are used to describe Curley’s wife, in the innocence of her life she must put up with these judgemental names that she doesn’t deserve just for having a less preferred gender. All of these curse words show the reality of the language used in ranch life, releasing any anger one had as a result of the hard times they were going through. Many of the men would rub off on each other, so language would only get worse. Crude language and swearing would circle the ranch until everyone was using it and it became a normal vocabulary for these poorly educated men. As well as using curse words, the way Steinbeck actually wrote the book helped to give a sense of the times. ‘†¦he had thin, pain –tightened lips, which were lighter than his face. ’ ‘Pain-tightened’ can only be describing the difficulty in Crooks’ life, he is so lonely and bitter that he has forgotten all communication, which must be such a difficult thing for a social being, however he stays quiet as he has no other option. As we know, racism was a large part of society. This was not only shown through the racist remarks that are made to Crooks throughout the book, but also how Crooks isn’t fully introduced until part four of the novella. This shows his lack of importance and meaning in the story, and that he is just a side character, merely helping to keep the ranch together, and that is it. Not anyone’s friend. Not any reason other than ‘the stable buck’s a nigger’ for him to be mentioned. When this minor character is introduced, he is introduced in such a way that we can straight away grasp his true personality and really understand who he is. His belongings show his inner personality, and his lack of hope to move on with his life, and that even though he is hardly mentioned as an important character, he is probably the most likely person on that ranch to never leave. Moving on from Crooks, Curley’s wife is also described in a way that says a lot about her visual appearance, showing that she probably cares more about what she looks like on the outside than what she is like on the inside. ‘She has full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made sup. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers. ’ No match for ranch life, Curley’s wife enters the book also majorly in part four, displaying her unimportance. She makes a storm as she gives the unforgivable comment to Crooks, showing that she is not only heavily made up on the outside, but also heavily made up on the inside, in that she thinks she is better than him, and almost big headed. To conclude, I feel that the novella truly did show the hardship of the 1930’s, and what these men went through. The social + historical context, character description, language, themes and structure all piece together to make an unforgettably moving novella. I feel that the parallels through the book e. g. the book starting with life on the Salinas river, then ending with death in the same place, the parallels through George killing Lennie as he is a true friend who truly cares about him and wants the best for him. I feel that Crooks and Curley’s wife did say unforgivingly nasty things to others, however, given the times, probably didn’t mean a word of it, and were both trying to prove their status, showing that where you are in social hierarchy was very important to them as it was probably all they had left. I do sympathise for them as they are, like everyone else, in need of company. Overall, taking the title into account, no matter how big or small you are, fate is always against you.

Analysis of Fifteen to Eighteen from Marilyn Hacker’s Selected Poems :: Hacker Selected Poems 1965-1990

Analysis of Fifteen to Eighteen from Marilyn Hacker’s Selected Poems In the poem 'Fifteen to Eighteen', Marilyn Hacker uses the rebellious years of adolescence to analyze the effects an illness can have on the relationship and family roles for both parent and child. Diabetes puts the mother and daughter in opposite roles than are traditionally seen at this age. The illness which occurs at least over the last four years of this girl's childhood forces her to grow up prematurely, take on some of the mother roles, and suffer the sacrifices that accompany it. Jessie Potter in Judith Viorst's book My Mother My Self discusses the impact that motherhood has on sexuality of the mother. "[The mother] may have been an interesting sexual partner until her child was born, but now she is too tired, too busy, she says the children take up too much of her attention. It's all culturally induced, but the result is that [the mother] goes underground sexually until the kids are grown."(59) Just as the role of motherhood often leads to giving up sexuality for a period of time, this daughter more immediately gives up masturbating to deal with her "child' of the hour. As the mother becomes the one who needs to be cared for, the daughter is forced, just as mothers usually are to give up their personal needs and desires when they become mothers. These sacrifices are not healthy for the mothers, nor is it healthy for this adolescent to be in this position of responsibility at such an early age. The poem leaves the reader wondering what will happen after the g irl is eighteen, who will care for the mother? When the daughter leaves home, she will most likely feel guilty for leaving her mother who can not care for herself. This guilt is similar too to that which so often accompanies parenting. The physical fighting and swearing in the poem are present as a way of showing how this girl is being forced from her childhood and thrown into adulthood and motherhood. "I was in shock again. I swam/to my surface to take care of my mother."(144) The liquid which is spilled during the evening is symbolic of the death of the daughter's adolescence, which reoccurs during each episode. "More often, enough orange juice got down,/splashed on us both"(144) And just as the daughter is totally in the role of caretaker, the mother snaps back and is once again in role of mother caring for her daughter, concerned about the scratches on her daughter's face.

What Do You Think Makes a Good Manager?

Kuznetsova Ksenia What do you think makes a good manager? What are the main functions of a manager according to Peter Drucker? Manager is the person who organizes and coordinates the activities of the rest of the staff. The importance of a good manager can’t be overestimated. First of all, a good manager is a leader, a respected, professional and strong-willed person who can motivate inspire and lead people. Great managers accept blame that means that they are fully responsible for their team.They understand the importance of developing – both their subordinates and themselves. In that case I think that good managers make themselves redundant. They always learn something new and acquire useful information from the outside world so as to get the right experience. A good manager is competent: he knows the job perfectly as well as the work of subordinates. Most of the time manager works in a team, so it’s vital to be friendly and sociable and have good communication skills.They have to be persuasive and to convince people to do things like forming teams even those who are responsible for performing individual jobs. Moreover good managers have empathy – the ability to step in someone else’s shoes – because they are good listeners. They are open and always ready to discuss and solve problems. As the managers have to measure the performance of the staff they should give praise if the objectives set for the organization as a whole and for each individual member of it are being achieved. A good manager judges on merit..So managers who regularly give praise are in much stronger position to criticize or reprimand poor performance. In that case it won’t be taken as personal dislike. Good managers are not afraid of others people strengths. Furthermore, good managers encourage employees to use their own initiative, to take decisions on their own. This process is called empowerment. As the result decision making becomes more d ecentralized and less bureaucratic. However, managers should still keep the control of the operations, otherwise their authority could be undermined.As a good manager is a good leader, one should be visible and accusable, provide a clear mission and show what the company’s values are. According to Peter Drucker there are 5 main functions of a manager. First of all, managers set objectives and decide how the organization can achieve them Secondly, managers organize. This involves allocating resources especially human resources so that the overall objectives can be attained. Thirdly, managers communicate objectives to the people responsible for attaining them and motivate the staff.They coordinate and supervise the work of their subordinates. Fourthly, managers evaluate how well company’s objectives are being met. Lastly, managers develop people. Unfortunately not every manager can combine all these characteristics and skills. I consider that the management is more an ar t than a science. First of all a good manager have at least basic flair for leadership so that they can develop their skills. However, not all of them will be able to put management techniques into practice. Others will lack good ideas. Outstanding managers are rather rare.

Bacteria and Food Poisoning

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that around 80 million people a year in the U.S. alone contract food poisoning or other foodborne diseases. Foodborne illness is caused by eating or drinking food that contains disease causing agents. The most common causes of foodborne diseases are bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Foods containing toxic chemicals can cause foodborne diseases as well. Typically, our immune system fights off germs to prevent illness. However, some bacteria and viruses have developed ways of avoiding immune system defenses and causing sickness. These germs release proteins that help them avoid detection by white blood cells. In addition, antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become increasingly prevalent and a worldwide public health issue. Strains of resistant E. coli and MRSA have become increasingly proficient at causing infection and avoiding immune defenses. These germs can survive on everyday objects and cause disease. There are over two hundred types of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause foodborne diseases. Reactions to these germs can range from mild gastric and digestive system discomfort to death. The easiest way to prevent foodborne illness is to properly handle and cook foods. This includes washing and drying your hands, washing utensils carefully, replacing kitchen sponges often, and cooking meat thoroughly. Below is a list of a few bacteria that cause foodborne diseases, along with the foods that are associated with them, as well as symptoms that are likely to develop from ingesting the contaminated foods. Bacteria That Cause Foodborne Illness Microbe - Aeromonas hydrophilaAffiliated Foods - Fish, Shellfish, Beef, Pork, Lamb, and PoultryDiseases - Gastroenteritis, SepticemiaSymptoms - Diarrhea, Blood and Mucus in Stool    Microbe - Bacillus cereu Affiliated Foods - Meats, Milk, Rice, Potato, and Cheese ProductsDiseases - B. cereus Food PoisoningSymptoms - Diarrhea, Abdominal Cramps, Nausea    Microbe - Campylobacter jejuni Affiliated Foods - Raw Chicken, Unpasteurized Milk, Non-chlorinated WaterDiseases - B. cereus CampylobacteriosisSymptoms - Diarrhea, Abdominal Cramps, Nausea and Fever, Headache and Muscle Pain    Microbe - Clostridium botulinum Affiliated Foods - Canned Foods Including: Vegetables, Meats, and SoupsDiseases - Foodborne BotulismSymptoms - Weakness, Double Vision and Vertigo, Difficulty in Speaking, Swallowing, and Breathing, Constipation    Microbe - Clostridium perfringens Affiliated Foods - Non-refrigerated Prepared Foods: Meats and Meat Products, GravyDiseases - Perfringens Food PoisoningSymptoms - Severe Abdominal Cramps, Diarrhea    Microbe - Escherichia coli O157:H7Affiliated Foods - Undercooked Meats, Raw Ground BeefDiseases - Hemorrhagic colitisSymptoms - Severe Abdominal Pain, Watery and Bloody Diarrhea, Vomiting    Microbe - Listeria monocytogenes Affiliated Foods - Dairy Products, Raw Vegetables, Raw Meats, Smoked FishDiseases - ListeriosisSymptoms - Flu-like Symptoms, Persistent Fever, Nausea and Vomiting, Diarrhea    Microbe - Salmonella spp. Affiliated Foods - Poultry and Eggs, Milk and Dairy Products, Raw Meats, Fish, Shrimp, Peanut ButterDiseases - SalmonellosisSymptoms - Nausea, Vomiting, Abdominal Pain, Fever, Headache, Diarrhea    Microbe - Shigella spp Affiliated Foods - Poultry, Milk and Dairy Products, Raw Vegetables, Fecally contaminated water, Salads: Potato, Chicken, Tuna, ShrimpDiseases - ShigellosisSymptoms - Diarrhea, Abdominal Pain, Fever, Vomiting, Blood or Mucus in Stool    Microbe - Staphylococcus aureus Affiliated Foods - Poultry and Egg Products, Meat Products, Dairy ProductsDiseases - Staphyloenterotoxicosis, StaphyloenterotoxemiaSymptoms - Abdominal Cramping, Nausea and Vomiting, Prostration    Microbe - Vibrio cholerae Affiliated Foods - Contaminated Water, ShellfishDiseases - CholeraSymptoms - Watery Diarrhea, Abdominal Pain, Dehydration, Vomiting, Shock For additional information on bacteria, food poisoning, and foodborne diseases, take a look at the Bad Bug Book. Again, the single most important thing you can do to prevent foodborne illness is to keep your environment clean when preparing food. This includes washing your hands with soap and water and sanitizing utensils and counter tops. In addition, it is vital that you cook meats thoroughly to ensure that germs are killed.