A Christmas Carol Essay Example for Free

A Christmas Carol Essay Explore how Dickens emphasises the importance of children and family relationships in A Christmas Carol In the novel A Christmas Carol the atmosphere I receive from the book shows me that dickens cares deeply about children. There are many aspects of when Charles Dickens emphasises the importance of children and family in A Christmas Carol. There are A lot of scenes that show this: the first cratchit scene (pages 37-42) which is the main one, belle and her family (pages 29-30) and scrooge living at his school and his sister coming back (pages 21-23). First I will talk about the cratchit scene. It shows the cratchits celebrating Christmas. Dickens says, Heres Martha mother! , this helps to create an atmosphere of warmth and love. It works because of the explanation mark, it makes it seem that all the children are overjoyed about playing the joke on Mrs Cratchet. On the scene with the goose, Dickens uses the phrase, Universal admiration, to describe how the family feel about the goose. It shows that even though they havent got a real turkey they dont take anything for granted. The phrase implies that the whole universe admires it but in reality its just an average goose. The quote Bobs voice was tremulous when he told them this and trembled more, Tiny Tim is growing strong and hearty, is very ironic because Tiny Tim wasnt growing strong and hearty, this shows that Bob was always trying to look on the brightside of things, his main priority was to keep the family happy. The family mean the world to each other and they are trying to make it a Christmas to remember. After they had eaten the goose Mrs Cratchet was ready to give out the pudding, she was terrified it wouldnt be acceptable, Suppose it should not be good enough,Suppose it break turning out. Mrs Cratchet was going through every bad possibility, she was so nervous. Although it was a little small it never crept into any of the familys head that there wasnt enough. When Bob Cratchet told her that it was the biggest triumpth since there marriage she replied, Now the weight is off my mind, She was delighted that it was a success! In the scene with Scrooge living at school and his sister coming back Dickens shows how your childhood can be so important. Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be. Scrooge was a very mean man and I feel that it was soley to do with his child hood, he wasnt short of luxurys but he was very lonely and he needed family. Scrooge obviously wasnt always a mean and a spiteful person, because whilst he is seeing all of his past he is experiencing a lot of feelings of how he used to be and what he had turned into. Scrooge has now realised what he has become, this is all because of his childhood. He said, There was a boy singing A Christmas Carol at my door last night, I should like to of givien him something. Scrooges childhood was so important for him because if his childhood had been different in anyway, for example; getting attention from his parents or feeling loved, he could of have been a totally different man. Before the ghost had shown Scrooge his chidhood or peoples familys he would not have given that Carol singer a second thought. ` In the scene with Belle and her family Dicken emphasises the importance of children and family by expressing how scrooge wants to be one of them. Scrooge said what would I not have given to be one of them! As a child scrooge was not allowed to have the fun and lafter that the children in this scene had, he was very enveous of the children, he wished he could of grown up in this family. He also said I should have dearly liked, i own,to have touched her lips or to have let loose waves of hair, i do confess to have the lightest license of a child. He so longed for frivolous childhood. To conclude I think that Dickens makes his readers aware of the importance of children and family by showing how Scrooge changes after seeing his and then other peoples childhood. The Cratchets show how they are so close and all pull together in good or bad times. The scene with Scrooge living at school and his sister coming back helps Scrooge realise what he had become as a result of his upbringing. The scene with Belle and her family show how much Scrooge envied a fun and happy childhood, to able to lark about and have games in a relaxed atmosphere. I feel that Dickens was a keen admirer of children and it was fitting how Tiny Tim ended the novel by sayin god bless us everyone!

Futile Dreams of Escape in The Glass Menagerie :: Glass Menagerie essays

Futile Dreams of Escape in The Glass Menagerie      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "I have always been more interested in creating a character that contains something crippled. I think nearly all of us have some kind of defect, anyway, and I suppose I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge on hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person" (Rasky 134). This statement of Tennessee Williams supports the idea that he incorporates something crippled into all his major characters.   In his play, The Glass Menagerie, Williams portrays a crippling mother and child relationship. He clearly illustrates that none of the characters are capable of living in the present. The characters believe that happiness will be found in their repeated quests for escape from the real world. As such, they retreat into their separate worlds to escape life's brutalities.    Set in Depression-era St. Louis, the overbearing Southern ex-charmer, Amanda Wingfield is the de facto head of the household. A former Southern belle, Amanda is a single mother who behaves as though she still is the high school beauty queen. Williams' still-resonant study reveals her desperate struggle with the forces of fate against her dysfunctional relationship that looms and grows among her adult children. (Gist)    Laura, Amanda, Tom, and Jim resort to various escape mechanisms to avoid reality. Laura, fearful of being denigrated as inferior by virtue of her innate inability to walk, is shy and detaches herself from the unfeeling modern world. Amanda tries every means to integrate her into society, but to no avail. She sends her to business school and invites a gentleman caller to dinner. She is both unable to cope with the contemporary world's mechanization represented by the speed test in typing and unable to make new acquaintances or friends due to her immense inhibition with people. Her life is humdrum and uneventful, yet it is full of dreams and inundated with memories. Whenever the outside world threatens Laura, she seeks solace and retreats to her glass animal world and old phonograph records. Amanda, her mother hints at the alternative of matrimony for fiasco in business careers and Laura "utters a startled, doubtful laugh. She reaches quickly for a piece of glass." (Williams, ). The gl ass menagerie becomes her tactile consolation.    The little glass ornaments represent Laura's self and characterize her fragility and delicate beauty.

The Culture at Starbucks

Organizational culture refers to â€Å"a system of shared meaning held by members [of an organization] that distinguishes [it] from other organizations† (Robbins, 2005). In other words, organizational culture is the collection of characteristics and qualities which the employees of an organizations or the organization as a whole, values and consequently seeks to preserve. Robbins 92005) put forward seven basic characteristics which make up an organizational culture. The first of these characteristics is innovation and risk taking which refers to how management allows their employees to take some amount of risk in order to introduce new approaches and methods of work.Second is attention to detail – which means that a company requires its workers to give their full attention to specifics and the fine points of their jobs, so to speak. The third characteristic of organizational culture is outcome orientation, which indicates that management is not very much into rules and procedures as long as the desired results are accomplished, followed by people orientation which refers to management’s concern with how managerial decisions affect their employees or even their customers base.This could be taken to mean that no matter how beneficial a decision might be for the organization if such a decision could prove harmful to its employees, it is most likely to be shelved. The fifth characteristic is team orientation – by this Robbins refers to how the organization organizes its activities around work teams instead of encouraging individualism among its employees.Aggressiveness, the sixth characteristic, on the other hand, means that management wants its employees to show aggressiveness because it gives premium to competition. Finally, the last characteristic of organizational culture is stability. Robbins uses this term to refer to the preference of management to keep things secure and steady, thereby sustaining the existing state of affairs as long as the organization is profitable. This is resorted to by companies who do not want to go all out for growth and expansion.The cultural characteristic at Starbucks which best appeals to me is the aggressiveness encouraged by management. For a growth-oriented individual, Starbucks is an attractive company to work for because undoubtedly it gives value to employee aggressiveness because it is essentially a growth company. As a matter of fact, aside from being the â€Å"first specialty coffee retailer† in the world, Starbucks has more than 8500 branches and franchises in 25 countries around the world (Tripp, L., Siwapiragam, V., Rahim, N., & Horton, E. (2005).Innovation and risk taking, team orientation, and attention to detail are the other characteristics that make the company appealing. The culture at Starbucks is customer-responsive. It hires service-oriented and friendly employees who are not bound by rigid customer relation rules. The low level of formalization observ ed by the company allows its employees to adjust to different kinds of customers who come from all walks of life.This practice could be called empowerment, permitting employees to do what they deem necessary in order to satisfy customer needs. In its customer-responsive culture, Starbucks employees are clearly conscientious in pleasing their customers and are willing to go out of their way just to satisfy the needs of their customers. (Robbins, 2005)Employees of Starbucks know just what is expected of them. The company wants them to satisfy their customers from the quality of their coffee and other products to the services that they provide. They are committed to this expectation and focus all their efforts in achieving it. This shows that the culture in the company is strong as it is characterized by a â€Å"high degree of sharedness and intensity creates an internal climate of high behavioral control.† This expectation, therefore, effectively shapes the behavior of Starbuck s employees. (Robbins, 2005)The Customer Base of StarbucksThe customer base of Starbucks could be described as people who go out to have their snacks or take a cup of coffee outside their homes for different reasons. They could generally be classified into two categories: those who usually hang out with friends to socialize over cups of coffee and slices of sandwiches and those who go out to celebrate special occasions or to treat their visitors and friends to something special. Notwithstanding their category, however, the customers of Starbucks value their money and would want to have their money’s worth – in terms of quality, cleanliness, and satisfactory customer service. It is the company’s primary objective, therefore, to meet all of these customer requirements.Customer Service Standards for StarbucksPeople who are going out for their favorite blend of coffee whether habitually or occasionally expect not only excellent coffee but commendable service in retu rn for their money. For Starbucks, therefore, customer service starts with its product. For this reason, the first concern that should be addressed by the company is product quality, specifically its coffee. It should therefore exert every effort to achieve the highest possible product quality at all times. Management could make this possible by exercising due diligence in ensuring that only excellent coffee beans are brewed. This is the only way to ensure that their customers keep coming back.After product quality, the company should take into account the problem of cleanliness and sanitation. The dining room, rest rooms, and kitchen should be immaculately clean. Customers should be fully convinced that they are being served with clean food prepared in a sanitary manner and handled only by sterile workers. To this end, it would be very effective if customers are allowed to observe how their coffee and sandwiches are being prepared by clean-cut and healthy-looking personnel. Custome rs also prefer to eat in clean surroundings. Starbucks management should therefore see to it that every item in the dining room – from the furniture to the tableware and cutlery – are spotlessly clean with no insects buzzing around while they eat.The final customer service concern should be the quality of service. The sales staff, the food servers, and the maintenance people should be in clean uniform and should convey an image of clean living and over-all health. It would not be advisable for management to employ people who look as if they are indulging in substance abuse during their spare time. Employees should likewise be courteous and polite at all times, making it mandatory for management to focus employee selection on these aspects.These standards are meant to capture customer confidence and establish a management-customer relationship based on trust. If customers are satisfied that management is doing everything in order to safeguard their health and well-being by preparing the food carefully and in a sanitary manner, providing them with a sterile dining area, manned by neat and courteous employees who see to their every need while dining, then the company should have achieved a good foundation for a profitable business.ReferenceRobbins, S.P. (2005). Organizational Behavior, Eleventh Edition. Prentice-Hall.Tripp, L., Siwapiragam, V., Rahim, N., & Horton, E. (2005). Project V – Industrial toInformation Model of an Enterprise. Retrieved September 7, 2007, from

Japanese Samurai Film Genre Essays - 616 Words

The Seven Samurai directed by Akira Kurosawa uses many film techniques and features of the Japanese samurai film genre to engage and influence the viewing audience. The Japanese samurai film genre focuses on the physical martial arts, and is very similar to American westerns. These films are usually set in the Tokugawa era and the main characters are samurai, or Ronin. The Seven Samurai is a stereotypical Japanese samurai movie set in the Tokugawa era about a village full of farmers who hire seven samurai to protect their village from a group of bandits. Kurosawa has used many features of a typical samurai film in The Seven Samurai such as the use of the katana, the samurai were usually clean cut and are seen as socially superior and that†¦show more content†¦In the film when the farmers are walking around the town looking for samurai to help their village it is easy for the farmers and also the viewing audience to tell the difference between the samurai and the peasants. Th e samurai walk around with pride, they have their chest up and are look above the crowd as if they should not be there with the peasants, and the peasants are hunched over looking at the floor. When the farmers go to the village in search of samurai, Rikichi, one of the farmers, gets down on his knees and begs for the samurai to help his village, many of the samurai just walked past him without blinking an eye, they should not be dealing with peasants, they are superior, they should be answering to lords not peasants. All samurai even Ronin are seen as socially superior and they act that way as well, most of them wouldn’t work for the farmers. The samurai thought they shouldn’t be employed by mere peasants and that they should work for lords and shoguns. Endings were usually described as bitter sweet as life goes on in the face of tragedy. This feature of the samurai film genre focuses on the end of the film, the endings are usually have someone or a number of important people die, the bitter part, but the main antagonist is also captured or killed, the sweet part. The ending of The Seven Samurai is seen as bitter sweet as the bandits die, and the village is saved howeverShow MoreRelated Japanese Samurai Film Genre Essay example600 Words   |  3 Pagesfeature film seven samurai uses aspects of Japanese samurai film genre to influence the viewing audience. The film directed by Akira Kurosawa, has a storyline of a lost samurai, responding to a villages appeal for defence against vicious bandits. The main character Kambei gathers another six samurai to help. They teach the peasants of the village to defend themselves, as the film climaxes into an epic fight of samurai, peasants and 40 bandits. 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