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. The movie uses features of Japanese samu rai films such asRead MoreMaster Filmaker Akira Kurosawa1250 Words   |  5 PagesAkira Kurosawa As the first Japanese film director with international notoriety, Akira Kurosawa had a reputation as an artist and scholar that was tremendously admired. In addition he had remarkable stylistic influence on international filmmaking. Many who are interested in films or filmmaking are deeply impressed by the level of Kurosawas vision and his numerous film achievements. Also, the universal themes of ethics; and the humanism of Akira Kurosawas films made him a fantastic representationRead MoreAnalysis Of Akira Kurosawa ( 1910-1998 )1411 Words   |  6 Pagesone of Japan’s most important film directors of the twentieth century. His work spanned over fifty years and included a broad range of genres from historical epics to gangster dramas. His films not only told interesting stories but also broke new ground. Many of his innovations were technical, such as his use of the long lens, his penchant for shooting with multiple cameras, and his virtuosic editing. Other innovations were tied to his emphasis on details within his films, such as elaborate period costumesRead MoreEssay about ShinichirÃ…  Watanabe: Genre Mixing at Its Best1375 Words   |  6 Pagesfirst aired in 2004 (about five years after Cowboy Bebop last aired), Samurai Champloo can also be recognized as another one of Watanabe’s â€Å"masterpieces†. Even though he uses the same style as a basis to craft both Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, each show brings a completely different experience. What makes them unique from other anime is an element that can be known as â€Å"genre mixing†. How Watanabe mixes genres between Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop will be analyzed and compared to get a betterRead MoreEssay on Why Star Wars was such a Ground Breaking Movie1404 Words   |  6 PagesWars’ is a science fiction film, a science fiction includes new world and civilisations that are discovered and aliens are featured in a lot of science fiction films, the setting of the films are usually set in the future and where the world is in danger. There are some characters that are computer generated and they sue special effects for fighting scenes when they use lasers. These are some of the things that are included in that particular genre. The plot of ‘Star Wars’Read MoreComparison Of Kurosawa s Yojimbo And Leone s Fistful Of Dollars1849 Words   |  8 PagesProfessor: Priya Jaikumar Due: Oct 8th, 2014 Films: Yojimba, Akira Kurasawa (dir.) 1961, Japan (Viewed Sept 17, 2014) Fistful of Dollars, Serge Leone (dir.) 1964, Italy. (Viewed Oct 1, 2014) This essay is based on films of the same story, told in different ways, with emphasis, themes, meaning and interpretation shaped or shaded by the situation of the storyteller; the cinematic mise-en-scene. Based on the same story, the films reveal and reflect the film-maker’s social norms and views, emerging fromRead MoreHollywood Is Like A Battle1094 Words   |  5 Pagesduring the 60’s, which was a time when there were no Asian actors in Hollywood. Well how else do you explain this inexcusable case of yellowface (a white person wearing makeup to look like an Asian)? The film has Rooney portraying an Asian landlord with false teeth, squinty eyes, and an outrageous Japanese accent (The Moviefone Blog). Fast forward to the present, now Asian actors and actresses are grossly underrepresented in movies, usually being set as extras or supporting characters. I am sure none ofRead MoreThe Journey Of Taking Film986 Words   |  4 Pagesjourney of taking Film 1 has been very e ye opening when it comes to analyzing film. I myself have always been a very harsh movie critic, however through taking Film I have been exposed to many different art styles of film. Resulting in me being more appreciative of different genres of film. Although my knowledge and criticism of films have matured throughout taking this course, there is still one director that I find to be a level above the rest. With knowing Tarantino has worked on a film , the audienceRead MoreFilm Analysis – Kill Bill Vol. 1 Essay example2406 Words   |  10 PagesKill Bill Volume 1 is the first part in a series of two movies that was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. He never seems to tire of pointing out all the movies hes referenced, paid tribute to and been inspired by. In this film analysis, I will describe all the movies that have influenced him and show up in Kill Bill. I will also describe some of the cinematography and how it made the movie stand out. Quentin Tarantino’s movies have a very different, unique feel than the perceived â€Å"normal†Read MoreSeven Samurai And Magnificent Seven Film Analysis1821 Words   |  8 PagesComparative analysis between Seven Samurai and Magnificent Seven Introduction: Seven Samurai a 1954 classic, critically acclaimed as one of the greatest films and has been a notable reference point for reworked films of this genre. In succession with one of the more notable remakes, the 1960 version of the Magnificent Seven, leading through to the current version in 2016. The Magnificent Seven aired in cinema recently and was not the first time an adaptation of Seven Samurai has been re booted. In theory

Essay Grief and Bereavement in The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-agers talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adults reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to. If there are 785 instances of profanity in the book, I contend there are well over a hundred scenes where Holden used the word depressed. DAmbrosio presents this same thought saying, It should be obvious by now that I dont see The Catcher in the Rye as†¦show more content†¦He believes that there is something in Salingers own life that is being portrayed through the character Holden. Ambrosio does not believe that this is a coming-of-age, or the anxious life of a teen-ager story. Instead, he believes the story is a search for a disturbing and extreme loss of identity. The book is, he claims, All about suicide and silence(31). I found Ambrosios correlations to be very telling and supportive of my thesis. Early in Salingers life, he faced one the cultural illnesses widespread in the North Eastern states of America. It was the virulent disease of anti-Semitism. Salinger lived in New York City, where he was raised as the son of Jewish parents. The 1920s and 1930s were a time in America when Anti-Semitism was written into the policies of many institutions. His heritage automatically deprived him from attending the best colleges: Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth. He was prevented from belonging to certain social clubs, from certain professions, and from the rank of officer in the U. S. Military. Reporters and editors, trying to interview Salinger about his early life, ran into a prickly silent wall. Margaret, his daughter reveals why. During the Depression and World War 11, from 1939 to 1945, anti Semitism was at its peak. Jews met a wall of discrimination at colleges, clubs, and career opportunities. Prior to 1948, it was not uncommonShow MoreRelatedCharacteristics Of Holden Caulfield1716 Words   |  7 Pages‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a classic novel set in the 1950’s. Holden Caulfield is a young 16 year old boy walking through life, hardships, and criticism towards life. Throughout Holden’s story, his odd behavior is displayed in a manner which opens the readers’ eyes to an entirely new persona. One that sees the worst in everything, one that doesn’t see the reality of things, a mind unable to decipher the beauty which the world holds within. Through his behavior and thoughts, the reader is led to

Dyslexi A Learning Disability Characterized By Difficulty

Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by difficulty in reading fluently, as well as comprehending what is read, even in the absence of any other disabilities and with a normal IQ. There are several categories in which individuals with dyslexia may have trouble, such as language skills, phonological decoding and awareness, verbal comprehension, rapid naming, processing, and auditory short-term memory. One factor that stands out with dyslexia and one that causes a lot of controversy is the definition. These can include symptoms-based definitions, other problems that lead to literacy difficulties, and a working definition agreed upon by the Health Council of the Netherlands, which states â€Å" Dyslexia is present when the automatization of word identification (reading) and/or spelling does not develop or does so very incompletely or with great difficulty.† (Smythe, 2011) This definition provides a broad explanation that does not touch on specific causes and avoids any stigmatizing language in order to better serve those affected with dyslexia. The etiology of dyslexia is vast and varied. Although the fact that it is neurological is well-known, several causes can be attributed to it, such as environmental, cognitive, behavioral, and biological reasons. Dyslexia can also be acquired, which means it can appear later in life. Because of this, there are debates within the scientific community, with research being performed such as brain scans and other procedures to

A New Framework For Managing Change

Question: Discuss about a Report on A New Framework For Managing Change? Answer: In the year 2003, on the 18th of July, the cabin crews of British Airways called out a 24 hours strike. This strike was known as the Wildcat strike, where almost 10,000 passengers suffered from this strike at the Heathrow Airport in London. Interestingly the trade unions was not involved in this strike; but 250 cabin crew walked out, during a peak holiday season. The situation became so worse that the British Airways (BA) had to call the police and also have to set up a tent outside the airport. For this incident, the BA was deeply criticized, especially by the American passengers who were flying to the United States that day. After 24 hours on Saturday, the cabin crew returned to work but the effect of the strike was still there. On the 21st of July, that is on the Monday BA reported that over 1,000 passengers had canceled their services, as a result of this crime. The BA faced a set back because of this strike; it face a loss almost 40 million pounds. This loss was faced at post 9/ 11 era when major events like the Iraq war and the SARs attacks were taking place in the world. The BA later declared they have lost almost 100,000 customers. There was a dispute between the BA management and the cabin crews because the BA introduced a new electronic clock in the system; this was introduced to record the attendance of the cabin crew; to record the time when they come in for the work and the time when they leave the workplace. The staff, on the other hand, did not accept this system because they thought with this new system the managers were now given the power to manipulate both their shifts and the work. BA again thought that it will modernize the whole system and improve the efficient staffs as well as the resources. Things were not so, the result of this modernization was loss or cut of many cabin crews. Almost 13,000 cabin crews lost their job and the BA always suffered because of the shortage of ground staff. According to some writers, workers felt that they were not given enough respect for the work done by them. The result of this new system was the strike held by the cabin crew on July 18. The BA on the 23rd of Jul y has a conversation with the unions and agreed to the 3% hike in the salary of the workers, and delayed the swipe card operational system till the 1st of September. According to Bergin (2015), a change in the organizational sector will affect or influence four different parts of an organization. The four different parts are structured, strategy, technology, and employee. Thus when an organizational leader is taking a decision to bring in a change, then the leader has to be very careful. Most of the time, most of the employees could not take the change in an organizational sector in a positive way because it was not communicated to them properly. There is an improvement in the communication says in the last few years, and thus now it has become easier for the organizations to communicate with their employees in the proper way. The organizational leaders should be able to convince the employees that the organizational change will enhance their skill; this will encourage the employees to accept the change in the organizational sector in a positive way. In this case, BA introduces the transformational change to compete in the present business enviro nment, and their words were not communicated in the right way to the cabin crews. According to Keenan (2005), managers in an organization often ignore those people who could bring in the relevant and innovative change in an organization, at the local level. These people can go beyond their job criteria and work for the organizations. Organizational changes in an organization will be accepted by the employees if three things are in balance. These three things are strong teamwork, leadership, and the bureaucratic system. The business environment is hyper-competitive; thus Palmer and Dunford are of the opinion that most of the time these sectors have the structural changes to cope up in this competitive market. The organizational sector most of the time, regard the changes as reorientation transformation that will help them to cope in this competitive business environment. Changes on the other hand in the organizational sector should regard it as robust transformation; that will bring in equilibrium between the management and employees. This equilibrium was not there between the cabin crews and the management of the BA. References Oakland, J.S. Tanner, S.J. (2007) 'A New Framework For Managing Change', TQM Magazine, 19 (6), pp.572-589, [Online]. Keenan, H. (2005). 'The hard side of change management'. Managing organizational change: a multiple perspective approach. (2009). . Werkman, R. (2010). Reinventing Organization Development: How a Sensemaking Perspective Can Enrich OD Theories and Interventions. Journal of Change Management, 10(4), pp.421-438.

Suicidal Mind Essays - Borderline Personality Disorder,

Suicidal Mind I havent read any books on suicide before. So I thought this book was pretty interesting and it gave me a lot of good information on suicide. This book made me realize that there are many commonalities between suicidal people. The states that the common emotion in suicide is hopelessness-helplessness. Dr. Shneidman concludes that the best way to understanding suicide is not through the study of the brain structure, nor study of social statistics and mental disease, but through the study of human emotions. Dr. Shneidman believes that those persons who commit suicide do so to either put a side or to stop unbearable psychological pain, due to the constant frustration for important psychological needs. The psychological needs that Dr. Shneidam mentions, were first described by Henry A Murray in Explorations in Personality (1938). According to Dr. Shneidman, suicides are partially part to one of the five number of frustrated psychological needs: (1) prevented love, acceptance, and belonging: (2) fractured control, and predictability: (3) assaulted self-image and avoidance or shame: (4) ruptured key relationships and attendant grief: (5) excessive anger, rage and hostility. Suicide isnt so much a factor of the psychological needs but frustration caused by basic needs for that person to function. In general a therapists or psychotherapists goal. Is to recognize a suicidal patients needs. So the therapist can help the patient see the other alternatives instead of suicide. Dr. Shneidman uses three cases from the files of a UCLA thanatologist. That showed, that killing ones self is not easy. The first case is about a lady called Ariel Page 2 Wilson, who chose self-immolation, but survived with really bad burns on her body. Ariels central need was succorance, the need to be taken care of, loved and succored. In the second case is a lady called Beatrice, who wrote out her life story while she was Dr. Shneidmans patient. Her method of suicide was knives and starvation. She was a very different case to Ariel Wilson. Beatrice had a great need for order, sanctuary, and a world that she could depend on, but what mostly showed of her intense need was how she was born with fear and anxiety. For example she would reject other people before they might possibly reject her. Its still unclear whether she has stopped her attempts at suicide. Castro the third patient was unable to speak since he had no more face after attempting to blow his brains out. Castro suffered from constriction, isolation, confused logic, and profound hopelessness. All three cases had different psychological needs and helped me understand why basic needs for peo ple are so important. I found that this book was interesting. I thought book was kinda sad at times cause some of the cases that were shown and the people wrote was depressing. But to honest I wish I did a report that I could relate more to me. Cause Ive never thought of committing and dont know anyone suicidal or who has already committed suicide. But this book did let me have a different perspective on suicidal people. This book answered my questions on suicide. Why do people commit suicide? Suicidal people usually are suffering from emotional problems. The frustration of psychological needs is what leads them to killing themselves. The book also said that everyone at least once in their lives thought about committing suicide. Book Reports