Mildred Pierce Summary, Character Analysis, and Opinion :: essays research papers

Summary: Mildred Pierce, by James M. Cain, begins in pre-Depression California, and ends during World War II times, also in California. The main character, Mildred Pierce, is a very attractive housewife of 29, raising two daughters, Ray and Veda. Although Mildred loves both her daughters, Veda is a particular obsession with Mildred. She constantly slaves away throughout the novel to do whatever she can to make Veda happy, despite the constant abuse and deception Veda inflicts upon Mildred. After a divorce from her first husband, Bert, in the opening pages of the novel, Mildred is forced to sacrifice her pride and become a waitress in order to support her family. If Veda were ever to find out, she would be appalled; a constantly recurring theme throughout this story is Veda’s pride and arrogance, and her condemnation of jobs she deems to be menial. Mildred’s main goal is to nurture Veda’s musical talents, and manages to pay for expensive music lessons from her meager salar ies as a waitress and pie baker. However, Mildred’s luck is soon to change, as she takes up with an attorney and former partner of Bert, Wally. Mildred is able to use Wally’s business and real estate savvy to build a restaurant out of a deserted model home, and from there create a thriving chain of three food businesses. After becoming bored with Wally, however, Mildred craves a relationship with another man, a prestigious local man named Monty. Veda highly approves of her mother’s choice, as this makes her feel as if she too were more prestigious and affluent, despite having misgivings about her mother still being so low as to have an average, pedestrian job. All seems to be going well; even through Veda’s constant demands and tantrums, she still gets everything she wants, and Mildred and Monty are happy. Monty, however, falls on hard times with the coming of the Great Depression, and he constantly mooches off of Mildred’s affluence, making it a s truggle for Mildred to cater to Veda’s every whim. Mildred soon dumps Monty to focus on making Veda a musical prodigy; this fails, however, when Veda is told that her piano is not up to par from a local famous music teacher. After Veda recovers from this shock, she explores the opportunities offered by an acting career, and begins to spin more webs of deception and selfishness. After Veda forces money out of a local rich family, lying and claiming their son got her pregnant, Mildred and Veda have a major argument, and Veda disowns her mother.

Invisible Man Essay: Values of the Invisible Man -- Invisible Man Essa

Values of the Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is the story of an educated black man who has been oppressed and controlled by white men throughout his life. As the narrator, he is nameless throughout the novel as he journeys from the South, where he studies at an all-black college, to Harlem where he joins a Communist-like party known as the Brotherhood. Throughout the novel, the narrator is on a search for his true identity. Several letters are given to him by outsiders that provide him with a role: student, patient, and a member of the Brotherhood. One by one he discards these as he continues to grow closer to the sense of his true self. As the novel ends, he decides to hide in an abandoned cellar, plotting to undermine the whites. The entire story can be summed up when the narrator says "I'm an invisible man and it placed me in a hole- or showed me the hole I was in...." During the novel, the narrator comes to value several intangibles that eventually help to shape his identity. Throu gh his experiences and the people he has met, the narrator discovers the important value of his education, his invisibility, and his grandfather's advice.    From the very beginning of the novel the narrator values his education. His education first brings him a calfskin briefcase, when the superintendent rewards him for his success, saying "Take this prize and keep it well. Consider it a badge of office. Prize it. Keep developing as you are and some day it will be filled with important papers that will help shape the destiny of your people." The narrator treasures the briefcase so much because it symbolizes his education. He carries it throughout the whole novel, and it is the only object he takes into the cellar fro... ...ture and History. 1996 ed. Kelly, Robin D.G. "Communist Party of the United States." Encyclopaedia of African-American   Culture and History. 1996 ed.      Internet Sources: Bellow, Saul. "Man Underground" Review of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Commentary. June 1952. 1st December 1999<http://www.english.upeen.edu/~afilreis /50s/bellow-on-ellison.html Earl, Gerald. "Decoding Ralph Ellison" Essay obtained from IGC.org Summer '97. 30 November. <http://www.igc.org/dissent/archive/summer97/early.html Howe, Irving. "Black Boys and Native Sons" English Dept. at Univ. Penn. 1 December 1999 <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/howe-blackboys.html. Howe, Irving. "Review of: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man" Pub. The Nation. 10 May 1952. 30 November 1999. <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/howe-on-ellison.html.   

Distractions: Classroom and Facebook Essay

Electronics is one of the main and worst distractions. Cell phones, laptops, desktop, and various other electronics are some of just a few distractions that take place in the class room, But the biggest one I think is laptops. People use laptops in the classroom to take notes, plan there day, and to do work on, but after a while it can those same usefulness can become a distraction. A lot of professors and instructors have decided to ban laptops from the classroom because people tend to lose focus with laptops in front of them. They start to go off and do other things like on Facebook or YouTube. This can become a big problem because they not paying attention so they don’t know what’s going on with the lesson which can affect what students might need to do for homework or what they need to study for that big test coming up. They not only are a distraction to the person using it but also a distraction to people around them. The typing may become annoying to a neighbor who may need to focus. Some professors find them a really distracting the typing and students seem to find more interest in the computer then in the lesson. Along with Cell phones, Laptops are becoming banned from classrooms due to the distraction to the person that uses them, their peers, and their professor. Laptops are just one of many distractions in the classroom and is one of the worst and main distractions along with cell phones and various other electronics that cause distractions.

Alvin Ailey Contextualisation Essay

Ailey used his culture and many childhood memories to base his choreography on. Church and worship played a huge role in the lives of black Americans and was the center of Ailey’s community. â€Å"The exuberance and poignancy of the black experience are well served in Ailey’s splendid. â€Å"The church was always very important, very theatrical, very intense. The life that went on there and the music made a great impression on me. † (A. P Bailey 1997 pg. 8) He grew up in Texas in the 1930s with both racial segregation and the economy being big problems of the time. â€Å"Black lives were as peaceful and secure as racism and poverty would allow. (Dunning, 1996) â€Å"In those days black people were forced into certain sections of the town†¦you couldn’t buy a house in other sections of the town, so you had to go to schools that were essentially segregated’’. In spite of the miserable living conditions   Ailey’s community and others alike were joyful in church and the drew drop inn which was where all the adults used to go on Saturday nights to dance to the blaring juke box. The dew drop inn was a rough place to be. My mother was in there, and everybody was doing what they considered to be the nasty dances†¦many of the same people who went to dew drop inn on a Saturday night went to church on a Sunday morning. In dance I deal with these two very different worlds: Blues suite and revelations. † (A. P Bailey 1997 pg23) At the age of 12 Ailey joined his mother in Los Angeles where she was to work as cleaner for a wealthy white family â€Å"I remember very well seeing my mother on her knees scrubbing these white folks’ rooms and halls. That image is in my ballet cry† (A. P Bailey 1997pg32) Here he experienced the theatre and heard the music of Duke Ellington for the first time, who’s music he later came to create a total of 14 dances to. Including The River’ â€Å"The River is a legendary collaboration between Ailey and Ellington†¦ was Ellington’s first symphonic score written specifically for dance†¦The legendary and highly acclaimed collaboration mirrors together the art forms beautifully. (http://www. exploredance. com/article. htm? id=1635) Creations of Two Masterful Artists, Alvin Ailey and Duke Ellington by Amber Henrie December 28, 2006. It was not until the 1940s that Ailey took a serious interest in dance, seeing the Dunham Company perform excited him in a way that nothing ever had before. Proving it to be a transcendent experience for him, he felt a connection with her and her dancers and was ‘lifted into another realm. I couldn’t believe there were black people on a legitimate stage†¦before largely white audiences†¦doing afro-Caribbean. Lester Horton not only inspired Ailey with his stylized technique and incredibly expressive movement but also in the way he offered his students a ‘complete education’ teaching them how to participate in all aspects of production from lighting and reading music to choosing the correct fabric for performances â€Å"He knew every fabric in the world and was extremely knowledgeable about color, design, dyeing and tailoring†¦I am still guided by Lester’s insistence that costumes must be made from extraordinary fabric† (A.P Bailey 1997 pg. 63) The Horton Technique focus’ on movements that lengthen the spine and the hamstring muscles with flat backs, lateral stretches, descending and ascending from the floor into horizontal positions, release swings, leg swings and deep lunges all of which appear in Ailey’s works regularly. Lester Horton has proved to be Ailey’s biggest influence; the similarities between the 2 choreographers are due to Ailey’s awe of Horton, his works and his attitude. As he just as Martha Graham had, had a mixed racial company â€Å"He realized that you have to use the best dancers regardless of color† (A. P Bailey 1997 Pg. 60) All of the above stylistic features are seen in works of Ailey’s such as Revelations, Cry and Witness to name a few. Each using deep plies and stunning lines to create interesting and meaningful viewing, using a combination of modern dance with jazz and classical ballet. Each with a meaning and a message to its audiences worldwide. Ailey (cited by De Frantz) said From his roots as a slave, the American Negro – sometimes sorrowing, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful – has created a legacy†¦ which have touched, illuminated and influenced the most remote preserves of world civilisation†¦ We bring you the exuberance of jazz, the ecstasy of his spirituals and the dark rapture of his blues. † Yet while Ailey drew lots of his choreography from his ‘blood memories’ he did create plot less works too, making more use of ballet technique which can be seen in Streams. After Lester Horton’s death, Ailey founded his own company and had great success that still lives to this day; he and his company toured worldwide and were awarded with numerous honours before settling In New York. Yet Thomas F DeFrantz (2004) said the unasked question, implicit in dozens of feature articles and reviews, seemed to be: how could a gay black man from dirt-poor. Rural, depression-era Texas, with limited dance training and no college degree found and run the most successful modern dance company in the idiom’s history?

The Story A View From The Bridge Film Studies Essay

Arthur Miller was a good cat he was a affluent concern adult male who inherited his male parent ‘s concern a adult female ‘s vesture store. Before a position from a span was written there was another drama called â€Å" the adult male who had all the fortune † this was a large hit in the theater, so large that it won the national theater award in 1940. His existent large interruption was in 1956 when he wrote a position from a span. The narrative â€Å" a position from the span † is set in a topographic point in New York called â€Å" Red hook † the full narrative is narrated by a adult male called Alfieri it is ill-defined who he is in my ain personal sentiment I think that he is person who watched over the narrative take topographic point like a falcon watching its quarry. But in the narrative it is now clear to me Alfieri is the attorney of the narrative. The existent topographic point where the narrative is set is by the docks near Broker Bridge the docks are wear all illegal immigrants flee in to the state from the boats at the clip the great depression was taking topographic point. The chief characters that are in the drama are: Eddie is Italian American and he is married to his married woman called Beatrice and Eddie has an orphaned niece called Catherin. Eddie is a truly nice household cat. Eddie ‘s usage of linguistic communication is informal he speaks Brooklyn slang and he is non educated. Beatrice is a common jurisprudence married woman to Eddie and he has an orphaned niece called Catherin she has a really happy relationship with Eddie and they both live merrily together Rodolfo is the immature good looking individual blonde she is an illegal immigrant to the state. CatherineA is the niece of Eddie Carbone and Beatrice. Catherine is a beautiful, smart, immature Italian miss who is really popular among the male childs in the community. MarcoA who is the cousin of Beatrice, Marco comes to the U.S. to work and do money to direct back to his married woman and kids in Italy. Marco is a difficult working Italian adult male. Marco ‘s usage of linguistic communication is in broken he speaks broken English These are non all the characters within the drama these are merely the chief 1s who make the narrative. The overall temper of the characters within the narrative â€Å" A position from a span â€Å" is really unagitated and relaxed within the first Acts of the Apostless but deeper into the narrative, flooring events take topographic point and everybody ‘s temper alterations into a more serious tone. The author has showed each characters droping towards each other are altering. â€Å" I want my name! I want regard. † Eddie ‘s demanding nature leads to him and Marco contending this shows how thing are traveling on in a bad manner. But every bit long as you owe them money, they ‘ll acquire plentifulness of work done † this is another scene where Rodolfo is egger to get down work this is another illustration of how the characters temper is come oning e.g. Eddie contending with the Italian community which are like Mafia. And Rodolfo off the boat and ready to work. The manner the narrative unfolds is when Catherin decides to get married Rodolpho. Eddie is really disapproves of this. So he goes to the great extent of describing him to US in-migration governments. He besides gets his attorneies involved in the instance so that the happy twosome do non get married, he truly did non desire them to be together he went to such great extent to do certain that they do non get married. â€Å" This is my last word, Eddie, take it or non, that ‘s your concern. Morally and lawfully you have no rights, you can non halt it ; she is a free agent † this is where Eddie is told about the matrimony and is told there is nil he could make about it, this brings bad tempers in to the scene and besides bad emotions are get downing to be created. There is a subject emerging out from all play and action taking topographic point and that subject is illegal immigrants because the new cats to New York think they can run this town tonight. But it ‘s non traveling to go on. As in the instance of Marco and Rodolfo they are new in town at the start of the narrative so subsequently on they want to acquire occupations. â€Å" He says we start tomorrow † this citation was by Rodolfo being eggar for her and Marco to get down doing money. Drama means in Grecian action and that ‘s what happened allot through the drama. Further on I will be speaking about the two dramatic scenes that take topographic point and how the emotions affect the scene. First the scene I have chosen is the portion in the drama where Marco shows Eddie how strong he is. â€Å" can you raise this chair said Eddie â€Å" from here â€Å" said Marco and Marco lifts the chair with one manus behind his dorsum, merely to demo how strong and manfully and tuff Marco truly is in forepart of Eddie. The emotions portrayed by the characters are sad and bad 1s like fright, perturbation and unhappiness. For my concluding scene I have chosen the most action packed scene in the full drama in my ain personal sentiment. It is the scene there is a battle taking topographic point non a shouting statement fight a existent battle with knifes and fists. You can see there is a fight brewing before it all boots ‘ off where Eddie is acquiring ready to contend Marco when he comes and Beatrice is stating material to Eddie like â€Å" I love you â€Å" and she says things like â€Å" The truth is non every bit bad as blood † as in stating Marco ‘s here do non acquire excessively angry Eddie, do non inquire for a battle merely inquire for the truth. Before the two work forces get ready to contend Rodolfo shows whose side she is on by running towards Marco. At this point the emotions created here are hatred ; the bad emotions are created by Eddie because Rodolfo chose to travel and stand by Marco. The consequence it had on Eddie was non good because ended up in fall backing to force. After a small slap talk to each other Marco work stoppages out at Eddie, Marco goes for a cervix shooting â€Å" Marco work stoppages Eddie beside the cervix â€Å" . Then the flood tide comes Eddie goes to stab Marco, Marco catches the dip and spins the knife about and goes for Eddie. Louis tries to interrupt so up but it was unhappily excessively late. Eddie has been stabbed. â€Å" Anima-a-al † screamed by Marco after he stabbed. At this point the temper, background and consequence all alterations. The usage of linguistic communication with in this dramatic scene is informal because Marco screened â€Å" anima-a-al † this show that the usage of linguistic communication within this scene is informal. All in all one think arther Miller has portrayed first-class emotions and used good imagination to convey the narrative to life By kiran Patel

Nutrition Month Essay

â€Å"Health is wealth,† is the clichà © this time of year not only in SMAD, but in the whole country as we celebrate Nutrition Month. The reason we celebrate Nutrition Month is to remind ourselves that being healthy is very important and that if we love ourselves, we should love our body that is by practicing good health habits. This year’s Nutrition Month’s theme is â€Å"Pagkain ng gulay, ugaliin, araw-araw itong ihain.† With this theme in mind, we Marisians understand from our early lectures from as early as Nursery that eating healthy everyday is a great investment for our future. If we eat healthy everyday is a great investment for our future. If we eat healthy, which means having a balanced diet, together with regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle, we surely will get to enjoy our body’s future to the fullest. Who wants to be unhealthy when they’re old anyway? Well, enough of the yadda yadda that we hear every day. Let’s face itm we can’t resist junkfood. Its taste, smell and the crispness is like a symphony to our teenage ears. It’s even sold in our school cafeteria for crying out loud! We already know all the sodium, salt, MSG and whatnot that is in those perfectly plastic packed goodies but still, we consume them. We already know all the health hazards the little tasty crisps possess but still, we love them. Even if it has the word ‘junk’ in its name, we still eat them. The question I ask all the readers of this essay is this: How can we control this craving?! Clearly, this seems like the most suitable question, given our situation. The answer is: SELF-DISCIPLINE. If we really value our body and its future, then we’d already stop from consuming those cheap and unhealthy pieces of evil. If we really cared, then we’d stop wasting our money buying the kinds of food that will hinder us from our full potential as healthy human beings. Once we discipline ourselves, not just in abstaining from eating junk food, we’ll become better people for our own sake and for the people around us. This is where the theme comes back into our minds. Instead of eating junk, why not eat something healthier and most of the time, cheaper? Fruits and veggies are our bodies’ best friends. Once we make eating them a daily habit, you’ll see that our bodies will be better, stronger and much more awesome than its previous self. Don’t forget the other food that’ll also help us maintain our awesome body like lean meats and such. Having a healthy lifestyle is something all of us should have whether young or old. It’s also very important of our bodies because aside from the fact that it is our own, God gve us our bodies for us to nurture and take care of and when we have a fit body, we’re able to carry out our mission that was given to us from Him. So, vegetable or junk? Surely you’d want something that isn’t trash. Beginning today, let’s be healthy, eat healthy and stay healthy. Being healthy is one of the best solutions to live happy. So, if you want to live a happy and care-free life, as you grow older, live and eat healthy!

Theology Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Theology - Term Paper Example It involves celebrating Gods revelation to humanity through Christ. The Second Advent is characterized by scriptural references with themes majorly inclined to being accountable during his second coming. Judgment of sin and hope of everlasting life is given preeminence in the Second Advent. Advent has deep-rooted focus in the past and the coming future. It is characterized by great symbolism that refers to spiritual journey of individuals and utmost the congregation. The congregation celebrating the advent should be encouraged to do so with hope, anticipation and a spirit of longingnes.They should yearn for deliverance from temptations and evils of the universe. The advent service should start by deliverance to resemble the Israelites who wept out to God to deliver them from bondage in Egypt. The cry of the faithful should rest in the fact that, there is still future hope for deliverance despite being part of a world full of sin and exploitation. The hope by the faithful fills them w ith anticipation that in the near future; a Just King will come whose rule will be marked by righteousness. Themes on anticipation that signifies a new dawn with the royalty of the anointed are to be included in the service. The introduction part of the advent service begins with a song. The song must be relevant to the season and introduce the theme. Songs related to the scriptural readings of the day should be encouraged. ... At this stage, reconciliation is encouraged among the Faithfulls, which signifies that the Christ who is to be born is a prince of peace, and he will bring peace on earth. In the liturgy of the scripture or the word as it is sometimes known, one or even more verses from the scripture are read. The reading can come from the book of psalms. Duration of silence would be observed accompanied by reading from the bible to allow the word to be well understood by the congregation. Preferably in the case of one reading, a verse from the gospels should be read. In liturgy of reconciliation, the minister opens a reconciliatory statement then the congregation joins in. The congregation confesses their sins and prays for those who have wronged them. Musical instruments and the tunes they play should match with the theme of the season. Musical instruments play a great role as they focus thoughts of the congregation on the main theme of the day. A prayer of thanks giving should conclude the Advent service. The prayer gives gratitude to God for His constant love and redemption. The priest concludes the service by blessing the congregation. Words of Gods constant love, care, and protection dominate the blessings. The priest then ends the service by releasing the gathering. He proclaims Gods peace on the congregation. In Barth’s shoes, the advent session service would be a period of fasting and repentance of sins. The service would derive its concept from that of Lent season. When fasting, the congregation is expected to anticipate for good things in future when Christ comes. This should happen even though the return of the Messiah in both Judaism and the Old Testament shows no connection with the aspect of remembering sins. On the contrary, it was marked by