American Dream The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jamie Moran English 096 Professor Ludwig 10 November 2014 American Dream The ideal American Dream is that every citizen in the U.S. may have a promising future, happiness, a family, and health. Some reach the American Dream, and some settle for less. People who do not obtain any type of American Dream cannot truly be happy because their life is not truly fulfilled, which does not satisfy their ambition. Jay Gatsby, a young man who over came poverty, and achieved the ideal American Dream but fell in love with a young lady, is like a bow and arrow, his love from Daisy pushed him to achieve what he has now and did anything and everything he could to achieve what he wanted. In reality, most Americans settle for something other than what is promised to them. In the book The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, people did not notice that Jay Gatsby, a young man who over came poverty, and achieved the ideal American Dream but fell in love with a young lady, encompassed the idea of the American Dream. Many people thought Gatsby obtained the typical American Dream: money, luxury, and happiness, but Gatsby himself was not truly happy because he did not fully obtain what he wanted his American dream to be, which was to be with Daisy. In the Great Gatsby, happiness is not obtained, for many reasons. Everyone is suffocated by being wealthy, and competing with each other that they do not notice the consequences that lie ahead of them. Daisy was so blinded by luxury and wealth that she didShow MoreRelatedThe American Dream in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald1129 Words   |  5 Pageseconomy began to soar, and the notion of the American dream began to take effect. The American Dream is the idea that anyone can come from any background and no matter who they are, if they work hard and stay true to themselves, they can achieve their dreams. The Great Gatsby, set in the early twenties, displays that socio-economic power is obtained through inheritance, forming an aristocracy of power and wealth. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, demonstrates how geography and locationRead MoreThe American Dream in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald1082 Words   |  5 PagesThe 1920’s was a time of g reat change to both the country lived in as well as the goals and ambitions that were sought after by the average person. During this time, priorities shifted from family and religion to success and spontaneous living. The American dream, itself, changed into a self centered and ongoing personal goal that was the leading priority in most people’s lives. This new age of carelessness and naivety encompasses much of what this earlier period is remembered for. In additionRead More The American Dream in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald2776 Words   |  12 PagesIntroduction The â€Å"Great Gatsby† is a very twisted and convoluted novel which was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It has been written in late 1925, the characters in the novel focus upon a fictional town of West Egg. The plot of the story depends over the mystifying millionaire, Jay Gatsby, who has an impetuous enthusiasm for one of the most beautiful women in town, Daisy Buchanan. The theme of the novel focuses upon the American Dream that shares the experiences of the revival of the World WarRead MoreThe American Dream : F. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby1329 Words   |  6 PagesAn American Illusion After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was implemented in America, many immigrants from China, Japan, and India were stripped of their pursuit of the American Dream at Angel Island. The immigration station’s detainment of these rejected dreamers destroyed stories before they could happen. These stories of opportunity and the fulfillment of the American Dream make America what it is today. For instance, many immigrants today who are lucky enough to settle into America enterRead More Corruption of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald1438 Words   |  6 Pages Broken Dreams and Fallen Themes In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald employs the use of characters, themes, and symbolism to convey the idea of the American Dream and its corruption through the aspects of wealth, family, and status. In regards to wealth and success, Fitzgerald makes clear the growing corruption of the American Dream by using Gatsby himself as a symbol for the corrupted dream throughout the text. In addition, when portraying the family the characters in Great Gatsby are used to exposeRead MoreThe American Dream : F. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby1362 Words   |  6 PagesGatsby Corrupted Dream The American Dream is originally thought to be about how hard work can lead one person from poorness to richness with the right amount of effort put in. The American Dream can have different meaning to different people but at the end they are all trying to achieve a goal. The American Dream usually requires hard work and dedication. But cheating your way to success can change a person. An example of a distorted American Dream would be F. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great GatsbyRead MoreCorruption of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald855 Words   |  4 Pages In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald gives the reader a glimpse into the life of the high class during the 1920’s through the eyes of a man named Nick Carraway. Through the narrators dealings with high society, Fitzgerald demonstrates how modern values have transformed the American dreams ideas into a scheme for materialistic power and he reveals how the world of high society lacks any sense of morals or consequence. In order to support his message, Fitzgerald presents the originalRead MoreCorrupted American Dream in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald1389 Words   |  6 Pagesit corrupted them as they set to reach the American dream by acquiring wealth for the only purpose to pursue pleasure. The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald showing that no one is unaffected by the corruption. This novel is seen through the eyes of Nick Carraway, who moves from the mid-west to west-egg to chase his American dream. He observes the people and events around him as he follows the attempts of his neighbor Jay Gatsby, to gain back Daisy Buchanan’s love. ThroughRead MoreCorrupting the American Dream in The Great Gatsby† by F. Scott Fitzgerald869 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel, â€Å"The Great Gatsby† by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author establishes materialism and wealth as a corruption to the American dream. The American dream embodies the idea of self-sufficient, honest and intelligent individual with a happy successful life. It is also the idea of the pursuit of happiness but Daisy Buchanan a wealthy aristocrat goes after the empty pursuit of pleasure, portraying her character as a disillusionment of the American dream and how much it lost its good values. TheRead MoreDegradation of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald964 Words   |  4 Pagesemotions is what made the roaring twenties so unique, yet unstable. Before the twenties, the American dream had been to earn a stable income and raise a family in the great country that is America, but during the twenties the American dream became much more diminished as people worked for riches and luxuries that only a few could afford. In The Great Gatsby the main characters are striving for this dream of riches in a turbulent setting, but ironically are blinded by the distractions of the Jazz

The Frank Talent of Aretha Louise Franklin Essay - 775 Words

Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee (bio 1). She was one of five children born to Rev. Clarence L. Franklin and Barbara (Siggers) Franklin (Moritz 132). Aretha was born into a very musical family. Her mother, Barbara, was a gospel singer and her sisters, Erma and Carolyn, are both vocalists, too (Glickman 1, Moritz 132). Her brothers took a different, unmusical approach to their lives. Her brother, Cecil, is the Assistant Pastor at his father’s church and her other brother, Vaughn, is a career man in the United States (Moritz 132). When Aretha was two years old her father took her, and the rest of his family, North (Moritz 132). Five years after they moved, they settled in Detroit, Michigan†¦show more content†¦Touring with her father gave her important performing experiences, but it was also a very tough time for her (Moritz 132). Her brother told a Time Magazine interviewer: â€Å"Driving eight or ten hours trying to make a gig, and being hungry and passing restaurants all along the road, and having to go off the highway into some little city to find a place to eat because you’re black- that had its effect† (Moritz 132). Everyone knew Aretha was incredibly talented at a very young age. At twelve years old, Aretha cut her first record on her first solo for Chess Records. After that she went on tour with her father. In 1960, Aretha came to New York and took dancing and vocal lessons (Moritz 132). She signed a five-year contract with Columbia Records one year later in 1961 (Moritz 132). While at Columbia Records, she recorded nine long-playing albums, only selling moderately (Moritz 132). Toward the end of 1966 Aretha turned down an offered renewed contract by Columbia, signing with Atlantic Records instead (Moritz 133). Aretha had â€Å"a reputation of being difficult to handle† in the early part of her career according to Phyl Garland of Ebony in 1967 (Moritz 133-134). She caus ed a small riot when she walked out of a concert in Denver because she was only paid half of what she was promised (Moritz 134). Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, made beautiful, soulful music over the years. She recorded her first single, â€Å"I Never Loved a Man,†

Stefan’s Diaries Bloodlust Chapter 8~9 Free Essays

Chapter 8 October 4, 1864 As a human, I’d thought it was my mother’s death that had shaped the men Damon and I would become. I’d called myself a half-orphan in the initial days after she died, locking myself away in my room, feeling as though my life had ended at the young age of ten. Father believed grieving was weak and unmanly, so Damon had been the one to comfort me. We will write a custom essay sample on Stefan’s Diaries: Bloodlust Chapter 8~9 or any similar topic only for you Order Now He’d go riding with me, let me join the older boys in their games, and beat up the Giffin brothers when they made fun of me for crying about Mother during a baseball game. Damon had always been the strong one, my protector. But I was wrong. It is my own death that has shaped me. Now the tables have turned. I am the strong one, and I have been trying to be Damon’s protector. But while I have always been grateful to Damon, he despises me and blames me for what he has become. I had forced him to feed from Alice, a bartender at the local tavern, which had completed his transformation. But does that make me a villain? I think not, especially as the act had saved his life. Finally, I see Damon the way Father had seen him: too imperious, too willful, too quick to make up his mind, and too slow to change it. And as I had also realized earlier this evening as I stood just outside the dim glare of the gas lamp, the body of the dead nurse at my feet: I am alone. A full orphan. Just as Katherine had presented herself when she came to Mystic Falls and stayed in our guesthouse. So that’s how vampires do it, then. They exploit vulnerability, get humans to trust them, and then, when all the emotions are firmly in place, they attack. So that is what I will do. I know not how or who my next victim will be, but I know, more than ever, that the only person I can look out for and protect is myself. Damon is on his own, and so am I. I heard Damon steal through the city, moving at vampire speed down the streets and alleys. At one point, he paused, whispering Katherines name over and over again, like a mantra or a prayer. Then, nothing Was he dead? Had he drowned himself? Or was he simply too far away for me to hear him? Either way, the result was the same. I was alone–Id lost my only connection to the man Id once been: Stefan Salvatore, the dutiful son, the lover of poetry, the man who stood up for what was right. I wondered if that meant that Stefan Salvatore, with no one to remember him, was really, truly dead, leaving me to be anyone. I could move to a different city every year, see the whole world. I could assume as many identities as Id like. I could be a Union soldier. I could be an Italian businessman. I could even be Damon. The sun plunged past the horizon like a cannonball falling to earth, dipping the city into darkness. I turned from one gaslit street to the next, the soles of my boots rasping over the gravelly cobblestones. A loose newspaper blew toward me. I stomped on the broadsheet, examining an etched photo of a girl with long, dark hair and pale eyes. She looked vaguely familiar. I wondered if she was a relative of one of the Mystic Falls girls. Or perhaps a nameless cousin whod attended barbecues at Veritas. But then I saw the headline:BRUTAL MURDER ABOARD THE ATLANTIC EXPRESS. Lavinia. Of course. Id already forgotten her. I reached down and crumpled the paper, hurling it as far as I could into the Mississippi. The surface of the water was muddy and turbulent, dappled with moonlight. I couldnt see my reflection–couldnt see anything but an abyss of blackness as deep and dark as my new future. Could I go for eternity, feeding, killing, forgetting, then repeating the cycle? Yes. Every instinct and impulse I had screamedyes. The triumph of closing in on my prey, touching my canines to the paper-thin skin that covered their necks, hearing their hearts slow to a dull thud and feeling a body go limp in my arms. Hunting and feeding made me feel alive, whole; they gave me a purpose in the world. It was, after all, the natural order of things. Animals killed weaker animals. Humans killed animals. I killed humans. Every species had their foe. I shuddered to think what monster was powerful enough to hunt me. The salty breeze wafting from the water was laced with the odor of unwashed bodies and rotting food–a far cry from the aroma across town, where scents of floral perfume and talcum powder hung heavy in the air of the wide streets. Here shadows hugged every corner, whispers rose and fell with the flowing of the river, and drunken hiccups pierced the air. It was dark, here. Dangerous. I quite liked it. I turned a corner, following my nose like a bloodhound on the trail of a doe. I flexed my arms, ready for a hunt–a gin-soaked drunk, a soldier, a lady out after dark. The victim didnt matter. I turned again, and the iron-scent of blood came closer. The smell was sweet and smoky. I focused on it, on the anticipation of sinking my fangs into a neck, of wondering whose blood Id be drinking, whose life Id be stealing. I continued to walk, picking up my pace as I traced the scent to an anonymous back street lined with an apothecary, a general store, and a tailor. The street was a replica of our own Main Street back in Mystic Falls. But while wed only had one, New Orleans must have had dozens, if not hundreds, of these corridors of commerce. The rusty smell of iron was stronger now. I followed twists and turns, my hunger building, burning, searing my very skin until finally, finally I came to a squat, peach-colored building. But when I saw the painted sign above the door, I stopped short. Sausages in their casings hung in the buildings grimy window; slabs of cured meat dangled from the ceiling like a grotesque childs mobile; carved ribs were nestled in ice beneath a counter, and in the far back, whole carcasses were strung up, draining blood into large vats. This was a butcher shop? I sighed in frustration but my hunger forced me to push the door open anyway. The iron chain snapped easily, as if it were no sturdier than thread. Once inside, I gazed at the bloodied carcasses, momentarily mesmerized by the blood falling into the vats, one drip at a time. Over the sound of the raining blood, I heard the slightestping, no louder than the twitch of a mouses whiskers. Then came the light shuffle of toes passing over concrete. I reared back, my eyes darting from corner to corner. Mice scuttled beneath the floorboards, and someones watch ticked in the building next door. All else was quiet. But the air around me suddenly felt thicker, and the ceiling lower somehow, and I became acutely aware that there was no back exit in this room of death. â€Å"Who goes there?† I called into the darkness, whirling around, my fangs bared. And then came movement. Fangs, eyes, the thud of footsteps closed in around me from all corners. A low, guttural growl echoed off the bloodstained walls of the shop, and I realized with a sickening jolt that I was surrounded by vampires who looked all too ready to pounce. Chapter 9 I crouched low, my fangs elongated. The heady scent of blood permeated every corner of the room, making my head spin. It was impossible to know where to attack first. The vampires growled again, and I emitted a low snarl in response. The circle closed in tighter around me. There were three of them, and I was caught, like a fish in a net, a deer surrounded by wolves. â€Å"What do you think youre doing?† one of the vampires asked. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and had a scar that ran the length of his face, from his left eye to the corner of his lip. â€Å"Im one of you,† I said, standing at my full height, fangs on display. â€Å"Oh, hes one of us!† an older vampire said in a sing-songy voice. He wore glasses and a tweed vest over a white-collared shirt. But for the fangs and red-rimmed eyes, he could have been an accountant or a friend of my fathers. I kept my face impassive. â€Å"I have no ill business with you, brothers.† â€Å"We are not your brothers,† said another with tawny hair. He looked not a day over fifteen. His face was smooth, but his green eyes were hard. The older one stepped forward, poking his bony finger against my chest as if it were a wooden stake. â€Å"So, brother, nice evening to dine or die. What do you think?† The young vampire kneeled next to me, gazing into my eyes. â€Å"Looks like hell do both tonight. Lucky boy,† he said, ruffling my hair. I tried to kick him, but my foot simply flopped harmlessly against air. â€Å"No, no, no.† While the scarred vampire watched wordlessly, the boy grabbed my arms and wrenched them so sharply and abruptly behind my back that I gasped. â€Å"Dont be disrespectful. Were your elders. And youve already done quite enough disrespecting already, if Miss Mollys house is any indication.† He drawled her name as if he were a benign, genteel Southern gentleman. Only the steel grip on my limbs betrayed that he wasnt anything of the sort. â€Å"I didnt do anything,† I said, kicking again. If I were to die, then Id die in a fight. â€Å"Are you sure?† he asked, looking down at me in disgust. I attempted to twist away, but still I couldnt budge. The elder vampire chuckled. â€Å"Cant control his urges. Impulsive, this one. Lets give him a taste of his own medicine.† With a flourish, he released me from his grasp, pushing me forward with strength Id never before felt. I hit the plaster wall with a crash and fell on my shoulder, my head cracking against the wooden floorboards. I cowered beneath my attackers, the realization sinking in that if I were to survive this encounter, it would not be by might. â€Å"I didnt mean to do anything. Im sorry,† I said, my voice breaking on the word. â€Å"Do you mean it?† the young vampire asked, a glint in his eye. The sound of wood breaking assaulted my ears. I flinched. Would one vampire stake another? This was not a question I wanted answered the hard way. â€Å"Yes. Yes! I didnt mean to come in here. I didnt know anyone was here. I only just arrived in New Orleans,† I said, scrambling for an excuse. â€Å"Silence!† he commanded, advancing toward me, a jagged piece of wood in his hand. I pressed my spine into the damaged wall. So this is how it would end. With me dying on a makeshift stake, killed by my own kind. Two hands crushed my arms, while another two pinned my ankles together so forcefully that it felt as though I were stuck under boulders. I closed my eyes. An image of Father lying prone on his study floor swam to the forefront of my mind, and I shook my head in agony, remembering his sweating, terrified face. Of course, Id been trying to save him, but he hadnt known that. If he was watching, as an angel or a demon or a mere specter condemned to haunt the world, hed be thrilled to see this scene unfold. I squeezed my eyes tighter, trying to evoke some other memory to the fore of my mind, one that would take me to another place, another time. But all I could think of were my victims, of the moment when my fangs sliced into their skin, their plaintive wails descending into silence, the blood dripping down my fangs and onto my chin. Soon, all the blood Id taken would be released, seeping out of my own body and back into the Earth, as I was left to die, for real this time, forever, on this wooden floor. â€Å"Enough!† A female voice sliced through the montage in my mind. Immediately, the vampires let go of my hands and feet. My eyes sprang open, and I saw a woman gliding through a narrow wooden door in the back. Her long blond hair descended in a single plait down her back, and she wore mens black pants and suspenders. She was tall, though slight as a child, and all the other vampires shrank away from her in fear. â€Å"You,† she said, kneeling next to me. â€Å"Who are you?† Her amber eyes gazed into mine. They were clear and curious, but there was something about them–the darkness of the pupils, perhaps–that seemed ancient and knowing, which stood in sharp contrast to her rosy-cheeked, unlined face. â€Å"Stefan Salvatore,† I answered her. â€Å"Stefan Salvatore,† she repeated in a perfect Italian accent. Although teasing, her voice didnt seem unkind. She ran a finger gently along my jaw, then placed her palm against my chest and she pressed me against the wall, hard. The suddenness of the movement stunned me, but as I sat, pinned and helpless, she brought her other wrist to her mouth, using her fang to puncture the vein. She dragged her wrist along her teeth, creating a small stream of blood. â€Å"Drink,† she commanded, bringing her wrist to my lips. I did as I was told, managing to get a few drops of the liquid down my throat before she yanked her hand away. â€Å"Thats enough. That should fix your wounds at any rate.† â€Å"He and his brother have been wreaking havoc all over town,† the large vampire said, his makeshift stake pointed at me like a rifle. â€Å"Just me,† I said quickly. â€Å"My brother had no part in it.† Damon would never survive the wrath of these demons. Not in his weakened state. The blond vampire wrinkled her nose as she leaned even closer toward me. â€Å"Youre what, a week old?† she asked, leaning back on her heels. â€Å"Almost two weeks,† I said defiantly, lifting my chin. She nodded, a hint of a smile on her lips, and stood, surveying the shop. The plaster wall was partially caved in, and blood smeared the floor and speckled the walls, as though a child had stood in the center of the room and twirled around with a wet paintbrush. She tsked, and the three male vampires simultaneously took a step back. I shivered. â€Å"Percy, come here, and bring that knife,† she said. With a sigh, the youngest vampire produced a long carving knife from behind his back. â€Å"He wasnt following the rules,† he said petulantly, reminding me of the Giffin boys back home. They were both bullies, always ready to kick a kid in the schoolyard and then turn around and tell a teacher they had nothing to do with it. She took the knife and stared at it, running the pad of her index finger over the gleaming blade. Then she held it back out to Percy. He hesitated a moment, but finally stepped forward to take it. Just then the girls canines elongated and her eyes flushed bloodred. With a growl, she stabbed Percy right in the chest. He fell to his knees, doubled over in silent agony. â€Å"You hunt this vampire for making a scene in town,† she seethed, stabbing the knife in farther, â€Å"and yet you attempt to destroy him in this public space, in this shop? Youre just as foolish as he is.† The young vampire staggered to his feet. Blood streamed down the front of his shirt, as though hed spilled coffee on himself. He grimaced as he pulled the knife out with a sucking sound. â€Å"Im sorry,† he gasped. â€Å"Thank you.† The woman held her wrist toward Percys mouth. Despite her youthful look and apparently violent temper, she also had a mothering quality that the other vampires seemed to accept, as if her stabbings were as normal to them as a light swat would be to a high-spirited child. She turned toward me. â€Å"Im sorry for your troubles, Stefan. Now, can I help you be on your way?† she asked. I looked around wildly. Id thought no further ahead than escaping this room. â€Å"I â€Å" â€Å". . . dont have anywhere to go,† she said with a sigh, finishing my thought. She glanced toward the other vampires, who were now huddled in the corner of the room, heads bent in conversation. â€Å"Ill just be going,† I said, struggling to my feet. My leg was fine, but my arms shook, and my breath came erratically. With local vampires watching my every move, where would I go? How would I feed? â€Å"Nonsense, youre coming with us,† she said, turning on her heel and walking out the door. She pointed to the young vampire and the one who wore glasses. â€Å"Percy and Hugo, stay and clean this place up.† I had to practically run to keep up with her and the tall, scarred vampire whod watched my torture. â€Å"Youll need someone to show you around,† she explained, pausing only slightly. â€Å"This is Buxton,† she said, grabbing the elbow of the vampire with the long scar. We walked down street after street until we neared a church with a tall spire. â€Å"Were here,† she said, turning sharply to enter a wrought-iron gate. Her boots echoed against a slate path that led to the rear of a house. She opened the door, and a musty scent greeted me. Buxton immediately walked through the parlor and up a set of stairs, leaving me and the young female vampire alone in the darkness. â€Å"Welcome home,† she said, spreading her hands wide. â€Å"There are plenty of spare rooms upstairs. Find one that suits you.† â€Å"Thank you.† As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I took in my surroundings. Black velvet curtains fastened with golden rope blocked every window. Dust motes floated in the air, and gilt-framed paintings covered the walls. The furniture was threadbare, and I could just make out two sweeping staircases with what looked like oriental runners and, in the next room, a piano. Though at one point this must have been a grand house, now the soiled walls were cracked and peeling, and cobwebs draped over the gold-and-crystal chandelier above us. â€Å"Always enter through the back. Never draw back the curtains. Dont ever bring anyone here. Do you understand, Stefan?† She looked at me pointedly. â€Å"Yes,† I said, running a finger along the marble fireplace, cutting a path in the inch-thick dust. â€Å"Then I think you will like it here,† she said. I turned to face her, nodding in agreement. My panic had subsided, and my arms no longer trembled. â€Å"Im Lexi,† she said, holding out her hand, allowing me to raise it to my lips and kiss it. â€Å"I have a feeling that you and I will be friends for a long time.† How to cite Stefan’s Diaries: Bloodlust Chapter 8~9, Essay examples

Candide satire free essay sample

Candide In one of his most famous works, Candide, Voltaire leaves no stone unturned in terms of what he satirizes. Though a great many topics are touched upon, Voltaire ultimately uses Candide to satirize the philosophy of optimism offered by the German philosopher, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. By examining Voltaires satire of armies, we can see that he uses the pointless atrocities and violence in Candide as a basis to discredit the German philosophy of optimism. The first instance in which Voltaire utilizes armies to discredit the philosophy of ptimism occurs shortly after Candide is banished from Westphalia. After simply toasting to the good health of the Bulgarian king, soldiers handcuff him and take him to their regiment. Here he is trained as a soldier and beaten, they gave him thirty blows with a cudgel. The next day he did his exercise a little less badly, and he received but twenty blows. We will write a custom essay sample on Candide satire or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The day following they gave him only ten, and he was regarded by his comrades as a prodigy (Ch. 2). Candide has been taken against his will to Join an army, and even with his full compliance he is beaten. Here Voltaire is atirizing the violence that takes place within armies. He is illustrating how much needless violence there is that is evident in warring armies. Voltaire continues to use needless violence throughout the story to illustrate his argument against optimism. Another way Voltaire uses armies to invalidate the philosophy of optimism in Ch. 2 when Candide goes for a walk. With his short walk in the woods marked as desertion, Candide is court-martialed and offered the choice of being flogged thirty-six times by his whole regiment or having twelve musket balls shot into his brain. Being a student of Pangloss, and thus subscribing to an optimistic outlook, Candide uses the divine gift called free-will to choose the floggings. In this case we see that Voltaire is both satirizing the foolishness of the army for punishing someone for taking a walk as well as including a hint of satire with Candides notion of his divine gift. There is a sense of optimism in Candides ability to choose his undeserved consequence. Voltaire uses this exaggerated punishment of four thousand floggings to once again satirize the harshness of armies. Voltaire offers yet another example of the cruelty of armies when Candide arrives in England. Candide witnesses an admiral shot in the head by three soldiers near a crowd of people and decides to inquire about the atrocity. The response to Candides inquiry was that the admiral had failed to kill a sufficient amount of people, specifically the French admiral. Voltaire is satirizing the armys decision making and pointing out their absurd methods. In the same scene Candide attempts to reason with his new acquaintance and is told that in this country it is found good, from time o time, to kill one Admiral to encourage the others. This ludicrous explanation is not logical in any way and is a further satirization of the armys reasoning. Voltaire uses Candides ventures in, and around the army to expose the direct contradiction to Pangloss teachings which really reflect Leibnizs philosophy of optimism. As a student of Pangloss, Candide is always looking at the bright side and is truly optimi stic. When the soldiers first found Candide they offered to pay for his the right thing for them to do saying, miou are right, this is what I was always taught y Mr. Pangloss, and I see plainly that all is for the best. Candides optimism blinds him to the fact that he is being deceived and Voltaire uses this scene to show that optimism is not a sound ideology to hold. Voltaires satirization of armies helps to shed light on his critiques of the German philosophy of optimism as proposed by Leibniz. Voltaire seriously criticizes the philosophy of optimism, but is he right? In the words of Pococurante, Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. So is Voltaire right or are we simply fools?

An Easier Way To Tell Your Story Using Content Marketing

An Easier Way To Tell Your Story Using Content Marketing The term story is used all the time with content marketing. â€Å"Find your story,† they say. â€Å"Tell your unique story.† Well, sometimes your story can be so big, it can be hard to know where to start. Do you have a ton of ideas for blog posts but struggle to find the topics your audience would care about the most? Is it hard to understand the connection from one blog post to another? Creating content that connects one blog post with the next can seem like a complex process. But it doesnt have to be. An Easier Way To Tell Your Story Using Content Marketing #ContentMarketing #Storytelling How Story Flows Can Help You Create Connected and Relevant Content Defining your story about a specific topic- and breaking down that huge concept with story flows- will help you create better content. Story flows are just a small group of ideas you can use to create content. They are parts- or chapters- of your story that can help you manage your process much easier while making sure your content is connected. Story flows can make sure that all of your content marketing is connected. #ContentMarketingIf you have a ton of ideas- or even none at all- the process of defining your story and subsequent flows will help you: Find your topic. Connect that topic with your audience. Discover the unique story you’ll share. Find patterns to connect your blog posts. Manage your blog posts as projects. Reuse your blog posts as larger content formats (like e-books, webinars or whatever your audience wants). Essentially, the process of defining your story and story flows will help you plan your work to help you create blog posts faster and more strategically. Give this a try in the morning, and youll be creating better content by the afternoon. Heres how it works. Step 1: Find Your Topic Whether youre a product or service company, you probably have a million things you could talk about. For this process to work, its essential to narrow your topic to just one thing. That’s not to say that you could create content for multiple topics- just concentrate on one at a time while planning this stuff so your head doesnt explode. Topics are typically high-level niches your company is well-known for- or wants to become well-known for. Were not looking for broad, sweeping industry terms here- this cant cover everything your business does. Instead, focus on something truly unique to your company that makes you stand out from your competition. Thats your topic. Ask yourself: Whats the first topic you want to tackle? Step 2: Connect That Topic With Your Audience Knowing the topic you want to talk about is one thing. In order for your content marketing to be successful, you need to make sure your audience actually cares about that topic. At this point, you need to have an understanding of your customer base- your content marketings audience. For this practice to work, understand that everyone is not a good answer for who your audience is! Everyone is not a good answer to the question who is my audience?   #ContentMarketing #ProTipYou may have heard of reader personas before to help you think of your audience while you write blog posts. That may be exactly what you need to connect your topic with your audience. Ive seen marketers create content that only talks about their products or services (what theyve defined as their topic) without figuring out what their audience really wants from their business. Its a huge waste of effort to create content without understanding your audiences needs. You have things you want to talk about. There are people who want to hear about those things. But they may not want to hear the features of your product or service, but learn about a way to do something different- better, faster or easier- as related to your topic. As an example, provides an editorial calendar as a product and service, but a topic we  concentrate on is helping our  customers enhance their own content marketing. Ask yourself: Who cares about your topic enough to search for information to solve their need? Step 3: Discover the Unique Story You’ll Share Now its time to explore the details of your topic and the things your audience cares about. This is when you define your content core- your content marketing story. In this step, you need to find your topic expert (whether its you or someone else in your company) and gather some information from them. If you think of this like an interview, you need to ask about this stuff: What does your audience already know about your topic? How did they learn about it? Why does your audience care about your topic? How can you help them learn more about that topic? So when you start gathering that information, keep these three things in mind: Ask enough questions to make sure you fully understand the topic. Connect your knowledge with your audiences needs. Use what you learned to define a mission statement to help you stay focused. Put it to work: Find the information to understand your topic, audience and mission statement. Step 4: Find Patterns to Connect Your Blog Posts When you discover your story, you’ll find a ton of ideas you could create blog posts about. Dont let this overwhelm you- this is when your story flows will help you strategically plan your blog posts. Organize all those ideas from awareness level messages to the ones that help your audience make big decisions. One way to think about this is with a traditional marketing funnel. The funnel can help you visualize which ideas your prospects might be interested in- people just discovering your topic- versus people who are nearly ready to use your product or service. You should categorize your discovery ideas at the top of the funnel, whereas the big decision-making ideas are probably at the bottom of the funnel. Organize your ideas in an ideal chronological order. So think of it this way: If someone were to read every single blog post you write, which posts would come first, second, third and so on. Organizing your ideas in chronological order can help you choose ideas from beginning to end for your story flows. This way, when you write your blog posts, you’ll walk your audience through an entire journey from awareness to helping them make a decision. Once you have your ideas in order, look for patterns from the beginning of the list to the end. For example, you might see a pattern on how your audience could do something faster, which would be helpful for them to save time they could use on other projects. There will be ideas from the top of the funnel all the way to the bottom that could come together as a story flow for these ideas. It’s important for your story flows to have ideas from awareness to decision-making. As you laid out in your ideal chronological order, you want to funnel your audience to the end ideas to help them make a decision. You can’t do that if you don’t have a story flow with ideas ranging from the top of the funnel all the way to the bottom. Put it to work: Categorize your ideas in a chronological order (as if your audience were to read every blog post you write from start to finish). Step 5: Manage Your Blog Posts as Projects When you looked through the ideas that make up your story, you were probably able to come up with a number of story flows. This is helpful because you can manage your blog posts as projects- pick a small group of ideas to tackle at a time. For example, if you had 10 ideas that came together in a story flow, that has the potential to be 10 or more blog posts. Now you can manage those posts with your editorial calendar and assign them as projects with specific due dates. At this time, you may want to spread out a single story flow throughout the year- and work on several story flows at the same time. That gives you time to create minimum viable content and measure the success of a given story flow- piece by piece- while consistently creating strategic content. Though this approach involves working on several projects (story flows) at a time, its very manageable by planning your work for the upcoming weeks, month or year (depending on the size of your story flows) using an editorial calendar. In this example, its easy to spot blog posts planned for three story flows because they are highlighted with different colors. Your story flows give you the opportunity to plan your work and help you move faster while strategically connecting all of the content you create. Put it to work: Plan your ideas as blog posts on your editorial calendar. Step 6: Reuse Your Blog Posts in Larger Content Formats When youre done with your blog posts for a specific story flow, you now have so much connected content that you can create larger pieces from those posts. After you create enough blog posts to complete a story flow, you can reuse that content for larger formats like e-books, webinars and videos (among others). Imagine your blog posts coming together as chapters in an e-book. After you have an e-book, couldnt you use that same content for discussion points in a webinar? And after that webinar is over, couldnt you share that recorded webinar as a training video? And maybe you could even write a few more blog posts to share that video of the webinar. Being able to reuse your blog posts for larger forms of content is one of the biggest benefits of strategically planning your story flows. Ask yourself: How can you repurpose the blog posts you wrote for specific story flows into larger content formats your audience wants? What Will You Do Now? I meant it when I said a lot of this can be done in a single day. The beauty of the process is that it can be as extensive or relaxed as you need it to be. How could you plan and execute your content marketing using story flows?

The Night Stalker Professor Ramos Blog

The Night Stalker   Angela B There was a time when it was normal to leave your windows open and doors unlocked. There was a time when people were not afraid to go to sleep wondering if they would see the next morning, a time before Richard Ramirez or the â€Å"Night Stalker.† As his nickname conveys, the  Night  Stalker preyed on innocent victims in the middle of the night. He would walk around neighborhoods and check for unlocked doors or open windows and invite himself in.   Once he was in the house he would rape, kill and torture the innocent sleeping victims. He has been convicted of fourteen murders and the ones he did not kill are scarred for life. One survivor told a horrific story about being sexually assaulted with her son tied up in the closet, (LA Times, Chen).   The night stalker even went on to rape and kill a woman who was sixty years old,  (YouTube, Kelley).  Ã‚  The torture he has brought upon others just seems like pure evil, but why is it so easy for this man to?   There ar e no excuses for his appalling actions, but there are several factors that could have contributed to his killing outbreaks; such as, a birth defect, use of drugs and alcohol, and living with his deranged older cousin.   Richard Ramirez was the youngest of five children from his parents Julian and Mercedes Ramerez. Richards mother worked in a boot factory where she was exposed to different chemical fumes,  (Real Crime,  Dimitropoulos).  Unfortunately, in those days, employees were not cautioned to protect themselves so working there while she was pregnant caused her children to suffer with birth defects such as respiratory difficultly and bone deficiency. Richard suffered from epilepsy and his brain could have developed slower than most from the chemical fumes, (Real Crime,  Dimitropoulos). A lot of serial killers suffer from some type of mental illness, and if they have a traumatic experience along the way then it is harder for them to cope and result in criminal behavior.   If Richards mom had properly taken care of the babies in her womb Richard might not have acted out as he did but we will never know what really goes on in a killers head.   Another cause to what could have made this monster is his use of drugs and alcohol.   Richard turned at an early age to drugs and dropped out of high school which could have messed with his brain development.  One of the main drugs he used was cocaine;  cocaine is a dangerous drug that can alter your state of thought long term,  (YouTube, Kelley).   A lot of criminals tend to commit crimes while on drugs because of their altered state of mind, (Verywellmind,T).   Since Richard was a long-time user, his mental state was definitely not healthy and killing and raping people probably did not even have an affect him.   The last and most disturbing reason of them all, is that he went to live with his deranged older cousin when he was still and adolescent.   While his mother was known to be sweet and kind hearted, his father had abused him growing up,  (YouTube, Kelley).   Richard eventually grew tired of it and went to live with his older cousin who was a Vietnam war veteran.   His cousin would boast and brag about all the women he would rape and assault and then kill them after, (YouTube, Serial Killer Documentaries).   Richard,  still being young during all of this,  seemed to be fascinated and in awe of his cousin.   Because of the previous reasons that his brain and mental state were altered, he could not handle coping with this and instead of seeing it for what it really is h was desensitized from his cousins frightful actions.   His uncle even shot his own wife in the face and Richard witnessed it all,  (YouTube, Kelley).   Richard Rameriez was a dangerous individual who affected the lives of many.   In â€Å"Thesis II: The Monster Always Escapes,† from Jeffery Jerome Cohens â€Å"Monster Culture (Seven Theses),† Cohen talks about how the monster from movies and books always reappear in the next movie or book even after they have been killed, (Cohen,4).   Obviously, Richard Rameriez is a human who died June 7, 2013, (Los Angeles mob attacks Night Stalker).  This thesis relates to Richard because of Richards older cousins actions. His older cousin that he lived with was a monster as well, I believe his actions turned Richard into the monster he was convicted as.   Now in this story, the same monster did not escape; Richards cousin was a monster himself who helped create another monster and the cycle will continue.   Someone else with a mental illness or someone who is just pure evil will see Richards crimes and be fascinated and inspired by them.   No matter what, in our society , the monster always escapes and new monsters will be created and the vicious cycle will continue forever.  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Monster Theory must therefore concern itself with strings of cultural moments, connected by a logic that always threatens to shift; invigorated by change and escape, by the impossibility of achieving what Susan Stewart calls the desired ‘fall or death, the stopping’ of its gigantic subject monstrous interpretations is as much process as epiphany, a work that must content itself with fragments,† (Cohen,6).   The next thesis that connects with Richard Ramerizs story is, â€Å"Thesis VI. Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire.†Ã‚   There are two movies, a book and hundreds of articles involving the Night Stalker.   â€Å"The same creatures that terrify and interdict can evoke potent escapist fantasies; the linking of monstrosity with the forbidden makes the monster all the more appealing as temporary egress from constraint,† (Cohen,17).   This  quote is talking about how the rebelliousness of monsters intrigues us and makes us interested in them even though they are so terrible.      Richard Rameriez was a cold-blooded killer who ruined the lives of not only the people he murdered, but the also the lives of their family and friends. There is no excuse for the pain he has cause other but there are a few situations that could have avoided making him a killer.   If his mother would have avoided the fumes while she was pregnant, Richard could have had normal brain development and could have grown up to be a normal, functioning adult.   Same with if he would had never turned to drugs and alcohol at a young age, he could have finished high school and even gotten a job or acquire life goals.   The last and most traumatizing experience for him would be his cousin.   Richards cousin was the worst possible person to live with and if he could have had a better home life, he could have had a chance.   Watching his cousin rape and abuse women could have triggered a mental illness that could have been avoided.     No child should have to go through that and his cousin is the real monster and created a copy.   Richard Rameriez was convicted and is no dead, but people still sleep with a fear in the back of their heads from him.   Even though he has died and cannot come back to life, the impact he has left on the world will stay forever, so before you go to bed tonight remember lock  your  doors and close your windows, because we never now who is out there.   Work cited:   Los Angeles mob attacks Night Stalker, AE Television Networks, 7 July 2019,  www.history.com/this-day-in-history/los-angeles-mob-attacks-night-stalker.   Dimitropoulos,  Stav.  real Crime: Was a Bad Childhood to Blame for Night Stalker Richard Ramirez Becoming a Serial  Killer?,  AE Television Networks, LLC. , 1 Nov. 2017,  www.aetv.com/real-crime/was-a-bad-childhood-to-blame-for-night-stalker-richard-ramirez-becoming-a-serial-killer.   T, Buddy.  Verywell  Mind,  www.verywellmind.com/crime-and-alcohol-statistics-from-1998-62821.   THE NIGHT STALKER SERIAL KILLER RICHAR, YouTube, 18 Jan. 2015.,  www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hPRDHCFwOI.   Richard Ramirez  ( The  Night Stalker )   , YouTube, 5 June 2017.,  www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtEOzX8V6yI.  

Levendary Cafe Assignment Recommendations and Advice Memo Case Study

Levendary Cafe Assignment Recommendations and Advice Memo - Case Study Example 6. The cost to the company is the main problem because the occupancy, labor, food, supply, and marketing cost altogether incur a heavy cost for the restaurant. The occupancy cost includes maintenance of common area, real estate charge, as well as waste disposal cost. Altogether they comprise 10% of returns. Labor cost signifies 25% to 30% of revenues. Food costs represent around 32% of revenues. Supply cost signifies around 4% of total returns. Marketing fee accounts for 2% - 10% of revenue and overhead represents 5% - 15% 0f revenue. So, altogether the restaurant has to incur heavy costs on all these elements. Therefore, the gross profit of the restaurant is less (Barlett and Han 2). 2. Restaurant design: The design of the restaurant should be reliable with the designs of the US restaurants. It doesn’t matter whether the restaurants are big or small, but it should go well with the location. 4. Positioning: The present layout of the restaurant should be renovated. Better quality of food should be offered and the service should be fast so that the customer should not have to wait for their order. An excellent positioning changes the attitude of customers towards the product (Viardot 149; Hooley, Piercy and Nicoulaud 205). 5. Competition: It determines the suitability of a company’s activities which can add to its presentation (Porter). As the competition is high, so, the company should keep its margin low in order to attract more customer and they should create high awareness about their brand i.e. food quality in order to perform better from their competitors. The decisions which are needed to be taken for the better future of Levendary Cafà © are: Mia Foster can make Chen understand that what are the core values of the restaurant and also should build a panel for Louis Chen. She could also follow the approach of KFC or McDonald or other restaurants.