Analyzing humer in middle passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyzing humer in middle passage - Essay Example rd’s statement is a bitter commentary on women, the manner in which he delivers it makes the statement palatable and could move even a female reader to laughter. The impression isn’t that woman as a whole are prone to disaster, but that Rutherford himself is unable to reconcile the responsibilities associated with relationships with his new found freedom. Later on, the reader learns that it is the idea of falling in love and losing his individuality that threatens Rutherford. He notes that: Johnson portrayal of Rutherford conveys an uncanny ability to find humor in the most tragic of circumstances. What might otherwise be viewed as a lonely and sad scenario comes across as comedic yet melancholic. For instance, Rutherford describes Isodara’s loneliness and her penchant for nurturing together with her lack of beauty. He tells the reader that: Implicit in Rutherford’s observation is a satire of a slave’s journey from slavery to freedom. The reader appreciates that Rutherford’s mind has also been freed. He is free to form his own opinions and he is free to go about his own business. With this freedom comes a lightness rather than resentment. Rutherford does not look back with ire instead he looks ahead with hope and anticipation. Everything about Rutherford is associated with a positive note and with this comes a measure of comedy where none would otherwise exist. The humor is used by Johnson to exemplify anachronism. In other words it fills the gap between Rutherford’s own situation and history and the current reader. In one scenario, Rutherford observes "his face looked, so help me, like five miles of bad Louisiana road".(Johnson, p. 54) In yet another scenario Rutherford makes light of racism via the use of anachronism by

Managing People Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing People - Term Paper Example Strategic human resource management should be adopted by the company in order to address the issues in its operations. The starting point of all the issue for any company is its relative strength in terms of strategic management—the clarity of the goals of the company in line with its mission and vision, in order to create good strategies in order to meet those goals. Without the goals and clear strategic direction, even those which are perceived to be the best human resource practices will mean nothing if they would not play a role in fulfilling a company’s objectives FTL’s lacks strategic direction as a company until Steve Davidson has started to craft a vision, as according to the case, â€Å"Steve had considered Anders management style to be too ‘seat of the pants’ and worked hard with his management team to create a vision for the business (Mason 2000, 11).† The company’s lack of strategic direction leads a cluttered approach to human resource management as evident in the policies which do not support any concrete corporate objective for the company. Because the company lacks strategic direction, an organizational structure is not tailored to support any strategy to fulfill a corporate objective. This leads to a corporate structure that often leads to conflicts, and one that does not utilise an integrated approach to the company’s operations. The shift of organizational structure from individualised jobs to work teams in order to promote a team working culture is vital in order to address the integration issues that arise from customer frustrations and lack of ownership. Structure plays a huge role in the organization’s processes, as stated in the case, â€Å"After the training had been completed there was a noticeable improvement in attitude between and within teams, although changes in staffing and team structures tended to undermine the benefits (Mason 2000, 14).† Communication is very vital to

Branding Essay Example for Free

Branding Essay Case Study 1: Transaction pricing in a recessionary economy Our client is an FMCG major that sells its products across many large and small retailers. The client is facing pressure from one such large retailer to cut prices across brands and categories. The client is therefore losing money on several products. Our client would like to use analytics to bring in some science into the pricing decision. Our analysis should help the client decide what pricing strategies should be applied to each product. How would you approach this analysis? The data available is weekly price and volume data for all client brands at the retailer for a period of 2 years. Case Study 2: Managing extreme seasonality Our brand is a high end lifestyle brand, famous globally. They however, face an issue of seasonal sales, with over 60% of their sales coming in the holiday period. They would like to understand how best to ensure sales in non seasonal periods as well and make the sales curve more even. Data available includes volume and values sales and usage and attitude studies. Case Study 3: NPD (own label) at a supermarket chain A leading supermarket chain wants to expand its limited portfolio of RTE food products. Transaction data for the past 1 year is available. How would you go about understanding the type of products to be introduced? What is the launch strategy for the products chosen? Case Study 4: Acquisition vs New product development A food major in the market with no chips brand in its portfolio. A decision has been made at the board level to either acquire an existing brand or launch a new one in this space. You are in charge of implementing this. 1. How will you take the decision on acquisition vs. new product development? Which metrics would you evaluate, what analysis would you perform what data would you require? 2. If you decide to acquire a brand, how would you choose among the existing brands? What info do you require on each brand to make this call? a. Any intangible factors that would influence your valuation of existing brands? In case you decide to launch a new brand, how would you go about it? How would you decide the desired new brand characteristics and the associated marketing mix? Case Study 5: Analyzing brand performance A chips brand has recently been launched, but its performance has not been too good. The large promotional investments put in have not yielded lasting returns. You are told to investigate what’s wrong with the brand. 1. What data would you request to complete your investigation in this case? 2. Can you talk about your analysis roadmap in this scenario? What possible corrective actions would you suggest (you are free to make relevant assumptions on the diagnosis)? Case Study 6: Heritage brand with stagnating growth A very old chips brand (kind of like a heritage brand) is faced with stagnating growth. It continues to perform reasonably well on key equity parameters, and there is no decline compared to previous years. 1. How do you read the situation? What data would you require to make an accurate diagnosis of the issue? What are the potential corrective actions you would suggest? How would you decide between the various options?

Clinically Isolated Syndrome and MS

Clinically Isolated Syndrome and MS CHAPTER 1 – GENERAL PRINCIPLES 1.1 Terminology Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) is a central nervous system demyelinating event isolated in time that is may or may not lead to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is a term that describes a first clinical episode with features suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS). It usually occurs in young adults (19-30 years old) and affects optic nerves, the brainstem, or the spinal cord. Although patients usually recover from their presenting episode. (1) The term â€Å"clinically isolated syndrome† (CIS) is used to describe a first episode of neurologic episode that lasts at least 24 hours and is caused by inflammation and demyelination in one or more sites in the central nervous system (CNS). CIS may be presented as monofocal or multifocal: Monofocal episode:The person experiences a single neurologic sign or symptom such as an attack of optic neuritis that is caused by a single lesion. Multifocal episode:The person experiences more than one sign or symptom such as an attack of optic neuritis accompanied by weakness on one side of the body (hemiparesis) that is caused by lesions in more than one place in CNS. Individuals who experience a CIS may or may not go on to develop MS. In diagnosing CIS, the physician faces two challenges: first, to determine whether the patient is experiencing a neurologic episode caused by damage of the CNS, and second, to determine the possibility that a person experiencing this type of demyelinating episode is having high risk to develop MS. Of the people who are eventually diagnosed with MS, 85% experienced a first attack that is referred to as a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). (1) If an MRI scan of the brain and spinal cord shows evidence suggestive of MS at the time of a clinically isolated syndrome or at the time of a second episode, then MS will be diagnosed. However, not all patients who experience a clinically isolated syndrome will go to develop MS (2). For many patients, there will be no MRI evidence suggestive of MS and no further symptoms or episodes. 1.2 history The first journal article including the term â€Å"clinically isolated syndrome† appeared only 20 years ago .Increasing availability of  magnetic resonance technology in the 80s improved diagnosis of  CNS  demyelinating disorders, and the arrival of disease-modifying medications for  multiple sclerosis  starting in mid-90s increased the importance of correct diagnosis and treatment. Long term follow up studies of patients presenting with an isolated clinical syndrome characteristic of multiple sclerosis led to the identification of risk factors for conversion to clinically definite multiple sclerosis (3). Today, no uniform consensus definition for a clinically isolated syndrome exists. In 2008, a panel of multiple sclerosis experts recommended that a clinically isolated syndrome be defined as a monophasic presentation with suspected underlying inflammatory demyelinating disease and recommended 5 subtypes based on monofocal or multifocal symptoms, presence or absence of asymptomatic MRI lesions, or patients without symptoms but with a suggestive MRI (3,4). 1.3 Epidemiology A study was made to determine whether the incidence of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) the precursor form of multiple sclerosis (MS) that encompasses optic neuritis and transverse myelitis as well as other clinical presentations, varies by race/ethnicity in a multi-ethnic, population-based cohort (5). The methods that was used is based on electronic record searches and complete medical records review to identify all newly diagnosed CIS and MS cases in the population-based, multiethnic membership of Southern California Kaiser Permanente (KPSC) between 2008 and 2009. The KPSC membership contributed 7,410,754 person-years of observation during the study period and the racial/ethnic distribution was 36.5% white, 8.6% black, 43.4% Hispanic, 9.3% Asian/Pacific Islanders (Asian/PI) and 1.9% other (6). The results were the identification of 254 incident cases of CIS cases who did not yet met McDonald criteria for MS and did not have other obvious causes (viral, lupus, ischemia). The most common clinical presentation was optic neuritis (48.4%) followed by transverse myelitis (32.7%), other forms of mono-regional CIS (9.8%) and poly-regional CIS (9.1%). The average age at diagnosis with CIS was 42.9 years (range 14.8-80.8) and 70.5% were women. Among CIS cases, the racial/ethnic distribution was 47.6% white, 12.6% black, 33.1% Hispanic, 4.3% Asian/PI and 2.4% other. The incidence of CIS was 3.4 per 100,000 person-years. Incidence of CIS was higher in black (5.1, 95%CI=3.5-7.1) and white, non-Hispanic individuals (4.5, 95%CI=3.7-5.3) compared with white, Hispanic (2.6, 95%CI=2.1-3.2) and Asian/PI individuals (1.6, 95% CI = 0.8 2.9; p In conclusion the incidence of CIS is 3.4 per 100,000 person-years in a multi-ethnic, population-based cohort of Southern Californians. The incidence of CIS is higher in black and white individuals compared with Hispanic and Asian/PI individuals.6) 1.4 Risk of developing multiple sclerosis after clinically isolated syndrome Studies suggest that people who experienced a clinically isolated syndrome have a less than 50% risk of developing MS within five years of experiencing the initial symptoms (7). There is no single examination that can determine whether a person who experiences a clinically isolated syndrome will or will not go to develop MS. However, researchers have tried to identify factors that might influence the possibility of developing MS and help differentiate between people who have a higher and lower risk to develop MS. Though these classifications do not establish absolute risk of developing MS, they may help to guide people in making decisions about further testing or treatment (1,7). Figure 1: Progression of the disease for CIS and MS types. Source https://sbvimprover.com Factors that influence the likelihood of developing MS: 1. Type of clinically isolated syndrome Many studies have shown that different types of clinically isolated syndrome (i.e. transverse myelitis, optic neuritis, brainstem syndrome) in relation to the risk of developing MS. These studies suggest that optic neuritis is associated with a lower risk of developing MS and better long-term outcome than other types of clinically isolated syndromes (7). 2. Symptoms experienced during a clinically isolated syndrome Isolated sensory symptoms, which include tingling, numbness, or visual impairment are thought to be associated with a lower risk of developing MS compared to the presence of symptoms of motor system involvement , which are associated with a higher risk .(1) 3. MRI markers A brain MRI scan at the time of the clinical episode of CIS is thought to be the most useful predictive tool. A normal MRI scan showing no lesions is associated with a lower risk of developing MS. In the other hand, a brain scan that shows a high number or volume of lesions is associated with a higher risk of developing MS (1,7). 4. Laboratory markers A test that is used to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of MS is a lumbar puncture. A lumbar puncture involves removing and analyzing a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), specific markers in the cerebrospinal fluid have the ability to indicate MS activity. Studies have investigated whether analysis of CSF can help predict the possibility of developing MS after a clinically isolated syndrome. One of these studies was based on the data of 40 patients who presented with a clinically isolated syndrome and have been examined with MRI scanning and CSF analyzing within the following two months. Of the 15 patients who developed MS, 14 had abnormalities on MRI and 13 tested positive for markers of disease activity in their CSF. The risk of developing MS was significantly higher in patients who tested positive in CSF analysis and had abnormalities on their first MRI scan compared to patients who were negative for both or one of the tests (7,8). However, because it is less useful as a predictive tool than MRI, a lumbar puncture is not routinely recommended in cases of CIS as described in Table (1). High risk Low risk Motor system symptoms Isolated sensory symptoms High number and volume of brain lesion on MRI Normal brain MRI Table (1): Symptoms in high risk and low risk to develop MS In conclusion motor system symptoms and high number and volume of lesion on brain MRI are indicative of high risk of developing MS, in the other hand isolated sensory symptoms and normal brain MRI are most probably with low risk of developing MS (7).

Conan Doyles the Adventure Of The Speckled Band and Victorian Readers

INTRODUCTION The Victorian era, a time of change in industry, education and family life brought us the famous Conan Doyle detective - Sherlock Holmes. At a point in history where wealth, media and intelligence were becoming more and more prominent in British society the mystery genre became as popular as today's soaps. Doyle's crime formula could be described as a masterpiece, his stories always involving the same fundamental factors that kept his readers hooked. These factors can be seen in The Adventures of the Speckled Band, Helen Stoner the helpless victim, Doctor Roylott the clever villain, a thorough investigation carried out by Holmes followed by a deduction, and a serving of justice. But the question is, how and why did these appeal so successfully to the Victorian readers? SHERLOCK HOLMES Sherlock Holmes as a fictional character was brought across by Conan Doyle to be a very popular detective, one of whom people "insist upon seeing". This popularity is reflected in real life as the stories had such a sense of realism the readers were compelled to see him as a real life figure. It also implies that he is successful in all the cases he is employed to examine. In the story, Holmes is a confident character, reassuring his 'helpless victim', "'You must not fear' he said soothingly". For Doyle's Victorian readers, this characteristic, along with the fact he always defeated the wrong-doer, gave them a sense of hope and security against the frightening changes going on and the increase in crime. This 'safety' the readers felt kept them hooked. Doyle's carefully crafted detective was always polite, for example "would you have the kindness". He was calm, strong and dedicated with an attitude of his ?profession is its own rew... ...e had had access to before. Holmes? characteristics added up to the ideal detective and a role model and figure of hope to Victorian society. Watson as a narrator is successfully used as the point through which readers could connect with the story and also the figure used to create captivating tension through the language employed by Doyle. Doctor Roylott was used by Doyle as the character the readers loved to hate and a stereotypical villain. The complete contrast between Holmes and Roylott created suspense and tension for the readers. Doyle cleverly moulded the female character Helen Stoner into a figure of aspiration to his female Victorian readers. Finally, the huge sense of justice the story is based around gave the readers something to cling to with hope. All of these created the infallible technique Doyle used which successfully appealed to Victorian readers.

Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind Essay -- Young Goo

Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind " 'Lo! there ye stand, my children,' said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad, with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. 'Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped, that virtue were not all a dream. Now are undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome, again, my children, to the communion of your race!' " This particular quote has the mark of cynicism that although may not be common in our time for writing, was probably a very common writing style during certain times in the history of American Literature. This of course would depend on the dominating religious culture of the time. Since Nathaniel Hawthorne's writings were created briefly after the times of the Salem Witch Trials, since one of his ancestors was a judge at the trials, it would be apparent to most that the religious overtones were ones of the righteousness and damnation (Norton Anthol ogy, p. 547). Their inherant belief, which was very much portrayed in the story, was in predestination. This meant that they believed that all the chosen ones were selected before birth by God, and no matter what their actions were, they were saved. Everyone else apparently went to hell. They believed that one could tell who a chosen one was by their deeds and action of goodness and kindness. However, one should still try to be as good as they possibly could even if they weren't one of the chosen because God might have mercy on them and save them anyway for being so good. So the concensus during this particular time was that those that were righteous were chosen and that everyone in ... ...d refers to a group of people sharing something in common, but given the context of the story, we can't ignore the biblical connotations of communion. Therefore we are justified in pointing out these various definitions of communion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obviously Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates his skill at combining many meanings and implications about the pervasive evil nature of man in the story Young Goodman Brown. This statement can be argued by observing both his literal and symbolic meanings. "Evil is the nature of mankind." This is the epitome of the story from Satan's taking the persona of a religious leader to the people viewing him as one. The story can be read at many different levels from the shallow reader to the very indepth reader. However, behind every level is the underlying theme that evil is the nature of mankind. Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind Essay -- Young Goo Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind " 'Lo! there ye stand, my children,' said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad, with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. 'Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped, that virtue were not all a dream. Now are undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome, again, my children, to the communion of your race!' " This particular quote has the mark of cynicism that although may not be common in our time for writing, was probably a very common writing style during certain times in the history of American Literature. This of course would depend on the dominating religious culture of the time. Since Nathaniel Hawthorne's writings were created briefly after the times of the Salem Witch Trials, since one of his ancestors was a judge at the trials, it would be apparent to most that the religious overtones were ones of the righteousness and damnation (Norton Anthol ogy, p. 547). Their inherant belief, which was very much portrayed in the story, was in predestination. This meant that they believed that all the chosen ones were selected before birth by God, and no matter what their actions were, they were saved. Everyone else apparently went to hell. They believed that one could tell who a chosen one was by their deeds and action of goodness and kindness. However, one should still try to be as good as they possibly could even if they weren't one of the chosen because God might have mercy on them and save them anyway for being so good. So the concensus during this particular time was that those that were righteous were chosen and that everyone in ... ...d refers to a group of people sharing something in common, but given the context of the story, we can't ignore the biblical connotations of communion. Therefore we are justified in pointing out these various definitions of communion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obviously Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates his skill at combining many meanings and implications about the pervasive evil nature of man in the story Young Goodman Brown. This statement can be argued by observing both his literal and symbolic meanings. "Evil is the nature of mankind." This is the epitome of the story from Satan's taking the persona of a religious leader to the people viewing him as one. The story can be read at many different levels from the shallow reader to the very indepth reader. However, behind every level is the underlying theme that evil is the nature of mankind.

A Journey by Colm Toibin

†A Journey† by Colm Toibin Changes is a part of every normal human life, but sometimes it doesn’t change in a direction we like. When it happens that life doesn’t working out the way we hope, it’s a natural thing that we start looking back on our past. In wonder of the things we did wrong, but also just to remember a time that felt brighter and happier. A Journey by Colm Tobin is a story that deals with a reflection about the past, and how it has affected the present. In A Journey the reflection happens in flashbacks, that the story’s main character Mary is getting on her journey from a hospital to her home.On this hospital she has picked her son who has suffered and still suffers from a deep depression. On the same time has her husband, named Seamus, just had another stroke, and is very ill. â€Å"Now Seamus was lying upstairs in that same house. The whole right side of his body was paralyzed. That scene Mary could picture more sharply than 6 0 anything. Even when she read the newspaper to him, Seamus did not seem interested. [1]† Much interests isn’t she getting from her depressed son as well, he doesn’t want to sit with her in the front seat in the car and does specifically ask her to not ask any question during their journey.Mary is therefore a lonely woman, who has to deal with a troubled present alone. A naturally reaction is to seek comfort in a brighter time in her past. She think a lot about happy memories with Seamus, her father and her son. At the same time it’s clear that she is looking back to find some kind of explanation of her misery at the same time. She can’t really find these explanations though, because she is afraid of facing what have caused the changes that have been inn he life.That we see in this quote about her son’s doctor: â€Å"He did not seem ready to answer any direct questions so Mary had asked none†. That is what she is trying to convince her self, but the truth is probably that she is afraid of the answers he might give her. A Journey is a story about life, and how we handle the change of directions we sometimes have to make on that journey. Therefore are changes a major theme. Mary has a hard time facing the problems that the changes means, and seek comfort in the comforting past. The changes Mary has a hard time ealing with is involving his family, and what she can do with them and how she has to be. That makes family-relation, by my opinion, to another important theme in the story. The way she is reflecting about changes, which she does implicit without she admits it, is through flashbacks. The story starts up in a flashback and they are well used all the way to the end. The using of flashbacks gives an improved knowledge about the head characters. In A Journey it is used to give us readers an insight in Mary and her family’s past, and therefore gives a hint of how the situation became how it did.They have a c lear contrast to the present in where the story takes place, and it creates a situation where the reader feels a sense of understanding as though he/she knows the past tense and the change and development of the different characters represented in the story. Concretely is the flashback a tool to illustrate Mary’s almost desperate attempt to maintain things how it were, before it all changed. That’s why there’s a lot of flashback to memories with her father before he died, her husband before he got sick and her son before his mood got dark and depressed.It’s also a tool to tell us about the background for her relationship with her son, be telling us why she has such a hard time connecting with him, and understand how he feels. â€Å"It was, she knew, an ill- ness, but it did not seem like one. It seemed to her like something David would not give up, a special dark gift he had been offered. Something which comforted him and which he had accepted. † T he flashbacks are used to tell us about all what’s behind immediate plot. The title of the short story refers to more than its literal journey from the hospital to home.It refers to the development with Mary’s way of dealing with things. In the very short journey from hospital to the house I’ll interpret that Mary develops, because she through the flashbacks sense the changes and by that she becomes more focused on the present and the time to come. This statement is supported by a quotation fro, the end of the story. †It was time, she thought, to let the grey appear†. Literally, she talks about stop coloring her hair blond. Figuratively, it means that she needs to face the problems and let nature do its work. She can’t hide the reality from herself anymore. ———————– [1]