Thursday, January 30, 2020

Prose Text Assignment Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Prose Text Assignment Of Mice and Men Essay Of Mice and Men is about two basic needs the need for companionship and the need to have something to look forward to. I agree the above statement, all of the characters in the story all experience some form of loneliness. Every one of the characters has a different dream in each one is trying to fulfil it in a different way. The story of Of Mice and Men was set in the period of American history called the Depression. This period of history lasted from roughly from 1930 to the start of World War 2 (1939). In this period nearly all the companies and banks went bust the stock market crashed and peoples savings disappeared when the banks closed. People very suddenly where very poor. Most people where unemployed, and with unemployment came poverty, hunger and homelessness. It was very difficult to buy food or pay the rent. In America during the Depression men travelled in order to find work. Few travelling men could form lasting friendships because they had to keep moving on. A man travelling alone was more vulnerable to being attacked imprisoned or just very lonely. Of Mice and Men is a story based on two men who travel America together looking for work. George travels with his mentally handicapped friend called Lennie. The pair of them has nothing of their own, only the clothes they stand in and each other. Together they share a dream, that one day they will own some land of their own. They find work in a ranch in Satinas Valley, California. They meet of few people on the ranch but find it hard to make new friends. Their dream is soon ruined as Lennie misunderstands the difference between love and cruelty and becomes a victim of his own strength and power. He becomes friends with the only women on the ranch and forms a good friendship with Curleys Wife. Their friendship soon turns to love and they start to develop a physical relationship, Lennie doesnt know his own strength and grabs hold of her to hard and strangles her. Everyone finds out and Lennie is threatened with the prospect of being locked up in a mental institution or being executed by the government, so George saves him from this by shooting him. Crookes works as the sable buck hand on the ranch. He first appears in the story on pages 66-82. He is a crippled old man who gets his name from the way his spines bends (crooked). He has deep eyes and looks intense with his face, which is lean and wrinkled. On the ranch he is of a minority as he is the only black person on the ranch, which means he suffers a lot of prejudice remarks from other people. He is a very lonely man, and can often be bitter towards people he doesnt trust. Particularly white people, as hes not sure he can trust them. Crookes has is own room on the ranch, as none of the other men want him to stop in the bunkhouse. The only person Crookes can talk to is Lennie, although Lennie doesnt understand what he is saying as he is mentally handicapped. Crookes seems to like tormenting Lennie and sometimes says some very nasty things to him. Crookes however has more possessions than the other men has he has been on the ranch nearly all his life. He has little money but still has managed to gather some things of his own e.g. books and a dictionary. He is a very proud man and doesnt like to ask anyone for anything, even though he is crippled he still manages to keep his room neatly swept and is quite aloof. Crookes suffers from a lot of loneliness, as he is the only black person on the ranch. However he often has the chance to avoid loneliness but rejects it, Lennie tries to speak to him and befriend him but instead of trying to make friends he wallows in self-pity. He is very critical of other people an their dreams and hopes. He tells Candy he will help him fulfil his dreams, but afterwards when he has built his hopes up he tells him he was messing around and wont help him at all. He has probably spent all of his life on the ranch and thinks there is no way for him to leave, so he has given up hope and lost ambition. George along with Lennie is the main character in the story. He is a short man but is very quick. He is dark of the face and has eyes, which appear very restless. He is described as sharp and strong with body parts that are small and strong. His arms are slender and strong and he has a thin boney nose. George wears the same clothes as his companion Lennie; black hats, denim trousers and coat, and carries a blanket over his shoulder. George is rather a unsung hero of the story, he certainly lacks no courage. He has looked after Lennie for a long time, and spares his friend from loneliness. He stops Lennie from being locked up in a mental institution or being executed by the state government. He shoots Lennie but for his own good. Some people may think he did it for selfish reasons as h has looked after Lennie for a long time and is fed up of him. He did it because he cares about Lennie and didnt want him to suffer loneliness and depression. He cares about Lennie and saved him from what he knows would be worse than death. George would have probably been able to make a good life for himself if it wasnt for Lennie. George is an intelligent good thinking man, who is very sensible and used to taking charge. He cares a lot about Lennie and is always looking out for him, he is very cautious and warns Lennie about drinking the dirty pond water and tells him to be careful of the bedding at the bunkhouse in case he catches lice. George accepted the burden of looking after Lennie when Lennie Aunt Clara asked him. Without Lennie George would be very lonely, he and Lennie share a big brother-little brother kind of relationship. George has loyally stuck by Lennie throughout everything and having someone to look after and that depends on him makes George feel a better person. Georges longs for independence and would love to be his own boss. George is a kind hearted and compassionate person he sometimes gets frustrated but doesnt have a bad temper. He is very careful on who he trusts and is very careful when he meets people. He has to be a good judge of character and know who to trust and who not to, because of his and Lennies past. George is kind to everyone but he hates Curley he knows that he is nothing more than a bully. He tells Lennie to keep away from him as they cant afford to loose their jobs. However he encourages Lennie to stand up for himself against him. The only thing in life holding him back is Lennie. Lennie is a big man; he has a shapeless face and big pale eyes. He walks slowly but heavily, emphasising how slow his mind is. He has very strong instincts and has bad feeling about staying at the ranch and pleads with George for them to leave. He shows a cunning side and often uses it in getting his own way with George. In the first part of the story Lennie shows us this by using emotional blackmail. George looses his temper so Lennie tells him he is going to live in the woods alone, so George feels sorry for him so he tells him to come back. Lennie has a lot of animal-like qualities, which shows us his strength. He looks up to George like a father or big brother and often copies his ways. As Lennie is mentally handicapped he is unaware of the he is a victim of prejudice remarks and is unable to elate to many people, this often makes his behaviour childlike. Lennie would rather have the company of animals. However is his made to be a likeable character, Candy likes him and even Crookes warms to him. Lennie doesnt understand he needs to be careful with fragile things and is very heavy handed and doesnt learn from his mistakes. He reacts very much like a child and often panics. Lennies major problem is that he doesnt know the consequences of his own strength. Lennie doesnt understand loneliness but if he knew what it meant then he would probably be very lonely but because he is mentally handicapped he has no understanding of this feeling. He understands the need to have something important to look forward to. Lennies dream is very important to him; he nearly knows it all his self. He his always-getting George to tell it him over and over again like a child who loves to be told a bedtime story. At the end of the story Lennie has two hallucinations, one with his Aunt Clara in and the other with a giant rabbit in. This could be the authors way of outlining the abuse Lennie has suffered through his life. Or it could be Lennie conscience telling him that he has done wrong, even though he doesnt understand how it was wrong. Curleys wife is an important character in the story, but the author is showing ho little the men think of her by giving her no name. She is seen to be nothing more than one of Curleys possessions. When we are first introduced she is dressed up as if she is going out somewhere important when in fact all she is doing is staying on the ranch. She has large lips which are emphasised by the red lipstick she wears, she wears lots of make-up, red nail varnish, red shoes, red ostrich feathers and has her hair fastened back in curls. She wears a lot of the colour red, which shows a lot about her. Red is a colour, which is associated with lots of different things, mainly blood that is a clue, her death is near. It is also associated with danger, which is telling you do not get involved with this person she is bad news. Red is commonly regarded as a sexy colour, she is probably trying to show her self to the men as in the story she is displayed as a Scarlet Women. Often she pretends to be looking for her husband but the men know that she is just looking for an excuse, as she is looking for company, as she is lonely, although the men see it as she is just flirting with them. She is the only woman on the ranch, which is a disadvantage, and often gets little attention from anyone including her husband. Many people may think she has it all a husband and a house, but she is just as lonely if not more than any worker on the ranch. She doesnt think a lot of her husband, which probably means she just married him for the sake of it, the only things they have in common is that their both very selfish. Slim is one of the only people to be kind to her, George feels sorry for her but is worried on the effect she has on Lennie. However her and Lennie get on well and start to develop a physical relationship. Lennie who doesnt know how to be careful with fragile things takes things to far and ends up strangling her. Candy is the first person George and Lennie meet when they arrive at the ranch. He is the swamper, which is like a cleaner, the lowliest job on the ranch. His name is even belittles him, its a girls name. He is a tall man who only has one hand. He is a victim also of prejudice remarks because of his age and disability. He is careful of everyone because he doesnt want people to tease him. He never sticks up for himself, the only time he did was with Curleys wife. He has a lot of dignity, which shows the kind of person he once was. Candy has lots of gossip on everyone, which could be seen as getting is own back on people who has upset him by making comments about people behind their back. He always tells the newcomers the gossip on everyone. He is a lonely person and the only companion he has is an old dog. The animal is old and probably needs to be out down but means a lot to candy as he is so lonely. Candy would love to leave the ranch and when he finds out about George and Lennies plan he wants to help, and offer to give them his savings, which would easily cover the cost of over half the farm. George, Lennie and Candy thought that in only a couple of weeks their dream to leave the ranch and own a farm would come true. All of the characters in this story are lonely the person I think is the most lonely is George. He has no real friends the only person he has to talk to is Lennie but he doesnt fully understand what he is saying.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Concentration of Ownership and Decreasing Diversity in Print Media Essa

Concentration of Ownership and Decreasing Diversity in Print Media       For all who love to read books, imagine walking into bookstore after bookstore seeing the same type of books over and over. No variety, no choice, only repetition. Although America prides itself on freedom and democracy more than any nation in the world, this hypothetical situation is becoming increasingly closer to becoming a reality than some may think. Consolidation and concentration of ownership in print media companies may cause for the inability of some people to voice their opinions. What does this mean? This means that the basis of our country, including freedom from the first amendment, maybe be pulled out from under our feet. Causes of this lack of diversity in views and opinions may be linked to the fact that very few but extremely large publishing companies are publishing books and magazines. Conglomerate ownership becoming international will also lead to the lack of American publishing control. Finally, although the Internet supplies an outlet for new opportunit ies and a way of getting diverse information spread throughout the world, not all people are capable of obtaining this information. It was once thought that mass media would reflect very diverse points of view. Now that publishing of books and magazines has reduced to a few large companies, the outlook for diversity is beginning to shrink in size. In 1983, over 50 companies dominated the mass media of the United States. Today, this size has drastically decreased to nine major companies including AOL Time Warner, Disney, Bertelsmann, Viacom, News Corporation, TCI, General Electric, Sony, and Seagram1[1]. By allowing a few large companies to control m... ... Beacon Press 2000, Sixth Edition ed.: xx-xxi. 23 Sept. 2001 . 2[2] "Why Media Mergers Matter." Brill's Content Dec. 1999. 23 Sept. 2001 .       3[3] "The US media: a critical component of the conspiracy against democratic rights-Part 5." Editorial. World Socialist Website 27 Dec. 2000. 24 Sept. 2001 dec2000/med5-d27.shtml>.       4[4] New York Time Square. 23 Sept. 2001 location.asp?ID=New%20York%20Time%20Square>.    5[5] Columbia Journalism Review. 22 Sept. 2001 .    6[6] The Big Picture: Demographics. 21 Sept. 2001 demographics/article/1,1323,5901_768141,00.html>.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Gobi Fund Essay

Why is it difficult to establish a new fund? Why is track record so important in fund raising? The main concern is to convince the investors to invest their money in Gobi. Therefore, it is necessary to raise a rational-sized fund. To raise a new fund is not an easy thing to do as everything including the fund structure, team, approach, LP base, and amount of capital have to be defined appropriately. The general partners also need to contribute their own money in order to convince the investors to invest together with them. The track record is very important in fund raising because if Gobi has a good track record, more investors will be interested to invest in it. Q2. Prepare a SWOT analysis for Gobi Fund II proposal in the context of venture capital fundraising. Gobi operates in an area where there is a lot of pent up demand (IT and digital media). * Gobi can acts like a bridge for western LPs to invest in Chinese companies. It is difficult to raise a new fund and if Gobi do not really have a good track record, it will become harder to gain the investors trust in order to raise the new funds. May have the advantage in acquiring a higher return from investment in the IT and media market since they already invest in that industry during the early stage. Meaning that they already have the experiences in investing in IT industry, therefore, may not become a problem to earn a high return. What are the keys to raising the second fund and how large should it be? There is no definite answer in this question as they could be changing depends on the situations. The planning horizons may take between 7 to 10 years or maybe longer than that because of a lack of infrastructure and development in the industry. The fund size may be between $100 million to $200 million allowing around $2 million to $5 million for each company. The subsequent funds should be of similar size or larger as the industry grows. Gobi wants the first close at $75 million. The key is whether to include more financial LPs or not. Q4. From the perspective of a potential LP, what are your choices when funding international focused VC funds? Would you fund Gobi? Gobi has never exited from an investment before, and there is high level of risks involved in the development of early stage IT companies as well as huge risks that may impede company development and growth. However, Gobi operates in an area where there is a lot of pent up demand (IT and digital media) and Gobi can acts like a bridge for western LPs to invest in Chinese companies. It may be a good choice to invest in it if it offers a rational return considerate with the level of high risks involved.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Treaty Of The United States - 884 Words

The United States, sought a peace treaty that would address how World War I began. The United States also wanted a treaty that would not punish Germany for fear of instigating resentment with the German people, for example, resentment was one of the factors in the rise of the Nazi regime. The final version of the treaty did not sit well with President Wilson, even more, only eight of his Fourteen Points were actually merged into the Treaty. Some of Wilson’s points were not respected by either side, for instance, point five urged countries to work towards disarmament and reduction of munitions. President Wilson, initially regarded the Treaty as a means of a temporary fix to an unbalanced world. This regard was based on the fact that the President knew very little about Europe. Furthermore, President Wilson became extremely embittered as the corrections to the Treaty became more punitive towards Germany. Even though the United States successfully avoided a high casualty and dama ge rate from the war, likewise, President Wilson and the American people shared the same disappointment that he felt towards the Treaty of Versailles. Therefore, the treaty was greeted with disappointment in the United States and due to the ‘fourteenth point- The League of Nations, Congress refused to ratify it. Entry 7 How did the League of Nations form? President Wilson’s ideology on creating the League of Nations, proposed a culmination of relations, based on the support of every single nation inShow MoreRelatedThe Treaty Of The United States918 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States doubled its land area when the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed making the 828,000 square miles of the Louisiana territory a part of the New World. After the exchange of $15 million to France in exchange for Louisiana, France’s influence in the United States was demolished. 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