Amy Tans Short Story Analysis - 986 Words

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Underline examples where the author’s life relates to the first 50 pages of the book so far. A great deal of information is available about Amy Tan’s personal and professional lives. Perhaps this is because her writing is clearly so overlaid with biography and autobiography. It might also be because her stories have so touched the hearts of her readers. And it might be because her enormous literary popularity coincides with the tremendous growth of the internet as a means of instant communication. Information about her seems to have popped up daily on many different web sites. A quick search of the internet, the local bookstore, or the neighborhood library should turn up much solid information about this most interesting†¦show more content†¦It received the 1990 Bay Area Reviewers Award for Fiction. For months, The Joy Luck Club was on The New York Times bestseller list, and the rights to the paperback edition were sold for over one million dollars. The book has also been made into a film for which Amy Tan helped to write the screenplay. Amy Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, moving frequently from one place to another as her father, a Baptist minister, accepted new ministries. After graduating from high school in Montreux, Switzerland, Tan attended a few different colleges. Ultimately she received a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in 1973 and was awarded a master’s degree in linguistics from the same university in 1974. Amy Tan’s father was John Yueh-han, who worked for the U.S. Information Service prior to coming to the United States in the late 1940’s. Educated as an electrical engineer and a minister, Tan’s father was born in Wuhan, China. Tan’s mother, Daisy Ching (born Tu Ching) was married once before, in China, for twelve years, to a man who abused her. Daisy Ching had three other daughters and lost track of them after the Communists took over in China. Because it was then illegal for a woman to leave her husband, Daisy Ching spent some months in prison in China when her former marriage and circumstances were revealed. Daisy Ching metShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan1567 Words   |  7 Pages One of the most complex relationships is that of a mother and daughter. Amy Tan is an author who writes about her life growing up as an Asian-American in Chinatown. Her novel The Joy Luck Club is a series of short stories about Chinese mothers and their assimilated daughters. One of these stories is â€Å"Two Kinds,† which looks into the life of Jing-Mei Woo and her struggle to gain a sense of self. Some key themes in The Joy Luck Club are the generational and intercultural differences among Chinese-AmericanRead MoreMother Tongue1199 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis of â€Å"Mother Tongue† written by Amy Tan â€Å"So easy to read†(p.4). Amy Tan ends her essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue† with this short and even grammatically wrong sentence. She tells us this mother’s brief review is a proof of success of her writing. Why does she think that easiness is an essence of her writing? She suggests answers to this question by her essay. In her essay, Amy Tan effectively convinces her readers that â€Å"broken English† is not an inferior language, but justRead MoreAnalysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan913 Words   |  4 Pages Analysis of Mother Tongue by Amy Tan In the narrative essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue† by Amy Tan, the author sets out the story between her mother, whose English is her second language, and Tan herself can speak native English very well. The essay covers the tonal shift of Amy Tan s psychological change, from grudge to understanding. Although she begins the essay saying, I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on theRead MoreHuman Oppressiveness in Two Kinds and AP Essay2357 Words   |  10 PagesIt was Emerson who said it best, â€Å"For nonconformity, the world whips you with its displeasure† (Porter 1155). With a detailed look of Amy Tan’s â€Å"Two Kinds† and John Updike’s â€Å"AP,† you will find that this quote is entirely applicable in the context of oppressiveness and in the likeness of â€Å"coming of age.† These two stories document the different perspectives of two characters’ growing up and how the r ole of the invisible hand of oppression guides developing adolescents into mature adults; withoutRead MoreAmy Tan s Two Kinds Essay1372 Words   |  6 PagesJing-Mei Woo and her mother are the major characters in Amy Tan’s â€Å"Two Kinds.† The two have a complicated mother-daughter relationship at the beginning of the story, but later, as an adult, Jing-Mei realizes the intentions of her mother. â€Å"Two Kinds† is told from Jing-Mei’s point of view as a mature adult who is reflecting on her childhood. Jing-Mei’s thoughts and feelings are revealed, but she and her mother, the antagonist, have conflictingly opposite desires. Jing-Mei’s mother desires for herRead MoreThe Theory of Alienation Proven Wrong : People are more Alienated in their Community. 1795 Words   |  8 Pagesindependent, because they are told what to do by their employer. Alienation is broadly defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as : The state of feeling estranged or separated from one’s milieu, work, products of work, or self. Despite its popularity in the analysis of contemporary life, the idea of alienation remains an ambiguous concept with elusive meanings, the following variants being most common: (1) powerlessness, the feeling that one’s destiny is not under one’s own control but is determined by externalRead MoreEssay on College Writing in the College Classroom1871 Words   |  8 Pagesamount of work was a different story.The majority of the class consisted of reading short stories from a huge English book, and answering the exercise questions.And almost every Friday you would hear the whining voice of one of the cheerleaders say, â€Å"Mr. Toma, can we have a free-day?† and the answer would be, â€Å"OK.†He never graded with a biased opinion either.The cheerleaders got A’s, no matter how late or how short their written papers were.The rest of the class, with th e exception of the super-geniusRead Moreevery day use3221 Words   |  13 PagesDate Paper draft (for example, Paper #1 Draft A or In-class Essay #2) On subsequent pages, in the upper right corner write: The paper s title Your name Page number Character analysis of the story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker 1) Pay attention to the character’s ethics. Does the character make just or unjust choices? Consider Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus does not make morally correct choicesRead MoreGp Essay Mainpoints24643 Words   |  99 Pagesget in the way of a good story† is an instruction often heard in the newsroom †¢ Concept of media ethics is conceived to be an oxymoron. Sadly, many aspects of the modern media are stripped of almost all ethical concerns. In a reality of competition, ratings and economic considerations, ethics becomes a secondary, sometimes irritating, issue †¢ E.g. But consider 2003, New York Times writer Jayson Blair caught for plagiarising and falsifying elements of his stories †¦ clear to public that newspapers

Analysis of Real Altruism Essay - 1667 Words

Helping someone in need or getting the feeling of wanting to help someone in need is something that happens in everyone’s life. It is a common thought that animals help each other expecting to gain something in return. But in some cases, helping is not linked to immediate returning benefits or these are inexistent. This type of behavior has caught the attention of psychologists interested in understanding the ideas and thoughts behind it. Can this be considered real altruism? Psychologists have been studying this issue suggesting different ideas to explain altruistic behavior. This essay will talk about altruism and some of the real ideas over the thinking that altruistic behavior comes from real altruistic ideas, helping with the†¦show more content†¦Evolutionary psychologists like Rushton (1991) argue how altruism is part of evolution that originates from genetic purposes. Most studies show that people would rather help a relative or a friend that they have known fo r a long time instead of someone they are not related or don’t have a connection too. It is understandable that helping a relative or someone we have known for a while could be a normal thing and bring us benefit in some way, but it is hard to explain when people and animals show compassion for complete strangers. This apparent altruistic behavior suggests that real altruism does exist. To study this opinion some tried to look at the emotions and cognitive things that were happening to the person before they were helping this person. Piliavin, 1981, as cited in Hogg and Vaughan, 2008, suggested that the act of not helping someone in need could result in costing the people around them. These could be either an emphatic or of a personal nature. That is, the person helping someone may feel bad if choosing not to help someone. They did a study on three cognitive areas a person standing there goes through before knowing or thinking what the outcome may be from helping that person. First the person suffers from physiological arousal, which means to feel distressful or uncomfortable in the troubles of that person. Secondly, the person around this person needs to deal with this feeling. As explained by Vaughan and Hogg, this feeling aloneShow MoreRelatedKant And Kant s Theory1368 Words   |  6 Pages578) Chapter12: Question 8 What is altruism? Should we try to encourage it? If so, why? If not, why not? Altruism is a term that was coined by the scholar auguste Comte meaning selflessness. It is the principle that argues that people should worry about the welfare of others rather than their self-interests alone. Altruism is virtues that is widely encouraged in most religious groups and have been practiced by many traditional societies. According to Comte altruism, can be used as the basis of judgingRead MoreSelfish Relations : An Evolutionary Explanation Of Altruistic Behaviors1528 Words   |  7 Pagesconstrained by genetic relatedness. This analysis of cooperation will describe the evolutionary origins of the behavior by linking selfish genes to the emergence of cooperation. Selfish genes have responded to the extremely social and political milieu to allow for cooperation as a way of extended individual benefits. This idea can be supported by examples of reciprocity, altruistic punishment, and Malthusianism. This discourse will also discuss whether â€Å"true altruism† exis ts, and that if cooperation isRead MoreA Case Of A Struggling Company Without Enough Cash1709 Words   |  7 Pagesconsequences; the most ethical options available to the leader of the company-Joe, how egoism come into play in the case, where altruism is most apparent in the options, the option that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number, Joe’s duty, the pressure Joe faces about the situation, and finally identifying and answering a question to further enhance the analysis of the case. A Struggling Company without Enough Cash This is a case of ethical leadership. Joe Woodman bought a small computerRead MoreEssay about Social-Psychological Principles of the Movie Unforgiven1333 Words   |  6 Pagesentertained, and not to psychologically analyze them. There are many different principles that would be applicable to the film we are discussing however, I have chosen to analyze three scenes discussing altruism, self-fulfilling prophecy, and counterfactual thinking. Please review the following scenes and analysis from the movie Unforgiven: Scene * The first scene is the opening scene when a man was upstairs in the saloon/brothel with a prostitute – Delilah, who did not want to have sex with the manRead MoreThe Case Against Helping The Poor2052 Words   |  9 Pagesethics regarding altruism—often referred to as one’s own selflessness. In order to try and explain such an abstract concept, authors reference specific situations to help clarify the concepts themselves or to try and invoke a certain response from their audiences. In â€Å"Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor,† Garrett Hardin uses a lifeboat metaphor to demonstrate the potential damaging consequences of unlimited foreign aid in hopes of persuading his readers to oppose altruism. Similarly, inRead MoreSocial Recognition And Its Effect On Society1537 Words   |  7 Pagesinteresting theory we found in the paper by Holmes et al., which speculated that though people are innately altruistic, they do not want the reputation ofâ€Å"too altruistic.† They claim that this is because such a reputation would implicate them to further altruism which may become a burden. We wanted to combine these two ideas to understand when social pressure is helpful versus harmful in charitable donation. In our data, we found no significant main effects and no significant interaction. This means thatRead MoreThe Search For Altruism3098 Words   |  13 Pages Citadel High School Mathematics SL The Search for Altruism Alina Chen 002937-0110 (Examinations) May 2015 Introduction Kindness is the one notion that can be understood throughout time and across all cultures and languages. To be altruistic in the modern-day world is to show selfless concern for the welfare of others. Many consider such a characteristic to be immeasurable, but leaps in science and math have begun to show otherwise. This was really intriguingRead MoreTo What Extent Was Marshall Aid Merely a Policy of American Self Interest843 Words   |  4 Pagesappraisal and significant opposition, and to this day it is debated whether it was purely a policy of self-interest and an imposition of America’s political and economic views on a weak and vulnerable Europe, or alternatively one of the greatest acts of altruism and generosity in modern history. It was enormously successful, ‘It was the most unambiguously and triumphantly successful of all America’s post-war policies’ , and helped to create a foundation on which Europe could become an economic power. WhileRead More Self Control And Self Leadership835 Words   |  4 Pagespush themselves to be successful, it is easy for them to be stressful. 2.2. Critical analysis of Positive Psychology According to Gable and Haidt (2005), positive psychology is a combination processes and conditions which contribute to the flourishment of people, groups, and organisations. The aim of positive psychology is to look at the bright side of human life and explain â€Å"the way people feel joy, show altruism, and create healthy families and institutions.† This viewpoint is supported by SheldonRead MoreThe Humanitarian Crisis in Chechnya965 Words   |  4 PagesStalin in a day where the expression of such rank evil should not occur or be tolerated. An interview with a local Chechen refugee solidified my understanding of the situation. However, meeting a survivor face-to-face also made the situation seem more real and therefore much more painful. When asked to comment on the film Crying Sun, my subject took a deep breath. This is just like what happened in our village, she said. There were land mines everywhere. The paratroopers came a lot. Once we ran to

Sofa Wars Essay Example For Students

Sofa Wars Essay The soft-drink battleground has now turned toward new overseas markets. While once the United States, Australia, Japan, and Western Europe were the dominant soft-drink markets, the growth has slowed down dramatically, but they are still important markets for Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Globalization has become an important word in the 90s and Eastern Europe, Mexico, China, Saudi Arabia, and India have become the new hot spots. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are forming joint bottling ventures in these nations and in other areas where they see growth potential. As we have seen in the Japanese video dealing with Cokes business in class, international marketing can be very complex. As I begin to examine the international soda wars this will become very evident. The domestic cola war between Coca-Cola and Pepsi is still raging, as we clearly know. However, these two soft-drink giants also recognize the opportunities for globalization in many of the international markets. Both!Coca-Cola, which sold 10 billion cases of soft-drinks in 1992, and Pepsi now find themselves asking, Where will sales of the next 10 billion cases come from? The answer lies overseas, where income levels and appetites for Western products are at an all time high.Often, the company that gets into a foreign market first usually dominates that countrys market. Coke patriarch Robert Woodruff realized this 50 years ago and unleashed a brilliant ploy or in a way a very simple global strategyto make Coke the early bird in many of the major foreign markets. At the height of World War II, Woodruff proclaimed that ?Wherever American boys were fighting, theyd be able to get a By the time Pepsi tried to make its first international pitch in the 50s, Coke had already established its brand name and a powerful distribution network. During the last 40 years, many new markets have emerged. In order to profit from these markets, both Coke and Pepsi need to find ways to cut through all of the red tape that initially prevents them from conducting business in these markets. One key movement for the soda wars occurd in Europe in 1972, Pepsi signed an agreement with the Soviet Union which made it the first Western product to be sold to consumers in Russia. This landmark agreement gave Pepsi the first advantage. Presently, Pepsi has 23 plants in the former Soviet Union and is the leader in the soft-drink industry in Russia. Pepsi outsells Coca-Cola by 6 to 1 and is seen as a local brand, similar to Cokes reputation in Japan. However, Pepsi has also had some problems. There has not been an increase in brand loyalty for Pepsi since its advertising blitz in Russia, even though it has produced commercials tailored to the Russian market and has sponsored television concerts. On the positive side, Pepsi may be leading Coca-Cola due to the big difference in price between the two colas. While Pepsi sells for Rb250 (25 cents) a bottle, Coca-Cola sells for Rb450. For the economy size, Pepsi sells 2 liters for Rb1,300, but Coca-Cola sells 1.5 liters fo!r Rb1,800.Coca -Cola, on the other hand, only moved into Russia 2 years ago and is manufactured locally in Moscow and St. Petersburg under a license. Despite investing $85 million in these two bottling plants, they do not perceive Coca-Cola as a premium brand in the Russian market.Moreover, they see it as a foreign brand in Russia. Lastly, while Coca-Colas bottle and label give it a high-class image, it is unable to capture market share. Another country in the hot battleground for Coca-Cola and Pepsi is Romania. When Pepsi established a bottling plant in Romania in 1965, it became the first US product produced and sold in the region. Pepsi began producing locally during the communist period and has recently decided to reformat its organization structure and retrain its local staff. Pepsi entered into a joint venture with a local firm, Flora and Quadrant, for its Bucharest plant, and has 5 other factories in Romania. Quadrant leases Pepsi the equipment and handles Pepsis distribution. In addition, Pepsi bought 500 Romanian trucks which are also used for distribution in other countries. Moreover, Pepsi produces its bottles locally through an investment in the glass industry. While the price of Pepsi and Coca-Cola are the same (@15 cents/bottle), some consumers drink Pepsi because Pepsi sent Michael Jackson to Romania for a concert. Another reason for drinking Pepsi is that it is slightly sweeter than !Coca-Cola and is more suited for the sweet-toothed Romanians. Lastly, some drink Pepsi because, in the past, only top officials were allowed to drink it, but now everyone can. Coca-Cola only began producing locally in November 1991, but it is outselling all of its competitors. In 1992, Coca-Cola saw an increase in Romania of sales by 99.2% and outsold Pepsi by 6 to 5. While Pepsi preferred to buy its equipment from Romania, Coca-Cola preferred to bring equipment into Romania. Also, Coca-Cola brought 2 bottlers to Romania. One is the Leventis Group, which is privately owned. Coca-Cola has invested almost $25 million into 2 factories. These factories are double the size of the factory Pepsi has in Bucharest. Moreover, Coca-Cola has a partnership with a local company, Ci-Co, in Bucharest and Brasov. Ci-Co has planned an aggressive publicity campaign and has sponsored local sporting and cultural events. Lastly, Romanians drink Coke because it is a powerful western symb!ol which was once forbidden. Finally as far as European markets are concerned there is Poland. Poland with a population of 38 million people, is the biggest consumer market in central and eastern Europe. Coca-Cola is closing in on Pepsis lead in this country with 1992 sales of 19.5 million cases versus Pepsis sales of 26.5 million cases. The main problems in this area are the centralized economy, the lack of modern production facilities, a non-convertible local currency, and poor distribution. However, since the Zloty is now convertible, Coca-Cola realizes the growth potential in Poland. After a company called Fiat, Coca-Cola is now the second biggest investor in Poland.Coca-Cola has developed an investment plan which includes direct investment and joint ventures/investments with European bottling partners. Its investments may exceed $250 million, and it has completed the infrastructure building. Coca-Cola has divided Poland into 8 regions with strategic sites in each of these areas. It has o!rganized a distribu tion, which Coca-Cola has spent a lot of money organizing, extremely important to challenge Pepsis market share and to maintain a high level of customer service. All of this has helped Coca-Cola to close in on Pepsis lead in Poland. BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON (4379 words) EssayNow on to one of the largest economic growing markets in the world, India. Coca-Cola controlled the Indian market until 1977, when the Janata Party beat the Congress Party of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. To punish Coca-Colas principal bottler, a Congress Party strong and longtime Gandhi supporter, the Janata government demanded that Coca-Cola transfer its syrup formula to an Indian subsidiary (Chakravarty, 43). Coca-Cola refused and withdrew from the country. India, now left without both Coca-Cola and Pepsi, became a protected market. In the meantime, Indias two largest soft-drink producers have gotten rich and lazy while controlling 80% of the Indian market. These domestic producers have little incentive to expand their plants or develop the countrys potentially enormous market (Chakravarty, 43). Some analysts reason that the Indian market may be more lucrative than the Chinese market. India has 850 million potential customers, 150 million of whom comprise t!he middle class, with disposable income to spend on cars, VCRs, and computers. The Indian middle class is growing at 10% per year. To obtain the license for India, Pepsi had to export $5 of locally-made products for every $1 of materials it imported, and it had to agree to help the Indian government to initiate a second agricultural revolution. Pepsi has also had to take on Indian partners. In the end, all parties involved seem to come out ahead: Pepsi gains access to a potentially enormous market; Indian bottlers will get to serve a market that is expanding rapidly because of competition; and the Indian consumer benefits from the competition from abroad and will pay lower prices. Even before the first bottle of Pepsi hit the shelves, local soft drink manufacturers increased the size of their bottles by 25% without raising costs. In conclusion, the new battleground for the soda wars is in the developing markets of Eastern Europe, Mexico, China, Saudi Arabi a, and India. With Coca-Colas and Pepsis investments in these countries, not only will they increase their sales worldwide, but they will also help to build up these economies. These long-term commitments by both companies will raise the level of competition and efficiency, and at the same time, bring value to the distribution and production systems of these countries. Many issues need to be overcome before a company can begin to produce its goods in a foreign country. These issues are of the marcoenvironment (see Appendix, page 2) which include political, social, economic, operational, and environmental topics which must be addressed. When companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi effectively analyze and solve these problems to everyones liking, new foreign markets can translate into lucrative opportunities in the long run. Currently, it is difficul!t to say who is winning the cola wars since the data from the relatively new market research firms focuses on major cities. Pepsi had a comma nding 4 to 1 lead in 1992 in the former Soviet Union. Without this area, Coca-Cola has a 17% share versus Pepsis 12% share in the soft drink industry. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are in a dogfight, but both will end up as winners as the continue to expand globally, using the basic management skills consisting of: continued effort for total quality, trying to be the most efficient and cost affective, a continued effort to innovate their products, and finally speed, get their product on the shelves first and keep it there. Works CitedA red line in the sand, Economist, October 1, 1994, p. 86. Chakravarty, Subrata N. How Pepsi broke into India, Forbes, November 27, 1989, pp. 43-44. Clifford, Mark. How Coke Excels, Far Eastern Economic Review, December 30, 1993- January 6, 1994, p. 39. Coke v Pepsi, The Economist, January 29, 1994, pp. 67-68. DeNitto, Emily. Pepsi, Coke think international for future growth, Advertising Age, October 3, 1994, p. 44. Murphy, Helen. Cola war erupts in Mexico, Corporate Finance, May 1993, pp. 6-7. Selling in Russia: The march on Moscow, The Economist, March 10, 1995, pp. 65-66. Winters, Patricia and Scott Hume. Pepsi, Coke: Art of deal-making, Advertising Age, February 19, 1990, p. 45.

The Crucible Essays - Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible, Tituba

The Crucible The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It begins with a sense of witchcraft in the air, when we find out that Reverend Parris (the town minister) and the town are concerned about Betty, Parris' daughter, who has fallen "a victim of witchcraft." We find out that Betty, her cousin Abigail, Tituba, a slave, and other girls in the town had been cavorting and practicing witchcraft, naked in the woods, the night before. Since this occurred, Betty had been in a coma-like trance that was suspected to be caused by witchcraft. We soon find out that Abigail has control over the other girls and blackmails them into lying which eventually leads to unnecessary murders of innocent people throughout the book. We also find out that Abigail worked for John and Goody Proctor, but was fired after she had an affair with Mr. Proctor. Since then, Abigail has had it out for Goody and was attempting to kill her with witchcraft that night in the woods. Her devious and obviously insane state of mind makes the ?if she can't have him, no one can theory' come into effect, until it suddenly changes into if ?she can't have him, she'll make his and everyone else's lives miserable'. Also, a vicious circle of paranoia and self centeredness comes into action, which also leads to the many unnecessary deaths, when one by one, the innocent are accused, tried, and killed for being witches, even though there is no evidence to support any of the cases, except for the reactions of Abigail and the other girls in the courtroom. The play ends with John Proctor being tried and hung for suspicions of witchcraft, even though he is obviously not a witch. Their reasoning is that all of the others were unjustly killed, so he had to be killed also. It also says that Abigail leaves town and was rumored to have become a prostitute.