Enterprise Resource Planning System Research Paper - 1

Enterprise Resource Planning System - Research Paper Example One must consider the scale the drive â€Å"Enterprise Resource Planning† (ERP) vendors in order to understand these vendors’ sales tactics. Millions of dollars are invested by big players such as Oracle/PeopleSoft, SAP, Microsoft, and SYSPRO --- to name some --- to develop ERP systems (Dowlatshahi, 2005, p.3745). For these vendors, CD copy of the system is just minimal capital; therefore closed deals for implementations of these systems gain them absolute profit. It should be of no surprise to see these vendors exhaust all means to close deals with potential clients, since there is a lot of profit at stake (Fulla, 2007, p.35). Some companies report being given trips to the vendor’s headquarters, luxurious meals and accommodations, and transport by stretch limos (Dowlatshahi, 2005, p.3747). These are all part of a vendor’s strategy in wooing clients to buy their ERP system. Basically, these ERP systems are similar in their fundamental functionalities in business processes management. Therefore, to sell a product, vendors must establish their product’s superiority over other ERP systems available in the market. The danger here is the vendor’s inclination to make outrageous claims regarding their ERP system. Some vendors publicize the advanced functionality of their system, some vouch for the ease of use, while others offer money-back guarantees of up to millions of dollars if their system fails to double other company’s ERP system performance (Fulla, 2007, p.36). ERP vendors even try to sell extra technical and consultation support aside from their software licenses. Final quotes may include consulting and programming assistance of up to thousands of hours. However, companies should be aware that there are usually fees for this consulting assistance, and it may be easier to find cheaper open market services (Fulla, 2007, p.38).   

A Cream Cracker Essay Example for Free

A Cream Cracker Essay Despite these similarities and minor differences one of the major differences between the two plays is that mum has an accident and as a result from that dies later. In George mum has an accident and falls down the stairs. This moment is very symbolic. After the bird rein acts the sound of Davids mum falling down the stairs, David becomes greatly dismayed as he realises his mother was all alone, and left to die for three days. At this point Judy tries to shut out the bird, and in doing so the memory of his mother by covering the cage in a cloth. This shows Judy as being very controlling over David which is reinforced when she says dont be silly, darling. You were wonderful with her and that she simply couldnt have his mother stay in a house with them, which shows that that was taken into consideration but denied by Judy. In A Cream Cracker Under the Settee Doris actually chooses to die and the play leads up to this choice. When Doris chooses to die this moment is also very symbolic. Are you all right? No. Im all right. When the policeman came along she wanted to ask for help but decided in the end that she would rather die and have her time than go to Stafford House. Stafford House is greatly regarded by Doris as a place where You go daft there, theres nowhere else for you to go but daft. Throughout the play she has made the impression that she never wants to go to Stafford House and at the end we find out she would rather die. As well as the similarities in the plot the two women are very similar. Both characters are old, widowed women who require the need of visitors. Both women are of working class. The dialect of the characters reinforces this, Doriss accent is that of a Northerner and reflects Alan Bennett as he was a Northerner himself and uses it in his characters. The language is informal and colloquial: I never saw no list or Thems her leaves, she also swears mildly oh hell, the flaming buffet when recounting the circumstances of her accident, but later uses the even less offensive Oh stink. She speaks very direct. At the end her thoughts wander more and more to the past making it seem more like a stream of consciousness. However, in George the dialogue is by David, Judy and George. Therefore, we can only assume that mum spoke like George because of his characterisation. If this is the case then we can come to conclusions that mum was of working class because of the dialect and dialogue of George. Georges voice is that of an old woman, plaintively complaining about loneliness, poverty and coldness. The language is very colloquial and informal, as in A Cream Cracker Under the Settee. However, there are key differences in these women as in A Cream Cracker Under the Settee the focus of the play is on Doris as she reveals herself in monologue whereas in George the focus of the play seems to be more on the relationship between David and his mum. The other differences between the women are to do with the impression we get. We know more about Doris than we do about Mum but from the information and description through Davids dialogue we understand Doris to be more independent and dominant than Mum. We understand that Doris is independent because from the beginning of the play she wants to the dusting herself and does not believe that her home help are doing there job. Her attitude towards Zulema shows us that she is quite stubborn and just because Zulema said she had dusted everywhere Doris immediately looks around to try and find a patch that she hasnt dusted. At first we may question Zulemas abilities but we soon realise that she wouldnt have time to clean everywhere as she has other peoples houses to clean and cannot spend too much time on each. This explains why later on when Doris says, Zulema wont touch them. Says if I want leaves swept Ive to contact the Parks Department. This may seem like a small and not a time consuming job but if Zulema was to sweep Doris leaves then everybody who she visits might ask for their leaves swept and this would make Zulema behind schedule and might eventually lose her job. In both plays there is an interesting use of shifting perspective for the audience. David and Judy present Davids mother and her situation in one way and then we are given a different perspective on the situation by George. We understand this because David and Judy are trying to fool themselves to believe that they did all they could to help his mother and that he had been wonderful with her. However, from what we understand from George is that she was all alone and when she was cold there was no one there to help her with the heating. There is also an interesting shift of perspective in A Cream Cracker Under the Settee. Although, Doris isnt trying to fool herself in the same way, we also get a sense of a second story or different version of events as she comments on other characters and her relationship with them for example when she talks about Wilfred. When Doris is talking about when she lost the baby she regards Wilfred as someone who seemed as if he didnt really care and didnt want a child in the first place. However, we realise that he probably did want the baby and only suggested alternatives, he started talking about getting a dog, to try and make her happier. This could be why Doris obsession with cleaning may have started because she would have had something to occupy her time with. Her obsession may have started here because when the midwife called Doris stillborn son dirty Doris says, He wasnt dirty, little thing; she disagrees and would have been traumatised by the ordeal of losing her baby. One of the most interesting similarities between the plays is the way they use visual symbolism. In George there are a number of symbolic moments during the play. Two of the most symbolic moments are when Judy covers up the cage and when David rips the cover back off. When Judy covers up the cage it symbolises when David never visited his mum and it seemed as if he was covering her up and also because at the beginning they seemed to fool themselves into believing that they did all they could. Therefore, they were covering up the real reason why his mother died. When he rips the sheet off it suggests that he wants to try and make things right because David doesnt want to cover George up as he did to his mum. It almost seems as if he wants his mum back so he can make it right to her. In A Cream Cracker Under the Settee there are also many symbolic moments. One of which is when Doris cracks the photograph of her and Wilfred. Cracked the photo. Were cracked, Wilfred. This is symbolic because it has fallen from the wall as a result of Doris endless campaign against dust, and the glass has cracked. This represents the destructive nature of Doris cleaning mania, the loss of Wilfred and particularly, with Doris choice to die at the end, the end of marriage both in Doris memory and on life. The fact that she holds on to the picture throughout the monologue may also suggest she is unwilling to let go of the past. One of the major differences arises from the medium each play was written for. George was written to be performed on stage as a stage play. It is non-realistic and bizarre because if it was written for a television programme or something more realistic there would not be a mynah bird talking. Also, because on a stage of the living room the bird would be constantly in view so the audience could not forget about it or ignore it as David and Judy ignored his mother. A Cream Cracker Under the Settee was written for a television drama especially for the actress Thora Hird. The play is more naturalistic and uses convention just as much but it is more subtle and therefore, not as obvious as it is in George. The close-ups enable the viewers to recognise the facial expressions and feel what Doris feels. Although both plays are hard-hitting and involve a lot of impact at the end I think that George has more impact on me because it is revealed more slowly and is seen through the eyes of a mynah bird which makes it more surreal and the moment when David is arguing with George sets the play up for a visual and clear ending of Davids mum lying at the bottom of the stairs on the floor for three days. I think that this play has more impact because it isnt just about mum and the isolation she was in but also the relationship she had with her son and the fact that he neglected her and her needs. Although I find George has more impact people may disagree because it is a shock when we realise that Doris has chosen to die. It is a very tense and shocking moment.

French Essays French Society

French Essays French Society ‘Les liaisons dangereuses’ and the position of women in eighteenth-century french society.   Abstract This research analyses in depth Les Liaison Dangereuses by Pierre Ambrose Choderlos de Laclos, paying a particular attention to the emancipatory subtext of the novel in regard to the position of women in eighteenth-century French society. The received results reveal that Laclos rises against the subordinate position of women and considers that it is crucial to provide women with freedom. However, the writer demonstrates that freedom without appropriate education and true morality can result in many negative consequences. Applying to different characters and different liaisons, Laclos reflects the conflicts between two opposite sexes that occur because of the wish of both males and females to occupy superior positions in French society. In this regard, some findings of this research are consistent with the results received in earlier studies and critical analyses on Laclos’ novel, while other findings oppose to them.   Ã‚   1 Statement of the problem Eighteenth-century France experienced rather complex gender tensions, as, on the one hand, the period of Enlightenment and the French Revolution gave rise to the ideas of liberty and equality between men and women, but, on the other hand, women were still associated with the position of a mother and a wife, restricting their participation in other spheres of social and political life. However, despite such stereotypic vision on females, some philosophers and writers of that era opposed to this perception of women, applying to a certain emancipatory subtext in their literary works. Pierre Ambrose Choderlos de Laclos belongs to such French writers; in his well-known novel Les Liaison Dangereuses he criticises education of women in eighteenth-century France and uncovers the inferior position of women in those times. Laclos is one of the first authors who manage to express his views on the failed social system that inspires the conflicts between two opposite sexes. 2 Introduction Pierre Ambrose Choderlos de Laclos (1741 – 1803), a general of Napoleon and the secretary of the Duc d’Orleans, was born in a rather noble family and devoted his life to a military career. However, at the age of forty, Laclos became a revolutionary and feminist writer, having written only two literary works that were both admired and criticised in his times. He met his future wife Marie-Soulange Duperrà © in 1783 and soon married her. Laclos became the member of the Club of the Jacobins in 1790 and was even imprisoned for his political activity. Pierre Choderlos de Laclos was greatly influenced by the works of Jean-Jacque Rousseau, especially by his epistolary novel Nouvelle Hà ©loise; and this influence is obvious in both of Laclos’ works L’Education des Femmes and Les Liaison Dangereuses. But it was the novel Les Liaison Dangereuses that brought popularity to Laclos, as well as social rejection, because this literary work appeared to be â€Å"a portra it of an age whose tragedy lies in the waste of its great gifts†1. The eighteenth century was the period of Libertinage in France, when some people rejected all social norms and struggled for free will. These libertines eliminated emotions and pointed at the necessity of intelligence. Libertinage was supported by the regent Philippe of Orleans who substituted religion and virtues for freedom and vice. However, this was also a period of female subordination, that’s why libertines were mainly males, because women, due to their poor education, were considered as unfit for any display of free will. They were regarded as inferior to men, because their intellectual abilities were reduced only to the domestic sphere. As a result, women were psychologically destroyed creatures that were controlled and manipulated by males in French patriarchal world. These females were deprived of any possibility to take part in political, military or cultural life of society. But Laclos destroys these stereotypes in his epistolary novel Les Liaison Dangereuses, demo nstrating that not only males, but females as well may be libertines. The writer is not satisfied with the treatment of women in his times; thus his motives in writing L’Education des Femmes and Les Liaison Dangereuses can be explained by Laclos’ wish to protect women from men by means of female independence. However, Laclos considers that female freedom is both good and dangerous, because society, in which a woman lives, is too false and preoccupied with wrong stereotypes. Although the writer points at the necessity of education for a woman, he believes that good education will help her in her private life rather than inspire a female to utilise her freedom for any other activity. The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the extent of the emancipatory subtext concerning the position of women in eighteenth-century French society in Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ novel Les Liaison Dangereuses. The research paper is divided into several sections. Chapter 1 reveals a statement of the problem that points at the problematic of the conducted analysis. Chapter 2 demonstrates a general overview of the issue, evaluating the social and political contexts and Laclos’ motivations for the utilisation of emancipatory elements in his literary works. Chapter 3 observes the opinions of various critics on Les Liaison Dangereuses. Chapter 4 points at the theoretical research methods that are applied for the research. Chapter 5 provides a profound investigation of the emancipatory subtext in Laclos’ novel, paying a particular attention to women and their roles in French society. Briefly observing Laclos’ essays L’Education des Femmes, this chapter further analyses female characters of Les Liaison Dangereuses and their relations with male characters, uncovering gender tensions of the eighteenth century and the negative results of social inequality. Chapter 6 conducts the summarisation of the received findings, and Chapter 7 reveals the limitations of the research and provides some suggestions for further analysis of Laclos’ novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚   3 Review of the literature Les Liaison Dangereuses has raised hot debates among various critics since the time of its publication. Earlier criticism regards this novel as one of the first feminist literary works, but as Suellen Diaconoff claims, â€Å"in the past ten or fifteen years the assessment of Choderlos de Laclos’ treatment of women has undergone significant revision†2. Some contemporary critics point at a misogynist context of the novel in addition to the emancipatory subtext, while other researchers consider that Les Liaison Dangereuses uncovers female weakness and male dominance. Such contradictory viewpoints reflect the ambiguous vision of women’s roles in Laclos’ narration, as the writer provides his female characters with the power to resist and the power to withdraw. According to Martin Turnell, Les Liaison Dangereuses â€Å"has been called the most impersonal novel in the French language and certainly the author is not to be found in it†3. The major criticism of the work in the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries regards its moral side; many critics considered Les Liaison Dangereuses to be a threat to readers, as the novel provided a new vision on the issue of virtue and was â€Å"morally dangerous or historically fanciful†4. Although Baudelaire praised Laclos’ epistolary novel, the spread of Romanticism depreciated this praising, regarding the work as a literary piece, where â€Å"reason and cold analysis triumph†5. However, by the middle of the nineteenth century the researchers began to take a particular interest in Les Liaison Dangereuses, analysing the writer’s realism and the characters’ psychology. In particular, Byrne points at a profound morality of the novel, claiming that the book provides â€Å"a ‘correct’ moral viewpoint which only a churl would find fault with†6. Other critics reveal pessimistic aspects in the described sentimentality of the eighteenth-century fiction, in particular, John Mullan considers that French novelists â€Å"were able to concede that habits of sociability were limited or exceptional, only just surviving in a world in which fellow-feeling was rare and malevolence prevailed†7. This is especially true in regard to Laclos who demonstrates these pessimistic aspects throughout the narration. Peter Conroy analyses a close connection between two males in Les Liaison Dangereuses, revealing that such bonding results in female d estruction, for instance, when Valmont provides Danceny with the letters to destroy Mme de Merteuil8. The researcher considers that male bonding reflects one of the crucial aspects of female oppression in French society. Thus, despite the novel’s criticism and rejection in the eighteenth century, Les Liaison Dangereuses is considered to be one of the most popular epistolary works. 4 Research methodology This dissertation applies to three theoretical research methods – a social constructionist approach, a discourse analytical approach and a feminist approach. With the help of these methods the paper investigates the discussed issue from various perspectives and provides valid explanation to the emancipatory subtext of Laclos’ novel Les Liaison Dangereuses. As an appropriate tool for investigation, the social constructionist approach regards people as the products of society that defines particular roles for them. In this regard, this approach is especially important for analysing the position of women in eighteenth-century French society and the reflection of this vision in a particular epistolary work. The discourse analytical approach provides an opportunity to discuss the emancipatory subtext of the novel in its close connection with social and political conditions of France. It allows to evaluate the consequences of the dominant position of males over females and to uncover the inequality of both genders before the French Revolution. The feminist approach reveals the impact of certain social stereotypes on the portrayal of females in French literature, exposing the negative consequences of these ideologies on women of the eighteenth century. This approach evaluates the roles and positions of women through the principal female characters of a literary work, simultaneously pointing at the differentiation between men and women.  Ã‚      5 Discussion 5.1. ‘L’Education des Femmes’ Before the publication of his epistolary novel Les Liaison Dangereuses, Laclos wrote three essays on female education that were compiled together under the name L’Education des Femmes. In the era of Enlightenment this issue became especially crucial in France and was of particular interest to Laclos. As Turnell puts it, Laclos â€Å"only discusses those feelings which interest other people as well as himself†9. In his essays Laclos depicts his own vision on the position of women in French society and the ways to improve their conditions. The ideas presented in L’Education des Femmes are implicitly reflected in Laclos’ novel, that’s why it is crucial to observe these essays for better understanding of the emancipatory subtext of Les Liaison Dangereuses. In the first essay the writer points at the fact that an advanced education won’t make the lives of women better, instead he claims that it is necessary to introduce social changes that will im prove a female position10. Laclos considers that women do not have enough freedom and are usually treated as slaves by males; they prefer to adhere to social standards rather than to oppose them. Although Laclos proclaims the necessity of freedom for women, he slightly transforms this viewpoint in the second and the third essays. In particular, he claims that a woman should be protected, but not liberated. Despite such ambiguous vision, L’Education des Femmes reveals the truth about the position of females in Laclos’ times and simultaneously uncovers the contradictions that emerged in France in that period. These contradictions were a direct result of the emerged liberty and the preservation of the older social stereotypes. On the one hand, Laclos rises against the limitation of female freedom, but, on the other hand, he doesn’t really reveal the ways to free a woman. Laclos reveals that in the struggle for dominance, men and women destroy each other: males treat females as their slaves, while women utilise their sexuality to prove their own superiority. As females are deprived of equality with men in social and political spheres, they start to manipulate males with the help of sex. According to Laclos, this constant sex war greatly depends on the ability of a woman to diversify sexual re lations. However, as Laclos demonstrates further, there is a danger that such manipulation will turn against women. Laclos implicitly shows that enslavement of women by men is inspired by this particular manipulation. As a woman starts to depend on her sexuality, she reduces herself to a position of a slave. Thus, though the writer criticises the dominance of French males over women in the eighteenth century, he doesn’t provide an actual proposal for changes that will improve female positions. The same approach is maintained by Laclos in his novel Les Liaison Dangereuses. 5.2. The emancipatory subtext of ‘Les Liaison Dangereuses’ In Les Liaison Dangereuses Pierre Choderlos de Laclos creates the characters that belong to the French aristocracy and that apply to cruelty and deceit to disgrace other people. Although this novel received unusual population after its publication in 1782, the writer was immediately criticised and rejected by the members of the upper class society. According to Turnell, â€Å"The Liaisons was read by everyone and discussed in all the salons, but the people who read him with most passion shut their doors in his face†11. Such attitude can be explained by the fact that Laclos reveals the truth about French aristocracy, the truth that people could no longer avoid. On the example of such characters as Cà ©cile de Volanges and Mme de Volanges the writer demonstrates the negative consequences of poor female education and the superior position of men over women. On the other hand, introducing such female characters as the Marquise de Merteuil and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, Laclos simultaneously implements the emancipatory subtext into his narration. Throughout the novel Mme de Merteuil tries to achieve a dominant position over other people, including the Vicomte de Valmont, her former lover. Discussing the relations between Mme de Merteuil and Valmont, Turnell claims that â€Å"they are both so determined to dominate, so impatient of any restraint, that Mme de Merteuil cannot make up her mind to return permanently to Valmont†12. It is this female character that involves Valmont into her intrigues and further induces his death. Mme de Merteuil’s wit and determination make her superior to men. Since the very beginning Mme de Merteu il makes constant attempts to manipulate Valmont. As a result, Laclos’ epistolary work dispels a prolonged illusion created by the majority of French novels that were primarily â€Å"a smoke-screen that concealed the exploits of the aristocracy from the rest of the world†13. Characterising his characters through their letters, the writer uncovers the inner degradation of aristocracy before the French Revolution. As Emile Dard puts it, â€Å"people recognised their portraits in them and the likeness was so good that they could not turn their horrified gaze from this new image of themselves†14. According to the discourse analytical approach, it is possible to evaluate people through their expressed ideas15, thus Laclos applies to the characters’ letters to uncover people’s essence and reveal his own vision on both males and females. According to Laclos, a French woman is greatly controlled by a social machine that allows men to take possession over women. As Turnell states, â€Å"The role of the female is to be ‘defeated’ by the predatory male†¦ Yet the defeated woman is not so much victim as an accomplice†16. In other words, as a woman marries a man and is defeated by him, she becomes a part of him, because â €Å"the engagement does not end in ‘victory’ for one party and ‘defeat’ for the other. It is a combination of the two, victory-and-defeat†17. However, in the case of Mme de Merteuil, the situation is quite different, because this female character is not â€Å"restrained by any inhibition, by any feeling of guilt or shame†18. Letter 81 reveals Mme de Merteuil’s personal explanation of her behaviour and actions. In particular, Mme de Merteuil points out that she greatly differs from other females of her social class, as she possesses strong principles that are not based on some established rules, but instead are created by her in the process of deep reflection. Even the first sexual intercourse of this character with her husband is regarded by her as the possibility to experience both pain and pleasure, to explore something new and utilise new experience for her own benefits. In this letter Mme de Merteuil puts herself in a superior position over others, even over politicians, and reveals that she is able to get pleasure from various things, not only from love. On the contrary, she eliminates love, because it p revents her from intrigues. As the feminist approach reveals, such behaviour of a woman is understandable, because under constant social oppression from the side of men, some females begin to act similar to men, acquiring male features and rejecting excessive emotionality19. In this regard, Laclos’ novel differs from the novels of the seventeenth century, as Turnell puts it, â€Å"there is no interior conflict in the minds of Laclos’ two principal characters because the elements of conflict – love as well as duty – have been removed†20. Instead, the writer introduces an exterior conflict between Mme de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, that is, the conflict between a male and female that uncovers the emancipatory subtext of the narration. Demonstrating the relations between two opposite sexes, Laclos reveals not the tensions between individuals, but the conflicts that emerge when old stereotypes collide with the attempts to oppose to this social system. Laclos divides his characters into two parties: on the one side, there are Mme de Volanges and Cà ©cile de Volanges with their traditional moral values, but, on the other side, there are Valmont and Mme de Merteuil who oppose to any conventions and involve other peop le into their intrigues. On the basis of this division Laclos reflects three kinds of relations. Mme de Merteuil and Valmont are engaged in the relations that are characteristic for the eighteenth century, that is, they eliminate any emotions, proving that sexual pleasure doesn’t depend on desires and feelings. The relations between the Chevalier de Dancery and Cà ©cile de Volanges are of different nature, they are based on sentimental emotions. The relations between Mme de Merteuil and Dancery, Valmont and Cà ©cile, Valmont and the Prà ©sidente reflect the wish of Valmont and Mme de Merteuil to take revenge on their enemies, but, on the other hand, they reflect their desire â€Å"to get at conventional morality†21. They involve such young and naà ¯ve girl as Cà ©cile into their intrigues, fully ignoring the feelings of this female. Cà ©cile who is regarded as a child by everyone around her feels uncertainty and fear, when she starts to interact with other members of society. She is a beautiful female, but she lacks both intellect and free will, and her princ iples reflect the social norms that existed in France in the eighteenth century. Thus, Cà ©cile de Volanges is a stereotypic female, a product of French society that regards her as a toy; such characters may be easily involved in any intrigues and be destroyed. As Cà ©cile claims to her friend, â€Å"What made me most uneasy was that I did not know what they thought about me. I think I heard two or three times the word ‘pretty’, but I very distinctly heard ‘awkward’22. According to the feminist approach, such behaviour of a woman is a direct result of female subjugation that develops weakness and excessive emotionality in her23. As a result of this constant subordination, Cà ©cile greatly depends on social opinion, but Mme de Merteuil doesn’t want to understand the weakness of Cà ©cile, instead she utilises this naivety for her own benefits. The same regards Mme de Volanges, a mother of Cecile; pretending to be her close friend, Mme de Merteuil assigns a certain role for Mme de Volanges. But, adhering to traditional morality, Mme de Volanges decides to tell the truth about Valmont to the Prà ©sidente, thus â€Å"play[ing] the Male game in leading the anti-Merteuil party†24. But Laclos reveals that new morality of Mme de Merteuil is based on evil and thus, results in many negative consequences. Substituting one morality for another, Mme de Merteuil wants to prove her freedom and her superiority over other people. However, in this sex battle Mme de Merteuil destroys herself. Although this female character manages to convey her emancipatory behaviour, Laclos shows that wrong upbringing and poor education of Mme de Merteuil deprive her of the possibility to utilise her intelligence for better things than revenge. On the other hand, the writer introduces such female characters as Mme de Rosamonde and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel who embody true virtue in contrast to both traditional virtue and the virtue of Mme de Merteuil. As a result, Mme de Merteuil realises that these female characters, especially the Prà ©sidente, are dangerous for her. The Prà ©sidente is not only a sincere woman, but she also has a great impact on Valmont, making him â€Å"forget his famous principles†25. Mme de Merteuil understands that the Prà ©sidente is a threat to her relations with Valmont and her intrigues, thus she makes Valmont eliminate this female, simultaneously eliminating true virtue. Mme de Merteui l exceeds Valmont and other characters of the narration, because she possesses powerful intelligence and inexorability. She stresses on the fact that by the time she was fifteen, she had more talents than any politician; such viewpoint is â€Å"the measure of her powers and of her tragedy†26. Contrary to Mme de Merteuil, Valmont embodies a weakness, because he possesses sentimentality that brings him to destruction. The eighteenth-century was preoccupied with the principles of rationalism that rejected any display of sentimentality. Mme de Merteuil manages to get rid of this sentimental shortcoming, while Valmont preserves it, although he doesn’t want to admit this truth. As a result, Mme de Merteuil constantly criticises Valmont, considering that the opposite sex has no virtues and abilities. Mme de Merteuil is superior to Valmont, because she has an unusual gift for understanding inner worlds of other people, while Valmont’s ‘principles’ do not allow him to develop a deep insight of the world and people around him. Mme de Merteuil and Valmont are engaged in the struggle against each other, reflecting their desires to achieve dominance. In this struggle love and hatred coexist together, revealing the essence of relations between men and women i n eighteenth century France. When Mme de Merteuil involves Valmont into her intrigues and makes him establish relations with other women, she still wants to possess Valmont; she doesn’t want to admit that another female may substitute her. As Fellows and Razack puts it, â€Å"Women challenged about their domination by calling attention to their own subordination†¦ If a woman is subordinate herself, she cannot then be implicated in the subordination of others†27. However, this is not the case with Mme de Merteuil who rejects subordination of men over her, but is involved in subordination of both males and females. Comparing herself with Dalila, Mme de Merteuil reveals that as â€Å"for the man each conquest is a victory for his sex; for the woman it is equally a victory for hers, because in allowing herself to be seduced, she dominates the male and deprives him of his strength†28. Mme de Merteuil considers that in the process of seduction both sexes achieve victory, but males fail to rea lise that women change them into slaves. Such female viewpoint reflects the core of the emancipatory subtext of the novel, but simultaneously it uncovers the conflict between sexes. According to Jean Giraudoux, â€Å"the battle begins the moment that each sex regards the other as its accomplice†29. As Valmont starts to compare Mme de Merteuil with other females, with the whole female sex, she starts to experience hatred and anger towards her former lover, aggravating the tensions between them. Valmont’s death is the end of this sex battle, and, by killing Valmont, the representative of the male sex, Laclos reveals females’ superiority, proving that a woman may be more intelligent than a man. On the other hand, the writer reduces Mme de Merteuil’s victory by depriving this female character of all things that are valuable to her, especially appearance and reputation. Such failure can be explained by the fact that, despite her intelligence and power, Mme de Merteuil remains a weak woman because of her jealousy and wish to dominate over other members of society. This character doesn’t want to accept the victory of the opposite sex, because in this case she will be forced to admit her own weakness. But in her pursuit to prove her superior position, Mme de Merteuil destroys not only her lover, but she also ruins her own life. According to Turnell, â€Å"Laclos’ theme is the tragedy of the Rational Man, the man who was carefully conditioned through the removal of all moral scruples and the sense of guilt†30. This is true in regard to Mme de Merteuil who maintains the principles of rational thinking and eliminates any display of sentimentality from her relations with people in order to prove her own superiority over others. However, she masterfully utilises her own sexuality to manipulate men and make them act as she wishes. According to the social constructionist approach, such sexual behaviour of a woman is developed by society, in which she lives; it is not an inherent feature, but rather a direct consequence of social pressure31. Laclos doesn’t state that a female is unable to experience pleasure; on the contrary, the writer reveals female ability for sexual desires. He presents a woman as an active partner in sexual relations, but he also considers that sexuality may destroy a woma n, if she allows sexuality to take control over her life and interfere with love, as is just the case with Mme de Tourvel. As for Mme de Merteuil, her sexuality also destroys her, because she hopes to prove her superiority with the help of sex, but finally she appears to be trapped in self-delusion. Mme de Merteuil’s attempt to achieve an equal position with males is rather courageous and feminist, but she chooses a wrong approach for attaining her goal. This female character rises against individual people, failing to realise that it is the existing social system that should be transformed. Destroying some persons, Mme de Merteuil doesn’t eliminate the system that puts women into inferior positions. On the other hand, Laclos reveals that Mme de Merteuil is a true libertine. She fails to succeed at the end of the narration, but her way of life demonstrates the greatness of this female. She lives in patriarchal world, where women are prohibited any freedom, but she manages to overcome these stereotypes and act in accordance with her desires. Mme de Merteuil ignores morality of French society , creating her own morality and trying to eliminate all powerful emotions. She experiences pleasure when she demonstrates her superiority over others and she easily manipulates men with the help of her sexuality and intelligence. Such behaviour is unusual for a woman of the eighteenth century, but, creating such female character as Mme de Merteuil, Laclos wants to prove that in reality there is no difference between a man and a woman. In fact, Mme de Merteuil is similar to Valmont, and even superior to him, as the writer reveals in the denouement. Valmont might achieve success in politics or in any other field, but instead he is involved in intrigues. In his relations with women Valmont plays a role of a noble man, deceiving both Cà ©cile de Volanges, when he claims that â€Å"I detest everything that savours of deception: that, in brief, is my character†32, and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, when he asks her â€Å"who was ever more respectful and more submissive than I?†33 In his relations with the Prà ©sidente he seeks to subjugate her and destroy her true virtues. Valmont feels admiration for this female and he considers her as â€Å"the enemy worthy of me†34. But, similar to Mme de M erteuil, the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel appears superior to Valmont. His seduction of the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel gradually is transformed into love, because he is strongly affected by her kind heart. As Valmont claims, â€Å"I left her arms only to fall at her feet and swear eternal love; and to tell the whole truth, I meant what I said†35. Valmont falls in love for the first time, but Mme de Merteuil makes him destroy the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel. When Valmont makes an attempt to return her, Mme de Merteuil forbids him to do so, stating that â€Å"It would suit you very well to take the credit for breaking with her without loosing the pleasure of enjoying her†36. These words reveal the negative aspect of Libertinage; although Valmont rises against social morality, society continues to influence him and shape his behaviour. Maintaining the principles of Libertinage, he is not able to act against these principles, thus Valmont’s freedom appears to be a delusion, because he simply changes one rules for other norms. The same regards the principal female character of the novel Mme de Merteuil who is also trapped in her principles and new morality that finally bring her to destruction. Despite their close relations with each other, Mme de Merteuil prefers to destroy Valmont and his love to the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, and Valmont destroys Mme de Merteuil as a revenge. In this regard, Laclos creates two powerful female characters in his novel Mme de Merteuil and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, through which he uncovers his emancipatory subtext; however, the writer, drawing a parallel between these women, reveals their differences. Mme de Merteuil is a woman who uses her sexuality and intelligence to transform men into â€Å"the toy of my caprices, or my fantasies†37, as she claims in Letter 81. Mme de Merteuil directs her principles and education towards the only purpose to â€Å"avenge my sex and to dominate yours†38. Love can’t bring happiness to this woman, as she deprives herself of any emotions. Mme de Merteuil mocks at those females â€Å"who cannot see their future enemy in their present lover†39, reducing the relations between a male and woman to a simple sex battle. As Mme de Merteuil considers herself superior to others, she doesn’t admit any equality between two opposite sexes, that’s why she clai ms that â€Å"no one should be further from my confidence than my husband†40. She doesn’t want to love a man, instead she wants to control him. Mme de Merteuil deprives herself of any passion and she believes that such ability to suppress powerful feelings makes her better than other women. But Laclos reveals that such viewpoint is wrong by contrasting Mme de Merteuil with the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel who possesses those virtues that Mme de Merteuil lacks. From the beginning of Valmont’s relations with the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, she realises that this woman has something that allows her to attract men, and thus Mme de Merteuil tries to depreciate the virtues of the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel. Mme de Merteuil calls her â€Å"a poor creature†41 that is obsessed with her religion. However, Mme

The Character of Elizabeth Gruber in The River Warren :: River Warren Essays

The Character of Elizabeth Gruber in The River Warren    After reading The River Warren by Kent Myers, I felt a kinship with Elizabeth Gruber. Her loss had been an enormous one. Her return to reality and the world around her took great inner strength. The numbness and the void she was experiencing is very real and can be all consuming if not put in check, not just for women but all humans. We as humans are all different and the grief process is different for all of us. Elizabeth, upon being aroused from her pit of grief, realizes that her strength and connection with her husband, Leo, is the only thing that is going to bring him back form his deep, dark, prison of regret, grief, and guilt. I felt her pain in both the loss of her child and the painful silence that her marriage had become. As Elizabeth drives to the field and assaults the tractor with a rock, I remember times when I would have loved to do the same thing. Only I was not brave enough to attack the iron mistress that takes away the farmer's spare time.    Many farmers I know respond to grief, stress and anxiety the same way Leo Gruber does. They bury themselves in their work. There they can think, and they have control. Many times, with all of us, the intense feelings of guilt and sorrow make us feel as if we have lost control of our world. So we retreat to a place where we can have control. For Leo it was his work, and his tractor. Liz Beth brought him back to the real world. Cowboys, farmers and men of the west learned to shut themselves off, and they weren't allowed to feel or show emotion. To these men showing real feeling and emotion was a sign of weakness, and the weak don't survive in the west, at least that is the way they were trained to think for many generations.    My father is a fourth generation South Dakotan. For many years as I was growing up I wandered if he had ice in his veins, just as Jeff had wondered about his father.

Responses to Three Employment Law Encounters Essay

Fast Serve Inc. is a 25 million company, which employs more than 350 people involved in the direct marketing of branded sports apparel. The company decided to open two online marketing and 10% of the workplace was moved to manage the online distribution. After several months, the company noted that they were being affected by this last measure and was going to have to take steps to ensure that the Company is not affected. I am the senior manager in human resources department and was given the task of having to choose three of six employees for layoffs. As responsible leaders and managers have the task and responsibility to evaluate them in a fair and equitable way for all parties. The Company had a record of the human resources department as these six employees had performed their work for the past two years. Be evaluated on performance, Productivity, Special achievements, educational qualification, skills and job responsibility and absenteeism. Firing people is not an easy matter but we have to understand that companies go through changes and you need to change strategies so our companies succeed in, but we have to keep in mind is that we do it in the best way for both parties. After doing an extensive analysis and consultation with legal counsel and others from the company arrives to terms of whom would be the three selected  for layoff. The first was Carl Haimes, though his performance and Productivity was average had some things that made me think it was not so important for the company, evaluating his special achievements he had nothing significant in the past two years and this was an area that was assessed with greater weight and do not want to leave people with high recognition off the company. The performance and other things I realized that Haimes was not essential to the company, but the lawyer told me that it would not be a good time to lay off Because he could argue discrimination based on sexual orientation. The 1964 civil rights acts protects you from any act of discrimination and this could be detrimental to the company if Haimes says there is a kind of discrimination by the company. After several analyses it was decided to continue with the decision to layoff Haimes although this remains to be seen in court since Haimes joined an association to protect the gay community and will go against us for discrimination by sexual orientation. Sarah Boyd is a lady who has a lot in the company but its overall performance is average and does not have any special achievement, though it is painful for many years working in the company this is the second selected  for layoff. We were initially concerned that his age and the Age Discrimination Act could affect our company, but we had doubts that it would go against the company to which he had so much respect and for which he had worked for so many years. After evaluating and analyzing deeply Mrs. Boyd’s situation it was decided to talk with her and her supervisor and explain them that layoffs in dispatch are inevitable and work out to make a severance package that is fair and acceptable to Mrs.  Boyd and to the company. Jenny Mills is the third selected to layoff; her work is average and has no special achievement. Although his work is satisfactory overall their performance skills are not critical. In spite of that I and the lawyer and other people felt it was the best decision we were afraid there was something that could affect the company, she is pregnant and we as leaders and managers need to know that there are laws that protect pregnant women. Pregnancy Discrimination Act which says that any employee can’t force women to leave their jobs because of their status and if this is done it would be violating and discriminating against women. But after analyzing the situation was stipulated to continue his layoff because she has skills that are non critical and therefore would be giving his layoff with a more compelling reason. We have to be very careful about making decisions in companies, we have to advise us well and be very aware of all the laws that protect the company and employees.

Windows 7 vs. Windows 8

Topic: Contrasting differences, resemblance and evaluation of two computer operating systems, Windows 7 and Windows 8. The release of Windows 8 has divided the online community in two contradictory groups. Some users appear to enjoy the new features and performance of the newest Windows operating system, while others recommend choosing its well-received predecessor Windows 7 (Mikoluk, 2013). The purpose of this essay is to examine some of the primary characteristics of these operating systems.These comprise of: user interface, essential built-in software components, system requirements and finally, performance of two systems based on various computer test results. This essay has been organised in the following way, firstly it looks at vital characteristics of operating system user interface, it continues by analysing essential built-in software components, then proceeds by highlighting system requirements and finally, it will outline the performance of two systems based on various co mputer test results.User interface is an outer layer and one of the key components of the operating ystem, which can be characterized and described by numerous aspects such as design strategy, start menu layout and touch screen functionality. Windows 7 keeps basic principles of conventional Windows interface building on â€Å"Aero† visual style features, such as subtle animations and translucent glass windows enabling a wide range of desktop personalisation possibilities (Bott et al. 2011). Incorporation of the Metro design language for Windows 8 introduces a completely new tile-based design strategy, which is radically different from traditional Windows representation ocusing on only what is needed † reducing to the essence and celebrating content. ‘ (Clayton, 2013). Windows 7 start menu keeps the familiar two-column layout with the Start button located in the left corner of the taskbar (Coward and Knittel, 2010).Whereas in Windows 8, the start menu is replaced w ith a Start screen, where well-known desktop icons have been substituted with large tiles and â€Å"Live† tiles displaying real-time information and is missing the Start button (Boyce and Tidrow, 2013). Moving to touch-screen characteristics, Windows 7 software operates with imited amount of touch gestures and its targets originally designed for a miniature arrow cursor are too small (Pogue, 2013).In contrast, Windows 8 is built with focus on touch input, featuring all the latest touch screen technology innovations and introducing an expanded number of available gestures as well as a touch-friendly interface with large targets (Cirque, 2012). and security applications. Internet Explorer 8 comes as a preinstalled attribute of Windows 7 exclusively for US customers featuring the familiar â€Å"Aero† visual style user interface with add-on browser extensions as well as integrated Web Search box and abbed browsing (Stanek, 2010).Windows 8, on the other hand, comes with lat est Internet Explorer 10 browser promoting the minimalistic Metro user interface, moving away from add-ons; counting on site developers to enrich the browsing experience for users by enabling feature detection technology (Boyce and Tidrow, 2013). Internet Explorer 10 Start screen includes web search box combined with address bar and also offers multitasking with tabs (Microsoft, 2013).Moving to Security Management, Windows 7 features include built-in Firewall network security system and Windows Defender spyware protection; however for the better defence it s advisable to additionally install Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software (Bott et al. , 2011). In Windows 8, security is also maintained by Firewall and extended confguration of Windows Defender, which replaces Microsoft Security Essentials (Microsoft, 2013).When considering similarities, both operating systems have identical minimal hardware requirements, which enable the two to run on wide range of machines (Microsof t, 2013). At he Microsoft Worldwide conference 2011 in California Tami Reller underlined: In both of our Windows 8 previews, we talked about continuing on ith the important trend that we started with Windows 7, keeping system requirements either flat or reducing them over time.Windows 7 and Windows 8 software is compatible with computers consisting of: not less than 1 gigahertz processor or faster, at least 1 gigabyte of free RAM for 32-bit versions or minimum 2 gigabytes for 64-bit versions, a free hard disc space of 16 gigabytes for 32-bit systems or 20 gigabytes for 64-bit systems as well as Microsoft DirectX9 graphics card with WDDM driver (Egan, 2012). Turning to the criteria of performance, there are significant differences in the timings hat operating systems require for essential operations such as: booting up, shutting down, waking up from sleep mode and 3D graphics implementation.As stated by Walton (2012), Windows 8 continues to expand on the effectiveness of Windows 7, w hich has proven to be a fast and productive operating system, by showing a number of improvements compared to its precursor. Muchmore's test results (2012) revealed that the booting time for Windows 8 is significantly reduced by almost a half compared to Windows 7; 17 and 38 seconds correspondingly. He also reported that he shut down time showed similar improvements; the latest version of Windows took 10 seconds, while the older operating system was 2 seconds slower.According to Muhammad (2013), Windows 8 is also faster waking up from sleep mode with only 10 seconds required for this operation which is 3 seconds ahead of Windows 7. However, Windows 7 3D graphic performance was moderately faster, although both operating systems showed very similar results (Walton, 2012). differences in both operating systems. Firstly, the most obvious difference is that Windows 7 represents traditional Windows interface, while the most recent operating ystem promotes innovative Metro design strategy with large tiles instead of familiar icons.