...23 September 2015 Risks Worth Taking? A Reflection on the Effects of Memoirs The primary purpose of my research paper is to present a cross-section of the current conversations taking place around the way memoirs affect the writers who publish them. Based on my research, it appears that the effects tend to involve emotional and psychological consequences, as well as legal troubles in some instances. The discovery of this conversation helped me to refine my research topic into the question, “Do the benefits of publishing a memoir outweigh the risks of their effects for writers?” This research explores the positive and negative effects of memoirs on their writers to determine whether or not the risks are worth the rewards. Although writing a memoir can result in lawsuits and family discord, it more often proves to be therapeutic and can be the starting point of a nonfiction writer's career. What if I told you that memoirs are incredibly important to our society, because they document the human experience in such an honest way? Although they are valuable, they can also be risky. One key issue is that a memoir’s admissions risk causing major drama for writers, including legal trouble. In addition, they can be a catalyst for burning bridges with former employees. They can also potentially destroy long-term personal relationships. In this paper, I work to discover if it is worth all the drama to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As I began my research...
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...Throughout history, individuals in society constantly encounter hostility due to their identity – whether it relates to their appearance or inner character. In particular, Fun Home, a memoir written by Alison Bechdel, explores issues associated with sexual orientation and gender identification during a period in which these matters are rejected. Likewise, prejudices between black and white communities directly affect the protagonist’s lifestyle in The Wife of His Youth. Bruce Bechdel is a male who is attracted to individuals of the same gender and longs for the ability to associate himself with the opposite gender. Mr. Ryder, is a bi-racial man who struggles with his position in the community due to his conflicting races. Although Bruce Bechdel...
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...paper for our “Queer Americans” class over are Middlesex and Fun Home. Although the two books are very different stories, they also have undeniable similarities at the same time as they portray the struggles as well as the rewards in dealing with their queer sexualities. These readings connect well because they both deal with two coming of age individuals dealing with struggles in discovering their sexualities, with very dysfunctional home lives. The way queerness is depicted between the two storylines have been drawn out in two very unique, yet equally effective within the messages that the books portrayed. Queerness, usually a word or phrase that describes a type of sexuality, it correlates...
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...Cosi “The Australian drama Cosi, and its themes, is a reflection of the characters’ immediate world, as well as the world at large. Explain this statement with reference to the text.” The Play Cosi, written by playwright Louis Nowra, is about members from a mental institution, who with the help of the protagonist Lewis are presenting an opera called ‘Cosi Fan Tutte.’ The opera tells the story of two officers, who pretend to leave for war to test the fidelity of their lovers. The themes of madness, attitude towards the mentally ill, transformations and growth and fidelity and love are portrayed through the conventions and techniques of symbolism, play within a play, setting and characters. Readers are positioned to respond to the immediate world and the world at large with complete madness, as it seems the world at large is a world apart from society. The play explores the theme of madness through the convention of setting. The idea of an inside world and outside world is shown through the symbolism and paranoia of society. The dark, derelict burnt out theatre is a metaphor for the world at large, and the drama that is enacted on its charred surface is a reflection of the larger dramas taking place outside. The outside world is noticed to have fear about the spread of communism, the mass casualties and the war crimes, for example the massacre of civilians, the torture of people and the rape. Readers respond to the absolute madness at times with confusion, as it’s hard...
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...In this paper, I argue that Alison Bechdel shows the reader that she and her father are inversions of one another through visual and textual evidence throughout Fun Home. The two are homosexual and struggle with expressing their true identity due to what society believes is the gender norm. Gender is so inescapable that in our society we assume it is in our genes and these definite responsibilities run the way we live in the most profound and inescapable ways. It makes it difficult for people to express who they truly are. Society has expectations of gender and gender norms. This is because gender is one of the ways that we as humans organize our lives. In the novel Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, the reader is able to see these societal expectations in the memoir....
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...In the graphic novel Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, there is a panel in which a storm has struck the family home (179). The surprising thing about this storm was that it moved in a weird path around the home. Rather than running directly into the house it has curved and destroyed everything in its path around the house falling just short of making a complete circle. This notion of destruction and the house still standing is very allegorical because it represents the Bechdel’s family life. The structure which is the house is still there, but the outside is falling apart. When first looking at the panel the most visually striking thing is the fact that the front and back yards have been almost destroyed in a complete circle. This comes off as an...
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...No More Home, now you’re On Your Own These days, most young people are choosing to move out and live away from home. At some time in your life you will have to decide between staying at home with your parents like you have always done, or starting a new life on your own, that means it’s time to start being independent. Moving out will affect every detail of your life, right down to the foods you eat, and how much money you can spend. At the moment you want to make a choice between these two completely different ways of life, you should know that living at home and living on your own have some similarities, and they also some differences that you have to think about before making a decision. Every young person should realize that living on your own is a big step towards becoming a responsible adult. When living at home, and living away from home you have certain responsibilities to do in both places. If your decision was to live at home with your parents, you have to help with household chores like cleaning the house, and your room, and you have to do it well, because if you don’t you will have face the consequences. For example, if you have to wash the dishes and you don’t do it, you will just have more and more dishes to wash on the following days. As well, if you decided to move away from home you will also have household chores because no one will be there to do them for you, so you have to do them. Another similarity is that no matter if you are living in your home or away...
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...leaving parents to wonder which direction is best for their children. An important aspect of parenting is educating children to shoulder responsibility, with the objective of raising them to be productive and sacrificial adults. This requires the judicious use of chores and a little adversity to go with it. Chores and household duties help produce resilient children who will grow up to be responsible, hardworking, and self-reliant adults. When parents ask children to contribute their fair share to the family, it inculcates the values of reciprocity and responsibility. Studies have shown that children who did chores turned out to be healthier, happier, more productive and more satisfied in personal relationships than those who had no home or yard responsibilities in their younger years. I remember while growing up and my parent created daily chores to accomplish daily. It was not...
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...September 13, 2013 Mr. Homebuyer Prospect 144 Legal Lane Partnership, USA 3333 Dear Previous Customer: It has been quite some time since we last spoke. I wanted to catch up and give you an update as to what is happening within the world of real estate and mortgages. Certainly a lot has happened nationally since I last financed your home. We have gone through a real estate boom and a recession and home prices have fallen from their peaks a few years ago. The recession has provided pain for many Americans. It also has provided opportunities for many others. With regard to real estate, lower home prices have translated into bargains. Many investors are purchasing foreclosures and other distressed properties. Others are taking the opportunity of the lowest rates in history to refinance. I have refinanced many previous clients who have achieved hundreds of dollars in monthly savings and others who have moved into 15-year mortgages. With homes not appreciating as they were, building up equity through prepayment is a very popular objective today. Some have lowered their rate enough that they have been able to move to a 15-year schedule without increasing their payment! I would like to schedule a phone call with you to get an update as to what is happening in your life and financial situation. I may be able to give you an idea of what values are in your neighborhood and how your present credit score can be improved to further your future financial prospects. Please...
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...Life and School: Making it work Education is crucial in today’s world, and most times there is a need to choose to either work full time or go to school full time. In most cases, choosing one or the other is not an option. Finding the time to balance college classes with all of the activities in your daily life is what most people who are considering going back to school find most difficult and discouraging. However, with the right strategy balancing life and school can be manageable. We live in an age where women play a crucial role in the job market and in the home setting. This is no exception for me. Prior to school, my work and home life consisted of being a mother to my dogs, a wife to my partner, a leader and manager at my job, a socialite to my friends, a dedicated family member, a maid and a cook! Trying to factor in college classes seemed frightening at first! It has been ten years since I have attended any kind of educational classes; however, seeing that I regretted not attending college directly after high school, I made the decision that going back to school would open up many career opportunities for me. Deciding that I wanted to go back to school to expand my knowledge and career opportunities was the biggest decision that I have ever made thus far. Since I do not have the luxury to always have a set schedule to where I can attend traditional college classes in a classroom, I made the big decision to do distance learning as opposed to traditional...
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...Introduction IKEA, founded in 1943, is a world famous home furniture company whose vision is “To provide better life for everyone”. The brand provides modern and fashionable low cost furniture for over 38 countries with 301 stores. It is the largest furniture retail chain in the world and boasts a range of 12000 products, including home furniture and accessories. What’s more, it’s concern for people and environment lead to excellent use of raw material and energy, which result in their green targets and the overall environment. We are going to analyse the difficulties in expansion in the U.S. market and use a SWOT analysis to assess the circumstances that affect the same. In addition, we would give our proposed strategy and the three-year plan both in U.S and Indian market. IKEA’s expansion plan in U.S, faced a lot of problems. Firstly, the economic recession had a deep impact on the home furniture industry in America. For example, the home furnishings sector decline strongly in 2008 by -7.9% to 94.58 billion dollars. Secondly, the demand for customization and convenience is strong in U.S. Because unlike people in other countries, the U.S. people prefer to store most of their clothes folded while Italians like to hang. They were buying vases to drink because of the too small glasses. In short, they want more comfortable sofas, higher-quality textiles, bigger glasses and more spacious entertainment units. And the do-it-yourself furniture takes time to assemble, which leads...
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...Segmentation The following categories represent the people who would be the most likely to adopt the behaviour because they do not live a single life by themselves. They share the space at home with at least one person on the daily basis. Segment 1: Four nurses who are married/ in couple and do not have children These four employees would be the most difficult to convince because they could argue that because they do not have a child to take care of once they get home, they should not have to wash their hands as frequently as their colleagues who are parents. These nurses could think that there would be no serious consequence if they allow themselves to be a little careless. When confronted with the possibility of contaminating their partner or husband, they could well say that because their husband or partner works late, they fall asleep by the time he finally comes home. They could also say that because they are both adults in the household, each person should know how to take care of oneself. Or else, these nurses could argue that the risk for grown people to be contaminated by a sick spouse or partner’s germs is barely existant in comparison with households where a child is present. Segment 2: Thirty three nurses who are married/ in couple with children Segment 3: Five nurses who have children but are not married/ in couple These two categories representing a total of thirty eight people could actually be put together because there is a child factor. In fact, nurses...
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...compete with hourly daycare offer by Play Date and the Child Development Centers of the Army base Fort Bragg. The lower price that they offer will help the nursery compete against others, adding value and a good reputation to the service provided. The focus is to meet the demands of the stay at home parents requesting the need of one more day. The financial objectives are to obtain at least ten kids from ten different households, pay at least three employees and at still break-even for that particular day. 2.0 Situation Analysis Saint Patrick’s Nursery was open about 20 years ago with the purpose of taking care of kids while the parents attended mass. Throughout the years the nursery requests from parents has help developed the concept of Parent’s Morning Out (PMO) open on Tuesdays and Fridays morning only. It has come to the attention of the current Nursery Director the need of one extra day. However, in order to open the nursery on Wednesdays, the nursery must have at least ten children from ten different households. This is due because children from the same household receive a discount for the service. Hourly daycare is increasing in popularity and demand. Stay at home parents find it more easily to find an hourly daycare than to ask the spouse to take the day off, if they have an appointment, run some errands, or simply take a break from an already hectic lifestyle. Saint Patrick’s Nursery hopes to be one of the first considerations among these parents. In order...
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...of industry, environment, and as well as internal factors. We will present a number of possible strategic alternatives with its advantages and disadvantages. Finally we will conclude the analysis with our recommendations. II. INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Over the last few decades the luxury vacation industry has been characterized by the increased demand for the perfect vacation and increases in income in top percentages of the American population. Around the time of the early 2000's only 3 to 5 million Americans could afford the type of membership fee required to join a business similar to Exclusive resorts. The residence club industry is high fragmented and made up of timeshares, private resident clubs, whole ownership second homes, luxury villa rental, branded private residence clubs and destination clubs. The only one of the above mentioned that competes directly with Exclusive Resorts are destination clubs. Exclusive Resorts follows a differentiation strategy distinguishing themselves from the others by product offerings, market presence and growth strategies. As mentioned there are several key segments in the industry. Timeshares traditionally have...
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...Your Home is a Good Place, Inc. 1. Does YHGP have a viable market? Are there enough customers as envisioned by Norwalk to support his vision? Examine the tabulated US Census data and prepare supporting documentation for your answer. * Uniqueness of industry may help Norwalk gain success. * There are 33,353/319,290 households that have an income of 100k or more. Norwalk wants to obtain five customers a month that clear 100k a year to pay 10k or more on projects; that only requires 60 households for Norwalk’s idea of success. 2. Are there customer groups that Norwalk is omitting from his target group? If so, why should Norwalk consider expanding his market base? * Anyone under yearly income of 100k, age, demographics. * Create more business and marketing to himself and contractors involved 3. Norwalk has chosen to approach female customers as the decision makers. Is this limiting his abilities to expand his business? * Discussion SITUATION (OVERVIEW): Bill Norwalk is an entrepreneur in his 50’s that has a background in marketing and wants to launch a new industry that satisfies homeowner customer needs. BACKGROUND (OVERVIEW OF CASE): Norwalk’s construction experience taught him that traditional home improvement was an iffy proposition for both contactors and home owners. YHGP was attended by homeowners, contractors, and other service providers in the “one stop” environment that emphasized convenience as a marketing strategy. Norwalk knew...
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