Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Evil in King Lear

Evil in King Lear Google definition has several definitions for evil that essentially encompass the same idea. According to Google, evil is the quality of being morally wrong. Although this is a good basis for a definition of evil, is evil deeper than Google can describe? One always hopes that good will prevail over evil, but this does not always happen. There are various factors that can determine the eventual outcome and several questions that need to be answered. Is evil intrinsic to ones nature? Can one person force another person to be evil? Are there different levels or degrees of evil? In King Lear by William Shakespeare, evil is a dominant theme. We are not born evil, evil is learned through experience and while no one can force another person to be evil, one can be influenced by another person to perform evil acts. Evil is the quality of being morally wrong, but there are different degrees of evil. In King Lear, evil and its degrees are illustrated through the characters. The sisters Goneril and Regan are an example of characters that take evil to a new level. It can be argued that they are the most malicious characters of the play. They have betrayed Lear several times and have inflicted horrors on many others for self gain alone. The first of their wrongs starts at the very beginning when they deceivingly tell Lear how much they love him. They do this only for the land he has promised them in return for their loving praise, along with housing, taking care of him, and one hundred of his knights. They go back on this deal, which is another, but not their worst of wrongs. They drive Lear mad, all as part of a plan to diminish him of his title of king and make him nothing. They drive him to the point in which he runs off into a raging storm and they urge Gloucester to not help him and leave him, which is said in this quote My lord, entreat him by no means to stay.(act 2, scene 4). Their worst does not stop there, Goneril plans to kill her husband and co mmits adultery and Regan urges Cornwall to pluck out Gloucesters eyes which leads to Cornwall getting stab and killed. In the midst of all this the two sisters develop a family feud over Edmund which inevitably results in their downfall. Edmund is of the same breed of evil. He is ruthless and deceitful; his evil appears to have no end. The first we hear of Edmund, he is scheming to overthrow his father Gloucester and acquire Gloucesters title of duke. To do so, he would also have to get rid brother Edgar, the rightful heir to the title. Edmund is the kind of guys who doesnt think twice to screw someone over. Edmund begins his long and evil plan by setting his brother up saying that Edgar wants to overthrow Gloucester. As planned, Gloucester banishes Edgar. Now looked at as the trustworthy son, Gloucester entrusted Edmund with a potentially dangerous secret; a secret in which Edmund did not keep. He betrayed his father and told the sisters and Cornwall of Gloucesters plans to help Lear escape to the safety of France. This resulted in Cornwall plucking out Gloucesters eyes, a deed Edmund did nothing to oppose. Edmund does not stop there, he knows of the sisters feud over him and he leads them both on to play them again st each other in which he states in this quote To both these sisters have I sworn my love; Each jealous of the other, as the stung Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? one? or neither? Neither can be enjoyd, If both remain alive. Edmund does all this for personal gain. He knows of his evil and he continues because he wants more power. The rest of the characters of the plays evil deeds do not rise to the same level of evil that our main conspirators, Goneril, Regan, and Edmund achieve; but they too commit evil acts. Arrogance and being self-centered can also be considered to be evil traits and they are two of Lears tragic flaws. Lear is arrogant, he believes that he can give up his responsibilities as king and keep the titles and benefits. He thinks that if he gives his daughters all his land, they will take care of him. He was wrong in his assumption, and when he was told that he was making bad choices by his most loyal friend Kent, he banished Kent. Lear was unjust to Kent, and it was wrong to banish him for caring. Lear also makes the mistake of banishing his daughter Cordelia for telling the truth to Lear. Lear is self-centered, everything is always about him. All he can think about is how everyone is doing him wrong. He believes that he is more sinned against than sinning Lears acts were evil, but minor compar ed to that of his daughters and Edmunds. In life one hopes that good prevails, but in the end this is not always the case. It is human nature to want to see evil doers get what they deserve, but that too does not always happen. In King Lear, some of the characters that perform evil acts get their just desserts, but there are casualties along the way and both good and evil die. Evil is not intrinsic to ones nature, but evil tendencies can be influenced along the way. A truly evil character can be identified by the evil he intends. As it is in Shakespeares King Lear, it is in life; human beings perform evil acts in different degrees. One can be an evil doer, an evil watcher, or the just the person who stands by and does nothing. Any way you view it, evil is as Google definition defines, the quality of being morally wrong.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Female Marital Submission in The Yellow Wallpaper :: Charlotte Perkins

Female Marital Submission in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins "The Yellow Wallpaper" explains a woman's life in that time period, especially that of the narrator, who is living a life of a typical housewife of that time, but who is not able to cope with the oppression. Seems like the narrator fails to see her imprisoned state till towards the end of her story. The main character or the narrator is married to a doctor who is a typical male of those times. Also she has a brother who is in a similar profession as her husband. The narrator knows that she is not too well and that John - her husband does not realize the intensity of her sickness, he ignores her continuous efforts to make him aware of the real situation and her suffering. To make the situation worse he imposes his opinions on her even when it comes to her health. This story shows us the life and the thoughts of the narrator which lead her to be free, but go out of her mind in the sense of the real world. This story is written as if the narrator is writing it. The narrator is sick and her husband has made her a study project, She is continuously watched and thus she has no privacy. The critic of this paper Beth Snyder points out a similar view Hon's condemnation of both the narrator's imaginative vagaries and her writing impels his wife to write in secret and to seek a kind of obscurity in the bedroom, because no one must "find" her writing. Writing, then, becomes its own means for establishing inferiority. But because so much of the story relies on looking and being looked at, both obscurity and secrecy are problemised for Gilman's narrator. Hidden, she cannot hide, and is always illuminated for her spectator-husband "when the sun shoots in through the east window" or when "the moon shines in all night when there is a moon". Snyder in her paper, also mention another view, "It is essential for the narrator to believe that she is writing on dead paper, but she writes for an audience regardless of the paper's "lifelines" and brings another consciousness into the bedroom (the introduction of the audience seems to defy the deadness of the paper)". The narrator is extremely lonely, not in a physical sense, but in a emotional sense.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Organizing Function of Management: Sephora Essay

The organizing function of management is one of the key pieces of running a successful business. Sephora, a leading makeup company founded in France in 1970, has become an international presence; its success has, without question, been affected by its organizational abilities. Two of Sephora’s core competencies are extensive knowledge of beauty products and customer needs and their ability to adapt to ever-changing technology. These two areas have greatly affected the organizing function of management within the company and have helped them excel in the international market. Knowledge  To say that Sephora has excelled in the cosmetics industry due to knowledge is very vague; one would ask â€Å"Knowledge of what? † Their success can be attributed to their knowledge in many areas, two of which include their employees’ knowledge of products and services offered and knowledge of their customers’ needs and how to satisfy those needs. Knowledge of Products and Services Every employee of Sephora is expected to have an extensive knowledge of beauty products and practices: To build the most knowledgeable and professional team of product consultants in the beauty industry, Sephora developed â€Å"Science of Sephora. This program ensures that our team is skilled to identify skin types, have knowledge of skin physiology, the history of makeup, application techniques, the science of creating fragrances, and most importantly, how to interact with Sephora’s diverse clientele. (Sephora, 2012) Knowing such a great deal of information about cosmetics may seem unnecessary to some, but it ensures that customers can enter the store with a sense of security – knowing that the employees there are best suited to help them fulfill their beauty needs. Customers don’t have to worry about wasting their time trying to find a product that works or their skin tone and type; the employees are trained to know what works for different people and can steer them in the right direction. This knowledge of products and services provided by Sephora directly impacts customer service. Knowledge of Customer Needs Another factor that has contributed to the success of Sephora is their knowledge of their customers’ needs. They use the Customer Relationship Management process to determine the wants and needs of customers and develop programs that will satisfy those wants and needs (Bateman & Snell, 2009). Sephora recognizes that their customers expect certain things from the company, and they meet not only those needs but go above and beyond to provide the best experience possible for each customer. They do this in many ways, such as using promotional offers and customer loyalty programs. One of the promotions the company always offers free shipping for any online order over $50. They know customers like free shipping, but they are also encouraging customers to spend more money. Recently, they have improved this offer to free 3-day shipping on every order, whereas before they only offered 5-7 day shipping for free. Another promotion offered at Sephora is three free samples of beauty products with every order. Customers are given the option to select three of a number of samples at checkout at no added cost. This allows customers to try out new products that they might want to use in the future. There are two parts to the customer loyalty program at Sephora. Everyone is eligible to become a Beauty Insider, and select customers are eligible to become V.  I. B. s (Very Important Beauty Insiders). Beauty Insiders gain points for every purchase they make that can be used to get deluxe beauty samples either in store or online. Customers that spend a minimum of $350 at Sephora in a calendar year are elevated to the status of V. I. B. This status gives them access to private events, exclusive rewards, special privileges, and a dedicated beauty consultant at a hotline exclusively for V. I. B. members (Sephora, 2012). Of course, none of these needs would be met so efficiently if it were not for the integration of technology. Technology Sephora has been very successful in adapting to ever-changing technological advances and using them to the advantage of the company. The Sephora website was launched in 1999 in the United States, and it is the largest North American store in terms of sales and the available selection of products (Sephora, 2012). In addition to that, â€Å"Sephora has also been recognized as a leading digital brand and continues to advance this arena through mobile and social media initiatives including an active Facebook page, BeautyTalk (its online beauty community), its mobile site, and iPhone App† (Sephora, 2012). These kinds of technological advances allow Sephora to be a very strong Time Based Competitor – as all of these factors allow them to reduce the time it takes to provide products and services to their customers (Bateman & Snell, 2009). In addition to all the formerly mentioned technological capabilities Sephora avails itself of, the company has recently begun to go above and beyond even that by further integrating social media sites such as Instagram and Pinterest into their marketing in April of 2012. Every product on the Sephora website now has a â€Å"Pin It† button that consumers can use to share favorite products with their followers on Pinterest. Their Instagram feed gives customers behind-the-scenes looks at Sephora and the latest beauty trends (Novellino, 2012). As far as in-store technological advances go, a new program has been launched that provides iPads and iPod Touches to sales associates. Customers will also be able to use their own iPhones to scan products on the floor to get more information and read product reviews right in the store. All of this will improve the overall customer experience, proving that Sephora really does pay attention to the needs of their customers and does whatever they can to make the shopping experience more convenient and enjoyable. Conclusion Through their use of knowledge and technology, Sephora has developed a responsive organization that strives to meet the needs of their customers at a fast pace. These factors are crucial to running a successful business that can not only survive, but strive in a global economy. Sephora knows what their customers want, and they deliver through their constant advances in technology and customer service.

Friday, January 3, 2020

The Cause Of The Triassic Jurassic Extinction Is High...

Toxic Compounds Another theory that some proposed as the cause of the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction is high levels of toxic compounds released from volcanic activity. Directly around volcanic activity in the rift zone, there perhaps would have been high levels of Fluorine and Chlorine, both of which could have directly poisoned organisms. These large ejections of Chlorine and Fluorine could have led to ozone depletion and acid rain (McHone 2003). However, due to the fact that high levels of either of these compounds would have caused extinction without prejudice, the actual role that toxic compounds played during the Triassic-Jurassic extinction is hard to predict and study (Hautmann 2012). Sea-level Changes There is another theory proposed that posits that rapid sea level regression followed quickly by transgression caused the mass extinction, at least in the marine realm. According to Schoene and Geux (2010), ÃŽ ´18O values from fossil oysters suggest cool ocean temperatures immediately following the negative ÃŽ ´13C excursion followed by a period of warming. As shown in figure 2, during a time spanning approximately 300,000 years there was a positive carbon isotope anomaly (corresponding with a decrease in sea level along with cooling and glaciation) followed by a period of higher sea levels and a negative carbon isotope anomaly. These findings are consistent with rapid sea level regression-transgression lasting only approximately 290,000 years, which can only be explained