Pride and Prejudice: A Contemporary View

The hardest thing about this project, in my opinion, was in fact not the kind of research it took to arrive at the conclusions presented in this paper, but the process of grouping them together into something that might make any sense at all. I have come to learn that there are so many parallels between Pride and Prejudice and its modern counterpart, You've Got Mail, and to a lesser extent The Shop Around the Corner, that putting them together involves more than one might imagine. In any case, I found that You've Got Mail is more of a combination of The Shop Around the Corner and Pride and Prejudice than The Shop Around the Corner is related to Pride and Prejudice at all. In reviewing Pride and Prejudice and You've Got Mail, I found that most major aspects of the film are similar to issues presented in Pride and Prejudice. However, the frequently rearranged presentation of these events when portrayed in You've Got Mail initially led me to see them as different. This had more to do with the concept of role reversal than anything else. Nevertheless, there were a few minor differences, each of which, along with the major and minor similarities between the novel and the film, I will thoroughly examine and discuss in this essay. Above all, I would have to say without a doubt that You've Got Mail is a successful adaptation to Pride and Prejudice, with the single most powerful connection between the two being the expression of a changing society. As would be obvious to any viewer, reader, or analyst, this is done successfully through the characters of Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox, who in different ways represent Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwillam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. When I say different I mean that Kathleen is not always Elizabeth and Joe is not necessarily Darcy. In fact, when compared to their corresponding social situations in Pride and Prejudice, Kathleen is Mr. Darcy, while Joe represents Elizabeth. I say this because I realize that when we give our sympathy to Kathleen's plight in You've Got Mail and to Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, thereby connecting the two characters, we are not thinking of how readers of Pride and Prejudice when it was written felt when reading it. In their opinion, it had to have been Darcy who faced the dilemma, not Elizabeth. You see, in both the book and novel the traditional ways, whether they are of Victorian Era England or the Upper West Side, are being inevitably replaced by new social or economic standards. In Pride and Prejudice the noble class was sinking as the middle class rose, with the middle class seen much like a modern chain store in comparison to a classic book shop that had been in business for generations. It is in this way that Elizabeth's family is shown as a virus in aristocratic England much as the FoxBooks franchise is to proud Upper West Siders. Not only was the societal situation of Pride and Prejudice well represented in You've Got Mail, but also FoxBooks perfectly mirroring the â€Å"invasion† of a noble family by one with disgraceful connections played it out with the takeover of Kathleen's shop. It was this and a difference of manners that initially kept the characters apart in both books but was conquered by a growth in their understanding of each other. In any case, the characters of You've Got Mail help show the connection to the novel's societal aspects mostly in that of Frank, Kathleen's boyfriend. He represents the values in a character that were shown in one like Lady Catherine, in which he despises the idea that the new world and technology are taking over. â€Å"You think this machine's your friend, but it's not† are his initial words to Kathleen about her use of the computer. As a part of modern society, he hates it, and because of her situation, she is somehow expected to share those feelings. She does not, which is a large part of her connection to Darcy's character, which is expected by all, including Elizabeth, to be proud and to never associate with those of a less noble blood than his own. Kathleen's breakup with Frank broadcasts their internal differences, just as Darcy is written as different from most aristocrats in his ignoring class lines in recognizing morals. Kathleen Kelly is always shown as the heroine in You've Got Mail because of her struggle to keep her small, pricey shop open in the shadow of the ‘terrible' FoxBooks Store. In the same way, Darcy can be seen as courageous in his internal conflict of whether or not to break away from social standards placed upon him by his family. These same expectations are in some form placed on Kathleen, who runs her store in her mother's shadow. She loves the store, but in some ways is shown as one of those in You've Got Mail who is the least affected by its closing. The people who most actively wish the shop to stay open are those who have grown up with it in their neighborhood. As Kathleen declares in a fit of passionate anger to Joe, â€Å"People may not remember me, either, but lots of people remember my mother. In comparing Kathleen's noble struggle to that of Darcy's, I am not discrediting Elizabeth Bennet as the heroine of Pride and Prejudice, instead I am simply comparing two characters whose situations in life compare, regardless of anything else. Although the economic situations in You've Got Mail closely reflect the social issues in Pride and Prejudice, there are still many more similarities between the book and the movie, and also between the video and the film it was originally based upon, The Shop Around the Corner. The one main similarity between all three was that of the love-hate relationship that defines Darcy and Elizabeth and is mirrored in Joe and Kathleen and Kralik and Klara in The Shop Around the Corner. In Pride and Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth are at first and throughout most of the book kept apart by their conflicting social ranks, just as Joe and Kathleen are kept apart by their business competition. The characters of Kralik and Klara actually help explain the two other relationships because just as they are kept apart by competition in the workplace, they keep in touch through letters without knowing who the other one is. They hate each other, as do Joe and Kathleen, in person, but both couples evidently have a relationship where despite their feelings that the other is a bad person, they find each others good points online or by post. This is shown in The Shop Around the Corner in a quote from Klara, who says to Kralik, â€Å"Why, I could show you letters that would open your eyes. No, I guess you probably wouldn't understand what's in them. They're written by a type of man so far superior to you it isn't even funny. The same basic statement is made by Kathleen to Joe in You've Got Mail, where she remarks, â€Å"The man who is coming here tonight is completely unlike you. There is not a cruel or ungenerous bone in his body. † This, the fact that Klara reveals that there were times Kralik could have â€Å"swept her off her feet†, and the obvious notion that Joe and Kathleen could get along had they not been â€Å"FoxBooks and The Shop Around the Corner† gives some insight into the more complex characters of Elizabeth and Darcy, who were apparently right for each other all along, but had been kept apart on unfortunate technicalities. Although each couple may have been right for each other, they may have been kept apart by more than just business or class lines. They hurt each other's pride, which was something that could only be caused by bad manners and repaired by good ones. This idea culminates in the scene in Pride and Prejudice where Darcy proposes to Elizabeth for the first time, and in both movies in the cafe scenes where the couple was supposedly to meet for the first time as mail correspondents. In all three, the characters erupt at the others' attack on their pride and become so angry, all reconciliation may seem impossible. From the very beginning, from the first moment, I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form that groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed upon to marry. † These words of Elizabeth Bennet affected Darcy in the same way that those of Kathleen and Klara affected Joe and Kralik, respectively. That is to say, it hurt his pride. A lot. In any event, this experience served to make Darcy grow, with respect to manner and his management of pride. The same effect was had on Joe and Kralik, and they forgave Kathleen and Klara in the meantime. This further advanced their relationships eventually leading to all three couples ending up in love with each other despite all odds against them. Manners were an important part of Pride and Prejudice and were reflected in You've Got Mail through communication. Good manners were shown by email while bad ones were apparent in Joe and Kathleen's verbally abusive relationship, their avoidance of each other, and in their misperceptions of the other. In my opinion, the Gardiners, who brought Darcy and Elizabeth together in the book, had a lot to do with the concept of email and manners in You've Got Mail. Their true selves were made clear online, and once Joe learned the truth, he began to see past what had been going on between them and fell in love with Kathleen. She, of course, still had the misperception of him that had been dictated by their economic/social relationship, and even this died away after Joe showed her some of the good manners she had been exposed to throughout their internet relationship. This exact situation was displayed in The Shop Around the Corner, and with a few surface differences, is what happened between Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice after the proposal scene. In all situations, manners were dictated by prejudices laid down by society and in turn altered personal perception, where good manners were untainted by society and bad ones were prejudiced. Therefore, good manners lead to friendly relationships and bad ones lead to conflict. At first, I did not see the same humor in You've Got Mail that had been used in Pride and Prejudice, primarily because I was looking for Jane Austen's personal â€Å"regulated hatred† instead of that of modern culture. It is undisputable that the same satire used in Pride and Prejudice is shown in the character of Patricia Eden, Joe's girlfriend. She represents materialism in her blind yet self-proclaimed insensitivity. When Frank, Kathleen's boyfriend, asks Joe Fox at a party â€Å"how he sleeps at night,† Patricia jumps in and responds, â€Å"I use a great over the counter drug- Ultra Dorm†¦. you wake up without the slightest hangover! † Another time, right before Joe decides to break up with her, four people are stuck in an elevator. Each person talks about what they plan to do if they get out alive. The first two are sincere and have to do with family and relationships. When it is her turn to speak, Patricia says, â€Å"If I ever get out of here, I'm having my eyes lasered. Another character that is humorous and at the same time represents a commentary on society is Gillian, Joe's father's fiancee. She goes to get her eggs harvested in one scene, buys tacky items only because they are expensive, makes passes at Joe, and finally runs off with her daughter's nanny. She and Patricia seem to represent people who in today's world are trendy and have no character whatsoever, as opposed to those in Pride and Prejudice who represent those who are stupid, marry for money, and follow ridiculous customs. They are essentially the same because each shows what seems to be morally wrong with the people in the time period in which each was written. The one factor I did not see in You've Got Mail that reflected a major idea in Pride and Prejudice was feminism. It was apparently groundbreaking at that time for Elizabeth to reject two out of three potentially successful offers of marriage, and I just didn't see any such signs of independence besides Kathleen owning her own store, which I did not see as the same. In any case, You've Got Mail more than anything was a successful contemporary adaptation to Pride and Prejudice, especially in representing the social and economic situations in a variety of ways. You've Got Mail and The Shop Around the Corner were also successful in showing the dynamics of the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth though that of Joe and Kathleen and Klara and Kralik with respect to manners, morals, and romance.

A Look At The Dualism Concept Between The Body And Soul As Depicted In Meditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes

A Look At The Dualism Concept Between The Body And Soul As Depicted In Meditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes Body and Soul Rene Descartes presents in his Meditations on First Philosophy the idea of dualism, the belief that the body and the soul exist separately from each other. Physical human bodies are composed of cells, tissue, blood, organs, skin, a brain and the like. From the brain, humans have thought. The mental capacity to think is what creates human personality and allows humans to reason and form ideas. The question of whether or not the body and soul are separated or not is a vital philosophical question, especially to Descartes as he grapples with meditation and the feeling that nothing is real or certain. This leads him to question his own existence and who he is. In this paper, I will argue against Descartes’s belief on dualism as the body requires the soul to live. The soul and body are tied together in order to grant humans the ability to exist, create goals to chase after and grow as individuals. The main argument is that the body and soul are individual forms. Descartes presents three main premises. The first premise of this argument begins with Descartes stating â€Å"if I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed†¦I am, I exist† (Descartes 110). This pertains to the soul and that if a human is capable of thought, they exist. Even if a person is unsure of their actual existence, it does not matter as long as they themselves believe they are alive and existing. This leads into the second premise where it is discussed whether humans are being deceived by God over their existence. Descartes argues that if even if God, or some creator, is deceiving us, if we think we exist we do. However, if God is the perfect creator of the universe it would makes sense that He gave his creation souls and a sound existence. The third premise describes the body and soul separately, showing how the two are different. Descartes labels the body as simply being our physical self, that has hands, feet and a solid figure. He writes how the soul has features like sense perception and the ability to fabricate thoughts. The body and soul are presented as being unique from each other, thus the concept of dualism is confirmed. These premises come together to shape the conclusion that confirm duality and that the body and soul are apart from one another. I agree with Descartes’s first premise on the grounds that if we think we exist, we do. It is impossible to definitively find out if everything is a faà §ade or if humans truly do exist in a real universe. But due to the fact that humans are alive and can think, it is presumed that humans do exist, at least to a certain extent. I also agree with his third premise on the body and soul being different. The soul is not something that is visible but rather an abstract concept used to describe what governs the body and allows humans to speak, think and act. However, I do not agree with his overall notion of duality. Descartes presents his argument without sufficient evidence but rather relies on his own opinion. Typically, a body without a soul cannot be called an existing being. The body might be alive but with no soul there is no person, no identity or personality. Similarly, without a physical body the soul cannot exist. If there is no body there is no person to speak of. Upon birth and death, the body and soul arrive and leave together, leading to the conclusion that they are linked together and rejecting dualism.

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Health and safety assessment - Essay Example According to Health and Safety at Work ( 2007), organizations have legal responsibilities towards their employees, among them are : In view of this, organizations must seriously consider conducting periodic risk assessment in order to prevent serious legal problems which could lead to the closure of a business. Although a business cannot totally eliminate all the risks in a workplace, management can lessen the probability of accidents by carefully evaluating the potential hazards by carrying out a risk assessment. The group assumed that certain hazards would be visible upon our visit to the facility we have chosen. The group selected the engineering facilities of Penrhyn Road - Sopwith Building since it a good example of a workplace that carries a lot of risks for two main reasons: it is a very busy workplace and a lot of equipment and machinery are being used there on a daily basis. The group visited the said facilities after asking permission. A Technician was assigned to us who willingly guided us through the facilities and explained to us some of the equipments that they have been using. They also allowed us to take some pictures since they were aware that we are doing a risk assessment for educational purposes. In order to have a reliable report, we visited the facility a couple of times and recorded our observations. Moreover, the group met after every visit to discuss the observations that we just recorded. The most important thing in this report is to abide by the guidelines in conducting a risk assessment which can be found at the HSE website. The group members agreed to follow the fi ve steps indicated in the brochure. The first step in Risk Assessment is to walk around the place by making observations on possible sources of hazard that can cause harm to the workers. In order to substantiate the findings, the group took pictures of situations where hazards exist. An example of this is a picture of wooden

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Event Marketing - Assignment Example The organization will use a consistent selection method in every city. The site chosen for the event will be a public library within each city. The largest public library in each city will be the top choice for the event. The quantity of books in the libraries represents the wealth of knowledge that can be attained by developing a study habit and incorporating reading into the weekly routine. During the event the organization will have different guess celebrity speakers talking to the kids about their experience with reading and how much it has helped their lives. In order to attract a lot of kids to the event Read America will solicit the help of a non-profit organization called NBA Cares. NBA Cares is the National Basketball Association global community outreach initiatives that address important social issues such as education, family values, and poverty (Nba, 2011). The organization will select successful retired basketball players who are icons in each city. The retired players that will be speakers at the event are Earvin â€Å"Magic† Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird.

To what extent are cuts to the public sector likely to affect employee Essay

To what extent are cuts to the public sector likely to affect employee motivation Restrict your answer to an analysis by Kehr's - Essay Example 479). Prior to Kehr’s model (2004a), conceptions of work motivation largely ignore the role of implicit motives and how these are distinguished from explicit motives (2004a, p. 479). In this work, Kehr’s model of compensatory work motivation and volition is reviewed for its possible relevance given budget cuts in government. A key concept of Kehr’s compensatory model is that implicit/explicit motive discrepancy gives rise to decreases in volitional strength (Kehr 2004b, p. 315). In discussing the future of motivation theory, Steer et al. (2004, p. 385) acknowledged that Kehr’s model synthesized several lines of research on motivation covering implicit and explicit motive as well as helped answer several intriguing as well as previously unanswered problem s concerning goal attainment. This is significant as the International Research Centre on Organizations has emphasized that motivating people is not an easy task (2007, p. 1). Kehr’s model is highly relevant given the a CATO Liberty news report by Mitchell (2010) indicated that United Kingdom Prime Minister Cameron is poised to implement savage government budget cuts in the United Kingdom. II. Kehr’s compensatory model of work motivation and volition As described by Kehr (2004a, p. ... 482). In Kehr’s example (2004a, p. 482), a manager high in affiliation implicit motive may enjoy a companionship with his unproductive subordinate but will still defer to the demands of his or her supervisor to increase productivity by dismissing the subordinate (Kehr 2004a, p. 482). The supervisor demands constitute an extrinsic factor. In Kehr’s (2004, p. 482) analogy, implicit motives â€Å"push† while explicit motives â€Å"pull† the individual. This means that implicit motives come from within the individual while explicit motives reinforce, moderate, or even suppress the â€Å"push† coming from the implicit motives. In Kehr’s analogy of a senior personnel and an unproductive subordinate, Kehr suggested that extrinsic factors and explicit motives could override intrinsic factors and intrinsic motives. Citing the work of McClelland (1995), Kehr (2004a, p. 480) identified that the three major implicit motives are power, achievement, and af filiation. Implicit motive are not consciously accessible but â€Å"they are assessed by operant, fantasy arousing, picture-story tests, such as the Thematic Apperceptation Test or TAT (Kehr 2004a, p. 480). The implicit motive for power pertains to the need to dominate, control, or influence (Kehr 2004a, p. 480). The implicit motive for achievement refers to the need to meet or exceed personal standards (Kehr 2004a, p. 480). Finally, the implicit motive for affiliation revolves on the need to establish and deepen social relationships (Kehr 2004a, p. 480). Implicit motives determine long-term behavioural trends while explicit motives or values produced by extrinsic factors result to cognitive choices or goals (Kehr 2004a, p. 482). In Kehr’s example (2004a, p. 482), people with explicit power motive may aim for positions of

Implemente an creative idea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Implemente an creative idea - Essay Example To me that was a total waste of time. After watching the activity in the document room I noticed that those currently used documents and incomplete files are returned as all the other files. However, since these incomplete files are needed on a daily basis in order to save time, it is better to put them at a special location instead of placing them with the others. While I watched and analyzed this method of arranging files I remember a scientific method of arrangement for warehouses which I learned in a supply chain management course. Arrange the location of goods according to the frequency. This method saved lots of time walking and searching files in the document room. Based on my observation and analysis of the situation I suggested to the document room manager to place incomplete files and frequently used files in a position near the door, so that time spent walking locating files could be saved. The result of this new method was quite hard to judge. No one was actually timing and calculating it. According to my co-workers the new method seemed more convenient. To me saying that it was more convenient was a simplification of the issue. The idea that I implemented required the application of the scientific method. We could treat more issues and solve more problems using the user friendly scientific methodology. This is my opinion behind this little creative

News Article on Helicopter Deaths in Afghanistan War Essay

News Article on Helicopter Deaths in Afghanistan War - Essay Example The exact number of US soldiers who died is not known, as the US military has not confirmed it, but the news sources reported the number at either thirty or thirty-one. There is some confusion as to exactly how the helicopter really crashed. The helicopter was involved somehow in an attack on a Taliban compound in Wardak Province of the country, but it is not clear how active a role this played in its crashing. According to the New York Times, the helicopter was â€Å"shot down †¦ after a night raid† (Rivera, Rubin, & Shanker). The BBC also says that the helicopter was returning from an attack of some sort, but does not specify the cause, simply stating that it â€Å"went down† and noting that NATO was still investigating the reasons (BBC). Al Jazeera reports a source as saying that â€Å"the helicopter was apparently taking off from a roof of a building during this operation when it then crashed,† although they note that the Taliban was quick to claim they had shot it (Al Jazeera). The three news articles cover this event very differently, both in terms of what related material they discuss and in terms of the language they use to talk about the event. Of the three, the BBC article seemed to be the most neutral both in tone and in its coverage. The headline of this article was â€Å"US special forces Afghan helicopter 'downed' by Taliban† (BBC). ... So, for example, instead of just saying the helicopter was shot down by Taliban, it notes that â€Å"Reports say the Chinook helicopter was shot down by the Taliban† (BBC). By always making a note of its sources and that some statements may not necessarily be correct, the article sounds neutral and does not really take sides or try to make you assume something about the events it reports on. What is also interesting about the BBC article is the range of people it talks to for its information. It does not just get all of its information from American sources, or all of its information from ones in Afghanistan. Instead, there is a more or less even mix of the two, with quotes not only from US Officials and Afghan government officials, but even from the Taliban and just ordinary residents of the area. The version of events that comes out of all this is one in which nobody is really sure exactly what happened yet, and it is implied that we should take what everybody is saying with a grain of salt. The language in the article is also very passive, such as â€Å"An increase in US troop numbers last year has had some success combating the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan, but attacks in the north, which was previously relatively quiet, have picked up in recent months,† (BBC) which leaves off who increased the troops or attacked and does not take sides. In contrast to this, the New York Times article comes down very strongly on the side of the Americans. This is not surprising as it is an American paper. Unlike the BBC article, which starts of by simply stating what has supposedly happened, this article begings with the phrase, â€Å"In the deadliest day for American forces