Research Paper Tap water vs. Saline free essay sample

Proper cleansing is perhaps the key component for acute and chronic wound management. Cleansing methods differ among health care providers and institutions, and many times is based on an individual’s experience and preference. Many cleansing solutions exist today. In this research, the author focused on the use of tap water versus sterile cleansing solutions such as Normal Saline and sterile water. Many cleansing solutions are safe and have been proven to provide effective results, whereas others may damage the tissue, destroy cells, increase infection rates and delay the healing process. Normal saline is regarded as the most appropriate and preferred cleansing solution by health care providers because it is nontoxic, isotonic solution that does not damage healing tissue. However, tap water is most commonly used among people, especially those that are discharged home and ordered to continue wound care at home. Tap water is cost effective and easily available, therefore of interest as a cleaning solution. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper Tap water vs. Saline or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Tap water showed to be as effective as any sterile solution in acute and chronic wound care. As an emergency and trauma nurse, I am often involved in the care of acute traumatic wounds and chronic wounds as well. Many practitioners prefer the use of a sterile isotonic solution, such as Normal saline while irrigating and cleansing wounds. After many years working with traumatic and chronic wounds, I have wonder if there is significant evidence to argue the following PICO question: When caring for patients in need of wound care, does sterile isotonic saline reduce infection rate and shorten healing time when compared to tap water? The following research will give us a better understanding on the use of sterile water versus tap water in the treatment of acute and chronic wounds from the emergency room perspective. Patients with acute or chronic wounds that present to the ER for wound care. I- Using tap water for wound care. C- Using a sterile solution, such as Normal Saline (an isotonic solution) for wound care. O- Infection rate and differences in healing time. When caring for patients in need of wound care, does sterile isotonic saline reduce infection rate and shorten healing time when compared to tap water? Article #1. Water for Wound Care. A level 2 research study. Reference Fernandez, R, Griffiths, R, Ussia, C. (2008). Water for wound cleansing. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Issue 1. Art. No:CD003861. DOI: 10. 1002/14651858. CD003861. pub2. Normal saline has been the favored isotonic solution used for acute and chronic wound care, since it does not interfere with the normal healing process. However, tap water is commonly used for cleansing wounds because it is easily accessible, efficient and cost effective. For this study, a randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trial was identified by electronic searches of Cochrane Wounds Group Specialized Register and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Eleven trials were included in this review. Seven trials compared rates of infection and healing in wounds cleansed with water and normal saline. Three trials compared cleansing with no cleansing and one trial compared procaine spirit with water. There were no standard criteria for assessing wound infection across the trials. The major comparisons were water with normal saline, and tap water with no cleansing. For chronic wounds, the relative risk of developing an infection when cleansed with tap water compared with normal saline was . Tap water was more effective than saline in reducing the infection rate in adults with acute wounds (0. 63). The use of tap water to cleanse acute wounds in children was not associated with a statistically significant difference in infection when compared to saline (1. 07 from 0. 43-2. 64). No statistically significant differences in infection rates were seen when wounds were cleansed with tap water or not cleansed at all. When caring for patients in need of wound care, does sterile isotonic saline reduce infection rate and shorten healing time when compared to tap water? Article #2 Water is Safe and Effective. A level 3 research study. Reference Weiss, E. (2012). Water is a safe and effective alternative to sterile normal saline for wound irrigation prior to suturing: a prospective, double-blind, randomized, and controlled clinical trial. British Medical Journal. http://bmjopen. bmj. com/content/3/1/e001504. full DOI: 10. 1136/bmjopen-2012-001504. This was a single centre, prospective, randomized, double-blind controlled trial. The wound solution type was computer randomized and allocation was done on a sequential basis. The patients were older than 1 year of age, who presented to the emergency room with a soft tissue laceration requiring repair. The primary outcome measure was the difference in wound infection rates between the two randomized groups. During the 18 month study period, 663 consecutive patients were enrolled, but only 631 were used for the study. From the 631, 318 were randomized into the Tap Water (TW) group and 313 into the Sterile Saline (SS). There were a total of 20 infections (6. 4%) in the SS group compared to 11 infections (3. 5%) in the TW group. Indicating that there is no difference in infection rate of wounds irrigated with either TW or SS solution, with clinical trends towards fewer wound infections in the TW group, making it easy to conclude that tap water is a safe and cost effective alternative to sterile saline for wound irrigation. When caring for patients in need of wound care, does sterile isotonic saline reduce infection rate and shorten healing time when compared to tap water? Article #3. Cleansing chronic wounds with tap water or saline: a review. A level 4 systematic reviews research. Reference Ljubic, A. (2013). Cleansing chronic wounds with tap water or saline: a review. Journal Of Community Nursing. 27(1), 19-21. Some practitioners advocate that cleansing with tap water is better than with saline for healing and has economic benefits; others say there is no difference in the infection rates or healing with either solution. A literature search was undertaken of the electronic databases for relevant systematic reviews, randomized control trials (RCT) and other evidence based literature using the key words chronic wound, wound cleansing, tap water,  saline, infection. No evidence suggesting the use of tap water instead of saline was inappropriate was found. Four studies of 14 RCTs comparing infection rates in wound cleansing with tap water and normal saline in adults and children were identified. The studies evaluated patients in hospitals emergency departments. The trial was a comparison of the effects of tap water and normal saline on the healing and infection rates of acute and chronic wounds. The researchers concluded that there was no significant difference between the infection and healing rates in wound cleansing with normal saline and tap water, and that tap water appears to be a safe alternative. The limitations of this review is that sparse evidence is available to support that the practice of using tap water is a viable option for wound cleaning. Much of the evidence on wound cleansing appears to be based on expert opinion rather than scientific studies, and published studies are not always of good quality. Summary Despite a significance progress in technology for wound care during the last decades, little attention has been directed to wound cleansing. Most providers tend to practice according to experience rather than to evidence based practice when it comes to this subject. Even though there has not been a lot of research done in this area, a few research studies suggest that there’s no significant difference in the patient outcomes when using tap water instead of normal saline, whether is used to cleanse an acute or chronic wound. There is no difference in the infection rate of wounds irrigated with either tap water or saline solution, with a clinical trend towards fewer wound infections in the tap water group, making it a safe and cost-effective alternative to saline solution for wound irrigation. However, there’s not enough evidence to suggest that cleansing wounds per se increases healing or reduces infection either. Some recommendations for this practice have been made: is water is used; it should be at body temperature as it can take 40 minutes for a wound to return to normal temperature after cooling. Nurses must be able to identify the most appropriate solution to use. However, the decision to use tap water for cleansing wounds should take into consideration the quality of tap water, comorbidities that compromise immune function of the patient, and the extent and nature of the wound. But it is safe to say that, in absence of portable water, boiled and cooled water as well as distilled water can be used as wound cleansing agents. Appropriate wound cleansing will continue to be a debate within practitioners until more research is available. The review by Fernandez, â€Å"Water for wound cleansing† (2008), provides some clarity about the comparative benefits of these cleansing solutions in wound care. In order to implement this study in the area I practice, I would implement an experimental study, using a random amount of emergency room patients with acute and chronic wounds. I wound implement the random use of tap water for some as well as normal saline for others and keep track of their wound healing process. I would make sure the candidates are aware of the trial and document my findings after executing a random selection of a large sample. I would focuse on healing time for both, saline and tap water participants, as well as for any infection or complications. The results would be shared with the staff during a staff meeting or in-service in order to apply evidence based findings to our practice. In conclusion: patients with acute or chronic wounds, wound cleansing with tap water does not differ from no cleansing or wound cleansing with sterile normal saline for rates of healing and infection.

Getting Beyond the Basics of the Spanish Future Tense

Getting Beyond the Basics of the Spanish Future Tense If you think that the future tense in Spanish is used to talk about events that will happen in the future, youre only partly right. For the Spanish future tense also has two other uses, one of which corresponds to an English usage and one that does not. And if you think that the only way of talking about the future in Spanish is to use the future tense, youd be mistaken. Spanish Future Tense as Emphatic Command If you grew up not liking vegetables, you may remember having a stern parent saying something like You will eat the carrots with a strong emphasis on the will. In such a sentence, the English future tense is being used not merely to say what will happen, but also to insist that it does. The same can be done in Spanish. Depending on the context and intonation, a sentence such as Comers las zanahorias can be either a prediction or a strong command.  ¡Te dormirs a las 10! (You will go to sleep at 10!) ¡Saldrn si causan problems! (You will leave if you cause problems!) ¡Esturiars toda la noche! (You will study all night!) Unlike with English, this type of reference to the future can be made in Spanish only with the simple future tense. Spanish does not use the progressive tenses (such as estars estudiendo for you will be studying) for this purpose. Spanish Future Tense for Indicating Probability More common is to use the future verb forms as a way of expressing something that is probable or supposed. There is no real verb-only equivalent in English; usually we would express such a thought by using probably, likely, I suppose or some similar word or phrase. In question form, the future tense can indicate uncertainty rather than probability. Here are examples of such usages of the Spanish future tense with possible translations: Pablo no est aquà ­. Estar en casa. (Paul isnt here. Hes probably at home.) ¿Quà © hora es? Ser la una. (What time is it? I suppose its 1 oclock.)Han trabajado mucho. Estarn cansados. (Theyve worked hard. They must be tired.)Estoy confudida.  ¿Me amar? (Im confused. I wonder if he loves me.) Keep in mind that the understanding of such sentences, and therefore the translation, will often depend on the context. For example, estar en casa could mean both he/she will be at home or he/she probably is at home, depending on what else is said in the conversation. And of course, the same is true when translating to Spanish. In the third example above, deben estar cansados would not be a correct translation, because they must expresses probability rather than obligation. Ways of Talking About the Future in Spanish There are at least three ways of expressing the future in Spanish without using the future tense. Periphrastic Future The most common way is to use a form of the verb ir (to go), followed by a and an infinitive. Voy a salir. (I am going to leave.)Van a comprar un coche. (They are going to buy a car. ) ¿Vas a estudiar? (Are you going to study?) This use of ir a is so common that it is popularly thought of as the future tense in some areas and mostly replaces the standard future in everyday speech. This way of discussing the future is known as the periphrastic future tense. Using the Indicative Present for Future Actions In some cases, as in English, it is possible to use the present tense to tell of future events. Sale el tren a las ocho. (The train leaves at 8.)La fiesta de pelà ­culas comienza esta noche. (The film festival begins tonight.)Llega Paulina a las siete de la tarde. (Paulina arrives at 7 p.m. tonight.) This type of present-as-future is most common for scheduled events occurring in the near future. Using the Subjunctive Present for Future Actions Finally, Spanish sometimes uses the present subjunctive where we would use the future indicative in English. Dudo que ella vaya, (I doubt she will go.)Espero que haga buen tiempo, (I hope the weather will be good.)Lo siento que salgas, (I am sorry you will leave.) Often when discussing a future event, the subjunctive doesnt express something that definitely will happen, but rather events that might or wont happen. In other cases, the subjunctive will be used in a sentence that focuses on the reaction to a future event, as in the third example above. Key Takeaways The future tense in both Spanish and English can be used for emphatic commands.In Spanish but not English, the future tense is sometimes used to indicate that a verbs action is likely or that the speaker is supposing that it will happen.In both languages, the present indicative tense can be used to say something will happen in the near future.

Issues in Human Sexuality Unit 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issues in Human Sexuality Unit 3 - Essay Example Despite this fact, I would state my agreement with the statute based on objective arguments culled from empirical evidence and not because of some emotional bias and the influence of popular sentiment. To understand my standpoint, it is imperative for us to explore the rationale behind the chemical castration. Here, using drugs such as the Depo-Provera or the Tamoxifen, the law seeks to prevent sexual molestation by inhibiting hormones that produces the testosterone or the aromatase enzyme in male offenders. The idea is that when the sexual urge in the offenders are lessened it is expected that the likelihood of committing the crime again is also reduced. Background The Megan’s Law has been the statute that we relied on to keep our children safe from child molesters. The statute requires the identification of sex offenders publicly mainly for preventive purposes. Unfortunately, as years passed statistics reflected a disturbing experience as the logistical demands of enforcing the law is difficult for state governments. A 1998 federal court ruling in New York is one of such illustrations. Here, the state is required to provide the court with the determination of the risk level identification of sex offenders. However, by 2004 the huge number of cases that needed hearing in line with such directive created an unwieldy backlog and in an attempt to fast track the hearings, the risk levels of all offenders were reduced to Level 1, the lowest risk level. (Schultz, p. 185) The effect is that justice is delayed and there is a risk of error in its dispensation.

Marketing Plan part A Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Plan part A - Coursework Example It has been in existence and operation since 2007 and aims at providing solutions to day to day tasks. The marketing strategy of the pet spray product wise includes decisions related to product mix (Small Business management 382). It involves branding, packaging and labeling. Intensive brand promotion plays a key role in facilitating sales. The strategy is to engage social media marketing platform as a tool to expose the brand to the target market due to the power of sharing. The brand symbol/ picture will involve pets and the different types of ambiance. The spray paint is packaged in a spray can with an easy to handle valve jet; this is at giving the brand protection, information provision and facilitating sales appeal. Good packages facilitate point of purchase, and it is keen to note that packaging has emerged as a major promotional tool in the consumer goods segment. The spray also comprises of application instructions, labeling assist consumers to understand the nature of the product and its unique features such as easily washable and

Cyberculture and Cybersexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cyberculture and Cybersexuality - Essay Example Since the middle of 1960s sociologists and social philosophers actively discussed a question on the introduction of the most developed countries in a qualitatively other stage of social development characterized by them as a post-industrial or information society which main distinguishing criterion is the defining role of information technologies in all spheres of people and society life. In general, information technologies cannot be considered as something belonging exclusively to the world of techniques for they have so deeply got into the life of people and society, that it is obviously not possible to isolate them from the general world outlook and cultural context any more. The quantum leap in the information industry urgently specifies necessity of the analysis of the newest technologies through a prism of world outlook changes. We should admit that those changes are observed in all spheres of human life and also in the sphere of human sexuality. In the context of Cyber Sexuality, they claim that digital communication technologies have led to a more isolated society. Theoretical Background This issue is very topical as on revealing of relationship between the information technologies which have created unique opportunities for new vision and perception of a social (an in particular sexual) reality on the boundary of the third millennium will allow to give to concept "cyber sexuality" more concrete and powerful theoretical status in order to protect it from unilateral and unduly prejudiced interpretations. In 1984 William Gibson (1984: 51) has published the novel "Neuromancer" in which for the first time he has entered the concept of a cyberspace: "Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced by billions of legitimate operators ". After Gibson's novel gradually cyberspace has began to be considered as a space created by the world telecommunication network and other computer communication systems. Social consequences of functioning of new information technologies are extremely various: they change a way of a person's activities, person's social communications, organizational forms and the content of social interactions. In this connection a subject of attention of researchers became the influence of information technologies on mentality of the person, communication mediated via computers and peculiar features of person's activity in the Internet. In 1960s in connection with the development of TV and other electronic means of information communication Herbert Marshall McLuhan has noted the change of a way of thinking. He has stimulated modern researches of sociology of culture, on having allocated the influence of "means of communication" on the change of ways of thinking and social organization. Since then mass-media communications become the object of attention of Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio, Slavoj Zhizhek and Umberto Eco - those thinkers who have moved the research of th e virtual reality created by means of telecommunication technologies from the level of intuitive representations up to analytically-theoretical level and have tracked a birth different kinds of simulacrums, their influence on the connectedness of space as bases of social reality. Any social relation arises and supports own existence owing to the information. The channels of reception of the information (verbal, visual, audio, etc.) studied Rudolf Arnheim, R. Bart, Umberto Eco and other researchers.

Dells Business Model Revenue Model Information Technology Essay

Dells Business Model Revenue Model Information Technology Essay Michael Dell, a student from university of Texas, Austin founded Dell Computers. At first Dell sold upgrades for IBM compatible PCs and then in 1985 they started to sell its own brand of PCs. Dell operated on the direct sales model, taking orders over the phone and building PCs to the customers specifications. Dell entered the retail PC channel for several years in the early 1990s, but a downturn in business in 1993 led it to return to its roots as a direct vendor (although the company does work with resellers in some markets). Dell grew rapidly and in the mid-1990s, its sales reached an inflection point, soaring from $3.5 billion in 1994 to $25 billion in 1999. By 1999, Dell had become the number one PC seller in the United States, and was number two worldwide. This success has taken place against the backdrop of falling PC prices, brutal competition, and enormous losses by other PC makers. Dell has not only survived, but succeeded in this environment thanks to the fundamental advantages of the direct model, and to its continued efforts to improve its execution of that model. It also has taken advantage of its direct model to build strong, stable relationships with the large corporations and other organizations who are its core customers. Unlike indirect vendors, Dell knows who its customers are and has a great deal of information that it uses to provide a high level of service and support, to target customers for retention and expanded sales, and to sell additional third party hardware and software. But even Dell has not been immune to the turmoil in the PC industry. While its most recent 26% growth rate continues to outpace the industry as a whole, it has not been able to match its earlier growth rates of 50% a year, and was hit hard by t he slowdown in PC sales in late 2000. The result has been a sharp fall in Dells stock price and a reminder that Dell is vulnerable to the brutal price competition and cyclical demand of the PC industry. Nature of products/services In making an examination of the corporate information relating to the Dell Inc company, it is apparent that the Groups principal activity is said to relate towards the designing, developing, manufacturing, marketing, selling and supporting a very vast range of computer systems. Dell is said to operates within four main segments and these are large enterprise, public, small and medium business and consumer segments. Essentially, large enterprise customers are said to include large global as well as national corporate businesses. Among the public customers of Dell include educational institutions, government, health care, and also law enforcement agencies. What is noted here is that small and medium business focuses on providing small and medium-sized businesses with what is said to be the simplest and most complete standards-based IT solutions and also services, that are customized in order to meet their needs. It is apparent that consumer business sells to customers via Dells on-line store, over the phone, and also through retail. Dell is said to offers a wide range of product categories and these including servers, mobility products, software and peripherals, desktop PCs, networking as well as storage (Corporate Information.com Dell Company, 2010). Dells Business Model/Revenue Model A busines model taxonomy like that of Dell is capable of being utilized to identify competitors and is needed to provide a good understanding of their target-market and this is especially in electronic and computing business competitors which can change very fast. The business model is said to be the term used to describe the way that Dell does business and the revenue model is said to lay out the process by which Dell makes money by specifying how it is going to charge in relation to the services provided (1000 Ventures.com Business Models, 2010) It is submitted that six main components of a business model like is used by Dell and these include the following: Value Proposition this is a description of the problem relating to the customer and the solution that addresses the problem as well as the value of this solution in relation to the customers perspective. Market Segment This relates to the group to target, to recognize that different market segments tend to have different needs and there are chances of innovation to be unlocked when a different market segment is targeted. Value Chain Structure This relates to the position and activities of Dell in the value chain and the way that it captures a part of the value which it is said to creates in the chain. Revenue Generation and Margins This relates to the way that revenue is generated, the cost structure, and also the target profit margins. Position in the Value Network This relates to the identification of competitors, complementors, and any sort of network effects which can be utilized by Dell so as to be able to be utilized to deliver more value for Dell customer. Competitive Strategy This relates to the way that Dell attempts to develop a sustainable competitive advantage and to utilize this to improve Dells competitive position in the market. How Does Dell Use E-Commerce to Improve Supply Chain When internet technology arrived, Dell was quick to set up the ecommerce Processes that would enable it to also sell directly online to customers. Selling online allows the whole process to be automated and more efficient. Since 1996 when Dell opened its website www.dell.com for ecommerce, the company has had huge sales success. By 1997 the company recorded $1 million in online sales. By 2000 the companys internet sales had reached $50 Million a day! If we go back to our example above, the customer, Liam, would go to Dells Irish website www.dell.ie to buy his notebook computer. The full Product range is online with detailed information to help him make his decision. He simply follows the easy, automatic instructions that come up on screen. These allow him to customise the computer he wants with the features he needs. He can increase, say, his hard disk space and see the difference that increase makes to the overall price. Then he is given a variety of options on how to pay, either directly online or, via a customer service operator. There is even an automated leasing option available through a financing arrangement that Dell has here with Permanent TSB. Liams order is then passed automatically through to the production department at Dells factory in Limerick where it will be manufactured to his specification, tested and shipped out to him. All of the systems relating to the sale are done through e-commerce: order placement, order tracking, payment processing, inspection, testing and delivery. Similarly, internally at Dell, the whole purchase and procurement of materials is automated between Dell and its suppliers. At www.valuechain.dell.com, Dell shares information with its suppliers on a range of topics, in cluding product quality and inventory. The crucial benefit is the total automation of the whole process, which not Only makes it faster and more efficient, but also much more cost effective, Especially given the volume of business involved. Dells global website Receives more than 1 billion page requests per quarter at 80 country sites in 28 languages and 26 currencies. Dells approach to e-commerce simulates the benefits of face-to-face contact between the buyer and the seller. This ensures that staff can be focused on delivering a quality product and providing excellent customer service and support How Dells E-Commerce Focus Improves Customer Service Dell has created many features and services online to help the customer see the whole purchasing process clearly. The premise of Dells business is selling directly to customers customers tell Dell exactly what they want and Dell provides them with the goods directly. As well as being able to customise the product, customers can track the progress of the order as it is produced and delivered. This can help the customer see the stages of the process and likely delivery times. Customers can create and view their service records online. This includes product support, shipment and delivery dates. Each purchase comes with a service tag code, which can track the model bought and its service requirements. This allows Dell customer service representatives to quickly and efficiently handle requests. This level of 24 hour customer service and fast response time helps Dell build strong customer relations, which of course is crucial for the company in its understanding of customer needs. It is a lso a very cost-effective way of providing sales and support cost savings which can be passed on in the form of better prices to customers. Success depends greatly on the efficient management of the website. The customer must have a convenient experience when shopping online and have faith that Dell will successfully complete the order and safeguard financial details. Customers need to be comfortable using paperless transactions without face-to-face contact. It is crucial that customers consider purchasing online as an alternative to the traditional method of going into a retailer and buying a product off-the-shelf. Dell is focussed on enhancing its image and relationships, not only with customers, but also with employees and the wider community. To do this, the website is also used as a communication tool for news, press releases and general information to help customers, employees, the media and prospective employees find out more about the company. Limitations of E-commerce to the business (DELL) Technological Lack of universally accepted standards for quality, security, and reliability Telecommunication bandwidth is insufficient (mostly for m-commerce) Software development tools are still evolving. Difficulties in integrating the internet and EC software applications and databases. Special web servers are needed in addition to the network servers (added cost) Internet accessibility is still expensive and/ or inconvenient Order of fulfillment of large-scale B2C requires special automated warehouses Non-technological Security and privacy concerns deter some customer from buying Lack of trust in EC among consumers Many legal and public policy issues, including taxations, remain unresolved National and international government regulations sometimes get in the way Difficulty in measuring some benefits in EC. (e.g. advertising,) lack of matured measurement methodology Some customers like to touch and feel the product Adamant to change from physical to virtual store Lack of trust in paperless, faceless transactions Insufficient number (critical mass) of sellers and buyers (some cases) needed to make profit Increasing number of fraud on the net Difficulty to obtain venture capital due to the dot-com disaster Limitations of E-commerce to consumers Physical product and delivery uncertainty (the consumer cannot be sure of the condition of the product he/she is buying. The delivery time can sometimes be longer than expected) Perishable goods (Electronics devices such as computers need to be handled carefully. If not they might get damaged during shipping and delivery) If a product is damaged, returning the good is difficult and sometimes even impossible. The consumer has no guarantee of getting a refund. The cost of returning the goods (posting) has to be sometimes handled by the consumer. Privacy and security (The payment details of the customer might get stolen over the internet due to lack of security thus leading to fraud) The customer has to go through the products with the limited knowledge he/she has. There are no employees to help guide them into buying exactly what they are looking for.

Windflower by Gabrielle Roy Essay -- essays research papers

Windflower   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabrielle Roy, the author of Windflower, shows us through her main character, Elsa Kumachuck, that isolation can have unfortunate effects on an individual and the people around them. We, as readers, are in the beginning given the impression that Elsa is a fit mother who is responsible and knows how to raise her child properly. Later on though, we realize that it's the influence of other people in her life and the experience of isolation later on that lead her to make the decisions that she does.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elsa Kumachuck was at one time just a carefree teenager, going to the theater to watch movies, laughing with her friends, and discussing sex. Her whole life changes in one night though, when Elsa is raped by a GI soldier, and as a result, gets pregnant. Elsa experiences a very dramatic change in herself, both physically and emotionally, and seems to lose all interest in the things that she used to enjoy. When her baby, Jimmy, is born however, she appears to be herself again. She snaps out of her depression as she observes the little boy she has given birth to. The unique little boy with blond hair and blue eyes takes her breath away. It seemed that in giving life to her child she had restored her own life to herself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Jimmy is a joy and a blessing to Elsa, he also creates a conflict for her. She does not know whether she should raise him as an Eskimo like herself, or white...

How and Why Is the Grotesque Used in Tennessee Williams’ a Streetcar Named Desire Essay

Throughout this semester, we were introduced to varying degrees of literary styles and themes. From the epiphanies discovered through American Realism, to the skepticism explored through Literary Modernism, to the conflicts of social conformity and individualism approached by a Post-Modernistic America and its writers. We have had the great opportunity of being exposed to individuals who questioned and pushed the boundaries of creativity and expression. Tennessee Williams was an author and playwright who balanced the enigmatic, macabre, and often cruel disintegration of his characters with a poetic grace. He became the keystone of a style that is known as Southern Gothic. A Streetcar Named Desire became the quintessential manifestation of the grotesque through the unraveling of the â€Å"Old South†. More specifically, his themes on the conflict between the â€Å"sensitive, non-conformist† individual against conventional society, the disintegration of the southern woman, and the divergence between southern gentiles and northern brutality to which all of Williams’ characters contributed to in some degree. The grotesque style of literature supplies the reader with a historical as well as social perspective. This provides a metaphorical reference to the â€Å"dying† South and the struggle to exist against the progressive ideals of the North, all the while, fraught with trying to keep the Southern identity and dignity intact. It is stated that â€Å"A common description (of the grotesque) has to do with causation: Southern grotesque is often said to be the literary aftermath of historical misfortune. (Presley 37). If we take into account the surrounding setting of the play, â€Å"†¦a two-story corner building on a street in New Orleans which is named Elysian Fields and runs between the L & N tracks and the river (Elysian Fields is a New Orleans street at the northern tip of the French Quarter, between the Louisville & Nashville railroad tracks and the Mississippi River. In Greek mythology the Elysian Fields are the abode of the blessed in the afterlife. ) The section is poor but, unlike corresponding sections in other American cities, it has a raffish charm† (Klinkowitz & Wallace 2187), the reader is thrust into the ensuing chaos before any of the characters are even introduced. Williams was very particular about each detail with regards to the style in which he was writing. The drama is not only a result of the surroundings, but is a symbiotic portrayal of the daily lives that exist within the grotesque. â€Å"The disorders are threefold: narcissism, familial conflict, and dream- like confusion†: (Presley 37). The Southern Gothic, grotesque style of writing can best be characterized by the profound ability of an author to evoke feelings of disgust while contrarily evoking feelings of compassion among his/her audience as well as between the characters within the work. These emotions are presented and contained within, what seems to be, a lost individual. This character may also display traits of incontinence due to physical or mental incapability. â€Å"Literature of the grotesque, according to the authoress, is distinguished by a moral or theological vision not usually associated with realistic works. Freaks appear in her fiction, she said, to reflect quite simply what man is like without God† (Presley 38). In keeping with the grotesque, Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire stretched the boundaries of this theme through the representation of the disintegration of the southern woman. By exploring the torrid longing of his character, Blanche Dubois, and her desires and fears. â€Å"Grotesque writers are â€Å"faced with the reality that they live in an age whose distortions function as indicators of how far man has drifted from his true image as a creature of God. In this vein, Williams explores the corruption of mankind, along with its difficulties in reconciling its primal nature with the rules of society: Blanche’s charm and beauty is overridden by her alcoholism, nymphomania, and general debauchery† (Presley, 1). Blanche DuBois provided the extreme case of what it is like to lose yourself. Blanche was â€Å"Deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, permanently flawed, unable to face reality, Blanche is for all that thoroughly capable of commanding audience compassion, for her struggle and the crushing defeat she endures have the magnitude of tragedy. The inevitability of her doom, her refusal to back down in the face of it, and the essential humanity of the forces that drive her to it are the very heart of tragedy, No matter what evil she may have done, nor what villainies practiced, she is a human being trapped by the fates, making a human fight to escape and to survive with some shred of human dignity, in full recognition of her own fatal human weaknesses and increasing absence of hope† (Crandell 93). The obscure relevance to her deceptions are only a portion of why Blanche represents the grotesque. Her necessity to cling to the â€Å"old† southern ways (with a â€Å"death grip†) allows her to cling to her own sanity. She exudes narcissism to the fullest extent, but is unable to see the damage that it is causing to herself and the people around her. In the very first scene, Blanche describes the loss of Belle Reve. She goes on to embellish the loss as a personal encounter with death, to which she is the only witness to and the only effected party: â€Å"I, I, I, took the blows in my face and my body! All of those deaths! The long parade to the graveyard! Father, mother! Margaret, that dreadful way! So big with it, it couldn’t be put in a coffin! But I had to be burned like rubbish!†¦. And, oh, what gorgeous boxes they packed them away in! Unless you were there at the bed when they cried out, â€Å"Hold me! † you’d never suspect there was the struggle for breath and bleeding. You didn’t dream, but I saw! Saw! Saw!†¦. † (Williams 2193). This description was a faint cry for compassion or an attempt to restore the relationship with Stella, but through a premeditated state of self preservation. The grotesque narcissism with which she approaches the loss of the estate and their relatives only happened to her. It is this over dramatic perception that reinforces the author’s emphasis on the Southern Gothic or grotesque style apparent throughout his play. The culmination of the loss of Belle Reve, her husband’s suicide, and, later, her dismissal from her job, could have contributed to her current state. But it in the end, she chose not to face her demons, she opted to hide behind the ruse of entitlement associated with old Southern Society that proved to be her ultimate demise. â€Å"If there is any character in modern dramatic literature whose identity is bound up in such fantasies and sees erself as unique, special and entitled, it is Blanche DuBois, whose very name conjures up images of French, chivalric romances. Furthermore, it is clear that she identifies with the role of the â€Å"Southern Belle† and, in fact, retreats to memories of herself as â€Å"Southern Belle† when confronted with death and trauma. Ironically, from Blanche’s point of view, although the â€Å"Southern Belle† is fundamentally superior, she is also, simultaneously, a vulnerable, even fragile figure, in need of constant attention and care, dependant on others. (Ribkoff & Tyndall 327). The reason why the grotesque is so important to the decline of the Southern woman, and this particular character, is because there is this realization that there are no happy endings. Blanche is happy to wallow in her own self destructions and with this she is libel to take down everyone within her distinct vicinity. Blanche’s character is deprived of the one thing that she longs for which is love and by reaching for the facade of the Southern Belle, she does more damage because she is the complete antithe sis of the Southern Belle. There is also a lot of symbolism associated with Blanche’s decline. Throughout her short time at her sister’s apartment, it is evident that she was taking a lot of baths through the progression of the story. As more information gets divulged about what really happened in her past, it is almost as if she is trying to maintain that she is a Southern Belle. She is trying to convince herself that she is still clean or that she can wash away her past through her frequent bathing. There is also the issue of light. Blanche does her best to conceal herself from the light of reality by placing paper lanterns over lamps to soften the light â€Å"So, too, in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche is described (in the same stage direction! ) as both attracted to and repulsed by light. On the one hand, she is described as moth-like in appearance. Comparable to the moth, she is strangely attracted to that which has the power to destroy her. On the other hand, â€Å"her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light†. To avoid it, she dresses naked light bulbs in paper lanterns, and when she goes out, with Mitch for example, it is always at night. † (Crandall 95). This pertains to her willingness to escape reality and is yet another way that Williams exhibits the grotesque through his writing. In further examination of Blanche, her dependency on men is another portrayal of the grotesque. She is constantly looking for and acquiring the affections of men and seems to feed upon the generous nature of Mitch, Stanley’s friend. Here we see the grotesque outlined in the form of female dependence on the male figures in their lives. At one point, Blanche rejects the union of her sister with that of the abusive Stanley Kowalski. She fantasizes about an alternative life with the financial support from Shep Huntleigh, but this still emphasizes a need for the support to exist from a male figure. Even though this wouldn’t be a stable situation for Stella, this would free her from her dependency on Stanley. This reiterates the progression from the old to the new south, but isn’t a source of stability for Stella. She still needs to rely on Stanley and in doing so we see the indignity of the human spirit due to sacrifice. It is also a theme of Williams’ that the removal of the simply â€Å"country† life, and into the throngs of a bustling city, create the setting for the grotesque situations that these characters find themselves in. Williams thought that in moving away from the country life, we are separating ourselves further from the life that God had intended us to live. There is a quiet simplicity that is associated with working the land in the country and in moving to the trappings of a large city, there is room for trouble. This is also apparent through the loss of Belle Reve. When Blanche falls into misfortune and loses the house, she is forced into a life of less prestige and honor. She loses her job as a teacher due to moral discrepancies, she is called on at the hotel that she is staying at by many men, and she is forced to move in with her sister in New Orleans. This transition represents a removal of all that is decent and good with humanity and confines us to the â€Å"cramped† quarters of a city where we lose ourselves. Stanley Kowalski’s character impresses upon the reader an animalistic quality that can only be implied to represent the conflict of the divergence between southern gentiles and northern brutality. â€Å"As much as Blanche is the representative of dreams, Stanley is the emissary of quotidian reality. His Napoleonic Code and the State of Louisiana are the realistic counterparts to Blanche’s more ephemeral Belle Reve. Whereas Blanche values civilization and its refinements-art, poetry, and music-Stanley indulges in more primitive pleasures-eating (bringing home meat from the kill); drinking, to the point of intoxication; and sleeping with women. He knows what his pleasures are and indulges them, often to excess. He enjoys life to the fullest-â€Å"be comfortable is his motto†. In his drunken paroxysms, he easily forgets himself, and becomes one with his buddies. He is, for the most part, spontaneous and unselfconscious† (Crandall 97). In the climax of the play, we bear witness to Stanley’s submission to the atavistic urges and northern brutality by the rape of Blanche. As the story progresses, Mitch (Stanley’s friend) exhibits how the loss of the Southern Gentile adds to the grotesque setting with which all of the characters exist in. At the end of the play, we are made aware that Blanche is being committed to an insane asylum. As the Doctor starts to take Blanche away, Mitch had an opportunity to intervene, but he didn’t. He felt a great deal of sympathy for Blanche, but chose to not act on those feelings and instead Blanche is committed. The reason that this is such an important example of the loss of the Southern gentile was because he had the opportunity to act and didn’t step up to defend Blanche. Southern gentiles are all about honor and dignity. With the loss of these important qualities within him, he has just let Blanche succumb to the darkness that has shrouded her since she arrived at Stella’s apartment. Even though Blanche didn’t see the hero within Mitch, they had a bond between them. They were both looking for love and for someone to take care of them. With him not coming to her rescue, the true Mitch is presented-a person who is devoid of the heroism that Blanche so desperately needed. On the conflict between the â€Å"sensitive, non-conformist† individual against conventional society, we have to re-examine Blanche Dubois. From the beginning of the play, we are well aware of Blanche’s â€Å"sensitive, non-conformist† characteristics. She is someone who was unwilling to uphold he civilities that should exist within each person. In her having tarnishing relations with a pupil of hers, she sacrifices the only thing that she had left- her dignity. â€Å"However defensive Blanche becomes, from the moment she enters the stage until the moment she leaves it, she is in search of direction and empathy or â€Å"kindness† of others in order to work through the traumas of the past and present. Ultimately, this search for understanding is he main reason she comes to New Orleans and not simply for a place to stay† (Ribkoff & Tyndall 327). The climax of the grotesque within this play seems to come as a result of Blanche’s sensitive, non-conformist attitude towards life. Her inability to accept responsibility for her current situation is the catalyst to the way that Stanley shows no tolerance for her. Stanley’s brutalities, along with his intolerance for Blanche’s current state of mind, clash to create the ultimately grotesque act of rape later in the play. â€Å"Many critics believe Stanley’s rape of Blanche precipitates her descent into madness. According to Mary Ann Corrigan, this descent is part of the overall trajectory of the play: â€Å"in each of the [play’s] 11 scenes Blanche moves inexorably closer to the disintegration of her mind and the total rejection of reality† (Humanit 334). After the disintegration of the world that Williams created in A Streetcar Named Desire, we are left with the overwhelming themes of the struggle for human affection, dignity, and resolve. Through this in-depth dissection of the characters, plot, and settings, emerge the themes that exemplify the Southern Gothic/grotesque style of writing.

Analytical Essay Sample on #8220;The Shawl#8221; by Cynthia Ozick

Analytical Essay Sample on #8220;The Shawl#8221; by Cynthia Ozick WHY I THINK ROSA SEES MAGDA AS FEELING ASHAMED The Shawl and Rosa both demonstrate Rosa as a woman who holds on to her past such that it haunts her and she seems like a mad woman who is always communicating with her daughter Magda as if she were alive. This is because she imagines that if her daughter was alive she would have been very successful thus they could not be living in misery as she is (Ozick, 1990). In the Shawl Rosa believes that Magda feels ashamed this is because Magda has been described by Rosa through her letters as a successful woman who would have helped her mother and become a doctor. In her letters she says, â€Å"You have grown onto a lioness, you are tawny, and you stretch, apart your furry toes in all their power. Whoever steals you steals her own death† (Ozick, p 2, 2009). These words depict how successful Rosa wanted Magda to be so that they would live a comfortable and one of good reputation as one she lived in her earlier days. Failure to this happening Magda feels that she owes her mother a lot these is because she was always determined to protect her and she always did everything in her power to make sure that she didn’t go through any form of suffering (Ozick, P 45, 2009). In the Shawl, I think Rosa sees Magda as feeling ashamed as she did not grow into being what her mother Rosa hoped her to be in the future. That’s why we see Magda being portrayed as one whom is a source of hope for her mother. Magda also didn’t meet her mother’s expectations; she comes back to life still feeble with nothing to her name unlike Stella who is a successful woman and has even gone to school and made a name for herself. She is even the one telling her mother in her letters that there is more to life than we see. In that there are three types of life, the life before, during and after thus she was urging her mother Rosa to start living in the life after so as to be successful and stop clinging to her past which more often than not devastates her as its filled with Magda’s memories (Ozick, P 43, 2009). Another reason why I think Rosa sees Magda as feeling ashamed is because Magda feels she has not excelled and thus she feels that her mother is not proud of her, so she sees the need to live to relieve the misery her mother is still going through. Magda comes back to life to find her mother still buried in her memories and giving praises of her in her letters (Ozick, P 46, 1990). By seeing the shame in her in the way she walks away, Rosa calls on to her to show how she loved and still loves her, the manner in which she valued her because she knows if Magda had survived she would be a very successful doctor, a woman who would help her mother. The manner in which Rosa describes her daughter Magda shows that there is always some light at the end of the tunnel, this light being Magda that even in adversity her eyes are still bright and pure her hair bright depicting as sense of hope that the mother clings to. In Rosa, Rosa describes Magda as â€Å"My Gold, my wealth, my treasure, my paradise, my yellow flower, My Magda, queen of bloom and Blossom† this is symbolic of how though life seems bleak there is always hope to a brighter one if only one can put her past behind and move on in life and make it a success (Ozick, p 43, 1990). Its contradictory in the way Magda appears, she has not lived up to her mother’s dreams and in not fulfilling this she feels she has failed her mother. I think Rosa sees Magda as feeling ashamed as her mother has always envisioned her as one of high standard. Thus that’s why Magda does not even stay because she feels she has put grief on her mother’s face which is not the case. She still demonstrates her love in her words as she calls on Magda come back and not walk away (Ozick, 1990).

Womens Role England 1558- 1667 essays

Womens Role England 1558- 1667 essays Lawrence Stone in 1979 claimed that during 1558-1667 change in the family structure (impacting women) was the most important social change in 1,000 years. Further historical research has now discredited this theory. The years 1558- 1667 are largely characterised by continuity rather than change and the lifestyle of women did not change markedly. Alan Macfarlanes research suggests that structures and roles had not changed since 1300. There was a social continuity through the whole pre-industrial era in England, where women had an inferior status to men. In 1617 William Whately in a wedding sermon pronounced, The whole duty of a wife is referred to by two heads. The first is to acknowledge her inferiority; the next was to carry herself as inferior. He was not being provocative, but simply stating common knowledge and practice. Throughout the period this difference between the two sexes was a fundamental principle upon which society was constructed. This is the main historical context in terms of analysing the role of women. However, there were occasions of major upheaval that saw disruptions and some changes, albeit not lasting ones. One can also view the issue in context of social class which influenced particular womens lives. A predominant feature of England 1558-1667 saw social continuity and a patriarchal society from the middle ages, where women had a subordinate status to men and who encountered many restrictions. Women originated from Adam, a man. Therefore they were inferior to men. People of this time were very religious and believed that women were weaker physically, intellectually and morally. This view started when Eve persuaded Adam to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Women could not hold office in the protestant church, which was made stronger by removing nunneries. Under common law, married women (feme covert) had no rights. Women moved from the contr...

Customer Involvement In The Selection Service Specifications Article

Customer Involvement In The Selection Service Specifications - Article Example Customers have expectations and those expectations can only be met if they are highly involved. High involvement allows them to specify what they really want and gives both servicer and customer the weaknesses and strengths of each specification. Providers should get customers more involved. The authors conclude that satisfaction can only be achieved if the customers get what they have specified. This can only happen if providers ask the customers what they want and do it. The main problem of this article is its language. Consider this statement: â€Å"Customers who attribute specification selection to their decisions assume responsibility for the specifications selected.† All it really says is that consumers feel responsible for the specifications they choose. Its vague wordiness defeats the purpose of publishing an article, which is to inform people. Also, the points are redundant. The authors keep restating that customers are most satisfied when they are highly involved. Then they repeat their arguments over again. The main strength is that the article provides graphs which make it easier to grasp abstract concepts. It is also helpful in summarizing their long arguments. Presenting numerous examples about customer-provider interaction was also helpful in making their points. It shows how applicable their findings are in different service situations. This article can be treated as a customer-provider interaction. Customers want to be informed but they do not want to waste time reading irrelevant or redundant data. This article can be shorted into a third of its length. Secondly, the data presented are either hypothetical or secondary which make them less predictive of actual cases. Authors should conduct their own studies in order to determine more definitely the most desirable level of customer

Sustainability Indicators Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sustainability Indicators - Essay Example There are several different types of indicators used in different fields, and the indicators of sustainability differ from other typical indicators employed for measuring social, economic and environmental progress (Sustainable Measures, 2010). Traditional indicators like stockholder profits, water quality etc. are not holistic in nature since they focus on a particular segment of the community; they do measure the progress of one component as if it was independent from other components of the community. On the other hand, sustainability indicators are resourceful in measuring the interactions of three different aspects of the community i.e. the environment, the economy and the society (Sustainable Measures, 2010). Sustainability indicators (Sis) are those indicators which provide information regarding the feasibility of future goals depending on their social aspects such as material welfare, environmental quality and natural environment (Zhen, 2006). In other words, SIs is a means o f finding how efficiently the community is satisfying the needs of its current and future members. Sustainability indicators and indices have been used popularly for measuring progress and improvement in the sustainability of different ventures. Index is referred to as a composite number which develops from adding together more than one indicator. There may be different types of indicators and many of them are linked to each other, such that one indicator has an influence on the other (Morse, 2010). There are many differences between sustainability and traditional urban indicators. Dividing the traditional urban indicators into three types i.e. economic, environmental and social indicators, a comparison can be drawn up between sustainability and other urban indicators. When considering environmental indicators, a traditional indicator would measure the ambient levels of pollution in air and water. On the other hand, a sustainability indicator would seek to measure the usage and prod uction of toxic substances, as well as the miles traversed by vehicles. The focus of the environmental SI would be on the measurement of activities that lead to pollution. A typical social indicator might include an analysis of the SAT and other standardized test scores. Contrary to that, a SI would entail the measurement of the total number of students who are given training for jobs available in the community and the number of students who study in college and then return to serve the community. The comparison between the two approaches used by the indicators is that SI focuses more on matching the job proficiency and training of people to the requirements of the community (Sustainable Indicators, 2010). 2. Introduce the sustainability indicator program. The sustainability indicator program that this paper will be focusing on is the Arizona State University (ASU) sustainability program. The Global Institute of Sustainability is the centre of sustainability initiatives at the ASU. The Institute specializes in the promotion of research, education and business practices for bolstering sustainability in the contemporary urbanizing world. The Institute is focused on coming up with solutions to economical, environmental and social sustainability challenges the world faces today. The Institute, opened in 2007, was the first of its kind in the entire country. The goals of the Institute is to recognize the major sustainability ch