The Life and Literary Work of Kate Chopin Essay example -- Biography B

The Life and Literary Work of Kate Chopin Courageous . . . daring . . . innovative . . . all aptly describe Kate Chopin, American short story writer, novelist, poet, and essayist. Timeless classics, Kate Chopin’s works of the late nineteenth century remain rare jewels and priceless gifts to the literary world today. Born Katherine O’Flaherty on February 8, 1851, in St. Louis, Chopin was the daughter of a prominent Irish merchant and an aristocratic French-Creole mother. Chopin’s roots in, and familiarity with, two distinctly different cultures were important on both a personal and creative level throughout her life. As a member of a slave-owning family and an elite social circle, Chopin was exposed to people of diverse color and background, many of whom provided the basis for her later writings. Kate Chopin was one of five children; and the only one to survive past the age of twenty-five. Chopin’s father was killed in a train accident when Chopin was only four years old, leaving her to be reared under the strong maternal influences of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. These determined women and life’s harsh losses taught Chopin valuable lessons of strength and independence. Kate Chopin’s formal education began when she was five years old at Sacred Heart Academy, a catholic school, and she graduated at seventeen. She had been an honor student, was widely read, and spoke two languages fluently. Upon graduation, Chopin entered the social life of St. Louis, and was noted to be "one of the acknowledged belles of St. Louis, a favorite not only for her beauty, but also for her amiability of character and her cleverness" (Seyersted 23). By this time, she loved (and was accomplished at) reading, music, and wr... ...sity Press, 1971. Kunitz, Stanley J. & Howard Haycroft, eds. American Authors 1600-1900, A Biographical Dictionary of American Literature. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1938. Magill, Frank M. Great Lives From History, American Women Series II. Pasadena: Salena Press, 1995. Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 6: American Naturalism: Kate Chopin (1851-1904)." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature A Research and Reference Guide. WWW URL: http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap6/chopin.html (May 28, 1998). Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin, A Critical Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980. Toth, Emily. "A New Biographical Approach." Approaches to Teaching Chopin’s The Awakening. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1988. Voetteler, Thomas, ed. Short Story Criticism. Volume 8. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1991, 63-65.

My Mother Essay

The film centers on Manuela, a nurse who oversees donor organ transplants in Ramà ³n y Cajal Hospital in Madrid and single mother to Esteban, a teenager who wants to be a writer. On his seventeenth birthday, Esteban is hit by a car and killed while chasing after actress Huma Rojo for her autograph following a performance of A Streetcar Named Desire, in which she portrays Blanche DuBois. Manuela has to agree with her colleagues at work that her son’s heart be transplanted to a man in A Coruà ±a. After traveling after her son’s heart, Manuela quits her job and journeys to Barcelona, where she hopes to find her son’s father, Lola, a transvestite she kept secret from her son, just as she never told Lola they had a son. see more:speech about my mother In Barcelona, Manuela reunites with her old friend Agrado, a warm and witty transsexual prostitute. She also meets and becomes deeply involved with several characters: Rosa, a young nun who works in a shelter for battered prostitutes and is pregnant by Lola; Huma Rojo, the actress her son had admired; and the drug-addicted Nina Cruz, Huma’s co-star and lover. Her life becomes entwined with theirs as she cares for Rosa during her pregnancy and works for Huma as her personal assistant and even acts in the play as an understudy for Nina during one of her drug abuse crises. On her way to the hospital, Rosa asks the taxi to stop at a park where she spots her father’s dog, Sapic, and then her own father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s; he does not recognize Rosa and asks for her age and height, but Sapic is cleverer and knows Rosa. Rosa dies giving birth to her son, and Lola and Manuela finally reunite at Rosa’s funeral. Lola (whose name used to be Esteban), who is dying from AIDS, talks about how she always wanted a son, and Manuela tells her about her own Esteban and how he died in a car accident. Manuela then adopts Esteban, Rosa’s child, and stays with him at Rosa’s parents’ house. The father does not understand who Manuela is, and Rosa’s mother says it’s the new cook, who is living here with her son. Rosa’s father then asks Manuela her age and height. Manuela introduces Esteban (Rosa’s son) to Lola and gives her a picture of their own Esteban. Rosa’s mother spots them from the street and then confronts Manuela about letting strangers see the baby. Manuela tells her that Lola is Esteban’s father; Rosa’s mother is appalled and says: â€Å"That is the monster that killed my daughter?!† Manuela flees back to Madrid with Esteban; she cannot take living at Rosa’s house any longer, since the grandmother is afraid that she will contract AIDS from the baby. She writes a letter to Huma and Agrado saying that she is leaving and once again is sorry for not saying goodbye, like she did years before. Two years later, Manuela returns with Esteban to an AIDS convention, telling Huma and Agrado, who now run a stage show together, that Esteban had been a miracle by not inheriting the virus. She then says she is returning to stay with Esteban’s grandparents. When asking Huma about Nina, she becomes melancholic and leaves. Agrado tells Manuela that Nina went back to her town, got married, and had a fat, ugly baby boy.

Sample Evaluative Essay “Is Ethics for Business Essential or Just Additory”

When writing a college paper on business ethics – whether it is an essay, term paper or thesis – it is important to understand the notion of ethics first. Why should you have good business ethics? Well, because your actions are under consistent assessment and scrutiny by important people who can either make you or break you (managers, bosses, employees, investors, etc.). An ethical attitude in the business world is vital. In order to gain respect, you have to give respect first. Have a closer look at the following sample essay on the importance of ethics for business, and prepare yourself for a successful future in the business environment. Ethics in the business environment defines a set of principles, values, norms of conduit and perception codes. There has to be a company philosophy for a business to work and attain success. All employees, managers, CEOs and owners must adhere to that philosophy and abide by certain rules and regulations in order for that company to be able to function as a unified entity. In the US, business ethic is all about trust, and if there’s no trust the whole business model, goals and objective will fail. In the â€Å"The Protestant Ethic The Spirit of Cataclysm†, German sociologist Max Weber talks about the difference between â€Å"moral ethics† and â€Å"responsibility ethics†. Moral ethic emphasizes on a behavior that’s 100% pure. Those that adhere to its principles obey without thinking about the consequences of their actions. On the other hand, we have the responsibility type of ethic; an ethic that targets business people and that predicts both intentional and non-intentional consequences of one’s actions. Even though Weber’s concept was interpreted like an affirmation of the disjunction between ethic and business, in the end his pledge was merely focused on the merger between business and ethic. In the business environment, one must give up a set of moral values (pity, altruism, love, compassion, etc.), because if he/she doesn’t do that their whole business might collapse. For example, even though a manager feels sorry for an employee and deep down really wants to give them more money to raise his 5 kids, he/she won’t do that if the employee is lazy or inexperienced because it affects the company productivity. Imagine what would happen to your business if you were to give salary increases to 10 more employees in similar situations you would go bankrupt! A business philosophy has to balance ethics with end goals. Niccolo Machiavelli’s famous quote â€Å"it is a means to an end† makes perfect sense in business as long as it doesn’t go beyond the limits of a normative model imposed by society. Truth be told, any type of business must have a clear set of rules and regulations; as long as they’re rational everyone in the company won’t have an issue respecting them, thus defining the coordinates for â€Å"business ethic†. Establishing a managerial decalogue inspired by a properly laid-out company philosophy that can keep a company united, while also balancing business with ethics, might seem like the right thing to do. The Japanese have such a managerial decalogue. For example, the company philosophy of Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) abides by the following rules and regulations: to contribute to the well-being of the society ; to make sure there’s harmony and cooperation among employees; to constantly improve activity within the company; to be humble and polite; to accomplish a national service; to be grateful, loyal and respectful. In 2015, some of the world’s most ethical companies were: 3M Company, ABB Group and Accenture LLC. These are at the top of the list. We can also see more familiar names like Microsoft, Adobe, L’Oreal, and Xerox. French sociologist Raymond Pollin mentioned in â€Å"Etique et Politique† that a government with proper accomplishments that can fight for the greater good is the only legitimate government. Sadly, too much power can have a negative effect on business ethics. People get greedy, and some companies stop focusing on the quality of ethical values. For a business to succeed, it must find a way to balance profitability and ethics. References Weber, M. (2013). The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Merchant Books, 132. Polin, R. Etique et politique. Sirey, 1968.258. Greenwood F. Kobu B. Managerial Modification. Vol. 55. No.4/ 1990 The Municipal Machiavelli. Chapter 8: Does the end justify the means? http://ianchadwick.com/machiavelli/chapters-8-14/chapter-8-does-the-end-justify-the-means/ Basic Business Principles. Panasonic.aero Adams, S. The world’s most ethical companies. 2015. Forbes.com Nayar, V. Profits, ethics, and trust. 2009. hbr.org