Dickens skill Essay Example for Free

Dickens skill Essay Dickens skill is especially shown in his creation of Magwitch. Discuss the convicts importance both as a key figure in Pips life and as a means of criticising society. Dickens uses his skill to make the reader believe that Magwitch is an evil person at the beginning of the novel. Dickens describes Magwitch as seen through a childs eye, which is Pip. The first image of Magwitch is exaggerated because of a childs imagination and terror. Dickens uses sounds and smells to remember people. For example Jaggers always smells of scented soap after court and when Magwitch is emotional there is a click in his throat. Although these are minor details we recognise people quicker. At the beginning of the novel we associate Magwitch with animal and beast like manners. This is because the first impression of Magwitch through the young Pip and then the hunt for Magwitch by the soldiers. In chapter 28 while Pip is travelling to Satis House he hears a conversation between two convicts who are being transported by coach under guard. Here the convicts are described as a most disagreeable and degraded spectacle. Dickens uses words like growling to covey the impression that these convicts are animal like. Dickens describes the convicts as, Then they both laughed, and began cracking nuts, and spitting the shells about. Dickens is making the point that if you treat some one like animals then they will act like animals. This shows how convicts were treated in society and Magwitch was also a convict. The ship that Magwitch boarded was ironically called Noahs Ark. This is where animals boarded in biblical time. Magwitchs true personality slowly shows through the novel. For example in chapter 5 Magwitch tells Joe that he stole his pie and file. Magwitch even apologises to Joe when he says, Then Im sorry to say, Ive eat your pie. Joe replies with a compassion answer saying, we wouldnt have let you starved to death for it would us Pip? Then Magwitch throat clicks. Here I think that this shows the two real gentlemen of the story. Although their grammar is not the best one shows remorse and guilt and the other shows compassion. I am very surprised when Magwitch says he stole the file and pie. This is because firstly he did not do it he only said this to divert suspicion from Pip, a boy he never really knew. Secondly in Victoria time people could be hanged for stealing and this shows that Magwitch is a very selfless person. In the most influencing chapter of the novel, chapter 39 where Magwitch returns Pip life changes. Magwitchs arrival has mixed feelings and mixed blessings. Here we find out that Magwitch is Pip benefactor and Pip feels revulsion and disgust, which is also shared by us the readers, that his expectations have been paid for by a convict. This is when Pip realises that he never had any Great Expectations, that Estella and Satis House were never intended for him and Miss Havisham was never his benefactress. In the chapter we now see Magwitch through an adults eye where he does not seem violence or evil. Pip uses words like I shuddered, abhorrence, dread and repugnance in this chapter but soon later change. Dickens skill is shown through this book very well because although Magwitch is one of the most important characters he disappears for a long time in the book. Magwitch is a key character in the novel to unveiling all of the mysterious in it. There is a gradual uncovering a denouement by him in chapter 42 called Compeyson. We find out a lot about Magwitchs heritage that he was born poor and that he had no family. Magwitch talks of his first memories as a young child he says, I first become aware of myself A thieving turnips for my living. Someone had run away from me and hed took the fire with him and left me very cold. This shows how society has neglected orphans his first memories is of stealing and being betrayal. Magwitch talks about his trial where Compeyson got 7 years and Magwitch got 14 years. Compeyson got half the sentence because, First of all what a gentleman Compeyson looked with his curly hair and black clothes and his white pocket handkerchief and what a common sort of wretch I (Magwitch) looked. Magwitch said that he had given up all hope when he said, I was hiding among the graves there envying them as was in them. This definitely shows how poor people and convicts were treated that society did not look after them and that these people felt no sense of place or belonging n the world. Dickens uses this chapter to show the inadequacy in the legal system and also that there is a lot wrong with society. Magwitch was not legally married to Molly but only married over the broomstick this shows that there is no legal marriage or protection for the poor. I think that society is using Magwitch, as a scapegoat so that they can charge him for crimes he did not commit so they can feel better about their society thinking it is safer. Whereas the real criminals in the novel are free, for example Compeyson a forger, Orlick a murderer and Drummle a wife beater. Magwitch clearly has an impact in Pip life for good and bad reasons. If Pip had never met Magwitch he would still live at the forge with Joe and probably in the future married Biddy. So basically Magwitch seems to have ruined Pips life. Although Magwitch does more harm then good he does not do it intentionally whereas Miss Havisham did. I think Miss Havisham is, in a way, a victim because she was left at the altar on her wedding day and cuts herself off from society. Miss Havisham got her revenge on men, which was Pip through Estella but later regrets what she has done. Although Miss Havisham has ruined his life he can still forgive her. I think Pip forgives her because although Miss Havisham is eccentric he has learnt that there can be another side to a person. I think that Pip found this out when looking after Magwitch first he is repulsed and now he loves and pity him. Magwitch brings out the good qualities in Pip he is his moral educator. For example Pip looks after Magwitch but does not take any more money off him. Here Dickens is idealising Pip through Magwitch. At the beginning of the novel Pip was child but now Magwitch has become the child because he needs looking after. From the part of the novel when Pip is with Magwitch he grows morally. He learns that a gentleman is not just a good education, wealth and stature it is about self-sacrifice, loyalty and compassion. Pip even risks his life for Magwitch when there is a note saying someone has news on Magwitch. Pip goes straight away even with an injured arm and there he finds it to be a trap that it is Orlick who tries to kill him. He learns the great value of friendship and he buys Herbert branch of Clarrikers business. I think Pip does this because he feels guilty for getting Herbert into debt in the first place. Not only did Pip feels pity for Magwitch when he is dying so did Jaggers. For example Jaggers tries to push back Magwitchs trial date back so he can die in peace but it fails. This is shown when it says, Mr Jaggers caused an application to be made for the postponement of his trial. Again Dickens makes a point about the legal system when he says, The trial was very short and very clear. Basically Dickens is criticising how he poor were judged in court; it was guilty until proven innocent for them. At Magwitchs trial he is condemned to death and he says, My Lord, I have received my sentence of Death from the Almighty, but I bow to yours. Magwitch says this in the most elegance way and shows his courage in accepting his death sentence. By the time of his trial and death he has acquired a dignity which did not seem to be evident when he was the animal which glared and growled and frightened Pip half to death at the beginning of the novel.

The Wedding Planner Essay -- Literary Analysis

Chaucer’s tale of courtly love may have been written in the fourteenth century, but the growth of love that occurs in the story is still a concept that can be seen in the twenty-first century. The script for The Wedding Planner, a 2001 romantic comedy, contains the following lines, said by father to daughter about the development of love in his arranged marriage: â€Å"I appreciated her. Then the appreciation grew to respect. Respect grew to like. Then like grew to love.† While Troilus fell head-over-heels in love with Criseyde, his beloved needed some time and persuasion to warm up to his affection. The processing of his wooing, her dancing around the potential for a relationship, and each of them coming to terms with his or her own feelings is exemplary of the journey from complete strangers to lovers in â€Å"heaven’s grace.† For Criseyde, appreciation really did grow to respect and then to like and, finally, to love. The full impact of the emotion that the lovers share is felt in Book III. By that point, Troilus has successfully wooed his sweetheart, and she has realized, wisely according to Chaucer, that â€Å"though he was not self-confident or tough,/ Nor tried to fool her with some fine address,† she loved him (Book III, stanza 13). Troilus spent two books playing a game with Criseyde and her uncle, Pandarus. He has written her letters and showed off in armor and paraded like a peacock all while being terrified that he was going to be unsuccessful in gaining Criseyde’s attention. In Book I, the reader is granted an insight into Troilus’ later fear of rejection, an insight that Criseyde is never privy to. Troilus has never been in love. In fact, he has scorned love, denied its worth in front of all his soldiers. When a man under his ... ...ore afraid† and Troilus â€Å"seem[s] inspired† (Book III, stanza 69). This is the true manifestation of courtly love; the man, the lover, motivated by a beloved, doting woman. On this journey from doubt to trust and from cynicism to confidence, both Troilus and Criseyde reach an ultimate bliss in one another. For a man who did not believe in love and for a woman who did not need a man, the journey was challenging and filled with resistance. The remarkable aspect of courtly love is that it defies expectations. With proper, unrelenting, and sincere wooing, as Troilus demonstrates, a champion can be won. Criseyde grew to love and lean on Troilus, and Troilus grew to believe in love. And all it took was 127 pages and two books to get there. Chaucer never said the journey would be short – or easy – just that it would â€Å"bring them to [the] heaven of grace† (Book I, stanza 6).

Consolidated Life Case-Business Ethics Essay

Consolidated life is a prestigious insurance company however, due to the nature of the establishment the duties required by the worker neither required minimal knowledge nor did you have to have a high level education in order to obtain a position at the company. Mr. Mike Wilson however, obtained a business degree in administration. He was hired by Consolidated Life as simply as you can put a clerical worker. He worked in the policy issue department which main duties included processing or in taking clients orders for insurance, customer service, and client services. One would say that working for them; your performance required little to no creativity. It was the same day-to-day work load. Because it required so little creativity, daily routines were repetitive and can be done basically, with your hands â€Å"tied to you back†. Mike Wilson demonstrated how an effective a â€Å"leader† can be in the workforce rather than just a â€Å"manager† by title. He portrayed in existence of â€Å"high fidelity† which is the best experience you can have in a workplace. In the book Trade Off, by Author Kevin Maney, the word fidelity deals with â€Å"the total experience of something† (Maney, 2009). The author also says that â€Å"aura† can also provides an advantage to fidelity. With that being said Mr. Wilson influenced his co-workers with providing them with incentives and rewards in which they can gain a reward at the end of the task but most importantly he provided the right tools and motivations in order for his employees to work in a positive mind frame. This created a system of mutual bipartisanship between supervisor and employee. Model: based on the â€Å"Organizational Model Behavior† Mike’s drive and motivation can be comparable to a person with â€Å"theory y† attributes. The â€Å"theory Y† concept displays how an employee’s work is â€Å"as natural as play†. Also a person with this characteristic has a huge sense of self-direction and self-control. Mr. Wilson showed this by cultivating a modern management technique that motivated its workers rather than coerced them which a person who you can place in this. Whereas, a person with the characteristics of â€Å"theory x† carries the opposite attractions. The individual is not seen as enthusiastic about their job. They are mainly threatened or told â€Å"do it or else† and as stated before, lack the ability and drive to overachieve. They usually follow the motto, overpromise-under deliver. Mikes performance ultimately won him a promotion working in the supervisory assignment area. He won this promotion just six weeks after promise. Mike brought a sense of modern culture although it was seen as â€Å"unorthodox† or non-traditional. When comparing the delegation of authority in the levels of management the organization structure clearly shows that the establishment followed an â€Å"authority† oriented program in which Presidents are first to make decisions for the overall â€Å"vision† for the company in which it then trickles down to the VP who implements the President’s strategy by orchestrating a staff of supervisors to oversee the execution. Situation: There seems to be a drastic change to the division in which Mike supervised some time ago. When Mike realized his unhappiness at his new division he sought a remedy for disaster by returning to his old division forcing him under new terms and most importantly, a new boss. The performance value of his once â€Å"over exceeding† staff was now dwindled and unmotivated. The new way in which they worked became stricter and more inflexible. It was stale and there was no aura of high fidelity being promoted. Problems: The problem of this case has to do with mis-delegation of roles and mis-clarification for all parties. Not only that, the fact is the company as a whole has not identified its mission statement for their employees. With that being said the transition from the time Mike left became a tragedy. As stated before, the culture of the environment was slated after Mike left. It became from being a â€Å"collegial† environment to an â€Å"autocratic† environment once new vice presidentJack Greely took over. Not only did he change the environment of the company, he basically dismantled the structure and rebuilt it based on his power. Until Mike was promoted the managerial style approach was not identified and supervisors, at this early time wanted a change and that’s why Mike was chosen to become supervisor. However, when Jack took Mike’s former supervisor’s place, the organization became, â€Å"autocratic†. An autocratic person can be defined as an employee that is dependent tot tally on a supervisor. This person has no other desire than to do what is only required out of the task and only the minimum. Usually in an autocratic setting the boss expects pure obedience from their employee’s and rely straight on authority from â€Å"higher up’s† with no regard to any self-drive for themselves and lacks the qualities and abilities to take on initiatives and providing an entrepreneurial attitude about themselves. This can be explained by using the Abraham Maslow’s Theory found in an essay article written by Janet Simmons, Donald Irvin, and Beverly Drinnien which it states he says accordingly â€Å"that the only reason that people would not move well in direction of self-actualization is because of hindrances placed in their way by society† (Janet A. Simons, 1987). Also saying â€Å"We must see that the person’s basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety, belongingness, and esteem needs† (Janet A. Simons, 1987)A person in the Consolidated Life organization that can be also skewed towards the â€Å"autocratic† style is Mr. Rick Belkner. Mike’s former boss. This, for lack of a better term, lazy supervisor (whom he was Mike’s supervisor initially) illustrated as a person who rather do â€Å"crossword puzzles† during his work shift then to lead by example, what a competent Vice President of their division; shy 40,000 of a six-figure salary. The point was clearly made by Mr. Greely when he assumed that Mike’s management style would still be undermined no matter how good of his performance. He even went to the extent of assuring that Mr. Wilson will fail no matter how â€Å"high† you move up in the establishment. It is almost agreeable to say that Mr. Speely’s choose of words were not only rude but shows a poor and ineffective leader. Mr. Greely does not seem to be results-driven but ego-driven as his defense for Mike’s work style was inarguable and measured his own assumption to Mike’s performance rather than just judging an employee on what he does best, his/her performance. Reading how Mike handled it; amazingly enough. In the chart featured on page-You can see simple comparing of the two different types of behavioral patterns by identifying the qualities, organizational and environmental forces that are represented by the 2 behavior patterns. You will see the differences between a workers operating in an autocratic setting versus a person who operates under the collegial or supportive setting(s). By identifying the contrast you are able to see what kind of modifications or structures that would have to be put in place based on a employee’s attitude. The attitude in which comes from probably stems from personal goal, motivations, or self desires a person may have in their work space. Some individuals don’t possess the willingness to achieve and be a leader. Some individual are quite happy with just being an average worker and moving up in the â€Å"corporate† latter is something that does not motivate them. Autocratic Environment Vs. Collegial /System Environment Base Questions for Case 1. Describe ALL the factors that contributed to Mike’s lack of promotion at the end. Was his lack of promotion fair? When Mike left the division, he left the process in which he created, to be altered by the new president upon his departure. The flexible leadership that led to the team success came to a halt when divisional vice president, Jack Greely; who’s reputation was described as â€Å"tough but fair†. Mike accepted the position at the old division again without really investigating the provisions in which he was now to work under. He loss total control when he noticed that co-workers were actually more inclined to follow Mr. Greely’s direction because the employees knew the order of hierarchy and knew the consequences of action should one follow anyone’s demands except for Mr. Greely’s. 2. Using your knowledge of culture, explain in detail Consolidated Life’s culture when Mike was first hired and then when he returned. There was a transition in the organization which proved to have opportunities due to the position void. Such example shows that Mike (when he was first hired by Consolidated Life) he was promoted to his position because of the opportunities of change. Mike’s style was not really favored by his â€Å"higher-ups† but because he manages to increase workflow and reduce errors, which created more performance his flexible style was overlook which sends a sign of â€Å"inconsistency†. If you are going to allow a manager to take over the project then let them take over. As long as they don’t compromise the integrity of the company or do anything illegal. 3. What actions could Consolidated Life have taken to prevent Mike’s problems? There should have been more flexibility granted for Mike to effectively coordinate his team. Mr. Wilson’s track record clearly shows that as a supervisor he is competent to make educated decisions and lead a staff with ease. An employee is always happy when they are not pressured nor stressed. Most important of all, when a leader shows reciprocity, more than likely there would be a win-win. For Example, Mike’s strategy to reward his co-workers in exchange for hard work showed the worker was not working out of vain and in fact he/she was being acknowledged and rewarded for the hard efforts being put forth. 4. Who do you think was at fault for Mike’s problems, Mike or his supervisors (e. g. , Jack) or others? Completely justify your opinion. The fault of Mike problems was his free spirited style which usually offends conservatives. Jack implemented a â€Å"corporate† style setting upon Mike’s return.

Smith Surname Meaning and Origin

Derived from the Anglo-Saxon smitan, meaning to smite or strike, Smith and its derivations are an occupational name for a man who works with metal (smith or blacksmith), one of the earliest jobs for which specialist skills were required. It is a craft that was practiced in all countries, making the surname and its derivations the most common of all surnames. Smith still tops the list of most popular surnames in England and America, and is also a very common last name in Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Australia. Alternate Surname Spellings:  Smyth, Smythe, Schmidt Facts About the Surname Smith Unsurprising to most, Smith continually tops the list for most common English last name and the most common in America. The Granny Smith green apple is named after a woman named Maria Ann Smith (nee Sherwood), who developed it from a seedling in her orchard in Australia in 1868 at the age of 69. Famous People With the Surname Smith John Smith - One of the original settlers of Jamestown colony in 1607; saved from execution by the Indian princess Pocahontas.Captain Edward John Smith - Captain of the ill-fated RMS Titanic.Paul Smith - British designer.Anna Nicole Smith - American model.Adam Smith - Scottish economist and author.Michael J. Smith - American Astronaut; died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on 28 January 1986.Gregory Paul Smith - Christian singer. Where Do People with the Smith Surname Live? As you might expect, surname distribution data from  Forebears  indicates that the  Smith is found throughout the world, although it ranks it at 117th most common. The Smith spelling ranks 1st, however, in the United States, England, Australia, Canada, Scotland, New Zealand, Belize, Bermuda, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Tuvalu, and Monaco. Genealogy Resources for the Surname Smith Contrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Smith family crest or coat of arms for the Smith surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.   Genealogy.com allows you to search their genealogy forum for the Smith surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Smith query. With FamilySearch.org you can explore over 48 million historical records which mention individuals with the Smith surname and variants, as well as online Smith family trees. GeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Smith surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. DistantCousin.com allows you to explore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Smith and its variations. At GenealogyToday.com you can browse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Smith from the website of Genealogy Today. References Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames.  Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.