The Merchant Of Venice Is A Controversial Play Among Experts Of Shakes

The Merchant of Venice is a controversial play among experts of Shakespeare. This play has been argued by some to be a comedy. This is because there is a lot of comic relief and the story has a happy ending. Others consider the play to be a tragedy because of Shylock's character. He is very much like a character of a tragedy as in Phaedra. Still other experts use the term "tragicomedy". Personally I think that the last definition is the best one to describe this play. There are several factors that contribute to the classification of a play as a tragedy or as a comedy. A tragedy has four main elements according to current definitions. The first element is the tragic hero. In The Merchant of Venice Shylock is the only character that can be argued to be such a person. He is involved in most of the action and is the source of the major conflict. If he was not present the play would have no conflict and would not make a very good story. Shylock can also be considered the tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw. This is his obsession that is very evident throughout the play. His material wealth consumes his thoughts day and night. He may be a Jewish man but I think that the god he worships the most is known as gold. One instance where it is apparent that he only cares about his possessions was when Jessica ran away. He was ranting, "O, my ducats! O, my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O, my Christian ducats" (2.8.15-16). He simply includ! ed his daughter in the middle as though she were one of his possessions. Another part of a tragedy is that the tragic hero must be humbled or humiliated. Shylock experienced both of these. He was humiliated when Portia, disguised as a man, used his own comments and contract against him. Any person that was at first praising someone for being smart and virtuous must feel really dumb when that person is not really on their side like they seemed to be at first. We have not done much in class with what a comedy is but I think that I have a decent general knowledge of what one is. The first element that I know of is the comic relief. In The Merchant of Venice there is an abundance of such comic relief. One example was when Portia and Nerissa got the rings from their husbands to be while they were in Venice. After they obtained them they teased the two with threats and stories involving a lot of sexual humor. A specific example of the sexual humor was when Gratiano said, "Well, do you so. Let me not take him, then! For if I do, I'll mar the young clerk's pen" (5.1.236-237). The comic relief serves the purpose of relieving some of the immense tension that builds up in the play. Act five as a whole is a very good example because it is right after the climax of the play and has what seems to me to be the best comedy of the entire play. The second element of a comedy that I know of is that it must have a happy ending. This is most certainly what happens in our play. Once Antonio was cleared of his bond everyone got what they wanted. Antonio made Shylock become Christian and Jessica and Lorenzo got a deed to Shylock's possessions when he died. Most importantly Bassanio and Portia and Jessica and Gratiano resolved the ring issues with good spirits and mutual understanding. From what I have said in the previous paragraphs I have to classify this play as a "tragicomedy". The Merchant of Venice has all of the elements of comedy that I have mentioned. Throughout the play there is a tremendous amount of humor. It consists of both high comedy and a little bit of low comedy too. One example of the low comedy would be at the beginning when Bassanio and Gratiano are in the pub with Antonio acting silly. They are only concerned with drinking beer and having fun. An example of the high comedy was when Portia was criticizing all of

OneChild essays

OneChild essays One Child is a true story about a girl named Sheila who had an alcoholic father who abused her. She was placed in a classroom for people with behavior problems. All of her previous teachers thought that she was lost, that no one could reach her, until her teacher Torey Haden (the author) reached out and cared for her. This book may give you many emotions, but you will find this book very touching. Torey is a teacher for children with behavior problems. She had nine children, and one assistant named Anton, he had not wanted the job, but the people at welfare told him he had to take the job. There were some children with some very serious problems. There was a beautiful child with long blonde hair, she looked almost perfect, and her name was Susannah Joy. She was a child schizophrenic, she hallucinated, and she heard voices. There was Taylor, who was a suicidal child, she had drunk toilet cleanser, and it had eaten away at her esophagus. There were other children with other very serious problems. They had problems adjusting at first, but as the time went on, they became a real class. It seemed to good to be true, when the principal told them that they were going to have another student named Sheila. Earlier Torey had read about this child, she had taken a three year old boy, tied him to a tree, and burned him. He survived, but he was in critical condition. Sheila was going to be taken to the state hospital for psychological treatment, but they had to wait for an opening. Until then, she had to go to school. When Torey found out she was going to be in her class, she didnt know what to expect. She was a very wild child. She had terrible tantrums; she would destroy every thing in her way. Until one day, she ran into a corner, and she was terrified. Torey talked to her. The reason she was such a bad child was because her mother had abandoned her on the side of the street. Torey told her, that she didnt whip kid ...

The History and Legacy of Project Mercury

The History and Legacy of Project Mercury For people who were living in the 1950s and 1960s, the Space Race was an exciting time when people were venturing out from Earths surface and heading to the Moon, and hopefully beyond. It officially began when the Soviet Union beat the U.S. into space with the Sputnik mission in 1957 and with the first man into orbit in 1961. The U.S. scrambled to catch up, and the first human crews went to space as part of the Mercury program. The program goals were fairly simple, although the missions were quite challenging. Mission aims were to orbit a person in a spacecraft around Earth,  investigate a humans ability to function in space, and to recover both astronaut and spacecraft safely. It was a formidable challenge and it affected the scientific, technological, and educational establishments of both the U.S. and the Soviets. The Origins of Space Travel and the Mercury Program While the Space Race got started in 1957, it had roots much earlier in history. No one is exactly sure when humans first dreamed of space travel. Perhaps it began when  Johannes Kepler  wrote and published his  book Somnium. However, it wasnt until the middle of the 20th century that technology developed to the point where people could actually transform ideas about flight and rockets into hardware to achieve space flight. Initiated in 1958, completed in 1963, Project Mercury became the United Statess first man-in-space program. Creating the Mercury Missions After setting goals for the project, the newly formed NASA adopted guidelines for the technology that would be used in the space launch systems and crew capsules. The agency mandated that (wherever it was practical), existing technology and off-the-shelf equipment should be used. Engineers were required to take the simplest and most reliable approaches to system design. This meant that existing rockets would be used to take the capsules into orbit. Those rockets were based on captured designs from the Germans, who had designed and deployed them during World War II.   Finally, the agency set up a progressive and logical test program for the missions. The spacecraft had to be built tough enough to withstand a great deal of wear and tear during launch, flight, and return. It also had to have a reliable launch-escape system to separate the spacecraft and its crew from the launch vehicle in case of impending failure. This meant that the pilot had to have manual control of the craft, the spacecraft had to have a retrorocket system capable of reliably providing the necessary impulse to bring the spacecraft out of orbit, and its design would allow it to use drag braking for re-entry. The spacecraft also had to be able to withstand a water landing because, unlike the Russians, NASA planned to splash its capsules down in the ocean.   Although most of this was accomplished with off-the-shelf equipment or through the direct application of existing technology, two new technologies had to be developed. Those were an automatic blood-pressure measuring system for use in flight, and instruments to sense the partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the oxygen atmosphere of the cabin and space suits. Mercurys Astronauts The Mercury program leaders decided that the military services would provide the pilots for this new endeavor. After screening more than 500 service records of test and fighter pilots in early 1959, 110 men were found that met the minimum standards. By the middle of April Americas first seven astronauts were selected, and they became known as the Mercury 7. They were Scott Carpenter,  L. Gordon Cooper,  John H. Glenn Jr.,  Virgil I. Gus Grissom,  Walter H. Wally Schirra Jr.,  Alan B. Shepard Jr., and  Donald K. Deke Slayton The Mercury Missions The Mercury Project consisted of several unmanned test missions as well as a number of missions taking pilots into space. The first one to fly was Freedom  7, carrying Alan B. Shepard into a suborbital flight,on May 5, 1961. He was followed by Virgil Grissom, who piloted the Liberty Bell 7 into a suborbital flight on July 21, 1961. The next Mercury mission flew on February 20, 1962, carrying John Glenn into a three-orbit flight aboard Friendship 7.  Following Glenns historic flight, astronaut Scott Carpenter rode Aurora 7 into orbit on May 24, 1962, followed by Wally Schirra aboard Sigma 7 on October 3, 1962. Schirras mission lasted six orbits. The final Mercury mission took Gordon Cooper into a 22-orbit track around Earth aboard Faith 7 on May 15-16, 1963. At the end of the Mercury era, with its technology proven, NASA prepared to move forward with the Gemini missions. These were planned as preparation for the Apollo missions to the Moon. The astronauts and ground teams for the Mercury missions proved that people could fly safely to space and return, and laid the groundwork for much of the technology and mission practices followed by NASA to this day.   Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Title should be chosen by the writer in accordance to the essay

Title should be chosen by the writer in accordance to the instruction - Essay Example The argument behind the above move is that companies stand to benefit through the use of a single set of metrics in gauging human capital. Erica Karop, Head of Global Sector Research at UBS Investments Bank, one of the participants, explained that any client choosing between two banks is most likely to choose and factor the one that spends much more on training and rewarding its workforce, which translates to lower turnover of employees – a costly expense to most organizations (Green, 2012). The U. S. HR Policy Association (HRPA), a lobby group with a membership of more than 300 top HR managers in the U.S, noted that in the current business environment, information regarding how much a company spends on training, and the type of workforce the company hires would be much more important to rival companies than to potential investors (Green, 2012). Therefore, as the business environment rapidly evolves, companies have to be more creative and innovative in training, motivating, an d retaining their workforce to remain competitive in the global market. ... Organizations are rapidly changing their operations towards larger customer oriented units and relying on a rich set of integration mechanisms within these entities. This largely results in different forms of internal hybrids that enhance lateral sharing of individual and organization knowledge, aimed at achieving economies of scale and scope. Similarly, as Green (2012) elaborates, companies through the HR have to strategize on setting a single set of metrics to gauge all the manpower, in ensuring effective integration of these business units as businesses reshape into larger customer oriented units according to the global business environment. Weber’s bureaucracy theory presents the best scenario of the new organizational forms. Clegg et al. (2012) note that Weber’s bureaucracy theory requires that jurisdictional areas be well specified with activities that are well distributed as personal official duties, whereas the traditional approach requires activities to be dele gated by the leader and can be changed at any particular time. In addition, Weber noted that officials in the organization have to be chosen based on technical qualifications, appointed and not elected, and well compensated to motivate them to perform. To ensure low turnover of employees, as Green (2012) explains, Weber’s theory indicated that employment by an organization has to be a career where the worker is a fulltime employee and yearns to have a life long career where they get tenure of their respective positions and are insured against arbitrary dismissals (Clegg et al., 2012). In order to achieve these objectives, managers in different organizations embrace creative and innovative methods to recruit, train, and retain their workforce through different strategies that characterize

Chinese Students Enrolled in Hospitality and Tourism-Related Essay

Chinese Students Enrolled in Hospitality and Tourism-Related Programmes in the UK - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that there is a huge contribution of international students in the income and prestige of individual universities of U.K. and other Western countries. Despite the developments, there is little research done on the progress and achievements of international students. It has been observed that students mostly migrate from countries like China, India, and U.A.E etc. to Western countries like U.K. and U.S.A. in search of higher studies and better career objectives. Studying abroad is very challenging and exciting during college years. Students get the opportunity to learn different languages and experience the different type of cultures. Students can enhance their knowledge and clarify their career directions by studying abroad. The developing countries like China and India follow the traditional method of education, which does not emphasize on the student’s career perspective appropriately. The educational system in U.K. is distinct bec ause the universities not only emphasize on theoretical subjects, they also focus on practical implications of the theories, which helps students to enhance their future endeavors. In 2010, AGCAS received funding for several pilot projects that allowed better links with U.K. along with alumni’s and employers in order to build successful employment relationships with international students. Universities of the Western countries majorly focus on the career and entrepreneurial ambitions of students. It is essential for colleges to have a proper understanding of the existing job market and prepare students accordingly. With the help of abroad studies, students can gain international experiences and develop their career aspirations. This research interviews Chinese students, who are currently enrolled in hospitality and tourism-related programmes in the U.K. The essay discusses the future career planning of Chinese students at a higher education facility in the U.K. and the respon sibility of the institution towards the management of employability. Studying in a different country is an extremely rewarding and exciting experience. According to famous theorists Archer and Davidson, the value of international experience is not just limited to learning of foreign language; the value of the experience is mainly determined from the ability of a person to distinguish the personal issues and business between his own country and the foreign country.

Graduation Speech: Its Been Fun :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Hello students, faculty, members of the school board, Superintendent, and parents. When I was first told that I was going to be the speaker for graduation, I was overcome. I was overcome with pride and excitement, as I'm sure we all are today as we close this chapter on our lives, but most of all, I was overcome with a feeling. A feeling that I have fooled you all into electing a Canadian to speak on this very important occasion. (Canadian Accent) I bet about now, you are all finally realizing just what it is you've done, eh? But it's too late, eh? I can't be stopped.... (Drape Canadian flag over top of podium) The rich history of Canada is a very long and interesting one. One that begins in the early years of. ...(Trail off and give a moment of thought)" **remove flag" or better yet have someone do it for you.) Seriously though, after I got over my initial reaction, I realized that this was going to be a very difficult undertaking. So I did what any teen-age boy would do in a similar situation. I turn to my friends! I received two pieces of advice that not only helped me with the situation at hand, but I feel will be the predominant source of motivation for the next big step in my life and everything that follows thereafter. These two pieces of advice were. (Hold up palms with numbers inked on them) No. 1: Don't Screw up! No. 2: Be Funny! Obviously after these two gems of advice, I was prepared to write a stunning and powerful speech that will remain with every one of us till the day we die. Or at least until one of the real speakers come up here and says something meaningful. It's hard to believe that we'll all be leaving this place finally. It is even harder to believe that from now on, we're going to pretty much have to fend for ourselves. I think that whether we know it or not, we've gained a lot of the tools that we'll need to make it out there, right here at Welch. Personally, I've learned some of the most important messages of my life within these hallowed halls. I've learned that it's important to walk the road less traveled, because after a while, running down freshman in the packed hallways just loses some of its appeal.

Nordstrom Essay

The economic crisis that started in 2007 affected the business of upscale department stores countrywide. Upscale department stores understand that the items they sell are considered discretionary items, so when there is an economic downturn, they are one of the first industries to be hit. When looking over the Nordstrom Annual Reports from the last few years, there are two things evident: this company has a lasting strategy and they work hard to continuously evolve this strategy. Their strategy includes constantly evaluating risks in the market such as economic conditions, competitive market forces, availability of merchandise, and growth. With an incredible sense to stay ahead of the trends, minimize turnover time, and serve their customers with an uncanny ability, they have easily become one of the top department stores in the country. Nordstrom’s core strength revolves around their customer-first attitude, customer loyalty and their aptitude for merchandising. Going forward we want to be more than just customer focused. Instead, we’re working to become a truly customer-driven organization. †[1] One way Nordstrom is working to become more customer-driven is by building upon their multi-channel system. This multi-channel network, known as Nordstrom Direct, is made up of their online site, and catalog. Over the past three years, Nordstrom has made great strides to ensure that they are fulfilling the needs and desires of all customers. â€Å"We believe online and ecommerce represent our next big opportunities. Within two years more customers will access the Internet via their phone than their computers. We’re responding†[2] All of the effort put into the improvement of the system is showing clear results in the financials. The economic recession was felt all over the U. S. including Nordstrom, however they were able to experience an 8. 4% increase in Nordstrom Direct sales during the 2008 fiscal year. [3] Along with improving Nordstrom Direct, an immense amount of effort is being devoted to both the full-line stores and the Nordstrom Rack. Not only has the number of stores expanded over the last few years with a growth of sixteen new stores in 2009 and twenty in 2010, they are capitalizing on their merchandising. Nordstrom takes immense pride in their buyers and the work that these buyers have done over the last few years at the core of the company. They ensure that they are maximizing merchandise flexibility to maintain trends and to evolve with the customers and their ever-changing wants. Merchandise is now as current as it’s ever been, and there is a steady, fresh flow of fashion in and out of the store with a quick turnover system that has been set in place. Customer loyalty is one of the top ways Nordstrom keeps their customers coming back. The relationship with a Nordstrom employee and the customer is a two-way street. The company makes their priorities known and their customers are loyal to them because of it, responding in a very positive way to the services provided. Employees pride themselves on their relationships with customers and ability to provide them with an enjoyable shopping experience. Nordstrom was fortunate to maintain themselves as a company through the 2008 crisis, with a maximum decline of 12. % in sales and a quick rebound. By 2010 they had increased in-store sales by 8. 1% and set a record-breaking sales number at $9. 31 billion. The right strategy and actions performed in the right circumstances will produce growth, and this is what Nordstrom continues to experience with their customer service strategies. â€Å"We plan to keep a steady focus on our customers. We follow, first and foremost, a customer strategy at Nordstrom — not a price, brand, technology or any other corporate strategy. †