Night of Scorpion Essay Example for Free

Night of Scorpion Essay Night of the scorpion written by Nissim Ezkiel is an interesting poem and the poet brings about a very appealing contrast between good and evil in it; altogether giving the poem an essence of equality. The poet makes it a trouble-free task for the readers to visualize the scenes with the appropriate use of various imageries. He has also done a marvelous work of adding various different senses into the poem. All the senses, visual, smell, internal feelings and sound have been included. In this poem we can see the scenes vividly with the help of lines like,† †¦to crawl beneath a sack of rice,† and,† Peasants came like swarm of flies. Nissim Ezekiel is able to keep are mind alive and engaged the entire duration of the poem with the help of lines like,† Peasants came like swarm of flies. † When we read this line, we know that it is a simile and it help us to see how the peasants came along. But when think deeper we realize that it also shows us that the narrator does not admire the kind of care that the villagers are showing, he just wants them to leave him and his family alone. The reason the villagers are compared to flies is to show exactly how exasperating they are and that they are not welcome, just like flies. The poet has made this poem complex, which is always a good thing. This can be proved because to describe the scorpion he uses words like â€Å"diabolical† and â€Å"The Evil One† which show it as a demonic creature. On the other hand he also used lines like,â€Å" driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice† and â€Å"†¦ risked the rain again,† which brings about a contradiction as this line shows that the scorpion is not at all the villain, it is simply scared. Among the many figures of speech used in this poem onomatopoeia is one of them. He has used this figure of speech efficiently, enabling us to hear the constant noises that were made. The poet write that the villagers â€Å"buzzed the name of god† which again stresses on the point that the noise and commotion being made by the villagers was not at all welcome. The poet further draws the interest of the reader by using a figure of speech to convey this message and not doing it directly. He has also written â€Å"They clicked their tongues,† which is another instance of onomatopoeia. The element of smell is brought about because the poet has introduced candles and burning oil in lanterns in his poem as well. Nissim Ezekiel has made the mother’s experience of getting bitten by the scorpion sound excruciating and eternal. He has conveyed this by using some very descriptive writing, example, â€Å"May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit of ambition,† Nissim Ezekiel successfully built the tense atmosphere by using just a short sentence,â€Å" My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing,† There is also an instance in which the poet uses alliteration,â€Å" I watched the flame feeding on my mother. This line has also been able to build up the complex nature of the poem because of its dual meaning. We can simply say that the ‘flame’ refers to flame of the paraffin or we can also say that ‘flame’ refers to the scorpion’s poison. The poem ends sanguinely, with the mother surviving and being thankful to god for making her suffer and not her children. After all the tense moments of pain, suffering, torture and fear, the poem has a very touching and warm ending which proves the mother’s love for her children.

Themes of the Odyssey :: essays research papers

Throughout the Odyssey there are many themes that Homer uses to portray different people and events. To name a few, there are the themes of Betrayal and Revenge,Greed and Glutony, Hospitality, Role of the Gods and Wealth (the amount of money one had determined the status he held in the greek society, and this explains Odysseus's love for plunder). To start with the most common one, the role of the gods, one can see many such allusions thrown all over the odyssey. The epic poem starts in Mt.Olympus where the gods are discussing what will happen to Odysseus , Master mariner and warrior of Ithaka. As it so happens he is on the island of Kalypso, one of the lesser gods. Also, as Odysseus travels, one learns about the role of the gods in not only his travels but other peoples ones too. Agisthos, the man who stole Agamemnon's wife and killed him, was sent a message from Zeus by Hermes, giving him the information of what will happen if he kills him. Also, Menelaus, the red haired king of war, had to wrestle with a sea-god in order to gain acceptance and sail all the way back to his homeland of Sparta, and find news about the rest of his companions. He would not find out about his brothers demise until he got home. The next two themes are interelated, Betrayal and Revenge, with Greed and Glutony.THe gods punish those who show greed and glutony, but that does not mean that they cannot be punished as well. A prime example of this is when Posiedon is out feasting among the 'sun-burnt' races that were deemed to be his own. While he was feasting, Odysseus escaped the island of Kalypso, something that Poseidon did not like and was to late to stop from happening. While he was being gluttanos and eating all that food, Odysseus had escaped. Another example would be the murder of Agamemnon. Agisthos was greedy and wanted money and status, as well as Agamemnon's wife and Agamemnon's wife betrayed Agamemnon when she went off with him and even more so when they both killed him. However, the theme of Betrayal is often closely followed by the theme of Revenge. Agamemnon's son, Orestes, would go back and avenge his father's death, killing Agisthos and his mother even though later on in greek mythology he knew he would be punished for killing her.

Compagnie du Froid Analysis Essay

Memorandum Campagnie Du Froid is a summer ice-cream business founded in 1985 by the father of Jacques Truman. In 2007, after the passing of his father, Jacques Truman took over the business and emphasized an aggressive growth strategy. By 2009, Campagnie Du Froid was a market leader in the eastern part of France, northeastern coast of Spain, and northern Italy. Each region had its own manager and the main headquarters was located in Paris. Jacques believed decentralizing the decision making as much as possible. Each region had its own manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sales organization. The central office took care of accounting, developing of new products, and sharing of learning experiences across the regions. Each year Jacques met with the regional managers to discuss a profit plan for each region. The profit plans laid out regional goals for the upcoming year and were used as a tool to monitor performance. During the summer months, a profit statement every two weeks was generated and sent to Jacques in order to detect any major problems. The France region is run by Jean Pinoux and had performed exceptionally well in 2009 with profits above budget and sales increasing by 20% from the previous year. Jean had stumbled across a new source of revenue in which he helped deliver packaged food for regional producers using the company’s refrigerated trucks. The incremental cost to provide the service was very low and was seen by Jean as a simple way to increase revenue. Jacques was surprised by Jean’s new initiative, but acknowledged the profit potential in the distribution business. Pierre Giraux is the manager of the Italian region. The 2009 sales goals were met and Pierre had expanded business into most of the western Italian coast, but suffered from higher wages and lower efficiency than expected, which hindered performance of the region. Andres Molas is the manager of the Spanish region and his performance had been outstanding up until 2009. There had been many problems that sprung up in 2009 causing the performance of the Spanish region to decline. The first  problem was the new machines weren’t working correctly until late August which caused them to run out of capacity several times. The Spanish division had to import product from the French division at a transfer price of full cost plus 5% profit for the manufacturer. On top of that, the Spanish division had to absorb expenses of people traveling to France to fit the Spanish packaging to the French production line. Lastly, there were unseasonably cold temperatures that had driven down tourism and demand. As a result, Andres had to cut prices in order to stimulate demand and keep with competition. Traditionally, each manager was given the same bonus of 2% of corporate profits, but the results in 2009 challenged the fairness of this evaluation system. The Spanish region performed extremely poor and had driven down company’s profits to the lowest it’s been in ten years. Jacques thought it was unfair for the French and Italian managers to pay for the problems of the Spanish region but wasn’t sure Andres Molas was to blame for the poor results. Jacques Truman needs to make many decisions regarding the evaluation and performance of each region. In order to properly evaluate the difference between the expected profit versus the actual profit in the Italian region, a causal analysis was conducted on the Italian region. The causal analysis in Exhibit 1 allowed us to better understand the Italian business. First, we evaluated the impact of the change in sales volume. The sales volume variance (Flexible budget in Euros – Static Budget in Euros) produced a sales variance of â‚ ¬119 for Ice Cream sales and â‚ ¬34 for Specialty sales; this represented a profit variance of â‚ ¬58. While the sales volume variance is important, it is also important to understand the amount of sales growth that is attributed to the temperature change versus actual performance of the business. There was â‚ ¬19 worth of growth strictly from the change in temperature between both ice cream sales and specialty sales. The profit side of the causal analysis resulted in a â‚ ¬8 variance attributed to the temperature change and a â‚ ¬5 0 variance related to performance which resulted in a total volume for profit increase of â‚ ¬58. The change in prices also had an impact on the Italian region’s expected and actual profit because the â‚ ¬7 total sales variance  represented an increase of â‚ ¬7 profit for the actual profit. The â‚ ¬7 variance was calculated by the favorable â‚ ¬20 variance for ice cream sales and an unfavorable variance of â‚ ¬13 for specialty sales (â‚ ¬20-â‚ ¬13=â‚ ¬7). This proves that the Italian region can charge slightly more for their ice cream sales given the increase in demand, while the increase in demand of the specialty product could be more attributed to the decrease in price. Overall, the change in pricing came out to make a positive impact on the Italian region’s profit. The cost of raw materials impacted the actual profit through the price variance and the quantity variance of the direct materials. Using the level 3 analysis, it was determined that the price variance was favorable â‚ ¬46 and the quantity variance was unfavorable â‚ ¬17 which represented a flexible budget variance of favorable â‚ ¬29. This impacts the profit because the Italian region was very efficient with their costs of direct materials, but the Italian region came up short in their manufacturing efficiencies as they experienced an unfavorable quantity variance of â‚ ¬17. An overall favorable flexible budget variance of â‚ ¬29 represents a positive impact on the profit for direct materials. The cost of labor impacted the actual profit through the rate variance and the efficiency variance of the direct labor. Using the level 3 analysis, it was calculated that there was an unfavorable rate variance of â‚ ¬2 and an unfavorable efficiency variance of â‚ ¬11. This impacts the profit because the Italian region paid more for their labor than expected, which turned into an unfavorable variance of â‚ ¬2; this variance is related to the changes in the prices of labor. Also, the Italian region was not as efficient with their labor forces which showed in the unfavorable efficiency variance of â‚ ¬11; this is related to the labor efficiency of the workforce. Overall, the impact of the direct labor was negative to the profit as the Italian region was both inefficient and paid more per labor hour than estimated. The fixed costs impacted the actual profit by having an unfavorable variance of â‚ ¬20. This shows that the Italian region was slightly less cost conscious with some of their fixed costs and this negatively impacted the profit. After considering all of the different components of the profit of the Italian region through a causal analysis, the Italian region experienced a favorable variance of â‚ ¬58 on their overall profit. The manager of the Italian region should be evaluated relative to multiple criteria to gain a holistic view of his region’s performance. In order to compare the three regions together, causal analyses were performed for each region, see Exhibits 1-3. The first crucial measure should be sales growth, and this goes for all regions, not just the Italian region. Sales growth year-over-year is crucial to any business because businesses become more expensive to run as time goes on due to inflation. It is best to look at sales quantities relative to changes in price because if you were to just look at changes in quantity sold, the manager could steeply decrease the price just to make his or her performance look stronger. The next crucial measure should be price and quantity variance. Price variance shows how strong of a negotiator a manager is with suppliers, which can result in huge cost savings. Quantity variance shows how efficient workers are in producing products. A favorable qu antity variance evidences workers are not creating much scrap, and therefore are saving money. Another key indicator of manager performance is labor efficiency variance because it shows how productive workers are when producing product. A strong labor efficiency variance shows that the manager is staying on top of workers and demanding consistently strong performance from them. We do not believe that much weight should be put on labor rate variance because the manager often has little control due to unionization and government regulations within the area of operation. The above measurements of effectiveness of the Italian region and more specifically, the Italian manager can be found in Exhibit 1 which breaks down the relevant variances in determining the appropriate evaluation of the Italian manager. The more specific-scope variances mentioned are shown in Exhibit 6. All of the above tie into the bigger picture variances, which are the flexible-budget variance and the sales-volumes variance, which are shown in Exhibit 5 for Italy in 2009. These then roll into the static-budge t, which determines if a manager met the profit plan for the region, which is shown in Exhibit 4 for Italy in 2009. This gives a rather vague view, and can sometimes distort how a manager truly performed unless the variances that roll into it are investigated further. Both the manager of the French region and Spanish region should be judged on  similar criteria as the Italian region manager besides a few small nuances that France and Spain have in their operations. All of the measurements mentioned above in analyzing the Italian region manager’s performance should be used for France and Spain, as these measurements provide the same value no matter the region. A causal analysis for both France and Spain were conducted and can be found in Exhibits 2 and 3, respectively. For France, the more specific scope variances, flexible-budget and sales-volume variances, and the static-budget variance are shown in Exhibits 9, 8 and 7, respectively. For Spain, the more specific scope variances, flexible-budget and sales-volume variances, and the static-budget variance are shown in Exhibits 12, 11 and 10, respectively. France’s revenue from distribution should be taken out of all variance analyses it is considered in because the other regions do n ot have this service in place, and it would distort the view of relative performance. Also, France’s revenue should not include the 5% markup for transferring product to Spain because this is an intercompany sale and is not based on France’s customer demand but instead is based on Spain’s. We believe it is therefore necessary to remove the 5% markup from the purchase price for Spain because this will cause a heavily unfavorable price variance for direct materials. We feel that it is best to instead take this as a qualitative judgment in the manager’s performance in the sense that sales are outpacing inventory. It can also be noted that competitors have generally shown to steeply decrease market prices when demand weakens, but we feel this is best to account for qualitatively instead of through what seems to be an arbitrary measure of change in sales relative to temperature. It should be the regional manager’s job to address the decrease in the demand instead of have it be excused due to temperature change. In evaluating performance, it can be noted that the conditions did not allow for demand as strong as in other regions, but should not allow for a manager’s performance to be comparable to a region with widely stronger sales. Please note the standards used for Compagnie du Froid are listed in Exhibit 13. Based on our analysis of each of the regions’ performance for the year of 2009 and other important information, we believe that Italy’s regional manager did the best job. First and foremost, the region exceeded profit  expectations are set forth in the profit plan, as shown in Exhibit 6. Italy also earned favorable variances relative to both the flexible-budget variance and the sales-volume variance. The more specific-scope variances were strong as well with the only major weakness being in the quantity variance for ice-cream, but the strength of the other variances outweighs this one significant weakness that can easily be improved through training or overall experience. The direct labor efficiency variance is the only relatively weak variance, however Mr. Trumen noted that new machines were causing labor efficiency issues. It was mentioned that this was included in the profit plan already, however it can be expected that this variance will fluctuate until the equipment begins running normally. Revenue growth also exceeded expectations, which as mentioned earlier, is key to growing any business and maintaining positive cash flows. There are three main problems that Jacques Truman appears to be facing. The first problem involves whether or not to change how much each manager receives as a bonus. Each manager’s bonus is currently calculated at a fixed 2% of corporate profits but after the poor performance of the Spanish division during 2009 has Jacques considering new ways to evaluate each manger’s bonus. Jacques is considering whether to link each manager’s bonus to a performance measure such as a profit plan, revenue growth, or some overall economic measure of results. A second problem is how to calculate transfer pricing from one division to another. The Spanish division was charged full cost plus a 5% profit margin from the French division. Andres Molas believed this was way too much for a transfer price and in turn made his division look bad. Jacques needs to decide for current and future purposes on how to handle transfer pricing in case of a similar event happening again. The third problem involves whether or not to allow Jean Pinoux of the French division to continue providing the distributing services to regional food producers. Jean claims the distributing services add extra revenue with very little incremental cost. Jacques needs to decide whether Jean’s claims of the distributing services are true. After careful analysis of all three problems, we’ve developed some recommendations for Jacques Truman to consider. Our first recommendation involves implementing a new way to calculate the performance bonuses managers receive at the end of  each year. We don’t believe that every manager should simply receive 2% of corporate profits. Each manager’s performances can be measured by a variety growth metrics and budget variances while also taking qualitative factors into consideration. The growth metrics that should be considered are things like sales growth year-to-year and sales quantities relative to changes in price. Varian ces that should be considered are: price variance, quantity variance, and labor efficiency variance. Qualitative factors such as unseasonal temperature changes and intercompany transfer of product should also be taken into consideration. For reasons discussed earlier, we believe considering these metrics will give the most accurate view of each manager’s performance. Using these benchmarks will allow Campagnie Du Froid to calculate a more appropriate performance bonus for each manager. The second recommendation involves how transfer prices should be calculated between divisions. Assuming there are no capacity constraints at the French division because of the two new machines it just bought, transfer pricing should be set at the variable cost per litre of â‚ ¬2.76. When the French division has excess capacity, there is no opportunity cost to be lost and it should be indifferent for them to make these extra units for the Spanish division. Fixed costs don’t need to be added to the transfer price because they will be incurred regardless and the 5% profit margin is unnec essary because all profits eventually go to corporate. This will cut transfer costs for the Spanish division by â‚ ¬0.77per litre and â‚ ¬459,000 total. This type of transfer pricing will be beneficial to the buying division in the future and allow it to spend less when it runs into these types problems. The third recommendation involves the new distribution arrangements that Jean Pinoux wants to engage in the French division. In 2009, revenues from distribution were â‚ ¬79,000. The incremental costs for delivery expenses were â‚ ¬47,000 and â‚ ¬3,000 for depreciation of the trucks. The revenues from distribution outweigh the incremental costs by â‚ ¬29,000; therefore we recommend the French division continues with the new distribution arrangements. We believe these recommendations will help Campagnie Du Froid become a more efficient and profitable company.

Ray Bradbury s Fahrenheit 451 - 2022 Words

Symbolism in the Novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury A symbol is defined as something that expresses or represents a certain quality or a topic through many different things such as letters, characters, actions, or objects. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the literary device of symbolism is present through things such as objects, characters, and animals. The objects that represent symbolism are the parlor walls, the books, and the mirrors. The characters that represent symbolism are Montag, Mildred, and Clarisse, and the animals that represent symbolism is the Mechanical Hound, the Snake, and the Salamander. Furthermore, the first way to see this is through the books, mirrors, and the parlor walls in the novel Fahrenheit 451 that symbolize different things. There are three main concepts in Fahrenheit 451 that show symbolism, with the first being the objects. The objects that show symbolism within the novel are the parlor walls, the books, and the mirrors. The parlor walls symbolize how technology has taken over real family, and how they are the new family, or the technological family. This is shown through a conversation between Montag and Mildred, â€Å"’ Will you turn off parlor off?’ he asked. ‘That’s my family.’† (Bradbury 46) The parlor walls in the novel Fahrenheit 451 are the main source of entertainment and whoever is watching it can interact with the characters on the parlor walls, which consumes a great deal of time in the society thatShow MoreRelatedRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4511721 Words   |  7 Pagesliterature slowly disappear from the minds of the population? This is the question that Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, attempts to answer. In this book, he describes a hypothetical world in which the population not only avoids reading, but has made owning books an unthinkable crime, with all books discovered burned, along with the houses of those who hoarded them. In this dystopian future created by Bradbury, the beauty th at is literature has been replaced in society by television programs andRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4511358 Words   |  6 Pagesnotice them, books were outlawed, knowledge was forbidden, and memories were hard to come by? In the 1950 novel Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury presents a society which invokes much thought about the way we live in society today. It’s a story about a lifestyle in the future that has evolved from our present, but in seemingly different worlds. Through the protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury makes a wider point about the dangers that a society can present. The government of this future forbids itsRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4511360 Words   |  6 Pages Ray Bradbury and his Fahrenheit 451 Future Technology has had many great contributions, but is it destroying America as author Ray Bradbury foreseen back in the 1950’s. The intent of this paper is to explain how Fahrenheit 451, which was written over 65 years ago, has begun to come true in some aspects of American society today. The intended audience for this paper is fellow students who have not read this novel, and the professor. Ray Bradbury’s role in Fahrenheit 451 is to help readers understandRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4511120 Words   |  5 Pagesindividuality suppression, and the ever-growing gap between upper and lower class. The United States is heading down the path of becoming a dystopian society. Citizens in the United States have the same general behavior as those in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451. This novel features a world where cars are fast, music is loud, and watching television is the main way to spend free time. People rarely make time for each other, rarely imagine and form their own opinions, and rarely take the timeRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4512532 Words   |  11 PagesRay Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a magnificent masterpiece written to aid in visualizing what a distant future dystopian society would look like; one in which everyone lives in the fast lane, technology is at its crowning, void of human relations and instant satisfactions, as well as gratifications, are constantly being pursued. The novel was written during the era where communism and the holocaust began to sprout. Mr. Bradbury, being a patriot of his country, feared that society was leaning towardRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 451976 Words   |  4 PagesGuy Mont age from Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 would be similar to life without a choice. Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates how excessive use of technology affects a person’s relationship. Montage is the protagonist of the novel who is a fireman. Montage lives in a world where his job is to burn books, and initiate a fire. The government is trying to outlaw the use of books in the city. Bradbury portrays this new world through the character of Montage. Bradbury describes Montage’sRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4512451 Words   |  10 PagesRay Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a prime example of social criticism. The story sets in the 24th century where people race jet cars; the author’s idea of the future. It shows a flawed social structure, controlled by the media and government with banning and burning of books, and suppressing society’s minds from history. Their logical thought was that it would keep society from thinki ng too much, which in turn would prevent bad thoughts, and to keep them â€Å"happy all the time†. The book tells a storyRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4511410 Words   |  6 PagesRay Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953 by Ballantine Books, rose to fame quickly and surely as a grandfather of the dystopian genre. A year after its release, Greg Conklin of Galaxy Science Fiction named the novel, â€Å"among the great works of the imagination written in English in the last decade or more† (Conklin). The Chicago Sunday Tribune s August Derleth called it a shockingly savage prophetic view of one possible future way of life, while honoring Bradbury in sight of his brilliantRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4512323 Words   |  10 Pagesnot accepted, or even worse, a detached society where emotions no longer exist. By reading the first few pages of Fahrenheit 451, readers immediately get the feeling of a dystopian society. Firemen creating fires, instea d of extinguishing them, and technology that has taken their society to a whole new level of entertainment. These are exaggerated ideas right off the bat, yet Ray Bradbury carries the readers through the story in order to show them his own outlook on the future- in fact, all dystopianRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4512071 Words   |  9 Pageslives? In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury depicts a society that is immersed in technology, which becomes an obsession for most of its people. Bradbury also describes the negative effects that come with this technology, especially losing essential human traits like communication and common sense. Finally, Bradbury sends the message that technology is so powerful that it not only controls certain people, but an entire society as well. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury describes the dangers