Victory and the Blight Essay Example for Free

Victory and the Blight Essay Victory and the blight, is written by Trinidadian author Earl Lovelace and is a simple tale about a man who lives in Rio Claro, a village in Trinidad. His story is about Victory, a barber, who takes pride and pleasure in his job. Victory, begins his day, by finding his friend Braun and a stranger at his barber shop, even before it has opened for the day. He thinks to himself that this stranger is going to be blight or a stain on his day. Victory is a man who doesn’t believe in taking the short way but believes that things must be done in a smooth process. He also believes in doing his job right, hence his choice of scissors and razor over the clippers. This is also clearly evident in the manner in which he prepares for a haircut and completes the job His barbering skills are a reflection of his attitude and approach to life. The pictures on the walls of Victory’s shop show his interest in sports and there are also pictures of Victory, the winner of long and high jump prizes. As the story continues readers come to know of Victory’s club, the Wanderers, a cricket team, and of the members who are soon to leave it. We also learn of his passion for the sport. As the bench on which Braun and the stranger, Ross, sit collapses he realizes that Ross like him is also a sportsman and also a man who knows what he wants. The story on one level describes a simple incident in a barber shop and Victory’s way of living life. It also speaks of how leaving your homeland changes things, ‘as if they were never there’.

T.S. Eliots The Waste Land and Morality :: Eliot Waste Land Morals Essays

T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Morality T.S. Eliot and Yulisa Amadu Maddy both address the topics of fear of death and then correlative love of life, but from entirely different points of view. T.S. Eliot wrote during a time when people were questioning relativity, especially moral relativity and it's effect on life after death. Maddy wrote about young boys who were going through that time in a teenager's life when they realize that they will die someday. Thus, teenagers begin to acknowledge death while embarking on their search for love and the meaning of life. During the time period that Eliot wrote "The Waste Land" people were questioning relativity. If time is relative then are not all things relative, including morals? People may have thought that they were living a moral life, but what was that moral life relative to? This lead me to the assumption that people were more fearful of life after death because the had no way to really know how they measured up morally to the standards of God. Eliot used these questions and fears in his poem, "The Waste Land." He displays the feelings of love for life as well as fear of death. Eliot writes of a "dead tree that can give no shelter," and a "dry stone no sound of water." Water symbolizes life and the dry stone implies the lack there of. The tree is dead and thus no shelter from the elements. Eliot continues, "There is shadow under this red rock,/ (Come in under the shadow of this red rock). Shadows imply darkness, death, and sinister dealings . Then Eliot writes, "And I will show you something different from either/ Your shadow at morning striding behind you/ Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;/ I will show you fear in a handful of dust." These are signs pointing to death. Eliot claims he will show you something different than the shadows you see in the morning and at night. The opposite of having a shadow would be not having a shadow, and if someone, other than Peter Pan, ceases to have a shadow then they obviously have ceased to have an earthly existence. The lack of water, a barren tree, the loss of shadows, and finally what I believe to be a Biblical allusion, "I will show you fear in a handful of dust." There is mention in the Bible about originating from ashes and dust and returning to ashes and dust as well.

Jeanne Lewis at Steples

Harvard Business School 9-400-065 Rev. July 24, 2000 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) op YO INC Six months from now, on February 1, 1998, Jeanne Lewis (HBS '92) would become the senior vice president of marketing at Staples, Inc. (Staples), a nationwide office supplies superstore. After 10 months working side by side with Todd Krasnow, the current executive vice president of marketing, Lewis was becoming familiar with the department. Her initial assessment led her to wonder if the department's operating style was suited to evolving competitive realities.As KrasnoWs heir apparent, Lewis anted to be involved in shaping the department's priorities for the upcoming year. The strategic planning process traditionally began around this time in August, and Lewis wondered if the time to start taking action had arrived. Thus far, 1997 had been a trying year for the company: the Federal Trade Commission had challenged Staples' proposed merger with Office Depot, and the two companies had recently abandoned 10 months of merger efforts.At that time, Chairman and CEO Tom Stemberg reaffirmed his commitment that Staples would grow from a $5 billion company to a $10 billion company by the turn of the century. Staples not only had to grow bigger, it also had to grow better, as analysts had become accustomed to the company's 14 consecutive quarters of earnings-per-share growth in excess of 30%. The theme of the upcoming year was twofold: strong growth and more effective execution. c Lewis believed that Stembergs pronouncement to look for the â€Å"silver lining† in the failed merger and to take to heart the lessons of the merger could serve as a call to action for the marketing department. Marketing, which served as both an architect and driver of the brand, would play a critical role in Staples' continued success. Lewis knew that Staples could survive only if it was prepared to get rid of outmoded ideas and replace them with new ones†a philosophy shared b y Krasnow. But Lewis also knew that it could be trigntening to give up the ideas that nad made the company successful.Furthermore, the marketing staff was understandably apprehensive about KrasnoWs planned departure, and many were already mourning his loss. Lewis explained: No While the merger distractions were going on, things that maybe should have been dealt with, weren't. Now, I wanted to make it clear that a new person was coming on oard in this area, and fgure out how we could get back to business. We needed to refocus on building our business, because it was as competitive as ever, and we had lost a couple of beats in a few marketing areas while busy with the merger.We were at a turning point in the marketing department, as opposed to being long past it. Because of the confluence of external events as well as our own internal complexity, if we didn't change, then I was concerned it would start to show eventually in sales. Research Associate Jennifer M. Suesse prepared this ca se under the supervision of Professor Linda A. Hill as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. It is an abridged version of an earlier case, â€Å"Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A),† HBS No. 499-041, prepared by Research Associate Kristin C.Doughty under the supervision of Professor Linda A. Hill. Some names have been disguised. Copyright 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means†electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise†without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 400-065 Lewis knew the marketing department's role in ensuring success was twofold: maintaining the delicate balance between meeting short-term financial objectives ith appropriate promotional tactics and building customer loyalty and retention witn an ettective marketing strategy; and investigating ways to leverage Staples' brand and broaden its franchise.She also had specific questions about some of the department's structures, systems, and staffing. She was eager to get started, but recognized the risks of doing too much, too fast: My style is that I want things to happen quickly. When I see things†either a new problem someone has never had to fgure out before, or where theyVe Just had a different sense of timing†I Jump in and say, â€Å"here's the way to do it,† and that makes hange happen quickly. But that could l imit my ability to work across and with the organization.I could end up spending too much time managing down and not enough time making broader, more expansive impact by managing across the organization as well. Staples' Background (1985-1991)1 In 1985, Tom Stemberg (HBS '73), known for his marketing sa'. n. y and innovations in the staid supermarket industry (as vice president of sales at Star Market, and president of First National Supermarket), pioneered the concept of the office supplies superstore. A â€Å"Toys ‘R' Us† of office supplies, â€Å"Staples, the Office Superstore† would provide completeness, convenience, informed assistance as well as attractive prices†¦ overing everything from coffee to computer software† for the small-business customer. 2 Initial customer research indicated that most small businesses did not track their total expenditures for office products closely, nor were they aware that they were paying on average 40% more for t hem than large corporations. To communicate the savings and increased convenience of its new way of procuring office supplies, Staples' management was prepared to invest heavily in marketing. Staples' message would emphasize discounts and convenience, leaving customers free from the hassles† of dealing with long lines, order forms, and multiple suppliers.For the pivotal role of director of marketing, Stemberg hired Todd Krasnow, a 28-year- old HBS graduate who had worked in marketing at Star Market with Stembergs new VP of operations. In the early days, Stembergs team of five (himself, Krasnow, CFO, VP of operations, VP of merchandising) each had their own primary spheres of responsibility, but they all worked very closely together, doing whatever it took to get the Job done. They began the mornings with a 7:00 0'clock meeting, reconvened for a orking lunch, and generally worked through the evening until 10:00 0'clock.

The Song Ten Minutes Ago, Is From Rodgers And Hammerstein...

The song â€Å"Ten Minutes Ago† is from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. A musical adaption of the classic fairytale by the same name, it became a musical sensation when Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein transformed it into a live musical television broadcast in 1957. Starring Julie Andrews, it retold the fairytale of a young girl living a miserable life under the roof of her evil stepmother and her three equally vicious stepsisters. With the Prince’s Ball nearing, the four women in her family were planning to go, leaving Cinderella at home on the night of the ball. When all hope seemed lost, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother appears, granting her wishes by transforming her from rags to riches, and giving her a pair of glass slippers. Cinderella was able to go to the ball unrecognized, under the condition to be home by midnight, when the spell wore off. At the ball, she meets the prince and there is immediately chemistry, but she rushes to leave before the clock strikes twelve, in fear of the prince seeing her for who she really was and being disgusted by her true self. As she escapes the castle, she loses one of her glass shoes on the steps of the castle. Leaving it behind, she makes it home without being seen by anyone, and resumes her life as a poor girl being abused by her family. The next day, the prince announces a search for Cinderella, not knowing her name or remembering her face. He went around town and asked women to try on the glass shoe, believing that he would