Just One Day by Gayle Forman Essay

Allyson Healey has lived her entire life in a neat little box mapped out by her parents. But during a European tour after high school graduation, she meets an actor named Willem. There’s instant attraction and Allyson is charmed. When Willem invites her to spend one day in Paris with him, she decides to be impulsive for once and agrees to accompany him instead of heading to London with her best friend. That day in Paris is magical and Allyson learns to take life as it comes, to pounce on the chances that come her way. But after a night of sex, she wakes up to find herself alone. Devastated, Allyson returns to London to meet up with her friend, and from there to the U.S. where she heads off to college in the fall. What follows is a year of self-discovery and picking up the pieces after Allyson’s first attempt at seizing the day results in disaster. Despite my best intentions to keep an open mind, I go into novels with expectations. If I Stay and Where She Went were so emotionally visceral and I suppose I expected more of that here. I didn’t really get it. Maybe it was the pacing. The summer stint in Europe took up more than a third of the novel. That doesn’t leave much room for self-discovery. In truth, what happens is that Allyson spends half of her freshman year in college in a deep depression. She attempts to return to the box outlined for her but finds she no longer fits because she’s discovered the world the exists beyond it. This dissonance affects all aspects of her life. Her once-perfect grades plummet. Her friendships stumble and fail. Of course, all that would have been fine within the context of a story if more weight had been given to the idea of self-discovery. Instead the shadow of Willem dominated everything. I just can’t get behind the portrayal of a one-night stand derailing someone’s life so badly. Yes, she was a teenager — an older one, true, but still a teenager. But even so, Allyson wasn’t a virgin. She’d had a boyfriend. Yes, she thought she’d fallen in love. But because of her age, I wasn’t convinced. This is my age speaking but we know this story. One-night stands where the girl thinks she has a deep connection with the guy but the guy acts like he barely even knows her the next morning? Such a common tale. I realize knowing it happens is different from having it actually happen to you but the entire thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Part of my feelings can be chalked up to the knowledge that Just One Day is the first half of a duology. The follow-up will be told from Willem’s point of view. I can already guess how it’ll go. He didn’t actually leave her alone the next morning. He had a reason! He’s not an asshole. If Allyson had only waited and had faith in their love, there’d been no reason for that year of moping. It was all just a misunderstanding. But if that’s the case, I would have liked for Allyson’s half of the tale to focus more on self-discovery and globe-trotting, the latter of which takes up less than 100 pages of the novel. In many ways, I think Just One Day is attempting to replicate the magic of If I Stay and Where She Went. If that’s the case, it fails. It didn’t have the same romantic and emotional impact. The themes of self-actualization and discovery despite — or in spite of — life-changing love don’t ring as strongly. If there’d been more focus on Allyson learning to enjoy life for herself and on her own terms instead of her life being affected by Willem on many levels, maybe I would have enjoyed it more. That, I feel, is the spark missing from this story. Theoretically, I like the idea of chance meetings altering the shape of your life. But what I dislike is that chance meeting becoming the source of all your sadness, joy, and motivation.

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 36

Journal - Essay Example It is for this reason that the international community bypassed the government and channeled their aid funds through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). From the time Haiti got independence, it has failed to construct proper buildings and have efficient infrastructure and public service in place. Decade after decade, the authorities in Haiti do not have much to show in terms of developmental goals achieved, despite receiving aid from several donors as well as grants (Brooks 1). From this, I believe the government might have no development plan in the first place or, its excessively corrupt officials are drowning any national, people-oriented agendas. It follows that a government that has no development plan or is full of corrupt officials cannot have a practical means of using aid to bring down poverty. It is argued that the aid received is not sufficient. However, that hardly seems the truth, because the highest number of NGOs per capita in the world is found in Haiti. I think Hai ti needs to do away with its anti-developmental cultural influences because, like Barbados, the both come from oppressive histories of slavery, but Barbados is not facing poverty problems to the extent witnessed in Haiti. Haiti is languishing in abject poverty because of the lack of a growth policy. It is true that much of the pledged money in terms of aid after the 2010 earthquake was not received, but the government did not portray the image and capabilities of an able custodian of the people’s aid. It is true that the government is by all means accountable to its people, albeit through democratically elected representatives, but NGOs are not. Yet, aid was channeled through the NGOs. In this sense, the government is doing itself more harm by allowing the international community to belittle it in full awareness of its subjects (Brooks 1). This all goes back to lack

Isabella Linton, strong or weak character of the novel Wuthering Essay

Isabella Linton, strong or weak character of the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - Essay Example Her initial character weaknesses are naivety and childishness. These are manifest, later on, in her impetuous decision to marry. Of course, given her relatively tender age, eighteen at the time, these character traits are not as weak as they would be in an adult with more experience. Her experience, it must also be noted, does not extend much, if at all, beyond Thrushcross Grange. It must also be conceded that Ellen presents some positive attributes. Isabella, for instance, is naà ¯ve and a bit foolish, but she is not stupid. Quite the contrary, she has a clever wit and deep feelings. In short, Isabella is neither weak nor strong in the very beginning; however, her weaker traits, such as an infantile-like impetuousness, are dominant. These traits foreshadow a mistake in judgment. Indeed, with her marriage to Heathcliffe, this is precisely what happens. Later, when Isabella becomes infatuated with Heathcliffe, her foolishness becomes her dominant character trait to the exclusion of all other traits. Catherine teases and warns her about wanting to be with Heathcliffe. Isabella responds by stating that, â€Å"I wont be always sent off!†, and that â€Å"You are a dog in the manger, Cathy, and desire no one to be loved but yourself!† (Wuthering Heights). The facts are irrelevant for Isabella. She is jealous and desirous. Here, Isabella’s impetuous character speeds her demise and exacerbates her powerlessness. She concludes one particular rant by stating that, All, all is against me: she has blighted my single consolation. But she uttered falsehoods, didnt she? Mr. Heathcliffe is not a fiend: he has an honorable soul, and a true one, or how could he remember her?† (Wuthering Heights). It is true that Catherine is not disinterested in Heathcliffe; however, her advice and her warnings are sound and reliable. Isabella refuses to listen because she succumbs to the

Digital weaving Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Digital weaving - Research Paper Example cess to information and the speed in which information today spreads to the rest of the world t has further enhanced the growth and development use of digital weaving. The computerized jacquard looms as well as the thread controller no. 2 (TC2) have been in use by different designers in creating weave pieces. Lia Cook and Catherine Amidei happen to be among the few fiber designers to show case their extra-ordinary art pieces to the world and reveal the role the computers play in the world of art today. Lia Cook is amongst the greatest fiber artists of the world and widely known for her remarkable contributions to the fiber art of the world. Having been a Professor of Art in one of the United States colleges in California-California College of Arts since 1976, she has gained a lot experience and useful in the fiber art production. The beauty of her work and her true talent has touched the hearts of many. Cook uses the digital Jacquard loom to create complex; very detailed and large-scale pieces of work of photos she had previously taken or old photos from her childhood (Weiss 10). In this regard, Cook weaves an image by use of the digital jacquard loom and makes it a monumental work that distinct itself from painting, weaving, photography or even the computer technology (Weiss 10-13). When one views Cook’s work from a distance, the images that is in black and white colors is clear and one can possibly identify the image and give a face to it since it looks like a real photog raph but when one is close enough to the image; ‘nose-to-nose’, the clarity of the image disappears and one notices that it is just a weaving and not the real photograph. Recently, Cook did integrate the use of ‘fiber tracks’ in her current fiber work. This is integration of neuroscience in art. It has been branded the art-neuroscience collaboration. Over the past few years, Cook has worked closely with a number of scientists to develop a brain-scanning machine that would reveal the

Public Relations Situation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Relations Situation - Assignment Example They could also sound offensive depending on choice of words used in relation to the culture of the target audience. It should be noted that cultural diversity encompasses differences in language, religion, beliefs, social aspects, race and ethnicity as noted by Chia and Synnott (2009). Some of these factors are easy to change and some are not. This means that the public relations professionals should be able to adjust to the cultural aspects of the various audiences of an organisation. Grunig and Toth (2006) explain that they should be able to demonstrate an awareness, understanding and sensitivity to their cultures and interactions between the various cultures. It should also be noted that the audience in public relations are more fluid and this requires adequate response to this. This can only be achieved if there is sufficient flexibility among public relations to adapt to a changing world. Effective public relations professionals or departments are those that have recognised and acknowledged the important fact that discrimination is unhealthy for business. They should also have recognised the importance of taking advantage of a multi-cultural communities and how fast this opportunity is growing. Hain (2008) points out that if public relations professionals or departments were to realise this, they would be able to enable their firms or clients to exploit the cultural diversity in their society or target region. As noted in the introduction, situation analysis is where an organisation evaluates the main communication issues it faces. An awareness in cultural diversity increases the competency of public relations practitioners to note these issues and advice organizations on how to respond... The paper makes a conclusion that each organisation has its own expectations, values and beliefs that shape its public relations. Cultural awareness among public relations practitioners is therefore important in ensuring that the messages they give about the organisation responds to cultural diversity while maintaining consistency with the beliefs, values and expectations of the organisation. For example if organization believes in and values a diverse workforce, then the organisation’s public relations department will have more authority to include practitioners from varied backgrounds and standpoints. The paper approves that multicultural awareness increases the professional relevance of public relations practitioners. It also markets them due to increasing demand by many companies to appeal to the local and global multicultural communities. The paper describes the main thing behind variations in culture is differences in perspectives leading to differences in preferences. This makes cultural awareness a critical competency among public relations practitioners and the public relations department personnel. The awareness of cultural diversity increases the professional relevance of public relations practitioners because of the increasing diversity both in the local and international communities. In order to gain a competitive advantage and increase their market shares, public relations firms takes advantage of the growing cultural diversity and targets or hires people of immigrant origin.

Developing Good Business Sense Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Developing Good Business Sense - Essay Example McDonalds is one of those organizations that are known for continuous development in their systems. Employees at McDonalds are not only involved in manufacturing of food and different aspects of operations management, they are also well-supported by automated system, hi-tech equipments and effective supply chain management system (McDonalds-UK, 2013). A critical analysis of McDonalds’ operations helped in understanding that minimum wastage, customer-oriented approach and environmental considerations are main features that govern the performance of its employees. Hence, effective cold chain, customer services and just-in time delivery by the supplier are the main features of McDonald’s operations that also govern the task performance of its employees. Like McDonalds, KFC is also supported with highly skilled labor and automation in its system. However, there is limited attention paid to materials management in terms of supplier’s selection and waste management. Wh ere McDonalds has strategic alliances to limited suppliers, KFC has a rather extensive pool of suppliers. Yearly assessment of suppliers helps in selection for the next year. Unlike KFC and McDonalds, Amazon chose to identify the top selling items and have a readily available stock of such items. It is important to note that more than warehouse management; Amazon relies on its alliances with suppliers in different regions of the world and courier services. Therefore, employees working with Amazon are more supported with IT-based interventions than the actual manufacturing processes. McDonalds and KFC use flexible operating system when it comes to operations and materials management. They have computer-aided manufacturing programs with human intervention in a supervisory role than direct involvement in production. However, as far as delivery of ready-to-cook items and real-time cooking is concerned, it is performed through their employees. Such practice helps in ensuring that a suita ble quantity of finish product is available to meet the demands of consumers without incurring actual wastages. On the other hand, Amazon focuses on small-batch production when it comes to selection of operations and materials management. The storing capacity of Amazon is rather limited and it focuses on having strategic alliances in different regions for catering customers all around the world instead of having physical facilities across the globe. Only limited items are stored based on their past selling patterns and consumers’ demands. As far as their operations and materials management costs are concerned, McDonalds and KFC incur costs in terms of raw materials purchase, plant management and basic manufacturing, labor, inventory management and distribution (Jones, 2007). All these components are inevitable to incur as these fast food chains cannot outsource manufacturing processes. On the other hand, Amazon incurs costs because of products’ purchase, warehousing an d distribution along with human resource management. Since it does not perform direct manufacturing i.e. publishing, CD burning etc, itself, therefore it purchases ready products from publishers and vendors in different regions and deliver them to customers accordingly. Main source of costs is expected to be warehousing and d

Write a report on the article we google you Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Write a report on the we google you - Article Example The young aspiring professional that is covered in the article is named Mimi Brewster. Mimi had great credentials such as a bachelor degree in Modern Chinese culture, an MBA from the University of Stanford, managerial experience in the apparel industry, and trilingual language skills which included English, Mandarin, and another Chinese dialect. The company interviewing Mimi had a position open in Shanghai China. The interviewer liked Mimi’s personality, skills, abilities, and her professional credentials. Fred, the interviewer, thought that talent like Mimi was hard to come by. He wanted to hire her after the first interview. Virginia Flanders, HR manager, continued with the employee selection process. One of her background checks included looking at the first eleven pages of Google after placing the name of the candidate. Virginia found a couple of articles about Mimi. During her college years she had been involved in protest against the WTO and against the Chinese government. These revelations worried the HR manager so much that she discarded Mimi as a legitimate candidate. Virginia advised Fred not to confront Mimi about the matter to protect the company against discrimination because due to abuse of privacy laws. At the end of the article the company was leaning towards not hiring Mimi. The article concluded with the evaluation of the scenario by four professionals working at important positions in different organizations. They would express their expert opinion on whether the company should hire Mimi or discard her as a candidate. The first opinion came from John Palfree, a law professor. He believes the company should hire Mimi. If the firm does not hire her due to the Google search they would be discriminating. He also believes that discarding candidates because of internet content is counterproductive. The action eliminates a lot of