Oscar Wilde s The Picture Of Dorian Gray - 1644 Words

Looking back on Oscar Wilde s life, there are many realizations that he struggled finding something that suited him best with his type of work. A man of the 19th century, who is best known for his only novella The Picture of Dorian Gray and his play The Importance of Being Earnest as well as his infamous arrest, imprisonment and being a gay author leading to his downfall. Oscar Wilde who was known as a playwright, author, sometime poet, and also a not very motivated school student, still came to success. He was very talented, intelligent and aesthetically interested and looked at others works as influential. Using this influence he started to write his own works and became a successful and well known author. Born on October 16, 1854,†¦show more content†¦At that school he never showed any academic excellence until his last year. In October of 1871 he received an acceptance and scholarship to Trinity College, in which his years there, he won many prizes. He received offers fr om Magdalen College, Oxford, which was insisted by his tutor that he should attend. Many students that encountered Wilde, described him as a brilliant talker. Wilde then later won the Newdigate Prize for his long poem titled Ravenna which was written in 1878. In 1881, he started critiquing and reviewing art and also started writing poems around this time. Wilde also started traveling to big countries like America and Canada speaking in cities for ten months about the aesthetic movement, decorations of houses, along with artists, writers and Irish poets. During his traveling days he met government officials along with famous authors and poets, the most popular person he met at the time was Walt Whitman, Henry James and Oliver Wendall Holmes. Wilde concluded that America is a land of unmatched vitality and vulgarity... Later on he traveled to London in 1883 of January to write and spend some time there using the money he made from his lecture tour. During the 19th century, English an d French literature experienced a movement which stated that art had no moral or ethical purpose. The aesthetic movement was an artistic and cultural movement influenced by German philosophers. Many authors said that art is a whole

Aids Hiv And Aids - 1144 Words

HIV/AIDS IN NIGERIA Introduction The first case of HIV was reported in 1981 and since then, it has spread rapidly turning into a pandemic (WHO 2014). Thirty-five million people currently live with HIV worldwide and 2.1 million deaths were recorded in 2013 (WHO 2014). HIV in the WHO African region is the highest in the world as the continent bears 70% of the disease burden (WHO AFRO 2013). In 2013, 24 million people in Africa were reported to be living with HIV. One of the high burden countries in this region is Nigeria and it ranks as the second highest after South Africa (WHO AFRO 2013). Despite the efforts on the international and local fronts to curb this epidemic, the continuous rise in new cases has shown that more needs to be done.†¦show more content†¦Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is the terminal stage of the HIV infection however with essential treatment not every infected individual gets to this stage. HIV is transmitted through transfusion of infected blood, sexual intercourse, sharing contam inated needles, during childbirth from mother to child and during breastfeeding (WHO 2014). Nigeria has an estimated population of 174 million people and 3.7% of this population are living with HIV/AIDS. Two hundred and ten thousand people died as a result of HIV/AIDS in 2011 (UNAID 2012). The first case of HIV in Nigeria was reported in 1986 and since then several programmes have been planned and implemented (NACA 2014). Nevertheless we are nowhere near eliminating the emergence of incidence cases considering the fact that there is no available cure for the disease (WHO AFRO 2013). Despite this, a reduction in prevalence was observed from 5.8% in 2001 to 4.1 % in 2010 and it highlights that it is possible to reduce prevalence by preventing the continuous transmission of the disease (NACA 2014). Therefore, there is need to restructure the existing policies and adopt new approaches to tackling this burdensome public health concern in Nigeria. Knowledge and awareness of HIV among the Nigerian population is very high based on the report of Lammers et al. (2013) where it was reported that 89.5% of Nigerians are aware of HIV. However, only 5.3% of this

Effects Of Harsh Side Effects In Contact Sports - 1310 Words

Harsh Side Effects In The Sports World CTE and ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy are both two bizarre life changing brain diseases. CTE and ALS are infamously known to be found in contact sports like football, soccer, rugby, and hockey. There are some people suggesting to add new rules and regulations to prevent the spread of the two brain disease, that kill athletes at an alarming rate. An example of a regulation in football would be, In this case if the defending team player hits the offensive player head the defending team will receive a fifteen yard penalty. CTE and ALS are both caused by repetitive blows to the head, but one is found after the victim dies. There should be new rules to prevent†¦show more content†¦During a concussion the brain hits the skull and causes a protein called Tau. The protein goes around the brain and slowly kills it, some diseases caused by ailments lead to Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and Huntingtons diseas e. Some symptoms of CTE are impulsive behavior, depression, short term memory loss, suicidal thoughts and behavior, and emotional instability. It is also very common in football players, roughly around ninety-nine percent of football players are diagnosed with CTE. Football players experience many concussions throughout their career which is a big part of why they are more likely to get the disease than average joes. The competitive sport which is football is based upon physical contact, although they have some rules to stop head injuries and concussions. That does not stop the fact that almost all the players that have been in the NFL have gotten the brain disease. This is another reason for the sport to have serious regulations to stop and aid the disease. ALs and CTE are both contracted when a player has had multiple concussions. Head trauma has a big deal to do with TBI, or Traumatic Brain Injuries, which are caused when a person has obsessive blows to the head. 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Frostbite Chapter 11 Free Essays

string(51) " Shock from Lissa traveled to me through the bond\." Eleven LISSA WAS UP AND GONE before I even stirred the next morning, which meant I had the bathroom to myself while I got ready for the day. I loved that bathroom. It was enormous. We will write a custom essay sample on Frostbite Chapter 11 or any similar topic only for you Order Now My king-size bed would have fit comfortably inside it. A scalding shower with three different nozzles woke me up, though my muscles ached from yesterday. As I stood in front of the full-length mirror and combed my hair, I saw with some disappointment that the bruise was still there. It was significantly lighter, however, and had turned yellowish. Some concealer and powder almost entirely covered it up. I headed downstairs in search of food. The dining room was just shutting down breakfast, but one of the waitresses gave me a couple of peach marzipan scones to go. Munching on one as I walked, I expanded my senses to get a feel for where Lissa was. After a couple of moments, I sensed her on the other side of the lodge, away from the student rooms. I followed the trail until I arrived at a room on the third floor. I knocked. Christian opened the door. â€Å"Sleeping Beauty arrives. Welcome.† He ushered me inside. Lissa sat cross-legged on the room’s bed and smiled when she saw me. The room was as sumptuous as mine, but most of the furniture had been shoved aside to make space, and in that open area, Tasha stood. â€Å"Good morning,† she said. â€Å"Hey,† I said. So much for avoiding her. Lissa patted a spot beside her. â€Å"You’ve got to see this.† â€Å"What’s going on?† I sat down on the bed and finished the last of the scone. â€Å"Bad things,† she said mischievously. â€Å"You’ll approve.† Christian walked over to the empty space and faced Tasha. They regarded each other, forgetting about Lissa and me. I’d apparently interrupted something. â€Å"So why can’t I just stick with the consuming spell?† asked Christian. â€Å"Because it uses a lot of energy,† she told him. Even with jeans and a ponytail- and the scar- she managed to look ridiculously cute. â€Å"Plus, it’ll most likely kill your opponent.† He scoffed. â€Å"Why wouldn’t I want to kill a Strigoi?† â€Å"You might not always be fighting one. Or maybe you need information from them. Regardless, you should be prepared either way.† They were practicing offensive magic, I realized. Excitement and interest replaced the sullenness I’d acquired upon seeing Tasha. Lissa hadn’t been kidding about them doing â€Å"bad things.† I’d always suspected they were practicing offensive magic, but†¦ wow. Thinking about it and actually seeing it were two very different things. Using magic as a weapon was forbidden. A punishable offense. A student experimenting with it might be forgiven and simply disciplined, but for an adult to actively be teaching a minor†¦yeah. That could get Tasha in major trouble. For half a second, I toyed with the idea of turning her in. Immediately, I dismissed the notion. I might hate her for making moves on Dimitri, but part of me sort of believed in what she and Christian were doing. Plus, it was just cool. â€Å"A distracting spell is almost as useful,† she continued. Her blue eyes took on the intense focus I often saw Moroi get while using magic. Her wrist flicked forward, and a streak of fire snaked past Christian’s face. It didn’t touch him, but from the way he flinched, I suspected it had been close enough for him to feel the heat. â€Å"Try it,† she told him. Christian hesitated for only a moment and then made the same hand motion she had. Fire streaked out, but it had none of the finely tuned control hers had had. He also didn’t have her aim. It went straight for her face, but before it could touch her, it parted and split around her, almost like it had hit an invisible shield. She’d deflected it with her own magic. â€Å"Not bad- aside from the fact you would have burned my face off.† Even I wouldn’t want her face burned off. But her hair†¦ah, yes. We’d see how pretty she was without that raven-black mane. She and Christian practiced a while longer. He improved as time went by, though he clearly had a ways to go before he had Tasha’s skill. My interest grew and grew as they went on, and I found myself pondering all the possibilities this kind of magic could offer. They wrapped up their lesson when Tasha said she had to go. Christian sighed, clearly frustrated that he hadn’t been able to master the spell in an hour. His competitive nature was almost as strong as mine. â€Å"I still think it’d be easier to just burn them entirely,† he argued. Tasha smiled as she brushed her hair into a tighter ponytail. Yeah. She could definitely do without that hair, particularly since I knew how much Dimitri liked long hair. â€Å"Easier because it involves less focus. It’s sloppy. Your magic’ll be stronger in the long run if you can learn this. And, like I said, it has its uses.† I didn’t want to agree with her, but I couldn’t help it. â€Å"It could be really useful if you were fighting with a guardian,† I said excitedly. â€Å"Especially if completely burning a Strigoi takes so much energy. This way, you use just a quick burst of your strength to distract the Strigoi. And it will distract one since they hate fire so much. Then that’s all the time a guardian would need to stake them. You could take down a whole bunch of Strigoi that way.† Tasha grinned at me. Some Moroi- like Lissa and Adrian- smiled without showing their teeth. Tasha always showed hers, including the fangs. â€Å"Exactly. You and I’ll have to go Strigoi hunting someday,† she teased. â€Å"I don’t think so,† I replied. The words in and of themselves weren’t that bad, but the tone I used to deliver them certainly was. Cold. Unfriendly. Tasha looked momentarily surprised at my abrupt change in attitude but shrugged it off. Shock from Lissa traveled to me through the bond. You read "Frostbite Chapter 11" in category "Essay examples" Tasha didn’t seem bothered, however. She chatted with us a bit longer and made plans to see Christian for dinner. Lissa gave me a sharp look as she, Christian, and I walked down the elaborate spiral staircase leading back down to the lobby. â€Å"What was that about?† she asked. â€Å"What was what about?† I asked innocently. â€Å"Rose,† she said meaningfully. It was hard to play dumb when your friend knew you could read her mind. I knew exactly what she was talking about. â€Å"You being a bitch to Tasha.† â€Å"I wasn’t that much of a bitch.† â€Å"You were rude,† she exclaimed, stepping out of the way of a bunch of Moroi children who came tearing through the lobby. They were bundled up in parkas, and a weary-looking Moroi ski instructor followed them. I put my hands on my hips. â€Å"Look, I’m just grumpy, okay? Didn’t get much sleep. Besides, I’m not like you. I don’t have to be polite all the time.† As happened so often lately, I couldn’t believe what I’d just said. Lissa stared at me, more astonished than hurt. Christian glowered, on the verge of snapping back at me, when Mason mercifully approached us. He hadn’t needed a cast or anything, but he had a slight limp to his walk. â€Å"Hey there, Hop-Along,† I said, sliding my hand into his. Christian put his anger for me on hold and turned to Mason. â€Å"Is it true your suicidal moves finally caught up with you?† Mason’s eyes were on me. â€Å"Is it true you were hanging out with Adrian Ivashkov?† â€Å"I- what?† â€Å"I heard you guys got drunk last night.† â€Å"You did?† asked Lissa, startled. I looked between both their faces. â€Å"No, of course not! I barely know him.† â€Å"But you do know him,† pushed Mason. â€Å"Barely.† â€Å"He’s got a bad reputation,† warned Lissa. â€Å"Yeah,† said Christian. â€Å"He goes through a lot of girls.† I couldn’t believe this. â€Å"Will you guys lay off? I talked to him for, like, five minutes! And that’s only because he was blocking my way inside. Where are you getting all this?† Immediately, I answered my own question. â€Å"Mia.† Mason nodded and had the grace to look embarrassed. â€Å"Since when do you talk to her?† I asked. â€Å"I just ran into her, that’s all,† he told me. â€Å"And you believed her? You know she lies half the time.† â€Å"Yeah, but there’s usually some truth in the lies. And you did talk to him.† â€Å"Yes. Talk. That’s it.† I really had been trying to give some serious thought about dating Mason, so I didn’t appreciate him not believing me. He had actually helped me unravel Mia’s lies earlier in the school year, so I was surprised he’d be so paranoid about them now. Maybe if his feelings really had grown for me, he was more susceptible to jealousy. Surprisingly, it was Christian who came to the rescue and changed the subject. â€Å"I suppose there’s no skiing today, huh?† He pointed to Mason’s ankle, immediately triggering an indignant response. â€Å"What, you think this is going to slow me down?† asked Mason. His anger diminished, replaced by that burning need to prove himself- the need he and I both shared. Lissa and Christian looked at him like he was crazy, but I knew nothing we said would stop him. â€Å"You guys want to come with us?† I asked Lissa and Christian. Lissa shook her head. â€Å"We can’t. We have to go to this luncheon being hosted by the Contas.† Christian groaned. â€Å"Well, you have to go.† She elbowed him. â€Å"So do you. The invitation said I get to bring a guest. Besides, this is just a warm-up for the big one.† â€Å"Which one is that?† asked Mason. â€Å"Priscilla Voda’s huge dinner,† sighed Christian. Seeing him look so pained made me smile. â€Å"The queen’s best friend. All the snobbiest royals will be there, and I’ll have to wear a suit.† Mason flashed me a grin. His earlier antagonism was gone. â€Å"Skiing’s sounding better and better, huh? Less of a dress code.† We left the Moroi behind and went outside. Mason couldn’t compete with me in the same way he had yesterday; his movements were slow and awkward. Still, he did remarkably well when one considered everything. The injury wasn’t as bad as we’d feared, but he had the prudence to stick to extremely easy runs. The full moon hung in the blankness, a glowing sphere of silvery white. The electric lights overpowered most of its illumination on the ground, but here and there, in the shadows, the moon just barely managed to cast its glow. I wished it were bright enough to reveal the surrounding mountain range, but those peaks stayed shrouded in darkness. I’d forgotten to look at them when it was light out earlier. The runs were super simple for me, but I stayed with Mason and only occasionally teased him about how his remedial skiing was putting me to sleep. Boring runs or no, it was just nice to be outside with my friends, and the activity stirred my blood enough to warm me against the chill air. The light posts lit up the snow, turning it into a vast sea of white, the flakes’ crystals sparkling faintly. And if I managed to turn away and block the lights from my field of vision, I could look up and see the stars spilling over the sky. They stood out stark and crystalline in the clear, freezing air. We stayed out for most of the day again, but this time, I called it quits early, pretending to be tired so Mason could get a break. He might manage easy skiing with his tender ankle, but I could tell it was starting to hurt him. Mason and I headed back toward the lodge walking very close to each other, laughing about something we’d seen earlier. Suddenly, I saw a streak of white in my peripheral vision, and a snowball smashed into Mason’s face. I immediately went on the defensive, jerking backward and peering around. Whoops and cries sounded from an area of the resort grounds that held storage sheds and was interspersed with looming pines. â€Å"Too slow, Ashford,† someone called. â€Å"Doesn’t pay to be in love.† More laughs. Mason’s best friend, Eddie Castile, and a few other novices from school materialized from behind a cluster of trees. Beyond them, I heard more shouts. â€Å"We’ll still take you in, though, if you want to be on our team,† said Eddie. â€Å"Even if you do dodge like a girl.† â€Å"Team?† I asked excitedly. Back at the Academy, throwing snowballs was strictly prohibited. School officials were inexplicably afraid that we’d throw snowballs packed with glass shards or razor blades, though I had no clue how they thought we’d get a hold of that kind of stuff in the first place. Not that a snowball fight was that rebellious, but after all the stress I’d been through recently, throwing objects at other people suddenly sounded like the best idea I’d heard in a while. Mason and I dashed off with the others, the prospect of forbidden fighting giving him new energy and causing him to forget the pain in his ankle. We set to the fight with a die-hard zeal. The fight soon became a matter of nailing as many people as possible while dodging attacks from others. I was exceptional at both and furthered the immaturity by catcalling and shouting silly insults at my victims. By the time someone noticed what we were doing and yelled at us, we were all laughing and covered with snow. Mason and I once again started back for the lodge, and our mood was so high, I knew the Adrian thing was long forgotten. Indeed, Mason looked at me just before we went inside. â€Å"Sorry I, uh, jumped all over you about Adrian earlier.† I squeezed his hand. â€Å"It’s okay. I know Mia can tell some pretty convincing stories.† â€Å"Yeah†¦but even if you were with him†¦it’s not like I have any right†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stared at him, surprised to see his usual brash countenance turn shy. â€Å"Don’t you?† I asked. A smile turned up his lips. â€Å"Do I?† Smiling back, I stepped forward and kissed him. His lips felt amazingly warm in the freezing air. It wasn’t like the earth-shattering kiss I’d had with Dimitri before the trip, but it was sweet and nice- a friendly sort of kiss that maybe could turn into more. At least, that was how I saw it. From the look on Mason’s face, it appeared his whole world had been rocked. â€Å"Wow,† he said, eyes wide. The moonlight made his eyes look silvery blue. â€Å"You see?† I said. â€Å"Nothing to worry about. Not Adrian, not anybody.† We kissed again- a bit longer this time- before finally dragging ourselves apart. Mason was clearly in a better mood, as well as he should have been, and I dropped into bed with a smile on my face. I wasn’t technically sure if Mason and I were a couple now, but we were very close to it. But when I slept, I dreamed about Adrian Ivashkov. I stood with him on the porch again, only it was summer. The air was balmy and warm, and the sun hung bright in the sky, coating everything in golden light. I hadn’t been in this much sun since living among humans. All around, the mountains and valleys were green and alive. Birds sang everywhere. Adrian leaned against the porch’s railing, glanced over, and did a double-take when he saw me. â€Å"Oh. Didn’t expect to see you here.† He smiled. â€Å"I was right. You are devastating when you’re cleaned up.† Instinctively, I touched the skin around my eye. â€Å"It’s gone,† he said. Even without being able to see it, I somehow knew he was right. â€Å"You aren’t smoking.† â€Å"Bad habit,† he said. He nodded toward me. â€Å"You scared? You’re wearing a lot of protection.† I frowned, then looked down. I hadn’t noticed my clothing. I wore a pair of embroidered jeans I’d seen once but had been unable to afford. My T-shirt was cropped, showing off my stomach, and I wore a belly-button ring. I’d always wanted to get my belly button pierced but had never been able to afford it. The charm I now wore here was a little silver dangly one, and hanging at the end of it was that weird blue eye pendant my mom had given me. Lissa’s chotki was wound around my wrist. I looked back up at Adrian, studying the way the sun shone off his brown hair. Here, in full daylight, I could see that his eyes were indeed green- a deep emerald as opposed to Lissa’s pale jade. Something startling suddenly occurred to me. â€Å"Doesn’t all this sun bother you?† He gave a lazy shrug. â€Å"Nah. It’s my dream.† â€Å"No, it’s my dream.† â€Å"Are you sure?† His smile returned. I felt confused. â€Å"I†¦ I don’t know.† He chuckled, but a moment later, the laugher faded. For the first time since I’d met him, he looked serious. â€Å"Why do you have so much darkness around you?† I frowned. â€Å"What?† â€Å"You’re surrounded in blackness.† His eyes studied me shrewdly, but not in a checking-me-out sort of way. â€Å"I’ve never seen anyone like you. Shadows everywhere. I never would have guessed it. Even while you’re standing here, the shadows keep growing.† I looked down at my hands but saw nothing out of the ordinary. I glanced back up. â€Å"I’m shadow-kissed†¦.† â€Å"What’s that mean?† â€Å"I died once.† I’d never talked to anyone other than Lissa and Victor Dashkov about that, but this was a dream. It didn’t matter. â€Å"And I came back.† Wonder lit his face. â€Å"Ah, interesting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I woke up. Someone was shaking me. It was Lissa. Her feelings hit me so hard through the bond that I briefly snapped into her mind and found myself looking at me. â€Å"Weird† didn’t begin to cover it. I pulled back into myself, trying to sift through the terror and alarm coming from her. â€Å"What’s wrong?† â€Å"There’s been another Strigoi attack.† How to cite Frostbite Chapter 11, Essay examples

My Scooter Essay Example For Students

My Scooter Essay It was the summer of 2011. I was 11 years old. Being so young, it was only natural that I wanted whatever I saw my friends with. On this certain day, I managed to see my friend with a scooter. His name was James. James was one of those friends, who you saw when they had something new to show off. I was in my garage when I heard the constant knocking of the wheels rolling against the cement pavement. I was suddenly determined to explore where and who the noise was coming from. I walk out to the front and see James having a wonderful time on his scooter. He wheeled up to my gate, and said â€Å"Hey Jason! Do you see anything different? I said, â€Å"Yes, I do see something different, and it looks cool. Can I ride it down the block? † He proceeded to laugh, until he could gather the seriousness to utter one word – â€Å"NO! † Embarrassed and upset I ran to my father and asked him if he could buy me a scooter. Being that I was a good student in school at the time, he agreed and told me that we would go to Toys R Us the following day. We arrived at Toys R Us and the most beautiful thing appeared before me. It was a Razor Scooter. With elation and adrenaline pumping through my body I yelled, â€Å"DAD, DAD, LOOK, THIS IS THE SCOOTER I REALLY LIKE. CAN I GET IT, PLEASE? My father continued to take the scooter and proceed to checkout. We got home and I saw James once again flaunting around on his scooter. Surprisingly, he did not seem to see when I took my scooter inside. Knowing that he would come to taunt me once again, I sat and I waited for him to come to my gate. James saw me, and rode up to my gate. However, instead of coming to taunt me, his eye caught site of something so prodigious, that he couldn’t do anything but stare. His jaw dropped, like a heavy weight in the water. Just the look on his face filled me with the sense of overcoming repletion, which I could not withstand. Therefore, I haughtily stood and kindly said to him, â€Å"HAHA, IN YOUR FACE SUCKA! † This experience was a life changing one. It may not seem like a major phenomenon to a person, but to an 11 year old child that never got a lot of the things that he wanted; this was a very gratifying gift. This experience has helped me to change as a person. It has helped me to understand that life is not all about what you can get. However it is mainly focused around what you have and how you use it to better yourself, and validate your being in society.

Whenever Culture Has Ever Been Defeated Essay Example

Whenever Culture Has Ever Been Defeated Essay The drama A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams was written and staged in 1947. Since then it has received a high popularity with the public not only in the USA but all over the world.Almost all the critics agree on the wide range of conflicts being present in the play. The researchers from different critical schools find them on topical, character, stylistic and symbolical layers. The key players in the explicit conflict shown in A Streetcar are Blanche DuBois and her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski. Against the backstage of intensely complex and diverse culture of New Orleans they perform scenes of mortal combat. In the end of the play both of them are put on the brink of collapse. The critics say that Stanley having abused his power in regard to Blanche symbolizes the victory of primitivism over high culture, of realism over romanticism and of urban Yankees over rural southerners.   However, the essence of the conflicts in A Streetcar is far more complex.Throughout the scenes of the play an observer is free to compose his or her own understanding of the conflicts happening. Though Blanche is assaulted as the representative of the Southern refined culture, though she is abandoned in her feelings and values and is taken into mental asylum in the end of the drama, this living symbol of noble culture is not defeated by her counterpart Stanley. The theses are proved by various pieces of critique in different periods as well as by the deep analysis of the play itself.In the introductory scenes of A Streetcar the author depicts Blanche as being â€Å"incongruous to this setting† (Williams 5). The critics interpret the stage remark as the clue to Blanche representing an environment that is more refined than the cheap setting of Elysian Fields. What does it mean to be â€Å"incongruous†? The author clearly emphasizes that the heroine is incompatible; inconsistent, dissociable in regard to the surroundings not just in terms of geographical loc alization or appearance. Gradually a reader of the play script (or a spectator of the classical variant of the play) learns what incongruity means in the DuBois’ case.Having come from the fortress of the Old Good South, the Belle Reve, having escaped from the shameful settings of Laurel to Elysian Fields, the main female character is conceptualized at first as being really unprepared for dirty staircases, rough neighbors, shambling houses and the scenes of street disorder at the Kowalskis. She is not prepared to see her sister to be a plain housewife and her brother-in law to be dressed in a bowling jacket. Tischler defines Blanche DuBois (who is impeccably dressed and has distinguished looks) as â€Å"a Southern belle† (42) and it seems to be true. Yet why is Stanley (who is dressed casually and looks plainly) defined as â€Å"the clear victor† (ibid.) then?Williams describes Blanche as a woman whose â€Å"delicate beauty† â€Å"must avoid a strong ligh t† (Williams 5). She is undoubtedly a product of the old-fashioned and traditional South with women sitting on the shady verandas or in the cool living-rooms accepting flirtous, easy-going and amiable relatives and friends. She behaves like a heiress of an exuberant and rich household waiting for a true lover to come and take her with all her beautiful body, refined soul and possessions. However, this myth of â€Å"a Southern belle† tends to be ruined in the sequence of scenes.First, the Belle Reve, a beautiful dream of the rural South, comes to a decline. Second, amiable and multiple relatives disappear. Whereas Blanche stays the same beautiful dreamer, the beautiful world around her ceases to exist. Her sister’s place appears to be a pitiful and hostile place. Her refined manners are said to be a mask too loose to fit. Her brother-in-law happens to be a brutal beast spying and tracing her like a game, denigrating her human and female value, devoiding her of the only candidate to make a match, etc. Yet she is hoping for some chimeras. Meanwhile, Stanley is not dreaming but forces Blanche to leave his house and life.Frankly speaking, the essence of the play’s conflicts is not of the family conflicts between close relatives. To understand it more clearly, the characters need to be characterized. As a French descent, a southern belle, Blanche is extremely choosy concerning social background of her own and of men to socialize with. She despises Stanley for being Polish and mockingly asks him if the Poles are â€Å"something like Irish, arent they?† (Williams 16). In the southern snobbish consciousness people from other places besides the South itself are intruders and barbarians. Brustein pointed that â€Å"[a]s a social or cultural figure, Stanley is a villain, in mindless opposition to civilization and culture – the ‘new man’ of the modern world whom Williams seems to find responsible for the present-day de cline in art, language, decorum, and culture† (9).It is true that Kowalski prefers bowling and poker to noble hunt or horse rides. It is true that he does not speak French, the language of the nobles. It is true that he throws bloody piece of meat for his wife to cook instead of inviting her for a walk in the magnificent alley of the ancestral manor. However, Stanley is far from being just a villain or a Neanderthal as Blanche puts it. Brustein proceeds that â€Å"[a]s a psychological or sexual figure, however, Stanley exists on a somewhat more heroic moral plane† (9).Stanley is at all times an active character, one who manipulates each situation in which he appears. Rather than expressing dissatisfaction with the grubby conditions in which he lives, he exults in them, and he does not indicate any desire to better himself. More important, Stanley, as brute force incarnate, has no poetry or sensitivity or nobility in him [†¦]. His intelligence is mostly animal cunni ng and his power of speech limited to expressing basic desires. (Brustein 10)The emphasis in depicting this character is vividly made on his active and exuberant sexuality. Neither Stella nor Blanche can avoid this animal charisma. Some may say that Stanley is too primitive as a person: his dominant motives are â€Å"a sense of ownership† and â€Å"ecstatic sexuality† (Tischler 42). But he is shrewd enough to notice that Blanche steps out as his antagonist, He senses â€Å"condescension in her tone toward him [that] signals a challenge to his authority† (Tischler 42). He understands that she is â€Å"the snake in his garden† (Tischler 42).To continue, despite his sexuality and brutality, Stanley is able to display affection towards his wife and a baby. If he is â€Å"an ignoble rather than a noble savage† (Brustein 10), then, he behaves in a strange manner pleading his wife to stay with him. As Tischler notices, he possesses â€Å"a rough charm, b road comedy, delight in battle, primitive protectiveness of his home – the qualities most frequently admired in the all-American male† (47). Stanley says about himself: â€Å"I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is a one hundred per cent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so dont ever call me a Polack† (Williams 134).Kowalski is not a plain barbarian but a rather complex personage, though, with rigid cultural, moral and intellectual frames. Kernan assumes that â€Å"[i]n his code, women are divided into two categories, sluts and virgins. Only virgins are allowed to marry his buddies; sluts must be exploited and exposed† (17). He finds evidence of Blanche being a slut and does not pause to treat her accordingly. Blanche, however, is not a plain slut.Strikingly, Kolin agrees with Henry I. Schvey in the assumption that â€Å"Williams was thinking of attributes traditional ly identified with the Virgin in Renaissance art† (82). Blanche is â€Å"a tragic heroine† (ibid.) partly because of the impossibility to stick to this image of purity and suffer. She is obsessed with lust and is able to welcome equally the soldiers from a military camp in Laurel, a newspaper courier, and Stanley’s friend who is far from being her ideal man.Brustein analyzes the conflict between Blanche and Stanley as the one with sexual underlying:The conflict between Blanche and Stanley allegorizes the struggle between effeminate culture and masculine libido. It is no accident that Stanley, in the climax of the play, subdues Blanche by a brutal sexual assault. (9)If Blanche is obsessed with lust so much (the same researcher stated that â€Å"Blanche is a nymphomaniac,† Brustein 9), why does she reject Stanley then? Why is their sexual encounter a rape? What man does Blanche seek for?The poet Allan Grey whom she has fallen in love with for his masterfully written letters turns out to be a pervert. Her ideal of manhood, a â€Å"beautiful and talented young man† is â€Å"a degenerate† (Williams 124). In a while she meets a high-school student of hers in Laurel who also bears the same sign of distinction from the others as Grey: â€Å"There was something different about the boy, a nervousness, a softness which wasnt like a mans although he wasnt the least bit effeminate-looking – still – that thing was there† (Williams 114). If she seeks for sensitivity in a man, she makes the wrong choice because in the end of sensitive relationships she is collapsed physically and mentally. If she seeks for plain and exuberant sex, she is collapsed again psychologically and in terms of her reputation in the end of each affair.Blanche is portrayed as â€Å"a frantic, trapped woman, still proud, still determined to survive. Because she assumes that she must pretend to be the innocent romantic in order to attract men, she hides her past, her age, and her sexual appetites† (Tischler 46). This inner and implicit conflict of Blanche adds complexity to the intrigue of the play. One may find it strange that Stanley’s sexual appeal is found â€Å"though violent, [†¦] unmental, unspiritual, and, therefore, in some way free from taint† (Brustein 9), and Blanche with her sexual appeal is called a nymphomaniac. Her sin and perversity may derive themselves from the sources other than sex.Additionally to being tainted with corrupted sexual lust, Blanche does not suit the everyday environment in regard to her habits and manners. Why does Stanley’s informer who used to know Blanche in Laurel refers to a woman of manners, good social background and high education as to â€Å"not just different but downright loco – nuts† (Williams 121)?   Why does she ironically remark: â€Å"True? Yes, I suppose – unfit somehow . . .† (Williams 146-7)? Does the argu ment cover just the matters of sex and prostitution? Hardly is it so. On the point Tischler assumes:She has to prove she is a lady of breeding and elegance, forcing herself to perform rituals out of keeping with her new context. When her commitment to class distinction requires that she demand respect due a lady rather than accepting tacit recognition by those she meets, she quickly becomes a grotesque parody of a forgotten age. (49)According to Brustein, the conflict between Blanche and Stanley comes from the distinctions in their cultural backgrounds: â€Å"culture and tradition are desirable, but breed effeteness and perversity [†¦] and make one an easy prey to the unenlightened† (9). The enlightenment for Blanche is her reminiscences of better times and better places. Tischler calls these Blanche’s pattern of socializing to consist of â€Å"empty gestures of an anachronistic cultural context† (48).Blanches heritage of landed aristocracy is dying of its own vices. In the urban setting of the New South, class is determined by power and wealth. Stanley will triumph because he has the will to succeed, as Stella understands. He is a type of crude new immigrant, who has no taste for the heritage of the Old South. (ibid.)Thus, one more point of confrontation of Blanche and Stanley between sex is the cultural one. The opposition of â€Å"the rich cultural traditions of the Southern heritage† and â€Å"the crude, but vital, modern setting† (Tischler 50) drives the play towards its climax, the total collapse of the cultural embodiment or living signifier, Blanche.One, though, may say that the opposition is not structured exclusively between cultural and non-cultural concepts. Kernan suggests the presence of realism and romanticism opposition. The researcher states that William’s model of realism and symbolism in A Streetcar is more complicated than in the earlier playwrights.[†¦] there is a â€Å"real† world outside and inside each of us which is actively hostile to any belief in the goodness of man and the validity of moral values. His realism gives expression to this aspect of the world, and A Streetcar Named Desire is his clearest treatment of the human dilemma which entails the dramatic dilemma. We are presented in Streetcar with two polar ways of looking at experience: the realistic view of Stanley Kowalski and the non-realistic view of his sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois. Williams brings the two views into conflict immediately. (17)Whatever conceptualization is made of the conflict between the main personages of the play, the coda of the drama erases the distinctions between the participants as the right and the wrong side. Stanley wants to prove his masculinity on behalf of Blanche and enjoys triumph. Blanche wants to oppose the seductive sexual power of her brother-in-law and fails. It puts her on the brink of self-denigration. Stanley in his opposition to Blanche pursues the goa ls of territorial protection derived from â€Å"the very human hunger for a secure home† (Tischler 48). Blanche after all shifts the category of home onto Stanley: â€Å"maybe (Stanley)s what we need to mix with our blood now that weve lost Belle Reve and have to go on without Belle Reve to protect us† (Williams 45), she says to Stella. Blanche after all wants to ruin Stanley’s world to assert the one of her own.In the very end, Stanley is left with his wife and a new-born baby being exhibited altogether to vague family and social perspectives. Blanche is ushered to a mental asylum. Stanley seems to be the winner and Blanche seems to be a loser. However, the defeated and raped side appears to celebrate victory in the end.Tischler states Blanche’s â€Å"moral victory in the face of a physical defeat† (44). DuBois’ lover dreamed about turns into a psychiatrist but she never cares. She is free and beautiful again at her best with violets on her bosom and a doctor on the arm. After all it does not matter whether Stanley would feel regret after Blanche; or whether Blanche would recover mentally. What matters is that different cultural backgrounds have proved the urgency to exist in different modes. Instead of justifying urban and rural, or realistic and symbolic mode of behaviour, one may turn to think about truth as beauty as Tischler proposes.Although we are determined to understand the real world, to look clearly at life, we also have a perennial hunger for romance, which relies on exaggeration and imagination. We want human relations to be more than sexual need, we want human life to be something more than animal existence. (Tischler 51)One cannot say that culture is defeated in Blanche’s representation. Instead one thinks about finding new goals in life full of peril and aggression.The need today is not for a hero who seems to be a rebel while really conforming to an established pattern, but for a hero who, with out rejecting language, tradition, education, and art – without finding consolation in the impulsive anarchy of Stanley Kowalski – can express the nonconformism which stems from a long, hard, individualistic look at the world. (Brustein 16)Evaluating A Streetcar by Williams a contemporary reader and viewer defines the conflict between the main personages of the drama as extending its complexity far beyond the sexual underpinning. The opposition of home and alien space, simple and complex system of values and judgements, realism and symbolization, and, finally, of culture and simple instincts makes the play still luring and suggestive for modern audience. Blanche serves an embodiment of culture with all its difficult and perilous consequences such as perversity, frustration, disillusionment and aggression. The same aggression yet grown from other motives and settings is seen in the type of modern urban hero which is represented by Stanley. Despite the physical and menta l breakdown, Blanche is far from being defeated. She teaches everybody a moral lesson of keeping the cultural treasury of poetry, magic, nobility and exuberant palette of motives and values. Culture is not defeated by simpletons. It adjusts itself to reality in this form of other. This lesson seems to be one of the gifts Williams continues to grant audience with through his creative ancestry.

Shangri La Hotel Essays

Shangri La Hotel Essays Shangri La Hotel Essay Shangri La Hotel Essay Shangri-Las Net Profit Rises 54% Kate OKeeffe. Wall Street Journal (Online). New York, N. Y. : Mar 17, 2010. Abstract (Summary) HONG KONGLuxury hotel operator Shangri-La Asia Ltd. said Wednesday its 2009 net profit rose 54%, lifted by higher property prices, though its core hotels business suffered from a sharp drop in demand due to the global financial crisis.  »   Jump to indexing (document details) Full Text  (515   words)| (c) 2010 Dow Jones Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. HONG KONGLuxury hotel operator Shangri-La Asia Ltd. said Wednesday its 2009 net profit rose 54%, lifted by higher property prices, though its core hotels business suffered from a sharp drop in demand due to the global financial crisis. The economic crisis hit the hospitality sector as businesses restricted employee travel and tourist numbers declined. The industry has lagged other sectors in its recovery outlook, even as demand has been making a comeback since the end of 2008. The Hong Kong-listed company, which is controlled by Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok Hock-nien, said though it expects improvements in its business this year and next, it doesnt expect to return to pre-crisis levels until 2012. Weve been fairly encouraged by the last 10 to 12 weeks, said Shangri-La Chief Financial Officer Madhu Rao at a news conference, adding there has been a return in business travellers. He also said he expects the second half of this year to be better than the first. Shangri-La, which owned stakes in 49 hotels at the end of last year, said its net profit for 2009 totaled US$255. million, up from US$165. 9 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 9% to US$1. 23 billion from US$1. 35 billion. The strength in Shangri-Las earnings was mainly due to a US$327. 1 million non-cash property revaluation gain, up from US$13 million in 2008, reflecting higher property rates. The company has stakes in a number of investment properties such as shopping malls and offices, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. Stripping out the accounting gain, Shangri-Las operating profit for the year fell 69% to US$51. 3 million from US$163. 2 million, dragged by the poor performance of its core hotel operations. Total revenue for room rentals fell 15% for the year to US$570. 2 million from US$674. 2 million, with average revenue per available rooma key metric of the hoteliers performancefalling 24% for the year. RevPAR for its hotels in mainland China, Shangri-Las biggest single market, fell 27% to US$66 from US$91, while RevPAR for its hotels in Hong Kong fell 24% to US$157 from US$206. Shangri-La said it saw more opportunities in China as the nations economy continues to expand and that outside of projects it has already committed to do in Beijing and Shanghai, most of the companys development focus will be in provincial cities. Credit Suisse said last week Shangri-La Asias well-established footprint in tier-two and tier-three cities in China should help it generate superior returns over the next three to five years, noting hotel room oversupply concerns persist in tier-one cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. The brokerage firm said Shangri-La Asia would likely have stronger earnings growth momentum compared with regional peers Hong Kong Shanghai Hotels Ltd. and Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. due to expectations its hotel portfolio will increase 26% over the next three years in terms of rooms. Shangri-Las disappointing core earnings performance comes after rival Hong Kong ; Shanghai Hotels last week reported a 61% drop in underlying profit to HK$315 million from HK$807 million in 2008 as hotel revenue was hit hard by the financial crisis from January to August. Credit: By Kate OKeeffe | Translate document from:   | Other available formats: Abstract Find more documents like this: Subjects: Hotels motels Bond issues Stock offerings Capital formation More options v | | Shangri-La raises $375m in rare market foray for Kuok; Euroweek. London: Feb 13, 2004. pg. 1 Abstract (Summary) Shangri-La Asia, the Asia Pacific hotels group controlled by Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok, on Monday raised $375m in a dual $200m convertible bond and HK$1. 354bn issue of new shares. The dual deal, led by JP Morgan, was the first such joint exercise from Hong Kong, emulating the larger deals from Singapore earlier this year. In Hong Kong, only Star Cruises has achieved similarly attractive 5 year funding in recent memory. The last time Shangri-La Asia issued a convertible was in the racy markets of 1993.   Jump to indexing (document details) Full Text  (626   words)| Copyright Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC Feb 13, 2004 Shangri-La Asia, the Asia Pacific hotels group controlled by Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok, on Monday raised $375m in a dual $200m convertible bond and HK$1. 354bn issue of new shares. The dual deal, led by JP Morgan, was the first such joint exercise from Hong Kong, emulating the larger deals from S ingapore earlier this year. The challenge was to raise $375m for a company whose stock is illiquid, with less than $1. m trading a day on average. The total fundraising represented 325 days average trading volume. Moreover, there is little or no stock borrow available, making it almost impossible for buyers to set up the usual delta hedge strategies. Shangri-La also wanted to defer dilution because in hotel development, returns lag investment by several years. The company was also wary of stretching its balance sheet, which has previously been geared at 35% or less. The compelling terms available in the CB market made a convertible an obvious choice. However, the stocks illiquidity and the lack of stock borrow meant a maximum size of about $200m. These conditions also meant it appealed more to outright buyers than arbitrage funds. With the CB, Shangri-La secured five year funding at a zero coupon. Issued at par with redemption at 114. 633 and no put, the deal yields 2. 75%. In Hong Kong, only Star Cruises has achieved similarly attractive five year funding in recent memory. The tightly priced jumbo convertible from Henderson Land recently had a one year put structure. The conversion premium of 25% was at the low end of the range, but JP Morgan extracted implied volatility of just over 32%, compared with about 35% historical volatility, which is an excellent result for a non-technology stock. There is still huge interest in any stock that offers a play on the Chinese market. Kuok, with his high level connections in China, is considered more likely than others to succeed. There was price sensitivity in the book, as the buyers were mainly the European CB funds and other more equity focused players in the US and Asia, said a CB specialist in Hong Kong. Solid buyers who tend not to flip issues in the immediate after-market are always more cautious on pricing. The bond floor is also notable, pricing at just under 90%. For an issuer of this type to secure five year funds at modest cost, the investor base demands a floor of about 90% as a minimum, said the same specialist. The last time Shangri-La Asia issued a convertible was in the racy markets of 1993 , when the Kuala Lumpur stock market was often trading more shares daily than the NYSE. Although originally Malaysian, Kuok has lived in Hong Kong for many years, from where he has steadily built his plantations-to-shipping-to-hotels group of listed companies. Recently Kuok has focused much of his attention on mainland China. Shangri-La Asia, for example, owns Beijings largest hotel, the Kerry Centre Hotel. The new funds are slated for further expansion in China. The 183m shares were sold at HK$7. 40, a 7. 5% discount to the stocks HK$8 close on Monday. That was the wide end of the 5%-7. 5% discount range. Shangri-La has not traditionally enjoyed a strong following among funds outside Asia, largely because of its modest trading volumes and also because Kuok has for decades tended to steer clear of the capital markets. For this reason most of the shares were sold in Asia. With trading volumes at a little over HK$24m daily, the new share issue represented 56 days trading and will dilute shareholders (other than Kuoks Kerry Group) by roughly 8. 5%. Kerry owns slightly over 50% of the company and in keeping with Kuoks practice of retaining control of group companies, it took up $85m, or 48. 5%, of the shares on offer. ction: International News BEIJINGTheres much more than hotels in Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts expansion plans for the Peoples Republic of China. To staff both its present seven and at least 10 new properties set to open by 1998, Shangri-La is opening two new training facilities. A management-training center will open in Beijing in February, and an Institute of Management wil l open in Shenzhen at the end of 1996. Current Chinese employees total 7,000, a number which will increase to approximately 17,000 with the proposed expansion, said Phil Stephenson, group director of human resources. Our management projections indicate that we will need to train and develop 5,000 managers and supervisors during the next five years to meet the needs of the expansion and replacements. Experienced managers and supervisors are simply not readily available in China, Stephenson said. We are therefore taking a pro-active stance by developing our own hotel educational institutes. The Beijing project is expected to have start-up costs of $280,000, with operating costs of $645,000 annually. The facility is expected to graduate more than 1,000 students each year. The Institute of Management will be a much bigger project, involving construction of a campus-style school including classrooms and dormitories, Stephenson said. It will graduate 450 students a year in a 48-week prog ram. To launch the Beijing project, Shangri-La and the Beijing Second Foreign Languages Institute have formed a partnership to operate the non-profit hotel-management training center. It will be located within the,institutes existing campus setting and will include classrooms, dormitories and recreational facilities. Open only to hotel employees selected for their potential for company advancementand whose salaries will continue to be paid by their properties during their eight-week training sessionsinstructional areas will cover supervisory and management positions such as housekeeping, food and beverage, communications and marketing. Targeted training In Beijing, we are not grooming an elite executive corps, a Shangri-La spokesperson said. We are training to meet our area of greatest need, which is at the middle-management and supervisory levels. There are no accredited hotel management schools either in China or in the region, and there is a real need to teach basic concepts of management and delegation of responsibility, something that is not part of current Chinese society. Des Pugson, group director of training and development, said the schools also will help meet the rising demand for more local people to be employed. Training must also produce sufficient numbers not just for present needs, but to replace employees other foreign joint-venture companies lure away. Our people are bright, personable and speak English well, Pugson said. Those are skills that are in very high demand these days in China. No wonder Shangri-La is a company other people are happy to poach from. According to company guidelines, the Beijing school is designed for potential supervisors and junior managers who will receive standardized training and educational programs. Graduates are expected to perform above average upon return to their work unit, and will command respect from subordinates, peers and managers, the guidelines said. They also are expected to be less likely to leave the company. Building leadership The Shenzhen management course will target future Peoples Republic of China managers and educate potential leaders for specific career moves. The program will develop multidisciplined hotel managers with practical understanding of the divisions of the hotel, and their relationship with the wider business market, the program guidelines said. Therefore, this will allow them to be allocated to different departments, divisions and hotel locations. Pugson stressed the program will have standards comparable to overseas hotel education institutes such as Cornell. Shangri-La now operates 27 hotels, all in Asia except for a property in Vancouver, British Columbia. Pacific Rim locales include China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Most of its hotels are in Chinain Beijing, Hang-zhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xianand in Malaysia, where it has six properties. Secondary-city strategy Expansion in China will focus on the countrys secondary citiesthose with populations between 3 million and 5 million, Pugson said. Properties with announced openings include Beihai next spring, Shenyang and Changchun in 1996, and Dalian in 1997. Pugson expects that in this new group of hotels, perhaps 60 percent to 70 percent of the patrons will be Peoples Republic of China citizens. There are more and more local people who can afford quality accommodations, a trend we have noticed in Malaysia where, as the market matured during the past three to four years, the percentage of clients who are nationals has steadily grown, Pugson said. PHOTO: The Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen will benefit from the training facilities. ~~~~~~~~ By Robert Selwitz HMM New York Bureau