The Guilt that Kills in Kate Chopin´s The Story of an Hour

The Guilt that Kills â€Å"The Story of an Hour† (Chopin 353-354) by Kate Chopin, is a short story about a young lady, Louise Mallard, who has her life turned upside down in an elapsed time of an hour. Louise has just been informed of her husband, Brently’s, death due to a railroad disaster. Louise has heart trouble and this tragic news begins to take a toll on her. Louise’s sister, Josephine, is aware of her heart trouble so naturally becomes concerned when Louise starts to sob and locks herself in her room. Desperately trying to get Louise out of her room before she becomes ill, Josephine finally gets her out and they continue to walk downstairs. Just as they make it downstairs, the front door opens and in walks Brently, alive. Doctors eventually arrive and explain how Louise has died from a heart attack brought on by happiness. In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, it is said that there is a â€Å"joy that kills† (354). Is it the guilt from having any remote feeling of joy that kills, or truly the joy itself that kills? It is in fact, the guilt that kills. In S. Selina Jamil’s essay â€Å"Emotions in the Story of an Hour.† (Jamil, 215-220), She talks about how â€Å"Kate Chopin focuses on a late nineteenth century American woman’s dramatic hour of awakening into selfhood, which enables her to live the last moments of her life with an acute consciousness of life’s immeasurable beauty† (215). There is a sort of forbidden joy of having independence and awakening selfhood. In â€Å"TheShow MoreRelatedThe Short Stories Of An Hour And A Pair Of Silk Stockings961 Words   |  4 PagesShort Stories of Kate Chopin The short stories, The Story of an Hour and A Pair of Silk Stockings were both written in the 1800 s. The stories are both written by Kate Chopin, a female author. The period in which these stories were written gave impact on other female writers to produce stories too. The literary devices Chopin uses in both these stories show how educated female writers were at the time. The way the author, Kate Chopin, uses many literary devices in her works, The Story of anRead MoreKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour980 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Mrs. Mallard is a woman trapped in her own golden cage. Throughout the story, the author, Kate Chopin, shows the true colors of matrimony during that time and what it meant in women’s lives. Women were the only possessions attained after marriage, designated to do house labors and take care of a husband and children. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin illustrates that marriage is another manifestation of women’s abdication of liberty once they say â€Å"I do†. â€Å"The Story of anRead MoreThe Story Of The Hour Identity Essay1050 Words   |  5 PagesWoman with Identity Issues in The story of the Hour As the title suggests â€Å"The story of the hour† is a story written by Kate Chopin which happens in an hour span of a woman. The story revolves around an ill young woman named Louis Mallard whose husband was involved in a tragic train accident. The author developed many themes around the incidents that happen in that one hour, which are very differently interpreted than the usual norm for the times when this story was written. The themes of life, deathRead More Oppression of Women in Chopins Story of an Hour and Gilmans Yellow Wallpaper 1246 Words   |  5 PagesChopins Story of an Hour and Gilmans Yellow Wallpaper    The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman share the same view of the subordinate position of women in the late 1800s. Both stories demonstrate the devastating effects on the mind and body that result from an intelligent person living with and accepting the imposed will of another. This essay will attempt to make their themes apparent by examining a brief summery of their stories and relatingRead MoreKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour1921 Words   |  8 Pagesapproaches. For Kate Chopin, the famous author of â€Å"The Awakening† and â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, her most successful approach was to provide audiences with short stories that proposed meaningful and strong messages. However, Kate Chopin’s powerful feminist images that were present throughout her writing has mostly flaunted Chopin as only a â€Å"pioneering feminist writer,† which has led to other messages Chopin incorporated in her writing into bei ng overlooked. In Kate Chopin’s, â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the shortRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour And A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis1297 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopins The Story of an Hour and William Faulkners â€Å"A Rose for Emily tells the story of women who face isolation and struggle with their own terms of freedom upon the death of a male figure in their life. Louise and Emily come from different time periods, backgrounds, and have different experiences, yet both share commonality in that they have let themselves be affected by the unrealistic expectations placed on them as traditional ladies. Both of these characters are commonly misconstruedRead More Comparison of Kate Chopins Story of an Hour and William Faulkners A Rose for Emily1437 Words   |  6 Pagescitizens. The Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion. The background of bothRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour And The Story Of An Hour2009 Words   |  9 PagesWomen are taught from a young age that marriage is the end all be all in happiness, in the short story â€Å"The Story of An Hour† by Kate Chopin and the drama â€Å"Poof!† by Lynn Nottage, we learn that it is not always the case. Mrs. Mallard from â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and Loureen from â€Å"Poof!† are different characteristically, story-wise, and time-wise, but share a similar plight. Two women tied down to men whom they no longer love and a life they no longer feel is theirs. Unlike widows in happy marriagesRead MoreFeminism During 19th Century American Short Stories4097 Words   |  17 PagesKaylee Gould Ms. Henderson 3rd period Feminism in Late 19th Century American Short Stories Research Question: How is feminism revealed through the divergence of women’s roles in society and their own personal desires in the American short stories â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper,† â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† â€Å"The Storm,† and â€Å"Life in the Iron Mills†? Introduction Literature changes as current events change and as the structure of society begins to shift. American feminist literature started to become prevalent

Marketing Audits and Its Importance to an Organisation Free Essays

Marketing Audits and its importance to an organisation As of I am starting to write this essay, an historic and astonishing incident happened in US—Standard Poors first time downgraded American Federal Bonds form AAA to AA+. Look at the messed up world economic picture–US is suffering from recession without any better signs, Europe is struggling with debt crisis, only growth engine China is also slowing down. We are facing the greatest uncertainty ever experienced before, as for economic society, walking away from this desperate situation needs to review history and find appropriate tools, from an organisation’s point of view, one of the effective tools is to seek for effective and regular marketing audits to cope with rapidly changing economic environment. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Audits and Its Importance to an Organisation or any similar topic only for you Order Now Definition and Purposes of Marketing Audit The concept of marketing audit dated back to 1950s and evolved through application phase of 1960s, turbulent 1970s, growing period of 1980s and 1990s until now. The followings are several definitions of marketing audits: A comprehensive examination of an organisation’s marketing structure, programs and performance†Ã¢â‚¬â€-Peter Rix, Marketing-a practical approach â€Å"Systematic, critical, rigorous and unbiased study of efficiency of all marketing activities within an organisation extending to evaluation of each and every functional objective and their effective coordination†Ã¢â‚¬â€-Brian Monger, Marketing in black white â€Å"A periodic, comprehensive, systematic, and independent examination of the organisation’s marketing environment, internal marketing system and specific marketing activities†Ã¢â‚¬â€-Philip Kotler The purposes of marketing audit are to find marketing opportunities, locate marketing issues, seek right short term and long term solution, which ensure the implementation of marketing plans or the revision of unreasonable plans to improve an organisation’s overall marketing performance. Components of the Marketing Audit An effective and rounded marketing audit covers six components: 1/ Marketing Environment Audit Through auditing marketing environment in which it operates, an organisation could find if its marketing strategy is adapt to the marketing environment, and if any changes needed. The marketing environment consists of two subclasses, one is the macro environment which includes political/legal, economic, social/cultural and technological, and another one is industry and competitive environment. In short, PEST+C. 2/ Marketing Strategy Audit It mainly examine whether or not an organisation’s goals and objectives reflect market orientation, if the organisation takes right competition position, seizes market opportunities and allocates appropriate resources. 3/ Marketing Organisation Audit The marketing auditor needs to consider the decision-making ability of marketing organisation, as well as its ability of analysis, planning and execution. Other factors include its strain capacity to market, and its interaction with other function departments. 4/ Marketing Systems Audit It focuses on whether or not an organisation has well-established and effective systems for information gathering, planning and control. All these systems can be classified as internal systems, external systems, vertical and horizontal marketing systems. A vertical marketing system (VMS) is one in which the main members of a distribution channel—producer, wholesaler, and retailer—work together as a unified group in order to meet consumer needs. A horizontal marketing systems(HMS) means in which members at the same level in a channel of distribution band together in strategic alliances or joint ventures to exploit a new marketing opportunity. 5/ Marketing Productivity Audit A marketing organisation needs analyses on profits, cost-benefit, the audit covers performance examinations on sale-profit rates, costs of marketing, collection and inventory, etc. It also examines if there exists excessive cost expenditure and corresponding solutions on cost reduction. 6/ Marketing Function Audit Marketing function audit targets on marketing elements such as products, prices, places and promotions, as well as performance evaluation on marketing organisation, it consists of overall audit, sales audit, market investigation audit, and advertising audit. The auditors, through marketing function audit, may spot issues within marketing management and make relevant recommendations. Main Characteristics of the Marketing Audit Marketing Audit is a process of comprehensive, systematic and independent analysis and assessment of company’s marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities to identify problem areas and operational strengths and weaknesses and recommends the courses of action to be taken to improve company’s overall marketing performance and make marketing strategies and plan more effective and result oriented. The main characteristics can be summarised as the followings, 1/ It should be comprehensive and broad in focus covering the entire marketing environment of the company. / It should be an objective exercise and independent of the managers directly involved in making the marketing decisions. 3/ It should be a systematic and orderly sequence of diagnostic steps as compared to an unstructured and random investigation. 4/ It should be carried out periodically. The marketing audit should be undertaken on a regular basis and not only when major problems arise. Main eleme nts to be included in a marketing audit The key elements of a marketing audit are: 1/ Marketing Mix For products it includes Product, Price, Place-distribution and Promotion For services it includes Product, Price, Place-distribution, Promotion, People, Processes and Physical Environment 2/ Product Life Cycle [pic] 3/ Competitive Advantage A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices. 4/ Internal and external assessment – SWOT – PEST The Marketing Audit Process and Participants likely to be involved The marketing audit process proceeds with the following steps, Firstly, setting up the audit objectives and scope, preparing relevant documentation, deciding time period for the audit. Secondly, gathering the data, conducting interviews and inquiries. Finally, preparing the audit report, presenting conclusions and providing relevant solutions. Bearing in mind, ‘the most valuable part if the marketing audit often lies not so much in the auditor’s specific recommendations but in the process that managers begin to go through to assimilate, debate, and develop their own concept of the needed marketing action. —The Marketing Audit Comes of Age by Philip Kotler, William T. Gregor and William H. Rodgers III The participants likely to be involved cover all stakeholders including management levels, ordinary staff, suppliers, dealers, customers even shareholders and communities the organisation located in. Who of these stakeholders and to what extent get involved in the aud it depend on the organisation’s specific requirements. Times when a marketing audit should be undertaken The marketing audits could be undertaken on conventional and unconventional bases, which means on one hand an organisation needs to conduct regular and periodic audit and examine whether or not it and its each function unit achieve setting goals and objectives, if any changes needed to its strategy, on the other hand, if an organisation’s internal departments or independent units are performing poorly, it should carry a thorough marketing audit to help them find reasons and improvement methods. Various forms of a marketing audit The marketing audit must be carried independently by an inside audit, onducted by a person or group inside the company but outside the operation being evaluated, or an outside audit conducted by a management consulting firm or practitioner. Why they are considered to be one of the most practical and profitable tools available to a marketer. The marketing audits cover all major marketing areas of a business, not just a few trouble spots. It assesses the marketing environment, marketing strategy, the marketing organisation, marketing systems, the marketing mix and marketing productivity and profitability. The audit is normally conducted by an objective and experienced outside party who is independent of the marketing department. The finding can come as a surprise, and sometimes as a shock, to management. Management then decides which actions make sense and how and when to implement them. The marketing audits prompt to make marketing strategy and plan properly, are beneficial for matching a business’ internal resources with external resources, realise better and profitable operating results. How to cite Marketing Audits and Its Importance to an Organisation, Papers

American Comedy

American Comedy-Drama Essay My devised theme is The Truth about Teenagers and its directed at teenagers to show them a different side of what they may think and know teenagers to be about. The films I have researched are Kidulthood, directed by Menhaj Huda; and Juno, directed by Jason Reitman. The theme of both films is teenagers, however theyre about completely different things Kidulthood is a British Drama about deprived teenagers who make trouble, its very dramatic and serious. However, Juno is an American Comedy-Drama about a very independent-minded teenager who becomes pregnant by accident. Its a lot more light-hearted and cheerful than Kidulthood. This is shown by the music, language and storyline of the films. Throughout Kidulthood there is swearing, violence, drugs and sex shown in dark and uneasy situations with a lot of tension and fear. Its naturalistic because it is shown in an ordered progressive way. It focuses on only one day in the life of teenagers. Juno is quite the opposite with no drugs or violence, but more about how different people, like Junos parents and boyfriend, respond to her situation shown in a less dramatic, easy-going way. Juno is more non-naturalistic because it shows events in different orders with flashbacks. However Juno is about pregnancy, which is a main part of the storyline in Kidulthood but because of the settings and characters of the films, the situation couldnt be more different. The main themes in Kidulthood are violence, solidarity and power. In Juno the main themes are pro-life, choices and relationships. Both films are set in the modern day. Kidulthood is set in Central London and Juno is set in Canada. London is busy, potentially dangerous and full of youths whereas the place in Canada is portrayed as quiet and friendly. We know its set in the modern day because of the language and the sights we see in the film and some references to famous people in this day. In Kidulthood the teenagers use words like innit and wagwan and swear a lot and use slang in aggressive ways. Whereas in Juno they use modern-day American slang like dude and jeez but it isnt used in an aggressive way. In Juno there are references to famous Americans like Woody Allen. In Kidulthood you see sights like London Underground and Oxford Street, which show you what time it is set in. In both films a character becomes pregnant. In Kidulthood, Alisa falls pregnant and her best friend tries to persuade her to abort the baby and there is a lot of negative attitude towards the situation. In Juno, Juno becomes pregnant but she is told she can make her own decision and everyone is relatively calm about it. The characters in Kidulthood are rebellious; they drink, smoke, take drugs and have sex. In Juno, although she does become pregnant, she and the rest of the characters arent into going out late and taking drugs etc. In my opinion both texts explore the themes successfully. In Kidulthood the themes of violence and power are thoroughly explored. I think it is successful in the respect that it has appealed to teenagers; however, I think Kidulthood shows only one perspective of how teenagers behave. I like the way it shows how they are becoming more involved in the adult world but I think it is exaggerated and sensationalist. I think focusing on only one group in society restricts Kidulthood. Juno is very sensitive in its treatment of a pregnant teenage girl. It looks at the perspective from the boy, the girl and adults. Therefore Juno is less focused on just one group and we are able to see other peoples opinions as well as the main characters. It shows that you dont have to be a bad person to make mistakes, which is the way Kidulthood comes across. In conclusion I think Juno shows a more balanced view on teenagers and is generally a more positive film.