The Professors House Essays - The Professors House, Willa Cather

The Professor's House: A Loss of Identity In Willa Cather's The Professor's House, we see a changing persona in Godfrey St. Peter. Early in the story, St. Peter is a man continually looking and preparing for his future, a man who holds dear to his principles and ideals. The story concludes with an almost frail St. Peter, withdrawn from everything he deems important in his life. He abandons everything that has made him who he is and lives in the memory of his lost and "primitive" (Cather 241) youth. He longs for his Kansas boyhood when he truly lived as a boy more aware of the important things in life. It's an insight with reference to the intense memory of his fallen friend Tom Outland, who has become a symbol of St. Peter's lost youth. His growing distaste for society and how his family is caught up in its materialism makes him long for that world he believed to be pure and whole as a young Kansas boy (Hilgart 388). These intense emotions bring him to an indifference to life so great he is willing to accept death. Throughout the entire story, we see St. Peter growing more and more detached from his family. His manner at family dinner parties is mute and passive. Lillian, the professor's wife, has an acute awareness of St. Peter's changing manner yet cannot place it's cause. She lectures him and he gives her the excuse he is merely tired for never "slight [ing] anything" (Cather 143) in his life. St. Peter at this point knows this is a disguise for what he is truly feeling. His problem is the change he sees in his family. This change is mainly due to the introduction of his daughters' husbands, most notably Marsellus. Marsellus, Rosamond's husband, is perhaps the main culprit to this change. His money causes vanity in Rosamond, which in turn evokes jealousy in Kathleen, St. Peter's other daughter. We see the professor's perplexity at Lillian's change in attitude around Marsellus. She becomes caught up in his glitter and excess. Lillian is attracted to his vivacity and eagerness which is an almo st an exact contradiction to St. Peter's somber attitude. He remembers his daughters as innocent girls, untainted by the world, and a wife who responded to his youthful exhilaration as she does now to Marsellus. To St. Peter, an unfamiliar family is formed by this change and he, constrained by his values, does not change with them. His uncertainty of them is seen when he tells Lillian the story of Euripides going to live alone in a cave by the sea because his house had not agreed with him. St. Peter says to this, "I wonder whether it was because he (Euripides) had observed women so closely all his life" (Cather 136). The change in St. Peter's family is disappointing to him. He is a man with high expectations, morals, and a sense of what is good in people. We see his family betraying all these traits with their fondness for society's empty glamour. St. Peter remembers, with pleasure, his innocent girls wildly in love with Tom Outland and his stories of the Southwest. These memories bring an intense emotion of nostalgia for pure and wholesome days. Again, the professor's disappointment is seen over the sparring over the patent money. It is this money that has been the root of change St. Peter has begun to abhor. In addition, Tom Outland's memory has been tainted by this money. The professor believes the money is a smear on the pure and spotless story of Outland. He rejects this wealth because he will not participate in allowing his memory of Tom to be "translated into the vulgar tongue" (Cather 50). Cather portrays St. Peter as an individual set in his ways and not willing to change. It is this stubbornness which refuses to allow him to become like his family. He sees them as wrong because of their new attitude. St. Peter depicts his family's imperfection as being cause for his solitude. But it is St. Peter unwillingness to change and adapt that is the root of his problems. Lillian tells him this when she says, "One must go on living, Godfrey.

Ideas for Fun Dates for College Students

Ideas for Fun Dates for College Students Being in college doesnt mean youre limited with ideas for fun dates. Even though finding the money, getting off campus, and being alone can seem complicated, these fun date ideas are easy to plan and enjoy. Mix up the dinner-and-a-movie tradition. Sure, dinner and a movie can be fun but it can also be expensive. Consider mixing it up by doing breakfast, brunch, or lunch and a movie. Youll save money on lunch vs. dinner and a matinee vs. a late night show. Additionally, you can still enjoy the rest of the day ... with each other, too, if things go well. Head to a museum with an interesting exhibit. Youre both in college, meaning you both like to learn new things. Head to a museum with a new and interesting exhibit. Youll have time to talk and hang out while also doing something fun and relaxing. Think small and head to a concert. Tickets for your girlfriends/boyfriends favorite band are perhaps out of your budget. Instead, find a local band playing somewhere nearby. Youll have a more intimate experience, get to hear some great music, and still have a fun night out. Go for a classic at a not-so-classic place. Heading out for a nice dinner is a timeless date idea, but paying for a super nice meal often isnt in a college students budget. Instead, mix it up by heading to a hole-in-the-wall place or even to a place that serves cuisine that is new for both of you. Youll have fun while exploring something new together. Do something your date is really into. Is your date really into dancing, for example? Consider heading to a dance troupe performance or even doing a one-time lesson of a kind of dance he or she has never done. Do something youre really into. Conversely, you might be really into something youre date has never experienced. If, for example, youre really into astronomy, consider taking your date out to a planetarium or even somewhere where you can show him or her your knowledge of the constellations once the stars come out. Do something new to both of you. Never taken a cooking class? A kayaking class? Sign up for a local (and usually cheap!) class that offers a one-time session for an hour or two. Youll have fun, learn something new, and definitely have something to laugh about later. Head to a farmers market. Farmers markets are nearly everywhere these days. Even if you dont have anything specific to buy (or a kitchen to store a ton of veggies in), the trip to the market, the time you spend walking around, and the conversation you can have about all the different foods, arts and crafts, etc., are all perfect ingredients for a fun date. Go see a musical, play, performance, etc., off campus. Even if youre at a huge public university, chances are youll see someone one or both of you knows. Head off campus for some kind of show to make sure your date, well, really feels like a date. Do something physical if you both like being active. If both of you enjoy being active, dont be afraid to incorporate that into a date. You can go for a hike, volunteer somewhere, or otherwise do something fun and engaging outdoors.

Health, pharmaceuticals, and citizenship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health, pharmaceuticals, and citizenship - Essay Example Cancers are usually realized when they become obvious in an advanced stage requiring mastectomy. Also in the US women are more likely to learn how to deal with breast cancer through friends with the disease, support groups, and fund raising appeals. In Botswana because of the absence of oncology there is no collective experience of the disease or knowledge of the biomedical therapeutic process required for cure. Recently there have been some attempts to disseminate public knowledge through posters and other means, but they do not resonate in Botswana as they are copied from ones in the West and recommend unavailable screening and are without cultural adaptation. On the other hand, diseases such as HIV, hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis are well known, so Botswana patients have to learn to distinguish these diseases from cancer. Although Botswana has universal care it is geared to grappling with infectious diseases and mother-child health. Cancer is largely unknown by medical wo rkers except in a cancer ward in a public hospital. Furthermore, even in the hospital diagnosis and treatment are hampered by staff shortages and turnover, lack of modern functioning equipment, and appropriate drugs. There is also a high risk of co-infection with diseases such as HIV. Even when some women are told they have cancer, they may self deny until it advances and they are forced to deal with it. Also even many doctors in clinics and private hospitals deny the oncology because of ignorance of the disease and/or they don’t know how to deal with it. When arriving at the cancer treating hospital some patients are distrustful because they already had sought relief from Christian an Tswana prophetic leaders without success. Many do not understand biomedical explanations so it is better to talk in terms of analogies or say things like† you will hate my treatment, but

Learning and Development of Human Resource Management Essay

Learning and Development of Human Resource Management - Essay Example As employees make day-to-day decisions, it is very important that the decisions they will make are based on the Disney’s principles. The company’s principles are a vital inclusion to the induction program for the new recruit, as he or she will also need to make decisions in the future. In order to give the new recruit an idea of his or her job’s significance to the bigger picture, the job’s place according to the organizational structure. The place of the job in fulfilment of a bigger objective, when it is shown will give significance to the individual goal a new recruit has in fulfilment of his or her own job. The company’s policies as regards health, safety and environment should be included in the induction programme. This could include the company’s policy as regards requirements for medical examinations and provisions when employees acquire illnesses. Apart from the health, rules and policies about the company’s work environment should be included. These rules, especially about safety in using certain equipments should be clearly given to new recruits. Also, serious actions that the management will take when employees violate safety rules which could jeopardize the safety of other employees should be included. When there are accidents, emergency procedures should be part of the induction programme in order to provide the new recruit knowledge that will aid him or her in times of emergency or accidents within the work environment. Disney should include in its induction programme the clear set of duties and requirements of the job that the new recruit should fulfil. By making clear the demands of the job, the new recruit will know up to what extend he or she will be expected to perform, and what to perform. Apart from the duties, the number of work hours required for a certain job should also be

London Olympics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

London Olympics - Essay Example Sustainability is not probable as long as the expansion of capital enlarges the ranks of the poor and impedes the access to the resources needed for mere survival (Adams. 1992). Capitalism no longer needs growing armies of unemployed to ensure low wages, nor need it control vast areas to secure regular access to the raw materials and primary products for its productive machine; these inputs are now assured by new institutional arrangements that modified social and productive structures to fit the needs of capital (Lewis. 1954). At present, however, great excesses are generated, excesses that impoverish people and ravage the regions. Profound changes are required to facilitate a strategy of sustainable development. Ecotourism development strategies may contribute to promoting a new form of dualism: a dual structure that permits people to rebuild the rural societies, produce goods and services in a sustainable fashion while expanding the environmental stewardship services they have alw ays provided (Sen. 1981). In the absolute analysis, it is rediscovered tha... J., C. J. M. Musters, et al. 1996). Even in the poorest of countries, social chasms not only prevent resources from being used to ameliorate the situation, but in fact compound the damage by forcing people from the communities and denying them the opportunities to develop their own solutions (Baker, S., M. Kousis, et al. 1997). For this reason, the search for sustainability involves a dual strategy: on the one hand, it must involve an unleashing of the bonds that restrain people from strengthening the organizations, or making new ones, to use the relatively meagre resources to search for an alternative and autonomous resolution to the problems. On the other hand, a sustainable development strategy must contribute to the forging of a new social pact, cemented in the recognition that the eradication of poverty and the democratic incorporation of the disenfranchised into a more diverse productive structure are essential. In an Olympic first, the new policy confirms London 2012's commitment to the innovative 'One Planet Olympics' theme, which links enhancement of the local environment and sustainable development initiatives to tackling global issues such as climate change. Sustainability, then, is about the struggle for diversity in all its dimensions (Barraclough. 1991). International campaigns to conserve germplasm, to protect endangered species, and to create reserves of the biosphere are multiplying in reaction to the mounting offensive, while communities and their hard pressed members struggle against powerful external forces to defend their individuality, their rights and ability to survive while trying to provide for their brethren. The concern for biodiversity, in its broadest sense, encompasses not only threatened flora and fauna, but also the

Content Management Application on Cloud Platform

Content Management Application on Cloud Platform ABSTRACT The aim of the project is to develop a versatile Content Management application on cloud platform that serves common business purpose of ZTE Telecom Pvt. Ltd. With increasing numbers of orders and product enquiries, the company experiences a few problems such as difficulty in managing the content effectively and in a secure manner so that the user has a wonderful experience from purchase to payment. The project also comprises of a Data Migration application based on Dot Net technology. The Data Migration application has been developed to be integrated with the ZTE Content Management application on the cloud ensuring high security of the data being migrated. The main focus of the project is to provide security to the user in such a manner that data confidentiality, accessibility and authenticity is ensured. The security has been enforced such that the user will receive mails on his registered email Id on successive registration, placement of a new order and successful transaction .An email from the admin would be automatically sent to the user when any change is made in the order status placed by the user. The administrator has the power of tracking down the activities of various users , generate reports based on a weekly or monthly basis , generating dashboard reports , create workflows and approve processes and has full control over who can access which data. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW ZTE was originally founded as Zhongxing Semiconductor Co. Ltd. in Shenzhen, China in 1985.ZTE Telecom India Private Limited is a Chinese multinational telecommunication corporation and its head office is located in Shenzhen, China. It is a core product MNC whose main products are mobile phones, data telecommunications , wireless , access , exchange and optical transmission gear , telecommunications software. ZTE was the first Chinese corporation to ascertain the ISO 27001 ISM system successfully in 2005. It is one of the top ten largest smart phone manufacturers worldwide and amongst the top five in its home market. ZTE aspires to be a leader in global communication and provide satisfactory products and services to its worldwide clients and customers. 1.2 PROJECT Overview ZTE CMS is a secure content management system developed on Salesforce platform to meet the data management needs of ZTE. In order to be more productive in order processing, ZTE Telecom Pvt. Ltd. Requires a solution which can facilitate their current way of working with the use of cloud computing technology and software so that it can be accessed by all its branches all over the world. With a large number of orders it is extremely important for ZTE to manage the orders in an effective and efficient manner. It takes a large amount of time to tackle the complaints, track activities and generate reports. Hence, this system has been designed with the aim to provide a solution to these problems. ZTE Telecom needs an effective administrative system that should be built to suit their organizational demands. There exists no readymade system that meets the complete requirement set of the organization. The system is primarily designed to deal with the sales process of the company but in future, will possess the ability to integrate and extend to other processes such as suppliers. 1.3 Purpose a.There is a need of a data management system which provides effective management as well as ensuring security of the data. b. User can register, login , view products , create an order. c. The user is informed through email whenever any change is made to the order status placed by him. d. The complaints can be easily tackled so that the customer has a satisfactory experience during any purchase from ZTE. e. The administrator must have full control over the control flow of the whole process and must be able to monitor the activities and generate records. f. There is also the need for a data migration application which has to be integrated with the Salesforce app so that the data can be uploaded on the cloud with the desktop application. This also serves as a shortcut for this whole project. 1.4 Scope of Project Scope of this project is to investigate and design a solution which can facilitate ZTE in performing their daily tasks, improving efficiency, and helping them to be more productive and secure.This project will provide a solution through which ZTE can easily manage, handle and generate all required information when needed. It will help them to manage order details, historical data, manage data queries and also is producing the documents of reports and dashboards weekly or monthly accordingly. This solution will help ZTE in reducing effort spend on managing orders. Chapter – 2 Requirements The Secure Content Management and Data Migration on Cloudproject is a combination of software and hardware components, the focus of which is to provide security to the services related to sales and purchase and also to secure the data being migrated between the systems. 2.1 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS Group of computers minimum Pentium III 512 megahertz (MHz) or faster processor 128 MB RAM Routers and switches. Internet Connection 2.2 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS Windows 95/98/2000/NT/ME/XP/Vista/Seven Antivirus 2.3 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS System must be capable of adding/modifying customer. Customer must be able to outlook his/her details only. Customer must be able to outlook his/her details only. Customer must be able to see his/her order history. Each customer must be able to view placed order status. Customer must receive a mail for new registration. Customer must receive a mail for new order and transaction process. The admin must be able to change the status of the order between order executions. The system must guarantee secure access to the stored data, managing the permissions according to the user profile. System must support easy addition of functionalities and enhancements. 2.4 NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS System shall be accessible from anywhere in the world. System connectivity with the internet. 2.5 REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS 1)Salesforce Salesforce.com is a cloud computing and SaaS(Software as a Service) provider headquartered in San Francisco. The company was founded in March 1999 and is well known for its CRM (Customer Relationship Management) product which comprises of Work.com, Sales cloud, Force.com ,Marketing cloud ,Service cloud and Chatter. Figure 1 Overview of Salesforce Services provided: AppExchange Chatter Dashboards and Reports Email Campaigns , Leads and Opportunities Salesforce uses MVC architecture for providing better performance to its consumers where: M: Model V: View C: Controller Model: It represents the data and the schema which are utilized by the Salesforce to completely represent the system. In Salesforce, we can assume that the sObjects act as models as every entity in salesforce is mapped to some sObjects. It notifies its associated views and controllers when there has been a change in its state. View: Aviewrequests from the model the information that it needs to generate an output representation. It focuses on how the schema and data is represented.Visualforce is used to present the data to users. Controller: Acontrollercan send commands to its associated view to change the view’s presentation of the model (e.g., by scrolling through a document). It can also send commands to the model to update the model’s state (e.g., editing a document). Fig: MVC Architecture Figure 2 Types of Licenses 2) APEX Apex is an object oriented programming language for development on Force.com platform and the calls can be made to the Force.com API. Apex helps in adding business logic to the events in a system making use of button clicks, writing VisualForce pages and apex code can be initiated through triggers. Apex is a strongly-typed, object-oriented programming language that lets you centralize and execute flow and transaction control statements on the Force.com platform in conjunction with application calls to Force.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹APIs. Using syntax that looks like Java and acts like database stored procedures, Apex lets you add powerful custom business logic to most system events, including button clicks, related record updates, and Visualforce pages. Web service requests and database triggers on objects can also initiate the execution of Apex code. As a language, Apex is: Integrated Apex provides built-in support for common Force.com platform idioms, including: †¢ Data manipulation language (DML) calls, such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, that include built-in DmlException handling †¢ Inline Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) and Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) queries that return lists of sObject records †¢ Looping that allows for bulk processing of multiple records at a time †¢ Locking syntax that prevents record update conflicts †¢ Custom public Force.com API calls that can be built from stored Apex methods Apex Use Apex if you want to: †¢ Create Web services. †¢ Create email services. †¢ Perform complex validation over multiple objects. †¢ Create complex business processes that are not supported by workflow. †¢ Create custom transactional logic (logic that occurs over the entire transaction, not just with a single record or object.) †¢ Attach custom logic to another operation, such as saving a record, so that it occurs whenever the operation is executed, regardless of whether it originates in the user interface, a Visualforce page, or from SOAP API. Figure 3: Programming elements in Apex Apex has the following types of collections: †¢ Lists (arrays) †¢ Maps †¢ Sets A list is a collection of elements, such as Integers, Strings, objects, or other collections. Use a list when the sequence of elements is important. You can have duplicate elements in a list. List My_List = new List(); List list_name [= new List();] | [=new List{value [, value2. . .]};] | ; A set is a collection of unique, unordered elements. It can contain primitive data types, such as String, Integer, Date, and so on. It can also contain more complex data types, such as sObjects. Use the following syntax for creating a set: Set set_name [= new Set();] | [= new Set{value [, value2. . .] };] | ; The following example creates a set of String. The values for the set are passed in using the curly braces {}. Set My_String = new Set{a, b, c}; A map is a collection of key-value pairs. Keys can be any primitive data type. Values can include primitive data types, as well as objects and other collections. Use a map when finding something by key matters. You can have duplicate values in a map, but each key must be unique. Map map_name [=new map();] | [=new map {key1_value => value1_value [, key2_value => value2_value. . .]};] | ; The following example creates a map that has a data type of Integer for the key and String for the value. In this example, the values for the map are being passed in between the curly braces {} as the map is being created. Map My_Map = new Map{1 => a, 2 => b, 3 => c}; Visualforce Visualforce consists of a tag-based markup language that gives developers a more powerful way of building applications and customizing the Salesforce user interface. With Visualforce you can: †¢ Build wizards and other multistep processes. †¢ Create your own custom flow control through an application. †¢ Define navigation patterns and data-specific rules for optimal, efficient application interaction. Enable Visualforce Development Mode Development mode embeds a Visualforce page editor in your browser that allows you to see code and preview the page at the same time. Development mode also adds an Apex editor for editing controllers and extensions. 1. Click Your Name > Setup > My Personal Information > Personal Information. 2. Click Edit. 3. Select the Development Mode checkbox, then click Save. Your Stuff Here Step 2: Add Additional Components You’ve created a page, used the component, and changed its behavior. You’ll typically want to use additional components that supply a lot more functionality. Visualforce comes with a few dozen built-in components, and you can install and build your own components to extend this set. In this lesson you’ll learn how to locate them, and use one. 1. Click the Component Reference link in the Page Editor. A help popup window displays with all available components. 2. Click . A description of what the component does, and what attributes you can add to change its behavior displays in the Component Details tab. 3. Click the Usage tab to see an example of how to use the component. You’ll notice that the component is often used with the component. Click to learn more about that component. In general, you’ll dip into the component reference whenever you need to. You’ll soon learn what the major components do—and while some of them take a large number of attributes, in practice you will only use a handful. Now add both components to your page. We’re going to go a little faster here—see if you can do this without looking at the final code below: 4. Within the component, add an component with a title attribute set to A Block Title. 5. Within the component, add an component, with its title attribute set to A Section Title. 6. Within the , add some text, like Im three components deep! 7. Click Save. Your final code will look something like this: Im three components deep! Step 3: Add Nested Components Im three components deep! This is another section. What are the Limitations of Apex? Apex radically changes the way that developers create on-demand business applications, but it is not currently meant to be a general purpose programming language. As of this release, Apex cannot be used to: †¢ Render elements in the user interface other than error messages †¢ Change standard functionality—Apex can only prevent the functionality from happening, or add additional functionality †¢ Create temporary files †¢ Spawn threads Features of Apex: Apex is integrated: Apex provides built in support for DML calls, SOQL and SOSL queries, looping , locking syntax and making custom API calls. Apex is easy to use: Apex resembles Java and the syntax and semantics are quite familiar and thus the code is easy to write and understand. Apex is data focused :Apexis designed to combine multiple queries and DML statements into a single unit of work on Force. com. Apex is rigorous :Apex is a strongly typed language and stores all custom objects , fields , class dependencies in metadata so that active apex code can make use of it and there is no risk of deletion. Apex is hosted: Apex is implemented and controlled completely by Force.com platform. Apex is multitenant aware :Apexruns in a multitenant environment and specially designed to help against runaway code. Apex is automatically upgradable :No separate changes have to be made to Apex when the system is upgraded ; it gets updated automatically with the system. Apex is easy to test :Apex provides built in support for unit testing and thus you can test if all your classes and objects are working accordingly before putting your app in the SendBox. 3) MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO 2010 It is an IDE {Integrated Development Environment} by Microsoft. It is used to develop programs for Windows as well as websites and web services. It supports different programming languages. Two types of applications can be built using VB.NET: VB.NET has various important features: It is an object oriented language and supports inheritance. It is type safe and supports exception handling. Other features are method overriding, overloading, constructors with parameters, multithreading etc. Events in VB.NET: Events are defined by using the Event keyword. Chapter -3 Overview of current working The Secure Content Management and Data Migration on Cloud is managing all customers, orders, and transactions with the help of a Content Management application implemented on the Salesforce using the Apex programming language. The objects involved are as following: User Product Order Order Detail Transaction Complaint The process of the Secure Content Management is as follows: 3.1 User Registration This step involves the registration of the new customer requiring the relevant information. When the registration is successfully done, then a mail is triggered to the customer on its Email Id which contains its Username and Password which the user requires while login. 3.2 Login Once the customer login into its account, a User Id is being allotted to him which is required in the application for various purposes. 3.3 Order This step involves the following sub Processes: Initiation of Order This step involves receiving order from customer selecting the products from various products available and also in stock. While ordering, an Order Id is being generated on each order and is provided to the customer for its record basis or for any query . Order List This tab views all the orders list which was being placed by the customer along with their Order Id, Product being ordered and the Order amount and quantity. Order Info This functionality performs the function of finding the status of the order being placed by the customer based on the Order Id. 3.4 Order Trigger A trigger is being implemented on the Order object such that when any order is being placed, a mail is received by the customer containing the Order Id, Status, Amount and other relevant information. 3.5 Transaction While the order is being placed the customer create a new transaction which generates a transaction Id and sends the request to the bank for further process. It is supposed that when the acknowledgement is being received from the bank, the admin updates the status of the Order of the customer and a mail will be received by the customer related to the successful transaction. It also contains the list of all the transaction and also the transaction search function. 3.6 Complaint If the customer is having any complaint related to the company or the product or any service, then the customer can file a complaint in this section to the authority and a complaint Id will be provided to him for any query or search. The complaint will be send to the respective member of the company which will perform the necessary actions. 3.7 Generate Bill Once the order is being completed, a bill will be generated containing all the necessary information required by the customer. The system also has the additional functionality: 1. The administrator has full control over the system and has the authority of keeping the information secure by deciding data accessibility based on roles and permissions 2. The administrator can track all the activities happening on the system. 3. Dashboard reports can be generated in order to gain graphical insight of the data. 4. Leads and opportunities can be managed which help in the growth of the business. 5. Automatic mails are sent to the user on creation of an account, placement of an order, and on any change in the order status. 6. Workflows and approval processes can be created within the company for the approval required on things. 7. A data migration application has been designed using VB.NET which is integrated with the Salesforce app and helps in migrating data to the cloud through this desktop application. The whole process is secured by generating a unique security token. 1

The Importance of Literary Trash :: Personal Narrative Essays

The Importance of Literary Trash I've heard it said that the goal of "serious literature" is to illuminate the human condition. If that is the case, the error of serious literature is that it is far too simple-minded and attempts to illuminate the human condition by portraying it directly. The great strength of myth, legend and their modern-day successor trashy genre fiction is that they don't just show us the human condition, but interpret, highlight and contrast it by showing us the larger than life symbols. The courage and romance that allows us to survive and to savor daily life are the core of myth and genre. There they are made larger than life and inspire us to aspire to a greatness that goes beyond simple daily experience. The other failing of modern "serious literature" is the failing of all modern art: art for art's sake. Modern art far too frequently is nothing more than the artist showing off the techniques they would use if they were ever to create a true work of art. And so we see the sense of color that they would use if they ever a picture and so on. Technique becomes all important and content is eschewed as distracting from the true art, meaning the simple skills and techniques. An irony of this great "art for art" mistake is that one of its first and most eloquent spokesmen, Theophile Gautier, put forth his position in the introduction of his romantic novel "Mademoiselle de Maupin", whose title character whose adventurous life would make a rip-roaring and thoroughly trashy adventure novel, if only the author had wished to actually tell a story. Jessica Amanda Salmonson, in her introduction to "Amazons II", gives us a two-page summary of the life, loves, and adventures of the historical "La Maupin", actress, duelist and lover that is both exciting and tantalizing, and which has at least as much plot in its 2 pages as Gautier's novel. Stephen Donalson claimed at the second World Fantasy Convention (or was it the third?) that he never read any non-fiction because all of the great insights that people told him they got from non-fiction works he had found long before in fictional tales. From context, it was clear that much of that fiction was fantasy and science fiction. While I won't go as far as Donalson, his point is similar to my own.