The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Essay Example for Free

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Essay William Gibsons play, The Miracle Worker, illustrates how people who triumph over hardships can succeed in achieving their goals. The play follows Annie Sullivan, a half-blind northern young woman, as she travels to Post-Civil War Tuscumbia, Alabama in order to teach Helen Keller, a blind and deaf little girl. When she arrives in Alabama, Annie meets Helens family members; her father, Captain Keller, is a stubborn, commanding former Civil War captain and her mother, Kate Keller, is a young, overly protective woman, both of them have kept Helen almost as a pet because they did not know what to do with her or how to treat her. In order for Annie to succeed in teaching Helen, she has to battle with Captain Kellers stubbornness, Kates overly protectiveness, and Helens combativeness. For instance, Annie is forced to show her combative side as she repeatedly faces off with Captain Keller to be able to teach Helen better. For example, Annie and Captain Keller argue at the breakfast table over how to teach Helen, and Captain Keller exclaims, I fail to see where you have taught her anything yet, Miss Sullivan! to which Annie responds angrily, Ill begin this minute if youll leave the room, Captain Keller! (Gibson 668). Captain Keller desperately wants to have peace at the breakfast table; however, Annie interrupts that peace by demanding that he leave the room. Annie knows that, in order for her to be able to discipline Helen, Captain Keller and Kate must leave the room so that they cannot interfere. In addition, Annie requests another week to teach Helen without the interference of her family, and Captain Keller exclaims, And what would one more week accomplish? We are more than satisfied, youve done more than we ever thought possible, taught her constructive(691). Captain Keller is more than satisfied because Annie has taught Helen manners and how to behave. Annie is frustrated with the Kellers because she knows that Helens learning manners is only the first step in her education; Annie wants to teach Helen communication, but knows that this skill is unattainable with Kate and Captain Kellers frequent interferences. Furthermore, at Helens welcome home dinner, Helen tests her parents and throws a water pitcher on Annie, Captain Keller tries to stop Annie from disciplining Helen, but Annie rounds on him and yells, Dont smooth anything else out for me, dont interfere in any way! I treat her like a seeing child because I ask her to  see, I expect her to see, dont undo what I do! (700). Helen has been in the garden house with Annie for the past two weeks, following rules day and night, and Captain Keller wants to make Helens welcome home dinner more enjoyable by allowing her more freedom than she has had in the past two weeks. Annie knows that if Captain Keller allows Helen to get her way, even once, all the progress she has made over the past two weeks will have gone to waste and she will return to her previous bad habits and distasteful manners. Annies being obstinate and her sheer will power help her to stand up to Captain Keller, insure that Helen can succeed in her learning and becoming able to communicate with a world from which she has been closed off. Moreover, Annie is driven to a constant battle of wills against Kates blinding love for Helen because this love interferes with Helens being able to learn from Annie, her teacher. For example, Annie turns indignant when Kate gives Helen a sweet after Helen stabs Annie with a needle, and Kate explains, We catch our flies with honey, Im afraid. We havent the heart for much else, and so many times she simply cannot be compelled (664). All Kate realizes is that Helens bad behavior stops when she is given candy, thus Kate accidentally rewards her for misbehaving. Annie feels frustrated because she knows that if Kate carries on rewarding Helen for bad behavior, Annie will never be able to rid Helen of her bad habits. In addition, when the Kellers are taken aback by Annies proposition of spending two weeks alone in the garden house, Annie explains, Mrs. Keller, I dont think Helens worst handicap is deafness or blindness. I think its your love. And pity (667). Annie knows that Mrs. Kellers love and pity for Helen has caused Kate to distort Helens differentiation between right and wrong, and Annie realizes that being alone with Helen will allow her to be taught without the interference of her mothers love. Annie thinks that this love and pity from Kate is Helens worst handicap because it prevents her from learning language and keeps Helen closed off from the world around her. Furthermore, Helen tests her family, and her teacher, when her welcome home dinner after her two weeks alone with Annie, repeatedly dropping her napkin, Kate tries to make excuses for her and supposes, Will once hurt so much, Miss Annie? Ivemade all Helens favorite foods, tonight (699). Kates desire to make Helen happy on her first night back blinds Kate to the  realization that if she allows Helen misbehave even once, the progress that Helen has made in the time she spent with Annie in the garden house will diminish and Annie will have to start teaching Helen all over again. Annie knows that if Helen realizes that she can get away with misbehaving, now that she is reunited with her family, she will revert back to her old ways and continue misbehaving. Because Annie fights with Kate to keep Helen in line, Annie is able to teach Helen how to act and behave like a seeing child, and begin to break through Helens shell that prevents her from learning language. What is more, due to her stubborn, fiery attitude, Helen forces Annie to battle with her in order for Annie to make Helen understand that everything has a name. For Example, upon first meeting Helen, Annie shows her a doll and immediately spells d-o-l-l into Helens hand, Helen, wanting the doll, rejects the spelling and whacks Annie over the head; as Annie gets up looking for Helen the narrator reveals, But rounding from the mirror she sees the door slam, Helen and the doll are on the outside, and Helen is turning the key in the lock, Annie darts over, to pull the knob, but the door is locked fast. (655). Helen has no desire to spell back to Annie, and when Annie will not give her the doll until she spells back she hits Annie with a haymaker and flees out the door. Due to her injury, Annie immediately realizes the difficulty she is going to have teaching Helen, and she becomes ever more determined to succeed in making Helen learn. In addition, Annie tries tirelessly to get Helen to eat her breakfast with a spoon, but the narrator reveals, She tries again this time Helen accepts the food. Annie lowers the spoon with a sigh of relief, and Helen spews the mouthful out at her face (672). Helen resents the attempts that Annie makes to teach her how to use proper manners and fights back bitterly with her entire arsenal of tricks. Annie, instead of being discouraged by the insult, is only more determined to succeed in teaching Helen table manners after having food spewed into her face. Furthermore, Helen proceeds to misbehave once she is reunited with her family, accumulating in her deliberately flinging a water pitcher at Annie; the narrator reveals, Annie gets her breath, the snatches the pitcher away in one hand, hoists Helen up bodily under the other arm, and starts to carry her out, kicking Annie takes Helen to the water pump  to refill the pitcher and it is there the miracle happens as Helen says Wah. Wah (and again with great effort) Wah. Wah' (701). Annie grabs Helen to take her outside to refill the water pitcher and, is rewarded when, once outside, Helen comes to the realization that the letters Annie has been spelling into her hand are indeed the names of the things around her. Helen, although originally furious at being dragged outside, is astounded when she comes to the realization that the things Annie has been tapping into her hand mean water, and she is even able to think back to before her disability when she could say Wah Wah. All of Annies efforts with Helen are finally rewarded when Helen is opened up as she realizes that everything does have a name. Annie succeeds in teaching Helen the meaning of language because she stubbornly battles Captain Keller, Kate, and Helen. Annie knows that Helens worst handicap is not her deafness or blindness, rather that she has been kept as a pet out of her parents love and pity. Captain Keller tries to stop Annie from disciplining Helen, but Annie ferociously demands for him to get out of the way and stop interfering. Annie triumphs over the difficulties she faces and succeeds in her goal of teaching Helen language and opening her up to let the world know the treasures she holds in her imagination.

Venture Capital Financing Essay -- essays research papers fc

What is Venture Capital   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Venture capital is money provided by professionals who invest alongside management in young, rapidly growing companies that have the potential to develop into significant economic contributors (NVCA). Venture capital is an important source of equity for start-up companies. These portfolio companies that receive venture capital are thought to have excellent growth prospects. Start-up companies don’t usually have the access to capital markets because they are private. Venture capitalists are one solution to financing high risk, but potentially high reward companies. Usually the investors receive a say in the company’s management, they may be on the board, and they expect to receive returns 5-10 times their investment of up to 50 million dollars (Burk). History of Venture Capital It is important to start out with the history of venture capital to see how it has grown as well as to show its ups and downs. It was thought to be developed in the years following WWII but it can actually be dated all the way back to partnerships in the Babylonian Code (Gompers). These Babylonian partnerships used gold or silver to finance caravans. The terms for were 12 years and 100% profits (Heise). Much later the first venture capital firm was established in 1946. Karl Compton, the MIT President, along with Georges Doriot, a Harvard Business School Professor, formed American Research and Development (ARD). There were also local businesses leaders involved in the project. During the war, there were many new technologies developed as well as other innovations from MIT. About half of ARD’s profits came from its investment in Digital Equipment Company in 1957. It had only invested $70,000 but had grown in value to $355 million. A decade later, many other venture capital firms were formed. They were all structured as publicly traded closed-end funds as were ARD’s. Closed-end are mutual funds whose shares must be sold to other investors, instead of being redeemed from the issuing firm. In 1958, the first venture capital limited partnership was formed, Draper, Gaither, and Anderson. Others soon followed suit, but limited partnership remained the minority during 1960’s and 1970’s. The rest were either closed-end funds, or small business investment companies. During these years, the total annual venture funds were small and never exc... ...try. They are very optimistic about the future of venture capital funding. They say this is due to the fact that more investors are investing in venture capital, as well as the increase of IPO’s (Raffa). Works Cited Bartlett, Joseph. Fundamentals of Venture Capital. Rowman Publishers, 1999. Burk, James, and Richard Lehman. Financing Your Small Business. Sphinx Publishing,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2004. Camp, Justin. Venture Capital Due Diligence. Wiley Inc, 2002. Gompers, Paul, and Joshua Lerner. Venture Capital Cycle. Cambridge: The MIT Press,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2000. Heise, John. â€Å"The History of the Bronze Age in Mesopotamia.† 1996. http://mahan.wonkwang.ac.kr/lecture/ancient/meso/sron/bronze_age.html National Venture Capital Association. 2005. http://nvca.org/ Raffa, David. â€Å"Pipe Dreams and Other Opportunities on the Venture Capital Road   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ahead.† 2004. www.catalyst-law.com/document/237 Sherman, Andrew. Raising Capital. 2nd ed. Amacon, 2005 Timmons, Jeffrey, et al. How to Raise Capital. McGraw-Hill Companies, 2004. Venture Capital Journal. Thomson Financial, 2005. http://www.venturecapitaljournal.net/vcj/topnews.html

How far is Hamlet dominated by a Christian worldview? Essay

England during the 17th century was a Christian society and country. All Children would most certainly have been baptised shortly after birth and once at a suitable age capable of understanding religion would be taught the essentials of Christian faith. Attendance at church was compulsory; failure to do so without a good medical reason or otherwise would lead to a hefty fine. During the 16th century in England those of Christian faith subsequently despised other races against that of Protestantism, and any other religion or paranormal existence that they did not understand. The persecution of Jews within Elizabethan England meant the state forbade them the rights to ownership of land or to engage in trade. Shakespeare showed an incredible understanding and knowledge of issues and crises of his time, introducing burning issues of today into his deeply Christian country that showed an inability of understanding and respecting other faiths and religions. Within the pre-Elizabethan period and onwards society was influenced heavily by the head of state, religion and new theoretician’s ideas. A Theocentric world view stated that everything was circled around God, hence the ‘Divine Right of Kings’ , which derived itself from this idea, proclaiming the head of state was put into power due to the approval and justification of God. This idea generally became associated with the Christian faith during the Renaissance period of the late 16th and early 17th centuries which was spreading rapidly through Europe settling much cultural diversity. The Renaissance was a time of rebirth and massive cultural turmoil. Artists and performers of all kinds within Western Europe became more aware of the classical past and the world beyond the narrow boundaries of medieval mysticism and religion. Poetry and writing was nonetheless influenced heavily by the general acceptance to new ideas. Shakespeare shows that he was conscious of the feudal world within which he was raised, continuously questioning every aspect of society. Shakespeare would most definitely be considered to be a ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Modern Man’. Aristotelian Tragedy would have had some impressionable effect upon Shakespeare’s ideas. He would adopt the idea that every tragedy must contain a ‘Tragic Hero’, and that this person has a fatal flaw that will lead to his eventual downfall (and death). Also Seneca’s tragedies which were finally published in England in 1581 would have had some effect upon the way in which Shakespeare would have composed his plays. He adopted many ideas including, a supernatural being proposing revenge, characters driven to madness, embedded narratives within the play . etc. Christianity was not just a religion within 16th century England but a political pivot point for argument and debate. In 1559 Parliament enacted the ‘Act of Uniformity’ and the ‘Oath of Supremacy’. By the introduction of these two laws by Henry VII and his heir Elizabeth I ensured the loyalty of their strongest political supporters and in turn condemning Roman Catholics. The following is an excerpt taken from the ‘Oath of Supremacy’ published in 1559: †I [†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ] do utterly testify and declare in my conscience that the Queen’s Highness is the only supreme governor of this realm, and of all other her Highness’s dominions and countries, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal, and that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state or potentate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual within this realm.. † This quote fundamentally states the allegiance and sincerity of one towards the Head of State, swearing ones loyalty to them alone and not to another figure head or person of command. Despite political interventions within humanity and society, Shakespeare highlights issues which would then have been disregarded as being evil, such as apparitions and supernatural occurrences. Many examples could be identified however ones of relevance are plenty within ‘Hamlet’. Within Act I, Scene I an apparition of King Hamlet appears, which later on within the play urges Hamlet to avenge his death. This would heighten the audience’s suspense due to the drama involved. Shakespeare surprises both the audience and the characters within the play by introducing a ghost, creating a hugely effective atmosphere of anxiety and fear throughout the scene. Elizabethan people misunderstood paranormal existences and this phantom would have heightened their (the audiences) suspicions and fears towards them (the ghosts) furthermore. Many people of Shakespeare’s time regarded ghosts as the devil himself. The play is very much written in a pro-Christian era and many aspects of Christianity show through. Hamlet’s voice comes through however, sceptical of this. Hamlet contemplates the idea of committing suicide within his soliloquy in Act I, Scene II as he cries, ‘O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew, Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter. O God, O God! ‘ Here Shakespeare shows us that suicide is not favourably looked upon and even seen as an act that would leave you in purgatory (as is King Hamlet’s), waiting for one’s sins to be forgiven and for redemption to commence itself. Quote King Hamlet, ‘I was sent to my account with all the horrible imperfections on my head. O horrible, O horrible, most horrible! ‘ However it must not be forgotten that ‘Hamlet’ is first and foremost a play about revenge. Prince Hamlet was asked by his ‘father’ to pursue vengeance for this wrongdoing. An Elizabethan audience would understand the complication involved with the ideas of revenge. Shakespeare uses an allegory within the play, where Denmark represents England regarding views on Christian beliefs, such as suicide, death, redemption and paranormal beings . etc. Within the period of ‘Hamlet’s’ composition there were many factors which Shakespeare commented upon by incorporating them within his plays. By understanding the structure of society and the role that Christianity and religion played within Shakespearean England we empathize why within a few scenarios Hamlet was deterred from undertaking certain actions immediately, the murder of Claudius at prayer for example. The audience that viewed this play would also have related to Hamlet’s actions, his steadiness and composure with which he performed everything and acted. However to a modern day audience if Hamlet was a person living at present and was to act the way as Shakespeare intended him to then his actions would be heavily frowned upon by many as no longer do we (a majority [not applicable to religious followers] ) regard religion as a major factor within our lives. Due to our secular society, despite somewhat of a Christian favouritism in schools for example, we fail to identify (before education) with the way in which Prince Hamlet thinks. We ask the following question, why does Hamlet abide by the conceptual ideas laid down by society? Hamlet had no other choice than to undertake his actions the way he did as Shakespeare, his creator, wrote from influences surrounding him. England like Denmark was a troubled country as it still feared the spread of Roman Catholicism by another incident such as the failed Spanish Armada of 1588. In modern times, spanning over the last two centuries, many wars have been studied by people and they have come to the realisation that our world too is a world of politics with underlying motives such as a battle of religion. Issues such as feminism regarding ‘Hamlet’ have allowed various playwrights such as Heiner Muller, author of ‘Hamletmachine’ to show the subordination of women within society. He gives a voice to two main characters, Prince Hamlet and Ophelia, so that they are able to speak their minds within this bizarre production. The oppression and victimization of Ophelia is shown to the audience. Ophelia is allowed to make moral thoughts and decisions where in turn she can find herself as a person not just a sexual object. She shows this hatred towards the patriarchal society within which Shakespeare wrote the original ‘Hamlet’. Ideas of feminist movements are highlighted within ‘Hamletmachine’ in contrast to ‘Hamlet’, which shows women as objects controlled by men. (Ophelia controlled by her father Polonius. )(Gertrude controlled by her King, Claudius. ) And in turn it seems as though if women disobey their ‘masters’ they face the consequence that destiny presents to them, death. ‘There are more things dreamt of in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. ‘ What is philosophy? Philosophy is when there are no limits of exploration as to questioning underlying factors which makes this creation of life what it is. This is exactly what Hamlet says to Horatio in Act I, Scene VI, ‘There are more things dreamt of in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. ‘ What Hamlet is basically saying is never disbelieve. Anything is possible, never oppose, wrongfully criticize or demean an object never before witnessed or seen. A modern day audience would understand specific actions after having grasped what the 17th century religious influence within society was like. However the way in which the government intervenes itself regarding religion has greatly changed in that it is now no longer seen as a way to indoctrinate people and influence them.

St. Lucy s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves Is A Short...

St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves is a short story written by Karen Russell. The short story tells a fable about three sisters who were originally born and raised by werewolf parents and a werewolf associated community, and how they were sent to a school in order for them to become more civilized, thereby, they were considered as outcasts. The narrator of the story happens to be the second of the three sisters, Claudette. Claudette says, â€Å"They had ostracized the local wolves by having human children† (Russell 238). This quote illustrates that Claudette is implying that their parents were considered as outcasts in their own community for giving birth to children that look nothing like werewolves and look more like humans instead. The girls were sent to St. Lucy’s, because the nuns said they would teach them how to act like humans and become â€Å"Naturalized citizens of human Society† (Russell 238). The girls’ parents felt it was a good idea for the girls to learn how to behave as humans in order for them to be able to coexist in both the human community and the werewolf community. However, the short story operates as an allegory about the importance of being able to live in a society and know its expectations, as well as an allegory that emphasizes the tragedy of what is lost when one eventually gets acquainted and conforms to modern societal norms and expectations. Firstly, the short story speaks strongly about what the expectations that is required from someone