Facebook Dilemma Essay Example

Facebook Dilemma Essay Example Facebook Dilemma Essay Facebook Dilemma Essay Essay Topic: Emma Executive Summary The following report is based on the case study ‘facebook dilemma’. Facebook offers various ways for its users to interact. Facebook is a social network service that allows its users to create a profile and join various types of self-contained networks such as colleges and universities. Facebook is an internet born company that uses web 2. 0 technologies. This report outlines the communication concept used by facebook. It also states how e-commerce and web 2. 0 technologies made facebook popular by allowing advertisers to target their audiences through facebook. In facebook businesses can place advertisements that are fully integrated into primary features of the site, such as news feed which is a continually updating list of news stories, about member’s friend’s activities on facebook. The report also covers the weaknesses of facebook’s privacy policies and features and what management, organisation, and technology factors contributed to those weaknesses. It states how the launch of beacon services, effected facebook. The report also explains briefly the communication model of facebook. Introduction Facebook is king of the social networking sites. Prior to its inception in 2004, Myspace had ruled the internet as the premier place for people to meet and interact on the World Wide Web. However, in 2004 Facebook completely changed how social network is to operate, and they have become the most popular social destination on the Web. Popularity is great, but a company still has to be able to pay their bills and have some profit left over. Despite their success, Facebook has had a difficult time becoming profitable. Over the years they have tried many times to get over the hump in profitability. The purpose of this paper is to answer specific questions pertaining to Facebook and their attempts to build their profit. Q1. What communication concepts are illustrated in this case? The communication concept that is illustrated in the case study ‘Facebook Dilemma’ is that facebook is a internet born company (i. e. E-commerce). Facebook offers various ways for its users to interact. It has got over 118 million worldwide users. Facebook is a social network service that allows its users to create a profile and join various types of self-contained etworks such as colleges (Riva, R 2008). E-commerce is the use of the internet and the Web to conduct business. A social network such as facebook is an online site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people. Facebook, not just only uses e-commerce to conduct business but goes a little deeper because it involves the concepts that are part of the basic construct of e-commerce. Commu nications in a social network service is mainly done through discussion groups, messaging, chat rooms, email videos, blogging and file sharing (Joseph, V 2010). Facebook site includes a wide variety of array tools that allow users to connect and interact with other users including messaging, groups, photo sharing and user created applications† (Riva, R 2008). Facebook involves richness, interactivity, information density, personalization/customization Richness is the complexity and content of a message. Interactivity is how e-commerce allows for two-way communication. Information density is the total amount and quality of the information available to all market participants, consumers, and merchants. Finally, personalization/customization is how merchants can target their messages to specific individuals to promote their products. Facebook represents opportunities for the advertisers to reach highly targeted audiences based on the user’s selection for the criteria’s such as hobbies, preference, regions and many more criteria and all this is done in the comfort of the user’s home. Business has the opportunity to advertise on facebook, the website is fully integrated with the advertisement, some examples of this, is Newsfeed which tells the company about the user’s friend’s activities (Riva, R 2008). Big brands and companies target their customers through facebook by offering them some kind of deals. As facebook as got more than 118 million worldwide users, it is a great platform for the businesses to advertise and reach their customers in every corner of the world. Facebooks failed attempt to utilize Beacon marketing software to promote sales and purchases of their constituents. Beacon was a program that would communicate what was purchased to Facebook members friends in order to entice them to shop their site (Riva, R 2008). Q2. What is the role of e-commerce and Web 2. technologies in Facebook’s widespread popularity? In the early days, business communication was largely defined by a publishing or broadcasting mindset. Externally, a company released carefully scripted messages to a mass audience that often had few, if any, ways to respond. Likewise customers and other interested parties had few ways to connect with one another to ask questions, share information, or off er support. Internally communication tended to follow the same â€Å"we talk you listen† model, with upper managers issuing activities to lower level supervisors and employees (Joseph, V 2010). One of the main factors of facebook popularity, is due to e-commerce and web 2. 0 technologies. â€Å"Facebook is a great tool for advertisers to reach highly targeted audiences based on their demographic information, hobbies and personal preferences, geographical regions and other narrowly specified criteria in a comfortable and engaging environment† (Riva, R 2008). Web 2. 0 can be described as a trend that revolves around using interactive, community-driven sites to promote the sharing of information, networking and other forms of collaboration among users. In a web 2. environment customers are able to interact with the business and actually play a significant role in the company’s success. This new way of web interaction is quickly replacing the dull static websites of past times. These days user can interact with the website content and get involved in ways that were not possible before. Facebook is a great example of web 2. 0 technologies. In facebook businesses ca n place advertisements that are fully integrated into primary features of the site, such as news feed which is a continually updating list of news stories about member’s friend’s activities on facebook. Firms can also create facebook pages where users can learn more about and interact with their companies. For example restaurants can advertise by having facebook, placing items in the news feed of its customers indicating that those people ate there recently. â€Å"Blockbuster has recent rentals and reviews of its movies appearing in similar fashion. Many companies, including eBay, Sony pictures, The New York Times and Verizon maintain facebook pages where users can learn more about the company and its productâ€Å"(Riva, R 2008). Facebook is popular because it promotes social interaction, and it is the interactivity that is the basis for e-commerce. Consumers can meet their friends and do business. Facebook is like a gold mine for most advertisers because the site has gathered a huge amount of information and also because of the richness of the social networking environment. Facebook has also benefited from its status as first mover in the social networking market place, amassing a large audience who’s user don’t want to live facebook as they fear to leave there friends behind (Riva, R 2008) Q3. Describe the weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies and features. What management, organization, and technology factors have contributed to those weaknesses? Facebooks policies are not weak, but they have made weak decisions that have damaged their security credibility. Their weakness stems from the introduction of Beacon, the mishandling of News Feed, and the inefficient methods of deleting an account. Beacon was programming that shared users purchase information with their friends automatically. Beacon was intended to inform users when their friends made purchases and engaged in other activities outside facebook. The trouble with the service was that it shared information about the users they had not explicitly agreed to share (Riva, R 2008). Beacon was initially an opt-out program. If the user did not want the service, they had to manually turn it off. Beacon service was still sending information to facebook, even if the users opt-out. Many protest groups were created against beacon. â€Å"The civic action group moveOn. org created a facebook group to protest beacon and grew to over 50,000 members in 10 days† (Riva, R 2008). The Beacon program caused Coca-Cola and Overstock. om to pull their advertising and support away from Facebook. The launched and subsequent embarrassment of facebook damaged facebook’s reputation as a provider of safe, secure environment for its users. News Feed is another program that was abruptly introduced to the Facebook users that shares actions with everyone on the Facebook Web. News feed is a feature which provides updates to your friends when you pe rform actions via facebook, such as updating your profile, adding new friends, or adding new applications (Riva, R 2008). Facebook CEO Zuckerburg had to publicly apologize and explain to the users about News Feed to usurp a possible firestorm. Facebook has also come under the fire for its handling of the personal information of people who attempt to remove their profiles from the site (Riva, R 2008). Thought users were allowed to deactivate their account, the company’s servers still kept their data, in order to make reactivation process easier. All three areas that involved personal information and privacy were met with resistance. A lack of interaction with their users is what led to the weakness in their policies and procedures. Each action was not formally presented and outlined by the company. In each instance, they only fixed the problem after damage had occurred. Ultimately, it was their faulty decision making process, which lead to the weakness in their privacy policies. Q4. Does Facebook have a viable business communication model? Explain your answer. Facebook did not always have a viable communication model, but now they have one that could be successful. Facebook is following a trend that has been benchmarked by the Iphone and IPod markets by creating applications that compliment the base program. In May 2007, Facebook introduced Facebook Platform, which is an effort to open up its site to third-party developers to become a platform for their applications (Riva, R 2008). Facebook platform has been beneficial for both facebook as well as the developers who are creating applications for it. Facebook’s environment has become even more engaging and self-sufficient, and developers gained unparallel exposures for their applications. A small percentage of these applications have turned into viable businesses. Companies attracting large number of users to their applications on facebook are able to sell goods, services, or advertising (Riva, R 2008). This is a perfect marriage between developers and Facebook because the developers want exposure for their technology and products, while Facebook has network of over 118 million potential clients of the developers. As a result, the site is more engaging, and more innovative than ever before. Moreover, in March 2008, Facebook launched new privacy protocols that placed more control of privacy content in the hands of the users (Riva, R 2008). Users control who has access to the site, and what information the visitors will have a chance to view. Facebook’s growth has led Microsoft to purchase a stake in the company, buying 1. 6% of the company for $246 million (Riva, R 2008). Due to the above factors facebook’s value is increased to $15 billion. With all of their good news, it is imperative for Facebook to drive innovative application creation, and vigilantly protect the privacies of their users. Q5. If you were responsible for coordinating Facebook’s advertising, how would you balance the desire to become increasingly profitable with the need to protect the privacy of your users? In terms of advertising, I know that I have the advantage at the negotiating table because I have a large treasure of potential customers. A large number of users use facebook on daily basis. The only reason why I have a large number of users is because they trust me to protect their privacy so they can interact at their own discretion. Consequently, my users give me my power position, and so their privacy will never be breached. However, I will allow the vendors to present their goods and services by selling advertisement space on the site. My site has over 118 million people who can see their advertisement and click the link to get more information, or make a purchase. To be the number one site on the internet, I have to protect the users who built my name, reputation, and business. I think another best way to make profitable advertisement with protecting user’s privacy is opt-in policy. When users make account in Facebook, give them the choice whether accepting advertisement or not. If there is no benefit to customer, there is nobody to accept the advertisement. Therefore, I will give some incentive to users who are accepting advertisement, something like discount coupon, from firms which want advertise through Facebook. This way makes my profit maximize. I don`t have to spend money to give to users. Actually, I will receive some commission from the advertisement. Conclusion In conclusion, despite of a many advantages, facebook doesn’t make much profit. Facebook has faced many controversies regarding the privacy of its users. Though most of the information is contributed to facebook willingly by its users, still it doesn’t give facebook the permission to use them to gain profit without the concern of its users. Facebook must always make the privacy of its users as its first priority because without the users facebook wouldn’t be as popular as it is today. Recommendations Facebook should develop new ideas and strategies which would bring more members to them and which will lead to more profit for the company, without risking the privacy of its users.

Bus. Research and Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Bus. Research and Writing - Essay Example These may include the business plan, bank statements, business history and references. Most business start their operations before the owners decide to expand. This can be done by establishing new ventures or expanding. Some of the new ventures that can be explored include developing new product lines, creating and sustaining a presence in a new geographical area and establishing a new market. Each one of the ventures requires funds in order to be successful. The funds that are required by businesses, organizations or enterprises either to start up new ventures or to bolster already existing ventures may be acquired through external sources or internal sources. The sources of capital usually depend on whether the business or organization is at an early stage of rapid expansion. The first source of capital for any corporation is usually the retained profits. The corporation has to approximate the amount of money required. The retained profits are the profits that are kept by the corporation rather than being distributed as dividends to the shareholders. The profits are retained in the organization and invested in new business ventures. A business can choose to opt for debt financing. This form of financing allows the borrower to use the money borrowed for a specified period provided they repay the money with some interest. In most instances, the terms of the loan are usually outlined in the loan agreement. To ensure that the repayment of the loan is guaranteed, the loan may be backed by â€Å"collateral† for the sake of a secured loan or â€Å"cash flow† for the sake of unsecured loans. A corporation can raise capital through the sale of shares. Essentially, shares relate to public limited companies or private limited companies. â€Å"Shares† are self-explanatory and once one buys a shares form a particular company, they in turn own a share of the company. Shares are

Performance and reward Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Performance and reward - Assignment Example However, the senior employees of the company have been observed to be disappointed with the current reward criteria and feel themselves and their experiences to be undervalued. The later part of the paper illustrates few noteworthy recommendations that might be effective in reframing the reward strategy of Trisco Foods. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Brief Overview of Trisco Foods 5 Analyzing Trisco Foods’ Reward Strategy 5 Analysis of the Workplace Scenario 10 Recommendations 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Introduction In today’s business scenario, employees are considered among the most important assets of organizations. It has been noted that only an efficient set of workforce is capable of accomplishing the goals of an organization and its set objectives. Employees thus hold the key in performance efficacy of business concerns in the modern day context. In this regard, it has been noted that employees should be managed and u tilized properly so that they can facilitate organizations with positive outcomes through their productive contributions. However, to steer employees towards productive contributions, it is important to motivate and encourage employees towards the accomplishment of the organizational goals. Hence, performance and reward management comes into concern. From a theoretical viewpoint, these aspects deeply relate with modern organizational practices that are incorporated for the purpose of employee motivation and therefore are related to the doctrine of Human Resource practices of organizations. Performance and rewards can also be observed as connected to each other in the sense that rewards are practiced or delivered on the basis of performance efficiency deciphered by employees. It has been observed in this regard that such practices in organization tend to be quite beneficial in the sense that it motivates workforce to perform and develop ownership among them which encourage them for c ontinuous improvement of their work. This in turn results in overall effectiveness of the organizational performance (Shields, 2012; Deb, 2009). This paper henceforth aims to analyze performance and reward practices approach of Trisco presenting a report on the limitations and the strengths of Trisco’s management strategies with regard to employee satisfaction through effective motivational mechanisms. Brief Overview of Trisco Foods Trisco Foods is an Australian food manufacturing company that has been successful in building superior goodwill from its operations since 1875. The company has a good profile in this particular sector owing to their commitment towards the deliverance of quality product and/or services to the targeted customers. Although the company is primitively located in Australia, through the wide network of its supply chain, Trisco has been able to reach in most of the countries. From an overall perspective, it has been observed that strong market presence an d vast range of products with appreciative quality are among the major success factors for the company to drive its superior goodwill in the national as well as international markets over the years (Trisco Foods, 2013; Trisco Foods, 2013). Analyzing Trisco Foods’ Reward Strategy With the virtues of its superior distribution network and quality goods, Trisco has been able to obtain a prominent position in the world of food manufacturing

Internet and Books Essay Example for Free

Internet and Books Essay In today’s modern world, technology has a great influence on our life and time. Back in the early 19th century, when electronic devices had not been invented, the population could only use printed word such as books, posters, newspapers or magazines, to gather information. Later, in the mid 20th century, the use of computers, televisions and radios helped people to know about the incidents happening all around the world, more easily. Now, in the 21st century, the creation of internet and other devices to access it has helped us to attain gigabytes of information, just with the click of our mouse. The internet has made it possible for us to acquire answers for almost all of the questions that we ask, and has alleviated the access to information to almost every topic imaginable. Firstly, internet helps to save time and effort. All you need to do is type in your question and click SEARCH. It can give an answer to almost every question type in, and it is usually very quick, speedy and fast. On the other hand, using books or other printed texts can waste time, as you need to find the appropriate book and then search for the information you need from it. For example, while searching for a book in the library, you waste time trying to reach there, and even more time trying to find the book you need. Despite this, time is also lost when you try to find the information that is useful to you from the book. Whereas the internet acts as a filter that sieves out all the data you need, in a span of seconds. However it can be argued that using electronic devices can cause distractions and disturbances. Using the internet can divert your attention to some other unrelated site and will cause you to waste time. For instance, you may login to facebook or twitter, or check your mail instead of researching and using the time well. On the contrary, you cannot be easily distracted in a library where silence is preferred, and is filled with people who want to work. But if the internet is used properly, and if the person has a self control over himself the internet has more advantages comparing to printed texts. So in short internet can be a time-saver only if used wisely. Alternatively, the internet can sometimes provide us with unreliable information. It is like a blank page in which people are allowed to post whatever they want, and sometimes even the wrong information. As exemplified by blogs, in which anyone can post their opinions and views on a topic, the internet can be a source of unreliable and inaccurate information as it contains the judgement of different individuals and not the actual facts. On the contrary, printed texts can be a great source of reliable information. Books are written by experienced authors who have researched well about the topic themselves before publishing it. A library can assure you that the book in your hand is dependable and trustworthy. In spite of being unreliable, internet can provide us with up-to-date data. It offers information on the most recent discoveries and inventions, the latest cars or other products and about the contemporary incidents and happenings all around the world. However once a book is published, any recent findings cannot be added to it. There are always new developments in the field of health, science, technology and politics that the library simply cannot keep up with. Therefore, the internet can provide us with the latest news about our modern day developments and can be dependable only if used properly by checking the sources of a particular website. Thirdly, glaring at a screen for a long period of time can cause various eye and back problems. Computer vision syndromes like eye strain and cataracts are caused by glaring at the computer screen for prolonged periods. Millions develop a condition called ‘dry eye’, resulting in gritty, itchy, inflamed eyes, due to staring at the screen for hours. The light from computer screens can cause drastic problems to your eyes, and sometimes even partial blindness. Unlike computer screens, books can be very easy to read as they are just words printed on paper. However there are many solutions to prevent the damage caused to eyes by computer screens. Screen filters can be bought to reduce the amount of light radiation hitting our eyes. There are also many softwares that can transfer the information audibly or with the help of videos, and do not require data to be read. Regular breaks, and turning away from the screen constantly can also help in avoiding eye and back problems. Usually, there is an option to zoom in, which enables people to read easily. Unlike computers, books cannot be zoomed in, when the letters are too small to be visible, causing eye problems as well. So the problems caused by glaring at computer screens or reading the small printed texts in books, can be reduced by taking regular breaks and exercises, as anything in excess is not good for our health. Moreover, a lot of paper is wasted in the creation of books and magazines. Deforestation, being one of the greatest threats that humans are facing today, is increased by the production of paper in books. A few sheets of paper could be worth one tree. Hence the number of trees is reducing day by day. Obviously, trees are vital for our living as they are the natural producers of food. Deforestation not only causes scarcity of food and other resources, but also results in the rise of the earth’s temperature, causing global warming. In contrast to books, modern technology like mobile phones, computers or tablets does not harm the environment to a very great extent. In the case of computers the energy used is electricity, which is renewable and can be created again and again. The internet is a huge database, and more information can be adjoined into it, very easily. However books are created from sheets of paper, and if the number of books increase, then the level of deforestation can increase correspondingly. To reduce the destruction of the earth’s forests by deforestation, paper should be recycled and not wasted. Instead it is much easier to use the help of modern technology that functions with the help of renewable energy, which does not have a great impact on nature. Therefore modern electronics has made it possible to overcome a huge problem to the environment. In conclusion, modern technology has many positive uses; it has made the world a smaller place by allowing us to contact individuals all around the world, many electronic devices are very cheap making it affordable to all and has also allowed people to find out about the news and incidents happening all around the world. But every good has some bad, and the extensive use of technology can be harmful to our health. I strongly believe that modern technology has been very helpful and useful to the human population. It has eased our access to information in very sustainable manner, and has connected the world together.

Women’s Plight in Katherine Mansfield’s Life Of Ma Parker :: Life Of Ma Parker Essays

Katherine Mansfield’s "Life of Ma Parker" presents the plight of Ma Parker as a working-class woman at the turn of the century, in terms of her position in the sphere of the family and in the sphere of society. "Life of Ma Parker" is a story of a widowed charwoman. Like Miss Brill, Ma Parker is a very lonely woman, but their equally painful story is told quite differently, mainly because Mansfield supplies no background to account why Miss Brill’s Sunday passes as it does. As the title of the story denotes, we receive the story of Ma Parker’s life, which explains her current situation. "As servant, wife, and mother, she’s the generic British working-class female at the turn of the century – cowed by drudgery and burdened by loss. Her husband, a baker, died of ‘white lung’ disease, and those children who survived the high rate of infant mortality fell victim to other ills of the late-Victorian underclass: emigration, prostitution, poor h ealth, worse luck" (Lohafer 475). At the present point in the story, Ma Parker arrives to work in the house of the literary gentleman after she buried the previous day her loving grandson, Lennie, who was the only ray of light in her dreary life. According to Irigaray, "all the systems of exchange that organize patriarchal societies and all the modalities of productive work that are recognized, values, and rewarded in these societies are men’s business†¦.[t]he work force is this always assumed to be masculine, and ‘products’ are objects to be used, objects of transaction among men alone" (171). Ma Parker has to play the role of an object circulated among masculine employers as she has to support her children and herself. Ma begins working as early as the age of sixteen as a "kitching-maid" (143). Later on, "[w]hen that family was sold up she went as ‘help’ to a doctor’s house, and after two years there, on the run from morning till light, she married her husband" (144). Ma is an object of transaction among men, as she transfers from one male employee to another, until she is married. Now then, Ma was working for the literary man, as people advised him to "get a hag in once a week to clean up" (142, my italics). The literary man, insensitive to his surroundings and lonely as Ma Parker at the same time, dirties everything around him and leaves it all looking like "a gigantic dustbin" (142), but Ma "pitied the poor young gentleman for having no one to look after him" (142).

Marxist Critique of Desiree’s Baby Essay

The Antebellum south, or merely the word plantation, conjures images of white, columned manses shaded by ancient oaks bowed beneath the weight of Spanish moss and centuries. Somehow these monuments of Greek revivalist architecture sparkle in their ivory-coated siding, even while the trunks of their aged arboreal neighbors hide under layer upon soggy layer of dense, green lichen. The white house is a reflection of the inhabitants, its cleanliness in the damp, soiled environment standing as a stark reminder of the hegemony governing the lives of those living not in the house, but hidden nearby. L’Abri, the plantation home of the Aubigny family in Chopin’s Desirà ©e’s Baby, is yellow and has a foreboding black roof made more sinister by the gloomy shadows cast by its requisite antiquated greenery. L’Abri is not unlike any other antebellum mansion of the pre-Civil War era; it represents its inhabitants. The mansion is excellently presented as an example of how little authority color truly wields without an underlying power structure to give it substance. While race figures prominently in Desirà ©e’s Baby, the story is an exemplary specimen for the application of Marxist criticism. Marxist criticism is the recognition of â€Å"inequalities in power between characters† (Gardner 146). It purposes to â€Å"expose the inequalities that underlie all societies† (Gardner 146). These inequalities can have multiple sources, though often the main source is race. But is race a biological reality? Miles posits that races are imagined, in that they â€Å"have no real biological foundation† (26). Miles further observes that differentiations between groups are â€Å"simultaneously inclusive and exclusive† (27) as the characteristics describing one group stand in contrast to another group. The destructive nature of racial categorization is in the claims that biolo gical types determine â€Å"the endowment and behavior of individuals† (Miles 28) depending on their race, and that conflict between them is the â€Å"consequence of their biological constitution† (Miles 28). Furthermore, race can be used to argue that there exists a natural hierarchy that determines positions of inferiority, and by extension, superiority (Miles 28). These assertions give credence to the ownership of slaves and the race-based denial of rights, and are foundational to the idea that the mixing of races is unnatural and even destructive. But race mixing is not mixing if race does not exist as a biological category. While science can find ways to assign race, those categories are blurred as races blend and eventually they will disappear. As a danger to the idea of race, blending is anathema to the superior category. Plantation life was a microcosmic picture of the idea of a need for segregation, wherein each category was given â€Å"its own territory within which its distinctive capacity for ‘civilization’ can be realized† (Miles 30). But Chopin gives an excellent (and perhaps accurate) portrayal of the lack of any real biological basis for what constituted race in Antebellum Louisiana. Chopin describes Armand as dark (402), and Desirà ©e points out to Armand that she is fair-skinned and whiter than he is (403). The baby is â€Å"their child† (Chopin 403) when Armand reveals the ‘truth’ to Desirà ©e, but is Desirà ©e’s child alone only four paragraphs later as she decides to leave (Chopin 404), notwithstanding the actual biological basis upon which the child’s parentage is based. Desirà ©e walks away with the â€Å"golden gleam† (Chopin 404) of the sunlight in her brown hair, taking nothing with her, as befitting her new-found but false identity. She does not take the beaten path, but instead walks through the newly-harvested October fields (Chopin 404), again behaving in a way that befits the new category with which she now identifies. Desirà ©e’s biology belies the reality that she now accepts as â€Å"the stubble bruised her tender feet† (Chopin 404), and she does not know to walk where the branches will not shred her delicate clothing. If Desirà ©e were actually black in the Antebellum south, she would know these things from early childhood. Desirà ©e disappears â€Å"among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the bank of the deep sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again† (404). Desirà ©e’s disappearance is not only her physical departure from L’Abri; it is the disappearance of the white woman that was Desirà ©e. And none of these circumstances is decided by biology, but by what Marxists refer to as a â€Å"struggle for power between different social classes† (Gardner 145). Chopin is delivering a message that power transcends race. What sets Desirà ©e apart in terms of her subjugation by Armand? It is not race, but the lack thereof. Desirà ©e is unable to hide anything about herself because her origins are unknown (Chopin 401). She is a willing captive to Armand as a result of her love and her marriage, but she is not an unwilling captive to race; she is an unwilling captive to her otherness. She does not have doubts about her race, but must live with the reality that â€Å"Armand has told me I am not white† (Chopin 404). Because her origins are unknown and she does not have a name, she must acquiesce to the whims of Armand, who had at first decided to be unconcerned about â€Å"the girl’s obscure origins† (Chopin 401). Armand is the power here. He makes all of the decisions regarding the lives of those within his circle of power, and he does so because he is allowed to do so. Madam Valmondà © has even decided to be unconcerned about Armand’s questionable origins. It is interesting that Desirà ©e’s mother perceives evidence of the baby’s blackness (Chopin 402), but does not explore the possibility that Armand’s blood is the cause. Madam Valmondà © is part of the power structure and victimizes her own daughter, whom she claims to love deeply and sees as a gift from â€Å"a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing as she was without child of the flesh† (Chopin 401). Had Desirà ©e been a child of the flesh of Madam Valmondà ©, she would have been accepted, and Madam Valmondà © could have exercised her superiority over Armand and the unanswered questions of his origins. It is remarkable that no one questions Armand’s pedigree even though his mother lived and died in France (Chopin 401). Armand’s mother is perhaps one of the more interesting subjects of Marxist study in the story. One cannot help but wonder why Chopin portrays Monsieur Aubigny as â€Å"easy-going and indulgentâ⠂¬  (Chopin 403). He is a slave owner who married a woman of a different race overseas and asserted his white superiority over her, which is evident in her letter at the end of the story (Chopin 405). She credits God with having given her the ability to hide the reality of her inferiority from her son (Chopin 405). She is lost in the shame of her otherness. She has been so fully convinced by her perceived superiors of her inferiority that she sees the ability to hide her true nature as a gift from her creator. To Monsieur Aubigny’s hidden wife, this is as much a gift as Madam Valmondà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s child of affection. One must question why Aubigny moved to France to marry this woman. And what was the arrangement that allowed her to stay hidden? Did she commit suicide? Is the letter that Armand is reading a final word from her before taking her own life? Note that this was only â€Å"part of an old letter† (Chopin 405), which leaves the true nature of her death unknown. This is power beyond ownership of chattels or social superiority; this power is God-like. Aubigny has happy slaves and is an indulgent tyrant, but to what dark magic has he subjected his French wife? Even if she is dying from something natural at the writing of the letter, it is remarkable that she perceives such powerlessness in herself. Armand is not as devoted as his mother to God. He finds that God has â€Å"dealt cruelly and unjustly with him† (Chopin 404) when he discovers that all is not as it seemed. Armand has a beautiful wife who â€Å"loved him desperately† (Chopin 402) and â€Å"asked no greater blessing of God† (Chopin 402) when he smiled. He has inherited a plantation and slaves to work it. He is rich and possesses the legacy of a good name. Yet in unmitigated spite of all that he has been given, Armand finds God unjust. His world has been suddenly and completely turned on its head because he has reason to believe that his child has inherited inferiority, never guessing that he himself is the source in more ways than one. Armand is a name similar to Adam, and Chopin seems to model him in part after the biblical first man. With the expulsion of Desirà ©e, L’Abri is reminiscent of the biblical garden east of Eden, with the exception that Armand remains. The Mosaic account of the creation of man includes a guideline for marriage, with the command that â€Å"they shall become one flesh† (NASB, Genesis 2.24). A married couple in this sense should be regarded in the same manner as a child and parent – inseparable by nature, regardless of wounds or emotions. This is a picture that does not give place to the other as each partner is regarded equally. It should be noted here that the name Desirà ©e is a French articulation of desire, and it was Adam’s desire that inspired God to give him a mate (NASB, Genesis 2.20). But Adam failed to regard his wife as equal to himself, standing by as she was tempted and choosing not to intervene (NASB, Genesis 3.6). In witnessing her deception and choosing not to intervene, Adam has made Eve the other. He has separated himself from her. Armand allegorically models the actions of Adam, but he gives himself the God-like power to expel his Eve from the garden, while choosing to ignore his own nature. Adam was Armand’s example in choosing to act in spite of all that he had been given, and in Adam’s attempt to fool God into believing that he had been blameless (NASB, Genesis 3.11), he set up a struggle for power. Armand falls easily into this struggle. It is not a stretch to believe that he has doubts about his own race. Exiling Desirà ©e is a tactic that Armand uses to maintain his hegemony. He does not have a foundation of support apart from the societal acceptance of slavery and white superiority. Desirà ©e and Madam Valmondà © are victimized by the very system that they tacitly support. They support it both by their participation as landowners and probable slave-holders and by their acceptance of it even when it forces them to accept inferiority. The superstructure of power in their society is so strong that it can be enforced with nothing more than words, even when those words have no basis in biological fact. It is not the taint of the wrong skin color that makes Desirà ©e a tragic figure; it is her support of a tainted system from which she benefitted until it turned on her. Skin color is a biological reality, but it has been manipulated in support of hegemony. The Antebellum south stood as a physical representation of the realities of race. Large, sparkling, white houses stood proudly fronting the large plantation estates of the white owners therein, while the dark-skinned slaves abode in small, mean cottages hidden in the rear. Kate Chopin depicts a plantation mansion in her short story Desirà ©e’s Baby with a paint color that is darker than the standard, modeling the color of the inhabitants. Nonetheless, the Aubigny family is powerful, benefitting from a superstructure that assigns power by the perception, rather than the reality, of skin color. While race is an important feature of the story, Chopin has written a work that is perfect for a Marxist critique. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"Desirà ©e’s Baby.† Anthology of the American Short Story. Ed. James Nagel. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 121-135. Print. ISBN: 978-0-618-73220-3 Gardner, James. Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print. ISBN: 978-0-312-60757-9 Miles, Robert. â€Å"Recent Marxist Theories of Nationalism and the Issue of Racism.† The British Journal of Sociology 38.1 (1987): 24-43. Web. 9 Jun. 2012. New American Standard Bible. Trans. The Lockman Foundation. New York: Oxford UP, 1971. Print.

The Van Gogh s Life - 849 Words

It was on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Holland, that Vincent Willem Van Gogh was born to a preacher and an artist. His father, Theodorus Van Gogh, was described as an austere country minister who raised his sons in a religious atmosphere, while his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus, imparted on Vincent her love for color and art. While Vincent Van Gogh became known later in time for his heartbreaking backstory and troubled mind, melancholia remained a continuous theme in his life story even prior to his birth. In fact, Van Gogh was born exactly one year after Theodorus and Anna’s first son, also named Vincent, was delivered stillborn. This tragic timing led Vincent Van Gogh to grow up with his name and birthdate already etched onto the headstone of his dead brother. At fifteen years of age, the Van Gogh family financial troubles forced their son Vincent to leave school and work at his Uncle’s art dealership; even after leaving school this early in his life, Van Gogh was already fluent in French, German, and English, and had Dutch as his native language. This allowed for no language barrier when he was transferred to a London art gallery, where he fell in love with both English culture and Eugine Loyer. The landlady’s daughter, who was engaged to another man at the time, became the first of many heartbreaks in Vincent’s life, and her rejection of his marriage proposal sparked a breakdown for the tenant. After, telling customers not to buy â€Å"worthless art† out of anger,Show MoreRelatedVan Gogh s Life And Effect Today1819 Words   |  8 PagesSpeech: Van Gogh s Life and Effect today. Specific Purpose Statement: By the end of my speech the audience will be able to list 3 parts of Van Gogh s life and his achievements that affected the future. 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