The Short Stories Of Haruki Murakami English Literature Essay

The Short Stories Of Haruki Murakami English Literature Essay Within The Elephant Vanishes, an anthology of short stories by Haruki Murakami, and The Outsider, a novel by Albert Camus, culture is examined and the reader is invited to see culture as following set rules and routines. Through the protagonists, the reader understands that culture observes these behaviours without question and in doing so are robotic. One of the ways this idea is reinforced through references to food. Food is shown to join people ceremoniously and who you share your food with reveals insights about the culture in which you live. Through the action of the texts and first person narratives the protagonist is established as different to the culture. In the short story, Sleep, the protagonist noted, I went to the living room, switched on the floor lamp beside the sofa, and sat there drinking a full glass of brandy (page 84). Although she enjoys alcohol, she has to drink by stealth. She is restricted in her freedom to enjoy alcohol because her husband does not approve of it. Her husbands occupation as a dentist precludes her from eating chocolates until an accidental reminder of old chocolate flakes wedged between the pages of the book I found a few crumbling flakes of chocolate stuck between the pages (page 90). She was then inspired to free herself from the shackles of her husbands dental fraternity norms. She shamelessly indulged herself on this pleasure impulsively, I felt a tremendous urge to have the real thing (page 90). In Sleep, timing for lunch is precisely at eleven forty, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I looked at my watch. Eleven Forty. Eleven Forty! (Page 91, Elephant Vanishes, Sleep). The typical type of food was, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦minced scallionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦buckwheat noodlesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦dried seaweedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦tofu (page 91). The reference to the exact time and the type of lunch indicate routine. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Cup of coffeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦two slices of bread, spread them with butter and mustard, and had a cheese sandwich (Page 89), something which the protagonist wishes to escape from. It is only when she breaks with the conventional rules that she feels as though she is living. The husband sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper shows the cultural routine of people in their everyday life, While I cleared the table, my husband sat on the sofa reading the paper (page 92). I made my husband his usual coffee (page 89). The protagonist is aware of cultural expectations of which her husband doggedly ad here to living through the same routine every day. Anna Karenina lay there beside him, but he didnt seem to notice. He had no interest in whether I read books (Page 92). The husband did not pay attention to his wifes interests or in the fact that it was his own book, which she was reading. It is the routine and monotony that he is occupied with the protagonist lives through every day doing whatever gives her pleasure. This rarity of freedom inevitably leads her to seeking food for pleasure while the husband, so ingrained in routine, appears robotic. Although food symbolically represents routine in The Outsider, it also establishes Meursault as an outsider of the culture. Both of Mersaults friends, Masson and Raymonds immoral behaviour has the culture classify them as outsiders. Due to their unusual behaviours, when these people meet to enjoy food together, it demonstrates that they encompass similar characteristics of personalities which are deemed unconventional from cultural expectations. The protagonist drinks wine to accompany food with Raymond and Masson (page 53). In this context, drinking alcohol is an acceptable practice and culture, both for men and women where it was observed by Mersault that Marie, his girlfriend à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦shed had a bit too much to drink (page 53). However, the fact that when Marie, commented, Do you know what time it is? It is half past eleven (page 53 The Outsider), a fact acknowledged by Masson when he responded, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the time to have lunch is when you are hungry (page 53 The Outsid er), indicates that for Masson, food is an individuals choice not regulated by expectations of a fixed schedule. At his home, Mersault appears to prefer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ smoking, and eating chocolatesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ during mealtimes (page 26) The Outsider, while he watched the people below his flat from his veranda. In the text, Meursualt made contemplative observations of people that were dressed differently within the local community that went passed the street, He was wearing a straw hat and a bow tie and carrying a walking-stickà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I understand why local people said he was distinguished (page 25-26). This reveals the distinct behaviour of Meursault alongside the normal behaviours of the culture. Similarly, Meursault was also recognised by the individuals that went passed the street, The local girls, with their hair down, were walking arms in armsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I knew several of the girls and they waved to me. (page 27). Later in the evening Mersault went down to buy some bread and some pasta, did my cooking and I ate standing up (page 28, The Outsider), a posture of which is not dictated by conformist practice. Mersaults behaviour and insights reveal how individuals within the community stand out by their mere appearance that are easily recognisable that identifies them to be different or distinguishable. In addition, Meursault does fix his eating schedule by a particular time. This further confirms that he is an unplanned and disorganized person unlike the robot woman (page 45-46) The Outsider. The robot woman à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦while she was waiting for her hors doeuvre she opened her bagà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦took the exact sum plus a tipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦meticulous task occupied her throughout the meal (page 46) The Outsider. The robot woman contradicts Meursaults character, in that he would rather follow his distinctiveness with regards to most of his decisions about when, how, where and what to eat. The robot women on the other hand, showed the characteristics of order and direction when she ordered her meal, She called Celeste over and ordered her whole meal at once, speaking precisely but rapidly. (page 46) of which afterwards she dived into her bag again and took out a blue pencil and a magazine which gave the radio programmes for the week. One by one, she very carefully ticked almost every programmeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (page 46). From this rigmarole, the robot womans actions seem to follow a set of routine. In the story, The Second Bakery Attack, the protagonists were newly married and did not pre-empt stocking food in their house, Our refrigerator contains not a single item that could be technically categorized as food (page 37). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a bottle of French dressing, six cans of beer, two shrivelled onions, a stick of butter, and a box refrigerator deodorizer (page 37). This is a symbol of how empty their lives are. Although they work, go to bed at set times, conforming to the routines of work, they are metaphorically, unsatisfied. The couples conformist behaviour seems to set them to their hunger. In order to find a cure to break their hunger, the couple opposed convention by robbing Mc Donalds, Attack another bakery. Right away. Now. Its the only way. (page 43). During the robbery, the manager of the store showed typical characteristics of conventionality by the requirements of conformation from the upper authority saying, I cant do that. Ill be held responsible if I close up w ithout permission (Page 46). From this, it shows that the larger majority of the culture such as the manager and workers are similar to the robot woman in that their lives are dictated by order and routine and only a very small proportion of people operate in a non-conformist mode. Finally, in The Wind-up Bird and Tuesdays Women, the protagonist cooks spaghetti for breakfast. He chooses to live outside the routine of the culture and this is reflected by his choice of cooking and eating spaghetti in the morning, Spaghetti?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Its only ten-thirty in the morning. What are you doing cooking spaghetti at ten-thirty in the morning? (page 5, The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesdays Women) asked the woman who telephoned home for ten minutes of his time. In both The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami and The Outsider by Albert Camus, food are focused as a symbol that represents routine or an individuals desire to have freedom. The role of the characters is reflected in the type of food they chose to eat, where and when the repartee of food takes place. When any of these involvements of food varies, one can discern that these characters may be quirky, eccentric or stand-alone in their relationship to the larger culture. (Word Count: 1428)

competition :: essays research papers fc

Examine the concept of competition. Explain how it works in market economies. In what way is it a crucial part of the business environment? 1000 words In this essay I have analysed the different types of competition and market structures, and linked this to a current world example. I’ve discussed the neo-classical and dynamic approaches to competition and have studied Michael Porter’s Five Force model. Systemic and structural competitiveness has been mentioned, and market economies are examined including technical and allocative efficiency. I have assessed the relationship between competition and the business environment, and finally given personal views and come to an argued conclusion. Competition is the process by which two or more firms compete in the same market for a larger market share. This rivalry that exists is very beneficial to firms as is leads to increased efficiency and higher output at given cost levels. The amount of competition in a market is measured using concentration ratios (e.g. the five firm concentration ratio). There are two different types of competition which firms may undertake, price competition and non-price competition. In price competition, firms compete on the basis of price, for example by increasing the price of a good or service, the demand will either increase or decrease accordingly depending on its price elasticity of demand. In non-price competition firms compete in less risky forms of competition other than price, such as advertising and branding. Non-price competition exists in imperfect competition (usually oligopolies). Imperfect competition occurs in situations when there are a number of competing firms (with market power), but the market is without some or all features of perfect competition. The three types of imperfect competition are duopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition. Perfect competition on the other hand exists when a market has a large number of small firms, with no one firm influencing price (firms are price takers, not price makers). These firms all sell identical products, with perfect knowledge of the market, which has no barriers to entry. This represents one end of the competition spectrum (see Appendix 1). There are two main views to the concept of competition, the dynamic approach and the static approach (Neo-Classical approach). The first is based on the behaviour of firms and their constant interactions with market structure, which involves change and innovation. The second involves classifying market structure, and the type and amount of competition (mainly on number of firms within the market), to determine the firm’s behaviour.

Teamwork in Business Environment

Teamwork can be simply defined, â€Å"as a state of unity achieved within a group of people working for a specific economic benefit. † It is used to determine the coordination and cooperation of a business venture so as to attain the optimum output of the employees. All around the world we can find various organizations that work in business group having a fixed and well defined set of rules and regulations to ensure teamwork and maintain team spirit in the organization.Looking at the size and vastness of projects in an  organization, necessary work has to be broken down into different departments, even departments are not sufficient enough to handle the burden of work. Thus in departments there arises the need to make different teams of individual that are assigned a common target, so as to accomplish the organizational goal. A team that works together to share common goal stands out to achieve the goals. Teamwork helps in making the task more interesting with the social su pport and cooperation of the employees and hence improving their skills.NewspaperThe old tale of the Japanese samurai warrior takes a new life in today’s generation. The tale talks about the warrior making his sons realize that if they stick together no power can ever defeat them. Likewise, today’s executives consider that their ability to overcome challenges rests most upon teamwork. In today’s world it is necessary for a leader to work in a team so as to overcome the challenges he faces. Irrelevant of the leader’s rank, he or she needs to gather information, relating to the issue at hand, and consider others viewpoints in order to make an appropriate decision.A leader is always thought to be someone who is heroic and unaccompanied, but instead he is the one who works in a team while solving various problems. Gergern, 2007, here, considers Honoree Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, America and United Kingdom’s former Prime Minister, T ony Blair. Krupp, being one of the best corporate leaders of America, could not do anything, to reduce carbon emissions, alone.It was the partnership that he, along with Jonathan Lash of the World Resource Institute, created with large corporations including General Electric, Duke Energy and DuPont, which was able to put intense pressure on the federal government to reduce carbon emissions. Believing that no country can alone handle climatic change, Tony Blair being a political leader states, ‘If the U. K. stopped using carbon entirely, industrial production from China would make up the difference in just two years.’Thus it is teamwork that helps leaders achieve success in their respective fields of profession. One’s business and well-being can only grow with the advice, support, ideas and help of his or her TEAM. It is very well said by Napolean Hill that â€Å"no man is an island† and no one can achieve its best or highest success if try to do it by itse lf. It is always amusing to hear that Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to scale Mt Everest, or that Neil Armstrong was the first to walk on the moon.True, they were the individuals who raised the flag, but those achievements were not accomplished alone. Both Charles Lindbergh, the first to fly solo from New York to Paris, and Steve Fosset who flew around the world solo before his untimely death, did it in planes they did not build and with the support of thousands of people who made their flights possible. Every successful entrepreneur has dozens of people cheering them on. Every successful endeavor is the result of many people working in concert, giving advice, sharing the vision and encouraging us.Everyone needs his or her â€Å"companions† in success. If you do not have a â€Å"team† then it is very difficult to optimally achieve the task, and if you do not have a coach then you don’t know whether you are heading in correct direction or not. Remember Napolean Hill– â€Å"no man (or woman) is an island. † Or, as the Beatles put it even more memorably, â€Å"We get by with a little help from our friends. † TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) prides itself on the team’s excellent reputation, credibility and expertise.Academic JournalTeamwork is the most important virtue of a good team. It is the most basic requirement for the successful functioning of any organization. Most individuals work in a business environment that requires cooperative team efforts to successfully reach business goals. All business goals can be only achieved by teamwork and full co-operation of all individuals. This makes the ability to work in teams a critical skill set. It is a skill that is required by any one who wants to effectively contribute to an  organizations development.The recent trend towards leaner, flatter organizations, with fewer levels of hierarchy, places even greater emphasis on the need for cross-functional teamwo rk. Team performance completely depends on the synchronized efforts of the individuals who work in a team. A team that works together can achieve all goals in stipulated time, with 100% perfection and zero defects. The concept of teamwork becomes more important when people work in big teams.Also, teamwork and functioning of a team depend on the team leader. A team that cooperates with its leader and follows him can function smoothly; hence a team which works together achieves heights together. The skill of teamwork is very precious to all organizations; all organizations are always in search of individuals who can contribute to the development of a team. These days’ big organizations also organize special activities to develop team spirit within its employees; this benefits the employees as well.Working in a good team helps employees to concentrate better on their work, it leads to better working environment and hence better development of employees. Thus, teamwork is a skill , which is beneficial and necessary for the smooth functioning of any organization. Cooperation between individuals can only help an organization to successfully achieve its goals and good levels of employee satisfaction.Book Extract or ChapterAccording to today’s business environment, teamwork is a very essential part of every organization. Teamwork improves the quality and performance of the organization and provides job satisfaction to the workers. In an organization, teamwork is widespread and provides flexibly to the organization and shows improvements in the other important areas such as employee relations. Basically teamwork helps the organization to achieve its goals. Using effective teams fallibility can be achieved with provides a  better platform for the organization so that it can operate smoothly in this rapidly changing business world.Teams can only be efficient if it has better working relationship which can only be achieved, provided that working together as a combine effort can make an organization flourish that will also help in increasing job satisfaction and quality of work life. Teamwork will also reduce workload as the work has been divided and it is easy for the employee’s to work more effectively and this will lead to organizational benefits.Benefits of Teamwork:Providing social support to employeesEncourage cooperationMake jobs more interesting and challengingImproves employees technical and interpretation skillsWebpageTeamwork is becoming more significant in the workplace as companies have started to notice the benefits that co-operative efforts can provide. While teamwork has for long been present in the workplace with employees, only recently this has shifted towards the upper level management. One trend that has also recently picked up is the ‘lift out. ’ Companies have noticed that certain groups of employees who are exceptional succeed because of the team that they work with. A ‘lift out,â€℠¢ involves hiring a high functioning team that has worked together in the past.This has many benefits; one of the main being the new group ‘can quickly come up to speed in a new environment. ’ (Groysberg, Abrahams, 2006) Employees that have worked together often have fewer conflicts between each other, and each member of a group is aware of the other members’ strengths and weaknesses, making delegation of a given task much easier and more efficient. As a team grows together, having a variety of different strengths within the group allows the group to function as a single unit, capable of much more than individuals performing together.The longer groups work together, the more cohesive they become and their efficiency only increases. The first known ‘lift out’ occurred in 1946 when a Air Force Colonel took nine of his colleagues to the Ford Motor Company, and helped the desperate company pull through some difficult times. Since then, lift outs have bec ome more common, and today the companies have started to realize the full potential that lift outs can bring.While it may harm the company that lost employees, a lift out can be greatly beneficial financially to the company that’s hiring the team. The company can save significantly on training and acquainting the new group with each other, and can directly put the new employees to work. It is crucial in this day and age for firms to encourage teamwork as the internet has simplified communication and made interaction easier. A good team can be a great asset to companies as they increase efficiency while saving them both time and money.ConclusionAnalyzing the sources given above, we can conclude that:Newspaper article 1- Riaa Khurana: In today's generation all leaders, irrespective of their ranks, need to work in teams in order to achieve success. Newspaper article 2- Shantanu Aggarwal: Every business today can only grow if its members work in a team and solve the problems that the business faces by giving in their respective ideas and viewpoints. Academic journal- Akshai Puri: Any existing organization can only achieve success is it has the beneficial skill of teamwork.It is the cooperation between its members that helps the organization achieves their goals. Book extract or chapter- Gaurav Gandhi: Teamwork helps the organization improve its product and job quality. It also helps an employee get full job satisfaction and work efficiently by reducing his or her workload. Webpage- Vivek Talluri: Teamwork should be encouraged as a good team acts as an important asset for companies and helps them increase their productivity.

Questions That Could Be Used For Interviewing Musicians

Questions that could be used in interviewing musicians. 1. When and why did you start playing? I started to sing in a choir at the age of 5. I have always expressed myself through music, so my mom got me into the choir as soon as I was old enough to be able to sing Lyrics. 2. Which instruments do you play? My voice is my main instrument. But I do play a little bit of guitar and piano when I m writing new songs, or when I haven t got an instrumentalist who can back me up.†¨ 3. What was the first tune(s) you learned? Well, the very first tunes I learned was the children s songs we sang at nursery school. But the first one I wanted to learn myself, was Rock N Roll by Led Zeppelin. When Jimi Page played the guitar solo I went crazy, jumped up on the table and danced till I was totally exhausted. 4. Is your family musical? My father used to play saxophone, flute and accordion in his two bands: Radio Balkan and Berits Halsband. My sister is a vocalist and composer. She also plays the piano very well. 5. Describe your family member’s musical interests and abilities. My dad used to be a musician. He was touring with his band back in the days. My mom has a nice voice and a good musical ear. But she didn t take her talent further than singing lullabies for me and my siblings. My older sister attended the same choirs and went to the same music schools as me. She composes and sings as well. She is a big inspiration for me and she has always supported my dreams within theShow MoreRelatedWalt Disney Concert Hall1522 Words   |  7 Pageschosen Chairmanship, Fred Nicholas, began to create subcommittees and outlined the program for the future hall. But the owners and committees still had many questions and concerns about what â€Å"kind of concert hall would best suit the Los Angeles Philharmonic? How many seats were optimal? How would the building shape the interaction between musician and surrounding audience? 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