Pre AND Post 1900 Comparative Essay Example

Pre AND Post 1900 Comparative Essay In this essay, I have chosen to compare and contrast the following two poems Even Tho by Grace Nichols and To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell. These two poems were roughly written three centuries apart, and so the social factors and religious beliefs as well as other things were different. Therefore different ideas would be portrayed in the poems.In the 17th century when To his Cot Mistress was written, women were not known for writing poems about love let alone sex, as womens opinions werent respected. If a woman was sent a poem like the one that Andrew Marvell wrote, then she would probably go weak at the knees and do whatever was asked of her. However, in the late 20th century, when Even Tho was written, womens opinions and rights were respected in society and more and more female poets emerged with some ideas that were once thought unacceptable for women.One other main factor that affected the ideas portrayed in these poems is partly to do with religion and partly to do with what used to be thought of as socially acceptable and what is thought as socially acceptable now. At the time To his Coy Mistress was written, women were expected to keep their virginity until they were married. This is why the poem is set out as an argument, trying to persuade his lover to have sex with him. This is different to the time when Even Tho was written because women were not expected to stay a virgin.I will now discuss the similarities and differences between the content of the first poem, To his Coy Mistress and the second poem Even Tho. The first poem To his Coy Mistress is unusual for the time as it has an untraditional structure. It has no verses but it has three sections each with a different number of lines. The fact that it has no verses suggests that the subject of the poem never really changes, only the perspective of the poet. This is so, that the poet can present an effective argument. In the poem, some of the sentences carry on to the next line this is to in crease the pace and build up a good argument. Another reason for why it is unusual for its time is because of the purpose. At the time that the poem was written, women were expected to keep their virginity until they were married, but the poet is asking his lover to lose her virginity, although they arent married.The three different sections separate the different parts of the argument that he is putting across. In the first section, we see the poet describing what he would do if he could spend eternity with his lover, A hundred years should go to praise thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze. In the second section, he is saying that although it would be nice to do the things which he said in paragraph one, he cant because he wont live forever and she will eventually die with her quaint honour. A quote to show this would be, Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound my echoing song: then worms shall try that long preserved virginity. The final section concludes the argument by saying what they should do in order that his mistress does not die having never expressed her love towards her lover.I think, that from the perspective of the poets mistress, the poem is quite successful. This is because the poet uses some very effective methods to persuade his lover. In the first section, he sweet-talks his lover before scaring her into bed with thoughts of death in the second section. This is why the structure is very good as in my opinion, it allows the poet to separate the poem into three separate parts, creating an effective argument.The second poem, Even Tho by Grace Nichols is in many ways very different. Her ideas would have been seen as very controversial if they were expressed at the same time as To his Coy Mistress was written. We can see this from the purpose of the poem, the intention being to inform her lover that she wants sex without the commitment. This is unlike the woman in To his Coty Mistress as she has to be heavily persuaded to do such a thing. At the ti me Even Tho was written, women were far more in control of their own lives and didnt succumb to obsequiousness as easily.A way that these two poems are similar is that they both have an untraditional structure. Even Tho, is very much a free verse poem, in that it doesnt have a set number of lines per verse or a set number of words per line. It also has very little punctuation. This enables it to highlight the untraditional ideas it contains. This is similar to the reasoning behind an unconventional structure in To his Coy Mistress. Both of these poems are written in the first person, this means that both of the poets can reinforce their emotions by making the poem more personal. Again, Even Tho and To his Coy Mistress are partly similar in purpose; they both express emotion and give the poets view on their relationship.The manner in which the poets express their emotions are quite different. In Even Tho, the poet uses a positive and light-hearted tone to put across her feelings, whe reas in To his Coy Mistress, Grace Nichols uses more traditional ideas of love as well as his unorthodox views on his relationship with his lover.In my opinion, both poems may well be seen as relatively offensive because they are very biased as they only take into account their own opinions. What about the other person in the relationship? They may desire something different! To his Coy Mistress is especially offensive because the poets requirements are just sexual pleasure.As is to be expected, the language of these two poems is very different in many ways. The vocabulary in To his Coy Mistress is very dated as the poem was written in the mid 17th century. Unfamiliar words like thou and thine are used, which could be difficult to comprehend for the majority of people in this day and age.There is a lot of imagery used in this poem to create a picture in our minds of the poets lover and the relationship that they share. The poet uses metaphors such as Times winged chariot and Iron ga tes of life. He also uses similes, for example, the youthful hue, sits on thy skin like morning dew. In addition to this simile, this sentence shows us another technique, which is called personification. All of these techniques, plus some very elaborate descriptions build up some very apparent images.The poem rhymes all the way through in couplets and this is one of the only regularities in this poem. This means that when you read the poem, as well as picking up the untraditional ideas, you also sense the regularity, which makes the poem easier to identify with. It also has the same alliteration in it, for example: long love and love at lower rate. These are both to be found in the first section, along with some assonance that gives similar sounds, for example: shouldst rubies find. These are all soft, sumptuous and loving sounds which comply with the messages in the first section. As you would think, the second section contains more hard sounds, for example: turn to dust and the th ird section contains dramatic and indicative ideas and so uses sounds to back these up, for example: instant fires and rough strife.The poem appeals to a couple of the senses, mainly sight because of all the imagery used and sound because of the descriptions used associated to sound. The beat of the poem is also regular, as it has approximately 8 10 syllables per line; this suggests that it flows when read.The vocabulary of Even Tho is very different to that of To his Coy Mistress, mainly because it was written much later, round about the 1970s or 1980s. This meant that the language was much more up to date. The time that it was written also means that it was possible for the poem to be written with a Caribbean dialect. An example of this is, Keep to de motion, and leh we go.It was very unusual to see a poem written in a Caribbean dialect from the period in which To his Coy Mistress was composed, so this highlights a difference between the two poems. The dialect allows the poet to bring in some of her ethnicity and culture to her work.A connection between the two poems is that they both use ample amounts of imagery. In Even Tho metaphors are used, for example: Im all watermelon and star apple and plum when you touch me. This metaphor shows us what the poet is feeling. Grace Nichols uses juicy, soft fruits to describe it because thats how she feels. The poem is very short, and due to this, we dont find any similes or personification, but the poem does have some very interesting descriptions to create images, such as, you be banana, I be avocado, which describes the male and female sex organs the banana symbolizes the penis as it is very hard and long, whereas the avocado denotes a vagina as it is very warm, soft and in particularly red! This type of imagery is somewhat different to that used in To his Coy Mistress as it is more intimate, light-hearted and humorous, unlike the romantic and sometimes frightening imagery of To his Coy Mistress. The sounds to the poem are one of the keys to its success. Assonance such as watermelon, strar apple and plum gives juicy and sumptuous sounds that appeal very much to the readers sense of taste and touch. The imagery used when talking about the male and female sex organs, banana and avocado is quite amusing, and so appeals to the readers sense of sight.Besides the poem being outwardly funny, it has a relatively fundamental underlying message about the poets relationship, which is shown in the poets choice of repetition. The reiteration of Even Tho and leh we break free, is what tells the poets lover exactly what she wants from their relationship. She wants to be an individual even tho she enjoys having fun and spending time with her lover.In my opinion, the poem is similar to To his Coy Mistress when it comes to pace and rhythm as they are both irregular and so stressing their equally unorthodox messages.In conclusion, I would say that these poems arent completely unrelated, and the main thing that influences their differences is the time in which they were written. They both have similar purposes, only the perspective changes. It is largely male in To his Coy Mistress, but incredibly female in Even Tho. Another way that time has made the poems more different is the way that they are presented. To his Coy Mistress is presented as an argument that is trying to persuade the poets lover to give in to her passion for the poet and lose her virginity.However, Even Tho is more of a story than an argument. This is because she doesnt feel that she needs to persuade men to do what she wants them to do, only tell them how she feels. Andrew Marvell felt that he needed to persuade his lover, as simply making a suggestion would not be enough. These are just a few examples of the ways that they are different, and of course, there are many more, but we must remember the simple similarities. Both poems are about sexual relationships, they are both written in the first person and to conclude, they both express emotions!My particular favourite out of the two poems has to be Even Tho. The reason being, it is so simple, but yet has so many layers of meaning and tone. It is also comical as the imagery is fairly explicit as it talks about bananas and avocados representing the sexual organs on a humans body. The poem Even Tho also has a far more informal style of writing than To his Coy Mistress and communicates to more than just the poets lover. All of this is why Even Tho is my favourite poem out of the two.

Free Essays on Jean Toomer

of Jean Toomer, a writer and philosopher. Toomer’s life was consumed by an undying search for spiritual wholeness. He hated for things to be categorized and separated because of the certain characteristics of this group or item. His whole life was driven at being different from everyone else. He wrote poetry, novels, and short stories; and through his life he faced many trials and tribulations.(McKay) Nathan Eugene Toomer was born December 26, 1894, in Pennsylvania, to Nathan Toomer and Nina Pinchback. Nathan Toomer, Jean’s father, was twenty-seven years-older than Nina Pinchback, and Nina’s father, P.B.S. Pinchback, believed that he was not a suitable husband for his daughter. He believed Nathan Toomer was unreliable and an unscrupulous businessman; however, Pinchback did not prevent the marriage of his daughter to this man. Three months after the wedding Nathan Toomer left pregnant bride and did not return until three days before the birth of his son, Nathan Pinchback Toomer. Six weeks after his birth Toomer left again for several months and then returned; finally, in October 1895 he disappeared for good leaving Nina and his son without financial support. This caused Nina to move back to Washington D.C. and live with her parents in 1896. Her father was a strong political figure in the Reconstruction era, so they had the money to support them. They lived the re from 1896 to 1906, and perhaps to escape the conflicts between her parents and her; she remarried. They moved to Brooklyn and then to New Rochelle; it was here that Jean found the library and his love for reading. He also loved the outdoors because it gave him solitude. Jean enjoyed craving, bicycling, swimming, fishing, and sailing. It was in a sailboat that his stepfather gave ... Free Essays on Jean Toomer Free Essays on Jean Toomer Jean Toomer (1894-1967) â€Å"I am of no particular race. I am of the human race, a man at large in the human world, preparing a new race.†(Wagner) These are the famous words of Jean Toomer, a writer and philosopher. Toomer’s life was consumed by an undying search for spiritual wholeness. He hated for things to be categorized and separated because of the certain characteristics of this group or item. His whole life was driven at being different from everyone else. He wrote poetry, novels, and short stories; and through his life he faced many trials and tribulations.(McKay) Nathan Eugene Toomer was born December 26, 1894, in Pennsylvania, to Nathan Toomer and Nina Pinchback. Nathan Toomer, Jean’s father, was twenty-seven years-older than Nina Pinchback, and Nina’s father, P.B.S. Pinchback, believed that he was not a suitable husband for his daughter. He believed Nathan Toomer was unreliable and an unscrupulous businessman; however, Pinchback did not prevent the marriage of his daughter to this man. Three months after the wedding Nathan Toomer left pregnant bride and did not return until three days before the birth of his son, Nathan Pinchback Toomer. Six weeks after his birth Toomer left again for several months and then returned; finally, in October 1895 he disappeared for good leaving Nina and his son without financial support. This caused Nina to move back to Washington D.C. and live with her parents in 1896. Her father was a strong political figure in the Reconstruction era, so they had the money to support them. They lived the re from 1896 to 1906, and perhaps to escape the conflicts between her parents and her; she remarried. They moved to Brooklyn and then to New Rochelle; it was here that Jean found the library and his love for reading. He also loved the outdoors because it gave him solitude. Jean enjoyed craving, bicycling, swimming, fishing, and sailing. It was in a sailboat that his stepfather gave ...

Marx, Weber and Durkheim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marx, Weber and Durkheim - Essay Example From this research it is clear that  a profound reflection of some of the analytic conceptions and broad historical perspectives of Max Weber, it becomes lucid that he assimilated the conservative, liberal, and socialist elements to transform and integrate them into the complex pattern of his works. In fact, his cautionary critique against the apocalyptic social revolutionary predictions in Marx suggests that Weber opened himself to some of the influences from his opponents. Weber’s essential critique of Marx’s philosophy was the result of a thorough understanding of the various principles of Marxism. â€Å"Much of Weber's own work is of course informed by a skilful application of Marx's historical method. Weber, however, used this method as a ‘heuristic principle.’ As a view of world history, Marxism seemed to him an untenable monocausal theory and thus prejudicial to an adequate reconstruction of social and historical connections.†This paper outl ines that  Weber criticized the apocalyptic social revolutionary predictions in Marx which emphasize a segmental perspective with great significance while reducing the multiplicity of casual elements to a single-factor theorem. However, Weber did not directly attack historical materialism as completely wrong, but opposed its claim if establishing a single casual sequence.  Durkheim is another social critic who made pertinent contribution to the sociological perspectives of the period.

Article summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Article summary - Essay Example Many fast-food workers complain that they are working too hard and can hardly make both ends meet. â€Å"We deserve a good life, too† claims Jasmine Almodovar, the protest participant. The organizers expect almost 100 cities to take part into the protest. They are also to engage sit-ins in more than a dozen of cities. One more step is to have home-care workers join. It would definitely let workers and union leaders attract even more attention of great masses of population. At the same time, fast-food chains and many franchise operators refuse to meet the claims of the protesters, since so heavy expenses would certainly make their business unprofitable. However, they acknowledge the human right for non-violent protests. Supposedly, it could be possible to increase salaries on a gradual basis. Though, business model of many fast-food corporations might be based on  minimum-survival profit. It means that the demands of their employees are unlikely to be satisfied. Nevertheless, the campaign may be considered fruitful. The protest persuaded many people that $15 is quite an adequate wage for many workers. Certain cities, such as San Francisco, are to adopt such a wage floor in the nearest future. Also Ms. Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union, said that this movement made people believe that the impossible may come true one

Tools And Techniques In Environmental Analysis Commerce Essay

Tools And Techniques In Environmental Analysis Commerce Essay Strategic management is also called institutional management. It is the art and science of making, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decision making that helps an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. In this process the organizations mission, vision and objectives are discussed and developed. After these objectives are developed, the policies, plans, with respect to projects and programs, are designed, and then resources are allocated or budgeted to implement them and achieve the objectives. (wikipedia n.d.) Strategic management consists of a set of activities that come under setting goals and over the process of putting together tactics to achieve these goals and objectives. How strategic management is carried out depends on the organizational structure of the company. The Board of Directors, the management team as well as other stake holders of the company can be involved in these activities that fall under strategic management. Strategy can be defined as unified, comprehensive and integrated plan that relates to the strategic advantages of the firm to the challenges of the environment. It is designed to ensure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved through the proper execution by the organization. (Jauch and Glueck 1988) Formulating a strategy for achieving an objective or a set of objectives is a combines three main processes which are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ By analyzing the situation, self-evaluation and competitor analysis: both internal and external, both micro-environmental and macro-environmental. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ After this assessment, objectives are set. These objectives should be parallel to a time-line; some are in the short-term and others on the long-term. This involves creating vision statements (which is the long term view of a possible future), mission statements (which is the role that the organization gives itself in society), overall corporate objectives (both financial and strategic), strategic business unit objectives (both financial and strategic), and tactical objectives. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ These objectives should be studied along with the results of the situation analysis and a strategic plan can be formulated. The plan provides the details of how to achieve these objectives. Environmental analysis is a process that begins from identification of environmental factors, assessing their nature and impact, auditing them to find their impact to the business, and making various profiles for positioning. All the decisions taken by the organization and the impact of these decisions depend on the organizations internal and external environmental factors. These environmental factors should be carefully analyzed before taking any decisions. Environmental analysis is made up of the processes of scanning, monitoring, analyzing, and forecasting the business situations and variables of the environment. Scanning is done to get information from the environment. Monitoring is done to check the nature of the environmental factors. Analyzing requires data collection and the use of tools and techniques. Forecasting is a method to find the future possibilities based on the past results and present scenario. (Business Environment Analysis n.d.) Different types of methods, tools, and techniques are used for environmental analysis. Some of the major methods of analysis are Scenario Building, Benchmarking, and Network methods. Scenario building gives an overall picture of the total system with the factors which affect it. Benchmarking is to find the best standard in an industry and to compare the ones strengths and weakness with the standard. Network method is to assess organizational systems and its outside environment to find the strength and weakness, opportunity and threats of an organization. Some of the techniques of primary information collection can be Delphi, Brainstorming, Survey, and Historical enquiry. Delphi technique collects independent information from the experts without mixing them. Brainstorming is information collection technique being open minded without criticizing others. Survey is to design questions and to ask them to the participants whereas the historical enquiry is a kind of case analysis of past period. Analysis tools can be statistical such general descriptive tools as mean, median, mode, frequency or tools can be inferential as ANOVA, correlation, regression, factor, cluster, and multiple regression analysis. (BADU 2002) SWOT Analysis A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). This is called SWOT analysis. (QuickMBA n.d.) The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firms resources and capabilities to the environment in which it operates. The SWOT Matrix A matrix of these factors can be constructed. This matrix will be helpful in developing the strategies for the firm. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS Matrix) is shown in the next page: SWOT / TOWS Matrix Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities S-O strategies W-O strategies Threats S-T strategies W-T strategies S-O strategies pursue opportunities that are a good fit to the companys strengths. W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities. S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats. W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the firms weaknesses from making it highly susceptible to external threats. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OR EXTERNAL AUDIT The organizations should adapt themselves and their strategy to the external environment which is constantly changing. The external environment is also called macro environment. These forces of the external environment cannot be controlled and can be analyzed using a variety of tools and techniques such as Environmental Scanning and PEST analysis. Environmental Scanning Environmental scanning is defined as the process that seeks information about events and relationships in a firms environment, the knowledge of which help top management chart the firms future. In this process, the external environment is divided into sectors or areas such as political, economic, cultural, technological and further analysis such as Pest analysis can be done after scanning the environment. Information is collected by monitoring and forecasting any changes that occur to the variables of the environment that have been identified earlier. This collection of information helps the organizations to find out where they are lacking and what exactly they need which helps them in formulating the strategies. (Acar 1995) Environmental scanning is used to gather information from the environment. PEST Analysis A PEST analysis looks at the Political, Economic, Social and Technological drivers or the external forces that affect the organization. It is most useful when used together with other tools such as the SWOT analysis. Political Factors These factors may have direct or indirect impact on the organizations operation. Decisions made by the government may have an effect on the business. The political arena has a big influence on how organization operates. Economic Factors Economic factors such as the market prices and market cycles affect the purchasing power and behavior of the consumers. Sociological Factors These factors include the demography, lifestyle, cultural aspects of the consumers. These factors have a big influence on the consumer needs and wants. Sociological factors also affect the size of potential markets. Technological Factors Technological changes play an important role in shaping how organizations operate. Technological factor is very important to gain competitive advantage. Technological innovation can also improve the production efficiency, quality and speed. New technology is changing how organizations operate. Porters Five Forces Analysis Porter identified the following five forces model of competitive strategy: The threat of new entrants and the appearance of new competitors The degree of rivalry among existing competitors in the market The bargaining power of buyers The bargaining power of suppliers The threat of substitute products or services which could shrink the market The strength of each of these forces varies from industry to industry, but taken together they determine long-term profitability. These five factors affect the strategy of the organization. It is important to analyze and study these five forces to be able to craft a successful strategy. To be successful, the organization must respond effectively to the pressures of these five forces. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS The resources, strengths, behaviors, weakness and distinctive competences are major components of the internal environment of an organization. An organization uses different types of resources which help them achieve their objectives and the way in which they utilize their resources can be the source of their strengths or weaknesses. This can also be defined as organizational capability which is used to develop the strategies and objectives which the organization can achieve and these should not unrealistic according to its capabilities. Some of the components of the internal environment of an organization are: Organizational Resources These are all the tangible and intangible inputs used in the organization to create outputs in the firm of product or services through a transformation process. Organizational Behavior The behavior of an organization demonstrates is the result of forces operating internally which will determine the ability or constraints in the usage of resources. Competency Competency of an organization is the ability to do what its competitors cannot do or the ability to do better than what they can do. This concept is used for strategy formulation. CONCLUSION It can be seen that the analysis of the environment is critical to the success of the decisions that managers have to make which have widespread impact on the functions and processes of the business.

College Athletes Should be Compensated Essay -- Argumentative Persuasi

College Athletes Should be Compensated    Eddie is a poor boy growing up in a bad neighborhood. He's not too much different from any other boy, except for one thing. He is the most physically gifted athlete that the world has ever seen. His father is in jail and his mother has to work two jobs. Just because there was no way to go to college and impress the pros, the world missed out on watching the greatest athlete that may have ever walked the earth. Everyday, people like Eddie are forced to drop out of school early because of financial trouble. It is also true that a large percentage of student-athlete recruits are from the low middle to lower class families. If more of these recruits had financial help from the school, they could continue their college education, instead of dropping out early. There is no way to tell how much excitement has been missed by not seeing these genuine athletes perform. There is a certain amount of dedication that goes in to college sports, and these NCAA slaves should be compensated for their work. Pay college athletes, it's the right thing to do. One problem athletes have is paying for tuition. The tuition in schools is quite expensive. For example, it costs about $5,000 dollars per semester to go to the University of Las Vegas. If athletes were paid they could pay for tuition and many other financial problems that kids face in college. They could use the money for gas, food, laundry, and clothes. This is why a lot of students drop out, because they are sick and tired of having no money. Paying the hard working athletes would give a reward to the dedicated kids that give up their lives to play for the school. Some people say that athletes can get a job in their spare time that pays well en... ... DeVenzio, Dick. "College Athletes should be paid" Opposing Viewpoints. Laura K.Egendorf. San Diego, Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1999.    Goperlud III, C. Peter. "Stipends For Collegiate Athletes: A Philosophical Spin on a Controversial Proposal" University of Kansas School of Law 5 Dec. 2002 <http://www.law.ukans.edu/jrnl/goplerud.htm>    Johns, Keith. "College athletes sell products but never see the profits" The Summer Post 8 Dec. 2002 <http://132.235.238.184/archives/072596/atoddkj.html>    Martinez, Mark. "Show Them The Money! Do what's right &emdash; give college players their due." Student.com-The College Site 3 Dec. 2002 <http://www.student.com/article/pay>    Shea, John. "What effect has big money had on college athletics?" University of Pennsylvania 8 Dec. 2002 <http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/features/1994/061694/bigmoney.html>

Chinese Modernist fiction Essay

Chinese Modernist fiction is very complicated in terms of imagery and literary expression used by the author, as well as in terms of dual or multiple meanings of the works, but in general they express the mood of the epoch. Mu’s stories are to great extent experimental and vary between purely proletarian fiction and ‘dialect’ writings that express really deep thoughts through internal monologues and the use of dialogue as a tool of changing the characters’ self-perception or their impressions about their environment (MacDonald, 2004). Mu Shiying’s prose is often called â€Å"New Sensationist† (Xin ganjuepai) style of writing short stories whose plot often develops rapidly, whereas the picture the author has drawn at first remains unchengeable(MacDonald, 2004). â€Å"The name â€Å"New Sensationist† was derived from the Shinkankahu ha, a group of Japanese avant-garde writers from the 1920s and 1930s. However, the evidence is against the actual existence of a group of writers who called themselves â€Å"New Sensationist† in China† (MacDonald, 2004, p. 797). Nevertheless, Mu’s short story entitled â€Å"Five in a Nightclub† gives a number of sensational experiences, which this essay is designed to discuss. The first scene of the short story describes the intrinsic human need for material resources, the main drive of the business world: â€Å"Men with blood-shot eyes milled about the gold exchange. [†¦] The speculators devolved into brutes. The wind blew the reason from their minds and the steel from their nerves† (Shiying, 1992, p. 5), so that the first perception of Shanghai refers to the psychological tension between the people, who have suffered a lot from the adversities, brought about by life. The first episode represents the pace of Shanghai life: a person can lose their fortune or become rich in one moment, so the description of instability and nervousness refers to the lack of control over the situation, as if the participants were obedient marionettes in the hands of the powerful and malicious force. The second scene, depicting a young man, scornfully rejected by the girl he loves, also refers to the whims of fortune and more precisely –explains the sensation of hope; this feeling appears hovering or hanging over the place where Zheng Ping is waiting for his darling. The words he sent to the girl yesterday are, as he realizes, written to describe his today’s situation: â€Å"Stranger, O stranger! / Yesterday I was your slave. Today you say I’m a stranger†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 6). Importantly, there is a notable contrast between the first paragraphs, in which the author describes the character’s romantic thought, his illusionary closeness to the object of his strong feeling, and his disappointment and sorrow at the end, when â€Å"Zheng Ping’s hair turned white† (Shiying, 1992, p. 7). Fragments rapidly change one another. The short passage about a young woman, who has lost her beauty over the recent years, points to the perception of human body as machine that can be used: â€Å"Youth A – â€Å"Isn’t it Daisy Huang? She was the toast of the town five years ago! † Youth B – â€Å"Amen. She was quite a dish! †Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 8). Accordingly, human beings do not belong completely to themselves, as they should always try hard to meet the requirements, imposed by society, especially those related to appearance and beauty. Ji Jie, the character, described in the next episode, is also lost in his self-identity and self-perception, so that he even fails to comprehend his real nature and the sense of his being in this world. Another character, battered cruelly by life, is Miao Zongdan, a clerk, who has been working hard for his career development and who receives a letter of dismissal. This episode is very similar to the first one, in which the sudden turning-point can ultimately change the individual’s life, destroy their desires, aspirations, ambitions – just like a high wave of tsunami that covers the person’s life. The first chapter of the short story therefore provides an overview of the psychological lives of certain dwellers of Shanghai, whereas the other people, surrounding them, remain indifferent, so that the average inhabitant of Shanghai is a ‘small person’, incapable of managing their fate. On the other hand, they should cope with their problems without any support from outside. The second chapter narrates about a typical Saturday night in Shanghai, or the bright underground life, heated by neon, alcohol and cigarettes: â€Å"Red streets, green streets, blue streets, purple streets†¦ City clad in strong colours! Dancing neon light – multi-coloured waves, scintillating waves, colourless waves – a sky filled with colour. The sky now had everything: wine, cigarettes, high-heels, clock-towers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 10). Human mores become increasingly more relaxed at this time, and people are about to do unusual things, as such conducts are not likely to happen in the daylight. In the third chapter, Shanghai is described in merely two colors: black and white, that symbolize purity and dust, but flow together into a single glamour of the night club. In addition, one can note a mixture of different cultures in nightclub settings: the club itself is designed in European style, as the idea of night amusements in such settings derives from this continent, whereas the customers are Chinese; and the dancers who entertain the visitors are â€Å"Russian princesses† (Shiying, 1992, p. 11). This pre-arranged chaos influences the characters almost magically: their dreams seem to come true. The idea of saving night resembles the fairy tale theme: at daytime, the characters remain ugly beasts, whereas at night they turn into young and attractive princes and princesses, who become rich and are as a result surrounded by their admirers. In this sense, night is remedy against all daily troubles, as they all are resolved or fixed very quickly and naturally, as if the natural force that throws the characters into the depth of adversity and misfortune calms down at night – this magic conversion can be compared to black and white colors, which seem to be the major imagery in this place: â€Å"By the white tablecloths sit men dressed in formal evening attire: layers of black and white: black hair, white faces, black eyes, white collars, black ties, white starched shirts, black jackets, white waistcoats, black pants†¦black and white†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 10). The author seems to recognize only extremes, rather than the â€Å"golden middle† that balances the positive and negative forces and protects human psyche from excessively strong feelings and emotions. The city, in turn, also experiences a kind of transformation: whereas at daytime it looks like a huge technocratic monster that has only concrete and asphalt inside and is inhabited by people, who hurt each other with their apathy and indifference; at night it alters into a real paradise, filled with the radiance of happiness, kindness and friendliness. Noticeably, the characters in the night club interact with one another very dynamically and seem united by this atmosphere of common joy and relaxation. Nevertheless, this illusion of amusement seems unrealistic after the events, which took place in the afternoon; in spite of the miraculous healing of all human hardships, it contains the after-pains, which give the idea of the possible return of all daily problems once this wonderful night comes to its logical end. The depiction of the common excitement only reinforces the reader’s expectation of the future negative events, which will take place in the following morning or afternoon and shatter this positive emotional atmosphere. As for the characters in the nightclub settings, they are described as fragments, successfully integrated in an entity, as all of them manifest their self-confidence in almost the same way. For instance, Daisy re-gains her youth and beauty, so that nobody recognizes her, except her companion, Junyi, a gold baron: â€Å"†I’ve never been more sane in my life! † said Daisy, who had regained her composure. Suddenly she laughed again: â€Å"I will always be young. Oh, Junyi, let’s make a real night of it! † Daisy pulled Hu Junyi out onto the dance floor† (Shiying, 1992, p. 12). Later, Zheng Ping enters the club, looking drunk and happy because this time he has another girlfriend and therefore seems protected from the negative remembrances, which can be caused by Nina’s presence. Similarly to Daisy’s case, Zheng experiences a very short loss of nerves, but finally retakes self-control and focuses on his new girlfriend. Although Miao’s problem is not solved yet, he also joins the party and soon becomes drunk and happy. Whereas at first, Daisy and Hu’s joy seems natural, later the company is gradually falling into absolutely inhuman and unexplainable ecstasy that can be caused only by the overuse of spirits: â€Å"Everyone laughed with her – open mouths, open mouths, open mouth†¦ gaping holes that with every passing moment seemed less human† ((Shiying, 1992, p. 14). The characters have already joined to the nightclub atmosphere, primarily – because all of them have come with partners, so that they are no loner lonely and miserable. Ji Jie, despite the demonstrative happiness of the other four persons, is slowly sinking in the marsh of his own thoughts, in his hard mental work. Nevertheless, he is no longer depressed, as his visit to the club will probably allows him to find his identity and understand himself better. Moreover, he is described by the customers as a happy person: â€Å"Customer D – â€Å"He who has nothing to do after dinner and who can come here to break matchsticks is a happy man†. Customer C – â€Å" Even the drunkard with him is happy! He’s the guy who spilled the drink after badging in here. A while ago he was picking fights, now he’s telling jokes! † (Shiying, 1992, p. 18). Towards the end of the night the delight of the five characters begins to disappear, and the sensation of this night never seems to come again, as the problems, experienced by the five persons at daytime, are becoming more real. The sixth character, Jonny, later gets to know that her wife and newborn son are dead, but he is not allowed to leave the work and must continue entertaining the visitors with his music. The five personalities, who seemed cheerful to craze in the evening, are now described as â€Å"popped balloons† (Shiying, 1992, p. 20). All the characters later reconcile themselves to the fact that they are losers in this life, only Hu Junyi kills himself. His death is a milestone, after which the other characters open their true faces and confess to their tiredness of living. The night was nothing more than an attempt to repair the shattered lives, whose pieces turned out so small that it was impossible to paste them together. To sum up, the new perception of Shanghai is presented as never-ending rolling down, a journey through the severe daily reality and exaggeratedly euphoric night parties, which, however, quicken human degradation. Whiteness and blackness are never to mix together in Shanghai, so that its dwellers are fated to swinging between the two extremes, which are pain and delight. Either sooner, or later, the life of this small person will be shattered by the large city, as the short story narrates. Works cited MacDonald, S. The Shanghai Foxtrot by: Introduction. Modernism/modernity, Vol. 11 (4): pp. 797-807 Shiying, Mu. Five in a Nightclub, Renditions Spring 1992, pp. 5-22.