The Best Things :: Essays Papers

The Best Things Recently, there has been a television commercial that has the saying â€Å"there are some things money can’t buy.† The story â€Å"The Practical Heart† by Allan Gurganus could be used for this ad. It is about a wealthy family who is forced into poverty when they visit America. Her family heritage, the way in which she gets the painting, and the painting itself are all factors in Muriel restoring her family dignity. Muriel’s family heritage is a factor because without it dignity is not there to be restored. They lived on a seven-acre compound called â€Å"Sunnyside.† Sunnyside had a big stone house and an orchard. The father was a writer and Professor who had published four books. He was educated by tutors at his home. He was skilled in Greek and Latin and could recite three-day's worth of poetry. Muriel, the eldest daughter, was a child prodigy on the piano and had received excellent notices. All of this is a reason for Muriel to have the portrait done. Her family is now living in poverty and is looked down upon by people who should be looking up. By having the portrait done, the dignity the family once had can be restored. â€Å"He saved you, and, with you, redeemed your clan’s tarnished dignity†(39). Muriel sees that Sargent can capture the truth in his paintings and believes that he will be able to capture the true beauty inside her. The way in which Muriel goes about getting the painting is also a factor because it is the only way to achieve her goal. Muriel saves and sacrifices for years in order to have the means to visit Sargent. When she is finally able to go, she knows that she must conduct herself in a manner that gives respect to the great artist. â€Å"Knowing they would need the added respectability its notepaper afforded†(47), she stays in the village’s best hotel. She tours churches to give the appearance of not travelling all the way only for the painting. She wears her best clothes and converses with Sargent knowingly. She plays the part of someone who is worthy of being painted by the great one. Had Muriel not gone about it in the manner she did, the painting would never have came to be. The Best Things :: Essays Papers The Best Things Recently, there has been a television commercial that has the saying â€Å"there are some things money can’t buy.† The story â€Å"The Practical Heart† by Allan Gurganus could be used for this ad. It is about a wealthy family who is forced into poverty when they visit America. Her family heritage, the way in which she gets the painting, and the painting itself are all factors in Muriel restoring her family dignity. Muriel’s family heritage is a factor because without it dignity is not there to be restored. They lived on a seven-acre compound called â€Å"Sunnyside.† Sunnyside had a big stone house and an orchard. The father was a writer and Professor who had published four books. He was educated by tutors at his home. He was skilled in Greek and Latin and could recite three-day's worth of poetry. Muriel, the eldest daughter, was a child prodigy on the piano and had received excellent notices. All of this is a reason for Muriel to have the portrait done. Her family is now living in poverty and is looked down upon by people who should be looking up. By having the portrait done, the dignity the family once had can be restored. â€Å"He saved you, and, with you, redeemed your clan’s tarnished dignity†(39). Muriel sees that Sargent can capture the truth in his paintings and believes that he will be able to capture the true beauty inside her. The way in which Muriel goes about getting the painting is also a factor because it is the only way to achieve her goal. Muriel saves and sacrifices for years in order to have the means to visit Sargent. When she is finally able to go, she knows that she must conduct herself in a manner that gives respect to the great artist. â€Å"Knowing they would need the added respectability its notepaper afforded†(47), she stays in the village’s best hotel. She tours churches to give the appearance of not travelling all the way only for the painting. She wears her best clothes and converses with Sargent knowingly. She plays the part of someone who is worthy of being painted by the great one. Had Muriel not gone about it in the manner she did, the painting would never have came to be.

The Development of Jig in “Hills Like White Elephants”

In Hemingway’s â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants,† Jig undergoes a transformation enabling her to realize and declare her own feelings. At the story’s beginning Jig is passive, unaware of her own feelings, and in the habit of looking to the American direction. She soon comes to realize her own desires and struggles to assert herself for the first time. The story is structured around the two sides of the valley, the division symbolizing the opposition between the American’s values and Jig’s. The two sides of the valley of the Ebro represent two ways of life, one a sterile perpetuation of the aimless hedonism the couple have been pursuing, the other a participation in life in its full natural sense† (Renner, 32). On one side are the values associated with abortion, and on the other are the values associated with having the child. â€Å"In this setting, then, Hemingway works out the story’s conflict, which revolves around the development o f his female character† (28).The dialogue between Jig and the American about hills and drinks â€Å"is in actuality an articulated but decisive struggle over whether they continue to live the sterile, self-indulgent, decadent life preferred by [the American] or elect to have the child that Jig is carrying and settle down to a conventional but, in Jig’s view, rewarding, fruitful, and peaceful life† (Holladay, 1).The American argues adamantly for the abortion while Jig, being accustomed to doing what he wants, â€Å"has not yet developed the mechanism to know what she wants, much less to articulate it. Thus she cannot forthrightly contest her companion’s urging, but neither, because of what is at stake in this case, can she stifle her own feelings† (Renner, 29). Up until this point the American has been the leader of the couple’s relationship, managing their life together in a manner consistent with his own desires.At the beginning of the story , the couple is sitting at a table on one side of the station, â€Å"facing out toward the hills on the same side of the valley,† the side â€Å"associated with the barrenness and sterility both of the implications of going through with an abortion and of the current state of the couple’s relationship† (Renner, 30). Jig looks at the hills on this side of the station, noting that they look like white elephants.A white elephant, in a North American cultural context, â€Å"is not only a rare and sacred creature, but also a metaphor for an expensive and burdensome property†¦the burden at issue in this story is the unborn child† (Link, 67). The American responds that he has never seen a white elephant. â€Å"No, you wouldn’t have,† Jig replies. â€Å"To Jig, the unborn child she carries is eminently, painfully real; to the American it is a concept, an abstraction, and too expensive to keep† (Wyche, 59). Jig goes on to say, â€Å"That ’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks? This statement articulates â€Å"an increasing awareness of the emptiness of the couple’s lifestyle to date† (60). Jig stands up and walks to the other end of the station, â€Å"effectively [distancing] herself from the influence of her male companion and [enabling] herself, evidently for the first time, to realize what is in her own mind† (Renner, 32). She is now able to see the other side of the valley, â€Å"the fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro,† and the river, which are representative of the values associated with having the child.Jig rejoins the American at the table, once again facing the â€Å"the hills on the dry side of the valley. † She tries to convince the American that her pregnancy could be meaningful for them, and that they could get along even with a child. The American â€Å"resumes his double talk, assuring her that he will go al ong with what she wants while stubbornly pressuring her to do what he wants† (Renner, 33). Pushed to her breaking point, Jig finally â€Å"explodes with real feeling. Even though she still does not state in direct terms her feeling that there can be more to life than their aimless hedonism, she†¦. vidently for the first time†¦[asserts] herself openly against the American† (33). â€Å"Would you please please please please please please please stop talking? † Jig no longer wants to hear what the American has to say, demonstrating her â€Å"increasing awareness†¦of the man’s self-centered and insecure motivation for pursuing the abortion† (Rankin, 235). She is resisting both â€Å"what he wants for their relationship and the hypocrisy of his efforts to persuade her† (Renner, 33), as she realizes it is the â€Å"unencumbered sexual playhouse† that the American is selfishly trying to reserve. The American takes carries their bags to the other side of the station, and upon his return asks Jig if she feels better. â€Å"I feel fine,† she responds. â€Å"There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine. † â€Å"The absolute straightforwardness of the last line, a line that incidentally coincides with Jig’s own dramatic epiphany† (Rankin, 234) may well â€Å"imply her realization that there is something wrong with her companion† (Renner, 40).By the conclusion of the story, â€Å"the relationship between Jig and the American has been effectively destroyed† (Wyche, 70). However, â€Å"we see the result of her development toward self-realization: the reluctant and still somewhat resentful capitulation of her male companion† (Renner, 28). Once the â€Å"stereotypical passive female, not even knowing her own mind,† Jig finds herself no longer able to â€Å"drift along in mindless accompaniment† (37) and breaks free from her conditioned deference to assert her own feelings to the American.

Abraham Maslow and His Theory on the Hierachy of Needs Essay

Abraham Maslow and His Theory on the Hierachy of Needs Born April1,1908 Abraham Maslow was the oldest of seven children born to his parents in Brooklyn New York. Feeling pressure from his parents to achieve academic greatness, Abraham went through early childhood with few friends. Focusing mainly on his studies Maslow had a quiet and unfulfilling adolescence. Abraham started off his college career by attending city college in New York were he began to study law, as his father had wanted him to do. He soon lost interest and transferred to the University of Wisconsin and studied psychology. Here Maslow received, in 1934, his Ph.D. During his college career Abraham married his cousin Bertha Goodman, his parents did not approve†¦show more content†¦these needs which must be reached are illustrated in the pyramid below. At the bottom of the pyramid is the physiological needs those basic needs which ensure our survival. Water when we are thirsty, food when we are hungry, the ability of our body to produce protein and sugars for muscle development. These are the needs felt by all living creation not just humans, therefore the simplest. You could say these are our basic instincts. Then when these needs are met, we are able to move up the next rung of the ladder. So know that I am not going to starve to death, I now am concerned about being killed. These are my safety and security needs. A person buys a house so he will be protected from the elements, we put locks on our doors so that no one can come in. And it is not just a matter of keeping your body safe, but also your hopes and dreams. People seek stability, for this they put money away for there retirement. This is why we have rules and laws put into place, so that there might be limits and social order. So when our physical needs are met we then find something else to be concurred with fear. And when over come our anxieties we then divert our attention to that which other people think of us. Belonging needs are the next to be met on the pyramid. There you sit in your hous e, nice and safe, your fat and happy . What do you need now? Somebody to share your bounty and safety with. Belonging needs our those feelings youShow MoreRelatedThe Maslow s Hierarchy Of Needs Essay1014 Words   |  5 Pages Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Submitted by: Deepali Kotecha (student number: 4288370) Submitted to: Mr Simon Bishop Date: 14th November 2016 Introduction to management University of Nottingham First year coursework Table of contents Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3 Introduction Running and managing a successful company requires strenuous efforts. 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