Advertising Decline. In 1994, Rust And Oliver Predicted

Advertising Decline In 1994, Rust and Oliver predicted the â€Å"Death of Advertising† in the Journal of Advertising (Dahlen Rosengren, 2016). It has been over twenty years since the authors suggested advertising academia should create a new name other than advertising and reinvent itself. Today, many believe that advertising is dead. Can it be that it’s not dead but advertising formats and spending patterns have just drastically changed (Dahlen Rosengren, 2016)? This document will examine the decline of advertising and why it is a modern phenomenon. Advertising In the business world, advertising is critical and serves a critical purpose. It enables businesses to compete with each other for the consumer’s attention, as well as communicate†¦show more content†¦The dynamics of how consumers see and pay attention to brand messages have forever been changed by digital advertising and interactivity (McLuhan, 2016). In the past 15 years, the media used by advertising and marketing utilize to convey messages is driven by innovation in technology such as the smartphones and tablets opening up consumers to more visual, interactive, and immediate experiences. As digital media exploded and guarantee consumers would most likely see the advertised message, traditional media found itself in trouble to remain relevant. Digital advertising offered inexpensive journalism, distributed online with a significant reach which negatively impacted magazines and newspapers. In addition, television and radio models found itself competing against the capabilities of DVR’s, podcast and streaming video service, such as Netflix and Hulu not to mention search engines. Search Engines. Search engine advertising had contributed to the decline of traditional advertising. Traditional media such as television, newspapers and magazine advertisement can be very expensive and gives businesses a specific time of day during certain television shows with limited reach. However, search engine advertising allows business to exposure to consumers that a business would notShow MoreRelatedAn Investigation of Customer’s Perception and Expectation of Services in Pension Fund Administration (Pfa) in Nigeria (a Study of Pfa Customers in Enugu)21541 Words   |  87 Pagespension industry matures, with increasing competition among PFAs for patronage, gaining competitive advantage through satisfaction and service quality has become a potent weapon for survival. With increased consumerism, media attention, increased advertising and technological advances, consumers have become more sensitive to service quality. This have all contributed in raising customer expecta tions and the belief that they have a right to receive products and services that meets their expectationsRead MoreRetailing Characteristics of Fast Food Stores and Their Impact on Customer Sales and Satisfaction29639 Words   |  119 Pages of scale, and coordinated cost reductions. Furthermore, with the number of modern trade stores growing faster than total sales, as is the case in China, the share of trade for an individual retailer is actually in decline. At the same time, consumer loyalty to individual stores is low. Shoppers in China continue to switch between outlets, including the wet markets. As a result, all supermarkets appear to be extremely price conscious. DemographicRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesAND SHAPING NEW MANAGEMENT The powerful results of the American business economy through the end of the 1990s continued to defy and fundamentally challenge many of the traditional approaches regarding how corporate growth and earnings could be predicted and realized—and continue to do so as the economic winds have shifted. Very few longer-term projections got it right—except on a rearview-mirror basis—on either a national or a global basis, and there are several reasons for this. Of fundamental

Is Latin America a More Democratic Place Today Than It Was in 1945 Free Essays

Is Latin America a more democratic place today than it was in 1945? Given the word and time restrictions, an in depth analysis of each Latin American country’s democratic progression across the time period would simply not be feasible. Instead I will attempt to look at Latin America’s progression as a whole and will provide examples of specific countries situations where relevant, in particular Venezuela. Firstly it is important to distinguish between two ideas. We will write a custom essay sample on Is Latin America a More Democratic Place Today Than It Was in 1945 or any similar topic only for you Order Now One is democracy. For democracy to work, there must be free and fair elections. There must be more than one political party. The people of the country should have a good education so that they can make informed choices. They should share a common culture. All must accept the idea that everyone has equal rights. Finally, there must be rule by law, not by power. In other words there must be a separation of power, which means that the judiciary has to be a completely different body from the governing power of the country. Many nations in Latin America have had dif? culty achieving democracy because all these factors are not present. The second idea is that of democratic culture. This involves the existence of constitutions, respect for rights, transparency when it comes to policies and governmental decisions and crucially, no corruption. Latin America, when viewed as a whole, is generally viewed as a more democratic place now than in 1945 but it would be wrong to assert that during the past 68 years Latin American countries have undergone a steady increase in democracy. Brazil is a prime example of a country that has gone through fluctuations in democracy throughout the period. Currently in Latin America, despite being in a state of relative poverty when compared to the rest of the world, the majority of countries have become, at least formally, electoral democracies. 13 countries are now classed as free, 8 as partially free, with only Cuba and Haiti being deemed as not. Venezuela, following the recent passing of Hugo Chavez, is at a crossroads on its journey to democracy. However many question how democratic a ruler Chavez actually was in his time as president. One of two very important relationships to analyse is that of democracy and the level of development in a country or in this case Latin America. This leads on to what is one of the most stable relationships in social sciences, the positive correlation between high levels of wealth and established democracy (Lipset 1959). To back this statistic up, a democratic regime has never fallen after a country has reached a certain level of income per capita, which is said to be $6055 (Przeworski 2000). In 1945 Latin America was still recovering from the economic shockwaves caused by the great depression of 1930. This global economic crisis meant that the rest of the world was not demanding any imports from Latin America. At the time these would have been mainly raw materials and this lack of export revenue for the South American countries had a detrimental effect on their situations in the majority of cases. During the decade or so after the great depression, around 1945, the effects will have trickled down and income per capita and GDP levels will have been significantly reduced. This will in turn have destabilised democracy attempts and can be viewed as a reason for why Latin America was less democratic then than it is now. Without the economic and financial means it is very difficult to achieve a fully functioning democracy. Of course it is worth pointing out that we are nearing the end of a fairly gruelling global economic downturn today but the consequences for Latin America are far less in this instance. The economic growth in Latin America has been very modest throughout the 68 years in question but more importantly it has been volatile. Periods of prosperity in several countries have been followed by long periods of stagnation and even negative growth. This volatility can be seen in Latin American countries progression since independence in terms of democracy as well. Take Brazil as an example. The country became independent in 1822 and was ruled by a monarchy. In 1930 this monarchy was overthrown and the country was under a dictatorship for a couple of decades. In 1956 an elected leader was installed only to be replaced by military rule 10 years later. Finally in the 1980’s, as a result of yet another economic decline, Brazil was yet again ruled by an elected president. The other significant relationship that needs to be looked at is that of democracy and corruption. Corruption is usually defined as a violation of the norms of public office for personal gain (Nye 1967). It has been suggested that corruption permeates everyday life in Latin America with only very high profile cases ever being unveiled in a court of law and even then this only happens in the more democratic countries (Blake and Morris 2009). Here are a few statistics to back this assertion up. In a 2004 survey 42 % of respondents ranked the probability of paying a bribe to the police as high, while 35% expressed the same ease of bribing a judge (Blake and Morris 2009). In a 2005 survey, 43% of respondents in Paraguay and 31% in Mexico admitted to having paid a bribe just within the past twelve months (Blake and Morris 2009). Democracy has a complex and multifaceted relationship to corruption (Doig and Theobald 2000). It provides alternative avenues to obtain and then use power and wealth. This leads to brand new opportunities for corruption. However despite the fact that democracy makes it easier for corruption to exist, when there is a democracy it becomes of even greater importance to supress corruption as it strikes at the very meaning of democracy itself. To sum this idea up, corruption undermines the essence of citizenship, distorting and crippling democracy (Blake and Morris 2009). It is clear from the statistics in the previous paragraph that corruption continues in today’s Latin America to have a tight grip over many if not all of its countries. Therefore it is very difficult to say that democracy has come on in leaps and bounds since 1945 when as crucial a factor as corruption is still such a plague to the region. Another factor when looking at democracy in the continent is the level of education. People must be aware of the fact that there is more than one option in a democracy. It is also crucial that the population of a country understands the concept of propaganda. A democracy can only work in a country with a certain level of education otherwise it can easily be classed as brainwashing, especially with the level of influence that the media can have over an ill-educated population. An example of what a lack of education can do in a democracy is that during the elections in which Chavez was voted in, he very nearly missed out on the appointment because his main rival was a former Miss Venezuela. The implication of this is that a worrying amount of the Venezuelan public didn’t vote for Chavez because there was a far better looking female alternative. Of course this could just be cynicism and she may well have had a very impressive manifesto and realistic yet progressive goals. During Chavez’ time in power though, he managed to substantially increase literacy along with reducing poverty by over half. Chavez had many positive effects on Venezuela, not least providing them with 14 years of stable rule. However his recent death has thrown the country off its feet and they are at risk of descending into political turmoil. Further examples of why Latin America was less democratic in 1945 include the fact that leading South American countries such as Columbia and Argentina had still not given women the right to vote. Universal suffrage is something that can be found in certain definitions of democracy for example Dahl’s and was definitely holding those countries back at that stage in their bid for democracy (Dahl 1971). To conclude, it is safe to say that Latin American countries are in a better overall place than in 1945 but that corruption in particular is holding them back. A country needs to be not only ready for democracy but also willing to accept it. It can definitely be argued that not all Latin American countries are ready for democracy but one final point may indicate that they are nearing acceptance of it. This is that something the Latin Americans care greatly about is their national identity, an idea that is very closely linked to democracy. Therefore with the rapid increase in globalisation endangering this coveted national identity, South American countries are rapidly warming to the idea of being democratic. Bibliography: Charles H. Blake Stephen D. Morris (1999), Corruption and Democracy in Latin America, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. * R. A. Dahl (1971), Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition, published by Yale University Press. * Alan Doig and Robin Theobald (2000), Corruption and Democratization. * S. M. Lipset (1959), Some Social Requisites of Democracy, Economic Development and Political Illegitimacy. * A. Przewor ski (2000), Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-being in the World 1950-1990, Cambridge University Press. How to cite Is Latin America a More Democratic Place Today Than It Was in 1945, Papers

Legal System and Skills Metropolitan Police

Question: Describe about the Legal System and Skills for Metropolitan Police? Answer: Facts and Legal Arguments in Laporte v The Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis [2014] EWHC 3574 Cecily White and George Thomas represented the Metropolitan Police on 31 October 2014 in the famous case of Laporte v The Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis [2014] EWHC 3574. Justice Turner made the circumstances clear in which the police officials can support a body or an organization conducting a public meeting to restrict people from disturbing the meeting. In the case of Laporte v. Chief Constable of Gloucestershire [2007], an interesting set of applications was introduced relating to breach of peace. The claimant was same, but this time, he was not successful[1]. The plaintiffs, in this case, were protestors. They protested against the reduction in the provision of local services. The plaintiffs entered the Haringey Civic Centre to attend a meeting; it was to be decided at this meeting about the budget of the local authority and the reasons that led to the reduction of the services in the local authority. The claimants stayed in the private area of the building where the meeting was being conducted. The claimants, along with ten other people gained access to the private area of the building[2]. They protested staying in the private area of the building. The Metropolitan Police, however, removed the protestors by force. The Police officials believed that the protestors breached peace while the meeting was going on. The Police Officials arrested the claimants for assaulting the police officials. According to the Police force, when they restricted the protestors from protesting, they assaulted them. However, it was held by the District Judge tha t the prosecution failed to prove breach of peace that happened at the time when the meeting was going on[3]. The claimants, on the other hand, filed a case against the Police officials on the following grounds: Assault False Imprisonment Malicious Prosecution Breach of freedom of expression Violation of freedom to form assembly or associations The claimants held that their rights were violated under Articles 10 and 11, of the European Council of Human Rights (ECHR). According to the protestors, the police had no lawful rights for physically removing them from the building[4]. The legal arguments presented in favor of the Police Officials are that the police officials acted in the execution of their duty. It was the duty of the Police Officials to protect the Haringey Council. Justice Turner held that they exercised their reasonable power as a police authority to prevent any nuisance happening at the time when the meeting was conducted. Additionally, it was also held that those people who attend meetings have the power to decide who shall be the attendees of the meeting. If the attendees do not behave in a prescribed manner, then they may be given the authority to remove the nuisance makers from the meeting. This power is enumerated in the Local Government Act, 1972, section 100. According to the given section, a person who holds disorderly conduct at a meeting can be excluded from the meeting by other attendees of the meeting. It is not necessary that there has to be an actual breach of peace, a trespasser can also be held liable for failure to fulfil pea ce[5]. Turner J held that there was breach of peace in this case, and the breach continued even when the officials arrived at the area to curb the breach. However, it was also held by the same Judge that the Court might pass an order for intervention for the police officials when the violation takes place, rather in the case of Laporte, where the breach had not yet taken place. The claimants were merely part of the violation of peace but had not done anything illegal per se, while they held the intention to revolt. The behavior of the claimants gave enough power to the police officials to arrest them. It was further held that none of the claimants was subjected to perverse force while they were detained. Therefore, the protestors right to freedom of expression or freedom of form an assembly has not been violated[6]. Decisions reached in the original trial and the subsequent cost hearing: To determine whether there was ongoing breach of peace or not, at the time when the police officials arrived at the Haringey Civic Center is to be identified in the light of a number of factors. The event that happened at the time when the meeting was taking place was confusing. The building was crowded and to make proper assessment of the witnesses was difficult. There were differences in the witnesses that were produced. The local people were in favor of the claimants while the police witnesses were inclined towards justifying the actions of the police authorities. The police witnesses were overstating the seriousness of the condition that prevailed at the Civic Centre. Emotions overruled the witnesses of both the parties than objectivity. This made the profession of the Judge difficult[7]. The incident took place in the year 2011, and the claims reached the Court in the year 2014. By the time the allegations reached the court, it is expected that the witnesses will be more untrustworthy and unreliable due to the passage of time. The Court, however, invested a lot of time in cross-examining both the sides. The purpose of a trustworthy cross-examination was to establish a more reliable and trustworthy set of recollection of the incident. The Court finally concluded that the police authorities who acted in a resilient way were to protect them from disrupting the meeting. It was clear from the CCTV footage that the police authorities used more force than required to overcome the confrontation of the protestors. Mr. King was one of the protestors who attacked the corridor of the building[8]. According to Mr. King, the reason he invaded the building was to protect his fellow protestors against the police officers, who used unreasonable force to protect us from protesting. Es ther, his daughter was also present at the time when the meeting was held. She also held a similar view like her father. Mr. Over, another protestor also held that he did not consider the use of force by the police reasonable. The people, who protested, demonstrated their witness in a way that seemed to be affected by emotions than objectivity. A situation like this is likely to contaminate the balance of a good decision. On the other hand, the people who represented the police authorities were overstating the seriousness of the incident as compared to the protestors who understated it. The Court, however, held that the rights of freedom of the protestors had not been violated. It was significant in a democratic society to protect the equipment of local government from being brought to languish state by a disruptive conduct of the protestors[9]. Applicability of other cases: Turner J referred to the decision that was made by the Court of Appeal in the in Halsey v. Milton Keynes General NHS Trust, in which the Court held that certain factors are to be considered when examining a refusal to connect in "Alternate Dispute Resolution" (ADR) were not justified. Lord Dyson in the mentioned case observed that if a party has refused to act reasonably in involving ADR must be warranted by the circumstances of the case. The following circumstances can be reviewed when a refusal to engage an ADR is questioned: Nature of the dispute The merits of the case The attempts made by other settlement methods The approximate cost of the ADR The amount of time that ADR shall take to dispose of the case The prospect of accomplishment[10]. Turner also referred to the case of PGF II SA v. OMFS Co, 2014. In this case, Justice Briggs held that it is unreasonable to refuse an invitation to participate in the Alternate Dispute Resolution. Another reference was made to the case of Dunnett v. Railtrack, in which the Court of Appeal made it clear that those people who refuse to accept mediation would be penalized with costs. The Court of Appeal, in the cases mentioned above, stated that if any person refuses to accept invitation to solve a matter through the "alternate dispute resolution," then he or she has to justify his refusal in the light of the existing circumstances in the case[11]. Justice Turner applied the Halsey, PGF and Dunnett factors to the facts of the case: Nature of the dispute: Justice Turner refused to entertain the defendants arguments because ADR will not be able to address the legal point of action. The protestors would still have been successful in receiving damages even if they had lost in the law part. Merits of the Case: The defendant, at first, agreed to engage in mediation "with an open mind". However, on 2013 October, they refused to respond to a formal letter issued by the Court. In January 2014, they again agreed to meet the claimant in the mediation process in an attempt to narrow the issues for tria[12] The attempts made for other settlement: It was clear from Laporte case that the defendant did not attempt for other settlement methods. The approximate cost of the ADR: The defendant accepted that although the cost of the mediation would not have been high, however, the ultimate settlement of the matter would incur a significant amount of liability as far as the costs were concerned. The amount of time that ADR shall take to dispose of the case: In the case of Halsey, a lot of time was spent on deciding the case. The first offer of mediation was made nearly a year ago. The prospect of accomplishment: The defendants, in this case, believed that they would not be ready to accept the financial offer of the claimants. Since they would refuse to accept the financial offer, ADR was not an appropriate way out. However, the Jude held that there was scope for success in mediation. The claim made by the defendant was not justified. Justice Turner held that the defendant's failure fully and adequately to engage in the ADR process should be reflected in the costs order to make. He prohibited one third of the costs after examination, knowing that they had been successful on all substantive matter. Difficulties faced by Justice Turner in Laporte v The Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis [2014] EWHC 3547: Justice Turner faced many difficulties in deciding the Laporte case. While the witnesses on the side of the protestors were driven more by emotions than objectivity, the police officials were overstating the facts relating to the use of force. The incident took place about three and a half years ago before the Court made the claims. Therefore, it is expected out of the people that their recollection of the incident will fade with time. The claimants argument was not part of the earlier statements. If the statements were recorded in the year 2011 itself, then there were fewer chances of the declarations to be articulated. Therefore, with the passage of time the memories related to the incident have faded. Justice Turner noticed that much of the police officials who acted, as witnesses were not guided by their recollection of facts, they were dependent on other people's opinion[13]. Their views were contaminated by the information received from other people[14]. Additionally, other difficulties faced by Justice Turner was the assessment of the individual witness, assessment of the witness of the police officials, the evaluation of the conduct of the people who used force, assessment of the argument related to the use of unreasonable force and evaluation of other witnesses[15]. Reference List: Bingham, Terry, and Susan Majka.Legal Writing for Legal Professionals. Prentice Hall, 2016. Channing, Iain.The Police and the Expansion of Public Order Law in Britain, 1829-2014. Routledge, 2015. Edwards, Linda H.Legal Writing: Process, Analysis, and Organization. Aspen Law Bus., 2014. Garner, Bryan A.Legal Writing in Plain English: A text with exercises. University of Chicago Press, 2013. Herring, David J., and Collin Lynch. "Teaching Skills of Legal Analysis: Does the Emperor Have Any Clothes?." (2013). Keene, Sherri Lee. "One Small Step for Legal Writing, One Giant Leap for Legal Education: Making the Case for More Writing Opportunities in the'Practice-Ready'Law School Curriculum."Mercer Law Review65 (2014): 467. Kruse, Katherine R. "Legal Education and Professional Skills: Myths and Misconceptions About Theory and Practice."McGeorge Law Review45 (2013): 7. Lamparello, Adam, and Charles E. MacLean. "Proposal to the ABA: Integrating Legal Writing and Experimental Learning into a Required Six-Semester Curriculem That Trains Students in Core Competencies, Soft Skills, and Real-World Judgment, A."Cap. UL Rev.43 (2015): 59. Lebovits, Gerald. "Legal Writing in the Practice-Ready Law School."Gerald Lebovits, The Legal Writer, Legal Writing in the Practice-Ready Law School85 (2013). Mika, Karin. "A Third Semester of LRW: Why Teaching Transactional Skills and Problems is Now Essential to the Legal Writing Curriculum."The Second Draft The Official Magazine of the Legal Writing Institute27.2 (2013): 8-9. Payne, Sue, et al. "Skills is Not a Dirty Word: Identifying and Teaching Transactional Law Competencies."Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law15.3 (2014): 7. Rankin, Sara K., Lisa Brodoff, and Mary Nicol Bowman. "We Have a Dream: Integrating Skills Courses and Public Interest Work in the First Year of Law School (and Beyond)."Chap. L. Rev.17 (2013): 89. Schultz, Nancy. "Integrated Curriculum of the Future: Integrating First-Year Legal Writing with Other Lawyering Skills, The."Elon L. Rev.7 (2015): 405. Thomson, David IC. "Skills Values, Lawyering Process: Legal Writing and Advocacy."Skills Values, Lawyering Process: Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy by David IC Thomson, LexisNexis, Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc., and Matthew Bender Company, Inc(2013): 13-32. Turner, Tracy L. "Diversifying the First-Year Skills Coverage by Creating Three Separate Tracks for 1Ls."Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing22.2 (2014). Vorenberg, Amy. "Preparing for Practice: Legal Analysis and Writing in Law School's First Year." (2015). [1] Channing, Iain.The Police and the Expansion of Public Order Law in Britain, 1829-2014. Routledge, 2015. [2] Herring, David J., and Collin Lynch. "Teaching Skills of Legal Analysis: Does the Emperor Have Any Clothes?." (2013). [3] Edwards, Linda H.Legal Writing: Process, Analysis, and Organization. Aspen Law Bus., 2014. [4] Kruse, Katherine R. "Legal Education and Professional Skills: Myths and Misconceptions About Theory and Practice."McGeorge Law Review45 (2013): 7. [5] Keene, Sherri Lee. "One Small Step for Legal Writing, One Giant Leap for Legal Education: Making the Case for More Writing Opportunities in the'Practice-Ready'Law School Curriculum."Mercer Law Review65 (2014): 467. [6] Thomson, David IC. "Skills Values, Lawyering Process: Legal Writing and Advocacy."Skills Values, Lawyering Process: Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy by David IC Thomson, LexisNexis, Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc., and Matthew Bender Company, Inc(2013): 13-32. [7] Bingham, Terry, and Susan Majka.Legal Writing for Legal Professionals. Prentice Hall, 2016. [8] Rankin, Sara K., Lisa Brodoff, and Mary Nicol Bowman. "We Have a Dream: Integrating Skills Courses and Public Interest Work in the First Year of Law School (and Beyond)."Chap. L. Rev.17 (2013): 89. [9] Lamparello, Adam, and Charles E. MacLean. "Proposal to the ABA: Integrating Legal Writing and Experimental Learning into a Required Six-Semester Curriculem That Trains Students in Core Competencies, Soft Skills, and Real-World Judgment, A."Cap. UL Rev.43 (2015): 59. [10] Mika, Karin. "A Third Semester of LRW: Why Teaching Transactional Skills and Problems is Now Essential to the Legal Writing Curriculum."The Second Draft The Official Magazine of the Legal Writing Institute27.2 (2013): 8-9. [11] Mika, Karin. "A Third Semester of LRW: Why Teaching Transactional Skills and Problems is Now Essential to the Legal Writing Curriculum."The Second Draft The Official Magazine of the Legal Writing Institute27.2 (2013): 8-9. [12] Payne, Sue, et al. "Skills is Not a Dirty Word: Identifying and Teaching Transactional Law Competencies."Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law15.3 (2014): 7. [13] Turner, Tracy L. "Diversifying the First-Year Skills Coverage by Creating Three Separate Tracks for 1Ls."Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing22.2 (2014). [14] Mika, Karin. "A Third Semester of LRW: Why Teaching Transactional Skills and Problems is Now Essential to the Legal Writing Curriculum."The Second Draft The Official Magazine of the Legal Writing Institute27.2 (2013): 8-9. [15] Herring, David J., and Collin Lynch. "Teaching Skills of Legal Analysis: Does the Emperor Have Any Clothes?." (2013).

Raymond Carver an Example of the Topic Personal Essays by

Raymond Carver Love, loss, ignorance, loneliness are some of the basic tenets of human existence. Ever since man was created, the question of how to find love has always lingered? How to deal with a loss? Gaining insight and relegating ignorance to the backburner are but some of the issues that have preoccupied human beings. This, it would appear, is what human beings were created for. To live life, satisfying and painful as it might be, to discover fresh grounds, to conquer the negative aspects of life, the whole essence of humanity depends on this. Raymond Carver has been hailed as a twentieth-century writer, successful in every way possible, in representing these facets of humanity in works of fiction with an unparalleled simplicity, the simplicity that shows what complex existence human beings sometimes lead. Human beings in his works are evidently creatures living on the edge, on the verge of toppling over. Need essay sample on "Raymond Carver" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Undergraduates Frequently Tell EssayLab writers: How much do I have to pay someone to make my assignment today? Specialists recommend: Buy Essay Papers And Live Free From Troubles Cheap Essay Helper College Papers Online Cheap Custom Essays Best Essay Writing Service Reviews Many a time this is their doing that puts them in this precarious situation, sometimes the circumstances are just beyond them and are but helpless pawns in the game of existence. They find themselves shoved into a battlefront they much would have liked to avoid. How does Raymond Carver, the great writer that he his, help us delve into the yet critical aspect of humanity that we are guilty of ignoring it? It has been written by Carver: In his calloused hands, with dirt under his fingernails, he carried the same torch that Wordsworth and Coleridge had used to set poetry aflame. Raymond Carver employed "the language really used by men" to tell the story of the damaged white American. Broken hearts populate Carvers literary country; they hide out in the wood-paneled camouflage of middle-class American homes, where sticky liquor bottles crowd kitchen shelves and yellowing baggage occupies the garage. These characters are tougher than they know, ignorant of their own resilience, and blind to the pitched battle they wage against loneliness. Though they continually suffer from alcoholism, divorce, and domestic violence, their stories do not approach the level of melodrama; these divorcees, drunks, and adulterers are as mundane, ordinary, and pathetic as day-old white bread (Art and Culture 2008). His three short stories, now lying on the table awaiting dissection should help gain a few useful insights and a new appreciation of what it means to love, to experience deep and profound loss and what it means to open eyes to important things long blinded by our attitude and darkness of the heart that has the effect of stopping humans from experiencing the beauty and joy that abounds about them. What do Raymond Carvers three short stories, Small, Good Thing, Cathedral and What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, all carry in common? What is the point inherent in all of these supposedly classic narratives? Granted, all of them seem to start from, and lead to divergent viewpoints, but without a doubt, they all touch on the very basic of all human need and desire: Love. Though not similarly, love is a motif that runs through all three of Raymond Carvers stories. Love lost, love unrequited, understanding love, gaining a new, if brutally honest or even skewed appreciation of love, romantic love, love beyond the ordinary. What Carver seems to be imploring us is to look at what composes humanity. What makes us human? What should we do to attain this sometimes lost cause? What is it that will drive us ever closer to this critical aspect of our existence? The three stories tell that, if ever we should want to lead a meaningful existence, we should be able to let go, be a kind, forgiving, open-hearted and an open-minded lot. Not many, I presume, think differently. We shall focus our attention on each of the three stories in order to find out how this is so. In A Good, Small Thing we are confronted with the family of Scotty, an eight-year-old who has the misfortune of being knocked down by a car on his birthday. From the start of the story, the reader is surrounded by this dark brooding mood that something terrible is bound to take place in what up to now seems to have been a serene existence. All along we get this feeling, the one that all human beings dread, the one about what is not supposed to happen to happen. Anne Weiss goes to order a birthday cake for her son, Scotty. The bakers lack of interest beyond what his work entail is somewhat disconcerting and Anne does not like it one bit. He made her feel uncomfortable, and she didn't like that (Carver 1983). Nevertheless, she orders the cake for her son instructing the baker on how the cake should be made to look like. The cake will represent a rocket taking off into space. Matters of space and spaceships must fascinate Scotty. After ordering the cake, Anne goes home and she all but forgets about the weird baker. Monday, Scottys birthday, comes swiftly and on the day that everything should go perfectly well, everything that can go wrong goes wrong. As if it was scripted. Instead of Scotty enjoying his wonderful cake he ends spending his birthday at the hospital in a coma after knocked down by a hit and run driver. This has the effect of throwing the somewhat perfect existence of the young family into depths of anxiety and finally sadness like they have never known before. This is one story that is both beautiful and sad. The enormity of the tragedy that befalls Anne and her husband Howard tugs at every cord of the readers heart forcing us to share in the anxiety of Anne and Howard becoming our sincere hope that Scotty lives. The readers as well the familys expectations are however dashed when Scotty passes away three days after being admitted to the hospital. The devastation of the couple when Scotty does not make it is there for all to see. The family hits rock bottom. Fortunately, as we read on we discover how they overcome it in a special way. This tragic story in spite of its dark nature opens us into the life of Anne and Howard Weiss and that of the baker, all the principal characters that in more ways than one represents us. Ironically it is at the hospital that Anne discovers how far apart as a family they were becoming, with life for her revolving around Scotty and less about all the three as a family. It is at the hospital that this critical discovery is made and is somewhat happy that they are reunited albeit at a bad moment. All around Anne there are telling stories. Few of the people she comes in contact with seem to totally lack the ability to understand what she is going through. The nurses for and the orderlies for starters exhibit a total lack of compassion, going about their duties in a machine-like manner, the grief of a mother meaningless to them. One nurse even has the cheek to ask what is wrong with Scotty with that I-couldnt-care-less attitude and offers that he such a sweetie. All around Anne it looks like the doomsday bells are tolling in the fullness of time for her benefit. The only patient he comes to learn about, Franklin, dies and the baker having lost the subtleties of human interaction keeps making calls that are almost a prelude to Scottys passing. When Scotty passes on it is as if almost all is lost for Anne and Howard but in one twisted stroke of fate, the beautiful thing happens. Anne and Howard are able to reach out to another human being and help him rediscover the feeling of being a part human company. How it is to be human again. The loss of a son did help another person become whole again. At the end of we learn the vital lesson of forgiveness and kindness and how it is important for us as human beings to practice them. In the second story Cathedral we are introduced into the not so eventful life of the narrator who is detached from some parts of humanity and displays arrogance. This narrator we, however, come to discover is a lonely, insecure human being unable to fully reap the joys of human existence. When the narrators wife invites her longtime blind friend Robert, he can but offer his somewhat arrogant commentary of the situation form how his wife and the blind man to the moment he steps on his porch to entering his house to eating and drinking with them late into the night. Being that he leads a deadbeat existence he surmises that the same must go for his wifes blind compatriot. He finds it amusing that a blind man should have a wife and lead a married existence. He questions Beulahs wisdom in getting married to Robert seeing as how Robert was in no position to acknowledge the finer details of her beauty, both natural and artificial. How mistaken he is. The narrator also offers us insight into the previously unfulfilling love life of her wife to an Air force officer. How it almost led to her demise. The narrators life as we have also seen is no better than those of the people likes to describe for us. He does not think much of his work which he does for the sake of doing it. Carver uses the symbol of the cathedral to show us that we need not lose the true meaning of humanity. The cathedrals were built magnificently because they are the houses people intended to praise and worship God in. Humanity should also be enjoyed to its fullest. The joys of compassion and understanding are all there for the taking. We should not let prejudices cloud our view of the beautiful aspects of our lives as human beings. At the storys end, the protagonist is lifted from the ignorance that had made his life a bitter pill to swallow. A blind man full of life liberates him yet all along he thought the life of blind man must be one long, boring existence. Finally to the third story which is What We Talk about When We Talk about Love. In the story, we met two couples who over a drink of gin pour out the contents of their hearts regarding the strange subject of love. The two couple friends Mel and Terri, and Nick and Laura empty glass after glass of alcohol into their innards as Mel McGinnis leads them in a topic that we all think we know so much about yet, in reality, we know so little about The eternal story of love. Because of alcohol, it appears that they are not shy about tackling a matter that is all but meaningless at times, yet for the love of God we couldnt live without. Fred Moramarco writes: Carver want us to consider questions about the meaning of love as it actually occurs in the world the world of late 20th century Albuquerque, New Mexico, the transient western U.S. city where Carvers story is set (Moramarco 2008). The couples doing the drinking and doing the talking are evidently slaves of love and alcohol. Love and alcohol both have a way of clouding reality when it is at its peak. But when it wears off we come crashing down in a manner that might be harmful. Some of us will carry the wounds of this crash for a long time while others will recover as fast as possible. What has however been observed to be true of love and alcohol is that we are always back, seeking them no matter the damages they cause us. It is almost like a drug and we could all do with a quick fix. In this story, the writer has used the element of light and darkness stating that the couple drank from day till darkness caught up with them. This is a telling symbolism in that when it comes to matters of love and even our addictions, say alcoholism, they have a way of throwing us right into the center of trouble. We have all looked back sometimes and asked ourselves what good were certain relationships for and the answer is nothing yet we cannot explain our endless quest for them. The same can be said of harmful addictions. No good either. In conclusion, we can say that all the three of Raymond Carvers stories lead to some sort of discovery. An epiphany occurs to the characters and their eyes are open (Gioia et al 2005). The characters discover some things they had no intention of ever knowing after being confronted by unique situations and they all come to acknowledge and gain a deeper appreciation about these aspects of life, chief of them being love. The love between a wife and a husband and love between all fellow human beings. What is baffling enough is that carnal love is disposable, same as alcohol if you compare it with food. No nutritional value. Yet what is always first on our agenda is carnal love. The stories tell us what it is we should find value in our lives. Reference Art and Culture. (2008). Raymond Carver. Retrieved July 8, 2008. Carver, R. (1983). A Small, Good Thing. Buffalo.edu. Retrieved July 8, 2008. Gioia, D., Kennedy, X., J. (2005) Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York: Longman Moramarco, F. (2008) Carvers Couples Talk about Love. Whitman.edu. Retrieved July 8, 2008. Moramarco, F. (2008) Carvers Couples Talk about Love. Whitman.edu. Retrieved July 8, 2008.