ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Bluebeard is strikingly an interesting fairy tale with elements of life that everyone particularly the young yearn to get and own. The following quote is particularly interesting:”But this man was so unlucky as to have a blue beard, which made him so frightfully ugly that all the women and girls ran away from him.” It is fascinating because even though Bluebeard was wealthy and had life trappings that could endear him to any woman, all women and girls could not stand the thoughts of marrying an ugly rich man with a blue beard. Amusingly it shows that riches alone without physical attractiveness can put off women and girls from a man of great means and wealth. It is interesting that women and girls read more about the even uglier inner side of the murderous wealthy man. Through the blue beard, their intuitions rightly enabled them to see beyond the tempting wealth of this loveless and evil man. Interestingly, affluence has its way always because Bluebeard managed to win affection of many ladies including Anne’s sister who was coincidentally rescued from the deadly sword of his husband by her brothers who came at the right moment. This fairy tale shows that the evil can get away with their wicked deeds for some time but they surely pay dearly for their wicked ways when the right time comes. Bluebeard had killed many innocent women and girls and was not remorseful for it even for a single moment. He always went unpunished but when the right time for what is done secretly in darkness to be exposed he surely died by the same sword that he had used to murder many without cause. How this Fairy Tale Resonates in my Life This fairy tale reflects how material possessions can mislead us in to intimate engagements, as well as, business dealings with utterly dangerous people. It also shows how dangerous it can be to make important life decisions with haste. For instance, in real life it can particularly be tragic to make decisions about life commitments like marriage quickly. Anne’s sister quick change of heart regarding the personality and character of Bluebeard because of the one and only good treatment they received from him together with her friends and acquaintances almost cost her life. She was only lucky that on the fateful day when she would have died in the hands of her treacherous husband their brothers arrived at the right time. In real life we should always take our time when we are making important decisions rest we put ourselves into regretful dangers because of our haste. We should not disregard our natural feelings regarding a person or an issue all over sudden before ensuring that our previous attitude about someone or an issue was absolutely misguided. We shoul
Journal entries and learning experience My volunteering experience in the Youth Life Foundation has been summarized in 9 sessions based on the days I was at the center. I was a mentor and my obligation was to help my mentee with school work. My first day at the Youth Life Delmont Centre was one to be remembered. The center room was dark when I entered. Ms. Kate, the teacher, was showing the kids a movie. She told us to sit and gave us some name tags. I saw the little kids moving around while watching the movie. Ms. Kate was telling them to sit down and watch. The movie ended after a short while and the teacher introduced us to the kids. After the introduction, one of the kids came running to me and said I would be his mentor. His name was Wayne Williams. After sharing some snacks with the children, I engaged Williams in a short conversation to know him more. I asked about his hobbies and favorites. He said he liked basketball, all colors, and winter season was his favorite. We went out for recess and then we were to go back to help Williams read two books and do his homework. One thing that I observed from Williams is that he did not like reading because it took us too long to finish reading the books. He also did not want to do the homework as I had to confirm with the teacher whether they had any homework. All the other kids finished their homework and went to play, while Williams and I could not even complete by the time the Richmond van came to pick the mentors. However, he enjoyed playing a lot. I knew from that point that I had some work to do because I had to make Williams like reading and balance between curriculum and extra-curricular activities. The experience was that the kid liked playing more than he liked reading. However, not all kids dislike reading. This makes the difference in kids’ performance. As a teacher, I must make sure that I help all the kids do well in their studies. I should also help them divide their time well. In the second session, it appeared that Williams liked playing a lot. He was a noisemaker in class and liked some weird behaviors. He fought with another kid over a Frisby on the playground. It was challenging for me to handle the situation, but Ms. Kate seemed to have a good understanding of the kids and knew how to handle such situations. We still could not finish on time when we went to read and do the homework because Williams was always getting distracted. This was an indicator of how much he liked playing. We had not finished the reading and the homework by the time the van came to pick t
Introduction The founders of Ecovative Design created a new approach in the development of packaging materials. The utilization of agricultural waste feedstock, particularly mycelium, assures complete biodegradation of its primary product. Such innovative packaging meets the requirements of sustainability in business, so Ecovative Design received large investments for further development. However, the partnership with Sealed Air conceals a range of benefits and detriments that must be evaluated. Main body The main principle of Ecovative Design is to use natural biological materials in the production process of protective packaging. Its co-founders affirm that “their main objective is to ensure the financial viability of Ecovative while maximizing the positive environmental handprint of the company” (Laszlo 6). The concept used in the manufacturing of packaging materials in Ecovative is also associated with biomimicry, but it is bio-adaptation. A business model of the company implies that its products not only imitate natural regenerative processes, but they also implement biodegradable materials only. Other competitors rely on biomimicry but continue using synthetic materials. Thus, Ecovative Design is a great example of a business with embedded sustainability because it holistically incorporates environmental, health, and social values into its core business processes and activities. Furthermore, companies that utilize EcoCradle packaging also align their values with environmental sustainability. Even though biomimetic and adaptive innovations have a great potential to promote sustainability in business, very often companies face some difficulties in their implementation. This requires a major transformation in business models, while the primary goal of any enterprise is to stay profitable. Brennan claims that “most companies value those technologies that lower the costs and increase the profits of the products that they have already built”
Introduction The growth of Skype in the world market has been great. This is especially in Japan that has become vital to Skype’s business. There have been an increase in the rate of calls in the recent past and the growth of the Skype market has been due to the use of disruptive technology to market itself. The VoIP has been the main disruptive technology in the market as it creates room for reduced cost prices in making calls. This service has hindered the mobile phone business and Skype has been able to take advantage of this technology to market itself. However, the Skype market faces stiff competition from the mobile services in Japan. According to Abell, the VoIP form of disruptive technology provides more services other than the free calls over the Internet such as the more reliable features that have attracted customers to start using the technology. Most of the Japanese population is composed of business people who spend longer working hours on the Internet and this provides a convenient way to reach their clients. Skype has become an important communication tool in the present society over the world. The functionality in this application has been vital in bringing in more customers. Skype has been more successful with the use of disruptive technology mainly the voice communication globally but this has not been accredited to financial success (34). He continues to assert that Skype brings in a technology that is ever changing. This application is more suited for the social interaction. Nevertheless, Skype is the leader in the use of VoIP disruptive technology in the present world economy. This company has enjoyed a competitive advantage in the technology arena and has good marketing strategies. The rise of Skype has been just through “mass marketing” of its products. Moreover, the success of Skype is because of its customer approach form of business and has a feedback channel where the consumers have to write about their satisfaction of Skype’s high quality products (36). Skype is aiming towards the developing markets such as the one represented by Japan for its disruptive technology business. There have been varied views from the mobile operators over the Internet communication. VoIP has not been fully legalized in most of the world states while in others it has. However, few companies have realized the importance of this service with an aim to deal with the revenue losses in their organizations. Few companies have therefore partnered with Skype in an effort to get Internet communications at reduced risk. Some of the companies include KDDI that came into partnership with Skype. This Japanese company has enabled its market to use Internet communications more easily and cost effectively. Partnership solves the issue of different pricing and customer segmentation in an easy way. Successful partnership with an organization is down to how established the given
There has been a shift in the way film directors depict different themes on the screen. The directors and producers in contemporary film making use a variety of styles and cinematography to highlight and present a wide range messages in their films. The technical aspects of film making are emphasized great deal in the new emerging way of making film. An example of this is depicted in the Pulp Fiction film which was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in 1994. Quentin uses a variety of styles and cinematographic techniques to depict violence in the film. The reformulation of screen violence has no doubt affected the way of viewing and showing and viewing violence. This paper will highlight and discuss how Quentin uses style and cinematography to show violence in the Pulp Fiction film. The Pulp Fiction film is very rich in terms of style and cinematographic techniques. The nonlinear narration style is used by Quentin to effectively bring out three different stories in a chronological order with all stories emphasizing the theme of redemption through violence. The staging of the film in a suburban setting of Los Angeles was very relevant because of the crime and violence history of the place. The stage portrays the mood of an unexpected violence and danger. Four characters in the Pulp Fiction film are shot onscreen to categorically demonstrate the intense violence in the film. Effective utilization of the mise –en-scene element in most parts of the film was key to the director’s success in highlighting violence. The shots in Pulp Fiction are up-close with the majority of the conversation scenes being shot in door and window frames (Pratt 28). This type of cinematography makes the audience to appear as if they are in an eavesdropping position. The subjective point of view of the audience is what makes the film look real. The film is full of satire and highlights the causes and effects of crime in the contemporary America. The extensive use of irony and rib –cracking humor by Quentin makes the film interesting to watch. Crime life in Los Angeles is deeply highlighted in the film by the inventive forms of dialogue employed by the director to bring out his primary themes. The use of irony together with cinematic allusions gives the director room to use his cinematic techniques rather than characters to depict violence. The crime mobs in Los Angeles form a good number of the main characters in the film and are specifically used by Quentin to highlight the theme of crime and violence. The pictures in the Pulp Fiction film demonstrate high reflex degrees. Quentin uses homage in most instances a style that has made the film to be labeled as postmodern. The extensive use of
Literature is characterized by genres that have evolved over time. The tragedy is one of the most prominent genres of literature and it has been around for several centuries. As a genre, tragedy has been utilized by various writers, poets, and philosophers among others. Aristotle is one of the foremost authorities on tragedy as a genre of literature. Aristotle’s “Poetics” is one of the earliest works of literature to be devoted to the subject of what constitutes tragedy in literature. Aristotle is of the view that tragedy as a genre is best used to describe a hero’s fall from glory through a miscalculation of some sort. The hero often meets his tragedy through his own actions thereby entering into a phase of misfortune and suffering (reversal of fortunes) and consequently arousing sympathy from the audience. The hallmark of any tragedy is the tragic hero who is often the main protagonist in any story. In “Poetics”, Aristotle is of the view that error is a vital constituent in a tragic hero because in ordinary circumstances good people do not encounter misfortunes and vice versa. A tragic hero is a man whose fortunes are manifested within misfortunes, “the kind of man who neither is distinguished for excellence and virtue, nor comes to grief on account of baseness and vice, but on account of some error” (Fowler, 2011). When analyzing the position of any main character, Aristotle defines the hero as a character who has the qualities of Hamartia, Spoudaios, and Peripeteia. When those terminologies are translated, they stand for “nobility, error in judgment, and a reversal of fortunes” respectively (Kennedy, J. & Gioia, D. (2007). This paper uses Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero to examine Oedipus who is the main character in Sophocles’ drama “Oedipus Rex”. The essay will draw on Aristotle’s “Poetics” among other scholarly materials to show how Oedipus is the ultimate representation of a tragic hero owing to his error in judgment, reversals in fortune, and origins in nobility. The play “Oedipus” is set in the ancient Greek society and the main character is also the title character. The scenes of the play unfold in the ancient city of Thebes where Oedipus is introduced to the audiences as a man who has traces to nobility; “I Oedipus whom all men call Great” (Griffith, 2006). The main protagonist’s reputation appears to precede him and he is quite aware of this fact. Oedipus’ claim to nobility can be traced to three different facts. First, Oedipus is born as a prince to King Laius and Queen Jocasta. Consequently, Oedipus is noble by birth and he is the rightful heir to the throne in Thebes. Oedipus has also connections to the throne of Corinth where he has been adopted by King Polybius and Queen Merope. Finally, Oedipus gains nobility when his own people voluntarily elect him as the King of Thebes. In the “Poetics”, Aristotle recognizes Oedipus’ nobility by noting that his family background gives him a valid claim to heroism. The main character also goes beyond the common connection to nobility because various sources concur that indeed he is a ‘gr
Martin Luther King Junior was a great American leader who influenced me while I was growing up. Today, his ideas still influence me when I am preparing to join college. When growing, I took interest in the life of Martin Luther and today I appreciate his personality that made him a great leader. Martin Luther had strong attributes that propelled him to greatness and made him an indispensable part of the American history. Some of the attributes I admire in him include his profound courage and great wisdom. He was also visionary and most important, a man of action. These attributes have shaped my life in a profound way and I owe most of my success to these ideas. I adopted them in my early days and since then, I have tried to incorporate such ideas into my personality and character. I have always been aware of the fact that if I were to succeed in my life and become a great person, then I would have to develop a solid personality and character. The greatest attribute that has shaped my life most is Martin Luther’s courage. He stood firmly for what he believed was right for all and he never compromised on that. I have found this aspect to be very outstanding in my life because the society is always pushing us into conformity. This has had the effect of making me assertive and a non-conformer. I always stand for what I believe in regardless of the consequences. This has helped me live a life that is in line with my values, objectives and goals thus avoiding a life of mediocrity. His wisdom and good oratory skills, coupled with the fact that he was a man of action motivated me to study hard in school to develop my intelligence. I grew into a voracious reader and established a strong academic and life discipline. This made me focus on my academic endeavors and helped me form a good study routine. As such, I constantly try to work hard in any task assigned to me and I do not give up until I achieve the best results. This has given me hope and eradicated the fear of joining college because I am a hard worker and believe in action. I know that action is what separates the successful from the failures and I have made it a core part of my character. Through the years it has worked in my favour. Martin Luther was also a wise and visionary leader. His wisdom helped him in making good decisions and avoiding bad ones that would land him in trouble. I
The article called “Blue Ocean Strategy” written by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne elaborates on the best and most efficient way of achieving a high business performance by means of creating an uncontested market space. The title of the article reflects the term accepted for this kind of market space. Blue ocean is an absolutely new market field unknown to all of the competitors. The creator of the market immediately earns unlimited opportunities for further development and gets to explore the new field of market without any rivalry. The new and uncontested sphere of market makes the competition irrelevant, so while all other companies and business makers struggle in the red ocean full of sharks fighting for influence, power and revenues, the inventor of the blue ocean is freed from the stresses of business competition. The main responsibility of the company establishing a new sphere of market is to promote and advertise its product or services in order to attract attention of the potential customers and create interest towards the new business. In order to emphasise the phenomena of blue oceans in the modern business arena, the authors of the article invite the readers to go back in time and remember what our world was like thirty years ago. This simple activity demonstrates amazingly popular industries that were basically non-existent back then, among such businesses there are cellular phones, snowboards, coffee bars, home video and discount retailing (Kim, Mauborgne, 78). Of course, new industries quickly become noticed by business makers, more similar brands start to occur, and as a result, the industries become overcrowded. For example, the huge variety of toothpaste or washing powder brands makes the manufacturing companies turn to special offers and, price reduction and discounts in order to attract buyers and fight for their attention. The authors of the article also explore the reason why most of new businesses emerge within the red oceans, building line extensions. Statistically, only fourteen per cent of new businesses are oriented at creating new fields of market (Kim, Mauborgne, 80). In the article it is noted that the modern approach and understanding of business development is very close to military strategy. It even employs military terms such as “headquarters”, “officers” and “front lines”. Making business today is seen by many as war. Battling the rivals is viewed as a necessary process and the key to success. At the same time, blue ocean strategy, on the contrary, is focused on developing a business without rivals and battling. Blue oceans are not focused on innovation of existing technologies, but on creation new products and services. They often are discovered by incumbents within the red oceans they came from, which shows that every red ocean contains multiple possibilities for the creation of a blue ocean. This approach is not based on the standard tactics of investing costs in order to increase value or reduce costs and lose value. In order to create demand business makers need to re-evaluate the comp
The speech made by Cherie Blair in response to accusations in the media was a sincere but defensive statement. The field of the text is personal business dealings of Cherie Blair with the people she knew and whether she had misused her position of power to influence certain events. The mode is a written statement which was publicly read. It is direct and had no interactivity patterns. The audience of this statement is meant to be the people of Britain, including the media highly publicising the scandal and the UK government to which Blair was associated through marriage to the Prime Minister. In examining the syntax of the statement, it is evident that Blair utilised a very informal and personal tone. She is apparently reflective of her life and actions, realising her responsibilities. The use of metaphors in the semantics of her speech indicates an informal and emotional expression of the message she is trying to relay. While her grammar seems to be correct, she uses a verbally spoken discourse in the pattern of speech, even when it is written down. Looking at the phonology of the statement, she repeatedly uses “I” and lists things by repeating the same words at the beginning of sentences. This repetition may indicate nervousness or an attempt to enforce a particular message. Overall, the statement seeks to present the realities of the situation from Blair’s perspective. She is direct, using the present tense, and does not speak in abstract terms. At some points, she addresses her audience as in an attempt to connect her life experiences with theirs. It is an indicator that Blair acknowledges her public role, the responsibilities of which she mentions throughout the statement.