American Beauty an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Example

American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Paper Film: History and Form November 17, 2010 American Beauty: An Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts American Beauty, written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, invites the viewer to do one thing: look closer. Look closer at life, look closer at your surroundings, look closer at your possessions, and finally look closer at your loved ones. What is integral about the subject matter of the film is how applicable it is to almost anyone who watches it. The film’s grotesque depiction of American middle-class society is immediately very attractive, and the different elements such as the main character’s mid-life crisis, the young girls’ coming-of-age experiences and general family dynamics are very relatable to almost any viewer. As the viewer, we are drawn into the families and are forced to â€Å"look closer† and investigate what is wrong and why they have become the way that they are. Throughout the film’s progression, Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts are portrayed as mirror-images of one another and that they indeed are quite similar in their struggles against their respective overbearing authorities, share similar feelings of imprisonment and desires for escape. Carolyn, Lester and Jane Fitts seem like the perfect nuclear family. With both parents working successful jobs in the real estate and advertising business, the Burnham household appears to be the ideal American, nuclear family. We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Their house is filled with ideal family photos and decorated with expensive furniture, while their front yard is perfectly gardened and lined with a white picket fence and an abundance of red roses. From the outside, it seems like a story of a perfect and happy family. What comes with the label of being a nuclear family are both financial and emotional security and an assumption of traditional gender roles. It is clear, however, that the character of Lester Burnham has grown alienated from within his own home and wants to escape. He is living a sedated life and has become numb to everything. The viewer, throughout the film, sees Lester portrayed in various shots of imprisonment illusions, notably the shot of him looking through the front window to his wife gives the illusion of prison bars as well as the shot of his reflection on his desk computer with the words on the monitor in a prison bar shape. It is evident to the viewer that Lester is beginning to feel the repercussions of living in confinement from his daily routine. On the surface, the character of Ricky Fitts seems the most peculiar and out of the ordinary. The viewer first sees him doing the odd act of filming Jane as she walks back to her house, but in reality the viewer comes to realize that he is actually the most real person in the film. Ricky is not like a typical American, male teenager. He is not rowdy, nor does he seem the type to party. He appears to be a very obedient son to his parents, the mom living her life day by day while the father excessively wears a hard exterior because of his past duties in the army. Ricky seems fine, but like the character of Lester, he too is suffering from the dynamics of his own home. Still, he is able to remain true to himself; he does not put on a facade, and he does not care what anyone thinks. Ricky is a quiet and reserved guy, but what he lacks in words he makes up for with his use of his video camera. What seems like a voyeuristic act of filming Jane throughout the film across his window is actually his own way of reaching out to her and offering his hand to free her from the imprisonment that Jane feels in her own home. He is the most rational and is able to see past the materialistic attitudes and shallowness that characterize many of the characters. Ricky Fitts appreciates the beauty in nature and the most mundane things that people would not give a second glance toward. Ricky’s video camera acts as his filter to his view of the world. He sees everything from an impartial point of view and therefore sees everyone’s true nature. He quickly senses Angela’s fake exterior and detects the true beauty that is resonant within plain Jane, despite how boring she may seem to most people. To Jane, he is not only her neighbor and lover but also her savior from the confines of her home. Ricky is the outsider who is able to observe what is truly going on inside the Burnham household. He sees the effects that the negative dynamics of the family have on Jane, and he knows that the happenings inside of the seemingly perfect household are anything but perfect. Both Lester and Ricky’s worlds are turned upside down once the two of them meet. When Ricky shows defiance toward his boss at the party he is working, Lester sees a hero in him. Lester, who seems to be undergoing a mid-life crisis idolizes young Ricky, because it reminds him of his glory days when he was carefree, had no real responsibility and could do whatever he wanted. Lester has a spiritual awakening and he is motivated to revive himself from the dormant and mundane life that he has been living. Here, the viewer begins to see the mirroring of the characters of Lester and Ricky. Ricky’s carefree attitude and willful spirit ignites a fire within Lester and makes him want to change. Soon after, Lester’s new mindset of change comes into play and subsequently affects his own interactions with his wife and daughter. The chemistry between Lester and Carolyn is an important aspect in defining their roles in the family. It is safe to conclude that Carolyn is the more authoritative figure. From the beginning, the viewer sees this especially with the way that she taunts Lester when he dropped his briefcase and how she drives the car for the family. In many scenes, Carolyn is always the dominant figure in each shot. For example during the business social scene, Lester is noticeably shorter because Carolyn is a ledge higher than him to symbolize who is dominant in their marriage. Lester further confirms this when he says amusingly to Carolyn, â€Å"I’ll be whatever you want me to be. As Lester begins his transformation and attempts to regain control of his life however, the viewer is exposed to signs of rebellion and defiance from Lester toward Carolyn. After his bath tub dream, Lester shows defiance by commenting on how their marriage is really no longer a marriage and that they are just going through their everyday routines. He acknowledges the new Lester by saying, â€Å"Well guess what, Iâ €™ve changed. And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, ‘cause you’re obviously not gonna do anything about it. Furthermore, in the confrontation scene between Lester and Carolyn about trading in the car Carolyn is, at first, noticeably the dominant figure as she stands in the hallway while Lester sits on the couch. But soon after, Lester takes control and he is the dominant figure as they get intimate on the sofa. But Lester’s attempts at rekindling their dying romance are interrupted by Carolyn’s obsessive-compulsiveness. While Lester realizes that there are better and more important aspects of life than being materialistic and reaffirming oneself with prized possessions, Carolyn doesn’t come to terms like Lester and is ashamed. We see that Lester has truly changed for the better while Carolyn remains stagnant in her ways of life. Lester exclaims to Carolyn, â€Å"IT’S JUST A COUCH. THIS ISN’T LIFE. THIS IS JUST STUFF. † Carolyn, as we see in this scene, is two-dimensional because she never really transforms like Lester. She is fixated on her career and has a tunnel vision toward ultimate success. While we see a brief glimpse of positive change in Lester through his interaction in this scene with Carolyn, it is evident that the damages in the marriage will never be fixed if Carolyn never changes. And as we see in the subsequent scenes, Carolyn further spirals downward because of her cheating and intense obsession with her career. Ricky Fitts becomes the source of enlightenment for Lester Burnham and it is evident that the only humanity present throughout a film, whose characters are devoid of any genuine feelings and instead are filled with materialistic tendencies and fake facades, is in the character of Ricky. As the viewer gets to know Ricky better, we see the different representations of what he deems to be signs of beauty. One example is during school when Jane and her friend Angela catch Ricky filming a dead bird because he finds beauty in it. In a momentous scene of the film, Ricky shows Jane the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen: a floating, white plastic bag. From our point of view, the camera is still and located right behind and in between Jane and Ricky’s heads to invite us to see what Ricky considers to be a representation of ultimate beauty. For the first time in the film, the viewer is exposed to an appreciation for life and a sense of clarity with one’s surroundings. Aforementioned, Ricky with his camera is the external, unbiased point of view in the film that helps the characters and the audience locate where real beauty can be found. The floating white bag represents what many of characters in the film want: freedom. They desire freedom from the expectations of society, freedom from traditional roles, freedom from family obligations, freedom from job responsibilities, etc. Ricky Fitts sees beauty in the plastic bag because it is able to do whatever it wants freely, as it dances with the leaves and goes wherever the wind takes it. It is this idea of liberation and desire for escape that   motivates many of the characters, particularly Lester and Ricky. In addition to the inspiration that Ricky gives to Lester, the character of Angela also becomes catalyst for the drastic changes that Lester undergoes throughout the film. Lester continuously reminisces about his past even stating at the beginning of the film, â€Å"It is never too late to regain your past. † With the help of technical elements, the first scene in which we see both Lester and Angela establishes the obsession that Lester has for Angela throughout the film. The film employs the male gaze throughout the film as both Lester and Ricky view their respective love interests in this manner, Lester more lustfully whereas Ricky incorporates real love. In this basketball scene, Angela is given an upward position in the frame to suggest that Lester is indeed noticing her. The camera then zooms in on both characters to intensify the fantasized connection between the two of them, and soon they are isolated from their respective sides to further emphasize this connection. The camera’s focus on Lester’s face creates the illusion of an animal drooling at the mouth over something that he desires. After all, he is lusting after Angela. Lester, in a way, acts with the mindset of a teenage boy because of his fixation on Angela. He begins to work out, drink and smoke pot and much like a teen, he abandons all responsibilities by quitting his job and therefore abandoning his traditional role as a father. Furthermore, he trades in the family Mercedes for a 1970s Trans Am sports car, his dream car as a young boy. All of these actions accumulate into a necessary sequence of events to achieve happiness and escape from the reality of his mundane family and work life. While Lester finds the fuel to his fire in Angela, Ricky finds a muse in Jane. As Ricky is able to see past the shallow exterior of Angela, this is why he is able to find beauty in the plain character of Jane. To most people, she’s plain Jane but Ricky sees her as a truly beautiful person over someone like Angela who seems conventionally attractive. Jane fills in the blank for a reason for Ricky to stand up against the overbearing rules of his father and finally run away and be happy. While it is evident that Lester reverts back into a mindset of a male teenager, the viewer finally sees Ricky fulfilling the same role as well; he is finally acting his own age. Ricky is the same as Lester in the beginning. He is the pushover in his relationship with his father. He is controlled by his father and is monitored very closely to the point that he is required to give urine samples. Near the end of the film, Ricky stands up to his father by egging him on to believe that he performed sexual favors for money. Like Lester’s defiance against Carolyn, he is tired of his father’s overbearing authority over him. Throughout the film, he obeys all of his father’s rules and even getting a catering job to look like a responsible adult. But eventually he breaks, and like Lester he defies the expectations that are put upon him by the greater powers. Near the end of the film Lester offers up a true example of humanity and sense of reawakening during his final scene with Angela, yet another piece of evidence to prove his mirroring of Ricky Fitts. Unbeknownst to him, Angela was all along a virgin. This can be inferred in the earlier basketball scene in which lighting was a key element. The light source cannot be seen and one can speculate that this light came from heaven shining down on her to show her innocence. Moreover, it can be inferred by her try-hard ways of showing off her supposed sexual experience to Jane that she, indeed, is a virgin. The omnipresence of the color white around Angela is also further indication that she indeed was a virgin. In the final scene for example, she is wearing a white button-down blouse and the couch on which she lays is also white. Traditionally, white in film represents cleanliness and purity. Finally, her name can be likened to the word â€Å"angel† as if to imply that despite her boastful ways, she is indeed an angel on the inside. Ironic it may be, but it took Angela to make Lester realize that he truly loved his family. Once Angela confessed that she was a virgin, it brought back Lester to a mature man once again who was able to handle responsibility. In this case, he was responsible and decided not to take Angela’s virginity. Instead, he hugs her and puts a blanket around her to comfort her. He shows humanity and compassion in this scene and realizes that Angela, like him, is suffering from the pressures of society. Lester takes after Ricky in that he, too, displays humanity by seeing through Angela’s fake exterior and realizing that she is beautiful on the inside whether or not she is sexually experienced. Lester finds clarity during his talk with Angela in the kitchen and understands that he has duties as a man and a father in his household. He looks on lovingly and meaningfully at a picture of his family and we, as the audience, sees his realization and his return to reality, only for it to be ended abruptly by a shot to his head by an anonymous person. At this final stage of the film, we have been given the tools and eye by Ricky to see what truly defines beauty. And as Ricky kneels down in front of Lester who is laying in a pool of his own blood, the viewer is invited to look on as well at Lester and realize that we, too, can find beauty in a graphic image like that. The film teaches us to look closer and to realize beauty in other things besides the obvious. Furthermore, it reaffirms that there is an everyday struggle for individuals to figure out their own identities and sometimes they find it necessary to mask their fears and insecurities with fake exteriors. Everything is not what it seems. Behind the perfectly painted red door and within the white picket fence, there is disillusionment and tension within the family structure. Behind the hard facade of the sexualized teenage girl, there is an innocent young woman who is insecure and wants attention. Behind the tough exterior of a former colonel, there is a conflicted man begging for answers. Behind the peculiar cold young man, there is the only sliver of humanity left in this materialistic world. The film teaches us that behind these fake exteriors, there exists an ounce of beauty being hidden. All we have to do is look closer. American Beauty an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Example American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Film: History and Form November 17, 2010 American Beauty: An Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts American Beauty, written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, invites the viewer to do one thing: look closer. Look closer at life, look closer at your surroundings, look closer at your possessions, and finally look closer at your loved ones. What is integral about the subject matter of the film is how applicable it is to almost anyone who watches it. The film’s grotesque depiction of American middle-class society is immediately very attractive, and the different elements such as the main character’s mid-life crisis, the young girls’ coming-of-age experiences and general family dynamics are very relatable to almost any viewer. As the viewer, we are drawn into the families and are forced to â€Å"look closer† and investigate what is wrong and why they have become the way that they are. Throughout the film’s progression, Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts are portrayed as mirror-images of one another and that they indeed are quite similar in their struggles against their respective overbearing authorities, share similar feelings of imprisonment and desires for escape. Carolyn, Lester and Jane Fitts seem like the perfect nuclear family. With both parents working successful jobs in the real estate and advertising business, the Burnham household appears to be the ideal American, nuclear family. We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Their house is filled with ideal family photos and decorated with expensive furniture, while their front yard is perfectly gardened and lined with a white picket fence and an abundance of red roses. From the outside, it seems like a story of a perfect and happy family. What comes with the label of being a nuclear family are both financial and emotional security and an assumption of traditional gender roles. It is clear, however, that the character of Lester Burnham has grown alienated from within his own home and wants to escape. He is living a sedated life and has become numb to everything. The viewer, throughout the film, sees Lester portrayed in various shots of imprisonment illusions, notably the shot of him looking through the front window to his wife gives the illusion of prison bars as well as the shot of his reflection on his desk computer with the words on the monitor in a prison bar shape. It is evident to the viewer that Lester is beginning to feel the repercussions of living in confinement from his daily routine. On the surface, the character of Ricky Fitts seems the most peculiar and out of the ordinary. The viewer first sees him doing the odd act of filming Jane as she walks back to her house, but in reality the viewer comes to realize that he is actually the most real person in the film. Ricky is not like a typical American, male teenager. He is not rowdy, nor does he seem the type to party. He appears to be a very obedient son to his parents, the mom living her life day by day while the father excessively wears a hard exterior because of his past duties in the army. Ricky seems fine, but like the character of Lester, he too is suffering from the dynamics of his own home. Still, he is able to remain true to himself; he does not put on a facade, and he does not care what anyone thinks. Ricky is a quiet and reserved guy, but what he lacks in words he makes up for with his use of his video camera. What seems like a voyeuristic act of filming Jane throughout the film across his window is actually his own way of reaching out to her and offering his hand to free her from the imprisonment that Jane feels in her own home. He is the most rational and is able to see past the materialistic attitudes and shallowness that characterize many of the characters. Ricky Fitts appreciates the beauty in nature and the most mundane things that people would not give a second glance toward. Ricky’s video camera acts as his filter to his view of the world. He sees everything from an impartial point of view and therefore sees everyone’s true nature. He quickly senses Angela’s fake exterior and detects the true beauty that is resonant within plain Jane, despite how boring she may seem to most people. To Jane, he is not only her neighbor and lover but also her savior from the confines of her home. Ricky is the outsider who is able to observe what is truly going on inside the Burnham household. He sees the effects that the negative dynamics of the family have on Jane, and he knows that the happenings inside of the seemingly perfect household are anything but perfect. Both Lester and Ricky’s worlds are turned upside down once the two of them meet. When Ricky shows defiance toward his boss at the party he is working, Lester sees a hero in him. Lester, who seems to be undergoing a mid-life crisis idolizes young Ricky, because it reminds him of his glory days when he was carefree, had no real responsibility and could do whatever he wanted. Lester has a spiritual awakening and he is motivated to revive himself from the dormant and mundane life that he has been living. Here, the viewer begins to see the mirroring of the characters of Lester and Ricky. Ricky’s carefree attitude and willful spirit ignites a fire within Lester and makes him want to change. Soon after, Lester’s new mindset of change comes into play and subsequently affects his own interactions with his wife and daughter. The chemistry between Lester and Carolyn is an important aspect in defining their roles in the family. It is safe to conclude that Carolyn is the more authoritative figure. From the beginning, the viewer sees this especially with the way that she taunts Lester when he dropped his briefcase and how she drives the car for the family. In many scenes, Carolyn is always the dominant figure in each shot. For example during the business social scene, Lester is noticeably shorter because Carolyn is a ledge higher than him to symbolize who is dominant in their marriage. Lester further confirms this when he says amusingly to Carolyn, â€Å"I’ll be whatever you want me to be. As Lester begins his transformation and attempts to regain control of his life however, the viewer is exposed to signs of rebellion and defiance from Lester toward Carolyn. After his bath tub dream, Lester shows defiance by commenting on how their marriage is really no longer a marriage and that they are just going through their everyday routines. He acknowledges the new Lester by saying, â€Å"Well guess what, Iâ €™ve changed. And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, ‘cause you’re obviously not gonna do anything about it. Furthermore, in the confrontation scene between Lester and Carolyn about trading in the car Carolyn is, at first, noticeably the dominant figure as she stands in the hallway while Lester sits on the couch. But soon after, Lester takes control and he is the dominant figure as they get intimate on the sofa. But Lester’s attempts at rekindling their dying romance are interrupted by Carolyn’s obsessive-compulsiveness. While Lester realizes that there are better and more important aspects of life than being materialistic and reaffirming oneself with prized possessions, Carolyn doesn’t come to terms like Lester and is ashamed. We see that Lester has truly changed for the better while Carolyn remains stagnant in her ways of life. Lester exclaims to Carolyn, â€Å"IT’S JUST A COUCH. THIS ISN’T LIFE. THIS IS JUST STUFF. † Carolyn, as we see in this scene, is two-dimensional because she never really transforms like Lester. She is fixated on her career and has a tunnel vision toward ultimate success. While we see a brief glimpse of positive change in Lester through his interaction in this scene with Carolyn, it is evident that the damages in the marriage will never be fixed if Carolyn never changes. And as we see in the subsequent scenes, Carolyn further spirals downward because of her cheating and intense obsession with her career. Ricky Fitts becomes the source of enlightenment for Lester Burnham and it is evident that the only humanity present throughout a film, whose characters are devoid of any genuine feelings and instead are filled with materialistic tendencies and fake facades, is in the character of Ricky. As the viewer gets to know Ricky better, we see the different representations of what he deems to be signs of beauty. One example is during school when Jane and her friend Angela catch Ricky filming a dead bird because he finds beauty in it. In a momentous scene of the film, Ricky shows Jane the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen: a floating, white plastic bag. From our point of view, the camera is still and located right behind and in between Jane and Ricky’s heads to invite us to see what Ricky considers to be a representation of ultimate beauty. For the first time in the film, the viewer is exposed to an appreciation for life and a sense of clarity with one’s surroundings. Aforementioned, Ricky with his camera is the external, unbiased point of view in the film that helps the characters and the audience locate where real beauty can be found. The floating white bag represents what many of characters in the film want: freedom. They desire freedom from the expectations of society, freedom from traditional roles, freedom from family obligations, freedom from job responsibilities, etc. Ricky Fitts sees beauty in the plastic bag because it is able to do whatever it wants freely, as it dances with the leaves and goes wherever the wind takes it. It is this idea of liberation and desire for escape that   motivates many of the characters, particularly Lester and Ricky. In addition to the inspiration that Ricky gives to Lester, the character of Angela also becomes catalyst for the drastic changes that Lester undergoes throughout the film. Lester continuously reminisces about his past even stating at the beginning of the film, â€Å"It is never too late to regain your past. † With the help of technical elements, the first scene in which we see both Lester and Angela establishes the obsession that Lester has for Angela throughout the film. The film employs the male gaze throughout the film as both Lester and Ricky view their respective love interests in this manner, Lester more lustfully whereas Ricky incorporates real love. In this basketball scene, Angela is given an upward position in the frame to suggest that Lester is indeed noticing her. The camera then zooms in on both characters to intensify the fantasized connection between the two of them, and soon they are isolated from their respective sides to further emphasize this connection. The camera’s focus on Lester’s face creates the illusion of an animal drooling at the mouth over something that he desires. After all, he is lusting after Angela. Lester, in a way, acts with the mindset of a teenage boy because of his fixation on Angela. He begins to work out, drink and smoke pot and much like a teen, he abandons all responsibilities by quitting his job and therefore abandoning his traditional role as a father. Furthermore, he trades in the family Mercedes for a 1970s Trans Am sports car, his dream car as a young boy. All of these actions accumulate into a necessary sequence of events to achieve happiness and escape from the reality of his mundane family and work life. While Lester finds the fuel to his fire in Angela, Ricky finds a muse in Jane. As Ricky is able to see past the shallow exterior of Angela, this is why he is able to find beauty in the plain character of Jane. To most people, she’s plain Jane but Ricky sees her as a truly beautiful person over someone like Angela who seems conventionally attractive. Jane fills in the blank for a reason for Ricky to stand up against the overbearing rules of his father and finally run away and be happy. While it is evident that Lester reverts back into a mindset of a male teenager, the viewer finally sees Ricky fulfilling the same role as well; he is finally acting his own age. Ricky is the same as Lester in the beginning. He is the pushover in his relationship with his father. He is controlled by his father and is monitored very closely to the point that he is required to give urine samples. Near the end of the film, Ricky stands up to his father by egging him on to believe that he performed sexual favors for money. Like Lester’s defiance against Carolyn, he is tired of his father’s overbearing authority over him. Throughout the film, he obeys all of his father’s rules and even getting a catering job to look like a responsible adult. But eventually he breaks, and like Lester he defies the expectations that are put upon him by the greater powers. Near the end of the film Lester offers up a true example of humanity and sense of reawakening during his final scene with Angela, yet another piece of evidence to prove his mirroring of Ricky Fitts. Unbeknownst to him, Angela was all along a virgin. This can be inferred in the earlier basketball scene in which lighting was a key element. The light source cannot be seen and one can speculate that this light came from heaven shining down on her to show her innocence. Moreover, it can be inferred by her try-hard ways of showing off her supposed sexual experience to Jane that she, indeed, is a virgin. The omnipresence of the color white around Angela is also further indication that she indeed was a virgin. In the final scene for example, she is wearing a white button-down blouse and the couch on which she lays is also white. Traditionally, white in film represents cleanliness and purity. Finally, her name can be likened to the word â€Å"angel† as if to imply that despite her boastful ways, she is indeed an angel on the inside. Ironic it may be, but it took Angela to make Lester realize that he truly loved his family. Once Angela confessed that she was a virgin, it brought back Lester to a mature man once again who was able to handle responsibility. In this case, he was responsible and decided not to take Angela’s virginity. Instead, he hugs her and puts a blanket around her to comfort her. He shows humanity and compassion in this scene and realizes that Angela, like him, is suffering from the pressures of society. Lester takes after Ricky in that he, too, displays humanity by seeing through Angela’s fake exterior and realizing that she is beautiful on the inside whether or not she is sexually experienced. Lester finds clarity during his talk with Angela in the kitchen and understands that he has duties as a man and a father in his household. He looks on lovingly and meaningfully at a picture of his family and we, as the audience, sees his realization and his return to reality, only for it to be ended abruptly by a shot to his head by an anonymous person. At this final stage of the film, we have been given the tools and eye by Ricky to see what truly defines beauty. And as Ricky kneels down in front of Lester who is laying in a pool of his own blood, the viewer is invited to look on as well at Lester and realize that we, too, can find beauty in a graphic image like that. The film teaches us to look closer and to realize beauty in other things besides the obvious. Furthermore, it reaffirms that there is an everyday struggle for individuals to figure out their own identities and sometimes they find it necessary to mask their fears and insecurities with fake exteriors. Everything is not what it seems. Behind the perfectly painted red door and within the white picket fence, there is disillusionment and tension within the family structure. Behind the hard facade of the sexualized teenage girl, there is an innocent young woman who is insecure and wants attention. Behind the tough exterior of a former colonel, there is a conflicted man begging for answers. Behind the peculiar cold young man, there is the only sliver of humanity left in this materialistic world. The film teaches us that behind these fake exteriors, there exists an ounce of beauty being hidden. All we have to do is look closer. American Beauty an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Example American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Paper Film: History and Form November 17, 2010 American Beauty: An Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts American Beauty, written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, invites the viewer to do one thing: look closer. Look closer at life, look closer at your surroundings, look closer at your possessions, and finally look closer at your loved ones. What is integral about the subject matter of the film is how applicable it is to almost anyone who watches it. The film’s grotesque depiction of American middle-class society is immediately very attractive, and the different elements such as the main character’s mid-life crisis, the young girls’ coming-of-age experiences and general family dynamics are very relatable to almost any viewer. As the viewer, we are drawn into the families and are forced to â€Å"look closer† and investigate what is wrong and why they have become the way that they are. Throughout the film’s progression, Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts are portrayed as mirror-images of one another and that they indeed are quite similar in their struggles against their respective overbearing authorities, share similar feelings of imprisonment and desires for escape. Carolyn, Lester and Jane Fitts seem like the perfect nuclear family. With both parents working successful jobs in the real estate and advertising business, the Burnham household appears to be the ideal American, nuclear family. We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Their house is filled with ideal family photos and decorated with expensive furniture, while their front yard is perfectly gardened and lined with a white picket fence and an abundance of red roses. From the outside, it seems like a story of a perfect and happy family. What comes with the label of being a nuclear family are both financial and emotional security and an assumption of traditional gender roles. It is clear, however, that the character of Lester Burnham has grown alienated from within his own home and wants to escape. He is living a sedated life and has become numb to everything. The viewer, throughout the film, sees Lester portrayed in various shots of imprisonment illusions, notably the shot of him looking through the front window to his wife gives the illusion of prison bars as well as the shot of his reflection on his desk computer with the words on the monitor in a prison bar shape. It is evident to the viewer that Lester is beginning to feel the repercussions of living in confinement from his daily routine. On the surface, the character of Ricky Fitts seems the most peculiar and out of the ordinary. The viewer first sees him doing the odd act of filming Jane as she walks back to her house, but in reality the viewer comes to realize that he is actually the most real person in the film. Ricky is not like a typical American, male teenager. He is not rowdy, nor does he seem the type to party. He appears to be a very obedient son to his parents, the mom living her life day by day while the father excessively wears a hard exterior because of his past duties in the army. Ricky seems fine, but like the character of Lester, he too is suffering from the dynamics of his own home. Still, he is able to remain true to himself; he does not put on a facade, and he does not care what anyone thinks. Ricky is a quiet and reserved guy, but what he lacks in words he makes up for with his use of his video camera. What seems like a voyeuristic act of filming Jane throughout the film across his window is actually his own way of reaching out to her and offering his hand to free her from the imprisonment that Jane feels in her own home. He is the most rational and is able to see past the materialistic attitudes and shallowness that characterize many of the characters. Ricky Fitts appreciates the beauty in nature and the most mundane things that people would not give a second glance toward. Ricky’s video camera acts as his filter to his view of the world. He sees everything from an impartial point of view and therefore sees everyone’s true nature. He quickly senses Angela’s fake exterior and detects the true beauty that is resonant within plain Jane, despite how boring she may seem to most people. To Jane, he is not only her neighbor and lover but also her savior from the confines of her home. Ricky is the outsider who is able to observe what is truly going on inside the Burnham household. He sees the effects that the negative dynamics of the family have on Jane, and he knows that the happenings inside of the seemingly perfect household are anything but perfect. Both Lester and Ricky’s worlds are turned upside down once the two of them meet. When Ricky shows defiance toward his boss at the party he is working, Lester sees a hero in him. Lester, who seems to be undergoing a mid-life crisis idolizes young Ricky, because it reminds him of his glory days when he was carefree, had no real responsibility and could do whatever he wanted. Lester has a spiritual awakening and he is motivated to revive himself from the dormant and mundane life that he has been living. Here, the viewer begins to see the mirroring of the characters of Lester and Ricky. Ricky’s carefree attitude and willful spirit ignites a fire within Lester and makes him want to change. Soon after, Lester’s new mindset of change comes into play and subsequently affects his own interactions with his wife and daughter. The chemistry between Lester and Carolyn is an important aspect in defining their roles in the family. It is safe to conclude that Carolyn is the more authoritative figure. From the beginning, the viewer sees this especially with the way that she taunts Lester when he dropped his briefcase and how she drives the car for the family. In many scenes, Carolyn is always the dominant figure in each shot. For example during the business social scene, Lester is noticeably shorter because Carolyn is a ledge higher than him to symbolize who is dominant in their marriage. Lester further confirms this when he says amusingly to Carolyn, â€Å"I’ll be whatever you want me to be. As Lester begins his transformation and attempts to regain control of his life however, the viewer is exposed to signs of rebellion and defiance from Lester toward Carolyn. After his bath tub dream, Lester shows defiance by commenting on how their marriage is really no longer a marriage and that they are just going through their everyday routines. He acknowledges the new Lester by saying, â€Å"Well guess what, Iâ €™ve changed. And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, ‘cause you’re obviously not gonna do anything about it. Furthermore, in the confrontation scene between Lester and Carolyn about trading in the car Carolyn is, at first, noticeably the dominant figure as she stands in the hallway while Lester sits on the couch. But soon after, Lester takes control and he is the dominant figure as they get intimate on the sofa. But Lester’s attempts at rekindling their dying romance are interrupted by Carolyn’s obsessive-compulsiveness. While Lester realizes that there are better and more important aspects of life than being materialistic and reaffirming oneself with prized possessions, Carolyn doesn’t come to terms like Lester and is ashamed. We see that Lester has truly changed for the better while Carolyn remains stagnant in her ways of life. Lester exclaims to Carolyn, â€Å"IT’S JUST A COUCH. THIS ISN’T LIFE. THIS IS JUST STUFF. † Carolyn, as we see in this scene, is two-dimensional because she never really transforms like Lester. She is fixated on her career and has a tunnel vision toward ultimate success. While we see a brief glimpse of positive change in Lester through his interaction in this scene with Carolyn, it is evident that the damages in the marriage will never be fixed if Carolyn never changes. And as we see in the subsequent scenes, Carolyn further spirals downward because of her cheating and intense obsession with her career. Ricky Fitts becomes the source of enlightenment for Lester Burnham and it is evident that the only humanity present throughout a film, whose characters are devoid of any genuine feelings and instead are filled with materialistic tendencies and fake facades, is in the character of Ricky. As the viewer gets to know Ricky better, we see the different representations of what he deems to be signs of beauty. One example is during school when Jane and her friend Angela catch Ricky filming a dead bird because he finds beauty in it. In a momentous scene of the film, Ricky shows Jane the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen: a floating, white plastic bag. From our point of view, the camera is still and located right behind and in between Jane and Ricky’s heads to invite us to see what Ricky considers to be a representation of ultimate beauty. For the first time in the film, the viewer is exposed to an appreciation for life and a sense of clarity with one’s surroundings. Aforementioned, Ricky with his camera is the external, unbiased point of view in the film that helps the characters and the audience locate where real beauty can be found. The floating white bag represents what many of characters in the film want: freedom. They desire freedom from the expectations of society, freedom from traditional roles, freedom from family obligations, freedom from job responsibilities, etc. Ricky Fitts sees beauty in the plastic bag because it is able to do whatever it wants freely, as it dances with the leaves and goes wherever the wind takes it. It is this idea of liberation and desire for escape that   motivates many of the characters, particularly Lester and Ricky. In addition to the inspiration that Ricky gives to Lester, the character of Angela also becomes catalyst for the drastic changes that Lester undergoes throughout the film. Lester continuously reminisces about his past even stating at the beginning of the film, â€Å"It is never too late to regain your past. † With the help of technical elements, the first scene in which we see both Lester and Angela establishes the obsession that Lester has for Angela throughout the film. The film employs the male gaze throughout the film as both Lester and Ricky view their respective love interests in this manner, Lester more lustfully whereas Ricky incorporates real love. In this basketball scene, Angela is given an upward position in the frame to suggest that Lester is indeed noticing her. The camera then zooms in on both characters to intensify the fantasized connection between the two of them, and soon they are isolated from their respective sides to further emphasize this connection. The camera’s focus on Lester’s face creates the illusion of an animal drooling at the mouth over something that he desires. After all, he is lusting after Angela. Lester, in a way, acts with the mindset of a teenage boy because of his fixation on Angela. He begins to work out, drink and smoke pot and much like a teen, he abandons all responsibilities by quitting his job and therefore abandoning his traditional role as a father. Furthermore, he trades in the family Mercedes for a 1970s Trans Am sports car, his dream car as a young boy. All of these actions accumulate into a necessary sequence of events to achieve happiness and escape from the reality of his mundane family and work life. While Lester finds the fuel to his fire in Angela, Ricky finds a muse in Jane. As Ricky is able to see past the shallow exterior of Angela, this is why he is able to find beauty in the plain character of Jane. To most people, she’s plain Jane but Ricky sees her as a truly beautiful person over someone like Angela who seems conventionally attractive. Jane fills in the blank for a reason for Ricky to stand up against the overbearing rules of his father and finally run away and be happy. While it is evident that Lester reverts back into a mindset of a male teenager, the viewer finally sees Ricky fulfilling the same role as well; he is finally acting his own age. Ricky is the same as Lester in the beginning. He is the pushover in his relationship with his father. He is controlled by his father and is monitored very closely to the point that he is required to give urine samples. Near the end of the film, Ricky stands up to his father by egging him on to believe that he performed sexual favors for money. Like Lester’s defiance against Carolyn, he is tired of his father’s overbearing authority over him. Throughout the film, he obeys all of his father’s rules and even getting a catering job to look like a responsible adult. But eventually he breaks, and like Lester he defies the expectations that are put upon him by the greater powers. Near the end of the film Lester offers up a true example of humanity and sense of reawakening during his final scene with Angela, yet another piece of evidence to prove his mirroring of Ricky Fitts. Unbeknownst to him, Angela was all along a virgin. This can be inferred in the earlier basketball scene in which lighting was a key element. The light source cannot be seen and one can speculate that this light came from heaven shining down on her to show her innocence. Moreover, it can be inferred by her try-hard ways of showing off her supposed sexual experience to Jane that she, indeed, is a virgin. The omnipresence of the color white around Angela is also further indication that she indeed was a virgin. In the final scene for example, she is wearing a white button-down blouse and the couch on which she lays is also white. Traditionally, white in film represents cleanliness and purity. Finally, her name can be likened to the word â€Å"angel† as if to imply that despite her boastful ways, she is indeed an angel on the inside. Ironic it may be, but it took Angela to make Lester realize that he truly loved his family. Once Angela confessed that she was a virgin, it brought back Lester to a mature man once again who was able to handle responsibility. In this case, he was responsible and decided not to take Angela’s virginity. Instead, he hugs her and puts a blanket around her to comfort her. He shows humanity and compassion in this scene and realizes that Angela, like him, is suffering from the pressures of society. Lester takes after Ricky in that he, too, displays humanity by seeing through Angela’s fake exterior and realizing that she is beautiful on the inside whether or not she is sexually experienced. Lester finds clarity during his talk with Angela in the kitchen and understands that he has duties as a man and a father in his household. He looks on lovingly and meaningfully at a picture of his family and we, as the audience, sees his realization and his return to reality, only for it to be ended abruptly by a shot to his head by an anonymous person. At this final stage of the film, we have been given the tools and eye by Ricky to see what truly defines beauty. And as Ricky kneels down in front of Lester who is laying in a pool of his own blood, the viewer is invited to look on as well at Lester and realize that we, too, can find beauty in a graphic image like that. The film teaches us to look closer and to realize beauty in other things besides the obvious. Furthermore, it reaffirms that there is an everyday struggle for individuals to figure out their own identities and sometimes they find it necessary to mask their fears and insecurities with fake exteriors. Everything is not what it seems. Behind the perfectly painted red door and within the white picket fence, there is disillusionment and tension within the family structure. Behind the hard facade of the sexualized teenage girl, there is an innocent young woman who is insecure and wants attention. Behind the tough exterior of a former colonel, there is a conflicted man begging for answers. Behind the peculiar cold young man, there is the only sliver of humanity left in this materialistic world. The film teaches us that behind these fake exteriors, there exists an ounce of beauty being hidden. All we have to do is look closer.

Memorable Quotes of Leo Tolstoy Quotes

Memorable Quotes of Leo Tolstoy Quotes Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy is one of the most famous writers in world literature. He penned many famous and lengthy tales such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Here are a few quotes from his personal and professional works. A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.- Leo Tolstoy, On Civil DisobedienceAll happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. - Leo Tolstoy All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do.- Leo Tolstoy, Anna KareninaAll, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.- Leo TolstoyAnd all people live, Not by reason of any care they have for themselves, But by the love for them that is in other people.- Leo TolstoyArt is a microscope which the artist fixes on the secrets of his soul, and shows to people these secrets which are common to all.- Leo Tolstoy, Diary entryArt is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.- Leo Tolstoy, What is Art?Art lifts man from his personal life into the universal lif e.- Leo Tolstoy, What is Art? At the approach of danger there are always two voices that speak with equal force in the heart of man: one very reasonably tells the man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of avoiding it; the other even more reasonable says that it is too painful and harassing to think of the danger, since it is not a mans power to provide for everything and escape from the general march of events; and that it is, therefore, better to turn aside from the painful subject till it has come, and to think of what is pleasant. In solitude a man generally yields to the first voice; in society to the second.- Leo Tolstoy, War and PeaceBoredom: the desire for desires.- Leo TolstoyEven in the valley of the shadow of death, two and two do not make six.- Leo TolstoyEveryone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.- Leo TolstoyFaith is the sense of life, that sense by virtue of which man does not destroy himself, but continues to live on. It is the force whereby we live .- Leo Tolstoy God is that infinite All of which man knows himself to be a finite part.- Leo Tolstoy, Diary entryGovernment is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us.- Leo TolstoyGreat works of art are only great because they are accessible and comprehensible to everyone.- Leo Tolstoy, What is Art?He never chooses an opinion; he just wears whatever happens to be in style.- Leo TolstoyHistorians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.- Leo TolstoyI sit on a mans back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.- Leo Tolstoy, What Then Must We Do?If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.- Leo Tolstoy, The First StepIf so many men, so many minds, certainly so many hearts, so many kinds of love.- Leo TolstoyIf there existed no external means for dimming their consciences, one-half of the men would at once shoot themselves, because to live contrary to ones reason is a most intolerable state, and all men of our time are in such a state.- Leo Tolstoy If you want to be happy, be.- Leo TolstoyIn all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.- Leo TolstoyIn historical events great men-so-called-are but labels serving to give a name to the event, and like  labels  they have the least possible connection with the event itself. Every action of theirs, that seems to them an act of their own free will, is in  a historical  sense not free at all, but in bondage to the whole course of  previous  history, and predestined from all eternity.-  Leo Tolstoy,  War  and PeaceIn order to obtain and hold power, a man must love it.-  Leo Tolstoy,  The Kingdom of God Is Within YouIn the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.-  Leo TolstoyIt is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.-  Leo Tolstoy  The Kreutzer SonataLife is everything. Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God. And while there is life there is joy in  consciousness  of the divine. To love life is to love God.-  Leo Tolstoy,  War  and Peace Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic, universal, aims of humanity.-  Leo TolstoyMusic is the shorthand of emotion.-  Leo TolstoyNietzsche was stupid and abnormal.-  Leo TolstoyOne of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken.-  Leo TolstoyOur body is a machine for living. It is organized for that, it is its nature. Let life go on in it unhindered and let it defend itself.-  Leo TolstoyPure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.-  Leo Tolstoy,  War  and PeaceReal art, like the wife of an affectionate husband, needs no ornaments. But counterfeit art, like a prostitute, must always be decked out. The cause of  production  of real art is the artists inner need to express a feeling that has accumulated, just as for a mother the cause of sexual conception is love. The cause of counterfeit art, as of prostitution, is gain. The conse quence of true art is the introduction of a new feeling into the intercourse of life, as the consequence of a wifes love is the birth of a new man into life. The consequences of counterfeit art are the perversion of man,  pleasure  which never satisfies, and the weakening of mans spiritual strength.-  Leo Tolstoy,  What is Art? Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.-  Leo Tolstoy,  War  and PeaceThe changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience not from our mental resolution to try a new form of life.-  Leo TolstoyThe chief difference between words and deeds is that words are always intended for men for their approbation, but deeds can be done only for God.-  Leo TolstoyThe greater the state, the more wrong and cruel its patriotism, and the greater is the sum of suffering upon which its power is founded.-  Leo TolstoyThe law condemns and punishes only actions within certain definite and narrow limits; it thereby justifies, in a way, all similar actions that lie outside those limits.-  Leo TolstoyThe sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.-  Leo TolstoyThe strongest of all warriors are these two Time and Patience.-  Leo Tolstoy,  War  and Pea ceThe two most powerful warriors are patience and time.-  Leo Tolstoy There is no greatness where there is no simplicity,  goodness  and truth.-  Leo TolstoyTo say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people cant eat it.-  Leo TolstoyTrue life is lived when tiny changes occur.-  Leo TolstoyTruth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.-  Leo TolstoyWar is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves.-  Leo TolstoyWar, on the other hand,  is such a terrible thing, that no man, especially a Christian man, has the right to assume the responsibility of starting it.-  Leo TolstoyWe lost because we told ourselves we lost.-  Leo Tolstoy,  War  and PeaceWe must not only cease our present desire for the growth of the state, but we must desire its decrease,  its  weakening.- Leo TolstoyWithout knowing what I am and why I am here, life is impossible.-  Leo Tolstoy,  Anna Karenina

WorldCom and Reliant Should be Charged With Felonies Essay

WorldCom and Reliant Should be Charged With Felonies - Essay Example With respect to the USDOJ's definition of corporate crime, in the case of Reliant Energy and WorldCom, the companies were liable for the actions of its officers due to a failure to prevent their actions and allowing a culture that promoted the illegal activity. In the case of Bernie Ebbers, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which he was not aware of the dealings of his subordinates. In addition , he did nothing to affect the methods that WorldCom did business. He had no system in place for oversight or compliance and this placed the corporation as guilty as its officers. As the DOJ has indicated, "management is responsible for a corporate culture in which criminal conduct is either discouraged or tacitly encouraged' (USDOJ, 22003). This was further exacerbated by the WorldCom CEO's insistence on his innocence and refusal to be totally forthcoming in the matter. If there was not a willingness to cooperate, the corporation should be charged as if it was an individual for securities fraud, and filing false reports. Throughout the trial, the defense, "contended that Mr. Ebbers was in the dark about the fraud" and "Ebbers denied discussing any element of the fraud with Mr. Sullivan" (Belsen, 2005).

Essay questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Questions - Essay Example Hence the Palestine had to be kept in the hands of Arabs as they hoped that the Arab unity would help forge war against common enemy. However the movement experienced a major setback in the defeat of Arabs in the Arab Israeli war of 1967 and death of Abdul Nasser in 1970. Jewish nationalism also caused the conflict due to the numerous persecutions and massacres they faced. They were also expelled in most European countries and hence had to look for their own land free from persecution that they believed was Israel. Another reason for this was the British decision to end mandate that made Arabs perceive it as breach of the agreement that made them furious as the British support for their independence was broken. The Arab treatment by the Israeli denied them basic political rights and freedom as they were seen as threat to Israeli. They imposed policies that hurt the Palestinians hence the revolt against the military administration that was set to govern their resident in the West Bank and Gaza. The rise of the Palestinian nationalist movement against state formation led to the 1948 Arab –Israeli war termed as the war for independence. The Arab resistance against giving part of their land to the Jewish without being informed was viewed as a threat to the independence of Palestinian nation. The Israeli also took better part of the land leaving them with worst lands and this angered them leading to conflicts and subsequent formation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization that used terrorism to frighten the Jews to return their land. Zionism was formed as a national movement with an aim or goal to create and support the Jews national state in Palestine that was the ancient home to the Jews. It originated from the eastern and central Europe in the late 19th century. The centre of this movement was established in Vienna. It therefore strived to create a home in

Data-Collection Method Comparison-Sheila Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Data-Collection Method Comparison-Sheila - Essay Example The data is collected directly from the field that enables the research to draw accurate and reliable conclusions. Both of them are usually constructed into culture of a given society and provide information from the ancient times to the current periods and must be interpreted by the researcher for a good conclusion to be arrived at. However, artifacts are more honest than the stories. This is because; in artifacts the researcher views for her/himself and can identify the hidden meaning (Goertz, & Mahone, 2012). On the other hand, stories can sometimes be made up that suits the researchers and at times the participant may lie. This provides false data that compromises the research. Both the criteria try to seek information from a particular source to a particular problem. They are methods of inquiry into a particular study regarding a research problem. The data must be then analyzed for interpretation. Never the less, primary data uses firsthand information from the field and can be used for comprehensive analysis. They are done to acquire new solutions to a particular problem and interact with the participant directly (Tracy, 2013). However, secondary data secondary data uses already stored data to improve on the existing analysis, or for references purposes and do not meet with the participant. Both methods involve direct actions of the researcher and the responded hence obtains first hand information. This ensures actions such biasness; lies and inaccurate information’s are minimized hence ensuring an honest data. Furthermore, both the interview and observations must notify the responded of their presence, intentions and how they would involve them in the study if they are to succeed in the study (Tracy, 2013). Interviews are usually well structured that provides an easier way to collect data from the field. The questions are made simple and clear.

Customer Relationship Management Dimensions

Customer Relationship Management Dimensions Purpose The primary objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that depicts the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) dimensions on employee job satisfaction within the customer contact center industry. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a qualitative methodology that comprises of a comprehensive literature review of both academic researches and industry reports. Findings Evidences from the extant literatures have suggested that effective implementations of the four dimensions of CRM (Customer Orientation, CRM Organization, Knowledge Management and Technology Based CRM) will positively effect employee job satisfaction within the customer contact center industry. Research limitations/implications Given that this paper is based on qualitative approach, there is need to embark on empirical data gathering to validate the conceptual model presented. Practical implications The paper suggest that to achieve operational efficiency together with employee job satisfaction, there is need for customer contact centers to integrate CRM dimensions into its operations and measurement practices. Originality/value This paper primarily conceptualize a measurement model that would assist in determining the impacts of CRM on employee job satisfaction and performance within the contact centers. It generally provides contact center Executives with CRM focus, by complementing recent works that have been conducted on the role of CRM constructs in improving employee job satisfactions and organizational performances. It concluded by proposing a model for future testing. Keywords Customer Relationship Management (CRM), contact centers, call centers, employee job satisfaction, caller/customer satisfaction, service quality Paper type Conceptual paper Introduction Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as referred is a concept that derives its popularity since 1990s. It is said to offer a long term changes and benefits to businesses that chose to adopt it. CRM has been argued to enable companies to successfully interact with their customers in a dynamic and profitable manner (Aihie and Bennani, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Gummesson, 2004; Sin et al, 2005). However, many scholars still debate over what should exactly constitute CRM; some says CRM are nothing more than mere software, while others says it is a modern means of satisfying customers requirement at profit (Soon 2007; Nguyen et al, 2007; and Eric et al, 2006). CRM was also defined by Nguyen et al (2007) as information system that allows organizations to track customers interactions with their firms and allows employees to instantly pull up information about the customers such as past sales, service records, outstanding records and unresolved problem calls. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a unit of a bigger Marketing Management which is the art and science of choosing target markets and building profitable relationships with them by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction (Dean, 2007, Eid, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Gummesson, 2004; and Fox and Stead, 2001). McNally (2007) defines CRM as a system which allows both internal and external customers of an organization to critical information through the integration of companys telephone system, Chat groups, Interactive voice response, facsimile transmission, electronic data interchange, Voice over internet, Web sites and e-mail touch points that will result in satisfying customer self services for new product purchases, assist in up-selling and cross selling and creating customer loyalty, value and profitability. While different researchers believed that there is no one correct definition of CRM, this research would like to define CRM as Organizations ability to efficiently integrate people, process, and technology in maximizing positive relationships with both current and potential customers. Authors such as Sin et al (2005) argued that CRM is a strategic business process that involves an efficient management of detailed information about current and potential customers channeled through a carefully arranged customer touch points that assist in maximizing customer loyalty and minimizing costs. Other scholarly arguments have also established that the cost implications in CRM implementations are double sided, from one from the company and the other from the customers (McNally, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005, Yim et al., 2005). On one hand, the customer is able to reduce the cost of traveling to the respective companies to get what they need, while the companies are able to save cost on both their human resources, processes and promotions (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005). To strengthen their arguments, Sin et al (2005) explained that whatever orientation that an organization might have put in place, the primary role of marketing management is to create a positive relationship with customers. Exploring CRM literatures Findings from recent researches have been indicating the enormous opportunities CRM is availing employees of several organizations in getting detailed customer information to make quick and intelligent business decisions that will resolve issues and provide efficient service to the customers (Soon, 2007; Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Yim et al., 2005; Adam and Michael, 2005). Similarly are arguments from both academic literatures and industry reports which have established the importance of customer relationship management in marketing activities, specifically in the customer contact centers where it has helped in digitalizing staffs knowledge about organizations customers through computer telephony integration, fax, email, web chatting etc (Dean, 2009; 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Roland and Werner, 2005). While this current study cannot disconfirm the available arguments in favor of CRM applications on employee job satisfactions and performance, there are reliable data that shows a range of major issues that is globally affecting contact centers such as shortage of skilled employees, high abandonment rate, high average speed of answer, employee job dissatisfaction, high attrition rate, high cost of operations, and customer dissatisfaction (Chen eta l., 2010; Callcentre.net, 2008; 2003; McNally, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005). The model that is created from the literature review From the findings in the extant literature reviews, below is the proposed conceptual model. Relevant literatures in support of each constructs are detailed under the elements of each variable. + + + + Figure 1: CRM Dimensions and Employee Job Satisfaction Model Independent Variables: CRM Dimensions Based on the review of past related literatures on CRM and detail interview with some selected CRM managers, Sin et al (2005) hypothesized that the concept of CRM is a multi dimensional construct which consist of four broad behavioral components in every implementing organizations: key customer focus, CRM organization, knowledge management, and technology based CRM (Sin et al, 2005). They argued that their findings is in accordance with the general notion that a successful CRM is primarily designed to address four key areas in the implementing organization: corporate strategy; people; technology; and processes (Sin et al, 2005; Fox and Stead 2001), and that it is only when all these four components works according to target that a company will experience a superior customer related capability. It was equally argued that for a company to be able to maximize its long term performance in metrics such as customer satisfaction, employees trust, satisfaction and commitment, and return on investment, such a company must build, maintain, and do everything possible to establish the four dimensions of CRM (McNally, 2007; Bang, 2006; Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al, 2005; Yim et al., 2005). Customer Orientations Evidences from marketing literatures, IT literatures and Industry practices agreed to the fact that customer centric focus is a pre-requisite to any successful CRM Projects, particularly in shaping the minds and actions of the employees in becoming customer oriented (Dean, 2007; McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Callcenter.net, 2003). Looking at it from the contact center perspective, Dean (2002) defined customer Orientation as the degree to which an organization emphasizes on meeting customer needs and expectations for service quality. Dean (2004) went further to argue that customer orientation should incorporate commitment to customer needs and utilizing the available resources in gathering and efficiently managing customer feedback for effective decision making by the employees. Over the last twenty years, the concept of customer orientation have started to be very critical in the field of marketing management practices and theories, with apparent conclusions in support of the statement that any organization that adopts customer orientation approach are more likely to establish the required customer quality, increase its employee and customer satisfactions, and able to achieve the desired organizational objectives more efficiently than its competitors (Chen et al., 2010; Dean, 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Brady and Cronin, 2001; Lukas and Ferrell, 2000; Narver and Slater, 1990). To Sin et al (2005), they argued that although it is observed that most empirical studies have been concentrating on the degree and measurements of the concepts, but the extant literatures have long neglected the variations in the customer orientation dimensions or the features of the concepts as exhibited by each organizations (Sin et al., 2005). Therefore the general literatures on customer orientation could be argued as not been widely practiced specifically by the contact center professionals in the manner advocated by Sin et al (2005) and supported in other literatures such as Roland and Werner (2005) and Dean (2007) were they all have empirically established a positive linkages between customer orientation, perceived service quality, employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Similarly are previous researches such as Kohli et al (1993) and Berry (1995) that cites several empirical studies that have suggest a linkage between the customer orientation and customer satisf action. Sources from other extant literatures have suggested that customer orientation (CO) is positively related to CRM adoption and customer relationships outcomes (Dean, 2007 and 2002; Eid 2007; James 2004). Customer orientation is said to reflect a companys culture on customers focus, needs and feedbacks (Dean 2007). In a very developed customer oriented approach, it is argued that there should be a continuous ongoing information collection and dissemination about customer and competitor for better decision making process by the employees (Kohli and Jaworski, 1993). The culture of customer orientation in a firm is considered to be very significant in the successful adoption, implementation and acceptance of CRM technology by its employees (Nguyen et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; and Eid 2007). Several other studies have also emphasized that there exist a stronger relationship between customer orientation and employee satisfaction, especially in the service industries where employees are the firs t contact with the customers and taking into consideration the length of time employees spend with customers in the contact center industry (Bhimrao and Janardan., 2008; McNally, 2007; Soon, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Bang, 2006; Sarah and Meredith., 2006; Roland and Werner., 2005; Feinberg et al, 2002). Given the aforementioned evidences and many more empirical findings that have establish customer orientation as an important antecedent of competitive advantage and business profitability (Brady and Cronin, 2001; Narver and Slater, 1990), probing and measuring the impact of this orientation on employee job satisfaction is said to have captured the attentions of researchers (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al, 2005; Yim et al., 2006). This research postulates that: H1: Customer Orientation of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. CRM Organizations CRM organization has been argued as an essential means through which fundamental changes in terms of how firms organized and conduct its business processes around employees and customers can be actualized (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). Implementing firms are encouraged to pay necessary attentions to the inherent organizational challenges in the CRM initiatives (Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Adam and Michael, 2005). Both Wang et al (2006), Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) have all empirically tested and established that there exist a positive relationship between CRM organization and customer satisfaction, with serious emphasis on the positive roles of the employees. They argued further that the key considerations for any successful CRM to be implemented within the whole firm are organizational structures, the organization wide commitment of available resources, human resource management policies and employee job satisfaction that positively worked together t o influence customer satisfaction (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005., Yim et al., 2005). By organizational structure means that CRM applications requires that the entire strategic business units in such firms be design to jointly work together towards achieving a common goal in terms of building a strong long-term customer relationships (Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). For better efficiency of such organizational structure, it was advised that firms should incorporate productive process teams, cross discipline segment groups and customer focused departments (Aihie and Bennani, 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). All the aforementioned structural designs are said to require a strong inter-functional coordination between the different departments, a statement that further confirms the existence of a positive relationship between CRM organization and employee job satisfaction and performance (Rajshekhar et al., 2006). Due to the high cost involvement of CRM applications, Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) conceptualized and established the importance of organizations wide commitment of resources to the intended design of CRM structures as having a positive relationship with employee satisfaction, performance and customer satisfaction. Also very important in their findings are the argument in favor of CRM organization as the established link between the human resources and the marketing interface (McNally, 2007; Sin et al., 2005). Also relevant in this area of studies are literatures such as Dean (2007) and Roland and Werner (2005) that empirically established that there exist a positive relationships between CRM dimensions (specifically customer orientation), employee job satisfaction, perceived service quality and customer satisfactions. Dean (2007), Roland and Werner (2005), Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) all empirically argued that this is a stage where firms need to logically instill in its customer service representatives the utmost importance of the CRM dimensions in order to positively influence employee job satisfaction, first call resolution, customer satisfaction and organization overall performance. In their concluding remarks they emphasized on four significant firms internal marketing processes, which includes employee empowerment, effective internal communications, standard reward systems, and employee involvement as efficient means of actualizing CRM organizations on employee job satisfaction and performance (Sin et al., 2005). In view of this, this research Hypothesize that: H2: CRM Organization of the customer contact is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction Knowledge Management With reference to the knowledge based view theory of the firm, it states and I quote that the primary reason for any companys existence is to possess the ability to create, transfer, and efficiently utilize its available knowledge (Acedo et al, 2006; Meso and Smith, 2000; Miller and Shamsie, 1996). Whereas, looking at this from the angle of CRM concept in Marketing, knowledge can be describe as whatever a company or individual has learnt from experience/practice or any empirical study of consumer data (Nguyen et al., 2007; Sin et al., 2005). This will bring us to the key facets of knowledge management dimension which includes a companys knowledge learning and generation, its knowledge dissemination and sharing, and finally knowledge responsiveness (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). As previously discussed that Knowledge about key customers in a company is important for a successful CRM application (Rajshekhar et al., 2006), because it could be use as a master plan to developing a learning relationship between the employees and companys current and potential customers (Nguyen et al., 2007) and thereby availing each organization the opportunity to a successful establishment of a stronger competitive strength in the market through employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Roland and Werner, 2005; Dean, 2004). It is premised on these arguments that both Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) have conceptualized and empirically established a positive relationship between employee knowledge acquisition and usage, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Also very important under this heading is Customer information, such as customers needs and preferences which may be captured by both directly or indirectly, via a two way communications in the compa nys interactive feedback system (Sin et al., 2005). As argued that the primary reason of knowledge generation is for affording a 360 degree customer view, through an appropriate business intelligence tools such as data mining, data warehouse, and data mart all which could assist a company to incorporate a customer information into its strategic business intelligence (Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005). Therefore, it became very important for organizations to develop a sound mechanism for sharing the existing customer knowledge that will facilitate the concerted actions that could positively influence employee knowledge, satisfaction and performance in all the strategic business units of every organization (Sin et al., 2005). Finally it is arguable that marketing is now more concerned with better means of responding to customer demand, with the general believes that actions taken in a prompt manner not only enhance service quality, but also foster positive long-term relationships with both employees and the customers (Dean, 2007; Roland Werner, 2005; Antonio et al., 2005; and Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). This leads to the following Hypothesis: H3: Knowledge management of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. Technology Based CRM Although it has been established that consumers do complained about the time and efforts that is required in getting their individual questions or problems solved whenever they interact with contact centers (SQM, 2007; Call Centre.net, 2003), but equally important are arguments in favor of careful implementations of CRM Screen Pop-Up as an effective means of improving customer service representative satisfaction and performance, first call resolution, and caller satisfactions while simultaneously reducing the contact center processing costs (SQM, 2007; Yim et al., 2005; Call Centre.net, 2003). This is because most of the findings in the existing literatures and industry reports aptly depict that the major cost of running a call centre is the labor cost (Levin, 2007a), a strong need why every organizations must efficiently link is technological applications to its employee acceptance, satisfaction and performance (McNally, 2007). Meanwhile, not only within the contact centers that CRM technologies and systems are beneficial (McNally, 2007), there are enormous evidence in support of CRM systems as complements to other systems such as enterprise research planning systems etc (Nguyen et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; and Eid 2007). Evidence from existing contact center literatures shows that several authors have argued in favor of FCR technology enablers through intelligent skill based routing as a good means of achieving FCR, employee job satisfaction and caller satisfaction (SQM, 2007; Callcentre.net, 2003). This is because through the application of CRM technologies such as first call resolution enablers, contact centers can match their customers and/or their call types with the appropriate customer service representatives knowledge and skills (SQM, 2007). Equally observed in the extant literatures is the suggestion that there are two aspects of CRM systems integration that are pertinent to the adoption of this technology. Eid (2007) describes the first part as integration into the existing organizational systems and applications, while the second integration is done across other functional customer contact touch points. Part of the available evidence as identified by this research is that it is widely possible for researchers and practitioners to determine if an organization has put in place CRM technologies, but the major issues starts from measuring the effectiveness of CRM technology utilization in terms of user acceptance, and the desired operational performance which is argued to have since been neglected and has been confirmed as very vital to the success of the implementing firm (Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Ravipa and Mark, 2004). The existing academic and practitioner literatures on CRM are mostly in the areas of cust omer database, contact centers, online chatting systems, e-mails, Internets and some organizational group support systems, further creating a vacuum for future research in determining the impact of CRM technology on employee job satisfaction (McNally, 2007; Nguyen et al, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Sin et al., 2005; James, 2004). Furthermore, some literatures contend that a companys ability to link the CRM system to different strategic business units such as marketing, finance, distribution, operations, and human resources will provide additional value to both internal and external users, and more importantly to the achievement of both employee and customers satisfactions (Aihie and Az-Eddine, 2007; Coltman, 2007; Nguyen et al 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Yim et al., 2005). If efficiently managed, CRM system is argued as having the capacity to assist organizations in handling customer queries and complaints more professionally with both accurate and timely information that would assist in reducing employee role stress, attrition rate and subsequently increasing employee job satisfaction, first call resolution and customer satisfaction (McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; 2005). Also very important in this area of research is the a benefit inherent in the integration of every unit of the customer contact centers whether inbound, outbound or web enabled via CRM technology that provides a great opportunity for seamless and transparent services in customer touch points (Yim et al., 2005). In relation to the above, the extent of a companys CRM integration will strengthen its ability to resolving customers request in the first call resolution, and also give opportunity for achieving both employee and customer satisfactions (Dean, 2007; SQM, 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). The above has led this research into hypothesizing that: H4: Technology based CRM of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. Dependent Variable: Employee Job Satisfaction Issues on employee satisfaction are very much available in several studies, in which the majority postulates a positive relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Florian et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; Bernard and Stephen, 2004; Gummesson, 2004). These are so because employee and customer satisfaction are often measured in different ways by marketing researchers, where the majority has stated that employee job satisfaction has a clear effect on customer satisfaction (Eric et al, 2006; Coltman, 2007; Christian, 2005; Gummesson, 2004). Evidences from other recent researches have also confirmed that the relationship between employee satisfaction and performance could be strengthened if there is a high frequency of customer interaction with the employees (Dean, 2007; Florian et al, 2007; Christian, 2005; and Kode et al 2001). Whereas two major existing literatures in the contact center industry by Roland and Werner (2005) and McNally (2007) have empirically established that there exist a positive relationship between customer orientation, employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. In Roland and Werner (2005), they argued, tested and established that employee job satisfaction positively mediate the link between customer orientation and customer satisfaction of the contact center industry. A critical look at the foregoing information shows that all the above conditions currently exist in the customer contact centers. Because customer contact center employees enjoys a high level of customer interaction and the existing services within the contact centers shows that there is integration between external factors and the service delivery processes. A review of the reasons behind the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction is often argued on the premise that the positive effects on every customer satisfaction are mediated by an existing positive effect on working performance (Florian et al, 2007). Importantly, the service marketing literatures have shown that there exist a positive effect of employee satisfaction on employees working performance and perceived service quality (Sarah and Meredith, 2006; Rodoula, 2005; Zeithaml et al, 1985). With evidences from the above extant literatures, this research supposes that employee job satisfaction positively goes along with the psychological state of organization customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management and technology based CRM. Conclusion, limitations and directions for future research Despite increasing acknowledgement of CRM importance, disappointedly very little studies have focused on the impacts of CRM dimensions on customer contact center performances (Soon, 2007; Bang, 2006; Yim et al., 2005). In support of the above emphasis are ample of evidences provided by several sources on the severe employee job dissatisfactions and customer dissatisfactions with contact centre systems and services across the globe (Callcentre.net, 2008; 2003; SQM, 2007; Feinberg et al., 2002; 2000; Miciak and Desmarais 2001), and that the major problems are stemming from factors such as lack of established customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management, and technology based CRM (Chen et al., 2010; McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Bang, 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005), The findings in this research indicate that there is strong reason to modifying the existing CRM implementations and organization performance measurements within the contact center in dustry. More importantly in areas such as measuring employee job satisfaction, first call resolution, customer satisfactions and dissatisfactions. Beyond these findings is a main limitation in the qualitative approach that was applied in this research, a strong factor that is limiting the ability to generalize its findings and recommendations to all industries and countries. Importantly, suggestions from this research are not quantitatively backed by empirical data and appropriate statistical analysis that could validate the proposed theoretical linkages that exist between CRM dimensions and employee job satisfaction, thereby further limiting its diagnostic power of predictions. To rectify the observed limitations, this research suggests that there is need for future study to embark on empirical data gathering to validate the proposed model. However, as could be noted that this research has conducted a detailed literature review to establish the positive relationships that exist between CRM dimensions and employee job satisfaction, it is important for future researchers to conceptualize and if possible determine other construct s for measuring employee job satisfaction within the contact centers, specifically the inbound call centers.

The Role of the Sirens in Homers Odyssey Essay -- Homer Odyssey Essay

The Role of the Sirens in Odyssey The Sirens in the Odyssey represent more than just a maritime danger to the passing ship. They are the desires of man that he cannot have. The Sirens can also be construed as forbidden knowledge or some other taboo object. Whatever these singing women actually are, the sailors are wise to avoid them. As usual, the wily Odysseus cheats at the rules of the game by listening to their song under the restraints constructed by his crew. In their critical review, Horkheimer and Adorno treat the song of the Sirens as a forbidden knowledge of everything. The Sirens represent man's enlightenment. The two writers state, "Even though the Sirens know all that has happened, they demand the future as the price of that knowledge, and the promise of the happy return is the deception with which the past ensnares the one who longs for it" (Horkheimer and Adorno 48). Even though these critical readers do not mention it, they have repeated a story from the Bible. Adam and Eve also sought enlightenment. Once they tasted the apple and gained knowledge, their futur...

The Rhymes in Christina Rossetti’s Echo

In the three-stanza lyric poem â€Å"Echo,† Christina Rossetti uses rhyme as a way of saying that one might regain in dreams a love that is lost in realit. As the dream of love is to the real love, so is an echo to an original sound. From the comparison comes the title of the poem and also Rossetti’s unique use of rhyme. Aspects of her rhyme are the lyric pattern, the forms and qualities of the rhymng words, and the special use of repetition. The rhyme pattern is simple, and, like rhyme generally, it may be thought of as a pattern of echoes. Each stanza contains four lines of alternating rhymes concluded by a couplet: a b a b c c. There are nine separate rhymes throughout the poem, three in each stanza. Only two words are used for each rhyme; no rhyme is used twice. Of the eighteen rhyming words, sixteen — almost all — are of one syllable. The remaining two words consist of two and three syllables. With such a great number of single-syllable words, the rhymes are all rising ones, on the accented halves of iambic feet, and the end-of-line emphasis is on simple words. The grammatical forms and positions of the rhyming words lend support to the inward, introspective subject matter. Although there is variety, more than half the rhyming words are nouns. There are ten in all, and eight are placed as the objects of prepositions. Such enclosure helps the speaker emphasize her yearning to relive her love within dreams. Also, the repeated verb â€Å"come† in stanzas 1 and 3 is in the form of commands to the absent lover. A careful study shows that most of the verbal energy in the stanzas is in the first parts of the lines, leaving the rhymes to occur in elements modifying the verbs, as in these lines: Come to me in the silence of the niqht (1) Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live (13) My very life again though cold in death; (14) Most of the other rhymes are also in such internalized positions. The free rhyming verbs occur in subordinate clauses, and the nouns that are not the objects of prepositions are the subject (10) and object (11) of the same subordinate clause. The qualities of the rhyming words are also consistent with the poem’ emphasis on the speaker’s internal life. Most of the words are impressionistic. Even the concrete words — stream, tears, eyes, door, and breath — reflect the speaker’s mental condition rather than describe reality. In this regard, the rhyming words of 1 and 3 are effective. These are night and bright which contrast the bleakness of the speaker’s condition, on the one hand, with the vitality of her inner life, on the other. Another effective contrast is in 14 and 16, where death and breath are rhymed. This rhyme may be taken to illustrate the sad fact that even though the speaker’s love is past, it can yet live in present memory just as an echo continues to sound. It is in emphasizing how memory echoes experience that Rossetti creates the special use of rhyming words. There is an ingenious but not obtrusive repetition of a number of words — echoes. The major echoing word is of course the verb come, which appears six times at the beginnings of lines in stanzas 1 and 3. But rhyming words, stressing as they do the ends of lines, are also repeated systematically. The most notable is dream, the rhyming word in 2. Rossetti repeats the word in 7 and uses the plural in 13 and 15. In 7 the rhyming word sweet is the third use of the word, a climax of â€Å"how sweet, too sweet, too bitter sweet.† Concluding the poem, Rossetti repeats breath (16), low (17), and the phrase long ago (18). This special use of repetition justifies the title â€Å"Echo,† and it also stresses the major idea that it is only in one’s memory that past experience has reality, even if dreams are no more than echoes. Thus rhyme is not just ornamental in â€Å"Echo,† but integral. The skill of Rossetti here is the same as in her half-serious, half-mocking poem â€Å"Eve,† even though the two poems are totally different. In â€Å"Eve,† she uses very plain rhyming words together with comically intended double rhymes. In â€Å"Echo,† her subject might be called fanciful and maybe even morbid, but the easiness of the rhyming words, like the diction of the poem generally, keeps the focus on regret and yearning rather than self-indulgence. As in all rhyming poems, Rossetti’s rhymes emphasize the conclusions of her lines. The rhymes go beyond this effect, however, because of the internal repetition — echoes — of the rhyming words, â€Å"Echo† is a poem in which rhyme is inseparable from meaning.

Biography of Daniel Webster, American Statesman

Biography of Daniel Webster, American Statesman Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782–October 24, 1852) was one of the most eloquent and influential American political figures of the early 19th century. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, in the Senate, and in the executive branch as the Secretary of State. Given his prominence in debating the great issues of his day, Webster was considered, along with  Henry Clay  and  John C. Calhoun, a member of the Great Triumvirate. The three men, each representing a different region of the country, defined national politics for several decades. Fast Facts: Daniel Webster Known For: Webster was an influential American statesman and orator.Born: January 18, 1782 in Salisbury, New HampshireParents: Ebenezer and Abigail WebsterDied: October 24, 1852 in Marshfield, MassachusettsSpouse(s): Grace Fletcher, Caroline LeRoy WebsterChildren: 5 Early Life Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, on January 18, 1782. He grew up on a farm, and worked there during the warm months and attended a local school in the winter. Webster later attended Phillips Academy and Dartmouth College, where he became known for his impressive speaking skills. After graduation, Webster learned the law by working for a lawyer (the usual practice before law schools became common). He practiced law from 1807 until the time he entered Congress. Early Political Career Webster first attained some local prominence when he addressed an Independence Day commemoration on July 4, 1812, speaking on the topic of the war, which had just been declared against Britain by President James Madison. Webster, like many in New England, opposed the War of 1812. He was elected to the House of Representatives from a New Hampshire district in 1813. In the U.S. Capitol, he became known as a skillful orator, and he often argued against the Madison administrations war policies. Webster left Congress in 1816 to concentrate on his legal career. He acquired a reputation as a highly skilled litigator and argued several prominent cases before the U.S. Supreme Court during the era of Chief Justice John Marshall. One of these cases, Gibbons v. Ogden, established the scope of the U.S. governments authority over interstate commerce. Webster returned to the House of Representatives in 1823 as a representative from Massachusetts. While serving in Congress, Webster often gave public addresses, including eulogies for Thomas Jefferson and John Adams (who both died on July 4, 1826). He became known as the greatest public speaker in the country. Senate Career Webster was elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts in 1827. He would serve until 1841, and would be a prominent participant in many critical debates. Webster supported the passage of the  Tariff of Abominations  in 1828, and that brought him into conflict with John C. Calhoun, the intelligent and fiery political figure from South Carolina. Sectional disputes came into focus, and Webster and a close friend of Calhoun, Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, squared off in debates on the floor of the Senate in January 1830. Hayne argued in favor of states rights, and Webster, in a famous rebuttal, forcefully argued for the authority of the federal government. The verbal fireworks between Webster and Hayne became something of a symbol for the nations growing divisions. The debates were covered in detail by newspapers and watched closely by the public. As the  Nullification Crisis  developed, Webster supported the policy of  President Andrew Jackson, who threatened to send federal troops to South Carolina. The crisis was averted before violent action took place. Webster opposed the economic policies of Andrew Jackson, however, and in 1836 he ran for president as a Whig against  Martin Van Buren, a close political associate of Jackson. In a contentious four-way race, Webster only carried his own state of Massachusetts. Secretary of State Four years later, Webster again sought the Whig nomination for president but lost to  William Henry Harrison, who won the election of 1840. Harrison appointed Webster as his Secretary of State. President Harrison died a month after taking office. As he was the first president to die in office, there was a controversy over presidential succession in which Webster participated.  John Tyler, Harrisons vice president, asserted that he should become the next president, and the  Tyler Precedent  became accepted practice. Webster was one of the cabinet officials who disagreed with this decision; he felt that the presidential cabinet should share some of the presidential powers. After this controversy, Webster did not get along with Tyler, and he resigned from his post in 1843. Later Senate Career Webster returned to the U.S. Senate in 1845. He had tried to secure the Whig nomination for president in 1844 but lost to longtime rival Henry Clay. In 1848, Webster lost another attempt to get the nomination when the Whigs nominated  Zachary Taylor, a hero of the  Mexican War. Webster was opposed to the spread of slavery to new American territories. In the late 1840s, however, he began supporting compromises proposed by Henry Clay to keep the Union together. In his last major action in the Senate, he supported the  Compromise of 1850, which included the Fugitive Slave Act that was highly unpopular in New England. Webster delivered a highly anticipated address during Senate debates- later known as the Seventh of March Speech- in which he spoke in favor of preserving the Union. Many of his constituents, deeply offended by parts of his speech, felt betrayed by Webster. He left the Senate a few months later, when  Millard Fillmore, who had become president after the death of Zachary Taylor, appointed him as Secretary of State. In May 1851, Webster rode along with two New York politicians, Senator William Seward and President Millard Fillmore, on a train trip to celebrate the new Erie Railroad. At every stop across New York State crowds gathered, mostly because they were hoping to hear a speech by Webster. His oratory skills were such that he overshadowed the president. Webster tried again to be nominated for president on the Whig ticket in 1852, but the party chose General Winfield Scott at a  brokered convention. Angered by the decision, Webster refused to support Scotts candidacy. Death Webster died on October 24, 1852, just before the general election (which Winfield Scott would lose to  Franklin Pierce). He was buried in Winslow Cemetery  in  Marshfield, Massachusetts. Legacy Webster cast a long shadow in American politics. He was greatly admired, even by some of his detractors, for his knowledge and speaking skills, which made him one of the most influential political figures of his time. A statue of the American statesman stands in New Yorks Central Park. Sources Brands, H. W. Heirs of the Founders: the Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants. Random House, 2018.Remini, Robert V. Daniel Webster: the Man and His Time. W.W. Norton Co., 2015.