May SwensonS Women Essays - May Swenson, Literature, British Poetry

May Swenson'S Women In May Swenson's poem, Women, the imagery and structure work very well with the content of the poem. Swenson writes a poem about women and what they should be. At first glance, the image of the poem could be a play on women and their curves. However, once the reader examines the content of the poem, it is clear that Swenson is using the image of the poem to play on what women should be, or perhaps what they are perceived to be. The first stanza says that women should be moving to the motions of men. This is clearly seen in how the poem is moving across the page. However, the perplexing part of this stanza is that Swenson says that women should be pedestals. When thinking of a pedestal, the reader might imagine that a woman should be held as a position of high regard and adoration. This seems to be an impossible task to undertake when Swenson suggests that a woman should be reliant upon the man for her movement. The last part of this stanza discusses how women should be little rocking horses. This seems to portray an image that a woman is merely a childish prize. This relates back to childhood and how the prettiest toy is always the best, and children always want the best toy or prize. Still, this part of the stanza gives another image of how women should be moving, just like the poem. The second stanza, which is swaying back in the opposite direction form the first, seems to take a different turn to how women should be. This middle stanza possesses an almost a negative connotation, which is very hard to interpret. However, this negativity seems to be only sarcasm. Swenson writes about the ears of a horse, which a child might hold onto while riding. This could be interpreted to have a sexual content, but this may not be how the author meant to come across to the audience. The imagery of this stanza, which seems to be rocking back in the opposite direction of the first, is shown in the words of a young child riding their rocking horse. The last part of this stanza brings more of an insight to the structure of the poem. The rocking horse is to be chafed feelingly and unfeelingly. This back and forth movement of emotions could signify how some people viewed women. Perhaps, that once again women are only prizes to be owned and used. However, Swenson writes that these rocking horses are to be rockingly ridden. Once again, what should be of women is in some kind of context involving movement. This movement is then mirrored in the rocking of each stanza. The last stanza begins very strangely with the word immobile. There is a very strong sense of motion in the first two stanzas and now there is a sudden stop and pause. This emphasizes how Swenson characterizes women with the next few words: sweetlipped, sturdy, and smiling. This last thing that Swenson describes women as being is always waiting. This is a very drastic change from moving pedestals and rocking horses. Women are now very still and stagnate, waiting to be set into motion by men. This seems to be an irony that Swenson is working with. First they are moving and almost being used. However now they are very still, and just waiting to be used. The change in each stanza is seen in the visual aspect of the poem. It begins by being like a moving pedestal and a sweet prized rocking horse, rocking back and forth. The poem then takes an ironic turn and shows a dramatic change in the last stanza, which is represented by a shorter and more standstill type of view. This visualization gives a deeper look into the poem, and shows the ironic part which may not be easily detected in the literal terms. Poetry Essays

Barack Obamas First Two Years as President Essay Example

Barack Obamas First Two Years as President Essay Example Barack Obamas First Two Years as President Essay Barack Obamas First Two Years as President Essay There is an innumerable amount of ways someone can measure Obama’s first two years in office to try to define whether his presidency has been a success or failure. Issues relating the economy, domestic policy, and national security and foreign policy are the major topics in which many of those controversial issues lie. The easiest ways to determine whether or not Obama has been successful, is to look at his accomplishments as President, look at the principle promises he made regarding those issues prior to and during his time in office, and lastly the public’s overall rating of his presidency. After looking at all of those factors, I have determined that Obama has failed as President after the first two years being in office. The first aspects of Obama’s presidency that will be assessed are the principle promises he made, to the public, prior to/or after being sworn into office. There are, roughly, around 5 main topics that Obama addressed and said he was going to take a certain action on. The first of them was the Economic Stimulus Bill, where Obama said, â€Å"if we did not pass his Economic Stimulus bill, unemployment would rise over 8 percent. That unemployment statistic is currently 9. 6 percent. But the actual unemployment rate (including people who have given up on finding jobs) is 16 percent = double the tragedy that Obama threatened us with†(Americanbuilt. us, 2010). Obama stated that the unemployment rate would go up if the Economic Stimulus bill did not pass, however, the unemployment rate increased dramatically after the bill took effect and, thus, totally contradicting the President and his word. The stimulus bill was supposed to be a â€Å"bill meant to pump money into the economy via tax cuts and a wide range of spending plans to make up for the sudden, sharp contraction of spending by consumers and businesses†(NYTimes, 2010). Many economists believe that the bill actually helped out the economy, however it became one of the main issues that Republicans attacked due to the rising national debt and increased unemployment rate. It is understandable that the President had no idea of the exact outcome, but he should not be making assumptions just because he wants something passed in his favor, when he is not positive about the end result. Another promise he made to the American people was that he was going to end the wars and bring our troops home. Obama, â€Å"ordered drones to bomb Pakistan (killing 22 people) during his first week in office. He’s leaving 50,000 troops in Iraq, preparing to launch a surge of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and just authorized 21,000 additional troops in Afghanistan. Obama just requested $83,400,000,000 for Iraq, Afghanistan, and foreign aid†¦ The maximum number of US forces expected in Afghanistan by year’s end 68,000 will remain the same†(Americanbuilt. us, 2010). It is hard for Obama to promise something when he has no knowledge of the full situation going on. Former President George Bush ordered our troops into Iraq and Afghanistan for a purpose, and that includes more knowledge than anyone else could possibly know. Obama came into office with the promise he made and now, he has not only broken that promise to the American people, but he is also elevating the amount of foreign aid and debt immensely. Promises should not be made without total knowing, and they have to be reasonable. Coming into office and automatically taking out military troops that have been there in an on going war is not reasonable whatsoever. One of the next promises Obama made was to end illegal wiretapping of Americans. President Bush approved a law called the USA P. A. T. R. I. O. T Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001) that is intended to discourage and punish terrorist activity in the United States and elsewhere, and also to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools. Instead of putting an end to the bill, Obama â€Å"signed a one-year extension of three provisions of the Patriot Act. The provisions are section 206 of the P. A. T. R. I. O. T. Act, governing roving wiretaps; section 215, which addresses the collection of business records; and the so-called ‘lone wolf surveillance’ law† (Americanbuilt. us, 2010). Instead of doing as he promised, Obama contradicted his word to the public, yet again, and extended the act for another full year. There continues to be a pattern of Obama going against his word, and that could be due to lack of knowledge and intelligence before being sworn into office. Back when George W. Bush was in office, he â€Å"issued 161 signing statements affecting over 1,100 provisions of law in 160 Congressional enactments. When Obama was campaigning for votes, he was asked directly that if Congress offers him a bill, do he promise to not use presidential signage to get your way, and Obama responded with ‘Yes, I taught the Constitution for 10 years. I believe in the Constitution and I will obey the Constitution of The United States. Were not going to use signing statements as a way of doing an end-run around Congress (Americanbuilt. us, 2010). If Obama made that it clear that he was not going to use signing statements, then why on March 11, 2009 did he issue his first signing statement? It was because he did not agree with parts of the omnibus-spending bill passed by Congress, and wanted to outline his disagreements. In each case it seems more and more as if he was judging Bush and his actions hugely, but now that Obama realizes how everything works and what’s really going on, he’s portrayed himself to be somewhat of a hypocrite. Another major promise that Obama made was the closing of Guantanamo Bay. They have started closing Guantanamo Bay partially, â€Å"but sending more prisoners to Bagram Prison in Afghanistan, either directly, or via other countries†(Americanbuilt. us, 2010). Getting those prisoners tried in U. S. courts should be a major priority so that the prisoners are either convicted or released. We cannot expect other people to think of us highly when we are not providing counsel for the detainees and holding them for years and years before they are convicted. However, To the disappointment of civil liberty groups, â€Å"Obama decided to continue a number of Bush administration policies, including the use of military tribunals for some defendants and the indefinite imprisonment of others†(NYTimes, 2010). Yet again, President Obama fails to follow through with what he had promised the citizens of the United States. After looking at those factors and topics, a debate takes place between Dylan Loewe (democrat) and James Antle (republican) assessing President Obama’s presidency after the first year. The two men go back and forth explain their views on the actions Obama has taken on certain issues and whether or not it has benefited our country. Dylan Loewe states, â€Å"if we remind ourselves of the state of the country when he took office, and the distance we have come since that moment, in terms of policy achievements alone, its almost impossible to argue that Obamas first year wasnt an extraordinary success† (guardian. o. uk, 2010). Some people may in fact argue that Obama saved the economy from a huge destruction. But there are always two sides to the argument. At the end of the debate, Antle makes a good point by saying â€Å"in terms of the general direction of the country, the initial judgment of the American people seems correct:  Barack Obama  has promised more hope and change than he has thus far delivered. In many respects, Obama has simply taken the mistakes and failures of George Bush and magnified them by hundreds of billions of dollars†(guardian. co. uk, 2010). Normally people learn from the mistakes other people make and try to make things better, however, President Obama simply continued with the same mistakes Bush made and ultimately threw away billions of dollars. That could have been avoided if careful thought was put into the actions before they were carried out. Antle finished by saying â€Å"If Obama gets everything on his wish list, he will in some sense be a success. But judging from the perspective of a national interest best served by a government that lives within its means at home and abroad, he will also be a failure†(guardian. co. uk, 2010). There still is hope for Obama to slightly turn around his presidency, but he will have to make some serious changes and actually listen to the American people, otherwise, Obama is in for a big surprise come 2012. Aside from his broken promises and the negatives, there are a couple major accomplishments that President Obama has achieved during his presidency. In November of 2008, â€Å"Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive† (Nagourney, 2008). This was a huge step for America, considering that many major groups are racist and discriminate towards blacks, and also considering the past history the United States had with unequal rights. America has hugely evolved and a few years ago, a black president would have been unthinkable and impossible. Another accomplishment that Obama achieved was being awarded a Noble Peace Prize from Norway. The committee â€Å"stressed that it made its choice based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on iplomacy and dialogue. Republicans and some others ridiculed the award, saying the president had not done anything to deserve it; others called it an inappropriate honor in light of Mr. Obama’s decision to move slowly in removing troops from Iraq and to increase them in Afghanistan†(NYTimes, 2010). The committee mainly went off of what Obama said he was going to do not what he actually accomplished . That decision may have been unfair and not well thought out, however, but that is still a huge honor for President Obama to be awarded that prize. One of the last ways to determine whether or not the President has successfully carried out his duties would be looking at the people’s approval rating of his time in office. According to Rasmussen Reports, â€Å"the daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday November 14, 2010 shows that 28% of the nations voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13†(2010). Compared to January of 2009, Obama had a 65% approval rating of the people and only 30% disapprove. This extreme shift in ratings says something about the presidency and that the people are not happy with how he is handling things. So, he needs to do something drastically different, or else he is going to be in trouble come re-election time. All of these factors listed and described above, add to the end conclusion in determining if the President is successful or not with carrying out certain issues, or if it is just simply keeping his word. It seems however, that Obama keeps adding to his list of broken promises and continues ruining the â€Å"hopes† he helped create in the lives of American people. The public voted for him based on his promises, and he has not fulfilled his word. They intend for him to keep and fulfill the promises he made, otherwise there will be a very unhappy group of people and could possibly cost Obama his re-election in 2012. I believe that President Obama has not fulfilled his proper duties in the White House and has ultimately lead to his first two years as president being a disaster. He still has time to turn around the trend in his disapproval rating, but it wont be an easy thing to overcome. Barack Obama’s First Year: Success or Failure? guardian. co. uk, 19 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. lt; guardian. co. uk/? commentisfree/? cifamerica/? 2010/? jan/? 19/? barack-obama-first-yeargt;. Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. Rasmussen Reports, 15 Nov. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. lt; rasmussenreports. com/? public_content/? politics/? obama_administration/? daily_presidential_tracking_pollgt;. Nagourney, Adam. Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls. New York Times, 4 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. lt; nytimes. com/? 2008/? 11/? 05/? us/? politics/? 05elect. html? _r=1amp;ref=barack_obamagt;. Presidency of Barack Obama. New York Times, 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. lt; nytimes. com/? info/? presidency-of-barack-obama/? gt;. Weblog post. Barack Hussein Obama II. AmericanBuilt. us, n. d. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. lt;http://americanbuilt. us/? videos/? barack-hussein-obama. shtmlgt;.

Marketing plan continues 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing plan continues 2 - Essay Example This could include adding insurance services and even expanding overseas. The key success factors focuses on services and SISCO has to develop differentiation by offering tailor-made products. Customer retention in the highly volatile market is essential and SISCO should devise packages to retain the customer base. SISCO needs to be cognizant of the fact that at any point of time, should the oil prices crash, the market for all its products could come down drastically. The company has to be prepared for this contingency while devising their ambitious plans. During their operation in the financial and mortgage industry, SISCO has developed its own customer base, thus cultivating its own niche market. An aggressive marketing will however lead to a growth of its customer base, thus making its presence widely known in Jeddah. SISCO’s core business shall be the supply of financial services to both individuals and business owners, who have interests in the mortgage and property development industry. Following a study of the target market, the information acquired will hence help the company to better serve the needs of the customers. Jeddah, the geographic target is situated near the red sea. The total targeted population is a little over 3 million â€Å" A year on year increase of 4.48% (the population growth during this time was 2.83%).†(ameininfo) The kingdom is witnessing a change in demographics of home development. Previously, individuals build at least 98 percent of the homes, whereas developers only handled the remaining 2 percent. The trend is however rapidly changing owing to a drastic rise in both the building materials, and a corresponding increase in development cost. â€Å"Suggesting an increase in nuclear families. Thus, demands for all kinds of household goods - white goods, automobiles, bank loans, furniture - will increase.†.(ameininfo) There is a dire need to supply