Ex-Basketball Player by John Updike

Ex-Basketball Player by John Updike Free Online Research Papers The main idea of John Updike’s poem, Ex-Basketball Player is that a young man named Flick who was a really good athlete in high school. However, after high school he became nothing more than a gas station attendant. During high school he was an excellent basketball player. He set records that many kids are still trying to surpass today. During and after high school he never learned a trade, so he wasn’t able to obtain a high paying job where he could move up in life. He just ended up selling gas, checking oil, and fixing flats. Paraphrase: A street goes in front of a high school Curves with paths to a dead end Before it has an opportunity to travel two blocks A shop at a certain place Facing west where two streets conjoin Usually you can see Berth’s helper, Flick Webb Flick towers above gas pumps With five old in each row The hoses hanging down low Two S’s comprise his nose His eyes form an E and an O. One is flat Oblong shaped, with no head Flick was a high-school basketball player He was the best of the team He scored three hundred ninety points in 1946 He set records that lasted. The ball always went in the hoop. One observed him score 38-40 points in a game. He always kept his hands moving He never went to college, but he got a decent gas station job Sometimes, He bounces a tube for entertainment Beside the grease, everyone still remembers the points His appendages are careless on the lug wrench The carelessness doesn’t hurt the lug wrench He is at a diner when not working His hands greasy and clenched while playing pinball As he plays, he smokes and slurps soft drinks He doesn’t speak to the owner He stares at appealing stacks The stacks composed of candy The poem Ex-Basketball Player contains five stanzas and thirty lines. The first stanza describes the ex-basketball player, Flick. It tells how Flick works at â€Å"Berth’s Garage† which doesn’t even have a â€Å"chance to go two blocks† from his old high school. Flick more than likely ended up working at Berth’s Garage because Flick didn’t want to be very far from the place where he had been a hero. Flick doesn’t even own the business, he just simply â€Å"helps Berth out.† The job he was at was taking him nowhere and it was suited for someone with less potential. This poem contains no rhyming. Therefore, it doesn’t contain a rhyme scheme. This poem does not contain a consistent meter. The author uses free verse to write this poem and tell a story. The use of free verse in this poem also allows the author to express his feelings towards the importance of learning a trade and using your potential to make something of yourself. This poem contains specific rhyming devices such as alliteration and onomatopoeia. The alliteration used was in the second and ninth lines. The first use of alliteration was the â€Å"trolley tracks† in the verse â€Å"Bends with the trolley tracks, and stops, cut off.† The second use of alliteration was the â€Å"loose and low† in the verse â€Å"Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low.† There were uses of onomatopoeia in the fifteenth, seventeenth, twenty-first, and twenty-seventh lines. The words used for onomatopoeia were bucketed, rack, dribbles, and smokes. These uses of sound techniques help enhance the theme by allowing the reader to get a better mindset of the story the poem is telling by reading action terms. The kind of language used in this poem was Colloquial Language. This type of language was a mid range between proper grammar and cursing. The use of this type of language made the main idea of the poem more understandable. It made the main idea more understandable by not using perfect grammar, which helps represent a person who is nothing more than a â€Å"gas station attendant.† This type of language enhances the theme by helping show that a high school basketball star has taken his talent nowhere because a lack of learning a trade. The lack of learning a trade can also be perceived through the use of words that are not used in formal setting. There were similes, metaphors, and personification used in this poem. One of the similes used was â€Å"His hands were like wild birds.† The first four lines can be considered a metaphor, being a comparison to Flick’s life of â€Å"turning a corner and stopping before it has a chance to go further.† The personification used was â€Å"Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low.† The use of these figurative language components helps understand the life Flick had been and is living. Updike uses imagery to depict a dim, grimy world of the present and compare it with the brilliant, shining magnificence of Flick’s past. Imagery is initially used in the first two lines of the poem, where Pearl Avenue â€Å"bends with the trolley tracks and stops, cut off.† Those two lines show how Flick’s life has been cut short, just like the road that leads to Berth’s Garage where he works. The train passes by the high school Flick went to, but just like him, it doesn’t go very far beyond. The words â€Å"cut off† are very important in the understanding of Flick’s circumstances. His days of fame came to an abrupt ending with the realization that â€Å"he never learned a trade.† The second stanza used imagery to show that Flick is out of place amongst the â€Å"idiot pumps† with their â€Å"rubber elbows hanging loose and low.† The imagery suggests that these non-living objects are as close as Flick comes to any sort of real contact with others. It is further suggested by the last stanza of the poem, in which he ignores Mae to stare of into â€Å"applauding tiers of Necco Wafers, Nibs, and JuJu Beads.† The reference to one of the pumps as â€Å"more of a football type† also points to the fact that Flick views the world through sports analogies and his past. The fact that there are five pumps, like five men on a basketball court for each team, also suggests that Flick still views life in terms of basketball. These details verify the notion that Flick did not concentrate on anything other than basketball during his formative years. Not relationships with others, not academics, nor a fallback plan. Just basketball. The expression â€Å"idiot† used to describe the pumps also separates Flick from the other basketball players he used to play with and against. Just as he is out of place amongst the pumps, his talent put him out of place amongst his peers. Even though he was admired, Flick was never really a part of the town. His presence was simply ornamental, and continues to be. The theme of this poem is about a high school basketball star that has taken his talent nowhere. If one doesn’t work on their goals, they will never reach their dreams. Also, if you do not reach your goals you can end up living an out of place life. The theme that Flick is not necessarily unhappy, but out of place, carries throughout the poem. The poem says, â€Å"the ball loved Flick† and â€Å"he was the best,† and this allows everyone to see that it is not just Flick who looks upon his past with a sort of admiration and pride. It is the entire city, and he is the local hero. The boy who didn’t exactly make it big, but he made it big enough that he’s remembered. Perhaps the town longs for that hero the same way Flick does. But it is not longing for Flick, specifically. What the town, as shown by the narrator, wants is another hero. Until one comes along, they will live vicariously through Flick’s past. â€Å"As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube, but most of us remember anyway,† the narrator ponders. It’s as though Flick wants to remind the town of his past, but he has no need because the town clings to it just as he does. Flick does not see people, he sees spectators. He does not see gas pumps, he sees opponents, teammates, and athletes. He does not see candy, he sees a high school gymnasium full of admiring fans. And also, the town does not see a person, but the person’s past. It appears to be a very mutual need for recollection. Flick and his fans are a community isolated from reality, and reality is what matters. Flick is not necessarily skilled with the lug wrench, but â€Å"it makes no difference to the lug wrench.† The warmth of memories and â€Å"a gag† are contrasted with the harsh reality that Flick’s path is a permanent one, and in the end, it doesn’t matter how many points he scored or who remembers what. The only thing that matters is the fact that Flick pumps gas. To the townspeople, he is a hero. To the rest of the world, he is nothing, if even that. However, the cold reality does not seem to affect Flick very deeply. The last image one gets is that of Flick staring past a person into â€Å"applauding tiers† of candy. The use of the word â€Å"tiers† plays as almost a joke, suggesting that Flick may be unhappy with his place in life, but he portrays himself as almost carefree by what has happened to him and content to live his life through the glo ry of his past. This poem contained an appropriate title that generated interest and hinted what the poem was about. The subject of this poem did a great job of depicting what the situation was, who is talking, and under what circumstances. The tone of this poem was very neutral by not saying that the life flick is living is good or bad. With the author not putting his opinion into the poem, it can be interpreted in many different ways. There was an excellent choice of words in this poem. The words were very simple, economical, varied and energizing, and the words used didn’t have to be complex to get a point across and paint a good picture. The metaphors, similes and personification used were striking and convincing. The use of the simile â€Å"His hands were like wild birds† did a great job at describing how Flick played basketball, and the use of â€Å"cut off† as imagery did an excellent job at showing how all of Flick’s hopes and dreams came to an end. Research Papers on "Ex-Basketball Player" by John UpdikeThe Hockey GameMind TravelTrailblazing by Eric AndersonStandardized TestingHip-Hop is ArtHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyThe Spring and AutumnNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This Nice

Ethics in Organization, Reflection assignment based on short article Essay

Ethics in Organization, Reflection assignment based on short article - Essay Example The value of integrity helps me to discover that I have a self-accountability for the things I do and it stimulates my thinking in being a good person to everyone. It reminds me that I should be responsible for all the things that I do and the value of openness helps me to share what I do and I believe so that I may be responsible in my life. Through it, I am able to make clear all the things that I do in my life and what others can see. According to Palmer (2004), there is a clear difference between wholeness or undivided life and perfection. While perfection means strict adherence to the set out rules without failure, wholeness means that there could be failure in a person but embracing them and using them to learn what a person can do in future is what should be the most important. According to Palmer (2004), perfection implies elimination of all mistakes but wholeness implies their presence but with a way of learning from them. Perfection may not be a reasonable goal and people should aspire to attain wholeness, which would imply having a clear conscious in doing all things. In my life, I have some things that make it difficult to live a â€Å"whole† life. These factors include the corporate culture; economic factors that emphasize on making maximum profit in any venture and weaknesses in the legal system that have little to offer for the people who commit crimes. Some others factors in my life make me not to bring my inner truth to the outer world and these may include the fear of opposition and challenge, the penalties for falling short of the requirement and I am protective of the status people that people have given me in society. One factor in my life with which I need deal is fear of opposition and challenge in leading a life of integrity and wholeness. I can deal with it through accepting that I am not perfect and that I can make mistakes. The other thing I can do is to be mindful of what I do as a person even when I am alone. I

Society of Free Clinic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Society of Free Clinic - Essay Example Some governments happen to be reluctant in running these projects due to the high costs. They have long delicate processes which cannot be assumed and so the relevant authorities happen to postpone them. This explains the reason as to why many politicians rely on them for promises that would convince the public to vote for them. It is encouraging to experience a government that pays attention in fulfilling these promises. For a government to put up a free clinic to serve citizens in a specific area there is a procedure to follow that guides it in considering the necessary factors. Assessment must be done to the area to find out whether a free clinic will surely be of help to the inhabitants. It is in order to find out whether there could be presence of any other sector providing health services to the people. This helps to find out whether the inhabitants of the targeted area are really uninsured in terms medical facilities. The process also helps to evaluate the possibility of the community supporting the clinic. It is important to find out how well members will appreciate the project and join hands towards supporting it. Their support could be in terms of volunteering time, donations and even funds towards making the clinic run in the most effective way possible (Hall, 2011). These evaluations in terms of the public participation may also help to find out for how long the clinic is able to run and how effective it could be. In the process of putting up the clinic it is good to access additional support from nearby local hospitals. This helps in seeing to it that the delicate services that may require great skills will possibly be taken care of. Finally, the process must involve a research on the best location for the clinic, where it will be effective to those who need it (Starting a Free Clinic, n.d). These clinics have benefits to the members of the society.

Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes Essay Example for Free

Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes Essay People being indiscriminate based on partial and inexact information by sources as television, cartoons or even comic books This is a description that seems to go against many public standards. The above words are the exact description of stereotypes. Stereotypes as implicit from the description, goes mostly hand in hand with media only not the standard meaning of the blameless media we know. Media propaganda is the other form of media that is somewhat described as media treatment. In this paper, the subsequent will be discussed: first, how stereotypes of ethnic groups operate in propaganda, why does it function so satisfactorily, and finally, the consequences of these stereotypes on the life of Egyptians in particular in society. A fair inspection will be conducted on this example of stereotypes through clarification examples and research consequences from researches conducted from reliable sources. The real association between Egyptians’ stereotypes and propaganda discussed in this paper shall magnify the suggestion of stereotypes and propaganda in common. It seems essential for this paper to start with some clarification of the circumstances related with propaganda. Propaganda can be thought of as a foster parent for stereotypes. Propaganda is recognized to be the planned manipulation of public opinion through concealed messages in advertisements and other media functions. Thus, propaganda uses numerous techniques to be able to consign theses hidden messages to the public and influence their view. Fear, brainwashing, name calling, glittering generality, misinformation and much more are some of the ways that propaganda uses to persuade and manipulate the opinions of the masses. Propaganda finds the usefulness of stereotypes in the fact that it’s easy, quick and direct to the public. In the case of stereotypes about ethnic groups, Egyptians in this case are being portrayed as uneducated, unethical, ignorant, desert animal raisers, terrorists and uncultured ethnic group. These name calling and misinformation techniques are what propagandists use to contrive the society to portray Egyptians as humans of the underworld and Egypt as a deserted country that hunger and ill health are its residents. The preceding are all stereotypes that are propagandas of the media to convince such generality into truth and facts. Racial stereotypes particularly function usually through propaganda of the media, due to the improbability of every man travelling to every country, with the technique of ‘misinformation’ through movies, shows, and news reports. Egyptians have been stereotyped as desert residents for many years regardless of the reality and actual state of Egypt as a country. For instance, the stereotypes pointing that Egyptians are mostly uneducated due to their ignorance of the importance of education is proven false by studies of trustworthy sources. Among those studies, the one conducted by the American university in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Ahram weekly, a credible newspaper known all across the Arab world, has posted in its October issue of 1998 the following: â€Å"According to Sahar El-Tawila, the essential researcher on the team, interviews conducted with girls and boys nationwide demonstrate convincingly that work and marriage were rarely stated by boys and girls respectively as reasons for departing school†¦ These may be options for those who have already left school, but they are not the impetus behind their decision to leave† (Al-Ahram 1998). Therefore, according to an American research, Egyptians are not uneducated conceited nation. After all, there is at least an American University known worldwide built in Cairo where many Egyptians have gotten their Bachelors, Masters and PhD’s from. Still, the media has successfully manipulated the public opinion to reason Egyptians as desert wonderers. Now that the first concern, of how such Egyptian-bashing stereotypes work in propaganda, has been discussed, an interesting question then must be asked: how did it come about so successfully for the public of North America to view Egyptians in such state of mind? Media being a powerful information source to the majority of North Americans, and sometimes the only source of information about specific ethnic groups, has the ability to convince the public viewpoints and opinions. Of course with stereotypes powered by propaganda in movies is very thriving in view of that American films are the most favored and appreciated media function. Openly, in one of the movie reviews now on a review website about the movie â€Å"The Mummy† which takes place in Egypt from start to end, the subsequent sentence was stated: â€Å"The Mummy is a lot of fun. So the story is unsophisticated and the characters are all stereotypes (particularly the Egyptians, who are either noble desert warriors or smelly illiterate pig-things). Who cares? The special effects are truly spectacular. † (Jennifer Mellerick, 1999). Easily, stereotypes are even expected by who understands them and the media propaganda generates more and more. To attest that such depiction is a stereotype and not fact, the website ‘Egypt WWW Index’ has a list of all universities in Egypt (an estimated thirty educational institutions in total), many links to political and governmental committees and services, business, commercial, and entertainment facilities, as well as links to political women figures in the Egyptian society. More than the average North American could even imagine of Egypt , and it is all owed to the media propaganda that produced this image of Egyptians. People being indiscriminate based on partial and inexact information by sources as television, cartoons or even comic books This is a description that seems to go against many public standards. The above words are the exact description of stereotypes. Stereotypes as implicit from the description, goes mostly hand in hand with media only not the standard meaning of the blameless media we know. Media propaganda is the other form of media that is somewhat described as media treatment. In this paper, the subsequent will be discussed: first, how stereotypes of ethnic groups operate in propaganda, why does it function so satisfactorily, and finally, the consequences of these stereotypes on the life of Egyptians in particular in society. A fair inspection will be conducted on this example of stereotypes through clarification examples and research consequences from researches conducted from reliable sources. The real association between Egyptians’ stereotypes and propaganda discussed in this paper shall magnify the suggestion of stereotypes and propaganda in common. It seems essential for this paper to start with some clarification of the circumstances related with propaganda. Propaganda can be thought of as a foster parent for stereotypes. Propaganda is recognized to be the planned manipulation of public opinion through concealed messages in advertisements and other media functions. Thus, propaganda uses numerous techniques to be able to consign theses hidden messages to the public and influence their view. Fear, brainwashing, name calling, glittering generality, misinformation and much more are some of the ways that propaganda uses to persuade and manipulate the opinions of the masses. Propaganda finds the usefulness of stereotypes in the fact that it’s easy, quick and direct to the public. In the case of stereotypes about ethnic groups, Egyptians in this case are being portrayed as uneducated, unethical, ignorant, desert animal raisers, terrorists and uncultured ethnic group. These name calling and misinformation techniques are what propagandists use to contrive the society to portray Egyptians as humans of the underworld and Egypt as a deserted country that hunger and ill health are its residents. The preceding are all stereotypes that are propagandas of the media to convince such generality into truth and facts. Racial stereotypes particularly function usually through propaganda of the media, due to the improbability of every man travelling to every country, with the technique of ‘misinformation’ through movies, shows, and news reports. Egyptians have been stereotyped as desert residents for many years regardless of the reality and actual state of Egypt as a country. For instance, the stereotypes pointing that Egyptians are mostly uneducated due to their ignorance of the importance of education is proven false by studies of trustworthy sources. Among those studies, the one conducted by the American university in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Ahram weekly, a credible newspaper known all across the Arab world, has posted in its October issue of 1998 the following: â€Å"According to Sahar El-Tawila, the essential researcher on the team, interviews conducted with girls and boys nationwide demonstrate convincingly that work and marriage were rarely stated by boys and girls respectively as reasons for departing school†¦ These may be options for those who have already left school, but they are not the impetus behind their decision to leave† (Al-Ahram 1998). Therefore, according to an American research, Egyptians are not uneducated conceited nation. After all, there is at least an American University known worldwide built in Cairo where many Egyptians have gotten their Bachelors, Masters and PhD’s from. Still, the media has successfully manipulated the public opinion to reason Egyptians as desert wonderers. Now that the first concern, of how such Egyptian-bashing stereotypes work in propaganda, has been discussed, an interesting question then must be asked: how did it come about so successfully for the public of North America to view Egyptians in such state of mind? Media being a powerful information source to the majority of North Americans, and sometimes the only source of information about specific ethnic groups, has the ability to convince the public viewpoints and opinions. Of course with stereotypes powered by propaganda in movies is very thriving in view of that American films are the most favored and appreciated media function. Openly, in one of the movie reviews now on a review website about the movie â€Å"The Mummy† which takes place in Egypt from start to end, the subsequent sentence was stated: â€Å"The Mummy is a lot of fun. So the story is unsophisticated and the characters are all stereotypes (particularly the Egyptians, who are either noble desert warriors or smelly illiterate pig-things). Who cares? The special effects are truly spectacular. † (Jennifer Mellerick, 1999). Easily, stereotypes are even expected by who understands them and the media propaganda generates more and more. To attest that such depiction is a stereotype and not fact, the website ‘Egypt WWW Index’ has a list of all universities in Egypt (an estimated thirty educational institutions in total), many links to political and governmental committees and services, business, commercial, and entertainment facilities, as well as links to political women figures in the Egyptian society. More than the average North American could even imagine of Egypt , and it is all owed to the media propaganda that produced this image of Egyptians. Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes Furthermore, Egyptians are stereotyped to be uninformed owing to the reality that they are thought of as technology uneducated. In a website found throughout the study on this topic, a person of an Indian ethnicity by the given name of Shani Rifati has set up a website, which he calls â€Å"Please Call Me Rom†. To right the depiction of his race to North Americans, Shani said: â€Å"I am not a Gypsy. The term Gypsy comes from peoples ignorance, when we were wrong for Egyptians† (Rifati). Remarkable huh! Here is an example of a person that is defending his own nationality from stereotypes, yet uses stereotypes. What is even more interesting than that is the reality that the Egyptian history has been known to be the supreme civilization of all times, yet such culture is simply bashed by supercilious that all Egyptians are just ignorant Gypsies. â€Å" African American and Latino children who are aware of broadly held stereotypes about academic aptitude perform more disappointingly on a cognitive task when that task is described as a measure of capability than when the same task is described as a problem-solving duty. † (Carol Hyman 2003). Therefore racial or ethnic stereotypes that work in media propaganda or rather called media manipulation, has not only had influences on adults, but also is passed over with the youth of tomorrow. It is easy to give out information with no truthful back up, but the public inclination is what can moreover stop media propaganda from disturbing the public opinion or simply energize such unsafe aspect of the media, stereotypes. Furthermore, Egyptians are stereotyped to be uninformed owing to the reality that they are thought of as technology uneducated. In a website found throughout the study on this topic, a person of an Indian ethnicity by the given name of Shani Rifati has set up a website, which he calls â€Å"Please Call Me Rom†. To right the depiction of his race to North Americans, Shani said: â€Å"I am not a Gypsy. The term Gypsy comes from peoples ignorance, when we were wrong for Egyptians† (Rifati). Remarkable huh! Here is an example of a person that is defending his own nationality from stereotypes, yet uses stereotypes. What is even more interesting than that is the reality that the Egyptian history has been known to be the supreme civilization of all times, yet such culture is simply bashed by supercilious that all Egyptians are just ignorant Gypsies. â€Å" African American and Latino children who are aware of broadly held stereotypes about academic aptitude perform more disappointingly on a cognitive task when that task is described as a measure of capability than when the same task is described as a problem-solving duty. † (Carol Hyman 2003). Therefore racial or ethnic stereotypes that work in media propaganda or rather called media manipulation, has not only had influences on adults, but also is passed over with the youth of tomorrow. It is easy to give out information with no truthful back up, but the public inclination is what can moreover stop media propaganda from disturbing the public opinion or simply energize such unsafe aspect of the media, stereotypes.

F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald I want to introduce you to, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book is set in the â€Å"Roaring Twenties† as it takes place in the summer of 1922. It is the height of the jazz age as society is dissolves into the Great Depression. The protagonist is Jay Gatsby and narrated by Nick Carraway. The story is about jay’s love for a woman, Daisy Buchanan. And it is about Jay’ Gatsby’s will to achieve greatness as he perceives it. He is a driven by money and power. He was a man with a vision to succeed in life. As a child, Jay Gatsby grew up on a farm. He saw his parents as nothing but farmers. Gatsby knew exactly what he didn’t want to be and that was like his parents. They were people who were content with who they were. Gatsby, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He wanted to move on. Jay Gatsby wanted to be someone special, someone with prestige and someone definitely with money. Gatsby developed a self improvement plan to help him flourish as a young man. His plan detailed dumbbell exercises, studying electricity, practicing elocution and studying needed inventions. Even his parents knew he was driven. His father said: "Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolve like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind? He was always great for that". The structured drive let Gatsby prevail in his endeavors. However, there are some things people just can’t get away from. James Gatsby desperately wanted to achieve success in life. However, it is difficult to flourish with a background like Gatsby’s. So to escape his past, he changed his name at the age of 17 from James Gats to Jay Gatsby. Nonetheless, changing his name only did so much for him. Gatsby ended up living a life of lies because of his hidden identity. Nobody really knew Gatsby. So in the absence of people’s knowledge, they conjured up rumors. "One time he killed a man who found out he was a nephew of von Hindenburg and second to the devil". The rising action is Gatsby is meeting the young lady named Daisy. Daisy was very beautiful and came from a wealthy background. Nonetheless, Daisy’s background was the one thing preventing them from marriage.

Beer Wars Essay

Beer Wars is a documentary film directed and produced by Anat Baron and released in April of 2009. It focuses on the struggle between the dominating corporate businesses of Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing Company, Coors Brewing Company, and the smaller independent businesses of â€Å"craft beers† such as Dogfish Head Brewery, The Boston Beer Company, and The New Belgium Brewing Company. The film covers many aspects of the beer â€Å"wars† between the companies such as competitive advertising, product quality, price, distribution, and government regulations. Because of the enormous status and power of the big three, the ability to advertise and market their wares is significantly easier than for most other breweries. From being able to hire top dollar marketing experts to running multimillion dollar commercials during the Super Bowl, they dominate the beer advertising market. With their lack of ability to buy â€Å"shelf space†, smaller companies are often pushed out of the way and driven to less marketable places in the aisles of stores nationwide. Rhonda Kallman, owner of The New Century Brewing company, known for its craft beer â€Å"Moonshot†, talked about how she often would put up a poster advertising her beer one day only to find it replaced by a competitor’s poster the next day. This is a glimpse at the competitiveness that small breweries face day to day. Today, The New Century Brewing company is currently shut down due to the FDA’s banning of caffeinated beers; Moonshot fell victim to this regulatory axe. This is what happens when the bread and butter of your company can no longer be produced. The fall of Kallman’s company, however, is just another tragic story in the long history of beer manufactures. By the late 70‘s and early 80‘s, many people turned towards homebrewing to meet their taste needs because of the bland taste of the larger breweries products. Charlie Papazian was one of those people. A nuclear engineer at the University of Virginia, he started experimenting with homebrewing soon after it was legalized in 1978. His main focus was quality and diversity when out of his house he started the American Homebrewers Association; now a nationwide association of over 36,000 members with it’s own magazine. While giving a tour of his prized collection he made sure to point out that what he cared about most was â€Å"Quality. Not necessarily quantity, but quality. † Papazian was not the only one who desired quality over quantity. Samuel Calagione was yet another man focused on quality. In 1995 he founded the company Dogfish Head Brewery naming it after Dogfish Head, Maine where he spent summers as a child growing up. Starting out as a fledgling company in Delaware, and growing by nearly 400% between 2003 and 2006, it now is one of the most successful craft breweries in the U. S. A. The film went into great detail on the various struggles that small breweries went through. From the competitive advertising to the rules and regulations of the trade, small breweries are faced with many challenges day to day. After the Prohibition in the 1930’s, a three-tier system was set up by many states in order to control the flow of alcohol from producer to consumer. However, this proved to be often times a problem for fledgling companies with little buying power. In order to get their beers out there and known, they must go through a wholesaler distributer first. The problem though is that often times the wholesalers favor the Big Three or other large companies because of their buying power. When it came down to having to choose whether to ship a Coors Light or a Moonshot, often times the well known brand would be chosen not only for it’s popularity but also because of the pay that the larger companies could give for their favor over others. Kallman learned that shelf space is yet another difficulty faced by the craft beer companies. If you’re most seen, you’re most bought and the Big Three knew this. Another difficulty faced is the temptation to sell out to the big companies. Over the years, Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors all have been buying up the little companies as soon as they showed promise; all in order to try to get a bigger piece of the pie that is market share. If they couldn’t buy you, they would try to destroy you. So in conclusion, Beer Wars is one of the first documentary films to go into great detail on the battle for survival and power between the various beer companies of America; showing the struggles of the craft breweries against the big companies and the fight for power among the larger companies and their major competitors. Sources http://beerwarsmovie. com/tag/rhonda-kallman/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ http://www. cnn. com/FOOD/resources/food. for. thought/beverages/alcohol/homebrew/papazian/.

An Analysis Of Trumpet Player By Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes compositions are known for being the voice of the Harlem Renaissance. A considerable number of his written work shared the feelings of that time. This particular poem Trumpet Player mirrors that music can lift the agony remembered, but one always remembers the hardships. The poem shares that freed blacks still experienced the impacts of slavery. Because of this, they held onto music as a method for soothing the agony they persevered. Trumpet Player is composed in four eight-line stanzas and two six-line stanzas. The poem has no genuine arrangement of organization. The stanzas differ extraordinarily. For example, the lengths of the relating lines and the utilization of capitalization differ. The poem additionally does†¦show more content†¦This metaphor refers to Americas history of slavery and the unacceptable conditions that the slaves were compelled to endure on ships that shipped them. From this metaphor, the speaker additionally expresses that these are not recollections blurring endlessly with the past but rather will be â€Å"blazed† and smoldering. As to dealing with repetition, The two lines â€Å"The Negro / With the trumpet at his lips† are repeated (1-2, 9-10, 33-34). The repetition of this picture fills in as both a steady indication of the difficult memories that inconvenienced the trumpet player and an approach to fortify his enthusiasm for music to facilitate that pain. Additi onally, the repetition of these two lines implies that the trumpet player has in some ways end up plainly reliant on music. This idea is affirmed by the third stanza, in which the speaker states, the rhythm/from the trumpet at his lips/is ecstasy/distilled from old desires—, alluding to his waiting desire that is longing for the sea/where the seas a bar-glass/sucker size (21-24, 29-32). This shows he utilized alcohol in the past to overwhelm his agony, before supplanting it with music for the help. Additionally, the last stanza portrays music just like a hypodermic needle/to his soul, alluding that he has an addiction to music (39-40). Without the music