Shakespeare Essays (846 words) - William Shakespeare, Love Stories

Shakespeare Shakespeare In the year of 1564 the man known as William Shakespeare was born, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. The exact date of birth is unknown but is traditionally celebrated on the 23 of April. To Englanders this day is known as The Feast of St. George. The third-born of eight children to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden Shakespeare, William was their eldest son. John Shakespeare was a glove-maker and a tanner. Earlier in his life John had served a term as the mayor of Stratford, was a town councilman, one of Stratford's justices of peace, and an ale taster. John, unfortunately, could not write. In 1601, when William was 37 years old, John Shakespeare died. William inherited what small portions of land John had come to own in his lifetime, being the eldest of John and Mary's sons. Very little is known about Mary Arden Shakespeare's life. Although, she is known to have come from a wealthy family. Mary's family also paid John a very gracious dowry. William Shakespeare went to an excellent grammar school in Stratford-upon-Avon. Two Oxford graduates were instructors there. Shakespeare was fortunate to get both of them as teachers. Their names were Simon Hunt and Thomas Jenkins. William Studied the languages of Greek and Latin. He had also acquired a razor sharp awareness of both mankind and nature. This is believed to be his last type of formal education. On the day November 27, 1582, when Shakespeare was a mere 18 years of age, he was wed to Anne Hathaway. She was 28 when they got married. Their first child was a girl by the name of Susanna, born May 26, 1583. Two years later William and Anne had twins named Judith and Hamnet. Tragically, Hamnet died at the age of 11. It is not known why he died Between the years of 1585 and 1592 there is no evidence of Shakespeare's or the rest of his family's lives. The Hidden Years are what many call this time period in Shakespeare's life. It is believed that he may have been running from the law or was the apprentice of a butcher. A man named John Aubry was told by another man by the name of Christopher Beston that Shakespeare was simply working as a school teacher in London up until 1592. Beginning in the year 1592, in London, he was starting to become known as an established playwright. In 1593 Henry Wriothsley became William Shakespeare's patron and sponsor. Shakespeare was also a writer, director, actor, and stockholder in The King's Men company. William was acting for this company, which became the world's largest and most famous acting company only because Shakespeare was acting and working for them. Written in 1593 was Shakespeare's first long poem, called Venus and Adonius. Then in 1594 William wrote his second long poem called Rape of Lucrece. These two poems were written when the theatres were closed because of the highly contagious epidemic plague. William Shakespeare began writing plays in the late 1590's. Writing The Taming of the Shrew, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Most of these plays were comedies. The only tragedy he wrote at that time was Romeo and Juliet. 1599 brought the construction of the Globe, which was built by Shakespeare's company. The most well-known of his tragedies were performed there. The plays acted out were Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear. To be, or not to be-that is the question: Whether ?tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune... (Hamlet in Hamlet) and But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. ... (Romeo in Romeo and Juliet) are two of Shakespeare's most famous quotes. Ever since William Shakespeare became a well-known playwright he had been a wealthy man, bringing in money from many different sources. With all the money in his possession he had decided to buy a big house in Stratford for his family. This house was called New Place. In the year of 1610 Shakespeare retired from theatre and returned to Stratford to be with his family. His will was written on March 25, 1616. Nearly one month later, on his

Classroom Essays

Classroom Essays Classroom Essay Classroom Essay Twenty-seven years of neo-conservative, corporatist economic policy has gutted the United States from within, bringing the nation to the brink of a collapse that will destroy democracy and replace it with an economic, imperialist kind of corporate and theocratic fascism. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the nation’s public schools. Thomas Jefferson fervently believed that a well-educated middle class was vital to the survival of democracy, which is something that Reagan conservatives knew all to well. Since 1980, there has been an unrelenting attack on the middle-class by a moneyed oligarchy that is determined to reduce a once powerful and much admired nation to the status of a third-rate banana republic where a few wealthy families live in luxury inside of walled enclaves by sucking the life-blood out of a huge, impoverished population of peasants. Nowhere have they been more successful in tearing down democracy than in the public schools. In her book, Inside Mrs. B’s Classroom, Leslie Baldacci – who in 1999 left a secure, prestigious position at the Chicago Sun-Times (now little more than a corporate propaganda mouthpiece for the Bush Administration, like most of today’s mainstream media) to teach in one of the â€Å"toughest† schools in   a severely impoverished inner-city neighbourhood. Ms. Baldacci, not surprisingly, was unaware of the neo-con agenda and political and economic machinations behind the nation’s educational crisis, but she could clearly see, and was an expert on the results – which are typical of any hyper-capitalist society that relentlessly steals wealth from those who work for it and hand it over to a bloated, predatory â€Å"investor† class. After years of calling upon civic leaders to do something about the problem, she decided to roll up her sleeves and do something about it herself, becoming a classroom teacher. Like many who go into the teaching profession today, she was motivated by admirable – if naà ¯ve – ideals and expectations. What she discovered is that her â€Å"classroom was just one deck chair on the Titanic†(2004, 5). The opening page is both a literal image and an allegory of the U.S. public school system: a â€Å"broken, gutted desk, its drawers long gone. Chairs in various states of disrepair and other junk†¦Pipes†¦taped and painted over in a pitiful attempt to contain the deadly asbestos that had insulated them for decades† (1). Baldacci pulls no punches as she describes in blood-curdling detail what amounts to a war zone from a third-world country – located in one of the richest cities in the wealthiest, more powerful nation on earth. Any true American reading through her account should feel shame, embarrassment and righteous outrage toward the self-serving, back-stabbing politicians who for thirty years have been nothing more than whores to a blood-sucking capitalist corporate machine that hates democracy, hates freedom and hates America far more than any militant Islamist – and is willing to destroy her so that CEOs and stockholders can live in lackadaisical luxury as children around them die for want of food and medical care, or kill each other over scraps .   The similarity between Baldacci’s images of her school and its South Side Chicago neighborhood and downtown Baghdad or Mogadishu are not unexpected. According to Baldacci, one-third of all new teachers quite after three years, and half quit after five (6). Others – â€Å"mavericks† – are invariably driven out.   The author displayed uncommon courage in taking the step she did, changing careers at midlife. She was not alone; many of her acquaintances made similar moves. What touches us about Baldacci was her motivation: she wanted to make a difference in a system that continues to be dismantled today by politicians who are hopelessly beholden to private, corporate interests. In becoming a teacher, she incurred a 33% reduction in pay in order to do a job that is highly stressful, thankless, and often downright dangerous. Teaching is a profession in which colleagues often will stab their fellows in the back out of jealousy; administrators act like monarchs; it is a profession in which one can be accused of wrongdoing and dismissed without ever knowing what the accusation was or being given an opportunity to de fend one’s self; simply an accusation of wrongdoing by a student – whether true or not – can destroy a career. Why did Baldacci ever decide to undertake such a job? She tells a colleague: â€Å"Because a voice called, and I answered† (53). Ultimately, Baldacci succeeds in the face of overcrowded classrooms, endless behaviour problems, a complete lack of faculty or administrative support (no surprise there) and a huge workload that would be the undoing of most mortals. After a time, she was able to reach these children, possibly because her journalism training had given her greater powers of observation, with the ability and willingness to â€Å"drill down,† and get the story behind the story. Assuming that Americans are able – or even willing – to take their country back from neo-con corporate fascists and the Christian Taliban who threaten the very foundations of our freedom, it is possible that, as resources are taken away from the parasite investor class and restored to society in order to provide for basic needs, teachers who work not from theory and a bunch of â€Å"methodology† drivel and psychobabble, but rather with their eyes, ears, hands and hearts – like Leslie Baldacci – will be instrumental in restoring the Jeffersonian Ideal – quality public education as the foundation of   a healthy, vibrant, functioning democracy.

Entrepreneurship----Strengths and weaknesses of family businesses Essay

Entrepreneurship----Strengths and weaknesses of family businesses - Essay Example The degree of control over inter departmental affairs is relatively strongly managed in family businesses. The culture is considerably flexible, informal and occasional use of local language might be seen in practice. Long term dependencies and affiliations are another feature of family businesses. Such businesses are not total loss; rather have lots of positives to them. The first and foremost advantage being enjoyed in such cultures is that of trust, reliability and endurance. The chemistry amongst the members of the kin creates a benevolent atmosphere in itself which is very fruitful for the overall working environment. For many, the family businesses perform much better than other kinds of businesses and evidences have been seen where the throughputs have been far better compared to their non allegiance based enterprises. Weaknesses: The weak links in any family business often starts with the succession of an individual by a family member which might be compromising in context of the merit and requirements of professional operations. The resistance to change is relatively more deep routed in the company as personal biases are involved directly or indirectly. The family business environment is often termed as closed loop business atmosphere, since it in contrast to the conventional form of business environment, has relatively related faces around that are more loosely in the organization and business because of personal belonging and affiliations. The existence of obligation to transfer the power amongst family member regardless of the capabilities and professional experience, this serves as serious draw back in this concept of business world. Meritocracy is often believed to be compromised in such forms of business. Personal enmity and competition in a negative way can be another damning factor in the working environment of