Legal and Regulatory Framework Essay Example for Free

Legal and Regulatory Framework Essay There are many acts that exist to prevent discrimination, laws that protect age, sex, race, and religion. These acts are there to stop direct discrimination; when someone is treated less favourably than another. The company John Lewis is mostly affected by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975/97; to help stop judgement because of sex. They are affected by this act because of stereotypes; such as technological jobs that are expected to be done by a male, so when the company searches for an applicant they would mainly focus on males, making females have a lower chance of getting the job. This can also be related to an ethical issue, which is to never put the same gender in an interview panel, which is never done so that a person cannot be picked because of their sex. The company deals with this by looking carefully at each candidate, and may also consider leaving out the gender section, to not be stereotypical when choosing the right candidate. The Equal Pay Act 1970 would also affect this company just as it affects any other companies; it would force the company to pay its employees equally, ignoring gender. The company handles this by properly giving each employee their pay without considering gender to be an issue. The National Minimum Wage makes the company pay the minimum amount set by the government to their employees, this act would make the company suffer when it is in a difficult situation and they need money by decreasing the amount needed to pay to employees who are needed in the business. The company would deal to this law by making sure that the budget is enough and to see if they can get rid of an employee if the potential candidate seems better. The Race Relations Act 1992 stops discrimination on race, nationality, ethnic origin or national origin. One example that could happen is not involving a race when advertising the position, which would harm the candidates, and which will lead to harm to the business. The company would deal with this by making sure that no one is missed, and that not a particular race is picked for a job and given more of an advantage than another. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 2005 helps make a disable person get treated fairly when being interviewed; this act would affect the business because it they would have to pay equipment for the disabled, such as a wheelchair to help make the employee feel comfortable and not judged. Employment Acts 2002 and 2008, and the Work and Families Act 2006, covers maternity and paternity leave and pay, flexible working hours for carers of adults, as well as improved communication between employers and employees during maternity and paternity leave. This would affect the business because they would need new employees to cover the leave, as well as an extra pay for the new employee and the one leaving. The European Working Time Directive introduces the maximum working week of 48 hours over a certain number of weeks, as well as restriction on the length of nightshifts, rest periods and annual leave. This would affect the business because they won’t be able to employ someone longer to complete the job, which would lead to time loss. The company would deal with this by spreading the time between different employees equally. Ethics is what is expected to be done, and there are many ethics that are expected to be followed by a business when recruiting, one of them is to always ask the same questions in an interview, one simple reason to do this is to be fair to all of the candidates, but the main reason is compare them equally, as well as knowing what is needed to be known from all of them, which would help the business know the right candidate that would help the business. Another thing that a business is expected to do is to not make the interviewees related to the candidates, and the main reason to do that is to never make the results bias, an example of that is a candidate being chosen because he/she is related to the owner of the business. This would increase the chance of other candidates to be chosen who might have potential in the business. One other thing that the business is expected to do is to always make a promotion available, to help increase the motivation of the employees so that the job can be done, and to also helps make all the employees have the same opportunities, which would in return make the number of candidates  increase, making the chance of them having the right employee higher. Firing someone when it needs to be done is also something that the business is expected to do, as it will make the candidates aware that the business deals with a problem when they report them, and it would also be beneficial to the business at it would stop people from causing trouble or stealing form the business.

Public Bus Transportation In Kota Kinabalu

Public Bus Transportation In Kota Kinabalu Currently, bus is the main public transportation in the city of Kota Kinabalu. Despite being perceived as less comfortable, less physically attractive, non-punctual and unsafe, it still functioning to bring passengers to their destinations. This research paper aims to provide a critical overview of the public bus importance at the past, present and future time. It is crucial to identify the reason why bus is important in providing commuting service to the citizen since this information is a useful input to the policy maker. The reasons for its importance are discussed together with several issues such as public bus current level of performance, increasing number of private vehicle on road and the absence of specific plan to improve public bus transportation. This study is qualitative in nature where data were mostly derived from observation and secondary sources. The preliminary studys findings showed public bus is an important mode of public transportation in Kota Kinabalu in the pa st and the present and is likely to continue to be so in the foreseeable future due to the demand from the low income earners, wide destination coverage and concern for the increasing price of car fuel as well as to traffic congestion problem. Therefore, the government should seriously consider the bus in the public transportation planning by providing specific plan for its future development. Keywords: public transportation system, public bus, public transport planning INTRODUCTION Tran and Kleiner (2005) cited in Belwal and Belwal (2010), public transportation is defined as transportation by a conveyance that provides continuing general or special transportation to the public; excluding school buses, charter and sightseeing service. An efficient transportation system is one of the basic components of the social, economic, and physical structure in the urbanized society and it has to be competitive and attractive to the transit seekers (Ibid). It is essential for every government all over the world to develop better transportation system for its citizens. Better system is a system that is able to provide affordable, attractive, comfortable, punctual and safe commuting services to the citizens. According to Nandi (2008), an ideal transport system is a system that had been fully integrated, able to provide safe transport network, supports social and economic regeneration and ensures good access for all which, is operated to the highest standards to protect the en vironment and ensure quality of life. It is a dream for every government and citizen to have efficient transportation system. To realize the dream, continuous effort should be made. Long run strategy should be to manage for the growth of transport demand to provide for the efficient movement of people and goods. Bus service is indeed important since it provides mobility for all since many people do not have access to cars it is also increase person capacity in heavily traveled corridors and it preserves urban land for more productive use and is more energy efficient than driving (Levinson, 2000). In his study, bus is not only providing line-haul and feeder services, offer special transit service for the elderly and handicapped and in the very large cities but they also complement and feed rail transit lines. In United State of America, public transportation is commonly associated with the nations major urban-area subway (heavy-rail) or commuter-rail systems, approximately 59 percent of all public transportation trips are carried on buses (Cambridge Systematics Inc, 2008). Therefore, maintaining and improving bus service will be essential in keeping urban areas vital and vibrant in the years ahead. The basic purpose to develop the public transportation is to help the citizens to make a trip easily and ensure the normal operation of fundamentals social organizations and their activities as well as brings enhancements to the city environment in a quite comprehensive range. () At the moment in Malaysia, significant improvement on public transportation had only been seen in several main cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Pulau Pinang. The difference of these cities from the others is that, apart from having various option of modern transportation such as LRT and Monorail System, they also have an integrated bus system namely RapidKL and RapidPenang which are characterized by attractive appearance, strict monitoring system, standardization and reliable schedule. In the city of Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah, bus is the main public transportation. However, public bus performance is below par in terms of comfort, physical appearance, punctuality and safety. It is believed that the effective and robust public bus transportation service provision is crucial and necessary in realizing the objective of the 6th National Key Result Area (NKRA) which is aimed to increase the utilization rate and to sustain the Malaysia transport system (Jayaraman et. al., 2011 ). Public bus transportation is important not only to provide commuting services to the people but also facilitate the growth of economy in a city. It creates accessibility to business to market their goods and services. Since the last three decades, government at federal, state and local levels has formulated and implemented various plans to improve public transportation but there is still no significant improvement have been seen on the bus service. In addition, the increasing number of private cars on roads shows the shift in preference of people from using a public bus into driving their own personal car. The aim of this paper is to provide critical overview of the importance of public bus. This finding is important for planning purpose. Since there are very few studies deeply discussed about its importance, the findings will contribute to the body knowledge in the public bus literature. The public transportation available in Kota Kinabalu city is only public bus and taxi. The fact that, the public bus is more utilized by the public because of its lower cost indicates its importance. PROBLEM STATEMENT Since the last three decades, government at federal, state and local levels has formulated and implemented various plan to improve public transportation in Kota Kinabalu City but there is still no significant improvement can be been seen especially relating to the bus service. Furthermore, the increasing number of private cars on roads shows the shift in preference of people from using a public bus into driving their own personal car. The question is why this happen? Is bus not as important to the local residents as it use to be? The aim of this paper is to provide critical overview of the importance of public bus to the people. The finding of this research is important for policy planning purpose. Besides, it provides the body knowledge in bus transportation literature since there is only few study deeply discussed about its importance. It is believed that the effective and robust public bus transportation service provision is crucial and necessary in realizing the objective of the 6th NKRA which is aimed to increase the utilization rate and to sustain the Malaysia transport system (Jayaraman et. al., 2011). METHODOLOGY For data collection, the methodology used in this study was limited to observation and secondary data only. The observation method was conducted on daily basis from 1st August 2012 to 15st September 2012. Large amount of information was collected from local newspaper report especially from Sabah Times, Daily Express and Borneo Post. Official documents such as policy statements were part of the data collected. Through these methods, thorough analyses regarding the importance of public bus in Kota Kinabalu at the present and future time were made. REASONS FOR IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC BUS TRANSPORTATION IN KOTA KINABALU Demands from Low Income Earner Low-income groups tend to use their car relatively less often (Steg, 2003). In the city of Kota Kinabalu, the bus service is highly demanded by the low income earner (monthly income below RM2300) although the public bus service is poor in terms of comfort, punctuality and safety. In the 1990s, bus was considered important because few people could afford to buy car. Presently, bus is still needed by the low income earners. Owning car has been greatly facilitated recently through simpler car loan procedure. However, although this facilitated the low and medium income earners to own car, some of them may still do not want to buy car because of other important commitments such as household expenditure and utility expenditure. As a result, they still need to take bus to go to their workplace and even for outing purposes. Thus, bus is important to their daily life. In Kota Kinabalu, certain residential areas which are populated mostly by low income earners such as Kuala Menggatal, Taman In dah Permai, Taman Sri Maju, Universiti Apartment Phase 1 and Phase 2 are relying on the bus service for transportation. Daily observation that had been made on 1st August 2012 until 1st September 2012 at these residential areas, it was found that most of residents work as laborers, chefs, nurses, salespersons, promoters and waiters used bus to go to the workplace. Wide Destination Coverage Public bus has wider destinations coverage encompassing both the urban and sub-urban areas compared to LRT and Monorail, which have fixed routes. Therefore their destination coverage is limited. The bus has important role not only to accommodate the transport needs of the increasing commuters but also as feed as in routes not covered by these modern transportation systems. Eventhough in Kuala Lumpur modern transportation networks namely Kereta Api Tanah Melayu (KTM), Monorail System and LRT, pub bus is still being used to take passengers to the KTM, LRT and Monorail stations and terminals. Due to the need of feeder service and to improve the existing public transportation system, RapidKL was then decided in 2004, took over the main part of transportation in the city. In Kota Kinabalu, bus is important in the absence of modern transportation and the role it plays will become challenging once the modern rail system introduced. The table show below indicates the zones covered by the pub lic bus transportation at Kota Kinabalu in 2006. Concern to the Price of Car Fuel The concern of car users about increasing fuel price also contributes to the continued importance of public bus service. Malaysias public transportation especially public bus is perceived of unable to meet citizens needs satisfactorily. Many claim that if the public transport is improved, they are willing to use it instead of paying for outrageous petrol prices and tolls and ending up stuck in traffic jams (Kambala, 2007). The question is, when bus services improved in Kota Kinabalu, will the local citizens willing to shift from using private vehicle into the public one? From the literature, it was found that public bus will be a critical travelling option among the private car user when the price of the fuel increases. When fuel price increase, the monthly spending will increase and the probability of people shifting from the using their own car to take the public bus will increase. Public bus still become the option for the residents irrespective the income background especially wh en the price of fuel has increased and their monthly salary cannot cover all the expenses. Problem of Traffic Congestion Based on the data provided by the statistic department in a survey of Sabah household in 2009, more than 50% of the residents in Kota Kinabalu go to work by personal automobile while the rest use the public bus or other modes. The increasing number of private vehicles on roads has caused congestion and pollution. The growing community concerns about traffic congestion, sprawl, air pollution, and sustainability, the progressive revitalization of cities and towns, and continued advances in transport technology demand for better bus transit in the new century (Levinson, 2000). In another observation done in Likas, Sepanggar and Sulaman from 15th August 2012 to 15th September 2012, it was found that there traffic congestions during peak hours. The peak hours in Kota Kinabalu during weekdays is range from 7.00 to 8.30 in the morning, and noon12.00 to 2.00pm and 4.30 to 7.00 at the evening. It was also found that, the roads in Sepanggar, Inanam and Likas area are most congested during peak hour. Currently, most of people still insist to use their car. People will only shift to public bus if the public bus system is reliable. Reliable here means available everywhere, arrive on time, cheap as well as safe and comfortable to be used. According to Lo Su Yin, the head of Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) Sabah, the medium and long term solution for the problem of traffic congestion is a well planned public transport system Transport for tertiary level students Young people are regular user of public bus transportation especially at tertiary level students. The Chief Executive of Passenger Focus, Anthony Smith, quoted a research that showed almost 50 percent of bus passengers are under 29, making the bus very much a young persons product and more than 50 percent of students frequently use the bus and depend on it to go to their education or training premise (The Telegraph, 2012). As a center of education in the state of Sabah, the number of student in Kota Kinabalu is high. Most of them neither have car nor driving license to drive car. Thus, they are totally dependence on the public bus service. Furthermore, it was found that many students stayed at Sepanggar, Likas, Sembulan and city center such as students from Universiti Teknologi Mara as well as from Advanced Management and Technology Centre (PTPL), Cosmopoint College, Masterskill College, Mahsa College, Sabah Foundation College, and Polytechnics. Due to large population of students in Kota Kinabalu, public bus is important to fulfill their transport needs. For example, University students from Universiti Teknologi Mara Sabah branch, always use the public bus transport (operated by Tuaran United Transport Company Sdn Bhd) to go to the centre of the city during weekends for outing purpose. DISCUSSION The findings of this paper are in line with the findings of previous research. For example, according to Madzlan and Nookfakhriah (2010), public bus transportation is important to help reduce traffic congestion, save money and time, as well as to reduce pollution. There are no commuters or train services that provide full coverage of transportation in Kota Bharu unlike Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley (Ibid). Therefore, demand for public bus service is very high in this city. In Kota Bharu and Penang, where the commuter train service is not available, the public bus is the major means for its population. The Kota Kinabalu City Hall (KKCH) Strategic Plan 2011-2015, focus more on upgrading and improving the infrastructure of the public bus transportation system. For example plans to build uniform bus stop, 45 Lay-by for bus (to be completed in 2012), upgrading the Terminal Wawasan at the centre of town (to be completed in 2012), Terminal at the North, Inanam (to be completed in 2015), Inter Terminal Link at Stadium Likas, Masjid Bandaraya and Masjid Negeri (to be accomplished in 2015), Terminal Kepayan at the South, (to be accomplished in 2015) and Park Ride facilities. In 2011, some of the project has been implemented under the Public Transportation Financial Group fund, where RM8 million spent to upgrade the Wawasan Bus Terminal and RM5 million to establish a lay-by bus and taxi in the city (Sabah Times, 2011). The public transportation central plan also include the plan to develop water taxi, monorail system, rail system (Kota Kinabalu Structure Plan 2030). The plan to build the Park and Ride facilities, the upgrading terminals, adding more bus stations, establishment of LRT and Monorail system as well as plan to develop water taxi service indicated the intention of the government to provide better public transportation in the city. The government has done several improvements on bus but these efforts are not commensurate with the importance of public bus to the general public in Kota Kinabalu. In other word, the government has not done enough to improve the bus system service. Transportation system in this city will not work effectively and efficiently if the public bus system is not significantly improved. That is, the public buses need to be continuously maintained, clean, safe and comfortable to be used as well as punctual and always available. For the time being, public bus plays impo rtant role as the main public transportation in Kota Kinabalu. However, poor performance and a lack of proper management of bus are existing problems that yet to be solved. It is more preferable if the government finds solutions to the existing problems. The bus system should be improved first before developing new alternative modes of transportation. In the NKRA, there is also no clear and specific statement regarding the budget allocated to improve public bus transportation in the urban areas such as Kota Kinabalu apart from Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. It is because no matter how modern mode of transportation that is planned to be established, public bus still have a place in urban and sub-urban areas. Due to its importance, public bus deserves to get more attention from all levels of government. It deserves to have specific budget allocation not only from the local government but from the federal and state governmenst as well. Based on the findings, several issues regarding bus transportation need to be addressed. Bus is important at the present and likely to be so in the foreseeable future. However, the findings of this study support previous study findings that certain issues need to be addressed for better bus service performance. For example, performance of public bus under private companies operation. It was found that, public transportation is poor when it was operated by the private company (Nicosia, 2001). According to Imran (2009), one of the failures of public transport policies is overstating the role of the private sector in public transport. In Kota Kinabalu, public buses are operated by private companies and there are complaints about the lack of comfort, maintenance, punctuality and safety. On the other hand, the bus system in Kuala Lumpur is mainly operated by RapidKL which is owned by the government. In Malacca, the state government takes over the operation of public bus transportation from the private authorities. Public transportation service will continue to be inefficient under the hand of private companies and the problems associated with it will be unresolved if there no aggressive intervention from the government sides. For example, in 1992, the large scale bus privatization without adequate regulation and coordination had created many problems in Delhi such as lengthy, zig-zag routes, long waiting times, completely unrel iable service, extreme overcrowding, illegal drivers, and speeding and reckless driving, competitions among buses, poor bus maintenance, lack of safety, noisy, and highly polluting which, add to the already severe congestion, safety, and air pollution problems (Putcher et al., 2004). Another issue that needs to be addressed is the increasing number of private vehicles on the roads. Public bus can be part of the solutions. However, it will never replace the dominant use of private car if no aggressive effort to improve the public bus system is made. For example, according to OToole (2011), buses will probably never replace the auto ­mobile as the dominant form of transporta ­tion in the United States of America unless with the use of the new-model buses which is significantly less expensive than driv ­ing. Only when the bus system in Kota Kinabalu City is restructured, people start continuously to shift from the use of private cars. Thus, the reasons of public bus transportations importance should be learned together with these issues so that actual situation for public bus transportation in this city would be able to be identified. CONCLUSION Public bus transportation is important in the past as well as the present time and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future due to the demand from the low income earners, tertiary level students, the public bus system wide destination coverage, concern for the increasing price of car fuel as well as traffic congestion problem. This research is only part of larger research where only the importance of the public bus system is discussed. Based on data collected so far, there is enough evidence to suggest the importance and the continuous importance of public bus transportation system.

The Virgin Birth of Jesus Essays -- essays research papers

The Virgin Birth of Jesus Old Testament Fulfilled Prophecies The Virgin birth of Christ is an actual Historical fact. God came (in the sinless form of Jesus) into the earth "HE" created. No other event in the past has had so much impact out side of Calvary where Christ paid the price for our transgressions. Seven hundred years earlier, this was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah and it came about just as predicated in (Matthew 1:22, 23) In Isaiah 7:14, we take notice what the prophet Isaiah said about this male child or "Son". He prophesied that Jesus Christ would be born of a "Virgin." The word says "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and call his name Immanuel. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that this male child WOULD BE INCARNATE. (Isaiah 9:6) "For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, the prince of peace. THE GOSPEL INTRODUCTION OF JESUS I read about Jesus in the four gospels of the New Testament. In their narratives of his birth, Matthew and Luke call him the virgin-born Savior, the Lord Christ Jesus, the Holy One, the So of the Most High, the Son of God, and Immanuel, which means "God with us." Mark does not give us an account of Christ's birth, but he dows introduce him as Jesus Christ, the son of God. John, like...

US and Canada Essay -- Economic Relations

Economic relations between Canada and the United States In January 1989, Canada and the US implemented the USA-Canada free trade agreement that marked a major increase in trade among them. Their commerce forms the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world. As a result of the free trade agreement, the economic relationship between them has succeeded and the two economies have become highly interconnected. In 1994, this agreement was partially altered and broadened to include Mexico in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (McKinney 2010). Canada’s economy is geographically divided into economic clusters that have deeper relations with the USA than the rest of Canada. For instance, eight of the ten biggest Canadians cities are within 100 miles of the US border. After the free trade agreement, Canadian economy emerged as more dependent on international trade, and US-Canada trade was in part responsible for that. Canada’s exports of goods and services increased from 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1989 to 43 percent in 2002, and exports to the USA augmented from 18.6 percent to 37.6 percent of GDP during the same period. Canada’s imports of goods and services grew from 25.8 percent to 38.1 percent of GDP. The US share slightly increased from 63.8 to 71.1 percent (McKinney 2010). As an indicator of provinces’ lack of commerce among them, between 1989 and 2002, inter-provincial exports in Canada fell from 22.5 percent to 19.7 percent of GDP. In 2001, 90 percent of Canadian provinces exported more to the USA than to other provinces – only two provinces did so in 1989. Therefore, Canadian economy has been more intertwined with parts of the USA and relatively less linked across provinces (McKinney 2010)... ...nd investment in its oil sands. In fact, the rise in the guaranteed production of oil sands, as the US intends to do, will allow Canada to invest in new technologies to reduce the extraction cost of oil sands. Second, Canada would amend NAFTA to include a privilege treatment with regards to the US board control/access, and solution and/or extinction trade of disputes with the US, such as softwood lumber, agricultural policies and intellectual property rights. Finally, the US would have to reimburse all the energy contracts signed among Canada and China. Clearly the relationship between China and Canada would be seriously deteriorated. As a rising power, China would soon become the greater economy in the world and retaliation would be likely to happen. Although as risky as the first option, this one seems to be worse in the long-run, rather than in the short-run.

Death and Immortality in The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay -- The Epic of Gi

Death and Immortality in The Epic of Gilgamesh The search for immortality has been a major concern for many men and women all throughout history. True love and immortality in life would be a dream come true to many. To spend time with a special someone, the person one feels closest to, and never have to say good-bye would greatly appeal to most people. But when death steps into the picture, even with all the pain and devastation, one starts to re-evaluate themselves. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh explores the possibility of immortality following the saddening death of his friend and brother, Enkidu. Gilgamesh, feeling the fear of his own mortality, sets out on a journey to search for a way to preserve himself. Although the journey that he endures is much larger than life, Gilgamesh comes to realize that he can never achieve immortality. Before the creation of Enkidu, Gilgamesh is a man without an equal match. He is an individual with overwhelming power, and it is because of this that makes Gilgamesh a very arrogant person. This arrogant side of him is accompanied by an extensive abuse of power, which leads to injustice and rage in the city of Uruk: â€Å"The young men of Uruk he harries without warrant†. This problem does not bother Gilgamesh; he lives to display to others his royal power. The first sign of change in Gilgamesh occurs after the birth of Enkidu. Gilgamesh’s mother, Ninsun, said to him, â€Å"Like a wife you’ll love him, caress and embrace him, he will be mighty, and often save you†. Gilgamesh has finally found his match, a friend who will serve as his life long companion. This new seal of friendship will cause a chang... ...nsciousness after death, or maybe a combination of both, which creates this fear. The fear felt is undoubtedly universal. However, the ways in which it is dealt with are varied and diverse. The concept of human mortality and how it is dealt with is dependent upon one’s society or culture. It is the society, which has the greatest impact on an individual’s beliefs. Hence, it is also possible for other cultures to influence the people of a different culture on such comprehensions. The irony of the story is that Gilgamesh, who wanted to enjoy immortality, actually achieves his dream. Thousands of years after his death, he and Enkidu live through the story of their adventures, which has been passed down through time. Gilgamesh and Enkidu will be kept in an immortal state for however long The Epic of Gilgamesh is told.

Mark Twain Essay

When to analyze the works of Mark Twain, it becomes clear that the author’s style is simple and direct. Indeed, the author is very successful in convening his thoughts to the reader. Henry Nash Smith, the critique of Mark Twain’s style once made a remark that Mark Twain’s style is â€Å"as close as we are likely to get to the writer’s actual experience †¦ † (Smith 19). Richard Bridgman’s evaluation of Mark Twain’s style is even clearer. The researcher puts it in the following way: â€Å"Mark Twain leads the reader to things again† (Bridgman 79). Furthermore, when to analyze Mark Twain’s style it would be fair to claim that his description of life often takes the form of mediation. This form was very rare among Mark Twain’s contemporaries. In the final outcome this very style of medication largely contributed to formation of Mark Twain’s literary style. In addition, Twain is not only a realist, he is a humorist. It means that besides depicting realistic situation, Mark Twain was quite successful in telling something humoristic. As we can see from the rest of his works, Mark Twain is able to expose â€Å"illusion and pretense and folly† (Duncan 204). Besides, as Duncan has fairly noticed he could â€Å"aid and abet the realistic enterprise† (205). Mark Twain is famous for his humor stories. To make an example, one of his most humorous and noticeable sketches is the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Rich vernacular language makes the story sound even more lively and funny. Under the mask of humor the author had skillfully hidden the expression of confrontation which was observed between the East and West. The story is a representation of Twain’s unique style of writing humor stories. Mark Twain is famous for his humor stories. One of the most humorous and noticeable sketches by Mark Twain is the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Rich vernacular language makes the story sound even more lively and funny. Under the mask of humor the author had skillfully hidden the expression of confrontation which was observed between the East and West. The conflict is represented through the conversation of narrator, who is Easterner himself and Simon Wheeler, who is Westerner. The very first sentence of the story sets humorous mood, moreover narrator’s suspicion that the person he was looking for was a myth makes an impression that the following story will be unrealistic and humorous. From the first meeting of Simon Wheeler sets the reader at ease by the following description: â€Å"†¦ he was fat and bald headed, and had an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity upon his tranquil countenance† (Price). One of the themes is the author’s critical view on American way to success. Jim Smily is the bright representative of an American who is making money easily by betting on different stuff like â€Å"†¦rat-terriers, and chicken cocks, and tom-cats, and all of them kind of things†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Price). Jim was betting and was winning all the time, as he was very fortunate. However, this easy money proves to be not stable, as he lost the case when he bet on his frog Dan’l. In this, simple from the first sight story, the author criticizes some of the flaws of the clergy and religion. Jim Smily was attending priest before making a bet. Furthermore, the other flaws of American society are wittily criticized by Samuel Clemens in this short story. Thus the dog possessing almost humanly features had his own talents and this metaphor is representing simple people who have their own talents too and who can be successful: â€Å"†¦ good pup, was that Andrew Jackson, and would have made a name for hisself if he’d lived, for the stuff was in him, and he had genius I know it, because he hadn’t had no opportunities to speak of, and it don’t stand to reason that a dog could make such a fight as he could under them circumstances, if he hadn’t no talent† (Price). In this short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, the author skillfully criticizes the major flaws of American society. Mark Twain is very realistic in using the words that have a direct relation to human life. The way in which the writer reveals his humor is the technique of using the cross-eyed patterns of concepts. To some extend the use of the concepts reveal Mark Twain’s personal disappointment with the system. The realist implicitly regards words as something that is related to the material value of words. An important feature of realism is that it is predicated on commonsense empiricism. As for human, it is predominately based on philosophical idealism. Paying the most careful attention to Mark Twain’s style, we can see that this author is adhering to both traditions. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and his short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County are two great works which give the reader a possibility to look at American society of the nineteenth century. One has a possibility to analyze today’s situation concerning race discrimination and equality of whites and blacks with the situation which existed at the beginning of the nineteenth century in time of slavery. Initially, the discussions of Twain’s style â€Å"have been concerned exclusively with his empirical pursuit† (Duncan 201). As a result, many critiques left aside the issue of the epistemological gap that existed between both the subject and object. The only pint all literary scholars actually agree with is that vernacular style used by Mark Twain is able to bring together both realism and humanism. Mark Twain’s style is predominately focused around the issue of conveying objective reality itself. Additionally, the writer goes so far as to convey his own experience of reality. This technique of writing has been already confirmed by Smith (19). His unique style of writing is able to accomplish many important life goals. However, the main achievement of Mark Twain’s style is its capacity to convey the objective reality. The objective reality that is so skillfully used in all works of Mark Twain often brings the reader face-to-face with objective reality. Jeffrey Duncan, the author of the article â€Å"The empirical and the ideal in Mark Twain† presents the famous writer as a kind of impressionist. Instead of conveying an original experience, Mark Twain decides to connect his original experience with his humor (Duncan 207). Mark Twain’s words are direct path to the real life experience. Moreover, the humor is an inseparable part of all his works. The empirical truth he tells is not conveyed just for its own sake, but for the humoristic effect. As it was discussed above, Huckleberry Finn is the representation of the vernacular style the writer employs to present the problem more sharply. To understand Mark Twain’s style of writing better, let’s take a closer look at one of his novels which is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is one of the most well-known books of his time. The book by Mark Twain is an example of literary greatness that helped people to change their views on some important issues of those times. The author is a representative of Regionalism as his novel like his many works are written using simple language ordinary people spoke with all the collocations, variations and accents of the South. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the representation of one of the complex and progressive writings of the time when slavery was a controversy and the first issue of American Society of that time. Jim’s character is the representation of all the enslaved blacks of that time and according to the morality and laws of American society he is inferior to Huck, who is representative of white free population of America. Slavery is one of the central issues that are discussed in the book. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depicts the way in which African Americans were perceived by the outside world. The book itself is often associated with some anger and frustration that was expressed by the author in reference to the black people. At the beginning of the story, the gap between Huck and slave Jim is enormously deep, which Huck has enough power of mind to analyze the existing stereotypes in his society and their wrongness of thinking concerning blacks: â€Å"I knowed he was white inside† (Twain 351). In my opinion the core of the problem is Mark Twain’s depiction of Jim, the black American and the protagonist of the novel. In fact, Huck’s words are negatively perceived by the contemporary critiques, who often regard the book as racist and demeaning in its nature. However, Twain’s approach to slavery issue is motivated by many reasons one of which is stereotypes or as Schmidt put it â€Å"whites’ views of rebellious slaves or postwar freemen arrogantly claiming their rights† (449). I would go so far as to say that Mark Twain showed a real attitude of the white population of the South to the black people. The same thing was accentuated with the analysis of Huck’s character that shows the author’s specific approach to black people. Huck’s approach was typical for a narrow-minded white person who was seeing African Americans as a lower race. Loyalty to Jim can be described as very shaky. It means that everything depends on the situation into which a person is placed. Also Huck cared for Jim who had a strange approach to the reality and the things that took place in the American society. However, in general, Huck was aware of the ways in which he can show his loyalty to the other people. He cared for Jim realizing that Jim is black, thus needed the â€Å"other†, dehumanized approach to his personality. However, Huck really liked this simple man and he could even go to hell, but set Jim free: â€Å"All right, then, I’ll GO to hell† (Twain 417). However, according to Schmidt this decision is ill-conceived. Further more, the author points out that protagonist’s intentions are rather â€Å"illusion that Huck’s moral choice is absolute and self-determined† (Schmidt 455). During the post-Civil War African Americans were still treated as â€Å"slaves† in American society. The release of Jim Crow laws gave many important advantages to black Americans. The review of the current laws shows that the major part of African Americans was freed by Jim Crow law. As for white people, they did not change their attitude to black Americans, and continued to see them as heartless and soulless creatures. Also, there was a tendency to picture blacks as monsters who were deprived of human feelings. Under the circumstances like these African Americans were negatively perceived by the general public, and were even feared by the American society. Also, the release of Jim Crow laws widened the gap between the whites and blacks. The analysis of the book indicates that the society of those times was actually adding problems instead of searching for the solution of these problems. The main peculiarity of the book is the dubious approach to the African American issues. As Huck has actually indicated, African Americans were more than just animals. The above mentioned words indicate on the fact hat Jim’s case was approached from the white man’s perspective. Huck analyses the situation in the following way: â€Å"I tell you gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollar – and kind treatment, too† (Twain 364). The situation itself has a deep meaning. Though disgraceful at the first glance, Huck’s approach to Black issue can be described as rather positive. The novel was written a few years after the slavery had been abolished between 1876 and 1883, whereas the events of the story take place before 1865. Thus Mark Twain was influenced by the changes which followed the Thirteenth Amendment and while writing the story was reflecting on the events of his past. Therefore, the novel has to be read and analyzed in the historical and social context. The views of the author concerning blacks and slavery are the combination of his childhood memories and the conscious rejection of slavery of writer’s adulthood. The time period between the abolishment and the time the story was written is relatively short, therefore actual social changes were slight, as the majority of the plantation owners of the South were strongly against the abolishment trying to prevent freeing slaves or their free workforce. Mark Twain was a progressive man, who knew that all people are equal despite their skin color or race. Therefore, friendship between a white boy Huck and black slave Jim is natural and obvious for the adventures events of the story. The two friends share everything what happens on their way down the Mississippi river and really enjoy each other’s company. To conclude, Mark Twain’s unique style of writing, his realism and very insightful sense of humor of his works is the undeniable evidence of the writer’s talent and hard work. His works have been fascinating literature for more than a century and will continue to be enjoyed by the readers of many future generations. Works Cited Benesch, Klaus & Schmidt, Kerstin (ed. ). Space in America: Theory, History, Culture. Rodopi: Amsterdam, 2005. Bridgeman, J. The Colloquial Style in America. New York: Ox- ford Univ. Press, 1966, p. 79. Duncan Jeffrey L. â€Å"The Empirical and the Ideal in Mark Twain†, PMLA, Vol. 95, No. 2 (Mar. , 1980), pp. 201-212. Smith, Henry Nash. Mark Twain: The Development of a Writer, xii,. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1962. Kaplan, Justin Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography (New York: Simon, 1966), p. 197. Price, Angel. â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County†. Southwestern Humor and Mark Twain. n. d. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. Schmidt, Peter (ed. ). â€Å"Seven Recent Commentaries on Mark Twain†. Studies in the Novel. 34 (2002): 448-460. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Connections. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 2004. Mark Twain Essay ?America: the land of the free and the home of the brave. When people think of America, they either think of fat Whites eating McDonalds or Yanks who love to invade other countries for oil. What people rarely think of when thinking of America, is the great writers that the country has produced. Throughout this year, I have read many great works written by many American writers. Over the course of America’s history, the nation has produced many great novelists. From Benjamin Franklin during the American Revolution era, to F. Scott Fitzgerald during the Roaring Twenties, many great American writers have written wonderful books and poems. When people from other countries think of great writers, they only think about Shakespeare or Homer, who aren’t even American writers. They rarely think about Henry David Thoreau or Ernest Hemmingway because they aren’t well known in foreign countries. These writers are famously known in America but one common question that people ask is, â€Å"Which American author is the greatest? †In my opinion, out of all the American writers, Mark Twain is the greatest and most influential author because of his humor and wonderful novels. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835, nearly thirty years before he took the name Mark Twain, in Florida, Missouri. It is located some 130 miles north-west of St. Louis, and 30 miles away from the Mississippi River. His father, John Marshal Clemens, was from Virginia and was a failed country farmer and lawyer. His mother, Jane Clemens, met his father in Missouri and married him in 1823. His parents had seven children but only Twain, who was the sixth child, and three other siblings survived childhood. His surviving siblings were Orion, Henry, and Pamela Clemens. When Twain was four, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Missouri was still a slave state at the time which caused Twain to become familiar with the institution of slavery. He later explored this theme in his writings. As a child, â€Å"Young Twain reveled in life along the Mississippi, a river busy with steamboat activity and he often traveled in makeshift rafts or cavorted in various swimming holes† (â€Å"Mark Twain Biography† par 4). When Twain was eleven years old, his father died and Twain was forced to cease formal schooling and had to help support his family. He came to work for a newspaper called the â€Å"Hannibal Journal,† a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. With no formal education like many other Americans at the time, he got his education in print shops and newspapers. When he turned eighteen, he left Hannibal for New York and worked as a printer. Twain eventually left New York in order to travel to New Orleans down the Mississippi in a steamboat piloted by Horace E. Bixby, who inspired Twain to become a steamboat captain himself. After being rewarded with his steamboat pilot license, Twain received his pen name, Mark Twain, from â€Å"mark twain,† meaning the river is measured at two fathoms. While Twain was training for his pilot’s license, his younger brother, Henry was killed when the steamboat he was working on exploded. Twain, having foreseen this in a dream one month earlier, joined the â€Å"Society for Psychical Research. † Twain continued working on the Mississippi until 1861 when the American Civil War broke out and river was curtailed or blocked off in order to separate the Confederate States in half. At the start of the war, Twain volunteered briefly in a Confederate local unit before the company was disbanded by Twain and his friends two weeks after joining. In 1861, Twain joined Orion and together, the two brothers traveled west across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting a Mormon community in Salt Lake City. Their journey ended in the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada where Twain became an unsuccessful miner. He eventually worked at the â€Å"Territorial Enterprise,† a newspaper in Virginia City. His experiences here gave him material for his 1965 novel, â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. † Twain then moved to San Francisco, California in 1864 where he was still a journalist and met writers such as Bret Harte and Artemus Ward. His first success was his tall tale â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County† which brought him national attention. In 1867, Twain toured Europe and the Middle East where he met his future brother-in-law, Charles Langdon. Langdon showed Twain a picture of his sister, Olivia Langdon, in whom Twain immediately claimed to have â€Å"fallen in love at first sight†. Twain eventually married Olivia in Elmira, New York. She came from a â€Å"wealth but liberal family,† and through her he met abolitionists, socialists, and activists for women’s rights such as Frederick Douglas and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The couple moved to Buffalo, New York where they had four children; Langdon, Susy, Clara, and Jean. Twain moved his family to Hartford, Connecticut in 1973 where he eventually wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Life on the Mississippi (1883), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). Throughout the later years of Twain’s life, he passed through a period of deep depression largely based on the Death of his daughter Susy in 1896 of meningitis, Olivia’s death in 1904, and Jean’s death on December 24, 1909. In 1909, Twain was quoted saying, â€Å"I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: ‘Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together† (Mark Twain Biography par 17). Twains prediction was strangely accurate, he died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding Connecticut, one day after Haley’s comet made its closest approach to Earth. Twain is buried in his wife’s family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. Mark Twain’s historical background influenced his perspective by making him have a negative view on society slavery. Twain grew up during America’s period of slavery and he witnessed first-hand how cruel people could be to minorities and how little Whites cared for them. An example of this is when Huck says Now I struck an idea, and fetched it out: â€Å"It warn’t the grounding –that didn’t keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinderhead. † â€Å"Good gracious! anybody hurt? † â€Å"No’m. Killed a nigger† (Twain 315). These few lines of dialogue say all there is to say about how blacks are viewed at that time by the Whites: that they are â€Å"nobody†, less than human, with lives that are of little or no value to anyone. Twain also felt that the difference between the rich and the poor is unfair because the rich only think about themselves leaving the poor to live their own miserable lives. During Twain’s time, America was practically owned by a hand few of men such as John D. Rockefeller and George Pullman, both wealthy business men who made their money off of cheating their workers by giving them low pay. All the people cared about was making money no matter how they make it. For example, Huck’s father said in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, â€Å"I’ve been in town two days, and O hain’t heard nothing but about you bein’ rich. I heard about it away down the river, too. That’s why I come. You git me that money-tomorrow-I want it,†(Twain 333). Pap is only interested in Huck’s money and was willing to beat Huck, his own son, for the money until he passes out. Once Pap gets the money, he just uses it to go buy alcohol. In these lines, Twain is satirizing how the rich are willing to take money from the poor then use the money on useless possessions. Major social issues of Twain’s time were the issue of slavery and gap between the lower class and the higher class. Twain believed that the Whites were foolish for thinking themselves better then every other race, â€Å"There are many humorous things in this world, among them, the white man’s notion that he is less savage than the other savages† (Mark Twain Biography par 73). This quote provides good historical context in that it shows us how Twain feels about Whites being racist to minorities. He witnessed racism first-hand while growing up in the south. The Whites view other races as savages when in reality, the Whites are the true savages for enslaving a race of people just because they have a different skin color. Mark Twain’s works makes him a realist and a regionalist. Regionalism is when an author implements words and ideas into their work in order to make it sound like the region of the country the story takes place. Realism is when an author writes about life as it currently is. Most of Twain’s works take place in the south and he gives his characters dialogue to match the region in which they came. This is shown when Huck says, â€Å"How is servants treated in England? Do they treat ’em better ‘n we treat our niggers? No! A servant ain’t nobody there. They treat them worse than dogs,†(Twain 345). In these lines, we see Twain using dialogue to show how southerners talk during the time showing his regionalism. These lines are also realist in that they talk about social issues during the time which in this case is slavery and the serf system in England. Mark Twain wrote many great works when he was alive. From the tall tale of the Jumping Frog of Calaveras County to the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain has managed to capture the attention of readers across the country with his amazing works. Out of all of the novels that Twain has written, I would say that there are three that have made the largest impact in America. The first important text that Mark Twain wrote is The Prince and the Pauper. In this work, Twain attempts to inform us about the differences between the upper class and the lower class. The main conflict of the story is about Tom Canty and Prince Edward IV switching roles so that Tom is the prince and the Prince becomes Tom who lives in poverty and their attempts of switching back to their normal lives. The book takes place in England and main plot is about two identical boys , one a prince and one a pauper, switching lives so they can see how the other lives. A few complications are when the real prince gets kicked out of the castle, Tom suddenly becoming King after the previous king dies when Prince Edward was supposed to be king, Prince Edward trying to get back to the castle, Tom’s abusive father beating Tom and Edward, Edward getting arrested, and The Great Seal of England goes missing. The climax of the story is when everybody finds out that Tom is really a pauper and that Edward is the true King. The story resolves with Tom becoming the official ward of the new king of England, King Edward and getting to live in the castle. The most important quote of the novel is said when Edward discovers how bad his citizens live, â€Å"When I am king, they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also teachings out of books; for a full belly is little worth where the mind is starved . . . â€Å"(Twain 154). Edward says these lines because he wants to help out his citizens after discovering how poorly they live. In these lines, Twain is satirizing the wide gap between the rich and the poor in the U. S. Most rich people in the U. S. at the time had no idea that the people living in poverty had terrible living conditions. Twain is also saying that instead of the government just giving us shelter and food, it should also give us education. This text is an important work of Twain’s because it shows the wide gap between the rich and the poor. It is a realist work of literature because it talks about social issues of the time. This text is still relevant today in that there is still a wide gap between the rich and the poor in the U. S. and that the government doesn’t do enough for education because of all the budget cuts and laying off of teachers. The next important text by Mark Twain is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In this novel, Twain attempts to entertain us about a boy’s life during the early 1800’s. He also informs us about racism towards Indians during this time. The book is about the childhood adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book takes place the fictional town of St. Louis and the main conflict is Tom trying to find treasure Injun Joe hid while avoiding Joe at the same time. A few complications are when Tom and Becky are lost in the cave, Huck was running from Injun Joe, and Tom trying to avoid Joe in the caves. The climax of the story is when Tom discovers that Injun Joe was in the cave with Tom and Becky while they were lost. The story resolves with Tom and Becky being found, Tom and Huck finding Injun Joe’s treasure, and Injun Joe discovered dead. This text is an important work of Twain’s because it is known as one of the greatest American novels alongside The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book lead to Huck Finn being written because of its success. The novel is a regionalist work of literature because it uses dialogue from Mississippi. This book shows racism towards Indians when Twain rights, †[They] confessed that they had had almost as satisfactory a time at the funeral as they could have had at the hanging† (Twain 294). In these lines, we see Twain satirizing how a bunch of white people from around the county went see the funeral of an Indian that was a murderer and they treated it like it was a show. This reveals how truly racist the White were if they were willing to travel far to treat the funeral of an Indian as entertainment. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is still relevant today because of the fact that the social issues, such as racism towards minorities, that Twain wrote about still exist today. The book is also still relevant today because people talk about it being the prequel to the greatest American novel of all time: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The last important text by Mark Twain is no doubt The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it is considered the greatest American novel written and the most controversial American novel because of the time it uses the word â€Å"nigger. † In this novel, Twain is trying to inform us about racism during the early 1800s. The book is about Huckleberry Finn and Jim, an escaped slave, trying to escape from the people who try and own them. The book takes place in Mississippi and the main conflict is Huck trying to help Jim escape slavery. A few complications are when the Duke and the King tag along with Huck and Finn, Huck’s dad trying to take Huck’s money, Huck and Jim getting separated, and Jim getting recaptured with Huck trying to save him. The climax of the story is when Huck pretends he is Tom Sawyer, and Tom pretends that he is Sid Sawyer,  Tom’s brother. The story resolves with Jim getting his freedom and Huck being finally free from his father after learning that Pap is dead. This text is an important work of Twain’s because it is widely considered to be the greatest American novel ever written. It correctly explains the main social issue of that time and keeps a reader reading until the very end. The most important quote of this book is when Huck decides not to write a letter to Jim’s owners explaining where Jim is and says, â€Å"All right then, I’ll go to hell (Twain 2410). Huck says these lines when Jim gets captured and he has to contemplate whether to tell his owner or help Jim and go to hell. Huck decides to rip and the letter and help Jim even if it means going to Hell. He knows that he is going against the teachings of the church, the teachings of his elders, basically going against the full of society that he has been immersed in. The statement is heartfelt, as Huck sees his betrayal to hold serious consequences. This quote also reflects Twain’s belief in that you should help other people no matter the consequences. This book is still relevant today because the social issues brought up in this book are still around today. Mark Twain is still relevant today in many ways. There are schools, parks, and streets named after him. Recently, there was an article saying that the city of Elmira will put up signs explaining about Twains life. The article says,† A project is under way in Elmira to place signs at three sites to provide historical background and explain their significance in the life of Mark Twain. † In these lines, we still see that Mark Twain is still important today even 100 years after his death. These signs will tell the new generation of people who Mark Twain is and hopefully get them interested enough about him in order to read his novels. I think that Mark Twain is the greatest American writer because of the books that he wrote and the time period that he wrote them. He lived during the time of slavery and wrote his books based on denouncing slavery and racism. The most important thing I learned about Mark Twain is that he was one of the few non-racist Whites in America during that time. He was willing to help minorities which is something most people didn’t do, â€Å"To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble† (Mark Twain Biography par 16). This quote gives us the message that we should help other people in order to truly be a good person. Mark Twain lived by this rule and wrote his books based on it. The main reason why I think Twain is still important today is that he was the father of American literature. His two greatest books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, are considered by many as the greatest American novels ever written. His books can relate to people who read them because they can find similarities between themselves and Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. The main reason why I think that Mark Twain is the greatest American writer is because his works are about satirizing the common belief at the time that the White man is better than the Black man and any other minorities. His works reflect his belief that minorities should be treated equally. In order for one to be great, one must have the will to help others that aren’t as fortunate as them and treat them the way you want yourself to be treated. Works Cited Finger, Ray. Signs Will Tell Mark Twain’s Story in Elmira. The Star Gazette. 7 May 2013 Web. 1 June 2013 http://www. stargazette. com/apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/20130507/NEWS01/305070051/1113/ Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi. New York: New American Library. 1961 Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: New American Library. 1979 Twain, Mark. The Prince and the Pauper. New York: New American Library 1979 Mark Twain Biography. The New York Times. Web. 6 June 2013 http://people. brandeis. edu/~teuber/twainbio. html

Dr. Jekyll and Bride Essay

Among the many works offered during the course of this semester, a few stand out as exceptionally enjoyable and meaningful while some fail to meet this expectation. Thus, my favorite work this semester would be Robert Louis Stevenson’s â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† while my least favorite is Stephen Crane’s â€Å"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. † My first point of analysis when it comes to these works is the genre. This contributed greatly to my strong affection for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I enjoy the gothic, mystery genre, especially the technique in which several characters narrate the story. This diversity in point-of-view gives the reader, myself, various perspectives on which to evaluate the action. In addition to the genre and technique, I was enthralled by the story’s theme. The inner struggle of good and evil is something that is inherent in all people, and physically separating a person into a â€Å"good† half and a â€Å"bad† half is an excellent way to characterize this dichotomy. I also enjoyed the culminating conclusion that the incarnation of evil can slowly overrun the inclinations towards good in a person. â€Å"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky† is an example of a more objective style story written about the American west at the turn of the century. The theme of the story focuses on the end of the western gunslinger era for the more civilized behaviors of the East. The self-consciousness of the bride is evident as she rides the train, but even the clothing of Yellow Sky’s only holdout, Scratchy Wilson, is a product of New York. The sadness of the loss of an era is evident, which, in turn, makes me sad. In addition, while both stories were of a serious nature, the seriousness in Bride is so much more unnecessary. The characters are oddly serious; it seemed way out of character as seen by the images of death and decay. I understand that this complements the theme, but I did not enjoy it as I did the mystery.