Thursday, January 30, 2020

The Women of Dreaming in Cuban Essay Example for Free

The Women of Dreaming in Cuban Essay Four characters spanning three generations dominate the storyline of Dreaming in Cuban (Garcia, 1992), four women of the same blood who could not possibly contrast more. Centered on the rise to power of Fidel Castro and the ways in which the members of the family del Pino embraced or rejected la revolucion, Dreaming in Cuban is poignant tale enriched with beautiful language. The matriarch of the family is Celia del Pino, a woman whose passion for the lost love of her youth can be replaced only, but not completely, by her ardor for the socialist ideals Castro brings to the island. Celia stands alone in her patriotic zeal; her lone companero in the family, son Javier, disappears to Czechoslovakia to further the movement there and to hide his politics from his father, Jorge. Celia is, of all her family, the only one suited to bear the torment life brings to them all. She knew before they were born that her daughters, though flesh of her flesh, would be strangers to her. And although she would realize before his death that she had grown to love her husband, it was a different love than the torturous passion she bore for Gustavo, her wayward Spanish lover who disappeared from her life completely when she was just a young woman, not a love to replace but to reside, understandingly, alongside it. Even her zeal for El Lider and the revolution, a cause to which she could devote herself fully as she was never able as a wife and mother, exposed to her that quality which is mostly non-existent among men, a spirit of generosity. She knew that, without it, Cuba would fail (Garcia 114,115). Celia’s daughters are as different as the countries they live in. Lourdes, eldest, whose name her mother at her birth vowed to forget (Garcia 43), would immigrate to America to escape Castro and the revolution, while Felicia would be imprisoned by cruel husband who would nearly destroy her. Lourdes, always her father’s daughter, was fittingly named after the miraculous French locale (Garcia 42). Fitting not because there was anything miraculous about her, but because it reflected the faith Jorge embraced and Celia scorned. By being born a girl, Lourdes denied her mother the chance to escape her marriage and seek out Gustavo in Spain, and it was perhaps due to the consequent shunning that Lourdes’ various attempts at different types of fulfillment are seemingly in vain. Whether by constantly eating, constantly sexually devouring her poor husband, over-mothering her daughter Pilar or harrying the immigrants who are always so briefly in her employ, Lourdes never manages to be fully satisfied with herself or with the world. Even her conversations with her father after his death left her confused and disoriented, as if the solace he sought to bring her only furthered her malcontent. Felicia was also named with portent, though in a much more sinister fashion than her sister. When Celia was in the hospital she met a woman who had murdered her husband by dousing him in gasoline and lighting him on fire. She would later be killed, also by being burned alive. Her name was Felicia; Celia would name her second daughter in memory of her friend. Felicia would grow to marry a man, a merchant marine who was rarely home, and when he was only to abuse his wife and share his venereal diseases. Losing herself in that horrible place that resides choosing between family and family, Felicia would eventually seek to free herself as her namesake had, by burning her husband. Unfortunately for Felicia she did not manage to fully escape the clutches of unreality, and she would even drag her young son Ivanito into its grasp. Pilar is Lourdes’ headstrong, rebellious daughter. Having moved to America with her mother at a very young age, she has a rather idyllic memory of her grandmother and Cuba, but it is what she longs to return to. For her entire life in the U. S. , her mother has sought to repress her, much as she would like to suppress the revolution the took her homeland from her. Much as Lourdes remembers the first words her mother spoke in her presence, Pilar remembers conversations word for word all the way back into her infancy. Pilar’s great understanding of things at such a young age was likely why she did not simply accept things for what they were as many children do. And her refusal to accept the state of things, a feeling all of the other women in her family can readily identify with, would lead to her running away bringing on a whole new world of problems to understand. From generation to generation, the women of the del Pino family are constantly and consistently different. Pilar was born at the beginning of the revolution but would grow up away from it, her mother and aunt were the of the generation targeted by the movement but would ultimately resist it, and only Celia, her grandmother, of the conservative generation mostly likely to scorn socialism would completely embrace it. And so each generation of the family stood alienated; alienated from the others of their own respective generations whose ideals did not match their own, and alienated from their own family members for the same reason and many more. Looking back on one’s own life, it is easy to remember the feeling of the latter, rolling your eyes at your out-dated parents or sighing in exasperation at your rebellious children. But imagine having no peers to turn to, no comrades to share stories and advice with, no empathy anywhere to be found. It is no wonder fulfillment was ever beyond their grasp. If the women of this story share any common ground, it is in their blood and their inability to find peace. And one, quite possibly, could be used to help the other. A great deal of the trials these women face lie in the division amongst them, and if they ever tried to address that, then maybe they wouldn’t have to continually seek answers in pecan sticky buns and Cuban sugar cane fields and Santeria cults. Perhaps that is the solace the spirit of Jorge del Pino is trying to bring; perhaps he is saying, â€Å"You are my family, my blood, my wife, my daughters, my granddaughters. Know that there will be differences. Know that you have made mistakes and will have regrets. Agree to disagree. Forgive one another. Love one another. Move on. † Perhaps that is a little too simplistic. But I recognize something in this story that is all too common among people, a throw-your-hands-up attitude that occurs when life happens and the current feels too strong. People are willing to surrender to one crisis in order to reach the calm waters that bridge the gap to the next. But if you don’t learn how to handle the rapids, what do you do when you reach the waterfall? References Garcia, Cristina. Dreaming in Cuban. New York, Ballantine. 1992.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Essay --

Many people get deported each year, this situation can be prevented, but many do not have money for an attorney or do not simply know their rights. Many Mexicans cross the border of the United States for the American Dream. There are more than 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S (Huffington post, 2012). This issue has been escalating for years. There are many opponents to illegal immigration. Many people believe that those that break the law by crossing the border illegally or those who overstay their visas should be immediately deported and not have the right to become a U.S citizen. One major contribution to the growth of the agricultural economy was the creation of the Bracero Program (Carlos Marentes and Cynthia P. Marentes, 1999). A historical example is that on August 4, 1942, the U.S. and the Mexican government united to make the Bracero program (Carlos Marentes and Cynthia P. Marentes, 1999). Many had abandoned their home and headed to the U.S to work as Braceros. More than 4 million Mexican farm laborers came to work in the fields (Carlos Marentes and Cynthia P. Marentes, 1999). The Mexican migrant workers have been the foundation for the development of the rich American agricultural industry (Carlos Marentes and Cynthia P. Marentes, 1999). Many farm laborers arrived to the U.S as hard working and extremely skilled. The majority of the workers had a high experience in the field labor, because many came from agricultural regions of Mà ©xico. The majority of the men stopped harvesting their lands and growing food for their families, because they had an illusion that they would be able to earn a high amount of money in the U.S. â€Å"The Bracero contracts were controlled by independent farmers associations and the Far... ...ob, risk their life, and who work for over more than 10 hours a day. Many Americans believe that they should stay in their homeland and have their own government deal with the situation that Mexico’s citizens are in need of jobs and money. The sad truth is that their government does not care. America is known for the land of opportunities. Those who cross over to the United States come here for a reason. Not to only find a better job, but to also lead their children to the college path. To have their children obtain an education, in which many cases most Latinos cannot get an education when working is their only option, it is something that in Mexico is hard to achieve. The government of the United States should stop promoting harmful media to make Americans believe Latinos are bad people. When in reality they are in this country to work hard, just as any American.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Strategic Aims and Objectives for Businesses

Setting up strategic aims and objectives is very helpful for the business, so that they will be able to measure their progress towards their stated goals for a particular business period of time. Aims indicate where the business wants to be in the future, whereas objectives set a clearly defined target for the business. For Merlin Entertainment business, their aim and objective is to be one of the leading entertainments in the world; just like what others aim to be. This aim can then be broken down into objectives. Their objective is to give the people the good service with a very low cost; to increase sales and at the same time meet the customers’ satisfaction. In business, a good set of objectives should be SMART:Specific – the objective must be clearly stated and focused. Measurable – in order for thee business to see how it is performing against its objectives, it needs to be able to quantify its performance. Achievable – for an objective to be useful, it needs to be something that the business is in a position to achieve. Realistic – it is no good for a business to set itself unrealistic goals because it will inevitably fail; this is bad for morale, and worse for share prices. Time-related – the objectives must be related to a timescale, otherwise there will be no real impetus behind the objective and measurements of the performance will be unreliable.For Merlin Entertainment, their objective is specific, being one of the leading entertainments in the world, it is easy to understand and everyone can tell that they have been successful in achieving it since in the beginning. Their objective is also measurable, within the period of time the growth of the number of people going to the Thorpe Park can said to be increasing as the year goes by, even when the year of the recession. There you can tell that it is progressing and is so close to their objective.Objective is achievable, many people already know about it and t hey enjoy going there. It is not impossible to achieve their objective to be the world’s leading entertainment since they provide good service and satisfactory. It is also realistic, it is already happening and everyone can tell that they are close in achieving their objectives. Being the best entertainment in the world can  be real if they continue to perform good services to the people and they maintain their good reputation. And lastly, the objective must be time-related, they should take into consideration that a deadline is also included so to make the objective measurable. That is the reason why the Merlin Entertainment has a clear understanding of their objectives to be aware of their roles and responsibilities in achieving them.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Chaco Canyon, the Architectural Heart of the Anasazi

Chaco Canyon is a famous archaeological area in the American Southwest. It is located in the region known as the Four Corners, where the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. This region was historically occupied by Ancestral Puebloan people (better known as Anasazi) and is now part of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Some of the most famous sites of Chaco Canyon are Pueblo Bonito, Peà ±asco Blanco, Pueblo del Arroyo, Pueblo Alto, Una Vida, and Chetro Kelt. Because of its well-preserved masonry architecture, Chaco Canyon was well known by later Native Americans (Navajo groups have been living at Chaco since at least 1500s), Spanish accounts, Mexican officers and early American travelers. Archaeological Investigations of Chaco Canyon Archaeological explorations at Chaco Canyon began at the end of the 19th century, when Richard Wetherill, a Colorado rancher, and George H. Pepper, an archaeology student from Harvard, began to dig at Pueblo Bonito. Since then, interest in the  area has grown exponentially and several archaeological projects have surveyed and excavated small and large sites in the region. National organizations like the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History and the National Geographic Society have all sponsored excavations in the Chaco region. Among many prominent southwestern archaeologists who have worked at Chaco are Neil Judd, Jim W. Judge, Stephen Lekson, R. Gwinn Vivian, and Thomas Windes. Chaco Canyon Environment Chaco Canyon is a deep and dry canyon that runs in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico. Vegetation and wood resources are scarce. Water is scarce too, but after the rains, the Chaco river receives runoff water coming from the top of the surrounding cliffs. This is clearly a difficult area for agricultural production. However, between AD 800 and 1200, ancestral Puebloan groups, the Chacoans, managed to create a complex regional system of small villages and large centers, with irrigation systems and inter-connecting roads. After AD 400, farming was well established in the Chaco region, especially after the cultivation of maize, beans and squash (the three sisters) became integrated with wild resources. The ancient inhabitants of Chaco Canyon adopted and developed a sophisticated method of irrigation collecting and managing runoff water from the cliffs into dams, canals, and terraces. This practice—especially after AD 900—allowed for the expansion of small villages and the creation of larger architectural complexes called great house sites. Small House and Great House Sites at Chaco Canyon Archaeologists working at Chaco Canyon call these small villages small house sites, and they call the large centers great house sites. Small house sites usually have less than 20 rooms and were single-story. They lack big kivas and enclosed plazas are rare. There are hundreds of small sites in Chaco Canyon and they began to be constructed earlier than great sites. Great House sites are large multi-storied constructions composed of adjoining ​rooms and enclosed plazas with one or more great kivas. The construction of the main great house sites like Pueblo Bonito, Peà ±asco Blanco, and Chetro Ketl occurred between AD 850 and 1150 (Pueblo periods II and III). Chaco Canyon has numerous kivas, below-ground ceremonial structures still used by modern Puebloan people today. Chaco Canyons kivas are rounded, but in other Puebloan sites, they can be squared. The better-known kivas (called Great Kivas, and associated with Great House sites) were constructed between AD 1000 and 1100, during the Classic Bonito phase. Read more about Kivas Chaco Road System Chaco Canyon is also famous for a system of roads connecting some of the great houses with some of the small sites as well as with areas beyond the canyon limits. This network, called by the archaeologists the Chaco Road System seems to have had a functional as well as a religious purpose. The construction, maintenance and use of the Chaco road system was a way to integrate people living over a large territory and giving them a sense of community as well as facilitating communication and seasonal gathering. Evidence from archaeology and dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) indicates that a cycle of major droughts between 1130 and 1180 coincided with the decline of the Chacoan regional system. Lack of new construction, abandonment of some sites, and a sharp decrease in resources by AD 1200 prove that this system was no longer functioning as a central node. But the symbolism, architecture, and roads of the Chacoan culture continued for a few more centuries becoming, eventually, only a memory of a great past for later Puebloan societies. Sources Cordell, Linda 1997. Archaeology of the Southwest. Second Edition. Academic Press Pauketat, Timothy R. and Diana Di Paolo Loren 2005. North American Archaeology. Blackwell Publishing Vivian, R. Gwinn and Bruce Hilpert 2002. The Chaco Handbook, An Encyclopedic Guide. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City