Garden State Essay -- essays research papers

Garden State by 'Pipsorcle' Andrew Largeman's (Zack Braff) journey throughout "Garden State" seems to be a testament on the meaning of liberation. Going from his struggling acting life in Los Angeles to his hometown in New Jersey, where he witnesses his mother's funeral, Andrew is in the mist of confronting difficult issues. One of the biggest issues is coming to terms with his psychologist father (Ian Holm), whom he has distanced himself from for many years because he has put him on powerful antidepressants for most of his life. The reason for this I will not reveal but it has caused Andrew to feel as if his father has controlled his life in a way. In showing how Andrew Largeman finds himself again, "Garden State" makes a good choice in putting him in every one of its scenes. Since this film is really about Largeman, because he is in every scene, we see a progression in his character as time goes on. At the beginning, we sense that Andrew feels rather numb and alienated but then as the film progresses, he becomes more energetic and liberated. This gradual change in his character is highlighted clearly in the cinematography, a key method in showing Andrew's psychological state. For a directorial debut, I must say Zack Braff has given me a completely different impression than from his regular role in the "Scrubs" TV series. One might think that for a directorial debut coming from a TV actor would be uneven and at best, formulaic and uninspired. That's not the case here with "Garden State." Braff shows he knows how to handle directing and storytelling yet at the same time, showing a vision that clearly establishes himself as an auteur. Examples of this are the tense moments when Andrew is around his father. A lesser film would go for theatrics and end up being very talky in dialogue, but instead, Andrew and his father's moments together are more subtle. Whenever we see both of them together, they talk but when they talk, their relationship is forced. There's a sense of silence at times, which shows they feel uncomfortable seeing each other after the lack of good communication for about a decade. Of course, one might think that from the way I'm describing "Garden State" so far, the film is on the more serious side. It's actually more funny than serious but even describing the film as a comedy wouldn't do ju... ... selling his invention of soundless Velcro and now trundles down the corridors of his unfurnished McMansion in a golf cart. Another buddy, Mark (Peter Sarsgaard), sells jewelry he acquires in a highly unusual manner. Braff also writes simple yet refreshing dialogue, with plenty of offbeat humor, yet none of it is strained, nothing is played self-consciously for laughs. Braff himself has a warm, easy-to-watch screen presence. He can say nothing during the lull in a conversation, while the camera remains focused on his face, and it feels right. Portman and Sarsgaard are also genuine, each wonderfully relaxed in their roles. Production design is superb: details in every scene are arranged well, and the photography, by Lawrence Sher, is - like the story and the acting – unpretentious, never distracting, tricky or cute. This film never seems to manipulate us; instead it engages us, arouses our curiosity and amusement, bids us gently to care about Andrew and Sam and even Mark, leaving us entertained in the best sense. This movie is as confident, as secure in itself, as comforting, as a well worn pair of house slippers or your favorite reading chair. A splendid film. Grade: A- (09/04)

Microsoft Xbox Essay -- essays research papers

Microsoft targets numerous segments of the population of many countries through advertisements of its Xbox. Microsoft, one of the most successful companies in the world, is using its innovations to take over the machine gaming market. Sony and Nintendo have been the gaming powerhouses for many years now, but are now starting to become overshadowed by the success of Microsoft’s Xbox. As long as gaming machines have been available, teenage boys have been the targets of the companies. One new strategy that Microsoft is using is the targeting of all ages and both sexes of consumers. While other companies continue to stay in the young kids and teenage market, Xbox is revolutionizing the target market of gaming systems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Microsoft is in the process of producing games aimed at young and teenage girls as well as male and female adults. Microsoft is planning to have all types of games available for the Xbox as they are for the computer. As any computer owner knows, a game of any genre can be purchased for the computer. There are tens of thousands of games available for people of all different ages, races, and sexes who all have different interests. Microsoft, unlike the other gaming machine companies, has experience with producing software of this caliber, and is completely prepared for the innovations. With the vast amounts of funds that Microsoft has available, these goals are in no way out of reach.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are already abo...

My Beautiful Gun :: Personal Narrative Writing

If you really want to stop a conversation dead in its tracks, tell people you own a gun. Depending on where you are located, people often don't know how to process the idea that a young woman is a proud, capable, unapologetic gun owner. Men aren't sure if you're a rabid, man-hating feminist arming yourself against the patriarchy. Women are a little more curious and might ask questions — why did you get a gun, what does it look like — but many of them would never consider handling a gun, much less owning one. I bought my gun a few years ago. I didn't buy it for self-defense as many people think. When I applied for my gun permit through the police department, I was told that I should go for a "home protection" license rather than a "target license" because it would be easier to get. The home protection license meant I could keep my gun loaded in my home but could only bring it once a month to the shooting range to shoot, carrying it in a locked box with ammo separate. The target license allowed me to go to the range to shoot as often as I wanted, but I had to keep it in a locked box with ammo separate not only when carrying it but also at home. I wanted a target license. My reason? How in the world would I learn to shoot a gun if I could only go to the range once a month? I genuinely wanted to learn to shoot, to gain that skill. More than anything, I wanted to know that I could safely handle and use a gun. My fascination with guns has been long-standing. Ever since I was a young girl, I gravitated toward "shoot-em-up" movies and television shows. After bedtime, I'd pull a blanket over my head and across my 19-inch Zenith black and white television in my bedroom so I could surreptitiously watch Starsky and Hutch, Charlie's Angels and Baretta. I was in love with Dirty Harry. The bigger the gun, the better. Although I glorified guns in my fantasies, in reality I knew that they were inanimate objects that had been so infused with power, danger, mystery and sin and had become a symbol of what was wrong in society that owning one seemed out of the question for years. When I finally decided to buy a gun, I took the entire process very seriously, taking lessons, reading up on them, talking to people who owned them and making sure I was emotionally ready to shoot and own one.

Physical and Emotional Burdens Essay

In The Things They Carried, O’Brien talks about multiple different things that the men at war carry. They take things with them that soldiers always have like guns, bags, grenades, ammo, food, water, and things like that, but they also carry personal items like Kiowa’s Bible and moccasins, or Jensen’s vitamins. The men however, have more than just physical items. They have things that always stay with them like emotional and figurative things. Throughout the novel, O’Brien goes back to the theme of things carried, whether that be in necessities, superstitious items, or emotional burdens. O’Brien uses the first chapter to explain, in detail, the physical things that the men carried. He tells of how the men take their, â€Å"compass, maps, code books,† (O’Brien 5) along with â€Å"the M-60, M-16, M-79 – they carried whatever presented itself, or whatever seemed appropriate as a means of killing, or staying alive.† (7). These young men at war put anything that can possibly help them in their bags. Even if it is not necessary for the specific mission they are on, they take these items with them because of their collective fear of the unknown. Their cumbersome, bulky, heavy backpacks and gear weigh on the men physically, and also as shown throughout the book, take a toll on their morale. O’Brien uses this style of writing and the theme as a tool to impress upon his audience just how heavy the burdens of the men really are. The longer they have to carry all these things the worse it got. The physical items that they lug with them are not limited to items issued by their generals. Many of them also carry superstitious things that they think might help throughout the war. Jimmy Cross has his, â€Å"good-luck charm from Martha. It was a simple pebble† (6), and â€Å"Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose wrapped around his neck† (9), and Kiowa â€Å"always took along his New Testament and a pair of moccasins† (9). Whether it is to comfort them, or for religious purposes, or just plain superstition, most of them have some sort of personal item that they take along with them. Even though they already have hundreds of pounds of equipment to carry, they still choose to carry these things. This is very justifiable however, because most of these items are something from home, something to remind them of what they have back home, and gives them hope that they will someday return there. Hope is a present theme in The Things They Carried, and is always necessary with men at war, because without hope they would have nothing to fight for and their morale would be gone. The most burdensome of things carried by the men, is the emotional baggage. Throughout the novel, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries the emotion of love. This weighs on him an enormously throughout the war because he can never get his mind off of Martha, even though she does not love him back. This causes emotional detachment from the war and from commanding his troops. When Ted Lavender dies, Cross blames himself for not being as focused as he should be because of Martha, and burns her pictures and letters. Even though he no longer physically carries these things, he still emotionally carries them throughout the book because he can never get them out of his mind. Kiowa is another example of one of the soldiers who carries an emotional burden with the tremendous weight of â€Å"his grandmother’s distrust for the white man† (3). This could propose a difficulty to trust his fellow soldiers. All the men carry with them the memories of their fallen friends and fellow soldiers. They find different ways to grieve over the fallen soldiers, but never do forget them. Like O’Brien says, â€Å"The thing about remembering, is that you don’t forget.† (33). These young men fighting for their country in Vietnam are extremely brave. War is a really hard thing for non-soldiers to comprehend when you start to  talk about the stories of what happened when they are just marching around the jungle. But the theme of emotional and physical things carried is heavily shown throughout the book and presents reasoning for why these men did and felt the things they did. Works Cited O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. New York, Boston: Mariner, 2009. Print.

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was perhaps the boldest, most ambitious but at the same time most foolish and ill-timed operation executed by Nazi Germany during World War II. This operation committed Germany to war against the Soviet Union which it invaded on June 22, 1941 and terminated on March of 1942. In the early stages of the campaign, the Germans employed the same bilitzkrieg tactics that served them well in the western campaigns.They were hoping to duplicate that same victory against the Soviets and were lulled into a false sense of confidence when they covered a lot of ground and scored many victories which netted them scores of prisoners of war. When 1942 came along, German high command began to realize later on how wrong they were and thus began a protracted war in what they came to call the â€Å"eastern front. † This operation was intended to be the fulfillment of Hitler's vision of lebensraum (living space) in his work, Mein Kampf.â€Å"If land was desired in Europe, it c ould be obtained by and large only at the expense of Russia, and this meant that the new Reich must again set itself on the march along the road of the Teutonic Knights of old, to obtain by the German sword sod for the German plow and daily bread for the nation†¦ †¦ Destiny itself seems to wish to point out the way to us here†¦ This colossal empire in the East is ripe for dissolution, and the end of the Jewish domination in Russia will also be the end of Russia as a state. † (cited in Shirer 124, 1044; Riasanovsky 515; Hitler)Politically, the clashing extremist ideologies of both Germany and the Soviet Union gave the Nazis even more impetus to invade Russia, considering it as a new crusade against communism which they believed was the creation of the Jews for whom Hitler and the Nazis could see no good. Furthermore, Hitler envisioned the Slavic people as a race that would serve the purpose of the Aryan race by wither being their slaves or â€Å"sport† whe rein they would provide them with something to hunt or kill to maintain their virility (Hitler).This was an opportunity for the Nazis to eradicate these enemies in one fell swoop, once and for all. The Spanish civil war of 1936 gave the Germans a taste of war against the communist where they even went face to face against Soviet â€Å"volunteers† in this conflict (Riasanovsky 514-515). As Hitler's armies were annexing neighboring states as part of restoring Germany's glory and patrimony, Hitler began conducting diplomatic overtures as part of his strategy to keep potential adversaries at bay, even for just a while and the Soviet Union was one of them.Thus began secret dipomatic maneuvers which resulted in the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union prior to the invasion of Poland where the latter was invited to take part in it. Furthermore, this pact served other purposes other than buying time for Germany to attack Russia. Strategically, Germany needed Russi an territory to be able to transport resources to them following the blockade of the sealanes by the Allies, especially oil which was vital to Germany's war economy and machinery (Shirer 821-822).Despite entering into these agreements, secret or otherwise, both Germany and the Soviet Union still harbored suspicions and animosities against each other, primarily due to irreconcilable differences in ideology where both sides represent the opposite of political extremes, fascism and communism. The Soviets too saw the pact as an alliance of convenience on their part as they began their own expansion by invading the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as well as Finland, which was an ally of Germany in 1940.For the sake of keeping the peace with the Soviets, the Germans remained silent as their minor ally was attacked by the Soviets. Germany also felt insecure when the Soviets occupied the Baltic states which they also felt was theirs owing to historical precedence and even mor e concerned when the Soviets were also moving into Romania, another German ally further heightening tensions between these two supposed allies but it was rather apparent that conflict between them would be inevitable as both sides were taking advantage of each other, with the Soviets being the first (Riasanovsky 517; Shirer 832-836, 883).The Nazis entered into a treaty with the Soviets as an alliance of convenience hoping to get more from the treaty. As the war was progressing in the west, the Germans were beginning to realize how difficult the Russians were as negotiators as the latter were driving very hard bargains, especially Stalin. It is revealed in captured German government documents that Stalin also took part in negotiations and was a very tough negotiator who could not be pushed into a compromise and always sought a better deal for Russia and was very demanding.No amount of persuasion and even threats could deter the Russian autocrat (Shirer 882). The German war plan calle d for a one-front war in order to conserve and husband their resources. Though most of western Europe was not occupied, Great Britain remained defiant and continued to hold out in a protracted aerial battle over their airspace where they were able to inflict heavy casualties on the German Luftwaffe (air force), thereby forestalling any plans for a seaborne invasion by the Germans well into 1941.By 1941, Hitler began to become impatient on how the campaign against the British was going. It also did not help that Germany was also suffering an acute shortage of resources and this was what prompted Hitler to jump the proverbial gun and attack Russia, thinking also that the British would not give him a problem as he decided to shelve the invasion of Britain and leave it to his U-Boats to strangle Britain economically.By December of 1940, Hitler already had plans for the invasion from his generals and it was hoped that the attack would commence in the spring of 1941. The plan was codename d â€Å"Barbarossa,† after the Holy Roman emperor who was one of the co-leaders of the Third Crusade; an apt name for the operation since Hitler regarded this planned offensive as a new crusade and it also came at a time when relations between Berlin and Moscow were starting to turn sour as both sides appear to sense that they were double-crossing each other (Shirer 1045, 1049).Another reason for Hitler's desire to attack Russia the soonest was to seal Britain's fate, leaving her with no ally when he said: â€Å"But if Russia is smashed, Britain's last hope will be shattered. Then Germany will be master of Europe and the Balkans†¦ In view of these considerations, Russia must be liquidated†¦ The sooner Russia is smashed, the better. † (cited in Shirer 1047) Furthermore, Hitler also said that â€Å"When Barbarossa commences, the world wil hold its breath and make no comment.† (cited in Shirer 1078) Hitler was apparently lulled into a false sense of confi dence following the victories of German forces in Poland and western Europe and he felt they could do it again in Russia which made him even more confident because he regarded the Russians as inferior despite their large population and their inferiority would make it easy for Germany to defeat and conquer them. He was confident that he would succeed where Napoleon had failed, by conquering Russia quickly and in the shortest span of time possible.The rationale for this was to avoid the harsh Russian winter which was one of the reasons why Napoleon failed and he would not want to make that same mistake Napoleon did. Furthermore, if the Russian campaign would drag on beyond winter, they also had to contend with the following spring where the snow-covered ground would turn muddy, which would play havoc on their powerful war machines which they had never encountered in the western front.He was so driven and obsessed in attacking Russia that he disregarded the advice of his commanders to commence campaigns elsewhere by constantly stating Russia had to be eliminated first and that everything else could wait. The plan called for a six-month time table but constant foot-dragging and waging campaigns in the Balkans and North Africa delayed plans well into June of 1941 (Shirer 1087-1088). Alongside the military planning, Hitler also spelled out his political plans for Russia once the invasion commenced in what became known as the â€Å"Commissar Order.† Hitler saw the war also as a battle of ideologies and he saw the need to eliminate those who propagate it when he stated: â€Å"The commissars are the bearers of ideologies directly opposed to National Socialism. Therefore the commissars will be liquidated. German soldiers guilty of breaking international law will be excused. Russia has not participated in the Hague Convention and therefore has no rights under it. † (cited in Shirer 1089) It can further be inferred here that Hitler was intent on deliberately committing murder by ordering the systematic execution of any political commissar captured by German forces.Most of Hitler's commanders objected to it. These were professional soldiers who knew that murder was not part of a soldier's duty and this would be something they would have to deal with when several of them would be brought to trial in Nuremberg in 1945 (Shirer 1089-1090). In an apparent display of overconfidence, Alfred Rosenberg, one of Hitler's lieutenants, prematurely made a proposal on how to divide Russia into political administrations, each with an given German name.The Baltic region and Belarus would be called Ostland; the Ukraine, along with its adjacent areas; Southern Russia running along the Caucasus mountains would be called Kaukasus; the areas surrounding Moscow, Moskau; and Turkestan for the central regions, each ruled by the modern-day German version of the ancient Roman prefect. Furthermore, plans were already in motion on how to best exploit Russia's resou rces. They intend to use it to feed Germany's industries and its people.They were acutely aware of the adverse consequences it would have on the Russian people in terms of hunger but the Nazis could not care less on what would happen even if millions of Russians would perish under their proposed policies (Shirwe 1091-1092). The forces Hitler arrayed against Russia was made up of 175 army divisions, supported by formidable artillery and armored divisions, both from the Wehrmacht (regular army) and his elite Waffen-SS. These were divided into three army groups, North, Center and South, each given specific objectives to capture.To the north, under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelmvon Leeb, the target was Leningrad. As the city's name implies, it was named after Lenin, the acknowledged father of the Russian Revolution which incidentally began in that city, then named Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and the Soviet Union and therefore, one of the symbolic targets of the German invasion forc es. Historially, Hitler believed Leningrad was once part of the territory conquered by the Teutonic Knights of the Middle Ages and he was simply trying to take back what belonged to Germany by virtue of conquest (Salisbury 37).The center group, under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, would head for the capital Moscow, reminiscent of Napoleon's actions. The southern forces under Field Marshal Gert von Rundstedt would head for Kiev and Rostov-on-Don in what is now part of the Ukraine which was the Soviet Union's agricultural heartland as well as the road to the oil-rich fields of the Caucasus and Black Sea area (Riasanovsky 518-519). Follow-on forces would come soon to do mop-up operations and to deal with any partisan or guerrilla activity in the occupied areas.All in all, the Nazi regime had already made grandiose plans on what to do with Russia, believing they would finally succeed where Napoleon had failed in addition to the fact that Russia's conquest would be the fulfillment of Hitl er's visions defined in Mein Kampf. On the part of the Soviets, they had the numerical superiority over the Germans with roughly 8 million men to the Germany's 4 million which also included its allies from Italy, Hungary, Finland and Romania.They even had ten times the number of artillery, armored vehicles and aircraft arrayed against the Germans as well. In terms of numbers, the Soviets were by no means weak. If there was one weakness of the Red Army, it was its diversity with men from the various Soviet republics and whose dispositions ranged from cooperative to hostile towards one another even before they faced the Germans.Furthermore, majority of the Soviet forces initially arrayed were made up primarily of conscripts coming mainly from the peasantry, a throwback of the Tsarist era. The commissars were the ones who primarily kept them in line, not just to preserve ideological purity but meting out discipline instead of the officers assigned to the units and even tried to lead th em, replacing the ones persecuted even though they lacked the qualifications. Communications and leadership was also poor.This was partly Stalin's fault during the Great Purge of the 1930's where several competent senior officers of the Red Army were victims of the purges, depriving their units of capable leaders. As a result, these units were routed with millions killed and taken prisoner (Parker 60). Overall command was under Field Marshal Georgi Zhukov who had distinguished himself in the far east in border clashes against the Japanese which gave him a reputation of being a successful commander.Countering the three German offensive groups are three â€Å"Directions† tasked with forming the defense of their assigned territory and launch a counteroffensive. They were the North-Western Direction under Colonel Generals Markian Popov and Fyodor Kuznetsov which covers the Baltic region; the Western Direction under General Dimitry Pavlov which covers the areas west of Moscow and the South-Western Direction under Generals Mikhail Kirponos and Ivan Tyulenev concentrating on the Ukraine (Parker 107; Riasanovsky 518).Despite having more war machines compared to the Germans, they were inferior in quality. The Soviets initially had the T-28 medium tanks which could not stand up to the supeior armor the Germans prepared the Panzer I-III series. Although the Soviets had quality armor like the T-34 and KV-1, they were not abundant in number and were reserved for first-line units, particularly the elite â€Å"Guards† units.For air assets, once more, the quality of Soviet combat aircraft was inferior to ther Germans as they fielded the Poikarpov I-16, Lavochkin-3 and Mig-3 which were mediocre compared to the superior Bf109 fighter planes of the Luftwaffe which made short work of the Red Air Force which were on peacetime status, with aircraft parked closely together in the airfields, making them easy targets for high-altitude bombers and the dreaded Stuka dive b ombers of the Luftwaffe (Batty).On the political front, even Stalin was aware of an imminent conflict with Germany and that the treaties they had would not last much longer as tensions between the two supposed allies were increasing as both sides began to sense the duplicity of the other. Yet, he refused to heed the warnings coming from intelligence agents in the field of an impending German attack and those who merely did their duty were branded as â€Å"provocateurs† and censured, if not arrested.He even ignored warnings from British and American emissaries who were aware of the dangers, thinking it was a ruse to make him show his hand prematurely and not wanting to make the mistake Nicholas II did in 1914. Stalin held absolute power and did not permit any autonomy nor initiative among his subordinates (Salisbury 37). Although German aircraft hadalready been intruding into Soviet airspace, Stalin gave orders not to meet or engage them.His hesitation proved costly as it sent a message to the Germans that the Soviets were complacent, making it the ripe time to attack. The first phase of the war began with air strikes on key military bases and cities to sow terror, panic and confusion as well as cripple and hinder Soviet forces. By the end of the opening phase, the Lufwaffe enjoyed total air superiority over Soviet territory, making them virtually unopposed as they managed to destroy a lot of Soviet aircraft on the ground and shoot down those that managed to take off but were inferior in quality.This was followed up by a simultaneous attack by all three German army groups in their respective fronts and they were able to catch the Soviets off guard, resulting in numerous Soviet casualties and prisoners. They would duplicate the same tactic they did in Poland wherein they would bypass heavier enemy units and encircle them, cutting them off from any support and crush them. They would apply the same tactic as well on major Soviet cities, besieging them and s tarving their people although in the case of Leningrad, Hitler wanted it destroyed (Riasanovsky 518; Salisbury 40).Surprisingly, they were happily welcomed by the civilian population in the Ukraine and the Baltic states who hated Stalin and his communist regime. For them, the Germans were liberators instead of invaders and this had helped the Germans gain a foothold into Soviet territory (Batty). However, by the fourth week of the campaign, the progress bogged down as the German forces were overextended and needed time to allow for support units to catch up. By the time they were able to resume again, winter had set in.Even though it provided mobility due to hardened ground, the conditions were do dismal and German forces were beginning to understand now why Napoleon failed as severe blizzards wrought havoc on the invaders who were unprepared for â€Å"General Winter,† the same foe Napoleon faced and had proven to be a far more formidable foe than any army the Germans had fou ght. At the same time, fresh Soviet troops from the east were deployed and they fought doggedly and with more determination, further slowing down the German advance.What had hoped to be finished in three to six months would run for four more years and would eventually bleed German resources dry. The Soviets may have been brought down initially but they were not out of the running as they managed to recover and become stronger in the latter phase of the campaign. In conclusion, Operation Barbarossa started off well but in the middle, it began to lose steam and thus forcing the Germans to fight a kind of war they did not want, especially against Russia which was a war of attrition.It was considered a failure because the Germans failed to meet their objectives of capturing the key cities and failed to meet their timetable, causing them to be caught up in a winter war they were ill-prepared for. This was attributed to the constant delay of the commencement of the attack. The delay cause d them to be caught up by the winter season and Hitler refused to heed his generals' advice for a pause to allow the winter to pass.Hitler's obsession for going on the offensive caused the German forces to be stretched too thin making the rear areas vulnerable to stay-behind forces and partisan attacks which tied down his forces. The dogged and tenacious resistance put up by the Soviets despite their inferior quality bought time for them to transfer their industries to the remote regions beyond the Urals where they were safe from attacks or capture and enabled the Soviets to reconstitute their forces. Finally, they underestimated the capabilities of the Red Army, especially the Nazi leadership who looked down on the Slavs.Finally, the Germans fought a war they did not want, a 3-front campaign: Western Europe, North Africa and Mediterranean and the Eastern Front which severely divided their forces and resources, not to mention fighting multiple enemies, especially with the entry of t he United States into the war. The Soviets too had their faults which nearly cost them the war, and Stalin was to blame for decimating his officer corps during the 1930 purges. His â€Å"iron will† of not permitting retreat also caused numerous casualties and prisoners as his commissars and loyal commanders blindly followed his orders.His saving grace was the leadership in the front provided by Zhukov who cleverly went around Stalin's orders to husband his forces that enabled them to recover and regain lost ground in the subsequent battles owing to the characteristic resilience of the Russian forces, interspersed with patriotic fervor. The Soviets ay have lost the initial battles but they eventually won the war because of this and eventually took the war to the Germans and visited upon them the same havoc they wrought upon them. Works Cited â€Å"Barbarossa (June-December 1941). † The World at War. Writ. Peter Batty. Thames. 1973.Hitler, Adolf. â€Å"Mein Kampf. † Hitler. Org. 1924. Retrieved 17 May 2010 . Parker, Robert Alexander Clarke. The Second World War: A Short History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. A History of Russia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. Salisbury, Harrison E. â€Å"The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad. † True Stories of World War II . Ed. Nancy J. Sparks. Pleasantville, New York: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. , 1969. 35-63. Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960.

Tort Law

In any given situation, it is evidently clear that the company should remain responsible and legally liable to their people or employe and among the consumers that patronize their product. Thus, should there be any accident and/or damages that badly harm these people in the course of exercising their duties, as employees and workers, the company could be held liable and sue to settle their legal obligations in shouldering the damages and lost of these people.As for the case of The Bug Plant located in Shady Town, USA, the employees and the vendor that have been attacked and robbed in the parking lot of the company could possibly file a law suit against the The Bug Plant under the legal offense of Negligence, as written in the Tort Law.Given the fact that the incidents of robbery against these people have happened within the premises of the company's grounds, wherein these people are working as the company's workers, both of the employees and the vendor could sue the company under the Tort Law, as it is evident that The Bug Plant has failed to ensure the safety and security of these people while staying and performing their duties and responsibilities for the company.More so, with the prior information that the Shady Town has been plagued with a recent crime wave, the case of Negligence could be filed against The Bug Plant, as the company failed to do the necessary adjustment to strengthen their company security and ensure the welfare of their people.Thus, The Bug Plant could be sued under the Tort Law, as they failed to exercise and meet the required standard of care in doing business. Lastly, The Bug Plant could use the notion that the incidents of robbery in the parking lot against the second shift employees have happened after their shift and/or beyond their official work hours, as the BUG's potential defense.On the other hand, The BUG Plant could also use the fact, as their defense, that the vendor who has been robbed, while waiting for the dock manager, is not their legal employee and that they do not have direct employment connection with this person and they should not be held liable for any damages. References Definition of Tort. (n. d. ). Retrieved June 12, 2009, from http://www. personal-injury-info. net/definition-of-tort. htm Product Liability. (n. d. ). Retrieved June 12, 2009, from http://www. personal-injury-info. net/product-liability. htm

The End of the Road

â€Å"Hell, And How I Got Here† by Brenda Medina and â€Å"Puzzle Pieces† by Barbara Parsons Lane are two short stories from the book Couldn’t Keep It To Myself by Wally Lamb. Medina and Lane are two women who are serving time in a maximum security prison. Brenda Lane is serving time for homicide and Barbara Parsons Lane is serving time for manslaughter. Brenda was involved in a gang-related killing while Barbara was convicted of killing her abusive husband. Each of these women lived their lives being subjected to abuse, yet each woman portrayed themselves differently.Brenda was determined to gain power and not feel like an outsider in her own life. She was determined to take control and she was longer going to be the â€Å"odd girl out† (148). Barbara was living life as a victim and saw only one way to end the abuse. She was victimized in a way that made her feel as if she had no way of escaping her nightmare. Brenda found ways to empower herself in order to find a place in the world as Barbara was belittled to the point where she felt she was too weak to be able to walk away . In â€Å"Hell, And How I Got Here,† Brenda went through life finding ways to gain power.Brenda felt like an outsider for much of her childhood. She spent many unhappy years at a private school, feeling that she didn’t belong. It was not until her high school years, that she finally felt liberated. It was at this time of her life when Brenda started trying to find ways to empower herself and gain the status she was dreaming of. During high school, Brenda started dating Manny, a member of a local gang, The Unidad. Brenda recalled that from the age of fourteen until she went to prison at the age of seventeen, â€Å"Manny ran through my veins† (152).Even though her mother disapproved of Manny, Brenda dated Manny, the boy with the â€Å"outlaw aura. † Going against her mother’s wishes made Brenda feel powerful. She was going to r un her own life from now on. As a child, Barbara was a lost little girl, just like Brenda. Her life was full of disappointments. At the age of four, Barbara was molested by a man she trusted, her grandfather. Looking for support and comfort, Barbara was finally able to find the strength to confide in her mother about what her grandfather had done to her.Instead of comfort, Barbara was told by her mother to never mention the molestation to anyone. â€Å"Don’t you ever say a word† (218). So she didn’t. Barbara became a quiet but a very angry little girl. Barbara’s mother was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and later hospitalized. Barbara was left to tend to the house she still shared with her alcoholic father and her two siblings. She had no one to go to and no one to talk to. Barbara resented her mother’s illness. She said the â€Å"illness had freed her brother and sister and made me a slave† (220).Barbara was the one left after her brother and sister moved out. Many years later, Barbara’s mother committed suicide. While dealing with her mother’s death, Barbara confided in her Aunt Ruth about her grandfather molesting her at a young age. Aunt Ruth told Barbara was molested by the same man, her father. Barbara did not understand why her mother just stood and watched while Barbara walked away, hand in hand, with the man she knew all too well. Two years before her mother took her own life, Barbara got married for the second time. She married a younger man named Mark.The disease she resented earlier in life was about to resurface and, once again, make her feel trapped. During their relationship, Manny grew to become controlling and abusive towards Brenda. He began to dictate the people she was allowed to see and what she could wear. Screaming at her after he ripped the skirt off of her, Manny yelled, â€Å"No girl of mine’s gonna strut herself like a little slut! † (161) Manny also b ecame physically and started cheating on Brenda as well. Anytime Brenda threatened to break up with Manny, he begged and cried for her to stay.Brenda always stayed and she always forgave him. She loved to hear Manny tell her how much her loved and that he only wanted him for herself. Brenda loved the feeling she had by hearing Manny beg for to stay. She felt powerful. Feeling anything but powerful, Barbara was beginning to live a life of being controlled by an abusive husband. Mark became abusive emotionally and physically towards Barbara. The things he said to her were intended to make her feel insignificant and make her feel that she had no choice but to stay. â€Å"Some days he drinks from noon until late at night.If I challenge him or question him, I’m told I’m an ‘inconvenience’—his code for: watch out† (225). Being told she was an inconvenience by her husband happened on a regular basis. Mark was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, j ust like her mother. He drank alcohol in order to medicate himself and began having an affair with a fifteen year old girl. Mark openly talked about it to Barbara, adding to her feelings of inadequacy. She ended up having to quit her job because of the abuse and the unpredictability of her home life.Barbara was once again feeling imprisoned, just as she did as a hild. Brenda’s relationship with Manny was everything she was looking for. She had found her place in the world. However, Brenda was still feeling left out when it came to Manny, the gang, and their secrets. Brenda had never thought about joining a gang until she talked a â€Å"sister† of the gang. Erika persuaded Brenda to join because of the feeling of â€Å"family† the Unidad gave Erika. Brenda liked the idea and also knew she would no longer feel like an outsider. Brenda longed for the feeling of belonging and knew that her being a member of the gang would bring her and Manny closer.There would no lo nger be secrets between them. Barbara was living the life in which she was subjected to verbal and physical abuse from her husband. She had to listen to him talk about the affair he was having, being completely humiliated by it. Barbara even contemplated suicide at one point. Barbara lived her life feeling as if there was no way out. Mark’s belittling words were etched in her mind. Those words had the power of making Barbara believe she was destined to stay. If she chose to leave, he would kill her. Barbara felt as if she did not have any options at all.She felt completely powerless. Brenda was feeling anything but powerless. Manny, being a member of a gang, had power. Brenda felt that by being his girlfriend gave her power. Despite the fact that Manny was abusive, Brenda felt empowered knowing that she had found her place in this world with Manny. She believed that without her boyfriend, she would not have a place. The one thing Brenda always wanted was to belong. She longer felt like an outsider when she was with Manny. At the beginning of their relationship, Manny told her â€Å"I’m safe with you.And you are safe here† (156). That was precisely what Brenda was looking for. She was no longer the â€Å"odd girl out† (148). She was Manny’s girl. She was a member of the Unidad. She had power. What Brenda decided to do with the power she had obtained with the joining gang would be a life changing decision. The only way Barbara had the power to remove herself from the abuse was to file for divorce. Taking the step to file was a huge and terrifying decision for Barbara to make. It was so worrisome in fact that she tried to stop the process.After Mark was served the papers, he took Barbara to a secluded cabin in the woods, making sure she was fully aware that he had brought guns along on the trip. The trip that Mark planned had one purpose: he wanted to remind Barbara that her only option was to remain a devoted wife. If she tried leaving him, he would â€Å"terminate† her. Mark made it clear many times how easy it would be for him to do. During the trip to the cabin, after Barbara asked him if he went to cabin just to target shoot, Mark replied with, â€Å"No, I came all this way to show you how easy it would be to make you disappear† (230).Barbara knew divorce was out of the question. He would kill her before he granted her one. Although the trip put a divorce out of the question, it made Barbara realize there was only one option left. In order for her to free herself and to escape the trap of an abusive marriage, she would have to kill Mark before he killed her. Brenda and Barbara were both victims of abuse. That is where the similarities end. All Brenda wanted was to become someone other than the â€Å"outsider. † She was abused by her gang member boyfriend. She used that to threaten her boyfriend of leaving him.Brenda felt powerful when would hear Manny beg for her to stay. She fina lly felt like she was somebody. She was no longer an outsider of the â€Å"odd girl out† (148). Barbara was abused and belittled to the point where it made her think of herself as a weakling. She felt it was impossible to free herself from her nightmare. Brenda tried to escape but she always backed down because of how her husband made her think she was weak. Feeling empowered and feeling victimized are at the opposite end of the spectrum, yet they sometimes end up meeting at the end of the same road.