Hemingway’s fiction is not his suicide note Essay Example for Free

Hemingway’s fiction is not his suicide note Essay Earnest Hemingway, the literary genius of the late 1800s produced volumes upon volumes of both poetry and fiction. After a short and very fruitful life Hemingway committed suicide but failed to succeed in initial attempts. Later, he finally succumbed to the great equalizer – death. Some people have surmised that Hemingway left clues to his unlikely demise in his fiction, however, â€Å"suicide cut the strings before they were painfully drawn out; Hemingway attempted to suck life dry of anything and everything he could fathom† (Gunsberg, 1995) This basically means that Hemingway believed that it was necessary to experience everything, even death, to enrich his art and craft. Although Hemingway committed suicide, and although many of his work focuses on death and suicide, it would be grossly unfair to conclude that he foretold his suicide in his fiction because this would be underestimating the power of the writer and his genius. A brilliant writer like Hemingway used his fiction as a form of exploration of the human condition and not as a reflection of his own condition. It would be very presumptuous to suppose that Hemingway used his fiction to foretell his suicide as many writers and literaturists would agree that although literature is a means of exposing internal emotions, it is also a means of release; hence, Hemingway’s fiction is more of an illustration of his literary genius than they are, as most would suppose, cries of help of a man in pain. Therefore, Hemingway’s fiction could not be considered his suicide notes. For instance, in the story ‘Indian Camp’ (Hemingway), the author does narrate an instance where the Indian Father commits suicide, (Hemingway) but this is simply used as a platform for the issue of emancipation from pain as illustrated by the contrasting incident of the Indian Mother who is professionally attended to by Dr. Adams who stops her pain and successfully delivers her baby. (Hemingway) In this particular story, it is not so much the suicide that is the issue but the prospect of hope and new beginnings that takes center stage. Another story where suicide is tackled is ‘A Clean and Well Lighted Place’ (Hemingway) where Hemingway portrays the pain of old age suffered by a deaf old man (Hemingway). In this particular story, there is an incident where the old man attempts to commit suicide by hanging himself, but the noose is cut by his niece and foils his attempt. (Hemingway) The story, albeit tackling suicide in one of its details does not necessary give much value to this issue, it even illustrates how one cannot escape the pains that accompanies life; that not even death can release us humans from what we have to deal with in life. So, if carefully considered, this particular story does not actually vindicate Hemingway’s own suicide, in fact it even serves to sissify his own attempt by indirectly implying that if the author believed that suicide was not a means of ending the suffering of existence as shown in his fiction, then he would have been a great coward to commit what he was writing against. Hemingway did not use his stories as a platform for the justification of his own suicide; he had his own reason’s for his suicide, and those reasons are not in any way connected to his stories. Finally, in ‘Hills like White Elephants’ (Hemingway) the author tackles the issue of abortion with a couple arguing over whether to have it (the baby) or not; the man insisting of having an abortion and the woman, subtlely indicating that she would like to have the baby. (Hemingway) Although there is no reference to suicide in this particular Hemingway story, what is obvious is the argument between two people regarding the issue of ending a life, which, by the way, is not really an argument that you would normally hear from ordinary chat. In this story, Hemingway, again, although, very discreetly, makes references to why life should be valued and why it should be considered with utmost respect, even going to the extent of contrasting childbirth with happiness. (Hemingway) Easily, from this story it is immediately evident that the author was against any form of taking away life intentionally, and so totally debunks the assumption that his fiction was an indirect indication of his consequent suicide. If such is the case, then it can be easily concluded that Hemingway committed suicide for a higher reason; this being related to the progress of his art and craft. Like many other writers who had grappled with the peculiarities of life, Hemingway was no different; and like many other creative writers then and now, it has to be considered that art, in any form, is already a means of airing out recluse emotions; it is a release that is even perhaps more effective than death itself. Hemingway, like many other artists during his time, had peculiarities of his own, and what most of these writers had in common was the ability to use the human condition as a platform in their work. While many of Hemingway’s stories talked about suicide, it has first to be understood that the author is not necessarily the ‘I’ in any of his/her work, and so it would be terribly unfair to affine subject matters in Hemingway’s stories to his actual existence. The relationship of the author to his story ends with his by-line; all the other things in the written work should be set apart from the author. It is very elementary to assume that the author only writes about his/her own personal life because, then, creativity would not have as big a role in literature as it is supposed to have. What could be more accurate, however, is the fact that the literary genius of Hemingway was enough for people who read his work to assume that he was foretelling his own suicide. While this assumption is blatantly misdirected, it simply shows how a writer is able to twist and distort the minds of his readers to think that there is much more to his fiction than meets the eye (or mind). If such is the case, then every reader might as well apply for a position at the Vatican interpreting the ancient Dead Sea scrolls. Works Cited Gunsberg, Ben. Earnest Hemingway: Would Be King. Earnest Hemingway. 18 Dec. 1995. 16 Apr. 2009 http://www. users. muohio. edu/shermalw/honors_2001_fall/honors_papers_2000/gunsberg. html. Hemingway, Earnest . A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. Earnest Hemingway. 1999. 16 Apr. 2009. Hemingway, Earnest . Hills Like White Elephants. Earnest Hemingway. 1999. 16 Apr. 2009 http://www. moonstar. com/~acpjr/Blackboard/Common/Stories/WhiteElephants. html. Hemingway, Earnest . Indian Camp. Earnest Hemingway. 1999. 16 Apr. 2009 http://amb. cult. bg/american/4/hemingway/camp. htm.

Free Narrative Essays - Attitude Is Everything :: Example Personal Narratives

Attitude Is Everything Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life." "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life." I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in the

Recognition and Measurement of Intangibles Generally and of Brands in Particular Essay

Q: Discuss the difficulties relating to the recognition and measurement of intangibles generally and of brands in particular. Refer to the example in Enigma plc in your discussion. According to IAS 38, an intangible asset defines as â€Å"an identifiable, non-monetary asset without physical substance† including brand, computer software, patents and copyrights. As this typical asset has no physical substance, it is really difficult to recognize and measure it. This essay mainly aims to explain the difficulties to recognize and measure generally intangible assets especially the brand and some analyze refer to the Enigma example will be shown. An item cannot be an intangible asset unless it is an asset in the first place, that is to say the intangible assets should meet the definition of the asset based on IASB Conceptual Framework which contains three main criterions: control, future economic benefits and identifiable (Sacui and PrediÈ™can, 2011). Therefore, whether the item meets the three criterions are the first requirements and the difficulties to recognize an intangible asset. Firstly, the identifiable of an asset is that â€Å"it is capable of being separate or divided from the entity and sold, transferred, licensed, rented or exchanged† (IAS38). So as the intangible assets, it also should be separable from the entity or other rights and obligations. However, the intangible assets are lack of physical substance, the requirement of â€Å"identifiable† is one of the difficulties the entities will meet. Then the accountancy standards require that the company must be able to control the item’s future economic benefits. At last, there must be an expectation of future economics and the intangible assets should be capable of attributing directly or indirectly to future net cash flow (Sacui and PrediÈ™can, 2011). Without selling the intangible asset, it is nearly impossible to determine whether the future cash flow mainly due to the intangible assets or the operating activities. Furthermore, there are still some more requirements should be met when an item will be recognized as an intangible asset, such as without physical substance, be non-monetary and be able to be measured reliably. Considering the brand, it is protected by the trademark law and can only be recognized as intangible assets if they comply with the assets definition. If the brand is acquired in a separate transaction, just like the Enigma example, the Enigma Company spent 7million purchasing the Variations brand, the price that has been paid for the brand is one of the evidence that the brand can be controlled effectively and the future economic benefit will flow to the enterprise. In addition, the cost of the brand usually can be measured reliably and in this case it is 7million. So the brand which was purchased separately in this accounting period has met the recognition requirement and can be treated as an intangible asset. What is more, there is another way to purchase the brand though the business combination. Under this circumstance, the cost of brand is the fair value on the date of the acquisition (Melville, 2011). Furthermore, the fact price that has been paid for the brand is treated as a reflection that economic benefit is expected to flow to the entity in the future. To sum up, the brand acquired in a business combination satisfied the requirements and also can be classified as an intangible asset. However, it is really difficulty to decide whether the internally generated intangible assets meet the general requirement for recognition. Moreover, the IAS38 states that internally generated brand shall not be recognized as an asset. It is mainly because the expenditure on internally generated brands cannot be distinguished from the cost of developing the business as a whole and the problem of establishing whether the item is an identifiable asset which will generate future economic benefits (Melville, 2011). As in the Enigma example, the 3 million marketing expenditure on Enigma’s internally generated brand is recognized as an expense in the 2012 comprehensive income statement instead of an intangible asset which meets the requirement of prudence. After initial recognition, the IAS38 permits the entities to choose between the â€Å"cost model† and the â€Å"revaluation model† to measure the brand. In the cost model, the intangible assets are carried at cost less accumulated amortization and accumulated impairment losses (Austin, 2007). In this case, the company needs to decide the intangible asset’s useful life objectively and choose a proper method to amortize the intangible assets. While the revaluation model measure intangible assets at a revalued amount. According to IAS38, the fair value of intangible assets must be estimated by reference to an active market in that kind of assets. Therefore, if the brand doesn’t have an active market, the recent price cannot be treated as a fair value and the revaluation model should not be applied to it as well. Compared with the tangible market, such as houses, inventories and machines, the intangible market is imperfections (Alali and Cao, 2010). Therefore, it is difficult to get a fair market value for the enterprises to use or reference at any time they need, especially the brand. The brand is a typical intangible asset whose price will change dramatically when a small scandal occurs. So when using revaluation model to measure a brand, the market is particularly important. Before considering the subsequent measurement, the intangible assets should be determined the length of useful life. Intangible assets with finite useful life will be amortized in the following years; however, intangible assets with infinite useful life will not (Melville, 2011). In general, the IASC claims that the useful life of an intangible asset is not longer than twenty years. While if there is no foreseeable limit to the period over which the brand is expected to generate net cash flow for the enterprise, the useful life of brand can be treated as indefinite (Austin, 2007). That is to say, how to decide the useful life for a brand is another problem that a company will meet in the future. Thinking about the Enigma example again, as it says no depreciation has yet been charged on any non current asset for the 2012, we assume that the Enigma plc use the revalued model to measure the brand. Then the company should make the revaluation with sufficient regularity to ensure that the carrying amount of the brand does not differ materially from fair value. In addition, if the Enigma plc chooses the cost model, the useful life of the brand and the amortization policy should be determined by the managers and we may have an accumulative amortization in our statement of financial statement. To sum up, as a special kind of assets, the intangible assets have so many typical characters and difficulties to recognize and measure, such as lack of mature market for intangible assets, hard to decide its useful life and relevant expense. In this case, we should treat this kind of assets more carefully. Reference: 1. Sacui, V. and PrediÈ™can, M., 2011. The intangible assets investments characteristics and the accounting treatment. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series. 2. Melville, A., 2011. International Financial Reporting, Third Edition, FT Prentice Hall. 3. Austin, L., 2007. Accounting for Intangible Assets, University of Auckland Business Review Autumn. 4. Alali, F. and Cao, L., 2010. International Financial Reporting Standards – Credible and Reliable, Advances in Accounting, Incorporating Advances in International Accounting 5. Austin, L., 2007. Accounting for Intangible Assets, University of Auckland Business Review Autumn.

Famous Christmas Poems in German and English

Many German poems celebrate the Christmas holiday. Among the best are three well-known and short verses by the great poets Rainer Marie Rilke, Anne Ritter, and Wilhelm Busch. Though they were written over a century ago, they remain favorites today. Here you will find the original poems in German as well as the English translations. These are not necessarily  literal translations as some poetic liberty was taken in a few places to retain the voice and style of the poets. "Advent" by Rainer Marie Rilke Rainer Marie Rilke (1875–1926) was destined for the military, but an insightful uncle pulled the Prague-born student from a military academy and set him up for a literary career. Before entering Charles University in Prague, Rilke had published his first volume of poetry entitled Leben and Lieder (Life and Songs). Rilke spent years traveling around Europe, had met Tolstoy in Russia, and found lyrical poetry while in Paris. Among his best-known works  were Das Stunden Buch (The Book of Hours, 1905) and  Sonnets of Orpheus (1923). The prolific poet was admired by fellow artists but otherwise generally unrecognized by the public.   Advent was one of Rilkes earliest poems, written in 1898. Es treibt der Wind im Winterwaldedie Flockenherde wie ein Hirt,und manche Tanne ahnt, wie baldesie fromm und lichterheilig wird,und lauscht hinaus. Den weißen Wegenstreckt sie die Zweige hin - bereit,und wehrt dem Wind und wà ¤chst entgegender einen Nacht der Herrlichkeit. English Translation of Advent The wind in the winter white foresturges the snowflakes along like a shepherd,and many a fir tree senseshow soon she holy and sacredly lighted will be,and so listens carefully. She extends her branchestowards the white paths – ever ready,resisting the wind and growing towardsthat great night of glory. "Vom Christkind" by Anne Ritter Anne Ritter (1865–1921) was born Anne Nuhn in Coburg, Bavaria. Her family moved to New York City while she was still young, but she returned to Europe to attend boarding schools. Married to Rudolf Ritter in 1884, Ritter settled in Germany. Ritter is known for her lyrical poetry and Vom Christkind is one of her best-known works. It is often referenced using the first line as the title, commonly translated as I think I saw the Christ Child. It is a very popular German poem thats often recited at Christmas time. Denkt euch, ich habe das Christkind gesehen!Es kam aus dem Walde, das Mà ¼tzchen voll Schnee, mit rotgefrorenem Nà ¤schen.Die kleinen Hà ¤nde taten ihm weh,denn es trug einen Sack, der war gar schwer,schleppte und polterte hinter ihm her.Was drin war, mà ¶chtet ihr wissen?Ihr Naseweise, ihr Schelmenpack-denkt ihr, er wà ¤re offen, der Sack?Zugebunden, bis oben hin!Doch war gewiss etwas Schà ¶nes drin!Es roch so nach Äpfeln und Nà ¼ssen! English Translation of From the Christ Child Can you believe it! I have seen the Christ child.He came out of the forest, his hat full of snow,With a red frosted nose.His little hands were sore,Because he carried a heavy sack,That he dragged and lugged behind him,What was inside, you want to know?So you think the sack was openyou cheeky, mischievous bunch?It was bound, tied at the topBut there was surely something good insideIt smelled so much like apples and nuts. "Der Stern" by Wilhelm Busch Wilhelm Busch (1832–1908) was born in Widensahl, Hanover in Germany. Better known for his drawings, he was also a poet and combining the two led to his most famous work. Busch is considered the godfather of German comics. His success came after developing short and humorous drawings adorned with comedic lyrics. The famous childrens series, Max and Moritz, was his  debut and is said to be the precursor to the modern comic strip. He is honored today with the Wilhelm Busch German Museum of Caricature   Drawing Art in Hanover. The poem Der Stern remains a favorite recitation during the holiday season and has a wonderful rhythm in its original German. Hà ¤tt einer auch fast mehr Verstandals wie die drei Weisen aus dem Morgenlandund ließe sich dà ¼nken, er wà ¤re wohl niedem Sternlein nachgereist, wie sie;dennoch, wenn nun das Weihnachtsfestseine Lichtlein wonniglich scheinen là ¤ÃƒÅ¸t,fà ¤llt auch auf sein verstà ¤ndig Gesicht,er mag es merken oder nicht,ein freundlicher Strahldes Wundersternes von dazumal. English Translation: The Star If someone had almost more understandingthan the three Wise Men from the OrientAnd actually thought that he would never have followed the star like them,Nevertheless when the Christmas SpiritLets its light blissfully shine,Thus illuminating his intelligent face,He may notice it or not -A friendly beamFrom the miracle star of long ago.