The Passage of Time and Life in The Swimmer, by John Cheever

Having written a multitude of short stories and novels, author, John Cheever, has showcased his incredible writing abilities multiple times throughout his career. Even as a child, Cheever outwardly expressed his desire to write. As proven by his longstanding career, Cheever’s thirst for writing remained with him throughout his entire life. In perhaps his most famous piece of work, â€Å"The Swimmer,† Cheever’s impeccable writing ability is showcased brilliantly. Although originally set out to be a novel, â€Å"The Swimmer† has grown to become a widely recognized and analyzed short story, one which both readers and literary critics alike admire. By drawing on his personal life and by using a wide range of writing techniques, Cheever depicts and†¦show more content†¦It is this structure precisely that gives Cheever’s works the power to resonate with a wide range of individuals. Author of John Cheevers Flowering Forth: The Breakthroughs of 194 7, James O’Hara, discusses this aspect of Cheever’s writing in his academic journal: He had continued to experiment with the choice of materials for his stories, and had gradually won over editors with a combination of solid structural technique-he had always known how to put a story together-and Hemingwayesque understatement. (51) Although O’Hara did not specifically address the short story â€Å"The Swimmer† in this particular excerpt, this quotation is nonetheless viable and true in its claims. Along with a solid structure, in order for a piece of fiction to resonate with readers, the work also has to have meaningful characters. Cheever has proven to excel in this aspect of writing as well. This excellence can also be attributed to Cheever and his personal life. Bloom writes: Just like his characters, then, Cheever was not a perfect man, yet he was a decent one, who believed in heroism and sentiment and family and a minor mans capacity to glory. Neddy Merrill, the main character in â€Å"The Swimmer,† can be described in a similar manner, for he too is an imperfect man who seeks glory and purpose. In the same vein, literary analyst, Robert A. Morace, states: The characters in this and other Cheever fictions all face the sameShow MoreRelatedThe Swimmer, by John Cheever1513 Words   |  7 Pagesobserved, Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change. In The Swimmer, the world around Ned Merrill, the main character, transforms c onstantly as time goes by, causing Neds physical, mental, and social state to decline. However, although Ned Merrill experiences the inevitable - growing older - he does not fully grasp reality and the idea that time moves on, even if one is not ready. The Swimmer is a short story written by John Cheever, a writer whoRead MoreUse of Point of View, Setting and Symbolism in The Swimmer, by John Cheever942 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The Swimmer,† a short fiction by John Cheever, presents a theme to the reader about the unavoidable changes of life. The story focuses on the round character by the name of Neddy Merrill who is in extreme denial about the reality of his life. He has lost his youth, wealth, and family yet only at the end of the story does he develop the most by experiencing a glimpse of realization on all that he has indeed lost. In the short story â€Å"The Swimmer,† John Cheever uses point of view,Read MoreJohn Cheevers The Swimmer, O Youth and Beauty!, and The Enormous Radio1563 Words   |  7 Pagesenchanting his audience than John Cheever. John Cheever wrote many short stories throughout his life. He has been presented with many awards for his works. Cheever was a master of spinning tales about suburban life and other situations he experienced. Some of his most popuar works included â€Å"The Swimmer†, â€Å"O Youth and Beauty!†, and â€Å"The Enormous Radio†. His works were well received by the public and he achieved great fame during his lifetime. However, he also lived a life of hardship and scandal. EvenRead MoreLosing Time in Life: The Swimmer by John Cheever1203 Words   |  5 Pages Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, once declared â€Å"Lost time is never found again.† This quote ties to the meaning of how people frequently let time seep through their hands. John Cheever’s The Swimmer portrays this through the eyes of suburban man Neddy. Neddy is the average ‘Joeâ₠¬â„¢ of most suburban households. Life in suburbia is repetitive in most scenarios, and humans can easily get lost in the monotonous adventure known aslife. Time leaks away from his figure, and he is not sure of he is theRead MoreCharacter Comparison: â€Å"The Swimmer† and â€Å"Babylon Revisited† Essay1038 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Cheever and F. Scott Fitzgerald are both 20th century writers whose story’s thematically reflected the despair and the emptiness of life. In both story’s â€Å"The Swimmer† and â€Å"Babylon Revisited† the main characters undergo similar problems, although they are presented differently in each story. The subject matter of both stories, pertain to the ultimate downfall of a man. â€Å"The Swimmer†, conveys the story of a man who swims his way into reality. He at first is very ignorant to his situation; howeverRead MoreThe Fleeting of Social Status Essay619 Words   |  3 Pagesmany fail to realize that one can plummet from highest social class to the bottom, without even realizing how or why. John Cheevers The Swimmer, examines and reveals this problem through conflicts of attitude between the narrator and the viewpoint character, Neddy Merrill. The narrator conveys the attitude that social status is fleeting through the use of irony and shifts in time. Neddys attitude, however, is to cling to his social status through denial, over-rationalization and an arrogant senseRead MoreHistory of the Development of the Short Story.3660 Words   |  15 Pageswould emerge only through the telling of multiple such sections. Fables, succinct tales with an explicit moral, were said by the Greek historian Herodotus to have been invented in the 6th century BCE by a Greek slave named Aesop, though other times and nationalities have also been given for him. These ancient fables are today known as Aesops Fables. The other ancient form of short story, the anecdote, was popular under the Roman Empire. Anecdotes functioned as a sort of parable, a briefRead MoreThe Bronze And Iron Age Essay2093 Words   |  9 Pagessource for knowing what the Greeks were thinking in the eighth century B.C. as they fought each other and sailed across dangerous seas to found new city states in alien lands. Greeks believe that that heroic society described by Homer flourished at a time corresponding to the 13th or early 12th century in our chronology. Homers greatest works are the Iliad and Odyssey. The both tell the story of heroes trying to survive their way through war and other things. Here is just an example of Homer’s poetry

The Importance Of Interpersonal Communication Through The...

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Authorization and Purpose The purpose of this report is to present the benefits of interpersonal communication through the implementation of listening, feedback and questioning skills. This report additionally addresses recommendations in regard to the effectiveness of interpersonal communication skills being employed as an Events Coordinator. This report was authorized by the Professional Conference Organisers (PCO) representing the interests of event coordinators, managers and planners Australia wide. 1.2 Scope and Methodology The interpersonal communication skills of listening, feedback and questioning have been discussed through the use of credible academic peer reviewed journal articles and field specific academic texts. The direct benefits and challenges associated with the implementation of the listening skills within an Events Coordinator position have been acknowledged and addressed within this report through applicable recommendations. 1.3 Limitations This report is restricted to the three interpersonal communication skills of listening, feedback and questioning. Additionally, the benefits and recommendations discussed throughout the report are uniquely relevant and associated with the profession of an Events Coordinator and are not relevant with other professions. 2.0 The Interpersonal Communication Skill of Listening 2.1 Explanation and Demonstration of Effective Listening Listening is arguably the most basic form of interpersonalShow MoreRelatedImproving Leadership At Wal Mart1258 Words   |  6 Pagesthe manager’s over Ann was able to find a way on improving, her interpersonal skills. 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Minimum competency tests, achievement tests, and screening instruments were used to ensure that students from preschool through college reached the desired educational goals and achieved the minimum standards of education that were established locally or by the state education agency. As we continue in a new century, these concerns have increased. Trends in a New Century In

El Nino Essay Research Paper Economical Effects free essay sample

El Nino Essay, Research Paper Economic Effectss of El Nino El Nino is a warm coastal current that flows south along the seashores of Ecuador and Peru ( Wyrtki ) . El Nino is a Spanish term significance # 8220 ; the child. # 8221 ; The name refers to the Christ kid because it normally begins around Christmas and ends about Easter ( Cane ) . El Nino has recurred about twenty four times in the last century ( Erickson ) . It is foremost recorded as far back as the early 1500 # 8217 ; s and returns on norm of one time every four old ages ( Cane ) . El Nino causes much devastation in the short clip it lasts. This system has been known to do forest fires, typhoons, torrential rains, remarkably powerful hurricanes, flash inundations, terrible drouths, and freak snow storms ( Nash ) . The 1982 El Nino is thought to hold triggered the 1982 eruption of the El Chichon vent in Mexico. The 1982-1983 El Nino besides caused so much devastation that the weather-related harm estimated at more than $ 6. 5 billion. A typhoon named Iwa, caused by El Nino, that hit the Hawaiian Islands in November, 19823 caused $ 2 million in amendss ( Erickson ) . El Nino is one of the strongest conditions systems known to adult male and can destruct lives and production, both agriculturally and economically, with really small warning at all. When a major El Nino ocean warming occurs, the barometric force per unit area over huge countries of the sou-east Pacific falls, while the force per unit area in Indonesia and northern Australia rises. When El Nino ends, the force per unit area difference between these two countries swings in the opposite way, making a mass seesawing of atmospheric force per unit area. This phenomenon is called the Southern Oscillation. The Southern Oscillation is related to large-scale alterations in atmospheric circulation over the tropical Pacific and Indian oceans. When the Southern Oscillation index is low, summer monsoon rains in India fail, and when the index is high, the rains are abundant ( Erickson ) . An irregular oscillation of atmospheric mass occurs between the Indonesian low force per unit area system, and the Easter Island high force per unit area system. This oscillation can last for several old ages ( Wyrtki ) . El Nino has an huge consequence on the economic system in many ways. From the 1982-1983 El Nino, weather related harm around the Pacific rim estimated at more than $ 6.5 billion ( Erickson ) . El Nino has caused destructive implosion therapy, drouth in the West Pacific, and is sometimes associated with lay waste toing coppice fires in Australia ( TAO ) . Of the past 28 El Nino # 8217 ; s 22s have been associated with below normal rainfall in south east Africa. The Souther Oscillation and El Nino both have important effects on province of conditions and clime about everyplace. The 1982-1983 El Nino caused destructive air currents, tides, implosion therapy, and landslides in California, caused more than $ 300 million in belongings a mendss, and over 10,000 people were forced to evacuate their places ( Erickson ) . Due to it # 8217 ; s size and strength, El Nino has been the focal point of international attending and 1000000s of dollars in research ( Wood ) . As a consequence of the 1982-1983 El Nino, it caused a typhoon, named Iwa in the Hawaiin Islands. Iwa struck in November of 1982, and caused around $ 200,000,000 in amendss. In Peru, El Nino has caused torrential rain autumn, ensuing in implosion therapy of the one time dust-dry hillsides of the Peruvian seashore ( Carson ) . El Nino has besides generated warm surface Waterss and biological perturbations that extended due south to Chile and northerly to British Columbia ( Wyrtki ) . As for husbandmans in Southern Africa, they have suffered from loss of H2O, harvest failures, and widespread hungriness, accordingly more than 1,000,000 people faced possible dearth ( Erickson ) . Storms following altered paths of El Nino disrupt normal forms of moisture and dr y conditions as far off as Africa ( Williams ) . El Nino has been known to arouse heavy rains in the normally dry sou-west and fires in the drouth stricken rain woods of Malaysia ( Newshour Forum ) . El Nino can and has prompted ruinous perturbations in conditions with really short advanced notice. Due to El Nino there are different rhythms in the temperature, therefore making cold old ages and warm old ages. Farmers do non like the cold old ages because they cause drought and harvest failures, but these old ages are welcomed by fishermen. The cold old ages come on the heels of strong El Nino old ages. Peruvians have ground to be concerned non merely about El Nino events, but about both extremes, cold and warm old ages, of the El Nino rhythm. Warm old ages tend to be unfavourable for fishing and some have been marked by the detrimental inundations along the coastal field and in the Western Andean foothills in the northern portion of the state ( TAO ) . During El Nino old ages, the e quatorial eastern air currents contrary and blow from the West. The air current so drags on the oceans surface in the opposite way, ensuing in major alterations in the equatorial current system. The changing of the storms location alters jet watercourse air currents that steer storms. In winter of 1982-1983, intensification of Pacific jet watercourse reached record proportions ( Erickson ) . Massive heating in the H2O, as a consequence of El Nino, has killed many fish and sea birds by preventi ng nutrient-rich cold waters from rising to the surface (Cane). Cold water which is high in its levels of nutrients, supports high levels of primary productivity, diverse marine ecosystems, and major fisheries (TAO). El Nino has caused drastic decrease in populations of fish eggs and larvae, and sharp drops in the catches of commercial fish. Due to the killings of many animals because of warm water, the total agricultural losses came to $2.5 billion. As a result of the 1972-1973 El Nino, the warm water ravaged the Peruvian anchovy fishery and the warm water came at a time when the Southern Oscillation index had fallen to one of its lowest values ever (Erickson). The 1982-1983 El Nino was one of the strongest El Nino’s to hit earth. In December of 1982, warm coastal waters were up 7? above normal and reached as high as 11? above normal in places. The central equatorial south east tropical had excessive rainfall and easterly winds in the equatorial pacific collapsed between Ma y and June. Strength of the westerly winds far exceeded those recorded over the previous decade. Due to the 1982-1983 El Nino Indonesia and Eastern Australia suffered severe, record-breaking droughts, because of the droughts in Indonesia, 340 people died from starvation. The year-long drought in Australia cut grain production by roughly half of the previous year. Thousands of hungry, thirsty cattle and sheep had to be shot and buried in mass graves. During the 1982-1983 El Nino, the Intertropical Convergence Zone shifted southward, bringing an early rainy season to Ecuador. The record rains and flooding led to the most catastrophic and prolonged El Nino visitation every recorded in Ecuador and Northern Peru (Erickson). The 1997-1998 El Nino was 1? times the size of the U.S. and it had enough water to fill the Great Lakes thirty times over. It also had ninety-three times the energy Americans extracted from fossil fuels in 1995 (Newshour Forum). El Nino has the largest irregularity in the year-to-year fluctuations of the oceanic and atmospheric systems, and is caused by interaction of El Nino and the Southern Oscillation (Wyrtki). El Nino has raged beyond the purview of science, not to mention the weather channel (Wood). It is a strong incentive to be able to forecast El Nino, although many related phenomena are still not well understood. If fairly reliable predictions of El Nino are not developed soon, the next El Nino could mean economic chaos and human suffering of unprecedented proportions in many parts of the world (Erickson). While the 1982-1983 El Nino brought scientific focus to the phenomenon, it was not until 1997 that the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction was founded. Scientists understand the physics of El Nino and are working on predicting its intensity and duration. The 1997-1998 El Nino is important to meteorlogists not only because of it’s intensity but because they saw it coming (Cutlip). The 1997-1998 El Nino was ab out the same size as the 1982-1983 El Nino, but scientists predict the 1997-1998 occurence may have been the biggest in 150 years (Newshour Forum). Meteorologists and scientists are developing many new ways each day to help benefit in predicting El Nino’s. Computer models that have been recently designed are fed information, mostly in the forms of sets of numbers, describing the present state of the atmospheric-ocean system. Updated sets of numbers, which the models produce, indicate how the atmosphere-ocean system might evolve over the next few seasons or even years (TAO). There are even some scientists who will venture out into the actual potential storm area to get their data hands on. A climatologist with NOAA’s Environmental Technology Laboratory ventured into the center of a Pacific storm to measure temperature, wind, and humidity (Nash). In February 1986, meteorlogists were eyeing the latest observations from the Pacific and noticed the ocean warming the way it does in El Nino’s earliest stages. These signs prompted the National Weather Service’s Climate Analysis Center in Washington, D.C. to issue an El Nino watch on February 11, and an advisory on March 13. As they followed the approaching storm, they realized it was a false alarm, and all weather patterns returned to normal. No two El Nino’s are exactly alike, but fortunately they all share similar warning signs such as stronger than normal trade winds and a rise in the Southern Oscillation index, so they are all possible to recognize them early on. Failure to predict El Nino’s underscore current lack of understanding how it develops. Once meteorologists are able to accurately predict an El Nino, they will be able to warn people and help to save lives and give enough time for preparation (Erickson). The El Nino weather system is the strongest and potentially the most dangerous storm, we have come across as of yet. However, with the help of meteorolgists, we m ay be able to prevent or at least lighten the disastorous outcomes that are so feared of El Nino. El Nino’s can cause anything from floods, to droughts, to landslides, even effecting one’s income, or their ability to survive.

Sir Rich Arkwright Essays - Spinning, Textile Machinery,

Sir Rich Arkwright By Spahn Dirge Sir Rich Arkwright was born on December 23, 1732 at Preston in the county of Lancaster. His first profession was a barber in Bolron-le-moors in 1760. Soon afterward he traveled throught the country buying human hair. At that time he had a valuable chemical secret for dying the hair to make wigs out of. Arkwright's hair was commented to be the finest hair in the country. In 1761, Richard Arkwright married Margaret Biggins, and this marriage brought him to an aquaitance with Thomas Highs. Highs was probably one of the most important people Arkwright was to ever meet. He was the inventor of the spinning jenny and the water frame. Highs was behind the mechanical production of both of these machines, however he could now market his product due to lack of funding and ill communication skills. This is where Richard Arkwright comes in. Arkwright was highly skilled in dealing with business and other social aspects. Arkwright sought to obtain the water frame by less than friendly means. He contacted John Kay, a former employee of Highs', to "turn brass" for him. This was all part of a clever plot to get Kay to reveal the design of Highs' water frame. Eventually, Arkwright succeded and Kay cunstructed a replica of the water frame, or otherwise known as throstle. Arkwright showed off the model to several people to seek financial aid. He eventually prevailed on Mr. Smalley to fund the project. In April of 1768 he hired Kay and took him along with him to Nottingham where he built a factory turned by horses. On July 3, 1769, he obtained a patent for "spinning by rollers." By doing this, he solidified his hold over the water frame preventing Highs from ever gaining the immense profits made by the water frame. In 1771, Arkwright built another factory in Cromford. The power for this factory was supplied by a water wheel instead of horses. During this time many improvements were made to shorten the process of spinning wool. Arkwright kept an eye on these improvements and eventually made a machine combining many of them into a series. These "engines," as he called them, were enough to take up another pattent on December 16, 1775. Improvements specified in the pattent were not invented by Arkwright but were actually borrowed from a number of different spinners. The spinners he borrowed the improvements continued to use their improvements even after the pattent was obtained. In 1781, Arkwright began to take action against these people for still using these improvements by suing them for pattent infringement. Unlike what would happen today, only one case was tried against Col. Mordaunt. Mordaunt's defence was that Arkwright had never specified the inventions as required by law, theref making the pattent invalid. Soon after the trial, Arkwright published "The Case." The object of "The Case" was to obtain from the Legislature an act of Parliament to guarantee Arkwright the pattent-right which had been invalidated by the trial in 1781. In "The Case" he attributed the invention of the jenny and the water frame to James Hargrave who infact only improved on the water frame. He also cleverly omitted Highs' name from the paper, and Hargrave, who was dead, could not deny or approve of what was written. For those of you who have been wondering all this time about what the water frame exactly is, well, it's not a drenched picture frame. It's really an improvement on a spinning machine called the spinning jenny. The jenny, however, was only able to spin transverse threads. The jenny's inventor, Highs, believed he could produce a machine that could spin cotton to a degree of hardness and fineness required for logitudinal threads which had been made from foreign linnen yarn. Highs employed Kay to make the machine by giving him a model made of wood. The water frame required a great deal of power to operate it, and could only be used to the advantage of factories,and only by specific factories with an available water source to turn the machine because the steam engine had not been invented at this point in time. This is where it got the name of water frame. The yarn spun on the water frame is twisted much harder than yarn spun on the jenny. Because of this, it is better adapted for warps or longitudinal threads. Highs tried to keep the water frame as secret as possible because, as was said, it was his favorite invention. He