Posts by Lissy

Lissy

Nov 3, 2009

Graduate / China study - Brandeis International Business School--Maief [9]

"Born and raised in China, I succeed to Confucian way of thinking." Try subscribe instead of succeed.

"While studying in Zhejiang, which enjoys its reputation of having successful and influential private entrepreneurs, I am affected by the idea of applying Confucianism into economy and business. That is the concept of Confucian Entrepreneurs. By reading their biographies and visiting their enterprises such as Zhang Xiaoquan Knives and Scissors Store and Hu Qing Yu Tang of Traditional Chinese Medicines, I believe in Confucian Entrepreneurs' way of doing business." Try saying Zheijiang has a reputation of having successful and influential, instead of it enjoys it. I'd also explain a little about Confucianism- this school is in America, right?- a lot of people here don't understand what it is.

"I have brought back new ideas from Germany as well. There in classes, it was always us-the students who dominated the class. We did presentations in turn and we discussed cases in group. So in the first month, I doubted the value of presenting of professors. However, I gradually realize how I really mastered the method to hold a business meeting, the approach to organize a case study, the way to lead a team and let everyone contribute their voices. Having a clear logical analysis process, I came up with more and more suggestive solutions to business cases. All of them were not taught, but I magically learned them. Then I realized that was the value of class. So I compared Chinese and German classes. Experiencing in person, I also felt people displayed great initiative not only in classrooms but also in common life. Thus I have the idea that the difference might have been cause by cultural values. I cut in from the point of university classes but expanded my research to how children were taught from little." This paragraph is good, most universities want to see that students have initiative and aren't afraid to contribute, so if you say going to school in Germany helped you there, they'll like that.

Lissy

Nov 3, 2009

Poetry / Help with Robert Frost's the Road Not Taken [3]

Hi,
I'm writing an essay on the theme of choices in Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken. We're supposed to write 1200-1500 words, and right now, I have 760 words and writer's block. I'm not sure what else to write about. I also need help with my conclusion, my professor complained that it was weak in my last essay, which seems to be a chronic complaint for me. Can you guys help me? My essay so far is below.

The primary theme in Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" is that the choices a person makes are important, and that the difficulty the speaker has in making a choice is human nature. The literal meaning of "The Road Not Taken" is clear: the speaker comes to a fork in the road, and decides to take the second road. However, the figurative meaning is more important than the literal meaning, because the poem is more than someone who comes to a fork in a road and has to decide which way to go, it's about the choices people make and how they impact their lives. The main theme is supported by imagery, the metaphor of someone coming to a fork in the path while taking a stroll in the woods, and the other literary devices in the poem.

The theme of choices being complicated in the poem is evidenced by the fact that the speaker clearly thinks that both choices look attractive. The first time that this theme is proved is when the speaker says in the first stanza that he was sorry he could not travel both paths. He also spent a long time analyzing both choices. In addition to analyzing the choices before him and announcing to his readers that he was sorry he could not travel both paths, the speaker vacillated between thinking that both choices were equal, and that the second choice was better.

The speaker thought it was important that he made the right choice then and there. He told the reader that he doubted he would come back. Also, the last line makes the reader think the speaker knew from the beginning that the choice he made when he came to the fork in the path would be important and affect the rest of his life.

The speaker most likely did not finish school, but taught himself what he knows about poetry and literature in general by reading poetry. The speaker used a metaphor as a way of showing how hard the choice was for him, indicating he read often. The narrator used the word and a lot. Furthermore, the speaker utilized simple words for the most part, instead of a large number of words, like a person with a good education might have. The lack of a sophisticated vocabulary in "The Road Not Taken" indicates that the speaker is lacking a solid and well rounded education. This is often seen is young people who are still in school. Lack of a sophisticated education is also sometimes seen in people who started school before Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1936. When the law was first signed, it stated that children under the age of fourteen could not go to work, with few exceptions. Often, before the Fair Labor Standards Act was signed into law, parents who were poor and needed extra income would pull their children out of school and send them to work, thus generating extra income. However, it often meant children could not read or write well.

The speaker used the metaphor of taking a walk in the woods to drive home how important it was to make the right choice. This is particularly evident in the last three lines, when the speaker reiterates that there were two paths he could take, and that by taking the one less traveled, it made an extremely important difference in his life. However, the theme of choice is also evident in the third paragraph, when the speaker stated he knew how one "way leads to another" and that he in all probability would never come back to this woods.

The theme of choices being important and difficult for people is supported by the imagery. While the narrator does not spend much time spend much time describing the first path individually, he spends a couple lines relating how the second road looked; for example he described how it was grassy and needed wear. In addition to that, the speaker says that both roads had many leaves that had not been walked over until the leaves were black from being walked on, and that both paths had been used about the same amount and that they did not appear to have been used recently.

The literary devices the speaker uses are important. The second trail in the poem is personified; the speaker says it wants wear. The personified road has an impact on the speaker; the speaker seems to have chosen it because "it was grassy and wanted wear". The metaphor is also significant.