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Loss and Displacement
Loss and DisplacementName
Aimee Bender is a short story writer and American novelist who graduated from the distinguished creative arts program at the University of California, Irvine. Bender has a unique use of metaphors and word play that sets her apart from other writers. The overall purpose of a writer’s work can be interpreted through the techniques that he/she apply. Their purpose may vary from being informative, fictitious or even as a form of advertising, but it is this underlying purpose that enables the readers to understand and take meaning or interpret the main context of the author’s work. In a large way, it also assists the readers to get familiar with the influences trigger the authors to make such decisions regarding the information they will bring out in their works. Additionally, the authors select wisely the details and words they use in order to achieve their purpose (Maunder 93). It thus follows that authors may never always be aware of what it is that they are doing as they start on a work of literature, and Bender herself acknowledges in an interview with the Buffalo Almanack. This paper will discuss Aimee Benders short story ‘Loser’ to identify the choices and decisions she makes in her writing in order to bring out the theme of loss and displacement. The story is about an orphan who loses his parents at a very tender age without having any control over their loss, but later turns out to be a helper for other people in finding things that they lose and misplace. It is a story of how a young man feels lonely and isolated as he is abandoned and has to deal with the horrors of the hard past of losing his parents early and even feels displaced without a family unit.
The first writing choice that Aimee Bender employs to make the readers understand that her story is about loss and displacement is the human conflicts that occur in the story between the orphan and his neighbors, which clearly depicts the society’s loss of the sense of appreciation. This is when, after the orphan’s gift of sniffing up lost items was discovered and most people in his community instead of appreciating him began accusing him of being responsible for the loss as a means of gaining unnecessary attention. A clear example is that of Jenny Sugar whom he went to pick for a date and incidentally helped her mother find her misplaced hairbrush. Instead of Jenny appreciating his efforts, she lashed out at him and even ruined the date for them, a good indication of how the society in this story is suffering from the loss of the sense of appreciation. While at dinner, she said, “You planned all that, didn’t you? …You were trying to impress my mother. Well, you did not impress me.” This event reminded him of how lonely he was and even captures the reader’s attention to see how he has no one to go back home to for consolation or even someone to celebrate his gift. At the thought of such, the reader can appreciate the magnitude of the grief that one goes through after losing his/her loved ones. Such a skeptical reaction from someone who was to be his confidant shows how the young man was lost in his world, without a confidant who would have given him the sense of life, or even celebrate his gift. The manner in which Bender shapes Jenny Sugar in this instance shows the extent to which the people int his society have lost the sense of gratitude.
Aimee Bender also uses a lot of twists in her story using magical elements to push forward its emotional aspect of loss and displacement. But although magic does not qualify to be regarded as a natural element in our daily lives, it has helped to show the link between reality and imagination. This is through fears or phobias, fantasies and even how our expectations collide with reality (Brooks, 2011). It means, therefore that whatever Aimee Bender imagines in her story about the magical gifts of the orphan boy automatically makes up the story’s world. It has helped her to introduce us to a world that is difficult to achieve in the normal life and which would not be possible if she relied on giving out her story as a reality. This is because her story now shifts from being not only about the orphan boy with the unique ability to sense or sniff out and recover misplaced and lost objects but also about things that we cannot easily recover. These things are lost selves and people. An example is where the orphan boy, through his magical abilities, was able to sense the shirt of a kidnapped kid, Leonard Allen, and helped recover him. Bender says, “He turned off his distractions, and the blue shirt came calling from the northwest, like a distant radio station. The young man went walking and walking. And about 14 houses down, he felt the blue shirt shrieking at him.” In reality, we know that this cannot be possible, but in the story’s world, everything is made to be quite advanced to the extent that everything can easily be made clear and believable. Due to his ability, the young orphan boy was also able to understand himself and even the extent of his capabilities despite the criticism from some of his neighbors. From this quote, you can understand that he cannot find lost people, and he can only find objects.
The quote from the story shows the readers that this story is about displacement because the young man could feel the displaced objects and help recover them. Bender says of him thus: “He lay in bed that night with the trees from other places rustling, and he could feel their confusion.” The significance of this statement cannot be emphasized. Although the young man could sense and help recover the lost/displaced items, he could not help bring back the senses of these lost people. Indeed, the loss of a moral sense and appreciation has been brought out very well by Bender, as he has applied mockery to depict how a significant portion of the population viewed the young man.
References
Bender, A. Loser.
Brooks, L. (2011). Story engineering: Mastering the 6 core competencies of successful writing. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books.
Maunder, A. (2007). FOF Companion to the British Short Story. New York:
Infobase Pub.
A research Proposal to find the Compaq failures and appropriateness of its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard Company.
A research Proposal to find the Compaq failures and appropriateness of its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard Company.
Name
Institution
A research to find the Compaq failures and appropriateness of its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard
Background Information
With rapidly developing technology, consumers tend to look for unique and developed features of Pc’s from various companies in the US. In 1982, Compaq firm started and was the largest supplier of Pcs as it had the best system with better graphics and improved performance compared to its competition (Frontain, 2020). Due to these unique features, Compaq continued to rise, contributed by engineers who are experienced, became the youngest firm recording very huge sales. It was the market leader in PCs and shipped more units internationally than in the united states (Pillar, 2002).
However, in 2002, Compaq firm collapsed, having a lot of debts of $2 billion and its stock was trading at $12, which has lowered by 23.5%, from $51 (“Four companies that failed spectacularly, and the lessons of their premature demise,” 2015). Its sales had lowered, showing poor marketing strategies alongside other failures. These conditions led to the firm’s acquisition by Hewlett-Packard, a company which exists to date, but went through a lot of challenges after the acquisition (Editors, 2015). Compaq firm started with experienced managers and well-developed marketing strategies that led to its short period of success. Nevertheless, this paper attempts to find the reasons for Compaq firm failure after twenty years of operation.
Objectives of the Research
The main objective of this research is to:
Understand the failures that led to Compaq Firm collapse and acquisition after twenty years of successful operations.
Identify the strengths of Hewlett-Packard that may have worked for Compaq company.
To understand whether current consumers prefer Hewlett-Packard products compared to Compaq in relation to affordability, quality, and efficiency.
Determine whether the acquisition was the best option for Compaq Firm and identify alternative options.
Qualitative methods
Focus Group
In this research, five of the former management team personnel of Compaq company will take part to give their experience and views of their actions and occurrences that led to Compaq failure. Also, they will provide suggestions on possible actions that could be taken to save the Compaq company rather than acquisition. Also, ten consumers of Compaq products then and have been using Hewlett-Packard products will be asked a variety of questions to give their comparisons of satisfaction. Also, two members of the Hewlett-Packard management team will be asked questions on their strength over Compaq company.
Themes Discussed
In the research, issues to solve the objectives will be discussed. First, the failures of Compaq firm in 2002. Second, the strengths of the Hewlett-Packard company over Compaq, third, Factors that lead to the satisfaction of current consumers and lastly, alternative options for Compaq company to find solutions for reduced sales and a lot of debts.
The methods to be used in this research are in-depth interviews and discussions to conduct an analyzed study that provides answers to the study questions.
Quantitative Methods
Since the qualitative response will be based on a group answer, a questionnaire will be used to get more information on the individual perspective on product satisfaction and ways for improvement.
The questionnaire will consist of both the Likert-style and open-ended questions. Likert-style questions will provide a scale of 1 to 10 to show experience and satisfaction with the two comapnies. One will represent the lowest level of satisfaction, while ten will show the highest satisfaction. The open-ended questions will work well for the sampled managers, to provide information and their views on alternative ways to save Compaq and also the different management methods for the companies.
The Likert style questionnaire will include these questions:
I would consider Hewlett-Packard products to Compaq due to its efficiency
I am more satisfied with Compaq prices than Hewlett
Compaq PCs are more durable than Hewlett-Packard
I am a regular consumer of Hewlett-Packard products
The open-ended questions will include:
What were the Compaq management methods?
What were the marketing reasons for Compaq failure?
Was acquisition the best solution for Compaq firm? Give reasons
What were the possible alternative ways to solve Compaq challenges then?
Which management methods make Hewlett-Packard different from Compaq?
The questionnaires will be issued to the sample group of consumers, Compaq managers, and Hewlett-Packard managers. Analysis of the information that will be provided will be done according to the three categories while considering individual opinions of the named concepts. The various groups will give exclusive details required for the research other than concentrating on only the consumers.
References
Editors, Z. (2015). Worst tech mergers and acquisitions: HP and Compaq | ZDNet. ZDNet. Retrieved 26 February 2020, from https://www.zdnet.com/article/worst-tech-mergers-and-acquisitions-hp-and-compaq/.
Four companies that failed spectacularly, and the lessons of their premature demise. Managers.org.uk. (2015). Retrieved 26 February 2020, from https://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2015/september/four-companies-that-failed-spectacularly-and-the-lessons-of-their-premature-demise.
Frontain, M. (2020). COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Tshaonline.org. Retrieved 26 February 2020, from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dnc01.
Birth defects are quite common in children whose mothers have been using and abusing certain drugs more so, illegal ones
Introduction
Birth defects are quite common in children whose mothers have been using and abusing certain drugs more so, illegal ones. One of the most common birth defects in children is known as gastroschisis. Gastroschisis belongs to a category of birth defects called ventral wall defects. These defects involve the belly (abdominal) area of the baby/ fetus. It results in the free extension of the fetal bowels in amniotic fluid space via a minute opening in the fetus’ abdomen. This is mostly in the right side of the belly button (umbilicus). More often than not, gastroschisis involves part of the large intestine and the small intestine spilling in the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus.
Gastroschisis is prevalent in about 1 in every 500 live births and more often than not occurs in babies born to mothers below the age of 20. It is important to acknowledge that there is no particular cause associated with gastroschisis. However, studies show that mothers who have been using vitamins in the course of their pregnancy stand higher risks of giving birth to children with birth defects of which gastroschisis is one. Unlike other defects of the abdominal wall, gastroschisis is basically not related to structural anomalies such as chromosomal anomalies except intestinal atresia or blockage. This occurs in approximately 10% of the cases.
Diagnosis
Gastroschisis is mainly diagnosed by ultrasound and in most cases following an imminent maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein tests done in the pregnancy’s second trimester. Gastroschisis prenatal diagnosis allows the parents to plan and discuss the options pertaining to postnatal management with the pediatric surgeon and obstetrician. Families with diagnosed gastroschisis undergo comprehensive level 2 ultrasound evaluation. It is always important that the individuals undergo other tests to distinguish gastroschisis with other abdominal wall defects like omphalocele. Once the initial consultations and evaluations have been conducted, the physician and the family would formulate a personalized management as well as follow-up plan to aid in the recovery of the child.
Having in mind that gastroschisis involves the exposure of fetal intestines to amniotic fluid in which case they are unprotected in the course of the pregnancy, complications such as lower fetal growth, lower volume of the amniotic fluid, bowel dilation and preterm delivery have a high likelihood of occurrence more so in the third trimester. This underlines the importance of close surveillance of the condition in the third trimester by the use of sonography combined with fetal surveillance monitoring (volume of amniotic fluid, Doppler ultrasound, biophysical profile) to monitor the fetal well-being and determine the right time for delivery.
Gastroschisis repair
Gastrointestinal repair involves surgical correction where the extra abdominal bowel is returned back to the abdominal cavity. This is then followed by the closure of the abdominal wall. It is important to acknowledge that this is done immediately after the birth of the child. In most cases, these children are born through the cesarean section.
Gastroschisis repair may be performed either with immediate primary repair of the condition or more often than not staged repair approach. This depends on the postnatal assessment of exposed bowel condition.
Primary gastroschisis repair
This involves reducing the extra bowel and closing the abdominal wall in a single operation. However, many are the times when the primary gastroschisis repair is not feasible due to the risk of bowel inflammation and dilation resulting from exposure of fetal intestines to amniotic fluid.
Staged gastroschisis repair approach
This approach kicks off once the child has been delivered. In this case, the abdominal contents that are exposed would be placed in protective covering before the infant is transferred to the infant or newborn center. Once admitted to the center, a silastic sheeting more commonly known as SILO would be placed around the exposed or herniated bowels. This silo would then be reduced every day at the bedside up to such a time when the abdominal contents get level with the abdominal skin. Once the abdominal contents are level with the abdomen the final closure of the abdominal wall is done. During the final closure, ventilator or breathing assistance would be necessary. The surgeons wait until the baby has become stable enough to undergo surgery. The waiting period may take between a week and ten days. Once the baby is ready to undergo surgery, he or she will be placed under general anesthesia in which case they will be asleep and experience no pain in the course of the operation.
The surgeon examines the bowels carefully for birth defects or indications of damage. Any unhealthy parts are removed while healthy edges are stitched together. All the abdominal organs lying outside the belly would be placed into the abdomen before the opening is repaired. In some cases, more surgery will be required later in order to repair the belly’s muscles.
Post surgery procedures
As much as the abdominal closure is done with gastroschisis repair, quite some time passes before the intestines recover fully from the condition. In this case, the first feeding is provided intravenously. With return of the bowel function evidenced by passing of bowel movement, the feeding through nasogastric (NG) tube is slowly initiated while the IV feeds continue. Breast milk may be pumped and frozen for the NG feeds in case it is tolerated. If not, special alimental formula may be given. The NG feeding is gradually increased while oral feeding is also introduced.
Potential complications
Quite a number of complications are likely to occur caused by the varied procedures on e undergoes including-:
Anesthesia- allergic reactions to drugs, breathing difficulties
Surgery- infections, bleeding and blood clots
Other likely complications of gastroschisis include-:
Breathing problems in case the abdominal space of the baby is small. This necessitates the use of breathing machine or breathing tube for some time after surgery
Organ injury
Inflammation of tissues lining the abdominal wall and covering the abdominal organs
Problems with absorption of nutrients from the food and even digestion more so if the small bowels had been extensively destroyed.
Success rates
Enhanced surgical techniques as well as neonatal care have ensured a high success rate. 85-90 % of the babies born with gastroschisis have survived. This however does not undermine the fact that long hospitalization is required not to mention the occurrence of complications more so pertaining to intestinal functioning. Since the condition is treated at infancy, if short-bowel syndrome complications do not occur, treatment is quite successful (above 85% success rates).
Why use High Frequency Jet Vent rather than High Frequency Oscillator Vent
High frequency jet vent HFJV is preferred to the High Frequency Oscillator Vent HFOV due to the high frequency pulmonary gas exchange and ventilation. This means that the carbon dioxide produced by the infant would be more efficiently excreted in a given minute.
Conclusion
While gastroschisis is quite a serious condition which could actually lead to infant mortality, iit is important to acknowledge that surgical method has prove to be quite effective in remedying the condition with very high success rates. This is complemented by the technological advancement as well as more knowledge in neonatal procedures.
References
Parker SE, Mai CT, Canfield MA, Rickard R, Wang Y, Meyer RE, et al; for the National Birth Defects Prevention Network. Updated national birth prevalence estimates for selected birth defects in the United States, 2004-2006. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2010 Sept 28. [Epub ahead of print]
Bird TM, Robbins JM, Druschel C, Cleves MA, Yang S, Hobbs CA, & the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (2009). Demographic and environmental risk factors for gastroschisis and omphalocele in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. J Pediatr Surg, 44:1546-1551.
Williams LJ, Kucik JE, Alverson CJ, Olney RS, Correa A. Epidemiology of gastroschisis in metropolitan Atlanta, 1968 through 2000. Birth Defects Res A. 2005; 73:177-83.
Feldkamp ML, Reefhuis J, Kucik J, Krikov S, Wilson A, Moore CA, Carey JC, Botto LD and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Case-control study of self reported genitourinary infections and risk of gastroschisis: findings from the national birth defects prevention study, 1997-2003. BMJ. 2008 Jun 21; 336(7658): 1420-3.