The American Dream Essays (1877 words) - , Term Papers

The American Dream It is the intent of this paper to prove that the "American Dream" can best be explained as a "ciity upon a hill." "Ciity upon a hill" meaning being above and superior over those below. The Civil War, the imperialistic race of the 19th century, the Korean War, the KKK, and the Gulf War are all examples of the "American Dream" of superiority playing a part in American History. Each American has a different idea of this superiority, but nonetheless strive to achieve it, whatever it may be in. The Civil War which split the United States, was a clash of two aspects of approaching the "American Dream" in a young America. Both sides felt their idea's and philosophies were superior to those of the opposing side and therefore would benefit the country more and make it superior. Both North and South wanted to better the country to have it achieve the "American Dream". Unfortunately, each side had a different perspective on how to approach it. Slavery was a major issue, the North against, the South pro. The disagreement on slavery lead to difficulty in the issue of Westward expansion. Both agreed to it, but whether to admit them as free or slave states was where the split occurred. The compromise of 1850 stated that California enters free, and New Mexico and Utah decided on their own which is giving them more state rights in which the South heavily supported. This compromise did not satisfy each side fully. The issue of State rights intensified by the issue of slavery because the Southern states felt they had the right to decide on their own about Slavery without Federal intervention. It seems the Southern states felt that the "American dream" was out of their reach because they felt powerless and inferior with the Central government. When the American revolution was fought to break from Britain, the Southern States thought they would be treated as sovereign and free. With the State's limited power, they felt as if the Federal government would become a monarchy. The Northern States wanted the "American dream" achieved for the whole country to be industrial, anti-slavery, and very federalist. Upon these institutions they planned to make the U.S a superior nation in the world. The South wanted to achieve the same ultimate goal for the U.S but with agricultural, pro- slavery, and states sovereignty institutions. These are the differences between both sides in achieving "the American Dream." In order to resolve the conflict of interests, North and South had to go to war to prove superiority thus proving which side is "the ciity upon the hill" in which the losing side would follow. During the time of Imperialism in the 19th century, the U.S wanted to expand worldwide and strive for the lead in the "imperialistic race." In 1871, the U.S and Canada signed the Washington treaty meaning that the U.S recognized Canada as an independent dominion. Any schemes to forcefully annex Canada and to unite the North American continent under the U.S flag had been rejected. The U.S could not expand any further in North America and had to look at other parts of the world for expansion. At the time, there were many other nations looking to expand its empire such as Britain and Germany. Some Southern expansionists saw Cuba as an interest because it could have possibly been used as a slave territory. Because Northerners were highly against slavery, the plan was dropped. After the Civil War, Secretary of State Seward had negotiated a treaty to purchase the virgin Islands from Denmark, but the senate rejected this treaty. They were not purchased until 1917. In 1859, the U.S annexed t he Midway Islands in the South Pacific, and half the Samoan Islands; the other half belonging to Germany. Hawaii, another Pacific island, had always been important to the U.S. It served as an important base for trade with Japan and China. When the U.S annexed Hawaii in 1893 after a coup, to justify it, the U.S claimed it was an important strategic military foothold. They also claimed that the inferior Hawaiian natives were incapable of self government, and that it was in their best interests. After the annexation

Cost Leadership Dell Essays

Cost Leadership Dell Essays Cost Leadership Dell Paper Cost Leadership Dell Paper Cost leadership that attempt to become the lowest-cost producers in an industry can be referred to as those following a cost leadership strategy. The company with the lowest costs would earn the highest profits in the event when the competing products are essentially undifferentiated, and selling at a standard market price. Companies following this strategy place emphasis on cost reduction in every activity in the value chain. Ideally, low cost strategy is centered on the capability of Dell to produce and deliver products of competitive quality at lower costs. Cost leadership strategy is much more than cost reduction initiatives that get lot of prominence in strategic planning and review session of Dell as a means to improve the bottom line of a company by improving its efficiency. Dell uses efficient cost structures to protect their markets from the competitors by responding to competitors’ move of making in-roads in the market space by reducing prices. Such reactive response may makes Dell inward focused. Better way to strategically position Dell on advantage of cost is to increase market share by transforming from lowest cost producer to lowest cost supplier of products. This way the company translates its cost advantage into price advantage for its customers and thereby improves the market share. The prospect of increasing the market share provide great opportunity for Dell to leverage the economies of scale coupled with the ruthless cost cutting measures it plans to execute. More the competitive space it occupies which also means that more competitors eliminated effective are economies of scale and as a result the costs are driven still lower. When Dell is able to transform the efforts of cost reduction into cost advantage for customers Dell can be said to be successfully pursuing low cost leadership strategy as there continuously strives to reduce costs and in the market place it has got the image of supplier of products at the lowest prices. This is how Dell can capture markets and eliminates the competitors and improves revenues and market share. Economies of scale and efficiency form the core around which Dell executes its strategy. Thus, other companies pursuing cost leadership strategy compare each and every activity along their value chain with competitors and are committed to surpass them ( 1986). Aside, innovation at Dell is focused on process improvements rather than on products. In fact Dell pursuing cost leadership strategy target mass markets with proven products. Dell has sufficient control over in-bound supplies and logistics. Their cost effectiveness starts from the premises of their suppliers. This is important as major costs are incurred in the inbound supply chain. The cost leaders today generally miss out on one important aspect as concentrate on delivering product of competitive quality at the lowest cost and pass on part of the savings to customers, so obsessed with costs and pricing that rarely do they dissect the customer value proposition. This is prospective area that may provide yet another cost reduction opportunity and at the same time attract potential customers from niche segment. Dell when it compares the value proposition that it offers against the attributes that customers really value, new insights and opportunities may open up (1986). Investing in cost leadership by riding down the experience curve is a common way to establish Dells competitive advantage as success depends on factors that underlie the experience curve. The strategy of cost leadership is associated with stable and predictable environments and correlates with the use of controls. Unfocused strategies make much use of liaison devices. These relationships were likely to be significant for high-performing Dell than those of poor performers. According to (1985), cost leadership and product differentiation can be pursued simultaneously only under rare conditions as unclear how these strategies can be implemented. Dell pursuing cost-leadership strategy attempts to gain a competitive advantage primarily by reducing its economic costs below its competitors. If cost-leadership strategies can be implemented by numerous Dell in an industry, or if Dell face cost disadvantage in imitating a cost-leadership strategy, then being cost leader does not generate sustained competitive advantage for Dell. The ability of a valuable cost-leadership competitive strategy to generate competitive advantage depends on that Dell strategy being rare and costly to imitate. Dell should not put all eggs in one basket as far as implementation of its Business Strategy is concerned. Of course Dell need to take advantage of their core competencies but at the same look for opportunities uses their core competencies to broaden their strategy implementation. In Dell’s case they should use core competencies to implement Cost Leadership Strategy by pursuing multi sales channel opportunities.

Master thesis review Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Master thesis review - Article Example Looking at this understanding, the topic was perfect. Two major studies conducted in year 1992 and 2001 shows that the western-European parties, including Norwegian parties, lost members and continue doing so. This proves the phenomenal growth of the Norwegian Progress Party, Fremskrittspartiet, is an exception and hence worth studying. The thesis is strongly supported by proper utilization of extensive literature review, data and qualitative method. The thesis, ‘Explaining membership growth in the Norwegian Progress Party from 1973 to 2008,’ is a case study (Mjelde 2008, p.1). Case study can be defined as â€Å"a detailed examination of an aspect of a historical episode to develop or test historical explanations that may be generalized to other events†(George & Baskette 2005, p.4). The selection of case study as a methodology proved to be advantageous in many ways. The intention of the author was to study the membership growth of the Progress Party in its breadth and depth (Mjelde 2008, p.6). Hence, the choice of case study as a method for this topic was appropriate. The two important strengths of the case study method are: 1. Conceptual Validity, 2. Deriving new hypothesis (George & Baskette 2005, pp.19-22). The choice of case study method helped the author due to its strengths in following ways: Case study allows the researcher to study the validity of the concept at high level(George & Baskette 2005, p. 19). The study of the membership growth in the Norwegian Progress Party was a difficult study as it demanded the researcher to study the growth in presence of different contexts. To study the theoretical concept in depth, it is important to identify and measure the factors that

Project Management Organizational Structures Paper Research

Project Management Organizational Structures - Research Paper Example Each form of organizational structure has its strengths and weaknesses, and is able to handle particular projects based on the context. Functional organizational structure involves divisions based on major functional areas such as marketing, finance, human resource, manufacturing, and so on (Meredith and Mantel, 2012). Functional organizational allows flexibility in staff planning and resource allocation because functional divisions can act as the administrative base for a project. Further the functional unit may be specialized to tackle the project thereby providing the technical expertise required to successfully complete the project. Additionally functional structure allows the technical expertise and know-how to be concentrated in the units and hence available to work on different projects. The staff can be shifted from one project to another while the functional division continues to provide a pool of experiences and specialized staff (Meredith and Mantel, 2012). The functional division acts as the center of specialists which ensures availability of specialized staff to work on different projects. The presence of experienced staff also enables the relevant expertise to be channeled into the project for successful execution and completion of the project. Lastly, the functional organizational structure organizes the specialists in a unit so that the arrangement not only helps in project execution but also in the advancement of the appropriate talent. A downside to functional organizational form is that it puts clients at the backseat. Often client interests are not the focus but functional units focus more on the work and how the expert staff is allocated to the projects (Meredith and Mantel, 2012). This sometimes leads to client interests to be ignored. The fact that the functional organizational form deals with functional areas means that the form is more inclined towards the activities involved in the project completion. It is

Employment Contract Essay Example for Free

Employment Contract Essay Employment Contract This Employment Agreement is made effective as of June 26th, 2013 and is between Joshua James, Frederick Alan, and Dave Darwin of the Builders Licensing and Training Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan (referred to as â€Å"the company†) and John Andrews (referred to as â€Å"the employee†). The terms of this AT-WILL Employment Contract are set forth below. Employment. The Company shall employ John Andrews as a building instructor. This employee shall provide to the Company the following services: John Andrews accepts and agrees to such employment, and agrees to be subject to the general supervision, advice, and direction of the owners of the Company. The employee should perform duties that are customarily performed by an employee in this position. The Company shall employ John Andrews at least forty hours a week including holidays. Also, the employee may be required to work weekends and some mandatory overtime every pay period. Best Efforts of Employment. The employee John Andrews agrees to perform to the best of his ability, experience, and talents to perform the duties that may be set forth or expressed by the Company including the implicit terms of this agreement. Ownership of Social Media. Any social media that is used by the employee while under Company time is property of the Company. This includes but is not limited to contacts acquired through the Company examples like addresses, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Linked In, and other social media. Compensation of Employee. As compensation for the services provided by John Andrews under this agreement, the Company will pay John Andrews an annual salary of $50,000 in accordance with the Company’s usual payroll procedures, not including overtime pay which will be based upon the usual hourly rate for such employment. Upon termination of this agreement, payment shall cease, however, John Andrews shall be compensated for periods or partial periods  that occurred prior to the date of termination. Confidentiality After Termination of Employment. The confidentiality of this agreement and information of the company are special and unique assets and need to be protected from improper disclosure. In consideration of this, John Andrews agrees that for a period of two years following termination or removal from the company whether voluntary or involuntary will not directly or indirectly engage in any business competition with the Builders Licensing and Training Insitute. Employee Name ______________________________ Date _________________ Employee Signature _______________________________ Date _________________

Eigen Value Equation: Dirac Particles and Dirac Oscillators

Eigen Value Equation: Dirac Particles and Dirac Oscillators The thermodynamic entities with the GUP for Dirac particles  and Dirac oscillators Xin-feng Diao,  Chao-yun Long,  Guang-yu sun,  Yuan-sheng wang,  Hongling liu Abstract In this paper we studied the Eigen value equation for Dirac particles and Dirac Oscillators, considering the spin and Generalized Uncertainty Principle. Then we calculated the thermodynamic entities for them with the Generalized Uncertainty Principle corrected. We find that an electron of mass m and spin 1/2 in relativistic quantum mechanics confined in a box with the length L which the eigenvalues were related to the length of box and the correction terms of the Helmholtz free energy tend to increase the thermodynamic quantities. PACS number: 03.65.-w, 11.10.Nx Key words: GUP; Dirac particles ; Dirac Oscillators; thermodynamic entities. Introduction Various candidates of quantum gravity such as string theory and black hole physics concern the existence of a minimum measurable length. When energies of particles are much smaller than the scale of Planck mass [1, 2], it gives rise to the so-called Generalized Uncertainty Principle that results in a minimum observable length [3] (1) where is the GUP parameter and is a positive constant which depends on the expectation value of the momentum operator. On the other hand, Braun Majumder has discussed the harmonic oscillators following Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics by solving the Schrà ¶dinger equation[4]. However for the high energy particles we should consider the relativistic effect, so that it is important to study the effect of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle for Dirac particles and Dirac oscillators. Further more, the canonical partition function and other thermodynamic quantities for the relativistic particles following Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics should be involved. We discused the aspects in this paper. The Generalized Uncertainty Principle can be obtained from the deformed commutation relation, (2) where . The limits andcorrespond to the ordinary quantum mechanics and extreme quantum gravity, respectively. +Email: [emailprotected]. Now let us consider an electron of mass m and spin 1/2 in relativistic quantum mechanics, confined in a box of length L. The boundaries of the box are located at and. The wave function of the particle satisfies the following GUP corrected Dirac equation inside the box, where potential energe while and outside. The Dirac equation can be given as à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 3à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° where and are the Dirac matrices with the following representation , à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 4à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Using the Jacobi identity [5]. And we can solve the equation with the method in the paper [6]. By defining , à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 5à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° considering the boundary conditions, we can get the energy Eigen value à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 6à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Wrong calculation And we utilized the GUP corrected energy spectrum to calculate the canonical partition function and other thermodynamic quantities for the relativistic particles following Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics. So, we first calculated the GUP corrected partition function and it can be expressed as à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 7à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° So the partition function is wrong too with the. For the case of indistinguishable particles we use the relation of Helmholtz free energy with partition function . For the Helmholtz free energy and it comes out to be à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 8à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° where N is total number of Dirac particles. We found that the correction terms tend to increase the thermodynamic quantities. Then, we consider the Dirac oscillator and get the exact solution under a harmonic term. Firstly, Dirac equation is written as [7] (9) where U0 and V0 denote scalar and vector interactions, respectively, and the matrices are à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’ (10) The spin wave function can be written as (11) We expand the equation and get the coupled equations (12) Then, (13) Pluging in to (12), we can obtain (14) (15) Here, we consider the harmonic term Using the operator relation (16) the equation becomes (17) à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’ And we can get (18) With the method of [2], the energy of the equation (18) will be obtained . (19) If we set , the result becomes , which was well agree with non-relativistic quantum mechanics. And then we calculate the thermodynamic entities with the GUP corrected energy eigenvalue equation for the Dirac Oscillators. The partition function can be evaluated as . (20) We do this sum in a perturbative sense to distinguish the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ rst term as the partition function of Dirac Oscillators, the equation can be rewritten as with. This equation guides us to write the GUP modified Helmholtz free energy as . (21) Simply, we write the expressions for the entropy internal energy as (22) where N is total number of Dirac oscillators. Summary In this paper, we studied an electron of mass m and spin 1/2 in relativistic quantum mechanics, which was confined in a box with the length L, We found that the eigenvalues were related to the length of box and the correction terms of the Helmholtz free energy tend to increase the thermodynamic quantities. We consider the Dirac oscillator and get the exact solution under a harmonic term, although the GUP corrected Hamiltonian of the harmonic oscillator has investigated[7-10]. We consider the different operator relation and get the partition function for the Dirac Oscillator. Moreover, we calculated the thermodynamic entities with the GUP corrected energy Eigen value equation for the Dirac Oscillator. So exploring relations in the basic foundations of the GUP is worth interesting [11]. This work was Supported by the Project of Guizhou Province Science and Technology OfficeNo. [2013]2255 and Guizhou Normal College project: 12YB005 . References [1] K. Konishi, G. Paffuti, P. Provero, Phys. Lett. B 234 (1990) 276. [2] M. Maggiore, Phys. Lett. B 304 (1993) 65. [3] A. Kempf, G. Mangano, R.B. Mann, Phys. Rev. D 52 (1995) 1108. [4] Barun Majumder , Sourav Sen. Physics Letters B 717 (2012) 291–294 [5] H. Hassanabadi a, S. Zarrinkamar b, A.A. Rajabia. Physics Letters B 718 (2013) 1111–1113 [6] A. Kempf, J. Phys. A 30 (1997) 2093. [7] Pouria Pedram. Physics Letters B 710 (2012) 478–485 [8] P. Pedram, Phys. Rev. D 85 (2012) 024016, arXiv:1112.2327. [9] K. Nozari, T. Azizi, Gen. Rel. Grav 38 (2006) 735742; K. Nozari, H. Mehdipour, Chaos Solitons Fractals 32 (2007) 1637; K. Nozari and A.S. Sefidgar, Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 38 (2008) 339. [10] B. Majumder, Phys. Lett. B 701 (2011) 384. [11] S. Kalyana Rama, Phys. Lett. B 519 (2001) 103.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and Brett Easton Ellis’ “Less Than Zero” Essay

Explore the function of the narrator in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s â€Å"The Great Gatsby† and Brett Easton Ellis’ â€Å"Less Than Zero† Published in 1925 by author F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, is considered a literary classic by many critics. The eponymous novel is set in the â€Å"Roaring 1920’s† post World War 1 and tells the tale of Jay Gatsby through the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway. The exposition begins when we are told of the socio-cultural divide between the upper class of America, by a character who has just moved to Long Island from Minnesota. The clear separation between West Egg and East Egg is an idea explored by Nick, who is a resident of the â€Å"lower-upper† class West Egg. Throughout the novel, it can be observed that events that occur are a direct parallel to the life of Scott Fitzgerald, as he projects characteristics of both Gatsby and Nick that were similar to his own. It is widely believed that the book is written in a manner that is cynical of the American Dream and of the elitist society, in a biased fashion that favours Gatsby. Conversely, Less Than Zero is a novel set in the 1980s and tells the story of affluent college students, who lead hedonistic lifestyles with the security of their parents’ wealth. Brett Easton Ellis’ first novel in his oeuvre is written during the years following the Vietnam War of economic prosperity in Reagan’s America and highlights the fragmented society caused by passionless relationships between friends and family and the lack of morality present in upper class America. The two novels contrast in the cities that they are set in; The Great Gatsby is set in New York’s Long Island, whilst Less Than Zero is set in California on the opposite coast of America. However the behaviour of the two generations is quite similar, and is reflective of the influence of money on higher-class society during the respective periods. In The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway is not only the narrator, but also a character that actively participates in the novel and it his opinion that dictates how the reader perceives other characters. One obvious example of this is in the novel’s title, as the epithet â€Å"Great† is used to describe a character that the reader has not yet met. This suggests that Nick Carraway idolizes Gatsby in some aspects and to some degree, aspires to what Gatsby represents. â€Å"†¦ Produced like the supper, no doubt, out of a caterers basket.† This short extract is taken from a section where Nick is describing a lavish party that is frequently held by Gatsby. The metaphor implies that Gatsby is almost God-like in the way he is able to throw extravagant parties yet remains anonymous to those that attend. During the 1920’s, there was a period of what was known as prohibition, where all alcohol was banned, and yet people are often described drinking throughout The Great Gatsby. This could be a condemnation of upper class society, as it suggests they are just as immoral, if not more so, than the lower classes. Fitzgerald himself went from a family of mediocrity to a sudden rise in splendor through his writings, and can therefore relate to the awe that one might feel when acclimatizing to such a society. Less Than Zero’s narrator, Clay, does not represent its author in the same way as Nick does, however Easton-Ellis uses Clay to magnify the issues that surrounded affluent college students during the 80s. Clay often negatively portrays the actions of other characters, which can be seen as an act of hypocrisy. For example, â€Å"Because you both stole a quarter gram of cocaine from me the last time I left my door open. That’s why.† At this point, Clay accuses his sisters of stealing his cocaine, which they put down to him â€Å"leaving his door unlocked†. This may be a reference to the lack of privacy or a lack of trust within society to such a degree that one cannot trust even their closest family. Nick Carraway is arguably a biased narrator, through his romanticized and idealized description of the novel’s protagonist and adversely, his foil, Tom Buchanan. On their first encounter Nick describes Gatsby’s gestures with authority for example, â€Å"He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself† This quotation epitomizes Nick’s admiration for Gatsby before he has properly met him and implies that he has already formulated an opinion based upon rumours he has heard but also based on the party Gatsby invited him to. Once again, this is may be seen as a condemnation of American society by Fitzgerald who shows that capitalist and superficiality was a major factor in defining an individual. Gatsby’s flawless persona does deteriorate as the novel progresses and as Gatsby comes close to achieving his dream, however Nick appears to glaze over this and as a result, preserves Gatsby’s â€Å"greatness† to the reader. The use of the affectation â€Å"old sport† throughout Gatsby’s communication with Nick highlights a friendship that is neither formal nor informal but rather one of an illusionary nature. This is to say that Gatsby uses the affectation in order to evoke a more appealing, intellectual persona. Despite Nick seeing through his faà §ade, he chooses to ignore the matter, instead only becomes more infatuated with what Gatsby represents. â€Å"What part of the Middle West?’ I inquired casually.’ ‘San Francisco’ ‘I see† It is apparent that Nick knows San Francisco is not in the Middle West but rather on the west coast yet he chooses not to argue as if Gatsby’s word is unequivocally truth. Claire Stocks puts this infatuation down to a likeness that both men share which is that â€Å"[both men] seem to be the victims of insufficient or thwarted inheritances†¦ They are both forced to work for their living†. It can be suggested that towards the end of Less Than Zero, Clay wants to leave this society as he narrates, â€Å"My eyes keep wandering off the screen and to the two green exit signs that hang over the two doors in the back of the theater† This occurs whilst Clay, Blair and Kim are in the cinema watching a â€Å"gory† film and highlights that Clay does in fact have some form of morality despite the actions that he part-takes in. Easton-Ellis reveals a character that is torn between being moral or following the hedonistic life he is so easily acclimatized to. Fitzgerald also uses Nick Carraway as a way of criticizing the society that he strives to be a part of. This is evident in Chapter 2, where Nick spends time with Tom, Myrtle and Mr. Wilson, â€Å"I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.† At this point, Nick may be referring to the â€Å"variety† of classes that are present, as Myrtle and Mr. Wilson are of a lower class, himself of middle class and Tom from the upper echelons of society. It may be seen that Fitzgerald could not stand the behavior of the people he became associated with, however realized that their behavior was a result of what he sought after, in terms of the â€Å"American dream† and therefore feels â€Å"enchanted† by the hedonistic nature of the upper class. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald also highlights the vast socio-cultural divide between classes and as such presents the reader with an ambiguous view of fractured relationships. Clay also presents his own society with undertones of disdain, being cynical of the netherworld through his direct and succinct account of various events that take place. He rarely places emotion or opinion in his description of events and as a result, it seems that he is more of a trustworthy narrator. This is most evident when he recounts the viewing of a â€Å"snuff† movie, â€Å"It looks like a toolbox and I’m confused for a minute and Blair walks out of the room. And he takes out an ice pick and what looks like a wire hanger and a package of nails and then a thin, large knife and he comes toward the girl and Daniel smiles and nudges me in the ribs.† The repeated use of polysyndeton gives the reader the impression that Clay is not properly viewing the movie; instead, he is almost analyzing it as if it were a novel. The lack of sensory description also implies that Clay is trying to distance himself from this and that he sees the crude and disgusting nature of what he is being shown. At this time, snuff films had just been exposed and were not an unknown phenomenon. Therefore, Easton-Ellis may be suggesting that society has lost its moral compass/guidance, being reduced to ignoring such shocking acts. However, in spite of this, Clay does offer himself as a more intellectual individual compared to other characters, by the way he looks at the billboard that is titled â€Å"Disappear Here†. Evidently he does not choose to â€Å"disappear† and instead stays amongst the morally obsolete society that he is attached to and this ultimately leads to the dà ©nouement in which he is forced to leave his society. Both novels differ in the tone in which they are written though the contexts are very similar despite being in diverse decades. On the one hand, there is Nick who is biased towards one specific character and seems to show disdain for the society that he once strived for, and on the other, Clay, who has a more direct approach to narration and more expressively communicates the plot to the reader. Overall, the two narrators are used to convey to very different ideas that are relevant to their contexts. The Great Gatsby is narrated such that the reader is almost forced into liking Gatsby despite his clear superficiality, which is upheld by trivial objects such as â€Å"real books† and medals with â€Å"authentic looks†. Less Than Zero poses are more critical view of society, with the narrator becoming confused by the moral ambiguity and generally growing to hate the society that he belongs to as it has been reduced to individualism and by an large a fractured society whereby â€Å"people are afraid to merge†.