Alcoholic Authors Essay Example for Free

Alcoholic Authors Essay The prominence of alcoholism in American literature, at least in the first half of the twentieth century, and the relationship between great authors and alcoholism has become somewhat of a literary cliche. Icons such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Jack Kerouac are as famous for their work as they are infamous for their drinking habits. These authors have created a legend out of themselves just from their notorious habits of drinking. Of the seven native-born Americans awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, five were alcoholics. The list of other twentieth-century American writers also affected with alcoholism is very long. I researched these authors’ lives to find out how they all were infected with the same disease, alcoholism. Some said that drinking boosted their creative abilities, while others thought of it more of an escape from the confines of their own imagination, to which they were bound for all hours of the day. Drinking does fit the loner lifestyle that many of these authors had. It was viewed as a cure for writers block, an escape from their own minds, and most importantly, as a tool to cure the emotional hardships that they endured. It is not a coincidence that the greatest writers and artists also had very troubled childhoods and adult lives. Look at Edgar Allan Poe and Vincent Van Gogh; both were both severely troubled emotionally and depressed, and yet they still produced artistic and literary genius. So what is this connection between alcoholism and the great authors of the early 19th century? I will take an in-depth look at a few of the most influential alcoholic authors, such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Edgar Allan Poe, and Tennessee Williams. I will look at factors that may have led them to their alcoholic habits, such as their childhood, troubled lives, or depression. From there, I will then look at how alcohol affected their works, positively or negatively. And as we all know, alcoholism was also double-edged sword that led to the destruction of their careers, and ultimately to their deaths. I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom. This quote by Edgar Allan Poe perfectly depicts why many of these great authors fell back into the grasp of alcoholism. Many were troubled spirits who had tough lives, and used alcohol as an escape from their woes. Poe’s depression was caused by his alcoholic father, the death of both of his mothers, the death of his loving wife, the separations of his siblings, and an abusive foster father. No doubt, these losses and hardships sculpted Poe into who he was as a person and author. He relied heavily on alcohol to ease his pain. Another notable case of hardships and emotional struggle that led to alcoholism was Tennessee Williams. As a child he was exposed to a very problematic family. His hard-drinking father favored his brother, as Williams was sensitive and seemed to be homosexual at a very young age. He was closest to his sister Rose, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and institutionalized. Later on, he had troubles dealing with his sexuality, which led to heavy drug and alcohol abuse. He married Frank Merlo, whom provided balance to his bouts of rage and alcoholic abuse. Williams sunk into even deeper depression after Merlo left him, because of his alcoholism. Williams won the Pullitzer Prize for Drama after writing, A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948. He wrote this largely based off of events from his own life, most vividly portraying his alcoholic habits through Stanley. Another example of a great author whose troubled life had led him to become an alcoholic is Ernest Hemingway. Like Williams, he was also an award-winning author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. During his final years, Hemingway’s behavior was similar to his father’s before he himself committed suicide. Hemingway was diagnosed with the genetic disease Hemochromatosis, which causes mental and physical deterioration. His brother and sister also committed suicide as well. In addition to Hemingway’s mental illnesses, he was an alcoholic for most of his life. After his death, in the writing, â€Å"Ernest Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy of a Suicide†, Christopher Martin talks about the possible causes of Hemingway’s suicide. He discovers after careful reading of Hemingway’s works, that they reveal the possibility of conditions such as, bipolar disorder, alcoholic dependence, traumatic brain injury, and narcissistic personality traits. Hemingway was obviously troubled mentally and emotionally, and relied heavily on alcohol. Hemingway is one of the most well known alcoholic authors to this day. It was a common trait amongst many of the alcoholic authors to have emotional hardships and struggles. There is no doubt that these authors’ works were affected strongly by their addiction to drinking. As discussed previously, some stated that it boosted creativity, immediately cured writer’s block, and even relaxed them from the pressure of writing. Dr. Donald Goodwin, the author of â€Å"Alcohol and the Writer,† performed research on the correlation between authors and alcoholism. He concluded that writing in itself does not encourage alcoholism. Instead, he suggests that creativity is inspired by insanity because, creative writing requires a rich fantasy life. Alcohol promotes this same fantasy life as it skews ones perceptions. Goodwin concludes that writing and alcoholism are products of the same lifestyle, rather than writing as a profession encouraging alcoholism. â€Å"Writing involves fantasy; alcohol promotes fantasy. Writing requires self-confidence; alcohol bolsters confidence. Writing is lonely work; alcohol assuages loneliness. Writing demands intense concentration; alcohol relaxes. † For example, William Faulkner, from the very beginning of his career, drank while he wrote. He claimed, I usually write at night. I always keep my whiskey within reach. Faulkner was also a Nobel Prize winner for his novels and short stories. Hemingway found whiskey as a sort of relief from his day to day routines, almost medicinal. Hemingway once stated, â€Å"When you work hard all day with your head and know you must work again the next day what else can change your ideas and make them run on a different plane like whisky? † This sort of mindset was one similar amongst many other great authors alike. In Goodwins book, he has a chapter titled, â€Å"The Loner Theory. † Alcoholism is basically a disease of individualism. People who are affected are those who, from early childhood, have a strong sense of being psychologically alone and on their own in the world. These people feel that they can get emotional release from drinking. We can see this individualistic character in many great authors. Goodwin goes on to compare writing and being drunk. He claims, â€Å"Writing and alcohol both produce trancelike states. A gift for creative writing may involve an innate ability to enter trancelike states. Being a loner, may facilitate trancelike states when it is time to write, and encourage drinking to overcome the shyness and ? isolation when it is time to relax. † This reasoning and logic is clearly evident in many of the author’s lifestyles. As much as these tendencies helped many of them produce creative work, it also led to many of their careers’ demise and eventually, death. The infamous drinking habits of Hemingway, Poe, Faulkner, and the like, all eventually led to their death or career demise. Many of these alcoholic authors were on a slow decline creatively. Many thought that their alcoholism deadened their creative thought process and rather turned them into more drab and emotional writers. Faulkner’s prose was slowed down by his sclerosis, while Hemingway’s style was drowned in emotions. Hemingway ridiculed his friend Fitzgerald when he went public in Esquire, talking about his downfall publicly. Hemingway was disgusted, and invited him to cast his, â€Å"balls into the sea—if you have any balls left†. Many authors attempted to get sober but found they could not write without alcohol. Many would just have one big hit and then decline from there, fighting sobriety and the ability to write without alcohol. Hemingway struggled to find happiness later on in life and eventually committed suicide. Faulkner died of a heart attack that was attributed to his heavy alcohol abuse. Edgar Allan Poe’s death was largely due to alcoholism. It is still a bit of a mystery as to how he died, but according to newspaper articles at the time it was due to cerebral inflammation, which is commonly linked with alcoholism. Many of these great authors were known for their great works as well as their drinking habits. Sadly, alcoholism led to many of their declining health in later ages. Their creative spark was slowly dulled over time by drinking, and many lived unhappy lives. There is an irrefutable link between many authors and alcoholism. Many of them happened to live in the same time frame, and were legends amongst the population largely in part to their drinking habits. Their alcoholic tendencies are all largely due to their loner lifestyles that they all shared. No doubt, they had great artistic minds. Many of them were award-winning authors who are icons American literature. However, their drinking habits are just as famous as was their work. Unfortunately, these habits eventually led many of them to their downfall. Many took their own lives, drank until they passed, or died because of other health complications due to alcoholism. Drinking was a cure for writers block, an escape from their own minds, and also a tool to cure their emotional downfalls that their troubled lives had brought upon them. It is not a coincidence that the greatest writers and artists also had very troubled childhoods and even adult lives. There is a direct connection between the tendencies of â€Å"loners† to be dependant on alcohol, and the tendencies of many authors to be loners. In conclusion, many authors had troubled lives and childhoods that led them to become emotionally scarred. This led to alcoholic habits. Next, many of them enjoyed working and writing while intoxicated. It suited their personalities. Alcoholism is an individualistic disease, and writing is typically an individual art form. Just as these authors found comfort in drinking, many of them drank their lives into the gutter; quite literally in Poe’s case. The same thing that they found comfort in, used as a tool for their writing, led them to demise. Their mental and physical health deteriorated, and ultimately many of them died unhappy. However, these authors were legends in literature. Hemingway, Faulkner, Poe, Fitzgerald, and Williams to name a few, all of these authors graced us with their genius, although some of them paid the price of their genius with mental and physical deterioration due to a life-long love affair with alcohol. Works Cited Dardis, Tom. (1989). The Thirsty Muse: Alcohol and the American Writer. Fields. Goodwin, Donald W. (1988). Alcohol and the Writer. Andrews McMeel Publishing Padgett, John B. (2006, August 17). William Faulkner: Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from http://www. mcsr. olemiss. edu/~egjbp/faulkner/wf-faq. html Sedaris, Amy. (2006, December 15). Great American Writers and Their Cocktails. National Public Radio, Retrieved from http://www. npr. org/templates/story/story. php? storyId=662497 Shone, Tom. (2009, 6 15). When Novelists Sober up. Intelligent Life Magazine, Retrieved from.

How to Handle the Situation After Missing a Test or an Important Assign

How to Handle the Situation After Missing a Test or an Important Assignment If you have ever missed a test or failed to turn in a major assignment on time, then you know that the longer you’ve been gone, the harder it becomes to work on that late project. What can you do to break the cycle of avoidance and delay? Realize that your absence weighs heavier on your mind than the other person’s. Advisors are not losing sleep over late dissertation proposals and journal editors aren’t agonizing over missing manuscripts. The project is more important to you than anyone else. Remember, when you do get in touch, the person is unlikely to be angry and punitive. We tend to be much harsher about our own tardiness than we are about other people’s delays. Advisors know it is difficult to write dissertation drafts. Journal editors are accustomed to academics who take a long time to turn around R&R manuscripts. Lower rather than raise your standards when you’re running late. Don’t try to make your work more polished to make up for taking so long. Just try to get something sent out for feedback. End the cycle by chanting to yourself â€Å"A done dissertation is a good dissertation† or â€Å"A published paper is the only paper that counts.† Get in touch even before you have the â€Å"completed product† ready for review. Try to get in touch as soon as you know that you are going to miss the deadline. Let the person know that you are working on your project. Facing your fear of the other person’s disapproval and re-establishing contact, will help lower your anxiety so that you can get back to work Beware of setting deadlines you won’t be able to meet. If you are running late with a project, and you decide to resume contact, try not to set yourself... ...or the point. You’re late. You’re sorry. You’re now doing your best to complete the project. Try a â€Å"practice run† before clicking on the send button. I often advise coaching clients to write a draft of a difficult email without typing in the address to prevent sending an unfinished message accidentally. Often, clients report that once they’ve drafted a short ‘hello’ it feels surprisingly easy to send the email. Keep in mind that even if you get a negative reaction when you revive contact, at least you’ve faced your dread of the unknown. Anticipating how the other person may respond to your missed deadline can feel like a black hole of potential admonishment. Even if your advisor or colleague is angry, at least you can begin to repair the relationship rather than allow resentment to fester. Get in touch and get it over with. You are likely to experience relief.

Quality Metal Service Essay

An overview of cost, profit, revenue, and investment centers Cost classification in accounting also involves the allocation of costs, revenues and responsibilities to various centres or departments. These centres include: == Cost centres == Revenue centres == Profit centres == Investment centres Cost Centres A cost centre (CC) is a unit, location or department where cost data is collected. The purpose of the cost centre is to collect, analyze and ascertain costs in its immediate context. Cost centres usually have cost units—units or equipment for which costs are determinable or attributable. Overheads and direct costs constitute the cost structure of a CC. Since many activities in an organisation involve costs, a cost centre is a fundamental aspect, especially as profit and investment centres can be cost centres. According to the ACCA Study Text (Management accounting, c 1999), cost centres can manifest themselves as a project, a machine, department or overhead costs. One should note that a specific cost centre might not necessarily have other functions. CCs are not limited to production and manufacturing, since they can also be attributed to service centres, like commercial bank branches for example. Revenue Centres These centres deal exclusively with revenue. Even though costs may arise from these areas, the revenue centre is not accountable for costs. Its purpose is primarily to maximise sales and revenue. Profit centre The profit centre addresses both costs and revenue. Therefore, the manager responsible for a profit centre is accountable for the purchases and sales for that unit, department or branch. Since both revenue and costs fall under the purview of the profit centre, it is both a cost and revenue centre, although a revenue centre is not a profit centre and a cost centre might not necessarily be a profit centre. Investment centres Investment centres are profit centres that are accountable for cost, revenues and net assets for capital investment. This unit is assessed by return on investment and is a cost centre. Managers in an investment centre are responsible for purchasing capital or non-current assets and making investment decisions with capital. Investment centres Investment centres are profit centres that are accountable for cost, revenues and net assets for capital investment. This unit is assessed by return on investment and is a cost centre. Managers in an investment centre are responsible for purchasing capital or non-current assets and making investment decisions with capital. Responsibility centres are the umbrella term for cost, profit, revenue and investment centres, since their performance is under the direct control of a manager. The cost centre concept is present in profit and investment centres. The profit centre can be stand alone or, with additional responsibilities, an investment centre. Revenue centres operate in a similar manner to cost and profit centres, but their managers are primarily responsible for maximizing revenues and sales. An accountant needs to know the different types of centres to understand the information needs and requirements of the managers of the various units. Responsibility Centres A responsibility centre is an organizational subsystem charged with a well-defined mission and headed by a manager accountable for the performance of the centre. â€Å"Responsibility centres constitute the primary building blocks for management control.† It is also the fundamental unit of analysis of a budget control system. Aresponsibility centre is an organization unit headed by a responsible manager. There are four major types of responsibility centres: cost centres,revenues centres, profit centres and investment centres. Cost Centre A cost centre is a responsibility centre in which manager is held responsible for controlling cost inputs. There are two general types of cost centres: engineered expense centres and discretionary expense centres. Engineered costs are usually expressed as standard costs. A discretionary expense centre is a responsibility centre whose budgetary performance is based on achieving its goals by operating within predetermined expense constraints set through managerial judgement or discretion. Revenue Centre A revenue centre is a responsibility centre whose budgetary performance is measured primarily by its ability to generate a specified level of revenue. Profit Centre In a profit centre, the budget measures the difference between revenues and costs. Investment Centre An investment centre is a responsibility centre whose budgetary performance is based on return on investment. The uses of responsibility centres depend to a great extent on the type of organization structure involved. Engineered cost centres, discretionary expense centre, and revenue centres are more often used with functional organization designs and with the function units in a matrix design. In contrast, with a divisional organization designs, it is possible use profit centres because the large divisions in such a structure usually have control over both the expenses and the revenues associated with profits.

Substance Use And Substance Abuse - 1269 Words

1. Describe your understanding of â€Å"substance use† versus â€Å"substance abuse† and why these concepts should be of concern for child welfare workers (Chapter 6)? Substance use and substance abuse is hazard for anyone associated with the issue. However, it is life changing ordeal for children who life decisions are made by individuals who is suffering from either of these problems. Nonetheless, to understand the severity of substance abuse and substance use is to define each issue and the role it plays in a child’s life. Substance use is the use of a substance to achieve a desired effect or intoxication level, a substance taken in larger amount for longer period than attend, and unsuccessful attempts to reduce or control substance use. Substance abuse is use of a problem associated with legal issues such as; physical and sexual abuse, and use of substance to fulfill the loss of a role concerning life work, school, or marriage. There are aspects of substance abuse and substance use that concern a child welfare worker. One aspect is females who is sexually active or pregnant that is at-risk of either of these problems. These children are at-risk of birth defects this is caused by drinking or use of street drugs during pregnancy (â€Å"Facts about Birth,† 2014). In addition, to the aspect of specially challenged children who suffer abuse or maltreatment. According to the literature 25% of children who suffer abuse have a special challenge (Harris, Lager, Mather, 2007). The substanceShow MoreRelatedSubstance Use And Substance Abuse1813 Words   |  8 PagesStatistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR. The DSM defines substance dependence as a â€Å"maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress† It defines these as the symptoms of substance dependence â€Å"tolerance as defined by A.need for markedly increased amount of the substance to achieve desired effect. B. 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