The Roaring Twenties The Age of Degeneration Essay Example Essay Example

The Roaring Twenties: The Age of Degeneration Essay Example Paper The Roaring Twenties: The Age of Degeneration Essay Introduction The Roaring Twenties: The Age of Degeneration Moral values, the standards of good and evil, are the foundation of a society, allowing a person to value integrity and make the right choices. However, during the Roaring Twenties in the United States, as we enter a new era of cultural and economic dynamism, the values are being overthrown by the new lust for money, power, and most important of all, pleasure. The Great Gatsby Juxtaposes the new moneys extravagant life and the old moneys crumbling aristocratic values. F. Scott Fitzgerald exposes this dramatic phenomenon in his novel, where he crafts a trikingly realistic painting of the society in the Roaring Twenties, where materialism thrives and leads to the loss of moral standards. Jay Gatsbys world revolves around a single dream that he holds as the lifeline in his story. It is a dream of wealth and aristocracy. After his adventure in luxury with Dan Cody, who becomes his father fgure, Gatsby finds his dream embodied by Daisy Fay, be cause â€Å"Her voice is full of money’ (Fitzgerald 120). She represents wealth and class. She has a very lighthearted conduct and charismatic behavior. She is â€Å"the golden girl† (Fitzgerald 120), born in a ealthy, upper-class society, and married to a rich man. However, we also see that her shiny image is only a fapde to cover her degeneration. We first catch a glimpse of her true character when she decides to confide to Nick that â€Å"the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool† (Fitzgerald 17). The Roaring Twenties: The Age of Degeneration Essay Body Paragraphs She fully embraces the new concept of women in the Roaring Twenties and is ready to give up her self-respect to conserve her luxurious lifestyle. Daisy also shows the lack of maternal love. Even though she is a mother, she is so engrossed in her love affairs and lavish life that she never takes care of her daughter. She only dresses Pammy up for special occasions, as if her daughter is Just another possession in order to promote her image. In Gatsbys vision, Daisy is symbolized by the green light on her dock. It holds a â€Å"colossal significance† (Fitzgerald, 93) because it is the color of money and envy. Daisy is the perfect example to illustrate the prevailing rise of materialism in the Roaring Twenties. Another woman, who is seemingly the perfect opposite of Daisy Fay, is also a model woman of the Roaring Twenties. Myrtle Wilson belongs to the working class but wishes to strive in the social ladder and acquire the extravagant lifestyle of the icher classes. She is ready t o have an affair with a man who wants her only as a tool to relieve his stress. She is his escape to another life, where he can fully express his most odious sides. However, in the end, it is this exact same dream, which at first may seems like an escape to her, that kills Myrtle in the most violent way. Instead of working hard to gain her position, she lets her materialistic needs bring the dissolution of her morality. Ironically, Myrtle is killed by a luxury car, which symbolizes wealth and independence. This lust for money, characteristic of the Roaring Twenties, has destroyed her. The rise of materialism is symbolized most strongly through the eyes of T. J. Eckleberg. The advertisement sign of T. J. Eckleberg is sltuatea In tne valley 0T Asnes, a place tnat Iles Detween New York ana tne west Egg. It is where all the waste from New York and the Eggs are stored, causing piles of ashes swallowing everything. We can consider it as a backstage for the lavish life in New York and the Eggs, where all unpleasantness produced by the upper class’s glamorous lives is stored and hidden. George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, lives and works there. After his wife’s tragic death, he points at the advertisement sign of T. J. Eckleberg and claims that â€Å"God sees everything† (Fitzgerald 160) The fact that T. J. Eckleberg is considered by George as a God shows the disorientation of the Twenties’ society. Hidden behind the glimmering lights of the cities, the Valley of Ashes represents the decaying morality of the society. The concept of God is lost, and the people are desperately looking for a spiritual guidance in their life. But only an advertisement board represents this guidance. This fact shows that materialism has conquered spiritual values and has now become the societys religious belief. Fitzgerald uses this striking image to convey the power of materialism over the society. We can observe the collapsing self-discipline through almos t every character in this novel. This perversion of character shows the extent of corruption throughout the society. Jordan Baker, who is Nick Carraways romantic interest, is a perfect example. Even though she is the narrator’s lover, the description of her conduct makes it impossible for the readers to sympathize with Nick. She is a very careless person. She is a â€Å"rotten driver† (Fitzgerald, 58) but she still drives hastily because â€Å"it takes two to make an accident† (Fitzgerald, 58). Jordan’s arguments prove that she is a haughty, irresponsible woman who believes that she should never take the blame. Furthermore, Nick notes that she is â€Å"incurably dishonest† (Fitzgerald 58) because she cheated during sport competitions. She also chooses to lie because it was easier to be dishonest in order to â€Å"satisfy the demands of her hard, Jaunty body’ (Fitzgerald 58). Jordan Baker always chooses to obey her physical needs at the expe nse of her virtues. This carelessness is not exclusive to Jordan, but is a shared trait between almost every character in this novel, like Tom Buchanan for example. He is hypocrite ho uses Myrtle as a way to satisfy his physical needs. He owns an apartment in New York where he holds his affair. We can observe through his visit in his love nest that the people in New York witness unfaithfulness with nonchalance, as if it has become a habitual thing. At Myrtle and Tom’s party, we can fully witness these people’s carelessness. The guests drink excessively and the hosts â€Å"disappeared† (Fitzgerald 29) to make love in spite of their guests’ presence. Myrtle also spends money carelessly, buying too much furniture for the apartment. She also buys a dog spontaneously but abandons it to die. The party at Tom and Myrtle’s love nest exposes the immorality of the city. As a narrator in this novel, Nick Carraway shares with his readers that he is disgusted b y the carelessness of Jordan, Daisy, Tom and the whole society in general. However, he can see one person who he can still respect. That person is Gatsby. After Gatsbys death, Nick leaves the East because of the â€Å"foul dust [that] floated in the wake of [Gatsbys] dreams [has] temporarily closed out [his] interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men† (Fitzgerald 2). Even though Gatsby has a very dark past, he is fundamentally a good person. We can see through his childhood notebook that he considers being â€Å"better to parents† (Fitzgerald 173) an important quality that he needs to remember. HIS only Dao aeclslon Is to devote nls entlre IITe to Daisy. He nas turned ner Into nls absolute dream. In order to achieve this dream, he has to attach his life to â€Å"the foul dust,† which is the criminal and extravagant life that Gatsby leads in order to be worthy of Daisy. He even sacrifices his own life to protect Daisy from her crime. Gatsby is worth â€Å"the whole damn bunch put of together† (Fitzgerald 154) because Daisy, Tom and Jordan, even though not associated to organized crimes, are even ore immoral than he. Nicks acquaintance with Gatsby unravels the degeneration of his society, corrupted by the interminable seeking of â€Å"elations† through wealth, alcohol and sex. Nick is â€Å"one of the few honest people† (Fitzgerald, 59) in this novel. Although, he does lie occasionally, his lies are said in good intentions. For example, when Henry C. Gatz arrives at Gatsbys mansion upon hearing the news of his son’s death, Nick states that they are â€Å"close friends† (Fitzgerald 168). As a person who always tries to value moral standards, I understand Nicks feelings when he gives this ie. I do not believe that this dishonesty puts him on the same level as Jordan Baker or other dishonest character, because his lie isn’t said to protect himself, but to protect another from unne cessary pain. I also have been put into circumstances where telling the truth would be too rude or hurtful to the other person, so I also lied, just like Nick. I believe that sometimes, saying the truth would be the wrong thing to do, given the circumstances. For example, my cousin had a hamster that she dearly loved. One day, she was enrolled in a very prestigious mathematics competition, and he had to travel to another country to participate in it. I came to her house after she left, to congratulate her parents, only to find out that her hamster had died while she was away. From then on, whenever she called home and asked about her hamster’s health, I always reassured her by saying that he was fine. This lie allowed her to concentrate on her exams and eventually get good results. Even though I lied, it was in good intention because I knew that the truth would be too much pain for her to handle. This experience allows me to understand Nicks intention and feelings. F. Scott. Fitzgerald, through this novel, criticizes the materialism of the Roaring Twenties’ society, as we enter the phase of transition between old-fashioned, conservative standards and modern, freethinking ideals. We can hear Fitzgerald’s voice through Nick Carraways ending prediction about the â€Å"orgastic future that year by year recedes from us† (Fitzgerald, 180). We can understand his emphasis on physical pleasure through the word orgastic. Fitzgerald contemplates that the future we all hope for is forever out of reach of the disoriented society of 1920s. Works Cited http://www. thefreedictionary. com/orgastic We will write a custom essay sample on The Roaring Twenties: The Age of Degeneration Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Roaring Twenties: The Age of Degeneration Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Roaring Twenties: The Age of Degeneration Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Review of Wordfast Strengths and Weaknesses of This Translation Memory Tool

Review of Wordfast Strengths and Weaknesses of This Translation Memory Tool With the recent advancements in the sphere of computer technologies and the advent of ICT translation productivity tools, translation can be regarded as not only craft, but also a rapidly growing industry. Whereas the translations are paid by the word count, the translator’s productivity is defined as the greatest number of words translated at the lowest price and within the minimal time period.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Review of Wordfast: Strengths and Weaknesses of This Translation Memory Tool specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Translation memory (TM) is a software program aimed at enhancing the productivity of individual translators and translators’ groups through storing the segments of the translated texts in the computerized databases and retrieving hits during the following translations. It allows not only not to translate the same or similar units twice, but also to achieve consistency in t erminology within different projects or different translators. Wordfast as one of the world-known budget TMs has its strengths and weaknesses which will be reviewed in this report. The main strengths of Wordfast The budget price, the available demo version and understandable manual are recognized by most translators using it as the main advantages of Wordfast. The 350 Euros as the price for downloading this CAT tool directly from Wordfast corporate website is significantly lower compared to its much more expensive analogues, such as Trados and DÃ ©j vu, for example. Another significant strength of Wordfast is the availability of not only a demo version which can be downloaded for free, but also the unlimited trial period which allows using this demo version for training purposes as long as the translator needs. Actually, it is possible even to use it in work because the request to pay for the software appears only after the program exceeds the limit of 500 translation units. Thus, even after the TM is full, the translator can create a new one and continue working with a demo version. Moreover, a very large translation memory (VLTM) for Wordfast have created recently and can be downloaded for free so that to overcome the above-mentioned limitation. The learning curve is one of the most important advantages of Wordfast. Its manual is relatively brief, straightforward and easy to follow.Advertising Looking for essay on programming? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Regarding the technical characteristics, the TM editor, sentence-based segments, project management strength and the standards compliance can be regarded as the main strengths of Wordfast. As to the TM editor criterion, it can be stated that working in Word documents as the accustomed environment allows the translator to reduce the time required for learning the main features offered by Wordfast. Moreover, this tool can also be used for working with Excel and Power Point documents. The sentence based units used in Wordfast are more convenient as compared to the translational suites working with the whole texts. The compliance with the main standards allows sharing the TMs even with those who use other types of CAT software. A set of tools called PlusTools included into Wordfast is another advantage of this software which allows simplifying the procedures of aligning the source and target texts before starting work on a particular project. Opening the PlusTools and clicking on the Align button, the translator can process the source and target texts which will appear either in the table format in one document or in the two documents placed side by side on the screen. The search engine of Wordfast allows finding not only exact, but also fuzzy matches with certain extent of deviation between the source and target units. The match rate indicating the degree of correspondence appears between the two segments and allows t he translator to estimate the appropriateness of using certain matches in the context of a particular project. It is also possible to use the * wildcard instead of the end of the term in case if various endings are possible. This feature is intended to make the search process more effective. It is possible to perform searches on both regular and background TMs so that to define whether a particular term is appropriate for the concrete text.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Review of Wordfast: Strengths and Weaknesses of This Translation Memory Tool specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Wordfast not only allows accelerating the translation process, enhancing the translator’s productivity by economizing time and resources, but also allows preserving the consistency of terminology among the various projects which is usually appreciated by the customers. Moreover, it is much easier to work with the colored text fields as compared to working with glancing back and forth between the white screen of the two documents with the source and target texts. The sentence-based segmentation encourages a translator to concentrate efforts on only one sentence at a time which is les tiresome for the translator’s eyes. It means that working with Wordfast would enhance the productivity even if there are no many repetitions in the document. The main weaknesses of Wordfast Recognizing the variety of benefits of using Wordfast in the translation process, it should be noted that the use of this ACT program can have a number of unintended negative implications for the quality of the target text and the translation process in general. One of the most significant disadvantages of working with Wordfast is the concentration on only one segment at a time which can become a hurdle for the high quality translation. Though this feature has been mentioned above as one of the advantages of this software it actually can c ut both ways. Thus, concentrating on only one sentence, the translator fails to consider the whole context. Moreover, in most cases the segment-by-segment approach would not allow creating cohesive texts in terms of their style and tone. The problem is that changing the sentence and especially the paragraph structure will result in creating non-existing matches, whereas the TM tool is unable to indicate the changes which were performed for the purpose of improving the style and automatically matches the segments in the source and target documents.Advertising Looking for essay on programming? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, the Wordfast interface is inappropriate for proofreading the target documents, and the translators to look for the ways out so that not to distort the created match units which can cause the errors in following translations. The automatic application of a given translation found in TM within the whole text can result in error propagation. For example, when a customer provides the TMs before the beginning of the translators’ work on the project, the provided files can contain translation mistakes which would complicate the translation processes instead of optimizing it. On the other hand, committing a mistake and incorporating it into the customer’s TM will result in further error propagation because this TM can be sent to other translators working with the customer in future. In general, the translators can never fully rely on TMs. Regarding the use of the * wildcard at the end of the term while working with the search engine, it should be noted that it can be pl aced only after four characters from the beginning of the entry. However, there are lots of cases when the wildcard has to be placed earlier for enhancing the effectiveness of search. Thus, this feature is a bit incomplete and requires further consideration from developers. Regardless of the fact that the initial version of Wordfast was developed for Windows and Macintosh, currently, most of the links to the software compatible with Macintosh are dead. Thus, the Macintosh version can hardly be found online. The psychological aspect of depending upon Wordfast which can be developed after getting accustomed to working with the tool can be regarded as another drawback of using this software. In general, most of Wordfast features cut both ways and can result in both positive and negative implications for the translation process, not only allowing individual translators and translators’ teams to enhance their productivity and preserve the terminology consistency within the project s, but also requiring translators’ advanced professionalism and concentration for preventing the error propagation. Conclusion Wordfast as one of the world-known TM software is appreciated for its budget price, unlimited trial period, the wide range of features and straightforward and easy to follow guidelines as compared to its analogues. However, apart from all its strengths allowing the translators to enhance the productivity and convenience of the translation process, Wordfast has a number of features which can result in unintended negative implications and deserve the developers’ consideration. In that regard, the interface of the program does not allow proofreading the target documents for style and tone and the automatic application of the translation match to the whole document can result in error propagation.