Caryl Churchills Top Girls English Literature Essay

Caryl Churchills Top Girls English Literature Essay Caryl Churchill has a reputation for producing work that examined contemporary issues, often in challenging and confrontational ways and Top girls is no exception. It can be seen in the light of a feminist play due to the reoccurring question that comes up while reading the play of what it means to be a successful woman. Throughout this essay, I will show what is wrong with being a `top girl ´. At the beginning of the play you are introduced to the main character, Marlene, who is a top girl. A top girl being: a woman who is successful in her career. During the play you become aware that Marlene is at the peak of her career and has come a long way from working class to almost upper middle class but that she has made some sacrifices along the way to attain her position. First, she gave her child to her sister, Joyce (p. 80). Next to that, it appears that she has also sacrificed her personal life. She seems to have no real friends to invite to the dinner party and therefor invites historical women. Marlene also has difficulties to find a man that will accept her as the successful woman that she is and that will not try to change her into a `little woman ´ (p. 83). Although Marlene built herself up in her career and is an educated woman, in a different perspective, she is not a top girl. She was not able to manage everything she had and succeed while dealing with it all; hence leaving her child to her sister. According to Marlene she had to choose between her career and being a mother (p. 80). However, Marlenes sister Joyce has sacrificed her personal life and goals to raise her sisters child. Leaving us to question, what good is it being a top girl if its at the expense of other women? According to a feminist view of equality, drive, ambition and ability, Marlene should have been able to juggle her career and her motherhood. She should have not worried about missing out on opportunities. You can conclude at the end of the play that Marlene is not a feminist at all but that she is very much an individualist: `I believe in the individual ´ (p. 84). She worries about herself and her own needs instead of rising to her own personal responsibilities. She believes that everyone creates their own luck because, as she tells her sister Joyce, `Anyone can do anything if they ´ve got what it takes ´ (p. 86). Marlene is a manager at a top girl company and is holding interviews for people to work at the company. During the interviews you notice how ruthless and cold (p. 46) Marlene is in relation to the working world and to who is or is not qualified enough to get the position. You see her take the role of a very business-like male attitude (p. 31). She interrupts the interviewee during their meeting and is very direct in telling them whether they have potential to join the company or not (p. 30). Moreover, Marlene is very aware of her potential and believes that men and woman should have the same rights/opportunities. She makes this clear when she discusses with Howards wife, the man who lost the management position to her, about how the position was given to the most deserving person (p.p 58-59). Howards wife picks up on her male attitude and accuses Marlene of being masculine and unnatural (p. 59). Her co-workers hold the same view as Marlenes, in relation to rejecting the traditional female aspirations of starting a family, and they would rather focus on their careers like Marlene did (p. 58). One co-worker, Nell, does not want to get married (p. 48) and the other, Win, is having an affair with a married man (p. 45). In Act 2, scene 3 you hear Marlenes co-workers talking about their weekend. Win suggests that Nell could get married and continue working. Nells response is a very unnatural one; `or I could go on working and not marry him ´ (p. 48). She is happy to use men for her own pleasure but not to commit to any. When the play was written, in 1982, this response would have been seen more as a male response than a female due to the fact that this was far more a male attitude to have than a woman. All women in this company hold a very professional tone to themselves but they also all adopt very much a male role in relation to their careers and taking care of business (p. 46). Generally women want to settle and start a family, but because they are such business-like women they do not see the need of this and find themselves already fulfilled with their high ranking, successful jobs. Additionally none of the co-workers, like Marlene, are true top girls. They have adopted male behavior instead of developing their own woman inspired role models. They have not excelled in anything besides their career. What is also fallacious about these `top girls ´ is that they do not see men as equals at all and at times discuss their male clients with the term `pretty ´ (p. 50). This presents us with their very degrading view of how they see men in the business environment; however it also shows that they have enough confidence to address men in these terms. One of the aims of the Womans Liberation movement in the 1970s was to change the terminology used to address women such as, baby, sweetie, girl, bird†¦ Interestingly enough these `top girls ´, in the play, use the same terminology to call each other (p. 48, 64). It seems that to them it is ok to call each other these terms but not to have men call them that; which defeats the purpose of female equality and gives a sense of female superiority. You could also say that these top girls do not consider themselves as women but see themselves as successful `people ´ so they do not fall in the category of women fighting for/supporting that issue. Although all woman in the play, after the first act, that are considered as `top girls ´ are woman who have excelled in their career you could argue that Joyce, Marlenes sister, is somewhat a top girl herself. Despite the fact of not having a successful career she is the only character in the play that tries to manage her responsibilities. She has several different jobs, is raising her sisters child and still holds the responsibility of checking on her mother, like she informs Marlene `somebody has to ´ (p. 79). The first scene in the play shows what true top girls were before the feminist movement. It reveals the obstacles that they had to overcome and the freedom that woman nowadays have and take for granted. The women in the first scene are all women who have suffered in some way and have succeeded in being great without the need of going over other women to get there. They succeeded in the dominate-male world they lived in. This is the opposite of how Marlene has succeeded. Marlene succeeded at the expense of other woman. In Act 1 Marlene raises a toast To our courage and the way we changed our lives and our extraordinary achievements ´ (p. 13). The use of `we ´ and `our ´ are very significant; it shows that Marlene considers herself as a woman who has struggled for her success but that has finally gained personal fulfillment. On the contrary, the other women have been through much more than Marlene ever did. These past woman are the true top girls who have been through it all in order for the next generations of woman to be free and independent. It is striking that the only top girl that was obedient to men, Griselda, is the only one who is happy and pleased in her life. You could say that Griselda shows that virtue is its own reward. Marlene never waited for things and made things happen herself; which leads to an intriguing comparison between these characters. Griselda obeyed and waited and in the end is content and happy, while Marlene created her own success but abandoned other important things in her life to get there and is now unsatisfied. You see Marlenes dissatisfaction throughout the whole play, with her drinking, having abortions, not finding a suitable man and trying to make amends with her sister. In conclusion, the title is called `Top girls ´ with an `S ´. The play explores the different versions of `top girls ´ in different eras. These distinct versions of `top girls ´ demonstrates the diversity of womankind. The play demonstrates that women do not have only one quality or one thing that characterizes them like: career women, wives, mothers, daughters or sisters; they are complex individuals like any human being and have to juggle priorities and responsibilities to achieve what they consider to fulfill themselves. These varieties of qualities that women have and that are able to juggle with in life are what should make them a true top girl. Word count:

A Teenager Today Essay

Advantages you might have with being a teenager is that you get your freedom. When you turn sixteen you get your drivers license which could always mean one thing, MORE FREEDOM! What I like about being a teen is the fact that you start high school and you may be the top dog according to elementary school and middle school kids. When becoming a freshman an already being in high school is that there are many clubs, groups, and sports that the regular and physically fit, student body can be apart of. When in high school you could do dance, cheerleading, baseball, ect., clubs, and maybe even JROTC which involves being physically fit to partake in this course. Also the four academic courses that you get a another chance at becoming a better student in knowledge as well as the fine arts credits that you can choose from in the registration form for high school that you get when becoming a freshman. The disadvantages of becoming a teen is the puberty stage of life. Hitting puberty means your body is changing to make you a better looking and acting teen. the other disadvantages that teens may come in contact with is the wrong group that may lead you into doing things that aren’t right. With being in the wrong group can lead to unwanted casualties that are easier to take on when you are a full adult. Being a teen sometimes leads to peer pressure when you are in a bad situation that can be avoided. Some disadvantages to becoming a teen may be driving without the right precautions in mind. Advice to other teens about becoming a teen are that you find the right group or clique to be with for your teenage years. You need to be careful with what you do because if you have parents that are over protective or just really care about your safety, make sure you don’t do anything that might get you into trouble. You need to make sure that if you are being pressured with anything just walk away or tell an adult about what is going on.Don’t go to parties and drink so much that you end up drinking and driving. If you are driving under the influence make sure that you call your parents to come get you even though you might be scared of the outcome. You also need to keep in mind that you may be pressured into trying things that are illegal, so make sure that you also say no to drugs. Things you should say no to drugs, drinking, drinking and driving, sex, pregnancy, and any other unwanted casualties that teens are not ready to handle, even though you think you might be able to , say no!’

An Operational Analysis of Subway Restaurants

Completed By: Olga Gomez, Nancy Guadron, Paula Clark, and Tyann Peres Completed By: Olga Gomez, Nancy Guadron, Paula Clark, and Tyann Peres An Operational Analysis of Subway Restaurants University of Houston-Downtown MGT 3332 Summer 1 Dr. Steven Coy An Operational Analysis of Subway Restaurants University of Houston-Downtown MGT 3332 Summer 1 Dr. Steven CoyTeam Aces came to an agreement and decided to conduct an operational analysis of various Subway Restaurants throughout the Houston and Katy area. Each team member was charged with the task of visiting a Subway location near their residence. This way each member was given the opportunity to observe the concrete steps required for Subway to complete a service from beginning to end. When you hear the words â€Å"fast food,† you imagine being offered a service in which you are quickly in and out with your order, and nothing else to it.In this instance that is not the case; Subway did not become one of the largest sandwich chains overnight. It has taken years of productiveness from the owners, top managers, employees and each customer of Subway. Throughout this paper we will analyze Subway’s operations by identifying the type of process used and the basic layout of their facilities. We will also provide a detailed service blueprint that will help to get a better understanding of the service process from the beginning, when the customer places an order, to the end, when that paying customer walks out the door with their subway sandwich.After visiting our Subway locations, we will also be able to explain the strengths and weaknesses that we observed from the interaction between employees and customers and the overall Subway experience. One of the locations visited and observed during hours of operations was the Subway restaurant located at 19214 Clay Road, Suite A, Katy TX 77449. This restaurant has been serving the Katy community for approximately ten years. This particular location was observed in or der to help create the service blueprint.The service blueprint lists all of the service functions that are performed and the average time expected to achieve the completion of each function. It begins with the customer’s action; the customer walks into the store and places an order, the employee then acknowledges the customer’s request. This is followed by the customer deciding on the size and type of sandwich they would like made. The Subway employee then begins to prepare the customer’s sandwich with their size and type specifications in mind.At this point, the employee asks the customer to decide on their type of meat and cheese, once the customer communicates this decision, the employee adds the requested meat and cheese. He/she gives the customer the choice of having their sandwich toasted or not. If the customer decides to toast the sandwich the employee then proceeds to put it in the toaster for a minute then moves on to adding the dressings and sauces. I f the customer does not want their sandwich toasted, the employee continues along with the process.The interaction continues with the choosing of any vegetables and final touches which may include adding oil and vinegar or salt and pepper at the customer’s request. Finally, as we approach the end of the service process, the employees wraps the sandwich and offers the customer the option of adding a cookie or the option of making their sandwich purchase as a meal, which would then include chips or a drink for a set additional price. Once the customer has chosen, the employee then collects payment to complete the transaction, and hands the order over to the customer, thus concluding the service process.This entire process happens in between the line of interaction. A line of visibility does exist in all Subway locations, on one side you have the components that are visible to the customer, which include the bread baking and all of the products and produce used to make a Subway sandwich. On the other side of the line of visibility, you have those items not visible to the customers’ eyes, which include the preparation of the bread before baking it, the extra vegetables, meat, and cheeses to be cut and prepped, the chips and drinks used to stock the storefront, as well as the storage of all the other products necessary to perations such as paper products, bags and any office supplies. All of this is required in order to ensure the success of the service process. Even though the customer does not realize what exactly occurs behind the line of visibility, it does not mean they don’t care. Every paying customer hopes and expects that their food is being handled and prepared in the safest and best way possible. This means that employees must be equipped to complete all tasks required in the minimal time possible, while maintaining the utmost standards of sanitary handling and preparation.Please refer to blue print 1 for a visual representation of h ow the actual process explained above works. After getting a closer look at how the service process works by completing the blue print you can see that the employees work diligently to complete the process in less than five minutes. From this you can learn that during peak hours which include lunch and dinner rush, employees work faster than normal to meet the 5 minute process standard. This way may cause a customer to feel rushed.For instance if the employee sees that the customer line has exceeded more than five it begins to rush the process; this causes the customer to make abrupt decisions on what they want in their sandwich. At the same time this can easily cause the employees to make mistakes during the process. For instance they can accidently add the wrong vegetables or sauces simple because they are trying to rush through the process in order to get the customer in and out. This urgency of completing the process faster than usual can turn a customer away.Many paying custome rs like to have the undivided attention of the employees since they do feel like they should get their money’s worth through the service. To help both the employees and customers during this circumstances the manager should ensure the employees that yes you might have to pick up the speed to meet the lunch rush demand; but they will have to be courteous without making the customer feel rushed. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Subway location 19214 Clay Road, Suite A, Katy TX 77449

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