The Meaning of the Pseudonym Mark Twain

The Meaning of the Pseudonym Mark Twain Samuel Clemens used several pseudonyms  during his long writing career. The first was simply  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Josh,† and the second was â€Å"Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.† But, the author wrote his best-known works, including such American classics as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, under the pen name Mark Twain. Both books center on the adventures of two boys, the namesakes for the novels, on the Mississippi  River. Not surprisingly, Clemens adopted his pen name from his experiences piloting steamboats up and down the Mississippi. Navigational Term Twain literally means two. As a riverboat pilot, Clemens would have heard the term, Mark Twain, which means two fathoms, on a regular basis. According to the UC Berkeley Library, Clemens first used this pseudonym  in 1863, when he was working as a newspaper reporter in Nevada, long after his riverboat days. Clemens became a riverboat cub, or trainee, in 1857. Two years later, he earned his full pilots license and began piloting the  steamboat  Alonzo Child  upriver from New Orleans in January 1861.  His piloting career was cut short when riverboat traffic ceased at the start of the Civil War that same year. Mark Twain means  the second mark on a line that measured depth, signifying two fathoms, or 12 feet, which was a safe depth for riverboats. The method of dropping a line to determine the waters depth was a way to read the river and avoid submerged rocks and reefs that could  tear the life out of the strongest vessel that ever floated, as Clemens wrote in his 1863 novel, Life on the Mississippi.   Why Twain Adopted the Name Clemens, himself, explained in Life on the Mississippi why he chose that particular moniker for his most famous novels. In this quote, he was referring to  Horace E. Bixby, the grizzled pilot who taught Clemens to navigate the river during his two-year training phase: The old gentleman was not of literary turn or capacity, but he used to jot down brief paragraphs of plain practical information about the river, and sign them MARK TWAIN, and give them to the New Orleans Picayune. They related to the stage and condition of the river, and were accurate and valuable; and thus far, they contained no poison. Twain lived far from the Mississippi (in Connecticut) when The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published in 1876. But, that novel, as well as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, published in 1884 in the United Kingdom and in 1885 in the United States, were so infused with images of the Mississipi River that it seems fitting that Clemens would use a pen name that so closely tied him to the river. As he navigated the rocky path of his literary career (he was beset with financial problems through much of his life), its fitting that he would choose a moniker that defined the very method riverboat captains used to safely navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of the mighty Mississippi.

Free sample - Corporate Labor Relations. translation missing

Corporate Labor Relations. Corporate Labor RelationsLabor relations are an expansive concept which mostly guides the relationships between employers and employees. While labor relations are mostly applied when the relationship involves employees in trade unions but also they can apply for those not in unions. Labor relations are integrated into a national policy on labor.   The government and a nation’s various regulations provide to the industry principles regarding the treatment of employees. In the United States of America, labor relations gained a huge boost with the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in the year 1935. The National Labor Relations Act gave most employees these rights. The case was upheld by the high court around the year 1937. The National Labor Relations Act 1935 also advocates for affirmative action. Affirmative action refers to an employer giving equal employment opportunities to the employees (Ackers, 2003; Kaufman, 2004). The employer is not supposed to discriminate the employees along whatever line be it race, color, religion, origin, sex, age, citizenship or even disability. Any discrimination based on whatever characteristics would be treated as a breach of labor relations and rights. Forms of breach of labor relations Many organizations in the US have for long time discriminated workers along the lines of race. Many organizations in the United States of America absorb whites at the expense of the black Americans. If all the unemployed black Americans were to replace the employed white workers only 1 per cent of the whites will be affected. This shows how important the affirmative action is and all the employers need to be compelled to adopt it. The other phenomenon of breach of the labor relations is captured in the poor working conditions. This means that they are not entitled to any benefits, their pay is poor and they cannot join the existing trade unions. With such working conditions, those casual workers operate as if they do not have rights. The labor relations call for employers to ensure job security for all their employees. Many organizations do not allow for permanent terms which require the employee to sign for appointment contract which stipulates the terms and conditions of the job including the grounds and arrangements upon which an employee can be laid off. Breach of labor relations is always illegal. This is because it violates human rights. It also breaks the law governing labor in the United States of America. As a result breach of labor relations is a civil case answerable in a court of law. National Labor Relations Act 1935 of the US has quite a number of options to deal with such case of breach of labor relations. One of the common options is by ensuring that the complainant is fully compensated for any damages. The compensation can be monetary or incase the employee was laid off to be reinstated. Another option is fining the organization and letting the fine go to the government’s kitty. The organization can also be compelled to adopt the regulation and execute it to all its employees. This will ensure that employees get more permanent terms, job security, better pays, form trade unions which can fight for their rights when need be. In conclusion, there are two broad forms which breach of labor relations can take. The first form of breach includes discrimination of the person along a given line For instance. color or race. This influences who gets a job and who does not. The other form is as a result of violating human rights For instance. poor working conditions.

Im One Archie Anderson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Im One Archie Anderson - Essay Example Environmental campaigns have also raised the need for alternative, renewable sources of energy within the society to conserve natural resources for posterity. The issue of environmental pollution caused by the burning of the fuels from this industry has led to an extensive criticism of the oil and gas industry in a harsh way. The I’m One Campaign sought to handle these crises by documenting all the benefits oil and gas to the American society. It reviews numerous aspects in which oil and gas are fundamental to the society to persuade them to support the industry. The advertisements states facts about the dependence of oil and the benefits it has to the American fraternity. Jobs, education and day to day activities within the American society get reviewed in the advertisement, and their relation to the existence of oil gets developed in the advertisement to enlighten the American consumers. (AmericanPetroleumInstitute) According to the campaign, 9.2 billion jobs in the US get maintained by the gas and oil industry. The capitalist nature of the US makes this statistic a welcome one as the citizens are in a constant mission to attain economic stability. The recession hit the country dearly leading to reduced job security, and thus any effort to improve the situation shall get immense support. This advertisement aims at this niche to enable the embracing of the oil and gas industry. The jobs that got covered in the campaign that get supported by the oil and gas industry were numerous. Among them were mechanics, power pricers, researchers, marketing coordinators, design engineers, field engineers, chemists, landmen and environmental, health and safety technicians. This long list in their advertisement brings out the quantity aspect of the benefits of the oil and gas industry. It goes to a personal level in naming the respective discipline apart from mentioning the staggering statistic of 9.2 billion