Sunday, May 6, 2012

Introduction

My name is Kimberly Hallows and I am an English Major with an emphasis in Professional Writing at The University of Texas at San Antonio. I have compiled eight samples of my work from English courses in this blog. This collection includes four research papers with the works cited. I have also included excel documents, a memo, a business plan, and a professional letter. Thank you for taking the time to review my work.

Breeding in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: The physical and psychological affect empire left on the flesh of women


Kimberly Hallows
Professor Hurtado
English 3133
8 May 2012
Breeding in Toni Morrison’s Beloved:
The physical and psychological affect empire left on the flesh of women
Examination of Toni Morrison’s Beloved demonstrates how empire is written on the flesh of African American women that are enslaved. The slave owners psychologically and physically scar the African American women in this novel. The women’s bodies are marked by over breeding, physical scars left when the women are raped or resist rape, and the psychological scars caused by this abuse. The empire written on these women’s bodies causes them to lose their sense of self-worth and become numb to occurrences that many people are emotionally disturbed by, such as the murder of a child.
Research of Toni Morrison’s life and her personal feelings towards her novel gives insight to what influenced the birth of the novel, while sociohistorical information provides further evidence of the ill treatment of women in slavery. Enslaved women in America were treated just as Beloved exposes, with women having no choice when it comes to how their bodies are used. The psychological scarring caused by this ill treatment is uniquely examined by Kathleen Marks, who claims that the characters in Beloved, mainly Sethe, resist the evil they encounter by embodying evil themselves.

Excel Worksheet: Speedy Seasons Cash Position Chart


Excel Worksheet: Speedy Seasons Expense Budget


Pride and Prejudice: A Fairy Tale


Kimberly Hallows
Professor Karen Dodwell
English 3113
10 April 2011
Pride and Prejudice: A Fairy Tale
In Daryl Jones’s critical essay on Pride and Prejudice, he asserts claims that the novel is in fact a fairy tale,
in which opposites attract, and in which a feisty, intelligent heroine in financially strained circumstances overcomes the opposition of a backward-looking tradition and authority, as well as the preconceptions about class and money to which her own skeptical intelligence has initially predisposed her, to win the hand of a man who is effectively the richest man in England. (Jones 149)
Other critics however, such as Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, claim that the women in Austen’s novels are simply submitting to authority, allowing themselves to began marriages that lack any free will or emotional involvement. I have to argue with Jones that while the aforementioned is sometimes true in Austen’s novels, there are exceptions in Pride and Prejudice; The women in this novel, for the most part, are hoping to not only marry for security, but also hope to be swooned by a respectable suitor, making Pride and Prejudice a fairy tale.

Female Ambition and Refusal of Paternal Figures in Charlotte Bronte’s The Professor


Kimberly Hallows
Professor Dodwell
English 3113
February 10, 2012
Female Ambition and Refusal of Paternal Figures in Charlotte Bronte’s The Professor
In The Professor by Charlotte Bronte, William Crimsworth describes a chain of events that lead him to marry a student of his, Frances Henri. Williams’ account of the story leads the reader to believe that Henri solely accepts him as a paternal male figure, however, “Both her pronounced independence and her unmistakable emotional separateness from him do not correspond to Crimsworth’s portrait view of her” (Tromly 116). Henri is a very intelligent, independent young woman, whom I argue marries William Crimsworth in order to fabricate a life that she could not, as a woman in the nineteenth century, create on her own.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The physical and psychological affect empire left on the flesh of women used for breeding in Toni Morrison’s Beloved


Kimberly Hallows
Professor Hurtado
March 9, 2012
English 3133
The physical and psychological affect empire left on the flesh of women used for breeding in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Examination of Toni Morrison’s Beloved demonstrates how empire is written on the flesh of African American women that are enslaved. The slave owners psychologically and physically scar the African American women in this novel. The women’s bodies are marked by over breeding, physical scars left when the women are raped or resist rape, and the psychological scars caused by this abuse. The empire written on these women’s bodies causes them to lose their sense of self-worth and become numb to occurrences that many people are emotionally disturbed by, such as the murder of a child.

Speedy Seasons Funding Letter


SS
7845 New Heights Avenue
San Antonio, Texas 78249

Phone: (210) 601-7656




April 9, 2012

Stephen Roberts
Owner
Regent Investments
1209 West Boulevard
San Antonio, Texas 78230

Dear Mr. Roberts,

My associates and I would like to open a restaurant called Speedy Seasons, which is the purpose of this letter. Speedy Seasons will be a fast food restaurant, where healthy, affordable foods will be served. The College community is becoming more and more interested in eating healthy, locally grown foods but they are on a budget that many companies don’t cater to.  Speedy Seasons will be a low profit company, and that will enable us to keep the prices affordable.
My associates and myself are predicting high sales from opening day, due to the high demand for healthy food in the Huebner Oaks area, where we will open our business. As I mentioned, we are keeping profit to a minimum, which we will do by paying ourselves moderate salaries.
One million dollars is being invested by my associates and myself, however, we have unmet funding for some expenses. We need five hundred thousand dollars from you in order to fund a marketing campaign. We will agree to a five percent interest rate and will repay this loan by March 1, 2022.
My accountant Bob Williams would like to meet with you in order to discuss our proposition further. Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that we may set up a meeting for next week.

Sincerely,




Kimberly Hallows
Owner
kimhallows@speedyseasons.com


KH/lm
Enclosure: Abbreviated Business Plans
Cc: West Smith, John Smith, West Smith, Bob Williams.

Speedy Seasons Business Plan


Table of Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………….2
Funding Plan…………………………………………………………...3
Setup Plan………………………………………………………….......6
Marketing Plan………………………………………………………....9



Introduction
            This is a plans document. Speedy Seasons is a restaurant we have agreed to open and operate together in order to provide the public with a healthy option for eating on the go. This document describes, in detail, the actions we plan to take to make our dream a reality.
            The funding section provides all the information we need to fund opening and operating this business. The setup section describes the tasks that need completion in order to physically form the business. Finally, the marketing plans will be our guide to drawing in business and becoming a successful business.

Speedy Seasons Memo


SS
MEMO
Speedy seasons
TO:                  John Smith, West Smith, Bob Williams
FROM:           Kimberly Hallows
DATE:            February 20,2012
SUBJECT:     Our Vision, Mission and Values
Speedy Seasons will be the first restaurant in San Antonio to change the way people view healthy eating. As promised during our discussion on February 10, 2012, I am outlining our decisions regarding the vision, mission and values of our business. I look forward to enhancing and lengthening the lives of our customers with each of you.
Vision Statement
We will open Speedy Seasons at the Huebner Oaks Shopping Center in January of 2013. During the first year we will become San Antonio’s preferred health food restaurant as a convenient, affordable choice. We hope to change the way San Antonio residents, college students primarily, view healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle.
Our employees will be just as important as our customers. We will offer competitive wages, free employee meals and flexible schedules. Satisfied employees will equal satisfied customers.
The sales goals we discussed will be as follows. We expect gross sales to equal 1.5 million dollars in the first year and we will profit 100,000 dollars. This low profit is what we decided upon in order to keep our prices lower for our customers.
Mission Statement
Speedy Seasons will provide the most affordable and convenient option in nutritious eating by keeping our profits minimal in order to keep prices affordable. Speedy Seasons will change the way college students, and hopefully other clientele, view health food over the course of only one year. We will provide the fastest, freshest and most affordable fast food in the San Antonio area.
We will locate a building soon and Bob will begin the process of leasing the space. Once this has been completed and all necessary equipment has been purchased, John and West will create our menu using the skills they have developed during their many years in the restaurant industry. We discussed having several menu options available including salads, sandwiches, burgers and soups. Each of these items will cost our customers no more than seven dollars per meal, which will be a competitive advantage in the industry we have chosen. Our meals will contain only high-quality organic foods from local distributors, which we will locate at the Pearl Brewery’s Farmer’s Market. I will be attending one soon in order to select growers to go under contract with. Our reputation will be just as we discussed if we utilize only the finest ingredients.
We will begin advertising for hiring and plan to hire 25 employees. We will need cashiers, food preparers, and a cleaning crew. Our entire staff should be passionate about our vision.
Our success will encourage our competitors, the other fast food businesses in town, to change their menus and provide healthier food.
Values Statement
The values of this company are very important to us all. Our success as a company will depend solely on our success in changing the minds of college students so that they eat more healthily.
As we agreed, our products will be of the highest quality. Buying local, organic produce is the best way to maintain our quality standard.
We will also provide excellent customer service by going above and beyond for each person we serve. We will have one opportunity with each customer to make a great first impression, which will spark our success. The way we will do this is by valuing our employees.
We will provide a comfortable working environment for all of our employees so that they are able to perform to the very best of their abilities. Each employee will be knowledgeable of the products we sell, where they are purchased and how they are prepared. We would like for them to be knowledgeable and as passionate about our service as we are. We will offer excellent pay and opportunities for advancement as our success increases. Those performing extraordinarily will be rewarded for their dedication to the company.
Closing Statement
Now that we have a plan and have agreed upon goals, I believe that our company will become exactly what we envision. I am very excited to begin the process and work with all of you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any further questions or input.




Thank you,
Kimberly Hallows
210-601-8344