When It All Began

When I began kindergarten I was able to print my name in large letters. But the school was teaching me to write from scratch. I was put into advanced writing because the school linked writing to reading, and I was an advanced reader. I was not an advanced writer. At that age, I lacked the small-muscle control for precise penmanship, and I usually found my writing lessons an unpleasant, frustrating struggle. I squeaked through without being singled out as a poor student, but I began to dislike and feel anxious about writing. In my first and last week of first grade, I learned what it meant to fall behind. We were no longer in reading and writing groups. Before recess one day, everyone in class was assigned to write their name ten times. With my usual care and diligence, I began to work. When it was time for recess, I was the only student who hadn’t finished. Doing a half-ass job just to be done on time had never occurred to me. In my six-year-old view of life, doing something meant doing it as best as I could, there were no other options. Seeing my unfinished work, my teacher jumped to the worse conclusion. While the other kids went out for brief chance to play, she and her aide kept me inside for a lecture on how I needed to work harder. They assumed I had no finished because I had not tried, and when I told them I couldn’t work faster, the ignored this as if it must be a lie. As so often happens to student in schools, I was presumed to be lazy, dishonest, and driven by the worst intentions. At age six, all I understood from my teacher’s lecture was that I had done very badly on my assignment and should have been able to do much better. She and her aide even made me promise that I would finish all my future assignments on time, a promise that, as I told them and they wouldn’t believe, I didn’t think I could keep. Their intense disapproval and this need to make false promise upset me deeply, and made me doubt my own abilities in a way that I never had before. If they were so certain that only lazy people write as badly as I did, yet I knew I wasn’t lazy, I could only conclude something was wrong with me. It must be that I’m no good at writing. And since my deficiency had earned me such disapproval, I was ashamed of it. My parents took me out of school that week, but my belief that I was a bad writer lasted for years after my last school day. I was afraid to write because I was sure I would fail. With most of what I did, I had no concept of failure, only of needing to improve or try again or take a different approach. Being out of school, with its flexibility and lack of external judgments, rarely involves failure. Someone out of school who doesn’t understand a math concept has no more failed than a baby who falls down while trying to walk, she simply hasn’t learned it yet. As my family began homeschooling, writing was the only subject I wanted to avoid. Through my school lessons and failure had only been with penmanship, I also feared composition, it was all writing, and I had developed a mental block against anything under that name. My mother worried, she could see that all other aspects of homeschooling were going smoothly, but what about this one important life skill that I hated and feared. Believing that she had to keep me from falling behind, she tried making me do writing assignments. She didn’t give them to me often, for they were miserable ordeals for the both of us. But every few months or so she would start worrying that she wasn’t teaching her daughter to write, and would try giving me an assignment or a series of them. Sometimes she tried to find ways to make writing fun. She had me practice penmanship by writing favorite phrases in pretty colors. She asked me to write short stories twice, I never finished either one, and fo r a while she had me keep a journal. None of it worked. Even the fun assignments were only fun for a few minutes, then the fun wore off and fear, frustration, and resentment took over. When I did other projects, I was enthusiastic and full of ideas, but whenever I had to write, I became listless, uninspired, and uncreative. I brought nothing to the assignment, she had to lead me, or drag me all the way because I was only working toward her expectations, not my own ideas. I wrote badly. I could tell how poor my work was, which reinforced my belief that I couldn’t write. My style and content were unrelentingly dull and generic. I was too afraid of writing to be able to put my imagination or my identity into it. I did not progress. To progress, one has to analyze what one is doing and look for ways to improve, and I was frozen in the glare of my knowledge that I was a bad writer. Since every writing assignment only made matters worse, my mother tried the only other possibility. She allowed me no to write, she neglected the subject. She let me fall behind a grade level. She removed the pressure and gave me a chance to outgrow and forget my fear. Except for thank-you notes, I wrote nothing at all. When I was almost twelve, after some years of no writing, Mom again suggested that I try keeping a journal. Unlike the previous journal, which had been an assignment for educational purposes, she made it clear that this one was entirely my decision and that writing skills wouldn’t be an issue. If I wanted to do it at all, I would be free to scribble any old illegible and incomprehensible mess I chose. Furthermore, she wouldn’t expect to see any more of it than I felt like showing her, a few years earlier, I wouldn’t even had consider taking such a suggestion without being pushed into it, but my time away from the dreaded subject had taken the edge off of my fear. I was intrigued by the idea of keeping a record of my life that I could look back on later. This idea was safe enough, with its complete lack of outside pressure and no need to even think about whether my writing was correct, that I felt comfortable giving it a try. I wrote in my journal daily, enjoyed it, and put no effort at all into the quality of my writing. Nearly the whole journal consists of two kinds of sentences, the short, simple kind I had use in my assigned writing, and long monotonous run-ons that I had never used before. The run-ons, some of which went on for pages, came from my completely ignoring the technical side of writing and, for the first time in my life, simply rambling unselfconsciously. Then I decided to write a book. I had been keeping the journal for a year when I had the idea. My inspiration was TV, light reading, and daydreams. For the first time in my life, I was planning a serious writing project that I eagerly wanted to work on. It arose from my own ideas and interest, which was on overwhelmingly important aspect that has to occur at its own moment. Giving children assignments tied to their interests is a poor substitute for letting them follow those interests into whatever learning comes naturally. My mom had tried giving me writing assignments on things that interested me. But being interested in the subject doesn’t mean I want to write about them, so such attempts to tie assignments to interests are often ineffective. When I started writing, I worked slowly, carefully, and well. No one minded, no one checked up on me to see what I was accomplishing. My parents showed friendly interest, as they would if I had a new toy or a new playmate, but they never expressed interest. Motivated wholly by desire to express my ideas, I was energetic and creative. Instead of captive forced to struggle with a hated duty, I became an artist at work, passionate, inspired, striving toward an ideal that had come from my own thoughts. At last I opened my mind and let myself be influenced by all the good writing I had seen. I had, after all, been reading profusely for nearly my whole life. All those years, I had seen and enjoyed good writing again and again yet never imitated it. Now with me writing my book, I considered style for the first time and followed the examples of the authors I had read. As I gathered my observations together and used them without fear, I gained my first solid evidence that I had been wrong for seven years, I could write. I worked on my book on and off for several months before I got absorbed in other things and lost interest. When I wrote, I was very slow, because, with my lack of experience, it took a long time to do the sophisticated work I wanted to do. In the end, I only wrote a total of three pages. But however little I had put down on paper, I had learned a tremendous amount and found confidence in my ability to write. After abandoning the book, I did not write seriously for the next three years or even continue with the journal. This was very different from my old no writing days, though, I was only uninterested, not afraid. Writing a thank-you note or an occasional letter to Grandma was now pleasant and non-threatening. I wasn’t writing compositions every week, but who cares. I had already gained as much as a student needs to, adequate writing skills, confidence in my ability, and knowledge that I would be able to learn more about writing anytime I chose. At age sixteen, at an outdoor concert, I picked up a political flier urging people to write to Congress in opposition to welfare. I felt strongly about this issue and wanted to influence the outcome, so I quickly decided to write. I let ideas for what to say in the letter float through my mind for a couple of days. I was writing because I had an idea that I wanted to express, and again, I drew on my reading experience as I attempted to express myself well. This time I used the writing style I had seen in the political commentary pieces I read in the magazines and newspapers. With that letter, I found that I loved the process of writing. I developed a passion for putting words together to express my thoughts and feelings, and I been writing ever since. After the welfare letter, I began to write profusely on a variety of topics. I was starting fresh, seeing my college writing assignments simply as what they were, a set of requirements that I voluntarily agreed to so I could get help with my work, instead of linking them to my grade-school nightmare.

Mrs. Dalloway Study Questions

Discussion questions: 1. In the novel â€Å"Mrs. Dalloway† both Clarissa and Septimus repeat a line from Shakespeare, what is the line and what is its importance to the characters? 2. In â€Å"Mrs. Dalloway† Septimus is created as Clarissa’s double, why do you think Woolf did this? 3. How are Clarissa and Septimus alike and how are they different? 4. Woolf uses Clarissa to convey her idea of social class and women’s wole within it; how does she achieve this? 5. WWI is a major part throughout the story. What ways did Woolf show this? . At the end of the novel Clarissa is informed of Septimus’ death. How does she feel about this and why is it important? 7. Who are Sally Seton and Peter Walsh and how does their appearance in the novel help with the plot? 8. Woolf uses a lot of flash backs to move the plot along. Do these flash backs help or hurt the novel? 9. From Woolf’s use of flash backs can you infer what the characters were like before? 10. What was the point of view in the novel? Why do you think Woolf chose this? Excerpt: (pg. 11-14)She would not say of any one in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on. She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day. Not that she thought herself clever, or much out of the ordinary. How she had got through life on the few twigs of knowledge Fraulein Daniels gave them she could not think.She knew nothing; no language, no history; she scarcely read a book now, except memoirs in bed; and yet to her it was absolutely absorbing; all this; the cabs passing; and she would not say of Peter, she would not say of herself, I am this, I am that. Her only gift was knowing people almost by instinct, she thought, walk ing on. If you put her in a room with someone, up went her back like a cat's; or she purred. Devonshire House, Bath House, the house with the china cockatoo, she had seen them all lit up once; and remembered Sylvia, Fred, Sally Seton — such hosts of people; and dancing all night; and the waggons plodding past o market; and driving home across the Park. She remembered once throwing a shilling into the Serpentine. But every one remembered; what she loved was this, here, now, in front of her; the fat lady in the cab. Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking towards Bond Street, did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely? ut that somehow in the streets of London, on the ebb and flow of things, here, there, she survived, Peter survived, lived in each other, she being part, she was positive, of the trees at home; of the house there, ugly, ram bling all to bits and pieces as it was; part of people she had never met; being laid out like a mist between the people she knew best, who lifted her on their branches as she had seen the trees lift the mist, but it spread ever so far, her life, herself. But what was she dreaming as she looked into Hatchards' shop window? What was she trying to recover?What image of white dawn in the country, as she read in the book spread open: Fear no more the heat o' the sun Nor the furious winter's rages. This late age of the world's experience had bred in them all, all men and women, a well of tears. Tears and sorrows; courage and endurance; a perfectly upright and stoical bearing. Think, for example, of the woman she admired most, Lady Bexborough, opening the bazaar. There were Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities; there were Soapy Sponge and Mrs. Asquith's Memoirs and Big Game Shooting in Nigeria, all spread open.Ever so many books there were; but none that seemed exactly right to take to Evelyn Wh itbread in her nursing home. Nothing that would serve to amuse her and make that indescribably dried-up little woman look, as Clarissa came in, just for a moment cordial; before they settled down for the usual interminable talk of women's ailments. How much she wanted it — that people should look pleased as she came in, Clarissa thought and turned and walked back towards Bond Street, annoyed, because it was silly to have other reasons for doing things. Much rather would she have been one of those eople like Richard who did things for themselves, whereas, she thought, waiting to cross, half the time she did things not simply, not for themselves; but to make people think this or that; perfect idiocy she knew (and now the policeman held up his hand) for no one was ever for a second taken in. Oh if she could have had her life over again! She thought, stepping on to the pavement, could have looked even differently! She would have been, in the first place, dark like Lady Bexborough , with a skin of crumpled leather and beautiful eyes.She would have been, like Lady Bexborough, slow and stately; rather large; interested in politics like a man; with a country house; very dignified, very sincere. Instead of which she had a narrow pea-stick figure; a ridiculous little face, beaked like a bird's. That she held herself well was true; and had nice hands and feet; and dressed well, considering that she spent little. But often now this body she wore (she stopped to look at a Dutch picture), this body, with all its capacities, seemed nothing — nothing at all.She had the oddest sense of being herself invisible, unseen; unknown; there being no more marrying, no more having of children now, but only this astonishing and rather solemn progress with the rest of them, up Bond Street, this being Mrs. Dalloway; not even Clarissa anymore; this being Mrs. Richard Dalloway. Multiple choice questions for excerpt: 1. What is the attitude throughout the passage? a. Negative tow ard her future. b. Hopeful for her future. c. Positive toward her past. d. Resentful of the choices of her past. 2. Which of the following best describes the purpose of the passage? . To show Clarissa’s hopefulness for the future. b. To show Clarissa’s longing for acceptance and importance in high class society. c. To show how Clarissa wants to help the elderly. d. To show Clarissa’s admiration for Mrs. Bexborough. 3. Clarissa talks about Mrs. Bexborough to show: a. How she wants to be portrayed in society. b. How much she dislikes her. c. How they are alike. d. How they are different. 4. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following qualities is most important to the speaker: a. Independence. b. Being man- like. . Dressing well. d. Respect. 5. In the passage what does Woolf mean by â€Å"did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that d eath ended absolutely? † a. That life goes on after death. b. That she finds comfort in the fact that death stops all human problems, but resents the fact use lose the pleasures also. c. That she is scared of death. d. That none of the things she has done matter after death. Essay prompt for novel: Woolf’s writing style in Mrs.Dalloway is described as â€Å"stream of consciousness,† why do you think Woolf chose this writing style for the novel and would it be less effective if it were written in a different style? The Yellow Wallpaper by: Charlotte Perkins Gilman It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer. A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity–but that would be asking too much of fate! Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenan ted? John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures. John is a physician, and perhaps–(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)–perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression–a slight hysterical tendency– what is one to do? My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing. So I take phosphates or phosphites–whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to â€Å"work† until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.But what is one to do? I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal–having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition. I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus–but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house. The most beautiful place! It is quite alone standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village.It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people. There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden–large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lin ed with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them. There were greenhouses, too, but they are all broken now. There was some legal trouble, I believe, something about the heirs and coheirs; anyhow, the place has been empty for years. That spoils my ghostliness, I am afraid, but I don't care–there is something strange about the house–I can feel it.I even said so to John one moonlight evening but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window. I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes I'm sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition. But John says if I feel so, I shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself– before him, at least, and that makes me very tired. I don't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! but John would not hear of it.He said there was only one window and not room for two beds, and no near room for him if he took another. He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction. I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more. He said we came here solely on my account, that I was to have perfect rest and all the air I could get. â€Å"Your exercise depends on your strength, my dear,† said he, â€Å"and your food somewhat on your appetite; but air you can absorb all the time. So we took the nursery at the top of the house. It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was nursery first and then playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls. The paint and paper look as if a boys' school had used it. It is stripped off–the paper in great patches all around the head of my bed, about as far as I can reach, and in a great place on the other side of the room low down. I never saw a worse paper in my life.One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin. It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide–plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions. The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others.No wonder the children hated it! I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long. There comes John, and I must put this away,–he hates to have me write a word. ———- We have been here two weeks, and I haven't felt like writing before, since that first d ay. I am sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as I please, save lack of strength. John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious! But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing.John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him. Of course it is only nervousness. It does weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way! I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already! Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able,–to dress and entertain, and order things. It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous.I suppose John never was nervous in his life. He laughs at me so about this wall-paper! At first he meant to repaper the room, but afterwards he said that I was letting it get the better of me, and that nothing was worse for a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies. He said that after the wall-paper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then that gate at the head of the stairs, and so on. â€Å"You know the place is doing you good,† he said, â€Å"and really, dear, I don't care to renovate the house just for a three months' rental. â€Å"Then do let us go downstairs,† I said, â€Å"there are such pretty rooms there. † Then he took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose, and said he would go down to the cellar, if I wished, and have it whitewashed into the bargain. But he is right enough about the beds and windows and things. It is an airy and comfortable room as any one need wish, and, of course, I would not be so silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim. I'm really getting quite fond of the big room, all but that horrid paper.Out o f one window I can see the garden, those mysterious deepshaded arbors, the riotous old-fashioned flowers, and bushes and gnarly trees. Out of another I get a lovely view of the bay and a little private wharf belonging to the estate. There is a beautiful shaded lane that runs down there from the house. I always fancy I see people walking in these numerous paths and arbors, but John has cautioned me not to give way to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making, a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, nd that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency. So I try. I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me. But I find I get pretty tired when I try. It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work. When I get really well, John says we will ask Cousin Henry and Julia down for a long visit; but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now. I wish I could get well faster. But I must not think about that.This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had! There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down. I get positively angry with the impertinence of it and the everlastingness. Up and down and sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere There is one place where two breaths didn't match, and the eyes go all up and down the line, one a little higher than the other. I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before, and we all know how much expression they have!I used to lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store. I remember what a kindly wink the knobs of our big, old bureau used to have, and the re was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend. I used to feel that if any of the other things looked too fierce I could always hop into that chair and be safe. The furniture in this room is no worse than inharmonious, however, for we had to bring it all from downstairs. I suppose when this was used as a playroom they had to take the nursery things out, and no wonder!I never saw such ravages as the children have made here. The wall-paper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother–they must have had perseverance as well as hatred. Then the floor is scratched and gouged and splintered, the plaster itself is dug out here and there, and this great heavy bed which is all we found in the room, looks as if it had been through the wars. But I don't mind it a bit–only the paper. There comes John's sister. Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing.She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeepe r, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which made me sick! But I can write when she is out, and see her a long way off from these windows. There is one that commands the road, a lovely shaded winding road, and one that just looks off over the country. A lovely country, too, full of great elms and velvet meadows. This wall-paper has a kind of sub-pattern in a, different shade, a particularly irritating one, for you can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then.But in the places where it isn't faded and where the sun is just so–I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design. There's sister on the stairs! ———- Well, the Fourth of July is over! The people are all gone and I am tired out. John thought it might do me good to see a little company, so we just had mother and Nellie and the children down for a week. Of course I didn't do a thing. Jennie sees to everything now. But it tired me all the same. John says if I don't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall.But I don't want to go there at all. I had a friend who was in his hands once, and she says he is just like John and my brother, only more so! Besides, it is such an undertaking to go so far. I don't feel as if it was worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and I'm getting dreadfully fretful and querulous. I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time. Of course I don't when John is here, or anybody else, but when I am alone. And I am alone a good deal just now. John is kept in town very often by serious cases, and Jennie is good and lets me alone when I want her to.So I walk a little in the garden or down that lovely lane, sit on the porch under the roses, and lie down up here a good deal. I'm getting really fond of the room in spite of the wall-paper. Perhaps because of the wall-paper. It dwells in my mind so! I lie h ere on this great immovable bed–it is nailed down, I believe–and follow that pattern about by the hour. It is as good as gymnastics, I assure you. I start, we'll say, at the bottom, down in the corner over there where it has not been touched, and I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of a conclusion.I know a little of the principle of design, and I know this thing was not arranged on any laws of radiation, or alternation, or repetition, or symmetry, or anything else that I ever heard of. It is repeated, of course, by the breadths, but not otherwise. Looked at in one way each breadth stands alone, the bloated curves and flourishes–a kind of â€Å"debased Romanesque† with delirium tremens–go waddling up and down in isolated columns of fatuity. But, on the other hand, they connect diagonally, and the sprawling outlines run off in great slanting waves of optic horror, like a lot of wallowing seaweeds in full chase.The whole thing goes horizontally, too, at least it seems so, and I exhaust myself in trying to distinguish the order of its going in that direction. They have used a horizontal breadth for a frieze, and that adds wonderfully to the confusion. There is one end of the room where it is almost intact, and there, when the crosslights fade and the low sun shines directly upon it, I can almost fancy radiation after all,–the interminable grotesques seem to form around a common centre and rush off in headlong plunges of equal distraction. It makes me tired to follow it.I will take a nap I guess. ———- I don't know why I should write this. I don't want to. I don't feel able. And I know John would think it absurd. But I must say what I feel and think in some way–it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief. Half the time now I am awfully lazy, and lie down ever so much. John says I mustn't lose my strength, and h as me take cod liver oil and lots of tonics and things, to say nothing of ale and wine and rare meat. Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick.I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finished . It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight. Just this nervous weakness I suppose. And dear John gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head.He said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must take care of myself for his sake, and keep well. He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me. The re's one comfort, the baby is well and happy, and does not have to occupy this nursery with the horrid wall-paper. If we had not used it, that blessed child would have! What a fortunate escape! Why, I wouldn't have a child of mine, an impressionable little thing, live in such a room for worlds.I never thought of it before, but it is lucky that John kept me here after all, I can stand it so much easier than a baby, you see. Of course I never mention it to them any more–I am too wise,–but I keep watch of it all the same. There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don't like it a bit. I wonder–I begin to think–I wish John would take me away from here! ———-It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so w ise, and because he loves me so. But I tried it last night. It was moonlight. The moon shines in all around just as the sun does. I hate to see it sometimes, it creeps so slowly, and always comes in by one window or another. John was asleep and I hated to waken him, so I kept still and watched the moonlight on that undulating wall-paper till I felt creepy. The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out. I got up softly and went to feel and see if the paper did move, and when I came back John was awake. â€Å"What is it, little girl? he said. â€Å"Don't go walking about like that–you'll get cold. † I thought it was a good time to talk, so I told him that I really was not gaining here, and that I wished he would take me away. â€Å"Why darling! † said he, â€Å"our lease will be up in three weeks, and I can't see how to leave before. â€Å"The repairs are not done at home, and I cannot possibly leave town just now. Of cou rse if you were in any danger, I could and would, but you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you. â€Å"I don't weigh a bit more,† said 1, â€Å"nor as much; and my appetite may be better in the evening when you are here, but it is worse in the morning when you are away! † â€Å"Bless her little heart! † said he with a big hug, â€Å"she shall be as sick as she pleases! But now let's improve the shining hours by going to sleep, and talk about it in the morning! † â€Å"And you won't go away? † I asked gloomily. â€Å"Why, how can 1, dear? It is only three weeks more and then we will take a nice little trip of a few days while Jennie is getting the house ready. Really dear you are better! â€Å"Better in body perhaps–† I began, and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with su ch a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word. â€Å"My darling,† said he, â€Å"I beg of you, for my sake and for our child's sake, as well as for your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind! There is nothing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is a false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so? † So of course I said no more on that score, and we went to sleep before long.He thought I was asleep first, but I wasn't, and lay there for hours trying to decide whether that front pattern and the back pattern really did move together or separately. ———- On a pattern like this, by daylight, there is a lack of sequence, a defiance of law, that is a constant irritant to a normal mind. The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing. You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well unde rway in following, it turns a back somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you.It is like a bad dream. The outside pattern is a florid arabesque, reminding one of a fungus. If you can imagine a toadstool in joints, an interminable string of toadstools, budding and sprouting in endless convolutions–why, that is something like it. That is, sometimes! There is one marked peculiarity about this paper, a thing nobody seems to notice but myself, and that is that it changes as the light changes. When the sun shoots in through the east window–I always watch for that first long, straight ray–it changes so quickly that I never can quite believe it. That is why I watch it always.By moonlight–the moon shines in all night when there is a moon–I wouldn't know it was the same paper. At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside patt ern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be. I didn't realize for a long time what the thing was that showed behind, that dim sub-pattern, but now I am quite sure it is a woman. By daylight she is subdued, quiet. I fancy it is the pattern that keeps her so still. It is so puzzling. It keeps me quiet by the hour. I lie down ever so much now. John says it is good for me, and to sleep all I can.Indeed he started the habit by making me lie down for an hour after each meal. It is a very bad habit I am convinced, for you see I don't sleep. And that cultivates deceit, for I don't tell them I'm awake–O no! The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John. He seems very queer sometimes, and even Jennie has an inexplicable look. It strikes me occasionally, just as a scientific hypothesis,–that perhaps it is the paper! I have watched John when he did not know I was looking, and come into the room suddenly on the most innocent excuses, and I've caught him several tim es looking at the paper! And Jennie too.I caught Jennie with her hand on it once. She didn't know I was in the room, and when I asked her in a quiet, a very quiet voice, with the most restrained manner possible, what she was doing with the paper–she turned around as if she had been caught stealing, and looked quite angry– asked me why I should frighten her so! Then she said that the paper stained everything it touched, that she had found yellow smooches on all my clothes and John's, and she wished we would be more careful! Did not that sound innocent? But I know she was studying that pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but myself! ———-Life is very much more exciting now than it used to be. You see I have something more to expect, to look forward to, to watch. I really do eat better, and am more quiet than I was. John is so pleased to see me improve ! He laughed a little the other day, and said I seemed to be flourishing in sp ite of my wall-paper. I turned it off with a laugh. I had no intention of telling him it was because of the wall-paper–he would make fun of me. He might even want to take me away. I don't want to leave now until I have found it out. There is a week more, and I think that will be enough. ———- I'm feeling ever so much better!I don't sleep much at night, for it is so interesting to watch developments; but I sleep a good deal in the daytime. In the daytime it is tiresome and perplexing. There are always new shoots on the fungus, and new shades of yellow all over it. I cannot keep count of them, though I have tried conscientiously. It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw–not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things. But there is something else about that paper– the smell! I noticed it the moment we came into the room, but with so much air and sun it was not bad.Now we have had a week of fog and rain, and whether the windows are open or not, the smell is here. It creeps all over the house. I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs. It gets into my hair. Even when I go to ride, if I turn my head suddenly and surprise it–there is that smell! Such a peculiar odor, too! I have spent hours in trying to analyze it, to find what it smelled like. It is not bad–at first, and very gentle, but quite the subtlest, most enduring odor I ever met. In this damp weather it is awful, I wake up in the night and find it hanging over me.It used to disturb me at first. I thought seriously of burning the house–to reach the smell. But now I am used to it. The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell. There is a very funny mark on this wall, low down, near the mopboard. A streak that runs round the room. It goes behind every piece of furniture, except the bed, a long, straight, even smooch, as if it had been rubbed over and over. I wonder how it was done and who did it, and what they did it for. Round and round and round–round and round and round–it makes me dizzy! ———-I really have discovered something at last. Through watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out. The front pattern does move–and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over. Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern–it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads.They get through, and then the pattern strangles them off and turns them upside down, and makes their eyes white! If those heads were covered or taken off it would not be half so bad. ———- I think that woman gets out in the daytime! And I'll tell you why–privately–I've seen her! I can see her out of every one of my windows! It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight. I see her on that long road under the trees, creeping along, and when a carriage comes she hides under the blackberry vines. I don't blame her a bit.It must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight! I always lock the door when I creep by daylight. I can't do it at night, for I know John would suspect something at once. And John is so queer now, that I don't want to irritate him. I wish he would take another room! Besides, I don't want anybody to get that woman out at night but myself. I often wonder if I could see her out of all the windows at once. But, turn as fast as I can, I can only see out of one at one time. And though I always see her, she may be able to creep faster than I can turn!I have watched her sometimes away off in the open country, creeping as fast as a cloud shadow in a high wind. ———- If only that top pattern could be gotten off from the under one! I mean to try it, little by little. I have found out another funny thing, but I shan't tell it this time! It does not do to trust people too much. There are only two more days to get this paper off, and I believe John is beginning to notice. I don't like the look in his eyes. And I heard him ask Jennie a lot of professional questions about me. She had a very good report to give. She said I slept a good deal in the daytime.John knows I don't sleep very well at night, for all I'm so quiet! He asked me all sorts of questions, too, and pretended to be very loving and kind. As if I couldn't see through him! Still, I don't wonder he acts so, sleeping under this paper for three months. It only interests me, but I feel sure John and Jennie are secretly affected by it. ———- Hurrah! This is the last day, but it is enough. John to stay in town over night, and won't be out until this evening. Jennie wanted to sleep with me–the sly thing! but I told her I should undoubtedly rest better for a night all alone. That was clever, for really I wasn't alone a bit!As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her. I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had peeled off yards of that paper. A strip about as high as my head and half around the room. And then when the sun came and that awful pattern began to laugh at me, I declared I would finish it to-day! We go away to-morrow, and they are moving all my furniture down again to leave things as they were before. Jennie looked at the wall in amazement, but I told her merrily that I did it out of pure spite at the vicious thing.S he laughed and said she wouldn't mind doing it herself, but I must not get tired. How she betrayed herself that time! But I am here, and no person touches this paper but me,–not alive ! She tried to get me out of the room–it was too patent! But I said it was so quiet and empty and clean now that I believed I would lie down again and sleep all I could; and not to wake me even for dinner–I would call when I woke. So now she is gone, and the servants are gone, and the things are gone, and there is nothing left but that great bedstead nailed down, with the canvas mattress we found on it.We shall sleep downstairs to-night, and take the boat home to-morrow. I quite enjoy the room, now it is bare again. How those children did tear about here! This bedstead is fairly gnawed! But I must get to work. I have locked the door and thrown the key down into the front path. I don't want to go out, and I don't want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him. I've got a rope up here that even Jennie did not find. If that woman does get out, and tries to get away, I can tie her! But I forgot I could not reach far without anything to stand on!This bed will not move! I tried to lift and push it until I was lame, and then I got so angry I bit off a little piece at one corner–but it hurt my teeth. Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it! All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision! I am getting angry enough to do something desperate. To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try. Besides I wouldn't do it. Of course not.I know well enough that a step like that is improper and might be misconstrued. I don't like to look out of the windows even– there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast. I wonder if they all come out of that wall -paper as I did? But I am securely fastened now by my well-hidden rope–you don't get me out in the road there ! I suppose I shall have to get back behind the pattern when it comes night, and that is hard! It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please! I don't want to go outside. I won't, even if Jennie asks me to.For outside you have to creep on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow. But here I can creep smoothly on the floor, and my shoulder just fits in that long smooch around the wall, so I cannot lose my way. Why there's John at the door! It is no use, young man, you can't open it! How he does call and pound! Now he's crying for an axe. It would be a shame to break down that beautiful door! â€Å"John dear! † said I in the gentlest voice, â€Å"the key is down by the front steps, under a plantain leaf! † That silenced him for a few moments. Then he said–very quietly indeed, â€Å"Open the door, my darling ! â€Å"I can't,† said I. â€Å"The key is down by the front door under a plantain leaf! † And then I said it again, several times, very gently and slowly, and said it so often that he had to go and see, and he got it of course, and came in. He stopped short by the door. â€Å"What is the matter? † he cried. â€Å"For God's sake, what are you doing! † I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder. â€Å"I've got out at last,† said I, â€Å"in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back! † Now why should that man have fainted?But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time! The story of an hour by: Kate Chopin Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled h ints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of â€Å"killed. He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message. She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her. There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair.Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams. She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought. There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfu lly. What was it?She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will–as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under hte breath: â€Å"free, free, free! † The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes.They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body. She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination. And yet she had loved him–sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! Free! Body and soul free! † she kept whispering. Jos ephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission. â€Å"Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door–you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door. † â€Å"Go away. I am not making myself ill. † No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long.It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long. She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom. Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Br ently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one.He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease–of the joy that kills. Essay prompt for short story: In the short story â€Å"the story of an hour† Chopin uses the word ‘open’ repeatedly, why do you think this and what is the significance of it? Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it– A sort of walking miracle, my skin Bright as a Nazi lampshade, My right foot A paperweight, My face a featureless, fine Jew linen. Peel off the napkin O my enemy.Do I terrify? — The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth? The sour breath Will vanish in a day. Soon, soon the flesh The grave cave ate will b e At home on me And I a smiling woman. I am only thirty. And like the cat I have nine times to die. This is Number Three. What a trash To annihilate each decade. What a million filaments. The peanut-crunching crowd Shoves in to see Them unwrap me hand and foot– The big strip tease. Gentlemen, ladies These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. The first time it happened I was ten. It was an accident.The second time I meant To last it out and not come back at all. I rocked shut As a seashell. They had to call and call And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls. Dying Is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I've a call. It's easy enough to do it in a cell. It's easy enough to do it and stay put. It's the theatrical Comeback in broad day To the same place, the same face, the same brute Amused shout: ‘A miracle! ‘ That knocks me out. There is a charge For the eyeing of my scars, there is a chargeFor the hearing of my heart– It really goes. And there is a charge, a very large charge For a word or a touch Or a bit of blood Or a piece of my hair or my clothes. So, so, Herr Doktor. So, Herr Enemy. I am your opus, I am your valuable, The pure gold baby That melts to a shriek. I turn and burn. Do not think I underestimate your great concern. Ash, ash– You poke and stir. Flesh, bone, there is nothing there– A cake of soap, A wedding ring, A gold filling. Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware Beware. Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air. Daddy by: Sylvia Plath You do not do, you do not doAny more, black shoe In which I have lived like a foot For thirty years, poor and white, Barely daring to breathe or Achoo. Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time– Marble-heavy, a bag full of God, Ghastly statue with one gray toe Big as a Frisco seal And a head in the freakish Atlantic Where it pours bean green over blue In the waters off beautiful Nauset. I used to pray to recover you. Ach, du. In the German tongue, in the Polish town Scraped flat by the roller Of wars, wars, wars. But the name of the town is common. My Polack friend Says there are a dozen or two. So I never could tell where youPut your foot, your root, I never could talk to you. The tongue stuck in my jaw. It stuck in a barb wire snare. Ich, ich, ich, ich, I could hardly speak. I thought every German was you. And the language obscene An engine, an engine Chuffing me off like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. I began to talk like a Jew. I think I may well be a Jew. The snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna Are not very pure or true. With my gipsy ancestress and my weird luck And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack I may be a bit of a Jew. I have always been scared of you, With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo. And your neat mustacheAnd your Aryan eye, bright blue. Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You– Not God but a swastika So black no sky could squeak through. Every woman adores a Fascist, The boot in the face, the brute Brute heart of a brute like you. You stand at the blackboard, daddy, In the picture I have of you, A cleft in your chin instead of your foot But no less a devil for that, no not Any less the black man who Bit my pretty red heart in two. I was ten when they buried you. At twenty I tried to die And get back, back, back to you. I thought even the bones would do. But they pulled me out of the sack, And they stuck me together with glue.And then I knew what to do. I made a model of you, A man in black with a Meinkampf look And a love of the rack and the screw. And I said I do, I do. So daddy, I'm finally through. The black telephone's off at the root, The voices just can't worm through. If I've killed one man, I've killed two– The vampire who said he was you And drank my blood for a year, Seven years, if you wa nt to know. Daddy, you can lie back now. There's a stake in your fat black heart And the villagers never liked you. They are dancing and stamping on you. They always knew it was you. Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through.Lets hear it for the women The women oppressed by: Francis Duggan Lets hear it for women the women oppressed In patriarchal societies their human rights are transgressed By male religious zealots who hate woman kind For to trample on women's rights any excuse they will find. Lets hear it for the women who never receive a fair go Of equality in their lives they never may know They are seen as inferior where males reign supreme And this can do little for their self esteem. Lets hear it for the women who must play second fiddle to men Where to be born a female means one cannot win Promotion in work or promotion in lifeTo an arrogant and an unfaithful man expected to be a good wife. Lets hear it for women the women men do rule And many males in positions of power can b e cruel The mothers of the children in life the hardest role Equality they need and not male control. P. O. W (Poor Oprressed Women) by: Sama Wareh Hello oppressed, With that scarf around your head, That you surely must dread, Aren't you hot? Can't you see it's sunny, Aren't your ears cold, They try to be funny, But some seriously suggest, That I am oppressed, Because I can't flaunt what I got, And they look at the way that I'm dressed, All covered up, From head to toe,How am I to attract the men, Without a little show? So I tell them, I'm oppressed, Because men can't see past the fabric? They are stuck with a conversation And a brain to pick, I flaunt, Yes I do, My personality is what I flaunt, I swear, it's true, I aint no object In men's desire, Nor am I a curve size, Because I have attire, And they tell me, Well, you were forced, Obviously, Your dad had a belt, And so you agreed, No, it was my choice, I did agree, In fact, After I did cover up, Men stopped checking out my behind , And started looking at who I am on the inside, And after I did, Respect came my way,Heads didn't turn lolling as I passed men's way, But I guess some like that attention, And women, This isn't a stab at you, I'm just expressing my point of view, After dealing with stereotypes of what people tell me I am, I can even see it in their eyes, Like my attire should be banned, And especially older women, Look at me with pity, Poor child, I wish I could help her and show her the way, Cause according to Fox tv, they've gone astray, Poor abused women, dressed in black, Can't those mean men cut them a little slack? But to their surprise, I choose to wear it, To me its freedom, Freedom from fashion implications,Telling you how to talk, dress and look, Advertising the new trend, To get you on the hook, Of being what the fashion industry can make money off of, I wear what I want and dress to impress, Myself and God, And nobody else, I wear pants and I wear skirts, I wear socks and long shirts, A nd if my name callers aren't happen with that, Then come and liberate me, Which in now a day's terms, Means kill me. Discussion questions for the poems: 1. In the poems â€Å"Lets Hear It For Women The Women Oppressed† and â€Å"P. O. W (Poor Oppressed Woman),† there are two different views on women’s oppression. What are these views? 2. In the poem â€Å"P. O.W (Poor Oppressed Women)†, what image does Wareh portray throughout? What words make you think this? 3. In the poem â€Å"Lady Lazarus,† Plath refers to herself as a cat with nine times to die, why do you think she chose these words and what is the importance of them? 4. After reading â€Å"lets hear it for the women the women oppressed,† what do you think Duggan’s view on women’s oppression is and how does she convey this in her poem? 5. After reading â€Å"P. O. W (Poor Oppressed Women),† how do you think Wareh views oppression and how does she show this in her p oem? 6. In â€Å"Lady Lazarus,† what images does Plath use and how are they effective? . In the poem â€Å"Daddy† by Sylvia Plath, Plath uses the word ‘daddy’ instead of ‘father’, do you think this changes the way the reader views the poem? How? 8. In the poem â€Å"Daddy,† could ‘daddy’ be something besides her father? How? 9. In the poem â€Å"Lady Lazarus,† Plath chooses the word ‘Miracle’, in what tone do you think she used this? 10. In â€Å"Lets hear it for the women the women oppressed,† how do you think Duggan’s word chose sets the mood for the poem? Thomas 1 Kelley Thomas Ms. Flara AP English IV October 22, 2012 The theme of Women’s oppression and how it is viewed by Clarissa I read the novel â€Å"Mrs. Dalloway† by: Virginia Woolf.There are many themes throughout this novel but while reading it one was most apparent and that is the theme of Women’s oppression and how it is viewed by the Clarissa. Woolf uses the novel to show how she feels about society and oppression, especially toward women. The social setting and time period set the mood for this theme. London is returning to its social normalcies and women are moving back toward being housewives instead of working in munitions factories. She often shows her dislike of this through Clarissa. It has become a sort of way of life for her and she doesn’t truly notice she is even a part of it.

Microsoft Bank Branch of the Future

A Microsoft Banking and Capital Markets White Paper The bank branch of the future 2 The bank branch of the future ContentsRedefining the role of branches 4 > Case study: Nascent Digital — understanding customer needs 8 > Article: The Fiserv perspective — information convergence, interaction specialization and the importance of integrated channels 10 Recognition — selling to a market of one 12 > Case study: CRM at Wintrust Financial and Fiserv 14 > Case study: Customer-centric at the core — First Citizens National Bank and Harland Financial Solutions 15 Engagement — creating memorable touch points 16 > Case study: Digital signage at Reflect Systems and Best Buy 18 > Customer use scenarios: Microsoft Surface at Barclays Bank and Royal Bank of Canada 21 > Case study: Streamlining communications at Fidelity 22 Origination — developing new business opportunities 23 > Case study: Predictive analytics at U. S.Bancorp with Portrait Software 25 > Prof ile: Secure paperless banking with digital signature from Topaz and AssureSign 26 > Case study: Incentives at Bank of the West and Varicent 27 Service — taking customers to the next level 28 > Case study: Next-generation self-service at BBVA with NCR 30 > Case study: Espirito Santo creates a better banking experience with CRM and a 360 degree, integrated view of the customer 31 Innovation — developing new products and services with customers 32 > Case study: Social computing at NewsGator and CME Federal Credit Union 34 Bringing it all together — technologies of channel integration 35 > Article: Creating a consistent customer experience through channel synchronization 36 Having a vision for the future 39 > Profile: Helping customers succeed with ARGO 40 Realizing the branch of the future 41 Microsoft partners appearing in this paper 42 Microsoft in Financial Services Financial services is a major industry for Microsoft ® Corporation. Our commitment to the indus try comprises client-dedicated accounts teams, and technology and industry specialists. Our solution areas embrace almost every facet of the industry, including client experience, governance, risk and compliance, payments, and operating capabilities. The U. S.Financial Services industry group led by Ben Narey is responsible for developing financial services solutions combining Microsoft capabilities with those of our partners, for our U. S. -based banking clients. This is one in a series of thought leadership papers designed to share insight into leading industry issues and help our clients realize their vision of the future. www. microsoft. com/financialservices The bank branch of the future 3 A message to our customers and partners After a significant period of expansion, banks are finding current market conditions tough to say the least. Putting customers first is the right response, and the branch is the place to do that. But the role of branches is changing dramatically. Transa ctions are moving to the Internet, so customers may have fewer reasons to visit branches.In addition, new technologies, such as social networking and personal financial management (PFM) tools, are transforming the relationship with customers, forcing banks to develop new ways to create the right customer experience while empowering customers and giving them more control. If branch visits are less frequent, they must become more valuable and more interesting. The days of existing and potential customers walking into branches and not being recognized or effectively engaged are over. A new era of personalized financial services is forcing banks to sell to a market of one. This means understanding customer needs and addressing them appropriately. This also means moving from a reactive sales model to a proactive one, where customer needs can be anticipated in advance.Thanks to changes in technology, customer expectations of the experience they should receive when they visit the branch ar e rising all the time. But just filling branches with new technology isn’t the answer. There needs to be a plan in place and one developed with customers in mind. The customer should be at the center of the branch operation. The branch of the future is an engaging, interactive and fun environment. It should also be a lower cost one. There is opportunity for a dramatic improvement in branch performance. This means streamlining processes, eliminating paper, and improving front and back-office integration. Branch staff are being asked to play a different role. Branch personnel need constant training to do this.The technology of the branch of the future exists to empower tellers, financial advisors and service representatives to serve customers more effectively, moving from a reactive to a proactive engagement model. Microsoft Corporation has a strong commitment to the branch of the future. Directly and through our partners, we work with financial institutions around the world to develop their own path to improved performance. Many of those solutions are outlined in this white paper. We hope you find this a useful contribution to your future plans and the longer term direction of our industry. Yours truly, Ben Narey Director, U. S. Financial Services Colleen Healy General Manager, U. S. Financial Services 4 The bank branch of the future Redefining the role of branches T A dizzying period of change echnology is changing at a blurring rate.It is at once more social, connected, mobile and continuous. We are seeing game-changing advances in many areas from user interfaces to Internet TV. It’s not just transactions that are moving to the Internet but conversations and relationships as well. In this new world, banks are engaging with customers in very different ways. For some banks, branches are emerging as the new, technology-enabled centerpiece in the relationship with customers — a place where channels and technology converge to create a new era of personalized banking in the branch of the future. Banks face other challenges. Revenues are stalling, margins are under pressure and costs remain high. For many, technology remains fragmented.As banks invest more in customer technologies, they must also reduce costs and improve margins, achieve more with less, and at the same time comply with new regulation. In this constantly shifting story, there are many moving parts, and they must all come together to wow customers without confusing them. The branch of the future is an exercise in innovation that must be competitive, game-changing and ultimately profitable. It must be part of a broader strategic focus that considers all channels, not just the branch itself. It will involve not just a vision, but an ecosystem of partners that can deliver it. Microsoft ® expands its reach by working closely with partners to deliver many of our capabilities, and many of them are included here.In this paper, we lay out a process that a bank cou ld follow in developing its branch of the future story. As steps in that story we include case studies and solutions that we believe are leading edge. We realize that every bank’s journey will be different because each bank will need to develop its own unique approach to the branch of the future. Branches are emerging as a place where channels and technology converge to create a new era of personalized banking. The new alternative channel? Many banks consider the branch to be their primary customer relationship channel. But do customers feel the same way? Today roughly 90 percent of daily transactions take place electronically.Checks may be phased out in most developed economies in the next few years. Branch traffic is on the decline. Are branches the new alternative channel? Does that mean branches are finished? Not necessarily. Bank customers still seem to have a strong affinity to branches even though they may visit them less. But it does mean the role of the branch must c hange and be less dependent on transactions. What should this new role be? To answer that question we must have a better understanding of what customers really want. The bank branch of the future 5 And that boils down to at least three things. Firstly, they want more control over their finances.One of the consequences of the financial crisis is a feeling of greater insecurity and a decline in trust in financial institutions. Thanks to the growth in technology and the disclosures surrounding the financial crisis, bank customers often know more about their banks than banks do about their customers. Secondly, consumers want more choices and are less willing to put all their financial eggs in one basket. They are more willing to change banking relationships and are less loyal to their existing providers. Thirdly, they want a better experience. Banks often measure their performance with customers based on service satisfaction, but service is only part of the equation.The ability to acces s banking services at any time from any location, transparency in fees and simpler contracts, and access to quality, impartial advice all sum up to a new value exchange between banks and customers that may define the next phase of banking. Technology is playing a huge part in transforming the banking experience. Smartphones and slates (tablets) are giving consumers greater mobility. Cloud computing gives all of us easier access to more computing power. Game-changing developments in the technology of communications and natural user interfaces enable new ways for banks and their customers to engage with each other. So what is the transformation in the role of the branch that needs to take place? Snacks, lunches and fine dining experiences Perhaps the experience of other industries might provide us with some clues.Financial services provider Fiserv has equated interaction through banking channels to â€Å"snacking,† â€Å"lunching† and â€Å"fine dining† (see artic le on page 10). As our lives become busier, long, lingering meals become more rare. Snacking has become a way of life, often at our desks rather than at restaurants. So restaurants must work harder for our business. But there are many restaurants to choose from. How do they compete for our attention? Every good restaurant needs its own brand. Often fine food is not enough. It may need a theme or an image. It might be the country of the cuisine. It might be a constantly changing menu. It might be the ability to have snacks, lunch and fine dining in the same location.From the services, to the cutlery and the plates to the interior to the food itself, all these elements may combine to create a unique customer experience. In the case of banking, customers have a choice of channels and therefore experiences. But if most of the channels are mainly about transactions or â€Å"snacking,† then they are likely to prefer fast food to fine dining. For the branch to be attractive, it has to have something else on the menu. Game-changing developments in the technology of communications enable new ways for banks and their customers to engage with each other. 6 The bank branch of the future The branch — where all channels can convergeToday bank channels are like those in the first diagram in Figure 1: independent channels that are mainly about â€Å"snacking. † In this model, it is easy to see how the branch becomes less important as â€Å"snacking† channels grow. But some customers may prefer to research online and get advice in the branch. Their financial journey may involve a combination of visits to different channels at different times, perhaps even for the same service — beginning a journey in one channel and completing it in another. In this way, channels reinforce each other rather than compete with each other for customers’ attention. The new model of bank channels is more like the second diagram in Figure 1. Channels are no longer siloed but mutually reinforcing.Instead of playing a diminishing role, the branch can begin to play a more influential one. But the branch is the one channel where all channels can converge. Like the airline or the restaurant that offers a choice of customer experiences, snacking, lunching and fine dining can all take place in the same location. As a result the branch becomes an easier place to conduct all our banking business rather than the least attractive of all. FIGURE 1 Transforming the role of branches BANKING TODAY BANKING TOMORROW MOBILE MOBILE BROWSER CHANNEL USAGE CHANNEL USAGE BROWSER CALL CENTER CALL CENTER BRANCH BRANCH INDEPENDENT CHANNELS WITH FRAGMENTED IMPACTINTEGRATED CHANNELS AND GROWING INFLUENCE The bank branch of the future 7 Dimensions of branch transformation Microsoft ® believes there are at least five dimensions of branch transformation that can lead to a significant increase in customer experience and financial performance. > Branch design â€⠀ balancing networking with privacy, access and convenience > Talent — more focus on advice and expertise and less on transactions > Channels — integrated and mutually supportive > Innovation — customer driven, building on experiences and solutions > Brand — unique and customer driven In each of these dimensions, technology has a major role to play.But the real challenge is to empower each dimension so that they operate together to enhance the customer experience, improve revenues and reduce costs. A fragmented approach will simply increase costs, confuse customers and reduce financial performance. Effective branch transformation demands an enterprise-wide blueprint. A project to build nextgeneration ATMs needs to take into consideration the opportunity to empower and integrate other channels. A project to introduce digital signage should consider not only the customer experience, but the ability to improve staff performance as well. The introduction of digital signatures and automated account opening should consider the implications for document management and records keeping.We are not just transforming branches but creating a completely new retail banking business and operating model to deliver a higher standard of customer experience. A continuous process of performance improvement Branch activities should involve a continuous process of performance improvement based on an in-depth understanding of customer needs with the goal of deepening customer relationships. > Recognition — selling to a market of one > Engagement — creating memorable touch points > Origination — developing new business opportunities INNOVATION FIGURE 2 A continuous process of performance improvement RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT gt; Service — taking customers to the next level > Innovation — developing new products and services with customers Ideally, almost all these activities should be capable of taking place at any part of the branch, whether at an ATM, in a teller line, at a teller booth, or in discussions with a service advisor or a banker. But if executed effectively, one step will lead to another, creating a positive loop of continued performance improvement. (See Figure 2. ) SERVICE ORIGINATION 8 The bank branch of the future CASE STUDY Nascent Digital — understanding customer needs It’s easy to spend money on technology. But it is more important to understand what customers really want from their branch before embarking on an ambitious program of investment.The whole point of investing in branches is to improve the relationship with customers. So why not begin by understanding what customers really want? Nascent Digital (www. nascentdigital. com) is one of the market leaders in the field of combining market research with the design and development of technology. As a result, Nascent is able to create rich and relevant connections with customers from business applications to educational and entertaining experiences. Having previously deployed experiences on multiple mobile and touchscreen platforms such as iOS, Nascent has eased into working with the cutting-edge Windows Phone 7 and Slate devices.Nascent Labs’ mobile platform enables it to quickly develop game-changing Windows Phone and Slate applications connected to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. It has also played a major role in the development of Microsoft Surface technology. Bank customers seek digital experiences that are unique and engaging. To that end, Nascent’s unique design-led approach employs research, in-depth experience design and early rapid prototyping. These methods enable insights into how to realize the best possible digital customer experience. Nascent has partnered with Microsoft ® to envision the possibilities for Slate computing in the branch of the future. The design process and resulting prototype yielded insights into mul tiple new possibilities for customer interaction, relationship building, and ustomer-associate collaboration on everything from day-to-day banking to financial planning and advisory. Building on Windows Phone 7 Metro design language, Nascent was able to create a single digital interface that unifies the customer mobile experience with a collaborative sales experience in the branch. By understanding customer needs upfront, banks can ensure their technology investments truly provide customers with the experience they desire. The bank branch of the future 9 Nascent begins by compiling and distilling existing research to form a basis for further inquiry. Industry best practices, existing published research and open access data are evaluated to focus their primary research.Focus groups and discussions led by expert coordinators are directed to reveal a deeper insight into the ideal digital experience for the user base. Once the research phase is complete, the experience design process be gins to output a series of visual representations that can be easily transformed into a rapid prototype. Early prototyping enables innovation by bringing vivid experiences to life quickly for early user testing. (See Figure 3. ) By understanding customer needs upfront, banks can ensure their technology investments truly provide customers with the experience they desire, and thus are successful in empowering their branches with new technology.By reconciling customer needs with the bank’s own strategic direction the bank is more likely to develop a business model that works. It may take more time to get it right first time, but in the long run it is a quicker and much more effective path to innovation. FIGURE 3 The Microsoft Nascent discovery process UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER CONCEPT DESIGN VISUAL DESIGN CONCEPT TESTING > Secondary market research > Primary market research > Industry best practices > Brainstorming > Wireframes > Context design > Information architecture > Appl ied cognition > Concepts > Brand expectations > Game-changing experiences > Matched audiences > Usability testing > Final design blueprint 10The bank branch of the future ARTICLE The Fiserv perspective — information convergence, interaction specialization and the importance of integrated channels The way financial institutions deliver services across banking channels is being profoundly impacted by two significant shifts. First, there is a demand for â€Å"information convergence† across channels. Consumers expect information about transactions completed via one channel to be readily accessible via another, and expect to be able to initiate a transaction in one channel and complete it in another. Second, there is a significant degree of â€Å"interaction specialization† taking place within each channel.This interaction specialization is driven by the unique properties of each channel, which determine the primary activities conducted through the channel. Consumer s have different habits and preferences about which channels they use to accomplish different financial tasks. For day-to-day needs, consumers generally prefer self-service via digital channels — mobile and online – respectively, the fastest growing channels. Fiserv characterizes interaction via the mobile channel as â€Å"snacking. † From a financial services perspective snacking encompasses frequent interactions that take less than 60 seconds. This includes tasks such as checking balances, receiving alerts and paying bills.One Fiserv financial institution client sees an average of 26 logins to mobile banking per user, per month — proof of their desire to consume financial services information in quick, frequent servings via the mobile channel. The bank branch of the future 11 The snacking analogy can be extended to the online channel and to the branch as well. The online channel serves up the financial equivalent of a square meal. Consumers go online wh en more browsing and a slightly deeper level of engagement is required. This includes tasks such as comparing products, managing budgets and setting up preferences. These types of activities usually occur on a weekly or monthly basis.The branch is for fine dining, those special occasions where more personal service and in-depth interaction is required. This includes advisory services and overall relationship management, encompassing critical decisions that require consultation and typically occur infrequently. As a leading global provider of digital channel solutions for financial institutions, Fiserv perceives that the shifts toward information convergence and interaction specialization will create challenges for financial institutions. Delivering consistent information across channels will require back-end integration and real-time functionalities that are often not in place today.This will be further compounded by device proliferation, the rise of tablet computing and the blurrin g of lines between social media as an interaction platform and a transaction platform. In addition, interaction specialization will require that financial institutions tailor services for specific channels. This will most impact services delivered via the mobile device, as financial institutions will be expected to support â€Å"mobileonly† services such as remote deposit capture for checks, location-based offers and contactless payments via near-field communications (NFC) technologies. Beyond self-service, the mobile device is also likely to become a banking platform for different types of interactions.In this context, financial institutions are under attack from nontraditional players — such as mobile operators and consumer brands like Apple — that would like to gain access to both customer information and transaction revenue. Financial institutions have much to consider when it comes to effectively serving consumers. An integrated channel strategy that incorp orates the unique attributes of mobile solutions as part of an overall approach is a winning strategy. Consumers expect information about transactions completed via one channel to be readily accessible via another, and to initiate a transaction in one channel and complete it in another. 12 The bank branch of the future Recognition — selling to a market of one T 84404893YHQAM235-4747343 ougher markets demand deeper, more profitable customer relationships.The need for banks to treat each customer as unique is more important. New technologies such as digital marketing and predictive analytics are making it easier to sell to a market of one. Personal recognition When customers come into the branch it helps to recognize who they are and make that information available to key members of the branch. An RFID tag can be part of that process. Embedded in a debit or credit card, it can identify customers as soon as they enter a branch. Through access to a customer relationship managemen t system (CRM), bank staff can have complete access to relationship details to understand the next step in the customer story.But potential customers also visit branches, sometimes just by chance. These are opportunities that need to be captured. Applications that allow branch staff to identify customers from personal IDs such as driver’s licenses or Green Cards, identify their credit history and then immediately direct them to a service opportunity, can replace paper-based processes that could take days, weeks or even months to complete, if at all. But technology is changing the concept of â€Å"branch† from a physical to a virtual concept. Valerie King Through access to a CRM system, bank staff can have complete access to relationship details to understand the next step in the customer story. Digital marketingDigital marketing is not just a technology, it is also a channel. In fact, it is many channels and embraces every aspect of digital media including TV, the Inte rnet, mobile phones and social media, and even older technologies such as radio. Whenever we click on a Web site, we create digital breadcrumbs that leave behind clues about our interests and preferences. They provide important intelligence about our real needs that marketing departments can respond to. Recognizing a customer through his or her digital identity gives a bank the opportunity for new customer touch points, more targeted campaigns and services more closely aligned to customer needs.Thanks to this approach one financial institution in the U. K. generates more revenue through inbound marketing than through any other channel. Social networking Social media generates conversations about brands and customer experiences that banks can follow. Airline companies in particular have been successful in using social networks as a customer service tool, allowing them to respond proactively to individual issues and concerns. The bank branch of the future 13 Some social networking sit es — Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and Facebook Places — allow members to share their locations with other members. This can provide promotional opportunities for businesses.For example, each time someone checks in to a Hard Rock Cafe in the United States using Facebook Places, Hard Rock International donates a dollar to WhyHunger, a charity fighting global poverty and hunger. The offer lasted through December 2010 — an innovative way of gaining customers and promoting Hard Rock’s commitment to philanthropy. Social networking is not just about customers. It’s about staff as well. Enterprise social networking is a vital collaboration tool that enables bank talent to share knowledge and expertise across the bank. By its very nature, a branch is a decentralized part of the bank, but for many customers it is their most important interface with the bank.Keeping branch staff up-to-date with the latest products, services and regulations and making them feel an essential part of a much bigger organization is essential for their morale and their ability to serve customers effectively. Social CRM To be successful, branches must be part of communities — and communities can be both physical and virtual. Branches have been successful at integrating into physical communities, but less successful in penetrating virtual ones. Microsoft’s CRM system comes with a social networking accelerator that allows branch offers to follow the customer chatter about service needs, reactions to products and feelings about the bank generally. Having a panoramic view of customers clearly creates a competitive advantage.Microsoft Dynamics CRM, together with Microsoft partner Customer Effective, creates an advanced CRM solution leveraging Customer Effective’s expertise in implementation and data integration. Why do so many CRM systems fail to meet expectations? Because they are often stand-alone implementations and are not an integrated part of a complete customer relationship management solution linking customers, services, channels and systems to create a higher level of customer experience. To be successful, branches must be part of communities — and communities can be both physical and virtual. 14 The bank branch of the future CASE STUDY CRM at Wintrust Financial and FiservWintrust Financial, a Chicago-based financial holding company with more than $14 billion in assets, is implementing EnActâ„ ¢, its relationship sales management solution for financial institutions. EnAct is built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, so it is delivered as an extension of Outlook and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office applications, making it intuitive and easy to use. Using the EnAct solution from Fiserv, Wintrust Financial’s bankers will now have a holistic view of client relationships with access to sales productivity tools to execute local outreach programs, track relationship management and prospecting activities , and monitor opportunity pipelines.EnAct leverages Microsoft Dynamics CRM and is designed to serve the distinct needs of banks’ primary lines of business — Retail, Commercial and Wealth — enabling Wintrust Financial to deploy a single, banking-ready CRM solution enterprise-wide. In implementing EnAct, Wintrust aims to better support collaboration across its organization, enabling referrals between divisions and facilitating team-based management of high-value relationships that span multiple business lines. â€Å"We empower our community banks to manage their clients and their markets locally, but we also want to leverage our combined scale and use the most advanced tools to serve our customers and grow our business,† said Tom Ormseth, senior vice president, Wintrust Financial. As part of our expansion program, we identified the need for an enterprise customer relationship management solution and we chose EnAct because it provides us with specialized ban king functionality on a versatile technology platform. We felt Fiserv was the right partner for us because they understood our business and had the experience and know-how to help us succeed. † Wintrust Financial recognized that lack of user adoption is a common pitfall of CRM projects, so deep integration with Outlook was considered an important benefit of EnAct. Outlook is integral to bankers’ workday at Wintrust; it’s where they manage their time, contacts, tasks and email communication with clients and colleagues.EnAct is built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, so it is delivered as an extension of Outlook and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office applications, making it intuitive and easy to use and encouraging end-user adoption. â€Å"By expanding its relationship with Fiserv, Wintrust joins a growing family of banks that are using EnAct to help execute their growth strategies,† said David Dervish, managing principal, Customer Value Enhancement, Fiser v. Wintrust Financial began its initial rollout of EnAct to a pilot group of more than 200 commercial bankers in December 2010 and is continuing implementation to a total of 1,400 users across 15 community banks as well as its various wealth management and specialized financial services divisions.To complement EnAct, Wintrust Financial also licensed Aperioâ„ ¢ Campaign Management and Aperio Customer Analytics. These solutions will help Wintrust analyze customer needs, identify opportunities and better manage centralized marketing campaigns that support local business development initiatives. The bank branch of the future 15 CASE STUDY Customer-centric at the core — First Citizens National Bank and Harland Financial Solutions After 15 years of fighting for market share in its Mason City, Iowa, home market, First Citizens National Bank (FCNB) was at a crossroads. â€Å"We grew by mining market share from the larger players,† explains Gregg Maakestad, FCNB’s SVP and CIO. To maintain our head-to-head competitive status we needed to challenge and exceed their capabilities. † But by 2009 FCNB’s item processing and marketing customer information file (MCIF) solutions had become inadequate. Rather than install point-solutions, FCNB, a subsidiary of First Citizens Financial Corp. ($1. 1 billion in total assets), determined that a core systems modernization would provide capabilities beyond just meeting current needs, Maakestad relates. A long-time user of the Phoenix System from Lake Mary, Fla. -based Harland Financial Solutions, FCNB nonetheless conducted due diligence in early 2009. â€Å"With every contract cycle we look at all options,† notes Maakestad. Because Harland is an open-systems vendor that shares all its database tables, we learned the strategic value of leveraging database tables,† he adds. â€Å"Therefore, we evaluate vendors’ willingness to share tables as a significant selection criterion. â₠¬  In fact, using the tables has become a critical best practice at FCNB. â€Å"We use the tables to supplement vendor-supplied reporting and modeling,† Maakestad explains. â€Å"For example, when Reg E [governing electronic fund transfers] was updated, †¦ we calculated the impact on our organization’s revenue immediately. And we’re doing the same now for the Durbin Amendment [regarding debit card fees]. † According to Maakestad, Harland’s latest platform, the Microsoft .NET-enabled PhoenixEFE Core, was the best solution for FCNB, leading to a late-2009 migration. â€Å"Beyond our existing hardware, PhoenixEFE only required setting up two production [IBM] XM servers and two for disaster recovery,† Maakestad reports. â€Å"There were no showstoppers in the new core system — just some minor items [that Harland is improving]. † During 2010 FCNB added Harland’s ActiveView Item Processing solution and the vendor’ s business intelligence tool, Touche Analyzer. And early this year the bank also integrated Touche Messenger, which draws intelligence from Analyzer for targeted multichannel marketing communications. The results have been impressive. PhoenixEFE has been key to achieving our current efficiency ratio of 47. 5 percent,† says Maakestad. †In addition, our item processing is simpler and our read rates have improved 15 percent. Also, the Touche solutions will be vital to moving our services per household from the current 3. 493 to our 2011 goal of 3. 516. † The new platform also enabled FCNB to replace multiple daily ATM and debit card batch processes with near-real-time transactions. And, over the next couple of years, the modern core will allow the bank to add more online and mobile products to its existing offerings. â€Å"As new opportunities mature, we’ll jump into them with both feet,† Maakestad says. In short, our new core platform has made us more c ustomer-centric and more efficient, positioning us for future growth. † CUSTOMER 16 The bank branch of the future Engagement — creating memorable touch points C Microsoft Surface offers an eyecatching way of bringing people together to connect, learn and decide. It changes the way people collaborate. apturing customers’ attention inside or outside the branch is easier with memorable touch points. Distinctive interactive walls, compelling messaging and outstanding presentations all contribute to a better customer experience. Cool toys, personalized advice and cross-channel integration are all essential tools for capturing the customer’s attention.But they all have to work together and be targeted at customers who are likely to respond to them. Surface technology Exploring financial options with an advisor or with your partner? Or just browsing? Microsoft Surface offers an eye-catching way of shopping for services, bringing people together to connect, learn and decide. It changes the way people collaborate and connect. Microsoft Surface sees and responds to touch — supporting more than 50 simultaneous inputs. This experience comes to life in the new 40-inch Surface that can be used as a table, on the wall, or embedded in other fixtures or furniture. What-if scenarios are a lot more fun when you are working with Surface. But Surface can be more than just an eye-catcher.It can be a complete distribution channel in its own right, allowing customers another opportunity for self-service banking — snacking in the branch or browsing the menu while waiting for a table for some private dining advice. Interactive walls While customers wait in teller lines, wait for a financial advisor or just wander through branches, interactive walls can provide engaging interactions and compelling messaging for the financial shopper. Browsing for a car loan or a mortgage? Explore your options on an interactive wall. By touching it you can get the latest rates, explore financing options and do your homework before making a financial decision.Digital signage Wondering what the markets are doing? Curious about news and events in the community? Intrigued by a message from the chairman? Digital signage is a term used to describe the display of up-to-the-minute information on electronic devices such as plasma screens, LCD panels and projectors. Suppose it’s raining outside and there are more customers inside the branch and you want to change your electronic messaging to talk about new products and services. Managing the metadata in your digital signage system gives you that flexibility. The bank branch of the future 17 What if branches are serving Spanish-speaking customers in one location and English-speaking in another?Digital signage tools provide the flexibility to communicate different messaging to different markets. Digital signage can be used wherever there is a need to communicate to individuals or large groups of people. Wherever there is static signage, there is potential to replace it with digital signage. (See Figure 4. ) Founded in 1991, Omnivex originally supplied software to financial trading floors to post buy/sell positions on large LED wallboards and drive financial tickers. Trading floors were quick to adopt large plasma displays to monitor television news reports. Omnivex recognized that these displays could also be used to help traders clearly spot market trends and developed applications to display data graphically.Building on its foundation of a data-driven system, the company moved into the broader digital signage market, where its software could be used to display real-time information to facilitate decision-making by delivering targeted content to specific audiences. Financial institutions quickly adopted this medium within the retail banking industry, and we now see digital signage installations appearing more and more frequently in bank branches to communicate with custome rs and employees. Due to its data-driven approach, Omnivex digital signage software can deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time, helping to increase the effectiveness of communications. In branches, new products and services, promotional campaigns, market data, corporate communications and training materials can be delivered instantly, easily and memorably.In addition, digital signage can improve the customer experience by reducing perceived wait times, while entertaining and informing customers. Today, Omnivex software is used by many financial institutions around the world to power their digital signage networks. FIGURE 4 Microsoft partner Omnivex and digital signage 18 The bank branch of the future CASE STUDY Digital signage at Reflect Systems and Best Buy Banks have often been influenced by the success of retailers. Microsoft partner Reflect Systems is a leading, national full-service provider of in-store digital media solutions including digital signag e, interactive applications and assisted shopping features, mobile messaging, and in-store music.Reflect worked with Best Buy and its partners to deploy a solution that fit its vision for enabling networked digital media in all its stores, while adhering to business policies and preferred technology standards. Best Buy needed to improve the shopper experience with relevant and timely media content, showcase products and services with brand partners, and capture revenue opportunities available by leveraging the platform as a new digital media network that connects with loyal Best Buy shoppers. After methodical lab testing and pilot programs, Reflect employed ReflectView, its industry-proven scalable software solution, to meet the challenge of managing and distributing large amounts of digital media across Best Buy’s complex network of more than 1,100 locations across the United States.Through its flexible content management, programming, distribution and monitoring features, R eflectView allowed Best Buy to control the specific message played in each store — at any given time, in any specific region — from a centralized system requiring minimal operational management. Today, Best Buy has increased its in-store digital media footprint to include television and computer displays in the electronics department, checkout aisles and music via in-store audio systems. Best Buy has a fast-paced business environment that requires a dynamic approach to supporting new in-store initiatives. Reflect continuously strives to provide a platform approach for in-store media, and maintains a partner-focused solution set that provides choice, performance and measured results.Through its flexible content management, programming, distribution and monitoring features, ReflectView allowed Best Buy to control the specific message played in each store from a centralized system requiring minimal operational management. The bank branch of the future 19 FIGURE 5 Financia l benchmarking with Bundle Next-generation banking Next-generation ATMs, line busting, interactive walls and smartphone channels all converge together in a unique customer experience that targets customers from Gen Y to baby boomers. A common user interface is key to a compelling customer experience that recognizes the branch as a focal point in building enduring customer relationships. The technology of Kinect can provide in-branch entertainment as well as more engaging customer interactions replacing transactions with conversations.Personal financial management tools Technology has made it easier for customers to do research and resolve issues online. Branches are a perfect place for that research to take place. If the customer is already in a branch and wants to do some research or use automated tools to perform financial calculations, budgeting and planning, resources should be available for independent and banker-assisted research and planning. Options to consider include the f ollowing: > A dedicated bank of PCs for independent research > Interactive walls to explore financial options > Surface technology to explore different products and solutions Bundle is an example of a personal financial management tool eveloped by Citi, Morningstar and Microsoft, which allows consumers to compare how others spend their money. (See Figure 5. ) FIGURE 6 At Banco do Brasil, a customer explores financial options through an interactive wall. 20 The bank branch of the future Private, face-to-face advice Have tablets replaced desktops or have they just empowered them? By deploying both, branches have more options for face-to-face advice. It can vary from line busting to a confidential meeting with a private banking client. Technology may be needed to support those discussions, accept deposits, sign documents or review financial plans. Tablet technology can play an important role, and there are many providers to choose from.Companies like Motion Computing, HP and ExoPC offe r slate models in addition to the iPad. Motion Computing, in particular, specializes in manufacturing tablets designed for the needs of individual industries. (See Figure 7. ) FIGURE 7 Customized industry devices from Motion Computing Windows slates combine the ability to consume information and present it to clients with the full production capabilities of a PC. They are also secure and interoperable with other technologies. Incorporating your tablet solution into a complete branch experience demands the ability to interact with other devices, applications and systems. Bankers and financial advisors don’t just meet clients in the bank. They may also visit them in the home.The concept of a mobile sales force attached to the branch is not a new one. But for such a team to be effective it will need to be empowered by technology. Mobile technology can be used for customer presentations, the review of different products and services and the completion of documentation. (See Figur e 8. ) FIGURE 8 A selection of Windows slates (in order of appearance, the Asus E121, Motion’s CL900, the HP 500, the ExoPC and the Fujitsu-STYLISTIC Q550 Slate PC) The bank branch of the future 21 Customer use scenarios: Microsoft Surface at Barclays Bank and Royal Bank of Canada Barclays has opened a new flagship branch at Piccadilly Circus in London.The bank describes the project as â€Å"the first ‘brand concept’ branch in the UK,† covering 8,000 square feet of retail space over three floors. With the opening of the branch, Barclays became the first bank in Europe to pilot Microsoft Surface. Infusion was engaged to create a Surface program that allows users to â€Å"grab† digital content with their hands and navigate information about Barclays’ Premier banking offering with simple gestures and touches. Royal Bank of Canada has partnered with Microsoft to provide customers with an interactive banking experience through Surface. The impleme ntation of Surface creates a fun and interactive way for RBC to inform its customers about their financial services.RBC found that giving customers a way to learn about their financial goals through interactive applications, such as Infusion’s application for Surface, is a great way to ease customers into initiating conversations about complicated financial topics. Client communications When was the last time any of us wrote or received a letter? The way we communicate is undergoing profound transformation. Whether we communicate through laptops, slates or smartphones, electronic communication is becoming pervasive. In this new chapter of communications there are risks and rewards implying profound changes in the way we develop, share and exchange information, even the way we work and play. The rewards are clear — richer and more frequent client conversations, better research, more informed insight, more accurate presentations.But the risks can be great as well. The in formation we create can be instantly shared through flash drives and across the Internet. Clients, markets and regulators are holding us more accountable for what we say and how we say it. The one-off presentations produced in local offices that differ across the firm should become a distant memory particularly since even small differences in client communications can have regulatory implications, dilute brands and confuse clients and markets. The world is changing at a dizzying rate. Client communications must be timely to add value, but with current technology it can also be too costly and time consuming to develop frequently.A 100-page pitch book for a key client meeting may require data and content from many sites, sources and databases, much of it captured manually. What if the process could be automated, branding managed centrally and compliance built into the process in advance? Microsoft’s partner Xinnovation has the solution — the ability to produce automated presentations within minutes that are compliant with regulations and firmwide brand management standards. Whether we communicate through laptops, slates or smartphones, electronic communication is becoming pervasive. 22 The bank branch of the future CASE STUDY Streamlining client communications at Fidelity Xinnovation streamlined Fidelity’s 22-day data intensive, increasingly complex investment review process into just a few simple hours.Quite impressive when you consider these specialized, targeted presentations can run up to 100 pages chock full of dynamic charts and graphs, which draw from backend data systems. (See Figure 9. ) Fidelity turned to Xinnovation and its Web-based, Microsoft ®-standard XiDocs document automation platform. XiDocs includes easy-to-use features that enable rapid development of solutions. XiDocs features include content management, configurable assembly and publishing of highly customized Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and PDF documents, data-driven Excel charts and graphs, enterprise content, and workflow — all living natively inside Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.It gets better — Fidelity and Xinnovation implemented a direct XML connection with Fidelity’s print and fulfill vendor to maximize workflow capabilities. And if that is not enough smart for one day, Xinnovation’s technology enables Fidelity to provide its reports through its client portal and extend a â€Å"greener† process. FIGURE 9 Automated document generation with Xinnovation The bank branch of the future 23 Origination — developing new business opportunities O ne of the toughest challenges banks face today is origination. This is particularly true in a low-growth environment. So it is important that banks have a clear understanding of where their opportunities lie.Most banks have a marketplace that can be split into three parts: > Customer enthusiasts — customers who are enthusiastic about their relationship w ith the bank and want to expand it > Customers on the fence — customers who are indifferent to their relationship with the bank but could be swayed one way or another > Dissatisfied customers — customers who are about to leave and are waiting for the right opportunity to move on. Against this mix there are further segmentation opportunities. The challenge is to find the right marketing and distribution mix for each customer segment. For example, Bank of America identified the mass affluent as a â€Å"must-win† strategic market.The bank worked with Merrill Lynch to target services to a specific part of its target — the mass affluent — which it defined as customers with investable balances of about $200,000 or more, but not superwealthy. The bank reasoned this group of customers were occasional investors rather than active traders and so offered them 10 free trades a year to boost their loyalty and deepen their relationship. Where does the branch fit in to this mix? Should it be the preserve of a few customers, or is there a way for it to play a role across all sectors of the market? One way of approaching this is to think of the branch as a networking opportunity, emphasizing its social rather than its transaction role.Targeting families, small businesses, emerging entrepreneurs or local clubs and associations reinforces the role of the branch as a focal point for the community. Financial seminars targeted at local entrepreneurs, pension advice for boomers, and financial services for college students are examples of programs that bring traffic to the branch and reinforce its role as a critical part of the local economy. With branch traffic up, the next step is to make it easier to open accounts, browse new services or get financial advice. Increasing self-service facilities — not just ATMs, but interactive walls and Surface devices as well — within the branch is one way of achieving this. But technology doesnâ₠¬â„¢t have to exclude the human element.Enabling bank staff to assist customers through video links on next-generation ATMs and other self-service channels reinforces the relationship between banker and customer rather than excluding it. 24 The bank branch of the future Some of the tools to consider include the following: > Targeting customers through predictive analytics — Reaching out to customers can be costly for several reasons. Along with more traditional campaign costs, companies often fail to take into consideration any negative impacts that a campaign may have in terms of driving customers away or driving customers to consider alternative offers. Predictive analytics plays a critical role in minimizing negative campaign responses and ensuring that campaigns are targeted and effective.This also includes maximizing opportunities for cross sell and retention in the key instances when customers are engaging via inbound channels. Gathering a single view of your customers across all touch points is a critical step in understanding your customers’ needs, and delivering the best possible customer experience to drive customer value in the long term. Whether customers are online, talking to a call center or in the branch, it is important to have a clear picture of who those customers are, and what particular offer, be it cross sell or retention, is best to present them at that moment. One insurance company found that by optimizing customer nteractions in this manner it was able to sell more through inbound channels than through all other channels combined. > Managing customers’ time when they are in the branch — By enabling branch staff to reduce queuing at teller counters they can also engage with customers and explore other service opportunities. A handheld computer device can accelerate deposits, account inquiries, transfers and other simple transactions. Line busting can turn unproductive wait times into business opportunities. S cheduling and calendaring linked to digital signage solutions can manage appointments with branch staff and expectations with customers who might otherwise be unclear when they would be seen. gt; Making it easier to access new services through paperless banking — If a customer wants to open a new account or obtain a new line of credit but has to wait for the paperwork to be completed, that just adds time and cost to the onboarding process and delays revenue realization. It can also frustrate customers and cause them to look elsewhere to meet their needs. Years of paper-based processes may need to be revisited to improve customer experience, improve margins and increase security. > Marketing through self-service transactions — Originations should be possible within the branch through any channel, whether through a bank of PCs, through next- generation ATMs, or call centers accessed from within the branch. Surface devices and interactive walls can be both a source of inf ormation and origination channels.Self-service channels are mainly for existing customers, but it should be just as easy for new customers to become activated through them as well. > Banker-assisted originations — Often completed through paper documents, the origination process can involve several stages, and many documents — account opening forms, signature cards, loan agreements — but if converted Gathering a single view of your customers across all touch points is a critical step in understanding your customers’ needs, and delivering the best possible customer experience to drive value in the long term. The bank branch of the future 25 into electronic form can be completed quickly and easily but still securely while the customer remains in the branch.This shortens the origination process considerably. The problem is how to accomplish this in a secure way. The growth in eSignature technology and supporting regulation (the ESIGN Act and UETA) makes this a much easier option for many banks. > Tellers as relationship managers — Probably the one personal contact the bank customer has the most frequent engagement with is the bank teller. Yet this is the one interaction we want to get over with as quickly as possible. A friendly interaction with a teller can play an important part in origination. But for that to happen the role of tellers within the branch must change and they must be managed very differently as a resource.The first challenge is to manage traffic within the branch to reduce the pressure of a short and pressured interaction. Secondly, tellers’ productivity has to be improved by giving them access to technology that enables them to process transactions more easily. Finally, tellers should know who their customers are, reinforcing the importance of the personal connection. Branch recognition technologies and access to CRM systems can help tellers play a pivotal role in strengthening customer relationships. CA SE STUDY Predictive analytics at U. S. Bancorp with Portrait Software Pitney Bowes Business Insight (PBBI) is a Microsoft Gold partner that leads the pack in the field of predictive analytics. The Consumer Direct division of U. S. Bank, a subsidiary of U. S.Bancorp, found that its traditional marketing campaigns were not delivering the returns they once were, and was failing to target customers with the most relevant message. After two successful trials, U. S. Bank implemented PBBI’s Portrait Uplift solution and has since achieved significant gains — a 300 percent lift — in incremental revenue together with reduced costs through lower mailing volumes. U. S. Bank is just one of several customers in different industries that have found PBBI’s Portrait suite of analytics solutions to be of immense value. Selling to a market of one is a challenge across all industries, financial services in particular. U. S. Bank has achieved significant gains in incremental revenue together with reduced costs through lower mailing volumes. 26 The bank branch of the futurePROFILE Secure paperless banking with digital signature from Topaz and AssureSign We are all familiar with digital signature in the retail environment, even in insurance. A number of leading banks have begun to adopt the process, but in financial services the technology of digital signature is still in its infancy. Whether we are opening a bank or brokerage account or applying for a loan there is usually a lot of paper involved. But paper takes time to process, must be stored and can easily be lost. Plus we need a more reliable way to ensure documents have been signed and stored as securely as possible. Is it time for a fresh approach? Many businesses around the world are saving money by replacing paper processes with electronic signature and document solutions. In the U. S. the ESIGN Act gives electronic signatures the same legal significance as paper signatures, provided the customer consents to the process. Various forms of eSignature exist from a simple click to sign to robust biometric signatures written on electronic signature pads that record the precise shape and sequence of the signature, its strokes and direction of loops, and detailed timing of each part of the signature used in the signing process. Another form of electronic signature that does not incorporate biometrics — the digital signature — uses asymmetric cryptography to ensure documents can be protected once they are signed and any changes related back to the original signer.The technology of eSignature and digital signatures is now available across multiple devices and can be deployed locally or at an enterprise level. Mainly deployed in the public sector and in the retail, healthcare and insurance industries, this technology has already been adopted by a number of leading banks to improve the speed and security of banking document processes. Such efficiencies are leading the ch arge in enabling bank branches to become paperless. AssureSign (www. assuresign. com) and Topaz Systems (www. topazsystems. com) are leaders in the field of electronic signature and document management. FIGURE 10 Topaz eSignature software technology can be deployed across the Web and directly with its biometric electronic signature pads. Biometric signatureAssureSign is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) or on-premise electronic signature solution that allows signers to execute documents via web portal interactions, captures the â€Å"act of signing,† email invitation or in-branch scenarios. AssureSign easily integrates with existing not an image of a signature banking and financial services applications to provide a paperless document execution process. AssureSign can also work alongside Topaz solutions to bridge the gap between in-house and external web-based signing requirements in a FIGURE 11 A biometric signature using AssureSign single platform. AssureSign solutions offer a variety of front-end signer authentication options as well as Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESign Act) and Uniform Electronic Transactions ACT (UETA) compliant signing processes.Topaz Systems offers a broad array of electronic signature pads for use in teller- and nonteller-related transactions, along with bundled software, authentication and server tools, and plug-ins. Topaz solutions provide the capability for corporations to deploy their technology across any Web-based service and on any device, whether tailor-made or generic. Topaz signature pads are available in color and monochrome versions, wireless versions for use in drive-up teller environments, and pads that capture simultaneous electronic and paper signatures up to full legal clipboard size. (See Figures 10 and 11. ) The bank branch of the future 27 CASE STUDYIncentives at Bank of the West and Varicent If branch staff are to play a different role in the branch of the future, the question tha t arises is whether they should be compensated differently. To meet this challenge, Bank of the West chose Varicent SPM to manage incentive compensation and sales performance throughout the organization. Varicent’s SPM solution was chosen by Bank of the West because of its ability to provide a single system for all compensation plan management that easily integrates with all other existing systems within the bank. Varicent is an industry leader in providing incentive compensation (ICM) and sales performance management (SPM) solutions.Bank of the West, based in San Francisco, offers a full range of business, corporate, personal, trust and international banking services and operates more than 700 branch locations and commercial banking offices in 19 Western and Midwestern states. â€Å"Varicent’s solution will provide us with the unique ability to more effectively analyze important compensation and sales performance metrics. We will also use Varicent to improve the accu racy of our forecasts and to create effective sales incentive models that can drive the right behavior and maximize our future performance,† said Donald Duggan, senior executive vice president and CIO at Bank of the West.Varicent’s approach offers a lower total cost of ownership than alternative solutions and in-depth sales analytics to help understand performance, allowing for accurate forecasting and modeling of future plans. Streamlined administrative processes include the managing an