The Japanese Katana and The Espada Ropera Essay Example

The Japanese Katana and The Espada Ropera Essay There have been many legends about the Japanese sword known as a Katana. This sword is considered to be the best made, the best in combat and the best sword for anyone to wield in the field of battle. Although I agree that this sword is quite legendary and amazing, I have found another sword that in comparison is an even more superior weapon. This sword is known as the Espada Ropera (Spanish rapier) and was used in the 1600s, during the same period as its competitor the Katana. The reasons why the Espada Ropera is superior to the katana is that it has better craftsmanship, more combat advantages and more availability to the common soldier so that he may wield it on the battlefield without the problem of paying a large sum. Swords do not become legends from their service, but rather from their creation, for blades such as the Espada Ropera and the Katana were both works of art and expert craftsmanship. The Katana was forged by using high-grade steel in a blast furnace which was then folded onto one edge over and over again to make it as sharp as possible while the other edge was layered with cobalt so that it would not rust since it was not to be used in combat. The Katana also had a curved blade so that it could be faster in combat and on the draw out of the scabbard. Lastly, the Katana itself with the blade and all weighed at about 2.86 pounds. Although this may sound like the superior blade, it is not the case. The Espada Ropera was forged with high-grade steel, which was then heated and pounded into a thin double-edged blade as sharp as a shaving razor. The blade itself was long and straight and had a bit of flex so that it could slightly bend with the strike, causing it to have an even more deadly strike. Also, the entire sword only weighed 2. 2 pounds which is, although not by much, is lighter than the Katana giving it a slight edge in speed. We will write a custom essay sample on The Japanese Katana and The Espada Ropera specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Japanese Katana and The Espada Ropera specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Japanese Katana and The Espada Ropera specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It is said that the Katana’s greatest combat advantage is that the curve in the blad

Nietzsches rejection of traditional morality Essays

Nietzsches rejection of traditional morality Essays Nietzsches rejection of traditional morality Paper Nietzsches rejection of traditional morality Paper He said that people should struggle and work hard In order to assist the society. Leading people who are uncritical and comfortable make leaders to rule undemocratically without fighting for the rights of the people they lead. Caruthers was very hypocritical of leading such people since It allows leaders to rule authoritatively. Do you think there Is a morality of resentment In our society? If so, how has It affected the relationship between leaders and followers? Yes, there is a morality of resentment in our society. Resentment appears to have been provided us by the nature for defense and defense only. It is the protection of justice as well as security of the innocence. It prompts to beat off any mischief that is attempted to be done to people and also retaliates any mischief that is already done. As a result, the offender is compelled to repent of his or her injustices through the fear of being punished. Therefore, resentment has ensured the relationship between leaders and followers within the society is smooth. This is mainly due to the fact that followers will fear that any wrong doings might subject hem to harsh punishments from leaders (Barrow 405). On the other hand, the leaders will be free to execute their duties freely without fear of factorization since they know that everything that they do is as per the established laws and regulations of the land. Therefore, resentment must not be kept aside for wrong doings nor can the followers ever move together when the pressure is too much. Beyond Good and EVil In your own words characterize what Nietzsche calls slave morality and the master morality Nietzsche calls slave morality as basically reactive and negative since it originated in denial of anything that is distinct from it. As a result, it appears outward and therefore Nietzsche said no to any of the aggressive outside forces that oppress and oppose it. On the other hand, Nietzsche calls master morality that It only concerns itself extremely serious with everything that Is outside of It. For Instance, the bad and the low is a late addition and are perceived only as the contrast that shows up more powerfully (Nietzsche 307). Therefore, according to Nietzsche, she observes that whereas both master and slave morality can constitute the formation of the truth, then the master morality does very little on It. Therefore, he sees that slave morality rendered people very dull and stupid In whatever they are doing. Nietzsche thinks that domination and exploitation of the weak by powerful Is a basic fact of all history. By assuming that this belief Is very true; would you actually consider the claim as legality of master morality? It may not claim as a substitute that we need to curd ten antagonistic Impulses Ana also Snell a ten weak: According to me, I would not consider this an argument for the validity of the master morality. This is mainly due to the fact that it disparages slave morality to favor the master morality. Whereas it appears that Nietzsche preferred the barbarians blonde beast to the contemporary Europeans, it is very precise that the ideal is very much far away from the master morality. This is due to the fact that its alignment with the master morality is not consistent with the argument that she never aligned herself with any type of moral systems (Nietzsche 564). Therefore, someone might make an argument that we need to curb our aggressive impulses so as to protect the weak. This is the only way to ensure the validity of the master morality. How much truth do you get in the categorization of Jude-Christian ethic by Nietzsche as a slave morality? There is no truth from Nietzsche characterization of the Jude-Christian ethic as a slave morality. This is due to the fact that slave morality is mainly based on the resentment that is felt towards the big masters and therefore, the world has yielded to the slave moralities that are known as the masters of history. Therefore, he is not right when he said that morality of the paltry people.

Doritos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Doritos - Essay Example randpa is absent is not a cause for joy but his reappearance is a desirable effect by the grandson ("Doritos Healing Grandpa super bowl commercial 2011," n.d.). There need here is to have grandpa so that life can be enjoyable. Step three concerns provision of a solution (Venette, 1993). In this case, Doritos is the solution. At the end when grandpa comes back to life, he can be seen with Doritos. It is after his ashes are released from the urn and the presence of Doritos in the room that makes him come back to life. Visualizing what satisfaction will mean forms the fourth step. The Doritos advert aims to convince the audience that Doritos are that good to cause one to come back to life just to have some more. This advert shows a positive future, full of enjoyment from Doritos consumption. The final process about getting the audience to take action is paramount. That is the whole reason for making the advertisement in the first place. This involves buying the Doritos and eating them. At the end of the advertisement, everyone one is convinced that Doritos are the real deal due to their enticing

Government intervention in the market for raisins Assignment

Government intervention in the market for raisins - Assignment Example Producers of specialty crops like raisin in California structured themselves into marketing associations. This essay paper will look into the broad subject relating with marketing orders, and narrow down into marketing order for raisins in the US. Discussion In 1949, following twenty years of ceaseless agitation, discouragement, bitter struggle, pools, forced combinations and raisin exchanges, raisin growers from California voted to come up with a federal marketing order based on the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1937. Critical components of this marketing order have brought a number of economic impacts, a program of price discrimination and a program of supply control. The Agriculture Secretary, in line with the provisions of the law, issues and carries out amendments on the same from time to time. Such orders are intended to regulate handling of specified agricultural commodities in line with the legal framework in place (Clary 23). A board that consists of growers and packers, cal led Raisin Administrative Committee (RAC) is bestowed with the mandate of watching over the marketing order. RAC is a federal marketing order which is led by packers, 47 growers and a public member. This authority is directly supervised by the United States Department of Agriculture which was established in 1949 due to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. ... isin growers have brought complaint regarding Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 which empowers government to confiscate some portion of the yearly raisin crop, the initiative which, for instance, saw 47% being confiscated in 2003 and 30% in 2004. Farmers who don’t cooperate in surrendering their raisins are penalized. The amount that should be surrendered to the government is based on the annual production volume and other factors like production by competing countries. Taxpayers are not left out in analysis of the potential effects of this surrender. The surrender minimizes the available share of raisin supply which in return causes the consumers of the product to buy it at higher prices. RAC does not pay any consideration to farmers upon expropriations. Actually much of the raisin is given away and others sold for export at low prices. It is only after it has covered its costs that the remaining profits, if any, are given to the farmers. Farmers who disregard this marketing order are fined. Raisin is not the only fruit that is federally regulated. In total, close to thirty products are subject to the ‘marketing orders’, overseeing of which is conducted by the Department of Agriculture. In other products like milk, the system of Federal Milk Marketing Order does set the lowest prices for milk and milk products. Farmers, if they were given an opportunity, would vote in abolishment of the marketing order rule. It is plain that the pronouncements of this rule have economically affected them. It is rational to produce more and reap more from the same but if the rule denies farmers of reaping what they have produced and unfairly handing the same to government, which is seen as wasteful decision (Agriculture.). On the other hand, farmers can still vote for

The relationships between prison inmates and correction officers in Essay

The relationships between prison inmates and correction officers in regaurds to violence - Essay Example The workshops are managed by inmate trainers, but with the support and involvement of outside volunteer co-trainers. AVP workshops are typically two or three days in length, depending on the specific module. Both inmates, as well as outside trainers are volunteers, their qualifications being completion of all AVP modules in addition to the "train-the-trainer" workshop. Participants start with the basic workshop, progress to the advanced, and from there to the adjunct modules which include Bias Awareness and Manly Awareness. The ethnographic study, completed in May of 2001 (Sloane 2001), suggested that AVP participants' behaviors were modified by their involvement in these workshops. Prisons are essentially closed institutions. To all but the state employees who work in them, the prisoners confined in them and the officials who are permitted access, prisons are generally hidden from public view. Under special authority extended to the Correctional Association since 1846, members of its Prison Visiting Committee can enter prisons, interview inmates and staff, and communicate their findings and recommendations to state policymakers and the public. While the Correctional Association does not have authority to mandate change, it uses its knowledge of prison operations to advocate for reform to those who do have that authority. Based on observations of the Correctional Association's Prison Visiting Committee from visits to 25 state correctional facilities conducted between March 1998 and October 2001, key problems and areas for reform based on conversations with hundreds of inmates and correctional staff are mentioned here and/or described in the individual prison reports: - Youth Assistance Programs in which inmates and correction staff volunteer as counselors to at-risk youth from the community; - The "Puppies Behind Bars" program, where inmates train puppies to become seeing-eye dogs; - The piloting of an in-cell substance abuse treatment program for inmates in disciplinary confinement; - Mandatory academic programming for inmates who read and/or have a math score below the ninth-grade level; - Parenting programs featuring structured groups and parenting education classes; - Family visitor centers at 36 facilities to provide inmate family members with a place to refresh themselves prior to entering the prison; - The installation of Automatic Electronic Defibrillators in every state correctional facility; - Aggression Replacement Therapy provided by trained inmate facilitators to help prisoners identify and control aggressive behavior; and - Earned Eligibility and Merit Time programs, which reward certain nonviolent offenders who meet various program requirements with the possibility of early release. Motivation levels at the start of the workshops

Article Discourse Analysis: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Article Discourse Analysis: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict A Critical Discourse Analysis of an article on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict With increasing global media synergies, media studies seems to be gaining popularity in academia. One part of this discipline involves the close examination of media texts, be they written, spoken, or symbolic. To analyse texts linguistically, two dimensions are often considered: that of coherence, involving semantics or the construction of meaning, and that of cohesion, or syntax. This analysis can be done through various types of frameworks, including grounded theory, narrative semiotics, conversation analysis, and critical discourse analysis (CDA). According to Barthes (1994), texts are always multi-dimensional and their meanings are uncovered differently depending on the reader, context and setting. Particularly in the media, they are interconnected to other texts, through means such as quotations, indirect or direct references, photos or historical facts; thus, it could be said that the media produce and reproduce not only texts, but from these, social meaning, which is then further reinforced through subsequent intertextuality (Ibid). Baudrillard (2000) adds that language itself is not necessarily powerful; what makes it more so is its use by powerful people—in today’s society, this being epitomised by the globalised media. Critical discourse analysis is also sometimes referred to as critical linguistics (Wodak and Busch, 2004). Its roots lie in classical rhetoric, sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, and it is often used to illustrate the relationships that power, hierarchy, race and gender have with language (Fairclough, 1995). CDA is especially used today by academics that regard the discursive unit of a text to be one of the most basic units of communication. In fact, it is so widely used within scholarly environments that its legitimacy as a tool for examining power imbalances has been called into question by some, such as Billing (Wodak and Busch, 2004). He claims that because CDA has become so entrenched in academic discourses, it is thus subject to the same rituals and jargon as institutionalized knowledge, thus negating its potential to demystify the functions and intentions of CDA research. While these points are interesting and worthy of further exploration, the scope of this paper will not allow such examination, and furthermore, the assumptions of this paper are that CDA does, in fact, provide useful tools for critical analysis of media texts. Thus, this paper will apply CDA to one article by Rory McCarthy in the Guardian newspaper, dated Wednesday, December 12th, 2007. CDA will be employed to illustrate overt and underlying assumptions and beliefs, as well as the construction of social meaning. Wodak and Busch (2004) claim that all texts can help reproduce and produce unequal relationships in power between men and women, racial groups, social classes, ethnicities, and nations. This can be done through the creation of the Other, which involves the textual representation of a group as being ‘perpetrators and agents’ operating outside the law (Ibid, p. 99). They further claim that after the terrorist attacks of September 11, anti-Islamic prejudices became more pronounced in the media, which characterizes Muslims in anonymous and criminal terms (Ibid). Additionally, ‘strategies of generalization, blaming the victim, and victim-perpetrator reversal are increasingly prominent’ (Ibid, p.100). Analysing the text in the Guardian, these strategies do indeed seem to be in place. For example, actions attributed to Palestinians in the article often involved negative activities, whereas verbs related to the Israelis were more neutral: Palestinian actions: firing rockets, accused, complained, fired back, were detained, were reported, appeared to be Israeli actions: mounted an incursion, said, issue tenders for It is only when the voice of the article shifts from the writer to a direct quote from a Palestinian official that any harsher activities are attributed to the Israelis: sabotage, place obstacles The first sentence of the article is also interesting: Israeli troops in tanks and armoured vehicles mounted an incursion into Gaza yesterday, killing at least six Palestinians†¦.As many as 30 tanks and vehicles were involved in the operation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Although the facts in the article imply that the Israeli army killed several Palestinians, it is important to note the syntax of the sentence removes direct responsibility from the army and pins it on ‘the incursion’. What is more, semantically, Israeli activity is never referred to as an ‘invasion’ or an ‘attack’ but is referred to as a mere ‘incursion’ or ‘operation’, or in the title, ‘Israeli tanks enter Gaza’. The Israelis have neutral ‘troops’ which are seeking ‘members of Islamic Jihad’ ‘a hardline Palestinian militant group’ or ‘Palestinian fighters’. These phrases imply that Palestinians are the only ones operating outside the law. Although it is clear from the facts stated in the article that Israel is the aggressor in this particular case: (tanks enter Gaza, killing at least six Palestinian militants) the writer felt it was necessary to include the feeble reaction of the Palestinians to this ‘incursion’ even though no Israelis were killed or even injured by the Palestinian action: ‘Palestinian fighters fired back’. This structure implies a fair battle, although it is abundantly clear that Israel is the only party here with fierce military power. The body count is kept low in the piece, which claims ‘at least six Palestinian militants’ were killed, rather than emphasizing a larger number, such as ‘about ten’ or even ‘half a dozen’ even though it seems certain that more than six were killed. Importantly, only the deaths of the ‘militants’ are mentioned here: it could be quite possible, then, that several hundred civilians were also killed. Although ‘as many as 30 tanks and vehicles’ seems a high number, the fact that these machines, and not people, were semantically involved in the invasion diminishes personal, human responsibility for the invasion and deaths. The sentence: ‘most of the dead appeared to be members of Islamic Jihad†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ only slightly suggests the possibility that ‘innocent civilians’ were also killed in the attack, and the words ‘appeared to be’ mean that there was no firm confirmation that the dead were, in fact, members of Islamic Jihad. ‘Several Palestinians were reported injured’ is another vague sentence which refuses to offer quantitative data regarding how many were injured, or give information about who, exactly, gave this report, which makes it sound dubious. The simple use of Palestinians is also vague and fails to clearly state the possible injury of ‘innocent civilians’. The situatedness of this text historically and politically supports Barthe’s claim that social meaning is reinforced through intertextuality. There is no mention or even implication that the Palestinians are, in fact, fighting to free their homeland from an illegal oppressor, and there is also no overt mention of the illegitimacy and illegality of Israel’s acts: for example, by choosing the word ‘settlement’ in the sentence: ‘†¦an Israeli decision†¦to issue tenders for more than 300 houses in the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa’ allows for a form of Israeli ‘newspeak’ to whitewash what is essentially an illegal occupation that has destroyed the natural environment of the Abu Ghneim forest and stolen more land from the Palestinians (poica.org) . Moreover, there is no mention of how Israel has repeatedly been condemned by the United Nations for its illegal ‘settlements’ such as that in Har Homa (Ibid). In fact, after reading such an article as the one in the Guardian, readers could well be left wondering just why the Palestinians have been ‘firing rockets’ or why they have been ‘detained’ or have become ‘militants’, although the article makes Israeli grievances easier to understand by employing the very lexis just mentioned previously (as well as: Islamic Jihad, accuse, complain). Thus, victim-perpetrator relationships are skewed by the semantics and syntax used in the article. There is no doubt that Israel is an oppressive power and disturbing presence in the Middle East, yet it is rarely portrayed as such in the media. There could be several reasons for this, but one may reside in Foucault’s notion of discourse, which states that discourse is an institutionalized way of thinking about something, or in other words, it defines the limits of what constitutes acceptable speech on a topic. Discourse is thus related to power, and defining discourses are often taken to be defining of reality itself (Foucault, 1997). Wodak and Busch (2004) state that the dominant discourse on Israel generally supports this state, possibly as a kind of backlash after the blatantly anti-Semetic propaganda that was once so common in Europe before and during the Second World War, but also because power relationships have shifted: Israel is a key ally to the most powerful nations in the world, including the United Kingdom and the United States, and as mentioned by Baudrillard (2000), the powerful use language to keep power structures intact. The final sentence of the article illustrates this point well: Although Israeli and Palestinian leaders and negotiators have been meeting regularly for months, today’s meeting marks the beginning of talks intended eventually to bring the creation of an independent Palestinian state. This paragraph implies that talks to create a Palestinian state are just beginning, and that a Palestinian state could possibly be created for the first time. Both of these assumptions are erroneous. Without delving too deeply in the politics of the Middle East, it is generally known by most that shortly after Israel’s inception, talks to negotiate Arab/Jewish territory have gone on almost continually. Secondly, in 1919 Palestine was provisionally recognized as an independent nation by the League of Nations in League Covenant Article 22(4) as well as by the 1922 Mandate for Palestine that was awarded to Great Britain. This recognition continues today due to the conservatory clause found in Article 80(1) of the United Nations Charter (Boyle, ) . Thus, ‘the creation of an independent Palestinian state’ negates the fact that such a nation has already existed. Incidentally, legally, Israel does not have fixed and permanent borders (except most recently with respect to Egypt) and yet it is generally considered by the media to be a legitimate state (Ibid). What is important to note here is that history is practically being rewritten in the Guardian text. Van Djik’s (1990) explanation as to how this is possible is closely connected to Barthes (1994) and Baudrillard’s (2000) ideas mentioned above. He claims that journalists and media consumers own ‘mental models of the world’ and thus any text that is understood contains only the ‘tip of an iceberg of information’ (Ibid, p.6). The tip is expressed through syntax and semiotics, but the rest is assumed to be supplied by the underlying knowledge of previous texts. For this reason, Van Djik states that ‘the analysis of the implicit†¦is very useful in the study of underlying ideologies’ (Ibid, p.6). In conclusion, this paper has illustrated how critical discourse analysis can be a useful tool for unearthing implicit meanings in text, through the analysis of syntax, semiotics, and assumptions implicit through intertextuality. Furthermore, it has given examples of how current discourses of power can influence the content of media texts. There is no doubt that after several years of exposure to standard news formats, broadcasters and audiences alike are prone to overlooking the covert messages in news content. For this reason, a critical perspective is certainly important, and furthermore, if news texts are assumed to be a system of encoding reality, then the agendas of the encoders must be understood before a thorough deconstruction of their messages can be possible. Appendix 1 Israel tanks enter Gaza on eve of peace talks Rory McCarthy, Jerusalem Israeli troops in tanks and armoured vehicles mounted an incursion into Gaza yesterday, killing at least six Palestinian militants on the eve of a new round of peace talks. As many as 30 tanks and vehicles were involved in the operation in southern Gaza, near the Sufa crossing and close to the town of Khan Yunnis. Several Palestinians were reported injured. The Israeli military said it was a routine operation against militants, but Palestinian officials accused Israel of trying to disrupt the peace talks. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were to meet today at the King David hotel in Jerusalem to start a new process of talks in the wake of the Middle East conference in Annapolis late last month. Palestinian officials have already complained about an Israeli decision last week to issue tenders for more than 300 houses in the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa. ‘The Israeli policy of escalation aims to sabotage and place obstacles before the negotiations even before they start,’ said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Most of the dead appeared to be members of Islamic Jihad, a small but hardline Palestinian militant group which ahs been responsible for firing makeshift rockets from Gaza into Israel. Around 60 Palestinians were detained in what was the largest Israeli operation in months. Palestinian fighters fired back and hit one Israeli tank. Although Israeli and Palestinian leaders and negotiators have been meeting regularly for months, today’s meeting marks the beginning of talks intended to eventually bring the creation of an independent Palestinian state. References Barthes, R, (1994) Mythologies, Hill and Wang, London Baudrillard, J, (2000), Routledge Critical Thinkers, Routledge Publishing, London Boyle, F, (2007) Elements of Palestinian Statehood, in The European Journal of International Law, Vol.18 No 3 Fairclough, N (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis, Longman, Harlow. Foucault, M (1997) The Politics of Truth, Semiotext(e), France McCarthy, R, Israel tanks enter Gaza on eve of peace talks, in the Guardian, December 12, 2007 Van Djik, T. A. (1990). Discourse Society, in Van Djik, T. A (ed.), (2007) A New Journal for a New Research Focus, Volume 18 No 2, Sage Publications, London Wodak, R and Busch, B, (2004) Approaches to Media Studies, in Downing, J, The Sage Handbook of Media Studies, Sage, London http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=1207

Threatening Relationships in Carver’s Cathedral Essay -- Carver Cathed

Threatening Relationships in Carver’s Cathedral  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Although many critics have written numerous accounts of Richard Carver’s "Cathedral" as being about revelation and overcoming prejudice, they have overlooked a very significant aspect: the unfolding of marital drama. The story tells of how a close outside friendship can threaten marriage by provoking insecurities, creating feelings of invasion of privacy, and aggravating communication barriers. The close outside friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert, the blind man, provokes the narrator’s insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten long years. During those years, they have exchanged countless voice tapes wherein they both tell each other what has happened in their respective lives. Because of this, the narrator feels that his wife has told Robert more than Robert needs to know. The narrator laments, "she told him everything or so it seemed to me" (1054). The narrator’s fear is somehow confirmed when Robert arrives and says that he feels like they have already met (1055). The narrator is left wondering what his wife has disclosed. This murky situation leaves the narrator feeling insecure, especially when he sees the warm interaction between his wife and Robert. The narrator’s insecurities unfold when it takes him almost five pages just to demonstrate how close the friendship is between his wife and Robert. It is as though he is justifying his irrational behavior or perhaps questioning if his wife could be secretly in love with Robert. The narrator assumes this because his wife only writes poems if something really important happens to her. He recalls that his wife never forgot that instant when Robert "touched his fingers to every part of her face... ...m. Ed. Thomas Volteler. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. 23-28. Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1052-1062. Eder, Richard. "Pain on the Face of Middle America." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski. Detroit: Gale Research Publishing, Inc., 1986. 103. Works Consulted Robinson, Marilynne. " Marriage and other Astonishing Bonds." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz. Detroit: Gale Publishing Inc., 1989. 276-278. Weele, Michael Vander. "Raymond Carver and the language of Desire." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Thomas Volteler. Detroit: Gale Publishing Inc., 1989. 36-41. Yardley, Jonathan. " Raymond Carver’s American Dreamers." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Eds. Daniel Marowski and Roger Matuz. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1989. 63.      

Of Mice And Men coursework (Theme Of Loneliness And Friendship) Essay

Consider the theme of loneliness in ‘Of Mice and Men’. How does it affect the friendships and relationships in the novel? This novel was written by John Steinbeck which was set in the 1930s in Salinas Soledad which is in California. The novel consists of many historical factors which have affected the characters in this novel and one of them includes, â€Å"The great depression† Which leads the novels inspiration for the famous writer John Steinbeck which he mainly based on his own experience. In those days people travelled a lot differently to how we travel now. In those days migrant workers travelled extravagant distances looking for a job. There are many different themes in which are based throughout the whole book, such as loneliness, happiness, nature, dreams and reality: – Which even lead to catastrophe. Many of the people in this novel have very lonely lives mainly because they are migrant workers and as we know they don’t have time to make an y friends or have any time to spend with their families. There are many characters that are lonely due to age, sex, and race. Two good examples would be Candy because of his age and Crooks because of his race. This novel consists of two main characters George and Lennie, who are an anomalous pair of migrant workers that look after each other. They are completely the reverse of each other. George is the one who has the communicative face and thinks of all of their problems and ideas and tells the other one what to do. Being like this all of the time, in what ever the story it is, always pictures that you would be the small quick one with sharp features. Lennie is the guy that is tall and always does what he is told and has an ill-defined, solid, and powerful body and does not know his own strength. Steinbeck describes him as the one with no shape in his face and his body. Lennie drags his feet when he walks and acts like an animal. In the descriptions of these two men their appearance is completely different. George dresses neat and tidy, while Lennie dresses very scruffy. Just by the description of George and Lennie, you can clearly see that Lennie is the child out of the two men, as you can tell how he talks and acts around George and throughout the whole book. Being a man Lennie lacks a lot of language, which I think that he never attended a lot of school. Examples â€Å"look George, look what I done!† this is immature language. This kind of behaviour makes George the father type figure, so he would be the defender. John Steinbeck relates to Lennie, in the theme of nature, by describing his walk, and some of the things he does in relation to the animals like the way he drinks from the lake as Steinbeck describes him as a horse that puts its whole head into the water and slurps. This links in to the theme of natures, because of the use of animal descriptions that Steinbeck uses throughout the book, which is very important to this novel because in the beginning of the book, Nature was introduced straight away. Steinbeck’s describes the surroundings in such detail, that he uses a whole page to describe the forest (which is in the beginning of the book) which gives the readers a good imaginative view of what Steinbeck is writing. George and Lennie have an abnormal relationship. They are two friends, one needs the other more .George often gets very frustrated towards Lennie, which also shows that George cares. George loves Lennie very much and will always be a friend to him and so does Lennie. Lennie could not live without him because George does everything for him. Between George and Lennie, George is the one that is mainly in control, he cooks, finds them jobs finds them a place to sleep and because of this, they always travel together, where one goes, the other one follows like a duck and her ducklings. George travels with Lennie because Lennie would not be able to survive on his own. These two men share the same dreams but George knows in reality, it is not going to happen. Later on in the story Candy has now been introduced to the book as the old swapper. He is tall, stooped shoulders and has white whiskers. When you first see him, he is very friendly, although he is a little weary of newcomers. His only friend is his dog that he has had since he was a little boy which symbolises that he is very lonely which refers to the theme of loneliness. When he gets to know people, he begins to trust them; he opens up and strikes a conversation with his new friends just as he did with Lennie. A little further on in the story as they become very close together and even share each others dream. In the future he looses both his dog and Lennie and can’t really prevent Lennie’s death but tries to prevent his dog’s death, but this fails. This shatters Candy’s dreams because he cannot share his dream with his long companion. In Chapter 4, Crooks is introduced. He is the only coloured (black) person on the ranch and this is where the theme of loneliness comes into play. Crooks is a stable buck. He has a crooked spine, and his eyes lay deep in his head, he is lined with deep black wrinkles and has thin tightened lips. Again relating to the theme of loneliness, Crooks lives by himself in a shed because he is the only Black man, this is why he can afford to leave all of his belongings lying around. He has got his own collection of items like books, shoes and his own copy for the California civil code which indicates that he knows his rights and does not want to be taken advantage of. Eventually Crooks and Lennie are talking about if Lennie could live without George and about crook’s childhood explaining why his father never let him play with other kids and why he is so lonely. When he is speaking with Lennie about his childhood, he is speaking like it is still happening or it has recently happened. This is a very similar story to his life at that present time. Being the only coloured man, Crooks is treated as an outcast, as racism was very high in those days which forces him to spend his time reading while the others are playing card games. Crooks become very bitter due to the fact that everyone ill treats him which makes him feel hurt. In the next chapter Curley is introduced to the story. He is the boss’s son, he has a wife, she has dark hair that reaches down to her shoulders, her eyes are quiet close together and has pink small lips with very pale skin. The book does not mention anything about her name which suggests that she does not know who her parents are and does not have an identity. She behaves like she is not Curley’s wife and that she is single so she flirts with a lot of the men behind Curly’s back. She would say things like â€Å"now that we’re alone what do you want to do†. To try and tempt the man. In doing this, all the men try as hard as they can to stay away from her because they know that she is trouble and know how Curley feels about his wife. Curley’s wife does this because she wants attention, again, related to the theme of loneliness. All the farmers speak really bad of her because of her being flirtatious they also are frightened to talk to her because they fear Curley, and he would think that something is going on; plus he has the authority to get them fired or to shoot them. She married Curly to get some sort of status and to have an identity but she never liked him anyway. When she describes her life on the ranch, she says that her life is boring, that no one pays any attention to her and that she gets treated like a little girl. Curley’s wife often dreams about herself becoming an actress. At the end of the novel, her loneliness causes Lennie’s death. Before Lennie’s death, Curley’s wife and Lennie were talking in the barn whilst everyone else was playing games. They began talking to each other about each others dreams. They both talked about each others dreams and what they wanted to do in their life. Lennie has a fascination of stroking things. He was stroking Curley’s wife’s hair, he began to stroke her hair so hard, that he lost control and broke her neck. This has a big impact on George, Lennie and Candy’s relationship, as Curley wants to kill Lennie. As a result to this, George has to kill Lennie before he gets killed by Curly. Loneliness will always end in tragedy and dreams will rarely become reality. True Friendship never ends.

Finding a Job for English Learners

Finding a Job for English Learners Understanding your potential employer can help you get the job you are looking for. This section focuses on developing interviewing skills that will help you prepare for a job interview in an English speaking country. The Personnel Department The personnel department is responsible for hiring the best possible candidate for an open position. Often hundreds of applicants apply for an open position. In order to save time, the personnel department often uses a number of methods to select applicants who they would like to interview. Your cover letter and resume must be perfect in order to ensure that you will not be looked over because of a minor mistake. This unit focuses on the various documents required for a successful job application, as well as interviewing techniques and appropriate vocabulary to use in your resume, cover letter and during the job interview itself. Finding a Job There are many ways to find a job. One of the most common is looking through the positions offered a section of your local newspaper. Here is an example of a typical job posting: Job Opening Due to the enormous success of Jeans and Co., we have a number of job openings for shop assistants and local management positions. Shop Assistant:  Successful candidates will have a high school degree with at least 3 years working experience and two current references. Desired qualifications include basic computer skills. Key responsibilities will include operating cash registers and providing customers with any help they may need. Management Positions:  Successful candidates will have a college degree in business administration and management experience. Desired qualifications include management experience in retail and thorough knowledge of Microsofts Office Suite. Responsibilities will include management of local branches with up to 10 employees. Willingness to move frequently also a plus. If you wish to apply for one of the above vacancies, please send a resume and cover letter to our personnel manager at: Jeans and Co.254 Main StreetSeattle, WA 98502 The Cover Letter The cover letter introduces your resume or CV when applying for a job interview. There a few important things that need to be included in the cover letter. Most importantly, the cover letter should point out why you are particularly suited to the position. The best way to do this is to take the job posting and point out the highlights in your resume that exactly match the desired qualifications. Here is an outline to writing a successful cover letter. To the right of the letter, look for important notes concerning the layout of the letter signaled by a number in parenthesis (). Peter Townsled35 Green Road (1)Spokane, WA 87954April 19, 200_ Mr. Frank Peterson, Personnel Manager (2)Jeans and Co.254 Main StreetSeattle, WA 98502 Dear Mr. Trimm: (3) (4) I am writing to you in response to your advertisement for a local branch manager, which appeared in the Seattle Times on Sunday, June 15. As you can see from my enclosed resume, my experience and qualifications match this positions requirements. (5) My current position managing the local branch of national shoe retailers has provided the opportunity to work in a high-pressure, team environment, where it is essential to be able to work closely with my colleagues in order to meet sales deadlines. In addition to my responsibilities as manager, I also developed time management tools for staff using Access and Excel from Microsofts Office Suite. (6) Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to the opportunity to personally discuss why I am particularly suited to this position. Please telephone me at after 4.00 p.m. to suggest a time that we may meet. I can also be reached by email at petertnet.com Sincerely, Peter Townsled Peter Townsled (7) Enclosure Notes Begin your cover letter by placing your address first, followed by the address of the company you are writing to.Use complete title and address; dont abbreviate.  Always make an effort to write directly to the person in charge of hiring.Opening paragraph - Use this paragraph to specify which job you are applying for, or if you are writing to inquire whether a job position is open, question the availability of an opening.Middle paragraph(s) - This section should be used to highlight your work experience which most closely matches the desired job requirements presented in the job opening advertisement. Do not simply restate what is contained in your resume. Notice how the example makes a special effort to show why the writer is especially suited to the job position opening posted above.Closing paragraph - Use the closing paragraph to ensure action on the part of the reader. One possibility is to ask for an interview appointment time. Make it easy for the personnel department to conta ct you by providing your telephone number and email address. Always sign letters. enclosure indicates that you are enclosing your resume. Finding a Job For ESL Learners Finding a Job - Writing a Cover LetterWriting Your ResumeThe Interview: BasicsExample Interview QuestionsListen to a Typical Job InterviewUseful Job Interview Vocabulary

How Fluoride Works to Prevent Tooth Decay

How Fluoride Works to Prevent Tooth Decay Fluoride is the fluorine ion added to toothpaste and dental rinses to help protect your teeth from cavities. While increasing the concentration of systemic fluoride (e.g., through fluoridating drinking water) has not been proven to reduce the incidence of tooth decay, direct contact between fluoride and teeth strengthens and helps remineralize damaged enamel. The Chemistry Behind Dental Health The calcium and phosphate compound which makes up tooth enamel is a modified form of hydroxyapatite, which is susceptible to attack by acids. Bacteria that thrive on the sugars found in the mouth multiply on dental surfaces and produce acids. Mechanical brushing of teeth dislodges these bacteria and rinses them away, but doesnt do anything to address the ongoing damage to enamel from acid exposure. Fortunately, saliva neutralizes these acids and teeth use compounds found in saliva to remineralize the enamel. So, as long as the rate of demineralization and the rate of remineralization remain in balance, teeth remain strong and healthy. When more minerals are lost from teeth than are replaced, dental caries or cavities form. Fluoride helps by interacting with hydroxyapatite to form a stronger compound that is less susceptible to acid attack. Also, fluoride remineralizes damaged enamel (though it cant fix a cavity once one has formed). There is some evidence fluoride may inhibit the growth of bacteria on teeth or limit their capacity for producing acid. Even though you spit out toothpaste and probably rinse your mouth, enough fluoride remains on your teeth and in your saliva to confer protection for a while after brushing your teeth or using a fluoridated rinse.

Business and commercial awareness Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business and commercial awareness - Coursework Example One of the biggest stakeholders that view.com rely upon are its customers and by offering good DVD’s, its customers are entertained while the company makes profits (Bruce, 2005). Channel Islands are also stakeholders interested in View.com’s performance; this is because the island levies taxes on the company. Moreover, View.com has employed British citizens and this is helps in reducing unemployment levels in the UK. View.com has competitors who are also stakeholders since if view.com folds up its DVD business then the competitors are going to have an easy time in selling their merchandise (Crabb, 2007). d) Offering online videos at a discount for overseas and unreachable customers would help in increasing the DVD sales. Offering online videos would help on reducing postage stamps costs (Bradbury, 2005). e) By opening an online DVD sale system, movie previews can be availed to customers and this will help in increasing the sales for view.com. Moreover, view.com can make more money from adverts in the online website. The sales for view.com have reduced drastically over the last two years and this has been attributed to declining sales. However the costs of achieving the sales figures shown in the graph below have relatively the same. The new investment in the view.com must be higher than anticipated and it should reflect the sales for the year 2011. The new investment should be able to replace the sales and costs figures for 2011 and gradually grow in future periods. For the sales figures to be upbeat and good, view.com should be able to achieve figures of 300 and above so that the business can be competitive. The cost of running view.com should also be brought down to a level of around 150 for the business to become cost effective. It is important to understand the costs that are spent by view.com in its pursuit of achieving good profit margins in its business (Andersen, 2007). The levels of sales of DVD’s should be

What is the most important skill (culinary arts) Essay

What is the most important skill (culinary arts) - Essay Example The chefs should ensure that the food particles spill on their clothing. A person’s outward appearance depicts more of the individual behavior. The second skill is respect. The chefs respect their fellow workmates as well as the working environment and the equipment. Respect entails keeping clean the workspace and the equipment after use. It also ensures that people learn how to economize on the ingredients in the kitchen and the industries as well. People should also respect the natural environment that gave rise to the inputs they process in to get output. Third, people should learn how to manage wastes. The chefs Alison Cayne observed learnt how to dispose of their wastes. They always ensure to use the entire ingredients so as to reduce the amount of waste to a minimum. The chefs also appreciate how expensive the ingredients were and, therefore, minimize the amount of waste to maintain the economic feasibility of their cooking practices. Fourth, the chefs exhibit a sense of appreciation of learning. The chefs learn from the real-time environment and apply the skills to build on the technical skills in the kitchen. In the kitchen, each chef teaches and learns from the other chefs. Applied to the industry, and classroom settings, employees, and the students continuously learn from other members. The fifth skill discussed is the appreciation of the process. The learning process proceeds systematically. The learners begin from a particular point and builds on their career as they continue along with their profession. It requires hard work to obtain the required skill to perform a specific task (Cayne 1). Those who successfully master the skills get promotion and eventually become the CEOs of the institution. She, however, says that the skill is not prevalent in the restaurant community. The sixth skill is the ability of preparedness. The skill is similar to respect and neatness. The ability ensures that the producers of a particular commodity strive to