An Epitome of the Gothic Novel free essay sample

Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is quite the epitome of the gothic novel. Towards the beginning of the story, the setting takes place in an old and ominous castle, which is highly characteristic of gothic literature. Harker’s tribulation begins when â€Å"the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle,† (Stoker 18). There is also a gloomy and menacing tone given to the setting of the novel, as in most pieces of gothic literature. This gloom is evident early on in the novel, as it reads, â€Å"Then a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the roada long, agonized wailing, as if from fear. †(Stoker 16). Also coinciding with the nature of gothic novels is the ever reoccurring supernatural events, such as Count Dracula scaling the castle walls, up-side down: â€Å"I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down, with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings. We will write a custom essay sample on An Epitome of the Gothic Novel or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † (Stoker 39). Another common theme of gothic novels is one of women in distress. This theme is evident throughout Dracula, as Lucy Westenra is in a constant struggle for her life for many days. â€Å"She was ghastly, chalkily pale; the red seemed to have gone even from her lips and gums, and the bones of her face stood out prominently;† (Stoker 133). In novels where there is a theme of good versus evil, there is usually a â€Å"villain† with ill intentions and a hero or heroin who tries to thwart the villain’s malevolent plans. Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is a perfect example of a â€Å"good versus evil† novel. Stoker uses the Christian characters such as Mina, Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, Harker, and others to portray the side of good in the story. Dracula and his fellow vampires are depicted as the evil characters of the gothic novel. The novel begins with the evil Count Dracula holding Harker captive, in order to attain his ultimate goal, to drink his blood. Harker states in his journal that he wishes to die rather than suffer the evil of the count’s desires: â€Å"He might kill me, but death now seemed the happier choice of evils,’ (Stoker 57). There is a constant struggle between the good and evil characters of this story to survive. As Dracula drinks the protagonists’ blood, he becomes stronger and revitalized. He is mentioned in renewed form in Mina’s journal when it states, â€Å"’I believe it is the Count, but he has grown young. My God if this be so! ’† (Stoker 187). His transformation into a younger and more powerful being depends on the carrying out of his devious plans. Lucy Westenra struggles to survive as Dracula slowly drains her life away in order to sustain his in good health. Eventually the side of good prevails as in most â€Å"good versus evil† plots, and Dracula is defeated. The death of the Count is finalized, as the novel states, â€Å"It was like a miracle, but before our very eyes, and almost in the drawing of a breathe, the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight. † (Stoker 398). The entity of Dracula embodies many themes and motifs. He is a sign of pure evil, even taking the form of a devil-resembling man. Count Dracula’s features are described as devilish in the beginning of the novel: â€Å"The mouth†¦with peculiarly sharp white teeth†¦his ears were pale and at the tops extremely pointed. † (Stoker 22-23). Count Dracula also embodies sexual desire and lust. One can see his sexual side and desire being fulfilled as he forces Mina to drink his blood, resembling a different swapping of body fluids: â€Å"†¦his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom†¦a thin stream trickled down the man’s bare breast†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Stoker 300). One may even venture to say that he portrays homosexuality. The Count desires to save Jonathan Harker as his own: â€Å"Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! † (Stoker 44). He is a symbol of corruption, as he turns pure women into shameless, sexually hungry harlots. Lucy’s transformation by Dracula into one of these creatures is portrayed by the words of Dr. Seward as he states, â€Å"The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness. † (Stoker 226). Lastly, Dracula embodies a symbol of great and overwhelming power. Dracula proclaims his own might as he declares, â€Å"My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine my creatures, to do my bidding and to be my jackals when I want to feed. Count Dracula has a profound effect on all the characters in the work of literature. Jonathan Harker’s true determine and courage is brought about to prove that he is more than just a mere solicitor when he is faced with the troubling dilemma of being trapped in a vampire’s castle. His testament that he will escape may be observed in his journal as so: â€Å" I shall not remain alone with them; I shall try to scale the castle wall farther than I have yet attempted. I shall take some of the gold with me, lest I want it later. I may find a way from this dreadful place. † (Stoker 59). One may also observe the complete distraught the Count reeks on Harker. Mina’s diary reveals that he â€Å"raved of dreadful things,† (Stoker 116). Lucy Westenra is affected at great lengths also. Dracula causes her horrible nightmares, and transforms her dreams into â€Å"a presage of horror,† (Stoker 138). Eventually the Counts consequence is so heavy upon her that she is transformed into a vampire, â€Å"working wickedness by night,† (Stoker 230). Dr. Seward is perhaps revealed as very courageous man through the actions of Count Dracula. His dedication to help save the life of the woman he loved and could not have is commendable. His love is exposed as he journals the entry, â€Å"No man knows till he experiences it, what it is like to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the woman he loves. † (Stoker 141). When one is dealing with a book about vampires, blood is obviously going to play a key role in the story. To Dracula, the blood is his source of energy, youthfulness, and nourishment. He bites humans and sucks their blood in order to fulfill his undying thirst. The whole bed would have been drenched to a scarlet with the blood the girl must have lost (Stoker 137). This quote refers to poor Lucy after Dracula has feasted on her blood in order to sustain himself and his desires. Humans on the other hand do not need to constantly replenish their blood supply to live nor is it a form of nourishment for them. However, it is absolutely necessary for them to live. This is evident throughout the novel as Lucy struggles for her life each time Dracula drains her blood. â€Å"Young miss is bad, very bad. She wants blood, and blood she must have or die. † (Stoker 135). In the novel, blood is not only a means of life for the humans but also a sign of love. Arthur proclaims his love for Lucy as he states, â€Å"My life is hers, and I would give the last drop of blood in my body for her. † (Stoker 134). The mentally disturbed Renfield sums up the importance of blood in the novel when he proclaims, â€Å"The blood is the life! (Stoker 155). I believe Stoker chose to write Dracula by using letters and journal entries to give readers an omniscient perspective while still allowing the story to be in first person and for readers to feel a sense of empathy for the characters. One can understand and relate to the true emotions of all the characters and understand the authenticity of the story’s plot through the use of letters and diary entries. For example, readers can realize Lucy’s true feelings for her fiance when she proclaims in a letter to Mina, â€Å"But, oh, Mina, I love him; I love him; I love him! (Stoker 63). The use of journal entries also allows for readers to consume multiple perspectives of the same situation from separate characters. Stoker gives Dr. Seward and Van Helsing the important professions of being men of medicine and science. This proves to be key in the struggle to maintain Lucy’s life, as Seward and Van Helsing both use their medical expertise and intelligence to attempt to co nquer her malady. Seward is smart, but not as smart as Van helsing, who is the backbone of the life-saving effort. Van Helsing uses his medical knowledge and quickly assesses what must be done in order to save Lucy’s life by proclaiming, â€Å"There must be a transfusion of blood at once. † (Stoker 134). Van Helsing’s knowledge of science also gives him insight into the realm of the supernatural. Although science and the supernatural are polar opposites, his experience has taught him that both are equally prevalent in life. His knowledge of the upernatural can be observed as explains how to kill Dracula: â€Å"Find this great Un-dead and cut off his head and burn his heart or drive a stake through it, so that the world may rest for him. (Stoker 219). In Dracula, Christian mythology can be seen with an inverted twist. Count Dracula can be directly related to an inverted form of Christ himself, as Dracula is persecuted by those who wish to rid the world of his evil doings, and is eventually impaled, relating to the crucifixion. The drinking of blood in order to sustain the vam pires’ lives parallels inversely to that of the story of the last supper. As the vampires â€Å"must go on age after age adding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world,† they only achieve physical immortality (Stoker 230). But the story of the last supper in the New Testament teaches us to drink the â€Å"blood† of Christ in order to attain spiritual immortality and purify our souls. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day (John 6:54). This subversion of Christian â€Å"myth† is important because shows the true tragedy of Dracula and the other vampires’ lives. They will never truly be fulfilled as they go on being the undead, unlike those of the Christian faith who are spiritually fulfilled by the partaking of Jesus’ blood and life. The major female characters of Dracula are Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker. These women are both noted for their innocence and intrinsic worth as women of there society. Mina is the purest and most submissive of the two, as she has only desires to serve and love her husband Jonathan. Van Helsing credits her for these attributes as he says, â€Å"She is one of Gods women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and other women that there is a heaven where we can enter, and that its light can be here on earth. So true, so sweet, so noble, so little an egoist and that, let me tell you, is much in this age, so skeptical and selfish. †(Stoker 203). Lucy, on the other hand, has a more desirable physical appearance and has a slightly more lustful and sensual side to her. Early on in the novel she writes to Mina in a letter about the three men who have proposed to her. Her almost lustfully unattainable desire to have all of them is written in the letter: â€Å"Why cant they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? † (Stoker 66). Her sexual side is amplified when she becomes a vampire, as she is seen trying to seduce her fiance Arthur. She approaches him seductively and says, â€Å"Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come! † (Stoker 227). Minas importance as one of the major storytellers through her insightful diary and Lucy’s role as the damsel in distress makes them key factors in the development of the plot in this novel. According to the novel, vampires are attracted by the blood of humans. It would seem as though the blood of the opposite gender is the most alluring, depending on the sex of the vampire. Dracula tends to hunt the female characters such as Lucy, and the three vampire women have a strong attraction to the blood of Jonathan Harker. The vampires are highly opposed to items such as a crucifix, or cloves of garlic. Lucy;s strong opposition to the crucifix can be when â€Å"Van Helsing sprang forward and held between them his little golden crucifix. She recoiled from it, and, with a suddenly distorted face, full of rage, dashed past him as if to enter the tomb. (Stoker 227). In order to permanently destroy a vampire, one must thrust a stake through its heart. â€Å"Mr. Morris’s bowie knife plunged into the heart†¦the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight. † (Stoker 398). Other precautions can also be taken to ensure the vampire’s death: â€Å"I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic,† (Stoker 2 16). Dracula still remains an icon in today’s society as many shows and books such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Twilight saga have captured the imaginations of many people. The vampire figures in the Twilight novels are similar to those in Dracula in that they are both very attractive and alluring to the human race. Physically they are very strong, and both need blood to sustain themselves. However, the vampires in Twilight can be either bad or good. The good vampires choose not to feed on the blood of humans but rather on that of animals, in order to keep other humans from experiencing the cursed life that they are damned to. Vampires in this novel are also limited to their human forms, and may not transform into bats, wolves, or any other forms.

Columbia City Ballet essays

Columbia City Ballet essays The Columbia City Ballet strives to be a ballet in which the audience comes to enjoy a performance full of grace, elegance, and cultural enrichment. The Columbia City Ballet will be a place to take families on a fun-filled night, which will enlighten children and adults to poetry in motion. The CCB plans on extending the education outreach program to more schools and districts in order to spread the beauty of the ballet to a younger crowd. The CCB wants a place where guests are begging for front row tickets. In the future the CCB visions its productions to be a place where the audience comes for an exciting evening filled with captivating sights and sounds. The CCB prides itself on being an extremely wonderful place to change up the pace of everyday entertainment. The CCB is a classily yet comfortable atmosphere to enjoy splendid incredible sights and sounds that will have even the youngest child begging for more. The Columbia City Ballet wants to provide Columbia with a wonderful show of arts at reasonable prices. We do not overprice for our events. We have compared our prices to those in other cities all over the U.S. and have set our prices at a comfortable medial level. The CCB will always uphold our contract agreements with our dancers. We will not use our city connections with our board of directors for any unethical personal gain. We will always represent South Carolina and the city of Columbia in a positive light. The money we receive from fundraisers will go towards the total well being of our company as well as the community. We will give one hundred percent at our shows, regardless of how many people attend, or who we are performing for. The following activities must receive attention in order to achieve our Strategic Intent and our Strategic Mission. ...

The Relationship Between Soil Properties and Soil Erodibility Essay

The Relationship Between Soil Properties and Soil Erodibility - Essay Example It has the largest water holding capacity which helps to absorb water during the rain and helps in reducing soil erosion (Genna Dunjo Denti,2004, p.125). Soil aggregates are group of soil particles that are bonded together strongly to each other than to the adjacent particles with the help of organic matter. The space between the aggregates provides pore space for retention and exchange of air and water. Desirable aggregates are stable against rainfall. When less organic matter is used to bind these aggregates, due to rainfall these aggregates break down and leads to soil crust formation, this crust in turn increases the infiltration and air permeability, this in turn disturbs the surface soil and sub-soil structure. Thus inclusion of organic matter aids in the formation of stable aggregates and strengthen them. They also increase the porosity of the soil for air and water movement. Thus aggregating helps in reducing soil erosion. As the strength aggregates depends on the organic matter, since the organic matter acts as a binder to the aggregates. Hence weakening of this bond due to frequent tillage ultimately breaks down the aggregate structure of surface soil (Rachman, Anderson, Gantzer and Thompson, 2004, p. 31). Splash erosion is the removal of sand by impact of raindrops on the soil surface, this is also known as soil splash detachment (Jean Poesen, Gerard Govers(2001), p.1,2). If the soil is loose and friable, it has the maximum water holding capacity. This water holding capacity of soil stops soil erosion due soil splash detachment. If the soil is too loose it is very much prone to both the wind and water erosion. Wind erosion includes moving of the soil particles due to wind velocity and when these moved soil particles collide with the other particles and break them .If this continues then the soil is eroded by the wind. Wind also makes some soil particles to remain suspend in air and stay there till the wind continues leading to erosion. Water erosion mainly removes the soil particles by force of water and loss of various soil particles into ground water through infiltration. This leads to rapid dry out of soil due to lack of moisture holding capacity and leachate of minerals and other desirable elements. If the soil is dense, more overland flow may increase the erosion rate (Dr.Cooper, 2005, chapter-2). Soil Color Soil color is one of the physical indicators of soil condition. Soil color is most easily determined characteristic and helps in determining the other characteristics of soil like water-able depth and chemical constituents. Surface soil Surface-soil is the top most layer of the soil and is in interference with the atmosphere. This soil comprises of the organic matter such as manure and dead plants

Employee selection method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employee selection method - Essay Example Additionally, the cognitive ability test evaluates the participant’s potential or aptitude to solve job-related issues by providing data about their mental abilities such as mathematical and verbal reasoning, as well as, perpetual abilities such as speed in identifying letter in the alphabet. A good example of cognitive ability test is the aptitude test that is given to prospective employees. The advantages of the cognitive ability test are that it produces various organization outcomes such as success in training and performance. Secondly, this method can be used to predict job performance, especially for complex jobs. Thirdly, the test can be administers through paper and pencil or using computerized methods. Lastly, the method is cost-effective to administer, as the participants are time (Durai, 2010). However, there are various pitfalls that are associated with this method that include that the test is likely to differ in results because of race and gender than any other type of test administers. Lastly, the method is time-consuming in case the test is purchased off- the-

Defending the Faith in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Defending the Faith in the Middle East - Essay Example Consider Imperial Russia's case to be the benefactor of Orthodox Christendom, a case focused on its major territorial opponent, the Ottoman Empire. Taking after the Ottoman rout in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, the Treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji permitted Russia to speak to Orthodox Christians in Ottoman lands. In spite of the fact that the settlement gave the ruler just the privilege to fabricate an Orthodox Church. Over the next decades, it progressively interfered in the sultan's relations with his Orthodox subjects, undermining Ottoman power. Additionally, Imperial France asserted to be the benefactor of worldwide Catholicism, particularly the Maronites of the Ottoman Levant. By the nineteenth century, Paris was perceived as having the privilege to intercede for the benefit of the sultan's Catholic subjects. "In the Orient, where the power of men is measured by the quantity of their customers, the improvement of our Catholic demographic is a national enthusiasm for us," compos ed the French history specialist Ernest Lavisse. The political issues of religion undermined the Westphalian request, in light of the standards regional respectability and of state power. In the meantime, these strategies subverted states, filled divisions inside of them — and frequently finished in brutality. Iran's endeavors to end up the worldwide guard of Shiite Muslims and Saudi Arabia's efforts to lead the Sunnis have gotten to be focal in their fight for dominance of the Middle East, changing the locale's global framework.

History Of The Nigerian Mass Media Media Essay

History Of The Nigerian Mass Media Media Essay The emerging trend in Nigerias broadcast industry after the doors were thrown open for private participation has been a success story. The Nigerian nation, contrary to initial governments apprehensions, has not collapsed. There has not been any case of the use of the private stations to foment trouble nor subvert the country. Rather, what Nigerians seemed to have witnessed is the opportunity to choose. Competition in broadcast programming brought about by private stations has created some vitality and vibrancy in the broadcast sector such that even many government owned stations that were almost sinking in boring and monotonous monologues of what the government said and so on have been forced to abandon their slumber. It has been a tremendous advantage for the Nigerian airways for the deregulation of its airways. The governments fears became unfounded with the exemplary courage of General Ibrahim Babaginda (administration) who on August 24, 1992, threw open the gates to allow private individuals and groups the opportunity to own, control and operate broadcast stations. However, for a long time, government held on to its exclusive monopoly of the broadcast media because it felt it could not trust the professional discretion of private individuals to protect public interests or safeguard the nations security. It would be recalled that successive military adventurists found it a convenient strategy to execute their coups on the airwaves of the nations broadcast media. The government probably felt the nation was not ripe for private ownership of broadcast stations. Meanwhile, decades later the former governments realized they have been wrong because the deregulation expanded the industry and improved the efficiency and effectiveness of broadcast stations in the country. Deregulation in Nigeria has not only helped the country but boost the freedom of expression and also promote the quality of broadcasting in Nigeria. Furthermore, they have also stimulated social and economic growth and development in the country. In fact, if not for anything, it has provided more employment opportunities for Nigerians and a medium for advertisers and advertising practitioners. With the coming of private television stations, the face of television broadcast in Nigeria has been changed permanently for good. For one, it has raised the stake in the industry, as stations, both public and private, now competition is getting keener by the day. Today, viewers have more stations to choose from, unlike in the past when NTA and state stations held sway. This has translated to more programmes. One of the fallouts of broadcast deregulation is the upsurge in the thriving activities of independent producers. Because of the options and latitude provided by a deregulated broadcast market, independent producers, most of who had been frustrated out of civil service media stations have new opportunities to showcase their talents. Besides, the employment market in the broadcast sector, in the wake of deregulation, offered better prospects as employers lured the few available talents with better remunerations. Poaching soon became the order of the day as most government stations that failed to appreciate the worth of their on-air talents and other professionals in the news, programmes, and engineering directorates lost them to the upcoming outfits. In addition to the benefit of deregulation in Nigeria, the ownership of broadcast media stations by individuals craves way for true democracy. It is fact that a government owned broadcast station would not want to broadcast anything that would jeopardize or tarnish the image of the government. Hence, workers in such media house would find it difficult to broadcast unscrupulous stories of the government because of the fear of losing his job. However, the presence of private media houses gives room for easy publication of governments unscrupulous stories. The purpose of mass communication as a watch-dog for the masses becomes effective in this aspect because a case study of Nigeria reveals that a private media house will not hesitate to broadcast any news story that would or not tarnish the image of the government. This they would do more than a government owned station. Furthermore, it is conspicuous that deregulating the airways as been one of the strategic decisions the Nigerian government has taken. Another advantage of the deregulation of the airways is the act of broadcast on-line. The private media houses in Nigeria facilitate the growth and increase of web-casting. In Nigeria today, almost all private media houses have their programmes broadcast on-line through web-casting. All these advantages of deregulation of the airways in Nigeria have contributed immensely in improving the economy of the country. It has improved the economy because so many individuals have set up so many media houses which have also increased the numbers of the employed especially those who had gone to school to study in the specified field of mass communication and journalism. Moreover, as the standard of the industry improves, it makes the industry to be capable of competing with other countries industries. Also, another advantage which a broadcast station has is the capability of educating its listeners. Deregulation in Nigeria which gives room for the rush in of more media houses make viewers have choices of been educated. It increases the ability of media houses to make its audience educated and conscious of where they live in. Advertisement on broadcast stations also create awareness to the masses, so many broadcast stations even when individuals owned stations have dominated the airways advertise lots of products and services. Most importantly, it serves as a medium where manufacturers or entrepreneurs reveal their products or services to the people. Also, it serves as a medium the audience gets to know about new products and new development. Finally, based on the emphasis of the relevance and necessities of the deregulation of the Nigerian airways, it is a fact that the deregulation of the airways was necessary and has benefited the country tremendously. There is also a bright prospect ahead of the industry even as these individuals who keep on thronging into the industry keep on imbibing fresh and well innovating ideas which would improve it to its peak of standard. So therefore, indeed the sky is a stepping stone for the industry.

Global Credit Availability Essay -- essays research papers fc

Global Credit Availability:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In today’s world of personal finance and economics, with the global perspective being the primary focus. Corporations, just like individuals, are looking at expanding their horizons and saving or making as much profit as they can. How do they accomplish this gigantic and often expensive proposition? The answer to this is through credit. However I poise a question to everyone. Is the ease of which to receive credit today a hindrance and detriment to all of us, or is it the answer we have all been looking for? I will show you both sides of this situation and you are the judge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The term credit according to the 1992 issue of New Webster’s Dictionary is; a transfer of goods, etc†¦in confidence of future payment, to enter on the credit side of an account; to procure credit or honor to (â€Å"Credit†). The term domestic credit in the Dornbusch Microeconomics book is the monetary authority’s holdings of claims on the public sector – government debt – and on the private sector – usually loans to banks (â€Å"Domestic Credit†). According to our Personal Finance book;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Consumer credit dates back to colonial times. While credit was originally a priviledge of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the affluent, farmers came to use it extensively. No direct finance charges were imposed;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  instead, the cost of credit was added to the price of goods†¦ All economists now   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  recognize consumer as a major force in the American economy†¦ To paraphrase an old   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  political expression, as the consumer goes, so goes the U.S. economy (164).† These terms all mean one thing, as we the public, government, and businesses receive credit, we must be responsible with it and ensure that we repay our obligations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In today’s global economy credit is the single most important tool most consumers and businesses have. Credit when used properly allows us to grow and purchase items we might not otherwise have the funds for. The United States has had credit reporting information and accounting since 1956, and with all of this available information global models are now being created for other countries to follow. It is said that without the use and availability of credit the global econo... ...l. Macreconomics. 9th ed. Ed. Lucille Sutton. New York: NY, 2004. Kapoor, Jack R., Les R. Dlabay, and Robert J. Hughes. Personal Finance. 7th ed. Ed. Michele Janicek. New York: NY, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2004 References Cole, R., â€Å"The importance of relationships to the availability of credit.† Journal of Banking and Finance. 1998 Fisman, R., â€Å"Trade credit, financial intermediary development and industry growth.† Journal of Finance. 2003 Kennickell, Arthur B., Martha Starr-McCluer, and Brian J. Surette, â€Å"Recent Changes in U.S. Family Finances: Results from the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances,† Federal Reserve Bulletin. January, 2000, pp 1-29. Scott, J., â€Å"Small business and the value of community financial instituations.† Journal of Financial Services Research. 2004 United States. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 10 Nov. 1999   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/general/1999/19991110/default.HTM United States. Federal Reserve Board. 10 Sept. 2003   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/Press/bcreg/2003/20030910/default.htm.

Political Aspects of Lord of the Flies

The â€Å"Lord of the Flies† is an allegorical novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. It was Golding’s first novel, and was published in the year 1954. Even though it was not a grand success at the time selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the United States throughout 1955 prior to going out of print it went on to turn out to be a bestseller, and mandatory reading in various schools and colleges. It was adapted to film in 1963 by Peter Brook, and once more in 1990. The title is a reference to Beelzebub from the Hebrew name Baalzvuv ב× ¢Ã—Å" ×â€"בוב, and said to be a synonym for the Devil. Lord of the Flies explores the dark side of humankind, the savagery that lies beneath even the most civilized human beings (Faber School Editions, 1962). Golding planned this novel as a tragic parody of children’s adventure tales, demonstrating humankind’s intrinsic evil nature. The author presents the reader with a chronology of events leadi ng a group of young boys from anticipation to disaster as they try to survive their unsupervised, uncivilized, isolated environment until rescued.In the middle of a nuclear war, a group of British boys discover themselves stranded without adult supervision on a tropical island. The group is generally divided into the â€Å"littluns,† boys more or less the age of six, and the â€Å"biguns,† who are among the ages of ten and twelve. Primarily, the boys try to form a culture comparable to the one they left behind. They select a leader, Ralph, who, with the advice and support of Piggy considered as the intellectual of the group, made every effort to set up rules for housing and sanitation. Ralph furthermore makes a signal fire the group’s first priority, hopeful that a passing ship will see the smoke signal and save them. A chief challenge to Ralph’s leadership is Jack, who as well wants to lead. Jack orders a group of choirboys-turned-hunters who sacrifice t he responsibility of tending the fire so that they can partake in the hunts. Jack draws the other boys gradually away from Ralph’s influence for the reason of their natural attraction to and fondness toward the adventurous hunting activities indicating violence and evil.The conflict between Jack and Ralph, and the said forces of savagery and civilization that they correspond to is exacerbated by the boys’ literal horror of a mythical beast wandering the island (Traister, Rebecca 2005). One night, an aerial battle takes place above the island, and a casualty of the battle floats down with his opened parachute, eventually coming to rest on the mountaintop. Breezes occasionally inflate the parachute, making the body seem to sit up and then drop forward again. This sight alarms the boys as they mistake the dead body for the beast they fear. As a result to this panic, Jack forms a splinter group that is ultimately joined by all but a few of the boys. The boys who join Jack are tempted by the protection Jack’s ferocity appears to provide, as well as by the prospect of playing the part of savages: putting on camouflaging face paint, hunting, and presenting ritualistic tribal dances. Ultimately, Jack’s group in fact slaughters a sow and, as a present to the beast, puts the sow’s head on a stick.Of all the boys, only the mystic Simon has the guts to discover the real identity of the beast sighted on the mountain. Subsequent to witnessing the death of the sow and the gift made of her head to the beast, Simon starts to hallucinate, and the staked sow’s head turns out to be the Lord of the Flies, reporting to Simon what he has previously suspected: The beast is not an animal on the loose but is concealed in each boy’s psyche. Weakened by his dreadful vision, Simon loses consciousness. Recovering later that evening, he struggles to the mountaintop and discovers that the beast is merely a dead pilot/soldier. Trying to get the news to the other boys, he slips into the tribal frenzy of their dance. Perceiving him as the beast, the boys beat him to death.Soon just three of the older boys, including Piggy, are still in Ralph’s camp. Jack’s group takes Piggy’s glasses to begin its cooking fires, leaving Ralph incapable to sustain his signal fire. When Ralph and his small group approach Jack’s tribe to ask for the return of the glasses, one of Jack’s hunters releases a big boulder on Piggy, killing him. The tribe captures the other two biguns prisoners, leaving Ralph on his own.  The tribe undertakes a manhunt to look for and kill Ralph, and they begin a fire to smoke him out of one of his hiding places, generating an island-wide forest fire. A passing vessel sees the smoke from the fire, and a British naval officer appears on the beach just in time to save Ralph from definite death at the hands of the schoolboys turned savages.Golding uses many symbolisms in The Lord of t he Flies.   The whole book is symbolic of the nature of human and society generally as the island turns out to be a society metaphorical to society as a whole and the chase at the end of the book symbolic of the war.   A symbol Golding uses all through the book is the conch.   It symbolizes authority and order.   The person holding the conch had the supremacy, and it formed order and rules since when it was called, everybody had to listen.   One more symbol is Piggy’s glasses.   It represents knowledge and insight.   While Piggy had them, he was able to provide advice to the group, such as that of the signal fire.   It was the glasses that produced the fire.   On the other hand, after the glasses are broken, the group loses what insight they had.   The war paint is furthermore a symbol.   It represented the rejection of society.In a way, when they put on the disguise of war paint, they took off the mask of society and exposed their true inner selves whic h were savage. Human condition is depicted all the way through the key characters in the novel. Every one embodies a strong-minded social stereotype which will be later on profoundly explained. This existentialist dissatisfaction is an aspect which darkens human kind similar to other factors such as the type of fear which is dealt throughout the book, being this one of the key causes of chaos. Those parallelisms, being several of them adventured, are valid too revealing two questions which take far beyond this point: to what extent is brutality a mere consequence of circumstances or a genuine feature in mankind.Unfortunately anarchy conquers order. This is the outcome for the reason that Golding believed that government is an unproductive way to maintain people together. No matter how logical or reasonable, government will in the long run have to give in to the anarchical demands of the public. This book traces the faults in society to the faults in the human being (Baker, James R. 1970).   Golding says that every person has in evil inner nature inadequately covered by society.   If the society is taken away, then the inner nature comes out and disorder and lawlessness erupt. Every person has an evil nature and is able of committing heinous crimes.   In this book, practically each person fell to the level of Jack’s savagery with the exception of those that were able to notice that evil such as Ralph, Simon, and Piggy. The beast is human.   In the start of the book, a littlun told the others that he saw a beast in the jungle opening everyone’s fears.   On the other hand, it turns out that the beast is in fact a parachutist and human, symbolizing that what people should be scared of is not some evil creature, but their own selves and other humans.Baker, James R. â€Å"The Decline of Lord of the Flies.† In South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 69, Autumn, (1970).Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnamâ⠂¬â„¢s Sons, (1954).Lord of The Flies, William Golding. Faber School Editions, (1962).Traister, Rebecca, â€Å"Reading â€Å"Lord of the Flies†Ã¢â‚¬ , (2005).

Free Essays on Qumran, The Essenes And The Dead Sea Scrolls

of Isaiah 40.8 0 This shepherd boy had been clambering around the clefts and gullies of a rock face on Wadi Qumran, north of the Dead Sea hoping to find one of his lost lambs. Thinking that it could have taken refuge in a cave he threw stones at the opening. He heard a jar break, became fearful and ran to fetch his fellow tribesmen. What they discovered were written scrolls of ancient papyrus, stuffed in jars and wrapped in linen. The Bedouins thought that they could make money on the black market in Bethlehem so sold them for a few shekels. A bundle of four of these scrolls was purchased by â€Å"the Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem, Yeshue Samuel who then stored them in St. Marks Monastery†. (Albright, 1954, 403) From this point in time interest in the scrolls escalated and in â€Å"1949 the Oriental Institute in Chicago invited Yeshue Samuel to submit the scrolls for examination. The Dead Sea Scrolls were given extensive and exhaustive examinations including carbon testing which indicated that â€Å" because the linen they were wrapped in was made from flax which had been harvested in the time of Christ that the scrolls were seen to have been copied around 100 B.C.† (Albright, 1954, 404). From the time of the initial discovery there was also an upsurge in archeological expeditions to the area. One such expedition was in 1949 when Father Roland de Vaux, Dominican Director of the French Ecole Biblique et Archeologique at Jerusalem and Professor Lankester Harding the British Director of the Department of Antiquities in Amran arrived in Qumran. After the i... Free Essays on Qumran, The Essenes And The Dead Sea Scrolls Free Essays on Qumran, The Essenes And The Dead Sea Scrolls Qumran, The Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls Preamble â€Å"The grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of our God stands forever† Isaiah 40.8 â€Å"Mohammed Dib, a Bedouin shepherd of the T’Amireh tribe† (Keller, 1957, 401) could not have known that he would be the person who, in 1947, would bring to bear the words of Isaiah 40.8 0 This shepherd boy had been clambering around the clefts and gullies of a rock face on Wadi Qumran, north of the Dead Sea hoping to find one of his lost lambs. Thinking that it could have taken refuge in a cave he threw stones at the opening. He heard a jar break, became fearful and ran to fetch his fellow tribesmen. What they discovered were written scrolls of ancient papyrus, stuffed in jars and wrapped in linen. The Bedouins thought that they could make money on the black market in Bethlehem so sold them for a few shekels. A bundle of four of these scrolls was purchased by â€Å"the Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem, Yeshue Samuel who then stored them in St. Marks Monastery†. (Albright, 1954, 403) From this point in time interest in the scrolls escalated and in â€Å"1949 the Oriental Institute in Chicago invited Yeshue Samuel to submit the scrolls for examination. The Dead Sea Scrolls were given extensive and exhaustive examinations including carbon testing which indicated that â€Å" because the linen they were wrapped in was made from flax which had been harvested in the time of Christ that the scrolls were seen to have been copied around 100 B.C.† (Albright, 1954, 404). From the time of the initial discovery there was also an upsurge in archeological expeditions to the area. One such expedition was in 1949 when Father Roland de Vaux, Dominican Director of the French Ecole Biblique et Archeologique at Jerusalem and Professor Lankester Harding the British Director of the Department of Antiquities in Amran arrived in Qumran. After the i...

Flu Epidemic of 1918 essays

Flu Epidemic of 1918 essays Walking down any given street in the year 1918 between the months of June and December, one would take notice of coffins lining the sidewalks. Nobody was on the streets, and dead bodies were stuffed into every available space. The Flu Epidemic of 1918 not only was the most devastating event of the twentieth century, but propelled the United States to search for a vaccine that has not yet been found, causing concern that the flu will strike again. Influenza has been around almost as long as people have walked the earth. Its roots draw back as far as 412 B.C., when a man named Hippocrates wrote of an uncontrollable outbreak of a disease that closely resembles influenza. This pandemic devastated an entire Athenian army, and has since occurred approximately every one hundred years (Persico 30). However, in 1918, influenza was somewhat different. It became popularly known as the Spanish influenza. This is slightly a misnomer because although it became widely known in Spain during the spring of 1918, it had been noticed on British army bases in France in 1917 (Carter 18). This new virus became extremely deadly in a short amount of time. Nobody could form a good reason as to why it had appeared. Scientists hypothesized that it came from poison gases formed from exploding ammunition, decomposing bodies, and carbon dioxide from trenches, which fused together, forming a toxic vapor (Persico 81). Because it had swept upon the world so quickly, a cure was not available. The influenza of 1918 took people in a matter of days. A victim could be walking around feeling perfectly healthy one morning, be bedridden by nightfall, and have died before daybreak. Doctors were baffled, and gave vaccines that didnt work. When one doctor was asked what the vaccine contained of, he said the vaccines were just a soup made of blood and mucus of flu patients that had been filtered to get rid of large cells and debris (Kolata 23)....

Women Community Organizers often Engage Popular Struggles on More Than Research Paper - 1

Women Community Organizers often Engage Popular Struggles on More Than One Front - Research Paper Example Communities to not form by themselves, but they are organized so that a strong relationship is built among the participants. This process of building a community and sustaining it throughout the period is called ‘community organizing’ and the process involves not only building a network of individuals, but also the identification of goals and action towards those specific goals. According to Snow, et al (1986), the process of community organization can mean the entire process of organizing individuals, sorting out the relationships, identification of goals and paths, mobilization of individuals and maintenance of a strong network. Until sometime back, community organizing was not a very popular subject with the scholars (Davis, 1981). Therefore, very little is known about the origin of the theories of community management and whether, the theories of social movements can be applied to the way in which community organization works (Stoecker, 1993). To this caveat of liter ature of social movements and community organization, there is also the lack of awareness of what roles that gender discourses play in these communities. Only in the past decades, gender has received a high consideration (Robnett l996), Gender, which can be considered to be a social product of any interaction is also redefined and reconstructed through any social movement or community organization. With any community organization or social movement, the differences and inequalities in terms of gender equations come out more strongly. According to Brandwein (1987), gender has an effect on the way in which problems are identified and choices are made. For example, in a community or social movement, the responsibilities that individuals have outside of the movement are not taken into account (Stoecker, 1992) and when it is taken into account, the way in which women are involved gets restricted. In the New York Tenants movement, the role of women was confined to the most basic of activi ties, where as men were involved in complex issues. (Lawson and Barton, 1980). Therefore, the community organization work contributed by women during social movement gets ignored. Robnett (1996) has challenged the narrations and accounts of movements that have ignores and neglected the role of women activists. Barnett (1993) has challenged the research related to social movement and community management that projects the spokesperson of the movement while ignore the workers who work at grass root, who are often women. Therefore, even though there is a very high involvement of women organizers in the field of community organization, the image and projection always comes out to be that of a male dominated effort. Even though these movements talk about democracy in participation, the actual way in which these movements are projected and carried out do not practice this democracy in terms of gender equations. According to Weil (1986), the strategies get influenced on ‘macho powerà ¢â‚¬â„¢ and zero-sum competitiveness. As a result of this approach, the challenges that women face in participation in these movements is not confined to the direct engagement in these movements and they face challenges at multiple levels. Apart from contributing to these movements, there is lack of visibility, pressure to take up more grass root level or administrative challenges, making sure that other responsibilities such as child care and home management happens smoothly. This study takes a detailed look at the way in which women community organizers engage in popular struggles in more than one front. For any woman who participates in these community organiz

Vincent Van Gogh his artwork and life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Vincent Van Gogh his artwork and life - Essay Example â€Å"Vincent Van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, Van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances.† His early life was less than ordinary. He worked as a clerk in a bookstore, as an art salesman, and a preacher. He was unsuccessful in all these ventures. The real start to his life as an artist was in 1886 when he went to Paris to join his brother Theo, the manager of Goupil’s gallery. His brother stood by him through thick and thin and offered valuable solutions to secular problems and gave financial support, when needed. â€Å"Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and i n the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.† The works of this post-impressionist painter had a far-reaching influence on the 20th century art for its emotional impact and vivid colors. His mental illness reflected in his paintings. He was not known and his paintings were not appreciated during his lifetime. Today he is ranked as one of the greatest painter in the history of art, and an important contributor to the modern art. Today his paintings are in great demand and fetch astronomical prices.