Romeo and Juliet Compare and Contrast Essay

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to revive old traditions from the past and appreciate them in our modern and exponential times. However, there still are possibilities to cherish some of the archaic literature today that were written so long ago. Celebrated as one of the greatest dramas of all time, Romeo and Juliet depicts a tragedy of two lovers who come from feuding families. The play was first written in the 1500s by William Shakespeare. Almost four-hundred years later, the tragic play was made into a movie in 1968 by Franco Zeffirelli.There are similarities in props and scenes, and distinctions between the original play and the 1968 movie considering the moods and plot details. Either way, the play and the 1968 movie both have glorious presentations. As for the mood, there a few differences between the two versions of the tragedy. In the dialogue of marriage in the play, Romeo and Juliet are serious and sedate. In Zeffirelli’s version of the play, the marriage scene make s Romeo and Juliet to look almost like fools of young love because they are constantly kissing and giggling.In a marriage, the bride and groom are to be calm and patient because it is an important step in their lives, and the play shows this kind of character. The movie does not portray this realistic kind of character. During the â€Å"funeral† ceremony for Juliet, the Friar Lawrence made a giggle because he already knew about the secret plan. This part destroyed the sad and mischievous mood of the scene. Nevertheless, I believe the play and Zeffirelli’s movie did a great job in explaining the tragedy, but the movie could have been a lot more enticing if it weren’t for those minor slip-ups.The play also could have used some help because it felt like the characters lacked some expression unlike the movie, but I cannot criticize which one was better because the play is the way it is to be. One thing that the movie and the play collaborated together, were the prop s and scenes. Full of old-fashioned dresses and rocky buildings, both productions have a very 1500s mood. Aside from the moods of the play, some of the plot details have been left out in both the movie production and the play. The play does a good job of explaining why Romeo was upset with Rosaline.The movie-viewers are confused up to why Romeo is upset. Besides, if it weren’t for Rosaline, Romeo would never have met Juliet in the first place. I believe the wedding scene in the movie was a good choice, which wasn’t shown in the play. The viewers would be confused at a point when watching the play because they would not know if Romeo and Juliet get married or not. Zeffirelli’s movie shows the marriage scene of Romeo and Juliet which made the plot clearer. One thing that seemed constant and realistic in the movie is the number of deaths in the tragedy.The play shows the tragedy of six deaths, while the movie shows only four deaths. One of the goals that most movie -makers have in order to make a successful movie is to leave the audience on happy note and not depressed. Unlike from Shakespeare, who wanted to express dramatic, tragic, and young love, Zeffirelli did what was best for the audience and plot of the movie by decreasing the number of deaths in his production. Plus, I do appreciate the fact that the movie actually follows the play, unlike other movie productions of stories. The plot details in the scenes seemed pretty constant overall.Unable to admire obsolete literature, we often tend to forget the old saying, â€Å"old is gold. † Romeo and Juliet is a tragic play written in the 16th century by William Shakespeare. The tragedy tells a legend about two young lovers who come from long-rivaling families. In 1968, Franco Zeffirelli made this play into a movie, after realizing the beauty of this tragedy. However, there are similarities and difference between the two production like mentioned earlier. Nevertheless, the original play and the 1968 movie tend to be some of the greatest classics to be told.

Analysis of God Sees the Truth but Fail- Leo Tolstoy Essay

The story is spread over a period of 26 years, where the main character Aksionov changes over time. He becomes a person whom everyone in the prison, including the guards, trust. He was liked for his meekness and his fellow prison mates respected him. He was called’ grandfather’ and ‘The saint’. He became the spokesman for petitions and was the person to whom people came to when they had quarrels or any kind of problem. He is interpreted as a person who stuck to his values and his identity even after all the years in prison. He had no news of his family and was hurt by this fact alot. He had aged over the years and looked older than his age. His hair was gray, he stooped, walked slowly spoke very little and never laughed. Even then his presence was felt throughout the prison because of his kind nature and he was loved by everyone. The other character in the story, Makar Semyonich is a stark contrast to Aksionov. Semyonich is was tall, with a closely cropped gray beard. They were both of the same age but Aksionov had aged over the years in the prison, while Semyionich was strong and well built. Because of his appearance, Semyonich called Aksionov â€Å"gran’dad†. They way Semyonich spoke to the others was in a very casual tone, as if it was nothing great that he had landed in prison and that the crime he had committed was not that a heinous one. Even after he found out who Aksionov was, his voice did not show any remorse or guilt, which showed that he wasn’t guilty that someone else had been convicted of a crime that he had committed. When the murder of the merchant was discussed, Semyonich uttered the words â€Å" how could anyone put a knife into your bag while it was under your head?† When he said these words, Aksionov understand he was the real murderer as he had not said that the bag was under his pillow. When he found out who the real killer was,he longed for vengeance even if he himself should perish for it . there was a change in his attitude, in his thoughts. He was no longer in peace and had a sense of uneasiness in him. Even when the guards were asking Aksionov if he knew who had dug a hole in the prison, Semyonich stood as if he was innocent, as if he had no care in the world. But Aksionov did not give up semyonichs name even though he had seen him do it, because he was good at heart and wasn’t too sure if he was the one who had killed the merchant. Seeing that Aksionov hadn’t given his name up, Semyonich went to him and confessed his crime of murdering the merchant, for which Aksionov had spent  26 years in jail. He begged for forgiveness and even said that he would confess to the guatds. But it did not ake a difference to Aksionov as his entire life had been spent in prison and there was nobody outside waiting for him- his wife was dead and his children did not remember him anymore. Semyonich felt the pain Aksionov was suffering , and begged for his forgiveness, for he wanted to change as a person and wouldnot be in peace with himself until Aksionov had forgiven him. The story is about forgiveness and how forgiveness can bring a change in a person. There is a change in Semyonich when he realises his mistake and sees the suffering of Aksionov in prison, which drives him to beg for forgiveness from Aksionov. He even confesses in court of his previous crime, though it did not make a difference in Aksionov’s life as he passed away before his order for release came. There always was a sense of acceptance in Aksionov’s mind and heart, acceptance of his condition in prison and he was at peace with himself. But when he realised who the real murderer was, his peace was overtaken by anger, revenge and hatred towards Semyonich. He wanted him to suffer ah he had for the past 26 years. But when Semyonich came to ask him for forgiveness, a sense of relief overcame him, his heart grew light and and the longing for home left him. He knew that god would forgive Semyonich for his mistake. Forgivinh Semyonich did change Aksionov in a way, it removed the hatred and anger within him towards Semyonich. When Aksionov did not give up semyonichs name, Semyonich realised what pain and suffering he had put an innocent man through and felt remorseful about it. There is a contrast in the presentation of the two main characters. Aksionov’s thoughts, his change as a person, his character is potrayed from his thoughts and actions. Alot of his thoughts are written in the story and with that we get to know more about his nature, his attitude towards life. Semyonich’s character can be gathered from his dialogue and speech. His inner thoughts have not been mentioned and with the help of his speech we find out that he has no care in the world, doesn’t feel guilty about his crimes as mentioned above. The focus of this is also on the morals and values that people hold. The story has dramatic representation as well narrative representation. There are dialogues and conversations in the story, which helps the reader understand the characters better, as well as understand the moral of the story and the theme which the author has tried  to convey. The story also has a character focus, where the change in the attitude and nature of both characters is emphasized on, especially Semyonich. The story also raises the question of punishment, by imprisonment, being a correct measure. AND OF CLAY ARE WE CREATED-ISABEL ALLENDE The story is spread over a time span of 3 days. The main characters are Rolf Carle, a journalist who specialises in disasters and Azucena, a girl who is stuck under the earth because of a landslide caused by the volcanic eruption. The story is narrated by a third person, Rolf Carles’s girlfriend, but is in the first person narrative form. She is seeing the whole episode between Carle and Azucena through the television and comments upon what she sees and understands. She knows Carle’s past, understands his pain and suffering and comments about it in parts of the story. The narrator empathises with him. She also comments on the media, similar to the comments in the poem’ Adam from New Zealand’ by Imtiaz Dharkar. The narrator comments about the extent media goes to get their stories, how they make innocent people media fodder and exploit them for their own benefit, about how they try to capture reality, the true stories by not being fully involved. The problem with the narrator being a peripheral character is that she truly doesn’t know what the main characters are thinking, what their emotions are. She cant go into their minds and write, so she writes what she thinks the characters are thinking and feeling, which is cheating as she might be making up some of the thoughts and emotions. She also emphasizes how far away she is from him during the disaster. It was as if the television screen separated both of them from each other. Rolf Carle is a journalist, who is very passionate about his job. He is a very well known figure on television, reporting live at scenes of battle and disasters. He had a calm voice in the midst of all the chaos of the disaster he was covering. He was focused, calm, had a sense of equanimity and it seemed like fear never seemed to touch or affect him. It was as if he saw all the action through the lens of the camera, through a distance and never got emotionally involved with the action. This protected him from his own emotions. He got involved, in a way obsessed with trying to protect and save Azucena. He talked to her, told her stories, got all the possible resources available to save her. his voice  broke down when he promised her she would get saved. He had forgotten his camera, he now did not look at the girl through the camera lens, but with his own eyes. He had shed his protection, he was now flooded by his emotions. The emotions he had been bottling up for years, memories of his past began overcoming him, his deepest secrets now starting flooding his mind. He could not tell Azucena all this for she would not understand. The memories of the Russians taking them to the concentration camps, his father locking him up, his mother being forced to perform for the troops, his sister, all the horrors of his past. He was now buried in the memories of those horrors of the past. He realised that all that he had achieved as a reporter was just to bury his past deeper wi thin. He was hurt again by the memory of it. He then realised that Azucena had indeed consoled him, made him accept his past and move on from it. The girl had touched a part of him which even his girlfriend had never had been able to understand, be a part of. Azucena was a young girl of thirteen, who had ever left her village and did not know about life outside hers. Even though she was neck deep in quick sand, she did not seem desperate to be rescued. She was calm and composed, as if resignation had made her accept her fate. This was a difference in attitude between her and Rolf. She was humble, and at times her tone was as if she was apologising for all the fuss she was creating. She learnt a lot about the world through the stories he told her, she had a premature optimism about being saved in the beginning. But as time passed by, she started giving up hope and completely broke down, knowing her fate. She and Rolf had an emotional connection, which helped them both accept her fate, her death and be at peace. She , unknowingly, had made Rolf confront his past. Seeing her suffering, his memories had flood back and he was finally able to make peace with what had happened all those years back. With her help he had confronted it and finally put it all away. She had become media fodder through her suffering. She was asked the same questions by the reporters; she was used as an object to show the world the horror that had taken place in that area. She could no longer answer their questions as she was too tired and sick to, as well as because she no longer wanted to. She was literally drowned in mud, and her face was showing signs of exhaustion and giving up hope. She did not understand life beyond her village, the seven seas and the rest of Europe. The main focus of the story is Rolf  Carle, his change as a character. how the encounter with Azucena affects him psychologically and how he fights the demons of his past within him. The second focus is on the media, the narrator brings out the desperation the media has to get their story and how they use people to get their stories. How they don’t understand the sentiments of the people involved, which shows the insensitivity of the media. The title is in a way symbolic to the story, it refers to how we are made from the mud and how at the end the little girl dies and sinks into the mud. It emphasizes the fact that its a circle of life- we end up at the place where we started. The story is written very metaphorically, with the use of situational and dramatic irony in some places. It goes deep into the emotions of the main character and sometimes even brings out a poetic touch. The story is set within a very short time frame of 3 days, with the conclusion bringing out a sense of change in the main characters depression in the future. It brings out two fights(metaphorically)- Rolf fighting to save Azucena by trying everything possible, and the fight with himself to prevent his past memories from coming forward and haunting him. WHAT IS A SHORT STORY? A short story is a work of fiction which is written in prose and often in narrative form, as seen in ‘And Of Clay Are We Made’. The length of a short story may vary from author to author, sometimes ranging from a page to 20 pages. It generally combines matter of fact descriptions with a poetic atmosphere. There is often little action and less character development, as compared to a novel. The plot of the story is simple, not complicated, but leaves the reader with a vivid impression which makes it easier to remember the facts. Very often short stories have abrupt or open endings, leaving an opportunity to the reader to think and form opinions about the ending. They generally tend to stick to one incident, rather than a mix of a no of incidents like in novels, and is usually restricted to only one setting. A short story is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in only one or few significant scenes. This form encourages economy of setting, concise narrative and the omission of a complex plot. The character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but is seldom fully developed. A short story is usually judged by its ability to provide a complete or satisfying  treatment of its characters and subjects. There is a close connection between a short story and a poem as there is a unique union of idea and structure in both. The evolution of the short story began even before man could write. To aid himself in constructing and memorising tales, the early storyteller often relied on stock phrases, fixed rhythms and rhyme. Most of the ancient short story are in verse form and the stories from the middle east were also in verse form. They were inscribed in cuneiform on clay during 2nd millennium BC. Some writers believe that the shoert story is the most greatest and the most challenging form of literature to write, and the most infuriating too. Even though it looks very easy to pen, it sometimes takes a very long time for the writers to finish a short story. A good short story is always about a moment of profound realisation, or a hint of it. A classic length of a short story is that one should be able to finish in one sitting. The elements of a short story are: 1.Setting: the time and location in which the story takes place is called the setting. For some stories the setting is important while for others it isn’t. 2.Plot: the plot is how the author arranges the events to develop his basic idea. It is the sequence of events . the plot is planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle and end. The story has usually has only one plot. 3.Conflict: conflict is an essential plot for without it , the plot makes no sense. It is the opposition of forces that ties one incident to another and makes the plot move. It is not merely limited to open arguments; rather it is any form of opposition that faces the main character. 4.Character: short stories use few characters. One character is central to the story with all major events revolving around the main character and is known as the protagonist. The opposite of the main character or the secondary character is known as the antagonist. 5.Point of view: point of view is defined as the angle from which the story is told. For eg: from the point of view of an adult, or a child and sometimes even from the narrators point of view, as in ‘And of Clay Are We Created’. 6.Theme: the theme is the controlling idea or its central insight. It is the authors underlying meaning or the main idea that he is trying to convey. The theme may be the author’s thoughts on a certain social, political issue. The title of the story usually point to what the writer is saying and uses  various figures of speech to convey the theme to the readers. The stories ‘GOD SEES THE TRUTH BUT WAITS’ and ‘ AND OF CLAY ARE WE CREATED’ are short stories that are in the narrative form, yet are quite different from each other, as will be seen in the following pages. The morals, the themes, time span as well as characterisat ion and style of narration are very different from each other.

Chromate Conversion Coating replacement Term Paper

Chromate Conversion Coating replacement - Term Paper Example This paper focuses upon corrosion as an essential process. It is one of the many ways in which nature recycles its contents. Kamis indicates that it is the destruction or deterioration of materials as a result of reaction with the environment and involves the electrochemical conversion of metals to its original form. Though the process of corrosion cannot be prevented, the rate at which it takes place can be reduced. Kamis in the article entitled â€Å"Cost of Corrosion† indicates that corrosion affects all materials, whether they are metal or non-metal. Chromate coating is a process that is used to reduce the rate of corrosion. Zhao et al indicates that it is a widely used method especially for A1 alloys in aerospace applications as it is considered to be very effective. However, Zhao et al points out that a number of factors including environmental regulations; the requirements for increased service life of airplanes; and the high cost of preventative maintenance has forced the US Air Force to search for other environmentally friendly methods of reducing the rate of corrosion that are also an improvement over the use of chromate. Zhao et al also indicates that an understanding of how CCCs protect metal surfaces against corrosion is fundamental to any research. As Kamis points out a proper understanding of corrosion along with the appropriate engineering application would lead to a major reduction in its damaging effects as well as the costs associated with it. 2.0 Factors influencing chromate replacement There are a number of factors that have contributed to the need for replacing chromate as a coating. They range from environmental concerns which have led to regulations governing the quantities of chromium that is included in certain processes. Additionally, the need to increase the service life of assets means that the replacement required should be able to exceed the level of protection that chromate provides. Furthermore, it needs to be a cost effe ctive technique that will facilitate cost savings in situations where the cost of corrosion preventative maintenance is considered too high. 2.1 Environmental Regulations The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) in their report – â€Å"Alternatives to Chromium for Metal Finishing† points out that the need to find alternatives to replace chromium has been mainly influenced by the effects on the health of humans as a result of exposure to hexavalent chromium which is considered to be a cancer causing agent in humans (1.1). In fact, Pellerin and Booker in their article â€Å"Reflections on Hexavalent Chromium: Health Hazards of an Industrial Heavyweight† indicates that from as early as the 1920’s people who worked in the chrome ore industry in Germany were found to be developing cancer at a rate that exceeded that of the general population (A402). Additionally, people who worked in areas where industrial processes were being carried out suffered from higher rates of both lung and nasal cancers (A402). Therefore, NCMS sees it as no surprise that there are concerns relating to high exposures of the substance in the workplace and the environment generally. NCMS points out that various concerns have led to a number of consequences including: i. increased liability associated with claims for both exposure at the workplace and environmental exposure; ii. increases in the cost of tracking inventories, monitoring and controlling emissions, reporting the use of compounds that consist of chromium, as well as the disposal of waste which contains chromium; and iii. strict rules and regulations relating to the limits for discharging dissolved chromium in waste water (1.1). Kermani and Harr (8) indicate that if corrosion is left unchecked other health and safety issues arise. If plant and equipment are not maintained then the integrity of plant and equipment as well as their serviceability. This will result in leaks and discharge of fla mmable

The impact of Internal and External Business Environment on Essay

The impact of Internal and External Business Environment on organizational performance - Essay Example The paper has given an insight into the internal conditions of the organization and external environment, which contributes through elements of task environment. The paper has explored the internal environment in terms of the organizational culture, through focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This section also focuses on the healthy and unhealthy aspects of the organization, ways through which the organization adapt to different conditions in the environment. The report also focused on the entrepreneurial aspect organization and their operations, whereby animals are used as metaphors. In the other section, the paper has conducted an environmental analysis of the conditions, by focusing on the characteristics of the environment. The next section has sought to determine the effects of the organization by focusing on the competitive forces through Porter’s Five Competitive Forces. The last section has focused on identifying ways in which an organization can adapt and respond to the influence of the environment. The recommendation of the report will focus on the things that an organization should concentrate on their environment through recurrent testing. The organizations are recommended to focus on the external environments in order to be in the position of acquiring loans from the bank and financial institutions. Other recommendations relate to focusing on the positive or negative impact of technology that can facilitate to increasing the level of productivity of the organization.

The Shiite Resistance against the Pro-Taliban Sunni-deoband Terrorists Research Paper

The Shiite Resistance against the Pro-Taliban Sunni-deoband Terrorists in Pakistan - Research Paper Example The researcher states that since all humans, who are non-Sunni-Deoband by faith, according to the extremist sect, are perverts and deviants, killing of whom is necessary for the projection, promotion and spread of the nefarious designs of the Sunni-Deoband sect. Since this sect contains terrorists in its parties working with different names and under various platforms, it has become very hard for the Government of Pakistan to detect their criminal activities and arrest them in order to announce punishments to them so that no one in the future could gather the courage to repeat the same. Somehow, the above-described terrorist sect has developed its roots in the national press, as well as in the judiciary and military sectors of the country, along with other public and private organizations; as a result, the sect has set its foot by establishing the evil network in the name of the religion. It is, therefore, the Shiites of Pakistan have to make very hard efforts for protecting the memb ers of their community on the one hand, and unveiling the terrorist designs of the extremists on the other. The Shiites have established different organizations including Tehreek-e-Jafria (i.e. Jafria Movement), Islamic Tehreek, (i.e. Islamic Movement) Sipah-e-Muhammad (the soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad) and others, which always adopt peaceful ways of protests against the terrorist attacks on their religious processions and gatherings on one hand, and target killings of their youth and scholars on the other. As a result, the Shiite Muslins never took law in their hand, and just abide by rules in order to stop the advancements of terrorism in the country. Brief Overview: By critically analyzing the history of the globe at large, it becomes crystal clear that an overwhelming majority of the people coming of every class, creed, community, ethnicity, race and socioeconomic status maintain belief in some supernatural or metaphysical power(s), to which they seek help and beg support in the eve of finding them helpless while facing difficulties and problems of various kinds, which has given birth to the idea of God and religion subsequently. Thousands of the faiths exist in the world, which divides the people into groups and factions, because of the divergences in belief systems, a way of worship and others. Among all major religions existing in the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are regarded to be the Abrahamic faiths, which share several things in their mythologies and basic traits. One of the most fundamental commonalities among the three includes their further sub-division into sects, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims display great displeasure and hatred towards the members belonging to the rival sects of their faith and do not appear to get ready to tolerate these opponents at any cost.

Management Seminar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management Seminar - Essay Example ial scandals from the leading companies such as –the Enrons, Worldcoms, Adelphia and Tyco’s over spending as well as distortion of accounting statements. SOX stipulate that there should be several checks and balances in the companies to provide accurate financial record to the public. Financial officers are required to provide accurate financial statements that should be monitored by both internal and external auditors. For that reason, they are held accountable for their actions; and lest there be any incorrect financial information, and then they are liable for high fines and imprisonment. This act very important to both the public and the companies as well, this is through establishing a more energetic shareholder’s environment. The common public has more confidence that organizations will not swindle their money as they are subject to federal regulations. It is due to this reason the firm financial officials have opted to submit accurate financial statements. As required by this act, any unethical actions in the organization should be punished; employees, therefore, have been encouraged to report any wrong doings in the organization because it is the same act that will defend them. However, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been challenged by a number of negative aspects. Many companies have decided not to go public as they do not need to be SOX compliant if they are privately held. Once this Act was passed, many companies have become privately held, and some public companies have also removed their names from the stock exchange list. Moreover, the exercise has also proved to be very expensive; the cost involved in hiring the qualified accounting, legal, and technology expertise to support maintaining accurate records of the organizations’ financial statements is high. In addition, the maintenance fee that is required for this act has really squeezed the bottom-line profits of many organizations; as some mid-size companies are unable to afford the fee

Electric cars vs hybrid cars Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Electric cars vs hybrid cars - Research Paper Example This paper analyses the advantages and disadvantages of electric and hybrid cars as a move to reduce the rate at which CO2 is emitted in the atmosphere, and explains the reasons as to why hybrid cars are preferable than electric cars. First, what is an electric car? An electric car is powered or propelled by an electric motor that is powered by a rechargeable battery pack. These batteries can be recharged by household electricity. These cars do not use gasoline, instead they get their power from a controller which regulates the amount of power based on the acceleration rate (â€Å"Electric Cars a definitive guide†, n.d). Electric cars are environmentally friendly because they emit less or do not emit carbons than their counterparts that use gasoline but they do use rare metals that are used in manufacturing their batteries. This means zero emission of carbons to the environment; they do not contribute to climate change like those vehicles that use gasoline. In addition, electric cars do not use fossil fuels; they do not have internal combustion engines because they completely depend on rechargeable batteries. Furthermore, when the engine of an electric car is on, there is no noise as compared to gas-powered vehicle thus giving people a quiet ride. Further, the silent nature of electric cars makes them not associated with the issue of noise pollution (â€Å"Advantages and disadvantages of electric cars†, n.d). Another, advantage of electric cars is that they reduce air pollution since they do not emit pollutants. Furthermore, they have reduced green house gas emissions from the onboard source of energy depending on the technology and fuel used for generation of electricity to charge the batteries is clean (â€Å"Electric cars a look into the future†, n.d). In addition, there advantages of electric cars is that they have high energy efficient level since electric motors have the capability to convert 75% of the chemical energy from the

Is hosting the olympics a good investment Essay

Is hosting the olympics a good investment - Essay Example The host city becomes the centre of world attention as hosting Olympics is a serious event and requires great responsibility. Not only this, it is a highly expensive event and the host city’s economy bears the entire burden. Hosting the Olympics is debatable and many analysts argue that it provides a great boost to the city’s economy. For example, it has been estimated that London has acquired a magnanimous economic boost with the total benefit reaching up to ?41 billion by 2020 (The Huffington Post, 2013). The city hosting the event gets a chance of promoting its tourism, promotes sports and as a result the economic conditions improve over the long-term basis. Although, being a part of the Olympics’ legacy is desired by many countries but with the benefits of hosting there are certain points which are debatable and questionable. Olympic events are considered to be beneficial to the host country but experts have highlighted that there are many drawbacks associate d with the hosting of these events which should be considered. Cities go to extreme lengths to earn the privilege of hosting the Games. One of the main reasons is that the host city wants to gain a sense of popularity amongst the masses. And most of the times, Olympic Games are hosted with internal agendas. For example, the London games were hosted with the intention of bringing back to life a relatively poor existence of the capital. The Beijing Games wanted to represent the China’s improving and flourishing organisational power and spending capacity. The Tokyo 2020 games intend to boost up Japan’s monotonous economic state. However, the cities have to realise that hosting Olympics is not the same as before. The London 1948 Olympics cost ?732,268 which is equivalent to ?20 million in today’s currency rate. The Beijing Games in current times have cost an approximate of $40 billion (T. W. 2013). Hence, it should be considered by the cities which are volunteering to host Olympics, quite enthusiastically, that the trends of Olympic business has changed now. It is considered that hosting Olympics will bring a turbo-charge to the city’s economy. However an in-depth analysis reveals that this is not entirely true. Researchers have not been able to find a positive correlation between the Games and economic improvement. The city’s developers and local construction companies might benefit because of the new improvements made in the infrastructure. Moreover, the cost usually turns out to be more than it was actually bid in the first place. London bid $4-6 billion and the Games turned out to cost three times more than that amount. Recent studies also revealed that every Olympic Games between the time periods of 1960 to 2012 turned out to be more costly than planned (Fenno, 2013). The estimate of $1.6 billion made by Athens was overrun by an actual price of $16 billion. Beijing spent $40 billion. Many cities are also left in debt rather than achieving an improvement in their economies (Fenno, 2013). Olympics Games are supported by the construction of many new infrastructures which become useless or lose their worth after the Games. Many venues which were constructed in Athens and Beijing for the purpose of Olympic adventures are now propped up without any public use or support. Various specialized venues have to be built such as for mountain biking, Slalom kayaking, beach volleyball and shooting ranges (Fenno, 2013). Twenty one out of the 33 stadiums, sport halls, arenas and

Research paper politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research paper politics - Essay Example It soon became evident that the American colonies of the New World were more interested in slaves than gold, and the slave trade quickly overshadowed the gold trade. Dutch, English, Danish, and Swedish competitors weakened Portuguese control and in 1642, the Portuguese left the Gold Coast permanently although their influence continues to this day. Various European powers attempted to dominate the profitable slave trade. The Dutch West India Company operated throughout most of the eighteenth century, and the British African Company of Merchants, founded in 1750, was successor to several earlier organizations and became the dominant European power on the Gold Coast (Buah 2004). Portugal's control of West Africa was gone by the seventeenth century, and Angola was the only major area left under Portuguese control. Angola, independent at present, is strongly influenced by Portuguese culture and its official language is Portuguese. It is especially distinctive because of South African infl uence and white settler communities, as well as the harsh colonial style of the Portuguese. The area therefore has become unique in Africa. As in most Portuguese colonies, mixed race children hold a different status (Angola 2007). In addition, Angola became divided into three factions-capitalists, independent, and the dominant party at present, the Population Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Violence, hunger and poverty marked the end of the twentieth century in Angola with peace being achieved in 2002. Even though they have gained their independence, "class, cultural, and linguistic divisions still haunt the country" (Birmingham 2006). Although France traveled to West Africa as early as 1483 and the first West African settlement was founded in the mid-seventeenth century in Senegal, it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the French were firmly established in Cte d'Ivoire. Cte d'Ivoire, like the rest of West Africa, was subject to European influences, but absence of sheltered harbors made the area less appealing. The slave trade had little impact on the peoples of Cte d'Ivoire. Its profits were in ivory, but a decline in elephants closed down the trade by the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1904, French West Africa consisted of Cte d'Ivoire, Dahoney (present-day Benin), Guinea, Niger, French Sudan (present-day Mali), Senegal, Upper Volta and Mauritania, ruled by the governor of Senegal, who became governor general. Most of the inhabitants of the colonies were subjects of France with no political rights (Handloff 1988). Handloff continues his history of the Ivory Coast noting that until 1958, gover nors appointed in Paris administered the colony of Cte d'Ivoire using direct, centralized administration that left little room for Ivoirian participation in policy making. The French colonial administration adopted divide-and-rule policies, applying ideas of assimilation only to the educated elite. These elite were inclined to take on the culture of the colonizers, moving away from their African heritage, and the influence of French culture continues to this day. The French-educated elites, or evolues, embodied the "African

The Role of The CCTV Surveillance Systems in Reducing Crime in City Coursework

The Role of The CCTV Surveillance Systems in Reducing Crime in City Centers - Coursework Example It has been observed that CCTV helps police and security personnel to fight against terrorism. According Abhishek Agarwal CCTV is an integral in the protection of people and their homes. With all the innovations and technology of this world CCTV is among the most important electronic innovations which has brought dramatic change in people lives. As these system works on more sensitive and sophisticated electronic maneuverings which has made its overall more effective explained by Agarwal. â€Å"CCTV’s are funded by partnerships consisting of local authorities and businesses† (qtd.in Staffordshire police).In the last decade the propagation of CCTV has been observed in town centers. Britain is among the most extensive CCTV coverage country in the world. This is due to the proactive approach which was carried by central government with an investment of 38Million pounds to support 585 local CCTVs explained by Coretta Phillips. CCTV has been located in town centers, shops, shopping centers, hospital, building societies but very few of them are installed in housing projects (Coretta Phillips; Crime prevention studies). In addition to the funds from central government , European government and other local bodies have also invested in installation of CCTV with the major aim is to provide deterrence of crime and disorder. It has also explained by many experts that because of its surveillance capability it has become easy to deploy police and other security perso nnel appropriately. It also reduces public’s fear of crime which in return increases the use of public spaces. These cameras can be installed anywhere within the public areas of these systems noticeably or secretly explained by Michael Greenberger,J.D The ability of basic modern cameras includes zoom, pivot, rotate and focus on objects and people upto 300feet away (Ready;2005).also the video output of these cameras can be monitored , recorded and reviewed at a later time or

University Admission Process in Chile Essay Example for Free

University Admission Process in Chile Essay Learning implies having had access to it, counting with quality books and teachers and being in an enviroment where culture is important. Therefore, what PSU does is to prevent poor students -who have abilities but did not have acces to knowledge-, from developping a professional course of high standards. In addition, PSU does not accomplish its main task, which is selecting the more qualified students to go to traditional universities. Because it does not messures abilities, nor skills. Just training. The ones who are good at memorizing and trained themselves correctly can have a high score. There are schools (normally private schools) that dedicate exclusive time to prepare their students for this exam, leaving behind other important subjects. This situation leads us to a third negative characteristic of our university admission process. In Chile exists the business of something similar to pre-colleges. Here, the ones who can afford these classes are taught the mechanism of PSU. And in concequence, they are the more prepared to take the exam than the ones who were not able to pay for extra lessons. ALTERNATIVE ADMISSION PROCESSES. One of the main achievements of last year’s strike in our university was the posibility of having an alternative admission process, apart from PSU. Senior year students from schools with low budget can be matriculated at University of Concepcion with only de minimum PSU score this university requires (475 or 500) and having had at least a 5 in their high school grades average. There is a quota of 56 students in 49 courses. Medicine, Law, Astronomy, Sociology, Psicology, History Teaching, among others. Another admission process in Chile is the pre-college system. It is found in several universities in the country. (de Santiago, Cardenal Silva Henriquez, Alberto Hurtado, Tecnologica Metropolitana, Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion y Catolica del Norte) In University of Santiago, this programme started in 2007 with the support of UNESCO (united nacions. Educational, scientific and cultural organization). This system allowes students with the best grade averages of low budget schools, be matriculated at this university. No PSU score required. After selecting the students, they take classes of Spanish, Maths and Cultural Management for five months. If the sudents attend all lessons, they get matriculated in college at the University of Santiago with a full scholarship. And afterwards, they are able to study a professional course at this university. CONCLUSION As we said before, our current university admission process helps to increase our social differences and discriminates students from low economic stratums. Thus, we realised the solutions we suggest will be useless unless there is a deep structural change in our educational system, and if we look further, a change in our society. However, we hope these alternatives get massively increased in the near future. This way, the university access will be improved for the ones who really want to study regardless of their economic condition. So what we -common citizens students and teachers- must do, is get informed and communicate others about the problems that bother us. And take advantage of oportunities like last years strike to accomplish our aims and demands.

Time in The Two Poems Essay Example for Free

Time in The Two Poems Essay The titles of these poems alone suggest there will be a theme of time in them; The title Days speaks for itself as days are a way of measuring time, Toads Revisited however is much more subtle but the notion of revisiting, indirectly tells us that he is going somewhere or doing something that he has done before in his lifetime. Days is a poem about Larkins views on death and how our approach on the subject can alter the way we live. Larkin begins his first stanza with the rhetorical question of What are days for?, though this is a question similar to the biggest question of all time What is the meaning of life? Larkin answers it with a simple monosyllabic response, Days are where we live. For such a broad and open question this is a very closed, unrefined answer. This could be a reflection of Larkins view on the meaning of life, that he feels it is not important to search for a complex answer. I get the impression that Larkin is tired of life and its repetitive structure, They come they wake us, time and time over this is shown by his impassionate language and monosyllabic style. Its seems as if he feels time is passing too slowly. Toads Revisited unlike Days is the second poem out of two, the first being similar in subject but written 10 years before when Larkin was at a different stage in his life. Toads Revisited is written in a much more day to day fashion where as Days is written on a more general topic. Toads Revisited is about Larkins distaste for work and his realisation that without it his life would be empty. He looks at the way in which people without jobs spend their time. He comes to the conclusion that without his job he would have too much time and he would become bored. When referring to the unemployed he says think of being them! Hearing the hours chime Toads Revisited is set in 9 stanzas all with four lines each, this repetitive structure is used by Larkin to reflect the content of the stanzas (the dull life of unemployment. ) Towards the end of the poem Larkins words become less monosyllabic which reflects the way he feels about employment, (that is is duller to be unemployed than employed because at least job fills- like syllables!) Days is set in just two stanzas which like its monosyllabic style reflects the simplicity of the message Larkin is sending out in this poem. The second stanza of Days is a response to the second question Larkin asks in stanza one Where can we live but days? in response to this Larkin does not answer but concludes that to tackle such a question will sooner kill you than lead you to an answer, solving that question brings the priest and the doctor in their long coats. This is a sinister image that personifies death. The last two stanzas of Toads revisited show Larkins acceptance of work but not in a way that he embraces the idea of work with love and passion, but that he has not alternatives What else can I answer. Like the poem Days Toads Revisited also end on a sombre note about death, give me your arm, old toad; Help me down Cemetery road, again here death has been personified in the eerie form of a toad. Both these poems send out the message that death is ominous and inevitable.

La-Mg-Ni Based Alloys

La-Mg-Ni Based Alloys Abstract: Degradation behaviors of La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloys were studied. The results indicate that severe pulverization and corrosion are important factors leading to the capacity deterioration. However, it is puzzled that corrosion of the electrochemical cycled alloys is aggravated, which is inconsistent with the result that La2MgNi9 present poor cycling stability andalso the assumption that alloy with high Mg content is easy to be corroded. Then, the intrinsic anti-corrosion and anti-pulverization characteristics were mainly focused in the first part of this work. Immersion experiments demonstrate that the Mg-rich phases are more easily to be corroded. The intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance of the three alloys presents an improved trend which is inversely proportional to the abundance of the Mg-rich phases. However, the intrinsic anti-pulverization ability just presents an inverse trend, which is closely related to mechanical property of the phase structures. LaNi5 with the highest hardness is easy to crack, but the soft (La,Mg)Ni2 is more resistant to crack formation and spreading, suggesting a possibility to improve the anti-pulverization ability by adjusting the phase constitution. In general, the weaker corroded extent of La2MgNi9 in the electrochemical test is attributed to its better intrinsic anti-pulverization capability though the intrinsic anti-corrosion of La2MgNi9 is worse. As to La4MgNi19 which possesses excellent intrinsic anti-corrosion resistant, enhancement of the anti-pulverization ability is the key issue to improve the cycling stability. 1 Introduction Superlattice La-Mg-Ni based hydrogen storage alloys have received substantial attentions over the last decade because the excellent electrochemical performances used in nickel/metal hydride (Ni/MH) battery [1-5]. Up to now, A2B7 type alloys have been successful developed for the practical use [3]. However, AB2 and AB3 type alloys present poor cycling stability though the theoretical discharge capacities are higher than A2B7 type alloys [6-8]. In addition, A5B19 type alloys have been reported to possess good electrochemical performances, but they still need improvement to meet the practical application, especially on the cycling stability in the long-term reversible cycles [9-10]. It is well accepted that electrochemical capacity decrease of the metal hydride electrodes is caused by both the physical and chemical degradation [11-12]. In La-Mg-Ni system, factors affecting the capacity degradation were emphasized on pulverization and corrosion during the charge/discharge cyclings [13-17]. Corrosion leads to damage and disappearance of the phases which possess considerable hydrogen storage capacity. It has been reported that La-Mg-Ni alloys are easily to be corroded into La(OH)3 and Mg(OH)2 [13-15]. And these kinds of corrosion products are loose and passive which cannot protect the matrix for further corrosion [15-16]. Severe pulverization of La-Mg-Ni alloys during cycling had also been reported in many works [13-17]. Pulverization makes fresh surface of the electrodes alloys continuously exposed to the electrolyte and dramatically improves development of corrosion. Liu et al. classified the degradation process of the La-Mg-Ni-Co alloy into three stages: the pul verization and Mg oxidation stage, the Mg and La oxidation stage and the oxidation and passivation stage [14]. In addition, capacity degradation of the metal hydrides is closely related to the structural changes during absorption/desorption cycling. Our previous works demonstrated that transformation from crystallinity to amorphous viz. hydrogen induced amorphization (HIA) of La-Mg-Ni alloys occurred during the hydrogenation cycles and remarkably worsens both the gas-solid and electrochemical storage performances [18-19]. Understanding of the degradation mechanisms is the precondition for improvement of the cycling stability of the La-Mg-Ni based alloys. Several compounds including AB2, AB3, A2B7 and A5B19 type phase exist in this system, and the alloys usually present multi-phase microstructure. Though quiet a number of efforts have been applied on the degradation characters of the La-Mg-Ni based alloys, these works mainly focused on the overall capacity deterioration behaviors of the alloys. Diversity of the degradation characteristics of various compounds in this system is also lacking. In the present study, degradation mechanisms of three typical La-Mg-Ni alloys: La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 have been systematically investigated. In the first part of this work, corrosion and pulverization behaviors of the alloys, especially the intrinsic characteristics of the AB3, A2B7 and A5B19 type La-Mg-Ni phases during absorption/desorption cycling were generated. In a following paper, HIA and its in fluence on the hydrogen storage properties are discussed. 2 Experimental materials and methods 2.1 Alloy preparation The as-cast La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloy was prepared by induction levitation melting under argon atmosphere. The as-cast alloys were remelted twice for homogeneity. Appropriate excess of Mg was added in order to compensate for the evaporative loss of Mg during melting. Then the as-cast La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloys were annealed at 1143, 1173 and 1193 K respectively for 6 h protected in argon atmosphere. 2.2 Characterization The sample was fine polished and then etched using a mixed etchant (including water, ethanol, acetic acid, picric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid) at 343K. Then metallographic microstructure of the alloys was observed using a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM: Olympus-OLS4000). Phase constitution of the alloys was also characterized by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM: FEI-Qanta 400) under backscatter electron mode (BSE) applied on the unetched samples. The chemical composition of various phases was studied by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) equipped in the SEM. Crystal structures of the alloys were measured by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD: Bruker-D8 Advance) with Cu KÃŽÂ ±1 radiation. Micro-morphologies and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) were applied by means of a transmission electron microscopy (TEM: JEOL-2100 and FEI-F20) to examine the microstructural and crystallographic information. TEM samples were firstly crushed the bulk into fine powder , and then ultrasonic dispersion was performed in ethanol for 1800 s. Several drops of the mixed liquid were laid on a carbon membrane support on the copper grid, and dried in a vacuum oven. Particle size of the cycled alloys was tested by a laser particle size analyzer (Malvern-Mastersizer 3000) where the alloy particles were dispersed by absolute alcohol. Oxygen content of the electrochemical cycled and immersed alloys was performed on a nitrogen/oxygen tester (NCS-ON3000). Before the oxygen test, samples were immersed in deionized water for 24 h, then washed using absolute alcohol twice to remove the residual KOH, and dried in a vacuum drying oven. 2.3 Hydrogen storage properties Gas-solid cycling and PCT isotherm measurement were carried out by Suzuki -2SDWIN PCT system at 303K (Sieverts type). Before the PCT analysis, sample was activated as follow: evacuated at 473 K for 2 h, placed to 303K, hydrogenated under 3Mpa H2 (Purity 99.999%) pressure for 5 h, evacuated at 573 K for 2 h again. Each cycle consists of absorption at 2MPa for 600s and desorption by evacuating at 298K for 1200 s. For the electrochemical measurement, the alloy particles (40-50 µm) were mixed with carbonyl nickel powder in a weight ratio of 1:5 and cold pressed to form a pellet about 1g firstly. The pellets were then packed in a Ni foam substrate spot-welded with a Ni strip. The simulated three-electrode cell including a working electrode (metal hydride), a counter electrode (NiOOH/Ni(OH)2) and a reference electrode (Hg/HgO) was installed. Before electrochemical test, the alloy metal hydride electrode was immersed in 6 M KOH aqueous solution for 1d. The measurement to get the maximum capacity and cycling stability was to charge at current density of 105 mA/g for 4h followed by a rest of 10min, then discharged at the same current density to the cut-off voltage of -0.6 V. 3 Results and discussions 3.1 Microstructure and hydrogen storage performances LSCM and BSE micrographs of the three alloys are shown in Fig.1. Four contrasts can be detected in the La2MgNi9 alloy. The chemical quantitations of various contrast from EDS analysis are listed in Table 1, from which the four phases are speculated to be (La,Mg)Ni2, (La,Mg)Ni3, (La,Mg)2Ni7 and LaNi5. Five crystal structures including CaCu5-type, MgCu4Sn-type, PuNi3-type, Ce2Ni7-type and Gd2Co7-type are identified in XRD profile of the La2MgNi9 alloy, as shown in Fig.2. The structural parameters and phase abundance are refined and listed in Table 2. The results are in consistent with the metallographic observation that the main phase is (La,Mg)Ni3, then (La,Mg)Ni2and (La,Mg)2Ni7, but content of LaNi5 is rare. In case of the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloy, metallographic and XRD characterization indicate that (La,Mg)Ni2disappears, (La,Mg)5Ni19 emerges and LaNi5 increases with elevation of the B-side stoichiometry. The main phase of the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloy is (La,Mg)2Ni7 and (La,Mg)5Ni19 respectively, and the structural parameters and phase abundance are also listed in Table 2. Fig.3 displays P-C-Tcurves of the alloys, and the detailed data are given in Table 3. Theoretically, hydrogenation capability increases with reduction of the B-side stoichiometry in the La-Mg-Ni based alloys. However, the maximum hydrogen absorption content of the La2MgNi9 alloy is slightly lower than the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy. It is ascribed to the fact that some (La,Mg)Ni2 which can hardly absorb and desorb hydrogen at room temperature [8], existing in the La2MgNi9 alloy. The three alloys have analogic hydrogen absorption plateau. But both the desorption pressure and the reversible hydrogen capacity elevate with increase of the B-side stoichiometry of the three alloys. Reversible hydrogen capacity of the AB3-typed La2MgNi9 alloy is only 1.15 wt%, and the hysteresis effect is more evident than the other alloys. Electrochemical discharge curves and performances of the alloys are shown in Fig.4 and Table 3 respectively. Discharge capacities of the La2MgNi9 and La4MgNi19 alloy are lower than the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy. The lower discharge capacity of La2MgNi9 is due to the weak reversible hydrogen storage capacity. As to the La4MgNi19 alloy, it is attributed to high abundance of LaNi5 which is unsuited for the electrochemical application without alloying [20]. Furthermore, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 presents better cycling stability than the other two alloys. Capacity retention after 100 cycles of the La2MgNi9 alloy is similar with that of the La4MgNi19 alloy. 3.2 Degradation characteristics after electrochemical cycling From morphology and EDS results of the alloys, it is clear that pulverization and corrosion have occurred after electrochemical cycling by 100 times (only La2MgNi9 alloy presents in Fig.5). XRD analysis shows that La(OH)3, Mg(OH)2 and La2O3 appear in the cycled alloys, as displayed in Fig.6. Likewise, morphology and SAED analysis of TEM confirm existence of La(OH)3 combined with La2O3 (stick-like), Mg(OH)2 (needle-like) and MgO (particles), which are marked with 1, 2 and 3 respectively as illustrated in Fig.7. The results are in consistent with the other literature studied on the corrosion products of a La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy [21]. Detailed determinations of TEM are provided in the supplementary information (Fig.S1-S3). In addition, size and amount of La(OH)3 and La2O3 are obvious than that of Mg(OH)2 and MgO, indicating that corrosion of La is significant in the electrochemical environment. Mg(OH)2 and MgO are close to the alloy surface but very loose. It agrees well with the previous works that corrosion products of Mg are gel-type and cannot form a solid protection layer for further corrosion [15-16]. Compared among the three alloys, it is noteworthy that corrosion productions of the La2MgNi9alloy are less than the other alloys (see in Fig.6). Identically, oxygen contents of the electrochemical cycled alloys follow the order that La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19, indicating that the corroded extent are aggravated (see in Fig.8). It is puzzled that the result is inconsistent with the electrochemical performances that La2MgNi9 possesses poor cycling stability. It also disagrees with the consideration that high Mg content is harmful to the corrosion resistance in La-Mg-Ni based alloys [22-24]. In order to comprehend this fact further, the intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance of the three alloys was investigated next. 3.3 The intrinsic anti-corrosion properties To avoid impacts of pulverization on the corrosion behaviors, the alloy particles with the same diameter (around 40 ÃŽÂ ¼m) were immersed in KOH solution at 60  °C for 15 d. Then the morphology, phase structure and oxygen content were measured for characterization of the intrinsic corrosion behaviors. SEM micrographs and EDS analysis of the alloy particles illustrate that severe corrosion occurred after immersion, the typical results are shown in Fig.9 (only La2MgNi9 alloy particles are given here). Compared to the electrochemical cycled alloys, the stick-like products which have been confirmed as composite of La(OH)3 and La2O3, are remarkable in the immersed samples which is due to aggravated corrosion at higher temperature. XRD profiles identify that the corrosion products are mainly La(OH)3, but La2O3 cannot be detected in the immersed alloys, as shown in Fig.10. Coincidently, SAED by TEM found that the stick-shaped phase is single-phase La(OH)3, as shown in Fig.11. The result suggests that La2O3 transforms to La(OH)3 during evolution of the corrosion process. Besides, Mg(OH)2 and MgO are also found existing in the immersed samples, and their morphologies are same with that in the electrochemical cycled alloys. However, Mg(OH)2can only be detected in La2MgNi9 from the identifications of XRD, indicating that corrosion of Mg is violent in La2MgNi9. Fig.12 is the oxygen contents of the immersed alloys, from which severity of corrosion of the three alloys are La2MgNi9 > La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 > La4MgNi19. To provide detailed information of the relationship between the corrosion behaviors and phase constitution, immersion test applied on the massive samples has also been studied (the condition is same with that of the powder samples). Fig.13 shows the SEM-BSE micrographs of the immersed samples (only La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy are present here). Obviously, the corroded extent is inhomogeneous which is considered to be caused by differences of the anti-corrosion capabilities of the various phases. EDS analysis on two regions with diverse corrosion grades (as marked with 1 and 2 in Fig.13) shows no Mg but less O existing in region 1. Whereas, more Mg and O are detected in region 2 with severe corroded extent than region 1. Likewise, EDS-mapping indicates that the region possessing more Mg presents richer O, as shown in Fig.14. Similar result is more evident in the as-cast alloys, which is attributed to the inhomogeneous chemical composition and microstructure of the as-cast alloy, details can b e seen in the supplementary (Fig. S4 and S5). The aforementioned results demonstrate that the Mg-rich phases are easy to be corroded in the alkaline solution. It has been well demonstrated that Mg solubility in La-Mg-Ni alloys follows the order that (La,Mg)Ni2> (La,Mg)Ni3 > (La,Mg)2Ni7 > (La,Mg)5Ni19 > LaNi5 [25]. Thus the intrinsic anti-corrosion resistances of various phases in the La-Mg-Ni system are considered to be according with the inverse trend. This result is in agreement with several works where AB2and AB3 type La-Mg-Ni alloys have suffered serious corrosion after electrochemical experiments [8, 23-24]. The tendency is also exactly identical with that the anti-corrosion resistance is inversely proportional to the abundance of the Mg-rich phases. La2MgNi9 presents worse anti-corrosion capability because contents of the Mg-rich (La,Mg)Ni2and(La,Mg)Ni3 arehigher thanthe other two alloys. However, trend of the intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance is opposite to the corrosion extent of the three alloys after electrochemical cyclings. Concern to the fact that corrosion extent of the electrode alloys is also closely related to severity of pulverization during the electrochemical charge/discharge process, the pulverization properties of the alloys are carefully characterized then. 3.4 The intrinsic anti-pulverization properties In order to avoid influence of the additives in the electrochemical test on characterization of the intrinsic pulverization behaviors, the alloys are gaseous hydrogenated and dehydrogenated for 30 cycles. Morphology observation indicates that remarkable pulverization has occurred where decrease of the particle size and emergence of cracks can be seen clearly in the cycled alloys, as shown in Fig.15 (only La2MgNi9 alloy are present here). Then the particles sizes before (Sb) and after (Sa) cycling are measured and the size retention is calculated by Sb/Sa. It (Fig.16) shows that severity of pulverization for the three alloys are La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19, which is just contrary to the tendency of the corrosion extent after the immersion experiment. Combined with the results of the intrinsic anti-corrosion and pulverization characterization, we can conclude that the weaker corrosion extent of La2MgNi9 in the electrochemical test is attributed to its better intrinsic anti-pulverization capability though the intrinsic anti-corrosion of La2MgNi9 is worse. It has been well accepted that pulverization is induced by the cell volume expansion upon hydrogen absorption [11-12]. Thus, large volume change leads to severe pulverization. Unfortunately, exact measurement of the volume expansion in the present work is difficult due to the multi-phase microstructure. Instead, we summarize the volume changes according to other experimental works where microstructures of these alloys are all sing-phase to ensure the accuracy as far as possible. Based on the data as listed in Table 4, there is no regular trend for the volume changes among the various structures in La-Mg-Ni system. And, no special relationship between the reported volume expansion data and the pulverization performances in the present work can be found. Besides, pulverization is believed to depend on the mechanical properties of the alloys [11-12]. Alloys with the more ductile character are more resistant to pulverization than the brittle materials. Usually, hydrogen storage alloys ar e hard and brittle, thus measuring ductility directly is difficult. Alternatively, Vickers hardness has been used to evaluate the preference of pulverization for the hydrogen storage alloys. And, previous works have found an almost inverse relationship between Vickers hardness and the pulverization rate [11-12, 30], suggesting the availability of Vickers hardness measurement on characterization of the anti-pulverization ability. Fig.17 gives indentations of the various phases in La2MgNi9 and La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy. Evolution of Vickers hardness can be seen in Fig.18. It presents a linear relation between the Vickers hardness and B-side stoichiometry of the structures, which also agrees well with the pulverization behaviors of the alloys. Obviously, the mechanical property is an important factor affecting the anti-pulverization ability in the La-Mg-Ni phases. It is found that hardness differences of the AB3, A2B7 and A5B19 type phase are small. Under low loading of the hardness test, micro-cracks can hardly be observed in all the above three phases. Since the test force increase, micro-cracks can be seen in all these phases, but there is no obvious difference between them. Differently, LaNi5 is the hard phase, but hardness of (La,Mg)Ni2 is far more lower than the other phases. To comprehend more understanding on the crack formation of various phases, a massive sample with a polished surface was partial charged by electrochemical method, and the morphology and distribution of crack was observed. To highlight character of the hard and soft phase, the as-cast La2MgNi9 alloy was selected for the high abundance of LaNi5 and (La,Mg)Ni2. Microstructure characteristics of the as-cast La2MgNi9 alloy are given in the supplementary (Fig.S6-S7). As shown in Fig.19, quite a number of cracks can be observed in the sample which is only charged for 10 min. Most of the cracks exist in LaNi5 with the darkest contrast in the BSE image. One reason is that LaNi5 is the catalytic phase that primarily charged in the La-Mg-Ni system [31-32]. More importantly, it also ascribes to the brittle character of LaNi5 which agrees well with the above result that the hard phase is easy to crack formation. It is noteworthy that cracks are often stopped in front of (La,Mg)Ni2. Obviously, the soft phase is more resistant to crack formation and able to prevent the crack spreading. Similar result has been reported in other literatures where ductile secondary phases are believed to be beneficial to the cycling stability [33]. According to the above results, we can conclude that La4MgNi19 alloy is easy to pulverization as the high abundance of the hard phases LaNi5 and (La,Mg)5Ni19. As to La2MgNi9, little LaNi5 but existence of the soft (La,Mg)Ni2 and (La,Mg)Ni3 make it more resistant to crack emergence. These findings enlighten a way to improve the anti-pulverization ability by introduction appropriate abundance and distribution of soft secondary phases. 4 Conclusions In the present study, corrosion and pulverization behaviors of three typical La-Mg-Ni alloys: La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 have been systematically investigated. All the alloys present multi-phase microstructure with (La,Mg)Ni3, (La,Mg)2Ni7and (La,Mg)5Ni19 as the main phase respectively. La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 possesses better electrochemical properties among the three alloys. It is found that pulverization and corrosion with the main product La(OH)3, combined with La2O3, Mg(OH)2 and MgO, have occurred after the electrochemical cycling. The overall corrosion extent of the electrochemical cycled alloys follow the order that La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19. Immersion test demonstrate that the Mg-rich phases are easy to be corroded in the alkaline solution. The intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance are found to be La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19, which is inversely proportional to the abundance of the Mg-rich phases. However, the intrinsic anti-pulverization ability just presents an inverse tre nd that La2MgNi9 > La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 > La4MgNi19. It is found that the mechanical property is an important factor affecting the anti-pulverization ability. Vickers hardness elevates with increase of the B-side stoichiometry of the various phases, which agrees well with the pulverization behaviors of the alloys. Furthermore, LaNi5 with the highest hardness is found to be easy to crack formation, but the soft (La,Mg)Ni2 is more resistant to crack formation and able to prevent the crack spreading. The weaker corrosion extent of La2MgNi9 in the electrochemical test is attributed to its better intrinsic anti-pulverization capability though the intrinsic anti-corrosion of La2MgNi9 is worse. Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to the Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 51371094) and Natural Science Foundation Application of Inner Mongolia (NO.2014MS0526) for financial support. References [1]J Chen, N Kuriyama, H T Takeshita, H Tanaka, T Sakai, M Haruta. Hydrogen storage alloys with PuNi3-type structure as metal hydride electrodes. Electrochemical and Solid State Letters, 2000, 3: 249-252. [2]T Kohno, H Yoshida, F Kawashima, T Inaba, I Sakai, M Yamamoto, M Kanda. Hydrogen storage properties of new ternary system alloys: La2MgNi9, La5Mg2Ni23, La3MgNi14. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2000, 311: L5-L7. [3]S Yasuoka, Y Magari, T Murata, T Tadayoshi, J Ishida, H Nakamura, T Nohma, K Masaru. Development of high-capacity nickel-metal hydride batteries using superlattice hydrogen-absorbing alloys. Journal of Power Sources, 2006, 156: 662-666. [4]Y F Liu, Y H Cao, L Huang, M X Gao, H G Pan. Rare earth-Mg-Ni-based hydrogen storage alloys as negative electrode materials for Ni/MH batteries. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2011,509: 675-686. [5]J J Liu, S M Han, Y Li, L Zhang, Y M Zhao, S Q Yang, B Z Liu. Phase structure and electrochemical properties of La-Mg-Ni-based hydrogen storage alloys with superlattice structure. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2016, 41: 20261-20275. [6]J Guo, D Huang, G X Li, S Y Ma, W L Wei. Effect of La/Mg on the hydrogen storage capacities and electrochemical performances of La-Mg-Ni alloys. Materials Science and Engineering B, 2006, 131: 169-172. [7]B Liao, Y Q Lei, G L Lu, L X Chen, H G Pan, Q D Wang. The electrochemical properties of LaxMg2-xNi9 (x=1.0-2.0) hydrogen storage alloys. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2003, 356-357: 746-749. [8]T Yang, T T Zhai, Z M Yuan, W G Bu, S Xu, Y H Zhang. Hydrogen storage properties of LaMgNi3.6M0.4 (M=Ni, Co, Mn, Cu, Al) alloys. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2014, 617: 29-33. [9]A Fà ©rey, F Cuevas, M Latroche, B Knosp, P Bernar. Elaboration and characterization of magnesium-substituted La5Ni19 hydride forming alloys as active materials for negative electrode in Ni-MH battery. Electrochimica Acta, 2009: 54: 1710-1714. [10]Z Y Liu, X L Yan, N Wang, Y J Chai, D L Hou. Cyclic stability and high rate discharge performance of (La,Mg)5Ni19 multiphase alloy[J]. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2011, 36: 4370-4374. [11]T Sakai, K Oguro, H Miyamura, N Kuriyama, A Kato, H Ishikawa. Some factors affectin the cyble lives of LaNi5-based alloy electrodes of hydrogen batteries. Journal of Less-Common Metals, 1990, 161: 193-202. [12]D Chartouni, F Meli, A Zà ¼ttel, K Gross, L Schlapbach. The influence of cobalt on the electrochemical cycling stability of LaNi5-based hydride forming alloys. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 1996, 241: 160-166. [13]B Liao, Y Q Lei, L X Chen, G L Lu, H G Pan, Q D Wang. Effect of the La/Mg ratio on the structure and electrochemical properties of LaxMg3à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢xNi9 (x=1.6-2.2) hydrogen storage electrode alloys for nickel-metal hydride batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 2004, 129: 358-367. [14]Y F Liu, H G Pan, Y J Yue, X F Wu, N Chen, Y Q Lei. Cycling durability and degradation behavior of La-Mg-Ni-Co-type metal hydride electrodes. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2005, 395: 291-299. [15]X Z Sun, H G Pan, M X Gao, R Li, Y Lin, S Ma. Cycling stability of La-Mg-Ni-Co type hydride electrode with Al. Transaction of Nonferrous Metal Society of China, 2006, 16: 8-12. [16]P Zhang, Y N Liu, J W Zhu, X D Wei, G Yu. Effect of Al and W substitution for Ni on the microstructure and electrochemical properties of La1.3CaMg0.7Ni9-x(Al0.5W0.5)x hydrogen storage alloys. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2007, 32: 2488-2493. [17]Y H Zhang, D L Zhao, B W Li, H P Ren, X P Dong, X L Wang. Cycle stability of La0.7Mg0.3Ni2.55-xCo0.45Cux(x=0-0.4) electrode alloys. Transaction of Nonferrous Metal Society of China, 2007, 17: 816-822. [18]Y M Li, H W Zhang, Y H Zhang, H P Ren. Changes of the crystal struc

The Old South and John Crowe Ransom :: John Crowe Ransom Writers Poems Essays

The Old South and John Crowe Ransom Most remember it as a time of dashing young heroes on horseback, fair damsels in distress, and majestic castles hidden from the vulgarity of daily life by the cool shade of fragrant magnolia and honeysuckle. It was a time and place so far removed from today’s fast moving, billboard covered world that one could easily imagine that this lost civilization existed on some far off continent, or perhaps not at all. However, the fact remains that once upon a time the old South did exist, and there are many people still who feel that the loss of this culture and its ideals is nothing short of a tragedy. One such individual was John Crowe Ransom, a man whose life was tempered with his intense yearning for the tradition and stability that the old South embodied, and that has been lost forever amid the skyscrapers and factories that have replaced the cotton fields and plantation homes of long ago. The power that the old South held for Ransom drove his works, as can be evidenced in his poem, â€Å"Old Mansion,† which describes his ultimately futile attempts to return to the old traditions. The common thread unifying Ransom’s work is that of longing for the stability and tradition that the old South embodies. As in his essays, this poem explores the possibilities of what unlocking the secrets of this lost era might entail, and what benefits could be reaped in today’s society from such an undertaking. In this poem, Ransom fails; however, the poem remains an important step in his journey to seek out the old traditions and integrate them into a modern framework. To begin this journey, Ransom introduces the â€Å"old mansion† as a concrete concept to represent the traditional values and lifestyles sought. Every bit of the structure, from its ivied columns, crumbling graveyard, and ultimately, its inhabitants themselves, serve as parables for Ransom’s search. The language in the opening stanzas clearly demonstrates the reverence and personal affinity Ransom feels for the plantation home, i.e. the old South. Yet despite the fact that he wants nothing more than to return to this way of life, he still refers to himself as an â€Å"intruder† (ln 1) into this world that he cherishes so highly. Clearly, despite Ransom’s desire for a return to these simpler times, he maintains a feeling of respect for the past itself, and is not attempting to relive it. He is an intruder in this past, yet he wants desperately to understand its meaning, rather than just appreciate its beauty.

Maya Angelou: Hope into Art Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

Maya Angelou: Hope into Art      Ã‚  Ã‚   Before delving into a discussion of celebrated writer Maya Angelou, a fuller understanding of the worldview that shapes her work can be gleaned from a brief review of a few lines from the 1962 Nobel Prize winning speech of another celebrated writer, John Steinbeck:    The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit--for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectability of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature. (Steinbeck 1)    In Angelou's first novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she examines how a bird (soul) that is caged (unfree) would still sing.   I was curious about this and my main question after reading the story is how Angelou came to such a hopeful worldview despite her many horrific life experiences (poverty, racism, assassinations, divorce, etc.).      The roller-coaster life of Maya Angelou has included many ups and downs that have become the stuff out of which she has written a six volume autobiography, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and ending recently with the last installment, A Song Flung up to Heaven.   Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri (Weaver G-10).   Angelou's life has been filled with chaos and despair as well as success and love.   She was raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of 8 and at various times in her life she toiled in a variety of occupations including Creole cook, calypso dancer, actress, madam, civil-righ... ...ranscript).   WNET, Available: http://www.newsun.com/angelou.html, 2002: 1-3. Jones, H.   Maya fires a silver-tipped arrow right to the heart.   Western Main, Jun 5, 2002: 12. Kelley, K.   Visions: Maya Angelou.   Mother Jones, Available: http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/MJ95/kelley.html, 2002: 1-4. Kizis, S.   Two women: Maya Angelou's character sketches.   Writing, Apr/May 2002: 16-18. Steinbeck, J.   1962 Nobel Prize winning acceptance speech.   San Jose State University, Available: http://www.sjsu. edu/depts/steinbec/nobel.html, 1962: 1-2. Weaver, T. K. Hope is not naà ¯ve.   Pittsburgh Post, May 12, 2002: G-10. Wilson, S.   A Song Flung Up to Heaven: Lyricism, liberty and a lesson in hope.   Scotland on Sunday, Jun 16, 2002: 5.          6                                                 Maya Angelou: Hope into Art Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays Maya Angelou: Hope into Art      Ã‚  Ã‚   Before delving into a discussion of celebrated writer Maya Angelou, a fuller understanding of the worldview that shapes her work can be gleaned from a brief review of a few lines from the 1962 Nobel Prize winning speech of another celebrated writer, John Steinbeck:    The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit--for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectability of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature. (Steinbeck 1)    In Angelou's first novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she examines how a bird (soul) that is caged (unfree) would still sing.   I was curious about this and my main question after reading the story is how Angelou came to such a hopeful worldview despite her many horrific life experiences (poverty, racism, assassinations, divorce, etc.).      The roller-coaster life of Maya Angelou has included many ups and downs that have become the stuff out of which she has written a six volume autobiography, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and ending recently with the last installment, A Song Flung up to Heaven.   Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri (Weaver G-10).   Angelou's life has been filled with chaos and despair as well as success and love.   She was raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of 8 and at various times in her life she toiled in a variety of occupations including Creole cook, calypso dancer, actress, madam, civil-righ... ...ranscript).   WNET, Available: http://www.newsun.com/angelou.html, 2002: 1-3. Jones, H.   Maya fires a silver-tipped arrow right to the heart.   Western Main, Jun 5, 2002: 12. Kelley, K.   Visions: Maya Angelou.   Mother Jones, Available: http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/MJ95/kelley.html, 2002: 1-4. Kizis, S.   Two women: Maya Angelou's character sketches.   Writing, Apr/May 2002: 16-18. Steinbeck, J.   1962 Nobel Prize winning acceptance speech.   San Jose State University, Available: http://www.sjsu. edu/depts/steinbec/nobel.html, 1962: 1-2. Weaver, T. K. Hope is not naà ¯ve.   Pittsburgh Post, May 12, 2002: G-10. Wilson, S.   A Song Flung Up to Heaven: Lyricism, liberty and a lesson in hope.   Scotland on Sunday, Jun 16, 2002: 5.          6                                                

The Best Day of their Life - Original Writing :: Papers

The Best Day of their Life - Original Writing The ground was set with fresh frost from the cool night before. Ice covered the once lively pond, with only the lone duck perched on the ice. Icicles hung from the church roof like the cold fingers of the dead, pointing at the floor, and the final destination of all. The headstones of all the patrons of the church lay scattered about the graveyard, all of them in a bad state of disrepair. Some had been vandalised, many had just fallen foul of time. Spray cans lay on the floor in random locations, although many of them were congregated near the crumbling stone walls of the church. The church itself was at least four hundred years old and stood towering above the surrounding houses, like a sleeping giant among the humans. Copper roofing which had long turned green covered the majestic hall of the church, covered in the leftovers of the birds that enjoyed their stay there. A crooked weathervane hung from an old Christmas light, dangling just below the window often church steeple. The steeple had only one room in it which was just below the belfry. One cracked pane of glass allowed light to enter the dusty room, with a small hole in the bottom of the window allowing the gun barrel to poke out, armed with a scope through which a man stared. He had been there watching the churchyard, composing himself since the early morning. The sun had risen from the east and had reached its peak as the man lay in wait. Squirrels had been going about their business all morning, foraging nuts from the surrounding trees and hiding them in the ground. The feeling in his legs had disappeared slowly and now they were completely numb, so he decided to check his escape route one last time, making sure that it was completely clear; nothing must prevent him from a clean break. Pre-job jitters began to kick in; his hand shook as he once again placed it on the handle of

‘the Lesson’ by Toni Cade Bambara

â€Å"The Lesson† From The Mentor Whenever there is a civil rights movement going on, there are always 3 parties involved. One the Oppressor, second the Oppressed and lastly the Activist or the Mentor. The Activists usually always emerges from the Oppressed. That is when the Oppressed intellectuals feel that it’s time to standup to defend the identity of their people and make them strong enough to make a name of their own. This is what happened during the early 20th century within the African American community. They were racially termed as Negros meaning blacks.And were separated from the mainstream white American society with the Powerful class denying their rights for equal opportunities in basically every field of life. This paved way for the Black Arts movement. When the discrimination of the blacks reached its peak with the assassination of Malcolm X- the great influential African American leader, LeRoi Jones thought that it was time that African Americans bring a bout their true talent collectively. It all started in Harlem. Spanning the 1920s to the mid-1930s, the Harlem Renaissance was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity.Critic and teacher Alain Locke summed up its essence in 1926 when he declared that through art, â€Å"Negro life is seizing its first chances for group expression and self determination. † (Foner, Garraty). The Harlem Renaissance as it was called, influenced future generations of black writers. And Toni Cade Bambara was one of them. The historical information mentioned above was necessary because it is important to know what period of time a writer lived in, it helps us to understand what influenced the writer to write and thus make us understand the stories better as the writer writes what he or she sees and feels.Toni Cade Bambara grew up in Harlem, so the essence of the Harlem renaissance was in her blood. Following her predecessors, she wanted to give the Af rican American community the bases to stand up for their own selves. And this is what â€Å"The Lesson† is all about. In this short story, Bambara uses her personal life experiences and her work in the field of social justice to describe the injustices done towards the African American society and how education and mentoring can play an important role in the uplift of the African American community and in general the society as a whole.In â€Å"The Lesson†, Toni Cade Bambara tells us about the economic and socio-political situation of the African American community through the eyes of Sylvia along with the hope of an uplift through good people like Ms. Moore. Sylvia, being the first person narrator, portrays the role of a strong willed young Black American girl. She along with her group of friends belongs to a small isolated town of blacks, in Harlem. The way she is seen talking to her friends shows that no proper education and guidance was being provided to them and t hat they were being deprived economically too. â€Å"Can we steal? Sugar asks very serious like she's getting the ground rules squared away before she plays. â€Å" (Bambara 27) This line from â€Å"The Lesson† clearly confirms the above point. Basically, the whole story revolves around the time when Ms. Moore takes out this group of friends for an educational ride. Her character, I think is the exact portrayal of Toni Cade Bambara. Ms. Moore like Toni Cade Bambara belonged to Harlem and was an activist for African Americans’ rights. She like her, made her mission to raise awareness amongst the African Americans, to make them realize their rights and to make them learn to live in the real world.Ms. Moore, seemingly the only educated person in the ghetto town of Harlem to which the kids belonged, wanted to help out and educate the kids. And give them an understanding of how the world sees them and how they should create a good life on their own. For instance when she asked them to pay to the taxi cab driver along with a 10% tip, this shows that she wanted them to learn to calculate. And by firing away questions and trying to make them share their views about the happenings in the toy store on the high profile FIFTH AVE. hich was for the upper white class (where she took them to show the disparity and learn), she wanted them to realize that injustice is done towards them and they should learn to live to live on their own and earn respect. Not all is gone in vain (referring to Sylvia’s and other kids’ cold responses) and Ms Moore is delighted by Sugar’s response. â€Å"You know, Miss Moore, I don't think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs. † And Miss Moore lights up like somebody goosed her. â€Å"And? † she say, urging Sugar on. Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven. What do you t hink? † (Bambara 99). Giving us the idea that intelligence and awareness exists everywhere, it just needs to be awakened just like Ms. Moore did. Introduction of the side characters shows us that Bambara tries her best to tell the readers that the children of the African American community are as normal as they are. Just like normal white kids, they have their own personalities, they fight, they have insecurities etc. nd like other normal white kids, they can do wonders with a little guidance. With the parents of the children willing to send them with Ms. Moore, Bambara tries to portray that even while living in tough conditions, African American parents want their kids to lead a good life, unlike their own. All this and the conversational style of the story reflect Bambara’s connection with the Harlem world. With even Sylvia’s strong character showing signs of weakness, when she wasn’t able to stand the bitter truth by her sidekick Sugar, makes us wonderf ully realize that Toni Cade Bambara has summed up the entire life of the oppressed in general.That no matter how strong headed or violent they seem, there is always this timid person behind the mask to hide the real face, i. e. the insecurities and also that intelligent minds exist everywhere, they just need to be mentored. Just what Ms. Moore was trying to do and Sugar was living up to Ms. Moore’s expectations. Overall the story deals with the reality of racial and class injustice, yet there is a sense of hope in the conclusion of the story. As the narrator Sylvia (even though realizes and understands what Ms.Moore was trying to make the kids learn but being strong headed was unwilling to accept the fact) is determined to rise above her circumstances and create a better life for herself. â€Å"She can run if she want to and even run faster. But ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin. â€Å"(Bambara 109) The above thought also strengthens the sharp contrast between Sylvia and Sugar that even though Sugar comprehends Ms. Moore’s lesson first, she forgets it as soon as they are done with the trip, by starting to think of things they could do with the change money Ms.Moore allowed them to keep while Sylvia who didn’t understand the lesson at first is now determined to deal with the situation. Though we don’t know for sure how Sylvia would end up but her words show that with a determined and sharp mind, she is all geared up to change the way she as a part of community is perceived. This is how Toni Cade Bambara sums up her life long mission through the heart and soul of Sylvia. Which is, that the oppressed (in general, not only the African American community) should always be aware of the injustices done towards them and never should give up with understanding the fact that awareness and education are the eys to success. Work Cited Bambara,Toni Cade. â€Å"The Lesson. † Gorilla,My Love. New York. Random (1972. ) Print. 4th Octobe r. 2012 Tate, Claudia, ed. Black Women Writers at Work. New York. Continuum (1983. ) Web. 4th October. 2012 Garraty, Foner, Editors. The Reader's Companion to American History: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (1991. ) Web. 4th October. 2012 Gale Research Group. â€Å"Toni Cade Bambara. † Discovering Authors. 1999. Griffin, Farah Jasmine. â€Å"Para Las Chicas Cubanas. † Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters 26. 1 (2003): 74-82. Web. 4th October. 2012

”The Knife Sharpener” by Bonnie Burnard Essay

The Knife Sharpener a short storey written by Bonnie Burnard. This story is very raise you never know that the glossa sharpener go out appear as a deadly person because he appeared as a good senescent hu reality beings who proficient borrowed a knives to sharpening and said Maybe youve hear from your neighbours. I come around each March. Do mowers as well as he was offering to do he mower for her in the beginning. Janet is a baffle of three children. She do all the doing in the sign since her kids are mute young to do some of the house work. Erin is six years old firstborn child of Janet. The Knife Sharpener is an old man who sharpen knives and do mowers. The story happened in Janets place. The story happened during the day. The incident started occurrence when the poke sharpener took Erins gain and brought her somewhere. The story gets more intense when Janet starts panicking and decided to go after Erin and look for her.Janet saw Erins scarf on the ground stuccoed ceding back of a garage twenty kilobyte ahead. Janet saw the poke sharpener talking to Erin in a gentle old mans voice and Janet took Erins tidy sum and questioned the knife sharpener. The knife sharpener said cheer dont key out the law. The knife Sharpener by Bonnie Burnard is close the family, intense and it tells us non to deposit any stranger and reveals the certain reputation of some stranger when the old man took Erin out-of-door from her home. Why Janet didnt call the police? And Why Janet having thoughts whether shes passage to tell about it to her husband or just keep it by herself and not to tell to anyone? The Knife Sharpener might mother a bad intension to the family of Janet.The knife sharpener appeared to be a good old man who just a knife to use for sharpening and offered to do their mower so he can go at bottom the house. He even made Janets feelings comfortable around with him and he all of a sudden changed his mood when Janet said that her eldest is leaving to be home soon for lunch. The knife sharpener waited for Erin to go out again and reached her hand and brought Erin somewhere. I think that the knife sharpener forget going to do something bad to Erin or sneak Erin since he took her twenty yards away from her home. There is only two affirmable thing he will do it is either the knife sharpener will usurpation Erin or he will kidnap Erin.

Leadership And Change Management In Businesses Commerce Essay

Change is portion of every organisation. Every decennary informants autumn of a great organisation. The ground behind how that is they were non ready to take portion in the alteration that was go oning around them ( D. Ambani laminitis, Chairman Reliance Group Ltd ) .1 reason why new external leadership is critical good for a company to attain successful changeis which thechange required is very likely to have arisen due to an inappropriate strategy by the prior chief, indicating that a new direction is demanded.2: – Why do we necessitate alter direction?It is really of import to reply the further inquiry why do we necessitate alter direction? Change direction has attributes rather similar to Organizational Development. Than why is at deeds that place a demand to develop a new profession? Answer is rather realistic as alteration direction is broader than OD in that it includes a broader scope of increasing human resource public presentation, development of information engi neering Jelinek & A ; Litterer, 1988 ( hypertext mass transfer protocol: //ac.aua.am/gohar_grigoryan/Public/Fuller/273.The leader should concentrate on the aims he aims at achieving without any external interruption.

2. ‘Royal Mail ‘ Introduction2.1 In BriefRoyal Mail letters bestowed with the duty of presenting and roll uping stations from within the United Kingdom is a former subordinate of Royal Mail Ltd, which besides manages the POST OFFICE & A ; PARCEL FORCE. Attained its separate human individuality in the twelvemonth 1986 ( hypertext transfer protocol: //en.Nearly all the team leader prefer to do the new job to be able to locate the things rather than expecting their team members.uk/1/hi/business/8304722.stm ) .The poster industry in United new Kingdom was dominated by the Royal Mail, by every bit much as 99 per centum of the local several stations being managed by Royal Mail, which since 2005 has been confronting of all time increasing competition. Technological promotion is another later external issue the has reduced the possible market size as The Royal Mail posts 9 million less letters than what it used to in the twelvemonth 2005 ( hypertext transfer protocol: //new s.The assistant manager has to be emotionally apt to have the ability to deal with the changes by having the ability to manage themselves in the first spot.

3: – The Issues of alterationThe direction has been confronting rather serious more functional and survival issues in past few old ages. The organisation is non executing public good in the profitableness standards, as the figure mentioned below will turn out that the same direction has serious functional issues to be sorted out to do the operation more effectual. Ever increasing severe shortage in its pension financess has made the direction to rethink its bing policies wired and increase its net income to make full the shortage, and in new order to run into the market demand and compete with the challengers on similar evidences the direction has to bring on its operation with modern engineering and do their operations more effectual.3.Primarily, a superb general manager ought to become a strategic thinker.stm ) . It faced serious issues associating to its traditional methods of screening and delivering, which were critically evaluated to be the premier cause of its los ingss. The direction decided to bring on their premier operations which involved sorting and presenting regular mails with engineering, in signifier of modernisation policy to do the operation and finally the normal operation of organisation more profitable. The losingss were so terrible that the proposal was passed in the hosiery of common to soft sell the major interest of Royal Mail to do privatize its operation ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.Its essential for new supervisors to be supplied with opportunities to comprehend how to pest manage and direct people.

3. 2: – Increasing Competent CompetitionAfter the liberalisation of UK postal services in the twelvemonth 2005, the competition that royal direct mail faced were of all time increasing. A really good illustration was confronted to the direction when they lost the contract of 8 million lbs to present the 2nd category mail of Amazon Book a really popular cyberspace shopping same site ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.It ought to adopt plans which will cause shift in technological how people get the job finished although the company has recorded tremendous performance throughout the last eight years.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6768983.stm ) .Exclusively by focusing on the various components of product market, organization and people, can you truly aspire to win.

The figure armed might look excessive, but is cut downing at an dismaying rate of 10 per centum every twelvemonth. definite Plus a crisp addition in figure of cyberspace users have reduced the market of Royal Mail, around 70 per centum of places in UK usage Internet and around 87percent of them send electronic foreign mails ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.Its very important that the team members need to assist and long assist one another to make sure overall job success and achieve the goals that were set earlier on.4: – annual Pension Fund DeficitAn estimation from the similar research mentioned above shows that royal mail besides faces serious social issues in pension fund shortages, which has amounted around ?8 billion ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8304722.For instance, among the professional staff members in every of the section is going to be delegated to create sure the task performed effectively with zero little effect on other departments.

Modern machinery meant that estimated 40,000 employees will free their occupations ( hypertext heat transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8304722.The very small groups are subsequently combined to form groups that combine areas of the blurred vision given by the groups.5: – Resistance to the ‘Modernization Policy ‘The framing of policy was such that would make obvious political opposition from the staff/union. The policy execution estimated around 40,000 occupation cuts, which increased to around 63,000 in the twelvemonth 2010 ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.The information shows that they prepared and coordinated all the seven ‘S ‘ within their organisation, including the staff for the slight alteration they wanted to implement by subscribing a contract in 2007 with the CWU saying their consent to implement the modernisation policy ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7038899.

Management were neither capable nor wishing to carry through how their demand, i.e.Pay rise that would do their wage equal to the national norm ( which would be about 27 % ) .Addition in pensions support and installations ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.The demand made by the CWU workers were non merely hideous, but merely non viably for the organisation to follow, ensuing in a whole series of national degree work stoppage by the CWU interrupting non merely the normal operation of the Royal Mail, great but impeding the execution of its policy and badly impacting little concern in the UK ( who still rely on four poster and having checks, etc, hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8277206.uk/1/hi/business/8345643.stm ) . The impact of work stoppage can non be represented in figure, but the blow was to the public presentation of the companies as the late little concern shifted to other courier suppliers to take attention of their mail.6: – Harmonization between Management logical and the Union.In bends, the Union agreed to utilize the modern engineering in their sorting offices, and clear cut down their hours from 40 to 39 ( hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8556487.