Everyday Use By Alice Walker Essays (813 words) - Everyday Use

Everyday Use By Alice Walker The place where you hang your hat, where the heart is, is a link to the past, and through its door one walks into the future: home can be many things t one person. To many Georgians, home is the place where they come from, the place where the famiy line can be traced from memories and keepasakes. In "Everyday Use", Alice Walker explores the importance of home to a family of three women in Georgia. This story is told from the eyes of Mama, Dee and Maggie's mother. Walker uses Mama to characterize her daughters and herself in an unbiased light that only a mother could love or know. Mam is a "large, big boned woman wit rough, man working hands", "who can kill and clean a hog as mersilessly as a man"(1). Mama, a round cahracter, lives a life that contradicts Dee's ideas. Mama contributes it mostly to her and Maggie's lack of academis intelligence. She usually allows Dee to receive what she wants because of this difference. By the end of this short story, Mama puts her foot down. Mama describes Maggied, a dynamic character, with a tone of pity. "She knows she is not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passed her buy"(3). Maaggies is accustomed to being pushed aside. Maggie is characterized in this story by her actions rather than her words. Her sullen attitude is seen in her mother's descripion of her simply walking. "Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog, run over soem careless person, sidle up to someone who is ingorant enough to be kind to them?"(2). Dee seems to be the cause of her angst. Near the conclusion, Maggie's sullen attitude is ahnged when her mother refuses to allow her to be pushed aside by Dee. "Maggie smiled. . . But a real smile not scared"(7). Dee felt she was different from the rest of her family. She was the olly one to attend college. She favors what was popularized by the world outside of her home. "Dee wanted nice things. . . at sixteen she had a style of her own"(2). Her mother "offered her a qulit when she went away for college. She told me they were old fashioned, out of style"(6). She is a static character. She returns home unahnged, not willing to understand another point of view, but wanting her family to change and bend to her ideas even after the short story concludes. Symbolism, the association of a meaning or theme to an item, is used in this novel to give ther reader a greater understanding of each characters inner thoughts. Walker linked these characters with tow main contextual symbols: the house and the two quilts. As the house burns, each character's position around the house directly related to how they feel about their family background. Maggie felt that the house was a part of her For Maggie, the house held memories of her and her family. As her dress fell off "her in little black papery flakes" in the fire, parts of her were lost with the house(2). Dee, on the other hand, was far from the ho;use, steadily concentrating on the burning house until it was completely destroyed. Dee did not desire to be associated with her family, like she did not want to be associated with the house. Both were slow to change and confirm to the actions of the world outside of her family's own tight circle. The quilts had a similar meaning but meant something different for Maggie and Dee. For Maggie, the quilt was a link to her grandmother and her family's past. Dee saw the quilt only as art that was temporily valuable. Like the house, the quilt represented a family's heritage. Dee's visit set the stage for many ironic statements. Irony or contradictions between ideas and reality, can be seen in what Dee would like her family to be and what really is. Waiting for Dee's arrival, her mother co;ntemplates that difference: "In real life,I am a large, big boned woman, with man working hands. . . But of course all this does not show on television. I am the way my daughter wants me to be, a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like and uncooked barely pancake. My hair glistens in the hot, bright lights"(2). Iron is also seen when Dee announces her death and new lifestyle, but still ate chitterlings an other foods her mother cooked. In her new life these foods are forbidden

Carbonyl Definition in Chemistry

Carbonyl Definition in Chemistry Organic chemistry contains names for many different molecules and groups of molecules that participate in chemical reactions. These groups of molecules are called functional groups. The carbonyl group is an important group that contains the element carbon. Carbonyl Definition The term carbonyl refers to the carbonyl functional group which is a divalent group consisting of a carbon atom with a double-bond to oxygen, CO. Carbonyl also may refer to a compound formed by a metal with carbon monoxide  (CO).  Bivalent radical CO is found in ketones, acids, and aldehydes. Many of the molecules involved in the senses of smell and taste involve aromatic compounds with carbonyl groups. The CO entity is the carbonyl group, while a molecule that contains the group is called a carbonyl compound. Also Known As: carbonyl group, carbonyl functional group Carbonyl Example The metal compound nickel carbonate, Ni(CO)4, contains the CO carbonyl group. Source Wade, Jr., L.G. (2002). Organic Chemistry (5th ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-033832-X

Boeing Aircraft Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Boeing Aircraft Company - Case Study Example This American aircraft company is also respected for reportedly holding the most diverse, inventive and skilled workforce in the world (Boeing, 2013). The specific areas of competition that Boeing currently witnesses can be identified on the grounds of managerial economics, unique and valued added business strategy applications and managing the various external forces efficiently. In this regard, influence of changing customer behavior and competitive barriers raised by its chief contemporaries (including Airbus SAS) shall be noteworthy (Taylor & Tillmanns, 2002). Competitive Strategies applied by Boeing and Airbus Boeing has been successful in capturing a large proportion of the current aircraft market and subsequently, acquiring a significant position in the service industry. In the current scenario, Boeing exercises around 54% share of the aircraft market while its total commercial department amounted to $30.1 billion as on the year 2001. Notably, the invention of 747 Jumbo Jet in 1966 by Boeing brought about a revolution in the world of air travel. Correspondingly, Boeing had approached the aircraft market through a unique innovation of the large sized point to point aircrafts. Recently, it has developed a Wi-Fi inside the plane which will create an ease for the passengers in accessing internet during their journey in air (Taylor & Tillmanns, 2002). As apparent from the discussion, one of the approaches considered with principal significance by Boeing when entering the aircraft marketplace is continuous innovation. A chief competitor of Boeing, as was mentioned above, is Airbus SAS. Airbus was founded in the year 1970 as a result of association in the European aerospace industry. Later it was amalgamated into a single company by the year 2001. As on 2001, it captured 46% share of the global aircraft market being second to Boeing. Historically, the company was established by the European countries with an intention to compete with the larger American aircraf t companies and earn a good subsidiary form the European governments. It has a wide range of product line such as the Twin Aisle A340 and the Single Aisle A320. It is in this regard that working in a common market and above all, because Airbus was designed with an intention to compete with the American airline industry players, it tends to be a major rival to Boeing (Taylor & Tillmanns, 2002). Similarity and Differences between Boeing and Airbus Boeing and Airbuses, being the major competitors to each other, possess certain similarities as well as differences in various strategic aspects. On the basis of the notions related to managerial economics, both the companies can be observed to operate with a similar approach of customer service oriented management. Both the companies have therefore been designing the aircrafts keeping in mind the comfort of the customers and their growing needs of convenience as well as security. The aim of both the aircrafts has thus been centered to earn profits along with sustainability by rendering quality services in addressing almost every minute requirement of their targeted customers. Both of these are involved in the creation of additional benefits to the customers by developing newer and innovative aircrafts on a

African emerging markets as a potential destination of efficiency Essay

African emerging markets as a potential destination of efficiency seeking investment - Essay Example However, the Asian continent serves as Africa’s greatest threat in terms of foreign investment as the continent has intense aspects by European countries and other grown economies. For this reason, the Asian continent experiences rapid growth in terms of infrastructure and the economy unlike in Africa. On the other hand, investments in African countries by foreigners attributes to maintained peace while the countries that do not have peace experience minimal international investment. Therefore, this essay will indulge on why Africa has steadily been an emerging market as a potential investment destination by foreign investors. In the global population index, Africa boasts of having at least one billion inhabitants spread across the continent. Essentially, this figure comprises of all fractions of the population that include age, gender, among many other factors. However, the literacy levels are average with the percentage standing at sixty two. This means that the elite population is slightly above the half percentage meaning that it is not enough to sustain employment and investment. By 2008, the collective gross development profit for the continent combined was at least two million trillion dollars making it high, but with minimal income. In addition, the overall expenditure levels for the continent were eight hundred and sixty billion US dollars as at 2008. Despite these visible trends, analysts predict that Africa would increase profits and gross spending income by 2020. However, the achievement of these desired results squarely laid with the investments levels if made at a steady rate. For instance, the population of Africa will be at one point four billion people by 2020. Further, analysts predict that the gross development profit will also increase to at least two point six trillion US dollars by the same time. In excess, the levels for consumer spending will also go up to almost one point four trillion dollars.

Principles and Contemporary of Mental Health Essay

Principles and Contemporary of Mental Health - Essay Example In this area, nurses receive specialized training in psychological therapies that builds on therapeutic alliance in dealing with challenging behavior which leads to administration of psychiatric medicine. In summary, mental health is a psychological state of well being in which one has an achievement of a satisfying amalgamation of one’s instinctual motivations tolerable to both oneself and one’s social locale; an apposite balance of leisure pursuits, love and work (Wilkin, 2003, p. 139). The Patient: Barker’s model In one of his theories, Barker wrote that a mental patient care should encompass a Meta theoretical approach. This is to say that several theories are necessary while dealing with mental patients. The application of this theory helped in taking care of the patients. First, there was demonstration of the nursing knowledge, the grand theory, where there was stating the empirical terms and hypotheses to demonstrate understanding of the theory of nursing. To demonstrate a clear understanding of the situation, I applied the Barker’s tidal model, which is philosophical in nature. With this model, I had to understand the fact that I knew little about the experiences of my patient. I took my patient as a mystery to be learnt and explored in developing a nurse-patient relationship and identify the needs. This characteristic of curiosity helps to understand more about the patient (Barker & Barker, 2005, p. 108). Secondly, the key to understanding my patient was taking them in with their resourcefulness in acknowledging the reality of my patient’s problems as the resources towards proper therapy. Other resources were within their social and interpersonal network, which I had to explore to help in proper therapy. Another important aspect that I had to consider was to understand the personal wishes of the patient. This laid emphasis on the importance of collaboration with the patient. This helped in identification of the needs of the patient. Respect to the needs also helped to ease therapy towards quick recovery. Mental health is more psychological and therapy has to be more collaborative through identification of what the patient deems important. However, this did not mean ignoring professional knowledge about the patient’s condition, but the wishes of the patient remained at the heart throughout the therapy session. Then there was viewing the patient’s condition as an opportunity, a natural signal indicating the need for services, my services. It was an opportunity for change and a chance for the patient to take a new opportunity in life. In mental health care, there are goals that professional nurses set to achieve. They are to be the end point of the nursing care process. I had to consider the fact that there are small steps which I needed to take in order to move away from the circumstances that brought my patient to the care setting. Finally, Barker’s model in practice helped m e to understand the fact that I had to identify the simplest possible action that helped to bring about the help necessary for the patient to get well from their condition. Basing On Evidence Because I had to administer psychotherapy basing on evidence, I had to employ several techniques that had to base on empirical relationship building, communication, dialogue and behavior change with a designation to improve mental

Descartes Conceivability Argument For Substance Dualism Philosophy Essay

Descartes Conceivability Argument For Substance Dualism Philosophy Essay Substance Dualism is the view that the mind and body are distinct. It pictures the world as consisting of two independent domains, the mental and the material, each with its own distinctive defining properties. We have clear and distinct awareness that the body is physical therefore it is spatially temporary and made from atoms which follow physical laws. It has dimensions, mass, texture etc. We also have clear and distinct awareness that the mind is non-physical therefore is not made from atoms or follows physical laws. The essence of the body is to be extended whilst the essence of the mind is to think. The mind is logically distinct and an independent entity to the body. So what can be asserted for one cant be asserted for the other. The mind will continue to exist without the body. It is infinite and immortal and will go to the afterlife. But the body is subject to decay because it is physical. It is not immortal and cant exist without the mind. The claim is there are two complet ely distinct substances, where substances mean a fundamental thing rather than stuff. In Descartes Sixth Meditation, he states one of his arguments for the mind and body being distinct. This is known as The Conceivability Argument: 1. I can clearly conceive existing without my body 2. What is clearly conceivable is possible 3. So it is possible for me to exist without my body 4. So I am neither identical with, nor a part of my body 5. So substance dualism is true Descartes, when considering himself, had a clear and distinct idea of myself (himself) inasmuch as I am (he is) only a thinking and unextended thing. Since he is thinking now, he must be a thinking thing. This property must be there as it belongs to his essence. If thinking ceases then he doesnt exist, an argument which he tries to prove in his early works in The Discourse. He has a clear understanding of what thought is. This allows him possibly to be non-extended as spatial temporality is not essential to him. He also has a distinct idea of body, inasmuch as it is only an extended and unthinking thing. If we think about an object we comprehend that its necessary extended and its essence is not thinking. For example, the essence of a stone is to be extended not to be a thinking thing. It is very hard to comprehend a stone thinking and if we can it is definitely not an essence of the stone. It is possible to conceive of the mind existing without the body and the body existing without the mind. Descartes uses the word possible in the sense that it is logically conceptual therefore not self contradictory that he can exist without his body. This is because it is possible to conceive of something being extended and non-thinking. Also it is possible to conceive of something being non-extended and being a thinking thing. For example we can conceive of my mind thinking but having no spatially temporality. God can create a world where whatever is conceivable is metaphysically possible because all things which I apprehend clearly and distinctly can be created by God. Thus anything conceivable becomes an actual truth. For example God cant create a square circle as it is not metaphysically possible. But God can create me, a thinking thing, distinct from my extended body since they may be made to exist in separation at least by the omnipotence of God. Therefore it is possible that my mind can exist without my body resulting in having a body not being essential to me. Descartes is moving from this doubt of his body to his essence. Descartes is using his scepticism that he is not going to accept anything that he is not certain of. He is certain of his own thinking and existence though. He concludes that this he can be sure of but this is the only thing he can be sure of: I am a real thinking thing and really exist, but what thing? I have an answer: A thing which thinks. But there are two different meanings to a thinking thing. One is something that thinks or another is something whose essence is to think, a thing that cannot not think. These are very different claims. He is making an epistemological claim to a metaphysical claim. He is arguing from how we come to know something to what it actually is. The argument shifts from a possible sense to a possible fact: It is possible that I am a thinking thing to my essence is a thinking thing. Knowing that I am thinking, it does follow that I am thinking in one sense. If I am thinking then I must be capa ble of thinking. But the claim that his essence is thinking is fallacious. If we take John Lockes claim that God can make matter think then God can make a stone think. A stone would then know that it is only a thinking thing and not know that it is extended. Therefore as its only aware of its own perceptions it can conclude that its essence is thinking. Just as God has made the stone think, God can take this away. Therefore the stone is left with its essence being extended and non-thinking. Moreover, all because the mind and body have different essences, this does not mean that they have to be two different substances. Surely they can be one and the same thing. Cant there be one entity which is thinking and extended? Jerome A. Shaffer uses the example of one entity, a man: The defying characteristic of being a husband is being a married man and the essence of being a parent is having offspring, but one and the same person can be both. Hence all because we have conceived of two entities having different properties it does not mean that they actually exist distinct from each other. For Descartes it would seem that they have completely distinct essences that it is impossible for them to not be distinct. Therefore the example of a husband and a father is seemingly weak because the actual properties of the occupier of the essences are both extended and male. Whereas the properties of extended and thinking things have, according to Descartes nothing in common. It would appear that there needs to be a stronger example from Shaffer to show that the mind and body can be one and the same thing. George Graham has a stronger example of the Gods making Oedipus marry his mother. As he didnt want to marry her he would say: very idea disgusts me, I find it unconceivable that I will marry my mother. Oedipus then falls in love with Jocasta, who is actually his mother. If we asked him what he thought about marrying her he may say: Very idea pleases me, I find it very conceivable. We would then conclude that Oedipus can conceive of himself marrying Jocasta but cant conceive of himself marrying his mother. Therefore they are not the same person. If I can conceive of myself as disembodied but cant conceive of myself without a mind you cant conclude that your mind and body are distinct as they can be one and the same thing. This is because the conclusion is aspectual and realises on aspectual knowledge. This aspectual knowledge that Graham mentions is a major downfall to Descartes conceivable argument. Gottlob Ferge explains this with the ancients knowing that Venus is the morning star whilst believing that the evening star was Venus as well or illiterate people not knowing that water is identical to H20. The mind and body could be the same thing but he they are assessed differently, one by introspection and one by inspection but this doesnt mean they can be separated and exist apart from each other. W. D. Hart creates a story to strengthen Substance Dualism and tries to show that the mind and body are not one and the same thing. This is because we can conceive the mind to exist without a body: Imagine one morning you wake up and go to the mirror. Looking in the mirror you realise that your eye sockets are empty. You can visualise your face with empty eye sockets as it would look to you in the mirror. You then saw around your head and see that your brain is not there. You can visualise how your empty brain pan would look to you in the mirror. Lastly it is still possible to visualise if you had no body. You would see the reflection of the room in the mirror. So you have a recipe for visual experience of yourself disembodied. As this is a thought experiment it could not actually occur in the real world. But the fact that we can imagine being disembodied. As we can imagine being disembodied without contradiction, it means that it is metaphysically possible. Hart would conclude that it is metaphysically possible for me to exist disembodied. Therefore the mind and body are distinct as disembodied existence can occur. Is it not possible to conceive of water not being identical to H2O even though it is metaphysically impossible? If we can then it is possible to conceive of the mind existing apart from the body doesnt show that it is metaphysically possible. For this metaphysically possible for the mind to exist with the body then the mind must be numerically distinct from the body. Kripke used his concept of rigid and non-rigid designators for Cartesian Dualism argument to prove that they are numerical distinct: If a and b are rigid designators, it follows that a = b if true, is a necessary truth. If a and b are not rigid designators, no such conclusion follows about the statement a = b The rigid designator water is identical to the rigid designator H2O. This is true scientifically. Water is identical to H20 in every possible world. If we have two rigid designators and the two are identical then this will mean that conceivability entails metaphysically possibility. This is because we cant conceive of a possible world where H2O is not Water. According to Descartes this would mean that God couldnt create a world where Water is not H2O as they are the same substance with the same essences. We cant conceive metaphysically that water is not H2O as this would make no sense. However it does not work if we use water non-rigidly. Water may not be a direct reference to H2O but a summary of the properties. This would be topic neutral as we are leaving out the nature of water. We could have a sample of water but not know that it is H2O, just like our predecessors. We cant conceive of them being identical in every metaphysically possible world therefore H2O is not water. We can easily conceive a non-rigid designation of water, for example tap fluid, rain, a lake that may not have been H2O as it is only there empirical properties that we know. As long as it is a non-rigid designator of water and we produce the properties, water can be anything. Thus we could conceive of the substance described as having a different chemical composition in a possible world. Kripke applies this to a brain state being identical to a mental state and tries to improve Descartes argument. We are immediately subjectively aware of mental states. We have immediate perceptions of them inside me. What you are experiencing when in pain is pain. It is an internal content of consciousness and this is the only way we can understand it. Therefore it is a rigid designator. If we can conceive of mental states being identical to the body then this would mean that it would be a necessary truth. If Descartes can conceive of himself being distinct from his body then Descartes is not identical to his body. Through modern neuroscience research it is possible to see that Descartes immaterial explanation of thinking being the essence of the mind is a lot simpler than getting a brain dependent theory. He believed that: Each substance is thought to have its own laws and its own range of properties; hence research on the brain is not going to yield any knowledge of the mind. But as more research occurs with neuroscience and neurology the more we realise how absurd the concept of Substance Dualism is. The mind apparently has higher functions which are reasoning, consciousness, emotion etc. All of these higher functions can be changed by drugs or an injury. For example damage to the temporal Lobe, the person with this damage will learn complex cognitive skills but will be unaware he has done so, even while engaging in them. There are many other examples of how the brain affects our higher functions. If the brain is dependent on the mind then how can this be true? How can the brain affect thinking as thinking is not its essence? Therefore it would seem that dualism fails not so much because of our limited knowledge of the mind but rather because of modern science. As the conceivable argument needs the essence of the mind and body to show that they we can conceive of them distinctly, if Descartes has got the essences wrong then he cant conceive of himself di sembodied. Doesnt entail it false as further research may discover there is a substance dualism but at the moment there is no leads.

Culture of Ancient China :: Ancient World Culture

Imagine: a collection of poems whose date of authorship has not been determined. Imagine: a Chinese thinker about whom little is known and whose authorship of the poems has been challenged. Then read statements like these: "Accept being unimportant" and "Give up learning, and put an end to your troubles." You have entered the mysterious world of The Tao Te Ching. Despite their cloudy and distant origins, the poems make many statements that may sound curiously familiar to contemporary Americans. The Tao describes the allure and artificiality of wealth as it reaffirms the value of a modest, balanced life: "Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it. / Retire when the work is done. / This is the way of heaven" -- a refreshing antidote to the "keeping-up-with-Joneses" syndrome. The Tao relocates humans in an ecological context where the company of humans is but part of a natural world order: "Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things." How appropriate this injunction is today, when many people worry that they must care for the physical environment that must, in turn, care for them. At the same time, the Tao questions the value of abstract thinking in favor of selfless action: "Give up sainthood, renounce wisdom. / It is more important / To realize one's true nature." And, the Tao recognizes the limitat ions of coercive power and encourages "leading, not dominating," certainly a desirable profile for leaders of the future, where consensus-building might take place of patriarchal authority. For all its difficulties (of translation, of transliteration), the Tao offers a restorative vision of a balanced human life lived in the context of a natural world community.

Cameras on Every Corner

The city of Detroit should not have a camera on every corner. Yes we need to do something to make or city safer. Yes there are many unsolved crimes but the people in Detroit needs privacy. We should not have a camera watching every move we make. No matter where we go once we are outside our homes we will be getting watched. How much privacy do they expect us to give up for safety? If I'm alone in the park, I want to know that I'm actually alone. Video cameras however don't really reduce crime. They do act as somewhat as a deterrent and they certainly help identify the perpetrators, but overall it doesn't really do much. We know this through studies from London, England where nearly every street corner has a video camera. Overall, the crime rate of London has not really dipped at all since these were placed. Having a spy camera on every corner makes some people feel more at ease. The picture may be worth a thousand words, but it doesn't tell the whole story. A spy camera in the school bus may show the bus driver not doing anything during a brawl. It looks bad. What is doesn't show is that the traffic did not offer the driver a chance to pull over and that she was trying to contain the situation as best she could with her words. The picture won’t tell everything. Having these cameras could cause another crime. Someone a night guard, employee, hacker, etc. could sell the surveillance tapes to use them to determine a pattern of behavior to plan another crime. Also our city is in a lot of debt. So why would we spend millions of dollars on all those cameras? That money could be paying off debts. Buying all those cameras would put us in more debts which would cost people there jobs. Without our jobs people won’t be able to get the things they need to live. The people will need some money for our own common good. The city of Detroit should not have cameras on every corner.

Your Study Guide to Italo Calvinos Invisible Cities

Your Study Guide to Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities Published in Italian in 1972, Italo Calvinos Invisible Cities consists of a sequence of imaginary dialogues between the Venetian traveler Marco Polo and the Tartar emperor Kublai Khan. In the course of these discussions, the young Polo describes a series of metropolises, each of which bears a womans name, and each of which is radically different from all the others. The descriptions of these cities are arranged in eleven groups in Calvinos text: Cities and Memory, Cities and Desire, Cities and Signs, Thin Cities, Trading Cities, Cities and Eyes, Cities and Names, Cities and the Dead, Cities and the Sky, Continuous Cities, and Hidden Cities. Although Calvino uses historical personages for his main characters, this dreamlike novel does not really belong to the historical fiction genre. And even though some of the cities that Polo evokes for the aging Kublai are futuristic communities or physical impossibilities, it is equally difficult to argue that Invisible Cities is a typical work of fantasy, science fiction, or even magical realism. Calvino scholar Peter Washington maintains that Invisible Cities is impossible to classify in formal terms. But the novel can be loosely described as an exploration- , sometimes playful, sometimes melancholy- , of the powers of the imagination, of the fate of human culture, and of the elusive nature of storytelling itself. As Kublai speculates, perhaps this dialogue of ours is taking place between two beggars named Kublai Khan and Marco Polo; as they sift through a rubbish heap, piling up rusted flotsam, scraps of cloth, wastepaper, while drunk on the few sips of bad wine, they see all the treasure of the East shine around them (104). Italo Calvino’s Life and Work Italo Calvino (Italian, 1923-1985) began his career as a writer of realistic stories, then developed an elaborate and intentionally disorienting manner of writing that borrows from canonical Western literature, from folklore, and from popular modern forms such as mystery novels and comic strips. His taste for confusing variety is very much in evidence in Invisible Cities, where 13th-century explorer Marco Polo describes skyscrapers, airports, and other technological developments from the modern era. But it is also possible that Calvino is mixing historical details in order to comment indirectly on 20th-century social and economic issues. Polo at one point recalls a city where household goods are replaced on a daily basis by newer models, where street cleaners â€Å"are welcomed like angels,† and where mountains of garbage can be seen on the horizon (114-116). Elsewhere, Polo tells Kublai of a city that was once peaceful, spacious, and rustic, only to become nightmarishly over- populated in a matter of years (146-147). Marco Polo and Kublai Khan In real life, Marco Polo (1254-1324) was an Italian explorer who spent 17 years in China and established friendly relations with Kublai Khan’s court. Polo documented his travels in his book Il milione (literally translated The Million, but usually referred to as The Travels of Marco Polo), and his accounts became immensely popular in Renaissance Italy. Kublai Khan (1215-1294) was a Mongolian general who brought China under his rule, and also controlled regions of Russia and the Middle East. Readers of English may also be familiar with the much-anthologized poem â€Å"Kubla Khan† by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). Like Invisible Cities, Coleridge’s piece has little to say about Kublai as a historical personage and is more interested in presenting Kublai as a character who represents immense influence, immense wealth, and underlying vulnerability. Self-Reflexive Fiction Invisible Cities is not the only narrative from the middle of the 20th century that serves as an investigation of storytelling. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) created short fictions that feature imaginary books, imaginary libraries, and imaginary literary critics. Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) composed a series of novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable) about characters who agonize over the best ways to write their life stories. And John Barth (1930-present) combined parodies of standard writing techniques with reflections on artistic inspiration in his career-defining short story â€Å"Lost in the Funhouse†. Invisible Cities does not refer directly to these works the way it refers directly to Thomas More’s Utopia or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. But it can stop seeming totally offbeat or totally baffling when considered in this wider, international context of self-conscious writing. Form and Organization Although each of the cities that Marco Polo describes appears to be distinct from all the others, Polo makes a surprising declaration halfway through Invisible Cities (page 86 out of 167 pages total). â€Å"Every time I describe a city,† remarks Polo to the inquisitive Kublai, â€Å"I am saying something about Venice.† The placement of this information indicates just how far Calvino is departing from standard methods of writing a novel. Many classics of Western literature- from Jane Austen’s novels to the short stories of James Joyce and William Faulkner, to works of detective fiction- build up to dramatic discoveries or confrontations that only take place in the final sections. Calvino, in contrast, has situated a stunning explanation in the dead center of his novel. He has not abandoned traditional tactics of conflict and surprise, but he has found non-traditional uses for them. Moreover, while it is difficult to locate an overall pattern of escalating conflict, climax, and resolution in Invisible Cities, the book does have a clear organizational scheme. And here, too, there is a sense of a central dividing line. Polo’s accounts of different cities are arranged in nine separate sections in the following, roughly symmetrical fashion: Section 1 (10 accounts) Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (5 accounts) Section 9 (10 accounts) Often, a principle of symmetry or duplication is responsible for the layouts of the cities Polo tells Kublai about. At one point, Polo describes a city built over a reflecting lake, so that every action of the inhabitants â€Å"is, at once, that action and its mirror image† (53). Elsewhere, he talks about a city â€Å"built so artfully that its every street follows a planet’s orbit, and the buildings and the places of community life repeat the order of the constellations and the position of the most luminous stars† (150). Forms of Communication Calvino provides some very specific information about the strategies that Marco Polo and Kublai use to communicate with each other. Before he learned Kublai’s language, Marco Polo â€Å"could express himself only by drawing objects from his baggage- drums, salt fish, necklaces of wart hogs’ teeth- and pointing to them with gestures, leaps, cries of wonder or of horror, imitating the bay of the jackal, the hoot of the owl† (38). Even after they have become fluent in one another’s languages, Marco and Kublai find communication based on gestures and objects immensely satisfying. Yet the two characters’ different backgrounds, different experiences, and different habits of interpreting the world naturally make perfect understanding impossible. According to Marco Polo, â€Å"it is not the voice that commands the story; it is the ear† (135). Culture, Civilization, History Invisible Cities frequently calls attention to the destructive effects of time and the uncertainty of humanity’s future. Kublai has reached an age of thoughtfulness and disillusionment, which Calvino describes thus: â€Å"It is the desperate moment when we discover that this empire, which had seemed to us the sum of all wonders, is an endless, formless ruin, that corruption’s gangrene has spread too far to be healed by our scepter, that the triumph over enemy sovereigns has made us the heirs of their long undoing† (5). Several of Polo’s cities are alienating, lonely places, and some of them feature catacombs, huge cemeteries, and other sites devoted to the dead. But Invisible Cities is not an entirely bleak work. As Polo remarks about one of the most miserable of his cities, â€Å"there runs an invisible thread that binds one living being to another for a moment, the unravels, then is stretched again between moving points as it draws new and rapid pattern s so that at every second the unhappy city contains a happy city unaware of its own existence† (149). A Few Discussion Questions: How do Kublai Khan and Marco Polo differ from the characters you have encountered in other novels? What new information about their lives, their motives, and their desires Calvino have to provide if he were writing a more traditional narrative?What are some sections of the text that you can understand much better when you take into consideration the background material on Calvino, Marco Polo, and Kublai Khan? Is there anything that historical and artistic contexts cannot clarify?Despite Peter Washington’s assertion, can you think of a concise way of classifying the form or genre of Invisible Cities?What kind of a view of human nature do Invisible Cities seem to endorse? Optimistic? Pessimistic? Divided? Or totally unclear? You might want to return to some of the passages about the fate of civilization when thinking about this question. Note on Citations:  All page numbers refer to William Weavers widely-available translation of Calvinos novel (Harcourt, Inc., 1974).

Steam engine essays

Steam engine essays In 1698 a great inventor named, Thomas Savery made the first steam engine. He was working on a problem pumping water out of coalmines. This machine that he used consisted of closed vessel filled with water which was made into steam. It forced the water upward and out of the mine. It created some like a vacuum and sucked more water out a bottom valve. Then later he started to work with Thomas Newcomen on an atmospheric steam engine. Later on in 1748 John Schuylers copper mine used the first steam engine in America. Flooding shut down the mine in Passaic, New Jersey. Schuyler paid Jonathan Hornblower 1000 pounds to ship him a steam engine and mechanics to set it up from Britain. So in 5 years the engine arrived in 1753. The traction engine is the first type of engine used in the fields in Britain. But they were not self propelled yet so they needed to be pulled by horses. They were used for the farm equipment and to operate sawmills. In the 20th century they were still used. The cars were made with larger steam engines for heavy haulage. They also had a 3-speed gearing and sprung on both front and back axles. When traveling longer there was a large water tank under the car. The engines could pull up to 120 tons. There were also tractors that were popular hauling timber and the engines were less then 5 tons. The most popular tractor was the Garret 4CD. Mining engineer Richard Trevithick of Cornwall built the first self-moving engine. He devoted his whole like of improving the steam engine and other engine builders were Aveling, Burrell, Clayton, Fower, and Garrett. Thomas Savery was an English military engineer who was the first inventor of the steam engine and got the idea from Denis Papins pressure cooker. Some of Saverys invention was the odometer for ships, a device that measured distance traveled Thomas Newcomen was an English blacksmith invented the atmospheric steam engine. ...

Evaluate technical security or privacy products for selection Essay

Evaluate technical security or privacy products for selection - Essay Example One of the best methods of dealing with visuses is by the use of antivirus software. These software are made by different companies and come with unique trade names. This paper is dedicated to analysing the suitability of two such software, Kaspersky and Panda, in fighting viruses. Karspersky anti- virus 2011 is a vital organ for the PC security system that offers protection on a range on information technology threats. It is designed to mostly offer services for the home and offices. No administration of special tools is required during the installation since it is faster in installing. It offers protection against viruses and spyware and scans the websites and emails to ensure that there are no malicious codes and through this one is assured of continued protection of his digital technology. It will provide the user with an easy access to the desktop. The karspersky anti virus 2011 for Mac offers the user an advanced updated security for his technology and does not impact negativel y on the computer. Panda antivirus pro 2012 is another antivirus product which can be installed in the safe mode where the safe disk has the CD that is bootable. With the optimal safe browser it is able to protect its privacy with the help of the web based malware, USB vaccine and the vulnerability scan (Axelrod, Jennifer & Daniel 45). It has several features that are present in a suite commonly referred to as the firewall. It is more effective in the actual malware protection in order to avoid future problems. It adds firewall protection, a parental control and antispam to its antivirus to make it effective. Despite its effectiveness it does not effectively clean all the malware when detected in the computer. Its main window has a dark appearance though it still behaves like other security products. Panda anti virus pro 2012 will display its features at a click and head on to the other features as you continue to click. One is able to access the configuration and reporting features present in it. It has statistics page breaks that are able to detect threats by their type while for the advanced statistics page they go to an extent of detecting threats in the email and the network threats too. Panda also does not take part in the virus bulletin’s VB100 testing since it has already been certified by the ICSA labs and West Coast labs as an antivirus that is good for detecting virus and removing it (Rannenberg 23). The latest online reviews indicate that it is the second largest rating and has gone further to come up with a measure that enables it to resist any infestation of the malware. Karspersky anti- virus 2011 will protect your digital life by checking the files and the mail attachments. It is therefore a safeguard to the life of an individual online. It blocks the threats as soon as it gets to know about them. Online reviews see it as very fast, effective an unobtrusive and can be used even in the most demanding applications. The quality of both tech nologies has been estimated with reference to their speed and ability to protect the computers from attack by threats. Karspersky has a familiar look like the normal applications and can be applied even in the most complex settings because of its speed. They are easy to install and they let you manage them because of the defaults that are not complicated. Panda offers a variety of anti virus from which to choose from as they are based on intelligence technology. The protection offered by the antivirus ensures privacy in the sense that

Choose any organisation of your choice and as external observer of the Essay

Choose any organisation of your choice and as external observer of the organization undertake critical analysis of the following functions and make recommendations for improvement - Essay Example Another important function of human resource department is to handle the grievances of the employees so that they can feel like they are treasured by the company and become loyal employees. Marriot International is considered to be one of the leading hotel chains and franchise providers in the world. It has over 3400 lodging properties in 70 countries around the globe. The headquarters of Marriot are at Maryland, USA and had around 137,000 employees under their name by the end of year 2009 (Marriott News Center 2009). It has sustained its position as a quality service provider and this has been possible due to its strong infrastructure. According to Marriott Management Philosophy; a successful business cannot be run if employees do not know how to manage people (Elwell n.d.). Therefore they consider good management and trained personnel to be great assets. They provide a range of services namely; hotels, airline food service, business and events food service etc. It is vital to devise an efficient HR Strategy so that the company can hire talented professionals, retain them by keeping them satisfied and make arrangements for their training and development. This helps the company to gain profits and competitive advantage in the market. An effective HR strategy is based on the following key points (Clapper 2010); Companies around the world have realized the need to merge the strategic and human resource planning activities (Ulrich 1992). Marriot believes in the amalgamation of these activities to separate themselves from the rest of the companies in the hotel industry. Such a strategy was visible when Marriot expanded their business to Hong Kong. There were already numerous organizations running successful businesses in the hotel industry therefore they knew that efficient HR strategies would have to be implemented to succeed in that region. Even hiring competent individuals was a task in its own since all of them were already working successfully for