Compare And Contrast Essay On The Outsiders - 2059 Words

Compare/Contrast Essay - The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Outsiders was about the greasers and the Socs. The Socs always jump the greasers, one day Johnny fights back, he ends up killing Bob. Johnny and Ponyboy run away to a church and hide until Dally comes and gets them. They then see the church was burning, Ponyboy and Johnny run into it to save the kids inside. Johnny and Dally get injured, Ponyboy is okay. The greasers win the rumble, the Socs will stay out of the greasers territory, Johnny passes away from his injuries, Dally robs a store, the police shoot him, and he does not survive the shots. In the end Ponyboy decides to regather his life and he starts with writing his theme for his ELA class. The book The Outsiders book, the†¦show more content†¦At these points it is more up to the reader to imagine what the settings looked like instead of the author just stating what the places looked like. An example of this is when the author says Dally was waiting for Johnny and me under the street light at the corner of Pickett and Sutton.† Here the author says that there is a street light in a corner, this has some description, but it is up to the reader to figure out what the rest of the place looks like. The reader has to figure out whether there is a brick sidewalk or a cement one, this is good because then it will be more fun for the reader and it will keep them more entertained. The book also has really specific descriptions, such as this one, â€Å"One time there was a very specific description of the setting was when the author was describing the park. â€Å"The park was about two blocks square, with a fountain in the middle and a small swimming pool for the little kids. The pool was empty now in the fall, but the fountain was going merrily. Tall elm trees made the park shadowy and dark, and it would have been a good hangout, but we preferred our vacant lot, and the Shepherd outfit liked the alleys down by the tracks, so the park was left to lovers and little kids.† In this quote it s hows how big the park is, that there is a pool and a fountain. The quote also says that theShow MoreRelatedOutsiders Compare And Contrast Essay757 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Outsiders†: Compare/Contrast Essay â€Å"The Outsiders† is by far one of my favorite books of all time. I think it’s a great story that tells about how a fourteen-year-old boy overcomes many challenges and learns how to get through each of them individually. â€Å"The Outsiders† is a story about a boy named Ponyboy that lives with his two older brothers, and they have a group of friends, called the Greasers. One day Pony gets upset with his older brother, Darry, and goes to a park with his friend JohnnyRead MoreInsider in Fahrenheit 451 and Extra, a Thousand Years of Good Prayers1646 Words   |  7 PagesPage 1 of 6 The meaning of ‘outsider’ is the person in part of the society. They obey and converge in the social value which set up by the government. In both Fahrenheit 451 and A thousand years of good prayers, we see that there is several of characters absorb the knowledge and social value. These characters are under controlled and they find it is a right way in obeying the structure of the society. ‘Outsider’ in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury represents to the main character Montag and otherRead MoreThe Relativity Of Tradition And Modernity1738 Words   |  7 Pagesis more brutal to people or community than modernity? Is modernity drifting apart from tradition as a heretic? Therefore, to compare two societies this essay will provide the main view of modern society s traits and conducts more conform the human beings, to compare two societies, and this essay will only elaborate an opinion is more sympathetic to the modernity. This essay will first state a brief description of tradition and modernity, to explain the distinction between two societies. Then willRead MoreMidterm Essay Questions757 Words   |  4 PagesLIT 201 Midterm Examination-Essay Questions . . You are required to answer at least three of the questions listed below. Indicate which questions you are answering. Review the guidelines below for full details. Each essay response should be approximately 500-750 words. Include your full name, course number, and date in the upper right of your document file before uploading it. Name your document with your first initial, last name, and submit it to the 3.1 Discussion Board forum by ThursdayRead MoreAffect of Vampires on Society1233 Words   |  5 PagesBrittany Nobrega ENG 201 11/19/12 Essay #3 The Vampire Diaries is a CW television series that revolves around a love triangle between two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, and the main character, Elena. The show takes place in Mystic Falls, a small town with many secrets including witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and hybrids. It is a constant struggle for Elena to keep her family and friends alive with all of the violence vampires and werewolves bring to the town; along withRead MoreEssay on Rhetorical Analysis on High School646 Words   |  3 Pagesor in a drill sergeants sudden bellow. Not only does he get into the descriptions of the girls, but the typical jock. If one was too compare and contrast the people in their high school to the ones that Denby is speaking of, they will be able to pin point them perfectly. Denby uses many examples of stereotypes, but also presents ethos. He takes many movies and compares the characters from both views, so in a way he is strengthing his claim with the same repetiti ve information, but with his own viewsRead MoreDifference Between Traditional And Modern Society Essay1255 Words   |  6 Pagesoffspring’s success. Conversely, the government is exclusively responsible for many of the services in modern society. Therefore, the success of the individual solely depends on the person rather than their families. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the important distinction between traditional and modern society. Furthermore, this paper will demonstrate the different beliefs held by each society and show many distinct comparisons between the two societies, along with the writer’sRead MorePsychological Perspectives On Studying Juvenile Delinquency And Disorder Behavior1642 Words   |  7 PagesThis essay will compare and contrast some psychological and sociological approaches to studying juvenile delinquency and disorder behaviour. The question is what makes people behave disorderly. Youth disorderly behaviours are studi ed using different approaches including psychological and sociological approaches. Both psychological and sociological approaches to studying juvenile delinquency are necessary. This essay starts with outlining and defining disorderly behaviour and juvenile delinquencyRead MoreThings Fall Apart and the Case Against Imperialism1433 Words   |  6 Pages and personal achievement in Igbo culture. How is social life organized? What are the important celebrations? What is the role of war, of religion, and of the arts? What is the role of the individual in relation to the community of Umuofia? Compare /contrast Igbo ways of life, customs, perspectives, beliefs, and values to those of your own culture. 6. What is the importance of drums in the novel? 7. What effect does night have on the people in Ch. 2? What do they fear? How do they deal withRead MoreComparison Between Brazil And Vietnam1200 Words   |  5 PagesIn order to compare and contrast business in Brazil and Vietnam is important to first understand the overviews of each country. The text Managing Cultural Differences begins to layout the historical, political, and economic culture of Brazil in the Latin America section of the book. The first inhabits of Brazil were labeled the Amerindians ( Moran,R.T., Abramson, N.R. Moran, S. V., Harris, P.R., 2014, Pg. 344). The Amerindians were able to develop empires from their basic civilizations and in

Analysis A Midsummer Nights Dream by Shakespeare Essay

Analysis A Midsummer Nights Dream by Shakespeare The story of A Midsummer Nights Dream was mainly about love and its abnormal dealings. In the play, Shakespeare tried to show that love is unpredictable, unreasonable, and at times is blind. The theme of love was constantly used during the play and basically everything that was said and done was related to the concept of love and its unpredictable ness. Shakespeare made all of the characters interact their lives to be based on each other’s. At first, everything was very confusing, and the characters were faced with many different problems. In the end, however, they were still able to persevere and win their true love, the love they were searching for in the first place.†¦show more content†¦Hermia was not going to give up her growing passion and desire for Lysander. She decided to run off into the woods with Lysander and get married. The two ran in the woods, got lost, and settled down to rest until the morning. Herm ias love was still deep for Lysander, but she was not comfortable sleeping directly next to him. This showed that she still had her morals in tact and she made him sleep further away from her. As morning came, Lysander awoke before Hermia and, abandoned her because he was under the spell. When Hermia woke up and saw that her true love was missing, she quickly went to find him. Hermia never gave up on her love for Lysander. She only wanted him and nothing was going to stop her. Astonishingly she was able to pass all of the obstacles in her way and still retain the love for Lysander. Lysander on the other hand was not able to hold on to his love for Hermia during the time in the woods. In the beginning he started out madly in love with Hermia and unable to hide his true feelings for her. He was forced by the spell to forget about Hermia and instead he wanted her friend Helena, because of the nectar in his eyes, which made him fall in love with the first person he sees (intervention of supernatural, to change destiny). Lysander chased Helena and begged for her love. The spell from the nectar caused Lysander to take a totally different view on his life. Now, he wanted Helena and he could not even stand to look atShow MoreRelatedAnalysis on A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare1239 Words   |  5 PagesBeing. This hierarchy, with God and royalty at the top, man in the middle above women, and animals near the bottom, was the basis of status. Deviation from the established order was considered absurd and created chaos. In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Shakespeare uses the juxtaposition of contrasting people and settings to explore the effects of disorder in Elizabethan society while revealing character flaws for comic effect. The antagonistic setting of Theseus’ Athens and the surrounding woods driveRead MoreMidsummers Night Dream1004 Words   |  5 PagesHow does the ‘play within the play’ enhance your enjoyment of the rest of A Midsummer Night’s Dream? If not, why not? I would argue that A Midsummer Night’s Dream  is one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies. Comedy is in abundance in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, especially in ‘the play within the play’. ‘The play within the play’ is a key characteristic in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and deserves a thorough analysis as it holds a tight link to the main plot of this play. This part of the play takes upRead MoreMidsummers Night Dream1017 Words   |  5 PagesHow does the ‘play within the play’ enhance your enjoyment of the rest of A Midsummer Night’s Dream? If not, why not? I would argue that A Midsummer Night’s Dream  is one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies. 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In particular, he voices, â€Å"Shakespeare s type of romantic comedy follows a tradition established by Peele and developed by Greene and Lyly†¦ We may call it the drama ofRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1279 Words   |  6 PagesMonumental Texts (An Analysis of the Three Most Important Texts Studied This Semester) Literature affects every aspect of our lives. The great, classic writers teach timeless, valuable life skills. Shakespeare was the greatest writer of all time. His writings mainly consisted of dramas and sonnets. Romeo and Juliet, as well as, A MIdsummer Night’s Dream were written about the same time period. He was able to inter relate everything that wrote. For example, the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe couldRead MoreA Midsummer Nights Dream Research Paper (with Cited)1161 Words   |  5 PagesThe play, A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare, is about four lovers and their dreamlike adventure through a fairy ruled forest. There are many different characters in this play and they each play their own individual role in how the play is performed and read. Three main characters that showed great characteristics are: Puck, Tom Bottom, and Helena. The play, A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare, uses characters and their conflicts to give meaning to this piece of literatureRead MoreShakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream Character Analysis of Bottom the Weaver680 Words   |  3 PagesShakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream Character Analysis of Bottom the Weaver â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† Character Analysis of Bottom the Weaver The play â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† by William Shakespeare offers a wonderful contrast in human mentality. Shakespeare provides insight into man’s conflict with the rational versus emotional characteristics of human behavior. Athens represents the logical side, with its flourishing government and society. The fairy woods represents the wilder, irrationalRead MoreEssay The Comedies of Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare1018 Words   |  5 Pagesassignment will critically analyse the comedies of William Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw and consider what characteristics they share and how they differ. It is also important to fully understand the genre of comedy, exploring its origins, definitions and sub-divisions. Literary comedy can be sub-divided into ‘Burlesque’ (associated with the ridiculous), ‘Comedy of Manners’, ‘Satirical’ and ‘Farce’, amongst others (Stott, 2005). The comedies of Shakespeare and Shaw take the form of dramatic comedy and canRead MoreThe Antagonist, Shakespeare1405 Words   |  6 Pagesin a world where right and wrong is all about perspective, well-done antagonists can be especially exciting.†(Hansen) Shakespeare develops his antagonists in a way that makes them interesting to the audience and does so especially well in his plays Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet. Each play has an antagonist, or something near one in the case of Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the villains can be very different from one another and strikingly alike depending on the situation. Shakespeare’sRead MoreWillima Shakespeares, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Unbalanced Love835 Words   |  3 PagesThe c ourse of love never did run smooth (Shakespeare I.i.134). William Shakespeare’s captivating, profound play illustrates the complications of four Athenians’ love lives. Two lovers yearn to run away together to get married, but trouble sets in and their lives become more complex when magical fairies and a love potion get involved. The four Athenians have to battle their way through love’s complications. The perplexing â€Å"love square,† mythical interference, and the endeavor to find equanimity are

Erik, Gangs and Boyle Heights Essay Example For Students

Erik, Gangs and Boyle Heights Essay Payback: The Cost Of Being a Gangster, by Erik Soto with Williams Wallis, was about a boy who was a gangster who was raised in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. This book talks about his life from when he was younger to the present where his life is now as he is disabled. Erik is the child of immigrants; both his mother and father came from El Salvador as they fled from the terror in their homeland. His parents immigrated to the United States so that he can have a better life for their child than they had when they were younger. Like his parents, Erik is a proud Latino. Although Erik had so many great opportunities to be someone important in life, the way his parents had hoped, he had actually made it harder for them. Erik wrote this book to honor his parents, but most importantly he wrote it to help young people realize that it better to stay out of the violence and troubles that the gang life would bring them. Instead he wants the kids to stay in school, study hard, and stay away from crimes. Sooner in Erik’s life his father passes away. He was He knew as a young kid it was easier for him to get involved in the gang life as that life brought easy money and personal power. According to Erik, â€Å"Boyle Heights was the prison of my youth and the battlefield of my adolescence. † Now he refers to Boyle Heights as a â€Å"gang wasteland†. The neighborhood Erik lived at the time was just a gang- infested neighborhood, as the average citizen is a prisoner at night. There were no Boy Scout troops, sports teams, camping grounds, or parents that spend time with their children, just pure gangsters that looked for trouble. Boyle Heights was a place for immigrants, a place where poverty was at every corner. Erik’s parents didn’t spend as much quality time with him, as they never attended a football game or go to any of his school events such as other kids parent would go. Erik’s father was a workaholic who always had two jobs and the only time Erik would be able to spend time with his father was when they were doing chores such as cutting the grass or stomping on recycled cans in the driveway beside their house. His parents felt that education was more important than religion. According to Erik â€Å" The gang life lingers, omnipresent, outside the schoolroom- seeming to offer gratifying excitement, a sense of power and control, and easy money- it’s hard for kids who have little or nothing to resist. † Erik was always surrounded by death, either hearing about it at school or seeing it in the streets. He even describes the one time him and his father went to take his mother to the airport, and as they were pulling away from their house and on Dacotah a guy comes out of the projects running fast, beside him came another guy shooting at him with a nine millimeter handgun. As his father tried to get them to safety he put the car in reverse and backed up the hill as fast as he could. He says that school is a blur, but he enjoyed learning, but real life was outside of school and in the streets. He remembers being able to play sports and hang out with friends during the day but as night came the streets were for the gangs. There were always pops and gunshots at night, he can still hear them in his head as he claims they echo. Erik said he remembers living in parallel universes, during the daytime world going to school and hanging out with friends. .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 , .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .postImageUrl , .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 , .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4:hover , .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4:visited , .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4:active { border:0!important; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4:active , .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4 .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u2927f3e49e1819009a534198cc6e6cb4:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Romeo and Julliet- act three scene one EssayThen during the nighttime the gangs would come and do their violent crimes. As Erik got older he became attracted to the night. During the day he would respect his teachers at school, but at night the influence of gangs was strong and overcame him. He was curious about the gang life, he had heard about gangs from as long as he can remember and always saw gangsters constantly on the street. In gangs when a homeboy is killed, he has to be avenged, no exceptions. Respect is everything and territory is sacred. When Erik’s father noticed he was moving towards the gang lifestyle he would punish him severely. Which made Erik rebel even more against his father’s authority. Erik became a gangster at the age of thirteen, he joined the White Fence Gang (WF) as a matter of survival, but once he was in the game it became a matter of power it was about being strong or â€Å"macho. Before Erik could be with the WF he had to go through initiations, the first one was where he had to get jumped in and the other initiation was going to a spot where VN (an enemy gang) hangs out to play basketball and to shoot at them. That was his first violent crime, he even remembers the boy that got hurt his name was Mouse, he had known him since he went to school with him. Mouse became a quadriplegic, just like Erik Mouse joined because it was either joining or getting beat down by the VNEs every day. As Erik grew so did the gang life, the death rates, dangerous encounters, and also partying. To him it was a new way to life; he would always get a thrill out of it. He felt it overpowering him making him believe he was invincible. By the time Erik’s parents found out he was in the White Fence it was already too late for them to do anything about it. Erik was soon kicked out of the house when his father found out about the guns Erik had hidden around the house. Erik then moved from house to house until his mother came looking for him telling him to come back and live with them, Erik moved back home but this time he respected his parents wishes which meant no guns (yet Erik had one small handgun under his pillow or mattress for protection) or any homeboys could not come over. Later on Erik falls in love with Michelle (which is now his wife), they later have a son named Justin, which they all live in the small house in Boyle Heights including his parents. Later Erik’s parents moved out into a house in the San Fernando Valley, so Erik and his wife and kid still lived in Boyle Heights. Erik met Vago, which later became his most important partner in crime. They started cooking methamphetamine in ten thousand- dollar batches; Vago even rented a house on a dirt road in the remote area of Corona. There was also the time when Michelle and Erik went to jail for the first time. One of Erik’s his worst memory was at the time when he’s married and father of two kids. When an enemy was talking smack to Justin while sitting on Erik’s lap, Erik contains himself from wanting to do anything threating the enemy in front of Justin. Erik then later saw himself in the enemy, as he would talk smack to other gangsters on the street with their kids. Then when Justin going inside the house with Michelle, Erik goes to the room and gets a gun and looks for him. He saw the enemy with some friends in a car and as they saw Erik pull up with the gun they left the scene as fast as they could. .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 , .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .postImageUrl , .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 , .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456:hover , .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456:visited , .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456:active { border:0!important; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456:active , .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456 .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf93fb1c49bb3f1e8a6e5e5d6aecc0456:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Tennis EssayBut it was all Erik could do to protect his family. Later in life, Erik and Michelle leave each other, Erik did love Michelle and he thinks she is a great mother to his kids. He said it was too hard to live with them while being in a gang, he said he never brought his gang life into his personal life with his family. Michelle thought it was hard to balance the two lives, so she left with the kids. Now in present time, Erik is now a quadriplegic after being shot in the neck on January 3, 2002, while driving with his friend who was sitting in the passenger seat, sadly he was killed. That’s when Erik realized what goes around comes around. He now spends his days in a wheel chair and nights on a motorized bed; he has to sleep with an oxygen machine. His mother and other nurses take care of him since he is disabled now, he needs help for everything from showering, having to use the resting, to even eating. But, Erik understands the pain that he has made others suffers, so he deals with it thinking it is karma for all the wrong he has done in life. His life now brings him great pain since now he relives the memories he had during the gang lifestyle, which brought pain to many of his loved ones. He can only thing he can do is take responsibility for his actions. My life is a tad bit similar to Erik’s as in family and moral wise; my parents were also immigrants to this country. Both of my parents are from Mexico, yet they met here in California, got married, and had three kids (including me). My parents taught us that education was way more important than the gang life and made sure we stayed away from that lifestyle. My parents taught us to be someone important in life, to make sure that we don’t end up like them living by paychecks by every week or two. Most of my relatives from both of my parents side are or were involved in some sort of gang, so my parents moved away from them to start a new life on their own. My father was like Erik’s father, he is a workaholic, and my dad has two jobs to maintain our lifestyle. My father works hard to make sure we get the education we deserve since he didn’t get to finish school since he needed to help feed his family. My father also fought of addiction as he use to do drugs and binge drink when he was younger, even before my older brother was born. Yet my father has now conquered the addiction and has been sober ever since my older brother was born, was never depressed and he has never tried to killed himself. We were also never around violence like Erik at all; it would have been shocking for us to hear that someone was killed in our block really. Although Erik and I have a different lifestyle, both of our parents taught the same morals about gangs. Yet my parents made sure we stayed away from it, but I’m sure if my parents lived the way they use to live we would have been involved in gang activity just like their family members.

The Best Things in Life Are Free free essay sample

The best things in life are free. † This is one saying that has many sides to it. There is the side of buying the best things, the spiritual way and then the other is that the best thing in life is your family. For me this is true. The best thing in life is my family and my friends, but they aren’t cheap. They are a lot of dough, if you know what I mean. The thing with this is that you have to pay for your family to survive. Everything isn’t free or at least the best things aren’t. Truth is that you have to pay in some way with everything from the worst thing to the best thing. Unless, of course, you are a very lucky person. An example of free is our â€Å"freedom† here in America. They always say that we are all free and created equal. We will write a custom essay sample on The Best Things in Life Are Free or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The truth behind that is we end up paying for our freedom with taxes. Even when we vote, it doesn’t matter who we want or who majority of us vote for. It doesn’t matter who we want, we don’t have a say in it. The electoral college will decide and then we end up living in the darkness, the darkside, the underworld or the Inferno. Other best things that help us survive aren’t free, but the air outside that we breathe unless Obama is going to make us pay for that, too. Food isn’t free, unless you dumpster dive for last night’s leftovers. Clothes aren’t free, unless someone donates or gives them to you. Houses or shelter isn’t free, unless it’s a homeless shelter or if you live outside. So what really is free? What does free even mean if it is nowhere to be found? Does it exist? People say that life is free. Is this right? In some ways it can be. We are sent here for free. We didn’t pay any kind of fee to come here, besides the fact that we were to live a life. My definition of free is when there is no price to it. There is a price to life though. That is we live, go to school, get a job, spend money, get married, have a family, pay taxes, retire and then die. Is this really the price of life, the price of the best things? Life is the best thing and it doesn’t come free. Nothing is free in the world that we live in.

5 Ways Students Can Use Thanksgiving Vacation to Start a Job Search

5 Ways Students Can Use Thanksgiving Vacation to Start a Job Search So you need to start looking for a job post-graduation, and it’s Thanksgiving break. Feeling overwhelmed? Family stressing you out with questions? Here are 5 ways you can get yourself going over your Thanksgiving vacation even while you’re dealing with extended family badgering and in a food coma. 1. Don’t hide from questions.Instead of hiding from the â€Å"So what do you want to do after you graduate?† questions, seek them out. Your family and friends know your interests and strengths best. They also might have leads you wouldn’t have access to otherwise and be more than willing to help!Figure out a way to initiate the question if no one’s asking. Ask relatives about their careers and what they did when they graduated. Ask for ideas for figuring out how to turn your favorite class or major into a job idea.2. Pad your winter break.We know you usually spend winter break catching up on sleep. But you’ll want to use your last one while y ou have it. Use this November break to set up interviews, internships, job shadows, and informal coffee chats with potential mentors or contacts. See if you can meet with a local alum to pick their brain. And start working on your applications!3. Learn something new.Your GPA isn’t the only thing you need to work on. Skills and experience are invaluable in proving yourself marketable to future employers. Take advantage of your extra free time (while you have it) to learn a new skill or pad your resume.Try coding, Adobe product tutorials, photography, Excel skills, or just take an online class in something you are interested in and that might turn out to be valuable to your career. Never stop learning and you’ll go far.4. Polish your profiles.When you get to the application stage, you’ll need to have your LinkedIn- and all other social media- profiles at peak force. Spend some hours putting together your summary, your job history, details of any study abroad, etc. Make sure to emphasize any passions or skills or strengths that won’t quite fit in your resume. This is your chance to shine.5. Have fun.Remember, you’re going to want to be you here. Your best self, sure. But your authentic self. Remember to stay true to what you like and want most out of a job. And remember to have fun.

Origins of the à in Spanish

Origins of the Ñ in Spanish The Spanish letter à ± is original with Spanish and has become one of its most distinctive written features. Where Did the Ñ Come From? As you could probably guess, the à ± came originally from the letter n. The à ± did not exist in the Latin alphabet and was the result of innovations about nine centuries ago. Beginning in about the 12th century, Spanish scribes (whose job it was to copy documents by hand) used the tilde placed over letters to indicate that a letter was doubled (so that, for example, nn became à ± and aa became ). How Is the Ñ Used Today? The popularity of the tilde for other letters eventually waned, and by the 14th century, the à ± was the only place it was used. Its origins can be seen in a word such as aà ±o (which means year), as it comes from the Latin word annus with a double n. As the phonetic nature of Spanish became solidified, the à ± came to be used for its sound, not just for words with an nn. A number of Spanish words, such as seà ±al and campaà ±a, that are English cognates use the à ± where English uses gn, such as in signal and campaign, respectively. The Spanish à ± has been copied by two other languages that are spoken by minorities in Spain. It is used in Euskara, the Basque language that is unrelated to Spanish, to represent approximately the same sound as it has in Spanish. It is also used in Galician, a language similar to Portuguese. (Portuguese uses nh to represent the same sound.) Additionally, three centuries of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines led to the adoption of many Spanish words in the national language, Tagalog (also known as Pilipino or Filipino). The à ± is among the letters that have been added to the traditional 20 letters of the language. And while the à ± isnt part of the English alphabet, it frequently is used by careful writers when using adopted words such as jalapeà ±o, pià ±a colada, or pià ±ata and in the spelling of personal and place names. In Portuguese, the tilde is placed over vowels to indicate that the sound is nasalized. That use of the tilde has no apparent direct connection with the use of the tilde in Spanish. The Rest of the Story After this article was published, this site received additional information from Robert L. Davis, associate professor of Spanish from the University of Oregon: Thanks for including the interesting page on the history of the à ±. In a few places you express uncertainty about some of the details of this history; below I offer the information you need to complete the story. The reason the tilde appears over an N (as in Latin ANNU Sp. aà ±o) and Portuguese vowels (Latin MANU Po. mo) is that scribes wrote a small letter N over the preceding letter in both cases, to save space in manuscripts (parchment was expensive). As the two languages developed phonetically away from Latin, the double N sound of Latin morphed into the current palatal nasal sound of the Ñ, and Portuguese N between vowels got deleted, leaving its nasal quality on the vowel. So readers and writers began to use the old spelling trick to indicate the new sounds that did not exist in Latin. (Its really nice the way you framed the Ñ as the only Spanish letter of Spanish origin!) Also of potential interest to your readers: The word tilde actually refers to both the squiggle over the Ñ as well as the accent mark used to mark phonetic stress (e.g., cafà ©). There is even the verb tildarse, which means, to be written with an accent mark, to stress, as in La palabra cafà © se tilda en la e.The unique character of the letter Ñ has led to its becoming a marker of Hispanic identity in recent years. There is now a generacià ³n Ñ, the children of Spanish-speaking parents in the U.S. (parallel to Generation X, etc.), a stylized Ñ is the logo of the Cervantes Institute (cervantes.es), and so forth.The squiggle under the à § in Portuguese and French has a similar origin as the à ±. It is called a cedille, meaning little Z. It comes from the diminutive of the Old Spanish name for the letter Z, ceda. It was used to represent the ts sound in Old Spanish, which no longer exists in the language. E.g., O.Sp. caà §a (katsa) Mod. Sp. caza (casa or catha).Restaurants in the U.S. now offer dishes made with a very spicy pepper, the habanero, which is frequently mispronounced and misspelled as habaà ±ero. Since the name comes from La Habana, the capital of Cuba, this pepper should not have Ñ. I think the name has been contaminated by jalapeà ±o, which of course is simply a pepper from Jalapa, Mexico.

Current status of network management tools Assignment

Current status of network management tools - Assignment Example Essentially, it is important to have a network that is reliable in any organization in order to ensure continuous communication and connectivity. This can only be achieved by choosing the best and cost effective network management tools. Bandwidth monitor which is a tool that is used to provide a graphical representation of the real time traffic in a router or a switch. It is an exemplary tool for identification of bottlenecks that are related to the bandwidth within the network. It is used to monitor the percentage utilization of all the interfaces in the device and the average bandwidth per Second (Edward, 1994). Switch Port mapper which is a tool that is used by network engineers to identify the switch port to which a device is connected. This eliminates the need to manually trace the network cables. The tool basically discovers the devices that are plugged into each port of any particular switch in the network. It helps the system and network engineers to identify IP and MAC status and determine availability of ports. Since the tool operates on a real time discovery, it is also possible to view the operational status of each port (Sugauchi, Morisada, Hirata, Miyazaki, & Sato, 2002). The essay will technically discuss the IP Address Manager (IPAM) tool. This tool helps the network engineers to identify the availability of a network IP address in an enterprise network. The tool periodically scans a subnet and determines the IP address availability in that particular subnet. One can then determine whether a particular IP address is available or not. The tool is advantageous since it allows scanning of multiple subnets and helps to scan the entire network and get the status of IP addresses (Microsoft, 2014). This feature helps to identify whether the IP address belongs to a computer that is in an Active Directory. The feature is also used to view details of computer objects in an Active directory and subsequently synchronize

Project documentation, specifications and discussion Essay

Project documentation, specifications and discussion - Essay Example Introduction This project was started following revelations that the current website of 1K bride was lacking some important features while some features were added unnecessarily. These problems were identified mostly by the staff and interested customers. The problems included: Out-dated website: not compatible in some internet browser; ‘internet explorer’ Incomplete website: some categories are left with empty spaces Inconsistent photos: different sizes of photos Repeated information: too much words, too much explanation could cause confusion to clients rather than clarify. Inconvenient search: in need of adding ‘side bar’ function for easier, and accurate search of dresses No search engine services: very limited ways for clients in finding our website Having realized the prospects of a good website, the company endeavored to improve it for greater achievement. The website improvement started a month ago with the first step being the briefing of 1K National Online Campaigner to engage the proposed online developers. This was followed by a detailed discussion of the upcoming project. A benchmarking exercise, whereby there was a comparison between the existing 1K bride website and similar websites. The main objective of the benchmarking exercise was to determine the general users’ expectations and industry standards could be clearly defined. This paper therefore presents the final product of the project starting from identification of the website limitations to the mock-up website. The mock-up program in this report comprise of improvements that reflect the requirements of the company, the expectations of the clients and staff, standards within the industry and elements that are vital to intercultural communication. 1.1 Methodology The following method was the appropriate one in the quest for improving the 1K website. Analysis and benchmarking This is the initial stage of the project. It is all about benchmarking exercise to iden tify the requirements for website development and the ultimate results that ensured that expectations of the clients and the general users are met. Not only the expectations of the general users but even the goals and objectives of the company be met after the improvement of the website. Contemporary professional communication issues The stage focused on the identification and discussions of issues related to professional communication. In particular, the project discusses in details digital literacy and how if affects the development and improvement of the proposed 1K bride website. Implementation of the proposed changes The completion of the first and second steps resulted to the third step which is all about implementation of the necessary changes. In a more elaborate way, this step involves additional of some features to realize 1K Bride organizational goals, redesigning the structure and the content of the structure to meet the taste and preferences of the users, and the elimin ation of the words that does not promote

Diwali Is the Festival Closet to My Heart Essay Example for Free

Diwali Is the Festival Closet to My Heart Essay Diwali is the festival closest to my heart. It embraces all religions and it not only illuminates houses but also lives. This year was no different with my entire city karnal getting adorned over the last weekend to glowing LEDs while candles played a minor role in some houses. A significant and traditional part of this festival is crackers. They have only evolved over the years and presently you’ll be spoilt for choice shopping for them. However some enlightened minds have planted the seed of a polemic whether these crackers should be banned or not. India is witnessing a sorry state. In this country celebrities run over pedestrians and walk free. Ironically they run NGOs to assist the needy! A parallel can be drawn to politicians, bureaucrats and every member of the society. It is thus not surprising to find people squandering money all round the year but raising moral issues when it comes to bursting crackers. Some benevolent ones choose to abstain from them and do charity instead. What fails to pervade them is that these crackers are manufactured by dirt poor people who look forward to this festival all through the year for their livelihood. Why not do charity by purchasing their products? Another matter of grave concern is environmental pollution. Despite laws being enforced sound pollution hasn’t been curbed and the state police remain a mute spectator. The air pollution too is on a mammoth scale. But for a state topping the charts on the air pollution barometer, another drop in the ocean shouldn’t matter much. Diwali is the festival of lights and crackers constitute its focal point. The onus is upon us to celebrate responsibly by staying within the decibel limit. Otherwise we can keep these debates aside for one day and indulge in the ultimate aesthetic and entertaining aspect of this festival – crackers!

The Theme of Paralysis in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock :: Love Song J. Alfred Prufrock Essays

The Theme of Paralysis in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock " 'I grow old ... I grow old ... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.' What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?" "Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good." He smiled. "That is from the 'Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.' Here's another one. 'In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, sir?" "Yeah- it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women." "My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot very much." "Did you say 'nonetheless' ?" (Chandler 356-7) "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is one of the most influential poems of the twentieth century (Williams 49). It is certainly not a love song like any that had been written before. The second and third lines shock the reader because of their unusual imagery that would be out of place in a traditional love poem, describing the setting sunlit sky as looking "like a patient etherised upon a table" (Eliot 3). This "etherised" outside world is the key to understanding all of Prufrock's views. He is afraid of the increasingly industrialized and impersonal city surrounding him, and he is unsure of what to do and afraid to commit to any particular choice of action (Mays 112). Paralysis is the main theme of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Eliot composed "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" during a period beginning in 1909, and ending with the culmination of his first published book, Prufrock and Other Observations, which was published in 1917 (Scofield 46). The changes he made over several years may account for the fragmentation of the poem, but the main theme of paralysis was ever present, and would continue to be a major theme of Eliot's for much of his career (Scofield 46). Originally, the poem was titled "Prufrock Among The Women", which was later adapted and used in "Sweeny Among The Nightingales", and of course parodied E. B. Browning's "Bianca Among the Nightingales" (Loucks 1). Eliot chose to use the more ironic title, of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" instead, echoing the form of his name that Eliot himself was using at the time, that of T. Stearns Eliot (Southam 1). In 1909, Eliot completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard, and wrote what would be relatively unchanged in its final edition, the beginning of "Prufrock", lines 1-14.

The Return: Midnight Chapter 4

â€Å"First,†Meredith asked, â€Å"is Damon right? If you go back to animal blood, wil you be seriously weakened?† Stefan smiled. â€Å"I'l be the way I was when I first met you,†he said. â€Å"Strong enough to do this.†He bent toward the fire irons right below Damon's elbow, murmuring absently, â€Å"Scusilo per favore† and removed the poker. Damon rol ed his eyes. But when Stefan, in one fluid motion, bent the poker into a shape and then straightened it immediately back and replaced it, Matt could swear that there was ice-cold envy in Damon's usual poker-player expression. â€Å"And that was iron, which is resistant to al eldritch forces,†Meredith said evenly, as Stefan stepped away from the fireplace. â€Å"But of course he's been imbibing from you three charming girls for the past few days – not to mention the nuclear powerhouse that dear Elena has become,†Damon said, clapping his hands three times slowly. â€Å"Oh†¦Mutt. Sono spiacente – I mean, I didn't mean to add you in with the girls. No offense meant.† â€Å"None taken,†Matt said through his teeth. If he could, just once, wipe that flashing, there-and-gone smile off Damon's face, he would die happy, he thought. â€Å"But, the truth is that you have become a very†¦wil ing†¦ donor for Dear Brother, haven't you?†Damon added, his lips twitching slightly, as if only the strictest control kept him from smiling. Matt took two steps toward Damon. It was al he could do not to get right up in Damon's face, even though something in his brain always screamed suicide when he had thoughts like that. â€Å"You're right,†he said as evenly as possible. â€Å"I've been donating blood to Stefan just like the girls. He's my friend, and a couple of days ago he looked like he'd just gotten out of a concentration camp.† â€Å"Of course,†Damon murmured, as if chastened, but then he went on in even softer tones, â€Å"My little brother has always been popular with both – wel , with ladies present, I wil say genders. Even with male kitsune; which of course is why I am in this mess.† Matt literal y saw red as if he were looking through a haze of blood at Damon. â€Å"Speaking of which, what happened to Sage, Damon? He was a vampire. If we could find him, your problem would be over, right?†Meredith asked. It was a good riposte, just as al Meredith's cool responses were. But Damon spoke with his fathomless black eyes fixed on Meredith's face. â€Å"The less you know and say about Sage, the better. I wouldn't speak of him lightly – he has friends in low places. But to answer your question: No, I would not let Sage make me into a vampire. It would just complicate things.† â€Å"Shinichi said good luck on finding out who he is,†Meredith said, stil calm. â€Å"Do you know what he meant by that?† Damon shrugged fluidly. â€Å"What I know is my own business. He spends time in the lowest and darkest of the Dark Dimensions.† Bonnie burst out, â€Å"Why did Sage go? Oh, Damon, did he go because of us? Why did he leave Talon and Saber to watch over us, then? And, oh – oh – oh, Damon, I'm so sorry! So, so sorry! â€Å"She slid off the love seat and bent her head so that only strawberry curls were visible. With her smal pale hands on the floor to brace her, she looked as if she were about to bow her head to the ground at his feet. â€Å"This is al my fault and everyone's angry – but it was just so horrible I had to believe the worst things I could think of!† It was a tension-breaker. Nearly everyone laughed. It was so Bonnie, and so true of al of them. So human. Matt wanted to pick her up and put her back on the love seat. Meredith was always the best medicine for Bonnie. But as Matt found himself reaching for her, he was confounded by two other pairs of hands doing the same thing. One was Meredith's own long, slender olive-skinned hands, and the other pair were male, with even longer tapering fingers. Matt's hand clenched into a fist. Let Meredith take her, he thought, and his clumsy fist – somehow – got in the way of Damon's reaching fingers. Meredith lifted Bonnie easily and sat back on the love seat. Damon lifted his dark eyes to Matt's and Matt saw perfect comprehension there. â€Å"You real y ought to forgive her, Damon,†Meredith, ever the impartial referee, said bluntly. â€Å"I don't think she'l be able to sleep tonight otherwise.† Damon shrugged, cold as an iceberg. â€Å"Maybe†¦someday.† Matt could feel his muscles clench. What kind of bastard said that to little Bonnie? Because of course she was listening. â€Å"Damn you,†Matt said under his breath. â€Å"Excuse me?†Damon's voice was no longer languid and falsely polite, but suddenly a whiplash. â€Å"You heard me,†Matt growled. â€Å"And if you didn't, maybe we'd better go outside so I can say it louder,†he added, soaring on the wings of bravado. He left behind a wail of â€Å"No!†from Bonnie, and a gentle â€Å"Sh,†from Meredith. Stefan said, â€Å"Both of you – â€Å"in a commanding voice, but then he faltered and coughed, which both Matt and Damon took as a chance to sprint for the door. It was stil very warm outside on the boardinghouse porch. â€Å"Is this the kil ing ground?†Damon asked lazily when they had descended the steps and stood beside the gravel path. â€Å"It's fine by me,†Matt said briefly, knowing in his bones that Damon would fight dirty. â€Å"Yes, this is definitely close enough,†Damon said, flashing an unnecessarily bril iant smile in Matt's direction. â€Å"You can yel for help while little brother is in the parlor, and he'l have plenty of time to rescue you. And now we're going to solve the problems of what you're doing in my business and why you are – â€Å" Matt punched him in the nose. He had no idea what Damon was trying to do. If you asked a guy to step outside, then you asked him to step outside. Then you went for the guy. You didn't stand around talking. If you tried that, you'd be stuck with the label of â€Å"coward†or worse. Damon didn't seem like the type who needed to be told that. But then, Damon had always been able to repel any attack on him while he got as many insults as he liked†¦before. Before, he'd have just broken every bone in my hand and gone on baiting me, Matt guessed. But now†¦I'm almost as fast as him, and he simply got taken by surprise. Matt flexed his hand gingerly. It always hurt, of course, but if Meredith could do it to Caroline, then he could do it to†¦ Damon? Damn, did I just take down Damon? Run, Honeycutt, he seemed to hear the voice of his old coach tel ing him. Run. Get out of town. Change your name. Tried that. Didn't work. Never even got a T-shirt, Matt thought sourly. But Damon wasn't leaping up like a flaming demon from hel , with the eyes of a dragon and the strength of a raging bul to annihilate Matt. It looked and sounded more as if he were shocked and indignant from his disheveled hair to his earth-stained boots. â€Å"You†¦ignorant†¦childish†¦Ã¢â‚¬ He lapsed into Italian. â€Å"Look,†Matt said. â€Å"I'm here to fight, okay? And the smartest guy I ever knew said: ‘If you're gonna fight, don't talk. If you're gonna talk, don't fight.'† Damon tried to snarl as he knelt up and pul ed spiny teasel and prickly sida out of his distressed black jeans. But the snarl didn't come out quite right. Maybe it was the new shape of his canines. Maybe it just didn't have enough conviction behind it. Matt had seen enough defeated guys to know that this fight was over. A strange exaltation came over him. He was going to keep al his limbs and organs! It was a precious, precious moment. Al right, then, should I offer him a hand? Matt wondered, to be answered instantaneously by, Sure, if you'd offer a hand to a temporarily stunned crocodile. What do you really need ten whole fingers for, anyway? Oh, wel , he thought, turning to go back into the front door. As long as he lived – which, conceded, might not be too long – he would remember this moment. As he went in, he bumped into Bonnie, who was rushing out. â€Å"Oh, Matt, oh, Matt,†she cried. She was looking wildly around. â€Å"Did you hurt him? Did he hurt you?† Matt smacked his fist into the palm of his hand, once. â€Å"He's stil sitting down back there,†he added helpful y. â€Å"Oh, no!†Bonnie gasped, and she hurried out the door. Okay. Less spectacular of a night. But stil a pretty good one. â€Å"They did what?†Elena asked Stefan. Cold poultices anchored by tight bandages were wrapped around her arm, hand, and thigh – Mrs. Flowers had cut her jeans off short – and Mrs. Flowers was wiping away the dried blood on her neck with herbs. Her heart was pounding with more than pain. Even she hadn't realized that Stefan was tuned in to the entire house when he was awake. Al she could do was to shakily thank God that he'd been asleep while she and Damon – no! She had to stop thinking about it, and right now! â€Å"They went outside to fight,†Stefan said. â€Å"It's idiotic, of course. But it's a matter of honor, too. I can't interfere.† â€Å"Wel , I can – if you're done, Mrs. Flowers.† â€Å"Yes, dear Elena,†Mrs. Flowers said, winding a bandage around Elena's throat. â€Å"Now you shouldn't get tetanus.† Elena stopped in mid-motion. â€Å"I thought you got tetanus from rusty blades,†she said. â€Å"Da – this one looked brand-new.† â€Å"Tetanus comes from dirty blades, my dear,†Mrs. Flowers corrected her. â€Å"But this† – she held up a bottle – â€Å"is Grand mama's own personal recipe that has kept many a wound disease-free down the cen – down the years.† â€Å"Wow,†Elena said. â€Å"I never even heard of Grand mama before. Was she a – healer?† â€Å"Oh, yes,†Mrs. Flowers said earnestly. â€Å"She was actual y accused of being a witch. But at her trial they could prove nothing. Her accusers seemed not even to be capable of coherent speech.† Elena looked at Stefan only to find that he was looking at her. Matt was in danger of being dragged off to a kangaroo court – for al egedly assaulting Caroline Forbes while under the influence of some unknown and terrible drug. Anything to do with courts was interesting to both of them. But looking at Stefan's concerned face, Elena decided not to pursue the subject. She squeezed his hand. â€Å"We have to go now – but let's talk about Grand mama later. I think she sounds fascinating.† â€Å"I just remember her as a crotchety old recluse, who didn't suffer fools gladly and thought just about everyone was a fool,†Mrs. Flowers said. â€Å"I suppose I was going down the same path until you children came and made me sit up and take notice. Thank you.† â€Å"We're the ones who should thank you,†Elena began, hugging the old woman, feeling her heart stop pounding. Stefan was looking at her with open love. It was al going to be al right – for her. I'm worried about Matt, she thought to Stefan, testing the waters more vigorously. Damon's still so fast – and you know he doesn't like Matt a bit. I think, Stefan returned with a wry smile, that that is a rather stunning understatement. But I also think you shouldn't worry until we see who comes back injured. Elena eyed that smile, and thought for a moment about impulsive, athletic Matt. After a moment, she smiled back. She was feeling both guilty and protective – and safe. Stefan always made her feel safe. And right now, she wanted to spoil him. In the front yard, Bonnie was abasing herself. She couldn't help thinking, even now, about how handsome Damon looked, how wild and dark and ferocious and gorgeous. She couldn't help thinking about the times he'd smiled at her, laughed at her, come to save her at her urgent cal . She had honestly thought that someday†¦But now she felt as if her heart were breaking in two. â€Å"I just want to bite my tongue out,†she said. â€Å"I should never have assumed anything from what I saw.† â€Å"How could you possibly have known that I wasn't stealing Elena away from Stefan?†Damon said wearily. â€Å"It's just the kind of thing I'd do.† â€Å"No, it isn't! You did so much to free Stefan from prison – you always faced the most danger yourself – and you kept us al from being hurt. You did al that for other people – â€Å" Suddenly Bonnie's upper arms were being held by hands that were so strong that her mind was flooded with cliches. A grasp of iron. Strong as steel bands. An inescapable grip. And a voice like an icy torrent was coming at her. â€Å"You don't know anything about me, or what I want, or what I do. For al you know I could be plotting right now. So don't ever let me hear you talk again about such things, or imagine that I won't kil you if you get in my way,†Damon said. He got up and left Bonnie sitting there, staring after him. And she'd been wrong. She wasn't out of tears at al .

Assess How Well Own Knowledge Skills And Understanding Meet Standards

SHC 22 Personal Development v1. 4 Title Level Credit value Learning outcomes The learner will 1 Understand what is required for competence in own work role Introduction to personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings TWO 3 Assessment criteria The learner can: 1. 1 Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role 1. 2 Identify standards that influence the way the role is carried out 1. 3 Describe ways to ensure that personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work 2 Be able to reflect on own work activities 2. Explain why reflecting on practice is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice 2. 2 Assess how well own knowledge, skills and understanding meet standards 2. 3 Demonstrate the ability to reflect on work activities 3. 1 Identify sources of support for own learning and development 3. 2 Describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved 3. 3 Contribute to drawing up own personal development plan 4. 1 Show how a learning activity has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding 4. 2 Show how reflecting on a situation has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding 4. Show how feedback from others has developed own knowledge, skills and understanding 4. 4 Show how to record progress in relation to personal development 3 Be able to agree a personal development plan 4 Be able to develop knowledge, skills and understanding Additional information about the unit NOS ref CCLD 204 GEN 12 HSC 23 Themes recur as knowledge requirements, performance criteria and core values throughout HSC and CCLD NOS Unit purpose and aims This unit is aimed at those who work in health or social care settings or with children or young eople in a wide range of settings. The unit introduces the concepts of personal development and reflective practice which are fundamental to such roles, and GEN 13 SHC 22 Personal Development v1. 4 ways to implement the se. Assessment requirements Additional information This unit must be assessed in accordance with the assessment strategy for health and social care.Standards may include: Codes of practice Regulations Minimum standards National occupational standards A personal development plan may have a different name but will record information such as agreed objectives for development, proposed activities to meet objectives, timescales for review, etc. Sources of support may include: Formal support Informal support Supervision Appraisal Within the organisation Beyond the organisation Who should be involved may include: The individual Carers Advocates Supervisor, line manager or employer Other professionals

A Beautiful Mind - A film review essays

A Beautiful Mind - A film review essays The director Ron Howard's latest film, A Beautiful Mind, is a entertaining, enlightening and compassionate drama witch tackles the trials and tribulations of a genius suffering from schizophrenia. The film is a the true story of a mathematician named John Forbes Nash Jr. who is played by Russell Crowe whom won a Academy Oscar for his portrait as Maximus in The Gladiator. We first meet John Nash at Princeton University in 1947 as a mathematician with social problems due to paranoid schizophrenia. Hes brilliant and doesnt hold back on expressing the capacity and merits of his brain to his peers. As a matter of fact he is already so above the institutional standards that he chooses to skip classes. He doesnt have much luck with women either and found himself being slapped in the face all too often with his blunt, "why don't we skip to the sex" line. Still, he understand his personal condition, so he has as little contact with people as possible, and spends most of his time in his dorm room searching for a discovery of a new theory. He is basically a smart, shy jerk with a wry sense of humour. Shortly after receiving recognition for his theories at Princeton, he becomes a professor at the prestigious school of MIT and begins teaching. He attracts the attention of one of his physic students, Alicia Larde, (played by Jennifer Connelly) and she finds Nash's eccentricities charming and asks him out to dinner. By 1957 the two were married. But at about the same time he meets his future wife, he also meets the compelling government agent (Ed Harris) who recruits the professor to break codes for the Department of Defence. It is only a few years later that Nash's schizophrenia is diagnosed. He becomes paranoid and delusional and at times violent. His world comes crashing down around him. People and things he believes are real are only in his head. Nash can no longer be convinced about who is real and who is in his h...

Current System of US Presidential Succession

Current System of US Presidential Succession The presidential line succession refers to the manner in which various federal government officials assume the office of President of the United States leaves office before an elected successor is inaugurated. Should the president die, resign or be removed from office by impeachment, the Vice President of the United States becomes president for the rest of the former president’s term. Should the vice president be unable to serve, the next official in the line of succession acts as president. The US Congress has wrestled with the issue of presidential succession throughout the nations history. Why? Well, between 1901 and 1974, five vice presidents have taken over the top office due to four presidential deaths and one resignation. In fact, between the years 1841 to 1975, more than one-third of all U.S. presidents have either died in office, resigned, or become disabled. Seven vice presidents have died in office and two have resigned resulting in a total of 37 years during which the office of vice president was completely vacant. ThePresidential SuccessionSystem Our current method of presidential succession takes its authority from: The 20th Amendment (Article II, Section 1, Clause 6)The 25th AmendmentThe Presidential Succession Law of 1947 President and Vice President The 20th and 25th Amendments establish procedures and requirements for the vice president to assume the duties and powers of the president if the president becomes permanently or temporarily disabled.In the event of the presidents temporary disability, the vice president serves as president until the president recovers. The president may declare the beginning and end of his or her own disability. But, if the president is unable to communicate, the vice president and a majority of the presidents Cabinet, or ...other body as Congress may by law provide... may determine the presidents state of disability.Should the presidents ability to serve be disputed, Congress decides. They must, within 21 days, and by a two-thirds vote of each chamber, determine whether the president is able to serve or not. Until they do, the vice president acts as president.The 25th Amendment also provides a method for filling a vacated office of the vice president. The president must nominate a new vice presiden t, who must be confirmed by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.   Until ratification of the 25th Amendment, the Constitution provided that only the duties, rather than the actual title as president should be transferred to the vice president.In October  1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald R. Ford to fill the office. in August  1974 President Nixon resigned, Vice President Ford became president and nominated Nelson Rockefeller as the new vice president. Although the circumstances that caused them were, shall we say, distasteful, the transfers of vice presidential power went smoothly and with little or no controversy. Beyond the President and Vice President The Presidential Succession Law of 1947 addressed the simultaneous disability of both the president and vice president. Under this law, here are the offices and current office holders who would become president should both the president and vice president be disabled. Remember, to assume the presidency, a person must also meet all the legal requirements to serve as president. The order of presidential succession, along with the person who would currently become president, is as follows:1. Vice President of the United States   Mike Pence 2. Speaker of the House of Representatives  Ã‚  Paul Ryan 3.  President pro tempore of the Senate   Orrin Hatch Two months after succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, President Harry S. Truman suggested that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate be moved ahead of Cabinet members in the line of succession in order to ensure that the president would never be able to appoint his potential successor.    Both the Secretary of State and other Cabinet secretaries are appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate, while the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate are elected by the people. The members of the House of Representatives choose the Speaker of the House. Similarly, the President pro tempore is chosen by the Senate. While it is not a requirement, both the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore are traditionally members of the party holding the majority in their particular chamber. Congress approved the change and moved the Speaker and President pro tempore ahead of the Cabinet secretaries in the order of succession. The secretaries of the presidents Cabinet now fill out the balance of the order of presidential succession:4.  Secretary of State  Ã‚  Mike Pompeo5. Secretary of the Treasury   Steven Mnuchin6. Secretary of Defense Gen.  James Mattis7. Attorney General   Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker8. Secretary of the Interior   Ryan Zinke9. Secretary of Agriculture   Sonny Perdue10. Secretary of Commerce   Wilbur Ross11. Secretary of Labor   Alex Acosta12. Secretary of Health Human Services   Alex Azar13. Secretary of Housing Urban Development Dr.  Ben Carson14. Secretary of Transportation   Elaine Chao15. Secretary of Energy   Rick Perry16. Secretary of Education   Betsy DeVos17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs   Robert Wilkie18. Secretary of Homeland Security   Kirstjen M. Nielsen Presidents Who Assumed Office by Succession Chester A. ArthurCalvin CoolidgeMillard FillmoreGerald R. Ford *Andrew JohnsonLyndon B. JohnsonTheodore RooseveltHarry S. TrumanJohn Tyler * Gerald R. Ford assumed the office after the resignation of Richard M. Nixon. All others took office due to the death of their predecessor. Presidents Who Servedbut Were Never Elected Chester A. ArthurMillard FillmoreGerald R. FordAndrew JohnsonJohn TylerPresidents Who Had No Vice President * Chester A. ArthurMillard FillmoreAndrew JohnsonJohn Tyler* The 25th Amendment now requires presidents to nominate a new vice president.

EDU 636 Team project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EDU 636 Team project - Research Paper Example If this kind of learning environment is achieved, the adult learners would be surely in their optimal state to learn (Materna, 2007). The facilitator could then expect an interactive population of learners. In light of the aforementioned facts, for the adult learners who are the subject of the study, they will be subjected to an e-learning environment. This type of learning environment will primarily utilize computers and the internet. It is to be expected that each of the learners will have both of them at home or anywhere. The adult learners will have to log on to a designated website to be formally recognized by the facilitator. The website wherein the discussion will transpire will have to be user-friendly and complete with the needed accessories such as the discussion board. Unlike in a typical classroom discussion, wherein the teacher and the students will have a face to face interaction, in an e-learning environment, the participants will experience the so called virtual commu nication. What connects the teacher to the adult learners is the internet. All the educational materials will be available on the website wherein the adult learners could easily access and download. Explanation of whether the learning environment is primarily synchronous, asynchronous, or a blend.

The Tourism Industry of Dubai Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Tourism Industry of Dubai - Essay Example Dubai is known internationally as one of the premier tourist destinations of the world, especially among the high-income and elite group of tourists. It is also regarded as one of the richest places in the world where Dubai is always desired for mass tourism. There is apparently an endless variety of vacation opportunities in this part of the world with positive intervention and support from both government and industries. Notably, the government of UAE aims at developing Dubai as the chief tourist destinations in the world, making use of its unique tourism features operating as a differentiated tourist hub and thus obtaining the competitive advantages of almost no close substitutes. The place is considered as the jewel of UAE because of the fact that it offers luxury, sumptuousness and outstanding facilities to the tourists with a magnificent blend of tradition and modern cultures. It has been observed that outstanding hotels, shopping malls, and skyscrapers are the well-known chara cteristics of Dubai. It has been further viewed that Dubai offers great opportunities and verities for all potential tourists in accordance with the taste of the people visiting the city. It has also been noted that the shopping malls of Emirates situated in this place provide a variety of options to the customers from fashion to home furnishing. Furthermore, Dubai also focuses on developing its sports tourism industry sector facilitating various sports through Ski Dubai resort and other similar amenities (Henderson, 2006).... Gigantism engaging huge amounts of money had been the vision of tourism in Dubai owing to which many prominent projects of tourism development have raised significant threat to the scarcity of natural resources. Apart from environmental threats, the city is also affected by regular governmental intervention from the national and international levels, which is often termed as the ‘War Zone’. It is worth mentioning in this context that US military forces had been operating in Dubai, using the city as a vital base to perform spying activities on Iran, which has significantly influenced tourism rates within the city. Money laundering has also been a mostly debated issue in Dubai. Moreover, Dubai is also criticised for the slavery related issues. Behind the ultra modern and luxurious hotels of the city, there lies a dark world where slavery is still being practiced. Issues related to forced labour are also seemed to be quite significant in the city. Irrespective of such issue s, Dubai had been able to maintain its peace avoiding any considerable terrorist attacks and rendering due scope to attract a variety of tourists from around the world (Davis, 2007; Keane & McGeehan, 2008). Emphasising these characteristics of the tourism market in Dubai, the paper would intend to evaluate the extent to which the city deciphers or rather illustrates the features of modern urban tourism. The intention of the paper will be thus concentrated on connoting if Dubai presents a new paradigm of urban tourism. Discussion Illustration of Dubai as a Tourist Place Dubai is known internationally as one of the premier tourist destinations of the world, especially among the

What can the human resource management department contribute to the Assignment

What can the human resource management department contribute to the development of successful leadership within an organization - Assignment Example Man creates or overlooks opportunities and scenarios. Hence, people power is considered the most significant and dominant factor of all the resources available to an organization. In this regard, the essay aims to determine what the human resource management department can contribute to the development of successful leadership within an organization. The discourse would initially define relevant terms that would be used in the paper including human resources management, leadership, competencies, and the difference between behavioral and functional approaches to job performance. Definition of Terms Martires (2004) defined human resources management as â€Å"the art and science of acquiring, motivating, maintaining, and developing people in their jobs in light of their personal, professional, and technical knowledge, skills, potentials, needs and values and in synchronization with the achievement of individual, organization and society’s goals† (p. 6). Human resources dep artments in some organizations are subsumed in another department or it may be a separate department itself. As one of the primary functions of human resources management (HRM), development of human resources require the registration, tracing, and insuring of all personnel’s progress through continued job proficiency, career growth and guidance. Competencies are upgraded and expertise is developed in this broadening phase of people management. By competencies, the definition provided by Boyatzis (1982) is most appropriate: â€Å"an underlying characteristic of an employee (i.e., a motive, trait, skill, aspects of one’s selfimage, social role, or a body of knowledge) which results in effective and/or superior performance† (Cited in USOPM, 1999, p. 7). Likewise, leadership has been defined as the process of influencing people to work or act towards the attainment of specifically defined goals (Martires & Fule, 2000, p. 569). On the other hand, that Ken Valenzuela, the Chief Editor for BeALeader.Net collected various definitions of leadership: â€Å"Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal† (Northouse, 2004). His own definition is hereby presented as â€Å"the ability of developing and communicating a vision to a group of people that will make that vision true† (Kenneth Valenzuela, 2007). Authors Lussier & Achua (2004) define leadership as â€Å"the influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through changes† (Lussier & Achua, 2004). There are different types of leaders depending on the personality of the leader and subordinates and the situation. Different leadership theories stipulate diverse leadership styles, such as: the behavioral approach (autocratic, democratic and laissez faire leaders); there is the task-oriented versus people-oriented leaders; and contemporary theories present the emergence of transformational leaders and servant leadership styles. Leadership and Management Development The article published by the US OPM revealed trends in HRM that focus on the rise of competencies where leadership and management development begin to assume more challenging roles in light of the changing forces affecting HRM in contemporary organizations. The trends that were revealed are hereby summed as â€Å"

Key conventions comprising works of writer and director christopher nolan

Key conventions comprising works of writer and director christopher nolan Chapter 1 Introduction I think audiences get too comfortable and familiar in todays movies. They believe everything theyre hearing and seeing. I like to shake that up. (The Auteurs, 2010) Christopher Nolan made his feature debut with Following in 1998 but it was the cult classic Memento, released in the autumn of 2000, which lead to his breakthrough in Hollywood. Despite only a handful of subsequent box office successes later, Nolan had soon established himself as both a blockbuster writer and director of the highest calibre. With Nolan rapidly constructing a key signature of his work that chronology would take a back seat to character with an identifiable undertone of film noir, is Christopher Nolan an auteur of the 21st century or merely a product from the likes of David Lynch and David Fincher? Consequently, this assignment will aim to answer this very question and will make a judgement on whether Christopher Nolan is in fact an auteur. In order to make a final judgement the dissertation will pursue the following procedure: Chapter three will aim to define what characteristics constitute an auteur, and will thus provide an informative analysis of the cinematic theory so that a context for the discussion can be established. This dissertation will benefit largely from the combination of both Alexandre Austrucs relatively elementary definition of auteurism as well as Andrew Sarris and John Caughies more modern, in-depth interpretation of the film theory. Employing approximately 50 years worth of academic analysis in regards to auteurism, a precise and thorough definition of an auteur will be produced, essential when drawing an accurate conclusion. Similarly, Chapter four will provide a brief summary of both the history of film noir and the neo-noir motion picture, informing the reader through an analysis and development of the genres codes and conventions. Joan Copjecs publication explores the origins of this classic period of Hollywood cinema and offers a perspective upon the films themselves, viewed in light of contemporary social and political concerns, and from new theoretical insights. She also analyses the re-emergence of noir cinema in recent years and how neo-noir remains a popular choice for the big film studios. Another publication which has been hugely beneficial during my research is that of Dr Frank Krutnik. Krutniks book combines both theoretical and historical research through the examination of individual films through a generic framework. In a lonely street is an extremely valuable text as it is especially successful in combining both historical research and textual analysis. It is important to note that Chapt er three and four of this dissertation are effectively the foundations before producing a smooth transition into the rise and success of writer and director Christopher Nolan. The vast bulk of the evidence gathered will be contained between Chapters five, six and seven. Chapter five will observe a number of Nolans cinematic trademarks, beginning with non-linear narratives. The International Society for the Study of Narrative states that narrative is the telling of a story or communication of a chain of events, fictive or real. Aspects of narrative include how the story is told, the context in which it is presented, and the construction of the story (Narrative, 2010). Therefore, in order to achieve an in-depth deconstruction of the non-linear narratives of Nolans first two motion pictures, Following and Memento, the aid of a narratological theory will be required whilst an analysis of all aspects of narrative must also be attributed. One narrative theory which has been specifically chosen is that of Tzvetan Todorov. Lacey (2000) argues that one name has become synonymous with that of Narratology over the years, Todorov, who simplified the concept of narrative while allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of Equilibrium an d Disequilibrium. First proposed by Russian Formalists, there should be two individual narratological traditions: thematic and modal. According to research by Professor Meir Steinberg (Narrative, 2010) the former is largely limited to a semiotic formalization of the sequences of action told, while the latter examines the manner of their telling, stressing the importance of voice, point of view, transformation of the chronological order, rhythm and frequency. Numerous academics however, have insisted that thematic and modal Narratology should not be investigated separately as they both undoubtedly benefit one another especially when investigating the function and interest of narrative sequence and plot. Therefore, one must ensure that both a modal and thematic stance has been incorporated into the investigation of each text. The study will then progress on to observe the role of the morally dubious protagonist, a feature which dominates the majority of Nolans texts. For this purpose, Memento, The Prestige and Batman Begins have all been chosen for evaluation. This chapter will also undertake a vigorous breakdown of recognisable mise en scene traits and themes which will be identified throughout the volume of Christopher Nolans films. It will be this section of the study that will ensure a balanced debate as we look at the impact of other members within the production process such as Wally Pfister, a cinematographer, who Nolan has hired for all but one of his feature films. We also consider the influence of Chris brother, Jonathan, who has helped co-write several texts. The introduction to the conclusion, if you will, will help summarise and determine the significant influence the noir conventions that have been stated throughout this discussion have had on the development and originality of certain Nolan films. The dissertation will then conclude that despite the fact that Christopher Nolan, like many of his predecessors, has inherited a vast wealth of cinematic codes and conventions, his body of work, all be it relatively small, provides a unique stamp thus establishing Nolan as an auteur alongside the likes of Scorsese and Spielberg. Methodology. (3 pages) The following Firstly the information collected for this dissertation will be purely qualitative rather than quantitative as it focuses upon film theory through the form of textual analysis. The Secondary research will specifically involve the consultation of academic textbooks on the dissertation topic. This will be essential in developing prior knowledge on the subject and will allow discussion in order to reach the overall aim. The opinions of film academics and authors will be utilised in order to validate or oppose various issues raised within the dissertation. By using published or peer reviewed sources it increases the reliability of the information referenced and in turn the dissertation. The dissertation will also consist of narrative analysis of moving image. Stokes states that narrative analysis involves very close reading and is best conducted on a limited number of texts (2003, p. 69) which is why the dissertation particularly examines and deconstructs the works of a sole director and writer. However, there may also be a negative effect of investigating the work of one artist as Stoke (2003) claims there can become a danger of bias by steering away from a critical approach if you admire the work of the particular auteur. She states that one must go through a process of developing a critical distance and a way of watching which is detached and dispassionate. Therefore in order to ensure that the investigations results are as reliable as can be, one must aspire to analyse with complete objectivity. Whether or not this is entirely possible is another matter. Stokes (2003) also offers seven steps in order to conduct narrative analysis effectively. These guidelines will be extremely useful when deconstructing the narratives of Following, Memento and Batman Begins. Chapter 3 The Auteur Theory. More than a theory. In 1954 film critic and film director FranÃÆ'ois Truffaut coined the term auteurism, a concept which would later provoke much controversy and debate within the world of cinema. The politique des auteurs, later referred to as the auteur theory, originated in 1950s France as an abstract aesthetic rooted in the works of prestigious film journal cahiers du cinema. The fundamental works of this cinematic movement were Alexandre Austrucs Un camera stylo and Francois Truffauts Une certain tendance du cinema FranÃÆ'ais. Both of these concepts promoted the idea that as the author of a motion picture, the truly great directors must have a distinct visual style and identifiable themes which ingrain all of their work. (REFERENCE) Alexandre Astruc in his celebrated essay The Birth of the new avant-garde: the camera-stylo, announced that: The cinema is quite simply becoming a means of expression, just as all the other arts have been before it . . . After having been successively a fairground attraction, an amusement analogous to boulevard theatre, or the means of preserving the images of an era, it is gradually becoming a language. By language, I mean a form in which and by which an artist can express his thoughts, however abstract they may be, or translate his obsessions exactly as he does in the contemporary essay or novel (cited by Corrigan and River, 1999, p.159). Caughie (1988) states that as a term, Austrucs camera-stylo (camera pen) failed to take root, however the insistence on film as an individual self-expression, had a considerable polemical importance, forming the basis of Franca Truffauts cinema dauteurs. Traditionally, the reference to the auteur in French film criticism was associated with either the author who wrote the script, or, in the more general sense of the term, the artist who created the text. Before too long the latter sense came to replace the former and the title auteur was attributed to the artist whose personality had been written in the film. Inspired by the critics of cahiers du cinema, US film academic Andrew Sarris demanded a more detailed definition of the term la politique des auteurs and would later transform the notion of an auteur into an acclaimed cinematic theory. The auteur theory was never, in itself, a theory of the cinema, though its originators did not claim that it was. The writers of Cashiers du Cinema always spoke of la politique des auteurs. The translation of this into the auteur theory appears to be the responsibility of Andrew Sarris (Caughie, 1988, p.24). In his Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962, Sarris proposed three key traits in order to identify an auteur; the first being the technical competence of a director as a criterion of value. The second; the distinguishable personality of the director. Over a group of films, a director must exhibit certain recurring characteristics of style, which serve as his signature. The third premise refers to a more mystic interior meaning: Interior meaning is extrapolated from the tension between a directors personality and his material. This conception of interior meaning comes close to what Astruc defines as mise-en- scene, but not quite. It is not quite the vision of the world a director projects nor quite his attitude to life. It is ambiguous, in any literary sense, because part of it is imbedded in the stuff of cinema and cannot be rendered in non-cinematic terms. (Cited by Pearson, 1997) It is fairly evident when scrutinising the words of Andrew Sarris, that there are in fact numerous weaknesses in regards to his academic approach towards the auteur theory. The first two traits are fairly self explanatory, as he claims that a director mustnt simply be a master of his craft but that he must also present a style which is clearly distinguishable as his own. The weakness in Sarris approach however, lies in his third and final point, as he produces a vague description of what he defines as interior meaning. This definition is simply too unclear making it near impossible for other film academics to evaluate and measure an auteurs interior meaning. This point is indisputable as Sarris himself claims that his third principle is in fact ambiguous (Cited by Pearson, 1997) to say the least. Once Andrew Sarris had developed the notion of the auteur theory, he began to break the boundaries set when analysing auteurism in cinema. He took note of films within Hollywood and the commercial system where a large number of directors whose work, displayed a consistency of under-lying themes and a style which Caughie believes was unusual as it was difficult for a director to express personality and uniqueness within the industries constraints: In fact, the struggle between the desire for self-expression and the constraints of the industry could produce a tension in the films of the commercial cinema which was lacking in the art cinema, encouraging the auteurist critics to valorise Hollywood cinema above all else, finding there a treasure-trove of buried personalities, and, in the process, scandalizing established criticism. Uniqueness of personality, brash individuality, persistence of obsession and originality were given an evaluative power above that of stylistic smoothness or social seriousness (Caughie, 1988, p.10). Despite the director as author approach becoming increasingly popular in the 1960s, its weaknesses soon became apparent as it wasnt long until the notion of auteurism had been extended to include both producers and actors. The auteur theory had now developed to the extent where it would only accept rigorous analysis of films as oppose to unclear references to themes and style; With its emphasis on the importance of systematically analysing a body of texts, auteur-structuralism conceives of the author as a set of structures identifiable within a directors films. (Crofts, 1998, p. 315) Film critics would therefore now attempt to deconstruct the common themes and style of a given director rather than simply producing a vague interpretation. Caughie (1988) states that a weakness of the auteur theory lays in the fact that it requires a means in which to measure value. Sarris suggests films become valuable in so far as they reveal directorial personality. He therefore does precisely what s hould not be done: he uses individuality as a test for cultural value (Caughie, 1988, p.27). After utilising a number of interpretations in regards to the auteur theory, a single definition must be produced in order to validate the conclusion drawn at the end of this investigation. The definition which has been selected is that of John Caughies as it is both simplistic yet precise. Caughie, is his text Theories of Authorship, stipulates that an auteur is purely a valued member of the production team whose personality can be traced in a thematic and/or stylistic consistency over all (or almost all) of his/her films (Caughie, 1988). It is therefore fair to suggest that a personality, arguably a synonym for auteur, simply refers to a number of unique codes and conventions which have been persistently drawn upon for a large percentage of his or her (in this instance, a directors) work. Chapter 4 A History of Film Noir and its progression into the Neo Noir motion picture. More than a genre Paris, summer 1946. This moment marks an incredibly important event in cinema history, not for production but for exhibition. For this was the summer when, after the hiatus of the Second World War, French critics were again given the opportunity to view films from Hollywood. The films they saw prompted the naming and theorisation of a new phenomenon: film noir (Copjec, 1993). Silver (2004) simply defines classic film noir as one of the most influential movements in cinema history. This definition seems rather basic, however, despite five decades of attempted classification and debate its categorisation still remains problematic as it is marked by what Krutnik (1991) coined as a division between opposing camps of theorists and historians. Perhaps it is easier to suggest what characteristics constitute film noir rather than attempting to identify it wholly as genre or a period of history. Silver and Ursini (1998) in their book Film Noir Reader claim that the boundaries of this classic period stretch from John Hustons The Maltese Falcon (1941) to Orson Welles Touch of Evil (1958) and emerged from crime fiction in the United States during the Depression. The iconic visual style of film noir set in the 40s usually tends to be low key lighting with use of dark, dramatic shadowy patterns. This style is particularly noticeable in Carol Reeds The Third Man. In an analysis of the visual approach of Kiss Me Deadly, critic Alain Silver (1995, p.222) describes how cinematographic choices emphasize the storys themes and mood. In one scene, the characters, seen through a confusion of angular shapes, thus appear caught in a tangible vortex or enclosed in a trap. Copjec claims that this new form of cinema that emerged in 1940s America reflected the anxieties of a country entering a new era, an era perhaps dark and ominous. Film noir had therefore become the antithesis of Hollywoods glamour productions of the 30s. Literally meaning black film, film noir was first introduced by the French critic Nino Frank in 1946 as he noticed how dark and often black the settings and themes of these Hollywood films were (Wolfgang, 2003). Unlike other forms of cinema, film noir has no elements that it can truly indentify as its own. Rather, film noir makes use of elements from other forms, most notably from the crime and detective genres, but often overlapping into thrillers, horror, and even science fiction (Copjec, 1993). The primary moods of classic film noir are melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia (Wolfgang, 2003). Whereas much work has been published on classic film noirs, produced between 1940 and 1958, little criticism has been written about the newer films, produced between 1966 and 2010, defined as the neo-noir motion picture. For some there has been a tendency amongst film critics to exclusively use the term noir for the classic films of the 30s, 40s and 50s. Although in recent years, there has been an increasing flexibility in regards to the classification of noir, especially as far as a chronological broadening is concerned. Some film academics believe that the genre has expanded from pre-World War Two cinema to the modern day phenomenon of the Neo-noir motion picture. This therefore suggests that the label film noir now has over sixty years of film history behind it. The term Neo-Noir was first coined by Todd Erickson in the 1990s in his widely credited essay Kill Me Again: Movement becomes a Genre where he claimed that neo noir only became a genre in the 80s, when it emerged from its embryonic state in the sixties and seventies (Silver and Ursini, 1998). He also discusses the emergence of noir motifs in films subsequent to the canonical period and suggests studying them as a new genre. Contemporary film noir is a new genre of film. As such, it must carry the distinction of another name; a name that is cognizant of its rich noir heritage, yet one that distinguishes its influences and motivations from those of the bygone era (Silver and Ursini, 1998, p.321) Erickson expanded on his definition stating that Neo Noir encompasses films released after the classic period which fulfil central aspects of the genre but take other different generic approaches (Lee Horsley, Crime and Culture). These central aspects of iconography, to which Erickson refers, a re: The visual style, in terms of cinematography with the use of symbolic lighting on certain characters to portray a particular characteristic. Academic David Watt (2002) highlights these codes and conventions within a framework of David Finchers Fight Club. Watt argues that Fincher has accomplished a particular style of lighting through the relationship between the central characters. In various scenes, Jack is in the foreground of the shot lit in high key with Tyler in the background hidden by shadows, thus representing that Tyler is hiding something from Jack (Watt, 2002). Another piece of iconography within the narrative structure is the common use of flashbacks in film noir where the protagonist will narrate their own story. Watt states that Fight Club fulfils this narrative device and plays on it through creating a flashback from another flashback, setting the film further back and expanding on the convention (Watt, 2002). The third and final key element of film noir is the i nclusion of certain Character types who the audience recognise as a recurrent motif of the genre. For example, perhaps the most identifiable character type in film noir is that of the anti hero, a convention that will be discussed in greater detail later in this study. Watt proclaims in his dissection of Finchers Neo Noir Blockbuster that the anti hero: Poses as the central character but does not follow the rules of society in the diegesis and contrasts heavily to the typical high concept hero. Fight Club immediately introduces the audience to the anti hero through a typical film noir convention of the introductory close up. Fincher has taken this convention to its extreme though and begins the film from literally inside the protagonists brain and then spirals out, disorientating the audience as they are forced to identify with this nameless character. Jack acts as the anti hero but his traits of the character type are expanded and again, took to their ultimate extreme. He does not trust anyone and is a loner, so much so that his name is never clearly identified and he is only recognised as Jack through the narrative voice over of I am Jacks wasted life (2002). The similarities between both the protagonist in Fight Club and Christopher Nolans Memento will be hugely evident when we analyse Nolans use of the anti-hero in his own Neo Noir epic. If we return briefly to the genre itself, many of the Neo-Noir films, especially of those created in the 70s and 80s, including for example Chinatown released in 1974, are what Lacey (2001) considers as pastiches that knowingly, and fondly, recreate the style of earlier noir cinema albeit in colour and with a modern sensibility. These films express a retro and nostalgic avoidance of contemporary experience with the intention of escaping from contemporary issues (cited by Wolfgang, 2003) Horsley (2002) corroborates this statement by arguing that in recent years one question is frequently raised in critical debate, pondering whether the fashionable trappings of neo-noir are themselves symptomatic of commercial postmodern nostalgia. He moves onto suggest that the sense that noir created in the 70s and 80s was a retro and nostalgic avoidance of contemporary experience has been encouraged by the often-cited essay, Postmodernism and Consumer Society, in which Frederic Jameson assigns to fi lm noir a central role in the vocabulary of commercialized postmodernism. However, Lacey (2001) claims that there are also numerous Neo Noir motion pictures which push the genre forward and avoid pastiche. One director whose films arguably fit this mould is Christopher Nolan, a writer and director whose work has instigated this very investigation. Leaving aside for the moment the matter of nostalgic pastiche it could be argued that Neo noir is not so much a genre of film but rather an identifiable visual style which has been adopted by a large number of contemporary film makers. As an aesthetic and ideological set of principles, the traditional conventions of noir are very visible in the works of modern auteurs: David Lynch, Michael Mann and David Fincher. However, there is still an obvious difference between both Film Noir and Neo noir as they each have their own underlying social and political context which undoubtedly affects a films perspective. As stated earlier, Film noir is very much a response to post war disillusionment and can be categorised into certain distinct phases, Neo noir on the other hand is far more difficult to isolate as the genre itself continues to evolve. Despite the 60s and 70s providing some telling illustrations of Neo noir, it was not until the early 80s that the genre gained widespread acceptance and credibility. This could arguably be down to the success of Ridley Scotts Blade Runner which would later be followed by other influential directors David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive) and David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club). As Lee Horsley suggests: The contemporary refashioning of noir themes is a manifestation of the flexibility and responsiveness to social change that have characterised noir from its inception and of the continued vitality of the form. The transformations of the genre in neo-noir have helped to clarify some of the constant, recognisable elements of the noir vision, most importantly the moral ambivalence of the protagonist and his (or in neo-noir often her) ill-fated relationship with a wider society that itself is guilty of corruption and criminality. (Horsley, 2002) One director whose body of work notably contains recognisable elements of the noir vision is that of Christopher Nolan. Thanks to his unique, stylised, time-bending reformation of film noir conventions, Christopher Nolan has established himself as a creator of psychologically demanding films that defy categorization. When Nolan spoke to journalist Chris Roberts in October 2000 he was asked Have you always loved film noir?: Very much. Im a big fan, but interested in making those materials live for this time, this place. To create something new, whilst not abandoning the things I love about the genre. Which include the intrigue you can get out of that triangular relationship between three main characters. Who does what to whom is the driving force of both the narrative and the psychology. You judge them on their actions, rather than a lot of back-story and conversation. I just think it would be a marvellous thing for film-makers to have some of the narrative freedom that novelists have had for hundreds well, thousands of years. In other media, its always been accepted that you dont have to tell stories chronologically. In films, you have the flashback concept, but Stanley Kubrick and Nicolas Roeg were pioneering and pushing other boundaries in the Seventies, and it seems criminal to me not to keep using the freedoms they hard-earned. You should always be a little ahead of your time. I dont mean in a me dicinal, here-take-this-its- good-for-you way, but keeping people on their toes is a fun thing to do. Citizen Kane pushed things forward ambitiously, but in a real, instinctive, not gimmicky sense. And some of the aggressive, avant-garde devices Godard patented are accepted mainstream tricks now (Roberts, 2000). This insightful interview helps display some of Nolans key influences and motivations and yet the man himself remains in many respects an enigma. Before discussing the key conventions which comprise his work, lets begin with the man himself. Chapter 5 The Rise of Christopher Nolan More than a director Christopher Jonathan James Nolan was born in London on the 30th July 1970 as a child of a British Father and American Mother. Nolans introduction to film production began as early as seven when he began making war movies with his older brother using his fathers super 8mm camera and an assortment of male action figures. His passion for films increased with age whilst he is said to have been influenced to produce short science fiction films in the same vein of George Lucas space saga, Star Wars. After spending his childhood years residing in Chicago, Nolan returned to England to attend boarding school at Haileybury College, he then progressed to University College London where he studied literature. While an undergraduate, Nolan shot the surreal shorts Tarantella and Doodlebug with young actor and friend Jeremy Theobold starring in the lead for both films. Theobold would also take up the role in Nolans first feature film, Following, a no-budget black-and-white movie produced in London over a one year period. This ultra-low budget indie received wide acclaim receiving numerous awards such as the prestigious Rotterdam International Film Festivals Tiger Award and the Slamdance Black White Award. Despite Nolans success within Europe, it wasnt until he wrote and directed Memento (2000), a cult classic revenge story with its unique narrative structure, which held him up on the global stage. Hailed by critics, Nolans reputation almost changed overnight leading to him becoming a highly sought after talent. Returning in 2002 with Insomnia, a remake of Erik Skjoldbjaergs 1997 film of the same name, he proved he could direct some of the worlds top actors such as Al Pacino and Robin Williams. It was in 2005 however, with a reimagined take on a long-defunct film franchise, Batman, that propelled Nolan to the upper tier of Hollywood directors. His dark, brooding take on the avenging crusader was much more aligned with its original intention than any other subsequent incarnation. (Screenrush, 2010) With more recent box office successes, The Prestige (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008), Nolan has undoubtedly secured his reputation as a one of the top directors and writers working in Hollyw ood today. Now we know the man behind the lens, lets start dissecting the key conventions which comprise his work. We begin with Nolans use of the non-linear narrative. Chapter 6 Narrative More than a story. When Christopher Nolan released Memento in the autumn of 2000, few suspected the impact it would have on cinema goers worldwide and its significance not only on neo-noir as a genre, but also its effect on how audiences and critics perceive narrative within film. As a fragmented, non-linear narrative structure, Memento is a text which has received broad investigation in recent years. Its true meaning however, if in fact there is one, remains very much an enigma even a decade after its initial release. Nevertheless, the use of a non-linear narrative is nothing new, as stated earlier, as it has often been used in the past by noir directors to slowly reveal relationships among characters and circle the story back to a key precipitating event. What makes Memento special however is that its non-linear narrative structure puts the audience into the shoes of the protagonist. Through this device the viewers become detectives themselves. For the most part the audience struggle as much as Leonard does, creating a coherent narrative out of all the evidence they witness. Nolan gives the film noir genres tendency to confound the viewers expectations a conceptual twist by linking the flow of the narrative to the condition of the protagonist. (Wolfgang, 200 3) Memento would not be the first film Nolan would experiment with narrative structure as his first feature film, Following, applied this tool by using visual clues to aid the viewer in re-ordering the story chronology. This device would be something Nolan would return to in Memento, using the scratches on Leonards face as a marker-point for the time-line, rather than indicating the passing of day or night (Mottram, 2002, p.78). Christopher Nolan gives an insight into his trail of thought during the production process: When I had written the script, which seemed to work on the page, the feeling was if youre going to use this unconventional structure, such as the three time-lines in the Following, then my impulse at script stage was to teach the reader the structure, to do it very quickly with small scenes,