Most famous plays

Most famous plays In the Prologue, line six, Shakespeare tells his audience that A pair of star-crossd lovers take their life. How far does Shakespeare prepare his audience for the tragic end of Romeo and Juliet? It is well known that the story of Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous love story ever written. The tragic ending of the story is equally well known. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeares most famous plays. It is the story of two star crossd lovers from conflicting families. The audience follow them as they fall in love and go to extreme lengths to be together. The story ends with the tragic death of the two lovers which brings together the two families in their grief. This storys ending differs from the typical traditional love story fairytale type ending along the lines of .. and then, they all lived happily ever after. The End. That type of ending leaves an audience feeling good at the end because it contains the feel good factor a happy ending. It is the lack of this usual type of feel good factor in Romeo and Juliet which makes it necessary for Shakespeare to prepare his audience for the comparatively harsh ending of the story. To prepare the audience for the tragic ending Shakespeare makes extensive use of the literary technique of foreshadowing in which he drops hints about the plot developments to come later in the play. By clever use of foreshadowing, Shakespeare is able to successfully manipulate the audience. The overall structure of the plays an important part in preparing the audience for the tragic outcome. Most people are aware of the notion that first impressions are important. Shakespeare takes advantage of this concept in presenting Romeo and Juliet to the audience. Shakespeare takes into consideration the strong impact of first impressions in constructing the structure the play. It is obvious that he carefully chose what order to put the events in and which bits to highlight, for maximum effect. Evidence of this can be seen in the key situations involving first impressions the plays introduction, the nature of the opening scene, Romeos first appearance and the lovers first meeting and conversation. In all of these, the sense of foreboding is always present. At the beginning of the play, the audience are likely to be open minded because they are eager to watch the play. Due to this they are likely to be more impressionable at this stage than in later stages in the play. Romeo and Juliet opens with a prologue. The obvious purpose of the Prologue is to introduce the play to the audience. However, it also has a more significant and deeper function. The chorus is the most obvious example of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet -the whole play is watched by the audience whilst knowing the plot and the ending. The Prologue sets the scene for the story and states the climax of its plot and whilst doing so gives away its ending. This starts the atmosphere of foreboding. In summary, the Prologue tells us that the stars control the lives of Romeo and Juliet, and that they are doomed to die because the stars are against them. The Prologue refers to an ill-fated couple using the metaphor star-crossd, which literally means against the stars. This is very significant since at the time that the play was written, it was a common belief that the stars controlled peoples destinies. So the Prologue itself is responsible for creating this sense of fate by informing the audience so very early on that Romeo and Juliet will die and this is done even before the play has begun! Consequently, the audience will then watch the play expecting the conditions set by the Prologue to be fulfilled. It seems that the fate from which Romeo and Juliet cant escape is in fact the structure of the play itself. To be exact, it has to be said that the Prologue is not foreshadowing since foreshadowing only hints at precise what will happen later on, whereas the Chorus in the Prologue actually tells outright what is to come rather than just hint at it. The second verse of the Chorus sonnet actually summarises the plot of the play: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents strife (Prologue 5-8) The fact that the next verse repeats the same message indicates that Shakespeare was determined to ensure that this message got impressed upon the audience very early on, in order to ensure that the foreshadowing which follows later on in the play would be heeded by them. So it is apparent that Shakespeare was intent on leading the audience to expect a tragic outcome right from the beginning. Even though it starts off as a light comedy, the overall impression created by the opening scene is that of a hostile atmosphere created by violence and conflict. The violent focus of the opening scene has a powerful visual impact on the audience. Since the play is about a conflict between love and hate, by introducing the hate in the opening scene, Shakespeare highlights the hate which is going to be opposed to the love. This does not bode well for the love story which is to follow, which the audience are anticipating. This kind of a start is unlikely to lead to a happy and peaceful ending. It seems to suggest that similar unpleasant situations may follow. Furthermore, this introduction to violence and conflict so early on serves to ensure that the audience become accustomed to unpleasant situations. So, right from the start the audience is being familiarised with the concept of conflict or threat so that the seeds of the unhappy ending are being sown. When Romeo makes his first appearance he comes across as a lovesick rejected lover who is depressed and wallowing in self pity. As he reflects on love and hate, the oxymorons he uses to describe his feelings make him seem to be in love with the idea of being in love. Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate, O any thing of nothing first create! O heavy lightness, serious vanity, Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms, Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I, that feel no love in this. Shakespeare has put together contradictory words to convey the turmoil that love is causing Romeo. His reflection begins with two oxymorons, setting brawling versus love, and loving versus hate. He is portrayed as being a romantic dreamer and someone who is led by his feelings. We see a man who gets deeply affected by love. His use of language stresses the confusion in his mind and the fact that love has two sides. This has the effect of creating a sense of conflict around the subject of love and this is before he even meets Juliet! Furthermore, it sets off a sense of foreboding around the subject of love. The first impression created by the lovers meeting is that despite the sweetness of the encounter, the sense of foreboding continues to linger on. This is because even whilst the lovers are using the language of love and wooing each other, the atmosphere of foreboding is ever present because of the actual references to death that they both make during that period. Another device which Shakespeare uses to prepare the audience for the tragic outcome is that he weaves an underlying thread of foreboding throughout the play. The various factors which contribute to the build up of the sense of foreboding in the play include the extensive use of dramatic irony, frequent and persistent references to fate and death, references to the darker side of love and the occurrences of violence and conflict. In the following part of this essay I will detail the various methods which Shakespeare uses to successfully weave foreboding throughout the play. Right at the start, the Chorus mentions a pair of star-crossed lovers (line 6) and thereafter there are repeated ominous hints that Romeo and Juliet are fated to die. Even before Romeo has met Juliet, as he is about to join Capulets party, he has a premonition: my mind misgives Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this nights revels and expire the term Of a despised life, closed in my breast, By some vile forfeit of untimely death (1.4.106-11) Shakespeare introduces a note of foreboding just as Romeo is about to meet Juliet for the first s time by hinting that he is going to develop into a tragic character. With the words of the Chorus still fresh in the minds of the audience, hearing these words from Romeo would remind them of the terms set by the prologue. Romeos words foreshadow what actually happens in the rest of the play. A chain of events does begin night, and that chain of events does lead to Romeos early death. Just after they have met, each lover has a similar foreboding that this love will have a fated disastrous ending. When Benvolio says to Romeo; Away, be gone. The sport is at the best, Romeo replies, Ay, so I fear (1.5.119-20), which reveals that he is worried that things can only get worse from now on. When Juliet realises that Romeo is a Montague (an enemy), she says; Prodigious birth of love it is to me That I must love a loathed enemy (1.5. 140-1)) The fact that she links this moment of meeting in terms of both birth and death does not bode well for the future of their love. Referring to Romeo, Juliet says; If he be married. My grave is like to be my wedding bed (1.5. 135). She is implying that if Romeo is married, she will be likely to die unmarried, because she will not marry anyone else. However, she is unknowingly foreshadowing her future, in which her grave does end up becoming her wedding bed. Her remark starts off the many associations of love and death in the play. So, from its very first appearance in the play, the love between Romeo and Juliet is portrayed as being doomed. When Romeo goes to marry Juliet, he throws a challenge to fate; Do thou but close our hands with holy words. Then love-devouring death do what he dare. (2.6.6-7). An Elizabethan audience would have considered this act of Romeos to be very ominous. They would have been likely to expect fate to rise to such a challenge and end up being the winner. Romeos words foreshadow what actually happens because love-devouring death arrives very soon after the wedding. When Juliet shows concern for Romeos safety, Romeo assures her that its ok if her kinsmen find him, because his; life were better ended by their hate. Then death prorogued wanting of thy love ( 2.2.77-78). Romeo means that hed much rather have her love and die on the spot, than not have her love and die later. He does get her love, and that love leads to his death. When Romeo leaps down from Juliets window and the lovers are exchanging their final farewells, Juliet has a premonition: Methinks I see thee, now thou art below, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. Either my eyesight fails, or thou lookst pale (3.5.55-57). Sadly, Juliet is foreshadowing the fact that the next time she sees Romeo he will be dead in a tomb. Later on in the play, Romeo mentions a dream in which he; dreamt my lady came and found me dead (V.1.6). This further builds upon the foreboding nature of Juliets vision. Juliet pleads with her mother to help her avoid the marriage to Paris saying that if she wont help her then she should, ..make the bridal bed In that dim monument where Tybalt lies (3.5.198-201) Juliets implication that she would rather die than marry Paris foreshadows the fact that by the end of the play she will be sleeping with her husband in that dim monument where Tybalt lies. Juliet then asks the Friar to help her to avoid marrying Paris. She says, the Friar could, hide me nightly in a charnel-house, Oer -coverd quite with dead mens rattling bones, With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls, Or Bid me go into a new-made grave And hide me with a dead man in his shroud, (4.1.81-88) Juliets description foreshadows the fact that she does hide in a charnel house, and Tybalt will be the dead man in his shroud. It is not only Romeo and Juliet who foreshadow their own deaths the words used by all around them also hint at their tragic ending. At the feast, Tybalt makes a promise to himself that he will make Romeo pay for coming to the feast. He says; I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall Now seeming sweet convert to bitter gall (1.5.91-92). The word gall can mean an extremely bitter substance, and it can also mean poison. This hints that Romeos sweet love for Juliet will lead to his death by poison. The Friar reflects that there is some good in every plant and mineral, even if it is dangerous. However, theres nothing so good; but, straind (wrenched) from that fair use, Revolts from true birth (natural goodness), stumbling on abuse (2.3.19-20) So, Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied and vice (is) sometimes by action dignified (2.3.21-22). The Friar thinks that the powers of nature need to be used carefully: there can be danger in too much of a good thing, and good can sometimes come out of something bad. The Friars words reflect the nature of many of the events which follow, for example, the love (a good thing) of Romeo and Juliet brings them death ( a bad thing), and their death (a bad thing) brings an end to the feud between the Montagues and Capulets ( a good thing). There is a certain type of recurring remark encouraging the audience to associate death with Juliet, which is particularly effective in building the sense of foreboding and darkening the atmosphere of the play. Over and over again Shakespeare introduces the idea that Juliet will be the bride of Death. I think that the most powerful personification in the play is the image of Death as Juliets husband-bridegroom. It recurs in different forms. Juliet herself first speaks like this the moment after she has first met Romeo: Go ask his name. If he be married, My grave is like to be my wedding bed (1.5.134-5). After hearing of Romeos banishment she looks at the ropes which he would have used to gain access to her room, and says: He made you for a highway to my bed, But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed. Come, cords. Come, Nurse. Ill to my wedding bed, And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead. (111.1.134-7) Her mother also encourages the audience to think in this way about Juliet. When Juliet refuses to marry Paris, an angry Lady Capulet remarks, I would the fool were married to her grave (111.5.140), Juliets father, Capulet, speaks in a similar way when he thinks Juliet is dead: Death is my son-in-law. Death is my heir. My daughter he hath wedded. I will die And leave him all. Life, living, all is deaths. (1V.5.38-40) When Romeo sees Juliet in the tomb, he thinks that Death loves her; .. Ah, dear Juliet, Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe That unsubstantial death is amorous, And that the lean abhorred monster keeps Thee here in dark to be his paramour? (V.3.101-5) Remarks like these lead the audience to closely associate death with Juliet so that when she does finally die, they are not too badly affected. They also ensure that death is always in the back of the minds of the audience; they encourage us to expect it to be the result of the lovers affair and so impress on us the hopelessness of their situation. Throughout the play, it is made very obvious that the lovers are doomed the audience are led to believe that they do have to die. A horrible succession of coincidences destroys them. The events which contribute to the outcome of the lovers deaths, such as the feud between the two families, the series of accidents that spoil the Friars plans and the tragic timing of Romeos suicide and Juliets awakening, all seem to be the work of the cruel hands of fate. The audience are given the impression that circumstances are constantly arranged to work against them. If any one of the many coincidences had been different, then the tragedy would have been avoided. Romeo and Juliet are shown to be the victims of those circumstances. These coincidences have an important dramatic purpose: the fact that things keep going against the lovers creates the impression that an outside force of some sort is at work. The audience is repeatedly given the impression of fate as an outside force working against t he lovers. They are often portrayed as not being responsible for their fates. This view is encouraged by Shakespeare throughout the play and it leads the audience to pity the lovers. There are many suggestions in the play that the deaths were determined by fate. Throughout the play there are numerous references to the inevitability of the tragedy, for example star-crossed (Prologue, line 6), the yoke of inauspicious stars (V.3. 111). No matter how hard the lovers may try to overcome the obstacles in their way, the audience is left in no doubt that fate will win in the end. Both Romeo and Juliet make references to an outside power which they believe is shaping their lives. They speak of themselves as the innocent victims of that power. After killing Tybalt, Romeo exclaims; O, I am fortunes fool (111.1.136 Then later he refers to himself as a betossed soul (V.3.76), suggesting that he feels like a helpless ship in a storm, being blown here and there by fate. And when Juliet learns that she must marry Paris she feels upset and exclaims; Alack, alack, that heaven should practise stratagems Upon so soft a subject as myself! (111.5.210-11). She sees herself as a weak victim of the schemes of fate. On hearing the news of Juliets death, Romeo angrily cries; I defy you, stars (V.1.24) This indicates that he believes fate to be responsible for her death. As Romeo looks at the dead body of Paris, he thinks of the two of them as the victims of circumstances, both written; in sour misfortunes book (V.3.111-12) The Friar, realising that his plan had failed, tells Juliet that there was nothing he could do against the fate which seems to have worked against the lovers: A greater power than we can contradict Hath thwarted our intents (V.3.153-4). The frequent and persistent references to fate throughout the play collectively suggest that destiny will win in the end. They serve to create the impression that the lovers are at the mercy of fate. Shakespeare portrays the love between Romeo and Juliet as being ideal. However, he doesnt just show love as being ideal he shows that love has a darker side too. The references to the darker side of love create an atmosphere of foreboding and remind the audience of the words of the Prologue. When Romeo is in love with Rosaline and being moody, Benvolio teases him, saying: Why, Romeo, art thou mad? Here love is shown as a kind of madness. The Friar thinks that Romeo should control his feelings and be less hasty and impetuous. He advises Romeo to be cautious: Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast (11.3.90). Furthermore, he warns Romeo against being too passionate: These violent delights have violent ends. And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume. (11.6.9-11) His words are tragically prophetic of the deaths of the lovers. He tells Romeo: love moderately, long love doth so, (11.6.14-15) Clearly, the lovers dont follow his advice. Romeo is too passionate and rushes into whatever his feelings lead him to. He rushes into love with Juliet, rushes into marriage, he kills Tybalt without stopping to think, and after hearing of Juliets death he rushes back to Verona to kill himself. If he had slowed down, and thought about what he was doing, the deaths might have been avoided. The romantic love of Romeo and Juliet leads to their deaths because they act without thinking of the consequences. And the result is that they die. To an Elizabethan audience it would have been plainer than to a modern audience that the lovers were wrong to marry in secret without the consent of their parents. In a way even the feud is based on love. After the fight in Act 1, Romeo says: Heres much to do with hate, but more to do with love. (1.1.167) The violence of the feud is caused by the love and loyalty the Montagues and Capulets feel for their families The negative aspects of love show that love can be destructive and dangerous. This creates an air of foreboding. The occurrences of violence and conflict in the play help the audience to become used to unpleasant situations. The many different forms of conflict in Romeo and Juliet include those between: Montague and Capulet, love and hate, the bridal bed and the grave Shakespeare often uses antithesis to highlight the sense of conflict by using opposites. In this way the conflict is expressed in a more powerful way. For example, there are at least fifteen antitheses contained in Friar Lawrences first speech (11.3.1-30), as he reflects on the potential for good or evil in all living things ( baleful weeds versus precious-juiced flowers, tomb against womb, Virtue against vice, ..). Another example of contrasting antitheses is the speech in which Capulet grieves for Juliet (1V.5, 84-90). He powerfully contrasts the happy preparations for the intended wedding with the mourning rites for her death. The first two lines set festival versus funeral: All things that we ordained festival, Turn from their office to black funeral Sometimes Shakespeare uses a special kind of antithesis called an oxymoron in which two contradictory words are placed next to each other. For example, Shakespeare uses the oxymoron sweet sorrow in order to effectively express Juliets conflicting emotions when she and Romeo are about to part, Parting is such sweet sorrow The oxymoron sweet sorrow intensifies the conflict felt by Juliet at being sad to leave Romeo (sorrow) and yet excited (sweet) because she will be seeing him again. It allows a lot of information to be conveyed to the audience with a few words. It allows Juliets conflicting emotions to be conveyed to the audience in a very powerful way with just a few words. After hearing of Tybalts death, Juliet strings together a list of oxymorons (111.2.75). Shakespeare uses the verbal conflict in these words of opposite meanings to very effectively reflect Juliets emotional conflict: she loves Romeo and yet is appalled at what he has done in killing Tybalt. To express the confusion of her feelings, when Juliets fears that Romeo is dead, she puns on the pronoun I, the vowel i , the eye and the word ay(111.2.45-50). Her lines very effectively convey that if Romeo is dead then she too stops existing as a person as an I. In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare makes skillful use of language to influence the audience. He uses vivid words and phrases to create imagery which helps to stimulate the audiences imagination to stir up mental pictures which are emotionally charged. For example, Chorus uses powerful metaphors to suggest what will become of the lovers in referring to them as star-crossed and their love as being death-marked. Shakespeare also uses imagery to deepen the dramatic impact of particular moments or moods. All of Shakespeares imagery uses metaphor, simile or personification. Those which refer to death have a particularly powerful affect on the audience. This is because death is such a feared subject by everyone that its mention immediately has a strong impact. When I was watching the play, the personification which affected me in the most powerful way was that of the image of Death as Juliets husband-bridegroom. The atmosphere of the play plays an important part in influencing the audience. The general mood changes throughout the play, going from romantic to comic to violent to tragic. Apart from letting the audience know that its a tragedy in the Prologue and thereafter frequently reminding them of that fact, the general mood is kept relatively light in the first two acts. However, Act 3 starts with violence and death and then from thereon the atmosphere gets bleak as the events accelerate towards tragedy. The bleak atmosphere helps to make the tragic event more acceptable because it prevents the tragedy from having a shocking effect on the audience. One of the methods which Shakespeare uses to appropriately vary the atmosphere of the play is by using the scene settings to create certain moods. The settings of a scene help to give each scene the right type of atmosphere. The final scene is set at night in a graveyard and tomb. Its a suitably gloomy and morbid setting for the tragic ending of the play and it helps the audience to anticipate and accept the tragedy. Shakespeare also uses language to create atmosphere. For example, Juliet reflects on the conditions inside the tomb before she takes the potion; Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth , Lies festering in his shroud, where, as they say, At some hours in the night spirits resort (4.3.42-44) This death-fixated language and imagery very effectively creates a really spooky and morbid atmosphere which is very appropriate at that point in the play. In Romeo and Juliet everything happens in one week between a Sunday and a Thursday. Since the coincidences happen within this very short time-frame, it gives the audience the impression that events are speeding towards tragedy. This makes the situation feel increasingly desperate which creates tension in the play. Events seem to happen in a rush, sweeping Romeo and Juliet along with them. The audience get drawn in by the terrible logic of how things go wrong and cant help being swept along with them because there is a sort of morbid fascination in watching it happen. Due to the fact that every thing in the play seems to happen at great speed, I felt as though I was rushed along and the death of the lovers didnt have as strong a sad impact on me as it would have had if the pace had been slower. I felt as though I wasnt given enough time to feel bad. In order to soften the impact on the audience of the plays tragic conclusion (so that they dont end up feeling thoroughly depressed and/or traumatised), Shakespeare prepares the audience for the eventual outcome well before they arrive at that sad point. Throughout the play there are numerous references to the inevitability of the tragedy. From the very beginning of the play, throughout it, and right to the end, Shakespeare uses a variety of methods to make it blatantly obvious that his intent with this play is that of a tragedy and he uses a lot of dramatic irony to convey this. This is necessary to ensure that when the audience do eventually encounter the dreadful outcome, they dont become overwhelmed, although they may be saddened. He ensures that by the end of the play the audience have come to terms with the fact that that the lovers will die they were introduced to that concept from the start of the play, and thereafter frequently and persistently reminded of it. They are able to accept it and deal with it comfortably because they have been well prepared for it. The fact that the play did not end with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet made the tragedy more acceptable to me. This is because their deaths were not in vain. The Prince had tried to stop the feuding, but failed. The Friar hoped that the marriage of the lovers might unite the families, but his scheme went wrong. So, neither the Church (the Friar) nor the State (the Prince) were able to end the feud. But the love of Romeo and Juliet was able to end the feud. Their love was so great that it united their families. So, the play ends not with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet but with an end to the feud as a result of their deaths. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet will bring peace to Verona. I dont think that I would have enjoyed the play if it had ended with the deaths. It would have been too negative. I like fact that the play ends on a positive note that of love healing old wounds. It seems that the Friar was right sometimes, something good can come out of something bad.

Comparing Mothers in Mother to Son by Langston Hughes and GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Mothers in Mother to Son by Langston Hughes and GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid In order to build a strong, grounded house a person must use brick and cement. A brick is used to build the house, but yet it is the cement that molds and keeps the house together and intact. A family encompasses the same basic rules and needs. The father is the provider for his family, sort of like the brick, but it is the mother who holds the responsibility of teaching right from wrong, and they are the ones who keep strong when everything else is going wrong. Now days there are many single-mother families and the father is non-existent. Therefore, a mother plays a very strong, dominant, and essential role in her family. Mothers always want their children to do right and most of all; want their daughters to be bright young women. In the poem "GIRL", by Jamaica Kincaid, a daughter is remembering all of the things her mother tried to advise her of. The girl in the poem is never given a name because the poem sort of symbolizes how all mothers are when their daughters are growing up. They try to teach them right from wrong. The mother recommends such things as, "don't squat down to play marbles-you are not a boy you know", "don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all", and, "on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming". The mother is only trying to teach her daughter to carry herself in such a manner that is lady-like. In the end of the poem the mother suggests that the daughter, "always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh". The daughter then replied, "but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?" Her mother was in complete dismay by her daughter's response, "you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" Mothers feel that they do have a certain obligation to mold their children. The mother is frightened that after all she has taught her daughter she won't grow up to be a lady. The role of a mother is not only to distinguish to her children right from wrong, but are also there as a helping hand and guide.

The fall of the City: unnatural growth Essay

Every child has their own maturity and prefrence level. Should one’s behaviour be forced to change because of the stereotypes in society? In Alden Nowlan’s The Fall of the City, he writes in first person about a young honorable boy ,named Teddy, disagreeing with his uncle to be a well taught normal boy. It is important for a child to grow up and become an adult ,but they need to be the one building themselves up. Instead of being forced like Teddy. Alden Nowlan develops Teddy by comparing him with his uncle with a strong tone stereotipical man of the house. He also created hidden messages by having the war between Danova and Upalia relate to the conflict between Teddy and his uncle. Throughout the story, Teddy’s imagination falls apart slowly as he roughly transitions from an imaginative boy into his father’s fantasy, to protect himself emotionally. After his uncle told him to start his homework, â€Å"his uncle stood in the doorway between kitchen and living room, his shoulders shaking with laughter. ‘you’d never guess what that kid has been doing up there!’ †¦ that great lummox has been playing with paper dolls!† while Teddy knows that he will need to grow up sometime. his guardians that are living with him are trying to help, Teddy does not think that they he is playing with paper dolls. The Uncle creates his own opinion and forces Teddy to change by making fun of him. Teddy should be influenced to change instead of forced. Nowlan uses an interesting tone to create complicated and a somewhat confused emotional quality to the story. During the argument with Teddy and his uncle, The tone starts to be more vulnerable when â€Å"Teddy’s fists were clenched †¦ his voice shaking †¦ his uncle pointed a warning finger† which converts the atmosphere to be more serious.

Evironmentalism Essays - Energy Development, Energy Economics

Evironmentalism Essays - Energy Development, Energy Economics Evironmentalism Evironmentalism: The Next Step Broad Social Change Through Personal Commitment Introduction In the last thirty years, America has witnessed an environmental revolution. New laws like the 1963 Clean Air Act and the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act forged new ground in political environmentalism. Social phenomena like Earth Day, organized by Dennis Hayes in 1970, and the beginning of large-scale recycling, marked by Oregon's 1972 Bottle Bill, have help change the way Americans think about the environment. As we approach the third millennium, however, we must reconsider our place on the planet and reflect on our efforts and progress towards a sustainable society. As global warming becomes a scientific reality, natural disasters make monthly appearances in the headlines, and communities continue to find their ground-water contaminated by industrial and nuclear waste, we must ask ourselves: are we doing enough? The environmental movement in the past has largely been a social and political phe nomenon. While many of us recycle (yet still only 35 percent of us) and take dead batteries to our town's Hazardous Waste Day, most Americans have not made the environment a personal issue. Very few of us have taken the kind of personal life-changing steps that are necessary to create an environmentally sustainable society. It is simply naive to believe that America's present rates of consumption, waste production, and environmental contamination are sustainable. The kind of social change required can only happen when we as individuals embrace the effort in our everyday lives. Only then will corporate America and the government realize that they too must change to maintain their customer base and public support. This kind of personal commitment to change would also create a new social ethic based on the environment under which people and companies who do not care for the earth would be held socially and financially responsible. In six parts, this article will re-examine our place in the environmental movement and investigate exactly what changes we can make in our personal lives to bring about positive change. These areas are transportation, energy, recycling and waste management, toxins and pollution, food, and water. Some of the changes discussed will require sacrifice. But, more important, these changes will often simplify our lives, bring our families and communities closer together, and help us to better understand, revere, and coexist with the world upon which each of us is directly dependent. Transportation The invention of the automobile is one of history's greatest environmental disasters. The automobile decentralized our society. People with cars moved out of the city and drove to work from their suburban homes. Before the automobile, agriculture was local. Food was grown by farmers living in what was soon to be the suburbs, and delivered fresh to markets in the cities. Because of the short distance food had to travel, farmers didn't need to add pres ervatives or other additives to maintain freshness. Clearly, the automobile, like other harmful inventions, makes our lives easier in many ways, but how often do we consider the environment when weighing these benefits? Fossil fuels account for the automobile's most significant effect on the environment. Not only are the emissions from cars and trucks toxic to every air-breathing organism, but every step of the fossil fuel process, from extraction to disposal, is bad for the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), millions of gallons of untreated water contaminated by the drilling processes are dumped into waterways and oceans annually. Once extracted, fossil fuels are frequently refined on site, burying 179 million tons of toxic waste annually. During transport, an average of 1 million gallons of oil is spilled into the ocean each month. Upon arrival, fossil fuels are usually burned in automobiles or power plants. The average coal-burning power pla nt burns about 10,000 tons of coal in a single day. With even a low estimate of five per cent waste, that leaves 500 tons of toxic waste produced each day by a single power plant. If used in cars, oil must be refined further, wasting more energy and creating more toxic waste before drivers purchase it. The combustion engines used in cars and trucks emit toxic gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and acid rain, deplete the ozone

10 Chlorine Facts (Cl or Atomic Number 17)

10 Chlorine Facts (Cl or Atomic Number 17) Chlorine (element symbol Cl) is an element you encounter every day and need in order to live.  Chlorine is atomic number 17 with element symbol Cl. Fast Facts: Chlorine Symbol: ClAtomic Number: 17Appearance: Greenish-yellow gasAtomic Weight: 35.45Group: Group 17 (Halogen)Period: Period 3Electron Configuration: [Ne] 3s2  3p5Discovery: Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1774) Chlorine Facts Chlorine belongs to the halogen element group. It is the second lightest halogen, after fluorine. Like other halogens, its an extremely reactive element that readily forms the -1 anion. Because of its high reactivity, chlorine is found in compounds. Free chlorine is rare but exists as a dense, diatomic gas.Although chlorine compounds have been used by man since ancient times, pure chlorine was not produced (on purpose) until 1774 when Carl Wilhelm Scheele reacted magnesium dioxide with spiritus salis (now known as hydrochloric acid) to form chlorine gas. Scheele did not recognize this gas as a new element, instead believing it to contain oxygen. It wasnt until 1811 that Sir Humphry Davy determined the gas was, in fact, a previously unidentified element. Davy gave chlorine its name.Pure chlorine is a greenish-yellow gas or liquid with a distinctive odor (like chlorine bleach). The element name comes from its color. The Greek word chloros means greenish-yellow.Chlorine is the 3rd most abundant element in the ocean (about 1.9% by mass) and 21st most abundant element in the Earths crust. There is so much chlorine in the Earths oceans that it would weigh 5x more than our present atmosphere if it were somehow suddenly released as a gas.Chlorine is essential for living organisms. In the human body, its found as the chloride ion, where it regulates osmotic pressure and pH and aids digestion in the stomach. The element is usually obtained by eating salt, which is sodium chloride (NaCl). While its needed for survival, pure chlorine is extremely toxic. The gas irritates the respiratory system, skin, and eyes. Exposure to 1 part per thousand in air may cause death. Since many household chemicals contain chlorine compounds, its risky to mix them because toxic gases may be released. In particular, its important to avoid mixing chlorine bleach with vinegar, ammonia, alcohol, or acetone.Because chlorine gas is toxic and because its heavier than air, it was used as a chemical weapon. The first use was in 1915 by the Germans in World War I. Later, the gas was also used by the West ern Allies. The effectiveness of the gas was limited because its strong odor and distinctive color alerted troops to its presence. Soldiers could protect themselves from the gas by seeking higher ground and breathing through damp cloth since chlorine dissolves in water. Pure chlorine is obtained primarily by electrolysis of saltwater. Chlorine is used to make drinking water safe, for bleaching, disinfection, textile processing, and to make numerous compounds. The compounds include chlorates, chloroform, synthetic rubber, carbon tetrachloride, and polyvinyl chloride. Chlorine compounds are used in medicines, plastics, antiseptics, insecticides, food, paint, solvents, and many other products. While chlorine is still used in refrigerants, the number of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) released into the environment has dramatically declined. These compounds are believed to have contributed significantly to the destruction of the ozone layer.Natural chlorine consists of two stable isotopes: chlorine-35 and chlorine-37. Chlorine-35 accounts for 76% of the natural abundance of the element, with chlorine-37 making up the other 24% of the element. Numerous radioactive isotopes of chlorine have been produced.The first chain reaction to be discovered was a chemical reaction involving chlorine, not a nuclear reaction, as you might expect. In 1913, Max Bodenstein observed a mixture of chlorine gas and hydrogen gas exploded upon exposure to light. Walther Nernst explained the chain reaction mechanism for this phenomenon in 1918. Chlorine is made in stars via the oxygen-burning and silicon-burning processes. Sources Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-08-037941-9.Weast, Robert (1984). CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.Weeks, Mary Elvira (1932). The discovery of the elements. XVII. The halogen family. Journal of Chemical Education. 9 (11): 1915. doi:10.1021/ed009p1915Winder, Chris (2001). The Toxicology of Chlorine. Environmental Research. 85 (2): 105–14. doi:10.1006/enrs.2000.4110

Finance and Asset Management Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Finance and Asset Management Report - Essay Example 2012, 2011 and 2011. This performance evaluation has been conducted by using ratio analysis which has been the most effective performance evaluation tool in terms of past performance trends. The comparison of the financial performance of Great Portland is also made in collaboration with one of the industry competitor named as Songbird over the same financial periods. Following are the five broader areas of ratio analysis namely profitability, liquidity, efficiency, solvency and investment under which the performance evaluation has been conducted (Brigham et al, 2008). Profitability Analysis The profitability picture of Great Portland provides a better view if the past performance is taken into consideration. It can be observed that the net profit margin of Portland has improved massively as it just started some momentum in the year 2010 (Great Portland Estates, 2012). However, in the year 2011, the firm bounced back on significant note and continued its better performance in the year 2012 as well. Very similar trend can also be observed if operating profit margin is taken into consideration, which started peaking in the year 2010. However, operating profit margin for Great Portland has been on an increasing trend. If these two ratios of Great Portland are compared with Songbird, it can be noted that Songbird was performing well on these notes until 2012 when it drowned into losses (Songbird Estates plc, 2011). However, operating profit margin is still positive for Songbird in the last year but it has declined severely in the last three years. If return generated by the assets of the firm, are taken into consideration, Great Portland has improved its performance in this area as well such that from 13% ROA, it has increased to the ROA of 17% which is a very delightful sign for the company until 2012 when it declined to 7.9%. Likewise, return on shareholders’ equity has also performed well as it has increased from negative 17%% to positive 23%, which is a t remendous indicator that the equity of the company is making good profits until 2012 when it reduced down to 12%. Conversely, these two ratios for Songbird have again showed sluggish performance over the past three years as their performance in terms of both ROA and ROE has shifted into negative zone, which is an alarming sine for Songbird. Ratios 2012 2012 2011 2011 2010 2010 Great Portland Songbird Great Portland Songbird Great Portland Songbird Profitability Net Profit Margin 339.61% -33.47% 407.68% 146.40% 349.89% 63.57% Operating Profit Margin 378.56% 82.53% 432.13% 93.36% 404.92% 116.46% Return on Assets 7.90% -1.37% 17.05% 6.86% 13.17% 3.28% Return on Equity 12.53% -5.09% 23.38% 24.00% 17.84% 16.99% Liquidity Analysis The liquidity analysis of both the companies is conducted rather in a brief manner as only one ratio has been selected for this purpose, which is current ratio. Current ratio mainly depicts the amount of current assets available in order to pay off $1 current li ability of the company (Watson, 2009). If the current ratio of Great Portland is taken into consideration, it can be noted that this figure has been observed consistently on a declining trend such that the current ratio of the company was 2.59, which depicts that the company had only ?2.59 in order to pay o

A topic of your choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A topic of your choice - Essay Example They will begin to develop physical problems such as eye damage due to extreme exposure to light from the computer. Health concerns will manifest in terms of dizziness and headaches which may turn severe in the long run thus leading to damage in the brain cells and other parts of the body. They further argued that video games being an indoor activity, will not allow the children to go out and play with their age-mates which in turn will lower their chances of being fit as well as the ability to adapt socially with the environment. As a result, the children will not be able to interact well with other people hence leading a life of isolation and low self-esteem. Their academic performance were likely to decline as they will not be able to cope up well in class. They are aware that some of the video games are violent hence will make the children to be very hostile as they grow up thus become irresponsible adults. I tended to agree with their line of thinking, however they failed to consider some of the benefits of video games to children and I took time to inform them of the advantages so that they could consider buying them for the children. I told them that one of the advantages of video games is that they increase creativity among children as they engage in challenging experiences with the games. They also inculcate a taste for graphics, technology and design thus will tend to widen the scope of career paths for the children. The challenging games tend to sharpen their brains through mental stimulation and relieving them from anxiety or any form of pain. Since most of the games are played by more than one person, it will increase their team-playing abilities thus honing their communication and interactive skills. In relation to their academic performance, the games will facilitate their ability to solve problems in