Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court as a Dystopian Work Essay

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as a Dystopian Work      Ã‚   For years, Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" has been primarily viewed as a work of simple satire. Twain, desiring to poke fun at a group of America's cultural critics, chief among them Matthew Arnold, who claimed that cultural life in the U.S. treaded on shallow soil, takes aim at the venerated institutions of Britain. The author attempts to show that his country's lack of romanticized social structures, meaning an absence of royalty, the Catholic church, and long-dead knights and princesses, was far from a cultural weakness. Twain explodes the myth around idealized chivalric society and proves it to be no match for the Nineteenth Century man.    The book follows Twain's protagonist Hank Morgan, a pragmatist and the author's model of self-made, turn-of-the-century industrialist, through a time travel jump that lands him in Sixth Century England, specifically at the fabled Camelot. Here Hank, through ingenuity and entrepreneurial vigor, quickly ascends to the top of the socio-political structure of King Arthur's Court. What's more, Twain takes great pains in ridiculing both the role of the church in England and the ignoble position and lack of intelligence of the ruling royalty. He also pokes fun at the romanticizing of English culture during this period by illustrating the prostrate and dependent nature of the British aristocratic system -- a system void of democratic mechanism.    As a work of social satire, the beginning of the novel is fairly successful. At the outset of the work, Twain accomplishes what must have been his original task.    "The opening chapters, the direct attack, the... ...mbolic of American innocence and the Morgan and his machines of destruction as symbols of capitalism and industrialization, the novel becomes not chaotic literary failure, but dystopian science fiction popularized in the Twentieth Century. Where Huxley and others predicted enslavement to technology, Twain asserts that innocence and naivetà © have no place in and will be wiped out by modern society. His final analysis is that they cannot coexist.    Works Cited Bellamy, Gladys Carmen. Mark Twain as a Literary Artist. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.   DeVoto, Benard. Mark Twain's America. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935. Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. New York: P.F. Collier and Son Company, 1889. Wagenknecht, Edward. Mark Twain: The Man and His Work. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1935.

Digestive System

Our digestive systems contain glands. These glands produce enzymes. Enzymes are catalysts. Catalysts make chemical reactions happen quicker and easier. Digestive enzymes help us to break down food easier. Our bodies make lots of different digestive enzymes. Each enzyme breaks down a particular food. When an enzyme has broken down one food molecule, it can then break down another molecule of the same kind. It can do this over and over again. It makes the reaction happen without being used up. In the digestive system, enzymes are produced to break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats into smaller soluble molecules from large food molecules. These spread through the tube of the small intestine and into the blood plasma (carbohydrates and proteins) or lymph (fats) and pass to the cells. The stomach makes hydrochloric acid to help the enzyme called pepsin work. Fats are difficult to digest and absorb because they are not soluble in water. To help with fat digestion the gall bladder produces bile this makes the fats smaller. This increases their surface area for enzymes to act on. In the mouth is saliva and they containing amylase produced by the salivary glands. This enzyme is used to break down starch/carbohydrates into glucose molecules. In the stomach is found Pepsin which breaks down proteins into amino acids. In the small intestine, parts of a large molecule of fat are broken down into smaller fatty acid and glycerol molecules. Below is how the different foods are digested by using enzymes: 1. Carbohydrates – Foods rich in carbohydrates include bread, potatoes, dried peas and beans, rice, pasta, fruits, and vegetables. Many of these foods contain both starch and fibre. The digestible carbohydrates such as starch and sugar are broken into simpler molecules by enzymes in the saliva, in juice produced by the pancreas, and in the lining of the small intestine. Starch is digested in two steps. First, an enzyme in the saliva and pancreatic juice breaks the starch into molecules called maltose. Then an enzyme in the lining of the small intestine splits the maltose into glucose molecules that can be absorbed into the blood. Glucose is carried through he bloodstream to the liver, where it is stored or used to provide energy for the work of the body. Sugars are digested in one step. An enzyme in the lining of the small intestine digests sucrose, also known as table sugar, into glucose and fructose, which are absorbed through the intestine into the blood. Milk contains another type of sugar, lactose, which is changed into absorbable molecules by another enzyme in the intestinal lining. 2. Protein – Foo ds such as meat, eggs, and beans consist of giant molecules of protein that must be digested by enzymes before they can be used to build and repair body tissues. An enzyme in the juice of the stomach starts the digestion of swallowed protein. Then in the small intestine, several enzymes from the pancreatic juice and the lining of the intestine complete the breakdown of huge protein molecules into small molecules called amino acids. These small molecules can be absorbed through the small intestine into the blood and then be carried to all parts of the body to build the walls and other parts of cells. 3. Fats – Fat molecules are a rich source of energy for the body. The first step in digestion of a fat such as butter is to dissolve it into the watery content of the intestine. The bile acids produced by the liver dissolve fat into tiny droplets and allow pancreatic and intestinal enzymes to break the large fat molecules into smaller ones. Some of these small molecules are fatty acids and cholesterol. The bile acids combine with the fatty acids and cholesterol and help these molecules move into the cells of the mucosa. In these cells the small molecules are formed back into large ones, most of which pass into vessels near the intestine. These small vessels carry the reformed fat to the veins of the chest, and the blood carries the fat to storage depots in different parts of the body. There are two theories on the process of chemical digestion, and they are the ‘induced fit’ and the ‘lock and key’ theory. Enzymes are specific to reactants (known as substrates). That is, enzymes only catalyze one type of reaction. Induced fit is where an enzyme almost closes around the substrate like a baseball glove around the ball. And the induced fit model says that when a substrate binds to an enzyme, the enzyme temporarily changes shape to accommodate the substrate. While the enzyme is still specific to substrates, it is not as if the substrate is a perfect fit on the active site of the enzyme. After the reaction is complete, the enzyme returns back to its original shape, ready to be reused. Lock and key is simply that the theory states that an enzymes’ active site is the exact shape of the substrate, and that the substrate neatly fits in. Also another way to look at it is that the enzyme is like a lock, and the substrate is like a key. Only specific substrate works with an enzyme, just like a specific key is required for a lock. The lock represents the active site on the enzyme, where the substrate binds. So both are substrates specific, just one model states that the enzyme moulds to fit the substrate whereas the other says that the site is already shaped around the substrate. In recent research however, the lock and key model is disputed, with the induced fit being more likely. While the induced fit model is more likely to be correct from current evidence, the lock and key model is still used because it allows a simple diagrammatic way to understand the specificity of enzymes.

Scholar-Practitioner Model Paper

Scholar – A scholar is a person who is engaged in the art of learning any branch of information to attain literary or scientific knowledge. He is the man of books and is also known as a student who learns from his teacher (Hydroponicsearch. com, 2009). Practitioner – He is a, artful person who is engaged in his profession and actually uses his knowledge achieved by exercising his art either habitually or customarily practicing the same (dictionary. net, 2009). A Scholar-Practitioner is a person who juggles between researching additional knowledge and practicing and experiencing the theory there-off. He continuously updates his learning and contributes to further designing instructions and making decisions (IPFW. edu, 2009). Practitioner-Scholar: In such a situation, a person indulges in a practice based approach which is associated with scholarly inquiry of knowledge. Thus it is an associated relationship between theory and practice. It primarily focuses on clinical practice where by a consumer who researches as a scholar and is also known to be a professional trainer and a practitioner who uses the science of knowledge while dealing with clients (liunet. edi, 2009). A scholar-Practitioner model describes me the best right now – As I am related to the profession of teaching, a constant flair for reading and applying the learnt knowledge in the field of teaching. This ultimately shows the connection and the relationship between scholarship activities and practice activities. Thus advancements of educational systems and educational practice can be enhanced by this model. As a learner this model helps in the learning and investigating practical issues while for a professional it serves in providing a framework of research, teaching and servicing these activities (dwb, 2009). In scholar-practitioner model, while differentiating between master’s degree and doctoral degree, it is made clear that the very fact of being a student and learning without provision of financial aid will indicate the pursuance of master’s degree. While in the doctoral learning, it is the practice of the learned art which is mostly associated with provision of a scholarship or financial aid (dwb, 2009 & Kuther, T. 2009). References Dwb. (2009). What is the Scholar-Practitioner Model? Retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://dwb4.unl.edu/iTech/SPModel.html dictionary.net. (2009). Practitioner. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://www.dictionary.net/practitioner Hydroponicsearch.com. (2009). Scholar. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://www.hydroponicsearch.com/spelling/simplesearch/query_term-scholar/database-!/strategy-exact IPFW.edu. (2009). Reflections on Scholar-Practitioner (SP) Standards. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://www.ipfw.edu/educ/accreditation/Program_Information_For_Candidates/MS_Reflections_SP_1833checkpoint.doc. Kuther, T. (2009). What is the Difference Between a Master's Degree and a Doctoral Degree?. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://gradschool.about.com/od/admissionsadvice/a/masterphd.htm liunet.edu. (2009). The practitioner-scholar model: program competencies, goals and objectives. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/clas/psych/doctoral/forms/PractitionerScholarModel.pdf

Cultural Relativism Essay

Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words, â€Å"right† and â€Å"wrong† are culture-specific; what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs. Cultural relativism is widely accepted in modern anthropology. Cultural relativists believe that all cultures are worthy in their own right and are of equal value. Diversity of cultures, even those with conflicting moral beliefs, is not to be considered in terms of right and wrong or good and bad. Today’s anthropologist considers all cultures to be equally legitimate expressions of human existence, to be studied from a purely neutral perspective. Cultural relativism is closely related to ethical relativism, which views truth as variable and not absolute. What constitutes right and wrong is determined solely by the individual or by society. Since truth is not objective, there can be no objective standard which applies to all cultures. No one can say if someone else is right or wrong; it is a matter of personal opinion, and no society can pass judgment on another society. Cultural relativism sees nothing inherently wrong (and nothing inherently good) with any cultural expression. So, the ancient Mayan practices of self-mutilation and human sacrifice are neither good nor bad; they are simply cultural distinctives, akin to the American custom of shooting fireworks on the Fourth of July. Human sacrifice and fireworks—both are simply different products of separate socialization. In January 2002, when President Bush referred to terrorist nations as an â€Å"axis of evil,† the cultural relativists were mortified. That any society would call another society â€Å"evil† is anathema to the relativist. The current movement to â€Å"understand† radical Islam—rather than to fight it—is a sign that relativism is making gains. The cultural relativist believes Westerners should not impose their ideas on the Islamic world, including the idea that the suicide bombing of civilians is evil. Islamic belief in the necessity of jihad is just as valid as any belief in Western civilization, the relativists assert, and America is as much to blame for the attacks of 9/11 as are the terrorists. Cultural relativists are generally opposed to missionary work. When the Gospel penetrates hearts and changes lives, some cultural change always follows. For example, when Don and Carol Richardson evangelized the Sawi tribe of the Netherlands New Guinea in 1962, the Sawi changed: specifically, they gave up their long-held customs of cannibalism and immolating widows on their husbands’ funeral pyres. The cultural relativists may accuse the Richardsons of cultural imperialism, but most of the world would agree that ending cannibalism is a good thing. (For the complete story of the Sawis’ conversion as well as an exposition of cultural reform as it relates to missions, see Don Richardson’s book Peace Child.) Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic inanthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and later popularized by his students. Boas first articulated the idea in 1887: â€Å"†¦civilization is not something absolute, but †¦ is relative, and †¦ our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes.†[1] but did not actually coin the term â€Å"cultural relativism.†

Duality in Psycho 1960 Essay

Psycho is a 1960 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and John Gavin. The film is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The main theme that Hitchcock tries to express to the audience is dual or split personalities. Everyone has a subconscious battle with good and evil; he shows this in many different ways using lighting, different camera techniques, mise-en-scene and silence. Also he used a string orchestra to add tension and drama as well as setting the tone for impending violence. The movie starts with Marion Crane and her boyfriend Sam Loomis in an intimate scene, before she has to go back to work. When she returns to work she is instructed to bank $40000 for her employer but decides to steal it and skip town instead. Driving on a rainy night, she pulls into the Bates Motel where she meets Norman Bates. After being showed to her room the two have dinner and they talk about Norman’s ill mother. Later that night while Marion is in the shower a shadowy figure comes and stabs her to death. Norman bursts into the bathroom and finds Marion’s dead body so he wraps her in a shower curtain then dumps her body and car in a nearby swamp. Marion’s sister Lila and boyfriend Sam are concerned about her disappearance. A private detective named Arbogast is also looking for Marion. Arbogast finds the Bates Motel and notices Norman acting suspiciously. He mentions Marion meeting his mother, so Arbogast goes up to the house to find her but a figure emerges and murders him. When Arbogast doesn’t return Lila and Sam visit the sheriff who is puzzled about Arbogast’s claim that the mother died years ago. Sam and Lila rent a room at the Bates Motel and while Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks up to the house where she finds Norman’s mother’s corpse. Norman Bates then bursts in, wearing a dress and wig and tries to kill Lila but is stopped by Sam. After Norman is arrested the psychiatrist reveals that Norman murdered his mother and her lover and then developed a split personality to erase the memory of the crime. The movie ends with Marion’s car being pulled from the swamp. (Ebert,1998) One of the main techniques Hitchcock uses to express the theme of duality is  the use different lighting. This is evident in the parlour scene when Norman and Marion are talking about Norman’s mother. The light source in this scene is high on the wall and closer to Marion leaving Norman in the dark. The angle light behind Norman is very sharp and it draws the audience’s attention to the large dead birds that Norman has but leaves everything else behind him very dark and dull to make it seem almost like he’s lurking in the shadows. (Lamb,2013). Again in the parlour scene only half of Normans face is lit insinuating that he has a dark side but also that half of him is still good. This technique is used more than once throughout the film. In the same scene Marion is depicted as sweet and innocent with her full face being lit. She has a large round light behind her leaving no shadows and lighting the entire wall. It’s in this scene that Marion good side prev ails and she decides to go back to Phoenix and return the stolen money. Another technique Hitchcock uses well in the film is sound. The score was written for a string orchestra by Bernard Herrmann even though Hitchcock initially requested a jazz score. However, after the film’s success, Hitchcock said â€Å"thirty three percent of the effect of Psycho was due to the music† (Smith,1991, p.241). The title music which is a tense hurtling piece plays three times throughout the film adding tension to some of the earlier scenes. (Palmer,1990, p.275). He also uses silence to build suspense. For example, in the shower scene Marion gets undressed and begins showering with no background music; this implies that something bad will happen yet, when the shadowy figure appears the violins are used in a screeching and stabbing sound motion of extreme viciousness. (Palmer,1990, p.277). The mise-en-scene is extraordinarily influential throughout Psycho but the best example of this would be in the parlour scene. One of the main objects in this scene is the milk jug that Norman carries on the tray. The spout is like an arrow pointing to Marion, This shows the audience that Norman has chosen her as his prey. Another obvious technique used in this scene is the position and placement of the actors and also the body language used. When Norman and Marion are standing facing each other Norman is holding the tray with both arms making it look almost like he’s pointing at Marion reinforcing the idea that he has chosen her, while Marion stands with both  arms by her side making her seem unaware and innocent. (Quality Teacher Program,2002, p.14). Also, while Norman and Marion are standing outside the office Norman’s reflection can be seen in the window, which supports the idea of duality in the film. Camera angle and different camera movements are another fantastic technique that Hitchcock uses very well in Psycho to reinforce the theme of duality. This can be seen in the opening scene where the camera positions the viewer as a voyeur witnessing an illicit affair between Marion who is in her lunch break and Sam who is a divorcee. In the 1950’s this was seen as pushing the limits of what is socially and morally acceptable. The shower scene also uses an extreme close up of Marion eye which shows her guilt as well as her innocence. Her open eye suggests she didn’t deserve to be killed by Norman but also by dying she has been punished for letting her evil side take over and stealing the money. (Quality Teacher Program,2002, p.29) Hitchcock achieved his goal with Psycho by portraying his main theme of duality in human nature. He made the theme obvious to the audience and reinforced it in many different ways using a large range of techniques including camera angle and position, lighting, sound and mise-en-scene. From the thrilling and somewhat haunting music in the opening credits right up until the final scene where Marion’s car is pulled from the swamp the theme is very effective in a way that keeps the audience thinking long after the film is over. Bibliography A Thematic Analysis of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. http://www.novelguide.com/reportessay/literature/novels/thematic-analysis-alfred-hitchcocks-psycho (Retrieved on 26/3/14) Ebert, R. 1998. Psycho Review. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-psycho-1960(Retrieved on 26/3/14) Final Paper. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/147378225/Final-Paper (Retrieved on 25/3/14) Kato, M. n.d., Hitchcock’s Psycho Analysis, University of Kyoto, Kyoto. Lamb, B. 2013, Mise-en-scene. http://lessonbucket.com/vce-media/units-3-4/narrative/mise-en-scene/ (retrieved on 26/3/14) Nixon, R. n.d. Behind the Camera on PSYCHO. http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/191164%7C0/Behind-the-Camera-Psycho.html (Retrieved on 26/3/14) Palmer, C.1990, The Composer in Hollywood, Marion Boyars, London Plot Synopsis. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/ (Retrieved on 25/3/14) Psycho (motion picture) 1960, Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, Producer, Alfred Hitchcock. Quality Teacher Program, 2002, Critical Literacy in English Years 8-10, Quality Teacher Program, Sydney. Smith, S.C. 1991, A Heart at Fire’s Center; The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann, University of California Press, Berkeley

Financial Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Financial Reporting - Essay Example Here the items are specific and these are compared over a specific accounting period. This method can further be classified into two sub categories, namely absolute dollar and percentage comparison (Edmund, et.al., 2006). b) Vertical Analysis: The vertical analysis on the other hand is when the analysts use separate figures to one specific figure of a financial report. This comparison is generally performed in percentages. Here unlike the horizontal analysis, the analyst use one certain item and compare several different items with it, in the same accounting period. This is generally used to gather enough data to build a trend. This method is also divided into two main styles, income statement analysis and balance sheet analysis (Edmund, et.al., 2006). Narrative reports in annual reports are a very useful tool. These often cover a number of different aspects of the annual report. The narrative reports have been taking up higher portions of the annual reports. It has been noted by Deloitte research that these take up as much as 54% of the total annual reports (Reed, 2008). The role of the narrative reports is very clear, it is mainly present in the annual reports to provide the readers with a clear knowledge of the history of the company, a brief analysis of the changes made in the year, future plans of the company and also the illustrations and photographs that are relevant. This forms a source of information for the readers and to some extent can be considered to be a monologue. The role is to provide for a complete overview of the company. In terms of the analysing the financial statements, these reports provide the analysers with straight forward information. It includes a five to ten years of financial summary which proves to be very beneficial especially if the analyser aims at gaining comparative information over a few years of historical data of the company (Bear,

Principles of Marketing Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 192

Principles of Marketing Report - Essay Example Millennials are diverse and optimistic and are aged between 18 and 36. This generation account for 24 percent of the U.S population only 21 percent of this age group are married meaning their finances are less committed, and they are likely to buy a new product. The income of this demographic is between $25k and $48k. With the younger Millennials aged between 18 and 27 earning $25k and the older ones aged between 27 and 36 earning $48k (Nelsien, 2014). This is a diverse generation composed of Hispanics who make 19 percent, African Americans 14 percent and Asians 5 percent. They are also bilingual, and two-thirds were born in the US. Millennials are also tech-savvy and are likely to visit the company’s website before making an actual visit to a retail store. The company will have to engage them both online and in the media. Millennials like city life and are less likely to live in suburbs. They are social and do not fancy the picket- fence mythology that is associated with the suburbs. With this in mind, the company will target the urban areas of the state (Nelsien, 2014). The targeted areas also have the some highest concentration of Millennials in the state. In their research on Millennials, Nielsen found that three cities in California were in the top ten markets where the concentration of Millennials was high in the US. The areas are San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Since San Diego ranks the highest of the three it will be the company’s area of focus in the state (Nielsen, 44). San Diego is also ranked third in the country making it an ideal location for the company to achieve the greatest distribution. These demographics are ideal for the company as a target group because they live in urban environments and live mostly in Western states that make California, an ideal place for the company (Kotler, 2009). Millennials have become influential in America.