The History of Algebra

The History of Algebra Various derivations of the word algebra, which is of Arabian origin, have been given by different writers. The first mention of the word is to be found in the title of a work by Mahommed ben Musa al-Khwarizmi (Hovarezmi), who flourished about the beginning of the 9th century. The full title is ilm al-jebr wal-muqabala, which contains the ideas of restitution and comparison, or opposition and comparison, or resolution and equation, jebr being derived from the verb jabara, to reunite, and muqabala, from gabala, to make equal. (The root jabara is also met with in the word algebrista, which means a bone-setter, and is still in common use in Spain.) The same derivation is given by Lucas Paciolus (Luca Pacioli), who reproduces the phrase in the transliterated form alghebra e almucabala, and ascribes the invention of the art to the Arabians. Other writers have derived the word from the Arabic particle al (the definite article), and gerber, meaning man. Since, however, Geber happened to be the name of a celebrated Moorish philosopher who flourished in about the 11th or 12th century, it has been supposed that he was the founder of algebra, which has since perpetuated his name. The evidence of Peter Ramus (1515-1572) on this point is interesting, but he gives no authority for his singular statements. In the preface to his Arithmeticae libri duo et totidem Algebrae (1560) he says: The name Algebra is Syriac, signifying the art or doctrine of an excellent man. For Geber, in Syriac, is a name applied to men, and is sometimes a term of honour, as master or doctor among us. There was a certain learned mathematician who sent his algebra, written in the Syriac language, to Alexander the Great, and he named it almucabala, that is, the book of dark or mysterious things, which others would rather call the doctrine of algebra. To this day the same book is in great estimation among the learned in the oriental nations, and by the Indians, who cultivate this art, it is called aljabra and alboret; though the name of the author himself is not known. The uncertain authority of these statements, and the plausibility of the preceding explanation, have caused philologists to accept the derivation from al and jabara. Robert Recorde in his Whetstone of Witte (1557) uses the variant algeber, while John Dee (1527-1608) affirms that algiebar, and not algebra, is the correct form, and appeals to the authority of the Arabian Avicenna. Although the term algebra is now in universal use, various other appellations were used by the Italian mathematicians during the Renaissance. Thus we find Paciolus calling it lArte Magiore; ditta dal vulgo la Regula de la Cosa over Alghebra e Almucabala. The name larte magiore, the greater art, is designed to distinguish it from larte minore, the lesser art, a term which he applied to the modern arithmetic. His second variant, la regula de la cosa, the rule of the thing or unknown quantity, appears to have been in common use in Italy, and the word cosa was preserved for several centuries in the forms coss or algebra, cossic or algebraic, cossist or algebraist, c. Other Italian writers termed it the Regula rei et census, the rule of the thing and the product, or the root and the square. The principle underlying this expression is probably to be found in the fact that it measured the limits of their attainments in algebra, for they were unable to solve equations of a higher degree than the quadratic or square. Franciscus Vieta (Francois Viete) named it Specious Arithmetic, on account of the species of the quantities involved, which he represented symbolically by the various letters of the alphabet. Sir Isaac Newton introduced the term Universal Arithmetic, since it is concerned with the doctrine of operations, not affected on numbers, but on general symbols. Notwithstanding these and other idiosyncratic appellations, European mathematicians have adhered to the older name, by which the subject is now universally known. Continued on page two.   This document is part of an article on Algebra from the 1911 edition of an encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. The article is in the public domain, and you may copy, download, print and distribute this work as you see fit. Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and cleanly, but no guarantees are made against errors. Neither Melissa Snell nor About may be held liable for any problems you experience with the text version or with any electronic form of this document. It is difficult to assign the invention of any art or science definitely to any particular age or race. The few fragmentary records, which have come down to us from past civilizations, must not be regarded as representing the totality of their knowledge, and the omission of a science or art does not necessarily imply that the science or art was unknown. It was formerly the custom to assign the invention of algebra to the Greeks, but since the decipherment of the Rhind papyrus by Eisenlohr this view has changed, for in this work there are distinct signs of an algebraic analysis. The particular problem-a heap (hau) and its seventh makes 19-is solved as we should now solve a simple equation; but Ahmes varies his methods in other similar problems. This discovery carries the invention of algebra back to about 1700 B.C., if not earlier. It is probable that the algebra of the Egyptians was of a most rudimentary nature, for otherwise we should expect to find traces of it in the works of the Greek aeometers. of whom Thales of Miletus (640-546 B.C.) was the first. Notwithstanding the prolixity of writers and the number of the writings, all attempts at extracting an algebraic analysis from their geometrical theorems and problems have been fruitless, and it is generally conceded that their analysis was geometrical and had little or no affinity to algebra. The first extant work which approaches to a treatise on algebra is by Diophantus (q.v.), an Alexandrian mathematician, who flourished about A.D. 350. The original, which consisted of a preface and thirteen books, is now lost, but we have a Latin translation of the first six books and a fragment of another on polygonal numbers by Xylander of Augsburg (1575), and Latin and Greek translations by Gaspar Bachet de Merizac (1621-1670). Other editions have been published, of wh ich we may mention Pierre Fermats (1670), T. L. Heaths (1885) and P. Tannerys (1893-1895). In the preface to this work, which is dedicated to one Dionysius, Diophantus explains his notation, naming the square, cube and fourth powers, dynamis, cubus, dynamodinimus, and so on, according to the sum in the indices. The unknown he terms arithmos, the number, and in solutions he marks it by the final s; he explains the generation of powers, the rules for multiplication and division of simple quantities, but he does not treat of the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of compound quantities. He then proceeds to discuss various artifices for the simplification of equations, giving methods which are still in common use. In the body of the work he displays considerable ingenuity in reducing his problems to simple equations, which admit either of direct solution, or fall into the class known as indeterminate equations. This latter class he discussed so assiduously that they are often known as Diophantine problems, and the methods of resolving them as the Diophantine analysis (see EQUATION, Indeterminate.) It is difficult to believe that this work of Diophantus arose spontaneously in a period of general stagnation. It is more than likely that he was indebted to earlier writers, whom he omits to mention, and whose works are now lost; nevertheless, but for this work, we should be led to assume that algebra was almost, if not entirely, unknown to the Greeks. The Romans, who succeeded the Greeks as the chief civilized power in Europe, failed to set store on their literary and scientific treasures; mathematics was all but neglected; and beyond a few improvements in arithmetical computations, there are no material advances to be recorded. In the chronological development of our subject we have now to turn to the Orient. Investigation of the writings of Indian mathematicians has exhibited a fundamental distinction between the Greek and Indian mind, the former being pre-eminently geometrical and speculative, the latter arithmetical and mainly practical. We find that geometry was neglected except in so far as it was of service to astronomy; trigonometry was advanced, and algebra improved far beyond the attainments of Diophantus. Continued on page three.   This document is part of an article on Algebra from the 1911 edition of an encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. The article is in the public domain, and you may copy, download, print and distribute this work as you see fit. Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and cleanly, but no guarantees are made against errors. Neither Melissa Snell nor About may be held liable for any problems you experience with the text version or with any electronic form of this document. The earliest Indian mathematician of whom we have certain knowledge is Aryabhatta, who flourished about the beginning of the 6th century of our era. The fame of this astronomer and mathematician rests on his work, the Aryabhattiyam, the third chapter of which is devoted to mathematics. Ganessa, an eminent astronomer, mathematician and scholiast of Bhaskara, quotes this work and makes separate mention of the cuttaca (pulveriser), a device for effecting the solution of indeterminate equations. Henry Thomas Colebrooke, one of the earliest modern investigators of Hindu science, presumes that the treatise of Aryabhatta extended to determinate quadratic equations, indeterminate equations of the first degree, and probably of the second. An astronomical work, called the Surya-siddhanta (knowledge of the Sun), of uncertain authorship and probably belonging to the 4th or 5th century, was considered of great merit by the Hindus, who ranked it only second to the work of Brahmagupta, who flourish ed about a century later. It is of great interest to the historical student, for it exhibits the influence of Greek science upon Indian mathematics at a period prior to Aryabhatta. After an interval of about a century, during which mathematics attained its highest level, there flourished Brahmagupta (b. A.D. 598), whose work entitled Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta (The revised system of Brahma) contains several chapters devoted to mathematics. Of other Indian writers mention may be made of Cridhara, the author of a Ganita-sara (Quintessence of Calculation), and Padmanabha, the author of an algebra. A period of mathematical stagnation then appears to have possessed the Indian mind for an interval of several centuries, for the works of the next author of any moment stand but little in advance of Brahmagupta. We refer to Bhaskara Acarya, whose work the Siddhanta-ciromani (Diadem of anastronomical System), written in 1150, contains two important chapters, the Lilavati (the beautiful [science or art]) and Viga-ganita (root-extraction), which are given up to arithmetic and algebra. English translations of the mathematical chapters of the Brahma-siddhanta and Siddhanta-ciromani by H. T. Colebrooke (1817), and of the Surya-siddhanta by E. Burgess, with annotations by W. D. Whitney (1860), may be consulted for details. The question as to whether the Greeks borrowed their algebra from the Hindus or vice versa has been the subject of much discussion. There is no doubt that there was a constant traffic between Greece and India, and it is more than probable that an exchange of produce would be accompanied by a transference of ideas. Moritz Cantor suspects the influence of Diophantine methods, more particularly in the Hindu solutions of indeterminate equations, where certain technical terms are, in all probability, of Greek origin. However this may be, it is certain that the Hindu algebraists were far in advance of Diophantus. The deficiencies of the Greek symbolism were partially remedied; subtraction was denoted by placing a dot over the subtrahend; multiplication, by placing bha (an abbreviation of bhavita, the product) after the factom; division, by placing the divisor under the dividend; and square root, by inserting ka (an abbreviation of karana, irrational) before the quantity. The unknown was ca lled yavattavat, and if there were several, the first took this appellation, and the others were designated by the names of colours; for instance, x was denoted by ya and y by ka (from kalaka, black). Continued on page four. This document is part of an article on Algebra from the 1911 edition of an encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. The article is in the public domain, and you may copy, download, print and distribute this work as you see fit. Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and cleanly, but no guarantees are made against errors. Neither Melissa Snell nor About may be held liable for any problems you experience with the text version or with any electronic form of this document. A notable improvement on the ideas of Diophantus is to be found in the fact that the Hindus recognized the existence of two roots of a quadratic equation, but the negative roots were considered to be inadequate, since no interpretation could be found for them. It is also supposed that they anticipated discoveries of the solutions of higher equations. Great advances were made in the study of indeterminate equations, a branch of analysis in which Diophantus excelled. But whereas Diophantus aimed at obtaining a single solution, the Hindus strove for a general method by which any indeterminate problem could be resolved. In this they were completely successful, for they obtained general solutions for the equations ax( or -)byc, xyaxbyc (since rediscovered by Leonhard Euler) and cy2ax2b. A particular case of the last equation, namely, y2ax21, sorely taxed the resources of modern algebraists. It was proposed by Pierre de Fermat to Bernhard Frenicle de Bessy, and in 1657 to all mathematician s. John Wallis and Lord Brounker jointly obtained a tedious solution which was published in 1658, and afterwards in 1668 by John Pell in his Algebra. A solution was also given by Fermat in his Relation. Although Pell had nothing to do with the solution, posterity has termed the equation Pells Equation, or Problem, when more rightly it should be the Hindu Problem, in recognition of the mathematical attainments of the Brahmans. Hermann Hankel has pointed out the readiness with which the Hindus passed from number to magnitude and vice versa. Although this transition from the discontinuous to continuous is not truly scientific, yet it materially augmented the development of algebra, and Hankel affirms that if we define algebra as the application of arithmetical operations to both rational and irrational numbers or magnitudes, then the Brahmans are the real inventors of algebra. The integration of the scattered tribes of Arabia in the 7th century by the stirring religious propaganda of Mahomet was accompanied by a meteoric rise in the intellectual powers of a hitherto obscure race. The Arabs became the custodians of Indian and Greek science, whilst Europe was rent by internal dissensions. Under the rule of the Abbasids, Bagdad became the centre of scientific thought; physicians and astronomers from India and Syria flocked to their court; Greek and Indian manuscripts were translated (a work commenced by the Caliph Mamun (813-833) and ably continued by his successors); and in about a century the Arabs were placed in possession of the vast stores of Greek and Indian learning. Euclids Elements were first translated in the reign of Harun-al-Rashid (786-809), and revised by the order of Mamun. But these translations were regarded as imperfect, and it remained for Tobit ben Korra (836-901) to produce a satisfactory edition. Ptolemys Almagest, the works of Apolloniu s, Archimedes, Diophantus and portions of the Brahmasiddhanta, were also translated. The first notable Arabian mathematician was Mahommed ben Musa al-Khwarizmi, who flourished in the reign of Mamun. His treatise on algebra and arithmetic (the latter part of which is only extant in the form of a Latin translation, discovered in 1857) contains nothing that was unknown to the Greeks and Hindus; it exhibits methods allied to those of both races, with the Greek element predominating. The part devoted to algebra has the title al-jeur walmuqabala, and the arithmetic begins with Spoken has Algoritmi, the name Khwarizmi or Hovarezmi having passed into the word Algoritmi, which has been further transformed into the more modern words algorism and algorithm, signifying a method of computing. Continued on page five. This document is part of an article on Algebra from the 1911 edition of an encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. The article is in the public domain, and you may copy, download, print and distribute this work as you see fit. Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and cleanly, but no guarantees are made against errors. Neither Melissa Snell nor About may be held liable for any problems you experience with the text version or with any electronic form of this document. Tobit ben Korra (836-901), born at Harran in Mesopotamia, an accomplished linguist, mathematician and astronomer, rendered conspicuous service by his translations of various Greek authors. His investigation of the properties of amicable numbers (q.v.) and of the problem of trisecting an angle, are of importance. The Arabians more closely resembled the Hindus than the Greeks in the choice of studies; their philosophers blended speculative dissertations with the more progressive study of medicine; their mathematicians neglected the subtleties of the conic sections and Diophantine analysis, and applied themselves more particularly to perfect the system of numerals (see NUMERAL), arithmetic and astronomy (q.v..) It thus came about that while some progress was made in algebra, the talents of the race were bestowed on astronomy and trigonometry (q.v..) Fahri des al Karbi, who flourished about the beginning of the 11th century, is the author of the most important Arabian work on algebra. He follows the methods of Diophantus; his work on indeterminate equations has no resemblance to the Indian methods, and contains nothing that cannot be gathered from Diophantus. He solved quadratic equations both geometrically and algebraically, and also equations of the form x2naxnb0; he also proved certain relations between the sum of the first n natural numbers, and the sums of their squares and cubes. Cubic equations were solved geometrically by determining the intersections of conic sections. Archimedes problem of dividing a sphere by a plane into two segments having a prescribed ratio, was first expressed as a cubic equation by Al Mahani, and the first solution was given by Abu Gafar al Hazin. The determination of the side of a regular heptagon which can be inscribed or circumscribed to a given circle was reduced to a more complicated equation which was first successfully resolved by Abul Gud. The method of solving equations geometrically was considerably developed by Omar Khayyam of Khorassan, who flourished in the 11th century. This author questioned the possibility of solving cubics by pure algebra, and biquadratics by geometry. His first contention was not disproved until the 15th century, but his second was disposed of by Abul Weta (940-908), who succeeded in solving the forms x4a and x4ax3b. Although the foundations of the geometrical resolution of cubic equations are to be ascribed to the Greeks (for Eutocius assigns to Menaechmus two methods of solving the equation x3a and x32a3), yet the subsequent development by the Arabs must be regarded as one of their most important achievements. The Greeks had succeeded in solving an isolated example; the Arabs accomplished the general solution of numerical equations. Considerable attention has been directed to the different styles in which the Arabian authors have treated their subject. Moritz Cantor has suggested that at one time there existed two schools, one in sympathy With the Greeks, the other with the Hindus; and that, although the writings of the latter were first studied, they were rapidly discarded for the more perspicuous Grecian methods, so that, among the later Arabian writers, the Indian methods were practically forgotten and their mathematics became essentially Greek in character. Turning to the Arabs in the West we find the same enlightened spirit; Cordova, the capital of the Moorish empire in Spain, was as much a centre of learning as Bagdad. The earliest known Spanish mathematician is Al Madshritti (d. 1007), whose fame rests on a dissertation on amicable numbers, and on the schools which were founded by his pupils at Cordoya, Dama and Granada. Gabir ben Allah of Sevilla, commonly called Geber, was a celebrated astronomer and apparently skilled in algebra, for it has been supposed that the word algebra is compounded from his name. When the Moorish empire began to wane the brilliant intellectual gifts which they had so abundantly nourished during three or four centuries became enfeebled, and after that period they failed to produce an author comparable with those of the 7th to the 11th centuries. Continued on page six. This document is part of an article on Algebra from the 1911 edition of an encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. The article is in the public domain, and you may copy, download, print and distribute this work as you see fit. Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and cleanly, but no guarantees are made against errors. Neither Melissa Snell nor About may be held liable for any problems you experience with the text version or with any electronic form of this document.

Practical Advice for Point of View Problems - Freewrite Store

Practical Advice for Point of View Problems - Freewrite Store Self-publishing through channels such as Amazon KDP means you can quickly and easily get your novels into the hands of your readers. It takes away that soul-destroying process of collecting rejection letters from publishing houses with limited publishing budgets. It’s great news if you’re an author - and it doesn’t cost anything, either. However, there is a downside. Going down the self-publishing route means that you don’t get the professional editing that traditional publishing entails - which means you either have to pay for a copy editor or edit yourself. Editing your own work is tough - and maybe that explains why there are so many self-published books that have lots of unfortunate errors. One of the more difficult problems to spot in your own writing is problems with your point of view - so in this article, I’m going to take you on a whistlestop tour through three of the most common point of view problems, how to recognize them - and, most importantly, how to fix them. A Quick Refresher on Point of View If you’re an author (or an aspiring author) then you probably already understand what point of view is, but in here’s a brief refresher. Essentially, point of view boils down to asking yourself, as you’re writing â€Å"which character’s eyes am I looking through?†. You can use: the first-person point of view - told in the first person, with one (or more) main character(s) narrating the story - e.g. â€Å"I knew that Damien was trouble the first time I met him.† the third-person point of view - told in the third person (he, she, they), with a viewpoint character narrating the story - e.g. â€Å"Thomas paused in the doorway, anxiously watching Felicity flirting with Damien. There was something off about Damien, Thomas could sense it.† omniscient point of view - the story is told by an omniscient narrator (someone who sees everything) - e.g. â€Å"Felicity was oblivious to Thomas’ discomfort as she twined her arms around Damien’s neck.† multiple points of view - usually in the third person, but sometimes in the first person, you can have multiple viewpoint characters in your story - but the more you have, the more complex your story becomes. 3 Key Point of View Problems - And How to Spot Them There are different types of point of view problems that are commonly found in published novels. The first step in being able to remove these kinds of issues from your fiction is first knowing what they are. 1.  Ã‚   Inconsistent Viewpoints This is, by far, the most common - and most important point of view problem that I come across as a writing coach. It doesn’t just affect new writers - as some ‘experts’ claim, but can affect any writer at any stage in their career. In fact, point of view problems can become habitual for experienced writers - even those who have had mainstream publishing success. For that reason, I’ll be spending more time on this problem than the other two common problems! An inconsistent viewpoint can make your novel seem sloppy and badly written - no matter how masterful your use of language. When you’re writing, viewpoint inconsistencies can easily slip in - especially when you get ‘carried away’ when you’re writing. There are actually quite a few ways that point of view inconsistencies can slip into your stories - more than just things like slipping between past and present tense. We’re going to look in-depth at some of the most common of these, and how to recognize them when you’re editing your novel. Once we’ve chosen a point of view - no matter which we choose - we need to stick to it. The only exception is when we’re using an omniscient point of view, but this type of point of view has fallen out of favor recently. Most viewpoints are known as limited viewpoints - and this means that we can only include the things that the viewpoint character can see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel and think. When you are writing from one character’s viewpoint, that character can’t know what another character is thinking, for example. Before we dig into the specific types of inconsistencies, here’s an example of how an inconsistent POV can look in a story. When we’ve gone through the types of inconsistencies, come back to this and see how many you can spot! Christy walked briskly along the sidewalk, oblivious to the fact that the creepy guy who had stolen her purse was stalking her. A sudden sound startled her, and she glanced back over her shoulder. She didn’t see the toecap of the man’s left boot poking out of the doorway twenty paces behind her. She shrugged and carried on walking. Her stalker smirked.Stupid kid, he thought, slipping out of the doorway and continuing to follow her. Christy reached the door to her apartment block and went inside, opting to take the stairs up to her third-floor apartment. Michael had told her not to go home until the locks were changed tomorrow, but she couldn’t go into work in the same outfit two days running. It would all be fine. She was sure that whoever found her purse would hand it in to the police. She opened her apartment door and stepped inside, switching on the lights as she entered. The man following her smiled as he watched the door close behind her.Tonight will be fun, he thought, slipping the key he’d taken from her purse into the lock on the door. a.   Attributing emotions to non-viewpoint characters Your viewpoint character cannot know what other characters are feeling unless the other character tells them. This means that you can’t, as the author, tell the reader what a non-viewpoint character feels. This error happens more often than you’d realize - and you most likely would miss it in your own writing if you weren’t specifically looking for it. For example, if you were writing in the third person, from Alex’s viewpoint, and another character (let’s call him) Bob was feeling angry, you might write that â€Å"Bob slammed the door in anger†. That’s a POV inconsistency since although Alex might guess that Bob is angry, he can’t actually know that Bob is angry, therefore can’t be certain that the door was slammed the door in anger - the wind might have caught the door and caused it to slam as Bob was closing it, for example. When you’re editing your novel, watch out for these kinds of phrases - and any other situations where non-viewpoint characters emotions are written about. b.   Attributing motivation to non-viewpoint characters When you’re writing about a non-viewpoint character, it’s really easy to slip into the trap of telling the reader why the character did something. For example, if Ben isn’t a viewpoint character (but Aaron isthe viewpoint character), writing: â€Å"Ben spotted Aaron in the crowd and hurried to meet him,† would be a POV inconsistency. With these kinds of errors, spotting them isn’t easy, unfortunately - especially when you’re editing your own work. With practice, however, you can become more attuned to recognizing them. c.   Telling the reader what a non-viewpoint character thought or saw Your viewpoint character can’t possibly know what another character is thinking or know if a non-viewpoint character saw something that the viewpoint character isn’t able to see. If the viewpoint character can’t see it or know it, then your reader can’t know it either. If you want your reader to have that kind of bird’s eye knowledge, then you need to write from an omniscient point of view. For example, if Jennifer is your viewpoint character and Stefan is a non-viewpoint character, then the following passage would be a viewpoint inconsistency: â€Å"Are you serious?† Jennifer asked. Stefan swallowed.I’ve gone too far, he thought, absently rubbing his fingers over the fidget spinner in his pocket. When you’re editing your novel, you can try using your word processor’s ‘find’ function to search for words like: thought noticed realized wondered believed remembered knew reviewed recalled considered If you want to improve the quality of your fiction, don’t just remove these words for non-viewpoint characters. Since they’re words associated with telling rather than showing, your novel will be better if you show instead of tell (as much as possible). d.   Including items that the viewpoint character doesn’t notice or can’t see This is very similar to the point above about non-viewpoint characters thoughts but takes on a slightly different form. If your character can’t see it, then you can’t write about it - that’s the rule you need to think about when you’re editing your work. For example (the viewpoint character is Zeke): Zeke slid quietly back into his seat, not noticing that Mrs. Magnusson had been watching him the whole time. or: The bus was crowded, but Zeke managed to find an unoccupied seat. He slipped his headphones on. Up ahead, the traffic was at a standstill due to a multi-vehicle accident. It’s easy for these kinds of inconsistencies to go unnoticed, and it takes a trained eye to spot them. However, you could use your word processor’s find function to look for phrases like ‘didn’t notice’ and words like ‘unknowingly’, ‘not realizing’, ‘unconsciously’ and so on. e.   Telling the reader what the viewpoint character looks like Describing what your viewpoint character looks like is a tough one. If you have your character, for example, thinking about their appearance, then this isn’t a POV inconsistency. A POV inconsistency in this area comes about when you’re describing your character as someone else sees them - i.e. from the outside - which your viewpoint character can’t see. This often happens in describing facial expressions, for example: A grimace crossed Bryan’s face Bryan’s face was a mask of fury A smirk crossed Bryan’s face. Fortunately, these kinds of errors are quite easy to spot - and easy to remedy. It’s easy to say instead: Bryan grimaced Bryan scowled Bryan smirked When we grimace, scowl or smirk, we know about it, because it’s an action that we’re performing - we don’t have to see it from the outside to know we’re doing it, therefore this way avoids inconsistency in POV. 2.Too Many Viewpoints Getting the balance right with your viewpoints can be a challenge sometimes. If you have more than one viewpoint character, you have to decide whether they will have equal viewpoint time or whether one character will get more than the others. When you have multiple viewpoints, however, problems can occur - and your novel can become messy and difficult for your readers to follow. I once read a novel that had so many viewpoints - and so many viewpoint changes - that I actually started to feel seasick! The general advice I give to my students is that if you must have multiple viewpoints, keep them to as small a number as possible. Two or three viewpoints is much better - and easier to manage - than four, five or six. When you’re editing your novel, if you find that you’re struggling to keep track of who the current viewpoint character is, then this is a sign that you’re using too many viewpoints (or mishandling the distribution). It’s better to recognize this before you get to the editing stage, however, if you want to save yourself a lot of rewriting. Signs that you have too many viewpoints can include: A complicated narrative that seems too ‘choppy’ (moves around too much) You’ve already written 50,000 words and you’re only a third of the way through your plotline You keep forgetting which viewpoint character you’re writing this scene from Your story feels chaotic and confusing - even to you 3. Badly Chosen Viewpoints You should also be careful with the characters you choose to be viewpoint characters. This is a problem that can be easily sorted before it becomes a problem if you spend time working out which characters are going to be present for the most pivotal moments in your story - and which ones (maximum of two or three) are going to play the most important roles. If you’re more of a seat-of-the-pants kind of writer, and planning doesn’t work for you, then you may find yourself falling victim to a badly chosen viewpoint - and face a large rewriting project as a result. If, for example, you decide that your viewpoint characters are Hayden, Mitch, and Ellis, but Ellis isn’t actually present for your pivotal scene and is actually off on an adventure of his own, then you’re likely to end up with a story within a story that makes for a messy and incoherent overall plotline. Having a badly chosen viewpoint character can lead to problems in structure, focus, cohesion and more. Fixing Point of View Problems If you’ve already written your novel and are in the editing stage, then I’m afraid there’s no quick fix for your point of view problems. Once you spot them, you will have to edit the passages, chapters, or, even, edit out entire viewpoints, until you’ve eradicated the issues. If you’re still in the planning stage or have recently started writing, then you’re in a much better position to stamp out point of view problems in your writing. If you have previous examples of your writing, now is a good time to go over them and see if you can identify any patterns in your point of view problems. POV problems can quickly become habitual for writers - but once you’re aware of them, you can begin to work on eradicating them from your writing. Print out a copy of your story, find a set of highlighters, and go through your story, highlighting inconsistencies in one color (or, if you’re brave, try highlighting the different types of inconsistencies in different colors), evidence of too many viewpoints in another color, and badly chosen viewpoints in another color. Once you can recognize the POV problems that occur most frequently in your writing, you can practice rewriting scenes or passages without the POV problems - until writing that’s free of POV problems becomes habitual.

Principles of nursing practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Principles of nursing practice - Essay Example Nurses account for the well-being of their assigned patients, nursing actions and professional behavior (Bullock, Macleod Clark & Rycroft-Malone 2012, p. 223). The nursing team functions on their level of proficiency in the legally recognized range of practice. The nursing staff undertakes steps to promote the delivery of safe, and appropriate ethical care to patients. They uphold the principle of safeguarding the health and safety of each patient. They enquire and get involved to address unsafe, corrupt, or incompetent practices that interfere with their ability to provide safe, ethical, compassionate, and competent care to the patients. They also take preventive measures to minimize harm that arises from adverse occurrences. They work as a team to reduce the potential for future risks and preventable harms. Nurses provide information to patients in their care with the facts they need to make well-versed decisions connected to their health and well-being. They ensure they provide nursing care with the patients informed consent. The nurses respect the wishes of people who decline to receive information about their health conditions. The nurses recognize and respect an individuals freedom to withdraw consent for care or treatment at any time. Nurses express linguistic expertise in their practice. The nursing team engages in compassionate care through their speech and physical response in an effort to realize and care for the needs of the patients. They identify and analyze relevant information when making decisions regarding the status of the patient (Bullock, Macleod Clark & Rycroft-Malone 2012, p.159). They assist patients to learn about the health care system and assessing appropriate health care facilities. The nurses have a responsibility to exhibit competence continuously. They utilize a combination of technical expertise and clinical reasoning to provide appropriate healthcare to patients. The qualities and capabilities of nurses

International Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

International Finance - Essay Example The first section highlights how General Electric suffered adversely because of the 2011 crisis in Japan that involved an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear radiation. The second section of the paper involves calculations on covered interest arbitrage in order to investigate the amount of profit achieved and the amount of loss achieved by a corporate foreign investor.This paper stresses that The common characteristics of multinational enterprises include huge capital outlay, which contribute to the massive investments usually made by the MNEs. MNEs also have wide market presence in form of retail stores in numerous countries or subsidiary companies in numerous countries, a big workforce, and huge sales volume because of the wide market presence, wide and highly decentralized organisational structure. Lastly, MNEs have cultural diversity within their organisational setting. General Electric decides to venture into Japan through other subsidiaries such as Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Limite d because of the country’s robust economy, which is ranked third Worldwide in terms of gross domestic product after the United States and China. This essay has identified that for a foreign company to decide to venture into another local market or country, the local market has to be endowed with various factors that make it a conducive business environment. Such an environment is most likely to favour the business operations of the foreign company, give it an opportunity to growth further, and increase it profitability level.

Mice and Men and Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Mice and Men and Great Expectations Essay Of Mice and Men and Great Expectations, have many similarities. They both show the way certain characters are treated by society. These similarities may be strong but there are natural differences that come from the different times and places the stories are set in.-as well as the way the authors approach the topic.  Steinbeck begins Of Mice and Men by creating a tranquil scene where everything is seemingly at peace. Steinbeck creates with words images of paradise such as when he writes: A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hill-side bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. A river, which is said to run deep, is calm and slow moving. Its water is clear too, twinkling over yellow sands, it has warm water too and seems perfect-almost too good to be true. Inevitably it is. Of Mice and men is set in the 1930s during Americas great depression. After the stock exchange crashed in New York, money and jobs became hard to find. There was poverty all over America and California, which affected everything. Like the American dream, paradise can only exist with money. Therefore only the wealthy can enjoy this and even then it is spoilt by the poverty surrounding it. The American Dream is a paradox, just like the paradise of Salinas River. They cannot exist because they contradict themselves. Paradise is bliss but how can this exist with so much poverty and suffering in the world? The Salinas River seems briefly to have escaped the paradox. There is no sign of poverty, just peace and tranquillity. Then human life enters the scene. Human life is introduced when a path is described; There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the highway. Its the point that the track has been beaten hard that really emphasises what effect humans have had on the river. Other animals leave tracks that are temporary and blend into the scene. Humans have left their path permanently, like a scar it proves that not even the Salinas River can reach paradise. But it is not the only scar, In front of the low horizontal limb of a giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires; the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it. Two more scars. The introduction of humans into the scene sees the end of the animal life in the scene. As the humans approach all the wildlife is scared of and the area is completely deserted. For a moment the place was lifeless. The peace is broken and with it any chance of the Salinas River truly becoming paradise.  The story is set in California where few people owned land. They had either lost it due to the financial problems the depression caused or were just too poor to afford any in the first place. The people needed to find work; one of the most common jobs was to work on a farm. These people became known as migrant farmers. They would drift from one farm to the next, rarely settling for long. The two characters that enter the scene are migrant farmers and are looking for work. This is the first introduction of human life into the scene. Great Expectations is set in Victorian England, where just like in 1930s California, the rich thrived and the poor suffered terribly. Even more distressing perhaps was the disease that swept through towns and killed many children as well as adults. This led to an increase in orphans, who have the same feelings of being alone and poor. They have the same problems as many others and werent much better off than the criminals in jail. Criminals were treated like animals, as were the poor community as a whole. Just like during the dust bowl, if you werent rich then you were a social outcast. After introducing the character Pip, Dickens begins describing his surroundings. Dickens goes into great detail to set the scene. He describes the area as Marsh Country which stretches for twenty miles up to the coast. Pip is in a secluded graveyard overgrown and derelict. Beyond the graveyard is a dark flat wilderness, Intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes. It is a raw afternoon towards the evening. The setting is dark and there is a sense of evil and death about the place. It seems to be building upto something sinister, and does so when the criminal enters the scene. He is described as a fearful man, in all course grey with an iron on his leg. He almost represents death in this scene, an evil presence trying to seize Pip.

How William Faulkner Constructs His Characters in Absalom, Absalom! Ess

How William Faulkner Constructs His Characters in Absalom, Absalom! Who says what - and how and when - may be the most compelling way William Faulkner constructs his characters in Absalom, Absalom! Storytelling is not just an act in which the saga of the Sutpens is recounted, revised, and even recreated; it is a gesture of self-disclosure. Each revelation about the past provides a glimpse into the present state of the narrating character's mind. The rhetoric, the digressions, the strange (and often obsessive) fixations of each character's account are the products of a range of personalities and view points, unable to agree on a definitive version of the story. There are, to be sure, overlaps; these are the events in the stories that transcend the proclivities of each narrator and are probably, though not certainly, the basic facts of what happened. We know there was a man named Thomas Sutpen; who came to Jefferson, Missippi; who married Ellen Coldfield; who had two children with his wife; whose son befriended and later killed a man named Bon; whose daughter was Bon's betrothed; who fought in the Civil War; and who longed for a male heir to carry on the Sutpen legacy. The passion of the storytellers makes us forget that these are the only uniformly corroborated elements of the story. Neither Bond's identity nor Sutpen's mysterious past, though they seem so essential to our understanding of the novel, are indisputable. It is not impossible, indeed, that they are inventions of the narrators, perhaps unconscious embellishments of the story in order to do away with all its troublesome lacunae. Like the reader, the characters have had to infer a nd imagine a great deal to arrive at a plausible rendering of how things really happened. These discrepancies, as bewildering as they often are, do not exist to indict the narrators for taking creative liberties with history. Faulkner does not see them as liars or manipulators and we should not either. Indeed, there is no "authentic" version of the Sutpen story, and so, within the bounds of the basic facts we have established, there can be no wrong version. This is not objective reporting; what we have instead are personal interpretations. What we also have are expressions of personality. The story Quentin tells says as much about Quentin Compson as it does about the Sutpens and their travails. He brings his own ... ...ve involvement in the story, Quentin and Shreve overcome both narrative and temporal convention and finally, after much exhaustion, bring the story a close. At least, that is, for now. Quentin is very little comforted by the end of his and Shreve's narrative. Shreve, retreating back to his ironic, macho posturing of before, chases the post-story silence away by exclaiming, "The South. Jesus. No wonder you folks all outlive yourselves by years and years and years." Quentin retains his brooding, pensive silence, lying rigidly in the cold dorm room and thinking to himself "Nevermore of peace. Nevermore. Nevermore. Nevermore." The story of the Sutpens has ended, but there has not been (nor will there be) any sort of resolution. Miss Rosa, Mr. Compson, Sutpen, Quentin and Shreve have all tried to bend the story into the shape they most desire, be it a gothic romance, a classical tragedy, a heroic epic, a mystery, or a Southern farce. It is pliable enough, but the story cannot resist being "re-bent" by any narrator who happens upon it. The story, alas, will never be in the exact shape of history. It can, however, be a very close approximation of the patterns of the narra tor's mind.

Preferred Learning Style Essay

Preferred Learning Style: Multimodal Grand Canyon University NRS-429V August 22, 2013 Today more adults are returning to school for continuing education. It can be very difficult to juggle a full time job, school work, and still find time to spend with the family. Time management is of the utmost importance in order to be successful in furthering education. A student knowing his or her learning style could be an important first step in being successful. Learning style is the way a person absorbs and processes information to be used at a later time. For a student, knowing his or her learning style will enable them to make the changes needed to improve their study habits. Neil Fleming, an educator, launched VARK in 1987. It is a questionnaire used to assess learning styles. The questionnaire is free for use in schools and universities. VARK is an acronym for Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic. Fleming states that it is not a learning style questionnaire, it provides feedback only on one’s preferred modes of communicating. (. There are critics of learning s tyles. This could be because it is difficult to measure learning. These critics say that knowing your learning style does not improve your way of learning and it is hard to dispute because there is no evidence to support this . However this learner feels that knowing her learning style will better enable her to adjust to the many demands of continuing education. Although there are four categories of learning preferences, there is also a multimodal learning preference. This preference integrates more than one preference of learning. Approximately 60% of any population fits into the category of multimodal learning preference (. This learner is a multimodal learner. Learners with multimodal preferences may adapt their mode of learning to the situation at hand. For example, if this learner is present in a class and the instructor is lecturing without any visual aids to assist in learning, then she may use the read/write learning style. She make take extensive notes in class then go back and read all of the notes later. One down side to this method of learning can be the time restraint. If there is a lot of material to cover over a short period of time, then this method may not be best. According to the questionnaire, this learner is multimodal, with read/write and aural as the stronger learning preferences. On this point she disagrees with the questionnaire, as she feels she is more visual than aural. She scored lower in kinesthetic but feels at times she is definitely a kinesthetic learner. It takes her back to her days in the military when the motto was â€Å"see one, do one, teach one.† This fits her especially when learning a new task, as she is very hands on. It goes along with the kinesthetic learner needing to do things in order to understand them. The questionnaire states that visual learner use pictures, posters, books with diagrams, graphs, and flow charts. They may also use different highlighters to emphasize different points. This learner does like the idea of pictures, slides, and flow charts but feels that graphs may be difficult to understand sometimes because the amount of information can be overwhelming at times. The multimodal learner can be placed in two categories. One category is the context specific learner. This type of learner chooses the mode that best fi ts the need at that specific time. Their scores on the VARK questionnaire are usually between 13 and 26. This learner tends to fall into this category now. The other category is the whole sense approach. This type of learner uses a number of their modes of learning in combination and their scores on the VARK questionnaire are usually above 30. One disadvantage of this may be that the learner may not fully understand new material. Initially when this learner first returned to school for her Associates Degree in Nursing, she was this type of learner. It did not take long for her to adjust her study habits and find a learning style that was better for her. For the online courses of this nursing program, this learner has used more of the read/write mode of learning. This has worked best for her because of the fast pace of the classes and the amount of material covered. She does use more than one mode of learning when the situation requires it, and she feels that will be the case as the school year continues. The VARK questionnaire was very interesting. This learner was surprised the learning styles could be assessed from only a few questions, but the results were fairly accurate. In this fast paced  course of study the learner feels that the results of this questionnaire and good time management will help her to be successful in this and upcoming classes. References Fleming, N. a. (2006). Learning StylesAgain: VARKing up the right tree!, Educational Developments . SEDA Ltd. Issue 7.4, 4-7. Reiner, C. &. (2010). The Myth of Learning Styles. Change. Retrieved from http://library.gcu.edu. VARK a guide to learning styles. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=multimodal.

An investigation of code-switching in English classes at the University of Danang- College of Language Studies

Bilingual speakers usually tend to switch some words or phrases from one language to another during conversation, which is called â€Å"code-switching†. According to Heather Coffey, code-switching is the practice of moving between variations of languages in different contexts. Code-switching is also intentionally or unintentionally practiced frequently in class. This research will focus on code-switching practice in class of both teachers and students in Danang University- College of Language Studies, how it is performed, what effects it might create as well as some suggestions for this problem. Techniques for this research such as observations, interview and taking of field notes are used as means of data collection.Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Problem statementEnglish ranks second in top 10 Most Spoken Languages in the World. In Vietnam, learning English now is becoming more popular than ever before. For those who know English, they tend to mix the two languages, i.e. English and Vietnamese, in conversation. Code-switching, the practice of moving back and forth between two languages or between two dialects or registers of the same language, therefore is inevitable and sometimes unconscious, especially when they are having English classes.For example, in an English class at Danang University- College of Language Studies, a teacher says: â€Å"Cà ¡c em là  m bà  i  writing rá »â€œi submit cho cà ´ qua mail.†, and students ask: â€Å"Deadline là   khi nà  o vá º ­y cà ´?† Those are just two in tons of code-switching that can be found in English classes. The frequency of finding code-switching practice inside classrooms is very high and it is worth paying attention to work on. That is the reason why I would like to take on this problem to investigate. 1.2 Research rationaleNowadays, English is an obligatory subject at school, a means of international communication, and a second language in our society. Our college, the College of La nguage Studies, offers official, integrated and advanced language training, of which the strength is English. Moreover, students who study English are better prepared and have larger vocabulary since they are taught English at high schools. Finally, it is not only students but also the teachers that code-switch in class for many reasons.Therefore, the finding of code-switching between English and Vietnamese is much higher than in other languages. By carrying out this study, I hope that it will help the students and the teachers as well be aware of code-switching in class and through some general suggestions for this issue, they can find specific solutions to avoid the drawbacks and make code-switching an effective tool for learning and teaching English. 1.3 Research scopeCode-switching is a broad topic since it occurs in many aspects of our lives. However, in this research, I only focus on code-switching in English classes performed by teachers and students of Danang University- Col lege of Language Studies- Department of English because I think it is more practical and feasible. Therefore, the process of interviewing and observation will take place in some English classes and some notes are also taken from the Internet. All the participants taking part in this study are required to use Vietnamese as their mother tongue, and English as their second language.1.4 Aims and objectivesThe study explores the use of code-switching in English classes at the College of Language Studies. Specific objectives are set as follows: Examine the frequency of code-switching found in these classes Investigate the  fluency and accuracy of the participants who apply code-switching in their classes Investigate the purposes and reasons for the practice of code-switching in classes Present an array of the influences of this practice1.5 Research question– What is likely to be the frequency of the practice of code-switching in English classes? – What are the reasons and purposes for code-switching in English classes? – What are the effects that code-switching might create and what can be done to make it a useful tool for teaching and learning English?1.6 HypothesisFirstly, it is hypothesized that the frequency of code-switching among bilinguals is very high because of a number of reasons. It may occur because there are no equivalent words, to convey intimacy, to avoid being overheard or understood, to add emphasis and some other reasons. Such reasons were anticipated in the findings of Nguyen Ha Quyen (2011). In addition, Walid M Rihane (n.d) also provided five reasons for code-switching, which are solidarity, social status, topic, affection and persuasion.Secondly, there is a tendency of practicing code-switching in class more, especially amongst students since they are encouraged to use English in classes; their vocabulary and grammar, however, is sometimes not enough to express their feelings or ideas. This may cause some effects such as words and phrases are applied in the wrong way, some students might transcribe some words to the accents and dialects that they are familiar with and so on.Chapter 2: Literature Review2.1. Previous studies 2.1.1 Code-switching in conversationCode-switching is one of the major issues in bilingual research. According to Milroy and Muysken (1995), the switches occur in different ways, sometimes the switching occurs between the turns of speakers in a conversation, sometimes between utterances within a single turn and sometimes even with in a single utterance. Nguyen Ha Quyen (2011), also investigated code-switching in conversation of Vietnamese teenagers, she pointed out that â€Å"to some people, Code-switching has become a habit and most time occurs subconsciously when speaking with people at the same age† and that â€Å"code-switching should be viewed from the perspective of providing a linguistic advantage rather than an obstruction to communication.†2.1.2. Why do peop le code-switch?Code-switching often happens with bilinguals and there are many reasons for this. Walid M Rihane (n.d) argued that code-switching is motivated by five main factors, which are solidarity, social status, topic, affection and persuasion. Some research has also found that people code-switch to emphasize or clarify a particular point, to reinforce a request, to substitute a word or to express a concept that does not have a direct equivalent in other language. Specifically, Nguyen Ha Quyen (2011), provided some factors that influence code-switching, such as: – No equivalent words in Vietnamese.2.1.3 Code-switching in the classroomCurrently, there has been several research on this field. Ehsan Rezvani (2011), in the research â€Å"Code-switching in Iranian Elementary EFL Classrooms: An Exploratory Investigation† proved that â€Å"code-switching is a readily available and frequently applied strategy for foreign language teachers in classroom interaction and cla ssroom management†, â€Å"although the teacher enjoyed high English proficiency levels, they did not maximize the target language (i.e. English) in their classroom interactions†. In addition, Bulelwa Ndabeni (2002) argued in her research â€Å" An investigation of Code Switching in different learning areas in a grade seven class† that â€Å"code switching has an important role to play in the school classroom, but more longitudinal studies are needed on the implications of code-switching†.She noted that â€Å"we must also be careful of the other negative side of classroom code switching†; â€Å"teachers should be aware of the importance of code switching in the classroom, but they should not use it as an avoidance strategy†. In my research, therefore, I will present some general suggestions to make code switching more useful in English classes. Chapter 3: Methodology and procedures3.1 Research methodI propose a qualitative study using question naires, observation and in-depth interview methods. Specifically, I would like to use questionnaires to collect the data. One of the major advantages of this method is that it provides possible anonymity and avoids embarrassment on the part of the respondents. It can be easy to gather a large amount of information to analyze. However, using questionnaires also brings some drawbacks. Therefore, I would also choose natural observation, which involves observing behavior as it takes place in the environment. In this case, the environment is inside the classroom of English classes. Observation is a useful strategy.For Saurab, â€Å"It is the primary mode of acquiring knowledge about the environment†. This method will help the researcher avoid the wide range of problems that is usually found if using questionnaires. For example, when having questionnaires delivered to the respondents, the researcher might not always get accurate or complete answer, or respondents may answer in ways that correspond to what is socially desirable. In addition, in-depth interview is used as well. This is a powerful data collection method. The biggest advantage of this method is that there is time for the respondent to further develop and give reasons for his or her point of view- without being influenced by the opinion of other respondents.3.2 Description of population and sampleThe participants of the study are teachers and students of The University of Danang- College of Language Studies- Department of English. Those participants, especially students, come from different cities and provinces. The gap of facilities needed to learn English, therefore, may exist amongst the students. Furthermore, the participants are required to use Vietnamese as their mother tongue, and English as their second language.The chosen  type of sample is simple random sample, i.e. each unit in the population has an equal chance of being selected. According to Natalie Andrew, â€Å"freedom of human b ias and classification error remains one of the biggest advantages simple random sampling offer† and â€Å"if done right, simple random sampling results in a sample highly representative of the population of interest.†3.3 Data CollectionInformation will be collected by observing randomly some English classes with Vietnamese teachers. These classes could be for first year or even final year students, since even first year students study integrated English. The researcher will record the date or take some notes. Furthermore, as mentioned above, questionnaire will be used as one of the method to collect the information. The questionnaires will include both closed and open questions and they will be delivered to random classes in the college. In addition, some interviews are also conducted to find out the ways and the reasons for code-switching. The interviewer will ask some closed and open questions and then probe for elaboration. In this way, data will be collected by tak ing notes.3.4 Instrument for data analysisThere will be some instrument needed for data analysis. For interview, it is needed to have a computer and a recorder apart from notes. The computer is to type and edit questions and answers and to save the information after the interview. It is used to design the questionnaires as well. It is also necessary to have a simple calculator to figure out the frequency of the practice of code-switching through its occurrences. In some cases, Microsoft Excel is used as a tool to help the researcher analyze faster and more accurately.3.5 Data analysis and expected findingsData collected will be dissected by logical and statistical techniques to correspond to the followings: the frequency of using code-switching in English classes of both teachers and students, the purposes and the ways of practicing code-switching. The researcher will count the occurrence of code-switching in the data collected, then identify the frequency. Information from the inte rview and questionnaires will be analyzed mainly to get the reasons and manners of performing code-switching in classes. Finally, the researcher makes a report to present the findings.

Essay on Hamlet Final Draft

Essay on Hamlet Final Draft Essay on Hamlet Final Draft Raven Robledo Ms. Happ Shakespeare: Block 1 6 November 2014 Ophelia Chose Not To Be What would a tragedy be without death? Not a tragedy. William Shakespeare’s tragedies are famously known for their obscene violence and copious amounts of death. Hamlet, one of his most memorable plays, is no exception and does not disappoint in headcount, however one of the most striking deaths of the play is the innocent Ophelia’s. Obedient daughter of Polonius, naà ¯ve lover of Hamlet, victim to the hostile grips of politics. Although Ophelia experiences an unfortunate death, given the circumstances that lead up to her drowning, there stands the possibility that she is more aware of her situation than she lead on throughout a majority of the play and chooses to take her own life rather continuing to suffer the repercussions of other people’s actions. Ophelia lives in a politically driven world filled where spying, deceit and manipulation are typical actions to gain power. Because she does not possess any title of power or significance, to be anything but a m an in Elsinore leaves her at a disadvantage. From the time Ophelia is introduced, until later in the play when her father dies, the most the audience witnesses her do in Denmark is pine over Hamlet, and takes orders from her father Polonius and brother Laertes. This makes her inherently different from everyone else in Denmark because she an innocent girl with no apparent desire to actively seek out power. A perfect scapegoat. To worsen her position, she has faith in the men in her life which in this world, as Ian Johnston words it, â€Å"simply has no room for love† (Johnston 9). Ophelia is in the perfect situation to be manipulated and let down by Polonius and Hamlet. Hamlet seems to carry the most weight in Ophelia’s eventual spiral into madness and death. She appears to be opportunistic from her first scene because she declares to her father that she loves Hamlet and how â€Å"he hath importuned [her] with love† (1.3.119). However despite her feelings she d oes as her father tells her and breaks up with Hamlet. This moment marks a turn in Hamlet’s actions towards Ophelia as he becomes defensive and resorts to verbal attacks towards Ophelia. Both verbal interactions they have consist of Hamlet insulting Ophelia’s sexuality, but what differentiates his first attack from the second, is that the second is made public. In Act 3, Scene 2, Hamlet chooses to again verbally attack Ophelia’s sexuality with crude remarks and puns, but this time in presence of the court, publicly humiliating her. Ophelia, having clearly been in love with Hamlet, must have been not only offended but heartbroken by Hamlet’s harsh words. Each cruel word chipping away at her hope in men. Not only did Hamlet take part in deteriorating Ophelia’s faith in men, but her own father, Polonius, did as well. Her father shows no second thought in his initial use of Ophelia to determine Hamlet’s sanity by insisting she to break up with h im. However he does show some concern after forcing her to return Hamlet’s belonging to him in order to eavesdrop with Claudius. Each situation causing more issues with Hamlet, but Ophelia wants to abide by her father and assume that he’s doing what’s best. It’s not until his death that it becomes apparent that things begin to click for Ophelia. After

Atlantic Telegraph Cable Timeline

Atlantic Telegraph Cable Timeline The first telegraph cable to cross the Atlantic Ocean failed after working for a few weeks in 1858. The businessman behind the audacious project, Cyrus Field, was determined to make another attempt, but the Civil War, and numerous financial problems, interceded. Another failed attempt was made in the summer of 1865. And finally, in 1866, a fully functional cable was placed that connected Europe to North America. The two continents have been in constant communication since. The cable stretching thousands of miles under the waves changed the world profoundly, as news no longer took weeks to cross the ocean. The nearly instant movement of news was a huge leap forward for business, and it changed the way Americans and Europeans viewed the news. The following timeline details  major events in the long struggle to transmit telegraphic messages between continents. 1842: During the experimental phase of the telegraph, Samuel Morse placed an underwater cable in New York Harbor and succeeded in sending messages across it. A few years later, Ezra Cornell placed a telegraph cable across the Hudson River from New York City to New Jersey. 1851: A telegraph cable was laid under the English Channel, connecting England and France. January 1854: A British entrepreneur, Frederic Gisborne, who had run into financial problems while trying to place an undersea telegraph cable from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, happened to meet Cyrus Field, a wealthy businessman and investor in New York City. Gisbornes original idea was to transmit information faster than ever between North America and Europe by employing ships and telegraph cables. The town of St. Johns, on the eastern tip of the island of Newfoundland, is the closest point to Europe in North America. Gisborne envisioned fast boats delivering news from Europe to St. Johns, and the information quickly being relayed, via his underwater cable, from the island to the Canadian mainland and then onward to New York City. While considering whether to invest in Gisbornes Canadian cable, Field looked closely at a globe in his study. He was struck with a far more ambitious thought: a cable should continue eastward from St. Johns, across the Atlantic Ocean, to a peninsula jutting into the ocean from the west coast of Ireland. As   connections were already in place between Ireland and England, news from London could then be relayed to New York City very quickly. May 6, 1854: Cyrus Field, with his neighbor Peter Cooper, a wealthy New York businessman, and other investors,  formed a company to create a telegraphic link between North America and Europe. The Canadian Link 1856: After overcoming many obstacles, a working telegraph line finally reached from St. Johns, on the edge of the Atlantic, to the Canadian mainland. Messages from St. Johns, on the edge of North America, could be relayed to New York City. Summer 1856: An ocean expedition took soundings and determined that a plateau on the ocean floor would provide a suitable surface on which to place a telegraph cable. Cyrus Field, visiting England, organized the Atlantic Telegraph Company and was able to interest British investors to join the American businessmen backing the effort to lay the cable. December 1856: Back in America, Field visited Washington, D.C., and convinced the U.S. government to assist in the laying of the cable. Senator William Seward of New York introduced a bill to provide funding for the cable. It narrowly passed through Congress and was signed into law by President Franklin Pierce on March 3, 1857, on Pierces last day in office. The 1857 Expedition: A Fast Failure Spring 1857: The U.S. Navys largest steam-powered ship, U.S.S. Niagara sailed to England and rendezvoused with a British ship, H.M.S. Agamemnon. Each ship took on 1,300 miles of coiled cable, and a plan was devised for them to lay the cable across the bottom of the sea. The ships would sail together westward from Valentia, on the west coast of Ireland, with the Niagara dropping its length of cable as it sailed. At mid-ocean, the cable dropped from the Niagara would be spliced to to the cable carried on the Agamemnon, which would then play out its cable all the way to Canada. August 6, 1857: The ships left Ireland and began dropping the cable into the ocean. August 10, 1857: The cable aboard the Niagara, which had been transmitting messages back and forth to Ireland as a test, suddenly stopped working. While engineers tried to determine the cause of the problem, a malfunction with the cable-laying machinery on the Niagara snapped the cable. The ships had to return to Ireland, having lost 300 miles of cable at sea. It was decided to try again the following year. The First 1858 Expedition: ANew Plan Met New Problems March 9, 1858: The Niagara sailed from New York to England, where it again stowed cable on board and met up with the Agamemnon. A new plan was for the ships to go to a point mid-ocean, splice together the portions of cable they each carried, and then sail apart as they lowered cable down to the ocean floor. June 10, 1858: The two cable-carrying ships, and a small fleet of escorts, sailed out from England. They encounter ferocious storms, which caused very difficult sailing for ships carrying the enormous weight of cable, but all survived intact. June 26, 1858: The cables on Niagara and Agamemnon were spliced together, and the operation of placing the cable began. Problems were encountered almost immediately. June 29, 1858: After three days of continuous difficulties, a break in the cable made the expedition halt and head back to England. The Second 1858 Expedition: Success Followed By Failure July 17, 1858: The ships left Cork, Ireland, to make another attempt, utilizing essentially the same plan.   July 29, 1858: At mid-ocean, the cables were spliced and Niagara and Agamemnon began steaming in opposite directions, dropping the cable between them. The two ships were able to communicate back and forth via the cable, which served as a test that all was functioning well. August 2, 1858: The Agamemnon reached Valentia harbor on the west coast of Ireland and the cable was brought ashore. August 5, 1858: The Niagara reached St. Johns, Newfoundland, and the cable was connected to the land station. A message was telegraphed to newspapers in New York alerting them of the news. The message stated that the cable crossing the ocean was 1,950 statue miles long. Celebrations broke out in New York City, Boston, and other American cities. A New York Times headline declared the new cable The Great Event of The Age. A congratulatory message was sent across the cable from Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan. When the message was relayed to Washington, American officials  at first believed the message from the British monarch to be a hoax. September 1, 1858: The cable, which had been operating for four weeks, began failing. A problem with the electrical mechanism that powered the cable proved fatal, and the cable stopped working entirely. Many in the public believed it had all been a hoax. The 1865 Expedition: New Technology, New Problems Continued attempts to lay a working cable were suspended due to a lack of funds. And the outbreak of the Civil War made the entire project impractical. The telegraph played an important role in the war, and President Lincoln used the telegraph extensively to communicate with commanders. But extending cables to another continent was far from a wartime priority. As the war was coming to an end, and Cyrus Field was able to get financial problems under control, preparations began for another expedition, this time using one enormous ship, the Great Eastern. The ship, which had been designed and built by the great Victorian engineer Isambard Brunel, had become unprofitable to operate. But its vast size made it perfect for storing and laying telegraph cable. The cable to be laid in 1865 was made with higher specifications than the 1857-58 cable. And the process of putting the cable aboard ship was greatly improved, as it was suspected that rough handling on the ships had weakened the earlier cable. The painstaking work of spooling the cable on the Great Eastern was a source of fascination for the public, and illustrations of it appeared in popular periodicals. July 15, 1865: The Great Eastern sailed from England on its mission to place the new cable. July 23, 1865: After one end of the cable was fashioned to a land station on the west coast of Ireland, the Great Eastern began to sail westward while dropping the cable. August 2, 1865: A problem with the cable necessitated repairs, and the cable broke and was lost on the sea floor. Several attempts to retrieve the cable with a grappling hook failed. August 11, 1865: Frustrated by all attempts to raise the sunken and severed cable, the Great Eastern began to steam back to England. Attempts to place the cable that year were suspended. The Successful 1866 Expedition: June 30, 1866:  The Great Eastern steamed from England with new cable aboard. July 13, 1866:  Defying superstition, on a Friday the 13th the fifth attempt since 1857 to lay the cable began. And this time the attempt to connect the continents encountered very few problems. July 18, 1866: In the only serious problem encountered on the expedition, a tangle in the cable had to be sorted out. The process took about two hours and was successful. July 27, 1866: The Great Eastern reached the shore of Canada, and the cable was brought ashore. July 28, 1866: The cable was proven successful and congratulatory messages began to travel across it. This time the connection between Europe and North America remained steady, and the two continents have been in contact, via undersea cables, to the present day. After successfully laying the 1866 cable, the expedition then located, and repaired, the cable lost in 1865. The two working cables began to change the world, and over the following decades more cables crossed the Atlantic as well as other vast bodies of water. After a decade of frustration the era of instant communication had arrived.

How Germany's hospitality has changed during the olympics games in Essay

How Germany's hospitality has changed during the olympics games in 1936 compared to the WM in 2006 - Essay Example Further, the German committee show cased their construction as well as development plans pertaining how the city of Berlin would enhance the hosting of the games. Germany would also have all facilities of sports regulation for the competitions in entirety. While the IOC called in on other cities like Barcelona, in 1931, the German committee persistently made a follow up. They made sure that they had straightened all the nitty-gritty to heighten all the chances of their nation’s hosting the 1936 Olympics. For instance, they insisted on their eligibility since the 1916 chance had been cancelled. By the vote magnitude, Berlin surpassed Barcelona by 27 votes of the 59 votes cast. Therefore, the eleventh summer Olympics’ hosting right went to Berlin on May 13, 1931 subsequent to the IOC concluding a straw poll from the delegates present then. They later announced their verdict globally. By this award, IOC portrayed that Germany had a good reputation as regards the world community of nations. Later, Germany won another right where they would play host to the fourth winter Olympics of 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. (Vercamer and Pipes, 2009) This is a study set out to discuss both the 1936 Olympic Games held in Germany and the 2006 Weltmeisterchaft (WM) games. Note that Weltmeisterchaft is German for world cup. These are going to be compared to each other and more specifically there will be a vivid answer to be provided to the study question. The study question is, â€Å"Which were the impacts of the 1936 Olympic games to the German hospitality to other countries compared to the 2006 world cup effects on the same?† The Olympic Games in Berlin held in the year 1936 ran in a flawless manner and there were no significant predicaments. The events of athletics as well as the ceremonies of medal awarding were coupled by a vast number of social and cultural events. The

The Needs of Students in a Boarding School Setting Essay

The Needs of Students in a Boarding School Setting - Essay Example These activities will impliedly come from the office of the guidance counselor who is adept in designing life course strategies according to the stages of development that an individual or a particular group of people undertakes. There is thus, a necessity for the boarding school to be sensitive and be attuned to the needs of the students who have to face the necessary adjustments to the new surroundings rendered by their studies and the ones caused by their departure from their families towards living an independent life. Students in boarding school settings need to take care not only of their studies but of their everyday life as well. Taking care of their own belongings is a primary issue, such as washing their clothes or bringing them to the laundry store, cooking their own food or buying them, making sure that their toiletries are complete and are not running out of stock, and the like. All of these things rival with the attention that they should give to their studies, indicating that they need a great deal of time management in order to attend to each chore. It is important that students are able to manage a relevant level of self-esteem in their new life in the boarding school, as this may be hampered by the adjustments that they go under - new environment, new room, new faces, new friends, new classmates, new subject matters, and new professors. The list is a myriad. The student is left with no option but to overcome all the initial difficulties that pertain to his new environment - otherwise, he goes back to his family and hometown. Self-esteem in the early years had been based on how the important adults in an individual's life feel and care about them, ensuring protection and well-being (Cox 2007). Significantly, this definition has been revised towards how a person feels about himself, indicating the level of his appreciation of himself. The question of whether self-esteem is put to a 'cliffhanger' is another issue when one enters a boarding school. When he was still a child, the individual was used to being loved and valued by his parents who respond to his cries and smiles (ibid). Hence, whatever pressure or disappointments he may encounter in the boarding school may significantly affect his level of self-trust and self-concept. This is where the aid and assistance of a counselor is needed. Characteristics of Boarding Schools Private boarding schools are high schools, which are high-powered private schools with a boarding component so that people can come from all over the country and the world. Examples of these are schools like Exeter, Choate, Hotchkiss, Hun, Deerfield, and the like. Since students come from different parts of the country and t