Evolution of the Ipod Essay Example for Free

Evolution of the Ipod Essay Personalized music took a big leap towards what we call the Ipod generation today , way back in 1979 when Sony introduced its audio cassette player Walkman. When we see the original Walkman today it does seem outdated and for many a piece of junk. But 30 years back it was a breakthrough in terms of technological advancement and an instant sensation worldwide which continued for decades. WALKMAN: Walkman is a portable audio cassette player which introduced a change in listening habits and providing people an opportunity to listen to the music of their own choice, which seemed a distant dream before its inception when transistor radios were the only option for the masses. Origin and History: The first original Walkman was launched by Sony that went on sale on 1st July 1979, in Japan. It was launched subsequently under different names in many countries for instance, In US it was launched under the name Soundabout . In Sweden it was launched under the name Freestyle.. In UK it was launched under the name Stowaway. The device was built in 1978, by an audio division engineer Nobotushi Kihara who worked for Sony. Sony’s co-chairman Morita who wanted to listen operas during his frequent plane trips requested for such a device and therefore Nobotushi came up with the Walkman. Although Morita hated the name Walkman and insisted on changing it , but accepted later on when junior executives told him that a campaign had been started and changing the name now would cost the company dearly. (Sony History) Cassette-based Walkman: The first and original Walkman was a blue and silver cassette-based model TPS-L2. It came with one set of headphones and had limited features of play, stop and forward with no record function. In 1984, Sony presented its memorable model Walkman Professional WM-D6C. It was comparable in audio quality with most non-portable audio cassette decks.. Among the standard play,stop functions it also introduced the record function which made it famous. Later on, Toshiba’s Walky , Aiwa’s Cassette Boy and Panasonic’s Stereo-To-Go were giving stiff competition to the Walkman. Therefore in 1989, Sony launched its famous and unique playback only model WM-DD9, this model attracted a niche following with hardcore Walkman fans making it a must in their collection. It featured auto-reverse and had improved power consumption requiring only 1 AA battery with optional AC adapter input. Moreover it had superior sound quality as compared to its predecessors. Although the cassette based walkman had started losing its appeal probably due to increasing competition from Sanyo and emergence of CDs as a better storage medium in all respects, Sony still kept launching new models every 5 years uptill 2000, these models not only continued to represent features of previous models but also had some new ones of their own for intance, WM-701S which also came out in 1989 was more user-friendly as it came with a remote control and slim silver plated body. After which cassettes had reached technological obsolence and any future production of cassette-based models had to be stopped. (Sony Design- 1980s) PORTABLE CD PLAYERS: Portable CD players took personalized music to a further new level from portable cassette players. These players used audio CDs instead of cassettes , not only CDs were lighter than cassettes but they could store considerably more than multiple cassettes could or could record in a much better audio format which would give a superior sound quality than cassettes. History: CDs as a storage medium were introduced in the early 1980s. Once again Sony created history in 1984 when it launched its CD-based Walkman (which was a first of its kind portable CD player) D-50. Although it was also known as D-5 in some markets but its official name was Discman. Discman was considered a marvel , its size was just a little more than that of a CD case which made it very handy. Moreover it had additional features and better sound quality as compared cassette-based walkman but still they managed to gain momentum till the late 1980s because CDs were quite expensive prior to that and CD players didn’t had anti-shake protection feature which caused CDs to damage since they were delicate. (Discman) Evolution of CD Players: Portable CD players had the basic features of a cassette player besides that it also had some new features for instance hold, toggle in later versions and portable CD players in the present age are capable of supporting numerous audio formats as well . In the mid-nineties these players also featured a LCD display also. Since Sony was continuing to face increasing competition from Panasonic in the late 1980s, it improved its own design of Discman and came up with a new model D121 which had additional features from its predecessors. The competition is still ongoing with Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Bose, Coby etc. coming up with new portable cd players after every few months. Although Ipods are the in thing these days but still portable cd players continue to survive probably because CDs haven’t gone into obsolence like cassettes did. However they don’t enjoy the same popularity they did in late 1980s and mid 90s. MINI-DISC PLAYERS: Mini disc was a magneto-optical disc. It could store upto 80 minutes of digitized audio almost that of CD quality. Mini-disc players were capable of playing these storage media. The reason MD was launched was because they had the anti-skip feature which prevented disc-skipping even under the most extreme conditions and was unlike CDs which used to skip on the slightest of vibration and shocks and used to annoy users. History: Sony launched its first MD Player in 1992 named MZ1 along with the Mini-disc itself. However many other companies for instance JVC, Sharp, Pioneer and Panasonic launched their respective mini-disc players as well. MD Players were initially launched as an alternative to Philips analogue cassette system which was quite popular at that time. Moreover till the mid-nineties MD players were popular in Japan and Asia but largely unknown elsewhere. (Music on the move: Minidisc) Evolution of the Mini-disc and the Mini-disc player: nitially when Sony introduced the Mini-disc it was based on ATRAC audio data compression but later it was based on linear PCM inorder to give CD quality audio. Although MD Walkmans when launched by Sony were multi-featured i. e. they could play and record on MDs from both digital and analogue sources for example, live audio from their microphone inputs ; but were somewhat large and couldn’t be placed in a pocket. Therefore, Sony released a new model MZ-R2 which was quite compact. MD Walkmans gradually improved over the years for instance, when MDLP(Mini-disc Long Play) was introduced in MDs in 2000 which allowed MDs to record 4 times of what they initially could MD Players were enabled with this feature and many in the following years for example, Net MD, Hi MD. (Sony MZ RH1) MP3 PLAYERS: MP3 players are also technically known as Digital Audio Players. It is a device that stores, organizes and plays audio files. MP3 players were a breakthrough in their own right since they didn’t require CDs or cassettes to be inserted into them , common features of an MP3 player were a flash memory drive or a miniature hard drive, an embedded processor and an audio codec microchip which would convert digitally compressed sound into analogue form which was then played through the speaker jack. The user can store hundreds of songs on the flash memory drive/mini hard drive. History: The first MP3 player came from a Korean company SaeHan Information Systems which in collaboration with Eiger Labs US launched in 1998 the first solid state digital audio player named MPMan . It featured 32 Mb of RAM which could hold 8 average length of tracks( i. e. 32 minutes of music). (World’s 1st MP3 Player) The same year Diamond Multimedia lauched its version of MPMan named Rio PMP300. However its sales were better than expected initially but later had a fall from grace probably due to lawsuits. (Collecting MP3 Portables) In 1999, Compaq developed the first hard-drive based mp3 player in collaboration with HanGo Electronics and named it PJB-100(Personal Jukebox). The player had a capacity of 4. 8 GB and it was extensively advertised that it could hold 1200 songs! (Net Audio) Evolution Of MP3 Players: Initially MP3 players supported only the . mp3 format but in the following years MP3 players started supporting multiple formats for example , AAC, WMA, WAV, Ogg Vorbis. Flash-based MP3 players: These are solid state devices that store audio files on internal flash memory. Initially internal memory of these players was in a few MBs and users couldn’t store any more than on a CD but soon makers got notice of this and today we see internal memory in GBs which is capable of holding hundreds of songs. (World ‘s 1st 32 GB Flash based PMP) Similarly, internal memory couldn’t be extended by users however in a couple of years removable flash memory was made available better known as memory cards. Moreover with the passage of time , these players became more resilient and required less power consumption as compared to portable CD player or a hard-drive based mp3 player. Hard-drive based Players: These devices are also known as Digital Jukeboxes. Initially their capacity was 4-5 GB but these days players are available with capacity upto 250 GB. This loosely means that thousands of songa could be stored on a single player. (Wolverine ESP 250 GB) MP3 CD Players: With the growth in popularity of MP3 players and mp3 format itself . Many portable CD players started supporting playback for CDs which had MP3 files stored on them. iPOD REVOLUTION: iPod is a popular brand of portable media players which are designed by Apple Inc. Apple has produced a number of models over years iPod Classic, iPod Nano to name a few. iPods have become a sensation for this generation and seems to be for the following ones too just like Walkman was in the 1980s. As per stats upto September 2008, 173 million iPods have been sold worldwide which has made it the best selling portable music player ever. History: In early 2000, Apple had started making software for the growing market of digital audio players. The company found that the MP3 players were either too big (those that were hard-drive based) or too small (those that were flash-drive based) and had mediocre user-interfaces. Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs took the initiative, he decided that Apple would make their own PMPs(personal music players). Therefore Apple’s hardware engineering head Jon Rubinstein assembled a team including hardware engineers Tony Fadell and Michael Dhuey and a design engineer Jon Ive, however Apple didn’t make the product completely on in-house instead they used Portal Player( a semi-conductor company) platform based on 2 ARM cores. Nevertheless the product within an year and was unveiled on 23rd October 2001, it was a Mac-compatible product with 5 Gb hard-drive and could hold upto 1000 songs. The name iPod was suggested by Vinnie Chieco a freelance copy-writer. iPod Models: iPod Classic: It was the iPod that was launched originally. Uptill now six generations have been produced of this model and is the only model that is hard-drive based. iPod Mini: Its first generation was launched in 2004. However it was discontinued after its 2nd generation. Its storage medium was based on mini hard-drive. iPod Shuffle: iPod Shuffle was first introduced in January 2005. Due to it smaller size and sleeker look it became an instant hit. Its flash-drive based PMP. Uptill now 2 generations have been produced of this model. iPod Nano: iPod Nano was also a flash-drive based model. It was also launched the same year Shuffle was launched . What separated Nano from Shuffle was its greater storage capacity and coloured display. iPod Touch: It is the latest in the iPod family and was launched in 2007. It was also a flash drive based model similar to Nano and Shuffle . But Touch is way ahead of all of its predecessors. It was the first iPod with Wi-Fii and Multitouch interface. Moreover it featured the Safari browser and wireless access to iTunes Stores and YouTube. (Identifying Ipods) Software: Initially when Apple introduced its iTunes software it was only compatible with Mac OS but later on Apple a Windows version of it as well. iPod first generation models although various audio formats, image formats and video formats but only worked with Mac-OS. However when Apple launched its second generation models the software within those models was compatible with MS Windows. Apple developed alternatives for various formats which were previously not supported by it for example, Microsoft’s WMA audio format was not supported earlier so they provided a converter along with their Windows version of iTunes. Adding further open source formats like Ogg Vorbis, FLAC were previously not supported however these formats can be played now on installing a firmware onto the iPod for example, Rockbox User-Interface: All iPods have colour displays which incorporates anti-aliased graphics and text with sliding animations. Moreover except iPod shuffle and iPod Touch all other iPods have 5 buttons and second generation onwards buttons have been integrated on the click wheel. Click-wheel is an innovation that brings refineness and clarity to the interface. The buttons given perform the basic play,stop etc. functions as for scrolling the click-wheel is used in a rotational manner. In its later models Apple made some changes for instance, iPod Touch doesn’t have a click wheel instead it has a 3. 5 inch touchscreen and in addition to it a home button , a sleep/wake button and volume up/down button. Hardware: A typical iPod comprises of the following chipset and electronics: Microcontroller Audio Chip Storage Medium Batteries Different iPods have used different microcontrollers along their different generations for example, iPod Nano used a variable-speed ARM in its first generation model however it has continued to use Samsung System-On Chip second generation onwards. iPod Classic has a hard-drive based storage medium and has been since first generation however the capacity has increased considerably i. e. from 10 GB in its first generation model to 160 GB in its sixth generation model. Similarly, iPod Mini was based on the Mini Hard-drive however Apple discontinued it after its 2nd generation model. Moving on iPod Nano, Shuffle and Touch are flash-drive based and there capacity has also increased considerably with newer models. Connectivity: Originally Apple used a Firewire connection was used to the host computer and for charging battery. Third generation onwards, Apple allowed both Firewire and USB connectivity. This allowed for better compatibility with PCs. Therefore 5th generation onwards Apple dropped Firewire for data transfer and made complete transition to USB 2. 0 in an attempt to reduce cost . CONCLUSION: From Walkman to iPod people have seen a great advancements in personal music players. Walkman ruled 1980s which continued till the mid-nineties. However , after that advancements were made very speedily and we saw MD players, MP3 players and finally the iPod in 2001. iPod completely redefined infact revolutionised portable entertainment. Infact in these 8 years since its inception it has made record breaking sales and won several awards for engineering excellence , it has acheived much more than what the Walkman in a decade and a half. But then again, Walkman has its own place in history and iPod is making its own. ? REFERENCES: Sony Global, n. d. , â€Å"Sony History† retrived from : http://www. sony. net/Fun/design/history/ Sony Gobal, n. d. â€Å"Sony Design- History 1980s† retrieved from: http://www. sony. net/Fun/design/history/product/1980/wm-2. html Walkman Central, n. d, â€Å"Discman† retrieved from: http://www. walkmancentral. com/list/discman Minidisc Org, n. d. â€Å"Sony MZ RH1† retrieved from : http://www. minidisc. org/manuals/sony/Sony_MZ-RH1_user_manual. pdf Van Buskrik, Eliot, n. d. â€Å"Introducing the World’s first MP3 Player† retrived from: http://reviews. cnet. com/4520-6450_7-5622055-1. html Menta, Richard, n. d. â€Å" Collecting MP3 Portables-Part 1† retrieved from: http://www. antiqueradio. com/Dec04_Menta_mp3pt1. html Yoshido Junko, n. d. â€Å"OEMS ready to roll on jukeboxes for Net audio† retrieved from: http://www. eetimes. com/story/OEG20000818S0035 Creative, (2007-12-03), â€Å"Creative inroduces World’s 1st 32 GB Flash based PMP† retrieved from: http://asia. creative. com/corporate/pressroom/releases/welcome. asp? pid=12867 Wolverine Data, (2008-01-02), â€Å"Wolverine ESP 250 GB† retrieved from: http://secure. serverlab. net/shop/merchant. mvc? Screen=PRODProduct_Code=5250Category_Code=ESPStore_Code=T00107 â€Å"Identifying Ipod Models† retrieved from: http://docs. info. apple. com/article. html? artnum=61688

Integrated assesment

Integrated assesment HNC Social Care Integrated Assessment 2 Catherine McAvoy Values are standards and principals by which we live our lives. These standards are many and often depend on people`s background e.g. Culture, class, religion, gender, age. Values are extremely individual attitudes that direct people`s responses to the world around them. Amongst some of the values I live my life by and respect are privacy allowing me to have space to myself and respecting the fact that others may desire privacy, to be safe and also allowing others the same, having self respect, being trustworthy, being non judgmental, being anti discriminatory, respect life and faith, value freedom and equality, value choice and others points of view. I have learned to live my life this way from my parents and their families. The schools and church where I was taught , espoused the values of  Ã‚   human dignity, solidarity for the common good , charity in truth, and the family,   all of   which I continue to hold dear. I therefore try to ensure that I treat people the way I wou ld like to be treated. Because of these values, I am able to work happily alongside the organization I volunteer for, as their policies and procedures represent many of these common values. I currently volunteer as a Befriender for a group that helps adults with learning disabilities become included within the community through socialization, by matching Befriendees with supportive Befrienders. I, as a volunteer for this organization, provide their service participants with the opportunity to take a full and satisfying part in their community. I also help to raise awareness of issues affecting adults with learning difficulties in community participation. I did this in a major way by participating in the collection and presentation of our petition to the Scottish Parliament to request that Befriending is financed with core funding. Although Befriending, to help social inclusion was briefly mentioned as a means of supporting adults with learning disabilities in Same as you Strategy2000, this article has never been defined by the government as a core service to be provided by councils. As a result, Befriending for Adults with Learning Disabilities has rarely been financed or delivered by statutory services. However, the social work department is the main means of referral to our organization and so for the moment receive this service free, financed by charitable donations. I f eel this is a form of statutory discrimination against our client group and hope our petition resolves this situation. This petition has received a positive reaction from the petitions committee and is still going through the committee processes. I also receive continued training, support, and supervision and engage in partnership working with relevant agencies. The core values of our organisation are underpinned by: National Care Standards , which were set up under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 . This Act came about to regulate the care and social work force and set out the principals of good care practice. The Care Commission was set up under this Act to register, regulate, and inspect all care services listed in the Act. It also established The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The SSSC has aims and objectives to protect the service users, raise standards, strengthen, and support workforce professionalism. There are six main standards laid down in National Care Standards that are at the centre of any care practice. Dignity making someone feel worthy and impressive as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary. I ensure that I give dignity by respecting individuals for who they are. I recognise all individuals are different and I am sensitive and aware of this. Privacy and confidentiality is the need and right to privacy. The principle of confidentiality between me and the service user is built on mutual respect and trust. Confidentiality is further reinforced by the Data Protection Act 1998 . This allows our service users to see any information that is held on them. I must ensure that this information is held securely in a locked filing cabinet. Any information I write in an activity plan must be truthful, factual, and accurate with my opinions to be objective. Choice means giving and explaining different options to individuals. I support our service users by encouraging their right to choose. By offering they limited options that will encourage them to look at positive alternatives within a safe environment. Safety means that I must ensure my service user when in my care, is protected from harm and abuse. If I suspect or observe that harm and abuse has or is taking place, against a service user, I must report the incident in an Incident Report   Form within 36 hrs of the episode to my line manager. I also complete a risk assessment form before any activity. Realising Potential ensures that I must allow my service users the chance to aim to achieve things great and small within their abilities. These core values are represented within our organisations policies and procedures. To ensure client safety we have a Health and Safe ty Policy which is designed to comply with the Health and Safety at work Act 1974. Risk Assessments are used on a daily basis before an activity to ensure that the staff and clients are safe on the premises. We also have Accident and Incident Reporting procedures which are required under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulation 1995 (RIDDOR) , Social Security Regulations 1979 (SRR), Data Protection Act , to be reported in an efficient manner. I must complete relevant forms and report to my line manager. If an event requires reporting directly to RIDDOR the records should be kept securely for at least three years. Our Equalities policy complies with the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and 1986, the Race Relations Act of 1976 and the Race Relation Amendments Regulations of 2003, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 . Our organization opposes all forms of unfair and unlawful discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, religion, nationality, social background, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age and disability. It also promotes the principle of equal opportunities in paid employment, voluntary work, and service provision. Although it is important to apply positive values within my practice, it is sometimes difficult to do so. Giving someone choice needs to be balanced by ensuring that this choice is safe and positive. Giving Adults with Learning Disabilities too many choices can cause confusion and sometimes fear. So I give limited positive choices to ensure that this does not happen. Safety issues can also limit choices, as under the Health a nd Safety at Work Act 1974 and National Care Standards it is important that I ensure my client is safe from harm and abuse. If a risk assessment shows that an activity is not suitable to the client because of safety issues then the choice of doing that particular activity is reduced. Privacy and confidentiality is dealt with in our Confidentiality policy . Our organization requires information about clients, volunteers, staff other organizations and our own organization. I am therefore committed to ensuring that all information is stored safely which also allows appropriate retrieval. Confidential material must be kept in a locked cabinet. Volunteers are only able to see files on a need to know basis only. Computer access is limited to authorized staff and information backed up and compatible with The Data Protection Act 1998. If a client discloses something to me and asks me not to tell anyone then I must respect his/her wishes as a matter of trust. However, sometimes this can be difficult, especially if abuse is disclosed. Under these circumstances I am obliged to tell him/her that I understand his/her need for confidentiality, but the circumstances require me to advise my line manager in writing and that this will be in his/her best interests and to try not to worry. As we do not supply a care service, we are not required to register with the Care Commission, but we ensure all our policies and procedures meet their standards. As all clients under these standards are legally allowed an individualized care plan, we instead have an activity plan. To ensure no discrimination takes place the client is assessed using (Ref1) PIES . We take into account, our clients Physical needs, Intellectual needs, Emotional needs, and Social needs. Needs were first described as requirements for our survival in the model put forward by ( Ref 2 ) Abraham Maslow , a Humanist Psychologist. He stated that human needs can be arranged in a stepladder pyramid and that the lower level needs must be satisfied before higher levels can be met. Starting from the basic psychological need, then moving to safety and security, social, esteem, and self- actualization. He suggested that not satisfying these needs the person could become frustrated and emotionally distressed, with possibly poverty and crisis taking place. He also suggested that these needs be met in order.  Ã‚   Prejudice as ( Ref 3) defined in the Collins dictionary is an unreasonable dislike of a particular group of people or things, or a preference for a one group of people or things over another. Prejudice is caused by a lack of understanding of something, causing the wrong impression to be created. Working with people with learning disabilities has shown me that prejudice arises amongst some of the local community. This is a small section of the community pre- judging those with learning disabilities through lack of knowledge and so they hold unfavourable views or opinions towards people who are different and so bullying can take place. Adults with learning disabilities are a section of society that tends not to be able to stand up for themselves. They rely on family, social workers, advocacy workers, and support workers to advise them on their rights, choices, and responsibilities. Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, some sections of this community may not receive this relevant information. They do not receive the care, benefits, and advice that they need, or they do not receive the statutory services they deserve. This can be caused by certain people denying our client group their rights and so discriminate against them. Harassment, bullying and hate crimes of those with learning disabilities takes place in many areas, the recent death of a mother and daughter burned to death in England after numerous threats and harassment is an excessive example and result of discrimination. Discrimination takes place through fear, misunderstanding, misinformation, and so as well as laws against discrimination, we need to educate and provide training against it. To try to ensure that the incident that took place does not happen in our community, our organization is involved in providing a training service to the community. I have taken part in training to try to educate youths from the local secondary school about Learning Disabilities. This resulted in them becoming peer volunteers to younger children with Learning Disabilities from the local school for autistic children. A music group was set up to bring these two groups of youngsters together, with positive results. ( Ref 4 ) Adults with Learning Disabilities are more likely to develop health problems. Therefore, without support, they may not be able to make their feelings known and so screening and or treatment may be denied. The need for support to allow them to lead as normal a life as their abilities allow and to access services, has a financial cost to society. The belief that people with learning disabilities, are a financial burden to society, and not providing relevant support is evidence of discrimination . The impact of discrimination on my client group can result in exclusion and marginalization. Psychologically that can result in depression, low self- esteem, frustration, or anger. Causing their behavior to be affected, by them becoming withdrawn or violent. Through legislation, social care organizations now have to be more accountable and have increasing responsibilities to write and maintain policy and procedures. These have to comply with current legislation and exist to protect people`s rights and ensure quality services are provided. Our policies and procedures must have specific guidelines, for example, they cover confidentiality and privacy, equal opportunities, health and safety, abuse policies, lone working practices, activity planning and reviews and risk assessment and management. I have a responsibility to read the organizations policy and procedures thoroughly and integrate them into my practice. I should query any uncertainties and report any infringements. If I am uneasy about the practice of others within the organization or within any other agency I come into contact with, I must report to my line manager and seek advice. My manager has a responsibility to produce these policies and procedures ensuring they incorporate current legislation. Management ensures that staff and service users have easy access to them. Discussion and reflection of policies and procedures to ensure they are justified and explained to staff is encouraged. References. Elizabeth Bingham + . (2009). Social Care: Group Award Graded Unit. In: Heinemann HNC in Social Care. Edinburgh: Heinemann. 147. Elizabeth Bingham + . (2009). Psychological perspectives and Theories on development and needs. In: Heinemann HNC in Social Care. Edinburgh: Heinemann. 86-89. http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/prejudice http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/media/news-releases/newsreleases-2005/14-july-2005/?locale=en

Flannery O8217Conner and Grotesque Characters :: essays papers

Flannery O8217Conner and Grotesque Characters Flannery O’Conner and Grotesque Characters One of the most interesting characteristics of Flannery O’Conners writing is her penchant for creating characters with physical or mental disabilities. Though critics sometimes unkindly labeled her a maker of grotesques, this talent for creating flawed characters served her well. In fact, though termed grotesque, O’Conners use of vivid visual imagery when describing people and their shortcomings is the technique that makes her work most realistic. O’Conner herself once remarked that â€Å"anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it will be called realistic.† In O’Conners â€Å"The Life You Save May Be Your Own† the villain is a one armed hobo named Tom T. Shiftlet. Using his gift of gab and the promise of â€Å"fixing the place up.† He manages to take up on the remote farm of an old woman named Lucynell Crater and her mentally retarded and completely deaf daughter â€Å"Lucynell Crater†. The old woman quickly decides that despite his handicap she would like to make Tom her son in law. His goal soon became, fix up the old car he was sleeping in and hightail it out of there with the car and some of the old womans money in his pocket. On the pretense that he would need it for a honeymoon trip, he convinces the old woman to fix the car and give him some cash. The story ends with him marrying the retarded daughter, leaving with her on a honeymoon trip, then abandoning her in a rundown diner on the side of the road. â€Å"Good Country People† is a story about Joy Hopewell, a very well educated young woman living in the rural south. Joy lost a leg in a hunting accident when she was ten and since then had been forced to wear a wooden replacement. She also had a weak heart and it was this affliction that forced her to remain amongst these â€Å"good country people† whom she considered to be intellectual inferiors. Though she had great confidence in her intelligence she had very little self-esteem. Joys’ handicap made her feel ugly, so ugly that much to her mothers’ dismay, she had her name legally changed to the ugliest one she could think of, Hulga. One day a traveling bible salesman named Manley Pointer made a sales call and ended up having dinner with the family.

Blue Collar Student: Are Jobs Good Or Bad? :: essays research papers

Blue Collar Student: Are Jobs Good or Bad? Are part time jobs good or bad for a student? This is an interesting question that pertains to almost half of all high school students. Jobs provide students with many different qualities but at what cost? This will be the topic of discussion in this paper. Part time jobs are as common to students as mooing is to cows. Many students find it necessary to have a job after school and during the summer. One benefit of having a job is it builds character in oneself. Having a responsibility at work and working with others builds ones leadership and teamwork abilities. Students also have the ability to earn some extra money to help pay for a car and the insurance required to drive it. It also allows students to get a sense of independence as they are not always relying on mom and dad to give them money. For example, your friend Jim has a job making sundaes at dairy queen. Jim works about 24 hours a week and makes $4.50 an hour. At the end of that week , Jim has $80 that he can call his own. Jim could go to the movies, buy a new pair of shoes, or do whatever he wants to do with it. Jim worked hard for his money and after all, it is his money. Another alternative to spending this hard earned money is to save it in a bank and use it for college. This is all fine and dandy but what about school and the homework teachers send home. If a student does have a part time job when will he get this work done. Part time jobs can take away the precious time that students need to study and do homework. Let's just say for instance that our friend Jim has a final exam tomorrow. Wait a minute though, it's Thursday and Jim works from 4 to 10. Jim has no time to study before he goes to work so he figures he'll do it after work. Jim gets swamped at Dairy Queen and by the end of his shift, he's so tired he can barely drive home. When Jim does get home, he cracks the books and starts studying about Beowulf. After about ten minutes of that, Jim is fast asleep and before you know it, Jim's mom is telling him to wake up. Jim takes is exam, knowing nothing about Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxons or anything else that was on his English exam and to no suprise, he gets an â€Å"F.

Summary and Analysis of The Squires Tale :: Canterbury Tales The Squires Tale Essays

Summary and Analysis of The Squire's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Epilogue to the Merchant's Tale and Prologue to the Squire's Tale: The Host laments the Merchant's tale, praying that he would never find such a terrible wife. The Host admits that he also has a wife that he laments marrying. He advises the Squire to tell a tale next. The Squire's Tale is not complete, ending after only six hundred lines. The Squire's Tale: The Squire tells the tale of Cambyuskan, the king of Sarai in Tartary. With his wife Elpheta he had two sons, Algarsyf and Cambalo, and a daughter Canacee. In the twentieth year of his reign on the Ides of March his subjects celebrated his nativity. During a great feast with the king and his knights, a knight with a gold ring and a sword entered the hall. He was sent from the king of Arabia and India, and offers him a steed of brass that can, within twenty-four hours, transport a person safely anywhere on the globe. He also presence to Canacee a mirror that foresees impending mischance and can determine the character of friends and foes, a ring that enables the wearer to understand the language of any bird, and the healing properties of all herbs. He also offers a sword whose edge will bite through any armor but whose flat will cure the wounds inflicted by the edge. The knight was led to a chamber and the ring given to Canacee, but the brass steed would not move until the knight taug ht people how to move it. The horse was a source of wonder for the people, compared alternately to the Pegasus and the Trojan horse. All one needed to do to move the brass horse was to twirl a peg in its ear, according to the knight. After the revelry of the night before, the next morning everybody but Canacee remained asleep until late. She had dreamed of the mirror and the ring and thus had her first satisfying rest in a very long time. As she went out walking that morning with her maids, she came across bleeding peregrine falcon that cried in anguish. It had maimed itself. Canacee picked up the falcon and spoke to it, a power she had gained from the ring the knight had given her. The falcon told her a tale of a handsome tercelet as treasonous and false as he was beautiful.

Huckleberry Finn’s Impact on Modern American Literature Essay

Ernest Hemingway once said â€Å"all modern American literature began with Huckleberry Finn. † Huckleberry Finn, a remarkably well written novel by Mark Twain, has received almost excessive praise since it was written and first published in 1884. On the other hand, it has been condemned for vulgarity and accused of stealing Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s thunder. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a similar novel about slavery written about thirty-two years earlier. Huckleberry Finn’s impact on modern American literature was so great that it could be compared to Shakespeare’s impact on European theater. To be the true basis of modern American literature, a novel would have to be centered on American concepts. One of the most prominent American concepts is â€Å"the American Dream†. Huckleberry Finn is the first novel to encompass â€Å"the American Dream†, chronically many different Americans’ approach to their own American dream, and how they chase it. One instance of this in Huckleberry Finn is when Huck and Jim coincidentally become raft-mates with two swindlers, going about their dream of finding fortune in an illegal and morally wrong way, taking advantage of ladies, children, the elderly and even men. Twain does a superb job of demonstrating â€Å"the American dream† and the consequences of chasing it ruthlessly. Intertwined with the stories of dream chasers is another American concept, a black slave’s mistreatment and his search for his dream, freedom. Although Twain wrote the novel after slavery was abolished, he set it several decades earlier, when slavery was still a fact of life. But even by Twain’s time, things had not necessarily gotten much better for blacks in the South. In this light, one might read Twain’s depiction of slavery as an allegorical representation of the condition of blacks in the United States, even after the abolition of slavery. This is shown prominently throughout the novel through the co- protagonist, a black slave named Jim, and his adventures and misadventures. A particular instance is when Jim and Huck have been nothing but accommodating to the two swindlers mentioned previously but the swindlers report Jim as a runaway slave and have him captured for monetary gain. The white swindlers show the unjust, repulsive way that blacks are being treated. Modern American literature is used expertly as a propaganda tool and Huckleberry Finn is one of the first instances of using literature to enlighten the masses about the evils of slavery. Another important contribution that Huckleberry Finn has made to American literature is vernacular speech. This is a key characteristic of American literature and helps to show American regionalism from that time period. Dialogue in the book is directly affected by the race of the speaker and his or her region of origin. Through Twain’s sometimes inappropriate character speech, a reader feels as if they are truly listening to people talk because of the uncensored feel to the dialogue. Huckleberry Finn has also been under fire for its â€Å"straight- talk†, particularly for using racial slurs involving Jim and other slaves. However, Twain’s use of racial slurs ironically helps portray the anti- racist attitude of the book. Opponents to the statement that Huckleberry Finn is the basis for all modern American literature would venture to say that Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a more influential novel. An argument for this is that Uncle Tom’s Cabin came before Huckleberry Finn and showed a more detailed account of the horrors of slavery because the novel was based simply on slavery. While it is correct that Uncle Tom’s Cabin came before Mark Twain’s novel, Huckleberry Finn is the clear winner because of the way Mark Twain subliminally weaves in his view on slavery and is able to lead any reader to understand why slavery is morally wrong, without the reader even realizing it. While Shakespeare is inarguably the best playwright of all time, Huckleberry Finn takes on a similar title for American literature, though somewhat less grand. Huckleberry Finn is such a prime American work because of its encompassment of American concepts, ability to persuade, subliminal anti-slavery morality, and vernacular language, of which no other American novel before it can also brag, including Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Huckleberry Finn is a novel entirely worthy of the honorable title â€Å"basis for all modern American literature†.

Iliad and Achilles Actions Essay

Central to David Malouf’s Ransom, is the notion of loss, to deeply depict the fastidiousness and fragility of life. Achilles, in his quest to seek vengeance for the death of his be-loved friend, Patroclus, becomes distant as he struggles to remain emotionally intact, being unable to grasp onto the warrior and the leader he once was. Similarly, Priam’s better judgement and role as the King of Troy are clouded by the slaying of his son, Hector, acting irrationally, by conjuring up a precarious journey virtuously from a vision as a result of the trauma he has experienced from witnessing Achilles actions on his son. Consequently it takes the proceedings of Priam ransoming his son’s body to bring renewed empathy to both men. Achilles being born from both elements of earth and water is hindered to entirely comprehend who he really is. His Dad, Peleus being a great warrior and his mother, Thetis, originating from the element of water, â€Å"in all its many forms†. He inherits abilities from his mother, emulating an â€Å"eel – like, fluid weightless† sensation within himself, aiding his swift, rapid movements in battle. Yet Achilles is bought up by his father, where â€Å"he had entered the rough world of men†, thus not being exposed to the tender virtues of women, such as compassion, empathy and kind-heartedness, rather from of a young –age is subjected to â€Å"a world of pain, loss, dependency, bursts of violence and elation†. As a result Achilles is moulded by Peleus into the man; he wishes him to be, while Achilles aspires to impress Peleus to rifle for his loving approval, which is unfulfilled due to the absence of a feminine role model. Ultimately Achilles is deprived of his childhood; he is submerged into a world of violence and killing, where he becomes â€Å"numb† to the notion of death. Subsequently from the loss of his childhood, as well as being immersed in the culture of battle, Achilles is unable to find direction about who he truly is and successively he is unable to appropriately manage the loss of his dear friend Patroclus, envisioning himself as a protector to Patroclus. It is amidst Achilles emotional pain and gradual deterioration of Patroclus’ murder through which Malouf truly captures the concept of loss. Achilles visioning himself as a protector to Patroclus befalls emotionally disturbed â€Å"like a man obeying the needs of some other, darker agency†. From his childhood, Peleus taught Achilles to suppress his feelings, to not to expose to others how he felt, this strength remained mentally where he never learnt to deal with anguish and misery of his loved ones, especially Patroclus. As a result he becomes damaged and a blurred personality of what he once was that Malouf uses to show the consequences of emotional pain, to elude a resilient, strong minded leader in Achilles. Consequently Achilles becomes psychologically detached from reality, in a struggle to find solace for Patroclus’ death, reverting to massacring Hectors body repeatedly as â€Å"the self-consuming rage that drives him and wastes his spirit in despair†, is the beginning of the loss of his true self as a leader and a gladiator, which is stemmed from his ‘inward rage’, for his self-blame of Patroclus’ death, further obscuring his leadership and judgement to disrespect the body of Hector, to outwardly direct his anger at Hector’s body as a scapegoat for his true agony, at the loss of his adopted brother and the loss of his humane side, which Patroclus he him to draw away from a world of bloodshed and combat. Centralised to Malouf’s conceptual theme of loss, is the perception of loss facing Priam, through the murder and slaughter of his son, and the loss of his own perceived insignificance, as he journeys to Ransom the body of Hector. Priam’s most immediate and significant pain is climaxed, as he endures the murder of Hector, although Achilles actions ultimately prove the harshest ordeal to Priam, watching Achilles, ‘dragged the corpse to his car, secure it, knot after knot to the axle-tree, and hauled it off through the tumbling dust’. As Achilles for eleven continuous days drags ‘him up and down before the Greek Ships’, serving as a reminder to Priam for eleven days in a row, the loss and death of his son’s presence, evoking Priam to act out of instinct, journeying to re-obtain Hectors body. As a result Priam, viewing himself as an ‘ancient doll’, feels the desire and motivation due to Achilles actions, to conjure a treacherous journey, stripping himself of all ‘royal insignia’ and developing the courage to travel to the Greek camp undetected, without soldiers, but with the purity of his true self, ‘dressed in a plain white robe’. It is here that Priam’s desperation and misery are highlighted Malouf, to demonstrate the multitude of the situation, in which the way loss can diversely affect an individual, forcing them to go to great lengths to do what is perceived to them to be necessary. Ultimately, David Malouf’s concept of loss is explored through the main characters of Priam and Achilles. Both physically having the grieve for the loss of loved ones, Malouf explores this theme by depicting the dissimilar personalities of each character, and how each character adapts, copes and develops into a new leader after the ordeal of losing Patroclus and Hector. For Achilles he emerges a wrathful leader of his Myrmidons, being unable to have fully captured his emotions, as Patroclus was his escape from war. Conversely, Priam emerges as a wise man, viewing his own action as necessary, and rather than being systematic, spontaneously from a vision, journey’s to ransom the body of Hector.