A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay - 1393 Words

Winning critical acclaim, A Tale of Two Cities occupies a central place in the cannon of Charles Dickens’ work. A Tale of Two Cities, published in serial form starting on April 30, 1859, is a historical fiction novel. A dominant theme in this historical novel is the duality found in many of Dickens’ characters. Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is somewhat autobiographical; emphasizes the key elements of theme, plot, and character; and has received extensive criticism. A Tale of Two Cities is told in three parts and takes place in England and France before and during the French Revolution. The novel starts with the well known opening, â€Å"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.† The action begins with Mr. Jarvis Lorry, and elderly†¦show more content†¦Sadly this is when Charles’ life became less pleasant (Telgen). Charles Dickens was originally home schooled, and later attended a Dame School and Wellington Academy in London (Boro witz). In between attending a Dame School and Wellington Academy in London, Charles had to work (Shmoop Editorial Team). Since his father was in debt Charles worked at a bootleg factory, here he labeled bottles. He loathed his job. What made it worst was that his sister Frances was allowed to continue to study at Royal Academy of Music, and received much recognition (Telgen). After Charles left his job, and returned to school, he often found himself reading extensively at the British Museum. Charles was at the top of his class, and started up his writing career with â€Å"penny-a-line stuff.† He then got work as an office boy, and soon excelled in his literature. He wanted to be in theater; sorrowfully, he was sick on his scheduled day and never reapplied. He then used his incredible literary talent to start writing and became an author and play writer (Borowitz). Later, Charles found his first love, Maria Beadnell. Tragically, Charles’ attempts to â€Å"woo† Ma ria and make her his was a horrid failure. This massive rejection affected Charles so much that he could barely speak about it to his friend and biographer. Charles burned everything he had written for her, and later based a character off of her, Miss Havisham. She would burn in flames twice herShow MoreRelatedA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1420 Words   |  6 Pageshistory – the best of times and the worst of times. The violence enacted by the citizens of French on their fellow countrymen set a gruesome scene in the cities and country sides of France. Charles Dickens uses a palate of storm, wine, and blood imagery in A Tale of Two Cities to paint exactly how tremendously brutal this period of time was. Dickens use of storm imagery throughout his novel illustrates to the reader the tremulous, fierce, and explosive time period in which the course of events takesRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1024 Words   |  5 PagesAt the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens writes, â€Å"every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other (14).† Throughout the novel, Dickens incorporates the theme of secrets to connect characters and add mystery to the story. The three characters with the significant secrets are Charles Darnay, Alexandre Manette, and Madame Defarge. Darnay, Manette, and Defarge are all of French blood, living in either France or England in the heat of the FrenchRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1704 Words   |  7 PagesA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel set during the time of the French Revolution in England and France. The Revolution is a time of great danger and constant change. Dickens’ novel expresses the theme of fate through metaphors in many different ways. These metaphors connect the fates of Dickens’ characters that are intertwined in some way whether they are aware of how they are connected or not. Charles Dickens illustrates to his readers that fate is predetermined as shown throughRead MoreCharles Dickens Tale Of Two Cities1079 Words   |  5 PagesFated Coincidences Charles Dickens was a distinguished writer during the 1800s and was inspired by Thomas Carlyle’s book French Revolution. Dickens was influenced by this book to write his novel Tale of Two Cities. Even though he wrote the book seventy years after the French Revolution, he studied many different books from two wagons from Carlyle which he sent as a joke. Throughout the book Tale of Two Cities, Dickens has a recurring theme of fate. Dickens illustrates that everyone’s lives areRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1831 Words   |  8 Pagesthese horrific acts, there was a revival of French spirit after the Revolution had ended, in the sense that the French are resurging after being an inch from death. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens shows the reader that the general idea of resurrection can occur at any given point of time. The novel is set in two cities, London and Paris, during the French Revolution. The story begins with Mr. Lorry, an official from Tellson’s Bank in London, and Lucie Manette as they make their way to ParisRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens987 Words   |  4 PagesIn a Tale of Two cities. Dickens juxtapositions suspense and humor in a intricate tale of love and loyalty. The book takes place in the late 18th century, during the french revolution. the book is set in England and France, more specifically London and Paris. These are the two cities that the book centers around. In the city of London, the neighborhood of SoHo, and Paris, the french countryside, and city of Dover. b city houses, palace of Versailles. The house in Paris where the Darnay s stayedRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1363 Words   |  6 PagesTale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities is a 19th century novel that conveys the terror of the French Revolution through the story of the Manette and Darnay family. Charles Dickens intertwined characters throughout the novel to convey the equivocal viewpoint of the citizens throughout England. The ambiguous characters of Charles Darnay, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Carton, work to show both the innocence and savagery of the revolution. Charles Darnay spent the early years of his life as nobilityRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1426 Words   |  6 Pagesanxiety, and misery, the French Revolution was a trying time for all involved, even the characters crafted by Charles Dickens’ imagination. Charles Dickens’ strongly enforces the hardships of this arduous era in his remarkable novel, A Tale of Two Cities, while exhibiting his keen ability to leave hints for the readers, allowing them to predict upcoming events in his skillfully fashioned plot. Dickens utilizes vivid imagery to construct menacing settings. He presents his characters as impulsive to indicateRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1398 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Cruelty is a Result of Hatred Charles Dickens is a very famous novelist, who was born on February 7, 1812, in his home of Portsmouth, England. He was a very dedicated man with a great imagination, and he shows his writing skills in his book A Tale of Two Cities, a historical fiction that focuses on the French Revolution. In this book Dickens uses both atmosphere and imagery to describe how brutal and inhumane men can be to each other. He uses scenes of a man’s need for tyranny, a man’s needRead MoreA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1381 Words   |  6 PagesOf the extraordinary amount of literary devices available to authors, Charles Dickens uses quite a few in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, which is set during the French Revolution. One of his more distinctive devices is character foils. The five sets of foils are Carton and Darnay, Carton and Stryver, Darnay and the Marquis de Evremonde, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Lorry and Jerry Cruncher. Dickens uses foil characters to highlight the virtu es of several major characters in order to show the theme of

Profile Essay - 1981 Words

Profile Essay My best friend Leah Nepomuceno is one of the strongest people I know, especially when it comes to family. Family to her is everything and she has done all she can to try and keep hers together as a whole. We were in sixth grade swinging on the swings outside at recess, whispering and giggling about our usual gossip when she received news from one of our teachers that we knew was serious by the look on her face and fear in her voice. She came up to us and told her she needed to go the office and that she was being dismissed, she gave me permission to walk with her inside. On the short but long felt walk inside Leahs heart was pounding, her hands were sweating, and her eyes were slowly filling with tears. Her mom was†¦show more content†¦This hurt a lot, it was like my mom didnt care, never cared, how could she leave me with all those responsibilities I was only 15 years old she said when I asked her how it made her feel (Nepomuceno). This was truly heart breakin g to see, especially being so young and watching all of this happen to my best friend when there wasnt much I could do besides be the best friend I could. Ron soon couldnt be in the house anymore and had to be moved into a hospital with a rehab facilitation. This made it extremely hard on Leah because the hospital was an hour away limiting the time she got to spend with her dad. I started visiting every weekend making it extremely hard for me to have a social life or a boy friend. I started getting extremely depressed which was making my attendance at school and work suffer. After Leah put herself through drivers ed and got her license she used the old car they had to make these hospital visits. The gas money was becoming a problem so she knew there was only one thing she could do, get a part time job working downtown. I hated asking my dad for money and my mom was never there for us, so I decided to work instead of get back into track, Leah said when I asked her what she did to aff ord the hospital visits (Nepomuceno). Leah hated being in the hospital all the time though, she said it felt empty and always smelt like rubber gloves. When Ron was moved to a better hospital that wasShow MoreRelatedprofile essay1041 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Profile essay New York City How do you describe New York City in other words? I can describe New York City that never sleep. This is the biggest and the most wonderful city I have ever visited. New york is realy big city. Everybody imagine to live or visit there. That is the dream city. Constructions are so high and well organized especially in Manhattan. The buildings are so astonishingly tall and eye-catching. These buildings encompass the most distinctive architectureRead MoreProfile Essay1441 Words   |  6 PagesPaige Plantier Profile Essay Brother Gagon Eng 101 10 June 2010 It’s Meatloaf Night! â€Å"Pick up the pace guys, its meatloaf night!† Exclaimed Pleasant Grove High School track coach Bill Saunders. You could see the pain and agony that the athletes were experiencing as they made their final laps around the track in attempt to finish off that day’s workout. The mid afternoon sun was beating down on the young adults and you could see tears of sweat running from their faces. Bill Saunders has been theRead MoreProfile Essay1466 Words   |  6 Pagesam an honest honorable hoarder. I honor the smallest piece of item I have even if it is trash. I don’t have much and what I do have I keep.† Doug may not be the best citizen that this country offers but he is just as important as anyone else. His profile can inspire people to either help someone they know or just others in need of this condition that haunts so many people. The world and the people in it can help individuals like this simply by caring enough to help. Doug was fortunate to find a so lutionRead MoreProfile Essay1311 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Meeting† The room is silent other than the steady hum of the air conditioner. Businessmen and location supervisors all sit around a large rectangular table, waiting for the man in charge. There is a projector screen at the head of the table with an opening slide displayed. It reads â€Å"Monthly Safety meeting† in plain black text on a white background. A few of the men lean back in their chairs and relax. Two start a casual conversation. Even in the silence of the room I cannot understandRead MoreEssay Profile722 Words   |  3 PagesThe plan was to write a profile that conveyed completely heartfelt honesty and insert it into some dating site if she could find one out of seemingly hundreds, and try to get it done by the end of the evening before a change of mind. This entailed quite a bit of thought to say everything just right without sounding pathetic or wanting which was not the case at al l. Fifteen minutes later, nothing came out right so she opened up a search engine instead to choose out a dating site and soon found outRead MoreEssay on Profile of a Person1649 Words   |  7 Pages but most important, different methods of thinking. When I realized that I would need to write a profile of someone else, I thought it would be the easiest essay that I have ever done. Contrary to my expectations, I realized that to write someone elses profile is kind of hard, because it is not only a simple thing such as just write the entire life of the person. A lot of stuff is behind the profile of a person. When I first thought about who I should interview, I was kind of lost, because I doRead MoreA Profile of Facebook Essay1579 Words   |  7 Pagescomes a false and heightened sense of importance. It is not uncommon to see users with over 1,500 â€Å"friends† on Facebook. It is obvious that an individual could not actually stay in touch with this amount of people but see ing this number on their profile makes some people feel well liked and important - seeing as they expect that these friends truly care about what they have to say. Since users feel that people care about what they are doing in their life, they post statuses, opinions, and theirRead MorePersonality Profile Essay1107 Words   |  5 Pages Personality Profile MGT/360 Personality Profile In modern business, it is important to have a mindset of sustainability and environmentally friendly business practices. Two fundamental characteristics of an effective and sustainable leadership model are having the foresight of what the company is trying to attain and identifying the worth in the process and supplying the leadership to reach the companies goals. Leadership begins with trusting in the process, and adhering to theRead MoreChild Profile Essay711 Words   |  3 PagesFor this project we had to collaborate and create a presentation that models a child profile. Our student was 17 year old Aaron, who is apart of Chatsworth Senior High School’s Life Skills program. This program is a transitional program designed for students to receive education in the morning and obtain job experience for the last half of the day. Aaron is currently working at his father’s business, but it has been reported that there are numerous problems with Aaron’s behavior and s kills. His father

An Examination of Southern Dialect Essay Example For Students

An Examination of Southern Dialect Essay In the writings of William Faulkner, the reader may sense that the author has created an entire world, which directly reflects his own personal experience. Faulkner writes about the area in and around Mississippi, where he is from, during the post-Civil War period. It is most frequently Northern Mississippi that Faulkner uses for his literary territory, changing Oxford to Jefferson and Lafayette County to Yoknapatawpha County, because it is here that he lived most of his life and wrote of the people he knew. Faulkners stories focus on the Southeastern United States at a time period when old traditions began to clash with new ideals. This is an era in American history with which most people can quickly identify, whether they are Southern or not. The South in Faulkners works are complete with all the expected features: an agricultural society, Southern belles and gentlemen, racial tensions, and especially the common characteristics of Southern speech. Faulkner strays from the normal customs of Northern literature to present a realistic portrait of the South that he grew up in. In doing so, he comes up with an excellent sample of the Southern language, including linguistic qualities of both black and white speech. Faulkner establishes a unique literary voice which is recognizable due to variances from standard English in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical form, while juxtaposing speech elements foreign to anyone not familiar with Southern heritage. The works of William Faulkner succeed in creating a literary dialect which is relatively consistent throughout all of his stories. A literary dialect is best defined as an authors attempt to represent in writing a speech that is restricted regionally, socially, or both Ives 146. In Faulkners writing, this can be described by such traits as an intentional misspelling, like marster for master, or in the use of Miss along with the given first name of a female, as in Miss Corrie. These, amongst countless other examples, are distinctly Southern speech traditions. Anyone not from the South may need explanations of much of Faulkners pronunciations, words, usages, and language customs which the author himself takes for granted. Because Faulkner has employed such a vast and complex Southern dialect in his stories, the language he uses has become a microcosm of Southern language as a whole. As one critic has noted, local forms of speech maintain ones individual dignity in a homogenizing world Burkett vii. In Faulkner, this local speech is a mixture of Southern American and Negro dialogue with all the folklore from Virginia to Louisiana, Florida to Texas Brown 2. Faulkners dialect is effective both as a literary device and as a link between the American English language and American culture and history, specifically in the Southeast. The South is probably the most linguistically diversified part of the nation. Blacks and whites from Atlanta to Charleston to Nashville speak a different form of standard English in a different version of the Southern accent. Part of this linguistic diversity is reflected in the way that the Southern  aristocracy can shift not only vocabulary and pronunciation, but even grammar, according to the audience 1McDavid 219. This technique is very much alive in Faulkners work. For example, in The Reivers, the upper-class grandfather character Boss is an educated man of high social standing in the community. Yet, when he is in the company of only his grandson Lucius, as part of a lecture, he says the safe things aint always the best things 2Faulkner 117. Throughout the book, Bosss speech moves from the formal to the informal, largely depending on the intimacy he feels with the person or persons to whom he is speaking. Such a case illustrates that Faulkner is well aware of the prestige norms that exist in Southern speech, and he takes advantage of this knowledge. As Feagin points out, in the Southeast, the way in which nonstandard English is employed demonstrates a symbol of intimacy and local loyalty, as well as a gauge of the level of integration into a close-knit network Feagin 222. Faulkners characters reveal a tendency to speak in a slang-like or non-prescriptive grammar when they converse with other characters that they know well, often apparent in the form of jokes and metaphorical language. Similarly to the aristocratic speaker, the less educated Southern speaker often attempts to improve his or her speech when in a formal setting. McDavid asserts that the common way to do so is by using bigger words and longer sentences, sometimes resulting in the ridiculous 2McDavid 265. A good example of such in Faulkner occurs in As I Lay Dying when Anse, a rural, farming man, attempts to sound eloquent at a time of utmost solemnity. During a funeral speech, Anse states the following: The somebody you was young with and you growed old in her and she growed old in you, seeing the old coming on and it was the one somebody you could hear say it dont matter and know it was the truth outen the hard world and all a mans grief and trials 1Faulkner 511. It is obvious that Anse intends to speak formally in this situation, thus Faulkner follows McDavids rule of Southern speech about the elongation of sentences and its irregular result. This passage is successful in two ways. First, it reveals a realistic trait common in the Southeast, reflecting the solidarity norm based on local non-standard speech Feagin 219. Second, it serves as a very powerful literary technique because the oration captures the high level of sincerity in the speaking character. Writing and the Holocaust EssaySome important questions arise when examining the language of Faulkner or any similarly dialect-oriented author. These questions surround the actual nature of a dialect, and the way in which it is manifested by the writer on to the page. Dialects are patterns of communication by which all people in an exclusive region recognize. People, even without a written language, understand these speech conventions, or patterns to which actual noises conform even though they may not be systematically analyzed and recorded in a grammar Ives 150. A group of people who speaks a dialect will commonly have uniform variations from other dialects that are noticeable by people outside their speaking class, as in the differences between black and white Southern English. A writer like Faulkner, then, presents a very special affinity with his own dialect because he writes in it without having to rely on research or background study. His storytelling language is pure, when he needs something, he searches the lumber room of his head for something to serve his purpose Brown 4. The literary dialect in the works of William Faulkner is almost a carbon-copy of the Southern dialect he truly speaks. Moreover, although Faulkner is not commonly regarded as a great historian, his  writing reveals a great deal of Southern history and culture.Though probably not all of these accounts are entirely accurate, it is quite possible that Faulkners descriptions of historical events alight directly from his own experience with the Southern tradition of oral storytelling. Faulkners representation of Southern speech in his writing, follows the actual linguistic parameters of the Southern Lowland dialect very closely, or Southern Proper by Raven McDavids classification. Faulkner makes a strong effort to display the various facets of this dialect even though many of them cannot really be sensed through writing alone. For instance, the only true aspects of language that are excluded in writing are facial and bodily expressions accompanying speech, pauses and changes in pitch or volume, and speed of articulation. Generally speaking, however, these features are secondary in comparison with pronunciation, grammar, and word usage. Faulkners literary dialect is consistent with several of the prevailing trends of Southern speech. For one, it supports the theory of Southern language diversity due to the fact that Faulkners is a distinctly Southern dialect, yet has many differences from other Southern dialects, including the use of phrases like trade days days set aside for auctioning only used in the immediate area Brown 202. Also, Faulkners writing presents the large quantity of archaic and folk utterances in the Negro dialect, which are the result of years of insufficient educational opportunity. One other trait of Faulkners language that is common to the popular conception of Southern dialects is the occasional loss of postvocalic /r/, as in the words baun for born, and bastud for bastard. These words, along with dozens of others appearing in many of Faulkners stories. Faulkner, quite simply, delineates a place rich in the tradition and pride of the average Southerner. Consequently, the speech in his text also carries some of the stigmas attached to Southern life itself. First and foremost of these blemishes is the pervading tone of racism, automated by the appearance of the word nigger in practically all of Faulkners works. Although the word does represent the authenticity of Faulkners dialect, it will always carry with it an arresting level of shame and disgrace. The feeling of racism is perpetuated by the fact that most of the Negro speech in Faulkner is slightly less standard than white speech, giving it a hint of inferiority. Although Faulkner explores the issue of racism with an open mind and even attempts to repudiate some of the negative connotations associated with blacks, his genuine Southern tongue cannot completely detach from the very real evils of racial injustice in Southern American history. Finally, the dialect in these stories, in all of its originality, continues to uphold the popular belief that Southern English is, in many instances, bad English employed by less intelligent speakers. This setback is mainly attributable in Faulkners writing to the double negatives, use of aint, and use of third person dont. Contrary to these negative opinions however, most of the cases of bad grammar  here are actually remnants of archaic proper English rather than unintelligent corruptions of modern English. Thus Faulkners storytelling dialect creates a lasting impression of his Southern world, encompassing both the common and unique, the positive and the negative. In demonstrating his ability to author such a realistic, yet original world, drawing on his own natural dialect, Faulkner insists that life is narrative, based on the preeminence of language in our lives Lockyer xii.

Unicorns Have Wings Essays - Rainbow Sherbet, Rainbow,

Unicorns Have Wings One day a long, long time ago, a beautiful white horse came trotting through the wood that lead to a marvelous rainbow waterfall. When a flash of beautiful colors caught her eye. Then, the white horse looked more carefully and she realized that it was a Rainbow Bird, gliding over the Rainbow Lake that had caught her reflection. The white horse came closer and the bird flew closer and landed on a nearby log. "Hello, my name is Fleece," exclaimed the bird. "Hello," said the white horse. "Don't you have a name?" whined the bird. "No,I'm afraid I don't," said the horse. "Well, may I have the honor of naming you?" asked Fleece. "Why, yes, of course!" exclaimed the white horse. "Well, let me see. How about Narina? Yes, I'll name you, Narina. Do you like your name?" asked Fleece. "Yes, I do!" said the horse. "Fine, then it is settled." said Fleece. Narina and Fleece played almost everyday together. They were the very best of friends. They liked playing under the waterfall and the went swimming in the crystal clear lake almost every day. One evening Fleece told Narina that he was sick and might not see the morning light again. This broke Narina's heart. She tried not to worry, but she had to. To please Fleece, Narina went to the waterfall and fixed him his favorite meal, his last meal.Fleece's favorite meal was Rainbow water, with Cherry, Strawberry, Vanilla Cream pie. In the morning, Narina checked on Fleece. He was dead, but peaceful. While she was looking at here friend Fleece, Narina felt something funny on her right and left hip. When she looked, she saw Fleece's rainbow colored wings. Narnia was happy that she had a part of her best friend. After a few years, Narina got over the loss of her best friend and was very excited to be a winged horse. Narina still lived in the wood by the waterfall and thought of Fleece every day. One very, very sunny morning , Narina heard the soft bells of an ice cream wagon. A very grouch owl (probably because he's supposed to be sleeping at that time of the day) bought rainbow sherbet in a cone. The grouchy owl took his sherbet and flew up into a tree over Narina's head. Next, a greedy pigeon came and headed straight for the owl's cone! The pigeon knocked the cone out of the owls grip and it landed on Narina's head. The rainbow sherbet was sticky and made beautiful rainbow stripes all over Narnia's body. The sherbet was so sticky that Narina couldn't get the cone off her head. And the beautiful sticky stripes wouldn't come off either.........And now you know why Unicorns have wings and a horn.

Battle of Westport in the American Civil War

Battle of Westport in the American Civil War Battle of Westport - Conflict Date: The Battle of Westport was fought October 23, 1864, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Battle of Westport - Armies Commanders: Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis22,000 men Confederate Major General Sterling Price8,500 men Battle of Westport - Background: In the summer of 1864, Major General Sterling Price, who had been commanding Confederate forces in Arkansas began lobbying his superior, General Edmund Kirby Smith, for permission to attack into Missouri.  A Missouri native, Price hoped to reclaim the state for the Confederacy and damage President Abraham Lincolns re-election bid that fall.  Though he was granted permission for the operation, Smith stripped Price of his infantry.  As a result, the strike into Missouri would be limited to a large-scale cavalry raid.  Advancing north with 12,000 horsemen on August 28, Price crossed into Missouri and engaged Union troops at Pilot Knob a month later.  Pushing towards St. Louis, he soon turned west when he realized that the city was too heavily defended to assault with his limited forces. Responding to Prices raid, Major General William S. Rosecrans, commanding the Department of the Missouri, began concentrating men to deal with the threat.  Having been deterred from his initial objective, Price moved against the state capital at Jefferson City.  A string of skirmishes in the area soon led him to conclude that, like St. Louis, the citys fortifications were too strong.  Continuing west, Price sought to attack Fort Leavenworth.  As the Confederate cavalry moved through Missouri, Rosecrans dispatched a cavalry division under Major General Alfred Pleasonton as well as two infantry divisions led by Major General A.J. Smith in pursuit.  A veteran of the Army of the Potomac, Pleasonton had commanded Union forces at the Battle of Brandy Station the previous year before falling out of favor with Major General George G. Meade.   Battle of Westport - Curtis Responds: To the west, Major General Samuel R. Curtis, overseeing the Department of Kansas, worked to concentrate his forces to meet Prices advancing army.  Forming the Army of the Border, he created a cavalry division led by Major General James G. Blunt and an infantry division consisting of Kansas militia commanded by Major General George W. Deitzler.  Organizing the latter formation proved difficult as Kansas Governor Thomas Carney initially resisted Curtis request to call out the militia.  Further problems emerged regarding the command of Kansas militia cavalry regiments assigned to Blunts division.  There were ultimately resolved and Curtis ordered Blunt east to block Price.  Engaging the Confederates at Lexington on October 19 and Little Blue River two days later, Blunt was forced back both times.   Battle of Westport - Plans: Though victorious in these battles, they slowed Prices advance and allowed Pleasonton to gain ground.  Aware that the combined forces of Curtis and Pleasonton outnumbered his command, Price sought to defeat the Army of the Border before turning to deal with his pursuers.  Having retreated west, Blunt was directed by Curtis to establish a defensive line behind Brush Creek, just south of Westport (part of modern-day Kansas City, MO).  To attack this position, Price would be required to cross the Big Blue River then turn north and cross Brush Creek.  Implementing his plan to defeat Union forces in detail, he ordered Major General John S. Marmadukes division to cross the Big Blue at Byrams Ford on October 22 (Map). This force was to hold the ford against Pleasonton and guard the armys wagon train while the divisions of Major Generals Joseph O. Shelby and James F. Fagan rode north to attack Curtis and Blunt.  At Brush Creek, Blunt deployed the brigades of Colonels James H. Ford and Charles Jennison straddling Wornall Lane and facing south, while that of Colonel Thomas Moonlight extended the Union right south at a right angle.  From this position, Moonlight could support Jennison or attack the Confederate flank. Battle of Westport - Brush Creek: At dawn on October 23, Blunt advanced Jennison and Ford across Brush Creek and over a ridge.  Moving forward they quickly engaged Shelby and Fagans men.  Counterattacking, Shelby succeeded in turning the Union flank and forced Blunt to retreat back across the creek.  Unable to press the attack due to a shortage of ammunition, the Confederates were forced to pause allowing the Union troops to regroup.  Further bolstering Curtis and Blunts line was the arrival of Colonel Charles Blairs brigade as well as the sound of Pleasontons artillery to the south at Byrams Ford.  Reinforced, Union forces charged across the creek against the enemy but were repulsed.   Seeking an alternative approach, Curtis came across a local farmer, George Thoman, who was angry about Confederate forces stealing his horse.  Thoman agreed to aid the Union commander and showed Curtis a gully that ran past Shelbys left flank to a rise in the Confederate rear.  Taking advantage, Curtis directed the 11th Kansas Cavalry and the 9th Wisconsin Battery to move through the gully.  Attacking Shelbys flank, these units, combined by another frontal assault by Blunt, began to steadily push the Confederates south towards the Wornall House. Battle of Westport - Byrams Ford: Reaching Byrams Ford early that morning, Pleasonton pushed three brigades across the river around 8:00 AM.  Taking a position on a hill beyond the ford, Marmadukes men resisted the first Union assaults.  In the fighting, one of Pleasontons brigade commanders fell wounded and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Benteen who would later play a role in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn.  Around 11:00 AM, Pleasonton succeeded in pushing Marmadukes men from their position.  To the north, Prices men fell back to a new line of defense along a road south of Forest Hill.   As Union forces brought thirty guns to bear on the Confederates, the 44th Arkansas Infantry (Mounted) charged forward in an attempt to seize the battery. This effort was repulsed and as Curtis learned of Pleasontons approach against the enemys rear and flank, he ordered a general advance.  In a precarious position, Shelby deployed a brigade to fight a delaying action while Price and the rest of the army escaped south and across the Big Blue.  Overwhelmed near the Wornall House, Shelbys men soon followed. Battle of Westport - Aftermath: One of the largest battles fought in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, the Battle of Westport saw both sides sustain around 1,500 casualties.  Dubbed the Gettysburg of the West, the engagement proved decisive in that it shattered Prices command as well as saw many Confederate partisans leave Missouri in the armys wake.  Pursued by Blunt and Pleasonton, the remnants of Prices army moved along the Kansas-Missouri border and fought engagements at  Marais des Cygnes, Mine Creek, Marmiton River, and Newtonia.  Continuing to retreat through southwest Missouri, Price then swung west into the Indian Territory before arriving in Confederate lines in Arkansas on December 2.  Reaching safety, his force had been reduced to around 6,000 men, approximately half of its original strength. Selected Sources Battle of WestportCWSAC Battle Summary: Battle of Westport

Research 101 Going to the Library in the Internet Age - Freewrite Store

Research 101 Going to the Library in the Internet Age - Freewrite Store â€Å"Let me Google that.† Today’s guest post is by Anne E. Johnson. Anne, based in Brooklyn, has written several novels and nearly 100 short stories. She is also an arts journalist. â€Å"Let me Google that.† For someone who loves research, those are four of the saddest words in English. Somehow the belief has spread that any information you need- about anything- is available by simply typing into a search engine. Yet libraries still exist. Don’t be one of those people who ignores them. You’re wondering why you should bother. What could some underfunded collection of books sticky with other people’s fingerprints possibly offer that the internet can’t? Glad you asked. Why Go to the Library? One of the best things about going to the library is what it can do for your work. As someone who has experience pitching both historical fiction manuscripts and journalistic article ideas, trust me: you want to stand out from the crowd. Anybody can Google. Not everybody can coax gems from library stacks. Potential agents and publishers can see those gems gleaming, and they’ll like what they see.       Another great reason to go to a library is psychological. It’s good for your brain and it’s good for your spirit. Let me count the ways: After a few hours of staring at your computer or tablet screen, do you feel kind of hollow and stale, as if you’ve wasted your day? I call that â€Å"Web Laziness† syndrome. You could just power down and go to the gym. But if you’re in the middle of a research project, try going to the library instead. The more time you spend in a library and get comfortable with it, the more you’ll get out of it. Your enthusiasm for your topic can’t help but grow. And a bonus: you’ll feel like a pro, and won’t hesitate to hit the stacks next time you need to do research. Unlike sitting with your laptop in a coffee shop or on your own couch, a library is a place where everyone is there to read and learn. Being in that environment can alter your powers of concentration. And learning is energizing. Treasures galore! There’s a lot to be gained from being near lots of physical books. When you wander along a library bookcase, looking for a call number, you scan the spines of hundreds of nearby volumes. Guaranteed, you’re going to find some amazing stuff that you didn’t know existed. And there’s also the possibility to see physical documents that almost no one else has ever been in contact with. Primary sources – letters, diaries, drafts of plays or musical compositions, captain’s logs, or anything else that is an original representation of a time or place are absolute gold if you write history or historical fiction, or just want to jazz up something with cool details.       A research library in a big city or at a university is the best place to find such things, but even your neighborhood public library might offer high-quality scans of rare documents. Libraries subscribe to scholarly databases that an individual can’t afford to buy access to. To use these databases, you will probably need a library card. Some might be accessible at home once you log in as a card-holder, but some will require you to show up at the library and use their computers. Planning your library visit If you really want to get a lot out of a day at the library, put in some time before you go. This is where the internet and physical libraries become one: You can use the library’s catalog from the comfort of your couch! Your prep experience can be practically paperless. Online catalogs allow the option of digitally bookmarking entries you’re interested in, or emailing them to yourself. Personally, I always make a working bibliography of every resource I want to explore, and I print it out and bring it with me so I can scribble notes on it (things like â€Å"out until Aug. 31† or â€Å"saw it, but not that helpful†).       And remember not to limit yourself to looking up books. Libraries also have periodicals, which nowadays are usually entirely electronic. The online catalog will probably include a way to search those magazines and journals for your topic. And then there are documentary films or historical radio broadcasts that might help you. Your list of resources doesn’t have to be perfect. You just need a starting point. Once you spend some time in the stacks, you’ll add some items and cross others out. Oh, and don’t forget to check the hours before you go, so you don’t waste a trip. What happens once you’re there? You walk in with your list. Now what? Libraries post maps to show where each call number can be found. Often you can snag a nice little bookmark with that info printed on it, and carry it with you. Pick a call number from your bibliography to start with, then go looking for that book. If the book isn’t where it’s supposed to be, or if you can’t figure out where the call number is kept, or if you’re just feeling overwhelmed by the whole process†¦don’t despair. There’s a living, breathing app for that.       That human over there is called a â€Å"librarian.† Approach him or her with a smile, and they’ll give you all the help you need. These folks went to school for this, so their skills go well beyond answering â€Å"Where is this book?† and â€Å"Where are the restrooms?† You could tell them what you’re working on, and see if they have any ideas! And, if you’re in a research library, there might even be a librarian who specializes in your topic. If you’re looking at rare or primary documents, the key is patience. Whether you’re lucky enough to get to handle the actual documents (a rare thrill, indeed) or you are instructed to look at an online database, take your time. Obviously, rare documents can be damaged, so don’t flip pages like it’s a cheap mystery novel you picked up at the airport. But more than that, remember that this is a special privilege. Savor it. Explore not just the words on the page, but what the pages are made of, what kind of ink and font is used. Take careful notes about everything you see and feel. Using all your senses will inform whatever you’re writing later. Need a photocopy of something you can’t check out of the library? Depending on what it is, that might not be allowed. But you have that nifty phone in your pocket; photograph the pages you need! If the material is not rare, you might be able to take it home for two or three weeks. You’ll need a library card (a good idea anyway, as we’ve discussed, so you have full access to all materials). More and more e-books are also available to check out. You order them via the library’s catalog, and they’ll show up on your e-reader, and disappear after the due date.    Try it. You won’t be sorry. Hey, I’m not knocking Google. There’s no disputing that internet search engines are ingenious tools that have changed the world. Still, sitting at your laptop is sometimes not enough if you want to understand a topic deeply. You can’t find what isn’t there, and you’ll never know what you’re missing unless you change how and where you look. So, next time you need to do research, give the ol’ library a chance – it might end up being your new favorite place to hang out. What do you love most about libraries? How have libraries helped your writing craft? Let us know in the comments!    Anne E. Johnson is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her published science fiction and fantasy novels include Space Surfers (YA science fiction) and the Webrid Chronicles humorous space opera series: Green Light Delivery, Blue Diamond Delivery,and Red Spawn Delivery. She also has two published historical novels for kids aged 8-12. Nearly 100 of her short stories have been published in magazines, webzines, and anthologies. She is a longtime story judge for the RateYourStory website. Anne has an undergraduate degree in classical languages and a master’s in musicology, specializing in the Middle Ages; for over 15 years she taught music history and theory in New York. As an arts journalist writing about music and theater, she contributes a biweekly column and monthly CD reviews to Copper Magazine: The Journal of Music and Audio, and she’s been published in The New York Times, Stagebill Magazine, Chicago on the Aisle, WomenArts, Teaching Theatre Magazine, and Classical Voice North America.

Run- dmc's impact on rap and society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Run- dmc's impact on rap and society - Essay Example ablished Rush Productions, a hip- hop management Company in the 80’s encouraged his brother Joey to form a rap duo with his friend Darryl McDaniels. They started out as a duo and later roped in another friend called Jason Mizell. The trio introduced a dress culture to suit their fancy and set them apart from the regular dress code. Their style was flashy with hats, untied sneakers and heavy gold chains that greatly appealed to the youth and left a deep impression on their suburban rock fan following. (Simon & Schuster, 2001) Run – D.M.C outshone their predecessors Grandmaster Flash and Whodini by being much more tougher and menacing while using samples from heavy metal and their popular spare beats. They helped to promote rap from a genre that was single oriented to a genre that became officially album oriented. Run – D.M.C was the very first hip – hop artist group to cut full- fledged albums and slowly made it into the mainstream of music. In the course of time Run – D.M.C had spawned many other groups and were even overtaken by them, yet they dedicated themselves to performing even into the 90’s. The group had cut their first single titled â€Å"It’s Like That† in 1983 which sounded like no other rap during that time. By 1985, they had become America’s most popular and influential band after their second album titled â€Å"King of Rock.† This album was succeeded by the R&B single which was a cover for the legendary Aerosmith titled â€Å"Walk This Way† which became Run- D.M.C’s biggest hit single which was recorded using Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. This was the very first hip – hop number that appealed to both rappers and rockers alike. This album was followed by their third album titled â€Å"Raising Hell† which became the first rap album to scale to number one on the R&B charts and then even go platinum. There was no turning back now for Run – D.M. C as they strengthened their position as the first rappers to make a

Deca Commissary - Providing Customer Confidence Research Paper

Deca Commissary - Providing Customer Confidence - Research Paper Example In this case, the commissaries ensure that the personnel and their families obtained goods at prices that saved them approximately 30percent the cost that civilians bought similar products (Skirbunt & Robinson, 2008). While the practice started long before organizations realized the important role of integrating customer’s needs in an organization, DeCA realizes the importance of integrating modern era practices that will ensure that the commissaries created customer confidence. First, it is important to point out that the core competency of commissary benefits were customers’ savings, which is also the main reason for its existence (Skirbunt & Robinson, 2008). In effect, DeCA works towards ensuring that the upholding and maintenance of these key competencies of the commissaries. In line with this, DeCA has integrated technology in its facilities to ensure that products offering were the same throughout their facilities. In addition, technology ensures that all facilities had enough stock and the replenishment of stock was timely since technology ensured that the supply of products was always constant with the facilities always stocked. It is evident that one way of ensuring customer satisfaction was ensuring a constant supply of goods and services. In effect, an organization that ensures customer satisfaction enhances the level of confidence amongst its customers. Therefore, ensuring constant supply of products in all is commissaries ensured that De CA created customer satisfaction, which led to establishing customers’ confidence in all its facilities. In the modern world, the safety of products is a key factor that determines the development of customers’ confidence in an organization. In line with this, Skirbunt and Robinson (2008) noted, â€Å"Food familiarity and safety were also key to success with commissary customers able to shop with

Energy Society Essay Example for Free

Energy Society Essay The Kyoto Protocol The official name of the Protocol is The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an agreement by 165 countries for mandatory targets for the reduction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. These gases—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and several fluorinated gases are believed to contribute significantly to global warming. The targets of the Protocol are primarily industrialized countries, which are expected to reduce their combined emissions to 95% of 1990 emission levels between 2008 and 2012. The Protocol was agreed on in 1997, although it only took effect in 2005. Between the years 1990 and 2000, the overall emissions of industrialized countries have been reduced by 3%, but largely because of the drastic reduction of emissions from former Soviet countries because of their failing economies. Other industrialized countries overall had an increase of 8% emissions. It is estmated that emissions from industrialized countries will be 10% above 1990 emission levels by the year 2010. For industrialized countries, the emission reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol is only around 5%, and many climate scientists are concerned that this is not enough to curb the effects of global warming. They believe that in order for the agreement to actually help solve the problem, the emission rates would be cut down by 60%. This has led to the opinion that the agreement lacks real value, more so without US backing. However, advocates believe that the Protocol lays out the groundwork for future negotiations. Emission reduction laws were already signed in many countries and would continue to take effect even when the Protocol itself has ceased to exist. â€Å"Happy Kyoto Day† – http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002119.html This site has an unusual approach to the problem of determining the Kyoto protocol’s merit. According to the author, â€Å"In and of itself, the Kyoto treaty wont solve global warming or avert disastrous climate disruption.† The author states that the protocol is essentially a catalyst. It will put the world in an environmentally aware mindset—even if the Kyoto protocol fails, it will force the world to come up with something better. It will also encourage economic changes that strive towards greater efficiency and sustainability. Lastly, the protocol â€Å"is a symbol, a conscious step in the right direction for the planet. â€Å"Kyoto global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?† – http://uspolitics.tribe.net/thread/e4978f31-0439-4b70-bbf3-f0ce93a09a42 According to this site, â€Å"global warming alarmism† is indeed the â€Å"mother of all environmental scares.† The author states that it is definitely not settled whether human activity has had any significant effect on global warming; global warming is a theory, not a fact. Some effects of the Kyoto protocol would include â€Å"impoverishing the USA and creating intense disaffection within the ranks of the working classes.† Basic necessities would become very expensive. â€Å"Electricity would double in cost, fuel would skyrocket.† Lastly, the author claims that the Kyoto protocol is a political â€Å"device to lead the Social Communists closer to world dominion.† One of the worst effects that global warming could have would be the rise of sea levels, due to the melting of ice caps and to thermal expansion of the world’s waters. A hundred years from now, if the worst global warming predictions come true, millions of people will be displaced from their homes, which will be submerged. This will have drastic economic and cultural impacts. The effects of the mass displacement on the economy could reach far into the future. The loss of farmland, of business districts, etc. may spawn another (much worse) Great Depression in many areas. Forced cultural dispersion will be commonplace, making the ubiquitous problem of the generation gap much more considerable. Many people who would call themselves environmentalists would not necessarily have good knowledge of environmental issues. They may pay lip service to the environmentalist cause without inconveniencing themselves in any respect to protect it. But I would venture to say that a majority of those who call themselves environmentalists would be willing to go out of their way to ‘serve’ the world. However, it is certain that, as in other controversial issues, there would be much hypocrisy. If by ‘environmentalists’ we mean those who are—or claim to be—‘concerned’ about the environment, then certainly most of them would just be claiming belief in the cause, but be too lazy. In them would be an awareness of an ideal—the preservation of the environment—but a lack of initiative, probably because of the lack of any immediate incentives. References    Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Greenhouse Office, Available at: http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/international/kyoto/index.html The Kyoto Protocol, New Zealand Ministry for the Environment, Available at: http://www. climatechange.govt.nz/about/kyoto.html Cascio, Jamais, 2006, Happy Kyoto Day, Available at: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002119.html Kyoto global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?, 2006, Available at: http://uspolitics.tribe.net/thread/e4978f31-0439-4b70-bbf3-f0ce93a09a42 QA: The Kyoto Protocol, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/ 4269921.stm The Kyoto Protocol A brief summary, 2006, European Union, Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/climat/kyoto.htm Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Available at: http://en.wikipedia. org/w/index.php?title=Kyoto_Protocololdid=80236719 Kyoto Protocol comes into force, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ science/nature/4267245.stm

Compare The Young Ravens That Call Upon Him and When Twilight Falls Upon The Stump Lots :: essays research papers

Compare The Young Ravens That Call Upon Him and When Twilight Falls Upon The Stump Lots  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sir Charles G.D Roberts' stories "The Young Ravens That Call Upon Him" and "When Twilight Falls Upon The Stump Lots" are similar in a lot of ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The point of view in the Young Ravens story is told from the eagle, the point of view in the Stump Lots is omniscient. In the "young ravens" story the eagle is the protagonist and the ewe is the antagonist. In the "stump lots" story the bear is the protagonist and the cow is the antagonist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In both stories the setting is beautifully described with a lot of description. They both take place in nature during the spring. One story however takes place in a valley wile the other takes place in the stump lots. There is pathetic fallacy in the description of both stories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The plot of both stories is quite similar. They are both about hunting larger prey to survive, both about the motherly instinct of protectingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? ones youngà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. However in the stump lots no one comes out a head and in theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? ravensà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? story the eagles seem to come out satisfied, although the story does not go into great detail about the eagles fate. In the stump lots story man is present and the story ends with an irony of situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is foreshadowing in the young ravens story because it keeps on mentioning how unsafe the valley was for the ewe and lamb to be wondering around alone with out the rest of the flock. Also the story kept saying how hunger the eaglets were.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme in the young ravens story is....... one animal destroys another while innocently fulfilling the laws of its own nature. The theme in the other story is.....size and strength does not always prevail against an animals motherly instinct in nature, however man can make all the efforts in vain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the young ravens story a filling of piety is created towards the lamb because it had not yet had a chance to live. Also you feel sorry for the ewe because it is wondering around helplessly looking for her lamb separated in the wild from her flock.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the stump lot story you feel sorry for the bear because she is just trying to feed her cubs and she gets killed. Also when the dying bears last wish to get to her cubs is denied from her you cant help but feel bad.. You feel pity for the cow because all her efforts of trying to

Expiration Date on Marriages

According to a study from the Center of Women's Resources, for every two hours a woman is either slapped, beaten and subjected to other forms of abuse. In a day, twelve women submit to cruel acts caused mostly by their loved ones or people they know, making violence the number one crime against women. Statistics shows that there are too many victims of abuse yet no actions have been done. Margie Tajon, president of the 1-Babae Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA) party-list group, suggests that the proposal for 10-year expiration on Marriage would strengthen marriage and not destroy it. Tajon stated in an interview that this would allow couples to reassess the status of their marriage. In one of her points she states that it would benefit incompatible pairs who would like to be separated legally but have to undergo a tiring and lengthy process to annul their marriage. She stated that â€Å"Marriage annulment cases are clogging up our courts and we have to find a means to address the problem†. According to reports there were 8,000 annulment cases reported in 2008 and there are still more being deliberated in courts. A marriage license is a requirement for either a Civil or Church wedding to be held in the Philippines. The Application Form for a marriage license must be secured at the Local Civil Registrar from the city, town or municipality where the bride or the groom resides. The personal appearance of the couple is required in applying for the marriage license. Both parties involved shall file separately a sworn application for each license with the proper local civil registrar and proper supporting documents shall be submitted. According to Philippine law a ten-day waiting period is prescribed from the filing of the Application to the issuance of the marriage license. The license is valid for 120 days from date of issuance and may be used anywhere in the country. A marriage license is just like any other form applied for in the country. Like a passport or driver’s license which expires, why can’t a marriage expire too? According to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano: â€Å"It’s a reflection of what is happening in our society,† referring to the growing clamor from women for more rights and social freedoms. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino â€Å"Nene† Pimentel, Jr finds the idea as funny. â€Å"It’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in my life. Does it mean marriage is just a trial? † Pimentel said of the proposal. Pimentel added that the issue of a marriage contract with an expiration date will go against the belief of the Filipino people that marriage is a sacred union done in the eyes of God. We are a predominantly Catholic country and the views of the people from the church are important. The Chairman of the CBCP’s National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal said that the proposal is â€Å"some kind of desperate approach to right a wrong by something wrong. †. He says that â€Å"It is wrong for couples to separate and here comes a proposal for them to precisely separate,†. According to him there are dire consequences for this proposal. The most serious of which is the emotional trauma on the children whose parents are separated. It will also produce more children and result in a population explosion. He added that a man who gets married at age 20 and decides not to renew his marriage with his wife can go on and on until he marries his sixth wife at age 70. The question here is if we would allow such a thing to happen and I say yes. We may say that the family is the basic unit of the society and that it holds our society together but what about the individual? Families may seem happy on the outside but the inner workings are messed up. They may say that children will undergo emotional trauma if their parents separate. Children also undergo emotional trauma if they see or hear their parents fighting and if these situations worsen it will lead to abuse not only to the mothers but to the children as well. Our society has a problem indeed. We are stuck in the ways of the cavemen and our brain closes itself to the more liberated ideas which really benefit us.

The Advancement of Robot Technology

The advancement f robot technology is pointless in our world, other than to please the curiosity of the curios; Those who wish for a world full of robots intertwining with humans have not pondered the difficulty and the consequences that may come about with these advancements. An AIR is an advanced interactive robot that, in some cases, is a pet robot that can interact with humans and the environment around them. The Japanese have developed an AIR that is a pet seal named Paro. Paro is a white seal that can interact with humans and the environment by making baby seal noises as its response.Paro can be turned on and off at any time throughout the day, offering control over when it does and does not wish to be used by its users. In experiments, Paro has been found to reduce patient stress, stimulate socialization between patients and their caregivers, and even have the psychological effects of improving relaxation and motivation of its users. Some patients have experienced both positiv e and negative effects of using Paro. In the documentary, â€Å"Mechanical Love†, an elder woman used Paro while in a senior home and she loved it! The other elder women when living in hat same home, however, did not.They became annoyed with Paro as it continued to make noises during the evening game night. The next day, the patient using Paro was sitting alone with another elder woman while eating dinner, the patient said to the woman, â€Å"l really love my pet seal. † The other elder woman responded with a simple, â€Å"Hmpf†, displaying that she wasn't quite fond of Paro. Although some may not enjoy the company of Paro, I encourage the use of the pet seal for those who see a benefit in themselves with the use of it. Humans are born to interact with other humans.When a robot of any kind is introduced, there is always a level of caution and many questions arise during interaction with such robots. Along with the advancement of Paro, the Japanese have also deve loped a robot called a geminoid. A geminoid is a robot â€Å"twin† or clone of a human. One Japanese engineering scientist has developed a geminoid clone that looks almost identical to himself. As also displayed in â€Å"Mechanical love†, the scientists working with this geminoid put him to the test to see how his wife and his daughter would respond to interaction with the robot.The man that they cloned had sensors ttached to his body to portray the movements of his mouth and arms through the robot as ne talked into a microphone that projected his voice out ot the geminoid to mimic himself. The wife was first and she responded quite well to the geminoid. She stated that it was weird, she could deal with the robot but she would much rather prefer her real husband rather than the twin robot. On the other hand, however, the young daughter did not respond well to the robot twin. She found it to be scary and creepy while interacting with him.The father asked the daughter to touch the robot nd she refused because she was too scared. She explained that she wouldn't want the robot in her home in place of her real father in any case. As you can see, there is a high level of caution and awkwardness that is displayed by humans as they interact with the robots. Humans are not born to interact with mechanical beings. Humans are made to form relationships with those who are like them, not with specifically programmed beings. If there is such a day where robots are introduced into our everyday society, a numerous amount of difficulties and communication and relation roblems would arise.With the development of the AIR's and geminoids arises many difficulties of production and advancement of them. The elder women not using Paro thought that it was annoying. Engineering scientists are now attempting to make Paro more responsive to humans and its environment by programming it to know when to make its noises, when not to, and the loudness of its noise responses to e liminate turning it on and off multiple times throughout the day. The wife and daughter that were used in tests with the geminoid responded also saying that the its face and body ovements were awkward compared to a real human.The scientists are now working on making the geminoid's body and facial movements seem more natural, as well as programming the robot able to move and talk by itself, with out the sensors and microphone being used by the human twin. In the future they hope to engineer the robot function in everyday life along with humans. They plan for the robot to express emotion through its voice and body movements and even to perform specific jobs or become a universal robot that can respond to interaction with all humans, environments, and situations.As the scientists advance with such technologies, the robots become more prone to error and wrongdoing. There is always the possibility of a malfunction with the system of the robots, increasing the odds of the geminoid doing s omething that it normally wouldn't do. With the programming of emotion into the geminoid, they may express anger or frustration and become capable of crime or express violence towards its users in certain situations. As so many questions and complications emerge with the development of robot technology, is there really a point to their advancement?Because a large part of the development of robots is to allow them to take over some Job positions to make the production more efficient and more safe, there would be a lack of Jobs for humans. If geminoid technology advances to the point where they cant think, act, and work like humans(like in the documentary Mechanical Love), should our government pay them like we pay humans? There would be no point in paying robots because they cannot eat, they cannot drink, and they have no use in owning a house or any land, and they would have no family to care for. They merely would need a place to stay when they are not being used.Since the goal is to create a geminiod that can think and act like a human, we would have to treat them like a normal human being. Humans would nave to allow them to compete in sports and possibly even run tor president. Allowing them to compete in sports would create an unfair disadvantage to humans. They would be much more durable and be capable of much more athleticism and strength. If we were to allow them to run for president and other governmental positions, geminiods would have some rule over humans and for the majority of umans, that is a very hard subject to imagine.The development of robot technology would have little use a may negatively affect our society as a whole. The goal of the advancement of Paro is to aid certain people with their reduce patient stress, stimulate socialization between patients and their motivation of its users. The goal of the advancement of geminiod technology is allow them to think, act, and respond to their environment, like their human counter parts do. To repl icate the body movements, the responses, the emotions, the learning and emory functions, and Job specifications that humans have would be largely impossible.If this technology were to ever reach that point, there would be more room for error and malfunctions that may lead to crime or violence between humans and robots. Since the robots are clones of humans, we would be required to treat them like humans. This would allow for the next robot superstar sports competitor and possibly the next robot president. If future technology allows this to happen, how would you feel knowing that robots could potentially have rule over humans?

The Biggest Sharks in the World

The Biggest Sharks in the World The whale shark holds the title of the worlds biggest shark species. Growing to a length of about 65 feet (the length of about 1 1/2 school buses!) and weighing about 75,000 pounds, this streamlined fish is really a gentle giant.   Some areas frequented by these sharks, such as Ningaloo Reef  in Australia, have become popular tourist destinations because of their swim-with-sharks programs. Whale sharks live  in tropical and warmer temperate waters in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. In addition to their size, these sharks can be easily recognized by their gorgeous coloration, which is formed from lighter spots and stripes over a gray, blue or brown skin. They also have very wide mouths, which they use to eat tiny prey primarily plankton, crustaceans, and small fish, which are filtered from the water as the shark swims. The second-biggest shark species is the basking shark, which grows to about 40 feet long. These animals are also plankton feeders. They live primarily in temperate ocean waters throughout the world. The Biggest Shark Filmed In summer 2015, a video swept the news, touting it was the biggest shark ever filmed. What many of the news reports failed to mention is the species. There are more than 400 shark species, and they range in size from the 60-foot whale shark to pygmy sharks and lantern sharks that are less than a foot long when fully grown. The biggest shark filmed was actually a white shark, also known as a great white shark. At average lengths of 10 to 15 feet, white sharks are generally much smaller than a whale shark or basking shark.   So, while the 20-foot white shark nicknamed Deep Blue may (or may not) be the largest white shark ever filmed, its by far not the largest shark ever filmed as there is plenty of video footage of much larger whale sharks and their slightly smaller relatives, the basking shark.   The Biggest Shark Ever Caught According to the International Game Fish Association, the largest shark ever caught was a white shark nabbed in  Ceduna, Australia. This shark weighed 2,664 pounds.   Another one of the largest white sharks caught is thought to be a 20-foot shark caught by a trawler about 12 miles off the coast of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The significance of the sharks size was underestimated at the time, and the shark was initially buried. Eventually, a scientist dug it up to investigate it and realized the enormity of the find. The shark was later estimated to have been about 20 years old, meaning it may still have had some growing to do Sources Bateman, D. 2015. Canadian Who Caught Real-Life Jaws Wishes He Hadnt. Toronto Star Newspapers. CBS News. 2015. Giant Great White Shark Caught OFF P.E.I. Was a Teenager. Grenoble, R. 2015. This Is Deep Blue, Probably the Biggest Shark Youve Ever Seen. The Huffington Post.Martins, Carol, and Craig Knickle. 2009.  Whale Shark.  Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department.

Major General Edward O. Ord - American Civil War

Major General Edward O. Ord - American Civil War Edward O. Ord - Early Life Career: Born October 18, 1818 at Cumberland, MD, Edward Otho Cresap Ord was the son of James and Rebecca Ord.  His father briefly served in the US Navy as a midshipman but transferred to the US Army and saw action during the War of 1812.  A year after Edwards birth, the family moved to Washington, DC.  Educated in the nations capital, Ord quickly showed an aptitude for mathematics.  To further these skills, he obtained an appointment to the US Military Academy in 1835.  Arriving at West Point, Ords classmates included Henry Halleck, Henry J. Hunt, and Edward Canby.  Graduating in 1839, he ranked seventeenth in a class of thirty-one and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the 3rd US Artillery. Edward O. Ord - To California: Ordered south, Ord immediate saw combat in the Second Seminole War.  Promoted to first lieutenant in 1841, he next moved to garrison duty at several forts along the Atlantic coast.  With the beginning of the Mexican-American War and swift capture of California in 1846, Ord was dispatched to the West Coast to aid in occupying the newly-captured territory.  Sailing in January 1847, he was accompanied by Halleck and Lieutenant William T. Sherman.  Arriving in Monterey, Ord took command of  Battery F, 3rd US Artillery with orders to complete the construction of Fort Mervine.  With Shermans assistance, this task was soon completed.  With the beginning of the Gold Rush in 1848, prices for goods and living expenses began to outpace the officers salaries.  As a result, Ord and Sherman were permitted to take side jobs to make extra money.   This saw them conduct a survey of Sacramento for John Augustus Sutter, Jr. which established much of the layout for the citys central areas.  In 1849, Ord accepted a commission to survey Los Angeles.  Aided by William Rich Hutton, he completed this task and their work continues to provide insight in the citys earliest days.  A year later, Ord was ordered north to the Pacific Northwest where he commenced surveying the coast.  Promoted to captain that September, he returned to California in 1852.  While on garrison duty at Benicia, Ord married  Mary Mercer Thompson on October 14, 1854.  Over the next five years, he remained on the West Coast and took part in various expeditions against the Native American in the region. Edward O. Ord - The Civil War Begins: Returning east in 1859, Ord arrived at Fortress Monroe for service with the artillery school.  That fall, his men were directed to move north to aid in suppressing John Browns attack on Harpers Ferry but were not needed as Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee was able to deal with the situation.  Sent back to the West Coast the following year, Ord was there when the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter and opened the Civil War in April 1861.  Returning east, he received a commission as a brigadier general of volunteers on September 14 and assumed command of a brigade in the Pennsylvania Reserves.  On December 20, Ord led this force as it won a skirmish with Brigadier General J.E.B. Stuarts Confederate cavalry near Dranesville, VA.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On May 2, 1862, Ord received a promotion to major general.  Following brief service in the Department of the Rappahannock, he was transferred west to lead a division in Major General Ulysses S. Grants Army of the Tennessee.  That fall, Grant ordered Ord to direct part of the army against Confederate forces led by Major General Sterling Price.  This action was to be coordinated with Major General William S. Rosecrans Army of the Mississippi.  On September 19, Rosecrans engaged Price at the Battle of Iuka.  In the fighting, Rosecrans won a victory, but Ord, with Grant at his headquarters, failed to attack due to an apparent acoustic shadow.  A month later, Ord won a victory over Price and Major General Earl Van Dorn at Hatchies Bridge as the Confederates retreated after being repulsed at Corinth. Edward O. Ord - Vicksburg the Gulf: Wounded at Hatchies Bridge, Ord returned to active duty in November and held a series of administrative posts.  While Ord recovered, Grant embarked on a series of campaigns to capture Vicksburg, MS.  Laying siege to the city in May, the Union leader relieved the troublesome Major General John McClernand from command of XIII Corps the following month.  To replace him, Grant selected Ord.  Taking over on June 19, Ord led the corps for the remainder of the siege which ended on July 4.  In the weeks after the fall of Vicksburg, XIII Corps took part in Shermans march against Jackson.  Serving in Louisiana as part of the Department of Gulf for much of the latter part of 1863, Ord left XIII Corps in January 1864.  Returning east, he briefly held posts in the Shenandoah Valley. Edward O. Ord - Virginia:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On July 21, Grant, now leading all Union armies, directed Ord to assume command of XVIII Corps from the ill Major General William Baldy Smith.  Though part of Major General Benjamin Butlers Army of the James, XVIII Corps operated with Grant and the Army of the Potomac as they besieged Petersburg.  In later September, Ords men crossed the James River and took part in the Battle of Chaffins Farm.  After his men succeeded in capturing Fort Harrison, Ord fell badly wounded as he attempted to organize them to exploit the victory.  Out of action for the remainder of the fall, he saw his corps and the Army of the James completely reorganized in his absence.  Resuming active duty in January 1865, Ord found himself in temporary command of the Army of the James. In this post for the remainder of the conflict, Ord directed the armys operations during the latter stages of the Petersburg Campaign including the final assault on the city on April 2.  With Petersburgs fall, his troops were among the first to advance into the Confederate capital of Richmond.  As Lees Army of Northern Virginia retreated west, Ords troops joined in the pursuit and ultimately played a key role in blocking the Confederate escape from Appomattox Court House.  He was present at Lees surrender on April 9 and later purchased the table at which Lee had sat. Edward O. Ord - Later Career: Following President Abraham Lincolns assassination on April 14, Grant ordered Ord north to investigate and ascertain if the Confederate government had played a role.  His determination that John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators had acted alone helped calm demands that the newly-defeated South be punished.  That June, Ord assumed command of the Department of the Ohio.  Promoted to brigadier general in the regular army on July 26, 1866, he later oversaw the Department of Arkansas (1866-1867), Fourth Military District (Arkansas Mississippi, 1867-68), and Department of California (1868-1871).   Ord spent the first half of the 1870s commanding the Department of the Platte before moving south to lead the Department of Texas from 1875 to 1880.  Retiring from the US Army on December 6, 1880, he received a final promotion to major general a month later.  Accepting a civil engineering position with the Mexican Southern Railroad, Ord worked to build a line from Texas to Mexico City.  While in Mexico in 1883, he contracted yellow fever prior to departing on business for New York.  Falling severely ill while at sea, Ord was landed at Havana, Cuba where he died on July 22.  He remains were brought north and interred at Arlington National Cemetery.   Selected Sources Civil War Trust: Edward O. OrdTSHA: Edward O. OrdOhio Civil War Central: Edward O. Ord

Introduction Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Introduction Speech - Essay Example Ronaldo was so influential that he helped his country, Brazil, lift the 2002 world cup. Brazil won 2 nil against Germany. The two goals were entirely scored by Ronaldo. Though he is now retired, Ronaldo, remains a football legend who greatly influenced my liking of the beautiful game and ever since then I have never looked back. I have been an ardent admirer and follower of mainstream teams as well as clubs, especially the English Premier League. I will briefly talk about soccer in the US which is governed by the US Soccer Federation, popularly referred to as US Soccer. This is the organization that is charged with the governing of soccer at all levels in the country; professional leagues, national teams as well as the amateur game. Soccer is the 3rd most played team (behind only basketball and baseball/softball) sport in the US having more than 13 million Americans playing it. Soccer popularity has been rising since the 60s and 70s and especially got a considerable boost when the US played host to the 1994 World Cup. Wangerin in his book; Soccer in a Football World, claims that the term football in the US refers to the sport of American football with the sport of association of football being referred to as â€Å"soccer† (Wangerin, 2006). In the US the highest professional soccer league is the Major League Soccer (MLS) which is an equivalent of the English Premier League.MLS started playing with 10 teams in 1996 and has grown to the current 20 teams (17 in the US and 3 in Canada) with more expansion in the pipeline. The MLS begins in March and runs up to December, with the overall season winner being awarded the Supporters’ Shield. The post-season winner gets the MLS Cup. Having an average attendance of more than 18,000 for every game, MLS has the highest average turn out of any sports league in the US. It is also the 7th attended professional soccer league in the world. In conclusion,

The Radio Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Radio - Research Paper Example It came with immense power because only a single speaker had the ability to sow the seeds of entertainment, information, propaganda, political and religious fervor, culture, and even negativity everywhere (Lewis 26).This paper briefly studies the formation, evolution, and impact of radio on human life and concludes that radio is not doomed by its fleshier competitors, but it has evolved. Radio refers to the signaling or audio communication by using electromagnetic radiations. In its early days, it was developed as a "wireless telegraph", for one point to the other point links. The wireless telegraph made it possible to send messages to multiple locations at the same time, by using dots-and-dashes of telegraphic code in early days, while in full audio during later periods (White). The historical Background James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist was influenced by Michael Faraday's ideas and work on electromagnetism. Faraday's work described that electric and magnetic effects arise f rom the lines of force around conductors and magnets. Maxwell developed an analogy about the way lines of force behave and the liquid flow; he derived equations that represented the electric and magnetic field. Based on Faraday's ideas, Maxwell produced a paper in 1855. Moreover, he developed the model for a hypothetical medium with some fluid that could carry electric and magnetic effects. He considered hypothetical situations when fluid becomes elastic and charge is applied to it. He concluded that it would initiate disturbance in the fluid and the resulting waves would travel through the medium (Parker). Two Germans Friedrich Kohlrausch and Wilhelm Weber identified that these have the capability to travel at the speed of light. In 1873, Maxwell made these findings public in his "Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" (qtd. in Parker). Heinrich Hertz confirmed Maxwell's ideas by discovering radio waves, a form of electromagnetic radiation which has too long wavelength for human ey es to see. He came up with a transmitting oscillator that radiated radio waves and detected them by using a metal loop with a gap at one side. Sparks are generated across this gap when the loop was positioned within transmitter's electromagnetic field. It implied that electromagnetic waves could be sent in the space and could be detected remotely. These waves are named after Hertz as 'Hertzian Waves' he detected them across the length of his laboratory (Parker). Hertz's discovery inspired Guglielmo Marconi, he realized that the if radio waves could be transmitted and detected over long distances, then wireless telegraphy can be developed. He started experimenting in 1894 by placing rough antennas in his family garden. Initially, he managed to received singles from 100 meters, by the end of 1895; he managed to extend the distance to over a mile. He shared his experimentation with Italian Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. Knowing that Ministry was not interested in his work, he gave a demonstration in London at General Post Office in 1896.His transmission was detected from1.5 miles which was extended to 8 miles in few months. In 1897, Marconi got the patent for wireless telegraphy, and established the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company at Chelmsford. There, they established the world's first radio factory in 1898. In May 1897, they successfully tested that the contacts were possible over the water. A

Southwest Airlines and obese passeger Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Southwest Airlines and obese passeger - Article Example both armrests should book the additional seat at the booking time and that with only one seat, he was going to make himself uncomfortable as well as the co-passengers. The Southwest Airlines’ customer of size policy states that the additional seat will be offered at a discounted rate and refunded afterwards if goes unoccupied, which is a very good offer which Orto should have availed. He had also been offered the opportunity to show to the Airlines that he could accommodate only one seat without upsetting his seatmates, but he refused. One cannot make out what was the reason he did not take the chance of boarding the plane and letting the personnel see that he was right. According to the Southwest Airlines, putting forward the rule of an additional seat for large passengers became vital when the customers who felt terribly uncomfortable sitting next to an obese seatmate started raising objections. Moreover, the over-weight passengers disturb the plane’s weight and balance which is very dangerous. Since it is the responsibility of the Airlines to assure safety to all passengers, Orto had to be enquired. The question that what factor decides which passenger is stout and which is skinny has a straightforward reply. The Airlines’ policy says that it is the size of the person that determines his obesity, not his weight nor the extension of the seat belt. If an obese person gets allowed to fly with only one seat, that would only happen if he is able to lower or extend the seatbelt. If he cannot lower it, this decides that he is obese. A good example can be of a pregnant woman. Despite her being over-weight, if she can lower the armrest, it i s okay if she books one seat. Staff can be also instructed to use measuring tape to measure the size of the passenger, and if the size crosses a pre-decided limit, then he would have to buy an additional seat. This procedure should be carried out at the time of booking and not at the time of boarding. Even if some one like a

Messages In The Songs Of Female Rappers Cultural Studies Essay

Messages In The Songs Of Female Rappers Cultural Studies Essay Rap is considered to be a type of music which serves as a means of expression for those who feel alienated and outraged in American society for certain reasons. According to many scholars hip hop in America originated from disadvantaged neighborhoods and served as a voice for people of who lacked post secondary education and had difficulties in finding a job in the new post-industrial service sector economy.  [1]  In the early beginning rap artists rapped about poverty, racism and injustice. As the genre was developing, rappers would look for inspiration in other aspects of their every life. Male/female relationships would appear as a common motif in their songs. As discussed in the first chapter misogynistic messages could be found in a great share of male rap hits. Although rap has been associated mainly as domain of men, female contribution to this genre is also significant. Hence it is worth to examine how their legacy contributed to the black female image in the United State s. It is also important to note how the messages in their songs differed from those of male rap artists. In this chapter I am going to focus on the motifs of black female identity which permeated the lyrics of female rap hits starting from the late eighties through the beginning of the twenty first century. I will support my analysis by referring to the works of literary black hip hop culture critics such as Tricia Rose, bell hooks, Gwendolyn D. Pough or Cheryl L. Keyes. The findings presented in this study will be based on the existing researches on the subject as well as my lyric interpretation of Billboards Hot Rap Year End Charts. One of the recognized social theorists, Patricia Hill Collins, set the theory that much of the contemporary social phenomena is understood and analyzed from the European, white male standpoint  [2]  Moreover, by this approach black women in particular have been perceived as non-human, commodified and objectified.  [3]  Needless to say it is important to counterbalance this approach by interpreting black womens lives from their perspective. I find artistic works of female rappers, as well as their interviews to a be a great source for such a counter analysis. Female rap artists would oftentimes identify themselves as belonging to a certain crew or would use the words as fly, attitude, queen, diva while describing or referring to one another. Based on those self imposed labels Cheryl L. Keyes in her study distinguished four prevailing types of female rappers: Queen Mother, Fly Girl, Sista with Attitude and Lesbian. These categories reflect certain images, voices and ages of Afr ican American women.  [4]  Interestingly enough rappers assigned to these groups marked their presence on the hip hop scene in this particular order but, as Keyes noted, they can swing between these teams or belong to a few concurrently. According to Keyes, the first group Queen Mothers consist mainly of early female rap pioneers in the 80s such as: Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shante or MC Lyte. They express strong connection to their African heritage by calling themselves Nubian queens, and wearing ethnic clothes and jewelry. The symbol of queen mother may be supposedly rooted in African court tradition. Mothers of kings in many African kingdoms used to be cult objects and granted special privileges.  [5]  Queen Mothers in hip hop culture also consider themselves as strong, intelligent black women responsible of spreading the word among the community. They discuss issues similar to their male counterparts marginalization, subjugation, and hardship of an urban life.  [6]  A theme for their concern would be also heterosexual advances of men toward women, as well as domestic violence, and male sexism. These female rappers tended to present black women as self assured and independent in their songs.  [7]   Similarly to male rappers they would aim to challenge racist white supremacy by their music. Whilst black males in order to empower themselves oftentimes resort to sexist notions addressed towards their female counterparts, Queen Mothers do not apply the same strategy of subordination. As the excerpts from the songs presented in the first chapter show, many male hip hop artists depict women merely as sexual objects and generally cast derogatory light on them. Some black culture critics, as bell hooks, claim that male gangsta rappers engage in this behavior because women supposedly emasculate black men, negating their manhood and reducing the respect received from others.  [8]  The critic also states that most black males lack of strong male (father) models to look up to. They are being convinced throughout their childhood that they are not destined to grow up as successful, strong, virtuous males. Instead they receive education how to become emotionless thugs. The author blames t he mass media for perpetuating the image of a strong, angry black woman as opposed to black castrated male who is not able to provide for his family.  [9]  Other reason for that may be the fear of female sexuality, thus women must be controlled. Queen Mothers demand respect not only for black community in general but for black women in particular. This causes a huge inner identity conflict among black women, whether to be loyal to your ethnicity and race or gender. Extending the theory of black feminism to rap, black female rappers provide back lashing voices against male sexism and misogyny.  [10]  However being a black feminist should not mean rejection of the African heritage. The African legacy may be utilized as an additional source of strength and power in this struggle. Tricia Rose in the her book, Black Noise, argues that in the late 1980s and early 1990s pioneer female rappers although refraining from calling themselves feminist, expressed three feminist standpoints: female empowerment, agency, and independence. They would rather call themselves womanists as they did not feel much connection with the predominantly white second wave feminism movement. Moreover, they felt as having been overlooked or even purposel y excluded by white feminists in their struggle for female empowerment.  [11]  These artists rejected and challenged representations of women as simply sexual objects. Rose states that these artists use rap music as a platform of dispute between other female and male artists, and their audience in general.  [12]   The most noticeable Queen Mother on the hip hop scene is Dana Queen Latifah Owens. Although latifah in Arabic means feminine, delicate and kind she proved to be also a strong and influential rap artist. At the young age of twenty one, she became well acclaimed artist. Despite her young age, her maternal behavior and mature approach to life made her to be perceived as a Queen Mother. Although she would find such comparison flattering, she tried to distance herself from being labeled. She would call herself a queen because every black female is a queen to her.  [13]  The reason why Queen Latifah and other rappers have been allocated to the group of Queen Mothers may be linked to the othermothers phenomenon in black African community. Patricia Hill Collins elaborates on this notion in Black Feminist Thought. She claims that black women take a significant part in fostering of the black society in the United States. They have developed an image of a strong black woman who contribute t o the whole black community well-being. The notion of motherhood in general, whether invoked by bloodmothers or othermothers, has powerful connotation.  [14]  It seems that African American community seeks for strong mother figures not only in real life but also on the hip hop scene. Queen Latifah reflects the image of othermother by taking up serious political-economic issues of the black community in her lyrics, as in The Evil that Men Do  [15]  where she raps about struggle of women on welfare.  [16]   Another example of a strong political commentary is Queen Latifahs song Ladies First.  [17]  She focuses here on promoting womens importance and clamors for their equal treatment. She raps about the need for sisterhood which prompts women to support each other. The notion of sisterhood is emphasized here by the fact that the artist collaborates with another black European female rapper, Monie Love. They feel connected with each other by the bonds of the same gender and race. This is a typical approach of women of color engaged in the Third Wave Feminist Movement in America. The concept of global sisterhood coined by the Second Wave feminists is questioned and challenged here. Black feminists manifest more connection with other women of color from different countries or countries of their origin than with white middle class women from the United States. The video to this song is also a tribute to African American womens history featuring images of activists and abolitionists as Ro sa Parks, Angela Davis, Harriet Tubman, or entrepreneurs as Madame C.J. Walker.  [18]  The video also features the image of Winnie Mandela which may serve as a commemoration of the struggle against segregation in South Africa as well as emphasis on the concept of global black sisterhood. The rappers bring back these images into the light in order to re-inspire all women of color and prove they are capable of achieving the highest goals as breaking the racism and sexism. Queen Latifah in her Grammy Award- winning song U.N.I.T.Y, as one of the first female artists not only proves of her rapping skills but also takes up the issues which divide black community. She focuses here on perpetuated hatred directed by black males toward black females.  [19]  She answers back to males who use the insult bitch in reference to women. She does so by using similar forms that are used by many of their male counterparts to denigrate women. For instance, by the use of vulgar language she reclaims those forms for women. Another pioneer rapper, MC Lyte in her song Paper Thin also makes a black female as a subject. She brings it to the center of discussion by rapping about the constrains of her intimacy and setting the rules by which she will date a man. According to Rose, the above mentioned artists messages are both emancipating and liberating for women. They rebel against the restrain of black female voices, offering counter hegemonic perspectives. Female gangsta rappers in particular, have created and imposed their own definitions of womanhood through their use of vulgarity, voice intonations, and sexuality.  [20]   Although most female rappers identify themselves by belonging to specific rap crews some of them would fall from one category to another or exist in many simultaneously. As an example of such a swinging artist may serve Yo Yo. The rapper and activist when perceived through the prism of her artistic and social work would be allocated to the group of queen mothers. Her songs are devoted to her view on the political issues and black feminism. She is the founder of the group Intelligent Black Women Coalition (I.BW.C.) which aimed to fight against racism and sexism. Yet, Keyes claims that her style and attire would suggest she also fits the category of so called Fly Girls who gained recognition on hip hop scene mainly in the nineties. The origin of the new meaning of the word fly dates back to the sixties and seventies and describes someone wearing fancy clothes. The style has been presented in the blaxploitation movies like The Superfly (1972), Shaft (1971), The Mack (1973) or Foxy Brow n (1974) and then adopted by the black youth in the eighties and nineties.  [21]  Indeed, what distinguished Fly Girls from Queen Mothers at first sight was their sense of fashion. Queen Mothers tried to affirm their eroticism that refrains from the nakedness and exposure of Western styles by rejection of miniskirts or high heels. Fly Girls did not fear to wear tight clothes which accentuated their sexuality. They tried to counterbalance western European beauty canon by showing the beauty of black female body, accompanied by eye catching hairstyles, shiny jewelry and suggestive dancing. By doing so they made a statement against the white supremacist stereotype of the black round female body being undesirable. It was their fashion style that made them not only heard but also visible. The male hip hop group the Boogie Boys describe a fly girl as: [Woman] who wants to see her name, her game or her ability. . . she sports a lot of gold, wears tight jeans, leather miniskirts, a made up face, has voluptuous curves, but speaks her mind.  [22]   The most prolific and well pronounced Fly Girls of hip hop scene is undoubtedly the trio Salt- N- Pepa. They aspired to be acknowledged as models of real independent and successful black women of the nineties.  [23]  They reached the peak of their popularity in the early nineties by releasing controversial hits like Lets Talk About Sex (1991), What a Man(1993), or Shoop(1993). While the first mentioned hit raised awareness about safe sex, the other songs can be interpreted as manifestation on female sexuality and appraisal of men in terms of friendship, love and intimate heterosexual relations. Lyrics from their popular song Aint Nuthin But a She Thing, again typify messages of their powerful womanhood: Im a female, and I got it goin on /Dont be fooled by my s-e-x/It aint that simple, Im more complex/Lets keep moving forward, girls, never look back.  [24]  In this song artists are exchanging ideas with women and men in general, warning men not to rely on clichà ©d notions of gender roles when interacting with women. They refuse to be considered as a weaker sex. They prove of their ability to work as hard as men, yet their intention is not to empower, or emasculate men. Similarly, they are passing on the same message to women while concurrently urging these women to progress, not regress, in their thinking and behavior. Such messages permeate most of the Salt N- Pepa top hits. Many examples of the Fly Girls songs take focus on female agency in male/female relationships perceived from the womens point of view. In the chorus of her song, Whats Up Star, Suga initiates the interaction with males: Whats up star, Id like to get to know who you are/Lets have drinks at the bar/And if I like what I see then the drinks is on me.  [25]  While men are usually considered to be the initiators in heterosexual relationships, here the artist takes it over and demonstrates her empowerment on this field. By doing so she violates an unwritten procedure of male-female courtship. She breaches the gendered norm of conduct. Instead of waiting for a man to approach her with an offer to buy her a drink, she would rather sit in judgment and contemplate over possible suitors. Upon positive evaluation of a potential mate she offers to buy him a drink. Another example of assuming power comes from a rapper and bass dancer, MC Luscious, who in her song Boom! I Got Your Boyfriend seiz es another hypothetical womens partner: Ill take him, shake him, ring him out/ Ill show your man what its all about./ So when he tells you its the end./Thats when you know I got your boyfriend.  [26]  Her use of the verbs take, shake, and ring in reference to her male lover illustrates the control that she maintains over him. She outdoes her female competitor by articulating her ability to sexually expose what the girlfriend cannot to the boyfriend, leading to the termination of the relationship. Thus, she demonstrates her control and manipulation of the lover and eventually her supremacy over the female opponent by stealing her boyfriend. Although deceitful and potentially unethical, MC Lusciouss desires, and behaviors are at the core of attention in her song.  [27]   Another significant group of Fly Girls worth noticing is TLC ( Tione T-Boze Watkins, Lisa Left-Eye Lopez and Rozonda Chilli Thomas). Their popularity had been quickly developing since their debut in 1991 and reached its maximum in the second half of the nineties. They spread similar messages to the other Fly Girls like rising awareness about safe sex (Waterfalls)  [28]  or fighting with women insecurity (Unpretty)  [29]  . They also introduced more diverse fashion sense. Instead of accentuating their fit bodies with tight clothes, they would wear baggy pants as a symbol of solidarity with women of less flattering shapes. Similar approach was taken by another Fly Girl Missy Misdemeanor Elliot. Being a successful writer and producer paved her way to the enormous success in the music industry. In no time she was offered a possibility to launch her clothing line and appeared in GAP and Adidas commercials. The fact that full-figured Missy became a model of the established clothing brand could be perceived as ground breaking in the sphere of perception of black female bodies. She serves as a role model to many black women who doubt in their attractiveness.  [30]   As during the late nineties rap became commercialized, gained greater audience and shifted to mainstream it is worth examining what were the messages conveyed by the female rappers. During this time some female artists were as popular and selling as many records as men; for example, Lil Kim and Foxy Brown both had albums that sold one million copies.  [31]  Contemporary female rappers of the late nineties and beginning of the twenty first century also endeavor in empowering and subversive mission against male domination, but the lyrical content of their songs show surprising and alarming similarities between them and male rappers. This may be one of the reasons these female rappers gained more commercial recognition than the pioneers. As means of empowerment they apply the strategy of giving the attitude and answering back in a rude manner to their male counterparts. This group of female rappers fall into category of Sistas with Attitude which consist of such popular rappers as F oxy Brown, Lil Kim, and Da Brat, or Sis, or Eve. The characteristic of their style is the employment of the same symbolic speech and behaviors as their male fellow rappers. It may seem that by doing so they show to be equal to men on every level. The lyrics of their songs included motives of indulging in hedonistic activities as partying and smoking marijuana with their men, seducing, harassing, and sexually emasculating male characters; as well as disrespecting (dissin) their male and female counterparts. Although so called dissing in female rappers songs is mainly directed at male sexism, an analysis of contemporary female rap songs reveals that there are instances the same strategy is aimed at women. It is well visible here that these women seek for their self empowerment by all means. The content of songs with attitude is abundant in vulgarity. The use of derogatory terms may be interpreted in a positive way. I trace some similarities between Sistas with Attitude and some of the Third Wave of feminism representatives. Similarly to them, female rappers reversed the pejorative meaning of vulgar words addressed to women.Sistas may be considered a coarser, clad version of Third Wave of feminism Girlies or Riot Grrls. These were usually members of underground punk bands who addressed issues as rape, female sexuality, domestic abuse, and female empowerment. Same as Sistas they also adopted derogatory, insulting words as cunt bitch slut in their vernacular. By writing these words on their skins or t-shirts they ridiculed and nullified their derogatory meaning.  [32]  On one hand reclamation of the frequently used word bitch may be perceived as positive way of self empowerment or provide healing liberation. Other critics claim that this may bring worse returns as the message of female empowerment seem to be diminished and eradicated by female self-objectification.  [33]   One of the most reoccurring motives found in female rap lyrics is their swaggering feminine self assurance. This characteristic of rap has its roots in part of African-American oral tradition of toasting , where the toast-teller employs in verbal self- enhancement, and presents himself or herself as the dreams of his [or her] Black audience and symbolize for them triumph and accomplishment against the odds.  [34]  For instance, in Sittin on Top of the World, Da Brat writes: Im on top of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/Girlfriend offender cuz they mans think Im all that/ One of the baddest bitches on the planet.  [35]  She highlights how she is so bad, meaning great to such extent that she aggravates other women because their men find her beautiful. Another fitting example of braggadocio can be found in Eves song What Ya Want,  [36]  writing Popular since I started my lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/ Every thugs dream wife, see the love in they eyes/My time to shine, whole package make her a dime. In these lyrics, the rapper is presenting herself as popular, and good-looking to every male and a perfectly shaped physically ( adime in hip hop vernacular). Many rapper enhance their sense of attractiveness by emphasizing their possession of precious objects that others cannot afford. Foxy Brown, who adopted her moniker from the seventies blaxploitation movie protagonist of the same title, in Ill Na Na raps: Uhh, rollin for Lana, dripped in Gabbanaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/And yall gon see by these mils I possess/Never settle for less, Im in excess.  [37]  Foxy highlights here the fact that she wears expensive womens designer clothing that working class and middle-class individuals could not afford. Furthermore, the audience gets the message that Foxy earns millions of dollars from her rapping. She also admits she is not willing to settle down and start a family but would rather live in abundance of material goods on her own. A vast majority of the female artists mentioned owning luxurious products of mass consumption. Obviously, possession of extravagant material goods are crucial for many contemporary female artists. Material success, fame, and sexual satisfaction is their achieved American Dream. Similarly to male rap artists who glamorize life a of a pimp, these female artists present themselves as physically attractive to possible mates as well as in possession of goods that regular people do not and cannot acquire. This type and degree of overconfidence permeates throughout rap music and is common to both sexes of rappers. It illustrates artists abilities, or their dreams, to overcome obstacles (unattractiveness, lack of money) and eventually achieve (sexual and material) success. The partying, alcohol and drugs abuse is a frequent theme also in Sistas with Attitude rap music. In the overall sample in Owares study of 44 female hip hop songs of the nineties, in each song there was an average of one-and a-half references made to alcohol or drugs.  [38]  For instance, in her song Deeper, rapper called Boss refers to both alcohol and drug use. In these lyrics, Boss is indulging in a popular malt liquor, and also smokes chronic, a strong form of marijuana mixed cocaine. Another song by Queen Pen, Party Aint a Party, presents: Im tipsy from the cab, down the whole bottle of Henney/ Is you dealing with the cat thats blunted. Queen Pens alcohol is Seagrams Hennessy and blunted means being under the influence of marijuana. These female rappers refute the stereotype that women refrain from hard alcoholic drinks and illegal drugs.. These women depict themselves as being equal to men by engaging in similar potentially harmful behaviors.  [39]   Another feature of rap music that is often taken up by female rappers is disrespecting or dissin, which is the act of verbally insulting an opponent. Dissin allegedly has its origins in West Africa, among tribes such as the Efik in Nigeria and later could be found in early African-American oral traditions.  [40]  Smitherman writes women rule when it comes to signifyingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦female rappers use this age-old rhetorical strategy to launch critical offensivesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ã‚  [41]  Traces of such style can be found in the verse rapped by Heather B.: Fuck how much you sell cause, I read your album cover/You couldnt write a jam if your last name was Smucker.  [42]  As jam may also mean a hit song she ridicules here the amount of records sold by her opponent while dissing his writing skills contrasting them with a popular food product brand Smuckers Jam. Most disrespecting attitudes were pointed at males who attempted to pursue women with pretentious tales of sexual gratification. While some rappers resorted to warning of the potential suitor who must approach them in a courteous manner or gets rejected, other rappers would openly ridicule males sex skills and their fear of womens sexuality. Considered to be one of the most overt and explicit rappers, Lil Kim in Hardcore rhymes: The sex was wack, a four stroke creepà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/(later he asked) Could he come over right fast and fuck my pretty ass?/Ill pass, nigga dick was trash.  [43]  The rapper sets here her own conditions for a sexual intercourse. She keeps men under control and reserves the right to choose her partner by assessing his sex skills. She also implies what is surely feared by most of the heterosexual males to be ridiculed by a woman for poor sex performance. Black males in particular who have been trying to conceal the image of an emasculated black man may fee l highly sensitive about it. As many instances of male rap hits presented in the first chapter show that they tried to apply many strategies to regain their control over women. Boasting about their sexual hyper skills was a frequent topic. Gangsta Boo, a successful Sista with Attitude of the late nineties and early twenty first century, touches upon similar themes in her lyrics: Ha-ha, hey, Ladies check this out/ Well, let me tell this story about this nigga/ With a little dick but when its hard, hes swearin it (is) bigger/ Im not to be the one guess you aint got much to offer.  [44]  Here, Gangsta Boo speaks directly to women about false male machismo. Boo, similarly to her counterpart Lil Kim sets the norms here and evaluates whether her possible mate lives up to her expectations. When finds out that the man is poorly endowed she ridicules him in front of other women. Hence, as Rose writes you have women speaking to men, engaging in critiques of supposed male sexual prowess; in addition, they are speaking to other women about the failed attempts of these men to satisfy them sexually.  [45]  These disses provide a female response to male rappers chauvinism, misogyny and bragging about their sexual potency. Similarly empowering themes also permeate throughout the songs and lyrics that present female sexuality. Several popular female rap artists depicted themselves as explicitly sexualized. Lil Kim in one of her songs vulgarly demonstrates her acting upon a partner and presents herself as not submissive in sexual relationship.  [46]