The Lottery Essay -- essays research papers

Shirley Jackson’s insights and observations about man and society are reflected in her famous short story "The Lottery". Many of her readers have found this story shocking and disturbing. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first, the shocking reality of human’s tendency to select a scapegoat and second, society as a victim of tradition and ritual. Throughout history we have witnessed and participated in many events, where, in time of turmoil and hardship, society has a tendency to seize upon a scapegoat as means of resolution. The people of the village had been taught to believe that in order for their crop to be abundant for the year, some individual had to be sacrificed. "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon", said Old Man Warner. The irony here is that villagers are aware that this act is inhumane but none want to stand and voice their opinion, for fear of going against society’s standards and being outcast or being stoned. "It’s not the way it used to be," Old Man Warner said clearly. "People ain’t the way they used to be." Fear that if they go against society they might be chosen as the lottery winner or there might be a truth, after all, that it would disrupt their corn season. "Some places have already quit lotteries," Mrs. Adams said. "Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools." In stoning Tessie, the villagers treat her as a scapegoat onto wh...

Chemistry-Precipitation Essay

My unknown chemical is sodium iodide. This was determined by testing the chemical with cations such as silver nitrate, cobalt (II) nitrate, and copper nitrate. It was also tested with anions: sodium iodide, sodium carbonate, sodium oxalate, and sodium phosphate. It was tested to see if the product will yield a precipitate or solid (cloudiness, power, or crystals) and any color changes that are very similar to the products/changes when all the known cations and anions were tested for changes. First of all, sodium iodide is an anion, it was determined that the unknown chemical was an anion because it did not react with any of the anions. Since the unknown did not react with the anions, it did not produce a solid or precipitate. This is chemically true because the new products will both contain NO3, or nitrate, and NO3 is aqueous with all cations. When the unknown was tested with silver nitrate a solid was produced, but also the color was a light yellow that is quite similar to the description of the product of sodium iodide added to silver nitrate (a dull but light yellow). This color was not exactly similar to the colors formed from other combinations as they were â€Å"slightly yellow† for the formula 2AgNO3(aq)+NaCO3(aq) –>AgCO3(s)+2NaNO3(aq) , â€Å"white† for 2AgNO3(aq)+NaC2O4(aq) –>AgC2O4(s)+2NaNO3(aq) , and â€Å"yellowish† for 3AgNO3(aq)+Na3PO4(aq) –>Ag3PO4(s)+3NaNO3(aq). A solid was formed in both situations due to a cloudy substance that formed with the silver nitrate + sodium iodide and the unknown + silver nitrate. It makes sense that a solid was formed because: AgNO3(aq)+NaI(aq) –>AgI(s)+NaNO3(aq) On the back of the periodic table it states that if the anion I- is part of the compound then cations like Ag+ and Pb2+ will form a solid with it. Since it is AgI, a solid is clearly formed. When the unknown was tested with cobalt (II) nitrate a solid was not produced and there was no color change it was the same light pink as originally, similar to the description of the product of sodium iodide added to cobalt (II) nitrate which was same light pink as the original color of the mixture. A solid was not formed in both situations because: Co(NO3)2(aq)+2NaI(aq) –>CoI2(aq)+2NaNO3(aq) According to the back of the periodic table it states that if the anion iodine is part of the compound then cations like Ag+, Pb2+, Hg22+, and Cu+ will form a solid with it, but iodine with all other cations form an aqueous solution. Therefore, since cobalt is not listed as one of the cations that iodine forms a solid with, no solid would be formed which is exactly what happened when sodium iodide was added to cobalt (II) nitrate and no other combination with cobalt (II) nitrate. Since sodium iodide in combination with cobalt (II) nitrate was the only one involving cobalt (II) nitrate that did not have a reaction it proves that the unknown is one of the two. But, since it has been proven that unknown is an anion, sodium iodide is our only option. When the unknown was tested with copper (II) nitrate a solid was produced, but also the color was a dark orange-yellow that was not too cloudy. This description is basically the same as the description of the product of sodium iodide added to copper (II) nitrate which was â€Å"dark yellow/range tone, copper color, slightly cloudy†. A solid was formed in both situations because it was slightly cloudy in both situations. Cu(NO3)2 (aq)+2NaI(aq) –> CuI2(s)+2NaNO3(aq) According to the back of the periodic table it states that if the anion iodine is part of the compound then cations like Ag+, Pb2+, Hg22+, and Cu+ will form a solid with it. Therefore, since copper is listed as one of the cations that iodine forms a solid with, a solid would be formed which is exactly what happened when sodium iodide was added to copper (II) nitrate. Since sodium iodide in combination with copper (II) nitrate was the only combination to form a dark yellow/orange color of all 4 anions in combination with the cation copper (II) nitrate sodium iodide seems the only option for the unknown. It is also not probable that the unknown is copper (II) nitrate because if there is a precipitate and a color change, it would not be the same color because different formulas yield different reactions like the colors formed. They are all unique.

John Proctor and comment Essay

The first opening scene is of some girls in the woods using magical rites to get the man of their dreams. The girls are mentioning the names of men they want and throwing what looks like herbs into a cauldron one girl gives a chicken to a black girl called Tituba who is at the side of the cauldron, and at this point she looks like the leader in these magical rites. The girls all shout at Tituba to make a spell to make the boys fall in love with them. One girl asks Abigail who she likes and another replies ‘John Proctor’ and then Abigail whispers something to Tituba who doesn’t seem to like what is being asked of her. Abigail then grabs the chicken from Tituba and throws it on the floor and then puts the blood of the chicken on her mouth. The girls are suddenly alerted to a man spying on them he even sees one of the girls naked they become hysterical and the next day we find that two of the younger girls have gone into a trance-like state probably because they were frightened of the consequences of their actions. The watcher’s daughter Betty Parriss was one of the girls in a trance. The watcher was none other than Reverend Samuel Parriss who is also the uncle of Abigail Williams. Reverend Parriss is terrified by what he has seen. He is quite hysterical as he knows that if a witch was to live within his own home the fingers of the village of Salem would point towards him and his days in the Church would be over, but even worse they could hang him. The Reverend questions Abigail in Betty’s bedroom, whilst she is in the trance like state,on what he has witnessed in the woods and he warns her that his whole life depends upon her answering ‘truthfully’. He knows he has many enemies in the village and needs Abigail to tell him the ‘truth’. This would of course be the truth that he wished to hear and it appears from his hysteria that he wants anything but the truth. At this point Abigail actually answers quite truthfully and tries to explain to her Uncle that they were only messing about by saying ‘it were sport, uncle. ‘

“Life of Pi” by Yann Martel Essay

All humans are born with instincts; it is during the most desperate times in life when these instincts take control of an individual. In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the protagonist, Pi, goes through a situation that evoked his instincts to take control of himself. Pi spent 227 days as a castaway on a boat drifting in the Pacific Ocean. During this time he dealt with intense hunger and thirst and was very desperate. In the second story that Pi tells, each of the animals from the first story are symbolic of humans. Pi is related to Richard Parker, as many of their actions are similar between the two stories. In light of Pi’s second story the similarities suggests that Pi uses Richard Parker to represent his instinctive mind and serve as an escape from the horrific level of savagery he sank to on the lifeboat. Pi, however, did begin to accept his situation and realize that his instinctive mind would play a major role in his survival no matter how opposed to killing and e ating his rational mind was. The savage-like behavior of Pi is brought on by intensely desperate situation, hunger, thirst, and Pi’s instinctive mind represented by the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker. When an individual acts on instincts, their actions become spontaneous and that person’s beliefs and values are not part of the decision. Richard Parker represents the instinctive part of Pi’s mind; this becomes clear after analysis of Richard Parker’s actions and emergence in the plot. Richard Parker only emerges after the orangutan or Pi’s mother is killed and Pi is in his most desperate state. This shows that Pi began acting on his instincts at this point where he felt very lonely and vulnerable while his life was in danger. Pi’s instincts provided him with food in the form of fish, turtles, and sharks, as well as the hyena or the cook. Pi states, â€Å"It is the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.† (Martel 164) Pi has his animal instincts to thank for his survival and shows that he knows this by thanking Richard Parker, the representation of his instincts. Pi’s rational mind was not fit to survive all that time on the lifeboat; he is a vegetarian and a very religious person and would not have had any food on the lifeboat if not for his animal instincts. His rational self would not have killed the cook or the turtles and fish and he would have starved because there was no access to vegetables  and fruits in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On page 164, Pi talks of his instincts in the form of Richard Parker as he states, â€Å"He pushed me to go on living. I hated him for it yet at the same time I was grateful.† He says that he hated his instincts for keeping him alive because they caused him to do things that were against his beliefs and values but at the same time he was grateful for his life. Pi has only his animal instincts to thank for his survival in a lifeboat for 227 days. After many desperate days on the lifeboat, Pi’s instinctive mind begins to blend with his rational mind. On page 197, after he kills and eats a turtle without blaming it on his instincts represented by Richard Parker, he realizes that he has â€Å"descended to a level of savagery [he] never imagined possible.† His instincts have blended with his sensible mind and he is no longer the strict vegetarian that he was before he was put in this situation. During his time on the lifeboat, Pi came a long way from the strict vegetarian that he once was. Pi speaks of his former self as he says, â€Å"To think that when I was a child I always shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the snapping of an animal’s neck.† (197) The experience on the boat drastically changed him as his instincts no longer had to control him to kill and to eat. After continually killing to eat, he gets used to the idea and no longer needs his instincts to take over for him to eat. His vegetarian principles are irrelevant with the extremity of the situation as he could not have lived by his beliefs and values if he wanted to survive. His rational mind stepped away from its belief and values and began to accept a kill or starve mentality. Pi’s lengthy and desperate situation caused his rational mind to accept that he had to live off animal instincts if he did not want to starve. Guilt is a very powerful feeling and it can cause people to do crazy things in order to hide and escape from these feelings. In terms of the second story Pi acted on many of his animal instincts and killed and ate animals as well as humans. Pi used Richard Parker not only as his escape from his guilt but also to escape the reality of the situation he was in. The guilt that Pi felt from being a vegetarian and doing what he did coupled with the emotional pain and torment of his situation caused Pi to force himself to  believe that everyone on the lifeboat were animals. Because the events that occurred on the lifeboat were similar to those that would occur between wild animals where it is a kill or die situation it was easy for Pi to substitute animals for all of the people on the lifeboat. He continuously turned to God for help in dealing with the guilt that he felt. After telling how he killed the cook in the second story, he said â€Å"I must live with that. Solitude began. I turned to God. I survived.† Pi was very religious before he was stranded on the lifeboat and he used his faith to help him through the situation. Pi’s feelings of guilt caused him to do whatever it took to escape from the guilt and from reality. The idea of Richard Parker, therefore, stemmed from Pi’s desperate survival in a lifeboat. Richard Parker was the reason that Pi survived and also served as a savior from the guilt and emotional pain that he felt. Pi’s instincts were represented by the idea of the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, and he survived because of these instincts. It was only natural for these animal instincts to take control of him as he was dealing with intense hunger and thirst. During his time on lifeboat, even his rational self accepted that he would have to kill to eat, a big change for the strict vegetarian that he once was. He also had to deal with severe guilt for his actions as well as tremendous emotional pain. Richard Parker served as a way for him to escape this guilt and to escape reality. Desperation and loss combined with intense hunger and thirst are some of the many things that could cause an individual to lose control of their rational mind and live on instincts. Work Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Orlando: Harcourt Books, 2001.

Service marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Service marketing - Essay Example But the storm had hit the hardest by the end of 2008 when the bank had lost both its CEO and Chairman on 19th December, 2008. Ireland was shocked by one of its greatest financial scandal which led Mr. Sean Fitzpatrick, Chairman-AIB and Mr. David Drumm, CEO-AIB to resign thereby leaving behind a scar of undisclosed loan to the tune of â‚ ¬87 million. Though it was apparent that these loans didn’t have any illegal intention as well as consequence, the Financial Regulator had observed that the actions that were taken in order to transfer them were inappropriate (Farrell, 2008). On 15th January, 2009, the Irish Government took the decision not to recapitalize AIB, but to nationalize it (Collins, 2009). On the next day AIB’s shares were shelved and the Government rejected its previous decision of injecting cash to revive the scandal stricken bank (O’Brien, 2009). At the wake of 2009 AIB had fallen from the status of Ireland’s pride to that of a tainted national scandal. Its woes have continued throughout last year and even in 2010 the bank is struggling with a multitude of wide ranging issues such as serious lack of transparency and legislative complications (Ihle, 2010). The undisputed strengths of AIB are its rich heritage and corporate experience. The bank should retrospect and continuously learn from itself. Though it has entered into an unfavorable phase, yet owing to its inherent strengths, AIB can reposition itself as the pride of Ireland. On account of being nationalized AIB has got an opportunity to appease its customers to some extent. It should make optimum use of this chance and implement strategies to reposition itself as a premier financial institution. The most significant threat that AIB faces in the current situation is that of uncertainty. The bank has lost its credibility and hence will be under constant public vigilance. AIB should adopt

The Progressive Value System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Progressive Value System - Essay Example The Enlightenment Value System was limited to the fact that humans are good, not evil-beings, and their conscience is a major determinant of their actions. The effective functioning of the individual within the society should be assisted by the government, which was viewed not merely as an autocratic power, but as facilitator of social progress. establishment the accompanying belief in technology has become a value of its own† (Waldo, 1978, p.43). The major contemporary principles of this system are following: 1) sustainable progress; 2) shared responsibility; 3) effective government; 4) constant prosperity. Effective government is an important component of just society, and the government should create effective infrastructures and services, which cannot be provided by private sector of services. Moreover, government provides a judicial system that determines effective functioning of our society in terms of equitability and righteousness. †Government provides coordinated planning and incentives that help businesses adjust to changing circumstances.   Government provides the means of coordinating actions with other countries† (Hays, 1959, p.139).   Prosperity and shared responsibility are important contributors to individual and social happiness, since they provide high quality of life as well as social conscience and identity. In order to succeed, people should take the responsibility at least for their own lives and behaviors, which helps them rely on themselves without blaming others in their own faults and shortcomings. In addition, I would like to mention the results of my research, related to the implementation of Progressive Value System inmanagement and governing. First of all , I would like to refer to several writers, who explored this area and to my own methods, which combined content- and context-analysis of those writings and the researches that were conducted in

Factors in Asian Urban Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Factors in Asian Urban Growth - Essay Example In relation to population and size, Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent. Its gross domestic product is the third highest in the world. With the rise of globalization, world economies had structural adjustments which influenced production, resource utilization and wealth creation (Clark, 2003). Asian economies experienced high development in the manufacturing industry supplemented by the availability of cheap labor. According to Keiner, Schretzenmayr and Schmid (2005), urbanization in Asia has occurred at some of the fastest rates in history with a rise in large urban agglomerates. The urban growth is expected to increase more as time goes by, especially within the least developed, low income economies in Asia. This fast rate of urban growth in Asia has been linked with the population dynamics, economic markets and socio-political conditions of the region. Population growth has always been a factor in economic development. The Malthusian theory on population is that a high population can lead to a crash in the economy by leading it to acute poverty while trying to sustain the population’s needs. There are better views to population in that a large population means the availability of a large labour force and domestic market. An increase in population also encourages technological advancement and innovation in a bid to meet the rising need for certain goods and services according to Clark (2003). Asian population levels have been high over time even before this burst of urbanization. The population has a big role in the urbanization and development since they occupy the urban cities and engage in economic activities that sustain the rise of urban centers. Likewise the socio -political environment is also important to the urban growth. Success in economic development depends greatly on the political and administrative officials. These government officials also influence infrastructural development in the urban centers and rural ar eas of a country. Asia is a politically, economically socially and culturally diverse region. With globalization, countries in the region have been able to integrate especially to facilitate trade and economic activities. The rate of infrastructure growth in many Asian cities has been inevitable given the rising population. Roads, hospitals, schools and housing facilities in the urban centers had to be expanded in order to accommodate this population. The other factor related to urbanization is the economic markets. Compared to the other two factors the effects of the economy in the development of cities are more pronounced. Most Asian economic markets are characterized by free trade, booming capital markets, reduced regulations economic freedom, and security of property rights. In addition to this, economic integration in the region and with other economies of the world has led to a further increase in economic activity in the region (Landau, 2001). Economic integration led to conn ectivity among cities in the Asian region in order to facilitate the flow of goods and services, people, investments and communication between them. Free trade in the area has been encouraged by the formation of trade blocs. They include Asian pacific cooperation (APEC), whose aim is to promote free trade and economic cooperation the Asia pacific region. The Asia- Europe meeting (ASEM) works towards security of economy by deepening relations between Asia and Europe at all levels. The major trade bloc in the are which is the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has its main objectives to have a free trade area , with common external preferential tariff