The School: Postmodernist Ideas Essay -- essays research papers

The School: Postmodernist Ideas Barthelme's "The School" is the first postmodernist story I have ever read. When I read it for the first time, my lips formed a bitter smile. In my imagination, postmodernist stories differed from the classical ones in the arrangement of the ideas and in the standard that postmodernists reject society. True, â€Å"The School† does differ in composition, for example the absence of introduction, but though it sounds somewhat comical, it does also have an incorporated pessimism that makes me reflect on the story. I think this pessimism is the cause that postmodernists reject society. The notion of rejection comes in the story through the death cases. It seems strange why Barthelme uses the notion death in his story, but I think the reason is that this is the best way to stress that every living thing is losing its importance. Hopeless pessimism interweaves with the idea of rejection, and I find them together everywhere, in every death case. For Barthelme, what is lost is unrecoverable. Pessimism, mostly expressed in taking death naturally, spreads uniformly all over the story, from the first paragraph about the orange trees to the last when the new gerbil enters the classroom. In this school, where the children are supposed to receive education, everything dies. The fish, the salamander, and the orange trees die though children take much care of them. The teacher is pessimistic although life goes on and a new ...

British Imperialism in India :: Colonialism Imperialism

British Imperialism in India "All the leadership had spent their early years in England. They were influenced by British thought, British ideas, that is why our leaders were always telling the British "How can you do these things? They're against your own basic values.". We had no hatred, in fact it was the other way round - it was their values that made us revolt." -Aruna Asaf Ali, a leader of the Indian National Congress. (Masani, quoted in Wood, 32, 1989) There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been an group of independent and semi-independent princedoms and territories, underwent great change under British administration. Originally intended to consolidate their hold on India by establishing a population that spoke the same language as their rulers, the British decision in the 1830s to educate Indians in a Western fashion, with English as the language of instruction, was the beginning of a chain of events, including a rise in Indian nationalism, that led to Indian resentment of British imperialism and ultimately to the loss of British control over India. One of the most important factors in the British loss of control over India was the establishment of English as a unifying language. Prior to British colonisation, India was fragmented and multi-lingual, with 15 major languages and around 720 dialects. English served as a common ground for Indians, and allowed separate cultural and ethnic groups to identify with each other, something which had rarely if ever occurred before on a grand scale. Although it was mainly educated Indians of a privileged caste who spoke English, these were the most influential people in terms of acting as facilitators for nationalist ideas to be communicated throughout the populace. The publication of magazines and journals in English was also a great influence on the rise of Indian nationalism. Although most Indians received nationalist ideas orally, these journals allowed Indians who were literate in English to come into contact with the ideas of social and political reformers. Political and social reform in India was achieved as a result of the European political principles brought to India by the British. Indians were Anglicised, and the British ideal for an Indian was to be "Indians in blood and colour, but English in tastes, opinions and intellect", as put by one British legislator (Rich, 214, 1979). This Western education inevitably led to well-read Indians encountering European principles such as human rights, freedoms of speech, travel and association, and liberalism.

Philosophy - Impact of the Leviathan in Hobbess Leviathan and the Book

The Impact of the Leviathan in Hobbes's Leviathan and the Book of Job Throughout the early chapters of his Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes employs metaphorical devices from such diverse fields as mathematics, mechanics, and even the biology of the human body to describe his political community. In reference to the inception of the body politic, Hobbes compares its artificial origins to the Leviathan, a monster in the Book of Job: "For by art is created that great LEVIATHAN called a COMMONWEALTH, or STATE" (Hobbes 3).1 A biblical monster may initially seem to be an implausible metaphor for Hobbes to choose as a means of advocating his political regime. In addition to Hobbes’s animosity towards conventional Christian practices, the metaphor of the monstrous Leviathan holds negative connotations about the brutal force of the political community for, according to the Book of Job, "None is so fierce as to stir him [the Leviathan] up" (Job 41:10).2 However, the depiction of the body politic that emerges from a comparison with the Leviathan in the Book of Job reveals inherent benefits of Hobbes’s political system that might not be readily perceivable. By using the Leviathan as a metaphor for the commonwealth, Hobbes emphasizes one of the most beneficial, though potentially oppressive, attributes of the body politic: its immense strength. According to Hobbes, the political community will function as a unified whole when the power is concentrated in the sovereign, making him the seat of incredible strength: "The greatest of human powers is that which is compounded of the powers of most men, united by consent in one person, natural or civil, that has the use of all their powers depending on his will, such as is the power of the com... ...ciety of the utter necessity of voluntarily handing over their individual rights is somewhat unlikely. Even if one could convince all citizens that this relinquishment of power were desirable, after the initial creation of the body politic, the cohesive unity indicated by the metaphor of the Leviathan seems highly improbable because one sovereign will be hard-pressed to accurately embody the will and to serve the interest of such a vast multitude. Thus, the very mortality and physicality that would allow for the strength of the Leviathan to be implemented to serve the interests of the people make it equally likely that the strength could be misused in tyrannical oppression. Works Cited 1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. Edwin Curley (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994). 2. The Holy Bible, King James Version (New York: American Bible Society).

Computer structure and logic Essay

Learning Objectives and Outcomes -This assignment addresses the learning objective â€Å"Explain BIOS, POST, and derived processes.† The expected learning outcome that will result from completing the assignment is you will be able to describe the operation of BIOS and POST. In video 1.01 it talks about BIOS and CMOS and how they are different. The difference between BIOS and CMOS is that BIOS stored in ROM, they’re permanent and cannot be edited. On the other hand CMOS stored in RAM, they’re nonvolatile can erase when power goes off and can be edited. BIOS or Basic Input Output System is software stored on a small memory chip on the motherboard. It instructs the computer on how to perform a number of basic functions such as booting and keyboard control. BIOS are also used to identify and configure the hardware in a computer such as the hard drive, floppy drive, optical drive, CPU, and memory. BIOS contain a number of hardware configuration options that can be changed through the setup utility. Saving these changes and restarting the computer applies the changes to the BIOS and alters the way BIOS instructs the hardware to function. CMOS- or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor is a term usually used to describe the small amount of memory on a computer motherboard that stores the BIOS settings. It is usually powered by a cell battery which are said to last a life time on a motherboard, but will sometimes need to be replaced. Some signs of dead or dying CMOS battery are incorrect or slow system date and time and loss of BIOS setting. Video 1.02 talks about system resources, and talk about how POST work and the various types of system resources. When power is turned on POST or Power-on-self-test is the diagnostic testing sequence that a computer’s basic input/output system runs to determine if the computer keyboard, RAM, disk drives, and other hardware are working correctly. If the necessary hardware is detected and found to be operating properly, the computer begins to boot, but if the hardware is not detected or is found not to be operation properly; the BIOS issues an error message which may be text on the display screen and a series of coded beeps. There are four system resources. IRQ, I/O Addresses, Memory Address, and DMA- direct memory access. †¢An IRQ is an assigned location where the computer can expect a particular device to interrupt it when the device sends the computer signals about its operation. It communicates from hardware device to CPU. †¢An I/O addresses or Input/output is a number used to identify a peripheral device such as a disk, sound card or serial port and it communicates from CPU to device. †¢A Memory Addresses- is the total amount of memory that can be addressed by the computer. They’re instructions and work is stored there. †¢DMA – which stand for Direct Memory Access, is a method of transferring data from the computer’s RAM to another part of the computer without processing it using the CPU, and it communicate from device to memory. †¢MBR- stand for Master Boot Record is a kind of boot sector stored on a hard disk drive or other storage device. †¢EEPROM- stand for Electronically Erasable Programmable ROM is programmable read only memory that can be erased and re-used .

Law enforcement today Essay

Law enforcement officers have a very important role in society. They have a job that involves lots of decision making and using personal judgment. Law officers have many duties while at work. Law officers have to decide whether or not someone is breaking the law and how they will enforce the situation. Law officers are sometimes expected to be perfect. They have to catch all the bad guys and save all the innocent. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way but officers try to do the best of their ability. All officers are different in that some are more strict and you can’t get away with as much, and others are very laid back and you are apt to get a way with more. I believe all officers should be strict when it comes to safety issues, and people’s health is at risk. I also believe officers should try and teach you what is against the law before you are punished, like warnings should be issued when no one is in harms way. Some officers think they are immortal when they put on a badge, sometimes officers forget what they’re there for and go too far. There are many cases when people have been falsel y abused by officers for no reason. All people have rights, even when you have committed a crime. You are read your rights when you get arrested and no one can take those rights away from you. If an officer violates those rights, you will probably win you case because of it. I think the laws and rules citizens have to follow are reasonable. To run a country successfully, you need to have laws that cover everything. People also need to educate themselves on what the laws are. In this country, you are innocent until proven guilty. Everyone also has a right to a trial before a jury when you have been accused of a crime. Each case obviously has its own circumstances, and that’s why everyone gets a trial. I think the more serious the crime, the less â€Å"space† or freedom you have. Obviously there are different penalties for speeding and murder. They say the crime should fit the punishment. I think the penalties in this country are very fair. I don’t think to many people get off too easy or too harshly. I believe the punishment system is pretty accurate in this country. I think a lot of police work is just plain old confidence. Criminals are going to take the state police more seriously than the police in a little town in the middle of nowhere. Law enforcement officers have a bad reputation of being fat, out of shape, eating donuts, sitting at a desk and so on. Some officers you see  are definently out of shape but they might have great knowledge in the field of law enforcement. I think all officers who go on patrol should have to pass a physical test as well as a written test each year to be certified. I’m not saying out of shape officers should be fired, but they shouldn’t be on patrol. They could be put at a desk or do detective like work. I think officers should be in good shape and look intimidating towards criminals. I think that would cut crime rates down. Criminals would be less apt to rob a bank if they knew a young, in shape, fast cop was chasing them rather than if a three hundred pound, forty six year old cop was. All these things I just mentioned would probably help reduce crime, but they are just opinions. I truly believe law officers today do a good job at what they do and deserve a tremendous amount of respect for it. Being a law officer is not only a risky job but it is kind of heroic in a way. I think it takes a special person to be a law officer and not everyone should able to be one.

Research on Liquid Waste Management Essay

The topic we are selected for our research is â€Å"LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENTS IN VAGAMON†. This topic has a wide scope for research. In order to conduct an exploratory research, we will start doing the location analysis. For that we will collect data on the population, households, population density, factories, labours, sanitation, water reserves†¦etc. Based on the data collected, we select a sample frame where the population density is high and which will be a true representative of vagamon as a whole. In order to find out the objectives of descriptive research, we will frame a questionnaire to find out the problems they are facing due to liquid wastes in their daily lives. Read Also:  What Topics Can Be Good to Do an Exploratory Essay? Based on the similar answers, we will set the objectives for the descriptive study. Next step of exploratory research will be conducted inside the factory and its premises. We will frame a questionnaire for the factory personnel to be answered to find out the liquid wastes the factories are producing and how they are processed. Then we will be conducting an exploratory research among the people living in the factory premises and will find out how the liquid wastes affecting their lives. By integrating all data collected from factories, households, and the secondary data collected from the village authorities, we will set objectives for the descriptive research. The steps for our research is 1. Collect the details of households, population, factory’s from panchayat. 2. Collect the details about the existing rules & regulations followed by panchayat for controlling the liquid waste. 3. Collect the details about the existing sanitation facilities exist in households & factory’s. The main objectives of our descriptive research are 1. To find out the various liquid waste management techniques presently using by the households and factory’s. 2. To know about the efficiency of current liquid waste management. 3. To know whether the waste water affect the public health. 4. To know about the opinion of people about the recycling of waste water.

Aeneas and Beowulf

Aeneas was the son of Anchises out of Venus (Hamilton 208), prince of Troy, a vagabond exile who became consort to a Queen and father of Rome. No other hero of antiquity had the piety so treasured by the Roman people. For his part, Beowulf was the son of Ecgbeow, exiled for his father's crimes, Grendel's bane, Dragon Slayer, and King of Geats. His deeds of valour are sung by Saxons and Norsemen alike. Separated by a great span of time and distance, Aeneas and Beowulf shared similarities in that both were all but fearless and are eternally remembered for their pious valor and the mighty deeds they wrought. Aeneas of the â€Å"Iliad† was a Trojan prince. Valiant in his own right, though not as forthcoming in arms as his kinsman Hector, he labored mightily to protect his native Troy from the wrath of the Greeks (Camps 23). In the end, he failed and the realm fell to its enemies. He alone of the Trojan lords survived the rape of Troy and leads the survivors into exile. Thus does Homer conclude his tale of Aeneas, Aphrodite’s son. In his quest to forge the founding epic of Rome, wise Virgil conceived the â€Å"Aeneid†, the saga of an exile who would become the true founder of Rome (Hamilton 220). Continuing where Homer left off, Virgil had Aeneas take the remnant of his people away from the land of their sorrows. He bore with him the statues of the household gods of Troy. a pious symbolism of taking all that remained of Troy with him (Aeneid Book I).   Daring the perils of the Mediterranean, he sailed about in a Greek lake. Every land he passed posed peril from Greeks, if not Cyclops, Harpies or other fell beasts. Yet for all his perils Aeneas held his course, he quailed not and only the charms of Queen Dido could stay the Trojans for long. Beowulf, on the other hand, had no divine parentage. The true author of this saga cannot now be known. Tradition (Wikipedia) places the author as an Anglo-Saxon from the 7th century A.D. Unlike Aeneas, whose deeds were spun by the fruitful mind of Virgil, Beowulf may very well have been an actual King Geats sometime in the 5th century A.D. However, his heroic deeds have placed him high in the pantheon of Anglo-Saxon heroes. Beowulf’s father Ecgbeow murdered Heaà °olaf, a Wulfing noble. Unable to pay the were gild to compensate for killing Heaà °olaf, Ecgbeow went into exile among the Danes. The Danish King Hroà °gar paid the wereguild in his behalf and asked him to swear an oath. Ecgbeow then entered the service of the Geatish king Hreà °el and marries his daughter. Their issue is Beowulf.   Save for the banishment of his father, Beowulf origins were uneventful, a sharp contrast with the tale of Aeneas. But soon enough, Beowulf was called to arms. Hroà °gar and his court in Zealand are besieged by a demon named Grendel (Heaney 15). In payment for his father’s debt, Beowulf traveled from Geatland, essaying to slay Grendel if he might despite the knowledge that the no mortal weapons could harm the Grendel. So began the first of his three great battles. Grendel bore the mark of Cain and was feared by all save Beowulf only. In a mighty duel, Beowulf wrestled with Grendel and mastered him, tearing off his arm and sending Grendel scrambling home to die (Heaney 37). Beowulf then reaped great honor from King Hroà °gar but earned ire of a new enemy; Grendel’s mother. The second great battle of Beowulf was with no less than Grendel’s mother who also bore the dread mark of Cain (Heaney 88). Seeking vengeance for her dead son, she entered Hroà °gar’s hall and slew Æschere, his most trusted warrior. As an aside, under the Germanic law of that day, death must be avenged with death or payment called a were gild. Thus Grendel’s mother conceived that she was merely upholding the law of vengeance (Heaney 101). But since Hroà °gar saw himself wronged once again, he essayed to slay Grendel’s mother. Again Beowulf played the heroes’ part. He dove right into the swamp and slew her with a sword that only he could wield. For the second time, he earns great honor for his deed. Here a Christian theme is played out. Thought to be dead, Beowulf returns to his fellows at ‘non’ that is, the 9th hour of day or 3:00 P.M., the same hour that Christ is said to have died (Tolkien 265). Beowulf mastered the Cursed Spawn of Cain, the first murderer. They were demons that no lesser man could slay. Aeneas for his part was Cursed by Juno queen of the gods. But for Aeneas a lesser foe would be unworthy. Motivated by Paris’ rejection, Juno’s wrath for Troy (Hamilton 233) extended to Aeneas. Juno’s hate is worsened by her foreknowledge that from the loins of Aeneas would come forth the race of high men who would lay low her own favored city of Carthage (Aeneid Book I). She causes a great storm to be cast upon the exiles’ fleet in a vain effort to annihilate them. The storm is so terrible that Aeneas’ fleet is driven off course and they end up on the shores of Carthage. Dido, queen of Carthage, would find shipwrecked Aeneas and offer him Kingship of Carthage if only he would stay and love her (Hamilton 235). It is at this point that Aeneas’ piety is stirred anew for Mercury is sent to upbraid him. Shamed for straying from his destiny, Aeneas secretly leaves Carthage with all his folk, thus rekindling hope for the destiny of Rome but also earning the eternal ire of Dido’s heirs. Aeneas held funeral games in honor of his dead father and shows his piety to his ancestor. (Hamilton 237). With Sibyl, he descended to the depths of Hades to hold converse with those who would become mighty among the Romans (Hamilton 240). His wavering faith is strengthened and ere long Aeneas leads his followers to the shores of Latinium. At last their wanderings are over, they can now rebuild their homes or so they hoped. Beowulf too proves to be a pious man of high doom. His king Hygelac died in a raid.   As the son of a Geatish princess Beowulf was offered the throne. He humbly declined in favor of prince Heardred his kinsman. Headred later harbored the Swedish princes Eadgil and Eanmund who fled Onela the usurper. Eager to put an end to his foes, Onela invades Geatland and killed Headred. Beowulf was proclaimed King in his place and under the custom of were gild swore revenge against Onela (Heaney 165). The primary Beowulf text speaks little of this but Swedish sources speak of a counter invasion by Beowulf and Eadgil to restore Eadgil to the throne and avenge Headred (Olson). A hero is best remembered for his greatest achievements, For a Roman hero it is his prowess for war. Juno stirred all of Latinium to war against Aeneas but this time he could resist her devices because the Trojans had become mighty in war (Camp 47). Outnumbered in a hostile land, Aeneas and the Trojans fought with desperate valor though they saw little hope. Aeneas left camp to seek aid among his other neighbors first among his new allies is the boy Pallas. (Aeneid Book IX). Ere his gates were mastered, Aeneas returns with the valiant Etruscans. Many deeds worthy of song were forged in that war. Not the least was Aeneas’ pursuit of an Italian craven who allowed his son to die while he fled. When the war reached an impasse, single combat was proposed between the captains (Aeneid Book XII). On the one hand was Aeneas, prince of Troy, and on the other Turnus, King of the Rutuli. Both coveted Lavinia, heiress of Latinium. Turnus was valiant in his own right but his foe was no mere mortal. In that duel Turnus fought valiantly but with no hope. Virgil portrays Aeneas as a demigod who quickly mastered Turnus. The latter’s pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears when Aeneas saw that Turnus was wearing the armor of Pallas(Hamilton 245). A ‘true’ Roman, Aeneas accordingly slew his fallen foe in vengeance for fallen Pallas (Camps 35). Memorable too was the final battle of Beowulf king of the Geats for 50 years. In his last days, his realm is plagued by a dragon. Despite his old age he tried to slay the Dragon in open battle but failed. Instead, he enters the Dragon’s lair accompanied only by Wiglaf his Swedish relative (Heaney 175). They succeeded in killing the Dragon but Beowulf was mortally wounded (Chance 53). According to Swedish scholar Birger Nerman, Beowulf lies in Skalunda Hà ¶g in West Geatland. In the time of Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxons and the other Germanic peoples were not yet Christianized. However, the saga tells of Germanic moral codes such as â€Å"were gild† and revenge for the slain overlaid with references to Christian Faith (Chance 47). For example, the mark of Cain, the hour of Non and Beowulf’s prayers to a â€Å"Father Almighty†, to name a few. So much so that Allen Cabaniss (101) proposed that the Beowulf was written precisely to parallel the Bible and present a Christian hero to the Anglo-Saxons. By comparison, Aeneas was valiant and honorable, as most heroes are. He had a destiny to fulfill and a people to lead to safety. Son of a goddess, his chief foe was no less than the Queen of the gods (Camps 106). Though the saga was written by a Pagan hand, Aeneas shows â€Å"Christian† virtue as the Romans of Virgil’s time defined it. He was â€Å"pious† to friends and family, to his gods and most of all to his destiny (Camps 93). Many a time he was tempted to remain in comfort and ease in another land. Yet he ultimately resisted and would remain faithful continuing on his path to found Rome. To conclude, Aeneas and Beowulf are valiant and brave as is fitting of true heroes. But to set them apart from the likes of Achilles, they are men who act not out of vanity and pride. Instead, they act out of service and a â€Å"pious† desire to fulfill what they believe is good. Works Cited Wilson, Frank R. The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain. New York: Pantheon, 1998. Cabaniss, A. â€Å"Liturgy and Literature†.   University of Alabama Press, 1970. Camps W.A.   Introduction to Virgils Aeneid.   Oxford University Press 1969. Chambers R.W. Beowulf: An Introduction to the Study of the Poem, 3rd edn Cambridge Press 1959. Chance, Jane. Tolkien’s Art a Mythology for England, University Press of Kentucky, 2001. Fulk R.D. Interpretations of Beowulf: A Critical Anthology, Midland Book 1991. Hamilton Edith: Mythology a timeless tale of gods and heroes, Warner books 1999. Heaney Seamus, Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition) Norton Press 2000. Tolkien, J.R.R. ‘Beowulf: the monsters and the critics', Proceedings of the British Academy, 22 1936. The Project Gutenberg Etext of Vergil's Aeneid in English available at http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext95/anide10.txt (last accessed 14 Nov 07) Olson, Oscar Ludvig, The Relation of the Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimur to Beowulf A Contribution To The History Of Saga Development In England And The Scandinavian Countries available at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14878 (last accessed 21 Nov 2007) Beowulf   available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf#_note-valibrary (last accessed 14 Nov 2007)