Free Essays on Themes Of The Old Man And The Sea

Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Honor in Struggle, Defeat & Death From the very first paragraph, Santiago is characterized as someone struggling against defeat. He has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish- he will soon pass his own record of eighty-seven days. Almost as a reminder of Santiago’s struggle, the sail of his skiff resembles â€Å"the flag of permanent defeat.† But the old man refuses defeat at every turn: he resolves to sail out beyond the other fishermen to where the biggest fish promise to be. He lands the marlin, tying his record of eighty-seven days after a brutal three-day fight, and he continues to ward off sharks from stealing his prey, even though he knows the battle is useless. Because Santiago is pitted against the creatures of the sea, some readers choose to view the tale as a chronicle of man’s battle against the natural world, but the novella is, more accurately, the story of man’s place within nature. Both Santiago and the marlin display qualities of pride, honor, and bravery, and both are subject to the same eternal law: they must kill or be killed. As Santiago reflects when he watches the weary warbler fly toward shore, where it will inevitably meet the hawk, the world is filled with predators, and no living thing can escape the inevitable struggle that will lead to its death. Santiago lives according to his own observation: â€Å"man is not made for defeat . . . [a] man can be destroyed but not defeated.† In Hemingway’s portrait of the world, death is inevitable, but the best men (and animals) will nonetheless refuse to give in to its power. Accordingly, man and fish will struggle to the death, just as hungry sharks will lay waste to an old man’s trophy catch. The novel suggests that it is possible to transcend this natural law. In fact, the very inevitability of destruction creates the terms that allow a worthy ... Free Essays on Themes Of The Old Man And The Sea Free Essays on Themes Of The Old Man And The Sea Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Honor in Struggle, Defeat & Death From the very first paragraph, Santiago is characterized as someone struggling against defeat. He has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish- he will soon pass his own record of eighty-seven days. Almost as a reminder of Santiago’s struggle, the sail of his skiff resembles â€Å"the flag of permanent defeat.† But the old man refuses defeat at every turn: he resolves to sail out beyond the other fishermen to where the biggest fish promise to be. He lands the marlin, tying his record of eighty-seven days after a brutal three-day fight, and he continues to ward off sharks from stealing his prey, even though he knows the battle is useless. Because Santiago is pitted against the creatures of the sea, some readers choose to view the tale as a chronicle of man’s battle against the natural world, but the novella is, more accurately, the story of man’s place within nature. Both Santiago and the marlin display qualities of pride, honor, and bravery, and both are subject to the same eternal law: they must kill or be killed. As Santiago reflects when he watches the weary warbler fly toward shore, where it will inevitably meet the hawk, the world is filled with predators, and no living thing can escape the inevitable struggle that will lead to its death. Santiago lives according to his own observation: â€Å"man is not made for defeat . . . [a] man can be destroyed but not defeated.† In Hemingway’s portrait of the world, death is inevitable, but the best men (and animals) will nonetheless refuse to give in to its power. Accordingly, man and fish will struggle to the death, just as hungry sharks will lay waste to an old man’s trophy catch. The novel suggests that it is possible to transcend this natural law. In fact, the very inevitability of destruction creates the terms that allow a worthy ...

About Uranium-Lead Dating

About Uranium-Lead Dating Of all the isotopic dating methods in use today, the uranium-lead method is the oldest and, when done carefully, the most reliable. Unlike any other method, uranium-lead has a natural cross-check built into it that shows when nature has tampered with the evidence. Basics of Uranium-Lead Uranium comes in two common isotopes with atomic weights of 235 and 238 (well call them 235U and 238U). Both are unstable and radioactive, shedding nuclear particles in a cascade that doesnt stop until they become lead (Pb). The two cascades are different- 235U becomes 207Pb and 238U becomes 206Pb. What makes this fact useful is that they occur at different rates, as expressed in their half-lives (the time it takes for half the atoms to decay). The 235U–207Pb cascade has a half-life of 704 million years and the 238U–206Pb cascade is considerably slower, with a half-life of 4.47 billion years. So when a mineral grain forms (specifically, when it first cools below its trapping temperature), it effectively sets the uranium-lead clock to zero. Lead atoms created by uranium decay are trapped in the crystal and build up in concentration with time. If nothing disturbs the grain to release any of this radiogenic lead, dating it is straightforward in concept. In a 704-million-year-old rock, 235U is at its half-life and there will be an equal number of 235U and 207Pb atoms (the Pb/U ratio is 1). In a rock twice as old there will be one 235U atom left for every three 207Pb atoms (Pb/U 3), and so forth. With 238U the Pb/U ratio grows much more slowly with age, but the idea is the same. If you took rocks of all ages and plotted their two Pb/U ratios from their two isotope pairs against each other on a graph, the points would form a beautiful line called a concordia (see the example in the right column). Zircon in Uranium-Lead Dating The favorite mineral among U-Pb daters is zircon (ZrSiO4), for several good reasons. First, its chemical structure likes uranium and hates lead. Uranium easily substitutes for zirconium while lead is strongly excluded. This means the clock is truly set at zero when zircon forms. Second, zircon has a high trapping temperature of 900Â °C. Its clock is not easily disturbed by geologic events- not erosion or consolidation into sedimentary rocks, not even moderate metamorphism. Third, zircon is widespread in igneous rocks as a primary mineral. This makes it especially valuable for dating these rocks, which have no fossils to indicate their age. Fourth, zircon is physically tough and easily separated from crushed rock samples because of its high density. Other minerals sometimes used for uranium-lead dating include monazite, titanite and two other zirconium minerals, baddeleyite and zirconolite. However, zircon is so overwhelming a favorite that geologists often just refer to zircon dating. But even the best geologic methods are imperfect. Dating a rock involves uranium-lead measurements on many zircons, then assessing the quality of the data. Some zircons are obviously disturbed and can be ignored, while other cases are harder to judge. In these cases, the concordia diagram is a valuable tool. Concordia and Discordia Consider the concordia: as zircons age, they move outward along the curve. But now imagine that some geologic event disturbs things to make the lead escape. That would take the zircons on a straight line back to zero on the concordia diagram. The straight line takes the zircons off the concordia. This is where data from many zircons is important. The disturbing event affects the zircons unequally, stripping all the lead from some, only part of it from others and leaving some untouched. The results from these zircons therefore plot along that straight line, establishing what is called a discordia. Now consider the discordia. If a 1500-million-year-old rock is disturbed to create a discordia, then is undisturbed for another billion years, the whole discordia line will migrate along the curve of the concordia, always pointing to the age of the disturbance. This means that zircon data can tell us not only when a rock formed, but also when significant events occurred during its life. The oldest zircon yet found dates from 4.4 billion years ago. With this background in the uranium-lead method, you may have a deeper appreciation of the research presented on the University of Wisconsins Earliest Piece of the Earth page, including the 2001 paper in Nature that announced the record-setting date.

Six Rules for Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

Six Rules for Making Subjects and Verbs Agree Six Rules for Making Subjects and Verbs Agree Six Rules for Making Subjects and Verbs Agree By Michael If you want to write proper English, you have to follow a rule called subject-verb agreement. That means that if the subject is plural (ducks), then the verb needs to be plural (quack). If the subject is singular (duck) then the verb needs to be singular (quacks). This issue is not as picky and unimportant as you might think. Traditionally, American novelists who wanted to show that a character was uneducated would give them dialog with incorrect subject-verb agreement: Waall, we is just gonna have to ride after them, aint we? or But suh, dey tells me not to do dat! It could be worse. If you spoke Basque, the object would have to agree with the subject too. In many languages, such as French, pronouns and nouns, even inanimate objects, have gender, and they have to agree with each other too. In proper Turkish, some vowels need to agree. Notice that English verbs, unlike nouns, usually dont become plural by adding s. In fact, many singular, present-tense verbs end with s, while many plural verbs dont exactly the opposite of nouns. More than anything else, sentences that begin with several nouns tend to fool people. Here are some rules to guide you into what you should do with them: Two singular subjects connected with and are plural, and need a plural verb. For example, which is correct: My mother and my father are visiting me or My mother and my father is visiting me? After all, its correct to say My father is visiting me. But two parents together are plural, not singular, so you need to use are. Of course, a plural subject combined with a singular subject is still plural, and you would use a plural verb. For example, this is correct: The general and his advisers are responsible for the decision. To make it less confusing, we put the plural subject last, closest to the verb. Two singular subjects connected with the conjunctions or or nor need a singular verb. For example, My mother or my father is going to call me today is correct, because only one of them will be calling. It works the same way with andor and neithernor: Neither my mother nor my father is going to call me today. If one of the subjects is plural, use a plural verb: The general or his advisers are responsible for the decision. Again, we put the plural subject last, closest to the verb. Dont get distracted if theres another phrase between the subject and the verb. For example, you should say My sister, along with her children, is visiting me next month; even though you would say My sister and her daughters are visiting me next month. The verb needs to agree with the subject, not with other nouns that happen to precede the verb. Words such as either, neither, everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, none or each, are singular and need a singular verb. As we just said, dont be fooled if a singular subject is followed by plural nouns. For example, when you write each of my daughters, make sure the verb agrees with the singular subject each instead of the plural noun daughters. And the singular subject everyone who knows my daughters should be followed by the singular predicate is impressed by them, not are impressed by them. On the other hand, fractions or portions of a plural noun are still plural. Often these are expressed with prepositional phrases: most of the students or half of the campus. Use a singular verb if the object of the preposition is singular, but a plural verb if its plural. For example, write Some of the students are wealthy, and Half of the campus is covered with trees. Time and money are singular. Yes, five is plural, and the word yards is plural, but you would write Five yards is all I need to finish my sewing project. Notice that many of these rules are really just warnings to look carefully at the sentences you write. Once you know that subjects and verbs need to agree, and you know what counts as the subject and what doesnt, you are on your way to sounding more educated. Subject-Verb Agreement Quiz In each sentence, choose the correct form of the verb. 1. Either Jack or the children ___ too loud. is are 2. Everyone ____ chocolate. loves love 3. My sister, along with her children, ___ visiting me next month. is are 4. Neither my mother nor my father ___ going to call me today. are is Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should KnowHomogeneous vs. Heterogeneous50 Musical Terms Used in Nonmusical Senses

The Color Purple Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Color Purple - Essay Example One of the prominent themes of the novel is the degree of suppression of the female African voice in early twentieth century American society. This is most evident from the events and circumstances in the life of the protagonist of the story, Celie. During her adolescent years, she was repeatedly raped and sweared at by her stepfather. She even bears his child through the whole term, after which the child is taken away and presumably killed by her stepfather. The oppression and disparaging attitude exhibited by her stepfather is obvious in the following passage: "Well, next time you come you can look at her. She ugly. Don't even look like she kin to Nettie. But she'll make the better wife. She aint smart either, and I'll just be fair, you have to watch her or she'll give away everything you own. But she can work like a man." (The Color Purple, Part 1, 1982) If this was traumatic enough, the unfolding events of her adult life are equally saddening and depressing. Her tumultuous adult life is about finding peace and calm in an existence that is constantly threatened by the abusive husband Albert, while also navigating the emotional confusion cause by her sexual attraction toward Shug. Fortuitously, though, her secret relationship with Shug serves to emancipate Celie to a degree, as she learns to act boldly and assertively like Shug. But the fact remains that the extent of abuse suffered by Celie is not only shocking but also touches the limits of individual tolerance. Another important theme/symbol in the book is that of God, to whom Celie writes letters regularly, hoping vainly for benign divine intervention in her life. In all the doom and gloom that is Celie’s life, the notion of God offers the only consolation and hope. Celie’s letters addressed to God is also an effective literary device employed by Alice Walker. Through the course of the novel’s narrative, one can see how Celie’s interpretation of God gradually evolves. At first, her view of God is that of a powerful white male. This naive representation is a product of her personal past experiences and the structure of American society at the time. For example, she notes in one of her earlier letters: "Yeah, I say, and he give me a lynched daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa and a sister I probably won't ever see again. Anyhow, I say, the God I been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgetful and lowdown." (The Color Purple, Part 4, 1982) But the friendship with Shug helps Celie to discard this view to a more nuanced understanding of God – one who is beyond gender, race, time or space. What Alice Walker trying to show the reader is the growing maturity and emancipation of Celie through the content of her letters. In other words, her letters reveal the evolution and stirrings of liberation within. Moreover, the letters act as powerful theological symbols, drawing upon the rich traditio n of Christian epistolary. Finally, the color purple is also a thematic element in the story, for it represents the pain and suffering endured by Celie. Drawing upon the idiom ‘beaten black and blue’, purple stands for the color of clotted blood. It is also a symbol of Celie’

Sustainbility and Renewable Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sustainbility and Renewable Technologies - Essay Example Discussion The Benefits of Sustainable Construction According to the UK’s Strategy on Sustainable Construction published in June, 2008, sustainable development can only be achieved if the construction industry also engages in sustainable construction practices. The strategy laid down several initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable construction. It focused mainly on effort that would ensure the United Kingdom construction sector engages in long-term sustainability efforts that would ensure the UK meets its sustainability targets. It emphasizes on the need to build new homes that are free from carbon and new commercial buildings that are rated, zero carbon. It proposes amendments to the regulations that govern building and construction which will see CO2 emissions from new homes reduced significantly. The policy requires those new houses are constructed in such a way that they are water efficient and have standards for minimum efficiency. It also emphasizes on the use of rene wable energy and effective management of wastes by encouraging reuse and recycling. Being a joint government and industry policy to ensure sustainability in construction, it is imperative that the company considers sustainable construction. This will be within the regulations of the country and local authority. The benefits of sustainable construction to an ISO 14001 certified insurance company that is committed to meeting high environmental standard are many. This discussion aims at explaining these benefits and their implications to the business at large. As opposed to standard building approaches, sustainable construction employs practices that give emphasis to efficiency, quality and long-term affordability. The quality of life and comfort increases as a building is developed using sustainable construction best practices. This leads to a decrease in the negative effects on the environment and a substantial increase in the projects ability to sustain itself. Less raw materials, w ater, land and energy are consumed if a building is sustainably constructed. The negative impacts on the environment by the building and construction sector are far reaching. This severely damages the earth’s ecosystem that is currently at a critical stage. The damages are irreversible and rob the ecosystem of its critical life supporting function. It is a known fact that more than more than 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions globally, 40% of energy used, 40% of generated solid waste and 30% of used raw material are due to building and construction in OECD countries. Sustainable construction reduces these adverse effects on the environment by a much greater percentage. It helps minimize pollution, waste and energy use. Re-cycling and reuse is also maximized thus reducing costs. This helps preserve the earth’s ecosystem that is currently threaten. Most people spent about 90% of their time in buildings. This has seen the rise in sickness related to buildings thereby inc reasing the cost related to treating such sicknesses. Sustainable construction practices emphasizes use of less toxic paints for indoor paintings and construction of big, wide windows that allow natural light and fresh air into buildings. This ensures confortable and healthy indoor environments. Such environments significantly contribute to human well-being and health. Diseases and sicknesses caused by poor and unhealthy indoor env

Performance appraisals Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Performance appraisals - Research Paper Example Performance appraisals are aimed at the smooth accomplishment of organizational goals by monitoring employee behavior and enhancing employee productivity. This paper deals with the various aspects of performance appraisals including its use in the workplace, its subjective and objective nature, legal and ethical issues, advantages and disadvantages, and suggests possible alternatives. Performance appraisals in the workplace Performance appraisals play a pivotal role in the management of organizations. Performance appraisals serve a large variety of purposes within organizations. The management often uses performance appraisals for taking important decisions on promotions, rewards, transfers and terminations of employees, for identifying training and development needs, for validating selection and development programs, and for providing timely feedback to the employees on their performance (Robbins 228). Performance appraisals offer a unique opportunity for managers and supervisors to evaluate the performance of their employees and to improve their performance by timely feedbacks or interventions. For Chukwuba, performance appraisals play two potentially conflicting roles within an organization. The first of these roles is â€Å"to measure performance for the purpose of rewarding or otherwise making administrative decisions about employees† whereas the second is ‘development of individual potential’ within the organization (Chukwuba 3). Both these roles are essential for the overall growth and development of the organization. It is the responsibility of the supervisors to guide, direct and motivate the subordinates through appropriate performance appraisals. However, self-appraisals, peer appraisals, subordinate appraisals, customer/client appraisals, and multiple raters are also proved to be significant in various organizational settings (Jennifer 255). Performance appraisals yield employee satisfaction and enhance their performance when the ir work is appreciated or rewarded. On the other hand, it can also put an end to undesirable behavior among the employees. Objective and subjective performance appraisals Performance appraisals can be of two types-objective or subjective. While objective performance appraisals are based on facts subjective performance appraisals are based on individuals’ perceptions. As such objective measures appear to be more valid and reliable. However, it is a fact that the actual performance of an employee cannot completely be evaluated based on facts or statistical data alone. Therefore, effective management system makes use of both objective and subjective performance appraisals. Objective performance appraisals are results-oriented as the focus is on facts or statistical data whereas subjective measures are â€Å"based on individuals’ perceptions and can be used for appraisals based on traits, behaviors, and results† (Jennifer 254). While objective performance appraisals value the performance of employees in terms of their sales, business, achievements, profits or growth in income subjective evaluation takes into account such aspects as the efforts made by the employee, the attitude of the employee and his/her behavior. For instance, the

Understanding Middle Eastern Politics and Global Hegemony Essay

Understanding Middle Eastern Politics and Global Hegemony - Essay Example This perspective, according to Verbeek (2003), is strengthened by a traditional realist framework which integrates the positivist handbook reflection of international law and hence believes that international law is either at best simply a rationale for decision made based on interests in power politics or immaterial to concerns for national interest. Existing literature reviews show evidently the meagerness of scholarly attempts to explain the Suez crisis within the context of realist theory. The realist argument that law was quite irrelevant to either American or British foreign policy, outside its ability to give explanation for foreign policy, seems to neglect the historical proof that suggests international law had a greater significant effect on British and American foreign policy conduct (Fawcett, 2009). The realist argument that international law was either an easy alibi for policy motives or lacking relevance, as regards to British policy, seems to be flawed. Historical docu ments indicate that legal concerns were a major component considered by both American and British legislators in the development and execution of foreign policy throughout the Suez crisis (Fawcett, 2009). Realist theory, according to Hansen (2011), with its focus on actual exercises and demonstrations of power, would expect that if ever international law could consider the conduct of the State it would be to defend course of action where law reinforced the favored policy. If the State is somewhat less dominant or influential and in a ‘lower’ legal status, in the sense that its favored course of action would more simply be judged ‘unlawful’, realism would expect that law would become irrelevant to the policymaking process (Mattern, 2005). Realism would expect that... The researcher states argument that law was quite irrelevant to either American or British foreign policy, outside its ability to give explanation for foreign policy, seems to neglect the historical proof that suggests international law had a greater significant effect on British and American foreign policy conduct. The realist argument that international law was either an easy alibi for policy motives or lacking relevance, as regards to British policy, seems to be flawed. Historical documents indicate that legal concerns were a major component considered by both American and British legislators in the development and execution of foreign policy throughout the Suez crisis. Realist theory, according to Hansen, with its focus on actual exercises and demonstrations of power, would expect that if ever international law could consider the conduct of the State it would be to defend course of action where law reinforced the favored policy. If the State is somewhat less dominant or influenti al and in a ‘lower’ legal status, in the sense that its favored course of action would more simply be judged ‘unlawful’, realism would expect that law would become irrelevant to the policymaking process. Realism would expect that international law would become immaterial to a State where law and policy objectives conflict, and particularly in cases where the State is rivaling a quite stronger State and law is not an expression of ‘actual power’ as defined by realism.