faulkner :: essays research papers

The Southern Social Themes of Barn Burning William Faulkner undoubtedly ranks one of the best and most influential writers both in America and in history. Among his various works of art, the most famous ones are those set in his fictional Yoknapatawpha County, which is molded out of his â€Å"native soil.† Despite their Southern setting, these works convey something universally true. As Faulkner often claims, he is just a story-teller, telling about man in conflict, about how he â€Å"endures and prevails.† Before he received due recognition, Faulkner wrote quite a few short stories which he expected would help him improve his economic condition, so that he could write novels at ease. Nevertheless, although he was motivated by economic interests, many of these short stories turned out very prominent. "Barn Burning" is one of Faulkner's most frequently anthologized, though its prose is a bit more ponderous than the garrulous first-person narration of "Emily." Set roughly 30 years after the Civil War, the story focuses on two members of the Snopes family: Ab Snopes, a poor sharecropper who takes out his frustrations against the post-Civil War aristocracy by burning barns, and his adolescent son, "Sarty," who dislikes his father's destructive tendencies and ultimately must choose between family and morality. This powerful coming-of-age story is notable for its conscientious prose styling, in which Faulkner mimics the inward turmoil and questions faced by his principal protagonist, as well as its carefully rendered settings of three historical milieus, each of which has important thematic concerns in the story: the sharecropper's cabin, the planter's mansion, and the town's general store. Faulkner incorporated the basic narrative of the story into his novel The Hamlet, though it is told in vastly different language and tone. Written as it was, at the ebb of the 1930s, a decade of social, economic, and cultural tumult, the decade of the Great Depression, William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" may be read and discussed by most of us as just that--a story of the '30s, for "Barn Burning" offers students insights into these years as they were lived by the nation and the South and captured by our artists. This story was first published in June of 1939 in Harper's Magazine and later awarded the 0. Henry Memorial Award for the best short story of the year. Whether read alone, as part of a thematic unit on the Depression era, or as an element of an interdisciplinary course of the Depression '30s, "Barn Burning" can be used to awaken students to the race, class, and economic turmoil of the decade.

Human Resource Case Study Essay

1. I think his request is reasonable. Nancy should have the time to address Mark’s request to develop an appropriate structure to deal with the growth of both companies. She will be able to present the possible strategies to overcome a shortage of employees. As well, she can discuss reasons why Family Distribution has experienced such a drastic fallout of staff over the past two years. Another topic she should have time to research are the complaints about the hiring practices at Family Manufacturing, whether they have genuine merit, and if so, what can be done to correct the situation. She should also be able to address the concerns of the vice president’s of both companies. . 2. I would not recommend one comprehensive plan for both companies because they are both experiencing different challenges that require separate action plans. Family Medical Distribution is making far less profit than it did at its peak in 1989 and has had to evolve into a specialty distributor of high end supplies just to stay afloat. Family Medical Manufacturing, on the other hand, is continuously exceeding its growth and profit projections yearly. They have the potential to grow the company even further but do not currently have the human resources to do so. . 3. Sam is a person who has been with the company for quite a long time. He has served in various positions and moved his way up the ranks, so he would have a good understanding about how the business is run. I think that Nancy should befriend him to understand his point of view and unique insights on how the company has evolved over time. . I think that Sam understands that a plan needs to be implemented to turn the company around. He has spent time and resources trying to evaluate his marketing department, sales, and operations. He’s even expressed that the staff need to work â€Å"smarter† not â€Å"harder†, but has given no specific direction on what could be done to make this a reality. His skepticism towards the value of HR seems to be based on the results of a department that has been running without a manager for the past 13 months. Even though the HR associate, Claire Jackson, has done a great job trying to keep things afloat, she simply does not have the time or expertise to run the entire department by herself. His judgment of the results is fair in the sense that HR is not particularly useful in its current incarnation, but he doesn’t seem to have the insight to understand how much it could accomplish if it were running smoothly with competent leadership. . Nancy should explain to Sam that the best way to make the company more efficient and to work â€Å"smarter† is by appreciating how important a structured, secure working environment is to people. In order to make the company more profitable, she needs to convince him that the most important thing to do right now is to sort out how best to utilize people to achieve quality performance while at the same time promoting a business plan that will encourage growth. . 4. One glaring challenge is that there are four past complaints about hiring practices. Trust among the employees for the hiring process has been diminished, and the damage has already been done. Even though Mark Olsen seems to understand the importance of a strategic HR program, he has made some critical mistakes and shown a lapse in judgment in three ways. . Firstly, he has shown a bias in hiring people from his former employer in all cases of formal complaints made against the company. It is doubtful that the interview and selection process for these positions was done in a fair, unbiased manner. . Secondly, he has ignored the resources he already had at his disposal by hiring employees externally. In all formal complaints the employees had the education and training do the job they were applying for. Most people want a sense of purpose and accomplishment from their careers, and ignoring that basic desire will only create discontent among the workforce. . Finally, he disregarded and disrespected the entire hiring process by promising a position to someone before the opening had even been posted. In my opinion, this type of favoritism is one of the fastest ways to demoralize people. . At the upcoming meeting for Nancy’s presentation of her human resource plans, she needs to address these mistakes and explain to Mark how important it is to follow procedure, respect the hiring process, and moreover to respect his own employees. . 2. When Nancy present’s her plan, she needs to explain the different challenges that both companies are dealing with. There are pressures and opportunities to be found in both cases. Family Medical Distribution is a well respected company but has undergone significant downsizing due to government cutbacks. The opportunity here is to create an efficient supplementary business that will complement its manufacturing counterpart. Family Medical Manufacturing has plenty of room to grow, but not enough qualified personnel to help develop its upcoming products. . Next, she should state what goals of the company are to get clear about where they want to be in a five year time frame and what it will take to get there. Mark has said that his goal is to enter the home nursing market, so the plan needs to account for what needs to be done to achieve this goal from a HR perspective. . I think the most important issue that both companies need help with is in utilizing the talents and skills of their workforce in a way that compliments the needs of both divisions. The best solution is to consider both companies as one working unit from a HR standpoint. The deficiencies in staffing at Manufacturing could feasibly be satisfied by transferring the appropriate staff from Distribution. This would be an elegant way of taking care of the staffing needs of both companies while at the same time improving employee relations with upper management, an important first step in regaining a sense of trust and security. Nancy should also suggest that some of the money and employee benefits invested in Manufacturing’s new facility be put into effect at Distribution’s plant. It’s important to show genuine equality to employees and this would help to impart the understanding that both businesses are important for continued success.

In our time – An exquisite combination of literary technique and absurd realism

Through an exquisite combination of literary technique and absurd realism, Flannery O'Connor reveals to the reader a grotesque underside of life in the rural south of the United States. By combining a certain flare for dialogue, an intense and primal understanding of human nature, and the constant use of irony, O'Connor paints a vivid image of the world she witnessed around her while commenting on society and the importance of traditional values. O'Connor transfers the vulnerability of one into many, and her mastery of shifting control within the cast of characters, ensures the uncertainty of the outcome and in the process. This reminds us that none of the roles in our lives are stagnant and that by intentionally blinding ourselves to what we do not wish to see or recognize, takes away more than just a view. Through the unique verisimilitude of her stories, she reveals to us that what we attempt to disregard inevitably emerges again and again. One of the most distinguishing aspects of O'Connor's literature are the characters she portrays and develops. Each represent philosophies and personalities, which are derived through the mid 20th century southern lifestyle. Their response to diversity and adversity eventually leads to horrific sadness, tragedy and death, or the exposure of bizarre and atrocious values. With the constant use of religious imagery, tragic foreshadowing and humorous irony, the stories â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† and â€Å"Everything that Rises must Converge† clearly demonstrate and portray O'Connor's ideology of the gradual breakdown of society as a whole with the internal collapse of traditional values. Predominant themes such as religion and racism provide a powerful statement on O'Connor's perspective of society. Through the effectiveness of these techniques, Flannery O'Connor successfully analyzes the existential plight of human existence and its conflict with traditional and religious conviction. In both stories, the antagonist is always a representation of traditional values, whether it is of strong Christian belief or of racial bigotry, whereas the protagonist is seen to take the form of modern scientific beliefs. In the story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† the antagonist is the Grandmother; she remains nameless throughout the story. The Misfit is the protagonist. Though it appears that the Grandmother is extremely manipulative and deceitful during the course of the story, as she was responsible for the deaths of the entire family, one must consider and observe the treatment she receives from her relatives. In the majority of the story, she is either ignored by her son and daughter in law, or rudely criticized by her grandchildren. The grandchildren are representative of the breakdown of respect and filial dependence seen throughout society. However, O'Connor also wanted to demonstrate the counterbalance to this concept: In my time,' said the grandmother, folding her thin veined fingers, ‘children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then. Oh look at that cute little pickaninny! ‘ she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack†¦ (Pg. 119) The idea that the grandmother refers to the Negro child as a ‘pickaninny' not only demonstrates blatant and unintentional racism, it subverts the lines of the respect that the hypocritical grandmother was previously referring to. Similarly, in the story â€Å"Everything that Rises†¦ , O'Connor demonstrates the breakdown of respect and dependence and generational confliction. The antagonist is played by Mrs. Chestny, who is similar to the grandmother in the sense that both mean well and both women hold strongly to their traditional beliefs. Julian Chestny, her son, takes the role of the protagonist, a smug and selfish young man who also represents a similar collapse. ‘They don't give a damn for your graciousness,' Julian said savagely. ‘Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't got the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are. (Pg. 407) The fact that Julian has the right to question his own mother's authority and her wisdom and knowledge is direct evidence not only of his protagonistic, but of the lack of respect he has for this woman who obviously has seen and known much more than he has. O'Connor also exhibits the issue of racism in our society. Not only does she demonstrate it, but she executes the theme in such a way that it is obvious to the reader that she believes racial segregation will be witnessed in and around our society for many generations to come. One example of this is the fact that Julian does not realize that he himself is a racist. Being a hypocritical idealist, he displays an acute sense of anti-racism, but formulated in such exquisite irony, we find that he indeed is a racist due to his constant need to attempt to be anti-racist. Julian does not wish to accept the fact the descendant is unable to sever its bond with the ancestor. A generation cannot function without an impact from generations past. This is similarly found in â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† and evidence can be found within the quote presented earlier. The grandmother is openly racist in front of the children, even though she does not realize that her comments were racist, thereby supporting her racism as a whole. It is due to previous generations that succeeding generations remain true to and hold on to traditional beliefs and values. Ironically in the case that O'Connor depicts, is the value of racism. O'Connor shows to the reader that racism is an organic being: it is able to sustain itself and survive through generational passage of culture and tradition. However, this is where the importance of Christianity comes into focus in O'Connor's stories. Being a devout Christian, she believed that the sole path to redemption and absolution was through religion. According to O'Connor, the only way to redeem oneself was through grace. Though this is seen to a lesser extent in both these stories as compared to several others, O'Connor demonstrates several aspects of religious allusion and symbolic image. The breakdown of society is further emphasized with the use of religious symbol in ‘Everything that Rises†¦ â€Å". She was almost ready to go, standing before the hall mirror, putting on her hat, while he, his hands beside him, appeared pinned to the door frame, waiting like Saint Sebastian for the arrows to begin piercing him. (Pg. 405) The allusion made in this quote is that of Saint Sebastian, a Roman martyr and an officer of the Praetorian Guard until Diocletian discovered his Christianity. His life lay in the hands of Roman archers, which is often the subject of many paintings. The arrows are frequently seen piercing his back, and in the case of Julian and his mother, represent the burden placed upon Julian. The idea that Julian perceives his own mother as a burden is remarkable. Julian does not have a job and lives with his mother at her home. Not only is he ruthless and critical of her thoughts and beliefs, he does not even consider that he might be the burden. Julian's idealistic hypocrisy is countered and revealed in the conclusion of the story. The title itself is a foreshadowing quality of the story, as one can expect inevitable conflict and perhaps, concession and compromise. Julian's hypocrisy is ironic, as he claims to know the real world better than anyone else. In the end, he is forced to understand the real world with the passing of his mother, revealing his weakness and vulnerability and the extent of dependence that he has on his mother. A tide of darkness seemed to be sweeping her away from him. ‘Mother! ‘ he cried. ‘Darling sweetheart, wait! ‘ Crumpling, she fell to the pavement. He dashed forward and fell to her side, crying, ‘Mamma, Mamma! ‘ (Pg. 420) This is the only point in the story in which Julian actually calls his mother a ‘mother' and a ‘mamma', revealing a glimpse of his past childhood. On the same page O'Connor writes, The tide of darkness seemed to sweep him back to her, postponing moment to moment his entry into the world of guilt and sorrow. (Pg. 420) It is interesting that in the first quote, the tide sweeps Mrs. Chestny to Julian, and in the second it sweeps Julian to Mrs. Chestny. This further demonstrates Julian's dependence on his mother. He has finally been able to enter the real world, the world he claims to understand and recognize. In â€Å"A Good Man†¦ â€Å", O'Connor uses certain forms of foreshadowing in the early passages of the story to ‘warn' the readers of future occurrences, and of certain religious aspects. They passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it, like a small island. (Pg. 119) The presence of five or six graves stimulates a period of realization for the reader, as the family consists of six people, giving an eerie sense or prescience of events yet to take place. This gives the reader the impression that the conclusion to the story will be shrouded with death and despair. Though this example of foreshadowing does not directly relate to O'Connor's theme of religion in her stories, it does in a sense foreshadow a further foreshadowing. .. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady. (Pg. 118) This quote is interesting, since it is because of her, that the family strays off their original path leading to Florida to one that heads for Georgia. It is also interestingly ironic as they do in fact have an accident, and the person who finds her does not see her as a lady. O'Connor uses the symbol of the path/road to identify the paths we take in life, or in this case, the proper path of religion. If the Grandmother had been the lady she claimed herself to be and if she remained true to the righteous path of Christianity (that of truth, virtue, honest, etc. ), the family would not have ‘strayed off path', and the proper path would not have led them to death. With the encounter with the Misfit, we find him to exemplify the contemporary world, exposing his protagonistic qualities. ‘I wasn't there so I can't say He didn't,' the Misfit said. ‘I wisht I had of been there,' he said, hitting the ground with his fist. It ain't right I wasn't there because if I had of been there I would of known†¦ if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn't be like I am now†¦ ‘ (Pg. 132) We find the Misfit not only questioning the existence of a Supreme Being, but also addressing a common dilemma of the human consciousness. Though we are aware and mindful of our own existence, we remain primitive animals with violent and primal qualities and nature. The clash between our primal and animalistic instincts is in constant confliction with our metaphysical human nature. The development that develops between the Misfit and the Grandmother is amazing. We find belief to be anything beyond what we can see, hear, touch, smell, etc. Accordingly, any form of spiritual or anti-spiritual ideology is a leap of faith. O'Connor shows the reader that what the Misfit realizes, and what the Grandmother eventually realizes is the fact that sacred dogma and religious belief can no longer compete with the scientific and methodical views and the immorality of the modern world. O'Connor personifies the contemporary views dominating the modern world with her use of the Misfit. As society evolves, it begins to ignore traditional values, and according to O'Connor, acts as a catalyst for the eventual total breakdown of society. In our time, there are misfits and there are lost souls, many of whom unexpectedly play the roles in O'Connor's stories as ‘prophets', searching for faith and absolution, the messengers of ‘lost conscientiousness'. These prophets are used as tools to not only expose the truths and cruelties of the modern world, but also ushers the readers into a psyche of dark and desperate thoughts and feelings which engulf the human soul, imbuing them with a state of utter helplessness in view of the imminent doom in which the reader can foresee during the story. This exposed darkness, which is a prominent figure in the human condition, takes the concept of the human condition itself to a particularly unnatural level and undesired truth of human understanding. From a grandmother who indirectly destroys her own family through her acts of attempted good will, to a non-existent and unresolved mother – son relationship united and divided under the influence and reality of racism and the tragedy that concludes the story, Flannery O'Connor makes a statement on the affiliation between the justification of religious and traditional values, and the corruption and destruction of society, ranging from the 40s / 50s era of black prejudice to an almost ludicrous extent of religious fanaticism. O'Connor's main statement was that humanity as a whole has strayed off its path, just as the Grandmother and her family did in â€Å"A Good Man†¦ â€Å". This story can arguably be labeled as a form of foreshadowing itself, as it shows what would happen if humanity continues on its irregular path. Just as the Grandmother and her family met brutal and untimely death as a result, O'Connor is showing us that we too, will experience this, should we continue life this way. Her numerous statements on the dark realities of our world are reminders of what we have to overcome. She demonstrates the constant clash between the modern and the traditional. We must understand that we contain and determine our fate. It seems plain that O'Connor feels that the eventual outcome will be the death of society. In the stories â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† and â€Å"Everything that Rises must Converge†, Flannery O'Connor uses her prophetic characters in combination with Christian imagery, apocalyptic foreshadowing, and the ubiquitous evils permeating society to this particular level, and leaves the reader closing the book with a feeling of complete despondency for the future of mankind.

Mcdonald’s vs Burger King Essay

Let’s look at fast food restaurants. When you hear someone say, â€Å"Let’s go to McDonalds or Burger King,† what comes to mind would you consider the Big Mac or a Whopper? Think of how many calories that goes into each one. When you look at the Big Mac your calorie count is, â€Å"540 with 29 grams of fat and 45 grams of carbohydrates. † The Whopper shows, â€Å"670 calories, 39 grams of fat and 51 grams of carbohydrates. †(www. associatedcontent. com) So which is healthier, McDonald’s wins this one. Less calories in the Big Mac than the Whopper even though Burger King promotes flame broil is better and much healthier. When walking in the restaurants of McDonald’s you get the since of not welcomed until it is your turn to order. Looking around the place, it is clean yet not many people stay to eat there. One or two people will sit and chat for a while before leaving and making their order. One thing is true about McDonald’s, if they mess up your order while you are still there, they will make it correctly and bring it to your table nice and hot no matter what it was you ordered. Now for Burger King, when you enter their door the cashier says â€Å"Welcome to Burger King, can I take your order,† this research has been done in several restaurants in the area. Once you have placed your order you are given a number and a cup to fill your drink, by the time you are done filling your drink you food is ready to go. Looking around the restaurant there are a number of patrons sitting eating laughing and joking around with one another so the atmosphere is a warm and inviting one. McDonald’s seems to be more of a get it and go type of place and Burger King was sit for a while and chat. The goals of each restaurant are simple. The customer is first, satisfaction is a must. We all know that it’s not as simple as it sounds. Let’s compare the two, at Burger King’s customers are greeted with a smile when you walk in, when a customer places an order they have a choice of dining in or take it to go. The customer is given an option to say, â€Å"I will dine in or take it to go,† this shows they are given customers a choice of what they want to do. McDonald’s on the other hand, satisfaction is number one also, but you’re not greeted with a smile, sometimes it seems that the cashiers don’t want to work there or they just seem so tired. When placing an order the customer have to wait for at least five minutes before it is ready. Not so good in the fast food world of service, but satisfaction is what they are striving to have. They both share the same goals but one is more of an over all than the other. McDonald’s have a goal of satisfying their customers at 100% but they sometimes fail at making this goal work. How does the public differ in the choices of McDonald’s over Burger King? For one which taste better, which has better quality, would the customer prefer flame broiled over fried. Take a taste test first, McDonald’s signature burger the Big Mac; as the commercial says, â€Å"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle and onions on a sesame seed bun. † When the customer orders it in the restaurant, it is in fact, much smaller compared to the advertisement suggest. When doing this research, two out of five people got what they really wanted; the other three had to ask for more sauce and less lettuce. When the order was received, it was sloppy, sauce on the sides of the bun and not on the burger. The taste was satisfactory but if you present something that isn’t prepared right the taste falls short. Burger King’s signature burger the Whopper; â€Å"Beef patty, sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, sliced onions, flamed broiled on a sesame seed bun. † Research shows out of the five customers that were tested at Burger King, each customer got exactly what they ordered and was satisfied with the taste of the meal. One even asked for an extra slice of cheese. Burger King satisfied more customers in the area of taste. Which has better quality of food? This falls very hard when thinking about both restaurants. McDonald’s and Burger King have in fact, had good quality but one out shines the other. As it was stated before McDonald’s Big Mac was served sloppy that was not quality service. In terms of Burger King, the customers were very satisfied with the quality of food and service that they received. Looking at the companies goals is a major difference. Let’s take the Mc Donald’s organization, one hundred percent customer satisfaction. When looking at this goal, it’s not always reachable. When this goal is not met, they will do what ever it takes to fix the problem. The next goal that puts them at a higher standard than other competitors, it’s founded on giving back to the community with the Ronald Mc Donald House and Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities. In each restaurant and drive thru there’s a donation box so money can be placed into helping the charities. So many times there have been full boxes of money given. Over the years McDonald’s has given millions of dollars back to communities in an effort to help children in need of care. Burger King was founded in 1953, the worlds #2 hamburger chain since McDonald’s. All of the burgers cooked at Burger King are prepared by grilling over flamed fire. When looking at how the structure works for them, Burger King doesn’t advertise their products like most competitors. There is no way Burger King can produce more sales than McDonald’s due to their marketing strategy which puts them at a disadvantage with McDonald’s. Where they can improve on this, they can do more advertisement of their products and open more chains around the world. Burger King does offer its â€Å"own in house charitable organizations† and programs which is the â€Å"Have It Your Way Foundation,† which is also a â€Å"US based non-profit corporation to alleviate hunger and disease prevention. (http://en. wikipedia. org) However Burger King also offers Scholarship Programs for millions of high school children across the United States which is in the memory of the co-founder James W. McLamore. This year alone they have awarded more than $1. 4 million in scholarship funds to 1,258 students and they also have four new awards that they give out but the major scholarships includes one King $25,000 and three James W. McLamore Whopper scholarship $50,000. (Burger King Corporation) The interaction with the public for both restaurants is very different. When walking in the restaurant the employees are very busy taking orders. The sense of urgency is upon them to get the food out fast and perfect. Once the order is placed, there is no time to talk however at Burger King, while waiting on your order the manager has time to chit chat with you. Managers make sure that the environment is warm and inviting. The employees that are cleaning around the tables and chairs make sure that they do notice you. There have been times where the employee asks if they could get something more or a refill. This is what customer service should be like. McDonald’s, on the other hand, there is no sense of warmth. Maybe one person may look your way and ask is everything’s alright, but that’s as far as the conversation will go. At both restaurants there is a difference between the employee and manager. They both have different shirts and tags. Sometimes though it could be hard to tell the difference because if you go to the restaurant late at night it’s more lax than the day time hours where you will have employees and mangers playing around but still doing their jobs. One other thing that these companies do, they do hire the less fortunate, meaning people with disabilities. Both companies start with their signature logo and end with their logo, major difference McDonald’s only takes the order. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what is being said over the pa and the order may get mixed up but there is time when getting to the window to fix it. Not all the time at McDonald’s does the employee have the food ready so the customer is asked to pull over and food will be brought out to them? On one occasion, while waiting for the order as the minutes passed by, no order was delivered. The customer had to go into the restaurant to get the order and it was still not what the customer ordered. One would wonder how many times this has happen in the past. Is drive thru really fast and easy? Thinking it may be better to order inside so the order can be done properly. Burger King Employees smile when taking and giving the orders. Even in the drive thru, the smile can be heard over the pa when placing an order. If a customer has to wait on their order thru the drive thru, they are asked to pull around the front and someone will be out with the order. It is never long that you will have to wait maybe two minutes at the most and the food is hot when it is received. There are healthy choices on the both menus, but do customers often choose the healthy choice? Not always. Looking at the choices of the menus: In some states McDonald’s is required to show the calorie count for the customers. On their boxes that the food comes in, there is also a calorie count that the customer can look at and see just how many calories is listed for the choice that was made for the order.

Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Construction - Essay Example Because of their malleability and relative ease of working, copper and lead became synonymous with the complexities of Gothic architecture. Endowed with the rich green patina of age, weathered copper spires and roofs still enliven the skylines of northern European cities. Improved techniques of pre-patination can now bestow an instant, uniform illusion of maturity; Jean Nouvel's new cultural centre in Lucerne (p38) is crowned by a vast, overhanging roof clad in sheets of prepatinated copper. Sheltering a new urban square in its oversailing embrace, the emerald green structure forms a powerful horizontal datum in the lakeside landscape Metals have useful properties such as tensile strength, ductility, hardness, electrical conductivity, and high melting points. They are widely used for electrical and structural applications. Understanding the physical and chemical properties of metals allows for improved technological advances. Since metals are so widely used in today's modern world, corrosion is all around us and affects our lives in many ways. Corrosion has many serious consequences to our society such as, economic, health, safety, technological, and cultural. Cast iron played a pre-eminent role in the industrial development of our country during the 19th century.. As an architectural metal, it made possible bold new advances in architectural designs and building technology, while providing a richness in ornamentation. cast iron in the form of slender, nonflammable pillars, was introduced in the 1790s in English cotton mills, where fires were endemic In 1849 Bogardus created something uniquely American when he erected the first structure with self-supporting, multi-storied exterior walls of iron. Known as the Edgar Laing Stores, this corner row of small four-story warehouses that looked like one building was constructed in lower Manhattan in only two months. Its rear, side, and interior bearing walls were of brick; the floor framing consisted of timber joists and girders. One of the cast-iron walls was load-bearing, supporting the wood floor joists. The innovation was its two street facades of self-supporting cast iron, consisting of multiples of only a few pieces--Doric-style engaged columns, panels, sills, and plates, along with some applied ornaments. Each component of the facades had been cast individually in a sand mold in a foundry, machined smooth, tested for fit, and finally trundled on horse-drawn drays to the building site. There they were hoisted into position, then bolted together and fastened to the conventional stru cture of timber and brick with iron spikes and straps. The second iron-front building erected was a quantum leap beyond the Laing Stores in size and complexity. Begun in April 1850 by Bogardus, with architect Robert Hatfield, the five-story Sun newspaper building in Baltimore was both cast-iron-fronted and cast-iron-framed. In Philadelphia, several iron-fronts were begun in 1850: The Inquirer Building, the Brock Stores, and the Penn Mutuai Building (all three have been demolished). The St. Charles Hotel of 1851 at 60 N. Third Street is the oldest iron-front in America. Framing with cast-iron columns and wrought-iron beams and trusses was visible on a vast scale in the New York Crystal Palace of 1853. Wrought iron can be distinguished from cast iron in several ways.

Our Town The play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Our Town The play - Essay Example Although many of them may not realize this in particular, yet it is a fact that a vast majority of people living in the town of Grover’s Corners necessarily find time from their everyday schedule to get together, interact with one another. This is a means of promoting social relations and networking. An in-depth analysis of the play suggests that the most obvious interpersonal association exists in the form of romance in which is engrossed the courtship of Emily and George. Wilder is of the view that love symbolizes the innovation and achievement of humans. Although the plot of Our Town fundamentally revolves around romance, yet the range and variety of bonds that humans can build between each other as talked about in the play is quite vast. The range developed by Wild constitutes both platonic and significant kinds of relationships between individual characters of the play. In the very first scene that comes right at the conception of the play, the Stage Manager introduces hi mself to the audience as the story’s narrator and tends to build a rapport with the audience. This is essentially the narrator’s attempt to develop ties between the audience sitting offstage and the various characters that form part of the play and perform onstage.

Terrorism Today Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Terrorism Today - Research Paper Example According to the US Department of Defense terrorism is defined as an unlawful action that is intended to create a sense of fear or to intimidate governments and the general public in order to attain political, religious and ideological goals (The Face of Terrorism, 2007). Today's terrorist organizations work in groups which are in turn interlinked to form a wide terrorist network. Small groups of terrorist cells which are part of a larger group are trained and sent all over the world. In some cases, different terrorist networks or organizations work together to carry out an attack. All the networks work under a leader who instructs and decides on the activities of the terrorist network (Global Terrorism, n.d). Terrorists could be non state players with a transnational support such as the Al-Qaeda, cells which have regional or international links or individual independent terrorists who are not affiliated to any organization (The Face of Terrorism, 2007). Terrorism is a premeditated a ct and it is carried out based on political, religious or ideological motives. In most cases political authority, which determines the social and economic status of a country, are the major causes for a terrorist attack (Creekmore, 2007). The recent 9/11 attacks stand proof for the power of terrorist organizations to carry out an attack in a developed and super power country like America. The major objective behind the attacks was to expose the vulnerability of a country such as America and to create a sense of fear and chaos among the general public (The Face of Terrorism, 2007; Creekmore, 2007). The bombings not only targeted the public but also the US military forces. Minor losses of military forces by a terrorist attack will not only expose the vulnerability of the forces but would also result in wider media coverage and diminish the public and political support for military operations. Hence terrorist organizations do not directly challenge the government; instead they would ta rget the general population in a manner that would change their perception of the effectiveness and capabilities of their government. They also carry out their operations in a manner that would nullify the effect of the strength of the target forces as exemplified by the sudden attacks on 9/11 (The Face of Terrorism, 2007). Though the 9/11 attacks resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and property, if nuclear devices or bio warfare’s were used in the attacks the destruction could have been of a larger magnitude and would have definitely undermined the basic sense of security within the country (Carter, 1998). In addition to the loss of lives and damage to property such terrorist attacks have also have a negative impact on the economy of the country. The 9/11 attacks had a significant impact on the trading and stock markets with both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ closed for a week after the attacks. When the markets reopened the stock market index had fall en by 684 points and the stock loss was estimated at $1.2 trillion dollar for that week. Apart from companies in the US which suffered huge losses, companies across the world which traded with the US also lost significantly. The airline industry was the most effected after the attacks which have even resulted in many airline companies filing for