A Tale of Two Cities Essays: Irony -- Tale Two Cities Essays

Irony in A Tale of Two Cities Someone once said "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This is a compelling message upon which many writers have built their literature. One effective work which employs this theme is A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. This novel is set in Paris and London during the late eighteenth century. During this period, France was engaged in a revolution in which the otherwise common man rose up against the country's aristocracy. In its outset, the novel reveals the motives behind the plebeians' actions. Dickens focuses upon the strife the townspeople experience at the hands of the merciless nobility. By the novel's end, however, Dickens achieves an about-face. The working class wields its new source of power to reek vengeance upon the aristocracy. In an ironic twist, Dickens displays how power can corrupt those even were once threatened by it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To convince the reader of the oppression the townspeople face, Dickens employs motifs. By providing a reoccurring phrase, the reader gains a sense of the distress which makes up every aspect of their lives. On such example of this is as follows: "Hunger was pushed out of the tall houses, in the wretched clothing that hung upon poles and lines; Hunger was patched into them with straw and rag and wood and paper; Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of firewood that the man sawed off; Hunger stared down from the smokeless chimneys, and started up from the filthy street that had no offal, among its refuse, of anything to eat. Hunger was the inscription on the baker's shelves, written in every small loaf of his scanty stock of bad bread; at the sausage-shop, in every dead-dog preparation that was offered... ...nd the reader. One man in particular approaches Darnay. The narrator says, "'In the name of the assembled companions in misfortune,' said a gentleman of courtly appearance and address, coming forward, 'I have the honour of giving you welcome to La Force [Prison], and of condoling with you on the calamity that has brought you among us. May it soon terminate happily!'" (p. 254-255). Remarkablely, Dickens succeeds in turning the merciless noblemen into martyrs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The ironic role reversal is very effective in displaying Dickens' theme. People naturally try to find a protagonist and antagonist in any story. The reader soon becomes perplexed, until finally she decides that it is simply human nature to both abuse positions of power and require them in society. Works Cited: Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. London: Orion Publishing Group, 1994.

Beowulf: Changes In People :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

The tale of Beowulf is one of constant tranformation. Great warriors and leaders turn into cowering peons. Faithful Christians convert to devil worship. Devout followers flee at the sight of trouble. Many people's morals change quickly and drastically at the sight of change. Personal turmoil abounds with changing values brought by changing times. People remain content as long as nothing challenges them, but at the first sight of change chaos occurs. One case of how change causes people to forsake their values happens when Grendel makes his first appearance at Herot. In Herot lives Hrothgar who "...led/ The Danes to such glory that comrades and kinsmen/ Swore by his sword, and young men swelled ( Beowulf lines 64-67). Hrothgar is a mighty leader of the Danes, but at the sight of a different foe, a change, Hrothgar turns tail and runs. He does not once try to face Grendel. He instead lets his people live in terror. The Hrothgar that is described before the arrival of Grendal is a completely different person, mentally, than the Hrothgar that is terrorized by the monster. He knows only one type of enemy, humans, and once that changes he loses all his leadership power. A true man of value will keep his values no matter what change takes place. Fate does not play a role in Hrothgar's actions. He is caught up in pride about all his achievements. This makes him weak to being caught by change. He beomes so comfortable in his station that he narrows his comfort zone to such a level that any amount of change will throw him off. Everything that happens is by his own accord. Hrothgar is a perfect example of how people cannot mentally fight evil. Without the constant attack of evil, one will not be able to deal with it when it arises. Hrothgar is not exposed to evil, so when it rears its ugly head his only reaction is to flee. If someone lives in a utopia and leaves, they will not be able to deal with the evil they find because they have never dealt with it before. Good cannot combat evil if it has never known evil. The only way to resolve Hrothgar's situation is to bring in someone who knows evil and faces it well, is not prideful, and can adapt to change well. In the tale, that is exactly how the problem is solved.

Suburbanization and the Social Use of Television :: Television Media TV Essays

Suburbanization and the Social Use of Television The 1950s can be seen as a time of unprecedented family values, in which young, white, middle-income nuclear families arrived en masse in the pre-planned community living areas of suburbia. In the article "Joyride", Kunstler identifies the reasons for, and attraction of, a grand public relocation to previously uninhabited areas outside main city centres. Kunstler argues that it was, in part, the replacement of the streetcar (or trolley), and later the automobile, from the horse-powered transit of earlier 20th century life, that ignited weekend traffic to expand outside urban centres. "Joyriding" on weekends, as Kunstler explains, made suburban areas more accessible and attractive. Suburban areas often hosted various family attractions (such as amusement parks) in which families could experience safe, clean entertainment while being removed from the chaos of the city. Two factors encouraged this "weekending" family behaviour: (1) with the introduction of the electric trolley, passengers could travel any distance at a flat rate cheaper than old horse-drawn methods; and (2) automobiles were greatly subsidized after their initial introduction, thus promoting the number of middle-class car owners. Both these factors brought large-scale transit outside of the city, making the suburbs more accessible and demanding the development of suburban communities. This major development, as described in Lynn Spiegel's article "The Suburban Home Companion", was largely driven by the concept of suburbia as a safe, clean environment (free from "undesirables" such as blacks and lower-income families) in which families could experience both an increased private and community life. This separation, Spiegel says, is what opened the opportunity for TV success. As nuclear suburban families desired to experience the "outside" world (including travel, unusual voyages etc.), they were also trapped in a homogenous communities where life was mundane, and immense pressure was put on each family in these "fair tale" towns to keep up with, and out-do, next door neighbours, and produce a consistently stable and satisfied appearance. As this suburban sprawl of the fifties took America by storm, Spiegel discusses how television provided a necessary means of escapism for frustrated families. The first television show, broadcast in 1949, was a very simple program in which a man and woman sit watching and discussing the TV. Although by today's standards this would be seen as unsurpassingly boring to audiences, this simple show provided a stress relief and easy entertainment; it seemed as though audiences enjoyed watching programs which, similar to their own situation, seemed more rewarding.

Soil and Water

When I was researching for this essay explaining what soil and water conservation means to me, I found two quotes that really stuck out to me. One written by Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, â€Å"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. †, and another that was written by an unknown author read, â€Å"Water is life’s mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water. † I am not sure about you, but I love the life I live. Where would we be without soil and water? We wouldn’t be that’s the thing. Many people could care less about saving our soil and water, but they do not understand that soil is the base to everything, and water is a mixture that is inside everything, even you. An average adult human body is composed of about 55 to 65 percent water, and soil is in fact both the direct and indirect form of food. It is the base of every living thing; soil has everything depending on it. Think about it, you eat steak that comes out of a pasture right? Well, that cow gets its nutrients from grass, feed, and water. That grass and feed gets its nutrients from the soil, which has to be watered to grow that grass and feed. Until the last couple months the state of Texas has been in a severe drought since 2005. In 2006, farmers in south Texas lost an amazing amount of 87% of their crops losing about 34. 3 million dollars. That damaged those people’s wallets, especially if they were commercial farmers raising crops to sell to big industries, which will later be put on the average Americans table. Then, when rice farmers would go to the Lower Colorado River Authority to get water irrigated into their rice fields, there would either not be any water or only be enough for one of the two usual crops they plant every year. Even though it has been raining like crazy lately in Texas, those severe drops in lakes and rivers has not been renewed. Now, the big debate is, is there a thing as global warming? Depending on what side you are on you have a different perspective of how we can conserve water. Simple things you do everyday change the climate, which affects the amount of water we have, and the amount of ice bergs melting every day. Now wouldn’t it be nice to have soil and water a little bit longer?

Storytelling in Homer’s Odyssey

Tall Tales Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten. –Neil Gaiman The escapades of wily Odysseus are ingrained into the hearts of countless children. The bedtime story of one man’s journey home and the obstacles he faces along the way forever lives on in youthful imagination. Alas, a problem arises when mythology-loving children grow up. Vocabulary and comprehension matures slowly over time, and, at some point, the youth is ready to delve into the feast that is Homer’s unabridged poetry.As the reader devours book after book of The Odyssey, he or she finds comforting familiarity in the stories, the characters, and the monsters, but something is not quite right. While hearing of Odysseus’ adventures as a child, the action was spoken from the steady voice of a omnipresent narrator, but in Homer’s work, the poet often speaks through Odysseus as a storyteller recounting his glorious past. This is when the disillusioned youth comes to a devastating conclusion: Odysseus is a liar.Homer distances himself as the poet from the more fantastic tales that the reader recognizes from youth: the Lotus eaters, the Laestrygonians, the Cyclops, Scylla and Charybdis, Circe, Aeolus and the winds. All these wondrous tales are told from the deceitful, crafty mouth of Odysseus. To the Phaeacians, he is a illustrious adventurer ready for derring-do at all times. To the knowing Athena, he claims to be a Cretan fugitive. And to Eumaeus and Telemachus, he in all his craftiness asserts that he is (while still a Cretan) a beggar who fought alongside the great Odysseus on the Trojan shore.Odysseus adopts these facades for different motives, but the response to his stories are unanimously positive. Through his stories, Odysseus does not sacrifice his integrity, rather he gains honor. When the eager reader reaches Book IX, he or she reaches some of th e most familiar events in Homer’s lore. Homer, through Odysseus’ account to the Phaecians, crafts some of the most thrilling action in the poem. Daring escapes, clever plans, and terrifying beasts are woven into a tapestry of wonder and enchantment. Yet for the great storyteller that he is, Odysseus s hesitant to relate his tale. â€Å"But now you wish to know my cause for sorrow / and thereby give me cause for more† (Homer 158). As exaggerated as the following account is, Odysseus seems to be truthful about his grief. Whether or not his men perished as he claims is not certain, but death was the end to their stories nonetheless. Odysseus honors the memory of these men by spinning a yarn so great that his men become immortal in his story. This does not, however, mean that he wishes to present his shipmates as faultless.He freely lays blame on the crew for releasing King Aeolus’ winds. By doing this, Odysseus proves his skill as a raconteur by showing manà ¢â‚¬â„¢s greedy nature and the consequences that are a result. Odysseus’ goal is not to raise himself up as the greatest of heroes either. He freely admits to his follies and to the deaths that heavy his heart with guilt. Odysseus confesses to his own human weaknesses saying, â€Å"Now, being a man, I could not help consenting† (189), when tempted by Circe to forgo his return home to Ithaca, putting his men in danger in the process.He even tells how one of his men, Eurylochus, blamed Odysseus for the death of his shipmates at the hands of the Cyclops, â€Å"That daring man! They died for his foolishness! † (190). He willingly admits to being overpowered by lust in the case of Circe, but he also tells of his tactical genius concerning the Sirens. Odysseus’ story is not a matter of boastfulness, rather a matter of honor, his own and that of his fallen comrades. Clearly, the Phaecians are satisfied with the narrative, â€Å"He ended it, and no one stirred o r sighed / in the shadowy hall, spellbound as they all were† (241).So impressed by the story and empathetic to Odysseus’ losses, in fact, that King Alcinous almost immediately loads his ship and has a Phaecian crew sail him back to Ithaca. The Phaecians are so entertained and enamored by Odysseus’ eloquence that they believe any word that flows from his lips, no matter how ludicrous. Odysseus does not set out to deceive his hosts, quite the opposite. When King Alcinous asks him to relate his travels, he does not want facts, he wants a story. After incurring the wrath of Poseidon one last time, Odysseus awakens on an Ithaca that he does not recognize thanks to Athena’s deviousness.When confront by the goddess in disguise, Odysseus â€Å"†¦ answered her / with read speech–not that he told the truth, / but, just as she did, held back what he knew, / weighing within himself at every step / what he made up to serve his turn† (250). After clai ming to be a Cretan fleeing his homeland after murdering a courier, Athena reveals herself to her favorite Odysseus. Then, surprisingly, she does not chastise him for lying, instead she praises him for his gift of deception, â€Å"Whoever gets around you must be sharp / and guileful as a snake; even a god / might bow to you in ways of dissimulation. You! You chameleon! † (251). Athena is not condoning Odysseus deceit, she is commending him. This prioritization of wit and cleverness over straight honesty is harder for modern readers to fully grasp than it would have been for the Greeks hearing the lovely recitation. Using the guise of a Cretan once more (fittingly because as the famous Cretan Epimenides once said, â€Å"All Cretans are liars,†) Odysseus tests the swineherd’s, Eumaeus’, loyalty and hospitality.Odysseus hints that Eumaeus’ master may be closer than he expects (263). In direct contrast to the Phaecians response, Eumaeus does not let hi mself believe the words of the stranger, how ever silver-tongued he may be. Eumaeus responds to the hidden Odysseus’ message of hope with pessimism concerning lonely Penelope, old Laertes, and absent Telemachus. In the manner of Greek hospitality, Odysseus and Eumaeus share a meal, wine, and stories, and while Eumaeus’ origin may not be as mythic as Odysseus, who is to say it is factual?His background is shared gracefully enough that even the esteemed Odysseus complements Eumaeus’ skill, â€Å"That was a fine story, and well told, / not a word out of place, not a pointless word† (275). When Telemachus returns, Odysseus carries on his charade. In the guise of a old beggar, Odysseus tests Telemachus’ valor saying, â€Å"If my heart were as young as yours, if I were / son to Odysseus, or the man himself, / I’d rather have my head cut from my shoulders / then to suffer the pestilence that is the suitors† (304).In rebuttal to this harsh in sult, Telemachus explains that Odysseus left him too young to prevent the suitors from swarming to Penelope. It is then that Athena deems it time to reveal Odysseus’ true form. This revelation and reunion is not only touching, but it also fills Telemachus with a pride and hunger to face the suitors. Odysseus disguised himself on Ithaca for almost four days before enacting revenge on the suitors who dishonor his home. Why would he wait so long? Why not burst through the doors right away and start cutting down men one by one?Odysseus never claims to be the strongest, the boldest, or even the bravest, but everyone knows that Odysseus is the wiliest. It is Odysseus, the master tactician and master of disguise, not a rage-filled berserker that reclaims his throne. It is safe to assume that Odysseus’ stories are not factual, but that in no way justifies the statement, â€Å"Odysseus is a liar. † His purpose in the story to the Phaecians is not to recount his travels v erbatim, rather he only wishes to convey the bravery of his men and the sadness in his heart. By the end of his tale, the hall is silent with grief.His reason for acting as a Cretan outlaw is not treachery, but an exercise in his great skill. He hides himself to his friends and family not out of malice, but so his intellectual stratagem banishes the suitors to Hades, not brute strength. Odysseus’s slyness and wit are to be admired, not admonished. When he announces his identity to the Phaecians, he does not cite his brute strength or skill in warfare as his gifts. He exclaims proudly, â€Å"I am Laertes’ son, Odysseus / Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: / this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim† (158).While heroes such as Achilles and Heracles establish their place in legend and eternity among Elysian fields with force and passion, Odysseus forever immortalized himself in the epics of the Ancients and the storybooks of children because of he is a â€Å"man of twists and turns† who knows how to tell a good story.Works Cited Gaiman, Neil. The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country. New York, New York: DC Comics, 1991. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. Garden City, New York: Doubleday ; Company, 1992.

Company Background of Broadway Circuit

Broadway Cinema was first established in the 1950s and was rebuilt in the existing location, Sai Yeung Choi St. , Mongkok, in 1987. Thereafter, Broadway Circuit has gradually developed to nowadays the largest cinema circuit in Hong Kong. Being operated by Edko Films Ltd, the circuit consists of 11cinemas across the territory, covering all the major locations in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.By the 53 screens we offer, their customers are able to choose from a wide range of movies upon their tastes and interests. Since 1999, Broadway Circuit has launched www. cinema. com. hk, which provides updated movie information and a platform for movie discussion. Inquiry hotline and email address were also set up to enhance customer communication for improving our service. Internet ticketing and phone ticketing services were launched from 2000 onwards. Moviegoers can select their favorable seat anytime at their convenience. dsfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffsm,nds,m fnds,m fnsdm,fnm,sdn fm,dnsmgnbs n mgb mn sfdbgm nfb sgnmbfdmnfbdgmnbs fdm, ngbfdmn b smn,bg mn fd bsg mnf s dbg mnds Archaeological studies support a human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago, and in Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago. [44][45][46] Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the two earliest sites of human habitation in the Palaeolithic period. It is believed the Three Fathom Cove was a river valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site.Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggest cultural differences from the Longshan culture in northern China and settlement by the Che people prior to the migration of the Baiyue. [47][48] Eight petroglyphs were discovered on surrounding islands, which dated to the Shang Dynasty in China. [49] In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern Liangguang region) and incorporated the territory into imperial China for the first time. Modern Hon g Kong is located in Nanhai commandery (modern Nanhai District) and near the ancient capital city Pun Yue. 50][51][52] The area was consolidated under the kingdom of Nanyue, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC after the Qin Dynasty collapsed. [53] When the kingdom was conquered by Emperor Wu of Han in 111 BC, the land was assigned to the Jiaozhi commandery under the Han Dynasty. Archaeological evidence indicates the population increased and early salt production flourished in this time period. Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb in the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built during the Han Dynasty. [54] During the Tang Dynasty period, the Guangdong region flourished as a regional trading center.In 736, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang established a military town in Tuen Mun to defend the coastal area in the region. [55] The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 in the New Territories under the Northern Song Dynasty. [56] During the Mongol invasion in 1276, the Sout hern Song Dynasty court moved to Fujian, then to Lantau Island and later to Sung Wong Toi (modern Kowloon City), but the child Emperor Huaizong of Song committed suicide by drowning with his officials after being defeated in the Battle of Yamen.

Distillation Lab Report

Data and Conclusions: The purpose of this experiment was to learn how to use distillation and gas chromatography to separate and identify different compounds from a given mixture. There are several kinds of distillation methods. However, the method that we used in this experiment was fractional distillation. This method is used when trying to separate two different volatile compounds whose boiling points differ by 40-50Â °C or more.If the boiling points are too close, this method will not work because the two compounds will begin evaporating at close temperatures and will condense down to the receiving flasks at relatively the same times. This will not create an ideal separation. The apparatus used for this type of distillation is longer than that of a simple distillation experiment because this kind of apparatus creates more efficient separation. This happens because the fractional distillation apparatus is longer, and allows for several simple distillations to occur within the col umn itself to more accurately separate liquids.The inside of the column is said to have theoretical plates, or equilibrium stages that are created by the vapor and liquid stages of a compound that create this accuracy. The column must also be insulated with cotton and aluminum to prevent any heat loss that may lead to inaccurate temperature readings or even effect the evaporation of the different compounds. When heating the stillpot, flameless heating should be used along with a magnetic stirbar. This is important to control the temperature of the mixture and keep the heat smooth and constant.Heating the mixture too fast could result in no fractionation in the column and lead to no separation. Likewise, if the mixture is heated too slowly, the vapors might now make it all the way to the condenser, and the liquid will fall back into the stillpot. If the mixture is heated correctly and constantly, the vapors should condense through a condenser and into a receiving flask. This condense r should have water running through it at all times to keep it cool and keep the condensed vapor flowing down into the receiving flask.As a whole, the entire apparatus works perfectly for two different volatile liquids with 40-50Â °C boiling point differences because as the liquid with the lower boiling point is distilled out, the higher boiling point liquid will remain in the stillpot as the other is evaporating and distilled. Then, it will be able to evaporate later as the temperature rises, after the other has more than completely distilled out. As I conducted this portion of the experiment, I noticed that while taking the three fractions, fraction A filled up the full 15 mL and continued distilling through fraction B, and eventually stopped.Because of this, I hypothesized that all of fraction A and most of fraction B consisted of the low boiling point compound. As I raised the temperature of the hotplate, I was able to collect fraction C, and I predicted that it was composed of mostly the high boiling point liquid. To test this, the experiment called for the use of gas chromatography. The chromatography would not only show the relative concentrations of each compound in the fraction, but could also help confirm the identification of the compounds we thought were in the fractions based on the temperatures that each liquid boiled.Before trying to guess the correct compounds of the mixture, one must run each individual fraction through the machine to clearly see the composition of each. Gas chromatography works because as the liquid runs through the machine, its different components run through and exit at different times due to changes of temperatures that measure high and low boiling points. The machine records these using peaks of retention time that identify these different components. After obtaining this data, there was enough information to choose a reasonable match for each of the components.Once both the fractions and the guessed compound were mixed , the retention recordings should not differ in the number of peaks because ideally the compound mixed should have the same retention time as one of the other previous peaks. If the compounds were to differ in the number of peaks, then it shows that another compound must be present with different properties. As I conducted this portion of the experiment, I guessed cyclohexane for my low boiling point liquid and toluene or heptane for my high boiling point liquid based on the fractional distillation observations.For cyclohexane I mixed it with fraction A, since it predominantly consisted of my low boiling point liquid, and observed two peaks in my results. Therefore I concluded that cyclohexane was the low boiling point liquid. However, for the second liquid I guessed heptane first, and my results showed three peaks. Knowing that I had guessed wrong, I tested toluene mixed with my fraction C and only got two peaks. The high boiling point liquid proved to be toluene. In conclusion, my results all matched the main ideas and theories presented in the experiment.From my results I was able to figure out the composition of each of the compounds in the initial mixture and compare them to those of the rest of the class. My results only varied by 3. 18%. When using the two different methods of calculating the composition, the second method using the chromatography peaks was more accurate, and compared to the first method of assuming the ideal compositions, the results differed from the class average by over 10%. Based on the consistency of our class results using the second method, the two compounds proved to have been distilled using the proper method, and is reinforced by the use of gas chromatography.