War and Peace Literary Analysis

War and Peace Literary Analysis Free Online Research Papers The novel War and Peace, by author Leo Tolstoy, is a truly amazing book. It recounts the Napoleonic Battles and details the journeys of Prince Andrey, Pierre, Nikolay, Natasha, and many others. Tolstoy describes these battles with haunting images and fills the reader’s head with detailed pictures as they read on. Though it is a long book, Tolstoy keeps the reader entranced with the storyline and wanting to keep turning the pages. The first part of the book begins with introducing the major families of the story through an exuberant party at Anna Pavlovna’s home, a celebration at the Rostovs, and a description of the noble family of the Bolkonskys. When Count Bezuhov dies, his son Pierre is left wealthy and considered the most eligible bachelor in all of Petersburg. In the third part of the novel, Pierre marries Ellen Kuragin, and Prince Andrey attends the war council of Austerlitz. Wanting to be considered a hero, he is instead wounded during battle after conveying his ideas on the war in the meeting. Later comes the final stage of the battles with France, where Napoleon is seen as a glory-seeking idiot who cares nothing of his men except for the fact that they will help him to victory and fame. The French begin retreating more rapidly than before, making all Russian soldiers see hope starting to break through the clouds. Soon, Russia wins the war with France, many of the main characters still alive and ? for the most part ? well. Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy is known as one of the greatest authors of all time. Though he was born into a family of nobility, he lived most of his life as a gifted author and champion of the peasant class. Tolstoy first started writing novels as a career in the 1850s, his first literature a trilogy about his life. One of his most famous books is Sevastopol Sketches, which was praised for its amazing accuracy in the depiction of war. Tolstoy traveled throughout Europe before returning to his home and devoting his time to writing his two most well known novels: War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He died at the age of 82 in 1910. This book is considered by many to be a great work of art, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical novels. I would not recommend it to young teenagers, unless they very much like in-depth and higher level writing. Adults would enjoy the novel much more than most people my age because of the writing style used. Some reasons that I would recommend the book are that there is such great description, the storyline is quite entrancing and interesting, and it’s almost guaranteed that the reader would be able to connect to at least one of the many characters. Personally, I can relate to Natasha Rostov. She is a young girl who is the heroine of the story, and is caught between two lives. Natasha gained much maturity and seriousness by the end of the story, but her fun-loving old self stayed deep inside and definitely came out sometimes. There are many reasons I like this book, and few reasons that I dislike it. I like that I can relate to some of the characters, and I think that I wouldn’t be the only one able to do this. As well as being able to relate to characters, I can see the scenes in my head playing out. Instead of reading words on dull pages, the pictures float out, making the whole book like a play. Another thing that’s great about this book is the storyline. Every page has something unexpected, something playing out differently than one might expect. In all, this book is quite enjoyable. Some of the qualities of this novel that I don’t like are that it occasionally gets boring and confusing. Throughout the first quarter of the story, it’s hard to keep the characters straight; one has to reread lines and even whole pages to understand who is who, and what is what. I found myself doing that many times. In general, there are many parts in the book that are slow going, and not very exciting to read. Those are the times when the reader gets pulled out of the book and enters their own world again, and that’s not a very good trait of a story. Other than these few snags, the book is amazing, and very well thought out. I would definitely recommend Tolstoy to readers of all ages. His choice of words is magnificent, as well as the description used, every paragraph paints an image in the reader’s mind, and he’s great in showing what all of the characters are like, no matter what perspective the writing is in. Leo Tolstoy was a wondrous author who created magnificent works of literature, including War and Peace. An entrancing book, War and Peace is a work of art in the literature category, and I believe anyone who reads it will fall in love with Tolstoy’s writing at once. Tolstoy, Leo N. War and Peace. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Albans. 1997 Research Papers on War and Peace Literary AnalysisHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayMind TravelThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsQuebec and CanadaHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionThe Hockey GameAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Analysis of Ebay Expanding into Asia19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Spring and Autumn

The Things You Can Learn From Death Records

The Things You Can Learn From Death Records Many people looking for information about their ancestors skip right past the death record, making a beeline for their marriage and birth certificates. Sometimes we already know where and when our ancestor died, and figure its not worth the time and money to track down the death certificate. Another scenario has our ancestor disappearing between one census and the next, but after a half-hearted search, we decide its not worth the effort since we already know most of his other vital facts. Those death records, however, can tell us much more about our ancestor than where and when he died. Death records, including death certificates, obituaries and funeral home records, can include a wealth of information on the deceased, including the names of their parents, siblings, children, and spouse; when and where they were born and/or married; the occupation of the deceased; possible military service; and cause of death. All of these clues can be helpful in telling us more about our ancestor, as well as leading us to new sources of information on his life. Date Place of Birth or Marriage Does the death certificate, obituary or other death record give a date and place of birth? A clue to the spouses maiden name? Information found in death records can often provide the clue you need to locate a birth or marriage record. Names of Family Members Death records are often a good source for names of parents, spouse, children and next of kin. The death certificate will usually list at least the next of kin or the informant (often a family member) who provided the information on the death certificate, while an obituary notice may list numerous family members - both living and deceased. Occupation of the Deceased Whether they were a farmer, an accountant or a coal miner, their choice of occupation probably defined at least a part of who they were as a person. You may choose to just record this in your interesting tidbits folder or, possibly, follow up for further research. Certain occupations, such as railroad workers, may have employment, pension or other occupational records available. Possible Military Service Obituaries, tombstones and, occasionally, death certificates are a good place to look if you suspect that your ancestor may have served in the military. They will often list the military branch and unit, and possibly information on rank and the years in which your ancestor served. With these details, you can then look for further information about your ancestor in military records. Cause of Death An important clue for anyone compiling a medical family history, the cause of death can often be found listed on a death certificate. If you cant find it there, then the funeral home (if still in existence) may be able to provide you with further information. As you go back in time, however, youll begin to find interesting causes of death, such as bad blood (which often meant syphilis) and dropsy, meaning edema or swelling. You may also find clues to newsworthy deaths such as occupational accidents, fires or surgical mishaps, that could lead to additional records. Death records also offer information that may lead to further research avenues. A death certificate, for example, may list the burial place and the funeral home - leading to a search in cemetery or funeral home records. An obituary or funeral notice may mention a church where the funeral service is being held, another source for further research. Since about 1967, most death certificates in the United States list the deceaseds Social Security number, which makes it easy to request a copy of the original application (SS-5) for a Social Security card, full of genealogical details.

Banking Law (question in instruction) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Banking Law (question in instruction) - Essay Example erefore, the holder can be either the person to whom the cheque was written or the individual in possession of it by virtue of a transfer by negotiation2. In this case, the order which has been fraudulently obtained and negotiated by Clara to their debtor is an illegal order cheque requiring an indorsement by the legitimate holder who in this case is Megan. As such, she reserves the right to file charges of cheque fraud against Clara and seek an injunction against any cashing of the cheque by Jason’s bank for purposes of reclaiming the money amounting to 15,000. Regardless, Megan’s success would depend on her ability to prove that: a) Jason’s bank owes her the duty of care; b) there is proximity between her and the bill collecting bank; and c) cashing the money to Jason would result in material injury upon her. In Yuen Kun-Yeu v Attorney-General of Hong Kong (1987) PC, the plaintiff made deposits of money with an accredited deposit taker, but lost the deposits when it became insolvent3. He argued that the Commission regulating the activities of the deposit taken was liable because it was aware or should have been aware of the difficulties facing the depositor. However, in its decision the court said there was no proximity between the Commission and the deposit taker vis-Ã  -vis the claimant. In respect of this decision, Megan would lose the case, which then allows her the option to seek compensation for a breach of banker-customer relationship if the banker proceeds and authorises payment by a fraudulent indorsement. In Foley v. Hill and Others (1848), the court said the banker owes the customer money that is equivalent to the deposits4. The verdict considered the banker the owner of the deposits and the client the investor taking risk. In light of the verdict, Megan could successfully bring claims against the bank for fraud and obtain a refund of all of her money ‘owned’ by the bank courtesy of the fraudulent Clara and her husband if the banker settled

A critical and thoughtful analysis of the origins of the recent Essay

A critical and thoughtful analysis of the origins of the recent financial crisis - Essay Example concerns were developed regarding the level of security of the financial products provided by financial institutions. Particular emphasis was given on the potential risk of subprime mortgage products offered by most USA banks. However, no measures were introduced for limiting the relevant risk. In this context, the appearance of the crisis in 2007 can be characterized rather as expected; it was just the issue of ‘when’ the crisis was going to appear and not ‘if’ there were chances to occur. The origins of the recent financial crisis are critically discussed in this paper. The literature published on the particular subject is presented aiming to show the different approaches used for the explanation of the crisis as a series of events, which caused severe turbulences to economies worldwide. The potential differences in the arguments used for explaining the crisis reveal the following fact: even after its end, the above crisis has not been fully understood, in all its aspects. The fact that certain theorists set the end of the crisis in 2009 while other estimate the end of the crisis in 2010 is another proof the misunderstanding in regard to the actual forms and the effects of the specific crisis. 2. Origins of the recent financial crisis – critical analysis ... they had managed to mask this risk by giving emphasis on certain characteristics of these products, for example the potential of the customer to choose the number of instalments or the level of interest. In a report published by the World Bank in 2009 it is noted that the origins of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 can be identified in ‘the economic growth of the years 2003-2007’ (World Bank, 2009, p.94); i.e. the crisis of 2007-2009 is considered to have its roots in the economic decisions of the pre-crisis period, a claim which leads to the assumption that the crisis was unavoidable. In accordance with the above view, the financial crisis of the period 2007-2009 was not related exclusively with the banking practices of 203-2007 but, mostly, with the management of the economics of the state, for example, the investment decisions promoted by the governments worldwide. In the case of Dubai, the continuous increase of investment on construction projects led to the high increase of the relevant debt – referring to the funds used for the completion of these construction projects. It is noted that during the above period, the economic growth reached a percentage of 5% - which was unique since the 1970s (World Bank 2009). However, no measures were taken for protecting economies from potential failures. In fact, the extended use of risky financial products, a result of the radical growth of the above period, has facilitated the increase of leverage. Legislators avoided reacting on time, mostly because the actual risks were not clear. The masking practices, as mentioned above, used by financial institutions helped to hide the risks of leverage and the risk related to the ‘structured financial products’ (World Bank 2009, p.94), extensively used by USA banks

Oedipus The King: Role Of Gods Essay -- Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

â€Å"Gods can be evil sometimes.† In the play â€Å"Oedipus the King†, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of Thebes with a dreadful plague. Fundamentally, by utilizing fate, prophecies, the oracle of Apollo, and the plague, the gods played a significant role in the destruction of Oedipus and his family. By controlling fate, the gods carry all the responsibility of Oedipus in killing his father and marrying his mother. They are the only ones who can control fate, and thus they are the only ones to blame for what happened to Oedipus. They could have made Oedipus’ life less miserable, but they decided to destroy his and his family’s life by this terrible fate without him committing a sin. â€Å"It was Apollo, friends, Apollo, who brought to fulfillment all my sufferings. But the hand that struck my eyes was mine and mine alone.† Oedipus blames Apollo for his two shameful crimes that caused his sufferings. On the other hand, he admits that the gods had nothing to do with his blindness, and that he’s responsible for that. Also, in the previous quote, Oedipus tries to diminish his shame by convincing his people that it is not his fault, but Apollo’s, for murdering his father and marrying his mother. The moral of this story is that human beings canâ€℠¢t escape their fate, and thus it is not Oedipus’ fault for committing those two crimes. To destroy Oedipus, the gods granted the power of prophecy to oracles that delivered these prophecies to Laius and Jocasta. As a result, they kill their child to get rid of him and his terrible prophecies. Unfortunately, these prophecies came true because Oedipus didn’t know his real parents. If he had known his real parents, he wouldn’t have killed his father and married his mother. â€Å"I would never have be... ...the murderer is in Thebes. â€Å"Here in Thebes, Apollo said. What is searched for can be caught. What is neglected escapes.† Basically, the gods concluded their destruction series in condemning Oedipus to exile or having him executed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, the gods, Apollo in particular, played a major part in the overall circumstances of Oedipus. Oedipus’ destruction influenced his family, and thus the gods demolished an entire family. As a result of this terrible destruction of a man’s life and his family, the reader would consider the gods guilty and evil. The gods followed four steps to destroy Oedipus completely. First, they controlled his fate and led him to murder his father, and marry his mother. They provided people with the power of prophecy to make Laius and Jocasta give away their child. Not only that, but Apollo’s oracle told Oedipus about his terrible fate that involve his parents to make him move to Thebes. Finally, they send a plague to the Thebans for not punishing the murderer of their king, which results in Oedipus’ exile or execution. Oedipus, the wise king, has never been destroyed by an evil man, but he was totally destroyed by what they call merciful, just gods.

Outline and evaluate biological explanations of obesity Essay

Various explanations can be provided for the reasons of obesity, from biological explanations, to neurological and evolutionary theories. Even socio-economic reasons could give insight into why some people have a higher likeliness of obesity Evolutionarily, the thrifty gene hypothesis provides insight as to why many suffer from obesity, as it suggests that our current genes are no longer suited to our new environment. Modern day society is filled with foods of a high calorific content, and our energy expenditure has decreased more and more with the technological advancements made. More television is watched and more computer games are played. This has been attributed to the increase in obesity, especially in children. Dietz and Gortmaker found that an extra hour’s viewing of TV a day can increase obesity levels by 2%. Further support for the thrifty gene hypothesis has been found for example in the case of Pima Indians and other groups of different societies who live in harshe r conditions (in comparison to Western society) and are more likely to develop obesity when exposed to a Western diet. The thrift gene hypothesis is reductionist however, as the gene pool has remained consistent over the last 40 years, yet only now are levels of obesity rapidly increasing, which suggests that other factors, such as biological and behavioural reasons are more significant. An example of a biological approach would be genetic reasons, which could provide an explanation for obesity, as some individuals may be genetically inclined with a family history of having a predisposition for weigh gain, particularly in today’s world which contains ample supplies of food. Our ancestors tended to eat as much as they could when possible, in order to create a reserve of energy which they could rely on, and to allow them to survive when no food was available. Our systems which control our satiety are not very sensitive to knowing when to stop, as they are programmed to find food when we are hungry, so now, we continue to overeat, are unable to stop, because we are innately programmed to consume for survival. Many twin studies have been made, which all indicate that genetic factors play a large part, and suggest that obesity often runs in families. Bouchard overfed 12 pairs of male MZ twins and found three times more similarity of weight gain within pairs than between pairs, strongly indicating genetic factors.  However this was a relatively small sample size, so in order for us to make a strong conclusion, the study should be replicated on a larger scale. However this would be ethically improper, as weight gain is associated with many physiological and sometimes psychological ailments, such as diabetes or depression; therefore it would be unethical to expose a large number of participants to weight gain. This was supported by Stunkard who examined the BMI of 93 pairs of MZ twins reared apart and found that genetic factors accounted for 66-70% of variance in body weight. However to assume that we inherit our BMI disposition from our parents would be reductionist, as it doesn’t account for individual differences, such as an overactive thyroid, which would cause weight gain. A UK study carried out research upon 4 year ol d twins, and found obesity heritability was 0.61in boys and 0.61 in girls, which further supports the idea that genes play a significant role in our weight gain. However this study was not done cross-culturally, therefore lacks population validity and cannot be generalised to everyone. Also, the study relied on self-reports made by the mother of the children, who may have been dishonest as a result of social desirability bias, This study presents the idea of passive gene-environment correlation, which provides biological and behavioural explanations (that our genetic factors interact with our environment). Both approaches are deterministic however. The biological approach represents hard determinism, and has absolutely no room for free will, and there is evidence to support it. Frayling analysed 39,000 white people’s blood sample from the UK and Finland. While the extremely large sample size increases the internal validity of the study, using only white Finnish and British participants is ethnocentric, therefore the results cannot be generalised to others. In his study, 25% of participants were clinically obese (BMI over30), and he fou nd that variations to the FTO gene were more common amongst obese participants. In fact, those with the altered gene were on average, 3 kgs heavier than those with the usual chromosome 16. Whilst this cannot be used to explain all cases of obesity, as there are many individuals without a mutated chromosome 16 who are still obese, but it does explain why some people struggle more than others to lose weight (due to their unchangeable genes). Possible neurochemical imbalances cause overeating. Recent research suggests that body fat might be an active organ and may trigger hunger itself. This would mean that once  individuals start gaining excess weight, they then feel more hunger and become less sensitive to satiation signals. Most of the research was conducted upon rats, by making lesions to specific parts of their hypothalamus which we assume play a role in our eating behaviour. It was found by Hetherington and Ranson that rats with lesions to the ventromedial hypothalamus would overeat until they became obese. However rats are not humans, therefore the finding cannot be generalised from one to the other. Also, this study breaks various ethical boundaries, as the effects of the lesions were irreversible and would have resulted in the suffering, and eventual deaths of the rats. Fortunately this study did have real life practical applications, as Quaade successfully lesioned the Lateral Hypothalamus of obese patients to induce aphagia (and reduce their eating). Other neurological pathways also play a part in our eating behaviour, as found by Cummings, who investigated the changes in blood ghrelin levels over time between meals. Ghrelin is a hormone released from the stomach when it is empty, and is detected by the lateral hypothalamus. Cummings used six participants (very small sample size, low population validity) and monitored their ghrelin levels (using blood samples) every 5 minutes after they had eaten their lunch. Participants were asked to assess their levels of hunger every 30 minutes, and it was shown that 5 out of the 6 participants used, showed that their ghrelin levels were closely correlated with degree of reported hunger. This was a lab study, with a high level of control, and easily replicable, so has high internal validity and reliability. However it is hard to determine whether the predicted levels of hunger stemmed from actual hunger, or social cues such as meal times and a person’s learnt expectancy of when they should next eat. However this study has real life practical applications, as gastric bands can be used to treat obesity, as they have been shown to reduce ghrelin secretion.

Objectivity And The Social Responsibility Theory - 936 Words

Part I: Objectivity in journalism is claimed by many media sources yet is one of the hardest things to find when searching the news. An objective view in journalism associates itself with the social responsibility theory, in which a person must provide a variety of views for a piece of information given to the public (Grossber 383). While many journalists may claim they are objective, this type of communication to the public is difficult to achieve, as a natural bias develops within a person from their socialization. El-Nawawy and Iskandar are cited within The Great American Bubble by Adel Iskandar, â€Å"Objectivity has come to imply both a media practice of information collection, processing, and dissemination, and an overarching attitude† (163). As the article also discusses, Fox News is an openly right winged news source for the public, specifically, their show, The O’Reilly Factor, displays conservative views on current news. Fox does not display complete objectivi ty in their newsfeeds, yet they are open about it, which could be described as social responsibility theory in a different way. I would argue that objectivity is almost impossible to achieve, and in that sense news sources should openly explain their bias, instead of hiding their own agendas in their information, which would give social responsibility theory and objectivity a new light. Part II: Iskandar brings up an important point, saying â€Å"Who judges whether or not a news story is objective? Is it the audienceShow MoreRelatedObjectivity Of Social Research Is The Hunt For An Objective Essay1582 Words   |  7 PagesObjectivity in Social Research is the hunt for an objective i.e. truth. 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