Mice and men Explore the themes of loneliness in Of mice and men Essay Example for Free

Mice and men Explore the themes of loneliness in Of mice and men Essay The story of mice and men had lots of lonely people with no family and no friends; thats the reason why Lennie and George are different is because they have got somebody who cares for them. Most of the characters in the novel feel scared of showing their true emotions. For example, when candys dog was about to get shot candy didnt tell the other workers that he needed the dog and that is was a friend to him. I dont think any of the characters want to show weakness. The title of the novel is of mice and men was written in the 1300s. At the time of the novel there were many workers who travelled form ranch to ranch looking for jobs. The most isolated group at the time were Negroes be cause they were considered inferior and no one wanted to be with them. There were no laws against racism and it was tolerated all over the country. Crooks is the stable buck and he is a Negro so he is also the loneliest man on the ranch. His race and colour made him isolated from all the other members of the group. A lot of people bully crooks; Curleys wife says, Well, you keep your place, then, nigger. I could get you strung up to a tree so easy it isnt true. Crooks is a proud man and also the most educated as well; he reads lots of books but the most important book is the 1905 California civil code. This book says that Crooks is no slave and can do what he wishes with his life but nobody takes this into consideration because he is still treated as a slave, which they can push around. Once on Christmas day the workers forced crooks to fight even though he had a bad back. All the other workers think they can make Crooks do what they want. He is isolated from the others; he doesnt go to talk to them and they dont come to talk to him. There is only one person that come s into Crooks hut and that is Slim. Crooks is very proud because he knows that he is free and he keeps himself aloof from all the other workers. He doesnt talk to any of the other workers, he says, Books aint no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. This is from a conversion which he has with Lennie. Crooks spent the most time working on the ranch and the only person he tells his true feelings to is to Lennie. Because Crooks knows that Lennie would probably forget. Near the end of chapter four crooks starts to get along with Candy. Crooks even offers to work on the ranch which George ,Candy and Lennie are going to go to but after Curleys wife threatens Crooks and then he says , well, just forget it . I didnt mean it. Just fooling. This shows the reader that crooks knows that he will never be treated differently.

Going Beyond the Pale with William Trevor Essay -- Essays Papers

Going Beyond the Pale with William Trevor In William Trevor’s short story ‘Beyond the Pale’, the reader is presented with a text that seethes with the angst of a writer whose country’s Colonial past has been gnawing on his bones. Although there is nothing unusual in this (especially in Irish writing), Trevor manages to fumble the ball in the course of his didactic strategy and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: what should have been a successful indictment of British Colonial Rule in Ireland becomes nothing more than the grumbling of an intelligent writer who cannot negotiate his patriotic feelings. The story is presented as a first-person narrative by one of four English holidaymakers who regularly visit a small hotel, Glencorn Lodge, in County Antrim (see the Map of Ireland). All the details the narrator, Milly, supplies the reader with in the introductory paragraphs indicates a lack of Irishness in the whole make-up of this group’s holiday: Glencorn Lodge is a Georgian building, the driveway of which is lined with rhododendrons (a non-indigenous species of plant); the couple who run Glencorn Lodge - the slyly named Malseeds - are English; the garden has figs, the greenhouse has apricots and peaches - and the greenhouse is presided over by ‘old Mr Saxton, another aptronymous character. Essentially the reader is given a picture not of Ireland, but of the remnants of Imperial supremacy. So far, so good. Trevor is in control, and he has created a good backdrop for his tale. Where does it all go wrong? Quite simply, Milly, the narrator is not up to the task of telling the story Trevor wishes to unfold: for subtlety she is fine, but it is when events become more action-oriented that Milly fails to prove herself the correct storytelling device for this narrative. As the story progresses, we learn much of the four characters’ past, both together and apart - Milly is ideal as a teller of the more dubious or purely speculative elements of a character’s past. Further details indicate a lack of Irishness in this ritualized holiday along the way - for example, Strafe, one of the male characters, drinks ‘whisky’ rather than ‘whiskey’, the former indicating Scotch, the latter indicating an Irish or American distillation. In the midst of their holiday world, it is noticed that an intrusion has occurred: a red-haired man, ‘uncouth-looking’, has appeared, ... ...ard because, essentially, he is trying too hard to make the reader feel sympathy not for the English conscience (Cynthia), but for Ireland itself. Having a an admission of guilt (albeit on behalf of a nation) from one English conscience described by an English consciousness that is consumed by its obliviousness towards any reason for feeling guilt (both at a personal and national level) is an ambitious idea - one which Trevor should have pulled off. The urge to preach (which can only be regarded as some attempt to justify guilt that Cynthia feels, and, by extension, Britain should feel) should have been stifled, completely repressed. The subtle detailing of the early part of the narrative displays Trevor’s ability to deftly sketch the particulars of a scene without descending to caricature, and to embed his agenda while doing so. The loss of subtlety in the final pages (and Cynthia’s monologue does cover a number of pages) is actually a loss for the reader, because whether a reader of this story is British, Irish or otherwise, one can only leave the tale wondering who Trevor had in mind when he wrote it, and who ultimately would gain in the way he obviously intends for the reader.

Book Review “The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark”

Mr.. Stark uses a quantitative approach to explain his theories on how Christians could have gained so many converts without miraculous methods. This quantitative approach included the use of numerical projections based on historical documents and sociological propositions to produce his own prediction on how Christianity grew. He uses economic language is used to attempt to make sociological science accessible to the reader, and depicts converts as rational consumers making an Informed decision_ There Is a distinct academic style to his words, which can come across as linear and pretentious.Although he is not trained as a historian, Stark provides a sufficient historical context from which to understand the sociological information. Stark draws valid conclusions that should not be disregarded, but his style and format are not effective, as they do not truly cater to either a professional or non-professional audience. His emotional use of capitalized words, quotations, and Italics Is unnecessary and takes credibility away from his argument. The organization of this book does not follow a mall thesis, but Jumps around to countless propositions and ends without a succinct conclusion Rodney Stark was raised inJamestown, North Dakota. He started his professional life as a news reporter, but was quick to continue his education. â€Å"Following a tour of duty in the U. S. Army, he received his Ph. D. From the University of California, Berkeley, where he held appointments as a research sociologist at the Survey Research Center and at the Center for the Study of Law and Society†. He has since taught Sociology and comparative Religion at the university of Washington and Baylor university. He has published 32 books and more than 160 scholarly articles on subjects as diverse as prejudice, crime, suicide, and city life in ancient Rome. Most of his work has been with the study of religious sociology, and he has held various prestigious academic positions on boards re lating to the subject. â€Å"He also has won a number of national and International awards for distinguished scholarship†. 3 In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark Is very clear about his professional training versus his historical interests throughout this entire book.He wants the reader to know that he is first and foremost a sociologist, and that his interest in including historical context is non- professional. In his preface, he writes, â€Å"I have always been a history buff, but for cost of my career I never really considered working with historical materials myself. I was content to be a sociologist and to spend my time trying to formulate and test sociology of religion†. The Rise of Christianity is a sociologist's theory on how Christianity became the leading power in the world.Stark wants his reader to know that he is not a historian, but adds historical information to give the sociological figures context. This is why he constantly reiterates that he is w riting for a non- professional audience. Stark begins by explaining the â€Å"arithmetic of growth†. This is a ERM he uses to explain to the reader that sociology has a lot to do with projecting numbers. In his first chapter, he establishes a probable growth rate at which Christianity could have grown to its size in population by year DADA.He projects what the population should have been based on historical accounts as well as figures from scripture, and uses references from other historians and sociologists to provide credibility to his projection. From here he explains that a steady growth rate of around forty percent per decade from the beginning of the movement would not have required great miracles to achieve its' large numbers by the year 350. Next, he presents his first reasoning for not only numerical growth, but the growth of influence and prestige in the Christian movement. He begins by refuting the claim that Christianity was initially a movement of the lower class es.He presents a few propositions about the value of converting to a new religion, and why it would have been probable for some early Christians to be prominent or wealthy figures in society. Stark explains that many of these conversions would have been Jews. He presents the social benefits of cultural continuity that specifically catered to Jews, as well as existing social networks among Jews and Christians. He uses social scientific theory to explain why it is probable that the mission to the Jews did not fail, as would have been previously thought.Christian doctrine paired with the plague ridden Roman Empire presented a favorable combination for making Christianity attractive to potential converts, and weakening the Pagan population. â€Å"Love thy neighbor as thyself†, a well-known doctrine directed Christians to tend to their sick during times of plague. Pagans â€Å"behaved in the opposite way†¦ Throwing them (the ill) into the roads before they were dead and trea ted unburied corpses as dirt†. This caused the disease to spread more deadly through the pagans.They left bodies in the open, spreading germs (which they didn't know existed) quickly. Pagans that were still alive were more likely to convert to Christianity, recognizing the strong community and more favorable philosophy. Starks next proposition for why Christianity spread so quickly had to do with its unique appeal to women, something paganism was lacking according to Stark. The sexual commitment of â€Å"husbands to their wives† was a new concept of this time. This was an ideology that was attractive to women, because of the lack of respect for women in pagan culture.Infanticide, abortion, and undervaluing the male life were explanations for Starks theory that Pagans lacked doctrines and values that would provide them with fertile women and an abundant population. Christian's marital commitment to one another, their value of the female life, and non-existent infanticide or abortion would have led to them having a significantly larger population according to Stark. Using these projections, he goes on to present numerical predictions that would have provided Christians with a larger population want to take refuge in the perceived safety of the Christian community.The Christians were well known to have grown mostly in urban settings, according to Stark. He paints a picture of what Roman cities what would have been like during the rise of Christianity, and the picture is not pretty. He specifically focuses on the city of Antioch, and describes a city with a life expectancy in the early twenties, no plumbing, cramped living quarters, crime, and constant natural disaster. Christianity told its followers that the chaos of the world was worth enduring, because your reward for your good work here will be in the Kingdom of Heaven.This theology, according to Stark, would have been especially attractive to inhabitants of Roman cities who constantly suffered. He concludes his final chapters by reinforcing his theory that the chaos and suffering during this time presented Christianity with a rare opportunity to grow from a cult movement to a world power. He emphasizes the gentle and kind Christian dogma, and how inhabitants of Roman cities and surrounding areas would have embraced that new kind of theology. He explains that Christian â€Å"virtue† was attractive, and this caused consistently high conversions.According to Stark, there was no need for miraculous conversion events to achieve Christian's scale of growth. The opportunity a disordered Roman Empire presented to he Christian cult, permitted a steady growth rate to continue through the first four centuries A. D. In his preface, Stark states that some of his chapters were written first as essays for scholarly Journals to see how an audience would react to his thoughts on the subject. This explains why the structure of his book is not fluid, and has no sense of continuity.He explains that this book was a bit of a hobby project for him to combine his profession of sociology with his love for history. â€Å"l am a sociologist who sometimes works with historical materials and who has, in preparation of this illume, done his best to master the pertinent sources albeit mostly in English†. His sociological conclusions are reliable and interesting, but his experience has mostly been science writing. Stark may need more practice writing to a non-professional audience to gain a sense of fluidity, and clarity.The format of this book is stimulating (for me, a person who loves scientific writing) half of the time, and the other half of the time it is difficult to read. An excerpt from his first chapter reads, â€Å"Since this book is a work of both history and social science, I have written it for a nonprofessional audience. In this way I can make sure the social science is fully accessible to historians of the early church, meanwhile preventing social scie ntists from becoming lost amidst obscure historical and textual references†.By stating that his chosen audience is nonprofessional, he gives himself the freedom to add in these unnecessary comments about sociologists being unable to follow textual references. Putting the sociological figures into historical context for Stark seems forced and slightly pretentious At the beginning of each new chapter, Stark clearly states his thesis, provides any previous propositions he may have had on the subject, and eaves little room for opposition.He provides ample sources of other historians and social scientists that are in agreement with his theses, but few refutations. Rodney stark provides a central proposition to this work in the first chapter, â€Å"Conversion to new, deviant religious groups occurs when, other things being equal, people have or develop stronger attachment to members of the group than they have to but it seems to be an enormously over simplified explanation of why p eople convert to new religions.He does not address any other possible reasons for making the hooch to convert to a new religion such as, connecting with the theology of a religion of which one has no social connections, having social connections in a religious group that are negative, but overlooking this fact to pursue individual growth within a religion, or having equally strong connections to individuals that associate with different religions, but making a choice to convert to a religion based on personal free-will.This main proposition that people only convert when their social connections inside that religion are stronger than connections outside of that religion mess more like one reason out of many, rather than the main proposition to tie in all other information. He makes very clear that his position is that, without strong social connections to members of a new cult, or sect, potential members will not make the rational choice to convert. Within this proposition, there are certainly many underrepresented converts. Mr..Stark excessively uses capitalized words, quotations, and italics to make his argument. Examples of this usage can usually be found in the first few sentences opening a chapter. His opening passage of â€Å"The Role of Women in Christian Growth† dads, â€Å"Amidst contemporary denunciations of Christianity as patriarchal and sexist, it is easily forgotten that the early church was so especially attractive to women that in 370 the emperor Valentine (Pagan) issued a written order to Pope Damascus requiring that Christian missionaries cease calling at the homes of pagan women.Although some classical writers claimed that women were easy prey for any foreign superstition,' most recognized that Christianity was unusually appealing†¦ â€Å"(p. 95) It is important that not only the emotional use of italics and quotations be cited here, but also the leading sentence. This sentence introduces this works next pitfall, which is that S tark brings up irrelevant topics to heatedly dismiss other scholars who he disagrees with.In the wording of the leading sentence mentioned above, Stark dismisses the unidentified contemporaries he refers to as denouncing Christianity as patriarchal and sexist. This disagreement is irrelevant in the context of this book, because he suddenly refers to Christianity as a whole (patriarchal and sexist) as opposed to the Christianity of the first four centuries A. D. In The Rise of Christianity hen Rodney Stark is citing historical documents regarding the four centuries A. D. It is clear to the reader that Christianity may very well have been the leading feminist religion in the year 370. It is irrelevant to rant about his distaste for contemporaries who think Christianity is sexist in general. William Grimes, writer for the New York Times, says it best in his review of another Rodney Starks, â€Å"The Victory of Reason†; â€Å"Mr.. Stark's pugnacity often gets the better of him. He is contemptuously dismissive. † References The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark

How to Do a Flame Test for Qualitative Analysis

The flame test is used to visually determine the identity of an unknown metal or metalloid ion based on the characteristic color the salt turns the flame of a Bunsen burner. The heat of the flame excites the electrons of the metals ions, causing them to emit visible light. Every element has a signature emission spectrum that can be used to differentiate between one element and another. How to Do the Flame Test Classic Wire Loop MethodFirst, you need a clean wire loop. Platinum or nickel-chromium loops are most common. They may be cleaned by dipping in hydrochloric or nitric acid, followed by rinsing with distilled or deionized water. Test the cleanliness of the loop by inserting it into a gas flame. If a burst of color is produced, the loop is not sufficiently clean. The loop must be cleaned between tests. The clean loop is dipped in either a powder or solution of an ionic (metal) salt. The loop with sample is placed in the clear or blue part of the flame and the resulting color is observed. Wooden Splint or Cotton Swab MethodWooden splints or cotton swabs offer an inexpensive alternative to wire loops. To use wooden splints, soak them overnight in distilled water. Pour out the water and rinse the splints with clean water, being careful to avoid contaminating the water with sodium (as from sweat on your hands). Take a damp splint or cotton swab that has been moistened in water, dip it in the sample to be tested, and wave the splint or swab through the flame. Do not hold the sample in the flame as this would cause the splint or swab to ignite. Use a new splint or swab for each test. How to Interpret Flame Test Results The sample is identified by comparing the observed flame color against known values from a table or chart. RedCarmine to Magenta: Lithium compounds. Masked by barium or sodium.Scarlet or Crimson: Strontium compounds. Masked by barium.Red: Rubidium (unfiltered flame)Yellow-Red: Calcium compounds. Masked by barium. YellowGold: IronIntense Yellow: Sodium compounds, even in trace amounts. A yellow flame is not indicative of sodium unless it persists and is not intensified by an  addition of 1% NaCl to the dry compound. WhiteBright White: MagnesiumWhite-Green: Zinc GreenEmerald: Copper compounds, other than halides. Thallium.Bright Green: BoronBlue-Green: Phosphates, when moistened with H2SO4 or B2O3.Faint Green: Antimony and NH4 compounds.Yellow-Green: Barium, manganese(II), molybdenum. BlueAzure: Lead, selenium, bismuth, cesium, copper(I), CuCl2 and other copper compounds moistened with hydrochloric acid, indium, lead.Light Blue: Arsenic and some of its compounds.Greenish Blue: CuBr2, antimony PurpleViolet: Potassium compounds other than borates, phosphates, and silicates. Masked by sodium or lithium.Lilac to Purple-Red: Potassium, rubidium, and/or cesium in the presence of sodium when viewed through a blue glass. Limitations of the Flame Test The test cannot detect low concentrations of most ions.The brightness of the signal varies from one sample to another. For example, the yellow emission from sodium is much brighter than the red emission from the same amount of lithium.Impurities or contaminants affect the test results. Sodium, in particular, is present in most compounds and will color the flame. Sometimes a blue glass is used to filter out the yellow of sodium.The test cannot differentiate between all elements. Several metals produce the same flame color. Some compounds do not change the color of the flame at all. Because of the limitation, the flame test might be used to rule out the identity of an element in a sample, rather than definitively identify it. Other analytical procedures should be conducted in addition to this test. Flame Test Colors This table lists the expected colors for elements in the flame test. Obviously, the names of the colors are subjective, so the best way to learn to recognize close-colored elements is to test known solutions so you know what to expect. Symbol Element Color As Arsenic Blue B Boron Bright green Ba Barium Pale/Yellowish Green Ca Calcium Orange to red Cs Cesium Blue Cu(I Copper(I) Blue Cu(II) Copper(II) non-halide Green Cu(II) Copper(II) halide Blue-green Fe Iron Gold In Indium Blue K Potassium Lilac to red Li Lithium Magenta to carmine Mg Magnesium Bright white Mn(II) Manganese(II) Yellowish green Mo Molybdenum Yellowish green Na Sodium Intense yellow P Phosphorus Pale bluish green Pb Lead Blue Rb Rubidium Red to purple-red Sb Antimony Pale green Se Selenium Azure blue Sr Strontium Crimson Te Tellurium Pale green Tl Thallium Pure green Zn Zinc Bluish green to whitish green Source Langes Handbook of Chemistry, 8th Edition, Handbook Publishers Inc., 1952.