Spiritual War :: essays research papers

War is any active hostility, contention, or struggle. Throughout our lives we wage a constant mental war. This 'spiritual'; war is a languid process that shapes our lives and engenders many journeys in life. Conflict arises within our vibrant minds through decisions and emotions that we make from a day to day basis. This battlefield promotes failure and success.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Decisions make up the main bulk of our inner conflict. In making a decision, two possible situations come to mind--one can either do this or that. The decisions can either be one of great complexity or a fairly simple one. An example of a complex decision can be the choice to take or refuse drugs if asked by a peer to use them. By refusing to take the drugs it shows self-confidence and strong character. A simple decision can be thinking of what to have for lunch. Complex or simple, regret accompanies the wrong choice. One fine example from the novel A Separate Peace comes when Gene made the decision to jounce the limb and make Finny fall from the tree. This, in the end, caused much of Gene's regret and ignorance because it finished Finny's athletic career and later causes Finny to die. Another decision in the novel came when Finny forgave Gene. Even though Gene ruined Finny's life, Finny made the hard choice to forgive and forget what Gene had done. The human mind is a cave swarming with a multifarious amount of emotions, from love to misery. Of all the emotions, misery becomes the greatest battle we wage in our war. We are most vulnerable to misery and depression. In one point in time we will come up against misery. Learning to cope with misery becomes one of the hardest stages in life. Misery is a hole that we must learn to climb out of. By continuing to remain miserable only digs this hole deeper and deeper until we are unable to get out. For example, in A Separate Peace, Finny dealt with his misery of a broken leg and no sports, by telling Gene to play sports for him. Another major fight going through our mind is against jealousy. Jealousy, no matter the amount, makes up the minds insidious side. The side that drives us to hurt others, like when Gene's jealousy drove him to cause Finny fall off the tree.

The American Dream in the Great Gatsby Essay -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

The American Dream can mean different things depending on who is asked. Some will answer it is the freedom of religion, class or race, others will claim it is about the ability to choose where they want to work, what they want to wear, or what’s for breakfast the next day. For Jay Gatsby and many others, the American Dream is about gaining wealth and material possessions in an attempt to find happiness. Through his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how the American Dream is only the concept of perfection, something that can never be acquired, but always can be reached for. Daisy Buchanon was always mesmerized by wealth. Her dream is to have a luxurious lifestyle filled splendor. Before the events of the novel, she could not see Gatsby providing this lifestyle for her. Before Gatsby went to war, she promised him that she would wait for him to come back and they would get married. Instead, she met Tom and married him, not for his personality, she married him for his money. Her promise to Gatsby before he left was an empty one – she never intended to follow through with it. Gatsby wasn’t upper class at the time they met, he was relatively poor and could not satisfy her desire for wealth. Even Gatsby realized he was below her and he felt that, â€Å"he was in Daisy’s house by a colossal accident . . . he was at present a penniless young man without a past, and at any moment the invisible cloak of his uniform might slip from his shoulders.† (149). Gatsby showed no ability to be able to support her, so she lost interest wh ile he was away and eventually forgot about him. She only started showing renewed interest when he began throwing extravagant parties every night. While over at Gatsby’s, Daisy comments about... ... will store up in his ghostly heart" (101). Gatsby expected perfection from Daisy, but was instead met with a shallow corrupt woman, who could never fulfill all of Gatsby’s dreams. Daisy was never meant to be Gatsby’s, she was only supposed to be the thing he tried to get, the false image of perfection. The real fulfillment of the American dream was Gatsby’s path towards perfection, not his eventual failure to reach the end. Throughout his novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows many characters trying to find perfection. Daisy, Myrtle, and Gatsby all believed wealth would lead them to happiness, though, no matter how hard they tried, they could never quite get there. These characters show that the American Dream is about striving for perfection, but never reaching it. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992.

Critical Essay of Mark Twain’s “The Damned Human Race”

Mark Twain, through a heavy dose of satire, irony, and a not-so-subtle attempt at the scientific method, provides readers with an effective, but flawed, argument as to why humans are the lowest of animals in his essay The Damned Human Race. While the essay is successful in providing facts that support Twain's claim of humans have descended from animals, and not the other way around, his bias and pessimism towards the human race in general strongly emanates from the essay, and he does not provide any opportunity for the reader to gather any evidence to the contrary of his beliefs, further limiting the legitimacy of his argument.Twain provides several sound reasons for stating that humans are worse than animals, all conveyed in an effective manner. He makes simple and definitive statements which are generally believed to be true of humans and not animals, and elaborates on these statements to pinpoint just what is wrong with human beings. For example, Twain states â€Å"Man is the onl y Patriot† (Twain). While most believe this to be a positive trait of humans, Twain immediately follows this statement by stating that humans are the only species to kill one another for their countries, writing: Man is the only Patriot.He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people’s countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for the universal brotherhood of man, with his mouth.(Twain) Twain goes to on to point out that humans are the only species that take slaves, are the only species to take more than they need, and the only species that claim religions, and provides specific examples of different types of animals behaving differently in this regard (Twain). His points are effective arguments because he uses facts and strong lang uage to solidify each point that he makes, and does so in a way that leaves little for argument.While the points that Mark Twain makes in his essay are for all intents and purposes true, and he conveys his beliefs in a very effective manner, the essay as a whole is not a successful argument, largely because he primarily uses only one of the three main means of persuasion. Twain provides facts throughout his essay that are generally hard to argue with in regards to the bad things that humans are capable of that animals are not, but does not use emotion to trigger a response from the reader.This could be by design because of his use of heavy satire, and the fact that this was written in a scientific manner rather, which generally are written to not contain the author's emotions. There is a clear lack of ethical appeal, or ethos, in Twain's essay because of the fact that he is writing this in an official scientific capacity, though he is clearly not a scientist. He also does not provid e information that may contradict his beliefs, which prohibits the reader from gathering opposing views of the story.Twain could have easily provided facts and arguments that point out the good things that human beings are capable of that animals are not, such as charities, social welfare programs, and medical care. With that said, The Damned Human Race is an essay containing heavy satire, something that Twain makes apparent almost immediately by stating â€Å"I have not guessed or speculated or conjectured, but have used what is commonly called the scientific method† (Twain).By the time that this essay was published in 1905, Twain was an established as a well-known author, known for his humor and famous works rather than scientific prowess. Also, at this point in his life, Twain was also very open about his overall disdain for the human race in general, perhaps due to circumstances regarding his family and life experiences, though it has been debated that Twain had no more o f a troubled life than most normal people (Byrne 19).All of these things prohibit his essay from being considered a legitimate argument, and points to it being more a rant by the author, however effective it may be. While Mark Twain provides many solid facts about the human race that are true and should be noted by the reader, the heavy doses of clear bias and satire overwhelm any legitimacy the essay could possibly carry. It is also difficult to ignore the cynicism throughout the piece, even in the last line when Twain is describing the human races declension from animals, stating, â€Å"Below us, nothing† (Twain).

Free Essays on My Mother

It took me eighteen years to realize what an extraordinary influence my mother has been on my life. She’ s the kind of person who has thoughtful discussions about which artist she would most want to have her portrait painted by (Sargent), the kind of mother who always has time for her four children, and the kind of community leader who has a seat on the board of every major project to assist Washington’ s impoverished citizens. Growing up with such a strong role model, I developed many of her enthusiasms. I not only came to love the excitement of learning simply for the sake of knowing something new, but I also came to understand the idea of giving back to the community in exchange for a new sense of life, love, and spirit. My mother’ s enthusiasm for learning is most apparent in travel. I was nine years old when my family visited Greece. Every night for three weeks before the trip, my older brother Peter and I sat with my mother on her bed reading Greek myths and taking notes on the Greek Gods. Despite the fact that we were traveling with fourteen-month-old twins, we managed to be at each ruin when the site opened at sunrise. I vividly remember standing in an empty ampitheatre pretending to be an ancient tragedian, picking out my favorite sculpture in the Acropolis museum, and inserting our family into modified tales of the battle at Troy. Eight years and half a dozen passport stamps later I have come to value what I have learned on these journeys about global history, politics and culture, as well as my family and myself. While I treasure the various worlds my mother has opened to me abroad, my life has been equally transformed by what she has shown me just two miles from my house. As a ten year old, I often accompanied my mother to (name deleted), a local soup kitchen and children’ s center. While she attended meetings, I helped with the Summer Program by chasing children around the building and performing magic tricks. Hav... Free Essays on My Mother Free Essays on My Mother It took me eighteen years to realize what an extraordinary influence my mother has been on my life. She’ s the kind of person who has thoughtful discussions about which artist she would most want to have her portrait painted by (Sargent), the kind of mother who always has time for her four children, and the kind of community leader who has a seat on the board of every major project to assist Washington’ s impoverished citizens. Growing up with such a strong role model, I developed many of her enthusiasms. I not only came to love the excitement of learning simply for the sake of knowing something new, but I also came to understand the idea of giving back to the community in exchange for a new sense of life, love, and spirit. My mother’ s enthusiasm for learning is most apparent in travel. I was nine years old when my family visited Greece. Every night for three weeks before the trip, my older brother Peter and I sat with my mother on her bed reading Greek myths and taking notes on the Greek Gods. Despite the fact that we were traveling with fourteen-month-old twins, we managed to be at each ruin when the site opened at sunrise. I vividly remember standing in an empty ampitheatre pretending to be an ancient tragedian, picking out my favorite sculpture in the Acropolis museum, and inserting our family into modified tales of the battle at Troy. Eight years and half a dozen passport stamps later I have come to value what I have learned on these journeys about global history, politics and culture, as well as my family and myself. While I treasure the various worlds my mother has opened to me abroad, my life has been equally transformed by what she has shown me just two miles from my house. As a ten year old, I often accompanied my mother to (name deleted), a local soup kitchen and children’ s center. While she attended meetings, I helped with the Summer Program by chasing children around the building and performing magic tricks. Hav...

Out, out Essay Example

Out, out Essay Example Out, out Paper Out, out Paper Essay Topic: Poetry Robert Frost effectively reveals the fragility of life in his poem Out, out-. Through a cold detached tone he explores the consequences of a young boys misfortune, as he has a horrific accident with a buzz saw. Strong, vivid imagery is used to picture the scene and conjure images of the horrific accident. He teaches that life is precious and at any point it can easily be taken. Immediately we can tell from the title that the poem will deal with how delicate life is. Out, out brief candle, is from William Shakespeares Macbeth. The title is used to show that life is fragile and how it is nothing but a walking shadow. Frost uses this to imply life is delicate and, like a candle, can be snuffed out easily and at any time. The poet creates a tranquil and peaceful scene in the opening stanzas, a rhythm is created through the alliteration of: sweet-scented stuff The soft repetition of the s creates a luring sense of security by composing a laid-back rhythm for the boy to perform his work to. Frosts setting conjures a peaceful mood, the boy is working under the sunset however this can be seen as foreshadowing of his death. The sunset can represent a life ending and is extremely foreboding, as we know he is in an uncontrolled daze. By contrasting such a peaceful setting with the buzz saw at the beginning of the poem Frost creates gripping tension that leaves us worrying for the boy. The first line presents a strong sense of danger by telling the reader the saw: snarled and rattled. These are aggressive, powerful words, which personify the buzz saw, indicating to the reader this is a dangerous, animalistic machine. These examples of onomatopoeia are repeated throughout the poem which maintains the sense of menace. It also contrasts with the calm, luring mood. By implying a tragedy will occur in such a peaceful setting the poet reveals how delicate this boys life truly is. Even before this tragic incident takes place Frost effectively uses tone to build up to the danger we sense is awaiting. Once again snarled and rattled is repeated which further personifies the saw. It is like a wild animal ready to pounce. The repetition of the phrase insinuates that his work is boring and monotonous which could suggest that the boy could easily lose concentration. Frost continues this foreboding tone using punctuation effectively: And nothing happened: day was all but done. The colon creates a pause in the rhythm, this allows the reader to pause and think. His day may have ended at that particular point and he could have been saved from the awaiting accident. This adds to the readers shock and allows them to feel sympathetic towards the boy. Throughout the poem Frost uses a detached, impersonal tone, however regretfully states, call it a day, I wish they might have said. This is the only point where he unveils emotion and we are forced to believe the seriousness of the situation. By the use of tone Frost illustrates how easily the accident could have been avoided, revealing the fragility of life. When the tragedy actually occurs the boy primarily does not realise the extent of his injury. His sister creates the boys initial distraction by announcing supper and the saw: leaped out at the boys hand Frosts word choice of leaped is an unusual but an effective way to describe the object. The saw is almost like a savage animal: it understood the calling of the meal and struck the boys arm thinking it was its prey. In the end it was all determined by fate, if the boy was not called at that precise moment he might have lived. The actual disaster is not described in great detail: but the hand! This is the first time we are told any information regarding the accident. The lack of detail suggest it is too tragic and gory to even consider describing. We are only told he tried to keep the life from spilling. This use of metonymy is extremely effective as it shows the severity of the boys accident. His life is spilling along with the blood from his veins. As he held his hand half in appeal we know he urgently needs medical attention as his life is progressively ending at this point. The immediate reaction from the boy was a rueful laugh, a laugh of embarrassment and regret. Frosts word choice of rueful suggests the idea that the boy now knows he was not paying attention to his work and he will have to live with the consequences of this. Since he was old enough to know what was happening he did not even have the comfort of ignorance, the poet contrasts this by once again reiterating his youth to create pity in the reader. As the initial shock wears off the child begins to pictur e his life without this essential limb and then: The boy saw all- This effectively describes the boys realisation of how serious his injury is. The dash creates a pause reflecting the boy actually stopping and thinking of how he may not have his hand any longer. The severity of this catastrophe proves that life can at any point crumble away, leaving nothing. The penultimate lines of the poem tell of the attempts to save the boys life and the reaction from the surrounding spectators. Frost creates a blunt, matter of fact tone when he tells us: the doctor put him in the dark of ether A metaphor is used to describe him being made unconscious by the influence of gas, with the word dark suggesting he is slipping away into his death. As we read on it is evident he may not pull through as he lay and puffed his lips out with his breath, he is distinctly struggling to breathe and as his state worsens Frosts use of sentence structure vividly describes his death: little-less-nothing! In his use of punctuation the dashes imitate his fading heartbeat : each brief pause reflecting the rhythm of his slowing pulse. The truth is even though we were expecting this incident throughout the poem, we are shocked when it actually takes place, but the reality is everyone has his or her time. We will have our time to leave the world but cannot predict when this will be. To conclude, by exploring Robert Frosts Out, out-, I found life is fragile and at any point it can be snatched away from us. This is shown through effective imagery and griping tone to tell the story of an unfortunate child having his hand removed by a buzz saw. The poem taught me to life to the full as we only have one chance. We all go at different times and in different, maybe unexpected, so must make the most of the time we have.

Country report of UK and petroleum industry

Country report of UK and petroleum industry PartHeadingsPagePart-AInternational trade3A1An Overview United Kingdom3A2Balance of Payment4A3Trading Relationship and Blocks6A4Major Export and Imports7A5Foreign Direct Investment8A6Tariff and Non tariff barriers8Part -BOil and Petroleum Industry9B1History, size and growth9Size10Employment11Contribution to UK's economy11Major producer and profile12B2International competitiveness13Demand Condition13Related and Supporting Industries14Factor Conditions15Firm, strategy, structure and rivalry16Part -CCulture and Business practices18United Kingdom Certain facts18C1General description19C2Business protocol and Communication.20C3Cultural DO's and Don'ts23C4Negotiation style and tactics24C5Comparison with American culture25Part-DConclusion26Exhibits -127Exhibits -228Exhibits -329Exhibits -430Exhibits -531Exhibits -632Exhibits -733References34(A)INTERNATIONAL TRADE:-(A-1) AN OVERVIEW-UNITED KINGDOM: -The Great Britain was a dominant industrial and maritime power of 19th century. The British ru led one fourth of the earth in and prior to 20th century. The present advance in literature, and democratic political system is a gifted to world by the British ruler. The United Kingdom consists of England, one sixth of island (part of Ireland) in North Sea and north western Atlantic sea. The main areas include England, Wales, Scotland, and north Atlantic islands of Wight, Hebrides and Shetland.English: EU and CIS blockThe UK is the first nation to witness industrial revolution in early 1990. The great invention of steam engine was done in England and it helped in subsequent industrialization of Britain. After World War II the United Kingdom emerged as a strong and developed economy of the world. After emergence of 25 European country as European economic union, The UK bears lot of importance in terms of international economic development, International business . The UK , a leading trading power and financial centre is one of the trillion dollars economy of western Europe. The GDP growth for UK was average 2.8% in last 5 years, it has export growth of 5.6% in last 10 years, It is ranked as number 3 in natural gas production and 10th as oil producing country with the average production of 2463 barrels/day for 2003. The Britain is worlds 4th...

Udoka corporation case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Udoka corporation case study - Essay Example Operational process is the core area that has to be very efficient to retain the sustainability of a company. Therefore, in order to maintain a higher level of operational process, proper evaluation and controlling activities are inevitable. The evaluation of operational analysis can be done using the financial evaluation techniques specifically the ratio analysis. Besides, the management decisions and future strategies should also be analysed for determining the future growth of company in terms of operational performance. Hence, in this regard necessary information is essential like the financial data and management planning for operational process. However, merely computing the operational ratios will not offer very clear picture of a company’s performance. The results of evaluation must be compared with the peer rivals and with industrial average performance. There are also other financial techniques apart from the ratio analysis like horizontal analysis which is helpful i n comparing company performance in comparison to performances in previous years. As this report aims to evaluate operational performances of Udoka Corporation, outcome from the horizontal analysis can be used to assess improvements or degradation in Udoka’s performance. The primary aim for this analysis to is identify the underlying issues in Udoka’s operational performances and accordingly a set of plausible and specific recommendation will be offered. Brief Description of Udoka Corporation Udoka Corporation is engaged in mobile manufacturing business and technology and innovation is the base of this company. It is operating in a highly competitive business environment where every aspect of performance is crucial for sustaining in such severe competitive market. It is expected that in coming years the industry competitive will be fiercer and hence, it is necessary for Udoka to take necessary action to acquire an upper hand position in the market. The management of Udo ka is considering for investing for ensuring Udoka’s future, and in this process, it is very necessary to make proper decisions based on prevailing condition of finance and based on industry forecast. Analysis of Operational Performance Operational process includes the management cash receivable, cash payable, inventory turnover etc. Using these parameters, cash conversion cycle and operational cycle can be determined. To make better decisions for future growth, the proper evaluation of current status is indispensible which also offer indication of prevailing operational performance (Walton and Aerts, 2006, p.261). Using the financial data of Udoka Corporation, operational performance of the company has been determined. Table 1 represents horizontal analysis of Udoka’s financial statement and the table 2 depict the analysis of its operational performance. Table 1: Horizontal Analysis of Udoka’s Financial Statements Financial Analysis 2011 2,010 2,009    Actual Actual Variance % Actual Variance %    ?m ?m ?m    ?m ?m    Total sales 50,710 45,639 5,071 11% 41,075 9,635 23% Cost of sales 33,337 26,471 6,866 26% 24,645 8,692 35%                         Ratio of CS/Sales 66% 58% 8% 13% 60% 6% 10%                         Gross profit 17,373 19,168 -1,795 -9% 16,430 943 6% Gross margin 34% 42% -8% -19% 40% -6% -15%                         Operating expenses