Lord of the Flies :: essays research papers

Lord of the Flies William Golding I. England II. Protagonist- Ralph is a rational boy who was elected the leader by the other boys. He tries to keep them civilized and plans to get them rescued. Antagonist- Jack is Ralph’s rival. He wants to be chief, so he gathers a group of boys and forms his own tribe. The boys are taught to b hunters and they act like wild animals. III. A plane carrying a group of schoolboys has crashed on an island. Ironically, the boys were escaping a nuclear war and being flown to freedom. Upon reaching this island they are overwhelmed by the fact that there are no adults and no rules. Ralph, a boy of twelve, is encountered with several male survivors. Him and the others decided to go in search of any other potential survivors. A boy named Jack and his troop then meets them. The two different groups don’t really seem to like one another and they are very different in matters of life. The boys are then faced with many obstacles and try to learn how to deal with it. At this point Jack does not like the way Ralph handles things and forms his own tribe. Ralph as the leader, does not feel that he has much control over the boys and that is why Jack formed his own tribe of hunters. Only two of the boys stayed and showed support to Ralph. Because of all the chaos Ralph no longer wants to be the chief and he knows that he can not change the way the other boys think or act. He doesn’t know what to do at this point and feels that he can’t make anyone civilized. Piggy and Simon are the two boys who stayed back with Ralph and because they chose to stay with him Jack’s group kills them. Everything just seems to be falling apart and no one is thinking straight. Through everything that has happened, Ralph struggles for survival against the â€Å"Lord of the Flies†, the other boys. There was an out-of-control fire meant to kill Ralph, but he did not die. He is then encountered with the boys and at this point they come to realize that they have to get a hold of themselves and move forward. The end of the novel shows that Ralph and the others are relieved by the fact that they no longer should act the way they did.

Blood Promise Chapter Seven

It was like Christmas morning. I wasn't usually big on God or fate, but now I was seriously reconsidering. After I'd passed out, Sydney had apparently made some frantic calls, and someone she knew in Baia had driven to us-risking the darkness-to rescue us and take us back where I could be treated. That was no doubt why I'd had vague sensations of being in a car during my delirium; it hadn't all been part of the dream. And then, somehow, out of all the dhampirs in Baia, I had been taken to Dimitri's mother. That was enough to make me seriously consider that there might truly be forces greater than me at work in the universe. No one told me exactly how it happened, but I soon learned Olena Belikova had a reputation among her peers for healing-and not even any sort of magical healing. She'd had medical training and was the person other dhampirs-and even some Moroi-went to in this region when they wanted to avoid human attention. Still. The coincidence was eerie, and I couldn't help but think there was something going on that I didn't understand. For now, I didn't worry too much about the hows and whys of my current situation. I was too busy staring wide-eyed at my surroundings and its inhabitants. Olena didn't live alone. All of Dimitri's sisters-three of them-lived in the house too, along with their kids. The family resemblance was startling. None of them looked exactly like Dimitri, but in every face, I could see him. The eyes. The smile. Even the sense of humor. Seeing them fed the Dimitri withdrawal I'd had since he'd disappeared-and made it worse at the same time. Whenever I looked at any of them out of my peripheral vision, I'd think I was seeing Dimitri. It was like a house of mirrors, with distorted reflections of him everywhere. Even the house gave me a thrill. There were no obvious signs that Dimitri had ever lived there, but I kept thinking, this is where he grew up. He walked these floors, touched these walls†¦ As I walked from room to room, I'd touch the walls too, trying to draw his energy from them. I'd envision him lounging on the couch, home on break from school. I wondered if he'd slid down the banisters when he was little. The images were so real that I had to keep reminding myself that he hadn't been here in ages. â€Å"You've made an amazing recovery,† Olena noted the next morning after I'd been brought to her. She watched with approval as I inhaled a plate of blini. They were ultra-thin pancakes stacked and layered with butter and jam. My body always required a lot of food to keep its strength up, and I figured as long as I wasn't chewing with my mouth open or anything, I had no reason to feel bad about eating so much. â€Å"I thought you were dead when Abe and Sydney brought you in.† â€Å"Who?† I asked between bites of food. Sydney sat at the table with the rest of the family, hardly touching her food as usual. She seemed clearly uneasy at being in a dhampir household, but when I'd first come downstairs this morning, I'd definitely seen some relief in her eyes. â€Å"Abe Mazur,† said Sydney. Unless I was mistaken, some of the other people at the table exchanged knowing glances. â€Å"He's a Moroi. I†¦ I didn't know how badly you were injured last night, so I called him. He drove down with his guardians. He was the one who brought you here.† Guardians. Plural. â€Å"Is he royal?† Mazur wasn't a royal name, but that wasn't always a sure sign of someone's lineage. And while I was beginning to trust Sydney's social networking and connections to powerful people, I couldn't imagine why a royal would go out of his way for me. Maybe he owed the Alchemists a favor. â€Å"No,† she said bluntly. I frowned. A non-royal Moroi with more than one guardian? Very odd. It was clear she wasn't going to say anything else on the matter-at least not for now. I swallowed another mouthful of blini and turned my attention back to Olena. â€Å"Thanks for taking me in.† Dimitri's older sister, Karolina, sat at the table too, along with her baby girl and son Paul. Paul was about ten and seemed fascinated by me. Dimitri's teenage sister, Viktoria, was also there. She appeared to be a little younger than me. The third Belikov sister was named Sonya and had left for work before I woke up. I'd have to wait to meet her. â€Å"Did you really kill two Strigoi all by yourself?† Paul asked me. â€Å"Paul,† chastised Karolina. â€Å"That's not a nice question to ask.† â€Å"But it's an exciting one,† said Viktoria with a grin. Her brown hair was streaked with gold, but her dark eyes sparkled so much like Dimitri's when he was excited that it tugged at my heart. Again, I had that taunting sensation of Dimitri being here but not here. â€Å"She did,† said Sydney. â€Å"I saw the bodies. Like always.† She wore that comically tormented expression of hers, and I laughed. â€Å"At least I left them where you could find them this time.† My humor suddenly dimmed. â€Å"Did anyone†¦ any other humans notice or hear?† â€Å"I got rid of the bodies before anyone saw,† she said. â€Å"If people heard anything†¦ Well, backwoods places like that are always filled with superstitions and ghost stories. They don't have factual evidence of vampires, per se, but there's always sort of this belief that the supernatural and dangerous are out there. Little do they know.† She said â€Å"ghost stories† without any change of expression. I wondered if she'd seen any of the spirits last night but finally decided she probably hadn't. She'd come outside near the tail end of the fight, and if past evidence was any indication, nobody else could see the spirits I saw-except Strigoi, as it turned out. â€Å"You must have had some good training then,† said Karolina, shifting so the baby leaned against her shoulder. â€Å"You look like you should still be in school.† â€Å"Just got out,† I said, earning another scrutinizing look from Sydney. â€Å"You're American,† said Olena matter-of-factly. â€Å"What in the world could bring you out here?† â€Å"I†¦ I'm looking for someone,† I said after a few moments' hesitation. I was afraid they were going to press for details or that she too would have blood whore suspicions, but just then, the kitchen door opened and Dimitri's grandmother, Yeva, walked in. She had poked her head in earlier and scared the hell out of me. Dimitri had told me that she was a witch of sorts, and I could believe it. She looked like she was a gazillion years old and was so thin, it was a wonder the wind didn't blow her away. She barely stood five feet tall, and her hair covered her head in patchy gray wisps. But it was her eyes that truly frightened me. The rest of her might be frail, but those dark eyes were sharp and alert and seemed to bore into my soul. Even without Dimitri's explanation, I would have taken her for a witch. She was also the only one in the household who didn't speak English. She sat down at one of the empty chairs, and Olena hastily jumped up to get some more blini. Yeva muttered something in Russian that made the others look uncomfortable. Sydney's lips twitched into a small smile. Yeva's eyes were on me as she spoke, and I glanced around for translation. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"Grandmother says you're not telling us the whole truth about why you're here. She says the longer you delay, the worse it will be,† Viktoria explained. She then gave Sydney an apologetic look. â€Å"And she wants to know when the Alchemist is leaving.† â€Å"As soon as possible,† said Sydney dryly. â€Å"Well, why I'm here†¦ it's kind of a long story.† Could I be any vaguer? Yeva said something else, and Olena retorted with what sounded like a chastisement. To me, she spoke gently: â€Å"Ignore her, Rose. She's in one of her moods. Why you're here is your own business-although I'm sure Abe would like to talk to you at some point.† She frowned slightly, and I was reminded of the earlier looks at the table. â€Å"You should make sure you thank him. He seemed very concerned about you.† â€Å"I'd kind of like to see him too,† I mumbled, still curious about this well-protected, non-royal Moroi who had given me a ride and seemed to make everyone uneasy. Eager to avoid more talk of why I was here, I hastily changed the subject. â€Å"I'd also love to look around Baia. I've never been in a place like this before-where so many dhampirs live, I mean.† Viktoria brightened. â€Å"I can definitely give you a tour-if you're sure you're feeling okay. Or if you don't have to leave right away.† She believed I was passing through, which was just as well. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was doing anymore, now that it seemed likely Dimitri wasn't in the area. I glanced at Sydney questioningly. She shrugged. â€Å"Do whatever you want. I'm not going anywhere.† I found that a little disconcerting too. She'd brought me here as her superiors had told her to do-but now what? Well, that was a concern for later. As soon as I finished my food, Viktoria practically dragged me out the door, as if I was the most exciting thing that had happened around here in a while. Yeva hadn't taken her eyes off me for the rest of the meal, and even though she'd never said anything else, her suspicious look clearly told me she didn't believe a word I'd said. I invited Sydney along on the outing, but she declined, choosing instead to lock herself away in a bedroom to read about Greek temples or make world-controlling phone calls or do whatever it was she did. Viktoria said downtown wasn't far from where they lived and was easy to walk to. The day was clear and cool, with enough sun to make being outside pretty pleasant. â€Å"We don't get a lot of visitors,† she explained. â€Å"Except for Moroi men, but most don't stay long.† She added no more, but I wondered about her implications. Were these Moroi men off to find some action with dhampir women? I'd grown up thinking of these women, dhampirs who chose not to become guardians, as disgraceful and dirty. The ones in the Nightingale had certainly met the blood whore stereotype, but Dimitri had assured me that not all dhampir women were like that. After meeting the Belikovs, I believed him. As we approached the center of town, I soon discovered another myth shattered. People always talked about blood whores living in camps or communes, but that wasn't the case here. Baia wasn't huge, not like Saint Petersburg or even Omsk, but it was a real town with a large human population. Hardly a rural camp or farm settlement. The whole setting was astonishingly normal, and when we reached downtown, lined with small shops and restaurants, it too seemed like any other place in the world people might live. Modern and ordinary, just with a slight village feel. â€Å"Where are all the dhampirs?† I wondered aloud. Sydney had said there was a secret dhampir subculture, but I saw no signs of it. Viktoria smiled. â€Å"Oh, they're here. We have a lot of businesses and other places that humans don't know about.† While I could understand dhampirs going unnoticed in big cities, it seemed remarkable to pull that off here. â€Å"And lots of us just live and work with humans.† She nodded over toward what looked like a drugstore. â€Å"That's where Sonya works now.† â€Å"Now?† â€Å"Now that she's pregnant.† Viktoria rolled her eyes. â€Å"I'd take you to meet her, but she's grumpy all the time lately. I hope the baby's early.† She left it at that, and I again wondered about the dynamics of dhampirs and Moroi here. We didn't mention it again, and our conversation stayed light and even teasing. Viktoria was easy to like, and in only an hour, we'd clicked as though we'd known each other forever. Maybe my connection to Dimitri bound me to his family, too. My thoughts were cut off when someone called Viktoria's name. We turned to see a very cute dhampir guy crossing the street. He had bronze hair and dark eyes, his age falling somewhere between mine and Viktoria's. He said something chatty and conversational to her. She grinned at him and then gestured to me, giving my introduction in Russian. â€Å"This is Nikolai,† she told me in English. â€Å"Nice to meet you,† he said, also switching languages. He gave me a quick assessment in the way guys often do, but when he turned back to Viktoria, it was clear who the object of his affections was. â€Å"You should bring Rose to Marina's party. It's Sunday night.† He hesitated, turning a bit shy. â€Å"You're going, aren't you?† Viktoria turned thoughtful, and I realized she was completely oblivious to his crush. â€Å"I'll be there, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She turned to me. â€Å"Will you still be around?† â€Å"I don't know,† I said honestly. â€Å"But I'll go if I'm still here. What kind of party is it?† â€Å"Marina's a friend from school,† explained Viktoria. â€Å"We're just going to get together and celebrate before we go back.† â€Å"To school?† I asked stupidly. Somehow, it had never occurred to me that the dhampirs out here would be in school. â€Å"We're on break right now,† said Nikolai. â€Å"For Easter.† â€Å"Oh.† It was late April, but I had no clue what day Easter fell on this year. I'd lost track of the days. It hadn't happened yet, so their school must have their break the week before Easter. St. Vladimir's took its vacation afterward. â€Å"Where is your school?† â€Å"It's about three hours away. Even more remote than here.† Viktoria made a face. â€Å"Baia's not so bad,† teased Nikolai. â€Å"Easy for you to say. You'll eventually leave and go see new and exciting places.† â€Å"Can't you?† I asked her. She frowned, suddenly uncomfortable. â€Å"Well, I could†¦ but that's not how we do it here-at least not in my family. Grandmother has some†¦ strong opinions about men and women. Nikolai will be a guardian, but I'll stay here with my family.† Nikolai suddenly gave me a new appraisal. â€Å"Are you a guardian?† â€Å"Ah, well.† Now I was the uncomfortable one. Viktoria spoke before I could come up with anything to say. â€Å"She killed two Strigoi outside of town. By herself.† He looked impressed. â€Å"You are a guardian.† â€Å"Well, no†¦ I've killed before, but I'm not actually sworn.† Turning around, I lifted up my hair to show them my neck. In addition to all my regular molnija marks, I also had the little star-shaped tattoo that meant I'd been in a battle. They both gasped, and Nikolai said something in Russian. I let my hair drop and looked back. â€Å"What?† â€Å"You're†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Viktoria bit her lip, eyes contemplative as she groped for what she wanted to say. â€Å"Unpromised? I don't know the English word.† â€Å"Unpromised?† I said. â€Å"I guess†¦ but technically, aren't all the women here?† â€Å"Even if we aren't guardians, we still get marks showing we completed our training. No promise mark, though. For you to have killed so many Strigoi and have no loyalties to a school or the guardians†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Viktoria shrugged. â€Å"We call it being unpromised-it's a strange thing.† â€Å"It's strange where I come from too,† I admitted. Unheard of, really. So much so, that we didn't have a term for it. It just wasn't done. â€Å"I should let you two go,† said Nikolai, his lovesick eyes back on Viktoria. â€Å"But I'll see you at Marina's for sure? Maybe sooner?† â€Å"Yes,† she agreed. They said their farewells in Russian, and then he loped off across the street with the kind of easy, athletic grace guardians often acquired with training. It reminded me a bit of Dimitri's. â€Å"I must have scared him off,† I said. â€Å"No, he thinks you're exciting.† â€Å"Not as exciting as he thinks you are.† Her eyebrows rose. â€Å"What?† â€Å"He likes you†¦ I mean, really likes. Can't you tell?† â€Å"Oh. We're just friends.† I could tell from her attitude that she meant it. She was completely indifferent to him, which was too bad. He was cute and nice. Letting poor Nikolai go, I brought up the guardians again. I was intrigued by the different attitudes around here. â€Å"You said you can't†¦ but do you want to be a guardian?† She hesitated. â€Å"I've never really considered it. I get all the same training at school, and I like being able to defend myself. But I'd rather use it in defense of my family than Moroi. I guess it sounds†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused again to think of the right word. â€Å"†¦ Sexist? But, the men become guardians, and women stay at home. Only my brother left.† I nearly tripped. â€Å"Your brother?† I asked, keeping my voice as steady as possible. â€Å"Dimitri,† she said. â€Å"He's older than me and has been a guardian for a while. He's over in the United States, actually. We haven't seen him in a long time.† â€Å"Huh.† I felt horrible and guilty. Guilty because I was keeping the truth from Viktoria and the others. Horrible because apparently no one from back home had bothered to pass the news on to his family yet. Smiling at her own memories, she didn't notice my change in mood. â€Å"Paul actually looks exactly like he did at that age. I should show you pictures of him-and some recent ones, too. Dimitri's pretty cute. For my brother, I mean.† I was sure seeing pictures of Dimitri as a little boy would rip my heart out. As it was, the more Viktoria began to talk about him, the sicker I felt. She had no clue about what had happened, and even though it had been a couple of years since she'd seen him, it was clear she and the rest of the family loved him like crazy. Not that that should be a surprise. (And really, who couldn't love Dimitri?) Being around them just one morning had shown me how close they all were. I knew from Dimitri's stories that he was crazy about all of them, too. â€Å"Rose? Are you okay?† Viktoria was peering at me with concern, probably because I hadn't said anything in the last ten minutes. We had circled around and were almost back at her house. Looking at her, at her open, friendly face and eyes that were so much like Dimitri's, I realized I had another task ahead of me before I could go after Dimitri, wherever he was. I swallowed. â€Å"I†¦ yeah. I think†¦ I think I need to sit down with you and the rest of your family.† â€Å"Okay,† she said, the worry still in her voice. Inside the house, Olena was bustling around the kitchen with Karolina. I thought they were making plans for tonight's dinner, which was startling considering we'd just finished a huge breakfast. I could definitely get used to the way they ate around here. In the living room, Paul was building an elaborate racetrack out of Legos. Yeva sat in a rocking chair and appeared to be the world's most stereotypical grandmother as she knit a pair of socks. Except most grandmothers didn't look like they could incinerate you with a single glance. Olena was talking to Karolina in Russian but switched to English when she saw me. â€Å"You two are back earlier than I expected.† â€Å"We saw the town,† said Viktoria. â€Å"And†¦ Rose wanted to talk to you. To all of us.† Olena gave me a look as puzzled and concerned as Viktoria's. â€Å"What's going on?† The weight of all those Belikov eyes on me made my heart start thumping in my chest. How was I going to do this? How could I explain something I hadn't spoken about in weeks? I couldn't stand to put them-or myself-through it. When Yeva scuttled in, it made things that much worse. Maybe she'd had some mystical sense that something big was about to go down. â€Å"We should sit,† I said. Paul stayed in the living room, for which I was grateful. I was pretty sure I couldn't handle saying what I had to with a little kid-one who looked like Dimitri, apparently-watching me. â€Å"Rose, what's wrong?† asked Olena. She looked so sweet and, well†¦ motherly, that I nearly cried. Whenever I'd been angry with my own mother for not being around or doing a good job, I'd always compared her to some idealized image of a mom-a mom who seemed a lot like Dimitri's, I realized. Dimitri's sisters looked equally worried, like I was someone they'd known forever. That acceptance and concern made my eyes burn even more, seeing as they'd just met me this morning. Yeva wore a very strange expression, however-almost like she'd been expecting something like this all along. â€Å"Well†¦ the thing is, the reason I came here, to Baia, was to find you guys.† That wasn't entirely true. I'd come to search for Dimitri. I'd never thought much about finding his family, but now, I realized that it was a good thing I had. â€Å"You see, Viktoria was talking about Dimitri earlier.† Olena's face brightened when I said her son's name. â€Å"And†¦ I knew-er, know him. He used to be a guardian at my school. My teacher, actually.† Karolina and Viktoria lit up as well. â€Å"How is he?† asked Karolina. â€Å"It's been ages since we've seen him. Do you know when he's going to visit?† I couldn't even think about answering her question, so I pushed forward with my story before I lost my courage in front of all those loving faces. As the words came out of my mouth, it was almost like someone else was saying them and I was simply watching from a distance. â€Å"A month ago†¦ our school was attacked by Strigoi. A really bad attack†¦ a huge group of Strigoi. We lost a lot of people-Moroi and dhampirs, both.† Olena exclaimed in Russia. Viktoria leaned toward me. â€Å"St. Vladimir's?† I halted in my story, surprised. â€Å"You've heard of it?† â€Å"Everyone's heard of it,† said Karolina. â€Å"We all know what happened. That was your school? You were there that night?† I nodded. â€Å"No wonder you have so many molnija marks,† breathed Viktoria in wonder. â€Å"And that's where Dimitri's at now?† asked Olena. â€Å"We lost track of his latest assignment.† â€Å"Um, yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My tongue felt thick in my throat. I couldn't breathe. â€Å"I was at the school the night of the attack,† I reaffirmed. â€Å"And so was Dimitri. He was one of the leaders in the battle†¦ and the way he fought†¦ he was†¦ he was so brave†¦ and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My words were breaking up, but by this point, the others were catching on. Olena gasped and again murmured in Russian. I picked out the word for â€Å"God.† Karolina sat frozen, but Viktoria leaned toward me. Those eyes that were so like her brother's stared at me intently, as intently as he would if pushing me to tell the truth, no matter how awful. â€Å"What happened?† she demanded. â€Å"What happened to Dimitri?† I looked away from their faces, my eyes drifting to the living room. On the far wall, I caught sight of a bookcase filled with old, leather-covered books. They had gold-embossed lettering on the spines. It was totally random, but I suddenly remembered Dimitri mentioning those. They were these old adventure novels my mother collected, he'd told me once. The covers were so beautiful, and I loved them. If I was careful, she'd let me read them sometimes. The thought of a young Dimitri sitting in front of that bookcase, carefully turning the pages-and oh, he would have been careful-almost made me lose it. Had that been where he'd developed his love of western novels? I was losing it. I was getting distracted. I wasn't going to be able to tell them the truth. My emotions were growing too powerful, my memories flooding me as I fought to think about something-anything-that didn't involve that horrible battle. Then I glanced at Yeva again, and something about her eerie, knowing expression inexplicably spurred me on. I had to do this. I turned back to the others. â€Å"He fought really bravely in the battle, and afterward, he helped lead a rescue mission to save some people that the Strigoi had captured. He was really amazing there, too, only†¦ he†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stopped again and realized tears were running down my cheeks. In my mind, I was replaying that awful scene in the cave, with Dimitri so close to freedom and taken by a Strigoi at the last minute. Shaking that thought away, I took another deep breath. I had to finish this. I owed it to his family. There was no gentle way to say it. â€Å"One of the Strigoi there†¦ well, he overpowered Dimitri.† Karolina buried her face in her mother's shoulder, and Olena made no effort to hide her own tears. Viktoria wasn't crying, but her face had gone perfectly still. She was working hard to keep her emotions in check, just as Dimitri would have. She searched my face, needing to know for sure. â€Å"Dimitri is dead,† she said. It was a statement, not a question, but she was looking to me for confirmation. I wondered if I'd given away something, some hint that there was still more to the story. Or maybe she just needed the certainty of those words. And for a moment, I considered telling them that Dimitri was dead. It was what the Academy would tell them, what the guardians would tell them. It would be easier on them†¦ but somehow, I couldn't stand to lie to them-even if it was a comforting lie. Dimitri would have wanted the whole truth, and his family would too. â€Å"No,† I said, and for a heartbeat, hope sprang up in everyone's faces-at least until I spoke again. â€Å"Dimitri's a Strigoi.†

My First day at sixth-form

I was sixteen and I had to make that same difficult question that everyone had to ask themselves at my age, ‘what am I going to do after I got my results from my GCSEs?' The day before I got my results I decided to go to Westwood ST Thomas sixth-form in stead of college. I have been at Westwood School for three years so I thought it would be easier to go somewhere that I knew and where they knew me. GCSE results day arrived; I took that short five minute walk for the last time of being a school girl. I got the magic envelope and opened it. I needed five C's or above to do the a-levels courses as planned. I took one look at the paper and my excitement turned into disappointment. I only got four C's. After talking to a careers adviser I decided what I should do. I had chosen to under-go a one year business course that would give me enough GCSEs that I needed. I went away that day feeling very low and disheartened that all my efforts didn't payoff. I felt like a year of my life was being taken away from me. 7AM, Monday morning, my alarm was beeping in my ear, Beep, Beep, beep. I rolled over and turned it off. I unwillingly thought ‘the first day of Sixth-form of what will be of a long year'. I was dragging my feet up the steep hill. A walk which was five minutes seemed like an hour. As I approached the school hill my heart was thumping in my chest. I told myself not to be so stupid. I had been at the school for three years but this time I was a student. As I walked through the gates nothing had changed! The old falling apart bike sheds which faced the gates were still there. I could see the three main blocks, where the specialist classes were held. Yep! The same old gloomy school. I got to where my tutor room was and sat down at an empty seat. I slowly one by one studied the people who are already settled in their seats. I didn't recognise anybody. They must be from different schools. I then studied the room, a big white board in the centre of the longest wall and around the other walls are notice boards with nothing on then. Surrounding the tables in the middle of the room are very old computers lined up against the wall. The decoration was an old off-white colour with paint starting to chip off the walls. The appearance and feeling was an old and depressing. I heard a familiar voice outside the room. It was my friend Amy. She walked in to the room and took her seat next to mine. I felt much relived that someone was in the group that I already knew. My new tutor and key teacher for the year, Mr Kendal, walked in to the room and sat down behind his big desk. He introduced himself then made each of us in turn introduce ourselves to the group. I am not the person for speaking in front of a group and felt my self go very red with embarrassment when it got to my turn. He gave us our student planner and the timetable; he went over some things that we were to do that year in the course. The time drove by so quickly. I looked at the clock and it was break time already. I had the chance to meet up with old friends and talk about what we did over the summer. When break time ended we all went back to our tutor rooms. This time I didn't know whether the sun was shinning through a different window, but I was starting to feel a bit more comfortable about the situation the room felt brighter, and a little more inviting. We had the tour of the school which lasted thirty minutes, and then we were allowed to go home. The walk home seemed like the old five minutes walk down the hill. I was feeling emotionally happy and pleased with the first day. (And it wasn't the fact it only lasted half a day). When I got home I told mum all about the day. I couldn't wait till bed time as I was exited about going back again the next day. (Even though it was an whole school assembly to meet the new Head Teacher). As I went to sleep that night I was still very happy, I thought, this year was not going to be as bad after all.

Atlantic Slave Trade †Causes and Effiects Essay

The yearning of the Europeans especially Portuguese, Spanish, British and the Dutch for exploration, colonisation and imperialism was a major factor in expanding the slave trade networks in the Atlantic. As discussed by Timothy P. Grady in the book The Atlantic World 1450-2000, â€Å"explorers from Portugal, Spain and other European nations expanded the geographic knowledge southward along the coast of Africa and westward across the Atlantic shores of the Americas†. The urge for this exploration was triggered by the fall of Constantinople in May 1943, the last vestige of the Roman Empire, to the Muslim Turks which shook the fortitude of the European countries and the Christian faith. The expansion of the Ottoman Empire around the Mediterranean region deprived European merchants of the lucrative trade routes along the Silk Road to the East. The threat of lost communication and trade routes across the Mediterranean into China, India and other regions of eastern Asia and lost access to silk and other precious commodities carried along this route, forced Europeans to explore alternate trade routes to Asia by turning westward for new opportunities. Discovery of new routes west of Europe through the Atlantic, led to European arrival off West coast of Africa in the late fifteenth century. By mid seventeenth century, the coast line of West Africa was infiltrated by fifty forts and slave trading posts of competing European countries – Portugal, Spain, Britain, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany dividing the coastline into – Ivory Coast, Gold Coast and Slave Coast. The political set up in Africa also facilitated slave trade. Africa was divided into a number of small and large states, chieftaincies and independent villages each with their own form of government, religion, customs and traditions. These territories often fought with each other and the captives of war were taken as slaves. Such conflicts were justified wars which according to Warren. C. Whatley was â€Å"natural struggles of nation building† conducted in the normal course of affairs. The captives referred to as â€Å"joint-products of war† or â€Å"stolen goods† were then exported. With the advent of the Europeans, domestic conflicts became slave raids. As Robin Law asserted, the Kingdom of Dahomey dominated the slave raiding and trading from 1715 to 1850. Their kings held a royal monopoly on the trade and conducted slave raids through their armies. Thus the political ambitions of the European and African monarchy led to the development of the slave trade. The developments in technology and its impact on navigation, ship building, and firearms aided the growth in Atlantic slave trade. Navigation The desire for exploration spurred European scholars, navigators and sailors to expand their knowledge of geography and devise new ways of charting and mapping their journeys. Increased use of the hour glass and logs to measure time and distance and the Portolan charts clearly documented navigation. In 1462, the Portuguese navigators devised methods of figuring out latitudes by measuring the height of the Pole Star above the horizon. Later in 1484, astronomers in the court of King Joao II, using the midday sun to figure latitudes, produced a set of declination tables. Under the patronage of Prince Henry of Portugal, other significant developments were made in the study of winds, tides and ocean currents; documents from previous explorations were compiled and maps and charts were continuously improved. Thus a good number of problems associated with navigation were resolved by late fifteenth century. As navigation across the great oceans became manageable, the transportation of the slaves between the continents – Europe, Africa and America became less complicated. Ship Building The changes to the design and functionalities of the European ships were another major factor that contributed to the expansion of Atlantic slave trade. Between the fourteenth and mid- nineteenth centuries, sailing ships were the main means of transport of the slaves. These sailing ships kept changing over time in terms of design, fittings, equipments and materials used as sail. Use of three to four masts, sturdy hull, square lateen and sprit sails, and stern rudder enhanced their sailing power, speed and eased control of the ships in wild weather conditions. Small ships such as the caravel, highly manoeuvrable ships introduced in the fifteenth century encouraged the Portuguese to explore regions around West African coast such as Senegal and Cape Verde and Canary islands to secure staples, gold and slaves. Other ships designed by Portuguese for travel in the Atlantic Ocean were the carracks, four masted ships and the galleon, heavily armed multi deck sailing ships. The ships also grew in size and multi decks were able to accommodate larger number of slaves. The mean tonnage of the slave ships from Liverpool in 1730 was 75 tons. This increased to 130 tons in 1790 and 226 tons in 1805. Weapons The supremacy of Europe in the slave trade was driven by its guns, cannons and restraints. They used a variety of weapons to threaten the slaves and the enemy ships at sea, to maintain control both on land and at sea. The diffusion of the new gunpowder technology accelerated the slave trade. The African communities, threatened by armed neighbours, resorted to trading the captives for gunpowder, guns and muskets. In the words of Warren. C. Whatley, the vicious cycle, â€Å"a raid or be raided† arms race known as the Gun- Slave-Cycle was created. The replacement of the ineffective matchlock musket by the flintlock in1680s, drastically increased firearms demand in West Africa. According to J. E. Inikori, the firearms imported from England during the eighteenth century were between 283,000 and 394,000 guns per annum. The demand for firearms from West Africa was so high that manufacturing companies such as Farmer and Galton were forced to pressurise their workers to increase production. The demand for firearms was matched by supply of slaves. The developments in restraining technology aided the slave trade in terms of terrorising the slaves and reducing escapes. The restraints used in the trade included, neck restraints, iron collars linked by chains, tongue restraints and leg and wrist shackles to trammel movement. The ability to stow more slaves per cubic foot of the ship, ability to navigate better around the coast of Africa, the reduction in escapees due to draconian restraints, and the organisation of forts around the coast to lodge the captives helped to reduce costs and promote trade. African Demand for goods from Europe The introduction of a wide range of consumption goods in West Africa, the possession of which was a matter of social status and power, was another factor leading to the development of Atlantic slave trade. The African demand for iron and copper bars, textiles, salt, earthenware, weapons and firearms, rum, wine, gin and cowrie shells and a variety of both European and oriental goods had a profound impact on slave trade. The demands for these goods were so high that the European suppliers could not cope with the increased demand. J. E. Inikori commented that firearms and textiles were in such high demand by the slave traders that they were not prepared to clear their slave cargo, if they were not satisfied with the quantity of supply of these items of trade. The merchants were willing to trade their morality to capture slaves in exchange for European goods. Alan Rice clearly identifies this when he asserts, â€Å"The desire for luxury goods was so great that these African elites would consign war captives and domestic slaves to an unknown fate across the ocean in exchange for them†. Growth in Slave trading institutions Growth in social institutions to perform a more organised slave trade was a key factor in Atlantic slave trade. The increase in demand and prices of slaves encouraged the development of various institutions to address the issues associated with the trade – capture, enslavement, seasoning, trade, regulations and taxation. The merchants explored new ways of trapping the slaves – deception, kidnapping, ambush attacks, promoting conflicts between villages and the pretence of family substitution for the runaways. The kidnap of Olaudah Equiano in 1750s in his words, â€Å"One day when all our people were gone out to their works as usual and only I and my sister were left to mind the house, two men and woman got over our walls and in a moment seized us both†¦ and ran off with us into the nearest wood†. The drought and famine in Africa due to marginal rainfalls in the Savannah areas – Angola and the grasslands extending from Senegambia to Cameron, forced desponding families to sell themselves. People were too poor to survive and offered themselves as collateral for credits. Non repayment made them slaves. Development of enforcement mechanisms also encouraged the slave trade. Credit was offered to slave traders to cover costs of acquiring, transporting and housing slaves until they were boarded on the ships. Other types of such mechanisms, described by Warren. C. Whatley were â€Å"the use of factories and forts as holding pens and warehouses, African canoe houses and other trade coalitions, secret societies and treaties between European and African nations. The cycle of violence to hunt down the slaves continued leading to an upsurge in slave trade The decline in population in the Americas This was another important factor that led to the development of Atlantic slave trade. With the European colonisation of the Americas, there was a growth in mining and plantations in the islands between North and South America and the labour demands were met by native Indians. The massive mortality rates of the natives due to poor working conditions and new European and African diseases such as measles, small pox, the plague, influenza, malaria and yellow fever led to decline in the population of Americas. Figure 1 presents data on the drastic decline in population in Americas which led to a decline in labour. The Europeans now turned to the Negroes in Africa for labour. They soon found that the African slaves were more productive and the output quadrupled. Shiploads of slaves were exported to work in these American islands and soon the slave trade was transformed from a marginal institution to a global phenomenon. Growth in Plantations The development of Atlantic slave trade stemmed from the growth in plantation agriculture such as sugar, cotton, tobacco, tea and rice in the New World. The demand for plantation workers in sixteenth century Brazil, seventeenth century Caribbean and nineteenth century Cuba instigated slave supply from Africa. The intensity of the growth in plantations could be seen in small islands like Barbados. By 1650 Barbados had 300 plantations which multiplied to 900 by 1670, a rate of 100% per annum. The growing demand for sugar, multiplying at a compound rate of 5% per annum in the seventeenth century to about 10% in the nineteenth century, increased the demand for African slaves to work in the sugar plantations in the New World lands. As H. Hobhouse puts it, â€Å"‘food’ became responsible for the Africanization of the Caribbean†. This small group of islands accounted for 80% of the sugar and slave trade until the eighteenth century. The slave labour for majority of these plantations was secured from Africa through the Atlantic. As plantations became the expanded into a global trade network, so did the Atlantic slave trade. Slave Trade and Profitability There were various groups of stakeholders in the Atlantic Slave trade who participated in it due to the profitability from the trade in slaves. African Rulers profited in terms of taxes and custom duties paid by the European merchants. They were given the first choice of any merchandise that was brought into Africa for trade and were able to bargain lower prices for these goods. The rulers also commanded premium prices for their own slaves. They also received considerable gifts from the merchants in order to secure preferential trading agreements. Ouidah, a coastal town in Benin, West Africa was a strong European trading post since 1720 and was accessed by forty to fifty European trading vessels per year. Hence the ruler who started off with ten slaves in exchange for opening his market in 1700 was able to command a higher price of twenty slaves by 1720. This was in addition to the privileges in the purchase or sale of the commodities which included the slaves as well. According to Miles Ogborn, by 1800s the rulers in Africa were able to obtain â€Å"goods for each slave worth three or four times as much in 1700†. Both African and European slave traders were paid well. Overwhelmed by the profits from slave exports, wealthy merchants both in Africa and Europe, expanded slave trading networks to prodigious numbers. Figure 2 analyses changes in supply by African slave merchants in response to changes in prices. The data reveals that the supply increased as price increased. Hence, the largest emigration of slaves in the eighteenth century can be attributed to the increase in price from ? 14 to ? 25. Between the years 1779 and 1788, there was a decrease in demand for slaves due to the War of American Independence. This created excess supply of slaves in the African coast. Hence the planter in Americas started restocking their slave supply. The European slave traders capitalised on this by securing supply at cheaper prices from Africa and selling higher prices in the Americas; thereby making abnormal profits between these years. Thus slave trade allowed African and European slave traders to maximise profits from the trade. The consumers of Europe profited in terms of cheaper commodity prices due to increased output by African slaves in the plantations. Figure 3 presents data on the production of sugar and tobacco by British colonies. The increased volume of production of these commodities reduced their prices much to the favour of European consumers. Tobacco which fetched twenty to forty shillings in 1619 was sold for a shilling or less while the price of sugar halved between 1630 and 1680. Thus the consumers were able to enjoy the luxury of these commodities at affordable prices. The planters were another group of stakeholders in the trade who profited in their own way. Labour became cheap and more available due to Atlantic Slave trade. The planters always worked with a motive of profitable exploitation of the factors of production, especially labour and work was dictated by discipline and violence. Successful planters were able to create immense wealth and have extravagant lifestyles. While the slaves slogged day and night in the plantations, the owners were able to retreat in the Great Houses built on commanding positions, with beautiful gardens, imported china, furniture and furnishings. The fortune and lifestyle of Sir Charles Price, the largest land and slave owner of Jamaica between 1738 and 1772 demonstrates the height of planter lifestyles. The Decoy†, the Great House he built was a mansion with magnificent rooms with mirrors and wood carving in the decor, lakes and parks around the house and elegant gardens with fruits, flowers and vegetables. This essay has clearly illustrated the factors that led to the development of the Atlantic Slave trade. Eventhough the political set up in Europe and Africa and the growth in plantations laid the foundation for the trade, it was the technological developments and social influences on the Europeans and Africans that took the trade to global heights. Overall, the technological improvements lowered transport, handling and shipping costs enabling the achievement of economies of scale. Similarly, the growing demand for goods from Europe in Africa, the growth in slave trading institutions and the decline in Americas’ population fostered the slave trade. Finally, the profitability from the trade influenced various groups of stakeholders to become intensely involved making it an international trade spanning four continents and altering their social, economic and political composition.

Work Experience

For this essay, my task is to produce an essay explaining what my work experience week was like. Even though I can't put every detail down, I will write about the most important parts of my week that will remain as good, and some also embarrassing memories. When I heard about work experience my first thoughts about it were, ‘what if Im not good enough. ‘ and ‘I wonder where I'll be put. ‘ To say the least, I was very nervous. We had forms to fill in about work experience. I had to tick off what I would prefer to do, so I chose to work in retail and fashion. So I was likely to work in a clothes shop, ironically that's where I got put. I was now officially working in Burtons. I wanted to work in retail because I was generally interested in fashion, as at the time I wanted to become a fashion designer. I soon realised working in retail had nothing to do with the fashion itself, it did however, have a lot to do with business. At first I was a bit worried because I thought only men worked there, so to calm my nerves, me and a few of my friends decided to go and have a little look in there and see what it's like. Luckily, I did see a couple of women in there so I realised that I wouldn't be the only one. Besides, working with young lads weren't going to be a bad thing was it? As the time got closer, I had to start thinking about travel and what I'd wear there. These small problems were soon easily solved. I decided that I would get the bus there, but because I was placed at the Burtons in Bracknell, I would have to leave about an hour before starting time, as buses took about 40-50 minutes at rush hour. What I was going to wear soon became no object as I went shopping the weekend before. New clothes- every girl's passion. So I was pretty much set; I had my clothes, my way of getting there, and everything I needed was organised. Monday finally came, as I sat on the bus at 8. 0am, the nerves soon reappeared. For the next 40 minutes, I sat there thinking about what it would be like, but soon acknowledged that the majority of my year was in the same position as I was. I also recognised that it wouldn't be as bad as I thought. So when the bus stopped I walked positively towards the shop, the funny thing was, I was slightly early, so I had to stand outside, I felt a bit out of place at that point, and im sure I looked quite stupid. It didn't matter too much to me though; I just concentrated on making a good impression. So I stood waiting patiently for the grey, shutter to slowly open. About ten minutes later, they eventually did. And the shop was up and ready for the day ahead. I stood up straight, and confidently walked towards the front desk where the employees were all gathered. I introduced myself and got fully acquainted with all the staff present. The manager, Andrea, gave me a brief introduction on what goes on at the store, and just small bits of necessary information id need to know to get me throughout the week like where my locker was based. She then sent me and another employee- Michael, down to the staff area to do my health and safety assessment, just to see what I knew about the process †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ but before I went to do the assessment Michael took me outside to see where I would have to go if a fire occurred. This didn't take long. After that I proceeded to do the assessment. It wasn't very interesting, in fact, I actually almost fell asleep! Putting that aside, it was quite an eventful morning. Throughout that day, I just got to know a bit more about the staff; I also asked a few questions about the shop as well, one that I asked was if they had cameras in the store itself, and Richard, another employee, said to me â€Å"Would you like people watching you whilst you're working all day? I don't think I'll ever forget that, in reply to his question, I said no. So Burtons didn't have security cameras? This led me onto thinking whether anyone stole from the shop. Surely they didn't otherwise they would put cameras in, but I found out a bit later on that people do steal. This isn't good for their inventory either. So throughout the week I'd hear one employee after another saying that they found a tag and coat hanger on the floor, this annoyed Andrea a lot. Another thing that annoyed Andrea was when a group of my friends all decided to come in and greet me on my first day. I knew that this wasn't very professional so I told them that they would have to leave. After that small incident, Andrea explained that I was to act like I was a real employee to Burton and my friends were not aloud to come in and distract me like they did. I understood that and carried on with what I was doing. My time at Burtons was fairly boring, with the work that is. I had to go around the shop making sure everything was in its rightful place; another thing I had to do was sort the delivery totes. I had to unwrap the products, tag them, cube them and then go and find where they were meant to go. It made the time go by, and I preferred doing this to walking around the shop organising the clothing. One thing I learnt from this was that in retail, the people don't call the boxes ‘boxes'. They call them ‘totes' I don't know why this is but it' just what they used. So that was what delivery was. This is all I tended to do during work experience. Id have a laugh with the other staff members, it helped because their ages ranged from 16 to 20. So I found it easy to get along with them. This helped me feel more comfortable there. Towards the end of the week, a couple of the staff decided to play a little joke on me, so when I got back off my 15 minute break, Richard told me to go downstairs to see Andrea. So I discontinued what I was going to get on with, and pondered down to see her. She and another employee gave me a task. This was to walk over to Topshop, and ask the manager for a ‘long weight' me being unaware of this joke, agreed to it and went to do what they had asked. I wasn't really thinking about what they had asked for, I was thinking more about not making any mistakes. So when I arrived, I went to the front desk and asked for the ‘long weight'. The lady at the till looked at me puzzled for a second, and then called for assistance. the manager came out and told me it was a joke, and that there was no such thing as a long weight, well apart from the long wait I had received from the ‘long weight'. Once I had understood what had happened, me and my extremely red face exited the store and remained back to Burtons. Only to come back to be laughed at more, I was not amused! I just continued back to my work and didn't say much after that. So that was my embarrassing moment; I guess it could have been worse, but I still didn't appreciate being humiliated in front of a shop full of strangers. But despite that incident, I found the week to be a big wake up call in all honesty. I never thought that working in a shop could ever be so tiring! I was on my feet for seven and a half hours. As I had an hour for lunch and two fifteen minute breaks. The thing was, when the shop had very few customers, that was the most tiring part, because there was nothing there to keep me occupied. For all five days, there was at least an hour where this occurred. I dreaded it! In conclusion, I found the week very productive, I learnt a lot more than I expected to, met new people, got an insight about what real work is, and my real accomplishment†¦ getting to work on time everyday. I was very proud of myself for this, and it still amazes me to this day. I would defiantly advise for the work experience programme to continue as it worked wonders for me, and to thank me for the work I did, Andrea gave me a box of maltesars for the hard work and dedication I put in there. She also said that I had a place there to work if I wanted it. I didn't take up the offer as I don't feel that's the best place for me.

The Organisational Context of Management Accounting Essay

The Organisational Context of Management Accounting - Essay Example This paper is aimed at analyzing the case study of the Royal Danish Theatre (RDT).   In an attempt to implement budgetary and management control system into RDT that met with resistance from different actors. The objectives of this paper can be examined from three dimensions.   In the first instance, the paper seeks to outline, analyse and discuss the main issues concerning the case study of the Royal Danish Theatre in relation to management control and accountability. In the second part of the paper, the paper identifies the study’s methodological assumptions of the case study using agency and contingency theory. The paper interprets the similarities and differences of the case study from each of the theoretical perspective. Following a series of budgetary control and a number of reforms which were instituted to push RDT towards the break even point. Thus;   in our analyses we will be evaluating the management control system of   RDT as described in the case study in section ; analyzing the case using agency and contingency theories in section; comparing and contrasting agency and contingency theory perspectives as well as looking at how the interpretation of the case differ from each theoretical perspective in section . This dscussion identifies and discusses the various issues raised in the case from an academic and professional perspective. These issues are presented under different subsections below.

Ventilator Acquired Pneumonia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ventilator Acquired Pneumonia - Research Paper Example Ventilator is a machine assembled mechanically to transmit breathable air in and out of lungs. The ventilator provides a mechanism of air exchange for patients with breathing difficulties or unable to breath. Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a type of pneumonia that occurs after forty-eight hours when patients have received mechanical ventilation and intubated. Pneumonia is ranked second in most common nosocomial disease in the critically ill patients. More than 86% of nosocomial pneumonias are related to mechanical ventilation hence termed as ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The infection has major causes believed to be Acinetobacter spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (Datta, 2013). According to the study, that was done from April 1, 2006 to January 31, 2008 at Radius Special Hospital in USA; it showed that for every twenty-three cases of VAP infection, 19 casualties were associated with 157 LTACH. The above translates to an infection rate of 14.6%, which corresponded to 1.67 cases in 1000 ventilator days. Microbial data proves that 91% of the patients who reported to the hospital had VAP infection. Patients with critically conditions which are intubated for more than 24 hours are at 6-21 times risk to develop VAP in USA. Mortality and morbidity associated with the VAP development are high, with the rates of mortality, which ranges from 20-41% (Datta, 2013). VAP increases critical care, ventilator days and hospital length of stay. There are two ways of managing VAP. One is based on semiquantitative or nonquantitative cultures and clinical criteria. The other utilizes quantitative measures of the respiratory specimens. The principal organisms responsible for the VAP infection are Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacteriaceae. Etiologic agents are differing according to the patient’s population in an intensive care unit, prior antimicrobial